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Ruins Of New Babylon
The Elohim said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true. The Original One, Elyon who inspires the prophets, sent His messenger to show his servants the things that must soon take place. This is what Arceus says: 'Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll. The Third One and the Word say, 'Come!' And let the one who hears say, 'Come!' Let the one who is thirsty come, and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.'"
-The Hisuian Coda, Endings 22: 12-16
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The fast-flyer landed, its crew left the hold, and then a cheer that was heard for many miles around rang out over the city. The inhabitants of the Earth rejoiced and gave glory to Arceus Elyon, for they had conquered the Dark Lord and his False Prophet and the evil of the Anti-Arceus. The victory was final, for Arceus's wrath was finished, and the Abyss was no more.
"Great and astounding are Your deeds, Lord Arceus, the all-powerful!" Dialga cried into a silver trumpet as he stood beside the sea. "Just and true are Your ways. All nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been made plain, the crooked places made straight, and what is bent is now healed. All rejoice!"
And then Bronze heard every creature in Deep Heaven, from the gods to the lowliest spirit, and on the Earth and under the Earth, and in the sky and springs and caves singing in one voice, over all of Time and Space in one outpouring of triumphant love: "To Him who sits on the throne and His Father be given praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever! Amen."
"Arceus is the true light," Cobalion began, "who gives light to every being in the world!"
"He was in the world," Terrakion said, "and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him."
"He came in the Temple of Hisui to His own," Verizion said, "but they did not receive Him."
"But as many as received Him," Zamazenta said, "to them He gave the right to become Children of Faith, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of Man, but of Arceus."
"Salvation belongs to the Original One who sits upon the throne, and to His Son," Zacian said. "For you have all beheld His wrath, and the glory of Him, full of righteousness and truth. Amen."
"And now, dear ones," Dialga said again, "be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the Mbelekoro still walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. You have resisted him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings were experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But now the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Arceus Elyon, after you suffered a while, perfected, established, strengthened, and settled you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen."
"Amen!" the crowd shouted.
Bronze stepped forward, and bowed before Dialga and Palkia. "Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength belong to Arceus forever and ever! Good messengers, my mind has no place to hold what I feel now, as the darkness has been lifted."
"Get up and do not bow to us," Dialga said, both to Bronze and others in the multitude who had knelt. "For we are but fellow servants. Worship Arceus! Some among you here have seen us as mute Pokemon and beasts, controlled by Men, and forced to bring about destruction. We Elohim are not worthy of your praise, not from Mighty Xerneas to Lady Diancie. All rejoice!"
Henry noticed that the gods had now become rather insubstantial again. The Two Princes were once again exuding spiritual love as they had done during the Gloria at the Crown Shrine, and they seemed less solid than before. Only a minute ago all the Host of Heaven assembled on Earth had been flesh and blood in the battle, but now they were part spirit again.
Now the gods came in a straight line beside Dialga and Palkia, and they bowed their heads, not just toward Bronze or the Pokedex Holders, but to Arceus and the whole of the Army of Humanity that had overcome the Dark Lord. "Blessed be those who wash their robes, for they will judge the very gods."
Henry was overwhelmed and fell at Zacian's forepaws as though dead. The splendor of the gods and the awe of the new age upon Earth was like a great cudgel that struck him in his heart. But the Crowned Sword lifted his face up, and said, "Do not be afraid! For you have been justified by the First and the Last, the Living One, who was dead, and now is alive forever and ever! You are ransomed by He who holds the keys of Death and Heol. Stand up and brace yourself like a man, for a boy you are no longer."
"We are of Arceus," Ego-Rei said. "To Him who loves us, and has freed us from damnation by His sacrifice in the Temple of Hisui, and made us to be a great kingdom: to him be glory and power forever and ever! I saw this prophecy be written, and now it has passed. Arceus knows of our deeds, our hard work and our perseverance in this great race. To all who overcome Arceus gives the right to eat from the tree of life found in Beulah."
"He has seen our afflictions and torments," Ego-Adaman said. "But we should not be afraid about what we have suffered, for we are in truth rich! To those who are faithful to the point of Death, He will give the Crown of Life. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death, and they will be given authority over all the nations."
"He knows where we have dwelt," Ego-Akari prayed. "The place where the Dark Lord lives. Yet we remained true to Him, and did not renounce Him. To all who overcome Arceus will give some of the hidden fruit of life. We will also receive a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it. Amen."
"All who are here today and those who have died among you," Latios said. "will be given a white robe, for they are worthy. He will see that your names are never blotted from the Book of Life, but will acknowledge your name before His Father and His gods and the Third One."
"For you are those who have come out of the Great Tribulation," Latias said. "You have washed your robes and made them white. You will serve the Original One day and night; He who sits on the throne will shelter you with His presence. You shall hunger no more, nor thirst, not be struck by the sun or scorching heat. Amen."
...
There was no other word that Henry could use to describe how he felt other than euphoric. The race had been run and finished, the battle won, the seals opened and the trumpets blown and the vials poured. The Younger Days were gone, and the Ten Century Kingdom had begun. What was left to do?
"I feel like I need to take a very long holiday," Peony said, with Peonia by his side. "Perhaps to northern Galar to assist with rebuilding efforts. There will be a lot of people over the world who no longer have cities or homes to live in. The recovery will be slow and long in the making."
"Astounding," Wilhem said. "I remember that only about two months ago, I and my family were talking with Bronze about how the world would end. I never thought I would actually see it happen."
"The end of the world?" Pearl said. "Not truly. More of the end of the world as we know it. There will only be peace for a long while."
"Indeed," Zacian said. "The Host of Heaven, my kin, have gone out and bound the demons of the Mbelekoro with gloomy chains of darkness in preparation for the Ten Century Kingdom. But at the end of the thousand years they will be released for a little while with the wicked dead to fight on the great day of the Almighty."
It became apparent that the gods had convened a council, and Dialga commanded that the multitude come to him to be blessed by Arceus. The saints made a rough line, although Bronze came to the Prince and Power of Time first of all, although this was not seen as an honor. Dialga crowned Bronze with a coronet of crystal, which he placed on the Grand Bashar's brow.
"This is what Arceus says: 'You, Bronze Tercano, when you had not yet become of age, by faith refused to be deceived by the False Prophet and the Anti-Arceus, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of Arceus than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming My reproach greater riches than the treasures in the false new world; for you looked to the reward. By faith you bore the Bronze Brick, not fearing the wrath of the Eclipse Alliance; for you endured as seeing Him who is invisible.
"By faith you kept the old rites and laws alive in Roria, and the sprinkling of blood, lest He who destroyed the nations should bring His wrath upon your people. By faith you led My children through the Darkest Day as to dry and stable ground land, whereas the men of Macro Cosmos, attempting to do so, were defeated. You struggled with the Enemy's son in the deeps of the Earth and suffered a wound to your heel. You have shut the mouths of lions, escaped the edge of the sword, became valiant in battle, and overcome your pride. Well done, good and faithful servant."
Next came Ego-Rei. Dialga gave him the Crown of Life, but then spoke words for only Leon and Rei to hear. The two men in one body went away, looking confused but pleased. "What did Arceus say?" Hop asked. "Leon, and, er, Mr. Berlitz, did He have anything for you to hear?"
"Well, he told us the worst thing and the best thing possible," Leon said. "Rei will be leaving me, and although I am sad to part with him, we knew that it was inevitable. Arceus thanked me and told me to pursue certain avenues of possibility. Mr. Berlitz will be going into the East along with Bronze and his wife and friends."
"Other avenues?" Hop said. "Sonia?"
Leon said nothing, but he did smile. Hop was confused about why Bronze had to leave the Earth, or where this "Beulah" was in relation to the regions and continents, but he assumed that Arceus did indeed have an exemplary plan.
The procession went on and on. Hours passed with little hunger or thirst, and with no visible discomforts. Dialga brought up each surviving member of the Army of Humanity and told them what Arceus had to say, gave them either the Crown of Life or a white stone, and sent a few away with no gifts at all. But the one thing that Arceus said to every person was, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
There was Red, humbly kneeling, receiving his reward. "By faith, being divinely put into the course of things not yet seen, you moved with godly fear, and became known as the Fighter for the saving of your friends against all kinds of foes, by which you condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith."
Much later, it seemed to be Tess's turn. "By faith you obeyed when you were called to go out of the place you called home. And you went out, not knowing where you were going. By faith you dwelt among the company of strangers as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Bronze and Jake, the heirs with you of the same hope to defeat the Evil Djinn; for you waited for the city which had foundations, whose builder and maker was Arceus."
Ego-Akari came soon after. "By faith, when you were young, you went out to destroy the Mbelekoro, and worshipped, leaning upon a bow in one hand with an arrow in the other. By faith, you did not perish with those who did not follow Me in the War of Wrath, because you received My favor in peace."
...
By the time that Dialga had finished with many of the major names in the crowd, Casey already felt that she was in Beulah. After what seemed to be both a very long and woefully short day, Dialga stood and said, "All these and more through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, quenched the violence of fire, out of weakness were made strong, and turned to flight the armies of the Dark Lord. All of you have received good testimony through faith. Amen."
"Now many things have to be decided," Zacian and Zamazenta said at once. "In Lur-"
"Excuse me," Lusamine said. "What is Lur?"
"Splendor of Deep Heaven!" Zamazenta laughed. "It seems that there are too many new words on the air! We not long ago came upon the land of Lur. In the victory, I had thought that these words and their meanings would pass into the minds of all, and lo! Such a thing is not how it is. Yet I think Arceus passed them from us to you, nonetheless. I will show you all your duties, I will show you graven images of Lur. But let us speak of plainer matters, like what government will be put up in the Ten Century Kingdom. This was given to us in a vision while we lived in Lur."
The question of ruling and rulers had not entered even the mind of Bronze for the moment. Everyone felt so full of weariness and wounds and joy that they thought no one would ever need to be ruled or ordered to do a thing against their will ever again. "Government?" Raihan asked. "For what?"
"For you," Dialga said. "Arceus has appointed a new time to come upon the Earth. This is how things will be ordered: the Elohim will live in great temples and pass judgment and unmake the wicked. We will make nobler the wild animals, and the Pokemon will learn words and become wise; their lives will awake a new life in you and us as Arceus mended the sinful nature of your soul when you were saved. Men will rule with Arceus as saints, and there will be no more Pokemon battles on Earth."
"Sir, I must ask why," Jake said, having come to land during the long day of rewards. "There are many among us here that have mastered the art of battling Pokemon with other Pokemon, and they will be quite sore if this is not allowed. And do the scriptures not say that Men are permitted to battle Pokemon together?"
"They do," Cobalion said. "Arceus only allowed this because your hearts were hard. But from the Beginning it was not always intended for the order of things to be this way. It is not good for Men to set something that Arceus made with a soul against something else that Arceus made with a soul. Unless the Pokemon both enjoy it, those who bring Pokemon together in battle will be committing cruelty in the Ten Century Kingdom."
Dialga went on, not giving the assembled a moment to digest Cobalion's words. "Arceus also says this: those who are willing will go into the Second Heaven, and touch new worlds under new stars, and when the time is ripe for it, the crystal curtain of sky-glass will be utterly torn away and different suns will become as familiar to your distant children as the trees and grass are to you. It is Arceus's purpose to make free use of Space for His Children."
"If things will be so wonderful and peaceful on Earth," Platinum asked. "Then why would anyone go into the dark unknown of space, away from the authority of the gods?"
"That is another thing that will be changed," Latios said. "A nightmare long engendered in your modern minds will fall off you. Space will no longer be a dismal place of black, cold vacuity and utter deadness that separates the world. Now it will become an empyrean ocean of light, not dead, but with life pouring from its fabric at every moment. And Men will call that expanse Space no longer, for it will be the womb of worlds, and the new name will be the Second Heaven: for the older thinkers were wiser in naming it that, the heavens which declared the glory of Arceus, the happy climate where day never shuts his eye. If it kills any, it will be by killing them with an excess of vitality."
"The Scattering," Bronze said, hoping it would elicit some kind of reaction from the gods. His plan to diversify humanity would be fulfilled in the end, but not for the purposes that Bronze Tercano had devised!
"It will be a scattering of sorts," Dialga said. "Once the thousand years are over and the true Last Battle is at hand, the bodies of some Men and Pokemon that have gone into the Second Heaven will be changed, but not all changed. They shall be as the spirits, but not wholly as the spirits. And so will all your sons and daughters be changed in that time of brightness, until what was laid out in Arceus's mind from reading the thoughts of His Father before time began is completed."
"And that," Moon said, "will be the Last Battle, and then the end."
Dialga stared at the woman. "The end? Who spoke of an end?"
"The end of the Ten Century Kingdom and the world, I mean!"
"Splendor of Heaven!" Dialga said. "Your thoughts are unlike ours. About that time we shall be not far from the beginning of all things. But there will be one matter to settle before the beginning rightly begins."
"What is that?" Bede asked.
"Your own world," Dialga said, "The siege of your world shall be raised, the black spot cleared away, before the real beginning. In those days Arceus will go to war; many from far off and in many Elohim, and, last of all, in Himself unveiled, will go down to Earth. Some of us will go before. It is in my mind, young one, that thou and I will be among those. And as Arceus Himself draws near, the evil things in your world shall show themselves stripped of disguise so that plagues and horrors shall cover your lands and seas. But in the end all shall be cleansed, and even the memory of the Mbelekoro blotted out, and your world shall be fair and sweet and reunited to the Kingdom of Arceus and its true name shall be heard again. But can it be, Friends, that no rumor of this has reached your ears? Do your people think that their Dark Lord will hold his prey forever?"
"Most of us have stopped thinking of those kinds of things completely," Opal said. "Some have gained the knowledge from reading the Coda, and surely these judgments here will spurn many to think ahead, but we did not understand the things you were speaking of, because we are accustomed to calling what you gods call the beginning the Last Days."
"Then we should not call this world a beginning," Zacian said. "Rather, it is a false start in order to set things proper before the world can really begin. You would not call a false start a beginning?"
"Of course not," Bronze said. "But I will now speak for everyone here by saying that we are all very tired, and full of doubts and ignorance. We do not know what this beginning exactly is, or how the Ten Century Kingdom will be set up right now. On a side comment, I declare the Rorian Confederation and the Pokemon Association defunct and disbanded."
What felt like a passing jest slowly gained weight until it came bowling through the masses with incredible impetus. Surely Bronze had not just said that. Did he just say that? The seas turning into blood again would not have surprised Henry and Casey as much as what Bronze had just suggested.
"My friends," Bronze said, raising his arms into the air. "I step down as Chairman of the Pokemon Association, for that organization no longer exists. I am no longer the Grand Bashar, my Rorian brethren. Government by Man, for Man, and of Man must perish from the Earth during the Ten Century Kingdom. The Elohim will reign with the righteous as vice-regents, with Arceus honored over the whole Earth. Right now, there are no more wicked, so that thing is possible to bring about."
"Yes, the wicked are gone," Palkia said for the first time in ages. "Arceus tells me that only a third of the Men that had lived on the Earth before the Typhoon Struggle are still alive."
"Only a third?" someone cried. "That means that billions have died!"
"Billions were wicked," Palkia said. "The wrath of Arceus is not a petulant outburst, but a merciless and steady outpouring of judgment against those who refuse His gracious offer of salvation. Even in the hour of judgment Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit went into the souls of Men over the word and proclaimed the Eternal Gospel."
Azelf, Uxie, and Mespirit appeared beside the Prince and Powers of Time and Space in a vermillion flash. Their appearance was no more surprising than that of any of the other gods. "Yes, and now that the Gospel has been proclaimed over the ends of the Earth, the Ten Century Kingdom is closer to coming to the world."
"What gospel?" a soldier asked.
"This is what I said," Azelf said. "'Fear Arceus and give glory to Him, for the hour of judgment has come. Worship Him who made the Heavens, the Earth, the sea and the springs of water.'"
"I proclaimed my words next," Mespirit said. "'Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great Harlot, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries! Those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Original One are blessed.'"
"The final prophecy came after Mespirit," Uxie said. "'Anyone who worships the Anti-Arceus or receives the words of his False Prophet will drink the wine of the Original One's fury and be tormented in His holy presence forever and ever.'"
"And is it finished?" Magnolia asked. "There will be no more disasters until a later date?"
Instead of responding, the gods lifted their heads or hands and looked to the heavens. A prolonged drumming noise came from the clouds, and something began to fall onto the ruins of the city. In the confusion Henry could not immediately identify it, even when it touched his soot-stained skin. Then he remembered what it was in the midst of the continuous noise.
"Oh Lord!" he sobbed. "Oh Lord, it's rain!"
He left the crowd, found clean earth, touched it, blessed the smell of it. The multitude stood in the dark clouds amid the pouring rain. With every pore of everybody they drank it in; with every desire of their hearts they embraced the water. In spite of all perplexities, they became conscious of extreme well-being. Certainly no one doubted that the Ten Century Kingdom was almost at the door.
A slight illumination among the spirits suggested that Arceus was there, and discussing matters with His Father, the Original One. The Third One surrounded the two so that their Mystery could not be heard. But who would dare disturb the dialogues of the gods? The only thing they were permitted to hear was the Original One saying at the end, "My Children have shown me more wonders than I had ever intended them to show me."
Suddenly the diffused light brightened and flushed. A figure had appeared, not human, partially naked, and wrapped in a flaming robe. The face was enigmatic, ruthless, and inhumanly beautiful. A door opened beside Celebi's incarnate form, and within came another draught of the incense of the Dead. Each was spoken to by their loved ones who had perished, and no one dared to protest at the suddenness of the thing or had any real reason to.
Another hour of Gloria and talk passed before relief ships arrived from Galar to bring the captives and soldiers home. Moon went into the L.S. Victory with Bronze's blessing upon her. Henry and Casey went next, along with many others that followed them and the Pokedex Holders. The ruins of Castelia were sprouting with lichens and growing things, and Dialga had said that no one would be allowed to live there except Pokemon.
Magnolia was one of the last to board, along with Ego-Rei. A great gasp of relief finally escaped her when she touched the ramp into a ship's hull. What exactly had she been waiting for? How like her! It was high time that she went home to Sonia.