Chapter 27: The False God!
"...we all are just victims! Victims of a false author!"
A false author? Now Epsilon had lost all the others. How could something like that even work? An author is a god! And no one can just pretend to have godlike powers! And Grimmsnarl was the first to say so!
"You're talking nonsense, Zoroark! Are you trying to say that this all-powerful being that seems to guide us all isn't a god?"
"No! It's a god! It is just not our god!"
Epsilon turned exuberantly to the rest of her group.
"You all saw how I trained against the outline of the author! That's where it revealed itself to me! That guy didn't have a shadow! And he talked to me like I was crazy for thinking it! But an author doesn't change that much, even over time! Where I come from, it was always one of his highest priorities to show that he himself was like one of us! He always tried to show himself as mortal as a god could be! And that includes the shadow! I learned to use my techniques thanks to HIS shadow! Only ghosts and the lifeless have no shadows! And demons! Besides, why was he so cautious when I attacked him? He didn't want to be hit by my attacks. But isn't he supposedly an invulnerable projection? Why would that harm him at all? Simple! Because he's not an author!"
"Epsilon, your theories make sense to some extent, what you say is all true, but... the last time you had a "proven" theory, Elementareon died for it! If this isn't the author, who or what else could it be?", Kel asked.
"Tell me, Kel! After you arrived, I told you about a demon, the demon king! The being that was supposed to be slumbering inside you and awoke in my old home! Have you ever noticed anything of him in you?"
"Well... no. You said yourself that the more I distance myself from hate, the better it will be for me. And the Plot Armor should seal it forever!"
So it was true! No matter how much better Kel felt in this world, Epoliktzus would have been noticable... if he were part of Kel in this world at all.
"That's the last piece of the puzzle! The picture is coming together! We have a false author, mortal but not alive, someone who fears us! And on top of that, no one can find the Demon King? It's him! The "author" who guided us all is not an author, but the opposite! This "author" is noone else but Epoliktzus, the Demon King!"
What followed was not a response from any Pokemon present. Instead, it was an attack! A red-hot ball of energy, which Epsilon simply smashed with her blade! Source of the attack was an outline, black as the night and almost invisible in it, were it not floating directly in front of the light of the moon. In both of his hands he held long swords, one alike.
"Shut up! You've talked enough!"
"I think so too. Because now they all understand the truth! I expected you to show up here, wanting to watch us die!"
The outline briefly cast its gaze over all the others present, all eyes on him, for a moment of silence. Until the leader of the warriors broke it.
"So you lied to us, you bastard? You gave us the order to start this war only to stab us in the back?"
There was no point in hiding his true face anymore, the king realized this. The darkness of the outline slowly turned to the blood red of the blood god and two piercing, red eyes revealed themselves.
"You do not need to blame me for starting this war! I have been here since Epsilon is as well! Everything before that was the first author! But then, due to this Zoroark, I also came into this world, in a moment of the unexpected, and took on this role myself, sealing away the one who started it all! The author prepared a war as a test of his world, and I just wanted to use this war for my own ends!"
"Me? I have nothing to do with it!"
"Nothing to do with it? Shut up! It's your fault! Everything! Without you, I would have been victorious long ago! Without you, the world would be mine! If only you had just given up after you failed! But no, you had to cling to hope that didn't exist, you had to bring back the Plot Warrior, resurrect the dirty Arcanine... all just to take my deserved victory away from me!"
"How... how do you know all this? You remember? But I should..."
"It's none of your business! I should have killed you when I first saw you in this world! But this time things will be different! You won't be able to best me once more!"
The god cast another glance over all the Mon.
"But not here and now! Very well! If you want to fight, then so be it! I will wait at the Mind of the World! Where I belong! Because I am the new author! I have the power to shape this world! And should you actually dare to confront me, then you will learn what divinity truly means!"
In a rain of blood, the outline disappeared, leaving behind all the Pokemon who could hardly believe their eyes and ears. Only Epsilon remained somewhat composed.
"So? Is anyone still against an alliance now? You all see that this monster must not be allowed to exist any longer and you all see that we will need a lot of strength to do so!"
Grimmsnarl carefully lowered his torch a little, obviously still not quite sure.
"Squad B! Get out! Briefing!"
Pokemon jumped out of the trees behind the emperors, all armed. Among them even some that Epsilon recognized.
"Ha, what a surprise! I was expecting an ambush, but what the fuck are you two doing here?"
The Pokemon addressed, Zeraora and Tyrantrum, both looked briefly at the Zoroark before the leader of Team Slash answered.
"Did you think we would just let you betray us like that? We set out because we both suspected where you would all turn up, and Grimmsnarl accepted our help after recieving your letter! And now you're suddenly trying to make peace?"
"You saw why!"
"But I'm not joining! I refuse to work with that Mon!"
Not even the sight of a demonic god had convinced Aurora that the enmity was secondary? Even Grimmsnarl, who had less morals than most, seemed surprised.
"You're not ready to cooperate? I would be quite willing to lower the weapons for an enemy like Epoliktzus!"
"I don't give a damn! You're the Pokemon that killed our father! Epsilon, how can you even consider joining forces with him? He's our ENEMY!"
"That's all? The same old, shitty story?"
"That's all? Do you even know what you've done?!"
"I do better than you, Mon! All right! Squad C, come out too, there will be no more fighting here today!"
Well, if there had really been a fight, this would have been an actual surprise. Another ambush, again from the same trees!
"So then… Aurora was your name? You don't know what happened! The author, apparently still him at the time, ordered me to attack you that night! But what he didn't order us to do was blind murder! Warriors like us prevail and surpress but blind murder seems to be your thing!"
A voice sounded behind the emperors.
"It was all planned. We all worked together, believing in the word of our creator."
When Epsilon turned to the Pokemon that had spoken these words, she was speechless. The last Pokemon of "Squad C" was a Ninetales, jumping down from the tree. And Aurora was even more shook.
"But… Dad?"
Hail approached his daughter and son somewhat hesitantly, knowing what his disappearance had caused.
"As he lives and breathes... it's been a while, hasn't it?"
"A while, you say? Of course it has been! Because we all thought you were dead! What the hell is this? How are you here? What's all this about?", Epsilon questioned.
"I know the whole situation doesn't make sense to you, but... I was just following orders! The whole attack back then... was staged. The author gave Grimmsnarl and me orders and... how could we refuse the author's very word? We couldn't have!"
"Yes! When it comes to something like that, yes! You... you left our family behind! Made us believe you were dead for years!"
"I'm well aware of that! But is that all you have to think about now? If you start like that, I might as well ask you why you actually came here! Don't think I didn't hear about the things that happened in Berelo!"
Epsilon wasn't really hurt by these words, but noticed that it was different for her two children. They too had taken a path that was dark for outsiders! And at the same time, Zoroark lost interest in talking about it.
"If you want to argue, I'm usually always open to that. But now we should deal with more important things!"
"I agree! So then, Aurora, do you still believe that cooperation is impossible?", Grimmsnarl confronted the emperor's leader.
Torn between all the new feelings, the Ninetales needed a moment to react.
"I... well... no, of course not!"
"Well then we can start planning the battle!"
Delighted, Epsilon swung around and rammed her blade into the ground, briefly sending the clouds of rainbow into the air.
"Now we speak the same language! So, we want to fight a god! For that we need as many Mon as possible!"
"If that's how you think it is, good for you. But this village will not send any warriors!"
Oh, the change of heart came that quickly? A fight against Epoliktzus had to be fought, of course, but that did not mean that the great Grimmsnarl wanted to get involved himself! But he himself saw the resentment in Epsilon's eyes.
"No warriors, Zoroark! There's no point in traveling across continents with my people for a fight in a confined space! I'll come with you myself!"
"And I hope you don't count me as one of your warriors. Otherwise I'll have to break your order! I'll come with you too!", Hail jumped in.
"Of course you count as one of my warriors after all these years! But I can hardly stop you, can I?"
There were two other Pokemon who looked at the situation questioningly before a decision seemed to be made.
"Tyrantrum and I will be coming as well! This is too important!"
Epsilon immediately answered for all the emperors.
"Well then all works out! Of course, all of us are coming!"
What she hadn't expected, however, was an objection.
"Well, maybe you emperors! But I don't feel like walking all the damn way back again! I'll leave that to you!"
Aurorus...
"Excuse me? Thewalkis what's stopping you from joining us now? We need a supporter!"
While the Arcanine complained, Epsilon had a better idea.
"Let him be, Kel. Nobody can force him to come with us. Besides, he's right in some ways. Just think about what we'll experience there. The whole thing will be way too chaotic! And think about all the destruction that will take place! It will be insanely dangerous after all!"
Epsilon listed all these reasons under the pretext of justifying Aurorus to Kel. But she knew the fossil too well. The actual meaning of her words was something completely different.
"Well... on second thought. You're absolutely right, Kel, you really need me. Guess I'll join you again!"
"Yes, exactly. It's because we really need him. He heard chaos and destruction, that's why he wants to come!"
Aurora whispered to her partner so that Aurorus didn't hear her. Although he wouldn't care anyways.
"Now guess why I said that."
Epsilon jumped in before raising her voice again.
"Well then... when we've got that sorted out, we'll leave. Those who travel will forge the battle plan on the way!"
"And those who stay here will guard the village! You know the routine! And if I don't return within two weeks, you will all find a successor, since I haven't appointed anyone yet! But I expect to return within ten days! To a village full of order!"