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.

57. Chapter 57 : Awaiting the World Mother

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 57 : Awaiting the World Mother

The charred mangled corpse of whatever had come through with Thomas and the others remained there in the large field of scattered props from the twisted copy of Karen's Vault. Rayquaza was picking herself up, only to look on in horror as another large rift opened up and another of the beasts came through trying to follow them.

Much like with the first one though, the legendary pokemon were not giving it an inch. Although much larger then the previous one and Thomas thought a different color, it was hard to tell. A flurry of multi-colored attacks, explosive blasts, steam, smoke, and dust hid the beast's demise under the unrestrained assault.

Xent was on auto-pilot now, rushing towards Verna. He pulled out the new pokeball that Verna had, but in Dahlia's name. He was thankful that he still had it, having slipped it into his pockets after the talk with Hurk. Calling back Verna back and then rushing to try and go after Dahlia.

Latios rushed down and quickly tried to check in, but with all the chaos going on even more things began to get a bit worse. Helicopters were attempted to approach the crater that was the prison, but the crystals of the prison were still in effect if unsteady. Two of the incoming helicopters went down suddenly, the random shifts in their flight paths and spirals easily showed the massive technical failures that they were suffering from.

There was an attempt to save them, but Lugia only managed to grab one while the other crashed down hard near by immediately going up in flames. Doing what they could in the circumstances, the other legendary pokemon with flying capabilities were forced to try and keep anyone else away. Thomas immediately tried to wake up Radara again, but there wasn't anything he could do with her out cold, and without Radara there with him, he couldn't concentrate proper, starting to panic a bit more himself.

-x-

Day turned to night, and then back to day again, and all of Japan was in state worry and confusion. The legendary pokemon who were able or didn't sleep at all remained active, trying to contain the mess but there was a great growing concern. All attacks against the prison had stopped, the place was quite aside from the occasional group trying to figure out what was going on and all of these groups were easily stopped by the legendary pokemon on guard duty. There were no signs of possession against them either, just a growing eerie quiet as the imprisoned evil that was contained within the ruins of Pokelantis never showed itself. With the place buried so deep and fractured from whatever had happened, there was no easy to even check on the container either.

Almost every Regirock, Regice, and Registeel in Japan was now in the ruined city, attempting to clear away rubble. As morning turned to midday, Palkai opened a massive portal in the middle of the city larger then any other before. Palkia flew through the portal as it kept growing. The portal finally stopped growing when it was larger then a house and something else came though.

Regigigas was awakened and moving, brought directly into the middle of the city and with the assistance of all the Regigolems, began to dig up the core of the city. With Regigigas leading the charge now, the group of them easily burrowed into the prison chamber. Radara was far from recovered, Dahlia was nowhere to be found, and Thomas was still out of it.

Thomas didn't have the luxury of trying to take it easy however, attempting to wield the Guardian Aegis whether he was ready or not. Even if he couldn't wield it as a weapon right now, its power to free the minds of those possessed made it invaluable to them right now. It didn't take long for Regigigas to open up a passage to the prison chamber, where Darkrai, Entei, Latios, and Thomas were guided down the passage by a collection of regigolems.

As soon as they entered the chamber, it was far worse then any of them could have hoped. The security room overlooking the containment chamber was practically in three pieces, barely left standing. The entire space was fractured and cracked, stone and crystal plates detailing what they knew of the evil and what it could do were shattered in dozens of places and the stairs on both sides were entirely caved in. Even the large crystalline wall that was separating the two chambers was mostly gone showing the extent of the damage below. The containment chamber was left exposed, and pedestal that was holding the crystal that held the evil was a broken mess with dozens of shards of crystal around the remains of the pedestal in the ground.

A Regice hoped down into the chamber, picked up the sphere, and turned around, the dots on its face going nuts. "No... no... this can't be happening..." Thomas stated just staring on in horror at the empty container.

~xXx~

Around half of the Regigolems and Regigigas would end up remaining in the ruins of Pokelantis along with Latios and a few of the more aura sensitive lucarios who had been invited urgently to try and find traces of the evil. There was another small panic trying to find Xent, Verna, and Dahlia before word arrived from Alto Mare. Dahlia had rushed out of the protected zone with Xent and Verna to teleport them back to Alto Mare for the sake of getting Verna to a trusted pokemon center.

Rushing back themselves now, Alto Mare was flooded with people wanting to know what was going on. Already Latias was trying to explain things to leading figures of the churches, hoping that could help prepare some kind of speech to explain what was going on. As soon as Thomas and the others arrived, they were immediately beset by the other legendary pokemon wanting to know what had happened, a collective silence spreading among them as Thomas just held up the empty container.

As soon as Arceus finished her awakening, she could take a more direct role but waiting the day or two until it was safe for her to finish would only cause more problems right now. They needed to act sooner rather then later to do something but none of them could agree on what to do, each have differing ideas on how to try and attempt to handle the situation. The longer that things went with an detailed explanation, the worse that they knew it could get.

Hoping that they would have had more time to become more well known among the people, deciding what message to tell the masses much less with what wording without causing a panic only complicated things as they still had to wait for The World Mother to deliver it though.

As the discussions broke out, Thomas left with Radara who was still out of it. Upon closer examination, Radara had suffered several more injuries then it looked like at first. Her subconscious use of the move Recover had kept her in one piece, but there were still signs of a few cracked bones and a concussion at the very least. A check up on Thomas himself revealed a few broken ribs, and signs of several bruises suggesting other lesser injuries, but nothing that he had truly noticed. Much like Radara, he too has been subconsciously using Recover, but boosted by the effects of the Guardian Aegis allowing him to just power through and ignore the non lethal injuries.

Thomas set her down in the under chambers to rest away from the others to let her heal in peace for the moment. As he returned to the garden though, Xent rushed up. He went to say something as Thomas slowly looked up to him, and then instantly went quiet for a moment. "I don't need to be a psychic to read that face... its out." Xent stated, it clear that he had his hands full here even after getting dragged back to Alto Mare and had been hoping for good news.

"There's no signs of it at all in Pokelantis." Thomas stated slowly, looking to him. "Where's Dahlia..."

-x-

Xent rushed Thomas out of the gardens and carefully around the crowds in the city. Along the way, he explained things as best he could, but it was clear that he had no idea how to even try to help right now. There was no hiding had happened and it was all over the news all over Japan. No one had answers, there was talk of some kind of terrorist attack or some other attack in general, and the explosive debris had been scattered over a notable chunk of Kanto.

With injuries in the tens of thousands and a hundred or so deaths reported so far, and only short answers while the legendary pokemon tried to figure out what tell them, people were worried about what was happening. Trying to demand some kind of answer from the legendary pokemon who were slowly becoming the center of Japanese culture again, they were left with short answers saying that a proper explanation would be coming soon.

On the outskirts of the city was an older pokemon center. Aside from the usual giant P logo, there was no signs that the building was pokemon center at all. While it was equipped with a full assortment of modern medical equipment, it's primary form of care were older more traditional methods of healing and care, which was no doubt why Dahlia had picked the place.

A nurse readily recognized Xent and Thomas, guiding them into the back where Verna was still being cared for. The deep wound that Dahlia had given her by mistake was currently infected with something, but the doctors had no idea what. It seemed entirely isolated to the wound location but had grown at a rate they had never seen before leaving them very confused.

Xent's story of what had happened was something that they had trouble believing understandably. Xent had no idea what else he could say to help them, and neither did Thomas. Suicune was supposed to be back in the gardens looking for something to help them out, but until then there wasn't much else that they could do.

For now though, Verna as under careful observations and sedated still from all the panic she had been through. Thomas reassured the doctors that Xent's story was true, and asked if they had found any unusual substances on Verna while looking her over. They told him that there might have been a bit of slimy substance found on her, but when Verna didn't stop bleeding, they rushed to clean up the wound in order to try and find out why she was bleeding so badly.

Thomas thanked them for the work they had done and then asked them about Dahlia. Guiding them to the back, Dahlia was in the storage room for the place, needing a place to herself at the moment. She was quivering a little on the ground, knees to her chest. She had removed her Lover's Union Crest however. While it wasn't on her arms, she was holding tightly.

Thomas just looked to Xent slowly, before gently pushing him out of the room. "Go stay with Verna... see how long until they can safely wake her. Dahlia will need to see her as soon as she's awake." Thomas stated.

Xent nodded and quickly left this to Thomas. As Thomas entered the room though, he took off the zip up hoodie he had on and moved over to sit next to Dahlia. Wrapping the hoodie over Dahlia, he gently pulled her onto his side. "Verna should recover quickly. The doctors say the injury might as well have been surgically done, it was so clean that they don't see any issues patching that up." Thomas stated, just gently holding Dahlia.

"I... I stabbed her... I stabbed Verna..." Dahlia stated a bit shaky.

"You were afraid. You couldn't rely on your mind, you had to rely your eyes. And what you saw was Xent and Verna in trouble. All you could feel was fear, its okay. Mistakes happen, we never could have predicted that something from the other side would have been used to do this." Thomas said slowly, gently pressing his head to her's now, trying to share his mind and concentration with hers. Dahlia didn't respond, just letting Thomas's mind try to reach out to hers.

"We armed ourselves for war here, we... we never could have thought to prepare for an trip to that side. The toll it takes on us specifically, of what it does to us. No one will blame you for what happened, we were all panicking and we did what we thought was best." Thomas said, holding Dahlia carefully as he could feel his mind properly reaching to hers.

"Relax. Let the chill calm you. This is real, this our world. This is a gentle chill, cold air, a calm place. This is our world, its all real, none of it is just in our heads. Let's it pulse calm you, reach out, feel the world around us." Thomas continued, letting Dahlia feel the world through him, and little by little, he could feel the panic in Dahlia's mind begin to slow as her mind regained control of herself.

"I can... feel your pain. Its growing in you? What... happened?" Dahlia asked slowly.

"Without the Guardian Aegis, I'm feeling the injuries I took while we were over there, on the other side." Thomas replied, starting to feel the injuries he had substained at last. While already a little uncomfortable, it was far from worse then the pain of a shattered mind, of the work it took just to try and keep sane and connected to Radara on the other side.

"It will get worse, but its nothing I can't handle. Don't worry about my pain, right now this is about helping you." Thomas said, still holding her close.

Several hours passed, and finally Verna was woken back up after another surgery. Unable to truly stop this odd infection, this almost mold like residue in the wound, the doctors carefully cut it out. Once they did, the medicines they had were starting to show an effect and aside from the scar that the surgery would give her, Verna would come out healthy.

Dahlia rushed to her side once she was up and profusely apologized dozens of time, Verna trying to calm her down. With Dahlia now slowly calming down and Xent's presence alone was helping now, Thomas returned back to the gardens to help however he could, but it was easy to see that his own experiences had taken a toll too.

~xXx~

Another day had passed, with no sign of the evil that was locked up within the prison underneath Pokelantis. All of Japan was still in a state of shock and concern, on edge but with news reports attempting to explain things coming out of Alto Mare, there was some semblance of guidance being provided as the leaders of various nations on Japan were all planning trips to Alto Mare to attempt to speak to the legendary pokemon about what was happening. It would still be another day before Arcues has completed her awaking and would be in control of herself, but until then this left Latias and a few others in charge of trying to contain things.

The crater of Pokelantis was fully isolated now by various government groups at a distance while the legendary pokemon continued to dig through the ruins. Trying to find out what had happened, what had caused the collapse of the barrier between the world and the distortion, they knew that had to try and do something to prevent it from happening again. With so many of the legendary pokemon gathered in one place outside of a well protected city however, there was some trouble but nothing that they couldn't handle with the aid of the Aura Guardians and Arceus Division there to assist them directly.

The occasional tear back to the distortion was still opening up over the ruins and to help deter any more trouble, it was very publicly stated that no rescue attempts would be mounted for anyone other then Aura Guardians or Arceus Division. This statement alone began to deter most of the trouble makers, but not all of them. With all the help they were receiving though, once more there was no calling to be answered, and yet Thomas and Radara still had a growing feeling of unease in the back of their minds. They were however unable to investigate and help out at the moment with their current condition, and had been forced to remain in Alto Mare.

Thomas, Radara, Verna, and Dahlia were all sitting down in a cozy little corner on the edges of the secret garden. Still effected by echoes of what they felt while in the distortion, of how it messed so heavily with their minds, they were all made to take it easy right now. A strong specialty tea brewed to try and help them relax and more importantly get their mental senses back to normal, this break wasn't a request but a requirement for them right now. There was no arguing that the brief trip to the distortion had taken a toll on all of them.

Rebecca and Zai were out trying to help the others right now, giving them a little space while trying to find something to help them. At Sarah's side doing some shopping, they wanted to help a bit more then just sitting around for a few days. Replacing some of the things that they had lost, trying to find some good food to warm them up again, and even just looking for something to help cheer them up, it wasn't easy on anyone right now.

Xent was sitting in the gardens with the others, watching the news on his pokedex before almost throwing it down in disgust. The others were around him sitting mostly in silence while just recovering, no one really wanting to talk just yet mostly because no one knew what to say.

'Xent... please don't break things.' Verna asked softly, sitting with Dahlia, the two leaning into each other and holding tightly onto the other right now. Not in her normal gown that gardevoirs had, Verna was wearing something else at the moment, a large shirt and sweat pants. Part of her shirt was rolled up carefully showing the large bandage she had on her stomach where Dahlia had stabbed her on accident and Xent once again felt bad that he was partially responsible, that maybe he could have done more to help. Taking a few deep breathes, he carefully set his pokedex on the table as he saw someone coming up to the table.

"Latios... I need something to record things clearly, no matter how much interference is going on around me..." Xent finally stated, leaning back slowly as Latios brought them another tray of tea.

'What are you talking about?' Latios asked rather confused now.

"I had three different recording devices on me when … when we tried to stop that thing from getting out. I've been trying to salvage anything off of them and the best I can get is a few words here and there. I just watched a news report where Hurk is getting an award ceremony for saving all those kids at the research center that that bastard troublemaker lopunny led us to and tried to recruit us at again. If I could salvage anything on my recording devices, I could ruin his life. That man cannot be allowed to be called a hero." Xent half snapped, biting his lip a bit to keep just raging out.

"Whatever task Hurk has, it clearly needs him to be trusted by the people." Thomas said sipping at his tea as he recovered.

"I thought you said that thing doesn't like to lie... so why elevate Hurk to such a high standing?" Xent grumbled.

"It doesn't... Those possessed by it or helping it, well we can't say for certain that's just as true. Any messages they pass on will be true though. That's why Darkrai was so eager to go check up on that farm that Hurk mentioned." Dahlia said softly.

"Eitherway, letting Hurk get his hero's award seems like a kick in the teeth right now. The next time we meet, I want something to show the world who he really is, and hearing him go on about threatening an orphanage and world domination seems like a good way to discredit him. So I'm going to repeat myself here... Latios, I need anything that you can make me to record things cleanly and clearly in any environment... please." Xent stated.

'Xent, you need to take it easy.' Verna pleaded a little now.

"I'm not sitting on my ass doing nothing while that thing is out. I may be down an arm, and so right now, I'm only as good as the tools I'm using. As a mere mortal without the fancy aura or psychic abilities of some other humans, I need a proper tool kit to go head to head with some others. So, unless you got some kind of suit of armor to give me robotic super powers hidden away somewhere, I need some new custom gear." Xent grumbled, leaving Radara to just shake her head.

'No Xent, Latios and Latias do not have some kind of anime armor to help you punch evil in the face.' Radara sighed.

"Oh ha ha... I'm not talking about some kind of science fiction techo-armor, I'm talking about something more reliable. Those plates we passed around town for the race, that level of technology can modified right? Surely you can repurpose a few of those to record information right, even in places around the temples and their interference? Or... maybe some glasses that would be see through illusions and walls connected to them? Look, I can't fight like this right now, not in any way worth it, but I can still do other things. Give me the tools to play to what strengths I have left and let me have a chance at doing something." Xent almost begged.

'Xent, we are not turning you into Adam Jenson.' Verna sighed loudly.

"I'm not turning into Adam Jensen because unlike him I am asking for this, literally!" Xent stated, knowing that while it wasn't a possibly, the idea of what all he could do if he had all that equipment certainly wasn't lost on him.

"Xent, we are not turning you into a super sized cyborg security officer capable of single handled taking on an army of robots to save the world" Dahlia shook head, even rubbing her head in annoyance over the drastic decision that Xent was trying to make.

"Adam was normal sized if I recall right." Xent countered quickly.

As Suicune and Rebecca came up with a few bags, they were left just as confused as Thomas and Radara over what was going on. "Who... is Adam Jenson?" Thomas asked.

"A perfect example of how a good man in the right place can save the world when given the right tools. And probably a better role model." Xent stated.

"I... am not sure I understand who this Adam is though." Suicune asked again for Thomas, no less confused with Xent's answer.

'The hero of the game Deus Ex, Human Revolution. Without spoiling the game, the game deals with upgrading the human race with machine parts and you play as Adam. There's a lot of political drama and sides going on about how legal and moral upgrading humans are, and the game starts with the place where Adam works getting attacked and he gets turned into the one of the best augmented humans in the game, and most powerful over time. He never wanted it, but he does everything he can make the world a better place, and saves it from all sorts of trouble whether people are happy with him, or even hate him for being augmented.' Verna explained.

"The game gives you dozens of options for completion, with all sorts of ways to figure things out. Even the combat can be tailored for each player, and one of the hardest and most rewarding challenges in the game is the no kill run, where you don't use any form of lethal force at all, despite the fact that Adam can literately rip most of other people in the game in half, even other augs, with just his own body." Dahlia added.

'And... Xent is asking to become this machine man thing? This aug?' Radara asked in confusion.

"Well, I don't see that level of technology as a legit option right now, but let me tell you if I had even a portion of what all you two tell me that Jenson has, Hurk wouldn't be an issue right now." Xent stated.

[Are you talking about Deus Ex again?] Zai's voice sounded as she came walking up with a large pair of bags. Behind her was Sarah and Rebecca, both also with some bags. Radara quickly translated for Xent as Verna and Dahlia just looked down in a bit of annoyance. 'Unless you've got some armory with all of that fancy technogimzo weaponry laying around, can we just ignore the games for a little while? I've got rope, some new knifes, fancy ones that hide away as kubotans, some new stun guns, and a wild life taser. I'd have gotten some more, but Sarah wasn't going to let me get more then a small bag.' Zai stated, this translating fully for Xent.

Everyone looked over as they came up, Sarah just shaking her a head little bit. "I figured after … what all you told me happened on the other side, having some replacements or spares might not be a bad idea. If this thing did it once, then who knows if it can do it again..." Sarah said softly.

"Thanks... Not sure it will help on the other side if that happens again, but at least I know I have a few uses for these already." Xent stated, giving a nod to both Sarah and Zai, even reaching up to give Zai a some gentle pats on her head before rubbing her ears lightly.

Rebecca just eagerly moved up with a bag herself, setting out several large containers on the table. 'Enough games, no more arguing! This is supposed to be a chance to sit down, take it slow and relax. And now its time to eat, I got all sorts of things for all of us to try. And I was even allowed to bake a few cakes, but you only get them if you stop arguing and calm down.' Rebecca stated.

-x-

As the afternoon went on, Zai had to be given something else to do, Suicune encouraging Xent to some private time with Zai on a date. Having missed out on the disaster that taken place in the Distortion and forced to just kind of sit there doing nothing while who knows what all was happening around her, Zai was very irate about things. Willing to almost pick a fight with Verna and Dahlia about video games wasn't a good way to spend the day relaxing, so Suicune had gotten them a bottle of her favorite wine to share while sending them to another part of the garden.

This left the others to finally relax in peace. Rebecca had gotten them plenty of meals for the day, some she even made herself assisting some of the other major chefs of Alto Mare while she was out. Xent and Zai still got their own portions, but Rebecca was happy to explain that she had been lessons from various chefs around Alto Mare. She still gave Thomas a small earful about him running off and leaving her behind.

Thomas just held her close for the rest of the day, and spent the night under the stars with her as well while Dahlia and Verna returned to the Lunar Blessing for the night. The tea was having some effect and they were all doing a bit better by morning, with Thomas and Radara's connection fully restored and both of them were confident with themselves again, no more risk of panic or isolation in their minds.

Dahlia however still was having some trouble still, and as morning rolled around, she had come to a decision. As everyone was walking up from the long night, Dahlia and Verna were heading down the under chambers of the garden, Dahlia carrying Gali's halberd in hand. "What are you doing with Gali's halberd wrapped up like that? We're not under attack or anything." Xent asked as he walked up, seeing hold carefully Dahlia was holding the halberd, and yet almost seemed a bit worried with it.

"No... no we're safe here still. I just... can't trust myself with this anymore." Dahlia stated slowly, still walking towards the under chambers.

"Dahlia..." Xent stated softly as he looked to her, fully understanding her concerns, her fears, and what all it had done to both herself and Verna. While Verna was recovering, Dahlia's mental stability had taken a hard blow and was in question, something that likely was going to take a long while to improve. The loss of her brother Argyle, the torture in the custody of the knights, and now her own self torture for a mistake, he understood her need to change, to find someway to retain some level of control. "Want a few of my stunguns? Figured it couldn't hurt, got plenty of spares now." He offered, knowing that he had collected a large supply of them in plenty of different models. Some were small and even shaped like knuckles, and others were batons of various lengths, so he had options to give her if she wanted them. He knew that they wouldn't compare to weapons she was use, but they meant to be non-lethal first, and nothing was stopping her from making them lethal if needed.

"Thanks Xent, but I'm going to need something better. I'll need one of the weapons of my brothers or sisters, something made of the blessed metals that were given to us. I will need to be something that I can channel what little god essence I have left to be at my best." Dahlia explained, as Thomas moved up, having heard part of the conversation.

"Mew has a collection of our weapons still. Maybe there's something there that you can use, if you don't want Cedo's Tonfa. I will make do with the blades Latias and Latios have loaned me." Thomas offered.

"Huh... what about Mr. Spanky? Definitely more of a stunning weapon, but can still strike hard if you twist the paddle long ways to hit." He suggested.

"If Mew surrenders it... Spanky could be useful. Gali's Halberd is just a weapon when it comes to combat. As a symbol, its great and easily identifiable but as a tool for combat, its only designed to kill in many ways. It is, and always been lethal. I'm lucky that I didn't do more harm to Verna when I landed on her trying to kill that prop. Spanky was meant more as a status symbol, its... Its far less naturally lethal. I should be able to easily hurt others with it when I'm trying to restrain myself and only hurt who I intend to." Dahlia stated, Verna holding her a bit more.

'I'm fine, I'll live okay. Please, stop blaming yourself, it was that place. Falling through, I couldn't tell what was happening, there was just fear in my mind and you felt it all trying to reach out to me. You did what you thought was best.' Verna tried to reassure here.

"I still could have killed you... No, no I need to show more restraint if another accident happens. I need a weapon that gives me more control. I can kill easily on my own when I have to, I just felt better with the halberd at first. Any of the weapons of my brothers and sisters will let me channel what essence I have left just as well, I'll choose one that lets me have better control, and isn't so lethal." Dahlia stated.

"Dahlia... you cannot keep blaming yourself. That place... its murder to you specifically, all of your personal brothers and sisters have a unique mental bond that shatters in that place." Suicune said as she came up, her belly now much smaller and moving far more easily.

Everyone was quickly to notice when they looked at her, Dahlia quickly setting the halberd down on a stone bench and then moving to get a better look. Xent even did a quick double take just to make sure as Dahlia moved up. "You've finally laid them? Your next lives... the cycle continues as it should... twenty nine days and they should hatch..." Dahlia stated.

"Everything went fine right. They're tucked away and nice safe, no problems?" Xent asked.

"They are all fi-" Suicune went to answer, only for her eyes to light up a bit in a small sudden bright flame of light. Dahlai's and Thomas did the same, all turning towards the north and a little east. Even Xent and Verna swore that they felt something that they couldn't explain, like something had happened, a strange feeling in the back of their minds. Before Xent could ask about it however, Suicune spoke again. "Mother has finished her awakening in this life time." Suicune stated, all of them turning towards the middle of the garden and moving to wait.

It didn't take long before another portal opened, and Arceus moved into the garden. A bright golden light shined through the garden for a moment, only to fade away leaving just a golden glow on the rings around her waist. "Have we found it?" A gentle yet powerful voice asked through the room.

"We have not heard any sign of it more then what its messenger has given us." Thomas said, coming up slowly and at once, Arceus knelt down before him, worried as she could see the traces of distortion over him.

"Oh my child... what has transpired, why does the distortion linger on you?" Arceus asked extremely worried as the others all slowly gathered around Arceus. Even the legendary pokemon in the under chambers were coming up, Latias and Latios flying up quickly, both giving Arceus a hug.

'Oh, how I had wished that your awakening would have been a celebration among us.' Latias whined, slowly letting go of Arceus as others began to gather around.

As Arceus's eyes looked over the group, seeing how many of them had crossed over, her eyes eventually fell to Xent and immediately noticed his lack of an arm. Instantly, he was pulled forward. "Oh young Xent, what has happened you inside that horrid place. Why were you there, humans were never meant to be on that side."

Xent stuttered a bit as he was grabbed and pulled back into Arceus's grip once more, looking down a bit. "I-I fine..." He stated, only stuttering and missing a word this time rather then having a full mental breakdown like last time almost two years ago.

"Xent actually lost his arm before then. Almost two weeks ago, we tried to talk with one of the higher ranking knights who had come here to Alto Mare. It was Xent's sister Coria, a future king of their order. Xent lost his arm... protecting my life." Thomas admitted, moving up and putting a thankful hand on Xent's shoulder.

"Coria has the genes that give her psychic powers. We had only wanted to talk and tried to bring her to see Latias and Latios, but when I revealed myself to talk, she choose violence. We did what we could to defend ourselves and capture her unharmed, but we were unprepared for how skilled she was. I was distracted and Coria lunged, Xent got us between fast enough to save my life, but at the cost of his arm." Thomas continued.

"W-was n-nothing to s-sa-ave Wonderb-boy." Xent managed to stutter out.

"Please... please stop calling me that..." Thomas grumbled, pulling his hand back.

"Xent... why do you call my son Wonderboy?" Arceus asked looking back to Xent seeing how much it bothered Thomas.

"A-acts l-like a re-luctant h-hero... h-has s-superpowers... k-kids would love him th-these days." Xent stuttered while laughing somewhat.

Thomas just grumbled and started to walk away, but a small mental force slowed him, telling him gently to stay.

"Please do not call my son that. He is not to be advertised as some silly hero. He does not save the world for glory or to be worshiped. He does it because it right, because this is world is his to care for with the rest of our family. He is no hero, merely a speaker for the word we would teach." Arceus stated slowly, before looking over all of them. "Who here was on the other side. I want to help them now that I am able." She added, Thomas slowly turning.

"I will go get Radara, she is resting still. The Guardian Aegis helped protect me during my time there, but she did not have it to aid her." Thomas stated, going wake up Radara if Arceus's arrival didn't wake her already.

As Thomas stepped aside though, Verna almost dragged Dahlia up, looking to Arceus. Although power radiated from her, Verna could only feel its warmth as she looked up to Arceus. 'Please help Dahlia next, after you help Xent.' Verna asked, Xent feeling a warmth flow through him now for a moment, and he felt better, more grounded in a sense.

As soon as he felt that he could move on his own, he quickly shied away. Arceus didn't just help Dahlia though, pulling both Dahlia and Verna close. As a feeling of warmth spread through them both, Arceus noticed the wound on Verna's stomach as well. "What has happened to you?" Arceus asked, only for Dahlia to quickly look down almost in defeat.

Feeling the despair from Dahlia, Arceus gently peaked into Dahlia's mind to find out what happened directly. "Dahlia, hold Verna. I shall share with her Dominion, so that you may both heal your wounds." Arceus stated, Dahlia quickly looking up to Arceus and nodding with a small smile. Verna let Dahlia gently hold her now, Dahlia pulling Verna in close and then as the golden ring around Arceus to glow, both Verna and Dahlia began to give off a light as well.

While Dahlia was use to the feeling, her full potential of her current life released for just a moment, for Verna it was something else. A powerful warm spread through her body, and then she could feel power. Every bit of her own potential was unlocked, she was at her most powerful for just a moment, and then there was a small feeling of something guiding her from within. She used recover like Dahlia was, but at her full potential it was significantly stronger and she could feel the wound from where a bit of tissue had to be medically removed growing back.

A minute later, Arceus released them from the power of Dominion. In a bit of shock, Verna quickly reached down towards the bandage on her stomach. She winced a little, it being very tender right now, but there wasn't any kind of whole there. Carefully pulling the bandage up to look under it, the stitches that were holding it closed were now over a patch of freshly regrown flesh. 'Its... its healed?' Verna gasped out.

"Only to the point of no longer being an open wound." Dahlia stated softly, still holding onto Verna but now giving her a very firm and much needed hug.

Xent quickly looked up, and could see Verna's wound. He slowly came up and inspected it himself some, Verna smiling a bit, even if she bit her lip when Xent carefully inspected it. Looking back carefully towards Arceus, he gave a small bow. "T-thank you... fo-or helping V-Verna." He stated, Arceus giving her small smile.

"Thank you as well, for saving my son." She said, before turning to help Thomas and Radara who were approaching. Much like Arceus had done for Dahlia and Verna, Arceus gave them the power of Dominion for a limited time as well, allowing them to heal their wounds a fair bit as well. As Rayquaza approached now, covered in her own bandages, Arceus could only give her a worried look.

"I will be fine mother... The horrors of a wedding dress of flesh scarred me far more then some fighting. What kind of vile twisted sense of humor does that place have to make such an abomination." Rayquaza whined some, even giving another small shudder. Among the props was a dress, its gown nearly twenty feet long and it had fallen right near Rayquaza once they had returned to the world proper. Lugia had tried to give it to Rayquaza to cheer her up and thank her for trying to help Thomas on the other side, but as it was handed to Rayquaza and she inspected it, Rayquaza had thrown it down in disgust realizing that it was meal of a white fleshy material.

The memory of event was still at the front of Rayquaza's mind and easy for Arceus to see, Arceus easily understanding how that could affect Rayqauza. Having one of her favorite things twisted and turned into something disgusting and feear inducing wasn't pleasant for anyone, and topped with what all she had gone through in the distortion prior, Arceus didn't feel the need to see more then what little she had seen already.

Helping to give a sense and feeling of normality back to Rayquaza, but unable to help her heal like she had down with Thomas, Radara, Dahlia, and Verna who could use recover, Rayquaza would have take a while to recover physically. Arceus still didn't like watching her children in pain though, and did what she could right now.

"The lot of you rest. Allow my power time to restore you fully to this world." She told them, before turning to the others.

With that done though, Latias and Latios began to fill Arceus in on what had happened, even pulling out the empty container that it had once been stored in. As the others all explained that they could about what had happened, this left Thomas and others to return to their quite corner for the moment.

~xXx~

Less than an hour after Arcues had arrived in Alto Mare, and she did what she could for Thomas and the group, she was off to take direct action. A special meeting was called for the various leaders of Japan already present in Alto Mare to help explain things. Sarah walked back around the hurriedly constructed stage having finished Arceus's introduction to help ease those present into seeing Arceus for the first time. While she wasn't there to help with whatever had happened Kanto, having found her own new confidence since making sure her father had left Alto Mare she realized that there was so much she could do now.

Taking on the role of speaker to some degree using all of her years as a coordinator and the showmanship that went it to, it was easy to speak before large crowds now. She had personally introduced Arceus to a group of leaders and rulers of various leaders of Japan to speak about what had happened in the Kanto Region, and of what the consequences relating to happened would be. The highest ranking priests among the legendaries were all gathered there as well to try and help explain things, but there was no way of knowing how the world would take this.

Two years compared to what should have been hundreds just wasn't enough time to prepare for everything and whatever had attacked from the distortion only further complicated matters. Sarah was left wondering what all she could to help more as she walked back off the stage letting Arceus take over now, before someone came up. Looking up, she recognized the person in full, but had some trouble with the name.

"Excuse me... Sarah was it?" The man asked and Sarah looked up remembering back to the attack in the Lucario Kingdom a few years ago.

"Hello again... I... Sorry, its been a long while, what was your name again?" Sarah asked as the dark skinned man in an aura guardian's outfit walked up, the man taking off his hat.

"Rick. Rick Ravnica. Glad you remember me. Sorry for just walking up like this, I've been assigned secondary duty, extra help if needed here with the lucarios of the Kingdom." Rick stated as he offered his hand, Sarah shaking it. Already she could tell that he was using aura now too.

"Thanks again for the help you gave me back then, when the attack happened. I was just so overwhelmed by everything there, I was worried I was going to get everyone around me hurt if I couldn't keep protecting them." Sarah said with a small smile. "I was... everything was just so much back then, I had no idea what all I could do, how much aura could do back then."

"Its... certainly a lot." Rick replied, seeing how confident and sure of herself Sarah seemed this time. The last time that they had met and interacted proper, Rick was rushing to guide her, point things out to her to help her be aware of her surroundings while she helping defend the temple using aura to block attacks from pokemon.

"I can see that it looks your getting skilled in aura too, doubly so if they just let you wear that outfit. You definitely have an strong aura around you." Sarah said, moving to the side and to a table to take a break, waiting to see if she was still needed for anything later.

"You see my aura that clearly... I guess those gauntlets you had helped a lot. Yeah, I guess I do have some measure of aura, or at least the lucarios keep calling me a prodigy, like I'm supposed to be some kind of super expert with it, or at least have the potential to be some kind of great master anyway. Not so sure myself." Rick stated with a small sigh.

"Confidence in yourself helps. You helped me back then, and once I got the hang of it, it does become a bit easier to work with. Its just getting to those little milestones, those points where things just feel natural that takes a while." Sarah said as Rick sat down with her, offering her a bottle of water.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm not so sure. I was hoping to ask for you help with aura actually." Rick stated, looking over towards where the stage was. What little he could see, much less understand of the aura that Arceus had around her, much less what he could even hope to understand of it. The worry, confusion, and other feelings that he could kind of feel off of the other legendary pokemon who were present right now only gave him great reason to worry.

"My help? I'm... not so sure I can help with that to be honest. I mean, I've been learning beside Rebecca, the lucario who travels with Thomas, but other then that, I've just had a few lessons from Balkor here and there on the rare trips I've taken to the Lucario Kingdom when we checked in on them." Sarah said, thinking about how she might be able to help. "Honestly, Balkor would be a far better teacher wouldn't she? If you're wearing that outfit, then surely you've met her already? She's the one who likes to wear the farm clothing or the leather armor, but very male accented... oh and she's missing her tail and has some scars." Sarah offered.

"I've been training with her twice a month, almost since the attack happened. Its been a very slow road, took me almost two months to even start to feel aura." Rick explained. "They've talked about you a lot, you're one of the faster learners of aura they've seen. They know those aura training gauntlets of your helped, but they can't exactly make any more, its been something lost in their history."

"What... really? I'm sorry, I don't know much more about them. Mew just kind of gave them to me one day. To be honest, they kind of scared me at first. Its all a lot of hard work to use aura though, but once you start getting into it, then it all pays off." Sarah said, holding her hands and summoning a bright blue aura sphere between them. "Keep working at it, and just trust me, you need to be confident in yourself, it really helps. Emotions can also help... or hinder you." Sarah offered.

"I'm... pretty sure they are somewhat, but at the same time they might be helping. Can I ask you a favor though?" Rick asked, looking over to where the meeting was taking place. What little aura of the legendary pokemon present that he could make sense off didn't exactly fill him of confidence to say nothing of how it looked like many of the leaders present were also beginning to get worried themselves now.

"I'm... honestly not sure what I can do to help you?" Sarah admitted.

"I'm hoping that those gauntlets that you had, those aura training gauntlets might help me. Part of my problems with aura is drawing it out. I can sort of make use of aura sight, and I can kind of block things with it, but I'm lucky to even start manifesting an aura sphere and what I can do with aura bones, they are so brittle and deformed..." Rick said, a small shake of his head.

"If you still have them, can I borrow them? I'm hoping that they'll fit me well enough to help me out. I'm told that you only had them for a few days and were already feeling emotions of others with them and it helped you begin aura training faster then almost anyone in the lucario kingdom." Rick explained.

"Even if they don't fit me, Hammah might be able to understand how they were made if she had a pair to look over first." Rick added.

"I guess I can do that. I mean, I haven't used them in a few months now, I've been working a lot try and use aura without them, but I don't know if they can help you or not. If Hammah could make more though, then that could help a lot of other people though. Do you know where Latias and Latios rest here in the city?" Sarah asked.

"I have not been told where they live here in here in Alto Mare, a little bit at my own choice. I'm just here to help a bit right now with the transition of some of the lucarios moving here from the Kingdom. Mana knows about the garden though, she's one of Morag's most trusted lucarios. You can't miss her, she has a major thing for kimonos." Rick stated.

"I remember Mana. If I see Mana in the gardens, I'll give them to her for you, otherwise I'll take them over to the Aura Oasis next time I have a chance. Most of the lucarios and aura guardians are staying there right?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah, I'm staying there. Still feels a little weird staying there, like there's..." Rick started trying to find the words.

"Like someone is trying to extend your sight while in the building? Yeah, Latias and Latios did some work there to help Morag. I don't know if you know this yet, but the giant crystal like roots under the Kingdom, they can help with aura in some ways. Latias and Latios kind of mimicked that effect here in Alto Mare." Sarah explained.

"And I thought I had enough trouble with Luke already..." Rick gave a large sigh, just wondering what other strange things that Latias and Latios could do now hearing that.

"Luke?" Sarah asked a bit confused.

"My younger brother... and most of the reason why I'm asking to borrow those gauntlets. I'm doing all of this for him. The world is changing so fast and I'm not sure I can protect him, much less myself." Rick explained, knowing that how skileld Sarah was, she could no doubt see a lot about him already.

"I'll try to get those to you in the net day or so, after I'm done helping here." Sarah replied.

"Thanks." Rick smiled.

"I'm just glad that I can do something to help right now. And who knows... maybe showing Hammah how to make more of them can help the world right now." Sarah said.