Watcher of Arceus - Path of the Immortal

by The Shadow Master of Weapons

Watchers, the direct descendants of Arceus herself, sets of twins born with her power. Born in pairs, these twins were meant to bridge the gap that had come between humans and pokémon, one a gifted human, born beside a pokémon. Inseparable immortal twins, the godchildren wandered the world. But now, a single pair remains. Full summary inside. Reboot of Watcher of Arceus.

42. Chapter 42 : The Past Returns

Watcher of Arceus

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. Only the idea and OC's.

Author Notes:

-X-This will be used for scene breaks and for when the story switches to another character, but it does not mean that a new section of the story has started.

~xXx~ This will identify where each paragraph breaks.

"Human Speech" 'Character Thought' {Pokémon Speech}

Co-author: Catsithx

The following is a total and complete Reboot of the story "Watcher of Arceus".

~xXx~

Chapter 42 : The Past Returns

"They've been in there for hours." Xent stated, tapping his foot lightly as he checked his pokedex again to see what time it was.

"This may not be such a simple thing to fix. Meditation for us is not some simple thing like others might suggest, and certainly not within a Heart Chamber, to say nothing of a Heart Chamber of a Grand Temple." Dahlia replied, lightly rubbing Raikou's ears, his head in her lap while she sat down.

Peaking around the corner again, and there were Thomas and Radara in the center of the large nearly empty room. Both of them were on rather large pillows, Thomas on his knees, feet under his butt, hands in his lap and head lightly tilted forward while Radara seemed to just be sitting there, her tail raised up behind her like it was some kind of stick swaying in a breeze, her head held high. Their eyes were still closed and they seemed entirely unresponsive to all things for now.

"It looks the most boring room in the entire temple I've seen." Xent stated after looking over the room a bit. All of them had been warning against even entering the room, and looking it over Xent doubted it was anything special at first glance, but he also knew at least enough to just not jump inside and look around after the warnings he got from the others.

"Where's this heart you keep speaking of at anyway?" Xent asked, tapping his foot a bit more.

"If you're this bored Xent, go outside. Enjoy the scenery, talk with the others. Asking about them every five minutes and peaking into the room looking around is not going to speed up their mediation." Dahlia countered.

"Oh no. I'm staying right here along with all of my things. I'm not losing anything else out there." Xent quickly shot back.

"Morag already said that she handled the situation. Kepto will not be taking anything else from you." Raikou stated softly, starting to purr even as Dahlia found a sweet spot, Dahlia grinning and rubbing the inside of his ear a bit more.

"I don't trust that thieving bastard." Xent replied, before looking into the chamber again.

"So... seriously, what makes that chamber so dangerous to us mortals? Is there like some... actual heart in there or something? That room really is the most bland place I think I've ever seen. I mean compared to the rest of this place, that room sits out like a sore thumb, the ugly ducklett in a herd of... school? What do you call a group of milotic?" Xent asked after a moment of silence, Dahlia giving a loud sigh.

"Not everything needs to be seen directly to have value Xent." Raikou stated.

"If you really have to think about the how it works, then think about it backwards. The Heart of our Grand Temple isn't in the Heart Chamber, the Heart Chamber is inside the Heart of the Grand Temple. That entire chamber is carved out of a crystal a little larger then Palkia, our brother who helped relocate us from Mount Coronet to the water." Dahlia explained.

Xent quickly looked over the doorway, and the into the room for a moment. "Wait... you're telling me that the crystal that this room is carved inside of... is several times larger on the inside or something?"

"You remember how Suicune described the crest on the floor of the Spear Pillar temple more as a doorway. Well it applies a lot better here. While they are technically part of that specific crystal which makes up the heart of the temple, the temple is connected to our domain and moon through the crystal, and in turn the world. You should also remember how Lugia warned you that passage up the stairs would be dangerous for mortals. The same thing applies, because that chamber is part of the world as a whole, connected to the moon and other chambers all over the world. The doorway and chamber itself move through the distortion a bit to directly connect to other places, or just bigger on the inside as you put it." Dahlia explained.

"That makes a bit more sense now I guess. Shouldn't there be like a warning sign or something here though?" Xent asked.

"Usually, only trained priests are allowed this deep into the temple beside our siblings. When the temple was built, only the watchers and us legendary pokemon would be allowed here otherwise." Raikou replied as Dahlia began rubbing his chin, Dahlia giving a small grin and how she could still take such control over one of her elder brothers who started purring very loudly.

Xent just nodded, moving to take a small seat now, leaning against the wall. Looking over his pokedex for just a moment, there wasn't any form of signal, just a signal lost icon. Even as close as they were, Thomas's pokedex didn't even ping on his own pokedex while he waited. If they really weren't in the normal world as he understood it formerly, then that would have explained a lot for him, Xent just giving a shrug.

"Xent... listen. Its been close to six hours since they started their meditation. The sun has set, its getting late. You're hungry, you're getting tired, and you personally can't sit still here much longer. You can't just stay here. I'm tired of having this conversation with you. Maybe they'll be done in a few minutes, maybe I'll still be sitting watching over them for the next full day. I Can't leave them. I Have to know that this either worked, or we need to do something else. That bond is sacred, it is the very fabric of our lives." Dahlia stated, reaching up and grabbing her sigil firmly holding it up a bit.

"I lived for decades on spite, anger, and rage. I have always been called one of the strongest of my personal brothers and sisters, and even that wasn't enough eventually. I need this to live out my final life. I will not rest until I know that whatever is happening to them is fixed, that they will not suffer my fate." Dahlia continued very firmly now.

"Either you figure out some way to calm down, or I'm going to fling you out of the temple and make you interact with the people even if I have to dominate your mind to do it." She warned.

"Slap me, open palm, full face." He said in a dead pan tone. "I need to feel something other than how pissed off I am."

"Its your funeral." Dahlia stated, Raikou getting up.

"I'm not picking you up if your truly that stupid..." Raikou noted as moved to the side.

Xent just grumbled as he got up and looked at Dahlia. "Just do it... or are you scared?" Xent tried as he walked up close and Dahlia did exactly as she was told. Her hand connected with the side of his face, he was tossed to the ground and he slid hard into the hallway wall.

Verna screamed out, suddenly rushing up and quickly grabbing Xent. 'Please please please tell this was his stupid idea!' Verna begged, giving a loud whine, but rolling Xent over with a heavily bruised face as Raikou nodded.

"He said something-" Raikou started, only for Verna to finish.

'This fucking idiot thinks pain solves anger!' Verna quickly finished, pulling his bag over and quickly pulling out his cooler, before reaching into his medicine pocket and pulling out a cold spray to apply to a rag to make a quick cold rag that she pressed to his face. 'Please tell me you held back some.'

"Enough to not break a bone or let him loose any teeth." Dahlia replied as Xent grumbled loudly and gave a loud gasp of pain.

"I, I-I told you t-to hit m-" Xent started, only for Verna lift the cloth and then really press it in against his face making him give a real yell of pain.

'You no longer get to make your own decisions until you prove your sound of mind. Until I say so, you might as well be toddler that needs excessive supervision.' Verna stated loudly.

"Well, I-i'm no long-ger angry, so in thi-this case the ends ju-justify the means." Xent laughed, only to wince.

'There wouldn't happen to be a harness around here that I could strap him into and put a leash on like an untrained pup would there?' Verna asked, slowly helping him up.

"Get him something to eat, and then keep an eye on him through the night. I'm sorry I won't be able to join you tonight, but I... If I leave before they are done and something happens, I could never forgive myself. They need my help like Xent needs yours." Dahlia said, Verna fully understanding as she started to carry Xent down the hallway.

'I'll ask Sarah to bring you some food then.' Verna nodded as turned to start carrying Xent out of the temple.

Moving back in front of the doorway, Dahlia looked down to the little bag she still had, before pulling out a small handheld game device. Starting up the nintendo 3ds system, she took a seat against Raikou who had sat down again for her.

"What strange device is this?" Raikou asked.

"The humans call it a gaming console. It plays an interactive story that the person who has it controls. Think of it as a board game played in real time rather then turns with a set amount of rules and moving pictures." Dahlia explained.

"A very strange concept. The humans play these? The screens are so small, how does one play such a game? Surely they can't all look at it once." Raikou stated.

"This specific game is for single players, just whoever has the device, but there are plenty of multiplayer games on it. Each player would have their own screen, and with a good connection, could play with each other from different cities across the island of Japan even." Dahlia explained, sparing another glance herself into the chamber.

"This was how I would pass a lot of time under the care of those things once I was allowed to buy my own things." She said, Raikou giving a nod.

-x-

'Xent can be exceptionally hard headed.' Radara said softly, her voice echoing lightly in the space of the world. Although her voice echoed around them softly, only Thomas heard her words as they remained still in meditation.

While their bodies were still in the Heart Chamber, their awareness was spread over the world a bit. They could feel almost every other temple in the world, their mother's den in the moon, and many of the legendary pokemon even while they sat in the temple.

'He's still hard headed, and lets emotions hold too much power over him. It may never be an easy thing for him to let go.' Thomas replied.

'But he is learning if slowly. It may be a long battle for him, but perhaps there is reason to teach him. I still shall wait to make proper judgment of him however. I hate the child he is, but perhaps the man he will become shall be someone I approve of.' Radara noted.

'If anyone can teach him as hard headed as he is, Dahlia may indeed be his best teacher.' Thomas added.

Before their conversation could continue further though, their entire view of the world was distorted, a giant ripple pulsing through their visual interpretation of the world in meditation. 'There's that angry pulse again. Under the ripples, where they were strongest. Its like something was calling it there.' Radara stated.

'I felt it, but barely. We still aren't fully in tune yet, but this appears to be helping. I could it feel it myself, and then again through you.' Thomas nodded lightly, the world moving under them, an image of Samiya appearing over them fully even in the depths of the water.

'No... not it wasn't there, that's just where the thing is pounding hardest... It did feel like it was called there though, but that call felt like an echo, like it wasn't originating there?' Thomas said softly, the view of Samiya fading away and then part of Kanto appeared beneath them.

'No, not here either. Further east.' Radara stated, and then Kanto slowly shifted to Johto. 'Somewhere here, maybe?'

'You don't think that someone would be calling to something on the other side intentionally do you? That someone might be trying to get one of those things from the Distortion to enter our side?' Thomas asked.

'What would even benefit of such a thing? That would risk the very foundations of life on the world. And even if something could do it and the world survived, the things on the other side, they could cause extreme amounts of damage, and could possibly even leave a gaping hole between the world that Mother created and the chaos that is the Distortion.' Radara replied slowly, but thinking heavily about it.

'What about whoever made that other ghost shard? They seemed to have detailed knowledge of to make such things, but there's no guarantee that they would understand the workings of the world itself, much less what lies beyond the order and boundaries of the world. Could whatever is on the other side just be acting out as a side effect of whatever they are trying to do?' Thomas asked.

'The foolishness of a mortal looking for power would find such power outside the confines of the order of the world yes. Such power would surely destroy them before they could hope to harness it, to say nothing on if they could even survive there. And then there is no promise that they would not get lost in the first place.' Radara replied, with a strong feeling of shaking her head in meditation although her real didn't move at all.

'It would be enough though, to at least allow someone to make such risks in the first place. But things do survive there. I guess someone could have survived there for a while. Maybe they fought for survival, maybe they hid? Its not impossible, its just difficult, more so for us then anyone else perhaps. We need to feel each other to survive, but we're unique in that manner. We cannot survive without the connection we share, but others would only need to see each other, and would feel them physically with their bodies, their normal senses. Lucarios and Gardevoirs would need similar types of feelings to be at their best, but unlike us, they don't need that feeling to actually live. And... any number of other pokemon could find a way to survive if just by chance.' Thomas explained.

'This is all true, and I suppose that there could be ways to live there. We've found food there, and there are ways to get water. The air is... highly unlikable, but enough to support our bodies, others could potentially risk it. The humans advance every day though, perhaps this is their folly? They made Mewtwo in secret from us, could whoever have made the alternate ghost shard have left journals to be found now and studied in private?' Radara asked.

'This is also something to consider. A thousand years ago, I would have laughed at the idea of someone telling me the power of the storm would be harnessed to remake the world, but electricity is now one of the greatest means of power in this age. An-' Thomas started, intent to give a light shrug before something shifted around them.

A ripple larger then any other surged over their sight of the world, disorienting everything, and then two large red eyes appeared over them. 'I See You, pesky little insects. I know who you are.' A powerful voice boomed over them, shaking both Thomas and Radara.

Although their bodies remained still, they images and minds were rattled by the intrusion.

-x-

"Yeah, I would say that the Legend of Zelda series is a favorite." Dahlia smiled, rubbing Raikou's chin again with her hands while holding the game system with her mind.

"And I can see the fascination with this hero Zelda you play." Raikou stated, still watching if not fully.

"No. You play a hero called Link. The princess is named Zelda." Dahlia told him again.

"Hmm... no no this is the Legend of Zelda right, and it is his legend correct? He is the hero, he is the one doing the work right?" Raikou asked.

"Oh Zelda helps... well sometimes. She may not be swinging the sword or solving the puzzles, but she's as much involved, well sometimes as much involved with the story as the hero link." Dahlia explained.

"But why would the legend be named after a princess then if it only follows Link?" Raikou asked again, very confused. "Are you sure that his name is not Zelda?"

"I'm very sure his name is Link. He-" Dahlia started, only for both to suddenly turn towards the Heart Chamber, looking directly at Thomas and Radara now. Dahlia quickly got up as Raikou leapt off her into the temple.

The console fell to the floor as Dahlia quickly pulled the bag to her and retrieved the tonfa before rushing into the room looking for anything along with Raikou.

"You felt that too?" Dahlia asked.

"Something, but I don't know what..." Raikou growled.

-x-

Verna was slowly carrying Xent down the steps of the temple and back towards the village when Zai came running up. Already his left cheek was swelling up, his left cheek a deep shade of purple now with the minor pattern of a hand.

[Hey! What the hell happened?] Zai snarled a bit.

'Do not blame anyone else for his stupid idea. The child stays under direct supervision at all times until I say so or I'll bend him over my knee and tan his hide myself.' Verna stated, making sure that Xent heard her words too.

"Yes Mom..." Xent groaned.

[Who did this?]Zai growled.

"My idea." Xent stated after a few seconds of silence. While he didn't know what Zai had said, he knew that type of growl, she wanted to know who to blame.

[Don't you defend them!] Zai snarled.

'Just help me get him back to the cabin that Morag said we could sleep in. He needs some rest.' Verna stated, Zai grumbling and taking Xent's other arm to help him along. As they both turned to take Xent away from the temple, there was a small rush of activity. A dozen lucarios had all turned towards the temple, Morag even jumping up on top of the one the buildings to look at the temple.

'What did you do?' Morag's voice called out as Suicune rushed around the corner as well. Morag suddenly jumped down in front of Xent, Verna, and Zai, bone cane at their necks.

[This wasn't them!] Suicune quickly stated as she ran up, her ribbons pulling Morag's cane to the side.

'What is this dark feeling? This madness from the temple?' Morag demanded.

[I don't know. We'll find out together, but it wasn't them.] Suicune repeated, letting go of Morag's bone cane, both of them running towards the temple.

-x-

A large figure seemed to emerge from the world, now starting to tower over Thomas and Radara, taking shape with their glowing red eyes starting to narrow in anger over the two of them. A powerful thing, some kind of massive presence was there over them.

'What's the matter, feeling a little lost?' The voice echoed over them before something else burst into the room and their meditation.

'Get back! You do not belong in this place!' A shadow filled figure emerged between Thomas and Radara, taking a shape that both were grateful, and yet entirely unhappy to see. Darkrai had both arms above his head before launching a shadow ball into the head of the figure that was cast over them.

The image of the other figure vanished, their body cast in golden form revealed for just a second before it vanished with a laugh leaving Thomas and Radara alone with Darkrai.

'We mustn't stay here.' Darkrai stated firmly, the world shifting back to normal and only the chamber.

In the middle of the chamber while Raikou was nudging Thomas to wake him, Darkrai slowly rose up from the shadows, or at least a shadowy image of him, part of the chamber lighting up showing that he was projecting himself into the room through the power of the temple.

As Dahlia started to just barely nudge Radara and both awoke nearly falling over.

"What just happened? We felt some kind of disturbance like we in meditation ourselves." Dahlia demanded as Suicune rushed into the chamber as well, Morag at the door.

'Who or what is that?' Morag demanded herself seeing the image of Darkrai, who just seemed to laugh and give a bow.

"A hero today, yet again." Darkrai stated.

'You are not our hero Darkrai.' Radara hissed a bit, slowly getting up on her own.

"I'm still family regardless, no matter how much, or how little you like me. And what does family do? They save each other." Darkrai laughed.

Thomas though, had been shaken heavily. Raikou was trying to help him back to up at least into a sitting position as Darkrai's image turned to face him, Suicune noticing him as well.

"Thomas, what's wrong?" Suicune asked rushing over, gently using her ribbons to help him sit up.

"Thomas... Thomas are you okay?" Suicune repeated, Thomas just breathing hard though, giving a small minor shiver, Dahlia walking over.

"Thomas... what happened in there?" Dahlia asked extremely worried and holding her sigil tightly. "You can feel him right? Did this work?"

'It wasn't perfect, but I can sense him fully now. I no longer feel abandoned, but we saw something in there. Something... bad, power was in there with us.' Radara explained.

"It was that thing... evil has returned." Thomas stated at last, Dahlia quickly looking down to him, all eyes on Thomas.

'What do you mean... evil?' Morag asked. Although not directly there, she was still close to hear even as she stood on the edge of the room.

"You can't mean that... that thing?" Dahlia asked.

"I know those eyes... I looked into them at Mother's side almost two thousand years ago..." Thomas replied, Suicune giving a hard shiver now herself, Darkrai giving just a simple nod.

'Thomas... you... your sure about this?' Radara asked, slowly walking over.

"I was there, in the fields as it happened. You were helping some of the others hold off those possessed men and pokemon, but I went after Latias to try and talk some sense into her. I... I at least got her to run, and then I saw Mother going after the source as it tried taking over Lugia. I couldn't fight with only one arm, but I could still speak. I helped Lugia focus, to try and retake control of her mind, helped restrain her with Mother while Tavu personally ripped it free, with the crystal staff, and Mother started to seal it away. I could see its eyes, I know those eyes, this was that thing that mother asked for all of us to sacrifice part of our power for to break the connections it had made in those that it possessed." Thomas stated, slowly getting up and offering his hand to Dahlia.

Dahlia took it and they pressed their heads together for a second, Thomas sharing what he had seen directly with Dahlia and she gasped out loudly.

"Oh I pray that this is some sick prank..." Dahlia said softly. "I know its not, but please let us be wrong..."

"You're certain of it?" Darkrai asked.

"Without question. I was there, not twenty feet from where it happened. I was trying to give them the room they needed to act, defending them from others that were possessed. I was close enough to see those eyes." Dahlia replied. Everyone but Morag giving a grave look.

'What is this evil you speak of?' Morag repeated. 'Is my kingdom threatened? Did you bring it here?' Morag almost yelled.

"The whole world is in danger right now. Your kingdom may be safer then most. We included ways for the temple to protect against such things as it when we were rebuilding them a thousand and some years ago." Raikou stated. "But... you still felt the madness?"

'Me and a dozen more. How could we not feel it when it pulsed.' Morag quickly explained.

"If you see any you think might are called to the madness, bring them to the temple. The inner ring where we blessed Xent, and Sarah, and the others. That room shall help give freedom to those who might be affected." Suicune quickly stated.

"I will inform mother and begin spreading the word. Are you well enough to take up the task before us?" Darkrai asked.

"We will do what needs to be done. That thing can't be allowed to return. It already tried to mimic our mother's form. If it has enough power to pretend to be other things, then the world is already enough danger." Thomas quickly replied.

"This is something we can agree on. For daring to take the false image of our mother clad in golden form, it's fate is sealed. Taking up the image of a false idol, pretending to be the World Mother... it will know the suffering it has caused upon others before we sentence it this time." Darkrai stated, leaving them be and fading away.

Dahlia looked right where Darkrai was for a moment, before taking a step forward. "Darkrai, wait. I have a favor!" Dahlia called out, but there was silence.

"You should have spoken sooner if you wanted his attention. Surely you knew he was gone, watching him leave." Raikou stated.

"I wanted to be sure... He'll screw this up." Dahlia stated, slowly turning back, and then giving a deep bow to her brother, Thomas looking rather confused.

"Thomas... if the world is truly at risk, then we have to act." Dahlia stated.

"Suicune... please go get my bag." Dahlia asked, and Suicune nodded, moving outside the chamber.

"Go... tell your people what you must. There may be dark times ahead. Perhaps in a few years when this evil can attempt to influence the minds of the greedy and those with dark hearts... perhaps in a hundred years or longer when it attempts to break free. I cannot predict the future, but that thing that you felt. It doesn't threaten your kingdom. It tried to take over the world almost two thousand years ago, and we stopped it then. We will stop again, but..." Suicune said softly as she walked out of the chamber next to Morag.

Morag could tell that she meant well, that she was telling the truth. 'A queen must lead her people, through the good and the bad. You say that this temple will aid us, and offer protection, but you cannot guarantee at what cost. This thing truly threatens the world?'

"If given the chance, it will control the minds of all pokemon, and men. It would remake the world or perhaps destroy it." Suicune nodded, reaching over and taking Dahlia's bag now, before turning and heading back into the chamber.

"I hope that your kingdom is spared. I would wish the same for all pokemon and people, but this thing... We will try to stop it before it hurt anyone." Suicune said as she passed Morag again, and Morag gave a small bow.

'I will worry about the fate of my kingdom... I shall leave the gods to save the fate of the world. I do not know what we can do to help, but if you can think of something, you need only ask.' Morag stated, starting to slowly walk away knowing that what was coming was only for the legendary pokemon to discuss.

Suicune walked back into the room and Dahlia took her bag, looking worriedly to Radara and Thomas both, slowly pulling the Guardian Aegis from her bag.

"It doesn't need to be today, but if that thing is back, it must be done. This blade was a made as a symbol first. Mother forged it with the last of her power after that day, after the war. It took her several years to complete, but we all know the true meaning of this blade." Dahlia started, Suicune and Raikou both taking a seat, on either side of Thomas and Radara while Dahlia got into a kneeling position before them, gently holding the blade.

"This blade was meant to be the guide, the crook that herds the world away from war. It was to be the symbol of a free natural world, where choice was freely given, not to be dominated and their lives lived for them under the control of someone who will not lead them, but dominate them. This blade would show our lineage, our right as speakers of our Mother's word. But we know that it can also do more. This blade will give us extreme control over our elemental abilities and gifts, and can help bring freedom to the minds of those possessed by other people who seek freedom. It will not stop those who willingly give into evil, nor those who have strength in their beliefs, but if a ghost is possessing someone, or a mind is acting under the ill influence of another by means of mental manipulation... this blade can help. We all know that mother made this blade for us to continue carrying her word, even in the event that she might not be here with us at some point." Dahlia explained, slowly unsheathing the blade.

"If it comes down to it, I will use it myself to free those taken by that thing. I will free those turned against their own desires, but... But I cannot be the one to wield this blade. For all of my strengths, for all of my lives, for everything I am... my time in captivity has changed me and in this life, my final life, there is no redemption worthy enough to take up the meaning that this blade holds. Spite and anger have changed me, but you... Even after all these centuries of pain, you remain loyal to our old ways in full. You do not just take a life, you try to see the best in everyone, to let them learn, to try and redeem themselves." Dahlia slowly held up the blade, slowly rising to her feet.

"There will come a day when this blade may save the world, not in the hands of a tyrant, not as a weapon, not because of personal desires of a hero. It will be the shield that helps protect the world, the symbol that the world will recognize. It must be held by the speaker of our mother's words, by someone who understands the world and remains true to the ancient teachings, who knows their value, and can teach the world when it must learn." Dahlia stated slowly holding out the blade.

"One day, someone must take this blade for its intended purpose, to be speaker of Mother's word. It must happen, not for glory, not for greed, not for praise or worship. These are all things that you don't desire. If I had another life, maybe I could take up this blade, but I am alone now. I will not live to see another life, but you will. You may not truly take this blade, not in this life, but you must learn to use it now. Remember our ways, take up our mother's words again. The world is changing, and if this thing is around again, it will desire to change the world for itself. We cannot allow that to happen." Dahlia slowly held out the blade now.

"I-i... l-lo... no?" Thomas started, still worried, even Radara annoyed this again, but her ears dropped lightly hearing the argument, knowing that it was a proper one this time.

'Thank you... for at least waiting until Darkrai left before trying this.' Radara stated softly.

"I... think that Dahlia is right. If the thing that caused the war of legend returns, we must act before it recovers. We have always allowed the world to be a natural place and grow on its own, but now that growth is threatened. We must be more active, we must remind the world of the words of our mother, the World Mother." Raikou stated firmly looking to Thomas and Dahlia.

"Someone must be our speaker. The humans have twisted the words of our mother before, but when you gave them, they listened more. They would listen to them as intended. There was great debate over their simple meanings, few dared tried to twist them to dark meanings, and conflict is a part of the world, but there was no war." Suicune added.

"N-no... Please no." Thomas said softly, looking down.

"We know why you cast off your name... my brother, Soular." Dahlia added. "I know the feeling of loss, of the sorrow it brings and how you never felt that you had time to grief. But you have love again. Give it a chance, let it help to heal you, and be the kind and gentle man you were always before. You can be a leader, your way with words and teaching can help this world, if you only give them a chance. The world needs a teacher now, a speaker to help them. They are too easily swayed, and if we do not start acting now, then how can we help protect them from themselves. It will be able to free itself any time soon. It will take years, and it will need extensive amounts of help before it free itself, but Mother is not ready to kill it yet. She's still recovering, she gave what power she had recovered for a thousand years just trying to save a few of us that night... I may not even be here when it comes back, but please... don't let this world suffer another War of Legend, not again. Be our speaker, their teacher. Don't give it a chance to twist the minds of men and mon."

Radara gave a loud sigh now, gently moving Thomas's hand forward, but also taking the sheath and closing the blade away. 'You have made your point Dahlia... as much as I want Soular to take this blade... until he is Soular again, Thomas cannot take this blade. Maybe Rebecca can save my... our brother, but until then, this will not help Thomas.'

"Thank you... Radara." Thomas spoke softly, only gently closing his hand around the sheathed blade.

~xXx~

Throughout the night, Thomas, Radara, Dahlia, Suicune and Raikou were all very tight lipped. Not even Juno was in the direct discussion leaving the others all very worried, doubly so when Juno didn't have any answers, and told them to just wait. They wouldn't talk at all about what happened, even if they had a very private discussion that night, all speaking exclusively telepathically with each other about what to do.

Each of them had assured the others, including Morag, that they would explain things the next day, after they even figured out how to talk about it and explain it properly. That alone was worrying enough, and Verna seemed to take even more care to restrain Xent that night, using his lack of judgment as a means to try and distract herself from the bad feelings that were in her own head that night.

The night was tense, and so was the next morning as the private discussion continued until at last a little after lunch, Verna came running into the cabin that Xent and Sarah were resting in.

'Come on, into the temple. They're ready to explain things.' Verna quickly stated.

As Xent and Sarah rushed back up to the temple with Verna, Zai was waiting for him along with Morag and Juno.

Suicune and Raikou met them inside with Rebecca, and then guided them all down the halls to a large chamber on the side, one with a large table and a number of chairs around a lectern, the room readily resembled a place of group worship or teaching where Thomas, Radara, and Dahlia were waiting, just sitting on the steps in front of the lectern.

"Ready to tell us what's going on... and I want the truth. Something is happening, what is it?" Xent half way demanded, knowing that something big was going, like really big.

"Please, just sit. We have a story to tell first, and then we'll answer your direct questions." Thomas said.

'This is no time for stories. Something is happening, that thing from yesterday, what was it?' Morag asked.

"We need to tell you a story to explain that. Without it, you'll just be more confused." Dahlia explained, holding an old leather bound book up now.

"And this will help us?" Sarah asked.

"It had better be a damn good story." Xent quickly stated, moving up and taking a seat.

'Please Xent, calm down.' Verna asked again.

'You expect to tell us a story from a blank book?' Morag asked, looking over the leather bound book.

"Its not blank, the words are just not visible to those with mortal eyes. Without the right blessing to your eyes, you just don't see the world like the legendary pokemon, or we do." Thomas explained, motioning lightly to Dahlia and Radara.

Even as he spoke, Radara let her eyes change, once more red and yellow, along with Thomas's, before they changed back.

"And... what is this story?" Sarah asked.

"A tale that everyone has probably heard a few times, only this one will be the original version, base on accounts of our history. I'll skip the wordy portions, but there's a few pictures in here that will help." Dahlia stated, opening the book and looking it over.

"So, all great cultures and histories have a tale of good and evil, of that one thing that could end the world, that great shadow the looms over the world, ready to plunge it into darkness. Its a bit more literal then you might think. We're not even sure it had a proper physical form. If it did, we never saw it." Dahlia started.

"What we knew of it, what it choose to present itself at least, was a dark writhing mass. We can only assume that it came from a place that we call The Distortion. The Distortion existed long before the world. When our mother, The World Mother Arceus was born, she was born there, in a place that had no laws of consistent physics, no real concept of time, where even gravity was a suggestion that changed its mind from time to time. In order to make the world, she first had to make the rules by which the world would operate, including the concepts of time and space as we understand them now. This started the process of order, of the natural and self contained order the world." Dahlia continued.

"But just because she made this world, that doesn't mean that The Distortion no longer exists. Its still there, just the order of the world helps protect us against it. There are still things on that side, and our mother had hoped that this natural world would be protected from them. We can only guess that this thing came from the other side, but we never found out the full truth." Dahlia continued, holding up the book and showing an image. It was just a shadowy mass, and what looked like two dark red slits, possibly eyes.

"That... mess, that gaseous mass is how we perceived it. We did not find it, or rather it did not find us in a solid form, it was more ghost like, there but not physical. It also showed great mental abilities, not unlike a psychic pokemon, and had some control of the elements in general, fire, water, ice, and even some dragon like traits. Even by today's standards of how humans view pokemon, we can't really classify what types it might haven been, or if it even has a physical form to observe." Thomas explained.

"What we do know is that this... darkness had power. It was as strong as the World Mother herself. She feared to that to destroy it, to save our world, it might cost her life, and she was prepared to make such a sacrifice. She was ready to leave the world to us, to all of her chosen children, the legendary pokemon, and we god-children, to keep the order and world as she wanted. This thing had other plans, and was able to dominate the minds of men and pokemon alike. It then dominated a few of the legendary pokemon, and with their powers under its command, threatened the entire world, nearly plunging it into the the depths of the distortion world once more. When it possessed others, it was like a ghost possessing them, only a lot stronger and with a much more physical set of signs. Those possessed by it would give off similar gaseous like smoke, and their skin would darken. The weak of body, and some weak of mind, would eventually burn up their bodies. They would decay from the inside, and eventually die under its control if they couldn't handle it, whatever it was." Dahlia continued again, looking through the book again, and finding another set of images.

These images showed a series of men and pokemon, but with darkening skin, and what looked like gas coming off them.

"It attempted to take over the world, using the minds and bodies of others... including us, some of the legendary pokemon to do its bidding. It twisted our abilities against our will, and we were forced into servitude. The natural order was disrupted and the fate of the world as we know and understand it hung in the balance." Suicune stated, sounding a fair bit worried now.

"We called this time The War of Legend, and it is the tale that many have since adopted, and has been retold, changed, retold, and changed again and again over a few thousand years, but it was real. Your current methods of telling time, the changing of years, even reflects this change. The war was officially won, and the world saved in the year zero of most calender's now. It was the event that had changed an era." Raikou added.

"We didn't kill it though. By the time that mother realized that there was a way to kill it, and that it would likely cost her life to do it, it had bound itself to the lives of many of those who it had possessed. The thought of taking the lives of tens of thousands just to try and kill it was hard on her, but even if she did, it had also bound its lives to the lives of some of the legendary pokemon. If she killed it, she would kill them, and in turn the world. She was born with the power to dictate the order of the world, but as she was making the world, she made a choice. She gave the power of the world, to manage the natural order to us, to the legendary pokemon." Suicune explained.

"And if we die, if we are truly killed, then pieces of the natural world order will fall apart, and then world may collapse upon itself. The World Mother called upon all of us to give up some of the power she gave us, and in doing so, she could forge a cage for it, one that would last for thousands of years, long enough for her to recover from the War of Legend, and then kill it, even if it cost her her own life." Raikou continued.

'That thing that you felt though, that caused such a stir. Apparently, that thing is trying to break free. We always knew it would try, but this is the first sign of any such disturbance. It may still be locked up entirely for now, but the fact that it tried to mock me and Thomas while we were meditating means that time is running out. Eventually, it will be able to influence other things. It will be able to reach out beyond its prison.' Radara added.

"And when it does, it shall sow confusion, find those it can use, and likely attempt to start a second war, all over again, like it did last time." Another voice added, Darkrai rising up from the shadows behind them, Thomas biting his lip a bit with a minor shake of his head.

"Why haven't any of us heard about this before?" Sarah asked, still concerned about Darkrai, but couldn't stop her question.

"Because history is a matter of perspective for many humans and cultures who disagree. The lessons were good to learn, but everyone disagreed on the story itself, wanted to change it. And in the end, we allowed them to as long as the lessons were felt." Darkrai added, stepping forward as Morag seemed to glare at him.

"And just what is this thing anyway?" Xent asked.

"Evil... To me, it is the face of evil. It wants to destroy, to take the gifts of the world, to take the freedom of choice, of life, and... control them, abuse them, demand worship and tribute..." Thomas stated, looking down with a few deep breathes.

Xent clenched his fists at Thomas's words though, quickly thinking back to the forceful religions he had been subject at the earliest times that he could remember. "So... that thing? Evil as you call it. Does it have a name? I'd kinda like a chance to take a few swings at it myself. Tribute... worship... is that thing responsible for all the evil in the world? For all of those shitty religions that beat children into servitude."

"No... no those are still the words of other. When the World Mother purged and imprisoned it, we spent years cleaning up after it. We made sure that there were as few traces as possible, no way to accidentally mess with it. Freedom of self experience, of personal choice... and maybe us being forced into hiding for generations caused a large shift in the ways of the world." Dahlia replied.

"The world is always changing, and when we chose to fade from history to try and get the knights to forget us, Mother's word was taken up by many others. There was peace between the people though, and we couldn't start a war with the knights. We always knew that the world would always need us, and we would return, or had hoped to." Thomas added.

"And that time is now. There is no hiding anymore. Take up the First Blade, and be quick about it." Darkrai snapped.

"Please shut up about that. I'll handle it." Dahlia quickly stated now.

"Mother has called a meeting, she prepares a summons as we speak. Although she is weak, and years away from awakening herself in full this life of hers, she knows that the world needs us more then ever. She'll be coming here and has asked us to wait for her. You had better be ready to take your place as our speaker. The world needs her word once more to prepare for a coming storm." Darkrai stated, and Morag quickly rose.

'Arceus! She is on her way here!' Morag yelled out.

"This is where it was felt. This is where we will find any cracks." Darkrai replied while Xent was deep in though.

Xent couldn't help but think about the words of this thing though. Of how it could dominate the minds of the weak of mind or body, or worse those with dark intentions. In Xent's mind, there was a very large and quickly growing list of people who fit that, and worse, a number of these people wanted to directly target them right now. There were multiple crime syndicates after them, personal hunters, and as far as he was concerned, even the knights qualified as targets for this thing to try and possess. "Great... just great..."

"Hey, is there like someway to check on this cage you mentioned. Make sure its all intact, that its not already out or something? Maybe some way to fortify, so that it can't get out maybe?" Xent asked.

"Its cage is secure, its not breaking out anytime soon as far as we tell. But there's no telling how fast for certain it would. It won't be easy though, and we'll know when it starts to do so. We haven't seen any signs prior of it, this is the first known instance of its influence making any kind of attempt at reaching out." Thomas replied.

"And your sure on this?" Xent asked, only for Morag to dash out of the room, rushing back to the village.

"We're certain. Everything that we sealed away remains locked up tight." Dahlia nodded firmly. "Its locked up in a way that no single person, pokemon, or even our elder brothers the legendary pokemon could open alone. The years we spent cleaning up its mess were also spent making its lock as complicated as possible, but still easy to check on and reset. Any attempt to break out would be a violent affair, and there would be signs as its happening."

"W-why did Morag rush out like that?" Sarah asked.

"No offense to her, but with Morag gone, can we just go over how much this may escalate things?" Xent kept his voice low, he didn't want to risk Morag still using her aura. "Weak of mind or body, dark intentions? There's a lot of people after us who fit that last condition. Team Rocket, Team Galactic, Hunter J, the fu-... fricking knights and their murder boners. And that's in the past few weeks alone!"

'If I may... Does anyone else seem concerned about this timing? Someone stole the ghost plate from your holy sites. The world was given a questionable account of Thomas's past and a weak connection to the legendary pokemon. Potentially things in the Distortion are agitated and might be messing with your worldly senses.' Juno asked.

"Also a valid set of points." Xent quickly replied.

"Someone wants Thomas involved with everything. They also have advanced and old knowledge of us, but we would be foolish to consider them a friend. We can't ignore the timing however." Suicune nodded.

Xent's eyes narrowed as he tapped his chin. "One of the crucial keys to an escape plan is to make sure the wardens don't know you're trying to escape. How certain are you that this thing hasn't reached out to other people already to come after us?"

"Everything we have sealed remains secured. You've already even seen its cage without knowing it." Darkrai replied.

"And the knights won't be possessed by it. Dominated perhaps in time after it might free itself, but not possessed." Dahlia added.

Xent continued tapping his chin, he needed to poke and prod at this all he could. "Can you tell me anything else you saw when you were meditating? I need pieces, I need all the pieces you can give me. It'll give me something to focus on."

"You should focus on giving my brother a reason to take up his proper role." Darkrai stated, glaring at Thomas.

"Darkrai, enough!" Suicune growled some herself now. "We cannot force him to take that symbol of our ways."

"Oh but sister, yes we can." Darkrai grinned.