A/N: Hello everyone! I hope you like this chapter! I loved writing this and had so much fun! I do have a trigger warning (tw) in this chapter, and it is clearly marked in bold where the tw starts and where it ends. You can skip this section and still enjoy the chapter
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of their characters. I only own this story and my OCs.
The loud pitter patter of rain droplets sounded off against the tin roofs.
The smell of petrichor permeated the air.
It had been raining for three days straight since Morty got here, and he was already over it.
Morty didn't hate the rain, but he loved the after effects so much more. When the rain stopped and the clouds let up, he could see the puddles of water everywhere. And through those reflections, he could glimpse into a world no one else could see. He could glimpse into Supreme Almegan Giratina's domain, Speculum (1). Though it's known to others as the Reverse or the Distortion World.
Spirits and ghosts would be out everywhere. It was magical what the rain could bring.
But this time, Morty wasn't focused on the rainbow. All he could see was that the rain was making it harder and harder for him to do his job.
Morty was making his monthly trip to the Ruins of Alph, and it was hard for him to conduct his inspections with all this rain.
Morty was requested by the Johtonian Royal family to be Johto's and the government's representative at this dig site, despite the fact that the ruins were located in Leader Faulkner's district and sphere of influence.
Morty had personal ties with the royal family since he was best friends with the crown princess, but his family was also really close with the royals. His clan was the second most powerful one in Johto, right behind the Wataru Clan in Blackthorn City. So it was normal that they would have a repertoire.
However, the dig site wouldn't need a representative if they just accepted Johtonians to work at the dig site with them.
You see, around five years ago, a Kantonian research group called the Pantone Research Institute rediscovered the Ruins of Alph and had been working there ever since.
However, they never really rediscovered the Ruins of Alph. Most Johtonians had already known about this place.
The Ruins of Alph was known as the Temple of Alph by the Johtonian people. It was a temple built long ago to honor Archons Entei, Raikou, and Suicune. But after the events that destroyed the Brass Tower, the temple hadn't been in use.
Because of those events, most Johtonians left the temple alone. Only a few every year went there as a pilgrimage site.
Despite the Johtonians obvious connection to the place, the Pantone Research Institute hasn't allowed anyone who was not a member to be able to work at the dig site. They said it's because their research group is the one who discovered the site so they should be the ones responsible for it.
This has led to the Johtonian government to constantly try and reach out to the group; hence Morty being there.
Morty had been trying to talk to the head researcher or anyone for the past three days, but he couldn't because they kept saying they were too busy preserving the dig site from all the rain.
Normally, the dig site would have been prepared for the possibility of rain. However Morty guessed it was because the rain wasn't in the forecast so they didn't prepare anything. "A freak storm,'' they said.
If anything, with the lack of activity, all the rain served as was a reminder to all the visions Morty had been receiving lately.
Ever since he met with Archon Entei a few weeks ago, he had been receiving a new vision from High Almegan Darkrai every night.
Morty could normally interpret all of his visions and figure out what they were trying to tell him, but the ones lately were so difficult. So he ended up calling Lucian to help him figure them out.
"I'm not sure I can help you here Mort," said Lucian, "I feel like there are so many pieces to consider."
Morty sighed, "What am I supposed to do then?"
"Okay, well let's go through them again. It seems as if your visions could be divided into three categories. Some are of the past; some of the present; and some of the future."
Morty nodded, "That sounds about right. The ones of the past, all I'm seeing is multiple funerals taking place with all the Johtonian burial rights. I can't see anyone specific though."
"And the ones about the present?"
"I'm not even sure if they are showing me something that's happening now to be honest, but it feels like it. In one, I'm seeing a very angry and disturbed spirit. It's causing a lot of problems. Another is of some man who is telling someone on the phone that they have made a big discovery. I think he's an archaeologist. He didn't say it, but the dream or vision just gave me that information."
"You have to trust your mind more," said Lucian, "All the information in your dreams or visions whether it was stated or not is knowledge that is real. Trust that the High Almegan is giving you all the information you need."
"I know, I just don't want to interpret something in the wrong way," Morty signed, "I've been studying dream interpretations for over 10 years, but I still feel like such a newbie."
Lucian smiled, "We all feel that way. It's why we double check our interpretations and reach out to others; just like you are doing."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," said Morty, "The last vision was the most confusing though. I think it has to do with me, but I'm not sure. This vision has come so many times I'm not sure whether it is a memory or not."
"You said you were surrounded by lightning, right?"
"Yeah, but it wasn't hurting me. It was like it was energizing me. I don't know. I've never felt that way before."
"Hmmmm, maybe we aren't meant to interpret these dreams. Maybe someone else is supposed to."
Morty furrowed his eyebrows, "Who? Do you think I need to go to the Moonbay Isles and see one of the high priests or priestesses?"
"No, of course not. I'm thinking that it could be one of the archon or one of the almengans."
"Really?"
"A long time ago, I received a vision from High Almegan Cresselia. I had been trying to interpret this recurring vision for weeks, but nothing made sense to me. One day, Supreme Almegan Mew came to me asking me for their visions. The supreme interpreted the visions faster than I ever did. It made complete sense to them. Maybe something similar is going to happen to you."
"Maybe."
Morty was just laying down on his bed in a cabin near the ruins when someone called him.
"Hello?"
"Hey Morty. It's Faulkner."
"Hey man, what's up?"
"I know you're in the area for official business, but I could really use your help right now."
"Sure, I'm always willing to help. What do you need?"
"You know we've been having this heavy downpour for the past three days. Because of it, we've lost a lot of trainers and civilians in the forest around the area you are in. I've been out with a squadron of Pokémon rangers helping anyone who has been caught in the storm. But we are still missing three people."
"Do you have any information on them?" asked Morty as he was putting on his rain boots.
"Yeah, the first one is Victor Sato, an 80 year old man. He works in the forest cutting down trees to be used as furniture. He was last seen by the river that divides the forest in half. The second is a 37 year old woman by the name of Mina Tanaka. She's currently 6 months pregnant. She likes going into the forest to pick berries to make her family's famous cherry pie. The last one is 7 year old Emiko Suzuki. She was last seen on the outskirts of the forest playing with her friends. Do you think you can help me find them? I know you have a reputation for finding missing people, and I've exhausted all my resources trying to find these three."
"Yeah, I can help. Just send me some more information and pics of them to my email, okay?"
"Yeah, I can do that. Thanks Morty."
Morty did have a knack for finding people, but it was much harder not having an item of theirs he could use to look for them. He hopes he could find the three, especially in this downpour.
Morty quickly put on his raincoat, got his umbrella, and left his cabin.
When Morty reached the edge of the forest, he let out his Noctowl and his Mismagius.
"I need you both to help me search for these three people. Do you think you can help?"
Both pokémon nodded their heads and then they flew off.
Morty huffed; he knew this was going to be a long day.
As Morty got deeper and deeper into the forest. He started to call on as many spirits and ghosts around him. He asked them to help him look for lost travelers.
With each step he took, water and mud went everywhere. It had rained so much that it seemed like a small flood had formed.
Morty knew this was dangerous. People could fall and slip underneath trees or hit their heads.
Morty's eyes looked meticulously across the landscape.
An hour into the search, a small purple spirit whirled around him and asked him to follow it.
So, Morty followed after the spirit. After pushing away many harsh bushes that tore at his clothes, a cave could be seen.
When Morty entered the cave, the spirit left him.
In the cave, he saw a man that was drenched, shivering from the cold.
"Hello?" said Morty
The man quickly looked up from his fetal position. He tripped over himself scurrying over to Morty.
"Oh my god! Thank goodness!" said the man hugging Morty.
"My name is Leader Morty from Ecruteak City. I'm here to help travelers that got lost in the storm."
"I'm so glad you were able to find me. I've been stuck here since last night. I'm a volunteer trying to find my cousin Emiko. But not only could I not find her, I also got lost myself," the man sighed.
Morty patted and rubbed the man's back.
"It's okay. I'm going to help you get back to the rescue squadron. They will attend to your needs and get you any medical attention. Do you have any questions?"
"No," said the man, "Just lead the way."
It took Morty and the man half an hour to make it back to the rescue squadron. Once there, Morty asked the man any follow up questions to see if it could help him find Emiko, but most of the information was useless.
So Morty headed back into the forest, going in a different direction this time.
The rain was still pouring down as hard as ever, and it continued to obstruct Morty's vision. He could barely see anything. The only thing he could clearly see were the spirits who were obviously not affected by the rain.
He'd been searching for hours, but he couldn't find anyone. Maybe they should have waited to search once the weather was better. Morty just sighed and continued on his walk.
An hour later, a large green spirit approached Morty. It was pointing to a tree to the right of him and did no more.
~ tw/ death and or dead body ~
Morty slowly walked up to the tree to see what the spirit was trying to tell him. There was nothing he could see with the naked eye, but when he got close enough to the tree he could smell something rancid in the air.
Death
Morty immediately started looking for bulges near the tree roots. On the other side of the tree, he could see something hidden under a bunch of leaves and dirt. As he wiped those things away, he could see the face of someone under there. There was dried blood at the side of their forehead.
Morty immediately stepped away.
Since this was a very sensitive thing, he immediately called the rangers on duty at the rescue camp and had two of them come to his location to take pictures of the "crime scene," document the death, and take the body back to the nearest town.
~ end tw ~
It was even later into the day, and what little visibility they had from the sun was now fleeting.
Morty had been on his feet for hours and was already starting to tire out. While the work was rewarding, it was also taxing. He didn't know if he would be able to find any of the three he was looking for like this.
A while ago, Morty received a message from Faulkner to head back to the rescue camp since lightning was starting to appear.
The rumbling of thunder was only getting louder and louder with each passing minute. So he thought it was the right time to head back.
On his way back, the rumbling of thunder only seemed to grow louder to the point of even shaking the earth.
Morty's heart rate started to increase; wondering if he could even take cover with all these trees.
While Morty never had an issue with death mentally, he could never stop his body's natural reactions. To him, death was as natural as life. Both a pair that you could not separate. Death didn't phase him because it was only another phase of life.
He had never called for death to knock on his door, but he did see his life flash before his eyes as a flash of lightning plunged in front of him.
The force was so great, Morty fell on his butt; his umbrella fell from his hands.
Out of the golden light, came a great yellow beast.
Archon Raikou.
Upon recognition, Morty immediately tried to bow before the great beast; however, he was stopped.
"It's okay child. Rise up. I believe I have something you need."
Morty immediately got up from the wet mud, slipping and sliding a few times before he was standing directly in front of the beast.
Morty put out his hands in front of Archon Raikou, and the archon immediately dropped three items in his palm; a single earring, a muddy shoe, and a torn piece of a shirt.
Morty immediately thought of where the missing pieces were, and he was gifted with their locations. They were with three people. The three people that Morty needed to find; Victor, Emiko, and Mina.
Morty's eyes widened, and he instantly gave a ninety degree bow.
"Praise be to the archon. Thank you for your help."
The archon just nodded.
"I'll be waiting for you near the rescue camp."
With their locations planted firmly in his mind, Morty started heading towards the three missing people.
He called on the spirits, telling them where they needed to go and asked them to contact his pokémon so that they could come back to him.
It took three hours, but Morty was able to find each missing person.
Faulkner was in tears when Morty came back to the rescue camp with each missing person. He was so thankful for Morty's help.
Morty washed up in one of the tents in the camp and then started to head back towards his cabin.
Getting back to his cabin near the Ruins of Alph, he noticed a young man around his age standing outside of the building. They had pale skin, golden blond hair tied with a rainbow wing hairpin at the top of their head, and striking purple eyes. Eyes that Morty thinks he's seen before.
"Archon," said Morty, giving a slight bow.
Archon Raikou just smirked.
"Come child. Let's head inside. I have much to discuss with you."
Morty quickly got out his keys and opened the door to the cabin with Noctowl and Mismagius right behind him.
Morty and the archon both took off their shoes before entering into the cabin's main room. The archon went to sit at the kitchen table; while Morty got started brewing some tea and grabbing a blanket for the archon and changing into more comfortable attire.
Once the hot tea was in their hands, the archon started to speak.
"You have visions for me."
Morty gasped; Lucian was right. An archon did need to interpret them.
"I believe I do."
So Morty started to retell to the Archon the visions he had been receiving for the past few weeks.
The archon hummed to themself and said, "We shall visit the old shrine tomorrow. There, I will be able to assess whether my interpretation is right or not."
Morty deflated. He guessed there was always tomorrow.
Morty woke up naturally, as he did every morning.
He checked his phone to see if anyone had tried to contact him while he slept. Seeing no one, he got up, stretched and made his bed.
With the sun beaming through the window, Morty couldn't help but to close his eyes and bask in the warmth. He had forgotten mornings could feel this nice. All the rainy days had left him cold and irritated.
Morty opened his eyes and went to take a closer look outside the window. The ground still looked very wet and muddy because of all the rain, but the sky was as clear as ever. The sun shined so brightly, Morty could barely keep his eyes open.
He then decided to get dressed and make breakfast for himself and the archon.
As Morty left the bedroom and entered the kitchen, he noticed that someone else was already working in the kitchen.
The archon was making breakfast for the two of them, setting out two trays of food while also boiling water for their tea.
All Morty could do was stare.
He had never seen the archon, or any archon for that matter, like this before. Not only was the archon making them breakfast, in a way serving him, but they were also dressed so casually (at least more casual than Morty had ever seen them).
The archon was dressed in a modern, black and gold kimono top with black jeans and pretty gold earrings dangling from each ear. Their golden hair was tied up in a high ponytail with the same rainbow wing hairpin from last night.
"What are you staring at, young one? Is something wrong?"
Morty blushed.
"You just … Your clothes … I - I," Morty took a deep breath and said, "I've never seen you dressed like this before. The last time I saw you, you were in your very formal, ceremonial robes. You just look different. Not a bad different though."
The archon chuckled, "Thank you little one. I thought dressing that formal would have been too much for a dig site, you know. Now come over and eat before this gets cold."
The archon set out two trays of food. They both had a bowl of rice with three boiled eggs, miso soup, and a cup of saffron tea.
When they were finished eating, Morty got his backpack before they headed out to the dig site.
Because the cabin that Morty was staying in was at the campsite right across from the ruins, they both could just walk there without it causing too much of a problem.
When they got close enough to see the ruins, Morty stopped. His eyes looked on with awe. He couldn't believe how much used to be here. How livly this place used to be. How much history was stored here.
The Ruins of Alph wasn't just a shrine; it was also a city. People lived and worked here. The city of Alph was known for their metal workers who made the finest jewelry and artisanry out of gold and silver. Those items would be shipped out all over Johto, but the best ones would be given as offerings to the Gin and Gorudo.
It made Morty think about the offering Archon Entei made at the Bell and Burned Towers. Silver and gold hadn't been used as offerings in centuries. To see it again was jarring.
Once Morty got his barrigns, he started walking again with the archon. He spoke to a few people he knew along the way as they got deeper and deeper inside the dig site.
As they got closer to the center of the camp, a modest two story building could be seen. This was the headquarters of the Pantone Research Institute at the dig site.
Morty told Archon Raikou, that he needed to go inside to talk to the head researcher, and that they could just look around while he was busy.
When Morty entered the building, he took off his boots and set them in one of the cubbies near the door. He then picked up a pair of temporary white slippers to put on.
After that, he proceeded to walk towards the office of the head researcher.
Dr. Glenda Lee was the Vice President of the Pantone Research Institute and the current head researcher at the Ruins of Alph Dig Site.
She was a tall woman with a modest build with a deep tan from being out in the sun too much. She had sandy brown hair and brown eyes.
She had been over the dig site for the past five years and was the biggest obstacle to Morty's job here.
Once Morty was standing outside Dr. Lee's door, he knocked and entered once he heard a "come in."
As Morty opened the door, he could see that Dr. Lee was sitting down on her couch near the side window with two other men showing her some documents. One of the men was wearing a three piece suit; while the other was dressed more casually in a lab coat.
"Hello Morty," said Dr. Lee, "It's nice to see you again. What can I do for you?"
"I had an appointment today with you at this time. Should I come back later?"
Dr. Lee just laughed, "Oh, honey no. Our meeting just ran over a bit, but whatever you want to say in front of me, you can say in front of these two gentlemen. I don't believe you've met them before. This is Mr. Jason Fulbright; he's one of our investors. The other is Dr. Michael Coleman; he's over our forensic lab."
Morty went forward and bowed to them before shaking each of their hands.
"I've come to check on the progress of the candidates I sent you to be a part of your research institute."
"Oh, well, none of the candidates you sent met our criteria," said Dr. Lee, "I know your government really wants us to add more Johtonians to our institute, but people don't just become members because of that. We take the time to really look at the candidates to see if they meet the criteria as well as have the passion."
Morty's face twitched.
He knew that every single candidate that was sent met the criteria. He had hand picked them himself. He would never have suggested those Johtonian geologists, archeologists, or anthropologists if he knew they were unqualified.
"Ok, thank you for the feedback. I'll look into some other candidates and send them over to you."
"You do that. See you next month Morty."
When Morty walked out of that office, he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He was also slightly shaking. Morty just took a few deep breaths before he went back to the front of the building, fetched his shoes, and left.
Walking out the door, Morty saw the archon sitting on the steps of the building.
"How did your meeting go?" asked the archon.
Morty sighed, "Not so great, but they never go well."
"Do you have lots of trouble with them?" asked the archon as they both started to move away from the temporary HQ.
"All the time, but from the outside looking in it wouldn't appear that way; so I bite my tongue."
"I'm sorry you have to go through that."
"It's fine. Did you want to go somewhere specific in mind or did you want me to give you a tour of the place?"
"Little one," said the archon, "I think you're forgetting that I used to live here. I was here to witness the resurrection of this place and its fall."
Morty blushed and whispered, "Sorry."
"It's fine," they smiled, "I want to go to the altar first though. I've brought offerings. I'll take you there now."
Archon Raikou started leading them through the ruins, north of the HQ. As they were walking, Raikou started pointing out different places and telling stories of them.
"Over there to the left," said Raikou, pointing at a dilapidated building that had an old fire pit in front of it, "That's where the healers would work. Suicune would spend most of its time there. We would make medicines and send them out to all of Johto. We would also be in charge of making the special rub used to purify the altars and sacred buildings."
Morty would just nod along, listening intently to every story the archon had to tell.
"You see that large tower to the east?" asked the archon, looking back at Morty, "That's where the historians would mark down our history. Entei was in charge of them. They tried to get a quote from every person in Johto before they died, but that was hard work. Some people didn't feel like their words were good enough to be marked down for eternity."
Archon Raikou just smiled. They hadn't been back to this place in decades. It hurt to be here; to witness what was. But there were so many precious memories associated with this place.
"The three of us," Raikou started, "thought this would be forever. We felt that this would be the place we could finally settle down to, but our naivete hurt us."
They were soon standing in front of the building that held the altar. The door was gone and there was moss growing everywhere.
The room they entered was massive. The ceilings were high, and there were cuts on both sides of the room to indicate a place where windows once were.
In the middle of the room were three altars; one for Archon Entei, one for Archon Raikou, and one for Archon, Suicune. In between the three altars were spaces for what once was a place for three thrones. Behind them was a painting depicting the birth of the archon with creatures known as 'unknown' flying all around them.
At the right wall, there was a much smaller altar for the Original One, and at the left wall, there was a smaller altar for Gin Lugia and Gorudo Ho-Oh.
Raikou started to walk up towards each of the altars, holding a bowl that was in its backpack. Raikou took the contents of the bowl and started rubbing down the altars.
"Archon!" said Morty alarmed, "What are you doing? I'm not sure we should be touching anything here."
"Calm yourself child. I'm just purifying the altars before we lay the offering. It won't hurt them, no matter how old they are.
As the archon was rubbing the mixture into the altars, the substance started to evaporate. It didn't clean the statues. The rust and grime from years of unuse was still apparent, but it did its purpose; to purify them.
Finished with their work, the archon returned the mixture to its bag and took out the offerings, and laid them at each altar that was in the room.
"There were only four times a year we would be allowed to come here and sit before our people and accept our offerings. The Winter Solstice, the Summer Solstice, the Spring Equinox, and the Autumn Equinox. During the winter and the spring, we were draped in silver wings, and during the autumn and summer, in rainbow wings. The ceremonies were beautiful and were times I could deeply feel the gratitude of our people. At night, I could remember playing around with the children and telling them stories of our history."
Morty stayed silent, heavy emotions washing over him. He couldn't imagine how much loss you could feel when you could live in this world forever. While his experiences would always be finite, theirs would be infinite.
Raikou wiped the tears from their eyes and said, "Let's head to the next place. We need to see if my interpretation of your visions is correct."
They didn't leave the altar room right away. The archon pushed into a stone on the back wall, opening a secret passage.
"This will get us there quicker."
As they walked along the passage, Morty started to see all the 'unknown' carved into the walls. Some seemed to tell stories; while others looked to be gatekeepers.
As they got to the end of the hallway, Raikou led them through a doorway that took them outside.
Seeing the scene in front of him, Morty's blood ran cold.
There were bodies everywhere. Tombs that were disturbed. Bodies that were currently being examined by several researchers.
All of a sudden, a few of his visions made sense.
Morty could see about twenty disturbed ghosts and several restless spirits.
In the Arceusite religion, not everyone who dies becomes ghosts. Those that do had unfinished business to take care of or were too attached to something in this world. Everyone else would either be reincarnated or would pass on to the afterlife.
The longer a ghost is in the human world, the more disturbed it gets, and the harder it is for it to pass on. However there are many rituals that arceusites practice that can help to settle souls so that they don't turn into ghosts or so they lose their ghostly quality as soon as possible. But just like there were ways to settle spirits, there were ways to disturb them as well.
For the Johtonians, death and the afterlife were so important to them. Their patron almegans were Lugia and Ho-Oh. Lugia who is in charge of creating the soul, the eternal part of each individual. Ho-Oh who was in charge of rebirth, chose who would get to be reincarnated, and would create the world anew during the end times.
Death was sacred and holy to the Johtonians. And their burial rights were the most important. Your second life was as important as your first, and they wanted to make sure you would get there safely.
Morty quickly walked over to one of the researchers that was nearest to him.
"Excuse me," said Morty, "Could you tell me when you guys started to dig up these graves? I've been here a few times in the past, but I haven't seen this yet."
"Ah, sure," said the researcher taking off his gloves, "We found this cemetery about three months ago and had it dug up last month. We've gained a lot of good information from it. Few people walk all the way here, which is probably why you don't know about it. But we're also about to dig up another one too! It was supposed to be done already, but a lot of our supplies have gone missing or have gotten broken, which took a lot of time."
It was the aggravated spirits.
Spirits would often be drawn to cemeteries to feed on any weak ghosts that were around. Since there were so many ghosts that were in the cemetery that were out and unsettled, it was easier for the spirits to come after them. This led to the spirits being territorial.
"Thank you for the information," said Morty, giving a tight smile, "I'm going to need you to take the rest of the researchers out here and head back to the main HQ. Then I need you to tell Dr. Lee to come here at once; it's urgent."
With Morty's intimidation, the researcher and his colleagues scurried away.
Morty took out two of his pokéballs and let out Dusknoir and his Banette and told them to not let anyone out of the HQ except for Dr. Lee.
About a half hour later, Dr. Lee came on the scene fuming.
"What is the meaning of this, Morty?! Is this some kind of joke?"
Morty crossed his arms and said, "Why were you keeping this from me?"
Dr. Lee crossed her arms back and said, "I didn't! You just never asked about it. You were always focused on our institute's newest members."
"I always asked about any new developments at the site , Dr. Lee, and you know that. But if you had more Johtonian researchers working with you, you wouldn't be in this predicament."
Dr. Lee furrowed her eyebrows, "What predicament? All I see is you wasting my time."
"By the power vested in me by the Johtonian royal family, you and the rest of your colleagues here are under arrest."
Morty continued on to state her rights as his Gengar put handcuffs on her.
"What are you doing?! You can't do this to me!"
"Oh, yes I can. I even have the Chief of Police of Violet City coming over here to pick all of you up."
"We didn't do anything illegal! We were just doing our job!"
"Au contraire, all of you were breaking the law. According to the Johtonian Law of Mortem, it is illegal to dig up dead bodies, even for scientific purposes. It may only be done under special circumstances and those that have gotten permission from the descendants and the governing body. This law has existed since Johto's creation and was reaffirmed recently in the modern era. Punishment is life in prison."
The Violet City Gym Leader and a police squadron came in a half hour later.
Things started to quiet down around sunset.
Morty and Raikou were sitting down in front of the old HQ, tired from the wear of the day.
No one was in the ruins now, even the nearby campsite was deserted. No one was allowed to go on this property (except for a few key people) until the trial was over and things were decided.
"I'm so proud of you," said Archon Raikou, giving Morty a radiant smile.
Morty's eyes widened.
"Th - th, thank you archon. I hope I continue to make you proud."
The archon chuckled, "You love your culture and your people a lot. For that, I will always be proud of you."
Morty just blushed. He couldn't think of what to say in response to such a statement.
As the sun started to make its final descent in the sky, Unknowns started to circle around the two.
More and more kept showing up until they completed their ring. As they whirled around the two, a beam of light appeared. And it grew brighter and brighter until it was all that they could see.
When the light disappeared, Morty and the archon found themselves someplace new.
"Where are we?" asked Morty, "What just happened?"
The archon smiled, "The Unknown found you worthy and now we are here."
Morty frowned, "But where is here?"
"Welcome to Mountain Bell Pass, but you may know this place as Sinjoh."
Morty knew what Sinjoh was. Everyone did; they all learned it in school. It was a place where the people of Johto and Sinnoh were able to live in harmony. But no one knew where it was, and it was seen to be a fable, a myth.
There was no snow, but it was much chillier here than it was in Johto.
"A long time ago in Sinnoh," started Raikou, "The All Mother, Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina had made covenants with different human populations that ended up living around Mount Coronet. In time, those four peoples became one, which we now know as the Coronites. The Coronites were known for their diplomacy and had sent representatives to many nations. Their simplicity and authenticity charmed everyone, especially the Johtonians. Mountain Bell Pass was a city of sorts. All its inhabitants were the monks, nuns, priests, and priestess who took care of this place. It was a collective shrine to honor the All Mother."
"Thank you for telling me," bowed Morty, "But I still don't understand why we were brought here. Did the Unknown just want me to see this place?"
The archon laughed, "Your anointing."
"My anointing?"
"Yes," smiled Raikou, "They believed you were worthy enough to be anointed here."
"Oh"
"Just follow me."
Mountain Bell Pass was very narrow, on one side there was a giant cliff and on the other was a dense forest cut off by a giant mountain. The only thing that could be seen was a grand building built in Johtonian architecture.
As they entered the building the archon spoke.
"This is the first house. It is where we are to purify ourselves before we can go to the second one."
The archon led them through many hallways and doorways.
For a building so old and not taken care of, it was very well preserved.
The last doorway the archon led them through took them to an outdoor area.
It was a hot spring.
"This is where we will bathe," said the archon slowly taking off their clothes.
"Wait!"
"What's wrong?"
"Um … like … We don't have towels or anything …"
"Worry not, they have prepared for us."
"They?"
"The Unknown," they said pointing towards the side where fresh towels had been set out with two bottles of oil.
"Take one of the bottles and douse yourself with the cleansing oil before going in," said the archon.
Morty did as he was told.
When they were done, the archon led them out of the hot spring and into a covered path that would take them directly to the second house.
As they were walking there, Morty could see all of the old abandoned homes that were scattered everywhere, and in the middle of it all was the All Mother's temple.
When they got to the temple, they opened one of the heavy double doors and went inside.
The archon led them once again through many hallways before they entered into a massive room.
Even with the wear of time, the beauty of this room was still unobstructed. High ceilings, magnificent columns, and massive murals that depicted the origin of the universe only added to its brilliance.
In the middle of the room was a raised platform that had engravings in the floor. A large triangle was engraved in the floor with a semicircle circumscribed inside. Three more smaller circles were at each of the points of the triangle.
"Go stand in the middle Morty."
Morty went past the archon to stand in the middle of the large circle, and then turned around to face the archon.
The archon went close enough to Morty and reached out their arms so they were holding each other's hands.
"Kneal," said the archon.
And Morty knelt.
"Don't be afraid," the archon whispered, "nothing will hurt you here."
Morty just nodded, hands getting clammy from the anticipation.
Archon Raikou started by singing an ancient hymn that echoed all around them. Their voice was low and pure.
It slowed Morty's heart and caused his eyes to close.
The archon then recited a few verses from the holy text before slipping into another hymn.
While Morty couldn't understand what the archon was saying, he could feel the love, and the power, and the awe radiating from them.
"All Mother! All Mother! A worthy candidate was found and will now receive the gift of our power!"
"Lugia and Ho-Oh! Find this boy worthy and grant him a long life!"
"By Entei, By Raikou, By Suicune, let our power run through my veins."
Morty slowly opened his eyes. The archon's face was directly in his field of view. Energy was crackling around them and Morty felt it surging through him.
"By Fire, By Lightning, By Water. Let our trinity strengthen in number. Let this mortal be filled with our presence. May his soul never be torn asunder."
"Factum est!" (2)
A flash of lightning.
A vision fulfilled.
Raikou's thunderbolt overtook the both of them, filling the temple with its light.
All Morty could feel was euphoria.
His laugh rang throughout the temple.
In this moment
He was claimed.
Word Count: 6,742
Date Uploaded: Thursday, June 9, 2022
Next Update (tentative): Saturday, June 11, 2022
Footnotes:
(1) 'Speculum' is the Latin word for mirror, and is the arceusite name for the Distortion / Reverse World
(2) 'Factum est' is Latin for "it is done"
A/N: Thank you for reading this chapter! Please write any comments for me down below
I know I said in yesterday's update that I would update the last chapter for this week on Friday, but I am really struggling with writing this next chapter. I have some parts written down, but I am kind of stuck a bit. I may be able to update tomorrow, but that is highly unlikely. At the earliest, it would be Saturday and the latest would be Sunday. So please have some patience with me