Chapter 7|Remnants of the Past

Draak Ruins

The Dragons' Final Stand

"So what's the plan?" asked Clef, joining the rest of the group behind a broken wall in front of the castle ruins.

"We're gonna go in there and take out those dragons!" exclaimed Saphira, angrily peeking from behind the wall. The sun had begun to set around the castle, an ominous shadow cast over them. Two, strong rooks stood on the left and right wing of the tall castle walls. More towers were scattered across the gigantic roof, but one had fallen over and left a hole in it. It was massive, vines entangling the worn stone. The castle was like a layered cake, the floors rising into a single tower at the top, the one with the flagpole. Saphira could feel the struggle that happened years ago. The Dragons surrendered here, although Saphira believed they should've been executed. All the destruction they've caused… and the Paragon Alliance spared them? She had been waiting for this moment, a chance to get revenge on them for destroying her village. She didn't feel nervous, or scared at that moment. All she felt was anger. She began running straight through the main path. She was going to finish the job.

It was too late for any of them to stop her.

"Yo! Saphira!" exclaimed Richard, stepping out from the wall to chase after her. Clef hissed, "That idiot! Now anyone in there knows we're here!"

"Do we go after them?" asked Hix.

"Yeah," said Riley. "It's not like they don't know we're here."

Clef pushed Riley out from the wall.

"Hurry!" exclaimed Clef, "We don't have time to hang around." The three ran down the cobbled road after Saphira and Richard, who had just entered the castle.

They had grouped up again, Richard holding Saphira back.

"Let me go!" she exclaimed.

Richard grunted, "What are you doing? You don't even know where they are!"

"Wait, you're right!" exclaimed Saphira, stopping the struggling. Her expression slackened.

"What?" asked Richard. "You're unbelievable." Hix, Riley, and Clef just stood and watched awkwardly.

"You can't just do that, Saphira," said Riley.

"Do what?" she asked.

"Charge in like that," said Clef, leaning towards the Azumarill. "Like an idiot."
"Shut up! How else am I gonna defeat the Dragons?" she asked. Riley sighed, realizing that they were out in the open. The grand hall was still, well, grand, although everything seemed lost in time. The throne was missing, looted at the end of the war. Pillars crumbled, tapestries were removed. Burn marks scorched the walls like harmless graffiti.

"We need a plan," she said, "Why are we even standing in the main hall?" They ducked into one of the rooms on the first floor, the armory, which was completely empty.

Saphira tried to calm down, but every time she did, that Druddigon popped back into her mind.

"We can't just stand here!" she exclaimed, Clef immediately closing the wooden door in an attempt to muffle her screaming.

"Quiet!" hissed Clef. "Those Greninja are probably in here!"

"How about this, Saphira," said Riley, trying to calm Saphira down. "You can channel that anger into finding the missing Pokemon!" Saphira breathed heavily, Riley's voice only making her more restless. She didn't understand how it felt to lose an entire village. Richard lost a friend, so what? She lost everyone she knew. Not replying, she stomped towards the door, which Clef blocked.

"Get out the way, Clef!" exclaimed Saphira. "Are you coming with me?"

"I will once you've calmed down!" said Clef. "We'll go with you if you can come up with a decent plan!" Saphira stood in silence for a moment, angrily thinking.

"We'll just beat them up-" said Saphira.

"They'll ambush us," chimed in Richard. "We don't know where they are in here."

"Why not? There's five of us" reasoned Saphira, who became calm after thinking for a bit.

"There could be more than three of them," reasoned Clef.

She didn't know it, but she was getting more and more calm. As her anger faded, she became more aware about the situation. It became fear. She began to panic, looking at everyone and hopping up and down.

"I don't want to do this anymore!" she sputtered. Clef and Riley facepalmed.

"Arceus, she's helpless," muttered Clef.

"I'd rather have angry Saphira than scared Saphira, to be honest," sighed Riley. Richard cleared his throat.

"While you two were flirting with each other," began Richard. Clef and Saphira almost interjected, but Riley quickly closed their mouths with her claws. "Hix and I had an idea. If we locate the missing Pokemon, they could help us take down the culprits! It'd be like a twenty on four. If they're too powerful, we'll sneak out and report back to the guild."

Riley still held Clef and Saphira, whose muffled voices could barely be heard. "Now, that's a plan. We've got a plan now," said Riley, glancing at Saphira and letting them go.

"Flirting?" sputtered Clef. "Wha-"

"There are bigger problems than your obvious love-hate relationship right now," said Richard crossing his arms.

"He's right," said Riley, looking around the room. "This was where the final battle of the war took place?"

"Apparently so," said Clef, looking at black marks on the walls where weapons once lay. "This place has already been emptied. I reckon the weapons were melted down, since not many Pokemon use them anymore."

"Do you know the layout of the fort?" asked Riley.

Clef scoffed, "I don't know everything."

"Well, you're supposed to be the smart one," said Saphira, who was trying to calm herself down by talking.

"How does that-"

"Chains," said Richard, "They have to be in the dungeon."

"And those are usually underneath forts," said Clef.

"I'll bet they're guarding it, though," said Riley. Suddenly, footsteps could be heard from outside the door. Saphira began pacing the room, and Riley and Richard waited by the door. There was a huge commotion, but not a single sound was made. The door opened with a loud creak, a Greninja walking in.

"What are you doing here?" he asked with a neutral tone, not hostile or friendly. A cowl muffled his deep, raspy voice.

"What are you doing here?" asked Richard. "We've got you five to one!"

"Am I at fault here? You are the ones who trespassed on our territory," he countered.

"YOU TRIED TO KILL A RIOLU AT KUNGWEI!" exploded Richard. "DON'T DENY THAT!" The Greninja scoffed and brushed it off

"There are other Greninja out there. We did no such thing," he claimed, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

"Where are you keeping the children?" asked Riley.

"We did not kidnap anyone," alleged the Greninja, inching further into the room. Clef meekly walked towards him.

"This fort has been abandoned since the war, so how come it's your territory?" he asked, trying to raise his voice.

The Greninja scoffed, "We claimed it after the war, so it is ours."

"That's not how it works," said Richard, cracking his knuckles as a warning.

"Are you going to fight me? I thought you explorers were supposed to be just," mused the Greninja. Saphira looked side to side nervously, bouncing up and down slightly.

"Oh, this is just alright, boing!" exclaimed Saphira, "Where's the Dragon you're working for?"

"Dragons?" asked the Greninja, looking believably confused. "We don't associate with those beasts. We also don't commit murder or kidnappings."

"You wouldn't tell us if you did," said Clef.

"Fair enough," sneered the Greninja. "Leave."

"What could you possibly be doing here?" asked Riley, putting on an act of sarcastic confusion. "There's no food, nothing to do, and it isn't even comfortable here."

"You don't know that," said the Greninja. Suddenly, Saphira charged him down and hit him with an uppercut. It didn't do a lot of damage, but it gave Richard the opening to strike. Bombarding the Greninja with a flurry of punches, the Machop knocked him out easily. Clef stared at the unconscious Pokemon and back at Richard.

"Did you two plan that?" he asked. Richard chuckled, clapping his hands together.

"Nope," he smiled.

"You have good instincts," commented Hix, walking from his little hiding spot in the corner.

"Thanks," said Richard.

"That felt great, boing!" exclaimed Saphira. Riley put her hand on her shoulder while Richard dragged the Greninja's body into the corner.

"Calm down there, we don't want you massacring the entire castle," said Riley.

"I mean, maybe?" suggested Saphira.

Richard's face shot up excitedly with something clutched in his hand.

"Woah, he had a key on him!" he announced. "I thought nobody actually did this."

"He was going to lock us up," said Clef, "Good call, Saphira."

"It was nothing, boing!" exclaimed Saphira. The door slammed open to reveal three Greninja in the hallway, one of them black. They didn't hesitate to engage, unlike their fallen comrade. No words were spoken from them; in fact, no sound was made at all, their footsteps were completely silent.

"Riley, Clef! Take Hix out of here and find them!" exclaimed Richard, getting into his fighting stance. There was no time to waste, despite Riley being confused why she wasn't fighting with Richard. Riley heaved and bellowed a gush of flame to cover Clef and Hix's dash to the door, the Charizard quickly following suit.

"W- why did you make me stay here!" exclaimed Saphira, staying back while Richard was engaging two of the Greninja.

"Help me out!" exclaimed Richard, holding his forearms to block his face. He didn't have time to react to the fact that the black Greninja was gone.

Saphira dodged a Greninja's swing, barely, as the door to the abandoned armory slammed shut. There were no obstacles or weapons she could use, to her dismay. It was just her, Richard, and two Greninja, just as if it were a training match at Kungwei. She sucked at those, though. She screamed as the Greninja hit her in the stomach with a Night Slash, showing no mercy.

"Saphira!" exclaimed Richard, who had grabbed both of his Greninja's arms. While he was distracted, the Greninja kicked him backwards, sending him cascading to the ground with a thud. Saphira was cowering in the corner, seemingly crying. The Greninja definitely hesitated… for way too long. Richard took the opportunity, ignoring his one-on-one to help Saphira. He kicked up and dashed over to Saphira, winding up his arm for a Dynamic Punch.

"Give me a hand, Saphira!" he yelled, his fist colliding with the Greninja's unsuspecting back. Saphira quickly turned around and hit Greninja in the stomach with much more force than she was capable of, thanks to Helping Hand. One Greninja down, one to go. Saphira wiped her eyes, but Richard didn't have time to comfort her. Saphira was bloodied up from that Greninja's onslaught.

"I can't do it anymore," she groaned, collapsing into the corner.

"Hang in there," said Richard quickly, turning around to face his next opponent. As soon as he did, the Greninja slammed full force into his body, pinning him against the wall next to Saphira. It felt like he was being crushed, slowly and painfully. He couldn't choke out any words.

"You have no business here," said Greninja, putting his face uncomfortably close to Richard. Despite him struggling, he wasn't strong enough to push himself free. Saphira had backed into the wall next to the door. It was wide open and she could easily escape the fight! She began crawling towards the open doorway. Her paw was outside the door… her body… she had escaped!

"I'm sorry… Richard," groaned Saphira, trying to pick herself up and run. The Greninja looked over at her, which gave Richard the opportunity to push as hard as he could, Dynamic Punching the wall, shattering it to rubble and revealing a large chamber behind it. He was no longer pinned, and he had a lot more space to work with. The chamber was like a cathedral to Arceus, with lots of empty standing room to the left and right of a dusty red carpet that rolled all the way up to the stage in the back of the room. The brass Arceus symbol, the ring that usually surrounded his waist known literally as the "Ring of Arceus", was buried in the rubble in the back, reinforcing the ancient feeling of the place. It was really musty and dank, the force of the punch diffusing the long-settled dust worn into the chamber.

"Gah!" coughed Richard, stumbling forwards through the wall. Without even looking, he threw a blind punch through the dust, making contact with the distracted Greninja. Finding his mark, he began rapidly punching him. When the dust cleared, there was an unconscious Greninja on the ground.

"Saphira!" called Richard, shaking off his limbs. "He's down!" Saphira limped back into the empty armory.

"Nice! Looks like you're in one piece, boing!" said Saphira.

"Thanks for the distraction," replied Richard, doubling over to catch his breath. "Imagine training all your life to get destroyed by a fourteen-year-old."

"Well, you did have that type advantage, but you did great!" exclaimed Saphira, who felt no shame in running away. To her, it was all part of the plan.

"Now, should we look for the others or explore this church looking thing?" asked Richard, standing upright and scanning the chamber. There didn't seem to be anyone inside. Otherwise, they would've noticed the giant hole in the middle of the wall.

"Let's go in here, boing!" answered Saphira, who had regained her composure enough to walk normally. Seeing Richard fight made her glad that she had strong Pokemon on her side to protect her. Seeing Richard fight and win made her ecstatic. Seeing an ancient cathedral-like chamber made her excited. Without hesitation, she bounced right on through the big hole in the stone walls, carefully stepping over the loose rocks. Richard sighed and continued on after.

Saphira coughed, "What is this place?"

She took a moment to take in the feeling of the hall. It had only been several decades since the war, but it looked as if this place had been abandoned for centuries. Despite the emptiness of the chamber, the sight made Saphira feel a sense of importance in being here on an important mission. "I'm gonna go check out the Ring of Arceus!"

"We're not here to explore, we're looking for information. Riley and the others are probably in a fight, but we have no idea where they went," said Richard, snapping out of the daze.

"I know, I'm just checking it out!" she shouted from halfway across the hall, her voice echoing through the sacred walls. Richard flinched and jogged after her, realizing that his leg was sore. Richard caught up to Saphira, who was climbing the rocks to get closer to the Ring.

"I wonder why this thing wasn't looted with the rest of this place," said Richard, getting swept up by the atmosphere again. As they climbed the pile of rocks, bricks, and pipes, they realized that there was a door behind the rubble. It was accessible though, because someone had dug a path through the stone. This led somewhere important.

Richard hopped down from the heap and cautiously craned his neck to peer through the doorway, which had an ominous set of staircases plummeting into darkness. Saphira's curiosity overpowered her fear, so she immediately began descending the staircase.

"What are you doing?" hissed Richard. "We're going?"

"Yeah, why not?" asked Saphira, "Maybe the others already found this place, boing!" To be completely honest, Richard was really curious about what was down the stairs. He shrugged and continued after her.

"Fine," sighed Richard, a sense of adventure rising up from within him. "I hope the others are okay."

"They'll be fine, boing!" said Saphira. "I hope there's a dragon we can beat up down here, though. The both of us can take it no problem!"

"I hope so," said Richard, who began preparing himself for a battle.

The staircase leveled out to reveal a dungeon, a maze of stone-crested passageways with cells lining the walls. Richard felt the damp rock, recoiling at the wet feeling of moss.

"This looks like a place where they'd keep the prisoners," whispered Richard, his quiet voice still echoing through the walls.

"That's what they want us to think!" exclaimed Saphira, Richard recoiling at her alarming volume.

"Shhh!" hushed Richard as they crept down the dim corridor. "Something's lighting this place up."

"I wish it were brighter," frowned Saphira, shaking as she peered into empty cells. The last thing she wanted to see was a skeleton. She shivered more, from the cold and the creepy feeling. She looked over at Richard, whose blue eyes flicked towards her every now and then to make sure she was okay. She stood tall and attempted to stop shaking, running up to walk side by side with Richard.

"It's really hard to navigate," said Richard, looking around a corner carefully.

"I don't want to think about what the dragons did here, boing," said Saphira sadly observing the terrible condition of the dungeon. "I don't want to know." A soft sound echoed through the dungeon, just on the edge of perception. It was a sound that wasn't intentional, and definitely didn't come from Richard or Saphira. A chill went down their spines.

"That way," whimpered Saphira, pointing towards the direction of the sound, which was down the left corridor.

As they pushed on, the air felt more and more like a liquid they were forcing their way through, like swimming in slime. It was a dark feeling that made even Richard nervous. They had given up on talking to cheer themselves up. After one final right turn indicated by Saphira, they arrived at a place they definitely weren't supposed to be.

The room felt evil. Although it was much brighter because of the window to the outside on the left, it felt dark. They could feel the breeze from how high up they were. Saphira was first drawn to the eight symbols drawn in chalk on the floor in the center of the room. She was too far to make out what they were, though, but they were arranged in a circle. Candles were scattered around the room, creating a very eerie atmosphere. A cell was fixated in the wall on the right. A staircase made its way upstairs on the opposite end of the room. They would've realized how there was a faster way down if it weren't for the other figures in the room with them, eyes peering into their souls.

"You," said the dark Greninja, standing eerily with his arms crossed next to the chalk circle.

"Watch out! There's a Malamar here too!" exclaimed a familiar voice from the cell.

"Riley!" exclaimed Saphira, disregarding everyone else in the room. She figured Hix and Clef were with her too. A loud banging echoed from her cell, resulting in silence.

"More prisoners for me!" exclaimed a new voice from the darkness in the corner of the room. Two yellow eyes emerged, along with a small beak and tentacles. A Malamar, one who spoke exaggeratedly and dragged out her words, glided forwards.

"Not yet Misty," said the Greninja. "They won't be captured without a fight."

"Awww c'mon Thames," grumbled the Malamar.

"C'mon, let's see what they've got," said the Greninja. Their battle with Thames Greninja and Misty Malamar had begun. "Mind Melder!"

Misty obliged by closing one of her eyes. "Hrngh!" Pain suddenly invaded both Richard and Saphira's heads, like something was attacking them from the inside. Saphira shrieked, and Richard clutched his head with one arm. Saphira didn't know what it was, but she just wanted it to go away. Without warning, the Greninja hopped over to them with one leap, throwing Water Shurikens at them while the attack went on. Richard stood in front of Saphira, tanking two of them. He staggered backwards, although Saphira didn't notice.

"They are strong, yes they are!" exclaimed the Malamar, clapping her tentacles together. "That Machop would be great!" The Greninja said nothing, but rushed forwards to engage in melee combat. Richard was fighting the enemy both mentally and physically, barely deflecting the punches and jabs. Once he realized he had no shot in defeating him in hand-to-hand combat, he focused on dodging, a cloud slowly dulling his thoughts.

Saphira's mind wasn't clouded at all, but it was more like it was under attack. Pangs on pain struck her head every now and then, but she never felt like she was losing control. It just hurt like hell, like needles were being stuck into her brain.

"Don't let in," thought Saphira, "I'll be hopeless if I can get rid of this one attack!" She tried not to think about what would happen if the Malamar finally invaded her thoughts.
"Get out!" exclaimed Saphira out loud, completely unintentionally. The Malamar's concentration broke, freeing Richard from the attack as well. "Take that! My mind isn't one to be reckoned with!"

Riley, who was on the ground in the cell, heard this and internally cringed, thinking, "What is she saying?"

Saphira felt really good about herself for shaking the Psybeam off. It was definitely a Signature, and she beat it! With a surge of confidence, Saphira rushed across and tackled the Malamar with a Rollout.

"Oh, that's a good attack!" said the Malamar, staggering backwards from the force. "You're really strong too! Too bad you're not a Fighting type."

"Thanks alot!" exclaimed Saphira, preparing her second Rollout.

"Can you keep it up?" exclaimed the Malamar, trying to whip Saphira with her tentacles. "The name's Misty, by the way."

Saphira hopped over an incoming tentacle and tackled her again. It didn't do that much damage.

"Mine's Saphira. If you hadn't kidnapped my friends, we'd get along just fine, boing!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms.

"Shame," said Misty, hitting Saphira while she was talking. Saphira bounced off the wall with minor injuries. Then, Richard slammed into her from the force of the Greninja's Quick Attack.

"Oof!" exclaimed Saphira, tumbling backwards into the corner of the room.

"Sorry," groaned Richard, his blood dripping onto Saphira's blue skin. He tried to push himself up with one of his arms, but it shook and collapsed. He was defeated. "We tried." Misty grabbed both of them with her tentacles, feeling proud of herself.

"We did it, we did it, Thames!" exclaimed Misty. "Sorry, Saphira. You tried your best!"

The Greninja named Thames hopped over to them and inspected Richard, who was barely conscious. Stroking his chin or tongue or whatever, he thought for a moment.

"He's too injured, and he succumbed to your Mind Melder," said Thames, patting Richard's wounds. Richard winced at the feeling of salty water meeting his wound.

"Hey! My Mind Melder isn't as strong since I'm controlling all those birds. We've already got eight, we do!" said Misty!. "Let's begin!"

Even though she was upside down, she had a much better view at the crude drawings in the center of the room. There were eight circles… not symbols. Saphira didn't get a good enough look earlier. She gasped at the sight of blood smeared over the circles that surrounded a symbol that looked like a fist. The Fighting type symbol. What sort of ritual was going on?

"Go get the Hawlucha," commanded Thames. "He will be chosen."