A Dragon's Tail
Tail 8: Sirius' Tail - Monstrosity
Tail 8-4: The Light of Venturnome
The next morning…
"So… This what the Venturnome Strait looks like from this side…"
Two Pokemon, a female Flygon and a male Garchomp, stood on a street at a bustling port town located at the westernmost area of Theocracy of Venturnome, gazing at the distant land that was visible across the sea. This location was known as Venturnome Strait, and it served as one of the most important trading zone on the entire continent of Symmetria. Before the War over the Windsky Plateau, Venturnome Strait served as the biggest port town of Theocracy of Venturnome, where ships from all other nations would stop by for trading. After the war, however, the western side of the strait was lost to Dustorm Empire, along with the entire Windsky Plateau. Nevertheless, the strait's importance remained as it now served as the biggest trading hub in the southern Symmetria, especially to Theocracy of Venturnome and to Dustorm Empire. From the street, both Pokemon could see several trading ships, each of them bore the flag of different nation of Symmetria.
"A… And I can see Windsky Plateau from this side too…" Freya said as looked tried to look at the area on the other side of the strait, which had as many trading ships as this side of the strait. "I… I wonder how everyone there was doing. It's been so long since the last time I visited them…"
"Do you want to do it now?" Zetarus asked. "I don't think that damn Hero of Stone would be around such a bustling area like this, so no one would mind if we take a few times for ourselves, not that we would tell them anyway."
"Thanks, brother…" Freya said with a smile as she looked at her brother. "But it's okay. I can always visit them… Once everything is over…"
"Once everything is over, huh…" Zetarus mumbled, which didn't go unnoticed by his sister.
"… Hey, brother, let's go looking around." Freya spoke up with a smile on her face. "This port town has a lot for sightseeing, and since many merchants from all nations are coming here for trading, it will be easy for us to blend ourselves in."
"Fine…" Zetarus said. "Let's go"
-A Few Hours Later…
"Geez… I am beat…" Zetarus mumbled to himself as he walked along the bustling street of the the trading center. He and Freya had been walking around this place for a few hours, looking at various shops that sold exotic goods from various nations of Symmetria. However, they didn't find any clue that would lead them to discover the whereabout of the Hero of Stone. Eventually, both of them separated in order to cover more ground. It had been almost two hours since they separated, and they would soon reunited at their meeting spot. Though there were still half an hour left, the Garchomp was tired from walking around the streets, and he didn't believe that they would find what they wanted here, in a bustling area full of many Pokemon. And so, he decided to give up premediately and went to the meeting spot ahead of time. He almost reached the meeting spot when he spotted something.
"A pub?" Zetarus said as he spotted a pub located not too far from him. "… Now that I think about it, I'm kinda thirsty too. Diego wasn't here with me, so I should stop for a drink or two. I hope that Freya wouldn't mind that."
Thinking that, the Garchomp then opened the door into the pub. The pub itself didn't have many patrons, giving that it was still daytime. There were several tables, but only a few of them had Pokemon sitting there, enjoying their drink. As for the bar…
"!" Zetarus looked at the bar, which was almost empty saved for a bartender who was cleaning a mug, and a customer in a cloak sitting there, enjoying their drink. Without thinking, the Garchomp headed toward the bar and sat right next to the cloaked customer.
"What will you have today?" The bartender asked as he noticed the Garchomp sitting at the bar.
"I'll have what he is having right now." Zetarus said as he signaled toward the cloaked Pokemon sitting next to him, who had noticed him sitting next to him.
"Coming right up." The bartender said as he turned his attention toward a large shelf containing several bottles of various alcoholic beverages, leaving Zetarus and the cloaked figure alone at the bar.
"… I never figure that I would run into you here, of all the places…" Zetarus opened the conversation to the cloaked figure next to him.
"Exactly my thought, Zetarus." The cloaked figure replied. "I hope that you are fine, right?"
"More than I could hope for." Zetarus replied. "And before you asked, she is fine too. Right now she was wandering the streets of this very place, probably enjoy shopping now that her elder brother isn't there to nag at her."
"… Are there only you two here? Or…" The cloaked figure asked.
"Just us." Zetarus replied.
"… I hope that you know what you are doing, Zetarus." The cloaked figured said before he reached his dark blue arm toward the drink and sipped it again. "You are walking a dangerous path."
"And what about you?" Zetarus said, quickly changed the subject. "Why the hell are you even here?!"
"… Nothing that you should worry about." The cloaked figure replied.
"I guess neither of us would talk, huh…" Zetarus said right at when the bartender returned to where they were sitting to serve a glass of beverage to the Garchomp. The bartender then excused himself to serve another customer who just arrived at the bar, leaving the Garchomp and the cloaked figure alone again. Zetarus then grabbed the drink and took a gulp.
"… This tastes like piss." Zetarus said. "How could you drink something like this?"
"Soryl said the exact same thing when he got to try it for the first time." The cloaked figure replied.
"Oh, that fucktoy of yours?" Zetarus said as he slammed the drink onto the bar. "Now that I think about it, he isn't with you today, is he? Normally he would follow you as if he couldn't live without your double dicks up his ass."
"Language, Zetarus." The cloaked figure scolded. "I wouldn't mind much if you speak like that toward me, but it will be a bad influence on Freya."
"You aren't my dad, and even if you are, you wouldn't be sitting here as I would already kill you long time ago." Zetarus said nonchalantly as he took another gulp. "I wonder what level of hell he is in right now. Probably the deepest one…"
"…"
"…"
"… Hey, Zetarus" The cloaked figure spoke up again after a long silence. "After all of this is over, what will you do next?"
"You speak as if you would accept a criminal like me back." Zetarus said. "I get what you are trying to say, but I am a criminal, and you…"
"You do know that most of your so-call 'crime' aren't your fault, right?" The cloaked figure said.
"This again? You should already know that some of my crimes are still from my own doing." Zetarus said. "To name a few, I destroyed Desert Prison and killed all prisoners and guards inside, I crashed your coronation ceremony, I illegally entered and escaped your nation, and I killed the former emperor, the very same one you and I were born to."
"… You do know that the last one doesn't count, right?" The cloaked figured said. "If fates had played differently, I would have ended up doing the same thing that you did."
"Nevertheless, it doesn't erase my crime." Zetarus said, staring at the beverage in his glass. "And more importantly, someone like you wouldn't just pardon a criminal without a proper punishment, would you? Because if you would, you would be nothing different than our father."
"…"
"I can't go back. Not anymore." Zetarus said as he took another gulp. "The moment I was born to carry the Curse of Quakersand, I am destined to live a miserable life. I plan to take it away with me. Let me be the last one, so that no one else will suffer again."
"… You truly are a noble soul, Zetarus." The cloaked figure said. "I can wholeheartly say that I am proud to be your brother."
"Shut your trap." Zetarus said. "We are enemies. We might not fight each other today, but who know? The next time we meet, we might be on the battlefield, facing each other in a battle that we can't run from."
"… I hoped that day would never come…" The cloaked figured said before he signaled the bartender to come here. He then paid for the drink, which was more than twice the price of the drink he had.
"This is also for covering the cost of the drink this gentleman here had…" The cloaked figure said to the bartender while also looked at Zetarus. The bartender nodded before he collected the money and retreated to serve another customer.
"Thanks for having a conversation with me. I have good time here, Zetarus." The cloaked figure said as he stood up.
"… Same here, Terrus." Zetarus said to the cloaked figure as he started walking toward the door and left the pub, leaving Zetarus alone at the bar.
'… I should finish my drink soon. Freya should already be done…' Zetarus thought to himself while he took another gulp of his drink. 'Damn it, Terrus. Couldn't you choose something tasty for a drink?'
-Meanwhile…
It was almost noon when Korben and I walked together on the street of Solar Village. (Korben still kept a noticeable distance from me while we walked.) It was what we were doing for a few hours already, searching for the clues of the whereabout of the Hero of Stone, and it seemed to be the least productive action we had done so far today. Since before the sunrise, Korben had woken up and had spent his time training in the training hall alongside Ridley, who also had woken up early too. (He told us that it was what he did every day, even when his father was still running the dojo.) For me, I woke up a bit later than those two, but was still early enough to catch both of them at training. (Which I didn't join.) After they were done, both of them took a rest before they went to the dining hall of the training dojo to have breakfast. We were just done with the meal with Grimlock, fully donned in the armor suit of the Knight of Yggdrasil, suddenly barged in and asked for Ridley to come with him, which caused Ridley to leave abruptly. Korben and I then, not wanting to burden Ridley too much, did some chores around the dojo for him before we left to explore the village. It was just a few hours later when we got a contact from other members of the Pendragon, so we quickly went back to the dojo to speak with them. (I didn't have a pactbound Dragon Legend, so Korben begrudgely let me into his room so we could talk to everyone in privacy.) From what we heard from everyone else, none of them had found anything useful, and there was something troublesome happening. Yesterday, it seemed that neither of us could contact Diego and Claura, so Baromyteus and Xavier said that they would look into it. And today…
"… My Dragon Legend, Dialga, can't contact my brother's Dragon Legend, Palkia." Anastasia said with a concerning voice. "And he couldn't contact any of Frostic, Diego's Dragon Legend, Vastria, Claura's Dragon Legend, and Zastra, Xavier's Dragon Legend, too."
This raised concern among all of us. Not only just two, but four of us also had gone missing within these past two days. All of us had tried to come up with the explanation of why those four would gone missing, but neither of them seemed to be concrete, except for one…
"… It seems like someone knows who we are, and we are doing, and they try to get in our way." Richard said with a stern voice. "The most likely choice is the Hero of Stone that we were hunting after, but we don't have anything to support this claim."
"Should we retreat back to our base, then?" Rachael asked with a worried voice.
"No. If they knew of we are doing this much, then they would try to ambush us when we approach the portal back to our base."" Richard replied. "Luckily, only those who were blood-bound to the Pendracomonium can use the warp portal, or that's what I heard from Ryugan, so our base should be safe."
"Which means that we must continue with our investigation. This time, we must undercover the one who tries to stop us." Korben said. "Everyone, be on your guard. If what we think is right, then our enemy is far more dangerous than we thought."
After we ended the contact, both of us continued our task of exploring the village, trying to ask around if anyone have seen the Hero of Stone hanging around the village or not, but so far, all we got was some rumors, none of which were concrete enough to be any help for us, or the preaching regarding the Goddess Yggdrasil, which, after everything I had learnt last night, sickened me. Neither of them knew what was going on inside the temple, as well as the core of what they believed in. They all believed that they had to do good deed just so they got to live an eternal life of happiness after they died. Honestly, what was the point of doing that? Why not just enjoy your current life? Why next life? And I still didn't think that next life existed. After all, our lives came from the living creature's life cycle. We were born. We lived. We died. That's all into it. The very thought about life after death was… incomprehensible for me.
"Oh, hello there, Korben." We were suddenly greeted by our friendly Lucario as we explored the village, in which we just realized that we had reached the outskirt of the village already.
"Hi, there, Ridley." Korben greeted back to the Lucario, and I nodded to him in response to his greeting.
"I hope that you are well." Ridley said. "I'm sorry that I had to leave so sudden this morning. I hope that you don't have any inconvenient back at the hotel."
"We should be the one who says that, Ridley." Korben replied. "You have been very hospitable to us. The least we can do is to make ourselves useful and do some chores around the dojo."
"Oh, wow, you did that for me?" Ridley said. "Thanks for that, Korben. That's a big help for me! You see, it was kinda hard to run a dojo on my own while still patrolling the meadow around the village. And with everything that's happening at the Temple of Yggdrasil this morning, I don't have too much free time to do anything at the dojo."
'Everything that's happening at the Temple of Yggdrasil?' I thought as soon as I heard the Lucario's words. He must be talking about…
"Did something happen at the Temple of Yggdrasil?" Korben asked. "Wait, does that have something to do with Grimlock calling you out this morning?"
"Yes. Last night, after the evening chant, the Knights of Yggdrasil found out that there was an intruder entering the inner area of the temple, which strictly prohibited anyone who isn't the Priests of Yggdrasil or the Knights of Yggdrasil for entering due to it being the sacred area of the temple." Ridley replied with a troubled voice. "According to the Knight of Yggdrasil who was on the duty last night, the intruder was found near the storage area of the temple. The knight then gave chased to the intruder, but they were fast and managed to evade the capture. Actually, not only just fast, but the intruder managed to knock out the guards who were stationed at the entrance of the hallway to the storage. The attack was so fast and sudden that neither of the guards remembered what the intruder looks like, or even what specie he is."
'So… That's what was happening…' I thought after hearing Ridley's words. 'Heh… It seemed like they avoid using the word 'underground'. They most likely don't want anyone to know about the temple's underground and its horrible secret.'
"Have they caught the intruder yet?" Korben asked.
"Not yet." Ridley said. "After the knight discovered the injured guards, they immediately ordered a lockdown onto the entire inner temple, and they have been searching the inner temple for the intruder until even now."
"Until even now? So the intruder wasn't caught yet…" Korben said with a thinking look on his face. "Is the inner temple really big?"
"I don't know the detail, but Eva said that it was easy to get lose inside the inner temple if you aren't used to it…" Ridley replied, which I agreed with his statement. After all, it took so much time for me to fully explore it that, by the time I reached the underground, the evening chant was already over. "Still, It was over twelve hours since the intruder was spotted, and the temple has no shortage of the knight..."
'What Ridley tried to say is that, it's weird that the knight still haven't found the intruder yet…' I thought, trying to analyze the information I received. 'Then, it's very likely that the intruder had already escaped via the evacuation tunnel, which the knight probably overlooked since I could escape via that path easily last night…'
"…" Korben said nothing after hearing Ridley's words, but he seemed to be thinking of something.
"And that was why Grimlock called me this morning, as he needs my help." Ridley said. "He suspected that the intruder who was skilled enough to ambush the guards without being seen might already escape from the inner temple, but the knights are preoccupied with the search of the inner temple. Even Eva and Archbishop Zira were very busy right now. So, he asked me to scout the Venturnome Meadow around Solar Village, to see if there's any suspicious Pokemon nearby or not."
"I see…" Korben said. "… You are really a trusting Pokemon, aren't you? You just told me information that is normally strictly confidential."
"I trust you, Korben." Ridley replied with a smile on his face. "Though I haven't spent a lot of time with you, I can see that you aren't a bad person. That's all."
"…" Korben said nothing in response.
"Well, I have already scouted the outskirt of the village, but I didn't find any suspicious Pokemon, except for a few shadow Pokemon, of course." Ridley continued speaking. "But all Temple of Yggdrasil in this land has a protective ward to prevent shadow Pokemon from entering it, so they couldn't be the intruder…"
"I see…" Korben said.
"Still, I couldn't shake off a bad feeling I have…" Ridley said with a troubled face. "And this can't be a good thing."
"What do you mean by that?" Korben asked.
"It might be a power of aura that we Lucario has that allowed me to sense when something bad is about to happen…" Ridley replied. "This is the fifth time that it happened. The first two time were three years ago. Remember when the sky turned dark due to the solar eclipse?"
"… Yes." Korben replied, trying to hide the feeling he had toward the Lucario's words.
"Yeah. The first time was just a bit before the solar eclipse happened, and soon enough, our late Pontifex Hawkins was discovered death in the middle of Dustorm Desert." Ridley said. "And the second time was right when the solar eclipse occurred. Soon after that, we discovered that the Venturnome Troops sent for an expedition were all killed, including my own father."
"… I am sorry to hear that." Korben said.
"It's okay, Korben." Ridley said with a faint smile on his face. "The third times was just a month ago, and we found out that the latex Pontifex Hawkins' wife, Archsage Iris, was killed due to an unknown circumstance."
"I see…" Korben said. "If right now is the fifth time, then what about the fourth time?"
"The fourth time was just last week." Ridley replied. "I was starting to get worried that the bad sense happened more frequency than before. However, nothing happened since the last time I got a bad sense, so maybe it was just a coincidence that I got a bad feeling and something bad really happened."
"… I see…" Korben said, clearly visibly thinking about something, which I thought I knew what he was thinking about. When speaking of something that happened just last week, all we could think of was our showdown at the Newmoon Temple, when the former Heroine of Dark type, Fenrir Sr., met her demise at the hand of her own brother, and we were there to witness it. Since Fenrir Sr. was Ridley's mother, then it made sense why Ridley felt a disturbance last week, even though he still hadn't learned of his mother's death yet.
'That Lucario… I thought he was an idiot for blindly trust us, but his sense is really sharp…' I thought to myself. 'After all, he had correctly sensed the death of Pontifex Hawkins, his own father, Archsage Iris, and his own mother so far…'
"… Wait a minute…" I quickly realized about something. "The four Pokemon that Ridley could sense their demise… Pontifex Hawkins… His own father, Rucas the Hero of Justice… Archsage Iris… And his own mother, Fenrir the Master of Mercy… Don't all of them have something in common? They all are—"
"… Ridley." Korben suddenly spoke up with a serious voice. "Are they any place inside the inner temple that's even more strictly forbidden anyone from entering?"
"Hm? Yeah. Grimlock told me about a few of them…" Ridley replied. "Let's see… The storage room where they stored the offering is strictly prohibited unless high-rank priests allow it. The private quarter of everyone is also strictly privatized by their owner, of course, especially those owned by the higher-rank members of the temple. Grimlock also told me that the inner temple actually had an underground, but he refused to tell me more about it—"
"Ridley, this is bad." Korben spoke up abruptly. "The four Pokemon who died after you got a bad sense all have something in common. All of them were the Hero/ine of Legend who saved the world from the Fallen Crisis."
"What?!" Ridley said before he realized something. "Wait a minute, four? But no one died after I felt the fourth bad sense last week, so—"
"And now you feel it for the fifth time, meaning that another of the Hero/ine of Legend might die!" Korben said. "Only two of them remained, which means one of them might die soon!"
"Two? But I thought three of them were still alive. Archbishop Zira, my mom, and—" Ridley tried to say something again, but he was, again, cut off by the Kommo-o.
"And the reason why the inner temple's intruder wasn't found yet wasn't because they already escaped. It was because they were still hiding somewhere inside the temple, somewhere that was forbiddened most but very few Pokemon from entering!"
'!' Korben was right. This possibility still existed. Damn it! I was so preoccupied by the fact that the evacuation tunnel existed that I thought for sure that the intruder already used it to escape. That caused me to neglect another possibilities! Meanwhile, Korben didn't know about the evacuation tunnel, so he managed to come up with another possibility that I failed to do so!
"But that's impossible!" Ridley said, this time with a louder voice so Korben wouldn't interrupted him again. "Grimlock told me that they already checked the storage room and the underground, but they didn't find anyone inside. The private quarters were already checked by the owner of each room, but neither of them find any intruder in their room."
"T… That…" Korben struggled to find the explanation for Ridley's statement. "But still! With the bad sense you have. The intruder entering the inner temple. And the possible place where the intruder might be hidden. Can't you see what I am trying to say?!"
'!' That's right! The bad sense Ridley had pointed out that another of the Hero/ine of Legend would die soon. Only two of them were still alive. However, when coupled with the fact that there was an intruder sneaking into the inner temple of the Temple of Yggdrasil, and the private quarters of the high-rank members of the temple weren't properly investigated. All of this led me to a conclusion, the one I was very sure that Korben had arrived to too.
'Archbishop Zira… She's in danger!'
-Meanwhile, at the inner temple of Solar Village's Temple of Yggdrasil
"Thank you for your hard work, Archbishop!" The Knight of Yggdrasil, standing in front of the entrance to Zira's private quarter, saluted to the temple's archbishop, who was standing in her own room. "May the goddess bless your most noble heart!"
"Thank you." Zira replied with a calm voice. "May the goddess protect you from harms too."
After both of them finished exchanging their words, the Knight of Yggdrasil closed the door of Zira's room and left, leaving Zira alone in her own room.
"…" Zira sat alone and closed her eyes for a few minutes while listening to the sound of the knight stepping away. Once she made sure that the knight had truly gone, and there was no one else outside her room, she spoke up again without opening her eyes.
"When they told me that there's an intruder to our sacred temple, I never expect it to be you, of all Pokemon."
Zira's words echoed into her room for a few minutes, before another sound was heard. This time, it was the sound of closet door opening, following by a rather loud thump of someone stepping out of it.
"How did you know that I am here?"
"The goddess informed me of your arrival." Zira replied. "And from what I heard from the knights, they told me that the so-called intruder was entering the inner temple via the evacuation tunnel, which they found an evidence of recent use."
"…"
"Only high-rank priests and selecting few know about the evacuation tunnel." Zira continued speaking. "I don't know about everyone else, but for me, the only one I had told of the existence of the evacuation tunnel were my comrades during the Fallen Crisis, and my children, Grimlock and Eva. Grimlock and Eva had no reason to 'intrude' the inner temple since both of them could easily access the inner temple already, which left my comrades, the Hero/ine of Legend who saved the world from the Fallen Crisis. Among 14, only 2 are still alive. One was me, and another one…"
"… And how did you know that Fenrir is already dead?"
"The goddess informed me, of course." Zira replied. "Since when I learnt of Rucas' death, Fenrir and I have been exchanging letters every day since then. After all, Rucas was her wife and my brother, even though we aren't related by blood. However, her letter suddenly stopped coming since last week, which means something must happen to her. And considering that, other than Sharon, most of us… Joshua, Kamui, Ellisk, Magnus, Nyxier, Leonel, Hawkins, Rucas, Iris, and Garland… One by one, they had died since three years ago until now, I couldn't help but think of the worst case."
"… Rucas taught you well, Zira"
"Rucas has nothing to do with this. It was the goddess' blessing that allows me to see through all of it." Zira said as she finally opened her eyes. "So, why are you here? What business do you have with me to the point that you have lowered yourself to become an 'intruder'?"
"… Something is happening to all of us, Zira. I have been monitoring each of us since after I noticed Nyxier acting strange. And I found out that each of us, not counting Sharon, had been acting strange before we died. Joshua became a mad swordman who only lived to kill. Kamui became an experiment specie inside a lab, where his body was modified to the point that most of his flesh was gone by the time he died. Ellisk started serving the Civilight government, the very same one that he initially opposed to. Magnus became a sea monster with barely a shed of his former self. Nyxier and Garland had became tyrants to their respective kingdom. Leonel was possessed by the so-called god of volcano. Fenrir… She was consumed by pure madness during the last moment of her lives. Iris… She suddenly disappeared, only to come back as a corpse, with no one knows what happened to her. And Hawkins…"
"…" Zira silently listened to the voice she heard, without turning back to look at the owner of the voice.
"And now, someone is hunting after us. I encountered two of them just a few days ago. They were a Kingdra and a Mega Charizard X. The look in their eyes, especially those of the Kingdra, were the look of someone who was really out there to kill me, and I barely escaped from them. After all, I can't die yet, not until I finish what I aim to do."
"…"
"During the battle, they let it slip that they were hunting after the Hero/ine of Legend. I don't know if they were talking about just our generation or our child's generation, but considering that neither of our children had died yet, and only those of our generation had died so far, I conclude that they must be hunting after us only. They might be responsible for the death of some of us, even. And now, only two of us remains, you and me, so they must be coming after us."
"I see…" Zira spoke up. "So, since you were talking about us being hunted, I assume that you are here to talk about what we should do… Or maybe you are here to protect me? That's unnecessary. After all, the goddess will protect me."
"No. You are wrong, Zira. I am not here to protect you. I am here to kill you, just like them. After all, your time of redemption has come."
"… You are never someone who would make a joke, but this one is really absurd." Zira said, without a hint of fear, anger, or sadness in her voice. "Have I done anything that offended you to the point that you would try to end my life? Because I couldn't fathom the reason why you would seek to end my life."
"I can assure you that I am being as serious as I can be, Zira. And as for why… I already told you."
"… I see how it is…" Zira said, this time with a hint of disappointment in her voice. "You said that each of us has been acting strange before we die. So, this is what happen to you. The madness has consumed you to the point that you would go after your own friends, the one who fought side by side with you to save the world."
"Perhaps you are right. After all, I was responsible for the death of at least two of us. Hawkins… And Nyxier."
"To even kill your own wife, the one that you truly love. You are truly despicable" Zira said with a hint of disgust in her voice. "You are someone whom the goddess would never grant you salvation. The very fact that you are standing right here, within her sacred ground, is already a great sin that will weight on your soul for eternity. But to think that you would go this far…"
"… Nyxier… She had become a tyrant who sought after her own happiness at the cost of everyone else's suffering. If there's one thing I hate more than anything, it's those who feeds on the suffering of others just for their own happiness. Both Nyxier and Garland, and even my father, are like that, and I had to put an end to both of them. And now, Zira, you are nothing different from them, which is why I have to put an end to you."
"… I don't understand what you are trying to say." Zira said with a sad voice. "In fact, I don't even understand all the reasons why someone would kill someone else, and to be honest, I never want to."
"… I had a hope that you would be different from all of us, that you wouldn't be corrupted. However, after I heard about the dark secret this very place harbored, and that you know about all of it yet still let it happen regardless just so in the name of your so-called goddess... Zira, you are as corrupted as before."
"Everything I did was according to the goddess' will! If the goddess will it, then I would be more than happy to enact her will!" Zira said, this time with a clear angry voice. "I have lost so much in my life! My husband and son were taken away right when I was forced to escape from Gamma City! Though my son safely returned, my husband had gone forever! Moreover, my brother had gone to serve our very nation on a very noble mission, but he was brutally killed too! I can't take it anymore! If it isn't for the goddess, I would never found the salvation! And you! You can't just go in and insult the very thing that shaped my entire existence!"
"…"
"And even if I never found solace within the goddess' salvation, you would still try to kill me!" Zira continued speaking with angry voice as she turned back, facing the Pokemon who had been standing behind her all these time. "After all, what is even your reason for killing Hawkins? We didn't see any strange thing happening to him before, and yet you killed him regardless!"
"… You are right. Hawkins hadn't shown any sight of corruption before I killed him. However, sooner or later, he would have shown the sight of corruption. It happened to all of us, except for Sharon, who died before any of us do. In Hawkins' case, it's far more dangerous than most of us. After all, he was the pontifex of one of the most powerful nations on this land. You have seen what happened to Garland, right? His madness brought upon the suffering of countless Pokemon. I won't let the history repeat itself, which is why I had to kill Hawkins beforehands."
"Now you are just trying to justify your stupid reason for killing someone!" Zira said. "You aren't different than any of them! You are the same as all the 'corrupted' Pokemon you mentioned! You are the same as your own father!"
"Do. Not. Compare. Me. To. That. Pokemon."
"And what are you going to do?" Zira said with a defiant voice. "After all, you are already here to kill me. I know that I am weak, and you are strong. Too bad that your strength is lost on someone like you! I can't help but pity you that the goddess would never smile upon you."
"… Heh… Now I can't help but pity you, Zira. Still as naïve as ever…"
"W… What are you talking about?" Zira asked.
"If only you could see what is happening to the very same Pokemon you and everyone in this nation called 'goddess'… Right now, she's… Well, let's just say that someone in a state like that wouldn't be able to be any help to any of you, let alone granting the 'blessing' and 'salvation'."
"L… Lie! You are lying!" Zira said with a shaking voice. "You don't even know anything about the goddess! Meanwhile, I am her most faithful servant! How could someone like you know something about her when I don't?!"
"Why don't you go asking the 'goddess' herself? Right after I am done killing you!"
"D… Do your worst!" Zira said as she grabbed her staff. "Even though I am weak, I wouldn't go down without a fight, and even if I die, the goddess would be there to grant me salvation, while you will be burnt in hell for eternity! May goddess punish your corrupted soul thousandfold of the suffering that all of us had endured because of you!"
-Meanwhile…
"WHAT?! Are you sure that you are certain about this, Ridley?!"
It was just a few minutes ago when Ridley, Korben, and I had arrived at the entrance of the Temple of Yggdrasil after having to run all the way from the outskirt of the village. We wasted no time and entered the temple and arrived at the main hall, which was still pretty busy despite not being the time for any ceremony. However, we also encountered Grimlock and Eva having conversation with each others there. It took us a few minutes to catch our breath and to explain everything to both of them. After all, none of Ridley, Korben, and I could enter the inner temple, so we would need a help from someone inside the temple, and both of them deserved to know about the danger that was creeping toward their own mother.
"Yes! That's what my sense and Korben's deduction have come to a conclusion!" Ridley said with a restless voice. "Archbishop Zira is in danger, and we need to reach her before we're too late!"
"If what you said is true, then this is very serious." Grimlock said. "However, trusting your own sense and a stranger's deduction to foresee the possible danger… That is hardly something that anyone would believe, Ridley."
"But—" Ridley was about to speak up, but he was cut off by the Aggron again.
"But, I am not 'anyone'. I am your friend, Ridley." Grimlock said. "And so, I'll believe in your words."
"B… Beside, it wouldn't hurt to check up on mom…" Eva said, agreeing with her elder brother.
"So…" Ridley said while looking at the siblings.
"Let's go, Ridley, before the worst happens." Grimlocked said to the Lucario before he turned his attention to Korben. "Though you are merely a stranger to me, you should come too."
"Thanks, Grimlock" Korben said.
"And you…" Grimlock turned his attention to me, which caused me to flince a bit, though I tried my best not to show it. He stared at me for a few seconds, as if he's trying to judge my character, before he spoke up again. "… Never mind that. You can come too."
After earning the approval from Grimlock, the five of us quickly ran across the temple's main hall and entered the inner temple, with Eva and Grimlock leading us, while I stayed behind everyone else.
"… Is it normal that the inner temple has so few knights guarding it?" Ridley asked as we navigated through the corridors of the inner temple.
"The Knights of Yggdrasil just came to a conclusion that the intruder had already escaped via the evacuation tunnel underground, since they found the trace of the tunnel being used recently." Grimlock answered. "And so, the knights mobilized their force into the meadow, hoping to hunt the intruder at any cost. So, only just a few of them such as myself still remain at the temple."
"What?!" Ridley cried out after hearing Grimlock's words. "Oh, no…"
'Oh, no, indeed…' I thought as we finally reached the private quarter zone, which Archbishop Zira's private quarter was located at the end of the corridor. 'If the intruder is really after Archbishop Zira, then this would be a perfect time for them to strike. And if the conclusion we got is right, then…' I looked at the door to Archbishop Zira's room, in which Grimlock wasted no time opening it very forcefully.
'… We're too late.'
The room was messy. Many furniture was destroyed. The wall cracked. Paper scattered everywhere. This very sight clearly told a story of someone fighting in this very room. But all of these couldn't compared to the very thing that immediately caught everyone's attention as soon as Grimlock opened the door of the room. Right in the middle of the room was a Pokemon, or more accurately, an Eevee, the one that looked much older than Eva, and the very same one that Korben and I had just encountered yesterday. Back then, she was alive and well. But now, she was… the complete opposite of that. Her body lied on the floor, not moving at all. There were many wounds and bruises on her body. Her fur was messy and dyed red with the crimson liquid that was pooling underneath her, the very same liquid that was seeping out of the wounds on her body right now. Just one glance at her body told everyone what they needed to know…
There was no life remaining within her body. She was already dead.
"MOTHER!"
The first Pokemon who broke the ominous silent that consumed the whole room since the door was opened was Eva, who quickly ran toward the corpse that was once her mother. The young Eevee then reached out to the deceased older Eevee and hugged her while crying, tear rolling down from her eyes like a stream of water. "MOTHER! NO! PLEASE! OPEN YOUR EYES! PLEASE! TELL ME THAT YOU ARE STILL ALIVE! MOTHER!"
"Damn it… DAMN IT ALL!" The second Pokemon who reacted was the Aggron, who roared out in great anger, following by the sound of a loud thump and the room shaking a bit as the Aggron entered the room and delivered a punch to the wall, as if he was trying to stop the anger and sadness that was dwelling within his body. Despite being the older of Zira's child, Grimlock couldn't help but shed tears through his eyes.
"No… It couldn't be…" Ridley was the next one who reacted, albeit still in a shock. The Lucario's eyes were widen as he fell down onto the floor. His legs were unable to support the emotion he was having right now after witnessing the death in front of him.
The last one who reacted was Korben, who simply lowered his head, hiding his sight from everyone, without saying anything. His reaction was mild, but it was more than enough for me to tell that Korben was also experiencing the negative emotion right now, though I couldn't pinpoint exactly what emotion he was feeling right now. Was it anger? Sadness? Shock? I couldn't tell. After all, both he and I should be happy that Archbishop Zira was already dead. She was one of 14 Hero/ine of Legend who saved the world from the Fallen Crisis, the very same group who gradually fell into corruption and eventually met their demise. It was the Pendragon's goal to put an end to them, to their corruption. And Zira… She seemed nice and kind outside, yet I had learnt of her terrible secret inside this very temple, that she wasn't as much of a good Pokemon as we initially thought. And now, she was dead, right in front of us. We should be happy, right?
Then why? Why I can't sense any happiness coming out of Korben?
And why? Why can't I feel any happiness dwelling from my own body?
"…" I looked around the room. Eva were crying over Zira's corpse. Grimlock was still facing the wall. Ridley was in a shock. And Korben didn't move or say anything at all. It was clear that none of them was in a right mind right now, which was completely understandable. In fact, I wasn't really in a completely right mind right now too, but I knew all too well that this wasn't the time to be sad, and mourning Zira's death wouldn't do any good, especially by someone like me, a monster who wasn't even sure if it was a living creature or not. Instead, I should make myself useful. After all, this was the least that someone like me could do.
First, I approached Zira's corpse and tried to inspect it, without alerting Eva, who were still hugging the corpse and wouldn't let it go soon. The corpse was still warm, meaning that her death was very recent, most likely that not even half an hour had passed since she died.
'Half an hour ago… Back then, Ridley, Korben, and I were still at the outskirt of the village…'
Next, I inspected her body, which was covered with many wounds and bruises. The bruises on her body told the fact that she was hit many times by some sort of blunt weapon, probably a pretty large one since each bruise was pretty large, around the size of a football. Her wounds, on the other hands, were deep cut, most likely being inflicted by a very sharp weapon. One thing I noticed from her wound was that each cut wasn't just a single straight line. Instead, each cut were in two straight line in parallel of each other.
'The wounds… It seems like they were inflicted by weapon with two prongs…'
That should be enough for the corpse. I was about to turn my attention away from Zira's corpse when I noticed something sparkle just next to it. As I approached it, I realize that it was none other than small brown scales, which was pretty much the very same kind as the scale I found just outside of the evacuation tunnel last night.
'Dragon scale again… And the same kind too… This pretty much proved that the intruder last night and the one who killed Archbishop Zira was the same Pokemon…'
Next thing to investigate was the room. This room was very messy. The furniture was destroyed. The wall cracks. The paper scattered everywhere. This clearly told me that there was a battle happening in this very room. It seemed like Zira and her killer battled before she was killed, which was probably why her body was covered by a lot of bruises and wounds. I also found several dragon scales scattering around the room, most likely were dropped when the killer was battling Zira. One notable thing about the state of her room was that the door to the closet was left open, and when I inspected it, I found that the inside of it was large enough for a large-size Pokemon to enter. This, coupled with Korben's theory that the intruder might hide in this room after he evaded the knight's capture last night, told me that the intruder really hid in this closet. And when it was the right time, they emerged from the closet and killed Zira.
'This should be enough for the room.' I thought as I tried to look around. 'Now, where should I investigate next? Hm… If I am the intruder, after killing Zira, what would I do next? I would probably escape as soon as I could. The normal exits of the inner temple led to the main hall, where many Pokemon were at. The inner temple also had several exits that would lead to outside of the temple without having to pass through the main hall. However, considering how bloody Zira's corpse is, the killer's body must be covered with blood too, which would be too easy to be noticed by a lot of Pokemon coming to the temple. This left just one possibility…'
Trying not to alert anyone, I slipped out of the room and navigated through the inner temple's corridor once again. Luckily, the inner temple was empty of the Knights of Yggdrasil, and there weren't many priests in the inner temple right now, so I was able to reach the stairway to the underground easily. I continued navigating the dark corridor of the underground until I reached the very same path I used to escape the temple yesterday, the evacuation tunnel. Strange enough, there was no guard stationed around the evacuation tunnel despite that the knight had come to the conclusion that intruder from last night had already escaped via this path. Nevertheless, it allowed me to freely investigate it. It took me just a few minutes to get all the clues available there.
'As I thought… The evacuation tunnel showed another sign of recent use, far more recent than last night, when I used it.' I started trying to analyze all the clues I got as I walked back to Zira's room. "So, the general idea of what happened is that, the killer entered the inner temple via the evacuation tunnel last night. The knight spotted them and chased after them. The killer managed to evade the guard and then hid in Zira's room, while the knights were searching the inner temple. After waiting there for several hours, the knights gave up on the search of the temple and left the temple, believing that the intruder already escaped. The killer, then, after making sure that the knights were gone, left the closet, battled Zira, and killed her. Then, before we arrive, the killer had already managed to escape via the evacuation tunnel. They were most likely still lurking in the outskirt area of the village since the Knights of Yggdrasil were searching the Venturnome Meadow right now, but it was still very hard to catch the killer right now."
I managed to reach Zira's room again, and I found that the situation inside the room was changed a bit. Eva no longer hugged her mom's corpse. She was instead hugging her elder brother, who were also hugging his younger sister too. However, both of them were still crying, mourning the sudden departure of their mother. Moreover, Eva's body was also glowing with a warm aura surrounding her body. The same aura was also surrounding Zira's body, which gradually transferring from mother's body to daughter's body.
'I have seen this before. This means the title of the Heroine of Normal type has transferred from Zira to Eva…'
Ridley were standing next to Grimlock and Zira, and he was doing his best to console both Grimlock and Zira. Korben, on the other hand, was still standing just outside the room. It seemed like he, unlike everyone else, hadn't entered the room yet. Instead, he was looking at the dragon scales around the room while having a thinking look on his face.
'… Korben probably realized it too, that the killer must be a Dragon type Pokemon.' I thought. 'However, none of us Pendragon has brown scales, so the killer is probably none of us. But then, who are they? Are they just some intruder whom Zira accidently encountered when she opened the closet of her room? Or are they someone who plans to kill Zira from the start? Also, there were still mysteries behind this murder. How did the killer know about the evacuation tunnel since only high-rank members of the temple know about it? Why did the killer use two weapons, one blunt and one sharp, to battle and kill Zira? And most importantly…'
'Why did they have to kill Zira?'
-Meanwhile… Somewhere…
"… This world is but a stage, and every living creature is but an actor…"
Inside the planetarium was the projection of the night sky full of countless glittering stars, some of which formed into constellations. The most notable stars on the sky were a group of eighteen brightest stars, which were located not too far from the zenith point of the sky. Other than that, there were two stars that were as bright as the eighteen stars near the zenith point, both which were located further away from the zenith point. Another notable spots on the starry sky were ten spots where, instead of the star, there were an area void of light located instead. Right in the middle of the planetarium was a single being, standing right below the zenith point of the sky.
"?"
Suddenly, one of two bright star further away from the zenith point suddenly fell from the sky before losing its light, and one of eighteen brightest stars was glowing brighter just for a single moment before it rejoined the other brightest stars.
"Ah… Another bright star of old has fallen, meaning that they have come to the end of their role, and the new bright star has now inherited the light from their predecessor…"
The being then looked at the last bright star located further away from other brightest stars. "Which means, only one last bright star of old remain… But I wonder… Is that the bright star? Or is that the void in the sky? The similarity between two is… uncanny…"
The being then shifted their attention back to the eighteen brightest stars. "The Star of Dawn… The Star of Light… The Star of Life… The Star of Forest… The Star of Insect… The Star of Fire… The Star of Stone… The Star of Water… The Star of Snow… The Star of Lightning… The Star of Techno… The Star of Earth… The Star of Wind… The Star of Darkness… The Star of Dusk… The Star of Spirit… And the Star of Magic… Yes… All of them are assembling, which means it's almost the time for their role… If only I could locate the whereabout of the Star of Dragon too…"
"And as for the voids…" The being turned their attention to the ten voids in the sky instead. "Ten voids in the sky… As the story goes on, they continue to consume the other star and grow… Eventually, it will come to the act when the voids and the brightest stars clash… I wonder… Who will emerge victorious? Will the brightest stars vanquish the void? Or will the void consume the brightest stars too? Let us continue the show…"
To Be Continued…
Dragon of Vale: Another chapter done… And the plot thickens… It seems like the Pendragon are facing obstacles. Someone is working against them, and someone beats them in completing their mission. Who are they? Who is getting in the way of the Pendragon? And who kill Zira? So many questions remains…
Q&A Session:
Tail 8-4 - Question: What is your favorite season?
Answer:
-Korben: My answer would be spring. The Valley of No Return is the most lively during the spring, where every life flourish after the long and harsh winter. My friends and I used to go hunting in the valley for several days, and those were precious memory…
-Claura: Summer. I hate spring because of the pollen. I hate autumn and winter because they are too cold for my taste. That leaves only summer for me. But again, summer is all about the sea, right? And as a sea Pokemon, summer would still be an obvious choice for me.
-Xavier: Winter, because that's the time when the entire world dies, so I can sleep peacefully, hopefully that I won't get to wake up when the spring has come.
-Anastasia: Winter… The first snowfall is always lovely, isn't it? I also love when the entire world turns white from the endless snowfall. Other Pokemon, especially Dragon type Pokemon, might find winter to be too cold for them, but not for me. Because I have already found something that is colder and more merciless than the cold of the winter…
-Baromyteus: Summer. I hate spring because it's the time of cherry blossom, the most disgusting flower for me. Autumn has fallen leaves everywhere, and that irritates me. Winter… Out of question. I am not going like the season where I can freeze to death. So… Summer is my favorite season because it's the one I hate the least.
-Diego: Hm… I'll have to go with autumn for this one. Why? Well, spring is too colorful. Summer is all about sea, and as a Fire type Pokemon, sea is the bane of my existence. And winter… It's too desolate, I guess. That leaves only autumn.
-Zetarus: Autumn. The leaves turn red and brown around this time, right? The red color of the leaves are such a lovely color because it reminds me of blood. Oh, and we get plenty of food around this time too, so I couldn't complain.
-Rachael: Spring! Because it's the time where we can finally start planting berries! It's always a hard work to grow berry, but it's also fun! Also, spring flowers are so cute and beautiful too!
-Richard: Autumn. Because the bugs are finally gone, and the days are getting shorter while the night are getting winter, so I get more time to read books at night. Well… I would actually like winter more if it isn't too cold for me and Rachael, and Rachael always gets sad when winter has come and all the trees die too.
-Freya: S… Spring is my favorite season. It's because it's the season where lives that have endured the harshness and cruelty of the winter are finally able to flourish. Watching life flourishing is always a wonder for me.
-Snow: As an Ice type Pokemon, I would have to say winter is my favorite season. Because it's when the temperature of the world has become suitable for my kind. Beside, greeting the winter morning with a cup of tea is the most exquisite experience.
-Sirius: … (Dragon of Vale: Sirius' favorite season is Summer because it allows it to play at the sea during the day and go bug-catching at night… Wait a minute, Sirius… Can you even do bug-catching?!)
Question from Ridin Valon: To: Zetarus Quakersand & Rachael Lustermist
Did you know that Richard has a nickname? It's called 'Dick'. Dick is short for Richard, by the way. Remember: it's a nickname. Not any form of insult.
Zetarus: Ahahahahaha! Richard's nickname is Dick?! And he is also a huge dick too, not literally, of course! But still! This is too good to pass up! *see Richard and Rachael coming* Oh, hey, there, Dick—
Richard: AHHHHHHHH! *Richard did demonic screeching as he covered Rachael's ears and dragged her away, while do a piercing glance toward Zetarus*
Zetarus: Hehe… You will never hear the end of this, dicky boy.
-A while later…
Rachael: Oh, wow! Really? I never knew that Onii-chan has a nickname too! *see Richard coming* Oh, hey, Onii-chan! I heard that you have a nickname called di—
Richard: AHHHHHH! *quickly cover Rachael's mouth*
Rachael: *try to speak* W… What are you doing, Onii-chan? I just try to call you by your nickname of di—
Richard: That isn't my nickname. Don't listen to the idiot who tries to spread misconception, Rachael.
Rachael: But—
Richard: It. Is. Not. My. Nickname. Understood?
Rachael: Fine…