Sunlight beat down that crisp, summer morning. On a grass field near Castle Acuity, a company of pokemon stood ramrod straight in formation, organized by their performance in the program. Nobody moved a muscle. A wooden platform with a podium erected on top loomed over most of their heads.
Helioptile Jonathan stood at the front. He would have only been able to see from up close, anyway. The rest of this unit were mostly evolved, and were larger species than him. That didn't bother him though. He deserved to stand in front of them.
Despite the challenge, he stood taller, by skill alone.
Umbreon Lord Acuity stepped up to the wooden stand outside. He paced back and forth in the silence.
"I would like to congratulate each and every one of you today," Umbreon said. His strong voice projected with ease throughout the field. "Today, you are Acuitan soldiers, charged with protecting the fortress everyone in danger looks to, Castle Acuity. You all have fought the fight of your lives to get to this point, and now, I'll need each and every one of you as the new Acuitan Royal Guard. You have done yourselves, your families, and me, proud. Less than ten percent of you are here now, than when you first began.
"And now, as promised. I have selected one of you to serve as my Captain. This pokemon has impressed me to no end, from beginning to end. They've combined their talent with hard work, and the payoff will last to the end of their days. Stewart Schneider! Step forward!"
Jonathan's heart fell.
Instead of him, a Boltund stepped forward; a Boltund he had beaten in combat countless times in front of Lord Acuity. Did he forget, not notice?
Jonathan stayed silent.
That night, Jonathan went back outside. He walked around the now empty grass. In his mild boredom, he walked up to the stand and jumped on top.
Stars blazed in the sky over the grass on a moonless night. Jonathan tried to see from Lord Acuity's perspective. He imagined his friends standing there, and trying to pick which one would make the best Captain; which one of them shed the most blood in training.
He did. He ran the fastest, fought the hardest, and made all the correct decisions when it came to strategy.
Why not him?
Two feet slammed down on the wooden stand. Jonathan whipped around.
There stood a Dragonite with cool, white eyes. He stood with his back straight and arms folded behind his back. He looked out at the grassland with him, and Castle Acuity in the distance.
Lord Acuity's son.
"M-milord!" Jonathan said. He bowed.
"I watched your training," Lancelot said. "I can tell what you're thinking. It's a shame, I agree. I would've chosen you as Captain."
"I... believe Lord Acuity knows what he's doing when he made that decision."
Not that much. It just sounded better to say that, especially in front of royalty.
"Oh do you now?" Lancelot asked. "I can't say I agree."
Dragonite Lancelot sat down alongside Helioptile Jonathan. Jonathan stayed standing.
"I know my father," Lancelot said. "He never quite understood people beyond what he sees on paper. But one look at you, and I could see how much it meant for you to be not only a soldier, but the best. But my father doesn't see that. He just plays it by the book. With his soldiers, his life, and even his family."
"Thank you, milord..." Jonathan said quietly. "I... don't know if I can accept this. I just don't know if I can handle being here anymore. Being Captain was all I ever wanted. I worked as hard as I could, and it wasn't enough."
"I'm leaving."
"Milord?"
Lancelot turned back. "I am still the rightful king of Acuity, despite my father. And you are still worthy of being my Captain."
His heart broke. Tears beaded up in his eyes. Jonathan rubbed them away as they came.
He had been there to inspire him during training. Umbreon Lord Acuity had always been someone he had to impress, but only Lancelot ever seemed to understand.
"I'm sorry... I..."
"Will you come be my Captain?" he asked.
"Yes... Yes, Lord Acuity! I accept!"
"Return to Castle Acuity. Gather your belongings."
"Where are we going...?"
"To Olympus," he answered. "The mountain of the gods. Where people like us always ascend."
With a burlap sack containing his belongings, Jonathan got onto Lancelot's back, and together, they flew.
They ascended to great heights. Within the first few minutes, he could no longer make out Castle Acuity from the capital city. In an hour, they flew through cumulonimbus clouds. His long ears waved wildly in the wind as Lancelot speared through the air.
Where were they going? Why were they travelling so high? If he knew before, he would've brought some kind of jacket, or something.
"Lord Acuity!" Jonathan yelled. "I don't think I can endure flying so high for much longer. Where are we going?"
"We're almost there!" Lancelot called over the whipping winds. "There's a lot of clouds tonight, but I think you'll like the view. It should be right this minute now."
Jonathan had a habit of closing his eyes when they flew through clouds. He made no exception just because they were close. The fog left droplets of water on his scales. He didn't want any on his eyes.
Once the cool sensation left, Jonathan looked down. He saw nothing but the dark ocean.
"Wrong direction," Lancelot said. "Look straight ahead."
He did.
By god.
A massive landmass floated in the air. It blended in with the clouds, subtly so. He squinted to see more.
The rock was tipped with a dense maze of neon skyscrapers. A floating city, large as a behemoth.
No. Not even. It had to be larger than any city in the world. It floated alone in the dark night sky, with the dim glow of a distant star.
"Lord Acuity..." Jonathan stared at a loss for words. "What kind of mirage is this?"
"This is no mirage," he said. "This is your new home. Castle Olympus. It first took to the sky two-hundred years ago, under the guidance of King Arthur Acuity. It has grown ever since, in secret."
"In secret!? This!?"
The city had to be larger than any city in Valor. The closer they got, the taller and thicker the skyscrapers became. Were they all the size of the Nightlight tower!?
No. They were larger. Much larger. Every last one of them, and there had to be hundreds...
"Boasting about how we discovered the secret to make these things possible wouldn't have been the best strategy," Lancelot said. "To keep it a secret, we have scientists on board that prevent artificial solar eclipses by shifting our position. As most land and pokemon exist in the Northern Hemisphere, we usually keep it in the south."
Artificial solar eclipses!? It was that large!?
"How does this exist? Why? How in this plane of reality is this possible!?"
"It's all technology," Lancelot said. "In the coming years, every pokemon on this planet will come to know Castle Olympus as the domain of their new kings. I will be the first. And you, Jonathan, will be my Captain. The Captain of my most important unit on our mission. The Captain of the Acuitan Royal Guard doesn't seem so special now, do they?"
Not at all.
In the next few minutes, Lancelot reached over the city.
All of the buildings were supermassive. They couldn't have been built out of steel; it had to be some stronger material. When Jonathan looked at their surfaces, he saw something with a different sort of sheen, where he imagined he could see his own reflection. All of the rectangular rooftops looked as big as arenas. If Jonathan fell off, it seemed as though he'd land on a new planet.
In random places in the sky, he saw red dots, like meteors. In between two skyscrapers, he saw a green path of light that connected the two buildings. Lancelot lowered down towards it.
On the path of green light, a Sandslash stopped walking and bowed as Lancelot descended. Jonathan watched, concerned as to how something made of light could hold someone's weight.
Jonathan looked down at the drop. The skyscrapers reflected the night sky in their glass. As he imagined, the drop approximated about three times as long as when he took a field trip once to the Nightlight tower.
Lancelot's feet planted on the green light, as if it were solid stone.
"Status report," Lancelot said.
"All systems stable, Lord Acuity," Sandslash said. "May I ask who it is on your back?"
"He's my new Captain. Spread the news. I will be showing him to his new chambers. He will undergo the challenge tonight, and will most certainly pass. If he does not, he won't give up until he does."
"Understood, Lord Acuity."
Lancelot nodded and took off again. Jonathan looked down, back at Sandslash.
The pathway of light didn't seem to be made of any solid material. Ripples, like a stone hitting a lake, fell out from each of his footsteps as he continued to the next skyscraper.
"M-m-milord," Jonathan said. "How is this possible?"
"The buildings are made of a special metallic glass, developed here one-hundred and fifty years ago," Lancelot said. "We don't have infinite space here, so we make the most of it by having mostly skyscrapers. The path of light you saw is made from super condensed energy barriers that pokemon walk on to get from one building to the next without having to go down to the bottom. Time is money, even up here."
"But, how is this whole place floating?"
"It takes a lot of energy at a constant output. King Arthur figured it out. There's a lot of science involved in that question. You'll find lots of answers where we're going, but it will take quite a few years for you to understand how that's feasible. Simply accept it for now."
"Where are we going?"
"The heart of Castle Olympus. But first, I'll be giving you a gift I grant to all of my soldiers."
Jonathan's sense of reality was breaking apart. He couldn't imagine what this gift could be, not even a guess. What the hell was going on?
He saw a rare occurrence of a wide expanse with no skyscrapers. Instead, it was covered in greenery and different colors. It must've been a farm. At least they didn't do anything outright insane with that.
The core of Castle Olympus became apparent. Of course it would be underground. If they used all the space they had, they wouldn't waste the enormous rock underneath all the buildings.
In the dead center of the city, a massive hole in the ground showed itself. It seemed as wide and long as two of the skyscrapers, but not as deep. A spiral of walkways led down to the bottom, where a large maze of moving parts and glimmering metal lay. It didn't seem deep, at least, from the air.
A massive pit with walkways led down. A maze of lights lit the interior. Tunnels galore seemed to lead further underground.
Lancelot nosedived, and Jonathan hung on for his life. Wind battered his ears.
He slowed once he cleared the distance between them and the pit. His speed as he continued down kept Jonathan pushed against his back, though now, he wished he had been tied on with a rope, tight.
They flew all the way down the pit to the bottom. It seemed to be some kind of marketplace, judging from neon signs, stands, and the horde of pokemon that bustled below. Everywhere he looked, pokemon were behind and in front of countless shops and stands on multiple levels. As Lancelot flew over, they all cheered. Jonathan hid on his back.
Lancelot flew into an underground tunnel, more like another maze. The shining metal walls, lampposts, other flying pokemon, and signs that hung off the ceiling confined his movement, but not his speed. Following twists and turns, he flew into yet another tunnel, albeit with a small entrance.
Despite the speed, Jonathan noticed guards stood in front of this tunnel's entrance. They all passed up a salute as they flew past.
From here, the light dimmed ever so slightly. Less pokemon walked here. The ones that did walked with a purpose in mind. Jonathan could only guess they were soldiers.
There were so many of them, more than could be counted.
The tunnel winded down further underground. More branching pathways opened up. He even saw small buildings inside some of them, and namy inside others. They all looked similar; gray, cubic structures, organized in rows. They could be soldier's barracks. If they were, there were more soldiers here than in all of Acuity.
"We're heading to my laboratory first," Lancelot said. "I'll give you the gift there. Your test will be in one room over."
Jonathan didn't like the sound of getting a gift in a laboratory. "What is this 'gift'?"
"Don't be nervous. All of my soldiers have it, and none of them have any adverse effects after. It's safe. More than safe enough for my new Captain."
That helped, sort of. Did it have to be in a lab, though? Just what was this?
Lancelot flew down and landed in front of a round, solid metal wall. It looked like a blocked off tunnel entrance. He reached back and grabbed Jonathan, and set him down on the metal floor next to him.
Lancelot held his right eye wide open in front of a screen. A green light, shaped like a net, rose up and down on its surface. When it finished, the door rumbled.
"What was that?" Jonathan asked.
"A security measure," Lancelot said. "It scans the unique shape of my eye and uses it as a password."
He'd never heard of that before. He was out of his depth, or more accurately, over his head.
The door rose open. Lancelot walked through. Bright overhead lights turned on as he did, and shone on the metal surface of the walls.
"That's called a motion sensor," Lancelot said. "The lights come on when purely computational detectors sense movement in the room. Power is a precious resource. We have plenty of it, but we also don't waste it."
Jonathan followed right behind him. The gate closed behind them by itself. Creepy. Back on the ground, they only had scraps of things that worked like that.
No backing out now. Although, that would've been true from the moment he said yes. He didn't regret it yet.
"May I ask what this 'test' entails at least?" Jonathan asked.
"I'll explain what happens as we get to it," he said. "Your gift is this way."
Lancelot turned. He entered numbers on a seemingly random panel on the wall. Once he finished, lines appeared on its surface. A large, rectangular portion of the wall slid away.
For a place like this, he expected a laboratory to be bigger. The room didn't even seem big enough for Dragonite Lancelot. Helioptile Jonathan followed him in.
He saw desks without any chairs in sight with dozens of papers on them. Whiteboards swarmed with numbers on them; they looked like they had been written there years ago. Some of the lights overhead didn't work, the ones that did flickered.
"This isn't my main laboratory," Lancelot said. "I come here when I get bored. But, I have what I need in here for you."
Lancelot rummaged through the clutter. He pulled out a syringe.
Jonathan's heartbeat crazed.
"What is that!?" Jonathan half-screamed.
"Relax," Lancelot said, smiling. "I will explain to you what this is and demonstrate before anything is done."
Lancelot wandered to another panel. He typed in another code, and again, the wall moved to the side.
It opened to a dark, large, open space that wafted cold air into the room. Lancelot walked forward with the syringe in both hands. Jonathan followed.
The metal on the floor turned black. He looked up. The ceiling formed a dark dome without any lights on, like a starless night sky. The cold air cut quickly to reach his bones. His small body shivered in moments.
On the sides of the pathway they walked, black metal pods lined up in rows. Inside each and every one, a pokemon egg rested dormant. For some of them, needles and monitors connected them to the pod. Panels on their sides monitored signs of life, not that he could understand it.
"This is my main laboratory," Lancelot said.
"What are all of these eggs...?" Jonathan asked quietly, maybe to keep his voice from echoing like Lancelot's did over their footsteps on the metal floor, or because he didn't know he wanted to know the answer.
"They're my sons and daughters."
"All of them...!?"
There had to be hundreds.
"Technically. Though, I only ever had one daughter born naturally."
"Naturally? So, then how are these-"
"They're generated, created, as part of my research. As my Captain, I will explain them to you. But first, you have to pass this test."
At the center of the ocean of pods, thick, metal wires reached up to the ceiling. In contrast to the metal technology present, a diamond encrusted throne sat in the middle of the room. On top of the small chairs back, a crown sat; a metal one, that connected to all of the wires. Dozens of needles and some monitors cascaded off the sides of the throne. A small hole at the top let gentle blue light pour on top of it. Looking up at it gave Jonathan a short dizzy spell. The room must've been a mile long, at least.
Next to it, an Azumarill stood idle with his arms behind his back. He raised a hand over his forehead in a salute.
"Acuitan warlords are effective for one main reason," Lancelot explained. "The Acuitan blessing gives them an edge in battle. It lets us understand the situation from an outside perspective rather than letting our emotions unknowingly impact our decision making process. King Arthur had many children to have as many warlords as possible, but, it wasn't enough. He didn't have the technology that we have today. We're able to take it a step further."
"How, milord?" Jonathan asked.
Lancelot gestured towards the syringe. "We genetically enhance them with certain parts of the Acuitan blessing. Namely, we enhance them to have more control over their bodies and perceptions. Lieutenant, if you would."
Azumarill nodded. He unfolded his arms.
In one of his hands, he held a knife. He raised his left arm straight out in front of him and raised the knife over it.
Jonthan's stomach churned. He stabbed himself through the arm. A part of him braced for something to happen.
Nothing.
Blood dripped down, certainly. But, Azumarill's face and body didn't react. He nodded again.
"The only way to stop a Dragoon soldier is to kill them," Lancelot said. "That will be far more difficult when they're willing to make perfect tactical sacrifices in the heat of battle. Go get fixed, Lieutenant. At ease."
Azumarill nodded and closed his eyes. He walked back down where Jonathan and Lancelot came from, and left a trail of blood droplets.
Lancelot's white eyes faded into the distance. He frowned as he watched Azumarill leave.
"In ancient times, the Acuitan blessing was considered to be a curse," Lancelot said. "People who perceive the world from a different light are always persecuted. It was only when we rose to power that people called it a blessing. The Acuitan blessing is so genetically complex and specific, it can't be artificially created no matter how hard we try. I can only offer you a piece of what it's like."
Jonathan quieted. "What is it like, milord?"
"Hard to describe when I don't know life without it." Lancelot held the syringe towards him. "But this is a part of it. You can still be me Captain with or without."
Did he want it?
All of the gains aside, he had always wondered to himself what the Acuitan blessing felt like, even a fraction.
"Are there any... side effects?" Jonathan asked.
"It can cause difficulty in noticing how badly oneself is injured," Lancelot said. "There is none otherwise."
"It would..." he hesitated. "It would be an honor, milord."
Jonathan held his arm out. Lancelot plucked the syringe in his arm. He sweat bullets.
Seconds after, a splitting headache formed. Jonathan glanced up. Lancelot's eyes stayed dim.
"The pain is bad," Lancelot said. "You forget it mere moments after, and it won't ever distract you again. Savor it."
That knowledge alone didn't help the exploding wildfire. Jonathan fell over and held his head. He cried and wailed. Lancelot walked away.
He lost himself for an hour, or maybe five minutes. He went deaf and blind at its worst. When he thought he'd die, it lessened. The pain dulled until it left him alone in silence.
The cold floor seemed not to bother him as much as when he first collapsed. He peered up.
Lancelot was gone. In his place, Azumarill stood, the same as before, if the reddened white bandage on his arm gave it away.
"Lord Acuity is attending to some business and will return in a moment," Azumarill explained. "While we wait, I will brief you on becoming the Captain of the Aerial Dragoon unit."
"Aerial?" Jonathan huffed. Sweat poured down his blistering hot face. The headache vanished altogether.
"Technology on the surface is far more primitive than in Castle Olympus," Azumarill said. "Here, we have machines that allow any species of pokemon to fly with their own body's energy. Over the next two years, you'll be personally instructed on how to use these machines from soldiers that have been using them for decades, and learned from the best from past generations. You will have one week to acclimate to life here, first and foremost."
Thank goodness.
Jonathan almost thought they'd throw him in one of these machines right now. His limbs were weak. He wouldn't be able to conjure up a spark of electricity, much less make himself fly.
"Good, you're awake."
Dragonite Lancelot's deep voice echoed again. Jonathan struggled to keep his shaky head focused on the main pathway through the maze of black pods.
"Lieutenant," Lancelot said, "you may leave for today."
Jonathan saw Azumarill bow for a brief second. He walked past Lancelot and switched positions with him.
"You'll be fine with some days rest," Lancelot said. "I promised you I'd explain this room."
"Thank you, Lord Acuity," Jonathan said.
"Jonathan, do you believe in Legendary species?"
It wouldn't be a stretch with what he witnessed today. "Yes," he said.
"Good, that makes this easier to explain."
Shit...
"For some time now, Legendary species have interacted with the world in secret," Lancelot said. "They choose pokemon called Scions, and grant them powers to change history how they see fit. They've pushed and pulled at the balance of this world since its creation, but now, things are changing."
"Changing?" Jonathan asked.
"They want this world to recognize them again as its masters. The great King Arthur was chosen by a Legendary pokemon as a Scion to reclaim the world, but he failed when civil war erupted, and another Scion joined the side opposing the crown. A Scion they called 'Robin Hood'."
He'd heard that classic story before. Acuitan soldiers all hated him. He was the ideal of what they shouldn't become: a servant to the crown turned traitor, the one who killed most of the Acuitan royal family in his day and sowed chaos for generations to come.
"I can't simply become a Scion or use one to take this world back," Lancelot said. "This is what all of these eggs are for. We're running through genetic possibilities by crossing the DNA of my daughter with the DNA of a Legendary species known as Reshiram."
Jonathan didn't know the names of Legendary species that well. He hoped it wouldn't matter, but where they hell would they get a myth's DNA from?
And they were crossing it with his daughter's?
Lancelot turned and grazed his eyes over the room.
"I want to create a Scion with a specific goal in mind, the combination of three key traits to make Castle Olympus impenetrable by every sense. I want someone to sit on this throne and raise this domain to truly be the land of the gods. Unreachable, but real.
"You see, Reshiram holds an ability called Candor. In ancient times, it used it to connect to the hearts of pokemon. If used properly, we can use it to crush the will of any who would try to ascend and attack Castle Olympus."
Lancelot turned towards the throne.
"To further enhance its power, this pokemon will also hold the Acuitan blessing to increase its effects on the mind and the Wilderbeast gene to amplify it further."
"Then why hasn't there been a machine made for it yet?" Jonathan asked. "For Candor, I mean."
"This throne you see here only amplifies its effects to surround Castle Olypmpus and everything in it. Candor is a power that breaks the rules of reality. A machine, a thing that functions on logic, can't possibly emulate it. Only a pokemon can wield Candor. That is what all the eggs you see here are. They're trial and error until we find the right genetic combination to make this dream a reality."
"What happens to the ones that are 'errors'?" he asked suspiciously.
"They form the Dragoons prestigious Angel Unit," Lancelot smiled at him. "They all have an excellent talent for battle. They have their own barracks. You'll see them around as law enforcement. They deal with anyone that threatens to reveal Castle Olympus' secrets. We will take the world in our lifetime, Jonathan."
Jonathan understood now.
This wasn't a mere floating city; it was a country, as strong as any superpower, hidden among the stars and making moves without any pressure from the ground below. How it came to be, he didn't understand. He might, in time.
"Yes, milord," Jonathan said. "We will."
"I'll walk you to your barracks," he said. "Seeing you with me ought to accelerate the process of earning respect from your new soldiers."
"How many pokemon are in Castle Olympus?" Jonathan asked.
"Seven or so million. Why?"
"How has it been kept secret this long? Wouldn't someone take pictures or things?"
"Our internet connection is internal. It doesn't connect to the surface. In addition, we catch all signals between the surface and satellites and computationally scan for anomalies. If any are found, we have it scanned by hand. We also have certain cloaking strategies and travel methods. Hurricanes make great cover from satellites. We've gotten this far because we're airtight."
It was... incredible. Magnificent.
"Lord Acuity," Jonathan said, realizing. "Thank you."
"Your hard work got you here," Lancelot said. "Enjoy yourself. And welcome, Captain."
"I am glad to be of service to Acuity and the world at large, milord."
"Welcome home, Jonathan."
Some months later, Jonathan evolved into a Heliolisk. As he celebrated, he satisfied the brutal requirements of his predecessors in a year, half the time they'd thought it'd take.
Now, he had to instruct a room full of countless pokemon, some who could fly naturally, others who couldn't, on how to use pegasi wings. Even for pokemon who could fly on their own, pegasi wings offered them greater speed and maneuverability, along with several other advantages. Lancelot demanded that all of them learn how to use them.
His class alone would have a thousand students, for two full years. All of them already had basic training, and thousands more Aerial Dragoon soldiers had already completed training. It was his job to make this next batch ready.
Jonathan had no idea what a room with a thousand pokemon inside would look like until he saw it. Deep in the maze of tunnels underground, a metal gate stood larger than anything he'd ever seen, maybe a hundred times as tall as he was. It sat open most of the time, with the gate split down the center vertically.
Jonathan walked around a massive hoard of pokemons' shadows. He could make out more of their species as his eyes adjusted to the darker lighting. The only light in the room shone on a long metal stand dead center of the dome-shaped room, and on top of it, a metal backpack with six metal spikes, two drilled into the floor to keep it standing up. Once he realized going around everyone got him no closer to his goal, he pushed his way through the tight crowd.
He raised his head higher for cleaner air. The ventilation in the room was good, but not enough for his tastes. No one else seemed to mind but him, at least, probably from growing up with their whole world as a city.
When he finally reached the front and jumped up to the platform the constant chatter that fell in the background of his brain disappeared. He didn't have a microphone, but the room's natural acoustics and design seemed to make up for it.
"Soldiers!" Jonathan said, to get the attention of any outliers. "Welcome to training camp. I'm Captain Jonathan, the new Captain of the Aerial Dragoon unit."
Jonathan paced about in a bit of a circle, so he wouldn't miss looking in any direction. He let his eyes and attention drift freely, with his arms behind his back. His long tail swayed slowly behind him
"As most of you know, the Aerial Dragoon unit is the primary defense, offense, and bulwark for Castle Olympus. Once this place is revealed to the world, any and all attacks will come from the sky. Along with our current and future defense systems, we are Olympus' wall. That makes us the most important Dragoon unit. Over the next two years, I will teach every one of you the complexities of Aerial combat, teamwork, and to make the sky our domain, once and for all."
Jonathan sauntered over to the mass of black spikes on the stand with him.
"These are the bread and butter of the Aerial Dragoon unit: pegasi wings," he said. "Each one of you will have a pair produced and designed for each individual. You are to maintain them like you just got another limb. Just like your arms and legs, or whatever you've got, there are infinite possibilities for what you can accomplish with them."
Jonathan put his back against the metal boxes. He connected, thick metal arms coiled around his chest. A new pathway for the energy in his body to take. He ignited it.
The end of the spikes spewed out pressure. He floated above the stand, nice and steady.
"Over these two years, you'll need to adjust to using current technology, not just yourselves. That's why this process takes so long, and it makes this the toughest unit to get into, with some of the highest reward."
Jonathan spun upside down. He triggered a change in the spines' joints. They flipped and locked again.
The tips of the spines faced down to keep him floating, upside down. He flooded his arms.
"New pegasi wings get a little fancy," Jonathan said. "They have different modes, gears, and all sorts of functions. That's left to your personal preference. My goal with you is to have you experts on the basics so you can branch out as you please with minimal effort. So all of your pegasi wings will remain basic until after you complete the requirements."
Jonathan flipped back and over and landed back on the stand.
"When you first learn how to use these things, it drains you awfully fast," Jonathan said. "You will all be working very close to the ground. You're to abide by these rules for a reason. I can't catch you if you run out of stamina hundreds of paces away and above ground. When we next meet, you'll all have pegasi wings of your own. Be responsible. You're dismissed."
Jonathan waited on the metal stand. The pokemon around him all had to file out into the tunnels. He'd wait for them to somewhat clear out.
After his little speech, he had his own class to attend to. Just like him, the new recruits needed to get used to their new lifestyles first.
"Good work."
Jonathan glanced down.
At the base of the stand, Arcanine Zhen stood with his neck tilted up. Ever since Jonathan replaced him, his fur and complexion brightened.
"Thanks, sir," Jonathan said. "I figured I'd mention the newer versions of pegasi wings since they're more common lately."
"That's good. Smart of you. Don't get lazy and stop adapting when I'm not observing."
"I won't. I will say, though, I have to head out to a class of my own for now."
"I'll leave you to it."
Slowly, Arcanine Zhen turned around and joined the mob flowing out into the tunnels. Jonathan let go of a held breath. Zhen was hard to please. Times like this where he showed gratitude or anything close came few and far between.
Once the room had completely cleared, Heliolisk Jonathan hopped down and walked out. He followed behind in the wake of activity up towards the marketplace.
As usual for mid day, not many fellow soldiers were around. Few had his luck with doing whatever they wanted, whenever. Most probably went back to the barracks. He took his time walking through the empty space between stands. Lots of them developed their wares over his time here, but at least the food stayed the same. He never ate right after training, though.
Jonathan waved to a Pumpkaboo and Fletchling at his favorite food stands. They both waved back.
The wall transformed into a mess of spiral rampways leading up and out of the pit. The long walk up at least relaxed him. He guessed they designed it this way to separate out the pit, a soldier's life, from the rest of the city. It certainly got the job done.
As Heliolisk Jonathan cleared the pit, he came to a small plain of hard rock. Outside, it led to paved streets complete with carriages, food stands (mostly just peanuts), and a dense row of skyscrapers, all at the same height. He managed to get used to that.
Jonathan walked out on the sidewalk as anyone else would. Luckily, the air didn't chill him to the bone. Olympus usually stayed near the south pole. He usually wore his leather scarf he got from Lord Acuity to bear it, but he forgot it. Good thing it was warm.
Jonathan paused at a crosswalk. Across the street, behind a red walk light and beside a carriage he saw them: Lancelot's "sons and daughters".
Two white Eevees, both equipped with pegasi wings, spoke with a Cranidos, one of which took notes, likely for an investigation. Across the city, there were possibly hundreds of them, but he didn't know the exact number. They were all numbered, but he heard them call each other by names before.
He never got used to them.
None of them knew the surface. They didn't travel up mountains like he did as a kid, or have an option to go through forests and go to school. They only had eight hours five days a week of combat training. On weekends, they read strategy books and downloaded skills they couldn't practice. Their bodies had some rest, but not their minds.
It wasn't right. It ate away at him. It was very, very wrong.
That was the whole reason he took classes to start with. He wanted to understand them more.
"Can you verify this plate number?" one of the Eevees asked.
"Sure," Cranidos said.
Cranidos took the notepad from Eevee. His eyes passed over it. He nodded and handed it back.
"Looks good to me," he said.
'Thank you for your cooperation," said Eevee. He turned to the other. "Let's return and submit the data."
Both Eevees nodded.
As the walk light turned green, both Eevees took off in the sky with black pegasi wings on their back. As law enforcement, they were the only ones allowed to use them in the city, other than Dragoon soldiers for training, which meant they made up all of the red lights in the sky.
He looked up. At least thirty of them buzzed about in the sky at any given moment, around the clock.
Jonathan continued on to his building. As he neared the doors, they slid open.
The first floor lobby of the building sat empty, save a Kingler at the front desk. They exchanged words often, but Jonathan didn't bother him when he was asleep like today. He continued on to the building's elevator.
Rosemary's class only had a single digit number of students, including him. Although every building had one elevator, big enough to accommodate all differently sized species, this one always stayed empty.
The doors opened to a metal hallway. Jonathan hung a few turns and walked through an open archway.
He didn't hear class, and looking in on the white tiled floors, empty stands and seats, he didn't see it either. Espeon Rosemary gathered her belongings towards the front of the room, by a long whiteboard cluttered with words that covered over the whole wall.
"...Shoot."
Rosemary turned her eyes up. She smiled and laughed to herself. "Sorry, you missed class," she said.
"Yeah, uh... Sorry about that." Jonathan scratched the back of his head.
"No worries. I know how busy you are, Captain. I set up a book over there for you to read. I'll stay here in case you have any questions."
"You're too kind."
Rosemary smiled at that and sat down.
Jonathan walked over to the tabel with the open book on it and buried his nose. He made advances in his understanding lately, but this lesson didn't resemble anything like before.
It dealt with Candor's effects on the brain. A power that bent reality couldn't really be studied by science, could it?
Of course it could. It was a simple matter of cause and effect. The book, written by Rosemary, went into depth.
He couldn't believe his eyes. As he used logic to put it together, he realized what it meant a second time, from an ethical point of view. It twisted his stomach in knots.
"Miss Rosemary," Jonathan said.
"Yes?" she sang from the other side of the room.
"That machine to amplify Candor. It's effects on the body."
Rosemary lifted her head over a busy table. Her blue eyes lit up, like he would expect from a lightning strike.
"Once this pokemon is born," Jonathan said. "After they develop enough to use Candor and get put into this machine... Tell me honestly. Once they get put into this machine... They go brain dead?"
"That's..."
"Tell me."
"That would be correct, yes. Good job."
He raised his head, and his voice. "You want to reduce a living being into a machine?"
From across the room, Rosemary sighed and smiled."Jonathan... All living beings are machines," she said. She crossed her paws on top of each other on the table. "We all have working parts. We're all subject to erosion. We can be emulated and produced, just like the Angels. If you don't want that one to die, we can just make you another. You can have as many Angels as you want, Jonathan. We only need the one."
Jonathan's mouth hung open. Since when did she sound like a psychopath...?
Or had he just never noticed until now?
"Aren't they your sons and daughters?" he asked.
"Oh, pish posh," she said. "They're byproducts of trial and error. It was my husband's idea to repurpose them."
"Why?"
"As it turns out, they happened to be very ideal for him," she said. Rosemary smiled as she recalled. "Our first daughter was very talented in battle. She learned quickly. She wanted to be pure of heart. That's why..."
Rosemary leaned her head up and yawned. She rubbed the pink fur on her face.
"That's why they're called Angels to start with," she continued. "Being pure is all that any of them care about. They all have a moral code they operate by, but my husband has told them all that Castle Olympus will save people in need. And with all of them being full warlords by age sixteen, they're very helpful if we need work done. So I can see why he made that decision."
"What ever happened to your first daughter?"
Rosemary's eyes sharpened. "She fell."
"Fell?" he asked. "What does that mean?"
Rosemary huffed. "She realized that my husband had made clones of her, and that he told them Castle Olympus had a rightful ancestry to rule the world. When she tried to convince them otherwise, Lancelot never allowed any of the Angels near her again. After that, she fell off of Castle Olympus. As in, jumped." She looked at the wall. "I never could see the Angels as my sons and daughters."
"Do you think it was because Lancelot was using them, and she found out?"
"The past is over. As for the future, any day now, we expect to hear news that Candor has manifested. We have strong reason to believe that."
Any day now, Lancelot could announce he found the perfect gene combination for one of his playthings to use Candor; the unlucky bastard.
What had he done?
"Take a vacation," Rosemary said. "If you ever want an Angel unit of your own, talk with my husband."
If he didn't do something, he was going to hell. He was sure of it.
"Thank you, Miss," Jonathan said, barely able to keep the tremor out of his voice. "I think I'll do that."
She smiled and nodded.
The day came.
Olympus never slept. There would never be a good time to do this. Jonathan at least had his clearance to go to the surface, and a good spot to pick out once he finished the mission.
He wouldn't go to hell. Not if he could help it.
Lancelot changed his passcode every month. Jonathan had walked with him that month. One one three seven nine five six. He sharpened his eyes and input every code into his own memory. He would sneak into the mess of pods, switch the eggs, and buy himself time before the fallout would kill him to make a plan.
Jonathan went when most soldiers he interacted with were asleep. He walked down the tunnels like usual, like he belonged, when he didn't anymore. He waited next to the door with his phone out.
On his phone, he had a close up snapshot of Lancelot's eye, courtesy of a microcamera he brought with him during a meeting. He used it.
The first gate opened, and closed behind him. Lancelot was asleep. He hadn't looked at the pod yet. This would be the only time for him to make a change and do this. He would say no to Lancelot for the first time, in the most major way possible. This betrayal would cost him more than his position.
It would cost everything.
The gate closed behind him. No one saw. Good.
In the cluttered, mini laboratory, Jonathan walked to the panel to enter Lancelot's real lab and entered in the code for this month. It opened.
In his cluttered, dark lab, he did it memories of his arrival that night came rushing back. He had so many warnings.
No, maybe not. He would've died. Lancelot wouldn't have let the secret get out.
He was just unlucky, plain and simple.
The panel opened up to the maze of pods. The kid would be in pod one hundred and thirty nine, in his birthplace, mere paces away from what everyone decided his deathbed would be. Everyone but him.
Jonathan sprinted through. He couldn't waste time. There were no cameras, but if someone walked in, his life was over. He ran past pods of eggs, cracked eggs, and newly hatched, mewling white Eevees that would get used to the idea of no parents starting here.
The pod sat near the end of the line. Jonathan's heart flared up in front of it. He entered another code, the last one he had memorized. He prayed it would open. It did.
A small veil of steam poured out on the floor. The top of the egg broke up, completely. Jonathan reached inside. He picked up the egg in his arms.
Inside, a white Eevee stared back at him in wonder. It was certainly different from the rest; one of its eyes was charred blue, no doubt, an aftereffect having DNA crossed with Reshiram.
This was it. His unlucky bastard, in the truest sense of the word. The product of years and years of meticulous, heartless research. Combined with the throne, he would dull the willpower of anyone who would try to attack Castle Olympus. Even though all of this, he didn't look different than any other kid. He even stared at him all weird to boot.
If he went missing, Lancelot would blow up all of Olympus to find him. Jonathan needed a replacement to cover up. It would work for several years, maybe more. The change in eye color wasn't guaranteed to have happened. Lancelot would still believe he had Candor if he swapped him out. Jonathan grimaced.
He had no choice.
Jonathan picked a cracked egg at random and swapped them out, but that wouldn't be enough. He'd have to go into the system and update it to make it look like the egg he used to replace the Eevee with Candor never existed. Luckily, he had the permissions for that, and to make sure no one found out he did it.
Second, he had to get this guy out of here. Once he did the first step on his phone, he turned to make a break for it.
"You too, Jonathan?"
An icicle pierced his body. Jonathan turned.
There he stood; an Arcanine with sharp fur; Zhen.
"I cleared a path by declaring it under maintenance," Zhen said. "You can fly down, drop him off in Valor, and come back without anyone taking notice."
"Zhen...!?" Jonathan breathed.
"Thank the powers above you have a heart, Jonathan. But you realize what this will bring in the future, don't you?"
"I'll... I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."
"When we come to it. Now run."
"What about you?"
"I'm leaving Olympus today. No one will be able to question me on anything suspicious. You need to go, now. Be back before dawn."
"Thank you."
"Now!"
He was right.
Jonathan sprinted out. He kept the Eevee in his arms still in his egg to carry him easier, but if anyone saw him, he was done.
He had to trust Zhen cleared the fastest way to the deck. He ran out, back to the tunnels.
They were empty. With every step of his that echoed off the walls, heartbeats pounded in his head. This was his real moment.
Lord Amadeus was right before. He didn't have the heart he needed yet. He understood that now. He understood why it wasn't him.
So far, so good. Jonathan went down two levels with no one around, something that had never happened before. Still, only an invisible wall stayed between him and death.
The door for the deck appeared. He ran for it. This metal door opened upwards as soon as he approached.
Inside a vast area, pegasi wings were set up for everyone in the Aerial Dragoon unit, including his. Lights came on over an empty space with spiked backpacks covering the walls.
Jonathan ran over to his part of the wall and set the egg down. He strapped the pegasi wings on his back.
While he did, the little bugger tried to crawl up out of his egg. He pushed his tiny head down. Every few seconds, his head popped up again. Jonathan groaned. He had to choose now of all times to get all curious.
Heliolisk Jonathan slammed his hand on a red button on the wall. In moments, the wall opened up to the sharp, cold, outside wind.
The Eevee started to cry. Jonathan picked him up in his egg and rocked him back and forth.
Why? That was stupid. This wouldn't be comfortable in any sense. Whatever.
Jonathan ran for the edge and jumped. The white Eevee screamed. He ignited his pegasi wings and flew off in the night sky.
Somehow, the little squirt managed to fall asleep in the middle of flying. They stabilized in the air, and the egg probably warmed up inside and protected him from the wind. Go figure.
Unfortunately, the closest land would be the Trio Continent for now. This Eevee would be hidden on the equivalent of Lancelot's front doorstep. He had no other choice if he wanted to return by dawn. Castle Olympus might be far away now, but it's pressure weighed on him; it almost crushed him.
He had to get back, fast as he could.
In villages, stories of a white Eevee coming out of nowhere would spread. In the city, a weird-looking orphan appearing out of nowhere would be another Monday. All in all, it took Jonathan an hour to reach the part of the surface he wanted: Central Valor.
The Nightlight tower loomed over the city. As he remembered, it paled in comparison to a single building on Castle Olympus. And here the world thought it was one of the ten tallest skyscrapers.
They couldn't be any more wrong.
Jonathan came to this city once in his youth. He came with a small group of friends on a charity run to help out a local orphanage. It made him want to be a soldier. That white Eevee's best chance would be there.
Crickets whistled. He had forgotten what they sounded like, along with the owls. Jonathan landed mere feet away from the orphanage's front door, and walked forward.
Jonathan took a last look at the white Eevee in his grasp. He slept peacefully, still in his egg. Jonathan set him down on their front doorstep, on top of a pink mat that read "Welcome home."
He scowled.
Jonathan cursed at the world as to why someone did this to him growing up. Why did he have to do this?
Because he couldn't run from Olympus. Thanks to their signal net, they had eyes everywhere. He couldn't stay.
Jonathan knocked on the door twice, hard, to make sure they noticed him, stepped back when he heard movements inside, and blasted off.
Jonathan flew back.
He made it to the deck as the sun poked the top of its head over the horizon. As the deck's doors outside closed, he took off his pegasi wings, slammed them back on the rack, and got out of the deck as fast as he could.
His arms shook as the door back to the tunnels opened up. Pokemon walked around outside, cheerful. He had to stop his jaw from shaking. He walked forward.
"Captain!"
A Frogadier saw him and got his attention. He walked up to him.
"Captain," Frogadier repeated. "Performing maintenance?"
"Yes," Jonathan said. "What is it?"
"Great news! Lord Acuity has summoned you to his laboratory. It's time."
Jonathan pretended to let his jaw drop. He cruised into a jog in the tunnels.
The gate to his laboratory hung wide open, unlike any other day. Jonathan didn't pause to look at it. He continued down the tunnel.
The metal panel on the wall hung open, too. He sidestepped into it, through his small, miniature lab, cramped with desks, and into his real one.
A single digit number of pokemon surrounded Dragonite Lancelot. Jonathan walked in as he entered the codes to open the pod. His movements slowed as it opened.
He handled it like a fragile diamond. A white Eevee poked his head out and stared at him,
He raised it high, like a fucking trophy.
"To the future," Lancelot said, "and to Galahad Acuity!"
He guessed this one was important enough to name.
"Is that Captain Jonathan?"
"Yeah, looks like it."
"He's been teaching for sixteen years here. How are we supposed to satisfy that?"
"Isn't he from the surface?"
The whispers and comments about him drifted in one ear and out the other. It was difficult to care when it was more of the same chatter from awestruck recruits.
Heliosk Jonathan walked through that massive room with the throng of recruits that transfixed him so much when he was younger. Since then, he lost his bright eyes, and his nerves. He was thirty five now, and the respect he once had for this place had long dwindled into a lingering disgust.
He got to the stand in the middle, with the demonstration pegasi wings, and jumped up top. The errant chatter predictably died down as he turned to face this next batch of kids all too willing to defend this flying sham.
Ah well. What could he do? It was time to get to work.
He didn't bother with introductions as much anymore. He looked out and sized up the ocean of pokemon by their faces. He didn't see many flickers in their eyes.
More of the same. He withheld a sigh and began to regurgitate the same spiel he always gave new soldiers..
"Welcome to the Aerial Dragoon unit," Jonathan said, voice gruff from repeating it so much. "As you know, you've all picked the hardest unit to join. A good portion of you will find that your talents lie elsewhere, in other units. Those of you that stay will face challenges every day. It will be rough. Come talk to me, and we'll make arrangements to help you if you're burnt out."
Jonathan tilted his head to the side. He noticed a fair bit of chatter closer to the front.
"Is there a problem down there?" Jonathan asked.
He narrowed his eyes to focus on a smiling Gumshoos. He seemed a bit too excited for it to be something normal.
"Sorry, Captain, uh, sir," Gumshoos said. "We were just talking about the Ascension."
When they would try to use Galahad and fail since he sabotaged it. Right. His stomach churned just thinking about it.
"How many days is it, now?"
"Days?" Gumshoos asked. "It's tomorrow, Captain!"
He lost track of time, and at the worst moment. He nodded to himself.
Looking out now, he noticed a lot of whispers, frayed feathers, and wild eyes. The energy here could set the room on fire.
"Well, this is a pretty special occasion," Jonathan said. "I'd normally introduce some maneuvers today as a start, but, if you can't focus, there's no point. At ease, everyone. You're free to go."
Jonathan huffed as the room turned into an avalanche back into the tunnels.
He had to find Galahad; to help dull the blow he was about to take. It would probably be easier to try and do it tomorrow, when he could find him easier.
He thought about what to say all night.
Unlike the rest of the Angels, Galahad spent most of his time with his father, and emulated his cold-to-the-touch personality and brutal tactics. When he evolved into a Flareon, his head got big. He probably saw himself as a conduit for Candor.
Just like the rest of the Angels, he enjoyed seeing himself as a martyr. Lancelot figured them out over the years. They had some kind of strange, natural inclination to be good. All he had to do was define it for them. For Galahad, that meant dying, according to his father. Jonathan tried to make him value his life, but it hadn't worked.
Maybe today, on what he thought would be his last, the fear would help.
For an hour, pokemon passed Jonathan heading left and right. He leaned against the tunnel wall, waiting for him. He wondered about the circumstances that led this place to be so happy over an execution. He figured some might not understand, but was wrong. Once Galahad was born, everyone had it spelled out to them, and they smiled anyway. They didn't even look at him any differently. With how they saw the Angels as tools, how could they?
In time, Flareon Galahad walked closeby.
Galahad walked alone with his eyes set on the floor, seemingly lost in thought. Jonathan stepped out to meet him. Galahad never welcomed these sorts of conversations anymore. Now that the day had come, it seemed even less so. His eyes sharpened.
"Going to try and talk me out of it?" Galahad huffed.
"I get it," Jonathan said. "I just wanted to know why."
"Why what?"
"Why you feel the need to do this."
"It's my destiny. All of the Angels are counting on me. You know what I don't get?" Galahad raised his voice. "I'm the lucky one, here. Everyone seems to get that but you."
"You know you're going to die, Galahad. Aren't you scared?"
"No. I don't get why you are for me. Just leave it."
"If you're sure. Okay."
Jonathan threw his hands up in the air and backed out of his way. Galahad continued on. Once the air cleared, Jonathan went on his own way.
He had been called in for a meeting, mere minutes before the big event. He stood outside their meeting room after knocking. His head buzzed with stress, knowing what would happen when no one else did. Whenever someone read it on his face, he passed it off in a number of easy ways.
The panel opened. Heliolisk Jonathan breathed deep. The air tickled his quaking heart.
Dragonite Lancelot stood facing a large screen away from the door. A dark metal table sat in between them.
"Once Castle Olympus ascends, we'll need to use this room more often," Lancelot said. "There are sure to be rebellions. We will defeat them and take this world."
"Yes, milord," Jonathan said. "Is Galahad prepared?"
"Nearly. He should be finishing up his final meal."
Bastard.
It wouldn't happen, but Jonathan grew familiar with how this place worked. All of those Eevees aspired to be like saints, that's just how they were, and Lancelot knew it. They were brainwashed, all of them.
"You may leave me now," Lancelot said. "Join the others."
"Yes, milord."
Jonathan walked out of the room, to the moment he had been dreading. Years after his thievery, Lancelot trusted him with the codes to enter the now vacant laboratory at any time.
All of the pods sat empty. Lancelot stopped creating new Angels after Galahad was born. At the circular, outer edge of the dome, guards stood idle and covered every section of the wall.
Jonathan waited around the throne in a short semi-circle split down the middle. He stood in front of it with his arms behind his back.
Dragonite Lancelot walked in a minute later. Behind him, the gray and white Flareon Galahad stomped forward towards the device.
"Jonathan," Lancelot said, "to my side. As you were in the beginning."
Jonathan nodded. As Galahad walked past, he flashed Jonathan a smile. He smiled back.
He'd live whether he wanted to or not.
"Father," Galahad said. "I'm honored to be the one to raise our home higher. Thank you for this opportunity."
"Galahad," Lancelot said, "you're welcome."
Jonathan threw up a little in his mouth. He swallowed.
He stood at Lancelot's right side as Galahad took a seat on the throne. Lancelot stepped forward and connected him up; the needles, the monitors, and finally, the crown. He hit a button on the back seat of the throne and stared Galahad down straight on
Galahad breathed in deep. The buzz started; one that Jonathan had never heard before, but dreaded for more than a decade. He watched confusion grow on Galahad's face as nothing happened, and as he glanced around for answers.
"Is it working...?" Galahad asked quietly.
Lancelot turned back towards Jonathan, with a wide smile. "Of course it doesn't."
Ah fuck.
"It never would have for you, Galahad," he said. He kept his eyes trained on Jonathan's very soul. "I learned several months ago that you were switched out at birth by a man so strong and capable, he'd defy the gods knowing everything. A man I wanted to stand next to one last time."
Lancelot unbound Galahad. He continued to sit still, in shock. Once finished, Lancelot walked forward.
"I surveyed your little trips to the surface, Jonathan," he said. "I saw you trying to make my chosen one a selfish coward who'd stay far away from his destiny forever. And what's more, you even had him help you steal the White Stone from Pharaoh Manor and tried to steal him away from Reshiram when it first rose to the sky."
"M-milord."
Lancelot raised a hand to Jonathan's mouth. He frowned.
"You're not quite like us, Jonathan," he said. "Being from the surface, you're still bound to these ideals of yours. I don't have the strength to kill you myself. But, Galahad might have something to say about you letting him live a lie."
Dragonite Lancelot walked backwards. Heliolisk Jonathan split his attention between him and Flareon Galahad.
"How is this possible?" Galahad uttered. "I evolved correctly and everything. This was... This was my life. It was over, right here."
"Galahad," Jonathan said, "dying isn't your purpose in life. It might be for some people, but not for you, or any of the Angels."
"I'm not different from them at all."
"You're more than a sacrifice."
"I was." His voice turned into a guttural growl. "But you took that away from me..."
Galahad started to throw reason out the window. Jonathan could see it through his manic eyes. His chances for escape dimmed.
Lancelot, on the other hand, smiled as he enjoyed the show. He stepped back, away from the growth of sweltering heat as it spread across the room.
"Galahad," Lancelot said. "You do have a purpose, a purpose just as important to the same end. Kill the traitor, and right the wrong."
Galahad stood up and hopped to the ground.
"He's using you," Jonathan said.
"To do something great," he spat.
"To help him pretend he's king. Don't you see he wants you to be nothing?"
Steam rose from Galahad's fur. He scraped his claws against the floor. Hot orange flames ignited on his paws. They encroached up his arms. Jonathan steeled himself.
"You let me grow up living a lie," he growled. "You let me think I knew my real purpose. How could you do that to someone?"
Smoke belched out of his mouth over every word. Each footstep he took left a red mark on the metal floor.
"I did it for survival's sake," Jonathan said.
"Well let's see how far that got you!"
Galahad leapt forward.
Somewhere during the battle, Jonathan lost consciousness, with only a vague recollection of what happened. It went down fast.
He lost.
"Captain... No..."
"Do it."
Air hit his lungs. Jonathan coughed and sputtered. His eyesight and hearing lagged behind.
Something shook him.
Not something, but someone.
"Captain. Captain Jonathan. Wake up."
The voice urged him to try harder. He reached to get back to reality.
"Why isn't he waking up?"
"He was in suspended animation. He needs a moment."
"We don't have that!"
"Calm down. We do. We made plenty of time."
"It doesn't feel like it..."
Jonathan's eyes registered everything happening around him. A dark ceiling loomed overhead. Underneath, a Diancie smiled at him, with warm eyes.
"Welcome back to the land of the living, Captain."
A Luxio popped his head over him, in his line of sight.
"Crap, dude..." he said. "I can't believe you're actually alive after that."
"After what?" Jonathan gargled.
"After you got maimed by Galahad Acuity."
That sounded somewhat familiar. He tried to recall the last thing he saw.
A hurricane of flames and claws fit the bill.
"What's happening?" he asked. "Wait, who are you two?"
"My name is Jasmine," Diancie said. "This is Diondre." She gestured to the Luxio. "We're in the Aerial Dragoon unit."
In his unit? They didn't seem familiar. There were too many pokemon in his unit to know all of their names, or even faces. Beyond that, lots of them had dropped out. These two may have been the first to turn full on traitor, though, besides him.
"What're we doing?" Jonathan coughed out.
"We're leaving Olympus," Jasmine said.
"You two are leaving Olympus," Diondre said. "I'm not about to play myself."
"Thank you for your help, Diondre."
"If you don't get me killed, you're welcome. Don't get me killed."
"What's the plan?" Jonathan asked.
"We're currently in the containment cell. There isn't an easy way back towards the deck, except the one that we dug."
"Dug?" Jonathan blinked as more came into focus. "Like what? With a shovel?"
"Told you it sounds stupid," Diondre said.
"It worked, it's can't be stupid."
The idea was so baseborn and simple, yet they were here. Most of the underground was made up of solid rock, far more penetrable than steel and without any fancy locks.
Well, shoot. If it got them this far, then what the hell?
Jonathan stood up on his own. They were in a dark, isolated room with metal on all sides. The only way in or out appeared to be a metal door with so many physical and electronic locks on it, it looked like another wall.
Behind him, he saw a pod, not unlike the ones for the Angels, with a pool of liquid at the bottom. Beside the black metal case, he saw how their miracle happened.
They just dug a dumbass tunnel through the rock wall behind the metal. Two shovels lay in front of it, crossed on top of each other.
"Wow," Jonathan uttered. "Just... wow. This is really... wow."
"What do you think, Captain?" Jasmine asked.
"What possessed you to even think this was a viable option?"
"It was viable. Like I said, it worked, didn't it?"
Jonathan wanted to argue against the results, but, whatever...
"Why are you two helping me?" he asked.
"We believe that life is more important than... whatever Lancelot talks our ears off about. I kind of stopped paying attention."
She winced at Jonathan's glare.
"O-kay..." he said. "So, the tunnel puts us out where exactly?"
"It bobs and weaves us close to the deck, in my room!" Jasmine said. "After that, we have to rush to the deck and fly. Unfortunately, there's a lot of Angels guarding it now."
"What are their numbers?"
"Numbers...?"
Jonathan sighed. He ended up having the worst sort of recruits end up doing this for him if they didn't even know about the Angels.
"Angels get stronger the older they are, because they have more years of experience," he said. "The smaller the number, the older they are, and the better they are at fighting. The top five-hundred Angels are nearly thirty, and are a lot more dangerous than the ones that are only seventeen or eighteen years old. The first one-hundred Angels are called Saints, and fighting even one of them is suicide. So, which numbers are they?"
Jonathan had never needed to counter-strategize against the Angels before, but it was true. They got more cocky and aggressive as they aged. Galahad had special training with his father that made him a more dangerous exception. The rest were handled like soldiers, a lot more predictably.
He had seen some of the older clones himself. They were scary, and out of his league. What's worse, they were trusted to test experimental tech, like new versions of pegasi wings and the like. He wouldn't put it past them to blast him all the way back in time into a volcano at this point.
"I've heard mentions of it in passing," Jasmine said. "They usually say seven thousand or eight."
There were around eleven thousand Angels. That meant they were on the younger side. It gave them a chance.
"Let's move," Jonathan said.
"Yes, Captain," Jasmine said.
"You guys promise you won't rat me out if you get caught, right?" Diondre asked.
"Yeah," Jonathan said. "Thanks for the... Tunnel."
"It's more complicated than it looks. I had to map it all out. If anyone caught me... I don't even know."
"Lucky you've got a talent for that sort of thing, aren't we?" Jasmine asked.
"We'll see how lucky it is when all this is over."
Jonathan bent down in front of the tunnel. He felt around the walls with his hands and entered. His eyes got caught.
His hands were charred red and black. He looked over himself.
Most of his body had been burnt to a crisp. No wonder Diondre said he got maimed.
He was never the charmer. He had to survive. He could cry about it when he had a second, and a mirror. With that goal in mind, he entered.
The tunnel weaved up, down, left and right. He opened his neck frills and kept them alight with electricity to see the path. None of them spoke.
Echoes of voices bled through the walls. This tunnel wasn't nearly as dumb as he thought. Diondre must have had to measure out walls in between barracks, rooms and the like. It must have taken days or maybe weeks of planning.
The tunnel went down more than up. Some ten minutes later, a light showed up at the end of it. Jonathan crawled faster. He yanked himself out onto the metal floor.
It was a Dragoon soldier's standard room; a bed, metal walls with no windows, and a door. On a small wooden stand, an extra item in this room, stood a picture.
Flareon Galahad stood next to Diancie Jasmine in it.
Something in his mind clicked. He whipped his head back towards Jasmine as she crawled out of the tunnel with Diondre.
"I know you," he said. "From the surface. We thought your parents were selling you off, and Light... He set you free..."
Jasmine's face fell. She pushed her lips together and moved them to the side.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I was the surveillance. But that's why I'm here. I remembered that boy's kindness."
Jonathan had lived so many double lives by now, they were all congealed together. He pretended to join a street gang that Light got roped into, all while flying away at night to come back to Olympus. Of course something could slip in.
"Yeah," Jonathan said. "The Angels are pretty kind. That's what makes them so damn easy for him to use. So, you're just helping me cause you have a thing for Galahad?"
Jasmine tilted her head from side to side. "That's not the only reason. Light was very kind. I couldn't live with myself here knowing that he was in that machine."
"This is a nice heart to heart and all," Diondre said, "but it's time for us to go our separate ways. If you two are that hellbent on saving the Angel with Candor, you better start by killing the Glass Reshiram before we catch on to his trail. Only a Scion would have a fighting chance at surviving this."
"Ain't that the truth," Jonathan said. "Thanks for your help, Diondre."
"I'm going to walk out a minute before you guys. There shouldn't be anyone around to see. If there are, I'll distract them. Good luck."
Jonathan and Jasmine hid in the corner of the room as Diondre cracked open the metal door. It closed seconds later. His footsteps faded away in the distance.
That meant no one saw him. In a minute, they'd make a break for the deck. He pushed off the wall and prepared himself.
"So," Heliolisk Jonathan said, "you have sympathy for the Angels?"
"Don't you?" Diancie Jasmine asked.
"Yeah. But if we do this, Galahad will hunt you down. He may be confused, and used, but he will try to kill us. You probably won't get a happy ending with him like you hoped you would."
"I thought he'd die until I heard what you did, Captain. I'll keep fighting for him. He'll just have to suck it up."
"Even though you know what he's capable of?"
"Some of us are better at playing with fire, Captain."
For an idiot who did jailbreaks by digging tunnels, she sure acted cocky.
"You ready?" he asked.
"Born ready."
Jonathan pushed open the door.
Jasmine had good instincts. She covered his back.
They picked a good time for this. All of the lampposts were off. Down a row of miniature gray boxes, Jonathan saw the tunnel entrance staring right at him, with nothing in between. He kept low and quiet to prevent anyone sleeping from hearing them.
"Ready to fight?" Jasmine asked.
Jonathan nodded.
The tunnel entrance would open automatically as they approached it. On their short trip down, they'd have to blitz past every Dragoon soldier and Angel that crossed their path. If they were too slow, it'd be over... again. But this time, there was more than just him at stake.
The gate pulled itself up and opened.
A Grimer and a Heatmor walked side by side.
"Bruh," Grimer said, "she crazy. Stop texting her."
"Well, what if crazy is cool, bruh?" Heatmor asked.
Grimer noticed Jonathan. "Uh, bruh!?"
Jonathan's neck frills opened, charged, and fried Grimer. Heatmor turned in time for a chunk of the floor to slam in his face.
Both of them slammed against the wall and fainted on the spot. No one shouted afterward. Jasmine brushed off her hands against herself. Jonathan gave her a nod. She returned it.
No wonder she had that confidence earlier. She could keep up.
Jonathan bolted down the tunnel, but his body didn't allow him to go at full speed, no doubt from being in suspended animation. His steps pounded the metal floor at about three-fourths his usual rate. It'd make this whole idea a problem.
With luck, however, no one saw. With every gate that stayed shut, Jonathan counted a lucky star. Their chances improved with each one.
The gates to the deck stood open, high overhead. Chilled, outside air tempted him. Dozens of pokemon hustled about inside.
"I'll handle it, Captain."
Jonathan flashed Diancie Jasmine a look as she went past. She smiled. He stayed further back.
Jasmine clicked a button on the side of the wall to close the gate. Jonathan's heart rate jumped, but he stuffed it down. She wouldn't go through all this just to betray him.
To be sure, though, he walked closer to the gate.
"Oh, hey Jasmine. What are you doing with that ro-"
The metal gate bulged out, in the shape of a Pachirisu. Jonathan staggered back away from it.
Muffled metal clangs and screams leaked through the gate. Jonathan shifted his balance from foot to foot.
Dragoon soldiers couldn't feel pain. He couldn't help but ask himself why they were screaming. He wouldn't normally dwell on it if he had something else to do, but he didn't.
Why were they screaming?
Silence eventually came. The gate opened, not all the way thanks to the new dent. Jonathan crouched down and crept underneath it. He steeled himself.
Absolute carnage.
Diamonds jut out the metal floors and walls everywhere. Some of them crushed a Blaziken's legs while others were used in more... interesting ways.
He quaked as he walked past a Cramorant, flat on his back, with a massive pink diamond lodged in its beak. His shocked eyes met Jonathan's. He mouthed his condolences. He shivered when he saw a Meowth, unconscious, dangling from the ceiling by a pink chain. Six or seven others sprawled out in piles of diamond shards.
Diancie Jasmine stood over an Electabuzz. He walked in just in time to see her pull a diamond bat over her shoulder and swing it for his forehead. It shattered on impact. Electabuzz fell back with a heap of shards. Jasmine wiped her hands off on each other.
In all his years, he had never seen someone so prone to violence. No wonder Galahad liked her.
Jasmine smiled at him. "Best move fast, Captain."
"Did you really have to lodge this Cramorant's mouth like that?" he asked.
"Awwwwww..." she squealed in a baby voice. "Mr. know it all had it coming for a whittle while now..."
Cramorant screamed out, but the diamond muffled it.
"Cry me a river," Jasmine said. "Get in gear, Captain."
Jonathan flinched. He held out his arm and a black metal box from slamming into his face. She chucked them at him with Psychic. He eyed the shape and black spikes. The pegasi wings weren't his, but they'd do.
"Where are all the Angels that are supposed to be on guard duty?" Jonathan asked.
"Replaced by these whelps, it looks like," said Jasmine. "Are you ready to go? They could possibly fire on us."
"As I'll ever be."
Cold wind blasted Jonathan head on. Light from the bright midday sky hit his eyes hard. He covered them with his arm and slowly looked up.
"We'll split up here," Jasmine said. "Head to Lao Shen."
"Where are you going?" Jonathan asked over the whipping winds.
"To get something that will help in the future." Jasmine smiled at him. "I believe what you did was right, Captain. Don't stop now."
Jasmine ignited the pegasi wings on her back and soared out the deck. Jonathan ran forward and followed her.
He turned back as he dove towards the clouds. The bottom rock of Castle Olympus distanced itself from him. He watched it vanish behind a thick veil of clouds and flew away.
Jonathan had to count himself lucky.
He sat in a quiet hospital room with Sky Shaymins Ariel and Mei, Umbreon Amadeus, Butterfree Marciel and Meowstic Markus in a circle on the floor with cushions. They were willing to hear him out all the way to the end. He couldn't ask for more.
Flareon Light slept in the room's bed. His face poked out from under a mountain of white blankets. He was put on some medication to help him recover his energy faster. Jonathan didn't have to worry about him hearing.
All of their faces contorted at points. The real shock settled in slowly as things he recounted lined up with reality. None of them could disprove him.
Amadeus had stayed silent and stone-faced, apart from the beginning where it clicked in his eyes.
"I landed in Lao Shen, and caught up with you all from there," Jonathan said. "As it turned out, those 'thieves' that wanted Light back were low rank throwaway Dragoons used to survey the situation, like the Wayfarers' skill in combat and strategies. I took them out, and you all came. Jasmine landed all the way in Vantaa, where she found Sacred Treasure Svalin and took a ship here. We had to abandon our pegasi wings because they could've been fitted with trackers. Couldn't risk it."
"I was wondering where I knew your face," Amadeus said.
He waved it off. "It's fine... Not like I'm baby faced anymore."
"So," he said, leaning forward. "That Sylveon with the Acuitan blessing that called herself 'One'. She's one of these Angels?"
"No," said Jonathan. "The first clone's number is two. That Sylveon's their natural-born daughter. I don't know how she's alive or what her deal is, but I'm sure of it. If her DNA was crossed with Reshiram's, she wouldn't have been able to evolve like the rest of the Angels."
"Wait a minute..." Ariel said. "If all of the Angels are from her, does that mean...?"
Jonathan watched her face as she reached some kind of epiphany.
"Is that why he looks like a girl?" she asked.
"Strange takeaway, but... sure. You could say that," he said. "There are only singular genetic differences between all the Angels, and they all deal with Reshiram as they searched for the correct combination for Candor. His gender may be random, but, his traits aren't. They're all from One."
"Well now it's no wonder there are so many active Scions in the world," Marciel said. "Nobody has tried to trifle with using Scions ever before. No one's had the knowledge... Or the ambition."
"How hard would it be to locate a giant flying city?" Mei asked with a frown. "This hardly seems real. How are we supposed to believe this scale?"
"I don't know who or what, but they have Scions in Olympus," Jonathan said. "Combined with their technology, I don't even know what's possible or not anymore. Reshiram will need to recover from the last battle, but the Dragoons will start coming for him. I think we need to prepare for all the scenarios."
"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt," Markus said. He smiled and slouched on his cushion. "Your story makes enough sense for me. Best to take it with a grain of salt. You put your life on the line against Reshiram, after all. So what are we looking at?"
"Three scenarios," Jonathan said. "The first is that the Dragoons continue to come in greater numbers to wear us out and steal Light. The second is that they don't act and simply follow Reshiram, since they know we are too.
"The third is that they throw all caution into the wind and come out with everything they've got. They probably have more motivations than just Light. They know the Chingyang sisters are Scions. There's no telling what they want."
"I will make plans," Amadeus said. He turned to Marciel. "Is there any hope of finding this castle?"
"Very little," Marciel said. "It has become quite apparent that we need all the power we have. I will be joining the Wayfarers from here, and personally keep Galahad Acuity in check. None of their armor will stand against Gungnir."
"Hey, uhm, could you guys move this conversation?" Ariel asked quietly. She passed short glances at Light, whose face twitched in his sleep.
Jonathan turned to everyone and nodded. As he stood up, everyone but Ariel copied him. He walked over to the door and pulled it open, slow and steady so it wouldn't creak.
Markus walked out first, followed by Mei and Marciel. Amadeus followed out last.
He peered in the room one more time. Ariel kept her eyes locked on Light and the sunlight leaking through the white curtains behind him. Jonathan closed the door.
They had all agreed it'd be her choice whether to tell him any of it or not. He thought she was the best thing since sliced bread. He wouldn't be as mad if she chose not to tell him anything.
Personally, he wouldn't have said anything himself. It'd only distract him.
"Let's all talk of our plans," Marciel said. His eyes turned to Jonathan. "You should rest, for now."
"Yeah," he huffed. "See you."
Marciel nodded. Together with Mei and Markus, they all walked down the hallway. Umbreon Amadeus lagged behind.
"Jonathan," Amadeus said. "Do you know why I didn't choose you?"
Heliolisk Jonathan swung back around and stared at him down the hallway. He stayed facing away.
"I wanted you to be my personal guard," Amadeus said.
Personal guard?
Him?
"I was heartbroken when you vanished," he said, "and more so that my son used you like this. But, I still believe that this is fate."
"Fate, milord?" Jonathan asked.
"That you should protect my grandson as his personal guard instead."
Jonathan nodded. "I see."
Amadeus turned around. "But a part of it is still my fault for not telling you before. I'm sorry."
"Well, if you had, Castle Olympus would've flattened all of Acuity by now. I wouldn't worry about it too much."
Amadeus nodded to himself as he turned around. "Rest well, Jonathan."
"You as well, milord."
Jonathan watched Amadeus walk down the hallway. A small ember relit in his heart.
The king's personal guard. Him, of all people.
What insanity.