A Dragon's Tail
Tail 7: Korben's Tail - Inequity
Tail 7-Interlude: White Darkness
Two Pokemon, a Lugia and a Shadow Lugia, walked together along the dark corridor. Everywhere around them was nothing but the darkness. They could neither see how far they have walked, nor how far they have to continue until they see anything that's not a complete darkness.
"…" While they were walking together, the Lugia silently observed the Shadow Lugia beside them, and this action didn't go unnoticed by the one who was observed by them.
"… Interested in me, aren't you?" Lunoire asked as they noticed Solance observing them.
"… I couldn't grasp you and your story." Solance spoke up. "I know that you are a demon lord who rules over the Shadow Pokemon, but what's your origin? I couldn't grasp why someone as powerful as you would suddenly appear at this time, even thought the Shadow Pokemon already exist on this very land for countless year…"
"Hm… To say that I just appeared on this land recently is a misunderstood of my might…" Lunoire said. "I am actually the ancient demon lord who once exists during the ancient time, over a millennium ago."
"… By the 'ancient time' you mentioned, which exact time is your origin?" Solance asked.
"The time of my origin is the time of the crisis known as the Twilight Crisis." Lunoire answered. "Tell me… Have you ever heard about the ancient kingdoms that once existed on the Land of Legend?"
"If you're speaking of the ancient continent of Mytherel, there are four ancient kingdoms that once existed in the said realm." Solance replied. "They are the Earth Kingdom, the Mist Kingdom, the Sky Kingdom and the Phantom Kingdom."
"And how much do you know about them?" Lunoire asked.
"Because I don't possess most of my original memory, all I know about them is what I learnt after I woke up on this world…" Solance answered. "The Earth Kingdom was a powerful kingdom located in the middle of the desert of Mytherel. While the kingdom had come to the end during the Twilight Crisis, the descendants of those who ruled the said kingdom still lives, and they now ruled over the desert nation of Symmetria, Dustorm Empire, and they are none other than the members of Quakersand family."
"And?" Lunoire asked.
"For the Mist Kingdom, it was a serene kingdom located on the snowy land of Mytherel. Like the Earth Kingdom, this place had already come to the end, but the descendants of those who once ruled this kingdom are now the royal family of Symmetria's Queendom of Riverbrine, the Tundrafrost family." Solance explained. "The Phantom Kingdom was a mysterious kingdom located in the dark wasteland of Mytherel. As with other two kingdoms, this kingdom had already come to the end, but the descendants of this kingdom's royal family still exist as the family with a strong tie to Symmetria's Shadowlost Territory, the Illunight family…"
"And what about the last kingdom?" Lunoire continued asking.
"That would be the Sky Kingdom, the floating kingdom in the sky." Solance said. "Unlike the other three kingdoms, this one, while also suffered a great casualty from the Twilight Crisis, survived the Twilight Crisis and existed until the time of the Fallen Crisis, where it served as the realm of the one who ruled over the entire continent of Symmetria during that time. After the Fallen Crisis ended, however, the entire area of the Sky Kingdom fell down onto the earth and became the area of today's Windsky Plateau."
"And what about the fate of Sky Kingdom's royal family?" Lunoire asked.
"The royal family of Sky Kingdom also survives the Twilight Crisis, and during the time of the Fallen Crisis, they ruled the entire continent of Symmetria." Solance answered. "But after the Fallen Crisis ended and the Sky Kingdom fell from the sky, the last king of entire Symmetria divided the continent into seven nations, and he continued ruling over one of seven nations, which is today's Theocracy of Venturnome."
"Excellent. It seems like those who bathed in the sacred light still didn't forget the ancient history, after all…" Lunoire said.
"… I notice that you seem to focus on the Sky Kingdom more than other three kingdoms…" Solance said. "Does it have anything to do with you and your origin?"
"More than you may think." Lunoire said. "For that I am the member of the Sky Kingdom's royal family during the time of the Twilight Crisis."
"You are?" Solance asked.
"I am not surprised that you find my words questionable." Lunoire said. "Even if you travel back through time and observe the royal family of Sky Kingdom from beginning to the end, you wouldn't find me there, because I didn't really exist back then."
"What do you mean by that?" Solance asked.
"Hm… Let's see…" Lunoire started thinking for a bit before they continued speaking. "I am actually not a creature that really exists in this world. I am more like a… consciousness that was given a sentience and awareness. Back then, I didn't exist as a Pokemon, but I existed as a consciousness of one of the members of the Sky family's royal family."
"I… I don't understand that…" Solance said.
"Then… Think of the soul of a living creature…" Lunoire explained. "I am a part of the said soul, about a quarter of the entire soul. In normal condition, I would be nothing more than the dark consciousness of the creature that hosted me, or you could say that I am that creature's id, for that I am the embodiment of everything that's considered negative, such as life instinct and death instinct."
"Then, how could you gain sentience and awareness, as you were just nothing more than a mere conscious?" Solance asked.
"I don't remember." Lunoire answered. "All I know is that, since the first moment I could remember a thing, I've always been trying to take over the body that hosted me, the body of the member of the Sky Kingdom. There were many times that I temporarily succeeded before I was suppressed again, and I used that said time to cause as much damage to the entire world as possible. One of them was killing other members of the Sky Kingdom's royal family, leaving the body that hosted me as the last surviving member of the Sky Kingdom during the time of the Twilight Crisis."
"…" Solance looked at Lunoire with an unreadable look on their face. It's a mix of the look of empathy, disgust, anger and fear.
"… Care to hear the end of my reign during the Twilight Crisis?" Lunoire asked.
"…" Solance silently nodded to the Shadow Lugia.
"… It happened that the body that hosted me, the prince of Sky Kingdom, during the Twilight Crisis turned out to be one of eight Hero/ine of Legend during that time, and thus, he went along with his fellow hero/ine to defeat the 'villain' of the Twilight Crisis." Lunoire continued the story. "In the final moment of their final battle, the said villain, desperate to win over the Hero/ine of Legend, used their trump card by stealing me, the dark consciousness, from the body that hosted me and fusing me with their body. Thus, I was able to reincarnate as a 'real' living creature for the first time. However, I was still defeated by those Hero/ine of Legend, and thus, the villain was sealed within time and space, ending the Twilight Crisis."
"And… What happened to you?" Solance asked.
"Without the body that hosted me, I couldn't exist." Lunoire answered. "Remember when I said that I am a quarter of the entire soul? It requires at least half of the soul to exist as a living creature, but since I am only a quarter of the soul, and the body that once hosted me, the prince of Sky Kingdom, refused to let me return to his body, I ceased to exist. I became nothing but a formless fragment of spirit… I didn't feel, sense or remember anything during that time, as if I was doomed to wander in the world of nothing forever, unable to live, die or reborn… Until some times ago…"
"Some times ago?" Solance repeated the words they just heard.
"Some times ago, as I wandered around the world aimlessly, I encountered another fragment of soul, which is also a quarter of the soul like me. This soul fragment, unlike me, didn't gain any sentience or awareness and remained as a lifeless soul, like a shapless form of cloud in the sky." Lunoire explained. "However, I quickly realized that this fragment of soul is exactly the part of the very same body that once hosted me during the Twilight Crisis, the body of the Sky Kingdom's prince. I don't know the fate of that said sky prince as my memory only ended as I ceased to exist at the end of the Twilight Crisis, and I didn't gain any new memory until I encountered this soul fragment. So, I don't know why a fragment of his soul was wandering the world in the same manner as mine. Nevertheless, I quickly integrated the fragment of soul with mine and reincarnate as the demon lord again, ready to put this world in the terror of my might."
"So… That's your story…" Solance said. "But that means that you are a half of that sky prince that once hosted you…"
"Correct, for that half of his soul is currently mine." Lunoire said. "While my body isn't completely stable due to me only have half of the entire soul, I won't allow anyone to make me suffer the same fate that I suffered before again. Even if the other half of this soul wished to reclaim their other half, they will be the one that will be claimed by me, for that my power has exceeded them!"
"How did you know that your power has already exceeded the other half of the soul?" Solance said. "And… Where is that other half of the soul?"
"Oh? Could it be that you have no idea of what I am talking about?" Lunoire said as they looked at the Lugia with a creepy face. "Or maybe… You're playing dumb…"
"What are you talking about?" Solance asked. "Don't tell me that you're thinking that I am…"
"As you can see, our souls seem to have a connection with each other, for that we sometimes see through each other's perspective." Lunoire said. "And everything about each of us are the opposite of each other, such as our specie, our role, our weapon, and our morality."
"I can see your point…" Solance said. "However, I have no memory of myself before the time I woke up some times ago, so I couldn't confirm or deny your suspicion."
"There's no need to do that…" Lunoire said as they approached Solance before reaching their paw to grab the Lugia's chin and lift it so that the Lugia's looking at them. "You're already mine, so I can do whatever I want with you anytime I want, and no one could stop me, even you…"
"…" Solance said nothing as they gazed at Lunoire's ominous red eyes, as if they were closely inspected by the Shadow Lugia.
"… You're not half-bad for those who bathed in the sacred light, you know?" Lunoire said as they let go of Solance's chin. "Thought I found your desire to protect everyone… disgusting."
"… Lunoire…" Solance spoke up again with a gentle voice. "… Are you capable of… not indulge yourself in the negative emotion?"
"As I said, I am the reincarnation of what you called id, so I basically can't stop indulging myself in the negative emotion." Lunoire replied. "The only thing that could stop me is someone who's the reincarnation of what you called superego, which isn't something that could be found easily in this world. In other words, I'm invincible."
"…" Solance said nothing after hearing the Shadow Lugia's words.
"However, you could try and stop me…" Lunoire said. "And if you succeeded, it would mean that you're the reincarnation of superego, and thus you are the other half of the soul of the Sky Prince who once hosted me."
"… If I turned out to be your other half…" Solance said. "Will you… claimed me as yours?"
"I already did." Lunoire said. "But if you're talking about if I would merge you with me—"
"YOU CAN'T DO THAT…"
"!" Solance and Lunoire quickly looked around, trying to find the source of the mysterious voice that just spoken to them. The voice they heard was deep and loud, with a hint of majesty.
"I WON'T ALLOW IT…"
"!" The Lugia and the Shadow Lugia turned their attention to in front of them. Here, they finally found the source of the voice as they found another Pokemon right in front of them. This Pokemon, however, was a creature that neither Solance nor Lunoire have ever seen before. Their body was entirely black and seemed to be made of black crystal. They had two arms on each side of their body with huge claws on each arm, and their legs were much smaller than their arms. Their eyes, however, had several colors in contrast of their body The appearance of this Pokemon in this realm of nothingness was a surprise to both Solance and Lunoire.
"… Well… Look who we have here…" Lunoire was the first one who spoke up after the mysterious Pokemon appeared. "You couldn't be the foolish Pokemon who trapped both of us in this world, could you?"
"YES. I WAS THE ONE WHO TRAPPED BOTH OF YOU IN MY REALM." The Mysterious Pokemon answered.
"Ah, I've been waiting for you…" Lunoire said as they drew out their trident. "Tell me, how painful do you want your death to be? Thought I won't promise that it would be less or equal to what you desire…"
"Wait a moment, Lunoire." Solance said to the Shadow Lugia before turning their attention to the mysterious Pokemon in front of them. "Before we do anything else, can you tell us who you are?"
"IF YOU WISH TO KNOW ABOUT ME, I WAS ONCE THE SOURCE OF THE LAND OF EQUILIBRIUM'S LIGHT, BEFORE MY LIGHT WAS STOLEN BY THOSE WHO LIVED ON THIS CONTINENT, LEAVING ME IN THIS POWERLESS FORM…" The mysterious Pokemon replied. "…I AM THE WINGS OF RADIANCE. I AM THE LIGHT OF RUINS. I AM THE BLINDING ONE, NECROZMA."
To Be Continued…
Dragon of Vale: Finally, here's the continue of the interlude, following Solance and Lunoire's story. This time, we learn the story of Lunoire, and we finally encounter the one who trapped Solance and Lunoire, who also claims to be the source of Symmetria's light…
This will be the last chapter of 2018. The next chapter will be Paralogue II, which will come out around the middle of February 2019, and after that, the eighth tail will finally begin…
Last, Happy New Year to everyone! I wish that 2019 be a wonderful year to all of you!
Q&A Session:
Tail 7-Interlude – Question: It's a New Year Day. All of you went to the shrine for your first shrine visit. All of you then buy fortune at the shrine. What does it say about your fortune?
Answer:
-Korben: Wow! I got a Great Blessing in… Er… Business? I mean, a Great Blessing is really wonderful… But… What kind of business could it be? I don't see myself doing any business soon…
-Claura: A Small Blessing in marriage? Nonsense. I have no interested in marriage, so this won't do any good for me.
-Xavier: I got a Curse in Dispute. You know what? I am a walking embodiment of dispute, so this doesn't really surprise me…
-Anastasia: ... I got a Future Curse in… Love. That's fine… After all, I will never succeed in love…
-Baromyteus: I got a Curse in Love. Heh… Too late. The one I 'loved' is already death, and she also said that she's not the one I truly love…
-Diego: Hm? A Small Future Blessing? That's nice. It's a small future blessing in… CHILDBIRTH?! EXCUSE ME?! WHAT THE FXXK IS THIS SXXT?!
-Zetarus: Let's see… I got a Blessing in… Marriage?! *Gasp* Could it be?! *Look at Diego*
-Rachael: Wah! I got a Great Curse in… Achieving my desire?! T… This sounds really bad! I… I don't like this…
-Richard: Hm… I got a Great Curse in Learning. Well, I don't really believe in this kind of thing, so I'll just read it and put it away.
-Freya: I… I got a Small Curse in Travel… Hopefully something bad won't happen to us…
-Snow: I got a Future Blessing in… a person that I'm waiting for? That would be nice… If I could remember who I'm waiting for…
-Sirius: ! (Dragon of Vale: Sirius got a Middle Blessing in Health.)
Question from Ridin Valon: To The Pendragon: OH NO! A Shadow escaped from my realm and caused most of you to switch bodies and is on the run! (Rachael with Richard, Diego with Zetarus, Claura with Xavier, Anastasia with Baromyteus, Freya with Korben. Snow and Sirius are normal) What are your reactions?
-Rachael: Wow! I'm in Onii-chan's body! This is so cool! Weeeeee! *Fly around as a Latios* Thought it doesn't feel very different from before, but it's still cool! Weeeeee!
-Richard: Hm… My body was swapped with Rachael's… While it may seem like a bane, this is actually a blessing in disguise! This is a great opportunity to learn about how the body and soul function and respond to each other! I can't wait to make such a great discovery!
-Diego: T… This feels really weird… I feel lighter and more agile than before… But I don't have a paw anymore… Zetarus, how could you live without your paw?
-Zetarus: I… I'm in Diego's body?! *Gasp* T… This is too much! I… I can't stand it anymore! I… I need to find a private place with a mirror, and then I'll 'play' with this body to my heart's content! *Run away*
-Diego: FXXK! HEY! COME BACK HERE, YOU LITTLE SXXT! *Chase after Zetarus*
-Claura: T… This is very weird… It feels really weird to have arms, legs and wings… And why do I feel so sluggish? Don't tell me that Xavier's getting fatter…
-Xavier: Yawn… This limbless body is hard to move. I don't know how could Claura move around in this body. But for me, I'll just lie down here… ZZZ...
-Anastasia: … I feel really hollowed here in my brother's body, but I also feel more agile than before. However… Being in my brother's body made me a bit sad to see what he has to suffer for this whole time, in this cursed body…
-Baromyteus: Er… This body is… a bit gross. It's so slimy and sluggish. I don't mean to criticize you, Anastasia, but still… Being in a normal body once in a while… isn't bad…
-Korben: I… I'm in Freya's body?! T… This is so light… And… *Blush*
-Freya: EEEEEGEGEGEAAAA! *Blush very hard and hid her face with the paws*
-Snow: E… Everyone, please calm down. I'm sure that we could think of a way to return you to your normal body. For now, please stay calm!
*Sirius wasn't here as it was chasing after the Shadow that caused everyone to switch bodies.*
Question from Parousia45: To Baromyteus, Claura, and Diego: Do you still remember the writer who wrote romance fanfic about you (With Zetarus for Diego)? Well, she is currently attending an Anime convention in this world and I have extra tickets for you. Do you want to attend it and meet her? Her name is Carla Brightwick and she's a Chandelure. She has a Hydreigon and an Aegislash as her friends and they're extremely protective of her.
-Baromyteus: Really? Sign me up. I'll just go and see what kind of Pokemon would dare to… pair me with that Salty Seahorse, and if I find it amusing enough, I may end up getting one.
-Claura: Aren't you going to beat them up, Dragon Jerky?
-Baromyteus: Here's some advice from me. Let the fools spread gossip. The rest of us have work to do. Also, a fanfic is always a fanfic. It will never be real.
-Claura: I don't want to say this, but I agree with you. Thought I wouldn't mind going and meet her a bit. I also curious to see what-you-called Anime convention too.
-Diego: Well… I'm quite tired from chasing after those who shipped me with Zetarus, so I'm going to give a pass to this one. Besides, if I go, Zetarus would follow me too, and it would be worse.
-Dragon of Vale: That's… not what I expect, coming from you three… Could it be that you all have reached the state of acceptance?
-Baromyteus, Claura & Diego: Shut up!
-Dragon of Vale: Okay…