A Dragon's Tail
Tail 7: Korben's Tail - Inequity
Tail 7-1: Survivor's Guilt
"Everything you have done ends up in vain…"
"I… Is there anyone here?"
A Pokemon was walking alone in the complete darkness. He was walking around and trying to call for his friends, but as far as he went, he couldn't find anyone else…
"Everyone! Where are you?!" The Pokemon did another attempt to call for his friends and family. "Grandpa! Noctus! Lyzia! Unos! Dimitri! Are you here?! Please answer me! Grandp—"
The Pokemon stopped when he spotted something in front of him, and as he approached it, he realized that the object he spotted was… a corpse of a Drampa that was being torn into several pieces!
"G…. GRANDPA!" The Pokemon said as he kneeled down in front of the corpse of the Drampa. "W… What happened?! Please! Answer me! Grandpa!"
"…" There was no answer from the the corpse of the Drampa in front of him. It was obvious that this would happen, as, clearly, the Drampa was already dead.
"!"
Suddenly, the Pokemon spotted four more corpses around him. They were a corpse of a Deino and a corpse of an Altaria that were bruised and heavily injured, a corpse of a Noibat that was burnt to the point that it was almost impossible to tell what kind of Pokemon it was, and a corpse of a Fraxure with a mark of claws piercing into his chest.
"UNOS?! LYZIA?! NOCTUS?! DIMITRI?!" The Pokemon roared again after he realized that his friends that he were trying to find were now no more than a lifeless corpse around him. "Please! Don't leave me! Please! Don't die! Please—"
"!"
The Pokemon stopped his words when he suddenly spotted several more corpses around him. The amount of the corpses around him were 10… No… 20… No… 50… No… 100… No… 200… No… 300… No… He couldn't grasp how many corpses were here, but he could see that there were more than 300 corpses around him, and all of them were the corpses of the Dragon type Pokemon…
"No…" The Pokemon slowly stood up again. This was the moment he noticed that the atmosphere around him had changed from the total darkness to the dusty dark red atmosphere, as if he was standing in the middle of a battlefield. The ground of this place was also changed from the total darkness to the shattered earth covered with the blood that flew out of the corpses, dyeing the soil crimson. As he looked further, he could see many houses and buildings crumbling to the ground, turning them into nothing more than a pile of rubbers.
"No… This can't be…" The Pokemon said as he looked around. The place he was in right now seemed to be a place where a battle took place earlier, but now, everyone else was already dead, and he was the only Pokemon who was still alive here…"
"This can't be… This… This isn't true!" The Pokemon said with a shaking voice as he continued looking around, but no matter how hard he tried, he could see nothing else in this place more than the ruins and the corpses of Dragon type Pokemon. "This… This can't be!"
"Korben…"
"T… This is impossible!
"Korben…"
"H… How could all of this happen?"
"Korben..."
"Why? I don't understand… Why?!"
"Korben!"
"WHY?! WHY?! WHY?!"
"KORBEN!"
"Grasp!"
A Pokemon suddenly woke up and rose from the bed. The appearance of this Pokemon suggested that he was a Dragon type Scaly Pokemon, Kommo-o. His body, as well as the scales that covered his body, was covered in sweat, as if he had just finished an exercise, but he wasn't. He didn't just finish exercising. He had just woken up from his sleep, as well as from…
"Korben! Are you alright?!"
"?" The Pokemon turned his attention to the owner of voice that he heard, who was sitting just beside his bed, and saw a female Flygon looking at him with a worried look on her face. This Pokemon was none other than his friends.
"F… Freya?" The Pokemon, Korben the Kommo-o, said as he called the name of the Flygon. "W… What are you doing here?"
"I… I am sorry for entering your room without permission, Korben…" Freya apologized with a shaking voice. "It's just… I heard the sound of your scream from outside… So I thought that you…"
"…" Korben thought back to the sight and vision that he saw just before he woke up. It seemed like all of them were just a dream. However, the Kommo-o couldn't be relieved even thought he found out that everything he saw was just but a vision he had when he was sleeping, because everything that happened in his dream wasn't just a dream…
It was real… And it had already happened to him…
"… It's alright, Freya." Korben replied to the Flygon. "I was just having a dream… A nightmare, to be exact… And… Thank you for waking me from that…"
"But…" Freya continued speaking. "What were you dreaming about? You were screaming something like 'This is impossible' and 'How could all of this happen?'…"
"… It's just…" Korben mumbled as he turned his face away. "… It's nothing."
"Not 'nothing', Korben." Freya said. "It's alright. You can tell me what you have in your mind, and I may be able to help you with it."
"…" In truth, Korben didn't want to burden his friends with his thought, but for some reason, he felt that he actually wanted to speak his mind to the Flygon, despite that he knew not why he wanted to do something like that.
"… I was having a dream… about that…" Korben slowly spoke up. "… About the Dragon Massacre…"
"!" Freya was shocked when she heard the words of the Kommo-o. He was speaking of the terrible event that happened 3 years ago (But for Freya, Korben and their friends, this event happened just about one week ago.). This event led to the massacre of the Dragon type Pokemon who lived in the isolated Hidden Village of Dragon deep in the Valley of No Return, the area that was almost completely inaccessible from anywhere else in the world. Korben Forcenter the Kommo-o, one of the Pokemon who once lived in the Hidden Village of Pokemon, was the only residents of Hidden Village of Dragon who survived the massacre, along with 11 other Pokemon, all who were the Dragon type Pokemon from the outside of the Valley of No Return. This was a tragedy that caused a great pain to everyone, especially for Korben who lost almost everything in his life, including his home, his friends and his family.
"I… I saw everyone in my dream… And they are all… dead… And I am the only one who is still alive…" Korben continued speaking. "I… I feel like… That's… That's not how it should be…"
"…Korben…" Freya spoke softly.
"I… I feel like I shouldn't be here…" Korben continued speaking. "I feel like this isn't what I should do… I… I feel like I am doing everything wrong by being here…"
"W… What do you mean by that?" Freya asked.
"I… I feel like I shouldn't still be alive, Freya." Korben answered. "Everyone… Grandpa… Noctus… Unos… Lyzia… Dimitri… Everyone… They are dead… And I am here… Being alive… I feel like I am doing everything wrong by still being alive… I feel like I should die beside all of them…"
"Korben?!" Freya was shocked by the words that the Kommo-o said. "W… Why did you say such a terrible thing like that?"
"But… That's really what I feel right now…" Korben said. "And the dream I have… Perhaps… It was trying to tell me that what I thought is right…"
"… Korben…" Freya said with a worried voice.
"… I am sorry for dragging you into such a gloomy story of mine…" Korben said. "Freya, please forget everything that I said…"
"Korben… I…" Freya was trying to say something, but she couldn't find any words to comfort the young Kommo-o.
"Beside…" Korben looked at the clock beside his bed. The hands on the clock shown that the current time was 6:37, which was one hour later than the time that he usually woke up. "It's time for me to do my daily morning training."
"O… Oh!" Freya realized something after she heard Korben's words. "I… It's also the time for me to go and help Snow prepar—Yawn…"
"Hm?" Korben turned his attention to Freya when he heard the Flygon suddenly let out a yawn from her mouth. "Freya, are you still sleepy?!"
"Hm? O… Oh! No! I am sorry!" Freya quickly apologized. Her face suddenly turned red from the blush on her face. "T… That's such a terrible manner of mine… I… I am sorry."
"It's okay, Freya. I don't mind" Korben said. "But why did you yawn? Are you having an insomnia last night?"
"N… No…" Freya answered. "It's just that… Something… So many things happened last night… And…"
"… It's alright, Freya." Seeing the action of the Flygon, Korben decided that it's perhaps the best not to ask about it. "Let's go. Freya."
"Hm." Freya nodded to the Kommo-o as he walked toward the door of his room, but just a bit before he placed his paw on the doorknob, he suddenly felt a dreadful feeling creeping onto his body. It was a mixed feeling of anger, hatred and… fear.
"Korben, what's wrong?" Freya asked as she noticed Korben's strange action.
"Hm? What?! Nothing!" Korben shook his head. "It's nothing. Let's go, Freya."
Korben decided to ignore the feeling that he was having in his mind and opened the door before he and Freya left the room together. However, even when leaving the room and walked toward the stairs, the dreadful feeling that the Kommo-o had still lingered in his mind, but it gradually disappeared as he walked away from his room…
'… What's that feeling?' Korben thought to himself as he descended downstairs to Floor B4 of the Pendracomonium along with Freya. "It's the same feeling that I had when…"
-About Two Hours Later…
Almost two hours had already passed since when the Kommo-o started his daily morning training, which consisted of a meditation and a martial art practicing. As the clock in the Training Ground showed the time as 8:25, the training was finished, and the Kommo-o then proceed to the Dining Hall on Floor B2 to have breakfast at 8:30.
Normally, the Pendragon didn't have a exact time for breakfast, but 8:30 was the usual time that Snow would serve the breakfast, making it an unofficial breakfast time for the Pendragon.
As the Kommo-o entered the Dining Hall, he could see that half of the Pendragon was already here. Snow and Freya were serving the food to everyone, with Rachael often having a chat with Freya. Richard, who was sitting next to his younger sister, was still reading a book. On the other side of the table where Rachael and Richard were sitting were Claura and Baromyteus, who were still glaring at each other even when Snow and Freya served them breakfast.
"Oh!" Rachael turned her attention to the door of the Dining Hall after she noticed the presence of the Kommo-o. "Good morning, Korben!"
"Good morning, Rachael." Korben greeted the Latias before taking a seat beside Richard. "Where is everyone else?" Korben asked after he sat down.
"Xavier, Zetarus and Diego are still sleeping in their room." Claura was the one who answered the Kommo-o's question.
"And for my sister, she said that she will come here a bit later than usual." Baromyteus answered.
"I see…" Korben said before he picked up a spoon beside the dish in front of him and started eating the rice porridge that was served by Freya.
The porridge was warm. The soup tasted just fine, not too bland and not too salty. The rice was soft and mild, and the meat and other vegetable were fresh and tasty. Overall, this rice porridge was very tasty.
"… This is very tasty rice porridge, Snow, Freya." Korben complimented.
"Thank you for a compliment." Snow said as he bowed down to the Kommo-o. "But it was thanks to Freya that this rice porridge turns out to be really good."
"I… I didn't actually do much…" Freya said. "I just remember that you like a food with natural taste, not a food heavily flavored with spices and condiments, so I just served your food without putting much condiment into it."
"Really?" Korben said.
"Right." Snow answered. "Each member of the Pendragon has their preference in their food, so we would cook the food first and then flavor them as we put them into the dish for each of us."
"Okay…" Korben said as he observed everyone else. It was clear that Rachael was enjoying her food as she was having a smile on her face as she put the rice porridge into her mouth. Claura and Baromyteus didn't show much emotion, but the fact that both of them had already stopped glaring at each other meant that the food was good enough to distract them from their bickering. For Richard, he didn't show any sign that he either enjoyed the food or hated it, but again, if he didn't enjoy the food, he would have already bombarded Snow and Freya with his rant.
"I am sorry, everyone!"
A gentle feminine voice turned the attention of everyone except Richard to the door as another Pokemon walked into the Dining Hall. This Pokemon was a female Goodra, as well as Baromyteus' younger sister.
"I am sorry for being late, everyone." Anastasia said as he walked into the room before sitting beside her elder brother, and when she sat down, Snow signaled Freya to serve her breakfast. "I want to make sure that I didn't make a mistake with 'that'."
"That? What are you talking about?" Claura asked as Freya served the rice porridge to the Goodra.
"Oh! You will see soon!" Anastasia answered with a smile on her face. "And everyone, after breakfast, could you please go to the Meeting Room on Floor B2 at one hour from now? I will explain everything there."
"That won't do." Baromyteus spoke up. "If that Garchomp doesn't wake up soon, I will have to go hunting in his place, and I won't be back before dinnertime. Moreover, there's one more thing that we must do too."
"And that is?" Claura asked.
"We need to discuss about our next objective." Baromyteus answered. "It has already been over one week and we still haven't done anything according to our mission yet, so, after Anastasia finished what she wanted to do for all of us, we will have a meeting to decide on our next objective."
"Okay, then…" Anastasia nodded to her brother's words. "Then how about after dinner? At… 20:30? Is everyone free?"
"Yes." Everyone nodded to the Goodra's words, except for only one Pokemon…
"Well… That's already past my bedtime—" Xavier spoke up, but his words were cut off by the sudden interruption of his cousin.
"Leave Xavier to me, Anastasia. I will drag him to our meeting place." Claura said.
"Aww…" Xavier let out a sigh of disappointment after hearing the words of the Kingdra.
"Then, let's meet at the Meeting Room tonight! Please make sure to inform everyone else about this, and thank you so much for your time!" Anastasia said before she started eating the rice porridge. "Hm! This is delicious!"
Korben spent most of his afternoon training alone in the Training Ground. Today had been a quiet and peaceful day. After finishing breakfast, Baromyteus left the Pendracomonium and went into the Valley of No Return to hunt the wild Pokemon, while everyone else stayed in their base. Rachael spent her time taking care of the trees she grew in the Greenhouse, and Richard spent his time reading the Chronicle. Snow and Freya spent their time in the kitchen to cook lunch and dinner for everyone, with Freya sometimes came to the Training Ground during his break to give him the treat she made. Claura walked around the base to look after it, and she also stopped by at the Training Ground to train with the Kommo-o too. Xavier spent the entire day sleeping in his room, as he said that he needed to make up for the sleeping hours that he would lose tonight. Anastasia spent her time in the Boutique. For Zetarus and Diego, they woke up near lunchtime, and after having lunch, Diego went into the Forge, with Zetarus following him in tow.
After finishing his training, Korben went back to the Dining Hall again at 18:15 to have dinner with everyone, including Baromyteus who had just come back (But not Sirius due to an obvious reason). After dinner, Korben went back to the Training Ground to meditate until 19:30. At this point, he decided to call it a day.
'The meeting would start at 20:30 and it seems to be long and important…' Korben thought to himself as he returned to his private quarter. 'Maybe I should take a bath right now and immediately go to sleep once the meeting is over…'
With that thought in his mind, Korben grabbed his changing clothes before leaving his room and walked toward the Bathroom on Floor B4. Usually, he would take a bath after he finished his first session of meditating after dinner, which was some time between 20:00 to 21:00, and then he would continue meditating until his bedtime. Tonight, because of the meeting, his second meditating session was cancelled and the duration of the first session was cut short.
After entering the resting area of the Bathroom, Korben placed his changing cloth down and took off all his clothes before grabbing the towel and entered the male section of the Bathroom. The hot stream coming out of the bathing area blurred his vision for a bit, but once it disappeared, the vision of the bathing area appeared before his eyes.
"!"
An invisible exclamation point appeared on the head of the Kommo-o as he saw the large bath filled with hot water in the bathing area. This bath was large enough for over 15 Pokemon to take a bath together with still an ample amount of space left. The hot water that filled the bath was from the rivers in the underground that were heated up by the nearby lava pit or frozen and melt by the heat from the nearby lava pit, so it's filled with mineral and was healthy for the skin. Usually, because most male members of the Pendragon had their own night routine, it was not rare for Korben to take a bath alone, and sometimes, he was joined by one or two other dragons too.
However, today…
"Hm? Ah! Welcome, Korben…" Snow spoke up as he noticed the present to the Kommo-o. "I see that you also decide to join us tonight."
Korben could see that almost every male member of the Pendragon were here, taking a relaxing soak in the hot water together, and all of them, like Korben, were naked. In the bath, Snow was sitting at the corner closest to the entrance of the male bathing area, and Xavier was sitting with his eyes closed not too far from the Draconic Lapras. At the other corner of the bath was Diego who was making sure that his mouth and his tail were always above the water. In the middle of the bath was a long dark purple dorsal fin with a single notch of the male Garchomp appearing from the water, and the fin was slowly moving around the bath, indicating that the owner of this dorsal fin was slowly swimming in the bath. Finally, on the furthest corner of the bath was a dark skeleton of an undead Haxorus, who sat at quite a distance away from everyone else. At this point, Korben realized that not all male members of the Pendragon were here, as Richard wasn't here. Still, this was the first time that he had taken a bath with almost all of his new comrades.
"It seems that you also have the same thought as we." Diego spoke as he noticed the presence of Kommo-o who had just entered the bath area.
"You mean the thought of taking a bath before the meeting?" Korben said as he entered the bath at the spot between Xavier and the Mega Charizard X, enjoying the sense of hot water touching his hardened skin.
"Hm." Diego nodded. "As a Fire type, I don't usually take a bath unless I feel really sweaty or if anyone yells at me for being dirty or something like that."
"Me too." Zetarus said as he poked his head out of the water for the first time after Korben entered the bath area. "Except that I won't take a bath unless Diego does too, if you know what I mean." Zetarus ended his sentence with a sultry voice before he dived down into the water again.
"For me? I always take a bath as soon as I finished dinner, so that my sleeping hours wouldn't be interrupted. Yawn…" Xavier said without opening his eyes.
"And I always make sure to be the last one to take a bath because not only do I have to clean the Kitchen, but I also have a duty to clean the bath too." Snow said. "Usually, I would end up taking a bath with Richard, as he also likes to take a bath at the late hour due to him spending his time reading the book."
"And for me, I take a bath at anytime I want, no fixed time." Baromyteus spoke up.
"I see…" Korben said as he closed his eyes, feeling even more relaxing as the hotness that was burning his skin turning earlier turned into a soothing massage to his skin, soothing his worn-out body from today's training. Bathing after a harsh training was one of the most enjoyable things for the Kommo-o.
"Giggle…"
"Haha…"
"Ahh…"
"Hmpt!"
A sound of various Pokemon echoed through the wall that separated the male bath area and the female bath area. It seemed that the voices they heard were from the female members of the Pendragon that were taking a bath, but they couldn't hear it clearly because the wall absorbed most of the voices.
"It seems like the girls are having a good time." Korben opened his eyes and spoke up. "Good for them."
"They are." Xavier spoke up. "When we first arrived here, the bath time of Rachael, Freya, Anastasia and Claura are as random as ours, but now, all of them always take a bath together as they like to have a chat with each other while bathing."
"… And how do you know something like that?" Baromyteus spoke as he gazed at the Dragonite.
"Claura told me." Xavier answered with a nonchalant voice. "She usually enjoys wasting her time in the bath, and now it's even worse… Actually, it's better, as she won't have any time to yell at me like she always does."
"I see…" Baromyteus said. "Hopefully that they won't be late for our meeting."
"Yeah…" Diego spoke up as he closed his eyes and tightened his left paw into a fist. "It's an important meeting, so we shouldn't be wasting our time doing something stupid. PLUUUUCCCCCK!"
Diego ended his sentence by slamming his fist into the water left of him. This was the moment that everyone noticed that the dorsal fin that was once in the middle of the bath was now just left of the Mega Charizard X. That and the sound it made suggested that Diego's fist connected with something underwater...
… Which was soon revealed as…
"COUGH! COUGH!" Zetarus suddenly popped out of the water at the spot where Diego slammed his fist on. He was holding his head with his paw, which was the object that was slammed by the fist of the Mega Charizard X earlier. "Ouch! Diego, are you trying to kill me?!"
"Bxxxxxxt. Considered what you have been through, there's no way that you will die by just my fist." Diego spoke with a nonchalant voice.
"…What are you trying to do there, Zetarus?" Baromyteus asked as the Garchomp was rubbing his head.
"Ouch… I am just doing what my specie normally does…" Zetarus answered. "After all, I am a Garchomp."
"What do you mean by that?" Korben asked.
"Well… We would just swim in the sea like most aquatic Pokemon…" Garchomp spoke up, this time, with a voice that concealed a certain feeling. "We would swim until we find a 'worm' attached to the fishing rod of the fisherman who tries to 'catch' us, and for me? I would only go after the biggest 'worm', if you know what I mean—Ouch!"
"Hmpt!" Diego grumbled as his fist was, again, landed on the head of the Garchomp.
"Hey! Why did you have to do that?!" Zetarus said as he rubbed his head at where Diego hit him again. "I was complimenting you!"
"How is that a fxxxxxg compliment?" Diego asked.
"Oh? You don't understand?" Zetarus spoke with the same voice he used earlier as he looked at the Garchomp with a perverted face and slowly swam closer to the Mega Charizard X. "Then let me—"
"O…Oh… Um… E… Excuse me…"
A bashful and timid voice drew the attention of everyone from the Garchomp and the Mega Charizard X to the entrance of the bath area, and they could see a silhouette of a Pokemon slowly appeared from the veil of stream that covered their vision, revealing a Latios who was usually proud and arrogant, but right now, he was acting as if his personality was replaced with Freya's.
"Hm? Oh! Good evening, Richard." Snow was the first one who greeted the Latios who slowly sneaked into the bath area while trying to avoid being seen much. "I was wondering about you, and I am glad that you decide to join all of us at last."
"Hm." Korben nodded in agreement with the Draconic Lapras, as this would mean that all male members of the Pendragon were here, together in the bath.
However, the Kommo-o suddenly felt impatient and solicitous as he could see the Latios more clearly, and this was the moment that he realized that the Latios was wearing a towel around the lower half of his body, in contrast to everyone else here who wore nothing.
"I can't accept this…" Korben spoke up with a grim voice, turning the attention of everyone in this bath area to him. "Everyone's equal to each other, and Richard, what are you doing is strongly against this."
"Wait, what?" Richard spoke up after hearing the words of the Kommo-o.
"There's no way that I will let you go like this." Korben said as he stood up from the bath. "And I will be the one who fixes it."
"Agree." Diego spoke up as he stood up too. "It's just all of us, the male dragons, here, Richard. There's nothing to hide at all."
"Hey, let me help too!" Zetarus said as he, too, stood up from the bath.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" Richard shouted as Korben, Diego and Zetarus approached him. "S… STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Richard pled, but it didn't seem like the Kommo-o, Mega Charizard X and Garchomp would comply with his words.
"Sigh…" Xavier sighed and mumbled to himself. "Can't we have a nice moment of silence to ourselves?"
-Meanwhile, on the other side of the bathroom…
"WARRRGGRGRRGR!"
"Hm?" Rachael, Freya, Anastasia and Claura stopped their conversation and turned their attention to the wall that separated the female bath area and male bath area from each other as they heard the voice of someone coming from the other side.
"What are they doing?" Rachael asked. "That scream sounds like Onii-chan…"
"I bet that they are playing a prank on him on something like that…" Claura said.
"What?! Then we must go and help—" Rachael said after hearing the words of the Kingdra, but her words were cut off when the Kingdra spoke up again.
"Leave them be." Claura said. "I am sure that they could sort it out by themselves, as not all of them are jerks."
"But…" Rachael said with a worried voice.
"Don't worry, Rachael…" Anastasia spoke up with a kind and warm voice. "I am sure that my brother would take care of them and end whatever they are doing. He's not someone who would let something like that loose."
"Okay… Thanks, Anastasia!" Rachael spoke to the Goodra.
"Speaking of end…" Anastasia spoke up again. "Rachael, I have just finished the story you lent me a few days ago. Thank you so much for letting me borrow it. I will return it to you after we finish the meeting."
"Okay!" Rachael said. "Anyway, do you like it?"
"Of course, I do." Anastasia answered with a smile on her face. "It's such a beautiful story, despite that the whole story is so tragic… Nevertheless, the story has given me an inspiration to write a song about them…"
"Um…" Freya spoke up. "R… Rachael… Anastasia… What are you two talking about?"
"Oh? It's just that I heard that Anastasia, like me, is a fan of a novel, so I lent one of mine to her!" Rachael answered.
"R… Really?" Freya said with an excited voice after hearing the words of the Latias. "W… What is that story about?"
"It's about war, love and tragedy." Anastasia answered. "The story starts with a young man and a young lady who met each other for the first time in a grove of flower, and it was the love of first sight for both of them."
"W… Wait…" Freya spoke up. "C… Could it be that their love ends up becoming the forbidden love because each of them belongs to two clans that are the enemy of each other in the war?"
"… No." Anastasia shook her head. "The young man and the young girl actually belongs to the same side in the war, and there's nothing that separated them from each other. No wall of destiny. No line of social norm. No stratum of social caste. No flame of hatred or envy from their friends and family. No collapse of their love. And the love of both of them would soon be blessed with their engagement."
"Then…" Claura spoke up after listening to the conversation without saying anything for some time. "Could it be that one of them was killed by their enemies?"
"… No." Anastaia shook her head. "The young man, who is actually the general of the army of his side, is an exceptional strong warrior whose skill with his weapon is second to none, and victory in the battle would always belong to him. The young girl, while she isn't as strong as the young man, would always stay by her lover's side and support him to her fullest. The novel even described them as the pair of the god of war and goddess of beauty."
"Then…" Freya continued asking. "How did their stories end up as a tragedy?"
"… It's a sad tale…" Anastasia answered with a sad voice. "I couldn't even able to grasp that the story would end up like this. If I have to describe it in one word, it would be 'madness'."
"M… Madness?" Freya said with a frightened voice. "W… What happened to them?"
"…" Anastasia looked at the young Flygon and was about to answer her question when…
"… Claura?" Rachael spoke up as she saw the Kingdra stood up before getting out of the bath.
"… It's almost the time for the meeting." Claura spoke up. "So I am going to go to the Meeting Room now."
"Oh, is it because we keep talking about the novel? I am sorry for making this a boring bath for you, Claura." Anastasia apologized.
"No, I didn't find it boring at all, because I also read them too, once in a while." Claura said. "Anyway, see you at the Meeting Room, everyone."
After finished speaking, Claura grabbed the towel and wrapped it on her body before leaving the bath area.
"… I think we should go too." Freya spoke up. "We shouldn't be late for an important meeting like this."
"Right." Rachael nodded to the Flygon. "And I am also worried about Onii-chan."
"For me, I will have to go and make a final preparation first." Anastasia said.
"Preparation?" Rachael said. "That reminds me, Anastasia, it was you who asked all of us to go to the Meeting Room, so, why?"
"You will see soon." Anastasia answered with a smile. "Trust me. Everyone will love this."
-Several Minutes Later…
At 20:30, most members of Pendragon had already been in the Meeting Room on Floor B2. Right now, the only missing members were Diego, Sirius and Anastasia herself.
"Where is that younger sister of yours?" Claura spoke as she sneered at the Shiny Haxorus in the demonic armor suit who was standing beside her. "Telling us to come here while being late herself isn't a nice thing to do, you know?"
"Are you saying that my sister is a bad girl?!" Baromyteus said as he turned his face to face the Kingdra beside him. "And before judging someone else, judge yourself first!"
"Drill those words into your ash-filled brain!" Claura roared as she faced the Shiny Haxorus, creating a small spark between the eyes of both of them.
"… Hey, cut it out…" Xavier spoke up while his eyes were close. "You are trying to interrupt my nap, you kno—"
"SHUT UP!" Baromyteus and Claura roared at the Dragonite at the same time, and when they realized that they had just spoken the same words, the Kingdra and the Shiny Haxorus turned their attention to face each other again and was about to start another round of bickering when they heard the sound of the opening door, indicating that someone was entering the Meeting Room.
"Sorry for keeping all of you waiting here…" Anastasia said as she stepped into the room. Just beside her stood another Pokemon, who was none other than the Mega Charizard X, Diego.
"HEY!" Baronmyteus suddenly roared out and pointed his claw at Diego. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY SISTER?!"
"… What?" Diego spoke with his arms crossed.
"Brother, stop it!" Anastasia spoke up. "Diego was just helping me. He didn't do anything else."
"… Fine." Baronmyteus said, but he still pointed his claw at the Mega Charizard X. "But remember my words! There's no way that I am going to let you take my sister away! And if I find out that you—"
"That would never happen." Diego interrupted Baronmyteus' words before turning his attention to outside the Meeting Room. "… Hey, you two can come in now."
Diego then opened the door of the Meeting Room wide, revealing two more figures standing in front of the Meeting Room. One of them was a Type: Null named Sirius while the other one was a Druddigon Gargoyle named Ryugan, who was also the leader of the gargoyles that guarded Pendracomonium and served the Pendragon.
"…" Sirius and Ryugan walked into the Meeting Room. This was when the other members of the Pendragon saw that Sirius and Ryugan were pushing two large wooded boxes into the room too.
"… DONE." Ryugan spoke up as two boxes were pushed to the other end of the Meeting Room. "THIS MISSION HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED, MASTERS."
"Right." Anastasia nodded. "Thank you very much for your assistance, Ryugan."
"You too, Sirius." Diego spoke as he looked at the Type: Null, who was standing beside the boxes that were pushed into the Meeting Room. "Thank you for your help."
"…" Sirius nodded to the Mega Charizard X.
"THEN, I SHALL TAKE MY LEAVE." Ryugan spoke and bowed to everyone. "IF YOU HAVE A NEED OF MY ASSISTANT, PLEASE ALLOW ME TO HELP YOU."
After finished speaking, the Druddigon Gargoyle walked toward the door and exited the Meeting Room, leaving 12 Pokemon, the Pendragon, inside the Meeting Room.
"Then…" Anastasia walked toward two wooden boxes that were brought into the Meeting Room. "Everyone, thank you for your time. The reason why I call all of you here is because I have a special gifts for everyone."
"A special gift?" Zetarus spoke up. "What kind of gift?"
"Teehee…" Anastasia giggled before looking at Diego, and the Mega Charizard X nodded to her before he opened one of the wooden boxes that they brought into the Meeting Room and picked something from inside it.
"Tada!" Anastasia said as Diego presented the object that he had just picked up from the wooden boxes to everyone. "We made a new cloth and armor suits for everyone!"
"A new cloth?" Everyone said as they looked at the object that Diego showed to them. It was a refined cloth that was carefully made by the tailor of the Pendragon, who was none other than Anastasia herself.
"Right." Diego said. "I figured that from now on, we would be in a hard time, so a new protective gear would at least help us live a little longer, and Anastasia is more than happy to help me in the cloth part."
"There, let me give you all of this." Anastasia said as she picked up the cloth and armor suits in the both wooden boxes and gave each of them to all members of the Pendragon except for Sirius.
"Sirius, we are sorry that we didn't make a protective gear for you." Diego spoke to the Type: Null. "It's because Richard told me that the helmet you wore had already limited your speed, and so, we figure that wearing a protective gear would be more of a bane than a boon to you."
"…" Sirius nodded in response to the Mega Charizard X.
"Now, then… Everyone, why don't you change into the new cloth and armor suit that I have just given to you?" Anastasia said. "And then we will see how it turns out."
-Twenty minutes later…
After going back to their own room in order to try their new cloth, all 12 members of the Pendragon were once again assembled in the Meeting Room. The only different thing about each of them was that all of them were in the new cloth made by Anastasia and Diego.
Rachael was now wearing a Kimono, in contrast of her old cloth, a Yukata. The color of her new Kimono was light pink with a pattern of the beautiful blooming five-petaled light pink flowers, which was none other than Cherry Blossom, the flower native to Theocracy of Venturnome. The obi of her Kimono was fuchsia. Rachael's Kimono was crafted using a special kind of silk that resisted the status ailments, meaning that the attacking move that may cause a status ailment will have a lower chance to cause it, and the move that directly causes the status ailment will be more likely to miss when it was used on the wearer of this Kimono.
Freya, on the other hand, was wearing a beautiful long dress. Her dress was, in contrast to Rachael's light pink Kimono, light emerald green. While Freya's dress didn't have any pattern, it was decorated with the sparkling gold powder, making the dress glitter a beautiful golden gleam when the light touched it. Like Rachael's Kimono, Freya's dress was crafted using the same kind of silk, so the effect of status ailment resistance would also apply to her too.
Richard was now wearing a refined cloth consisted of a white shirt and a crystal blue suit. He also wore a dark blue necktie, and the new trousers that the Latios was wearing right now were also the same color as his suit. While his cloth was without any pattern, it gave him a sophisticated appearance, as if he was some sort of an embodiment of the paragon of knowledge. His cloth was, unlike Rachael's and Freya's, didn't make from the special silk. Nevertheless, his cloth still gave him a resistance to the stat reduction, meaning that the attacking move that may cause a stat decreasing will have a lower chance to cause it, and the move that directly lowered the stat will be more likely to miss when it was used on the wearer of this cloth. His cloth, however, won't give any protection to the stat decreasing caused by the move used by the wearer of this cloth themselves.
Snow's cloth was, like Richard's cloth, a simple and pattern-less one. He wore a sophisticated shirt and trousers that's as white as the blanket of snow, his namesake, in contrast of his darkened body. He also had a white handkerchief hanging on his neck like a necktie, and wore a pair of white gloves on each of his fins too, giving him a proper appearance of a butler. Snow's cloth was made from the same material as Richard's cloth, giving the Draconic Lapras the same protective effect as the Latios' cloth.
Zetarus' cloth was almost identical to his original cloth, with a navy vest, a long khaki jacket, black trousers, a black cowboy hat, and a black eyepatch that covered his blind right eye. While they might not seem different from his original cloth, it was actually a complete change from what he used to wear. First, the Garchomp no longer wore a 'cloth' as his new cloth was made from a leather and a bit of Blancer, Noiria and Ground Gem for an increasing in defense and a full immunity to Ground type attack, so Zetarus' new 'cloth' was considered as a light armor suit, not a cloth. This gave him a much more protection than his original cloth, though not as much as the heavy armor suit wore by Xavier, Baromyteus and Diego, but this was actually a boon for him as the heavy armor suit would limit his speed and mobility, which was not good for Zetarus' fighting style, while the light armor suit would give him a decent protection at the small cost of a little speed lowering, making it a great uniform for Zetarus.
Diego's new armor suit was, like Zetarus' cloth, almost identical to his original armor suit, being a flaming red armor suit that consisted of a cuirass, a greave, a pair of gauntlets and a pair of boots. However, all parts of his armor suit were carved to make them look like the burning scales of the fire dragon, and the helmet was also made to look even more like the head of the fire dragon. The major different between both armor suits that Diego owned was that his new armor suit also possessed one part that wasn't present in his old armor suit, the wingguard, which was a pair of red wing armor that was made to look like the wings of the dragon from the fantasy. Overall, if his skin was red, this armor suit would look very much like his own skin when he wore it (But it was impossible as Diego's skin was dark blue as he was a Mega Charizard X). His new armor suit was crafted using the best ores that could be found on the continent of Symmetria, the Blancer and the Noiria, with a mix of Fire Gems to give it a fiery looking and a full immunity to Fire type attack. His armor suit, however, still didn't give as much protection as possible because a full protection would come at the cost of his speed, so Diego had to balance the protection and the speed decreasing that he would get when he wore this armor suit as he was a speedy mixed fighter.
Claura's new armor suit was made in the similar fashion to Diego's armor suit, as while it still looked like her original azure light armor suit, it was noticeable that her new armor suit had a dark blue breastplate in contrast of her old yellow breastplate. The breastplate, as well as the cuirass and the helmet that shaped like the mystic water dragon from the fantasy, were carved in the same manner as Diego's armor suit to make it look like the smooth and sparkling scales of the water dragon, and wearing this armor suit made it look like a part of her own skin. Other than the Blancer and the Noiria that were used to make this light armor suit, some Water Gems were also used not to give a fill immunity to Water type attack, but also allowed Claura to move and live on the land as if she was living in the sea. (Normally, when Claura lived on land, she would breathe using the water condensed from the vapor in the air, which somewhat limited her action as a place with low moisture would cause a discomfort to her, but with this armor suit, Claura would be able to move and live freely on the land.)
Xavier still wore a set of heavy armor suit that consisted of a helmet, a cuirass, a greave, a pair of gauntlets, a pair of boots and a wingguard, all of which were pure white as they were made from the pure Blancer. However, if looked closely, one would notice that his armor suit was, like other's, was carved to make it look like the scales of the white dragon. The helmet was also carved to make it look even more like the real dragon's head. Xavier's new armor suit was made from the pure Blancer with a mixed of Flying Gem, so not only it gave out a full immunity to the Flying type move, it would also give the best protection among the cloths and armor suits wore by the members of the Pendragon, but it came at the cost of drastically lowering his speed, which was not a huge problem for the Dragonite as his fighting style was a defensive one. The only problem caused by this was that it would enable Xavier to use it as an excuse for not moving too much and falling asleep during the action.
While his old armor suit was very sinister and menacing, Baromyteus' new armor suit was even far more ominous than his old one. The heavy armor suit he received from Diego, be a cuirass, a greave, a pair of gauntlets or a pair of boots, was made from the pure Noiria, making it pitch black that no light could ever pass through it. His armor suit was also carved to make it look like the scales of the demonic dragon, and the helmet was made to make it look like a mix of a demon's head and a dragon's head, with a part of demon's horns and a part of dragon's snout. Moreover, this armor suit now had several sharp spikes on it, making it look even more intimidating. While it was a heavy armor suit, Baromyteus' new armor suit was, in fact, quite light as it was made from Noiria and Skarmory's feathers so that it would not only hardly lower Baromyteus' speed when he wore it, but also increase his evasion rate by lowering his opponent's hit rate with the sinister aura emitting from this armor suit when he wore it. However, at the same time, it gave the lower protection than two heavy armor suits wore by the Pendragon (Diego's and Xavier's), as well as Claura's light armor suit (But the material and the ores used to make this armor suit still put it in the category of the heavy armor suit.). But this was hardly a problem as this armor suit contributed very well to Baromyteus' speedy and offensive battle style.
Korben was perhaps the one whose new cloth was most changed from his old one, not counting Anastasia, as before today, Korben's usual cloth was the cloth wore by the dragon of the Hidden Village of Dragon, which consisted of a simple cloth that he wore as his shorts and a headband, meaning that he didn't wear any shirt before. Now, the Kommo-o was wearing a gray armor suit, with the cuirass and greave made from leather, and some parts of it also had several yellow scales of a certain wild Dragon type Pokemon found in the Valley of No Return and the tufts of spiky white feathers at the shoulder pad to give more protection, while the gauntlets and the boots were made from the plain gray leather. Unlike others, Korben's armor suit didn't have any helmet. Instead, Anastasia crated a new headband for him. The new headband was gray (The same color as his armor suit) with the red and yellow stripes, which matched the color of his body. Like Zetarus' and Claura's, Korben's armor suit was considered as a light armor suit as it was made from leather, not ores or metals, so its protection wouldn't be as good as the heavy armor suit wore by Xavier and Diego (But his armor suit still gave a better protection than Baromyteus' armor suit, as well as Claura's and Zetarus'.), but it was actually perfect for him as Korben had never worn any armor suit before in his life, so, wearing the light armor suit would be a great start for him.
"What do you think, everyone?" Anastasia asked as everyone except for Sirius and her were inspecting their new cloth. "Is there any error in the cloth that Diego and I made? I can fix it for you right now."
"WEEEE!" Rachael said as she spun herself while wearing her new kimono. "This one is so pretty! I love its color! And it has a flower pattern too! It's so cute! And I feel so good wearing it!"
"Agreed." Richard said as he carefully inspected his new cloth. "The fabric that was used to make this cloth is top-notch, and the crafting skill of the tailor is exceptional too."
"Me too…" Freya said in agreement with the Lati sibling.
"... It's beautiful yet refine." Snow answered with a plain voice.
"Thanks, everyone." Anastasia said after hearing a feedback from the four Pokemon who wore the cloth made by her. Meanwhile, Diego was inspecting everyone else who wore the armor suit that he made.
"I guess I did a decent job with y'all." Diego said as he looked at the armor suits wore by Claura, Xavier, Baromyteus, Zetarus and Korben. "What do you think?"
"This is great." Claura said. "Wearing this makes me feel much better, to tell the truth, as it produced enough water for me to breath."
"… This is better than I thought…" Baromyteus said.
"Yawn… I will give you a credit for this, Diego…" Xavier answered.
"But… I feel strangely uncomfortable…" Korben said. "I mean, I never wear anything like this before, and I never wear any cloth on the upper part of my body…"
"You will have to get used to it." Diego said. "From now on, your mission would be a dangerous one, and our enemy is much stronger than any wild beast you have fought in that valley of yours, so we need to do anything in order to survive."
"I guess you are right…" Korben said as he looked at the armor suit that he was wearing again. "But... I also feel uncomfortable… Not in the way I said earlier, but in a way that I can't describe…"
"… Diego." Baromyteus said as he turned his attention to the Mega Charizard X. "What kind of scales and leather did you use to make this Kommo-o's armor suit?"
"… Trust me, none of you want to learn about this." Diego said before he just simply turned his attention to the last Pokemon, who was Zetarus. "Anyway, what about you, Zetarus? Do you feel uncomfortable wearing the armor suit for the first time?"
"Yeah." Zetarus answered. "But I don't have any choice, do I?"
"You don't, unless you want to die sooner." Diego answered with a nonchalant voice.
"And… What about you?" Zetarus' voice changed from his usual voice to the voice that concealed something as he started another sentence. "How do you feel in that new armor suit of yours?"
"… It's the armor suit made by myself, so of course I won't have any problem with it." Diego answered.
"Really?" Zetarus said as he slowly stepped toward the Mega Charizard X.
"… What?" Diego said as he could feel an air of unease as the Garchomp approached him.
"Hm… I think you and your armor suit could use a little 'inspection'…" Zetarus licked his lips as he stared at Diego in his new armor suit. "And I would be more than happy to volunteer—"
"Are you all finish yet?" Baromyteus suddenly spoke up to everyone in this room. "Unless you want to spend the entire night in this room, I highly suggest that we should start our meeting right now." "Urg… What a cxxxxxxxxr…" Zetarus mumbled.
"I think that's all, as none of the clothes and armor suits require any adjustment." Anastasia said.
"Good." Baromyteus said as he walked toward the middle of the room before turning around to face the other 11 members of the Pendragon. "Everyone, it has been over one week since the day we found the Pendragon, and our first task of finding our base of operation, the Pendracomonium, had completed. Now, it's time for us to decide on our next objective. I trust that none of you forget the reason why we found the Pendragon in the first place."
"… We found the Pendragon in order to defeat the remaining Hero/ine of Legend from the time of the Fallen Crisis, as a revenge for the pain they had inflicted on us." Claura spoke up.
"That's right." Baromyteus nodded. "As you know, ten Hero/ine of Legend are already dead—"
"Eleven." Zetarus spoke up.
"What?" Baromyteus said as he shifted his attention to the Garchomp.
"Last night, I have already killed Garland Quakersand the Garchomp, the former Hero of Ground type." Zetarus said.
"… Why didn't you tell any of us about this?" Baromyteus asked.
"Because I have no reason to." Zetarus answered. "Plus, while there are some of the new Hero/ine of Legend there, they still have no idea of what we are doing or who we are."
"… Fine." Baromyteus nodded to Zetarus before he continued speaking. "Eleven Hero/ine of Legend from the time of Fallen Crisis are already dead, and only three remain. This is the topic of tonight's meeting. We need to decide the course that we will take, and the next Hero/ine of Legend that will die."
"How many courses do we have?" Diego asked.
"From what I know, one of them should be in the Theocracy of Venturnome, one should be in the Shadowlost Territory, and the location of the last one is still unknown." Baromyteus answered. "And so, we have only two courses to take, to go to Theocracy of Venturnome or to go to Shadowlost Territory."
"The path of light and the path of darkness? Interesting…" Richard spoke up. "I can say that none will be an easy path."
"… I knew almost nothing about the world outside Valley of No Return, so, can you tell more about both places that you mention?" Korben asked.
"First, Theocracy of Venturnome is the land of vast plain and bountiful meadow located in the southernmost area of the continent of Symmetria." Richard explained. "This nation is homed to Fighting type, Psychic type and Fairy type Pokemon, thought Normal type Pokemon is also a common sight in this land too."
"And Shadowlost Territory is the land of dark wasteland, toxic island and haunted zone located in the northernmost area of the continent of Symmetria." Baromyteus spoke up. "Because of its terrain and the fact that this land is shrouded in the eternal darkness, it is a haven for the Dark type, Poison type and Ghost type Pokemon."
"Sound like that Shadowlost one is a harder path between two." Korben commented.
"Precisely." Richard said. "So, let's hear your opinion about our next course, and the path that you would choose, between the path of light and the path of darkness."
"... I would suggest the path of light first." Baromyteus spoke up. "Taking a hard path first gives us a high chance of failure, which would mostly result in our demise, as we are the 'enemies' of the entire world."
"But I think the path of darkness is the one we should take first." Claura spoke up. "After we finish with one path, the Hero/ine of Legend on the other path would already know about us and prepare for our coming, and so, taking the hard course is better than going on the easy course and making the hard course even harder."
"I agree with Claura." Diego spoke up. "Right now, we are an incognito group, and incognito is a powerful tool that we must use to our advantage."
"…I don't understand what you mean, Diego." Zetarus said. "But I'm with you all the way."
"But I agree with Baromyteus." Snow spoke up. "We don't know what we will have to face, so it's better to take it slow and steady."
"M… Me too…" Freya said before she lowered her voice when she spoke the next sentence so no one could hear her. "Beside… Natasha and Largo will be in the Shadowlost Territory right now… I… I don't want to fight them... Not right now…"
"But I prefer the path of darkness, not only because the land of eternal darkness has piqued my curiosity for some time, but also that we actually has a better chance at success by going to Shadowlost Territory first." Richard spoke up. "Like what Claura said. when we finish one path, the Hero/ine of Legend in the other path will be aware of us and prepared for our coming. And so, between taking the hard path and the easy path becomes harder or taking the easy path and the hard path becomes even harder… I think you all can figure out which one is a better choice."
"But the Shadowlost Territory sounds so scary…" Rachael spoke up. "So, I vote for the path of light."
"Well… I am fine with either way… Because… A path that gives me more time to sleep… And a path that gives me more chance to kill… Both sound really nice to me… Yawn…" Xavier said before releasing a yawn from his large mouth.
"… I can't choose" Anastasia shook her head in the manner that she couldn't decide, but for some reason, she looked at her elder brother with a worried look in her eyes.
"…" Sirius said nothing.
"Then, all that's left is you, Korben." Baromyteus spoke up as everyone turned their attention to the Kommo-o, who was the only one who hadn't voiced their opinion yet. "Right now, we have four votes for the path of light, four votes for the path of darkness, and three missed votes. This meant that, if your vote isn't missed, the path you choose will be ours too."
"…" Korben closed his eyes and started thinking for a few second, before he opened his eyes again and revealed his answer.
"… I vote for us walking on the path of darkness." Korben answered.
"… What's your reason for choosing this path?" Baromyteus asked with a nonchalant voice.
"… To be honest, I don't know…" Korben answered. "But… Something in my head told me to walk on this path, as if… Something was beckoning me toward the path of darkness…"
"…" Everyone else said nothing after hearing the words of the Kommo-o.
"I know this sounds really stupid, but—" Korben spoke up again, but his words were interrupted when the Mega Charizard X spoke up first.
"No." Diego spoke up. "There's never a shame in trusting your instinct."
"My… Instinct?" Korben repeated the words he had just heard.
"I think that's what told you to walk the path of darkness." Diego continued speaking. "Among all of us, I can see that you are the one who's the least rely on your own instinct, as you always practice your skill in the battle. That's must be why you couldn't tell what it was when your instinct kicks in."
"I see…" Korben nodded to Diego's words.
"And so, that concludes it all." Claura declared. "The next course that we will take is the path of darkness, and our next destination is the land of eternal darkness, Shadowlost Territory."
"I accept our conclusion." Snow spoke up. "As I mentioned before, I will always agree with our decision and walk on the path that we will take."
"Aww… Shadowlost Territory sounds like a real scary place…" Rachael mumbled. "But I will be fine as long as Onii-chan's with me!"
"… I have a feeling that it will come to this…" Freya spoke up. "But… It will be like this sooner or later, so… I accept this too…"
"…" Unlike everyone else who voted for the path of light, Baromyteus remained silent. He didn't say anything, not even that either he accepted or against the final decision.
"Brother…" Anastasia spoke up with a soft voice as she looked at him with a worried look in her eyes. "Are you alright?"
"…" Baromyteus didn't answer anything to his younger sister.
"What's wrong, Baromyteus?" Rachael asked as she, along with everyone else, turned their attention to the Shiny Haxorus in the black armor suit, who remained silent for quite a few minutes, and it took him a few minutes before he spoke up again.
"… So, it has finally come to this…" Baromyteus spoke with the voice that no one (Except for Anastasia) had heard before. It wasn't his usual dreadful voice, but it was a stricken voice, as if he was forced to do something that he really didn't want to do.
"What do you mean by that?" Zetarus asked.
"… Fine." Baromyteus said before changing his voice back to his usual one. "… The Heroine of Legend that is our target in the Shadowlost Territory… She… She is my first love."
"WHAT?!" Everyone except for Anastasia and Sirius spoke as they heard Baromyteus' words, and all of even except for Anastasia had a shock expression on their faces.
"And so—" Baromyteus was about to continue speaking, but he was interrupted when Zetarus spoke up.
"Wait a minute…" Zetarus spoke up. "Baromyteus, how did someone like you—"
"I don't know." Baromyteus answered. "All I can think of is that she had done so much for both Anastasia and me when everyone else hadn't."
"… Does she know about this, about the love you have for her?" Richard asked.
"No." Baromyteus answered. "Anyway, I can't say that it would be easy for me to make up my mind about this, despite knowing that thing would eventually come to this, but I will work it out. That's what I want you all to know, because one of you is going to notice me being restless as we ventured into the Shadowlost Territory anyway."
"…" Everyone said nothing as they heard Baromyteus' words.
"… Enough about this." Baromyteus said before he regained his usual dreadful voice. "The next target of us, the Pendragon, shall be the current Heroine of Darkness, who resided in the land of darkness, Shadowlost Territory."
"… It won't be an easy journey, going through this land." Richard spoke up. "This land is much different than the rest of Symmetria, and many call it as the most alien nation on the continent of Symmetria, not in the term of its residents, of course."
"What do you mean by 'not in the term of its residents'?" Korben asked.
"… I will explain about this later, because it's not a pleasant story to be heard…" Richard answered.
"But anyway, we need a lot of preparation for this journey." Claura spoke up before turning her attention to her cousin. "Xavier, how many days do you think we need for this preparation?"
"Four days would be enough." Xavier answered.
"Then, four days from now on, we will depart for the Shadowlost Territory. But starting tomorrow, we have a lot to do…" Baromyteus spoke up before turning his attention to Richard and Xavier. "Richard, Xavier, gather as much information about the Shadowlost Territory as possible. We'll need it."
"Understood." Richard replied, while Xavier just let out a nonchalant yawn.
"Then… Snow, Freya…" Baromyteus turned his attention to the Draconic Lapras and the Flygon. "I want you to prepare enough supplies for twelve voracious dragons that will last for a couple days."
"For what?" Claura spoke up.
"For our mouth and stomach during our journey." Baromyteus answered. "Shadowlost's food isn't something you want to eat unless you grow up there, and I won't be surprised if there's someone who'd rather starve than eat it."
"What?!" Everyone except for Anastasia spoke up after hearing Baromyteus' words.
"T… That's right!" Freya spoke up. "I remember that I once heard Ter—I mean, my brother spoke about this before. He said that Shadowlost food is so unique that Larg—I mean, my other brother refused to eat it until Na—I mean, my sister forced him to eat it."
"Hm" Everyone nodded to Freya's words, as they somewhat knew that Freya was born to the father who also had four other children, with Zetarus as one of them.
"Anyway, Snow, Freya, can you do it?" Baromyteus returned the conversation to the main topic.
"As you wish." Snow answered. "We could cook for us as long as we have enough ingredients."
"That's for the next part." Baromyteus turned his attention to Rachael. "Rachael, your task is gathering the ingredients from the Greenhouse for the food cooked by Snow and Freya."
"Of course!" Rachael said. "You can leave that to me!"
"… It would be a lot of work for Rachael to do it alone, so I will help her." Anastasia spoke up. "Is it alright, brother?"
"That's what I was about to ask you to do." Baromyteus answered.
"Yay!" Rachael flew up in joy. "Thank you for your help, Anastasia!"
"I am glad to be a help to you, Rachael." Anastasia replied with a soft voice.
"Next…" Baromyteus continued speaking. "Other than berries, we also need meat… A lot of meat, as many of us are big meat-eaters. This is why we need to assign more than one or two people here."
"You can count me in." Zetarus spoke up. "And Diego too."
"Then you got it, except that Diego won't join the hunting group, because I have another work for him." Baromyteus replied. "But let's leave that for now. Other than Zetarus, I will join the hunting team too. And… Claura, you can come with us if you don't have anything that's more useful to do."
"Hmpt! Fine." Claura grumbled but accepted Baromyteus' command.
"Also…" Baromyteus turned his attention to the member of the Pendragon who remained silent for the whole meeting. "Sirius, I want you to pause your work for now and join us too."
"…" The Type: Null silently nodded to the Shiny Haxorus.
"Great. Then… In conclusion, the hunting team will consist of Zetarus, Claura, Sirius and I, and our work is to hunt as much meat as possible." Baromyteus said before he turned his attention to the Mega Charizard X. "And last… Diego…"
"What do you want me to do?" Diego asked.
"Don't play dumb. I know that you know what I want you to do." Baromyteus said. "Can you do it?"
"So, you won't me to upgrade our weapons?" Diego said. "Sure, I can do it, but not for everyone."
"What do you mean by that?" Korben asked.
"I still couldn't upgrade my own weapon or Zetarus' weapon, because I still don't have a proper material." Diego said. "But I could do it for everyone else."
"What about Sirius' weapon? Can you upgrade it too?" Richard asked.
"Well…I think—Wait…" Diego was about to answer Richard's question when he had just realized something. "Sirius has a weapon?!"
"Of course he does. Well… It's technically not a weapon because he doesn't directly use it to fight, but his 'weapon' is still considered as a weapon." Richard answered.
"Then…" Diego turned his attention to the Type: Null. "Show me your web—Keep your distance away from me, Zetarus, or I'll beat the hell out of you."
"Aww…" Zetarus mumbled in disappointment as he was stopped by Diego before he could do something as he heard Diego said 'Show me your weapon'.
"Sigh… Allow me, Diego." Richard spoke up as he approached Sirius and then reached his paw to the Type: Null's neck, at the spot that wasn't covered by the masked wore by it, and then pulled something from there.
"Here." Richard said as he approached Diego and showed the object in his paw. It was a small piece of black object that seemed like the electronic chip. "According to the report about Sirius, this is Delta Chip, a chip that was implanted into the body of this Pokemon in order to enhance its abilities."
"So… That's what you mean by 'It's technically not a weapon…'." Diego nodded as he received the Delta Chip from the Latios. "However, I know nothing about this thing, so I don't think—"
"That's not a problem." Richard spoke up. "I will convert the detail regarding this chip and gave it to you like the time in the Civilight Sewer, so you would be able to upgrade this thing as well."
"Fine." Diego said. "One more question. You said that this chip was implanted into that Type: Null's body, so, how did you easily remove it with your paw and without causing any pain to it?"
"It's just that I am not an idiot." Richard answered.
"Sigh… I should know this…" Diego mumbled to himself. "Well… Whatever… I guess there won't be a problem upgrading everyone's weapon."
"Great… And… One more thing…" Baromyteus spoke up and turned his attention to the Kommo-o. "Korben, I knew that you know quite a bit about weapons, so, go and help Diego with upgrading the weapon, okay?"
"Okay." Korben nodded.
"Then, I will repeat it again…" Baromyteus said. "During these three days, Richard and Xavier will gather the information about the Shadowlost Territory, Snow and Freya will prepare food, Rachael and Anastasia will harvest the berries, Zetarus, Sirius, Claura and I will hunt the wild Pokemon, and Diego and Korben will upgrade our weapons. Any question?"
"Yes—" Xavier spoke up, but Baromyteus continued speaking before the Dragonite could say anything else.
"No, you can't leave yet, but it won't be much longer." Baromyteus answered. "Anyone else?
"…" No one said anything after the Shiny Haxorus stopped speaking.
"Then… This meeting is over." Baromyteus announced. "Go and get some sleep. We have a lot to do tomorrow, and the days after."
As the meeting was finally over, it was already 22:30, and the members of the Pendragon were preparing to leave the Meeting Room in order to go back to their own private quarter.
"Don't forget to drop your weapon at the Forge. I will finish it before we depart. No, not you, Zetarus. I still can't upgrade your weapon or mine." Diego announced as everyone was about to leave the Meeting Hall.
"Come on…" Zetarus spoke with a disappointed voice. "Why can't you upgrade my weapon yet?"
"Didn't you listen to what I said earlier? I don't have a proper material to upgrade your weapon or mine." Diego answered.
"Fine…" Zetarus said before he suddenly changed the tone of his voice. "Then I guess I'll need to 'upgrade' my other weapon, and the material is Charizard's—"
"I'm leaving." Diego ignored the Garchomp and walked toward the exit of the Meeting Hall.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Zetarus said as he quickly followed the Mega Charizard X. Meanwhile, the four girls were talking with each other.
"That reminds me…" Freya spoke up. "Anastasia, you are the only one who still doesn't have a new uniform. Didn't you make one for yourself?"
"Don't worry about me. I am making the final piece for myself right now." Anastasia said. "But since our next destination is the Shadowlost Territory, I think I will make a little adjustment…"
"Adjustment? Like what?" Rachael asked.
"Teehee! Just wait and see!" Anastasia answered.
"Okay!" Rachael said as she looked around the room. "Wait a minute… Where's Xavier and Snow? I thought I saw them here a second ago."
"Xavier has already left." Claura answered. "He may seem slow and sluggish, but with the chance of going to bed right in front of himself, he would then become faster than everyone else here."
"Snow has already left too." He said that he wants to check the kitchen for the last time before going to bed." Freya answered.
"I see." Rachael said. "And my brother has already left too. He said that he would take Sirius back to its room to ensure that Sirius would be fine without the chip that was implanted into its body for a few nights."
"Oh, that reminds me…" Anastasia spoke up. "Rachael, can you stop at my room for a minute? I'll return the book I borrowed from you."
"Sure!" Rachael said.
"Rachael, can… Can I borrow that book next?" Freya asked.
"Of course!" Rachael said.
The dragonesses continued talking as they left the Meeting Room, leaving only Korben and Baromyteus in the Meeting Room. Korben then was about to leave the room when he was called by the Shiny Haxorus.
"Wait, Korben." Baromyteus spoke up, turning the attention of the Kommo-o to him as the door of the Meeting Room closed after the four dragonesses left.
"Hm? Did you need something, Baromyteus?" Korben said and turned his attention to the Shiny Haxorus in the demonic armor suit.
"I have something to speak with you… Alone." Baromyteus said, with a strong emphasize at the last word he spoke.
"Something… to speak with me alone?" Korben repeated the words he had just heard. "Is it about something that you don't want to speak with everyone else?"
"… No." Baromyteus spoke as his voice gradually turned grim. "It's about something that you should… No, must know… Something that I haven't told you yet, despite that I should have told you sooner…"
"… About what?" Korben asked.
"… The Dragon Masscre." Baromyteus said with a strong voice.
"!" A flashback of the brutal battle that took away everything in his life appeared before Korben's eyes as he heard the words of the Shiny Haxorus. His eyes were widened with fear and his body was trembling with terror.
"W… Why do you want to talk about… that?" Korben tried to control himself and asked another question to the Shiny Haxorus in front of him. "C… Can we talk about this later?"
"No, this is important, and this truth has been waiting to be told for long enough." Baromyteus answered with a gruff voice.
"This truth?! W… What do you mean by that?!" Korben said.
"… I'll keep this short." Baromyteus closed his eyes for a second before he openned them again and continued speaking. "I want to talk about Dimitri."
"D.. Dimitri?!" Korben's voice trembling even more as he heard the name of one of his best friends from the Hidden Village of Dragon, who, like everyone else, perished during the Dragon Massacre. He didn't have a chance to say goodbye to him, as the last time that Korben saw and spoke to him was during the battle preparation. Dimitri was assigned to fight at the front line as he was very strong and old enough, while Korben was assigned to protect his grandfather, Elder Baldr, at the back line, which was also a task that he failed as his grandfather was killed by 'it'.
"That Fraxure was foolish and reckless…" Baromyteus continued speaking with a grim voice. "He followed his father into the enemy's territory without caring for his safety… It was a mistake that he paid with his life as he encountered the… enemy's general, who was killing his father right in front of his eyes."
"W… Wait…" Korben said as he, again, tried to control himself. "But… How could you know this?"
"I was with him. My sister was too." Baromyteus answered. "We rushed into that place together, and when we saw Damos was killed right before our eyes, Dimitri was almost losing his mind, and so do I."
"… And what happened to… that enemy's general that…"
"… He's already dead... by my own paws…" Baromyteus answered.
"I… I see…" Korben said as he lowered his head to remember his friend and his father's friend. "T… Thank you for letting me know this, Baromyteus… At least… The deaths of Damos and Dimitri are avenged…"
"No." Baromyteus spoke up again with a grim voice. "That said enemy's general only killed Damos, but he wasn't the one who killed Dimitri."
"What?" Korben looked at the Shiny Haxorus again after hearing his words. "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean that it was someone else who killed that Fraxure." Baromyteus answered with the same grim voice that he used before. "This is what I really want to tell you right now. I know who killed Dimitri, and that person is still alive, meaning that the death of Dimitri isn't avenged yet."
"T… Then… Please tell me!" Korben said. "Who is the one who kills Dimitri?! Please tell me!"
"… If I tell you, what would you do?" Baromyteus asked.
"I will find them, and if it's in my power, I will avenge his death." Korben answered.
"… That isn't what I expect, coming from you…" Baromyteus mumbled before he continued speaking with the grim voice. "Whatever you say, I will tell you about the one who killed your friend."
After finished speaking, Baromyteus looked right into the eyes of the Kommo-o. Usually, Baromyteus would have a sinister spark in his eyes. However, this time, all that Korben could see in the eyes of the demonic Shiny Haxorus was the spark of madness, bloodlust and insanity, and in the deepest part of his eyes was the image of a Fraxure being impaled right in his chest by the blood-soaked claws of a certain Pokemon.
"W… What's this?!" Korben spoke with his voice being even more trembling, and his body started shaking even more than before. "I… I don't understand what you try to say!"
"Then, I will say it, right now, right here, right in front of you." Baromyteus spoke with a demonic voice. "I, Baromyteus Drawyvern the Shiny Haxorus, am the one who killed Dimitri Drawyvern the Fraxure with my own claws during the Dragon Massacre."
Meanwhile… Somewhere in the world…
"…Good day, sssssisssss…."
"… Good day, brother."
"You know… I didn't expect to ssssssee you here, my sssssssisssssster. Why are you here?"
"… I just want to see our big sister, nothing more."
"I sssssseee… You come here with the ssssssame reasssssson asssssss mine… Anyway, how are you doing, asssssss the priesssstesssst of Newmoon Temple…"
"… There are some people who pay a visit to the sacred Newmoon Temple, and everything goes on smoothly… However…"
" However what?"
"… It's almost 19 years…"
"… And no one issssssss sssssstill able to find 'it'?"
"… Right… And… Our realm is starting to be inflicted by the penalty… And I fear it would turn even worst if we don't recover it soon…"
"But… Having that thing in our land issssss even worssssssse… Don't you remember how much pain and sssssssuffering it brought while we ssssstill have it here?"
"… I could never, my brother. Many decent people have to die just because of the greed within the heart of living creature…"
"And between that and facing the horde of cursssssed creature… Sssssssuch a great choice we do have here for our little realm…"
"…"
"Hm? It ssssssseemsssss that we're finally here, at our ssssssissssster'ssssss room at last…"
"… Let's go…"
"…"
"…"
"Good day, sssssissss…"
"… Why are both of you here?"
"… I heard that you are not feeling well, so I want to pay you a visit."
"Not feeling well? Of course… I would be perfectly fine after hearing a news about the death of my husband…"
"Your husssssssband? You mean the Hero of Jusssssstice?"
"I am not a slutty Pokemon who turns every male Pokemon I meet into my husband, am I?"
"… Sssssisss… What have gotten into you?"
"… Right… I have never seen you act like this before…"
"My sister… I have just said what happened to me, haven't I? The one I truly love, who had disappeared for three whole years after he left for the mission in the inaccessible valley, had just come back as a lifeless corpse… What else do you want me to do? Be a happy-go-lucky Pokemon and dance around the city to celebrate his death?"
"…"
"Also, an extra point for you, my brother… You had once ignored my warning 40 years ago, and it resulted in a terrible fate upon your soul, but 3 years ago, you had done it again, and without ANY reason at all… If only you had just listened to your elder sister… Or if only I just ignored your stubbornness, Rucas might not have to die like this…"
"…"
"… But… sis… Over half of the foreign soldiers that went to the inaccessible valley had returned as the lifeless corpses, with only a few survivors coming back, who were mostly the soldiers of the Republic of Civilight. And we knew almost nothing about what happened in the inaccessible valley 3 years ago because all survivors from the mission at the inaccessible soon died due to the 'wound' they got from their mission. And so… If we sent the soldiers from our nation too, they might face their demise too, and this also included our brother right here too…"
"... While we may don't know anything about what happened in the inaccessible valley 3 years ago, I think I have a VERY good idea about a part of it, including how my husband died…"
"… Tell ussssss what you know, sssssssisssssss…"
"… I have already seen the corpse of my husband, and he got so many wounds on his body… However, I have noticed the marks of his wounds…"
"I have ssssssseen it too… Thossssssse marksssssss are deep, fierce and… unique… in a way that I couldn't desssssscribe. Whoever causssssssed it must have very sssssssharp clawssssss, assssss well asssssss the instinct assssss fierce asssssss a mindless beassssssst…"
"That's not all… Those marks… I have seen it before… And in my entire life, there's only one person who could cause a mark like that… But…"
"… But?"
"That person's already dead since the end of the Fallen Crisis… That's what I thought before I saw the corpse of my husband…"
"What do you mean by that, sssssssissss?"
"It means that he is still alive, and he was the one who's responsible for Rucas' death. And… In the name of the Heroine of Dark type, I swear that I will find him and avenge for Rucas' death. This is the final mercy that I will grant upon his soul, even if he was once one of my closest friends…"
To Be Continued…
Dragon of Vale: Finally… This chapter is finished at last… I am truly sorry for a VERY long hiatus. I started writing this chapter since January, but I wasn't able to make much progress due to my laziness and my busy semester. I don't even have time to check as much as I did before. The hardest part for me was creating a new uniform for everyone (Except for Sirius, who still wore nothing, and Anastasia, whose cloth will be shown in the next chapter.) and in the end, their new clothes aren't much different from their former one, but at least, their new clothes have the improved protection, so they would be able to survive longer.
Anyway, this chapter revealed that the seventh tail will take place in the Shadowlost Territory, and Korben is the main protagonist this time! But… Why Korben? Why would he be the main protagonist in the tail that focuses on the place that he had no connection to? And the name of this tail, Inequity, is completely opposite of what Korben is… But… We'll see…
One more thing… The book mentioned by Rachael and Anastasia in this chapter… It's based on another story of another media in real life. Can you guess what story is that? The answer will be revealed later in the story!
Q&A Session:
Dragon of Vale: As I said before, from this chapter onward, there will be a Q&A session at the end of the chapter, where the main characters from my story will make an appearance. I will answer them one question regarding them, and they will answer it. Also, if I got the question(s) from the readers, I will also ask it here too, with two fan questions per day. In conclusion, there will be one main question from me that everyone needs to answer, and some fan questions, which the character(s) that was/were asked must answer.
Richard: Can we just get this over with?
Dragon of Vale: Fine… So, let's start with this chapter's main question from me. Let's go.
Tail 7-1 - Question: Do you have a crush on anyone? If yes, who?
Answer:
-Korben: Before that… event, I never thought about it, but now… I think… Freya is… kinda cute… And also kind… *Blush*
-Claura: Well… I guess it would be… WHAT?! Did you just ship me with that jerkass Baromyteus?! He's an axxxxxe, cocky, impudent, arrogant, obnoxious dragon! Don't ever dare mention this to me again!Hmpt!
-Xavier: *Nonchalant voice* No, I don't have one. In fact, I don't think anyone would even love a bloodlust monster like me…ZZZ *Snore*
-Anastasia: … The one I have a crush on… is the Lucario who caused the destruction of the Hidden Village of Dragon… The Hero of Justice… And… I don't know if I would be able to love anyone else… *Turn her face away*
-Baromyteus: As I said before, I have a crush on the current Heroine of Dark type, who is our next target. However, she was already married to that bastard whom I had killed… But right now… I start to have a strange feeling toward her… Hm? You want to know who? Dream it, I won't tell you, at least right now…
-Diego: … I once had a crush on a certain Quilava from the Brawl Arena, but after she died, I feel… Wait a minute, why do I tell you this?! Fxxk off!
-Zetarus: Of course! It's Diego!Just wait and see. Diego will finally be mine, and mine alone!
-Rachael: What is 'have a crush on'? *Tilt head and ponder with the innocent eyes*
-Richard: No one. I don't have a time for a... medium thing like this. I still have much knowledge of the world that I seek to obtain, as well as the promise I made to my younger sister. *Continue reading the Chronicle*
-Freya: W… Wha… M… Me?! *Blush* I… I think it's… I… I didn't mean that I am worthy of him! B… But… *Blush very hard* I… It's… K… K… Ko… *Faint*
-Snow: I can't remember much, but I know that… Earlier in my life, I had met one Pokemon, and I fell in love with her in the first moment I saw her… However, I neither met her nor remember anything about her, including her face… And I don't think that I would ever meet her again… *Look into the distance*
-Sirius: … (Dragon of Vale: Sirius doesn't seem to have a crush on anyone)
Question from Ridin Valon: To Rachael: Would you still want to make friends with someone who is rather... unfeeling? For example: He doesn't even care about death and even asks others if dying is scary to them.
-Rachael: Why are you asking something like that! Dying is scary, of course! We never know when will it happen, and then someone we love and care will be gone with no return! And… Unfeeling? I have met some people who seem to be like this before, but deep down, I am sure that they aren't truly like this! Also, I think I have a good instinct when it comes to telling whether the person is good or bad, so… I can't say that I want to be his friend or not until I met him, that's when I will be able to tell whether he's good or not, and if he's good, then absolutely yes!
Question from Parousia45: To Baromyteus and Claura: What will you do if someone made a romance fanfiction about both of you? I'm asking this because a particular Chandelure is currently writing a romance fanfiction about you two.
-Baromyteus: Tsk… Is there anyone with such atrocious mind who would do something like this?
-Claura: WHAT?! YOU DXXXXXS! Don't ship me with that Dragon Jerky! He's an axxxxxe, cocky, impudent, arrogant, obnoxious dragon! Even if he's the last Pokemon left in this world, I would NEVER marry him! NEVER!
-Baromyteus: *Look at Claura* You just repeat what you said about me earlier. Don't you know how to be creative, you Salty Seahourse?
-Claura: *Look at Baromyteus* Oh, really? I think I am really creative at come up with a way to beat up a Dragon Jerky like you, because for someone of your power, there're so many ways to take you down!
-Baromyteus: WHAT?! Are you assuming that I am weak?! I could take out the ten of you at any time! No sweat, even!
-Claura: Me too, without weapon, even, you Dragon Jerky!
-Baromyteus: Salty Seahorse!
-Claura: Dragon Jerky!
-Xavier: *Appear out of nowhere* Sigh… *Look at the screen* Anyway, if you finish that romantic fanfiction about Claura and Baromyteus, get me one copy, okay?
-Baromyteus and Claura: *Quickly turn their faces to Xavier* XAVIER!
-Dragon of Vale: … Yup. I think that's enough mess for this chapter. The remaining questions of Ridin Valon and Parousia45 will be answered in the next chapters and so on. But for now, I have to stop Baromyteus and Claura from fighting each other, so… See ya in the next Q&A!