A Dragon's Tail
Tail 8: Sirius' Tail - Monstrosity
Tail 8-5: Shadow of Venturnome
It had been a week since Archbishop Zira was found dead inside her private quarter in the Solar Village's Temple of Yggdrasil. The tragic incident was quickly acknowledged by the Pokemon of Theocracy of Venturnome, which brought a great grief to them, especially for the residents of Solar Village. To them, Archbishop Zira was like their second mother, the one who guided them when they were lost to the right path with her kindness. And so, her funeral was quickly arranged and took place in the very temple that she resided in, with many Pokemon coming from around the country to join the ceremony, as well as to say their final farewell to their beloved archbishop.
Other than grief, the Pokemon of Venturnome also felt an anger toward the perpetrator behind this incident. They all couldn't forgive the one who permanently took away their beloved archbishop, and they all demanded to know the identity of the killer, and to bring them to justice. The investigation team from the capital was quickly dispatched to Solar Village to investigate the incident And though it had been one week, they still hadn't made any progress, let alone finding out the perpetrator of this tragic incident.
A lot also happened to us during these past one week. First, that night after the incident happened, Korben reported the incidents to Rachael, Richard, Zetarus, and Anastasia. (Luckily that no one else had gone missing for now…). All of them, especially Anastasia, were shocked after learning that someone beated us in killing Archbishop Zira.
"Damn it! Not only someone was hunting after us, but they also beated us in killing Zira too." Zetarus said with an upset voice. "Someone really tries to get in our way."
"Calm down, Zetarus. We don't even know if the one who was hunting after us is the same Pokemon as the one who killed Zira or not." Anastasia said. "But I wonder… Why do they have to kill Zira? Do they have the same goal as us? Or do they have something else in their mind…"
"What should we do?" Rachael asked with a worried voice. "Should we head back to our base? With everything is going on, I think we should fall back first."
"No. We can't retreat back to our base." Richard spoke up. "As I said before, someone might try to ambush us at the portal. And moreover, Korben and Sirius were among the first Pokemon who discovered Zira's corpse, turning them into suspects. If both of them left Solar Village now, they will suspect you two even more and will go after them for sure."
"Then, what should we do?" Korben asked.
"… Anastasia, Zetarus, where were you two right now?" Richard thought for a minute before he spoke up again.
"Freya and I were still at Venturnome Strait" Zetarus answered.
"And Snow and I were still at Outer Venturnome Meadow." Anastasia replied.
"I see… Rachael and I were at Venturnome City, and the two area you two mentioned weren't far from Venturnome City too." Richard said. "So, Anastasia, Zetarus, come to Venturnome City. We will regroup for now. Korben, you and Sirius lay low and stay in Solar Village for now. We will figure things out after we manage to regroup. Don't do anything that will bring attention to yourself. The last thing we want is more troubles, especially since we still couldn't contact Claura, Diego, Baromyteus, and Xavier."
And so, Korben and I stayed in Solar Village. True to Richard's words, very soon enough, Korben and I, along with Ridley, Eva, and Grimlock, were summoned by the investigation team for interrogation. As I couldn't speak, Korben and Ridley managed to convince the investigation team to leave me out of the interrogation, which we easily could do it since Katarina was happened to be in the investigation team too as she was the magistrate-in-training. To be honest, I felt very relief that I wasn't interrogate, since I didn't want myself to appear in the official record, which could lead the Pokemon from Civilight to discover me. I wanted to remain incognito for now, at least until the Pendragon reached their goal.
And thus, only Ridley, Eva, Grimlock, and Korben were interrogated. Out of these four… Poor Korben… They were merciless toward him during the interrogation. Of course, they discovered several Dragon Scales at the crime scene, and the with fact that the similar incident happened three years ago with Pontifex Hawkins too, Korben had became their primary suspect. At first, I was worried about him, considering that Korben had just passed many incidents that would leave permanent scars on his mind. However, it turned out that Korben managed to free himself from suspicion. First, Korben's scales were gray, while the Dragon Scales discovered at the crime scene were brown, so they weren't scales from Korben. Second, Korben had an airtight alibi as during the time of the crime, he was with Ridley at the outskirt of Solar Village. (This also became Ridley's alibi too.) With those two facts, the investigators begrudgely let Korben go. They also had to let Ridley, Eva, and Grimlock go too since Ridley's alibi was supported by Korben, and during the time of the crime, Eva and Grimlock were with each other, and thus becoming each other's alibi too, as well as the fact that it was unthinkable for them to kill their own mother. After that, they turned their suspicion toward me, for that I was also another Pokemon who first discovered the crime scene, but again, my suspicion was quickly lifted when it was proved that I also had an airtight alibi since I was also with Korben and Ridley during the time of the crime. All of these freed the five Pokemon who first discovered the crime scene from suspicion, though for some reasons, I felt like this won't be the end of it…
After being cleared of suspicion, Ridley volunteered to help with the investigation, in which the investigation team, especially Katarina, eagerly accepted. During these past week, Ridley mostly spent his time at Temple of Yggdrasil. Other than helping Katarina with the investigation, he also helped the temple arranging the funeral for Zira too. This gave him no time to do his usual patrol to keep the area around Solar Village safe, so Korben and I volunteered to do it in his place. This was the least both of us could do to help Ridley, as well as to keep ourselves at low profile in order to avoid unwanted suspicion.
Out of the five Pokemon who discovered Zira's corpse, Eva was clearly the one most affected by the tragic incident. However, she decided to keep the brave face and continued supporting everyone who mourned Zira's death, consoling them to ease their grief. When asked why she decided to keep the brave face, she replied;
"I… I can't be sad at a time like this. It won't bring anything good, and mother wouldn't want it." Eva replied. "A.. At a time like this, I must be the strength to everyone, just like my mother was. This is the least I could do to honor her and my memory of her…"
Nevertheless, at night, we would often find her alone in her room, crying silently. I guess that, despite putting a brave face, Eva was still grealy saddened by her mother's sudden depart. This might seem like a moment of weakness, but for me. She knew how to cry, to feel emotion. That was the sign that she was alive and living…
Grimlock might be able to handle his mother's dead better than Eva, but the world wasn't being kind to him. Right very next day after Zira died, he was 'discharged' from his duty as the Knight of Yggdrasil. Though they never said the reason why they did so, I could see that the Pokemon of the Temple of Yggdrasil partly put the blame of Zira's death on Grimlock, that Grimlock failed his duty as Zira's bodyguard by getting her killed. Grimlock, however, wasn't affected much by this, since the only reason he unofficially became the Knight of Yggdrasil was to protect his mother. Now that his mother was dead, he no longer had any reason to remain.
However, Zira's death wasn't the only disturbing incident we encountered during this past week. It happened just this morning, when Korben did his daily meeting to other members of the Pendragon. That was when we found out another disturbing news.
"Zetarus? Anastasia? Rachael? Richard? Can you hear us?" Korben spoke to our comrades via the Diadem of Chaos.
"I heard you, Korben. And Snow is with me too." Anastasia replied.
"Same here. Freya's still with me too." Zetarus replied.
"…"
"…"
"Rachael? Richard?" Korben spoke up once he realized that the twin siblings didn't reply to us. "Can you hear me? Please say something if you could hear us!"
"…"
"…"
"Don't tell me that…" Korben said right at the moment we all felt our blood chilled once again.
"Rachael and Richard…" Anastasia spoke up. "They have gone missing… Just like Claura, Diego, Baromyteus, and Xavier."
"Damn it!" Zetarus cursed. "It has been a week. I thought nothing else would happen to us, but now, more of us had gone missing!"
"Now, what should we do?" Anastasia asked with a worried voice.
"… Anastasia, Zetarus, where are you two right now?" Korben asked.
"Freya and I were almost at Venturnome City. It will take us about a day to reach it." Zetarus replied.
"Snow and I were just arrived at Venturnome City." Anastasia replied. "We thought that we could ask Rachael and Richard where they were during today's daily meeting. We didn't think that they would go missing too…"
"Then, Anastasia, you and Snow stay in Venturnome City and lay low for now." Korben said. "Freya and Zetarus, after you two arrived at Venturnome City, contact Anastasia and then joined them."
"What about you, Korben?" Zetarus asked.
"… We will try to leave Solar Village and go to Venturnome City as soon as we can." Korben said. "Both of us were already proved innocent during the interrogation, and we have been laid low for a week already. That should be enough to clear the suspicion around us. We will try to leave today if we can."
"Okay. Then, we'll do what you told us." Zetarus said. "Don't let your guard down, everyone."
"Take care, everyone." Anastasia said. "I wish that you all are safe, and we could meet again soon..."
And that concluded today's daily meeting. This one was the most disturbing meeting for me. More of us had gone missing, and out of all of us, it was Rachael and Richard who went missing this time. Out of everyone in the Pendragon, the twin siblings were the one I was closest too, and both of them had been very nice to me since the start. The fact that they went missing gave me anxiety. Why? Why did they go missing? No… Not just them… Why did half of us go missing? Was it true that someone was working against us? If so, then, who? And why?!
"… Keep your wits sharp."
"!" The sound of someone talking to me snapped me out of the vortex of anxiety. Unbelievably, that sentence was coming from the one who hated me to the deepest part of his heart.
"… We don't know what happened to them, but worrying won't bring anything good." Korben spoke without looking at me. "The only thing we can do is moving forward."
'So… He could sense that I was being anxious after learning that Rachael and Richard had gone missing.' I thought after hearing Korben's words.
"If you understand my words, then, move. We still have works to do." Korben said before he left the room we were in.
'… Even though that he hates me, he still looks after me…' I thought. 'Korben… You are such a considerated Pokemon.'
-A Few Minutes Later…
After leaving Korben's room, we prepared to leave Solar Village. It had been over a week since both of us arrived at Solar Village and met Ridley, Eva, and Katarina for the first time. Those three, especially Ridley, had been very kind to us, and both Korben and I appreciated them. Unbeknownst to them, however, we were actually enemies. And it wouldn't be pretty when it came the time when they finally learnt the truth…
"Good morning, you two." Ridley greeted as Korben and I entered the main hall of the training dojo. He was standing there, talking to Katarina. They seemed to talk about the investigation behind Zira's death.
"Greeting, my dear friends. I hope you two have a pleasant day." Katarina said tirely.
"Good morning, you two." Korben greeted them, and I nodded to them in response. "Are you two going to do the investigation today too?"
"Of course we will." Katarina replied with a weak voice. For some reason, she seemed more tamed comparing to her usual overbearing self.
"Hey, Katarina. Are you alright?" Noticing Katarina's unusual demeanor, Korben spoke up. "You seem tired..."
"Of course I am!" Katarina replied. "It has been one week, and yet we haven't made much progress! The public is demanding that we apprehend the perpetrator of this case soon, but it wasn't easy, and now they aren't satisfied by our slow progress!"
""Oh… I am sorry to hear that…" Korben said.
"It won't be so bad if the Temple of Yggdrasil would cooperate with our investigation…" Katarina mumbled to herself.
"Wait, what you mean by that?" Ridley asked.
"I already told you, Ridley, that the Priests of Yggdrasil and the Knights of Yggdrasil haven't been… most cooperative with our investigation." Katarina replied. "And yet they announced to us and the public that they would be most cooperative so we can uncover the truth behind the Archbishop's death."
"It couldn't be helped. After all, they are busied with the funeral…" Ridley said.
"It's not like that!" Katarina said. "They barely let us investigate the inner temple other than the Archbishop's private quarter! And the priests and the knights always evade our questions when we try to ask more about the temple and what they do!"
"It couldn't be helped…" Ridley said. "It's just like what Eva and Grimlock said… The inner temple is a sacred area for their religion, so the outsiders aren't allowed inside."
"I understand that, but it won't help if they want to learn the truth behind the Archbishop's demise." Katarina said. "Though… This might be lady's intuition, but I feel like the Priests of Yggdrasil didn't really want us to uncover the truth…"
"What?! Do you mean that you suspect that they are the one behind the Archbishop's death?" Ridley said.
"No, it's not like that." Katarina said. "Though I can't say that the priests and the knights aren't really the culprit, what I meant isn't that they are trying to conceal the truth. It seems like they just… don't care about it. It's like that they are 'Oh, no! The archbishop is dead! Well, anyway, let's talk about today's morning chant…'."
"You are saying that they don't care to learn the truth behind the Archbishop's death?!" Ridley said.
"That's what I have been trying to tell you before our draconic acquintances arrived." The Florges said to the Lucario. "But that might just be my assumption, in which that I hope to be wrong, for once."
"Katarina…" Ridley said as he loked at the Florges.
"In either way, I must express my gratitude toward you, Ridley, my dearest friend, as well as to you two…" Katarina changed the tone of her voice to her usual self as she talked to Ridley, Korben, and me. "And to the Yggdrasil siblings too. With the priests and the knights being tight-lipped, they are pretty much our only source of information regarding the Temple of Yggdrasil's inner temple."
"I am glad that I could be a help to you." Korben said. "Pardon me for asking, but how much have you uncover behind this incident?"
"Normally, I would have answered you that the information behind the investigation is strictly confidential…" Katarina said. "However, since you are being most useful to me, and it has already been proved beyond any doubt that you are innocent, I suppose that I could tell you."
"Thanks, Katarina." Korben said.
"Let's see… According to the coroner, the Archbishop was killed 30 minutes to an hour before you discovered her corpse…" Katarina said. "Of the five Pokemon who discovered the crime scenes, you three have solid alibi, which proves your innocence beyond any doubt."
"What about Eva and Grimlock?" Korben asked. "I thought both of them have alibi too, since they were together during that time."
"Well, at first, their alibi were questioned since both of them are siblings, so they could lie in order to protect each other…" Katarina said. "But that was quickly dismissed too since it's unthinkable that they would kill their own mother, especially without any motive. And as I mentioned before, they have been very cooperative to us, unlike the other members of the Temple of Yggdrasil. Moreover, I wouldn't suspect my dear friend Eva for lying or killing her own mother, which means her statement regarding her alibi and her brother's alibi must be true."
'I see… So they suspect Eva and Grimlock at first too…' I thought after hearing Katarina's words. 'Lucikly for Grimlock that no one but me knows about his quarrel with his mother the night before the incident. If anyone knows about it, they would suspect him for sure. Still, I don't think he's the killer, since the killer is most likely…'
"And thus, we came to the conclusion that the killer must be the Pokemon who intruded the inner temple the night before the incidents happened." Katarina continued speaking. "Ridley already knows about it, and I am sure that he already told you two about it, so I'll skip this part."
"What else did you find regarding the intruder, Katarina?" Ridley asked.
"Other than that the intruder entered the inner temple via the so-called evacuation tunnel, nothing." Katarina answered. "The knights refused to let us investigate the evacuation tunnel, claiming that there is no clue to be found there, which I hardly find believable."
'They didn't want the investigation team to discover the 'purgatory', no doubt.' I thought. "If they discover that there's a place for torturing Pokemon with different ideals from those of the temple, it would be a huge scandal… At least for Pokemon outside Theocracy of Venturnome. Judging by how much the Pokemon of this land believe in their religion, they would still put their faith on the religion that would torture Pokemon with different ideal from them…"
"Back to our topic regarding Archbishop's murder…" Katarina returned to the main topic. "We quickly ruled out suicide considering the condition of the victim's body and the room. There is a clear sign of struggling in that room, and the Archbishop's body is full with wound and bruises. The bruises were inflicted by blunt weapon at a size of a football. The wound was a deep cut with a rather large weapon that seems to have two prongs as all deep cut were in pairs."
'Then, they came to the same conclusion as I…' I thought.
"So… The killer uses two weapons, one sharp and one blunt, to attack the Archbishop?" Ridley said. "Why would they have to use two weapons instead of just one?"
'Again, same question that I have…' I thought.
"No, I believe that's not the case." Katarina replied. "We believe that it's more likely that the killer used just one weapon, while the other kind of wound was inflicted with something else."
"Something else?" Korben spoke up. "Like what? And which one?"
"The deep cut one." Katarina replied. "The nature behind the deep cut wound on the victim's body was peculiar. As I told you, each of them were in pairs, as if they were inflict by weapon with two prongs. However, the weapons like that were mainly two-prong spear, which is clearly not the weapon in this case since the victim's wounds were deep cut, not impaled wound. Which means they were inflicted with cut or slash weapon, like a blade, or…"
"A claw." Korben spoke up. "It could be the claws that most Pokemon have on their body naturally, or a claw weapon…"
"We can clearly rule out the latter…" Katarina spoke up. "The victim's body has deep cut on both side of her body, which means that the victim must be attacked from both side. If the killer really uses claw weapon, it means they must have it worn on both of their paw, which also means that it would be impossible for them to hold the blunt weapon with their paw."
"So… You are saying that the killer is someone with sharp claws and uses blunt weapon? I kinda get it now…" Ridley spoke up. "Since the wounds come in pair, then the killer must be a Pokemon with two claws on each of their paw, right?"
"Brilliant deduction, my dear friend." Katarina complimented.
"But then… There are so many Pokemon with two claws…" Ridley said. "It won't be easy to pinpoint the species of the killer…"
"We can narrow it down." Katarina said. "There's another important clues that we found at the crime scene…"
"… You are speaking of the Dragon Scales, right?" Korben said.
"That's right…" Katarina said, this time, with a more thoughtful voice, as if something else was on her mind. "Several Dragon Scales were found at the crime scene… Judge by the location of each scale, the killer didn't leave them at the crime scene on purpose… They must have fallen off the killer's body during the struggling, which means they must have come from the killer... Since they are Dragon Scales, the killer must be Dragon type Pokemon or Pokemon with draconic features…"
"Katarina?" Ridley said. "What's wrong? You seem lost in though…"
"… Please forgive me for my unsightly behavior." Katarina replied. "Seeing those Dragon Scales always remind me of Archsage Iris…"
"Archsage Iris…" Korben repeated the same we just heard, of the Pokemon we met right before the Pendrago was formed. "Do you mean the former Heroine of Psychic type?"
"Yes. Archsage Iris… She was my mentor since when I started training as a magistrate…" Katarina said with a sad voice. "She always taught me to cherish the value of life, that every living creature's life is precious and has meaning… Oh, Archsage Iris… Why did you have to die so sudden?… Why did your life have to fleet away this soon?"
"Katarina…" Ridley said as he tried to console, Katarina, with Korben and I unable to say anything. Unbeknowst to them, we knew the truth behind Archsage Iris' death, as we were there when she was killed by Bahamut, but we couldn't say anything about it to anyone.
"… Please forgive me for a moment of weakness…" Katarina seemed to feel better after Ridley consoled her. "And thanks you, my dear friend Ridley, for trying to help me."
"I am glad that I can help you, Katarina." Ridley said with a warm smile to the Florges.
"Please allow me to continue…" Katarina said. "Do you still remember Pontifex Hawkins' death three years ago?"
"Yes." Ridley said. "I remembered they saying that the killer was also a Dragon type Pokemon, and that they escaped into the Inaccessible Valley in the east of Dustorm Empire, right?"
"…" I could see Korben started clenching his fist when this topic came up. He was much better at hiding his emotion right now, but I could still see that he was hurted mentally whenever the topic related to the Dragon Massacre was brought up. Luckily, neither Ridley nor Katarina seemed to notice Korben's reaction.
"That's right." Katarina continued speaking. "The reason why we thought that the killer was a Dragon type Pokemon was because we found several Dragon Scales at the crime scene…"
"Just like this incident, huh…" Ridley said.
"It's not just that…" Katarina said. "I was studied under Archsage Iris' guidance, so I got a chance to look at the investigation files regarding Pontifex Hawkins' death, as well as the evidences of that case. And the Dragon Scales found at the crime scene of Pontfiex Hawkins' death… And those found at the crime scene of Archbishop Zira's death…"
"Wait…" Ridley spoke up. "Don't tell me that…"
"… The color, the texture, the size… Everything… They are the same…" Katarina said. "Which means, the Dragon Scales found in both cases are from the same species of Pokemon…"
"Then… Could it be that the one who killed Pontifex Hawkins and Archbishop Zira are the same Pokemon?!" Ridley said.
"We still couldn't tell that much. The only thing we can tell right now is that the Pokemon who killed Pontifex Hawkins and the Pokemon who killed Archbishop Zira are of the same species…" Katarina said.
"But still… Considering that not only the same species, but both cases involved the victims who are influential Pokemon from Theocracy of Venturnome, both which were also the Hero/ine of Legend who saved the world from the Fallen Crisis…" Ridley said. "I think this is more than just a pure coincidence…"
"Yes…" Katarina said with a sad voice. "Oh, almighty goddess… What is happening to our sacred land of Venturnome right now? It is as if a shadow has been casted upon our holy land, especially since that day when the light disappeared from the sky…"
"…" None of us said anything in response to Katarina's words. I didn't know what Ridley was really thinking right now, but it's likely that he also felt the same as the Florges. Korben, on the other hand… I could sense not only just sadness, but also anger dwelling inside him. After all, the death of Pontifex Hawkins was the start of the Dragon Massacre, the cruel event that took almost everything away from Korben, and it was for nothing. The Dragon Massacre was started as a hunt for the perpetrator behind Hawkins' death, and it was for nothing. Hawkins' killer was still alive, and they now claimed the life of another Pokemon. Hawkins and Zira might be Hero/ine of Legend, our enemies, but did they really deserve such a cruel fate? Actually, if Hawkins didn't meet such a terrible fate, we Pendragon wouldn't have to become the enemies of the Hero/ine of Legend, of the world, in the first place…
"U… Um… G… Good morning, everyone…"
As the four of us were lost in thought, another voice brought us back to reality. It was a cute voice full with sadness of a young Eevee in a priest robe who had just appeared and now was approaching us.
"Oh! Morning, Eva." Ridley greeted.
"Good morning, my dear Eva." Katarina greeted too. "How is your day today?"
"I… It's going good, I hope…" Eva replied with a melanchonic voice. "E… Everyone at the temple has been busy preparing for the funeral…"
"I see…" Ridley said. "Do they need any help? I am free today, so I can help out at the temple if you want."
"O… Oh… It's okay… The temple's staffs are doing fine right now…" Eva said. "H… However… I… I was tasked to perform an important duty for the temple…"
"Important duty?" Ridley repeated the words we all just heard.
"R… Right…" Eva said. "M… Mother was a Heroine of Legend, chosen by the god Arceus himself to be the one who saved the world from evil…"
'Chosen? Isn't the title of Hero/ine of Legend transferred by blood? Meaning that it's her birthright that allowed Zira to become the Heroine of Legend, not because she was chosen directly by Arceus…' I thought as I listened to the young Eevee's words.
"… A… And so, she got the highest honor… after her death…" Eva said. "A… After the funeral… Her ash will be kept at the most sacred place on the entire continent of Symmetria…"
"Ah. I see… That's just like my father, then…" Ridley said. "Then, your important duty today…"
"R… Right…" Eva said. "I… I have to go to that place to… to prepare for… after the funeral…"
"Then, let me go with you." Rudley said. "Venturnome is still not safe, so it will be safer if we go together."
"T… Thanks, Ridley…" Eva said. "I… I am here because I want to ask you to go with me, s… so… T… Thanks…"
"Wait a minute, my dear Eva…" Katarina spoke up. "What about your brother? Is he not available to escort you?"
"Grimlock isn't here right now." Ridley replied. "We received a letter from Viola today. She and Bismarck decided to stop what they were doing and came here to join Archbishop Zira's funeral. She also told us that Jasper and Zenpai had joined them as they were passing through Leafburg. They should arrive at Venturnome border today, so Grimlock went out to get them here. So, he won't be back for a few days."
'This is bad…' I thought after I heard the Lucario's words. 'Four new Hero/ine of Legend are coming here, and one of them were from Civilight too. Grimlock might not recognize me, but there's no telling if the other one would remember me or not. We have to leave, today.'
"I see…" Katarina said. "Very well, then… Allow me to accompany you too, my dear Ridley and Eva."
"Are you sure, Katarina?" Ridley said. "You still have to do investigation, haven't you?"
"Please, my dear. I can't abandon my dearest friends at a time like this, can I?" Katarina said as she covered the lower half of her face with her fan. "Let's see… How about this? I have a field investigation to do today, which just so happen to be the same place as your destination, so we can go together."
'… Or in other words, she wants to take a break from all the investigations, and Eva's duty gives her a chance to do so…' I thought.
"T… Thank you, Katarina…" Eva said.
"What about you two? Korben? Sirius?" The Lucario turned his attention to both of us. "Wanna come with us?"
"Us?" Korben said. "Why do you want us to come with you?"
"Because we have been busy lately, so I think a nice chance of scenary would be nice, and the more the merrier too." Ridley said. "Moreover, you two haven't gone to the place we are going yet, right? This will be a chance for you two to visit that place."
'… His reasons seem genuine enough…' I thought. 'However, both Korben and I need to leave Solar Village soon. We don't have time for sightseeing like this…'
"… Understood." Korben spoke up. "We will go with you"
'What?'
"Glad to have you two with us." Ridley said. "Then, give us 10 minutes to prepare, and we will leave."
"Understood." Korben said. "Oh, by the way, I haven't asked where we are going yet."
"The place we are going is the southernmost point of the entire mainland continent of Symmetria, as well as one of the most important landmarks on the continent." Ridley said. "It's the place where the Hero/ine of Legend defeated the ancient demon and ended War of the God III once and for all, the Tower of the God."
Tower of the God was the tallest building on the continent of Symmetria. Not only being located at the southernmost point of the continent of Symmetria (With Opera House at the westernmost point, Solitude at the easternmost point, and Cape of No Return at the northernmost point), Tower of the God was also known as one of the most sacred spots of Symmetria due to it being a place built to worship to omnipotent god of Pokemon World, Arceus. This tower was also known as the final battleground of War of the God III, where the Hero/ine of Legend defeated the ancient demon who tried to seize the world for themselves. Nowaway, it still served its purpose as a sacred ground for worshipping Arceus, who was still one of the biggest deities of this world beside the Goddess Yggdrasil. The first floor of the tower was still opened for anyone to visit to give their prayer to Arceus, receiving his blessing in return. Climbing the tower beyond the first floor, however, was forbidden to anyone but those who received a permission.
Despite that we encountered a few Shadow Pokemon along the way, the journey was pretty calm and uneventful. During the journey, Eva was still as gloomy as before, despite that Ridley and Katarina trying to cheer her up. Meanwhile, Korben, seemingly knowing that I didn't understand why we chose to go with the trio instead of leaving Solar Village and heading to Venturnome City to join other Pendragon, spoke to me his reason behind agreeing to join the trio in the journey to Tower of the God.
"The Knights of Yggdrasil and the Investigation Team are on high alert after Zira was killed, which meant they will try to look at any suspicious Pokemon who could be the culprit. And so, despite that we both were already be freed of suspicion regarding Zira's murder, us leaving the village might still draw attention from them since I am a Dragon type, and you are… unique." Korben spoke to me in a hushed voice. He was still uncomfortable talking to me. "However, having someone from the village escorting us would make it easier for us to leave the village, especially since Eva is from the Temple of Yggdrasil, Katarina is a part of the Investigation Team, and Ridley is the son of the well-known Hero of Justice. I was planning to ask them to escort us when we left the village, but since they invited us to go to Tower of the God with them, we might as well play along for now. We can leave for Venturnome City after we are done at the tower."
'I see… The guards that saw us leaving the village with Ridley, Eva, and Katarina wouldn't pay any attention to us, and even if they notice us go missing after our visit to the tower, it would already be too late to go after us. Moreover, due to their affiliation, Ridley, Eva, and Katarina won't be suspected of helping us too.' I thought after hearing the Kommo-o's words. 'Korben, you are really sharp.'
It took us just half an hour to reach the tower itself. Everyone wasted no time entering the tower, while I stayed outside a bit to examine the area around the tower, which I found abnormal.
'This place… It is the sacred ground of the god Arceus…' I said as I looked around. There was no one else outside the tower but me right now. 'And yet, there's no one here… No guards… No priests… No visitors… And I didn't sense anyone else outside the tower too… Strange…'
I continued examining the outside of the tower, but other than that there was no one around, I didn't find anything strange, until…
'Hm?' Something caught my attention. A sparkling blue spot right next to the tower. To any other Pokemon, this spot would be invisible to them, and even if they could see it, they wouldn't know what it was. It wasn't the case for me, or for other members of the Pendragon though.
'This must be another warp portal that would lead us back to Pendracomonium…' I said as I examined the portal and found that it still functioned normally.
'Wait a minute…' Seeing the warp portal reminded me of what Korben told me about Richard's words during the Pendragon's meeting. "According to Korben, Richard speculated that there might be someone waiting to ambush us at the warp portal, which might be the reason behind half of us disappearing. But here, there's no ambush, no trap, nothing. I couldn't sense anyone around here too. It means Richard's speculation is wrong… This means…"
I walked back to the entrance of the tower, looking around one last time, and then following everyone into the tower.
-Inside the tower
I thought outside the tower was strange, but inside the tower is even far stranger. When speaking of a place where the god of the highest order of Pokemon World was worshipped, anyone would think of a place decorated in a godly way that showed the most respect toward the god. However, the interior of Tower of the God was… bland. Well, that might not be the best words for it. I expected the sacred place of the god to be a place similar to the Temple of Yggdrasil. A rather extravagant place full of any material form of worship toward Arceus. Instead, inside of the tower was… just an inside of any tower. Stone floor. Stone wall. Stone stairs. Stone windows. That's all. There was almost no decorations, no strained glass, no drawing. There was, however, several wall shelf along the cicular wall of the tower. There were a few small jar on those wall, along with letters written behind those jar. There was also an altar located at the wall opposite of the entrance of the tower. It was a large altar with a statue of a quadruple Pokemon. The most notable appearance of the Pokemon of this statue was a strange-shaped golden run around the torso of the body. Judging by the place it was located in, this must be the statue of the god of Pokemon World, Arceus.
It seemed like I was taking a bit too much time exploring outside of the tower, as the trio were now in the middle of their ritual. In front of the altar, Eva was kneeling, offering her prayer to the god Arceus. Ridley and Katarina were right beside the Eevee, also offering their prayer too. Korben, on the other hand, was standing behind them, silently watching the trio. I wasn't sure how the Kommo-o was thinking right now, but I was quite sure that he must feel a bit uncomfortable right now. While Yggdrasil was widely worshipped around the continent, everyone on this continent still unanimously regarded Arceus as the god of the highest order, even higher than Yggdrasil. Korben, on the other hand, didn't worship Arceus as his god. He, as well as other Dragon type Pokemon, worshipped the Dragon God instead. The Dragon God was a god who was stated to be equal to Arceus in terms of power or hierarchy. However, each of them held on a different ideal from the others, which led to the countless conflict between them. Nevertheless, both of them still cooperated with each other when the world of Pokemon was threatened by outside force, like during the second half of War of the God III. After the war, both of them seemed to be at peace with each other. Arceus was still the number one god of Pokemon World, while the Dragon God was the god of Dragon type instead. Still, the conflict didn't end. The diffirence of the religions, of the gods, worshipped by Pokemon would still bring more war and conflict. Why did everyone still fight over a difference in ideal? Was it impossible for Pokemon of difference ideal to live together in peace and harmony? Maybe if they did, the world would be a better place… Or was it just me being too optimistic?
Nevertheless, that wasn't the reason why Korben felt uncomfortable in this tower. The other reason was the diadem he was wearing, his Dragon Relic, the symbol of his pact with a Legendary Pokemon. Korben's Dragon Legend wasn't just any Legendary Pokemon. It was Giratina, the renegade god who tried to ursurped Arceus's role as the god of the highest order, which resulted in them being sentenced in another world. Currently, Giratina was still in another world, and they couldn't exist in this world as anything other than as a shadow. So, the only link they had between their world and this world was Korben, his champion. Giratina, however, wasn't a merciful Dragon Legend. They forced Korben into making a pact with them, and they constantly tortured the poor Kommo-o's body and soul. I was fairly sure that Giratina was also torturing Korben right now, for daring to step in a place built to worship the god they tried to ursurped the role from, the same god who banished them from this world.
After waiting silently for several minutes, Ridley, Eva, and Katarina stood up and walked toward Korben and I. It seemed like they were done with their task.
"Done already?" Korben asked as the trio approached us.
"T… That's right…" Eva answered with a soft voice. "W… We are here… To pray for mom's soul to rest in peace… A… As well as to prepare a place to store her ash after the funeral… S… She was the Heroine of Legend, after all…"
"Ash?" Korben said as he looked around the tower, spotting several jars on the wall shelves around the tower. "So… Those jars…"
"That's right. They contained the ash of the Hero/ine of Legend from the past" Ridley said. "My father's ash was also stored here after the funeral too. And my ash will be stored here after I died."
"I see…" Korben said as he looked at the ash jars again. "… But… There aren't a lot of ash jars here…"
"Because they only start storing the ash jars here after War of the God III." Katarina explained. "There had only been three generations of Hero/ine of Legend after the war ends. The first generation was the Hero/ine of Legend who fought in War of the God III and brought it to the end. The second generation was the Hero/ine of Legend who defeated the wretched Fallen Dragon and brough the Fallen Crisis to the end. And the third generation… Well, that would be my dear Ridley, Eva, and others."
"And not all Hero/ine of Legend of those generations got their ash stored here too." Ridley said. "For example, Queen Nyxier's body was kept inside a large block of crystalline ice on the highest mountain on Symmetria, located in the snowy part of Queendom of Riverbrine…"
"Queen Nyxier's case is… abnormal, I would say." Katarina said. "The Pokemon of Riverbrine overthrown her regime three years ago. Though she somehow escaped the mobs, her deceased body was found later on Mt. Snowlost like what Ridley said. The ice that encased her body was, somehow, unbreakable and unmovable, so her body was left like that… Perhaps for eternity…"
"S… She must be very lonely…" Eva spoke up. "B… Being overthrown by her citizens… A… And being left in a cold and lonely place like that for eternity…"
"I wouldn't say that, my dear Eva." Katarina said. "According to what Archsage Iris told me, Queen Nyxier's face looked content and at peace, as if she finally found what she had sought for the entire life. I wouldn't say that she didn't deserve what her citizens did to her, considering what she did to her citizens in the first place, but this wouldn't be a bad ending for her."
'So… That was what happened to the former Heroine of Ice type…' I thought. 'Wait, according to Richard, isn't Snow the younger brother of Queen Nyxier? If Queen Nyxier disappeared during the revolution, only to be found later like that, then… What exactly happened to Snow? And how did he end up in the Valley of No Return?'
"I see…" Korben spoke up. "What about other Hero/ine of Legend? Those from second generation, I mean."
"Let's see… Not counting my mom and the other one who are still alive…" Ridley said, still unaware that one Pokemon he mentioned that was still alive was, in fact, already dead. "Archsage Iris and Pontfiex Hawkins' ash were kept here. Jasper and Bismarck managed to retrieved their father's corpse and arranged a proper funeral here, so Joshua and Magnus's ash were here too. Viola failed to retrieve her father's corpse as Ellisk's body was blown into pieces while he helped her and others escaping from Republic of Civilight…"
'That must be right after my first encounter with Rachael and Richard in that accursed lab.' I thought while listening to the Lucario.
"Despite of his title and his duty toward the God of Volcano in Fireview Kingdom, Leonel's ash was kept here too, as per the request of his son." Ridley continued speaking. "As for the rest…"
"Empress Sharon's ash was kept in Dustorm Empire, per late Emperor Garland's strong request." Katarina explained. "As for Emperor Garland himself… His body was still in Dustorm Empire as his funeral hadn't been arranged yet, but we received a contact from the new emperor of Dustorm Empire, Emperor Terrus, that Emperor Garland's ash and Empress Sharon's ash will be kept here after the funeral was done."
"A… And my dad, Kamui…" Eva spoke up with a shaking voice. "M… My brother said that his body couldn't be retrieved too…"
'Kamui… The former Hero of Steel type… Also known by the name of 'Experiment Alpha' in that accursed lab.' I thought after seeing that Eva couldn't finish her explanation. 'According to what I known from my time inside that place, as well as from what Richard told me, his body was modified to the point that barely any flesh remained, as the rest of his body was replaced with machine instead. And Experiment Alpha activated self-destruction after losing to Richard and others too. Which means, like Ellisk, Kamui's body was blown to pieces, and even if we could recovered the remains of his body, it would be just pieces of machine, not pieces of flesh.'
"… By the way, why is this place so empty?" Korben changed the topic of conversation by asking the same question that I had too. "I thought that the sacred ground of the god would at least have priests, guards, and visitors, not being empty like this."
"Because this is what this place meant to be." Katarina answered. "This place was kept empty out of the respect of the omnipotent god Arceus, which is why there's no priest or guards stationed here."
"And not many vistors come here too out of respect of the god's sacred ground." Ridley said. "The last time I saw someone coming here was a priest that I escorted here, and that was 3 years ago."
'No one is here to respect the god? This doesn't sound right…' I thought after hearing Ridley's words. 'Pokemon go to Temple of Yggdrasil to respect the Goddess Yggdrasil, and they don't go to Tower of the God to respect the God Arceus. That's a clear contradiction. Could it be that Arceus, unlike Yggdrasil, doesn't want his followers to come to pay respect to him? Or could it be because of something else? In either way, what Ridley said is still quite hard to believe…'
"What about the security?" Korben asked. "If there's no guard here, wouldn't this place be in danger of thieves and looters? And you told us that climbing the tower is forbidden too, and yet there's no guard around here to watch for anyone who attempt to climb it…"
"We don't have to place security toward the tower, because the tower itself is already protected by the omnipotent god Arceus." Katarina answered. "Any thieves or looters who try to steal from the temple would be met with the god's judgment. That is more than enough to deter any possible thief or looter who dare to set foot into this sacred ground."
"As for climbing the tower, there is no stopping if anyone wish to do so." Ridley said as he looked at the spiral staircases that led upward to the top of the tower. "However, you won't be able to go very far unless the god wished for you to ascend the tower."
"What do you mean by that, Ridley?" Korben asked as both him and I looked at the stairs too.
"Anyone who tried to climb the tower without the god's permission will be stuck in the endless staircase." Ridley explained. "No matter how much they climb, they will never reach the top of the tower. I have seen countless Pokemon who tried to climb the tower, only to give up because they couldn't get past the endless staircases."
'…' I looked at the spiral staircases that led upward toward the top of the tower. From the first floor, the staircase seemed as if they led into the endless sky. I couldn't see the top of the tower or the staircase from here. How high was this tower?
"I see…" Korben said. "Have you climbed this tower or seen anyone climbing this tower, Ridley?"
"Not yet. My parents told me that I should wait until I am older. I think I am old enough now, but I still don't think I am ready to climb the tower yet." Ridley replied. "As for me seeing anyone else climbing the tower… I think my parents had climbed the tower before, but I wasn't with them when they climbed the tower. Other than that, I barely saw anyone climbing the tower. The only one I remembered was the priest I mentioned earlier. I escorted him here, and he climbed the tower. I didn't meet that priest after that day, but I assumed that they succeed in climbing the tower."
"I see…" Korben said. "So, are we done here?"
"Y… Yes…" Eva said. "All the rest… are after the funeral…"
"Then, let's go back, so we don't disturb the sacred ground any further." Katarina said.
Everyone nodded to the Florges before they turned back and walked toward the exit of the tower, leaving the sacred ground one by one, until there was no one else left inside the tower…
No one else… Except me…
I watched silently as Ridley, Eva, Katarina, and Korben left the tower, leaving me inside the tower. Well, one benefit of being unable to talk is that I won't draw too much attention, meaning that it was easy for me to sneak away from the group, and that was what I was doing right now.
'…' After making sure that Korben and others had left the tower, I turned my attention toward the spiral staircases that led upward, toward the top of the tower. Then I walked toward the stair and, without thinking, started climbing it.
-Meanwhile, outside the tower
"How are you feeling right now, Eva?" Ridley asked as he, Eva, Katarina, and Korben left Tower of the God, unawared that there was someone who didn't follow them outside the tower.
"I… think I feel calmer…" Eva said. "It must be because of the omnipotent Arceus' blessing…"
"I am glad that you are feeling better, my dear Eva." Katarina said.
"Then, let's go back to Solar Village." Ridley said. "It's been a while since the three of us are all free, so let's have lunch together."
"W… We can?!" Eva spoke up.
"Of course!" Ridley said. "Let's see… How about that ramen place? The one near the entrance of the village."
"Ramen? What a surprising suggestion…" Katarina spoke up. "Knowing how much you are fond of riceball, I admit that I am surprised that you didn't suggest your favorite place near your own dojo."
"Well, I mean, who doesn't like riceball?" Ridley said. "It's easy to made, cheap, healthy, and delicious! My dad likes it too!"
"Riceball is good…" Eva said.
"For me, I prefer Sakura Mochi. After all, Sakura, which is also known as 'Cherry Blossom' is the symbol of our homeland Theocracy of Venturnome" Katarina said. "The sight of Cherry Blossom in our capital city is simply breathtaking."
"…" Behind the trio, Korben was listening to their conversation silently. The talk about the capital city reminded the Kommo-o that he would need to head to the aforementioned place now. All that he had left to do was telling the trio about it.
"Korben, would you like to join us?" Ridley turned back to the Kommo-o and asked him a question.
"… Actually…" Korben spoke up. "I'll have to—"
"HALT!"
Before the Kommo-o could speaking his sentence, the group's attention was caught by a loud voice directing toward them, following by a sudden appearance of a group of Pokemon clad in the armor suit of the Knight of Yggdrasil. The newly-appeared Pokemon then surrounded the quartet in all directions.
"W… What?!" Ridley spoke up after seeing that he and his friends were surrounded. "Why are the Knights of Yggdrasil here?!"
"My name is Katarina Pixillia of House Pixillia, the daughter of Theocracy of Venturnome's current High Magistrate." Katarina spoke up. "And I demand any of you to explain yourself at once for your unruling behavior toward me and my friends!"
"Then, allow us…"
Another voice was heard, following by three new Pokemon appearing, walking toward the quartet and the Knights of Yggdrasil. Two of them were wearing the robe of Priests of Yggdrasil, while another one was wearing a uniform used by high-rank noble.
"T… The Priests of Yggdrasil are here too?!" Eva said after recognizing the Pokemon in the priest robe.
"… You are one of our Investigation Team, which are currently leading the investigation of Archbishop Zira's murder, aren't you?" Katarina said, also recognizing the Pokemon in the noble robe. "May I ask to know of the reason behind this… uncivilized treatment toward me and my friends?"
"I am sorry that you are caught between our work, Katarina." The Pokemon in a noble robe spoke up. "But we have important work to do, right here, right now. I must ask you and your friends to cooperate with us."
"Work?" Katarina said. "What could it possibly be that me and my friends have to be treated this way?"
"Relax. It doesn't involve you, the daughter of deceased archbishop, or the son of the Hero of Justice." The Pokemon in the noble robe replied before turning his attention toward the one Pokemon he didn't mention in his previous sentence. "We are having a business with your draconic friend here instead."
"Me?" Korben said after seeing that he had become the center of attention.
"Yes, you, the draconic being." The Pokemon in the noble robe said. "You are arrested for your crime of committing a murder against Archbishop Zira of Temple of Yggdrasil."
-Meanwhile, inside the tower…
'… What am I doing?'
It had been a while since I started my journey of climbing up the Tower of the God via the spiral staircase. Though it might not be that long since then, it felt like eternal for me. The stairs seemed endless. No matter how much I climb, I didn't feel any closer to the top of the tower. On the other hand, the more I climb, the more I felt myself going higher from the ground. It was almost as if the tower itself was as high as the distance between the ground and the stars on the night sky.
'… Why did I even climb this tower?' I thought to myself as I continued climbing the stair. 'I should have left the tower along with Korben and others. Instead, why am here, climbing this tower? I don't even know what I hope to find at the top of the tower, let alone the reason behind my action…'
'… Speaking of the reason behind my action…' I continued pondering. 'Why did I decide to join the Pendragon? What did I try to achieve? We Pendragon exists so we could kill the Hero/ine of Legend. Each of us has different motivation behind our actions. All of us knew that what we did was wrong, but we all had reasons. Korben lost everything from what those Hero/ine of Legend had done, and he was drived by both desire for vengeance and desire not to see anyone suffer the same fate as him. Snow lost his memory and his identity, so he had nothing else to lose. Zetarus, Diego, Claura, Xavier, Anastasia, Baromyteus, and Freya… They were social rejects. Zetarus and Diego were the prince of Dustorm and Fireview respectively who lost their birthright to a political situation. Freya was the same as those two but at a lessor level. Anastasia and Baromyteus were the former Hero/ine of Legend who betrayed the world before, so now they weren't really welcomed by this world. I still didn't know about Claura and Xavier, but I was very sure that both weren't different from others. Rachael and Richard… They confided their origin to me before… Both of them seemed to be Pokemon who were sent to human world and spent the first part of their life as human. They only came back to Pokemon World a few years ago, and both were trying to find a place where they could call home, only to fail again and again. And so, they decide to join up with the Pendragon for their own safety, and in hope that they would find what they wanted one day. But me… What was my reason? To protect people? Protect who? The Pendragon are strong enough to take care of themselves, and they still didn't fully trust me too. Rachael and Richard? Both of them trust me, and I wanted to protect them in return, but so far, it's them who helped me, and I barely did anything for them…'
I stopped a bit to catch my breath before I continued. '… To make the world a better place? How would what we are doing achieve that? By killing those revered as the heroes of the world? If this was a fiction, we would actually be bad guys, not good guys, even though we had a reasons behind our actions. We knew that the Hero/ine of Legend were corrupting, but would killing them really solve this? It would instead create the endless cycle of vengeance, with the descendants of the Hero/ine of Legend taking a revenge on us, if they weren't corrupted themselves. If they were corrupted too, then killing their parents would be pointless, and we might end up having to kill the new generation of the Hero/ine of Legend too… And if all heroes died, what would the world do in the time of crisis? Or maybe we were already in one… Or we Pendragon ARE one…'
'… Still, neither wanting to protect someone nor wanting to make the world a better place is the reason behind my decision to join the Pendragon… It was me trying to find a place that I was belonged to…' I looked up into top of the tower, which still seemed to be far beyond my reach. 'I didn't even know what I am. I am not a Pokemon, for that my nature wasn't similar to them. I couldn't even speak, after all. To be honest, I am not even sure if I am a living creature or not. I was created in the laboratory as a tool of destruction. Yes… I am a tool, and a tool needed not to think or feel. A tool only needed to obey the order they got… Then why? Why am I able to feel emotion? Emotion wasn't needed for a tool to carry out their order, so why was I created with emotion? I didn't understand any of this. That was why I decide to join the Pendragon, hoping to find the answer behind my existence…'
'… Joining them, however, make me question myself more.' I closed my eyes and tried to organize my thought. 'During the Dragon Massacre, I knew what I did was wrong, but I still forced myself to do it. And now, with the Pendragon, I knew what we did was wrong… How? How could… something like me know what was right and what was wrong? A tool doesn't need to know about that kind of stuffs. It would only obstruct our mind when we followed the order.'
'And yet… Why? Why did I know what was right and what was wrong…'
'Why? Why was I cursed… No… blessed with the gift of emotion and morality?'
'And why? Why would someone like me exist at all?! Why would a tool who doesn't deserve any kindness and mercy like me exist?! I killed so many people and did many heinous crime, and I was still doing it until now! And yet here I am. Why did I deserve to exist at all?! Why?!'
'Why?!'
'Why?!'
'WHY?!'
'SOMEONE, TELL ME WHY?!'
"… Because thou are…"
'!' I opened my eyes and quickly looked around, trying to find the source behind the mysterious voice earlier. It was a powerful voice with a hint of warmness, and I never heard it before. However, I couldn't find else in this tower, let alone near me. There was obviously no one at the base of the tower, and even if there was, I would be too far to hear them. Of course, if there was anyone at the top of the tower, they would be too far from me too…
Unless…
'…' I steered myself and continued climbing the tower, hoping to find the answer of my question at the destination.
-Meanwhile…
"W… We finally reached Venturnome City, brother." Freya said as she and Zetarus walked along the road led to the capital of Theocracy of Venturnome, with the stony wall of the capital not too far from them. "L… Let's go, brother."
"Finally." Zetarus said. "I should contact Anastasia soon and ask where we could meet."
"Anastasia… I… I hope that she and Snow are safe…" Freya said with a worried voice. "A… And I am worry about Korben and Sirius too…"
"… Freya…" Zetarus looked at his younger sister.
"Ah, there's a checkpoint at the city gate!" Freya pointed at the entrance to the city. There were four lanes of road that led to the city gate, two going into the city and two going out of the city. Each lane into the city had a line of queue waiting to get into the city. One line was noticeably shorter than the other one. The shorter line, unlike the longer one, mainly consisted of Normal type, Fighting type, Psychic type, and Fairy type Pokemon, with a few Pokemon of other types mixed in. The longer line, on the other hand, was full of Pokemon of various type with a noticeably lack of Normal type, Fighting type, Psychic type, Fairy type, and Dragon type Pokemon.
"So there's a security check for those who entered and leave the capital, eh?" Zetarus commented. "From the look of it, the shorter line seemed to be for those native to Venturnome, while the longer line was for everyone else."
"N… Not really." Freya said. "According to what I heard from our other siblings who already visited Theocracy of Venturnome, the shorter line is for the followers of Yggdrasil, while the longer line is for everyone else."
"So they use religion in this kind of stuff too, eh?" Zetarus said. "Fair enough. This is their capital, after all. Though… Even with this Tauroshi-I mean, even with this separation, it seemed the capital was still a very popular place, judging by how long the line of those who weren't the followers of Yggdrasil."
"A… Actually…" Freya said. "Largo told me that the line of non-follower seems to proceed at a much slower rate than the other line for some reason, like if there were 10 Pokemon on each line, the tenth Pokemon of the follower line would be able to enter the city before the first Pokemon of the non-follower line."
"Oh." Zetarus said after the realization of the meaning behind Freya's words. "Normally I wouldn't take what Largy said as concrete fact, but in this case I couldn't help but believe in his words."
"L… Largy?!" Freya said after hearing the nickname Zetarus gave to their sibling.
"But this is a problem…" Zetarus said. "I remembered Richard telling us that Dragon type Pokemon weren't well-received in this nation. And both of us… I am a former wanted criminal, and you are the princess of Dustorm Empire. It would be a hassle for us to enter the checkpoint, not even counting the waiting time."
"… There must be a another entrance to the city, one that wasn't barred by the checkpoint." Freya spoke up.
"Hm? Another entrance?" Zetarus looked at the Flygon. "Where was that coming from?"
"Well… I was thinking… Anastasia and Snow were already in Venturnome City, right?" Freya said. "Anastasia wouldn't have a problem with it, but how would Snow get into the city? After all, he's… not exactly an ordinary Lapras. Someone like him getting into the city would raise a suspicion, and yet we didn't hear Anastasia said that there were a problem with them getting into the city, so there must be another entrance that they use, one that we could also use."
"Excellent deduction, Freya!" Zetarus complimented.
"T… Thanks, brother." Freya shyly smiled to her brother.
"Now then… Let's go and find it!" Zetarus said. "If we searched around the outskirt of the city, we might be able to find it!"
"W… Well… I think the unguarded entrance to the city might be in secret since the soldiers of Venturnome wouldn't leave a hole in their security." Freya said. "Beside, I think it would be much faster to ask Anastasia about it."
"Oh, right." Zetarus said.
The Garchomp and the Flygon then walked away from the main road and hid behind a tree away from the capital entrance. After making sure that no one was following them and no one could see them in this spot, Zetarus raised his claw to his face and spoke to the Ring of Balance.
"Anastasia, can you hear me?" Zetarus spoke.
"… Zetarus?" Anastasia's voice was heard from the Garchomp's Dragon Relic. "Yes, I can hear you."
"So, you are still around, eh?" Zetarus said. "Freya and I are fine here, and we both already reach the capital."
"I see." Anastasia said. "Snow and I are fine too. We both are in Cherry Blossom Park right now."
"Sorry Bottom Park?" Zetarus tried to repeat the word he just heard. "What a weird name for a park… Is it something we have to say to the other after a session of hardcore gayse-"
"It's Cherry Blossom Park." Anastasia didn't let the Garchomp finish his sentence. "It's a beautiful park on the west side of the capital. And it's the Cherry Blossom season too, so the scenary here is simply breathtaking-"
"Yeah, no. I am not into breathplay, thanks." Zetarus interrupted the Goodra's words. "Anyway, you were able to get Snow into the city, right? Is there some kind of secret entrance into the city or something that we can use?"
"Ah, right! I forgot to tell you about it before! I am sorry!" Anastasia said. "Yes, there's a secret entrance that led into the Cherry Blossom Park directly. Most Pokemon, not even the authorities, knew about it."
"Then, how did you know about it?" Zetarus asked.
"Well… I used to visit and even stayed in Venturnome City a lot back then. Venturnome City 30 years ago wasn't the same as Venturnome City today, but the secret entrance still existed, and its existence was still concealed." Anastasia said.
"Yeah, yeah. I get it." Zetarus said. "Can you tell me about it?"
"Let's see… Outside the city, a bit away from the capital, there should be a small forest there. In the middle of the forest is a broken statue. Check the base of that statue. There should be a secret switch somewhere there. It will open the secret tunnel that led to the Cherry Blossom Park directly. Just remember that there will be an intersection somewhere in the tunnel. Remember to ignore the forked tunnel and keep heading straight, and you'll find yourself at the dead end. There should also be another switch there to open the exit into the park." Anastasia explained. "Did you get all of that? Want me to repeat it?"
"Yeah, I got it." Zetarus said. "I am not the one for straight stuffs, but I think I'll manage."
"Okay, then. I'll wait for you and Freya at the exit of the secret tunnel. And remember to be careful." Anastasia said.
"It would be more dangerous for me to say it because of your brother, but you be careful too, Anastasia." Zetarus said to the Goodra before the connection between him and his Pendragon teammates ended. "Did you get all of that, Freya?"
"Yes, brother." Freya said. "Let's go."
-A few moments later…
It took 30 minutes for the siblings to reach the forest mentioned by Anastasia, and another 30 minutes to find the broken statue in the middle of the forest, but eventually, both of them managed to find what they wanted.
"This must be the statue that Anastasia mentioned…" Zetarus said and he and Freya stood in front of the broken statue. Most of the statue was already broken, leaving on the feet part of it. Both feet of the statue had 3 toes, each with claws on them. The feet itself indicated that the statue was facing the west, but other than that, it was impossible to tell which specie of Pokemon this statue was based on. At the base of the statue were a stone plate with word inscribed on it, but they were too fade to read all of it.
F…st….c…he….y….r….m
A…mp… D…g…n….h….al….s…n….ov…it…th….F…ir…Pr…ce…
"I… I feel bad for this statue… Being alone in disrepair in the middle of a forest…" Freya said. "I wonder how the statue used to look like…"
"Who knows…" Zetarus said as he started looking around the base of the statue. "But I know that… Aha! Gotcha!" The Garchomp found an unusual lump on the base of the statue and pressed it. His action caused the statue's back to open, revealing the stairs into the secret tunnel!
"W… Wow! Nice job, brother!" Freya said as she moved toward the back of the statue and looked into the secret tunnel. "T… This tunnel looked kinda scary, though…"
"Not many Pokemon know about it, so no wonder why it's in this sad state." Zetarus said as he inspected the entrance of the tunnel. "… Though there's a trace that the tunnel was used recently."
"That maked sense since Anastasia and Snow just used it." Freya said.
"Well, let's hope that it's only just Anastasia and Snow who used this tunnel recently. It would be bad if someone else discovered us using it." Zetarus said as he fetched a torch and lit it. "Here, Freya. Use this torch to navigate the tunnel."
"Okay, brother." Freya said as she received the torch from the Garchomp. "Let's go, brother."
"… You go ahead, Freya." Zetarus spoke up. "I'll catch up with you soon."
"B… Brother?" Freya looked at the Garchomp. "I… Is there something wrong?"
"… Nothing." Zetarus said. "I just realized that I should contact Korben and told him about this secret tunnel too as he's gonna need it to enter the capital."
"T… Then… I can wait with you." Freya said. "I… It shouldn't take that long to contact Korben, is it? A… And I am kinda worried about him too—"
"No. I also need to erase our trace here, to prevent anyone that could follow us here." Zetarus said with a firm and unusually serious voice. "It will take sometimes to do it, so you go ahead. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."
"… Okay, if you say so." Noticing the unusual seriousness in her brother's tone of voice, Freya decided to comply. "Be careful, brother, and don't take too long, okay?"
"Okay." Zetarus nodded to the Flygon as she slowly descended the stairs into the secret tunnel. The light from her torch was slowly consumed by the darkness as Freya walked into the tunnel, but the Garchomp didn't wait until the light disappeared when he closed the entrance of the secret tunnel.
"… You are unusually serious right now, Zetarus." A voice was heard through the Garchomp's Ring of Balance as his Dragon Legend commented about the unusual behavior of his champion.
"Aren't you the same, Zygarde?" Zetarus said. "Even though you hadn't said anything, I notice through our pact that, when we found the statue, your mood seemed to suddenly have changed."
"… You can sense my emotion now? Impressive… " Zygarde commented. "That must mean our pact had grown stronger…"
"Don't dodge the question, old fart." Zetarus said. "You knew something about the statue, didn't you? Let me guess, you know how the statue looked like before it was destroyed. And the Pokemon that this statue was based on was someone that you knew and didn't like very much, right?"
"…"
"And so far during our journey, even though you are pretty much a boomer who's always annoyed and irritated by everything, there was just one Pokemon that you had clearly showed a disdain to. Am I right?" Zetarus continued speaking.
"…"
"Silent treatment, huh? That's fine. I don't have time to deal with you right now anyway." Zetarus said as he walked toward the front of the statue, facing the forest that was surrounding him in every direction. With his pistol in his paw, he started speaking again. "… I know that you are here. I can feel your presence. I don't know who you are, though I have a very good idea of what you are trying to do, given that most of my comrades had disappeared. Show yourself before I start open-fire this entire forest."
The Garchomp's words echoed into the forest, following by a minute of silence. The silence, however, didn't last long as the appearance of someone had broke it. The mysterious figure had appeared from the forest, and they were now right in front of the Garchomp.
"I knew it…" Zetarus said and pointed at the newly-appeared Pokemon in front of him. "Tell me… Who are you?!"
"…"
"…"
"… This world is but a stage, and every living creature is but an actor…"
-Meanwhile…
'… At last…'
After what seemed to be forever, I stepped on the final stairs and onto the top of Tower of the God. The top of the tower was an large open area with stone floor, the same material that the tower was made of.
'So… This is where the Hero/ine of Legend fought the final battle against the ancient demon at the end of War of the God III…' I walked around the top of the tower, inspecting it. 'Well… This place seemed large enough for a group of Pokemon to do a battle with whatever they were fighting against… Hm…'
I walked toward the edge of the tower, carefully looking below. '… It's all cloud. I couldn't see the ground from here. How high is this tower that it's above the cloud level?'
I walked around the top of the tower, inspecting the floor of this place. There was a faint marking on the floor. The marking consisted of four circles of difference size. The smallest circle was at the center point of the floor while the largest circle was near the edge of the tower. There were also three more smaller circles on three different part of the largest circle, with three lines linking each circle, forming a triangle. There was also a smaller triangle inside the bigger one, this time linking the three different part of the third circle in the middle. Other than that, there were several small circle everywhere, for example, three near the first circle in the middle. Four in each of three circles, and many more.
'What a peculiar marking…' I thought as I inspected the marking. 'Was this the marking of the god Arceus?'
After inspecting the marking, I tried to find anything else here. However, other than an empty open area, there was nothing else here. No altar. No statue. No memorial. No stone tablet. Nothing.
'Just like the bottom to the tower, it's empty here…' I thought to myself as I walked toward the center of the area. 'But still… There should be at least an altar or a statue for worshipping the god here. Ridley told us that there was a priest who climbed this tower in order to pay his respect toward the god, but there was nothing for him to pay his respect here. That's weird… Or is there something more to this place that I haven't seen—'
"Welcome, mine child…"
To Be Continued…
Dragon of Vale: Hi, again! It's been a while. I admitted that I got lazy for a few months, but here it is, another chapter! Hopefully I can finish Tail 8 soon. Writing everything in first person isn't really my cup of tea.
So, in this chapter, the group reached Tower of the God. Sirius climbed the tower on his own and had an existential crisis. At the top, he reached a mysterious figure who had spoken to him during his climbing. Who could that be?
Q&A Session:
Tail 8-5 - Question: What condiment do you use when you eat fried egg?
Answer:
-Korben: Nothing. Food is best eaten with no condiment at all so we can taste their natural flavour to their fullest.
-Claura: Soy sauce. Yeah, yeah. I know that it's a bland answer, but soy sauce is pretty much one of the most normal condiments for fried egg, isn't it? And you know that I like salty and watery food, which means soy sauce is the obvious choice for me.
-Xavier: ZZZ… Normally, I would say that I would be too lazy to choose one, but recently I have discovered an unusual condiment that goes surprisingly well with fried egg. It's creamy and a bit sour. Hm? You want to know which condiment I was talking about? It's mayonnaise.
-Anastasia: During my time in Venturnome City, I had discovered a wonderful condiment called Furikake that goes very well with everything. You can even sprinkle it over plain rice and it would make it a tasty meal. So, my answer would be Furikake.
-Baromyteus: Salt and pepper… What? You thought that someone like me can't enjoy normal stuff? Think about it. I hate sweet, sour, and watery stuff, so most sauce is out of question. Salt alone or pepper alone are good, but both combined is better, of course.
-Diego: Chilli sauce, no question. Fried egg alone is bland, but with the spicyness of chili sauce it became much more bearable. The spicier the better, of course. My favorite kind of chili sauce is the one called Sriracha.
-Zetarus: Does salted blood count? I just put salt into blood then pour it over the fried egg. The salty taste of salt mix with the smell of blood pleased me a lot. Hm? Blood doesn't count? Fine, then just salt, I guess. Oh, does cu— *got cut off before he could finish his sentence*
-Rachael: Syrup! Be it maple syrup, fruit syrup, or berry syrup. Any kind of syrup works! The sweetness of syrup goes so well with the fried egg. Oh, honey works too! What? What do you mean people don't normally eat fried egg with syrup?
-Richard: People called me weird for my taste, but I prefer fried rice with vinegar. Most fried egg I had eaten was greasy and heavy, but any sour condiment can you through the the greasy meal. For me, I prefer vinegar, but any other sour condiment like a squeeze of Nomel Berry works too. Not ketchup, of course. Ketchup has too much sugar, and sugar is bad for your health.
-Freya: W… Well… For me, I enjoy fried egg with ketchup. I don't like spicy food, and Dustorm food is usually already salty, so I appreciate food of other tastes. The sourness and a hint of sweetness in ketchup pair well with fried egg and other food, isn't it?
-Snow: Ah… Another question regarding delicacy? Excellent. As a butler and a chef, I had tried pairing simple dish like fried egg with several kinds of condiment. You would never guess how much your experience of eating fried egg could change with just a difference in condiment. As for me, I enjoyed a sprinkle of various kinds of herbs on my fried egg. It would take me forever to list the kinds of herbs I prefer, but the example are rosemary and dill.
-Sirius: … (Dragon of Vale: Sirius says that it doesn't have any preference. It happily eats fried egg with any condiment. But if it has to choose one, it would choose choco—No! Sirius! You know that you can't eat chocolate! And chocolate isn't even what people normally eat with fried egg… Wait a minute, what do you have in your mouth right now? Show it to me—Wait, don't you just run away! Come back! Sirius! SIRIUS! BAD DOG! COME BACK!)