A Dragon's Tail
Tail 8: Sirius' Tail - Monstrosity
Tail 8-Interlude: Black Light
"The Wings of Radiance… The Light of Ruins… The Blinding One… Necrozma…" Solance repeated the words they just heard from the Pokemon who appeared in front of them and Lunoire. Despite of what they claimed, their appearance clearly didn't match what they used to described themselves. Their body was almost entirely black, with only their eyes and parts of their face that contained other colors. The rest of their body seemed to made of dark crystal or prism.
"For someone who calls themselves 'The Blinding One', you don't really live up to that." Lunoire commented with a sarcastic voice.
"I WILL PARDON YOU AND YOUR WORDS OF IGNORANT FOR NOW." Necrozma dismissively replied to Lunoire's comment. "FOR THAT THE WORLD HAS ALREADY FORGOTTEN ME AND MY EXISTENCE."
"Your existence?" Solance spoke up. "Pardon me for my ignorant, but may I ask who you are and what you mean by those words?"
"SO, THERE IS SOMEONE WHO STILL WISH TO ACKNOWLEDGE MY EXISTENCE, THE EXISTENCE OF THE DEITY WHO WAS BETRAYED BY THE WORLD… VERY WELL, THEN…" Necrozma closed their eyes and continued explaining. "I AM THE OLD GOD WHO ONCE RULED OVER THIS LAND, BEFORE ANY GOD CLAIM THIS LAND AS THEIR OWN. PEOPLE USED TO WORSHIP ME JUST LIKE HOW THEY WORSHIP YGGDRASIL TODAY, FOR THAT I AM THE LIGHT OF THIS REALM."
"You are the old god of this land?" Solance said. "So, you used to reign over Symmetria before Yggdrasil—"
"NO. MY REIGN OVER THIS REALM IS MUCH FARTHUR INTO THE PAST." Necrozma continued speaking. "IT WAS BACK THEN, WHEN THE REALM NOW KNOWN AS SYMMETRIA DIDN'T EXIST, FOR THAT SYMMETRIA IN THE PAST WAS A PART OF IRTHA, THE GREAT CONTINENT ITSELF."
"Irtha, the Great Continent? Heh…" Lunoire spoke up. "That must be at least 3,000 years ago. That's even older than I am, and I call myself Ancient Demon too."
"BACK THEN, IRTHA WAS A GRAND CONTINENT THAT IS MUCH LARGER THAN WHAT YOU IMAGINE, AND 'SYMMETRIA' WAS JUST A TINY FRAGMENT OF IRTHA ITSELF." Necrozma continued speaking. "IT IS TRUE THAT IT WAS ARCEUS AND THE DRAGON GOD WHO CREATED THIS WORLD, INCLUDING IRTHA, BUT ARCEUS LET MORTALS RULED THE WORLD BY THEMSELVES AND ONLY OBSERVED THEM FROM ABOVE, WHILE DRAGON GOD HAD THEIR OWN REALM, WHICH WAS ONCE ANOTHER FRAGMENT OF IRTHA ITSELF. WITHOUT THE DIRECT INFLUENCE OF THE TWO CREATOR GODS, MORTALS OF IRTHA BUILT UP THEIR OWN WORLD, HOPING TO RULE THE WORLD ON THEIR OWN…"
"Heh… I think I start to get it now." Lunoire spoke up again. "Mortals are weak and feeble creatures. They couldn't exist without the guidance of the gods, but with the two creator gods being absent, they turned toward other Legendary or Mythical as their 'god' instead, weren't they?"
"IN THE END, THE ONCE UNITED IRTHA WAS DIVIDED INTO SEVERAL REALMS, EACH RULED BY DIFFERENT GOD." Necrozma said. "AND THE AREA THAT IS CURRENTLY KNOWN AS LAND OF EQUILIBRIUM WAS ONCE A REALM RULED BY ME, THE BLINDING ONE."
"So, that's why you called yourself 'old god', for that you were once one of several Legendary and Mythical who were revered as 'gods' on the Great Continent." Solance said. "And with different realms, each with different belief in different deity…"
"War, of course." Lunoire said. "Mortals are infamous for their foolishness. No doubt those realms on the Great Continent often engaged with each other in pointless wars and conflicts. I wouldn't be surprised if they only did it because their god commanded them to do so."
"THOSE WARS, HOWEVER, WEREN'T THE CAUSE OF THE END OF IRTHA." Necrozma spoke up. "INSTEAD, IT WAS THOSE ACCURSED HERO/INE OF LEGEND."
"… That must be War of the God II." Solance said. "The Dragon God's realm, under the rule of the King of Emptiness, started a great war against the entire Great Continent, and Irtha was devastated by the war. This conflict only came to the end when the Hero/ine of Legend defeated the King of Emptiness and banished him."
"And then they did the greatest mistake in their life, second only to being born into the world." Lunoire said. "They decided to banish the entire realm of the Dragon God into the place between time and space. By doing so, however, they had initiated the event that is later known as the Apocalypse, the greatest disaster ever since the dawn of Irtha."
"IT WAS THOSE ACCURSED HERO/INE OF LEGEND WHO CAUSED THE DESTRUCTION OF MY REALM, AS WELL AS THE DESTRUCTION OF IRTHA!" Necrozma spoke up with a clear hint of anger in their voice. "BECAUSE OF THE APOCALYPSE, I HAD TO USE ALL MY POWER TO SAVE MY REALM, WHICH CAUSED ME TO LOSE MY POWER, AND I WAS SEND TO SLUMBER FOR MORE THAN THOUSAND YEARS, ONLY TO WAKE UP A FEW DECADES AGO, AFTER THE LAND OF EQUILIBRIUM WAS TWISTED BY THE ACCURSED FALLEN DRAGON."
"That must be the Fallen Crisis." Solance said. "The Blinding One, you have lost your power to save your realm and went into slumber for several thousand years, only to wake up 30 years ago. This is your story, am I correct?"
"I HAD USED UP MY POWER TO SAVE MY REALM FROM THE APOCALYPSE CAUSED BY THOSE ACCURSED HERO/INE OF LEGEND, WHICH ROBBED ME OF MY RADIANCE, TURNING MY BODY INTO THIS IMPURE FORM!" Necrozma said with an angry voice. "AND THE WORST OF ALL, THE WORLD HAD FORGOTTEN ME, THE OLD GOD WHO ONCE RULED OVER THIS REALM, THE LIGHT WHO SHINED UPON THIS LAND, THE ONE WHO SAVED THIS VERY LAND FROM THE DESTRUCTION, AND I RECEIVED NO GRATITUDE IN RETURN AT ALL!"
"Necrozma…" Solance looked at angry Necrozma with their gentle eyes.
"HOW DARE THEY?! HOW DARE THEY FORGOT ABOUT ME, THE OLD GOD OF THIS REALM?!" Necrozma continued speaking in angry voice. "THEY ONLY WORSHIP YGGDRASIL AND ARCEUS NOWADAY! HOW DARE THEY?! I AM THE OLD GOD OF THIS REALM! THEY SHOULD HAVE WORSHIPPPED ME INSTEAD, FOR THAT I WAS THE ONE WHO TRULY GRANTED THEM SALVATION! THEY SHOULD REMEMBER ME AND PRAISE MY NAME! HOW DARE THEY?!"
"Oh, I am so sorry for your loss." Lunoire spoke up with a sarcastic voice. "Now, are you done with your ranting? May I start tearing your limbs apart now?"
"Lunoire?! What are you saying?!" Solance looked at the Shadow Lugia.
"Well, I am still pissed that our 'old god' here had kept us here without our consent." Lunoire said. "But now, I have even more reasons to finish them off."
"What are you implying, Lunoire?" Solance asked.
"You still haven't understood?" Lunoire looked at the Lugia. "Disregarding the Dragon God, Arceus created this world so that mortals could rule this world on their own, but how did it turn out? It had become nothing more than a chessboard, with mortals themselves as pawns on the board, and Legendary and Mythical as those who played the game. The Great Continent had become nothing more than a place where Legendary and Mythical contested for power, and even now that Irtha had become nothing but the Land of Sorrow, what little remained of Irtha is still under the grasp of the gods."
"I DID NOT PILLAGE THIS LAND FROM ANYONE!" Necrozma looked at Lunoire and spoke with angry voice. "THE LAND OF EQUILIBRIUM IS MINE FROM THE BEGINNING! HOW DARE YGGDRASIL TOOK IT AWAY FROM ME, ITS RIGHTFUL GOD?! HOW DARE SHE?!"
"Yggdrasil… She has done nothing like that…" Solance spoke up. "People of Symmetria only started worshipping Yggdrasil after she assisted the Hero/ine of Legend after the Fallen Crisis. She didn't force or manipulate people of Symmetria to worship her."
"Mortals are feeble and weak creatures…" Lunoire spoke up. "They only latch onto a god because they are too weak to walk the world on their own, and that they want the easy way out."
"I don't agree with you on that, Lunoire." Solance said. "I still believe in the goodwill of mankind. I still believe that they truly wish to walk the world on their own. It's true that mortals are weak comparing to the gods, but together they can achieve what the gods can never do."
"Like destroying the entire Irtha?" Lunoire chuckled.
"YGGDRASIL, HOW DARE SHE?!" Necrozma continued speaking with angry voice. "I SHALL TAKE MY REVENGE ON HER, FOR STEALING EVERY THING AWAY FROM ME! I SHALL TAKE THIS REALM BACK TO ME, ITS RIGHTFUL GOD! PEOPLE SHALL WORSHIP ME ONCE AGAIN, FOR THAT I AM THE WINGS OF RADIANCE WHO BESTOW LIGHT UPON THIS WORLD!"
"Which means that…" Lunoire spoke up with a sinister voice as he looked at Necrozma. "If I manage to dispose both you and Yggdrasil, I shall become the overlord of this land."
"Lunoire?!" Solance spoke with a shocked voice. "A… Are you suggesting that…"
"Oh? Of course, I do." Lunoire said as they grabbed their trident and turned their attention to Necrozma. "And I am still pissed that you dare to keep the ancient demon like me here."
"INSOLENT!" Necrozma said as they gazed at the Shadow Lugia. "YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A WRETCHED SPAWN OF SHADOW. I DID NOT EVEN WANT YOU HERE. THE ONLY REASON WHY YOU ARE PRESENTED HERE IS DUE TO YOUR CONNECTION WITH YOUR OTHER HALF!"
"And thus, two of my theories were confirmed." Lunoire said as he turned his attention to Solance. "One, you are truly another half of me, Solance. We were the two halves of the prince of the sky from era ago. You are the embodiment of his 'Super Ego', while I am the embodiment of his 'Id'."
"So… It's true, then…" Solance said as he looked at Lunoire. "We are like two sides of the mirror, but neither of us truly exist, for that we are 'Id' and 'Super Ego', not 'Ego'. With his soul splits into two right now, the ancient prince of the sky, the 'Ego', remained dormant and separated between each of us. As long as we remain separate, the ancient prince of the sky would cease to exist…"
"I see that you catch on really quick, my lighter half." Lunoire said. "Then, have you figure it out the reason why our almighty 'old god' trapped us here?"
"…" Solance said nothing in response to the Shadow Lugia's question.
"Then, allow me to spell it out to you." Lunoire said as they looked at both Solance and Necrozma at the same time. "The almighty 'old god' here wishes to regain their control over the Land of Equilibrium, over the realm they once owned. However, they had lost their power, lost their radiance and light, after using their power to save the land during the Apocalypse. If they want to have any hope to reclaim what they once own, they need to regain their true power… Or in other word, regain their lost light."
"It can't be…" Solance looked at both Lunoire, then looked at Necrozma. "The Blinding One, the reason why you brought me here is because you wish to claim me in the place of the light you lost, so that you could regain your true form?"
"THIS REALM IS MINE." Necrozma spoke up. "IT IS MINE AND MINE ALONE. I WILL NOT PERMIT ANY OTHER GOD TO CLAIM IT AS THEIR OWN. I WILL DETHRONE YGGDRASIL AND RECLAIM THIS LAND AT ANY COST!"
"Which means you aren't above claiming my other half as your light." Lunoire said. "Sorry to disappoint you, but Solance is mine and mine alone. Almighty 'old god', please go away and find your own light, not that you would be able to do so once I impale your heart."
"SUCH IMPERTIMENT, COMING FROM A CREATURE WITHOUT LIGHT!" Necrozma said with angry voice. "YOU ARE ALL BARK AND NO BITE! YOU MUST HAVE REALIZED IT ALREADY THAT NEITHER OF YOU ARE NO MATCH AGAINST ME! I AM THE OLD GOD OF THIS REALM, WHILE YOU ARE JUST A WRETCHED CREATURE REJECT BY THE WORLD!"
"Ouch~ Your words cut deep. I am wounded.~" Lunoire said with a sarcastic voice. "As much as I hate to admit, it is true that I am no match against the almighty 'old god', even when they had lost their power. However, that is only the case if I don't have the power of my other half."
"Lunoire… What are you implying?" Solance asked with skeptical voice.
"Come on, my other half. It isn't that hard to see." Lunoire said as they looked at Solance. "Neither of us could win against the almighty 'old god', but if I fully claim you as my own, it won't be hard for me to take down the almighty 'old god' and escape from this confinement."
"… So, it is true." Solance looked at both Lunoire and Necrozma. "All you want to do with me is to claim me, claim my power…"
"Please do not try to make it sound like an evil thing to do, for that it really is, and I cannot feel guilty about it." Lunoire said with a sinister voice. "But you don't really have a choice in this matter, do you? There are only two possible outcomes in this matter. Either that I claim you as mine, or the almighty 'old god' claims you as his. After all, neither me nor the almighty 'old one' is willing to let you go, for that both of us want you, but only one of us can claim you. It doesn't matter what choices you have, for that the end of the road is the same for you."
"What… will happen to me?" Solance asked with a worried voice.
"Simple, after either me or the almighty 'old god' claim you, you will cease to exist, for that you will become nothing more than a part of either of us." Lunoire answered with a nonchalant voice. "If the almighty 'old god' successfully claims you, I reckon that they will regain their true power, and they will use it to take down Yggdrasil and regain their control over the Land of Equilibrium."
"THIS REALM IS MINE." Necrozma spoke up. "I SHALL RECLAIM IT FROM YGGDRASIL, AND I WILL DO ANYTHING IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE MY GOAL."
"On the other hand…" Lunoire continued speaking. "If I claim you as my own, the ancient prince of the sky shall be reborn."
"Then, it will also mean that you will cease to exist too, Lunoire." Solance said. "After all, I am his Super Ego, and you are his Id. None of us is his Ego."
"How can you be so sure of that, my other half? How can you be so sure that it won't turn out that I was the one in a full control of the ancient prince of the sky's body?" Lunoire asked. "Of course, I don't have any prove that it will happen. There is still a chance that the ancient prince of the sky will emerge from the sea of conscious once again, and I will be reduced to nothing more than a part of his soul once again."
"So, you are still going to claim me despite that you are fully aware that you might cease to exist too?" Solance asked with a worried voice.
"It's a gamble that I am willing to take." Lunoire said. "I have been prepared for this day for over a millennium, the day that I shall fully take over the body of the ancient prince of the sky. And then, I will use my newfound body to dispose the almighty 'old god', as well as Yggdrasil. With no other god in my way, I shall claim my title as the overlord of the Land of Equilibrium at last, and then, the world will finally experience the true meaning of fear."
"…" Solance said nothing after hearing the words of the Shadow Lugia.
"No matter which path you choose, the outcome will remain the same." Lunoire said. "You will cease to exist, and Goddess Yggdrasil, the one you worship, will also perish alongside her influence over this world. The only difference is the matter of which one will cease to exist, either me or the almighty 'old god'."
"… No, there is still one more outcome." Solance spoke up. "There is still a chance that you aren't able to take control of the ancient prince of the sky's body, and you will cease to exist, while the ancient prince of the sky will be reborn instead of you."
"Are you willing to gamble on that?" Lunoire asked. "Are you willing to gamble that the ancient prince of the sky will be reborn instead of me? Are you willing to gamble that the ancient prince of the sky will not go after your beloved Goddess Yggdrasil? Of course, I have absolutely no idea of how much chance do I have to successfully take a full control of his body. I might have 100% chance to win, 50% chance to win, 1% chance to win, or even 0% chance to win, and yet I am still willing to bet on that. How about you, my other half? Are you willing to gamble the fate of this world on something that you don't know how much chance you have to win?"
"…" Solance said nothing in response to the Shadow Lugia's words.
"SUCH AN ARROGANT CREATURE, ARE YOU NOT?" Necrozma spoke up as they looked at both Lunoire and Solance. "NONETHELESS, IT MATTERS WHAT WHICH CHOICE YOU CHOOSE. EVEN IF THE LIGHT AND THE DARKNESS JOINED TOGETHER AS ONE TO FIGHT AGAINST ME, IT IS STILL A FUTILE ATTEMPT. I WILL NOT BE OUTSHINE BY THE JOINED FORCE OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS. IN THE END, I WILL DEFEAT YOU TWO AND CLAIM THE LIGHT AS MY OWN, AND I WILL REGAIN MY TRUE POWER AT LAST."
"…" Solance said nothing after hearing the words of the Necrozma.
"Allow me to reiterate the choices you have in this matter, my other half." Lunoire spoke up as they approached Solance. "You can refuse my earnest 'request' of letting me claim you and your soul, which will result in the almighty 'old god' claiming you in the place of their lost light. You will cease to exist, and I will most likely be disposed by them shortly afterward. The almighty 'old god' will then move on to dispose Yggdrasil, and thus reclaim the Land of Equilibrium as their realm once again. Or you can take a gamble by allowing me to claim you, in which there is an unknown chance of me gaining a body of my own, in which I will proceed to dispose both the almighty 'old god' and Yggdrasil alike. With no god in my way, I shall ascend as the new overlord of the Land of Equilibrium. Of course, if you choose this choice, there is also an unknown chance to me unable to claim a full control over the body of the ancient prince of the sky, in which the ancient prince of the sky themselves will be reborn, and no one knows what he would do afterward. These are the two choices you have, my other half."
"…" Solance remained silent after the Shadow Lugia finished speaking.
"Now, the moment we have been waiting for!" Lunoire spoke up again as they grabbed Solance's chin and force them to look at them. "Let us hear your decision, my other half. What choice will you choose? What path will you take? Is this the end of the road for us? Is this the end of the world? Let the world hear your answer."
"…"
"…"
"…"
Should I let Lunoire claim my soul? Or should I refuse?
-Allow Lunoire to claim my soul
-Refuse
To Be Continued…
Dragon of Vale: And thus, the interlude of Tail 8 came to the end. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, so I managed to finish it much sooner than I thought.
Hello again, Solance and Lunoire. It's been a long time since the last time I get to write about you two. Necrozma also finally made a proper appearance in the story, and it seems like the story of two Lugia has reached its climax…
Okay, it seems like everything about Tail 8 is wrapped up. Time to proceed to Intermission II—Hm? What is it about that question? Oh, don't worry about it. It probably won't affect anything. Just ignore it and enjoy the next chapter.
Q&A Session:
Tail 8-Interlude - Question: We already talked about the origin of your name, so, let's talk about surname this time. What is the origin of your surname?
Answer:
-Korben: Forcenter comes from 'force' and 'center'. It's coming from me being a part Fighting type who can excel in Special Attack, which is quite uncommon. When we perform our special Fighting type move, we would focus our power, our force, at the center of our body before we unleash them.
-Claura: Whirlpulsa comes from 'whirl' and 'pulsa'. The 'whirl' part comes from 'whirlpool', which is something we Kingdra are capable of creating. The 'pulsa' part actually comes from 'pulse', which comes from two moves that Kingdra can use, Water Pulse and Dragon Pulse.
-Xavier: Stormwing comes from 'storm' and 'wing'. The 'wing' part is because I have them. The 'storm' part is because the word 'storm' is related to the element of wind, which is also my role among the Pendragon, and that Dragonite can create storm with the move Hurricane too.
-Anastasia: Wyrmscale comes from 'wyrm' and 'scale'. 'Wyrm' refers to the limbless dragon-like creature, which is sometimes considered a dragon too. 'Scale' refers to the scales of dragons… Now that I think about it, it is such a weird surname for me, a Goodra, who doesn't possess any scale on my body…
-Baromyteus: Drawyvern comes from 'dragon' and 'wyvern'. I think I don't have to explain the 'dragon' part. As for the 'wyvern' part, wyvern are dragon-like creatures with wings and two legs instead of wings and four legs like dragons, but they still count as dragons sometimes too.
-Diego: Pyrotorch comes from 'pyro' and 'torch'. The 'pyro' part pretty much means fire, and the 'torch' can either mean the object that you set fire on and use to illuminate the surround, or it could mean 'set fire on' something. Both meanings fit me, of course.
-Zetarus: Quakersand comes from 'quake' and 'sand'. The 'sand' part is obvious enough, while 'quake' means shake or tremble, especially the earth, which explains the word earthquake too. The 'r' between 'quake' and 'sand' was added just to make my surname a 3-syllable word instead of 2.
-Rachael: Lustermist comes from 'luster' and 'mist', of course! As for what they mean…
-Richard: The word 'luster' refers to Latios' signature move, Luster Purge, while the word 'mist' refers to Latias' signature move, Mist Ball.
-Freya: Mirasert comes from 'mirage' and 'desert'. The word 'mirage' means the optical illusion seen in certain places, such as desert, and we Flygon are sometimes known as mirage of the desert due to our appearance and our characteristic in the place we normally live in, the 'desert'.
-Snow: Tundrafrost comes from 'tundra' and 'frost'. The word 'tundra' refers to the biome of forest in frigid area, while the word 'frost' means the ice crystal forming above the ground. It is a suitable surname for an Ice type Pokemon like me, isn't it?
-Sirius: Bork! (Dragon of Vale: Sirius' surname, Xenomask, comes from the word 'xeno' and 'mask'. The word 'xeno' is a prefix that means foreigner or someone from different origin, referring to Sirius' unnatural origin, and the 'mask' part is already clear, though it is no longer valid after Sirius evolves.)