A Dragon's Tail

by Dragon of Vale

The world of Pokemon is now in a peaceful era under the protection of goddess Yggdrasil and the Hero/ine of Legend, a group of Pokemon who received the blessing from the god Arceus. However, the tide of destiny seemed to hate this world as the force of chaos had appeared and plagued the realm, and the cause of it was from the Hero/ine of Legend themselves!

86. Tail 8-6: The Apex of Venturnome

A Dragon's Tail

Tail 8: Sirius' Tail - Monstrosity

Tail 8-6: The Apex of Venturnome

I felt a sudden appearance of another Pokemon behind my back. My instinct commanded me to turn back to face whoever behind me, only to be met with the presence of the Pokemon that neither me nor most Pokemon would ever hope to meet within our lifetime.

The Pokemon in front of me was a large quadruple creature with a tail and a long neck, which had two spikes extending from each side of the neck. Most of this Pokemon's body was white except for their neck, underbelly, and under their tail, which were gray. The most noticeable feature on this Pokemon's body was the golden ring on their torso. The ring was cross-shaped with incompleted circle linking each of left half and right half of the cross. There were also green gems at where the cross and the incompleted circle met, resulting in a total of four gems. The hooves of this Pokemon were the same color as the ring. As for their head… They had a long mane at the back of their head, also white with gray underside. Both of their ears were pointing upward, and they had a gold mark at their forehead. Their face was gray, the same color as their underside. They had red eyes with green circle surrounding each of them, as well as one more green circle below their eyes. Their face gave off the air of mystery. It was not possible at all to know the emotion on this Pokemon face. One thing that I knew, however, about this Pokemon was that, this Pokemon was none other than…

'… Arceus, the omnipotent god of Pokemon.'

"Welcome, mine child…" Once again, I heard a voice, the same voice that I heard before, both while I was climbing the tower and just a moment ago. It was a powerful and mysterious voice, and strange enough, the voice seemed to directly entered my head. With the presence of the almighty god in front of me, it was no doubt that the voice belonged to him. "I hast been waiting for thou."

'Waiting for me?' I repeated the words that I just heard.

"Yes, mine child." Arceus spoke again in response to the thought in my head.

'… So, you can understand me. You are the god, after all…' I replied, not feeling surprised that Arceus could hear me. 'What did you mean by 'I have been waiting for you'?'

"I mean what I quoth, mine child." Arceus replied. "I hast longed to meet thou, and I finally get to at last."

'You… want to meet me?' I 'spoke' to Arceus. 'But why would you want to do so?'

"Because thou interest me." Arceus said. "I hast been observing thou and thy journey aye since thou had join to existence."

'… I have several questions regarding your statement.' I tried to process the thought in my head. 'First, it means you know about me and the Pendragon, isn't it?'

"Yes, mine child." Arceus replied. "I am aknown of the existence of a draconic group whom aims to dispatch the chosen heroes under mine benison."

'So… Our action isn't unknown by the god, after all…' I thought. 'Then, you must consider me and the Pendragon the evil that must be purged from this world…'

"… No, mine child. I consider neither thou nor thy comrades the evil of this world." Arceus replied me with an answer that surprised me. "Thy deed may be malicious 'i the eyes of most souls, yet it is actually an act of mercy."

'An act of mercy…' I thought. 'So… It is true that some kind of evil force is corrupting the Hero/ine of Legend.'

"Correct, mine child." Arceus said. "The corruption ran deep within the heart and soul of those whom once saved this world. Should they were left alone, they would become no better than the like evil they were destined to vanquish."

'… Is there no way to save them without killing them at all?' I asked.

"I am sorry, yet that's almost impossible, mine child." Arceus answered. "They are beyond salvation. Killing 'em is the only way to forebear their corruption, as well as the most merciful way for 'em to redempt."

'… Aren't you the almighty god? Couldn't the omnipotent god even save them?' I said, feeling irritated by Arceus' previous answer. 'Moreover, those corrupted Hero/ine of Legend received the power from you to save the world, and they did. They saved the world when the world needed them. But now that they were in peril themselves. Can't you even save them in return?!'

"… Being a god doth not mean that I doth aught, mine child." Arceus replied to me, this time with a hint of an emotion within their voice. "E'en god hath a reasonable shore to their power, and one of 'em is that they canst not interfere with the work of another deity of the like calibur as 'em."

'Deity of the same level as you…' I thought about the words I heard from him. From what I knew about the history of the world of Pokemon, there was just one Pokemon that fit that description. '… Does the corruption of the Hero/ine of Legend have something to do with the Dragon God?'

"… For once, they are not directly responsible for the peril situation we are facing." Arceus' voice this time couldn't fully concealed the hint of annoyance and irritation. "Yet I digress. Wherein I was mentioning another deity of the like calibur as mine, I was speaking of Yggdrasil."

'Yggdrasil?' Hearing the name of the goddess that I had heard SO many times during these past week only sprouted more question. 'What does she have to do with this? And how could it be that she is at the same level as you? I only heard about you and the Dragon God being the highest order of god of this world since you create this world, and the Dragon God was also there after the world was created too.'

"Say to me, mine child. Why is it that me and the Dragon God are at the like calibur maugre that I am the creator of this world, and the Dragon God isn't?" Arceus replied me with a question. Seeing that I had no answer for him, he continued speaking. "Being a powerful being alone doth not causes thee a god. Thou are regarded as a deity only if mortals consider thou as one"

'… So, in another words…' I tried to understand Arceus' words. 'You needed to have people as followers who considered you as a god to make you a god.'

"Correct, mine child." Arceus replied. "Both me and the Dragon God are regarded as gods because mortals regard us as one. 'I the dragon god's case, e'en though he hath a smaller meiny, the faith of his meiny is firm-set and persists through time and space, giving him a power that rivals mine when it comes to our calibur as a deity."

'I see…' I said. 'Then, in Yggdrasil's case. She had quite a bit of followers, especially in Venturnome, and her followers had a very strong faith toward her. Are you saying that this is enough for her deity level to be the same as you?'

"Yes, mine child." Arceus answered. "Faith is a powerful force, yet scary at the like time. It compose both god as much as it compose Beelzebub. Though mortals still see me as the god of the highest calibur, I am pondering that Yggdrasil might be at a higher calibur than I am, for that i want meiny with firm-set faiths."

'What do you mean by that?' I asked.

"Thou hast seen it with thy own eyes, mine child. " Arceus said. "Yggdrasil hath gained a large quantity of meiny after the fallen crisis, and yet many of her meiny, especially those 'i higher decree, are not exactly benevolent as the image of Yggdrasil they create."

'… You were right.' I agreed with Arceus' words. 'I had seen it with my own eyes. Many of higher ranks Priests of Yggdrasil only used the goddess as a tool to gain fame and fortune. Even many of their followers only worshiped Yggdrasil because they believed that she will grant them salvation.'

"Being egocentric is fundamental for all beings. Every action of living creators has a selfish reason behind it, mortals and immortals alike." Arceus said. "Yet i digress once again. The meiny of Yggdrasil hast an exceptional firm-set faith toward her, yet at the like time their fath conceal their sin. This issue 'i Yggdrasil not only being empowered by faith, yet also sin."

'Yggdrasil… What happened to her?' After hearing Arceus' words, I couldn't help but shutter when I thought about the current state of Yggdrasil right now.

"… Thou hast to see it with thy own eyes, mine child." Arceus said. "All I hast to say right now is that, with the sin of her meiny within her bearing, Yggdrasil is no longer the benevolent goddess her meiny receive she is."

---

After pausing for a few minutes, I finally spoke again after a moment that I was unable to mutter any word. "What does Yggdrasil has to do with the corruption of the Hero/ine of Legend?"

"For most generation of Hero/ine of Legend, they received mine benison and use 'em to fight evil. And yet, the former generation is divers." Arceus replied. "30 years since, at the event mortals now bid Fallen Crisis. The Hero/ine of Legend fought against the being bid fallen dragon whom sought to disrupt the law of nature by raising the perpetual wink against the stream of time. This time, the Dragon God interverned me, which limited the amount of benison I could bestow toward the Hero/ine of Legend. Normally, that would issue 'i the Hero/ine of Legend possessing weaker power, yet that wasn't the case as they also received the benison from somewhere else... From another deity"

'… They received the blessing from Yggdrasil too, aren't they?' I said.

"Correct, my child. For most generations, the Hero/ine of Legend received only the benison from me. Hence far, there were only two generations of heroes whom received the benison from other deities as well. Beside the Fallen Crisis, the other time was during War of the God II, when they received the benison from the Dragon God as well due to that we all had a common foe." Arceus said. "Receiving the benison from the deities is a major office. It meant that thou are the meiny of the deity thou received the benison from, and thou now fight 'i their name. Hence, 'i other word, the former generation of the Hero/ine of Legend are the meiny of both me and Yggdrasil"

'… Yggdrasil was the one behind the corruption of the Hero/ine of Legend…' I was finally able to connect the dots. 'The true cause behind the corruption of the Hero/ine of Legend was the corruption of Yggdrasil. And Yggdrasil's corruption came from the sin of her followers, which means…'

"The world is destroyed by the evils. The evils are destroyed by the heroes… And the heroes are destroyed by the world." Arceus said with the hint of sadness in their voice. "As long as avarice still lurks within the heart of mortals, or as long as mortals continued to exploit Yggdrasil's benison to sate their sinful desire, neither the heroes nor Yggdrasil had been freed from the corruption."

'So… That's what you meant when you said it was 'almost' impossible to save the Hero/ine of Legend, making it that killing them is the only way to truly 'save' them.' I spoke. 'But what about Yggdrasil? I knew that you couldn't interfere with the work of another deity, but can't we save her too? Or do we have to kill her too to 'save' her?'

"…Committing a deicide against Yggdrasil or any deity is a major sin, yet it would free her, as well as the Hero/ine of Legend under her benison, from corruption." Arceus said. "Alas, doing so shall cause moe harm to this world than not. The mortals' faith toward Yggdrasil run deep within the world… So deep that it could be quoth that Yggdrasil herself had become the fundamental of this world. Dispatching her had been no divers than shattering this very world."

'… I see…' I said, still didn't understand Arceus' word, except the part that killing Yggdrasil would do more harm than good. "Then, what would happen if we leave Yggdrasil alone?"

"She would continue to suffer, yet as long as she didst not bestow benison to anyone, none would hast to share the suffering she now endured." Arceus replied. "The only way to save Yggdrasil is to forbear the avarice lurking within the heart of mortals, what be an impossible feat, e'en for a god like myself."

'So… There's really no way to save the Hero/ine of Legend…' I thought to myself. Does it mean that what the Pendragon had done so far is the right thing? So far, I had always believed that violence will never be the final answer to anything, but it seemed like my thought was proven wrong here.

"I also hast to apologize thee and thy comrades." Arceus spoke up again. "Thy group is doing a good deed for this world, and yet the world continued to perceive thy group as evil."

'… Couldn't you do something about it, then?' I spoke up again. 'My comrades were risking our life for the action that was perceived by the world as evil. Many of us would forever be branded as evil. We were basically cleaning up the world's sin, and yet you did nothing about it!'

"Once again, being a god doth not mean that I doth aught." Arceus said. "And Another thing that I would not doth is interfering with the life of mortals."

'You can't… do that?' I said as I looked at the Alpha Pokemon in front of me.

"After what was known by mortals as War of the God I, I had chosen to forbear involving myself with mortals and let 'em live their life as they were pleased. I'ld observe 'em from afar and only interfere directly 'i the emergency, such as during War of the God III, when the ancient demon from another world was threathening this world." Arceus said.

'Why… Why would you do something like that?' I asked.

'The era of gods and creations had longed since over.' Arceus replied. 'After War of the God I, I judge that mortals should'st stand up and move forward on their own, not to aye be under the guidance of the god of all time. They are no longer 'i the want of god. That was the reason why I granted mine benison to a handful group of pokemon and let 'em marshal't the world 'i mine place, and that was how the Hero/ine of Legend befell be.'

'So… You were letting us walk on our own path…' I thought. 'And that's why you rarely interacted with the world…'

"That is correct, my child." Arceus said as he slowly moved toward the edge of the tower and looking down to the cloud below. "Alas, after several millenniums of observing and seldomly interaction, I am now considering if what I didst was the right choice or not."

'…' I said nothing as I walked up beside Arceus and looked at the cloud below the tower too.

"E'en now, mortals still felt a want to rely on gods and transcendental power." Arceus continued speaking. "Mayhaps 'twere an incorrect decision of mine to let mortals stand on their own feet. Belike it had been better would I took a full control of this world and marshal't the mortals under mine guidance."

'… I couldn't say if my thought reflected the thought of general Pokemon or not, but it was in the mortals' nature to err and make mistake.' I looked at Arceus and spoke to them. 'What's more important is how much we learn from our mistake and grow with it, so that we won't repeat it again.'

"… And what about you, my child?" Arceus turned toward me and looked at me directly, as if he was judging me. "What did you learn?"

'… I had done many terrible things. I had killed several innocences. I had brought an entire settlement to ruins. I had cause a pain that will never heal to someone. And… I am currently walking on a path of ambiguous morality.' I closed my eyes, recalling everything I had done so far. 'Even though I was partially forced to commit them, it would never change the fact that I did them. I had been pondering on what I should do in the future, after the Pendragon achieved their goal.'

"And what is thy answer, mine child?" Arceus asked.

'… I didn't want to run away.' I opened my eyes and looked at Arceus. 'Even if I repaid for my sin with my death, it would never change anything. I wanted to live. I wanted to continue living my life. I would live the life of redemption, where I could redempt myself.'

"Are thou knowest that this is what thou very crave?" Arceus asked. "And how wouldst thou redempt yourself from thy 'sin'? How wouldst thou resolve to live the life of redemption?"

'… I… I don't know.' After spending the time thinking about it, I came to the same conclusion I had back when I was climbing the tower. 'I… I didn't know what I should do next… I didn't have anyone that I could devote my life to protect. And… I don't know! I don't know what I should do!'

"Is that thy answer?" Arceus said with emotionless voice. "Then, there is nought moe to be quoth. It seemed that this world of the mortals had forsooth gone beyond redemption. The sole remaining path for this world is… to start anew."

'What?!' I couldn't believed what I just heard from the god of Arceus. What did they want to do with this world?! 'What are you meaning by that?!'

"I meant that it is now the time for this world to reborn anew." Arceus said. "I hast judged that this world no longer deserve to exist under mine benison. 'Tis now time to purge the corky world once and for all. And once I am done, a new world shall reborn from the ash. A new world... The one with neither avarice nor envy. The world without conflict. The world where mortals live together i harmony. The world of utopia… The perfect world."

'You can't do that!' I gazed at the Alpha Pokemon in front of me, feeling anger dwelling inside my own body. 'You are basically killing everyone in this world, even innocent Pokemon who hadn't done anything wrong! They didn't deserve to die just because of the wrongdoing of others!'

"And why doth it matter, mine child?" Arceus looked at me, their voice still didn't show any emotion. "The world had gone beyond redemption. Avarice and evil lurked within the hearts of all mortals. I had granted 'em a chance to walk on their own path. And yet, they failed. Mortals canst not exist without god to guide 'em. Wherein they are 'i the dark, they plead for gods to help 'em. All of 'em wished for a perfect world where sadness and despair ne'r exists. All of 'em wished for the world of eternal happiness. As the god and the creator of this world, 'twere mine office to grant 'em the hope they summon, is it not?"

'No! You were wrong!' If I could speak, I would find myself shouting with angry voice toward the being that was regarded as the god of highest order. 'I won't deny that there are Pokemon who were just like what you described. I had seen it with my own eyes. And yet not all of them were like that, and once again, I had seen it too! Just look at my comrades, the members of the Pendragon! All of them were the outcasts of the society who had survived fates worse than death, and yet they still moved forward, fighting for their ideal, fighting for the world they believed in, even if the entire world branded them as evil! You can't just judge that everyone wished for a new world just because some of them were like that!'

"Is that so?" Arceus said as they suddenly started moving back toward the center of the tower, their body glowing in yellow aura. "Then, prove it to me, mine child. Prove it to me that mortals never would for the rebirth of this world. Prove it to me that the world deserved their chance. Manifest to me the voice of the mass. Manifest to me how much thou are content to stand beside this world!"

'…' I turned toward Arceus, who now raised their forelegs upward, preparing a battle stance. So… It had come to this, huh? I never thought that I would have to face a god in a battle like this. The stake of this battle was the fate of this world. If I failed, then the world… Everything I had known and loved… They would cease to exist… I only got one chance, and I could not fail… But what could I do? My opponent was the god of the highest order, the creator of this very world. There was absolutely no way for me to defeat him, no way at all. Which means…

'… There was only one thing to do.' I steered myself ready for the upcoming battle. 'Arceus, I will face you! I will challenge you for the fate of this world! I will prove it to you that this world deserve to live on!'

---

Arceus started the battle by getting into the attacking stance and releasing a pink wave of psychic power from his body, which sweeped in every direction surrounding him toward the entire floor!

'!' Running around wouldn't help me dodge it. The only way I could evade the attack was to jump over the psychic wave. I manage to do it, despite that the accursed mask on my face weighting me down considerably. The attack, however, didn't stop there as I noticed the shadow on the floor right at where I landed, and I only managed to dodge it in a split second before a meteor fell down from the sky onto where I was one second earlier. Of course, I still didn't get any time to rest as another psychic wave was released from Arceus' body, and I had to dodge it and the meteor a few more times until they stopped.

"…" Without giving me more than a few seconds to catch my breath, Arceus continued their attack by rasing their forelegs upward, charging a sphere of light above them. Then, several rays of light came out of the light sphere. This was Arceus' signature attack, Judgement, and they were aiming it toward me!

'!' I had to wait until the very last second before the rays of light landed on me to jump away. I noticed that the rays were homing toward me, so if I dodged too early, the rays would still follow me and eventually hit me as I couldn't change my movement while I was dodging. Again, Arceus' Judgement didn't stop with just a single attack. Several rays of light continued to strike me several more times. In the end, I barely managed to dodge his last Judgement attack. If he continued his Judgement attack even just one more time, it would have hit me for sure… And I couldn't allow it to happen.

'…' I tried to catch my breath and steer myself for the next attack as Arceus lowered his forelegs and turned their attention to me again. The Alpha Pokemon attacked me once again with Extrasensory, the very same psychic waves he used against me, following by Draco Meteor immediately afterward.

'Tsk…' I cursed a bit as the meteor missed me by just a few inches, but it ended up scratching my body a bit. 'I got careless. I need to put a distance away from him…' I thought to myself as I tried to move away from the god. But…

'!' Suddenly sensing something powerful right at where I was, I only had less than a second to jump away as Arceus used Extreme Speed to move at where I was before they attacked me with a burst of power. 'Such a powerful attack…' I thought as I landed on the floor. 'This won't be easy… But it's the only way that I could win…'

I kept my eyes on Arceus as I moved away so that I wouldn't get caught by the sudden Extreme Speed. Arceus, however, didn't move toward me. Instead, they raised their forelegs once again, and the floor everywhere except right next to him was glowing red!

'!' I quickly sprinted toward Arceus and jumped right into the little safe space the area had before all the red floor bursted with energy. Once again, Arceus' attack managed to scratch me, but I was still fine.

'Here it come!' I thought as Arceus started charging the sphere of light above them before they used the move Judgement on me again. This time, my experience let me evade all of them easily.

"What are thou doing?" Arceus spoke up for the first time after the battle started. "Why are thou not attacking?"

'Because I am not fighting you, Arceus.' I replied to the Alpha Pokemon as I caught my breath.

"Are thou saying that thou surrender yourself and the fate of this world to me?" Arceus said with a hint of confusion in their voice.

'No. I still stood with my belief that this world didn't deserve to be reset.' I looked directly at Arceus.

"Then, brow me 'i a broil. Demonstrate me thy resolve!" Arceus said before they got into the attacking stand and prepared to attack me with the Extrasensory and Draco Meteor combo.

'…I wouldn't be able to do this forever…' I thought as I steered myself for the attack. 'This meant I had to make every moment count!'

---

The battle had continued for a long time. How long? At least a few hours, I was sure of it. I already lost the track of time since when I arrived at the top of the tower, and being engaged in a battle against the most powerful Pokemon didn't help. The more I dodged Arceus' attack, the more I found myself getting more tired. At this rate, I would reach my limit soon, and this battle would come to its conclusion before long.

'!' Even though I wasn't as fast as before now that my fatigue was greater than before, I managed to dodge Arceus' Judgement until the end of the attack. The attack, however, forced me to distant myself away from Arceus, who then wasted no time and continued to attack me with the scarlet force. This time, however, I wasn't too far from Arceus, so I managed to get to the safe area near Arceus some time before Arceus unleashed his attack. After the attack was done, I quickly jumped away so that Arceus wouldn't be able to strike me with any close-range attack.

"The chance hath been presented thee on countless occasions, and yet for what reason hath thou forsake it?" Arceus seemed to be baffled that I didn't attack him despite that I got a chance to do so while he was charging and executing the previous attack. "What are thou aiming to achieve by doing all of these?"

'… I am well-awared of the difference in our strength, Arceus.' I stood my ground and looked at the Alpha Pokemon, trying to catch my breath and rested my weary body. 'You are the god of highest order of this world, and your power far exceeded any other living creatures in this world, myself include. I know that I could not win against you. I am not a reckless fool who fight a battle that I couldn't win. However, this is also a battle where the fate of the world is at stakes. As much as it was the battle that I couldn't win, it was also the battle that I couldn't lose. With all of that, I only had one path left for me. Arceus, I refuse to fight you.'

"… So, thou are choosing the path of stalemate." Arceus spoke up, this time with the usual emotionless voice they usually had. "I never understood thy decision of choosing this path. This is the nihilistic path, a path that shall marshal't to neither conclusion. Or is this very what thou desire?"

'No. I only desire is to see this world saved.' I spoke to the god. 'I also took in your words earlier that sometimes, violence is necessity to achieve your goal. That, however, didn't mean that violence is the answer to every thing. If it had come to the time when I had to resort to violence, then I would use it. This, however, wasn't that time. Arceus, you were the creator of this world! Pokemon of this world worshiped you as the omnipotent god! You were beloved by your people, and yet you were going to cast aside their faith toward you just because you deemed this world to be imperfect?!'

"The only thing mortals truly desired is salvation." Arceus said as they attacked me again with Extrasensory, forcing me to jump away. "I had granted 'em a chance to walk on their own path, and yet all they didst was begging the deities for salvation. I merely just granted 'em what they desire, and thou are standing 'twixt mortals and their salvation. There might be mortals whom still would to walk on their own path, yet they are merely a fragment comparing to the vast amount of mortals whom would othergates. Their desire paled comparing to the desire of the mass."

"It's true that most Pokemon want a life of happiness… A life where they would never experience sorrow and despair. That, however, wasn't the what any living creatures want!" I stood once again after dodging Arceus' attack, feeling tired after dodging the attack for so long. 'To be alive mean that you have to experience both joy and sorrow, both hope and despair. Without sorrow, there's no joy. Without despair, there's no hope. Without joy and sorrow, with neither hope nor despair, only meant that you were no longer alive! Anyone who lived a life like that was no difference than being dead!'

"… It is such a great irony, is it not?" Arceus said. "Thou, of all the creatures, declaimed the topic of 'being alive'. Were thou not loss about thy own existence earlier? Were thou not grasp on whom thou very are? Thou are a being not born to the way of nature. Thou are not the like as all the mortals 'i this world. Thou are not e'en convinced that thou are forsooth 'alive'. Doth thou not see the irony behind thy own words and deed?"

'… Before meeting you, I had always been lost about my own existence. I always considered myself a being different from Pokemon. I didn't even convince that I am really alive or not.' I stood firm and spoke to Arceus with conviction. 'Meeting you, however, had cleared the dark cloud within my mind. I came to the conclusion that I still didn't have the answer to the questions I had, but it didn't matter. Whether I am alive or not or being a Pokemon or not didn't matter to me. What mattered to me was how I planned to use this 'life' of mine to live on.'

"…" Arceus still bombarded me with their attack, but I could sense that he was listening to my words carefully.

'Back then, I was lost at how I should live my life. I didn't deserve to be alive right now. I didn't have anyone to protect. And I didn't have any future to look forward to.' I spoke as I dodged Arceus' attack as best as I could, though I felt my energy was close to running out. 'Meeting you, however, had made me see everything clearly. Your action had shown me how much I care for this world, the very world you deem imperfect. Yes, I understood that there were many bad things happening in this world, but there were also many good things in this world too. It had given birth to many wonders, both bad and good. I had seen many kinds of Pokemon, be those who were good, evil, both, or neither. All of those wouldn't exist without this world, this imperfect world. Your disdaining words toward this world had shown me how much I love this world, and I didn't want the world to just disappear just because a god said so. So, I will do all in my power to protect this world. Even if that made me the enemy of the most powerful being in this world, then, so be it!'

"… And thou chose to protect this world by engaging me 'i a broil, yet refuse to attack me?" Arceus said. "How wouldst thou protect this world with such a stalemate?"

'If I ran away, you would reset this world. If I fought, I would surely lose, and the world would be reset too.' I replied to the Alpha Pokemon, feeling my energy draining away. 'But if I refuse to fight and continue engaging you in a stalemate like you, both of us will be locked in the endless battle. As long as I could keep you occupy with me, you wouldn't be able to reset this world and create a new one. I knew that this wasn't the best idea. There were so many downsides in this method. Eventually, I would be too tired to dodge and be annihilated, but that meant I had done all I could do, not counting that this meant that I would be able to 'save' this world for as long as I could. When that time came, I would be able to die without regret.'

"So, thou chose to sacrifice yourself for this world… For the world that detested thy existence." Arceus said. "And the reason why thou chose to try so was because thou love this world…"

'That's right.' I looked firmly at Arceus. 'You wanted me to show my resolve to protect this world to you, and this was how I was going to do so.'

"… It seemed like the sensation I had was proved to be corrected. It seemed like thou were forsooth long gone from this world, Aleph." Arceus said as they raised their forelegs and started charging the sphere of light, preparing the Judgement attack. The sphere of light this time, however, was much bigger than normal, and Arceus seemed to concentrate more of their power into this attack.

'Arceus aimed to finish the battle once and for all…' I tried to move my body, only to find that it barely listened to my command. 'Craps… I am too tired to even move. Was this really the end of me?' I looked at Arceus as they were almost ready to unleash their Judgement. 'So, I had done everything that I could. If I were to die here… I would say that I had done all I could.'

I forced my body to stand up and looked at Arceus right in front of me. I had been dodging the attack like what I had been doing since the battle started. This time, I aimed to face it head-on, so that this battle would finally come to its end.

"May thou perish and be reborn anew, mine child!" Arceus said before they unleashed the final Judgement attack toward me, aiming to finish me once and for all. Instead of dodging, I used the last ounce of my power to sprint forward, facing directly to the ray of light, facing the god's Judgement without deviation, and without hesitation.

'!''

'…'

'…'

The ray of light from Arceus' Judgement engulfed me. All I could see was the brightness. All I could hear was the deafening sound of light passing through my body. All I could feel was… pain. It hurted. It hurted a lot. It felt like my entire body was being torn apart… No… It wasn't just a feeling. I could felt that a part of my body was really being torn apart. That part, however, wasn't 'natural' to my body.

'…?' After what seemed to be eternal, I could hear another sound. It was the sound of something cracking, the sound of something breaking apart. The source of the sound was close to me, very close… No… It was not only close to me, but it was right next to my head!

'!' The source of the sound was none other than the accursed mask on my face cracking. The feeling that a part of my body was torn apart wasn't from any 'natural' parts of my body. It was this mask started breaking!

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!"! Using what remained of my power, I unleashed a roar as loud as possible as the accursed mask, the restraints that pretty much imprisoned my entire existence, broke into countless pieces, releasing me from my personal prison at last!

'!' As soon as the mask broke away, I could feel several new sensations entering my mind. It was an new feeling. I felt liberated, as if all the cloud within my body had melt away. No… These feeling wasn't unusual at all. It felt more like I had reunited with long-lost friends. It felt strangely familiar… As if… I had had all these sensations before!

'!'

---

"Aleph, what are you doing?!"

"You all don't have to worry about me! Go! I will hold off this world for as long as I could! You all go and save the Pokemon of this land as many as you can! Don't let them die too!"

"You idiot! The world is ending right now, and you are still going to play hero?!"

"He's right. It wouldn't change anything if you did this, Aleph! You are going to die if you continue doing this! Come with us and save yourself too!"

"No. It's true that this world is ending right now, and it's me who is to blamed for its destruction. I will take responsible for it. I don't care if I have to die, but at very least I would be able to save some lives!"

"Nobody is blaming you for this, Aleph! It's us the Hero/ine of Legend who brought the world to ruins by our own hands."

"Yes, it's us who are to blamed. If it's anyone who had to take responsible, then it's all of us who hve to do so, not you, Aleph!"

"If you all want to take responsible, then go out there and save lives! You would be more useful than staying here. It won't do any good if all of us remained here. Now, go!"

"Why are you being a fuckwit at a time like this?! Isn't it clear enough for you?! You will die if you stay here!"

"I am fully aware of that, but if it meant that I could save at least one live, then I am more than happy to do so!"

"And why would you do that?! This world has been ravaged by wars for so long. People had grown malicious by all the conflicts. Why would you want to save such an accursed world like this?!"

"Because… I love this world, my friends."

---

'I… I remembered…' I tried to grasp all the sensations that were flowing in my head. What I had felt just now was a memory, a recollection of the fateful moment long gone. It was the memory of my final moment, the moment that I 'died'.

"… Thou had regained thy remembrance, is it not, mine child?"

'Hm?' Being overwhelmed by the new sensation, I didn't realize that all the light engulfing me was already gone. I was now back at standing on the top of Tower of the God. Right in front of me was Arceus, who was my opponent in a battle earlier. Arceus, however, no longer showed any hostile sight. Instead, they were looking at me, and I could see the gentleness in their eyes for the first time.

"Thou had died and reborn anew, mine child." Arceus spoke, this time with a gentle voice as he summoned a small wall that seemed to also functioned as a mirror. "Now, feast thy eyes upon thy authentic visage, the one unshackled by any restraint."

"…" I gazed at the mirror and inspected my face. Most part of my face were white, including the mane around my neck. Parts of my face were metallic, however, such as my snout. My nose were black and triangular, and it was surrounded by three short red lines. My silver eyes were rectangular, and my pupils were white. My two ears were red and pointed upward. As for my mouth, the upper jaw was the part of the metallic snout, while the lower jaw possessed two sharp fangs. I also had two metallic circles on each side of my head. Lastly, atop of my head were a large axe-like crest. The front of crest had metal piece attached to it, while the back of the crest had three white feathers extending toward the back of my body.

"This was how thou truly look like under the mask, mine child." Seeing that I finished inspecting my face, Arceus dismissed the mirrored wall and continued speaking. "Thou had died and reborn anew into this world once again, mine child."

'That memory… It was at the end of a great war… It was after my friends and I fought a great battle, and we banished the losers of the war.' I tried to sort out the memory in my head. 'However, it was a mistake. Doing so caused the world to break apart. The sky was rended. The sea was boiled. The land shattered. It was the day… of the Apocalypse.'

"Correct, mine child." Arceus said. "The great war thou had experienced was known as War of the God II, where the Hero/ine of Legend fought against the armies of dragons led by the empty vessel of the Dragon God, and thou… Thou had been fighting alongside 'em until the very end."

'Yes. I fought alongside the Hero/ine of Legend before.' I spoke to myself as every thing became clearer. 'At the end of the war, we decided to banish the entire land of the Dragon type Pokemon to the realm between time and space so they wouldn't be able to start another war. That, however, led to the Apocalypse. Countless Pokemon had died, with only a handful of them survived. That was the greatest sin ever committed by the Hero/ine of Legend… And I was to blame as much as them.'

"… Thou are wrong, mine child." For the very first time, Arceus said that I was wrong. "The sin of bringing the entire world to the end that was weighting on thy heart… All of that was mine to blame"

'W… What do you mean by that?' Arceus' word confused me. No, not just their words. Just a moment earlier I had been fighting the Alpha Pokemon for the fate of this world, and now we were having a chat with each other with no sign of battle remained. All of that brought even more questions to me. What was Arceus trying to do here?

"Mine child, how much didst thou remember thy origin?" Arceus looked at me and answered me with another question.

'… I was an artificial creature created in the Civilight Laboratory using the DNA of a Mythical Pokemon named Arceus, Your DNA, under the name of 'Experiment Delta'. I was created to be the ultimate weapon of destruction. However, the major part of the experiment failed, and I was restrainted by the mask and was kept hidden in the lab… Until I was brought to Valley of No Return for the siegn of the Hidden Village of Dragon.' I answered the god calmly. 'Before right now, my earliest memory was at the laboratory, where I was first created. However… After the mask broke, I had regained my lost memory. I remembered that I existed long before my 'birth' at the Civilight Laboratory, but… My past memory was still foggy. I still couldn't remember all of it.'

"… Indeed, mine child. Allow me to divulge thou an corky tale, a tale from a most long time since." Arceus said. "A most long time since, long ere most mortals whom live their life at this very instant were born, there was a vast continent, much larger than any continent that was housing the civilization today, where creatures known as pokemon once lived. The Great Continent, alas, was ravaged by the endless wars ever since the morn of time, since when two creators of the world created this very land. The very first war was 'twixt two creators whom befell disagreement on how mortals should'st live their life. That war, later known as War of the God I, ended 'i the victory of one god and a group of mortals whom were bestowed the god's benison, whilst the other god, known by the name of the Dragon God, lost the war and was sealed aroint. After the war, the god left mortals to govern the land on their own, so that they could walk on the world by their own legs, and the group of mortals whom were bestowed the god's benison were appointed as the guardians of the world, 'i which they were known as Hero/ine of Legend."

'…' I carefully listened to Arceus' tale. The tale they told me so far was what I already known. That, however, would change soon.

"Countless millenniums had passed, and the world continued to exist. Mortals continued lived their life. Hero/ine of Legend continued to protect the world. And the god themselves continued to observe the orb. They had witness countless conflicts towards the very world they created, and yet they seldom lifted their hand to help mortals, for that they deemed it the ordeal that mortals must learnt to conquer 'i decree for 'em to flourish. They would only appear 'i the instant of emergency, yet other than that, they would observe the orb silently from above." Arceus continued their tale. "Alas, the god could no longer remain standing still. They loved this world very much, too much that they could not bear to remain separate from the very world they created, and yet they knew that they, being the deity worshipped as the omnipotent god of the world, could ne'r involve themselves with mortals. Or at least… Withal their usual form. So, the god shedded a fragment of their soul, which was weave into a form with the appearance that most mortals would not find anomalous. The form had became a new specie of pokemon 'i which the god named Silvally. The Silvally was also granted a common name to not causes them unfamiliar to mortals. The Silvally was named… Aleph."

'Silvally… Aleph…' I repeated the two new name I heard from Arceus. 'Wait… Aleph… That was the name that my friends used to call me in my memory… D… Don't tell me that…'

"After aleph was constructed, the god used 'em as their vessel, as their avatar to the orb. The god involved themselves with the world of mortals and lived a life like to what mortals experienced via the form of Aleph as well." Arceus continued speaking to me. "The god had learnt many things through the eyes of Aleph, from the every day struggles that mortals had to endure, to how mortals perceived 'em as the omnipotent god of the world. The god intended to use the experience they received from Aleph to compose the world into a better place. Regrettably, their intent was ne'r join to fruition with the arrival of a new crisis, which ended up being one of the greatest crises the world had aye endured. That was War of the God II, when the empty vessel of the Dragon God led the armies of dragons to invade the orb, aiming to continue what the Dragon God had started."

'…' I couldn't come up with anything to 'say' within my mind after hearing about the origin of 'Aleph' from Arceus.

"With the crisis at hand, the Hero/ine of Legend appeared and assembled once again, with the goal to finish the war and end the terror inflicted by the dragons." Arceus said. "Once again, the god decided to join the Hero/ine of Legend 'i the war against dragons. This time, alas, was divers. Instead of joining the war as themselves like how they didst during War of the God i, the god decided to join the war as Aleph, so that they could experience the like sensation felt by Hero/ine of Legend when facing with the crisis. The god had befriended Hero/ine of Legend as Aleph and fought the war alongside 'em, without 'em having the knowledge of the puppetmaster behind aleph's deed. 'I the end, the Hero/ine of Legend fared to finish the war by defeating the empty vessel of the Dragon God. The god, fuelled by despair and rage they experienced during the war, decided to try the unthinkable. The god had judged that the dragons no longer deserved to live towards the land under their benison. The god decided to banish the land of the dragons into the realm within time and space, and they e'en fared to convince the Hero/ine of Legend to hit together with 'em under the reason that the dragons would not be able to start another crisis again. Alas, we all knew what that decision had brought upon this world. The god had brought upon the Apocalypse to the world, the most like world they created and loved."

'So… You were saying that you were to blame for the Apocalypse that torn apart the Great Continent…' I tried to understand what Arceus was saying. 'But… How would that be possible? Weren't you the omnipotent god? How could you make such a grave mistake like that?'

"Being a god doth not mean that thou are incapable to compose mistake, mine child." Arceus answered. "E'en though I was known as the omnipotent god by mortals, I was still a living creature. 'Tis 'i every living creature's capability to err, and being a god doth not mean that thou were exempt from doing so. Gods were not as perfect as mortals imagined. We made mistake too."

'…' I was speechless after hearing Arceus' words. All of these reminded me of what Arceus told me earlier, about how everyone's faith toward Goddess Yggdrasil had already become the fundamental of this world, and killing Yggdrasil would be the same as shattering this very world. At first, I wasn't sure of the meaning behind those words, but now, I started to understand it. As of now, everyone viewed gods and goddesses as perfect beings that were incapable of making mistakes. That thought was widely believed by everyone in this world that it had basically became a fact. But right here, I had learnt the true fact about it, that the deities themselves weren't perfect and they were capable of making mistakes. It wouldn't do anything if it was just me who heard it, but if everyone in this world heard about it, about how much the fact they had believed turned out to be divergent from the truth, it would bring upon an unthinkable situation that I couldn't even imagine.

"Back to the tale, thou had already knew about the fate of the world after the Apocalypse." Arceus returned to the tale about the history of the world. "Alas, right at when the apocalypse befell, another unthinkable befell. 'Twere the thing that the god ne'r anticipated to befall, and that was Aleph sacrificing themselves to delay the inevitable destruction of the world."

'Hm? What do you mean by that?' I was puzzled by Arceus' words. Arceus had told me that they were using Aleph as their avatar during the war, so, wouldn't that mean that Aleph's action, my action, to sacrifice at the of the war was Arceus' own doing?

"… Aleph's deed to sacrifice themselves to delay the Apocalypse… That was not under mine command at all." Arceus said, much to my surprised. "Ere that point, Aleph's deed was fully under mine command, as a puppet under the puppetmaster's string. That was the very first time that Aleph acted on their own, and that was to attempt to save the very world that the god had brought to destruction."

'Aleph… acted on their own?' I was surprised by such a revelation from the god. 'How could something like that happened, especially since the one who controlled Aleph was the omnipotent god of this world?'

"There were countless questions which none had yet fared to answer, and this was one of such." Arceus replied to me. "I had been pondering about this since that day, but to this day, I had yet to find the answer behind Aleph's portance."

'… What about Aleph's fate?' I asked a new question, despite that I had a very good idea of what the answer would be. 'What happened to them after that day?'

"Aleph's sacrifice had succeed in delaying the Apocalypse, and yet 'twere still inevitable. Countless living creatures faced their demise due to the Apocalypse, and Aleph was one among 'em." Arceus answered. "Aleph was inurn'd alive by the shattering earth, and their body remained imprisoned beneath the ground for countless centuries... Till most recently. Due to the earth still shifting around, with the last time being the Fallen Crisis, the Silvally's body had resurfaced 'i a mine at the northern part of the thunder nation, and 'twere anon discovered by mortals. The body then was transported to a place known as Civilight Laboratory."

'… I knew it…' I thought after hearing the rest of the story turned out to be not very far from my guess. 'Then… What happened after that…'

"Mortals at the lab found out apace that the Silvally's body contained characteristics that matched the description of the creator god of this world, so they believed that this body was related to the said deity. Withal such information, they proceeded to revive the Silvally with the goal of using 'em as the ultimate weapon of destruction. And yet , the Silvally's body was heavily damaged by the Apocalypse, so they had to replaced several parts of the Silvally with artificial parts or parts from other mortal species. Eventually, they succeeded 'i bringing the Silvally back to life, and yet the Silvally's body forswore the replaced parts of their body and went berserk, and they had to suppress their power with the limiter helmet and was kept inside the laboratory. As for the rest of the story, thou already knew it better than I did so, mine child." Arceus finished telling me the rest of their tale.

'… It's true, then…' I felt like everything had all coming together after hearing the end of Arceus' tale. 'Due to the accursed mask, my memory was suppressed, and I wasn't aware of my own past beyond my 'birth' at the lab. But now, I started to remember everything about my past. I was alive during War of the God II. I lost my life during the Apocalypse. And my real name… My real name is Aleph.'

"Indeed, mine child." Arceus said. "I was already awared of thy revival ever since the first instant of thy rebirth, and I had been keeping mine eyes on thou aye since thy time 'i Civilight Laboratory. I had longed to reunited with the being that was once a part of mine soul, and at last, mine hope had been realized when thou visited this place, mine child."

'… I still had many things that I didn't understand…' I decided to ask more questions. 'First of all, from my memory, Aleph was capable of speaking, but me…'

"As I mentioned ere, Aleph's body was heavily damaged by the Apocalypse, and one part that was damaged was their vocal cord." Arceus answered. "Unlike the rest of their body, the vocal cord was ne'r repaired beyond the ability to compose simple grunting sound, as they perceived the ability to speak unnecessary for a weapon of destruction."

'I see…' I mumbled to myself as I involuntarily touched my neck. 'I understood the part that you wanted to meet me. Your will must had stimulated my decision to climb this tower. But… Why are we having a conversation like this right now? We were engaged in a battle with the fate of the world at stake earlier, and now we were just having a talk about my past. Why did you stop attacking me?'

"The answer to thy question is that, I ne'r had any intent to reset this world, much less the intent to terminate you, mine child." Arceus answered me with a calm voice. "I love this world just as much as thou doth. I had created this very world with mine own power. I see all living creatures inthis world as mine own children, including those born to unnatural cause. I ne'r had any wish to see 'em gone."

'Then, what was about the resetting the world talk and the hostility toward me earlier?' I continued asking the question. 'If you really want neither this world nor me gone, why did you do all of that? What were you trying to do?'

"First of all, I hast to grant mine apologize to thou." Arceus said as they lowered their head a bit, which surprised me a lot, seeing the god of the highest order apologizing and lowering their head to me. "All of that were merely an act, a ruse for me to test thou, to see deep into thy most heart and soul."

'Test me… to see if I am worthy to stand before you?' I asked, still confused by Arceus' answer.

"No, my child.'Twere for a merely divers matter." Arceus continued speaking. "I wish to see the soul within thy body, to see whom thou very are, as well as what thy heart very desire."

'To see who I am… And to see what my heart really want?' I repeated Arceus' words. All of those were the questions I had in my head while climbing the tower. Why would Arceus interest in those topics?

"I was awared of thy existence since the very instant of thy rebirth, mine child. And yet, what I never wot was the soul within thy body." Arceus replied. "At the end of War of the God II, when Aleph acted on their own and sacrificed their life, I had been pondering the reason behind their deed, and one theory that I came up with was that Aleph had developed their own conscious, their own emotion, their own freewill… Their very own soul."

'Soul…' I looked at Arceus. 'Didn't Aleph already have a soul of their own?'

"No, mine child. Unlike most living creatures, Aleph didst not owe any soul, for that they were made to be mine avatar for me to walk the like life mortals didst." Arceus replied. "I didn't wot if mine theory was correct or not. That was why I staged myself as a god whom had no faith left for this world, a god whom wanted to reset all's. All of that was for me to see into thy soul, to see whether I could sense any familiar sensation within thou or not. And the answer was that… I was corrected. Aleph didst truly developed their very own soul, and the very like soul lived on, inside the body of the very Silvally whom now stood ere me right now."

'I… had a soul?' I looked at my own body. 'Even an artificial creature not born to natural cause like me… can have a soul?'

'Yes, mine child.' Arceus assured me. 'Thou owe the very like spark that Aleph had when they sacrifice themselves to delay the Apocalypse, as well as the like love toward this very world. Both thou and Aleph loved this world, to the point that both of thou would sacrifice yourself e'en if it could only delay the inevitable destruction.'

'… I understood why you act like a jerkass god toward me earlier.' I asked more question. 'But was it really necessary for us to battle? I could see that you didn't intent to hold back. You intent to really defeat me in a battle. Did you really intent to kill me if it turned out that I didn't have any soul?'

"No, mine child. I ne'r had any intent to dispatch thou, e'en 'i the case that thou didst not owe a soul." Arceus answered me with a gentle voice. "The broil, alas, was behoveful for me to determine what thou very crave, to hark the voice within thy heart."

'… I didn't understand.' I spoke to Arceus.

"Thou hast died and reborn to the like body, yet thou never owe the like remembrance thy past life doth." Arceus explained. "Though thou were bound by thy actions after thy rebirth and thy association with thy comrades, thou were unshackled from thy past life, the life that thou were merely mine avatar. Thou were freed from the burden of thy past, and thou now possessed a soul. Thou were free to live any life thou desire, and I wish to see what wouldst thou choose to try with thy reborn life."

'What I wanted to do in my life…' I repeated the words I just heard. 'Why did that even matter to you?'

"Because that's the least I could doth for thou, for the one whom had to suffer directly under mine own deed." Arceus replied. "This world had ne'r been kind thee, mine child. 'I thy past life, thou existed merely as mine avatar, only for thou to sacrifice yourself to the mistake of mine own doing. E'en after thy rebirth, the world had been cruel thee. Thou were treated horribly, and thou were forced to commit crimes against innocences. Thou were forswore by this society, and thou were now doing a good deed yet perceived as evil by the world. Were all of this the life thou very crave? I needed to hark the voice of thy heart, to see what thou very crave. The least I could doth was to let thou live the life thou desire. Should thee wanted to live like ordinary mortals, to continue the life thou currently lived, to flee from the society and live a life of isolation, or any life thou desire, I would grant thou thy desire, as a thanks for thy service to me and the world, and as an apology for what this world had done thee."

'You could really just restore my memory or tell me about my past, then ask me directly about what I want.' I spoke to Arceus. 'There was no need for the battle at all. Beside, it still didn't change that you really tried to defeat me back then.'

"Actions spoke louder than words, mine child. Beside, thou were lost 'i thought about what thou very desire 'i thy life earlier." Arceus said, and I had to agree with their words. "As for mine hostility toward thou during the broil, thou were right. I didst very purpose to defeat thou, yet not dispatch thou, for that I had no desire to try so. The instant I defeated thou had been the instant I forsooth knew what thou very desire, and i would revive thou after the broil ended and uncover all's thee. Still, thou impressed me with thy actions during the broil. I didn't expect thou to engage me by refusing to fight, yet that was not above what Aleph would doth 'i this situation."

'I see…' I spoke to the Alpha Pokemon. 'So, did you see what I really wanted?'

"Thou hast demostrate it clearly, mine child." Arceus answered. "I had seen thy love toward this world, and thy desire to protect it. Thy exterior appearance might be the mask of monstrosity, yet deep inside thy chimeric body was a gentle soul and the heart of benevolence. Thou were a kind soul, and yet thy benevolence wasn't thy weakness. Thou knew when thou had to resort to violence, but thou ne'r gave up on thy kindness. That is mine Judgement for thou, mine child."

'… Thank you, Arceus.' I bowed down to Arceus before continued speaking. 'One more question. Before you unleashed your final attack in the battle, you had mentioned the name Aleph for the first time and said that Aleph was truly gone from this world. What did you mean by that?'

"I meant exactly what i quoth. Aleph had forsooth long gone from this very world." Arceus answered with a calm voice. "Aleph was mine avatar, a puppet of mine. They didn't owe any soul, and they had no desire of their own. Once thou had demonstrated thy soul and heart to me, I realized that thou were no longer the like creature as Aleph was ere. 'Aleph' had died 'i the Apocalypse, and the Silvally 'i front of me right now was 'Sirius' instead. The mentioning of Aleph I didst back then only meant the being with no soul that existed prior the Apocalypse, not the body and soul of the being that sacrificed themselves millenniums since, the creatures right 'i front of me, nor the name 'Aleph' itself. If thou desired, thou may use the name Aleph, or thou could keep using thy current name. I had no objection to thy decision."

'… The name 'Sirius' meant a lot to me, as it was the name given to me by two Pokemon that rescued me from the abyss, the two I trusted with my life.' I paused to considered before I spoke up again. 'Nevertheless, I still valued the name 'Aleph'. I considered it my legacy name, my true name. I might use it one day, but for now, I would stay as 'Sirius'.'

"As thou desired, mine child." Arceus said. "Now that I had answered thou thy questions, allow me to bid thou too. I had seen thy desire, what thy heart very wanted, yet allow me bid thou directly this time. What were thou going to try next? What was thy goal to achieve next?"

'… I was with the Pendragon now, and I planned to stick with them until the end.' I answered with a convinction, not hesitated any longer. 'Our goal was to kill the Hero/ine of Legend from the time of the Fallen Crisis, and only one of them remained. We almost achieved our goal, and I had no intention to betray the Pendragon any time soon. As for what I wanted to do next…'

"I had known thou loud and clear, mine child." Arceus said. "Thou had shown thy convinction to me, and thus, I had something to propose thee."

'Propose to me?' I repeated the words I heard.

"I would to continue observing thou and the path thou walk, mine child, 'I the like way I observed the world through Aleph's eyes. This time, however, I would not command thou directly. Instead, I shall merely observe thou and how thou live thy life." Arceus looked at me and spoke with calm voice. " 'I exchange, I would share mine power with thou, allowing thou to harness mine power to assist thou 'i any way thou desire. Mine power would belong thee for as long as thou didst not lose thy convinction and thy love of this world. What doth thou say, mine child?"

'You offer your power to me… Wait…' I considered Arceus' word, only to realize that it sounded really familiar to what happened to my comrade. 'Did you just propose that we formed a pact?'

"Negative, mine child." Arceus shook their head in response to my inquiring. "As the creator deity of this world, I was capable of forming multiple pacts with mortals, unlike most Legendaries. Mine pact, alas, was still limited to a mere of 18 pacts, and I had formed all of 'em since long time since."

'18 pacts…' Arceus' words had dawned another reality to me. 'Don't tell me that… The Hero/ine of Legend that received the blessing from you… It was actually them forming a pact with you?!'

"Correct, mine child." Arceus answered. "The concept of the Hero/ine of Legend and the concept of pacts with Legendaries were the like. Mortal and Legendary formed a pact to bind 'em together. Mortal had been able to harness the power of their pactbound Legendary, while at the like time they had been cursed to lose something 'i their life. The main difference 'twixt mine pact and the pact of other Legendaries was that most Legendaries were capable of forming only a single pact, while I was able to form up to 18 pacts at the like time."

'So… Us Pendragon… The Hero/ine of Legend that we killed… And the Hero/ine of Legend of the new generation… We all were the same…' I mumbled to myself before continued asking. 'If we were truly the same, if the Hero/ine of Legend were not different from us pactbound Pokemon, then why were those who formed a pact with other Legendaries prosecuted and hated by society, while the Hero/ine of Legend were praised? None of my friends who were pactbound deserved to be shunned from society, and yet the world still perceived them as evil since even the Pendragon was born. Why?'

"The answer had been that… Many champions of Legendaries, many mortals whom were pactbound, were not exactly… righteous by today's social norm." Arceus answered with an emotionless voice. "All Legendaries had their own motive to offer a pact with mortals, most of which were that they aimed to use their Champion to try their bidding. Many biddings done by Champion per their pactbound Legendary were not exactly acceptable by society. Many of 'em borderlined the divide 'twixt good and evil, while many of 'em were outright within the realm opposite of good."

'… Couldn't the champion refuse to do their pactbound Legendaries' bidding?' I continued asking more questions that sprouted in my mind. 'Also, why would Legendaries need to use mortals to do their own bidding? Wouldn't it be easier for them to just deal with the matter themselves?'

"Champions were free to try what their heart desires, including refusing or complying to their pactbound legendaries' demand… Or at least 'twere supposed by be so. Forsooth, that fact was as true as the statement 'A god can doth no wrong.'" Arceus answered. "'Twere merely within Legendaries' decision to form a pact with mortal. They were fully capable to choose the mortal 'i which they formed a pact with. They could most well choose the mortal whom was both capable and content to try their bidding, and they could also state their bidding as a condition for mortal to form a pact with 'em. Moreover, e'en if their Champion ended up refusing to try their bidding, they had many methods to 'encourage' their Champion to comply with their demand. One such example had been thy comrade whom valued the virtue of equality whom formed a pact with mine renegade child."

'… Korben.' I thought back to the Kommo-o who hated me to the deepest part of his heart. He would often show the sign of sudden pain, which he always tried to conceal it. It was definitely the work of his pactbound Dragon Legend, Giratina.

"As for why Legendaries chose to use their Champion to try their own bidding instead of doing it themselves. 'Twere because there was an obstacle within their way that prevented 'em from doing so." Arceus continued speaking. "There was something that stood 'i the way of Legendaries, to forbear 'em to try whatever they do desire, to keep 'em in order, as not doing so could marshal't the world to a catastrophe. This, alas, couldn't forbear the Legendaries to form a pact with mortals and use their Champion to try their bidding. That was a loopholes they could exploit to try to get what they want."

'Something that kept the Legendaries in order… Ah!' I pondered Arceus' words, before it dawned to me as I gazed upon the god of the highest order in front of me. '… Most of my comrades had formed a pact with Legendaries. Which meant…'

"… Since three years since, there had been a large numbers of mortals whom formed a pact with Legendaries. The three children of mine whom governed over time, space, and the world in the mirror… The three dragons whom governed over ideal, truth, and emptiness, all which were the vessels of the Dragon God… The two Record Keepers of the world… The serpent whom ruled over the Afterlife… The old god of light who governed this realm… And… The Dragon God themselves… Those were all pactbound to thy comrades, were it not?" Arceus spoke with a calm voice. "Surprisingly, all of 'em had been reclaimed. None of 'em had done aught drastic so far, unexpectedly yet not unwelcomed. That, alas, might subject to a change 'i the future. I didst not wot exactly the motive behind each of their decision to form a pact with mortals. I could only hope that none of 'em resolve to try something… unpleasant, especially the Dragon God and their Champion."

'So… My friends were mostly safe… for now.' I thought to myself before I realized something. 'Wait a minute… Some of those descriptions were unfamiliar to me. Two Record Keepers… The old god of light… Who were they referring to? Also, was there someone among our team who formed a pact with the Dragon God too? So far, we had Rachael with a Mega Latias, Richard with a Mega Latios, Zetarus with a Zygarde, Diego with a Kyurem, Claura with a Reshiram, Xavier with a Zekrom, Anastasia with a Dialga, Baromyteus with a Palkia, and Korben with a Giratina. Neither Snow nor Freya had formed any pact with Legendaries yet. So… Who was the one who formed a pact with the Dragon God?... I could only think of one Pokemon who could have fit into that. If I were right, this would explained why they were so hellbent on killing the Hero/ine of Legend, as well as why they firmly believed that the Hero/ine of Legend were inherently evil…'

"… We hast digress long enough." Arceus' voice interrupted my train of though and brought me back to reality. "I had explained all's thou would to wot about a pact with Legendaries. Mine 'pact' with thou, towards the other hand, had been divers from the pact of thy comrades, for that it wasn't the true pact. The pact thy comrades possessed allowed 'em to bid forth upon their pactbound Legendaries to assist 'em 'i a broil, and they could also use their pact artifact to communicate with their fellow pactbound Champions. Mine 'pact', alas, didst not let thou bid forth upon me to assist 'i a broil, and thou would not be able to use the pact to communicate with thy fellow comrades. Instead, I would assist thou 'i other way. I'ld let thou harness mine power, as thou had become a fragment of myself. This would also mean that thou had been exempt from being cursed to lose something 'i thy life. Didst I compose the terms of mine 'pact' clear thee, mine child?"

'… I heard you, loud and clear… Except one part.' I looked at the Alpha Pokemon in front of me. 'You mentioned that every Legendaries had their own agenda in forming a pact with mortals… And what about you, Arceus? You, too, had an ulterior motive in forming a 'pact' with me, hadn't you? And no, I didn't believe that observing me and the path I took were the only motive you had for forming a pact with me.'

"…" For the very first time since I met him at the top of Tower of the God, Arceus didn't answer my question. All they did was looking at me, right into my eyes.

'And if I had to guess…' I continued speaking after seeing that Arceus refused to answer my inquirie. 'You wanted to form a pact with me because you wanted to keep an eye on my comrades, didn't you? There were 9—No, 10 comrades of mine who formed a pact with Legendaries, and one of them formed a pact with the god whose power rivaled you. You wished to keep an eye on them, to make sure that they didn't do anything bad. Was I right?'

"…" Once again, Arceus refused to answer me.

'… I had told you that I had no intention to betray my comrades any time soon, but if someday, some or all of them turned evil…' I continued speaking, knowing that I wouldn't get the answer from the Alpha Pokemon. '… I would not hesitate to put them down, just like what we did with the Hero/ine of Legend right now. That would be the final act of kindness I could do for them.'

"… I see." Arceus finally spoke up again. "Thou were just like him. The final foe 'i thy current path. The one whom had betrayed all's 'i the world, including his own propagator and the love of his life. The one whose convinction was as firm-set as the power of stone he once bore."

'…' This time, it was me who remained silent.

"… Our conversation had gone long already." Arceus spoke up again. "'Twere now the time for me to bid thou. Wouldst thou accept a pact with me, Arceus, the creator god of this world?"

'… I do.' I answered Arceus without hesitation.

"Then, let the pact be formed!" Arceus said as they raised their forelegs and summoned the sphere of light above them, the same way they prepared the Judgement attack. Several rays of light then were unleashed from the light sphere, aiming toward me. I didn't move as my body were engulfed by the light. I didn't feel any pain or any negative emotion. Instead, I felt the warmness and the gentleness, as if I was bathed in one by the light. I could also feel the light being absorbed into my body, as well as feeling my body getting stronger.

And…

---

"Hey, Aleph. Can we sit with you?"

"Go on, my friends."

"Thanks!"

"…"

"…"

"How are you faring, Aleph? The war had been cruel for all of us. We had seen countless Pokemon lost their life, and this war won't end anytime soon. Did all of this weight a toll on you?"

"I'll be fine, my friend. It was necessary for us to win this war, after all. We had built the world together ever since the dawn of time, and we would not let the peace be taken away from us."

"I see…"

"How about all of you, my friends? I could see that each of you had suffered as much as the ordinary Pokemon did. Not only you had seen countless innocences died, but you all had killed as many as our enemies did. I could sense that all the killings were taking a heavy toll on all of you."

"Heh… You were always a smartass, Aleph. Yeah, you are right. All of these killings really took a heavy toll on me. Sometimes in my sleep, I swore I could hear the scream of those I killed."

"I was very excited when I learnt that I was the Hero/ine of Legend chosen by Arceus themselves to be the guardians of this world. I thought that I could finally be useful, but…"

"We were being useful. If it wasn't for us, those dragons would have taken a control of the entire continent by now. It was because of us that we could still fight back."

"That's right. We were the hope for everyone. As long as I could bring peace back to this world, I would be content with my life,"

"… I am sorry, mine child."

"Hm? Did you say something, Aleph?"

"Nothing. I was just thinking of something unimportant."

"If you said so…"

"So, how fare were our situation right now?"

"Each side now controlled half of the entire continent. If this kept going, the war would be in a stalemate, and many more Pokemon would die for nothing."

"That meant we would have to do something soon, right?"

"Welp, what could we do but kill more dragons? Let's go to sleep now so we could fight again tomorrow."

"Oki. Good night, everyone."

"Good night, my friends."

---

'Ah!' Once again, I found myself remembering the memory of my past life. This time, it was in the middle of War of the God II. It was after a battle one day, when me and the Hero/ine of Legend had a nice moment of rest before we went to sleep, to fight more battles in the next day.

"It seemed like thou hast gradually recalled thy lost remembrance." Arceus' voice called me back to reality again. Right now, I finally noticed that all the light that was engulfing me was gone, and I was standing in front of Arceus, who was now 'pactbound' to me, once again. I could feel myself being stronger than before, as well as feeling that I had learnt a new attack, but more importantly, I felt a strange sensation in my head, as if something had enhanced my mental ability.

"How goes't feeling, Sirius?" Arceus asked with a gentle voice that showed a genuine concern toward me.

'… I feel… warm… and powerful…' I answered as I inspected myself. 'I felt like I had gained a new power… No, not just a new power. I felt like I had learnt a new attack too. And… For some reason, my head felt weird, as if I had unlocked some sort of super power there.'

"The strange sensation of yours was actually a gift for me thee, Sirius." Arceus said. "With mine power, I had bestowed thou the ability of telepathy. 'I the like fashion that I conversed with thou, now thou had been able to bear a speech like mortals. Withal this, thou would finally be able to talk to others, just like what thou had aye wanted to."

'Wait, really?!' Immediately after hearing Arceus' words, I tried to 'speak', only to find that there was no chance from when I was conversing with Arceus. In fact, I wasn't even sure if I used telepathy correctly or not, for that the only other Pokemon around here was Arceus, who already spoke to me telepathically.

"… It seemed like thou still had a long way to hie ere thou mastered telepathy." Arceus commented after seeing me trying to use telepathy. "Not all living creatures could use telepathy 'i the first place. Thou might not but owe firm-set psychic power 'i decree to use it. Many powerful Psychic type were able to master telepathy, as well as many Legendaries, or 'i another words, many immortals. 'I thy case, thou were born from a fragment of mine soul. This made thou technically an immortal, the like as Legendaries. And yet, thou had died and lost all thy power to the Apocalypse, and e'en after thou were reborn thy power was suppressed for so long. Withal this, it might take a while ere thou were able to speak properly, Sirius."

'I see…' I said, feeling slightly disappointed, yet content at the same time. 'Thank you, Arceus.'

"Regard nought of it." Arceus said. "Other than the telepathy power, I had bestowed thou mine power 'i the form of new moves. Thoud'st now hast an access to a variety of power moves, including an alternation of mine Judgement attack. As for what they were and how to master 'em, I urge that thou thou see for yourself."

'I understood.' I said, feeling itchy to try out my new power, yet at the same time knew that now wasn't a right time and right place to do so.

"Lastly…" Arceus raised their forelegs once again, but instead of charging the Judgement attack, they summoned an object which glowed in shining light. The object slowly descended down onto me before it rested itself on my head. As the glowing faded, I could see that it was a diadem, similar to the one now wore by Korben. This one, however, was different. Korben's diadem was black with the black jewel in the middle, while this one was gold with white jewel in the middle. The carvings on the diadem were also in a unique style that wasn't one of any nation on Symmetria. Moreover, while Korben's diadem gave out an ominous aura, this diadem gave out a warm and soothing aura instead.

"Accept the proof of the pact 'twixt us, Sirius, 'i the form of the relic known as Diadem of Order." Arceus said. "While this relic neither granted thou an ability to summon me 'i a broil nor a way to communicate with thy fellow pactbound mortals, it still allowed thou to communicate with me from anywhere so long as we remained pactbound."

'… Thank you for everything, Arceus.' I spoke to Arceus, expressing my genuine feeling to them. 'I wasn't a Hero/ine of Legend. I didn't fought evil in your name. Instead, I would protect the world in my own way for as long as I could. I ask that you observe me and guide me on my path.'

"I shall take thy words for that, Sirius. Hence long as thou owe thy convinction and thy love for this orb, mine power had been yours." Arceus replied to me. "But now, I had taken too much of thy time already. I reckoned that 'twere now the time I let thou hie back to thy life, to the path thou chose to walk on."

'Ah, right.' I almost completely forgot about my journey in Theocracy of Venturnome, and what we had to do next. 'It's time for me to go back now. So, farewell, Arceus… No… Farewell, my pactbound god.'

"Farewell thee too, Sirius. I shall observe the path thou took." Arceus said before he summoned a glowing sigil under my body, and I felt my body being warped away from the top of Tower of the God. The last thing I could see was Arceus' face… And I might be hallucinating, but I could see them smiling. It wasn't a devious or evil smile. It was a gentle smile, as if they were a father proudly looking at their child.

"Go and do not falter, my child!"

---

-Meanwhile…

"… This world is but a stage, and every living creature is but an actor…"

Under the circular night sky, decorated by countless twinkle light, a lone being was there, observing the stars of the celestial sky above. The darkness made it impossible to see the appearance of the being, except that they were quite lean.

"Each living creature, like every actor on the stage, was assigned the role since when their 'story' started…"

"Who was the one who assigned their role? We will never know…"

The being's attention was focused on the spot at the southern area of the celestial sky. There were several stars gathering there. The notable thing about those stars were that they shone much brighter than other stars in the sky. If anyone started counting, they would find that there were a total of 17 bright stars.

"Among all the living creatures, there is a group of actors who shined much brighter than any of their fellow performers, and they were tasked with a much greater role than any other actors as well… If the stars on the sky are all the actors that currently play their show on the stage, then this group of actors is the eighteen brightest stars on the sky…"

Next to the 17 bright stars was another star. This star looked bright at first glance, but after a while one would see that this star had lost most of its light, and it was now shining ominously.

"… However, wherever there is light, there must be darkness… Wherever there are the stars on the sky, there must be the voids in the very same sky… And now, the voids are swallowed the shining light on the sky that gave hope to the living creature on earth…"

The being turned their attention away from the night sky and looked behind them, into the area shadowed by darkness. If looked carefully, one would see silhouette of several Pokemon there. The darkness made it impossible to see the characteristic of those Pokemon, except that one of them had blue flame at the area that seemed to be their head and their tail. The only other characteristic of those silhouette that was visible was their eyes, which were glowing ominously red. If anyone counted the number of silhouette in the darkness, they would find that there were 9 of them.

"For me… I was assigned the duty of being the director of the show on the stage…"

The being slowly approached the silhouette. From this angle, the light from the night sky made it possible to see the appearance of the being for the first time.

"In ordinary cases, it would be considered inappropriate for the director to play the role on the stage too…"

It turned out that most of their body was cloaked in their uniform, making it impossible to identify the being's specie. The only part of this being that was clearly visible was their face. Once again, however, their face were concealed by a peculiar mask. The upper part of the mask were rectangular while the lower part of the mask were curved. There were three holes on the mask, two at where the eyes were and one at where the mouth were. It looked similar to the mask used in the show in the theatre. One notable thing about the mask was that the right half of the mask where white with the mouth hole shaped like half smile while the left half were black with the mouth hole shaped like half frown.

"… The stars told me everything… The ten voids had extinguished one more Fallen star. Only one shining star of the past remained…"

As the being approached the 9 silhouettes, it was now possible to see their appearance more. It turned out that all of them were wearing a mask, the same kind of mask wore by the mysterious being. The only different was that their mask were entirely black, and the mouth hole were in the shape of a full frown.

"… How do you like the show so far, my audiences? The show of the heroes, villains, and the world. The world was destroyed by the villains. The villains were destroyed by the heroes. And the heroes were destroyed by the world. The cycle of the show would continue endlessly, drowning everything in the neverending greif. Such a regretful truth was the fate of this show…"

The being extended the part that looked like their arms to the side before they slowly started floating upward, toward the night sky.

"But for this chapter, this tale, the show had already proceed long enough. The bright stars were gathering, and only one void remained elusive. The finale was approaching. The stage was set. Soon enough, we could bring this tale to their end at last. How would this chapter ended? You would have to see it for yourself, my audiences. Let the finale begins!"

To Be Continued…

---

Dragon of Vale: Whew! Another chapter done! I didn't expect this one to be this massive pile of lore dump. I might have to say that this was my favorite chapter of the entire Tail 8. This chapter was both easier and harder to write than other Tail 8 chapter. The easier part was that Sirius could 'speak' in this chapter, and the hard part was writing Arceus' dialogue. I had to use a translator to help with their dialogue. I apologize here if there are any mistake in their dialogue.

Only 2 chapters remained for Tail 8, not counting the Interlude. Hopefully that I wouldn't slack off much…

---

Q&A Session:

Tail 8-6 - Question: If you could become another Pokemon, any Pokemon at all. What Pokemon would you choose to become?

Answer:

-Korben: A Hawlucha! I would miss all the training if I became non-Fighting type, but I had always wanted to see the world from above, to fly above the ground. And when you combined Fighting type and Flying type, you got a Hawlucha.

-Claura: Hm… I was always fond of the sea, and I liked being powerful and badass, so… Gyarados.

-Xavier: A Snorlax, because it meant I could just eat and sleep all days, and anyone who got into my nerve would be crushed under my body.

-Anastasia: Hm… I would go with… A Lapras. I was always fond of cold temperature, so Ice type suited me. A Lapras… They were a gentle and helpful soul, one that I wished to be.

-Baromyteus: I was always fonded of sword fight, so… Hm… Maybe a Samurott, I guess? No particular reason other than that Samurott used sword as their main weapon.

-Diego: … A Typhlosion. Don't ask me why.

-Zetarus: Hm… What was that thing called again? Ah, Dragapult. No, I wasn't a fan of taking care of kids. I was only a fan of using kids as ammo. Also, being a Ghost type would make it easier for me to sneak behind Diego.

-Rachael: A Jigglypuff! They were so cute! And they could sing very well too! Oh, and their pouty face was so cute! It reminded me of all the time I pout at Onii-chan!

-Richard: This was a weird answer, but… Ampharos. You might thought that someone who pursuited knowledge like me would go with Psychic type or something, but… Well, let's just say that there's an Ampharos that helped me a lot in the hard time, and I would always be grateful for him.

-Freya: I… I guess I would be a Cherrim… You see, I am shy, so normally I would be like Cherrim in Overcast form, but I wanted to support everyone and bring them happiness and smile too. That's what Cherrim in Sunshine form did, wasn't it?

-Snow: Hm… This might be an usual answer, but I would go with Meganium. I had always possessed a passion for herbs and teas, and being a grass type who specialized in revitalized and calm others down would fit my taste.

-Sirius: … (Dragon of Vale: Sirius said that they wanted to be Zacian, because Zacian was regarded as the hero who saved the world from darkness alongside his brother Zamazenta, which was Sirius' current goal right now. Beside, sword is cool.)

---

Question From RKType-0
To: Anastasia Wyrmscale (From: Aria Symphonia)

You play music as well? That's wonderful...! It isn't every day to meet a musician. Though I am a Primarina, I am actually a flutist... Would you like to play music together? And does anyone else play music with you? An-(the rest of the message was covered in heavy scribbles to prevent her message from going through)

Anastasia: Thank you for your compliment, kind Primarina. I mainly sings and dance, but I can play a harp too. We could have a duet together, of course! My harp and your flute. Hm… I don't know anyone among my team who play music too, so it would be just two of us. Also, if you want to talk about something else, we can talk later, over a nice cup of tea.