We're going to take a short break from the depression parade for a hot minute and go on an adventure! We will return to your regularly scheduled program in the conclusion of chapter 3 in First Dawn Part 3.
Onwards!
"The path to paradise begins in hell."
-Dante Alighieri
First Dawn: Part 2
Akane Ru
Luminescence. Radiance. Light.
The being whose name, even now, I feared uttering in the deepest recesses of my mind, was sending me back. Although my world only consisted of that golden light which had consumed me, I knew my spirit and living body were being made whole again. I cannot recall what being reborn felt like. The alien sensations were completely other. The golden light seemed to shine into every cell and molecule that made me who I was, and reawakened that which was sleeping.
MoOoORtAL!
It was that same odd language — no, that wasn't the right term for it — it was the first language again, however this time it was not spoken by the guardian of heaven, but by something else; something dark, evil, and hungry. As the prolonged word echoed across my consciousness, I shuddered at the feeling of this being's call. It wanted me. Suddenly, I perceived thin cracks appearing in the golden light that surrounded me. It was as if something was shattering the walls of my current reality. Within these cracks, leaked a void of endless darkness that sucked at the golden luminescence.
NoOo EsCApE!
The malevolence of these words infested my heart and mind as a new connection formed within my soul to whoever, or whatever, was now communicating with me. This being made no attempts to hide its malignant intentions, and when I realized what they were, I panicked. No, I had to return to the world of the living! However, by the time I had this thought, it was already too late.
The widening faults of void spread across the golden light as if it were made of a solid material, like the cracks spreading across a plane of ice. From within the void stretched a single massive tentacle, seemingly made of shadows. The tip of this tentacle was capped by a cone-shaped, crimson spike that shined with a metallic sheen in the light.
I tried to flee, but the tentacle was too fast. It struck out at me like a snake, and instead of impaling me with that deadly spike, it nimbly curled itself around my torso. Then it dragged me into the abyss of that endless void.
All I remember after that was the sensation of falling. The tentacle released me the moment my body was fully inside the inky blackness, which was why I was falling. I screamed as I fell, but after awhile it seemed a bit pointless. At first, I feared the height from which I was tumbling from, but every time I expected to smack into some kind of solid ground, I just kept falling. It felt like it took hours for something to finally change.
As it turned out, apparently, I was falling upwardsthis entire time.
I only discovered this after I noticed the waterfalls. For so long, this journey into the void produced nothing but more darkness. However, eventually I began to make out strange obstacles in the gloom. There were chunks of floating rocks — suspended by nothing but air — of all different sizes, with some as large as entire islands. These bizarre floating isles were covered in harsh crags and stalagmites. Some of these islands had waterfalls falling off from their bases, which flowed upwards in the wrong direction!
At least, that's what I thought at first. In reality, I was the thing that was falling in the wrong direction. When I fell past one of these island waterfalls, I realized that everything was upside down. The floating isles with the scary looking rock spikes were actually the undersides of these islands, and those waterfalls were actually flowing in the correct direction. The proof of this theory hit me in the face when I spotted strange-looking trees growing out from the flat bases opposite the spikey crags of one of these islands.
I finally reached my destination when I suddenly stopped falling. There was no other way to describe it. I did not land on a solid object that forced my momentum to cease. I simply stopped falling upwards when I was a short distance above the flat part of one of those islands. I was left floating in the air for a moment before gravity decided to work normally again and I fell downwards into the dirt.
I heard its movement before I saw it.
As I got to my feet, I heard the groaning of something massive in the ominous darkness above me. The large island I now found myself on was mostly barren aside from a few stickery shrubs. The perimeter of the island was edged by sheer flat drop offs. There were other floating rocks and islands above the one I was on and as I observed these, my eyes were drawn to something gigantic moving in the gloom. The silhouette of a snake-like monster flew in the air between two islands above this one. It had six long appendages that protruded from its back like wings.
"Why did you bring me here?!" I boldly shouted towards the beast. Was I terrified? Yes, absolutely, but I had already died today and turned my back on heaven. I was getting tired of these titan-sized pokémon interfering with my life (and death)! Why did they keep treating me like I was someone important?
Laughter.
The monstrous being emerged from behind one of those islands again and I nearly jumped at the sight of it. Its long serpentine silhouette was now glowing with crimson stripes that matched the glowing tips of those wing-like tentacles. Its deep laughter echoed into the empty spaces of this barren, hellish landscape. I watched its massive form descend through the gloom and land at the far end of my island. I could see it more clearly now. It was like an enormous flying snake, with huge spikes running down the sides of its body, and a massive head crowned with a golden mandible.
WeLcOMe tO tHe DiSTorTiOn wORld mORtaL
I winced as this monster's bizarre speech crawled inside my mind like a cockroach. The amusement of my audacious performance colored its every word, as its oppressive emotions attempted to smother my spirit. It was an effort just to remain conscious under this creature's use of the first language.
Did it say… the Distortion world? The name meant nothing to me, and I didn't really care. I just wanted to know why I was here. My family might be in trouble at this moment, and instead of returning to the mortal world, I was here in this twisted realm!
i cAN SAvE ThEm
"Wha… how?" I exclaimed in disbelief. The glowing red eyes of the beast stared down at me through the golden mask created by its large mandible.
sTriKe A DeAL
I did not like where this was going, but I didn't have a choice. What could this titan of a pokémon want from me? I had to know. I glared up at it resolutely, knowing that it could read my emotions through the connection that was established by the first language when it first spoke to me.
FReeDOm!
Freedom? The creature's longing leeched into my subconscious and unlocked memories, that weren't my own, of the earth's vast sky and expansive lands. The vibrancy of these recollections nearly overwhelmed me, but in this intensity, I could feel what it wanted me to do. There was a particular stone on this island called the Griseous Orb. If I took it back with me to my world, then this bestial pokémon could escape with me into the mortal realm.
"If I do this, you'll stop the desolation?" I asked aloud.
Instead of speaking with the first language again, the creature just nodded. I found this odd. Why now was it refusing to open the connection to its emotions again? Something was wrong here. From the moment I was pulled into this hellish gloom, I had sensed this realm's oppressive atmosphere. From the lack of any real light to the bizarre broken rules of physics, and the twisted forms of the islands that floated like lonely atolls in a forgotten sea; this "distortion world" felt like a cage, and cages were usually made to keep things in, not let them out.
"A-And if I refuse?" I asked, my chin quivering.
It screamed in fury at such a high pitch that the sound incapacitated me. I curled in on myself in a foolish attempt to block out the earsplitting sound. This was why I didn't see the orb of dark energy it launched until it blasted into me. The force of its impact rocketed my body back several feet and I nearly passed out from the shock of this alone. The pain was excruciating as the energy seemed to burn and freeze at the same time.
Once the pain subsided, I tried to get back to my feet, to face the monster again, but I was too weak. My trembling legs gave out on me, and I slumped back into the dust. I gazed up at the creature as it was summoning another blast of dark energy.
Would it really be so terrible to take the orb back? The thought crossed my pain-riddled mind briefly, but I discarded it quickly. What if freeing this beast caused an even worse catastrophe? I had no guarantee that it would honor our deal, and I didn't have the strength to hold the beast accountable if it decided to renege on its promise.
I suddenly felt sick. I had agreed to walk away from paradise because heaven's guardian told me that I was still needed in the living world. There was something coming for my pack that I needed to be alive to prevent, and I might be my family's only hope, but now I found myself in this desolate realm, kidnapped by this monster. I no longer felt like a child. When I had ascended that stairwell into the heavens, my spirit gained insight into the ways of the world and in the ways of the dead. It would be difficult to describe this to someone who has never died. This was why I knew I could not make this deal, and it was why I knew that my existence was going to end here in this horrible, dark realm of forgotten things. I was forsaken.
I watched my deathblow build in between the six, shadowy tentacles that had curled over the pokemon's shoulders. That dark energy swirled in front of the beast like a gaseous ball made of pure shadow. My limbs were still too weak from the pain of the first blast to move and I knew this was it.
However, before the attack was launched, an extraordinary thing happened.
A swirling portal, shining with golden light, appeared behind the creature and a new pokémon erupted from its depths. Her body shined like a pale comet as she dashed through the open air around my opponent, only stopping to land right in front of me.
Not a chance Giratina!
This time the joyful words did not come from my assailant but from the grinning wolf pokémon standing tall on her four legs, only feet from me. I could tell that she was projecting her words not just to the beast, but to me as well. She was not much bigger in size than the average zoroark, but her lavender coat almost seemed to be made from mist. I could see the translucent silhouettes of her legs and rib bones glowing from inside her body. Her voluminous tail was reminiscent of a zoroark's mane. She even had a similar pearlescent bead tying the long misty fur back into a ponytail. When she turned to me and grinned, I noticed the striking silver color of her eyes. They shined brightly, almost like stars.
Don't worry, kid!
Soothing reassurances washed over the depths of my inner being, reminding me of the golden light of heaven. The despair that had invaded my mind moments before was chased away like a receding thunderstorm.
"Koveon!" Giratina roared the name allowed in rage. It was the first time I heard it speak verbally, but its raspy voice was distorted and garbled; like two stones being ground together. I couldn't decide which was more disturbing. Its audible voice, or the twisted words it sent to me through its emotions using the first language.
Oops, time to go now!
Koveon, who I assumed to be the wolf pokémon, had turned back to Giratina and watched as the writhing titan finally launched that ball of black energy straight at us. Her urgency filled me with my own, and she turned with blinding speed to grab me by the scruff of my neck. Once I was securely dangling from her mouth, we suddenly blinked out of existence. There was no better way to describe it. One minute the two of us were in the direct pathway of the cannon of black energy, and the next we were perched on an entirely different island, staring down at Giratina from above. The black energy ball blasted harmlessly into the dirt, creating a wake of dust in the location we had just vacated.
"Who are you? What just happened?" I asked breathlessly, keeping my voice as soft as possible. Giratina, enraged at our escape, was flying around the island below us, searching for where we had gone.
Oh, so you can understand the First Language? There are so few that can speak it nowadays! Must've learned it from the Boss, huh?
Koveon's optimism and joy at this discovery filled my mind with thoughts of long conversations with unfamiliar pokémon. These memories were not my own but seemed to stem from Koveon's subconscious yearning for the days of a bygone age. The feelings that were attached to these memories were overwhelming and nonsensical to me and my frustration at her cryptic responses filled me with anger.
"That wasn't an answer! I want to know what's going on!" I growled in irritation, accidentally raising my voice.
You've done it now!
Coming from anyone else, this response would feel like an accusation, but from her it felt playful and full of amusement. If this wolf pokémon could have spoken the words aloud, I imagined she'd be laughing. This did not fill me with confidence because my raised voice had alerted the beast below to our presence.
"No escape!" Giratina's inhuman voice bellowed up at us. I watched in horror as the enormous snake-like pokémon vanished into thin air. One second it was glaring up at us, and in the next its massive form was nowhere in sight. Koveon watched this display with a twinkle in her eye and decided to stand her ground.
An ominous sense of foreboding filled me, and I whispered urgently, "It's going to attack us!"
Yessir, that'd be correct!
Koveon's mood had not shifted a beat. It was like she saw no problem with our current situation, and still found time to find something humorous about it. Since I was still dangling helplessly from her jaw, I found her attitude very unhelpful.
"Shouldn't we move then?!" I exclaimed in exasperation. She didn't respond with words this time, but I could feel her silent teasing laughter through our connection formed by her use of the first language. I could not understand where her delight was coming from.
Giratina chose this moment to unleash its next attack. Its colossal body reappeared, like magic, only feet away from where Koveon and I stood. I flinched as its thrashing tentacles slammed down toward us, but when the impact of the strike never came, I looked up. The dome of a translucent golden shield shined above our heads, preventing Giratina's attack from hitting us.
"Impossible!" It screamed in frustration and slammed its body into the shield several more times. The repeated impacts made the ground Koveon was standing on vibrate threateningly, but the loyal shield refused to yield.
That was a nice trick Giratina, breaching the Boss's defenses like that just after he expended all that energy bringing this kid back from the dead, but that's why I'm here. My orders are to get him home, safe and sound!
Koveon projected her words both to the wailing monster above us and to me. They were still cryptic, but I thought I was starting to understand what was happening. This Giratina must have intercepted my journey at the exact moment I was meant to return to the living world, and diverted me here, to its home dimension.
My name's Koveon, kid, and it's about time we get you out of here!
This time the wolf-like pokémon spoke only to me and her smug confidence filled me with a sense of hope that maybe this never-ending nightmare was about to end. She waited until Giratina reeled back for another attack, before diving off our little island into the open air. Behind us, I saw the golden shield disappear the moment Koveon moved, and watched Giratina smash its long, thick tail into the ground with so much force that a massive crack appeared in the island. It writhed with fury at our escape, and in its attempt to free itself, ripping its tail free from the earth, the island was torn apart.
Koveon ran across the open air between the islands like a zoroark could run over the land. The stale air of the Distortion World blew across my fur. It smelled of stagnation and mold. She bounded through the gloom, and I could see our destination. The original portal from when she first arrived was still open, swirling with that same golden light.
nOT oVEr BeTWeeN uS KoVEon!
Giratina's vicious anger slammed into me like a hammer. It knew we were about to escape its clutches, and its fury was so intense I skipped a breath. Thoughts of vengeance and bloodshed flashed across my mind, but they weren't my own. We were only seconds away from the portal when Koveon sent one last retort to our adversary.
You'd have to escape your cage first, and that's never going to happen!
With a final burst of speed, my companion dove into the golden portal, with me safely in her jaws, and we disappeared from the land of distortion.
Index
Moves Used in Story Order:
Shadow Ball, Shadow Ball, Teleport, Shadow Force, a special unbreakable version of Protect (not cast by Koveon), Dragon Tail
Koveon:
The only "fakémon" in my version of the games' canon. There is an explanation for why she is not mentioned in the games, and why no NPCs ever speak about her. It will eventually be explored in future stories.
The First Language:
It's said to be the original form of communication and was first spoken by the being in "Stairway to Heaven: Part 4". It's a language spoken with one's emotions — translated to text because this is a written medium — that are sent to the recipient, forming a connection between the two correspondents. It is thought to be the primary form of communication for many of the legendary pokémon in the pokémon world. The First Language will also be explored further in future stories.
Music that helped me write this chapter:
(YouTube Search)
Mirage — Ken Bonfield
"Hunter's Moon" — Tom Peters & Greg McDonald (HDSounDI)
