[PKMN OPEN] Pokémon Odyssey: Search For Cresselia (IC)

[Plumbum]

A New Challenger Appears!​

It was quiet in Fort Ferrol for now. Guardia wasn't sure at that moment if that was a good thing or a bad thing. It meant at the very least that the war had not yet reached it. But the place had altered a bit from their first venture here a little over a week ago. Ferrol was occupied by perhaps two hundred villagers, with two dozen Valkarian soldiers also present, as well as a small SEC and Seeker presence. There were also three Gold Tribe members stationed here to help protect: 'Reign' the Seaking, 'Whirlwind' the Fearow, and 'Wraith' the Dusknoir.

Now, refugees from the south have come here for shelter, a sign things weren't doing well in Valkaria. Though Guardia didn't need confirmation of that. Hanso's update did more than clear that up. The problem was that while the refugee and citizen size doubled, the defenders did not. If any sizable army under Darkrai would come through here, Ferrol wouldn't last long. The Gold Tribe leader could only hope selfishly that Darkrai's forces were preoccupied in other locations.

As she sat on top of the watchtower and scanned her eyes across the mountains and forests, she found herself with little to do while the others continued to prepare for the upcoming trip to Anatellia. It wouldn't be long now before they left, but she hated to sit around and do nothing, so scouting was perhaps the best thing for her to occupy her time.

Behind Guardia, the head of a certain blue Floatzel peeked up over the floor before the rest of Kaveri followed it up. A mischievous glint in her eyes, she crept forward and slapped her paws down on the Zangoose's shoulders and leaned forward to whisper in her ear, "'Sup."

Guardia tensed a bit at the surprising grasp on her shoulder and the subsequent whisper. However, the Gold Tribe leader relaxed soon after it was none other than Kaveri. "Just relaxing, scouting. You?"

"Well, keeping you company now," Kaveri said as she leaned back on one of the railings. "You looked bored."

Guardia grinned and nodded her head. "Plenty of room up here."

"You know, that's a good way to lose an eye Kav." A familiar voice piped up shortly before Callimer drew close to the two. Of course if not for Kaveri's distraction any number of things about him would have been noticed by Guardia from miles away. "Next time Guardia might just turn, claws out, and catch ya by accident." The friendly smile proved the Dragonite's jest, although it was a possibility, if an extremely remote one.

"Well, you're not totally wrong, especially with everyone on edge right now," Guardia muttered and looked across Fort Ferrol from the top of the watchtower. "Did you see the new influx of refugees? There must be a hundred new ones!"

Cal looked at the various 'mon who could only have come from areas taken or razed by Darkrai. "Yeah, that means things are still getting worse, and not only worse, but closer. All the more reason we have to keep going, and win. As long as I don't have to go toe-to-toe with any more legendaries, that wasn't as fun as I would have hoped in my old delusions of greatness."

Kaveri thumped a paw on her brother's back, hanging off of him - quite literally, he was tall enough that her paws weren't touching the ground. "Not so delusional if you are great," she said, giving him a grin.

"Oh? Then all those bruises must have been my imagination, silly me spending all that time in bed for nothing." Cal smiled back at his sister, still glad to have her companionship again. He'd barely been able to stand letting her out of his sight since they'd returned to Ferrol, though he'd suck it up and cope if she decided to run off.

Guardia grinned as she watched the two of them have their banter. "It's good to see the two of you together again. Us Gold tribe in general are a pretty tight-knit group, like a family. But having actual family in here makes it all the more special, I'd say. You guys are lucky."

"Can't argue with ya there," Kaveri said with a chuckled, dropping the short distance back to the floor from Cal's shoulder.

Cal put a hand on Kaveri's shoulder. "We're a package deal, lucky you Guardia, you got a two-for-one."

The next 'mon that began to cross the bridge into Ferrol was either a very, very strange refugee or not one at all. She was a Riolu, large in stature for her species, even if that did still leave her comparatively small. She bore very specific markings on her body - a purple flame covered the left-hand side of her face, a pattern that had been dyed into it many years ago and she wore around her right arm some kind of bracelet - made from the spare bone of her first hunting kill. Both of these marked her as a member of what were known as The Pack to those who knew of them... an indigenous tribe, from a long distance away... and this Riolu looked lost and apprehensive about even daring to enter the fort - she had prayed to the Eon before she even left the cover of her forest and marked out her trail through so she could beat a hasty escape. She was ready to turn tail, if things went sour.... but hoped that wasn't needed.

Guardia was the first to notice this newcomer to Fort Ferrol from the top of the watchtower as she chatted with Cal and Kav. Her appearance wasn't that of a typical refugee... in fact it wasn't typical at all of what she had seen. The closest she could think of to describe her was similar to how Abel described the Morrians back in Tollen. Feeling a bit paranoid, and a tad bit curious, Guardia called out to her from her spot on the watchtower.

"Where are you coming from, stranger?"

"Where are you..." The Riolu seemed to think over the sentence for a few seconds, given it could have multiple meanings, before deciding which one to take, pointing her right paw directly at the point at which she had emerged from the forest.

Guardia looked to where the Riolu pointed and cocked an eyebrow. She couldn't tell immediately if the 'mon was trying to be funny or if she was a bit slow. "Care to be a bit more specific? What country are you from? Or are you from one of the surrounding villages?"

She apparently needed to think longer on that. "I... apologise? I do not speak your tongue well. What is a 'country'? I know of my tribe only."

Guardia mouthed an 'Oh' in realization. "Non-native speaker, huh? You don't see many of those..." The Zangoose jumped down off of the watchtower and relatively nearby the Riolu. "What place do you and your tribe live? Do you have a village? A home?"

"We... roam? Is that your word?" the young 'mon responded. "We stay a place for a time, then we onward move." She definitely found this reaction... strange. Most who had heard of her tribe instinctively feared her, she represented the unknown after all.

"Oh, like nomads," Guardia stated with a nod. "That's interesting. I don't think I've met many like that," The Zangoose looked around the Riolu before she brought her eyes to her again. "Are you alone here now? Where is the rest of your tribe?"

The Riolu's eyes seemed to widen when she was asked where they were. She curtly swore, a foul curse in her own language. She knew how her people tended to move, usually she could find them, but she still didn't know exactly where they were... "I am.. unaware. I separate to seek help for us. We are in danger."

"Danger?" Guardia repeated with a tilt of her head. "Danger from what? Or who?"

"I.... I already speak too much." the Riolu turned her head away. "I come in search of a tribe of gold... I have heard speak of a tribe in the Stone Dwellers, I think they may believe the plight of another."

"Tribe of Gold?" Guardia repeated. "You mean the Gold Tribe? Yeah, that's us," She stated with a nod, pointing to herself and then the Floatzel and Dragonite still on the watchtower. "I'm the leader of the Gold Tribe. You can call me Guardia."

"And I'm Jetstream," Kaveri said, coming down in a spurt of water and thumping a paw to her chest. "No one but the folks in the Tribe really call me that, though. Yeh can just call me Kaveri," she added with a chortle, casting the Riolu a friendly grin.

The shimmering Dragonite Guardia had pointed to earlier floated down as lightly as possible, giving his wings one last powerful flap so he could touch down quietly. With the difference in size between them and the Riolu's nervousness he didn't want her feeling like he might be any sort of threat. "My name is Callimer, though many who aren't close to me know me as the Emerald Sentinel...or Greeny if you're tiny and evil." He finished with a smirk.

"I fought against another tribe not too long ago, I'm glad to see yours seems more reasonable. What is it you need of the Gold Tribe?"

The tribal nodded her head to Callimer. "This is true. My people do not enjoy war. Should I perhaps share my own name? I would not impose and ask when our people have barely spoken... I am known as Maxia Nyalla. I will speak as the voice of the Eleven for the tribe of Gold."

Guardia nodded politely. "Nice to meet you Maxia Nyalla. Our tribe is in the business of helping 'mon, so if we can help you, we'll definitely try. Maybe you could lead us to where your tribe is and we can see what we can do? If they are nearby, that is."

"Hold on Guardia." Cal interjected. "If it was that simple I doubt she would be here by herself, how about for now we just let her talk to us about exactly why she came here."

Guardia nodded in agreement. "Alright, why don't you tell us exactly why you're here?"

Nyalla let the two talk amongst themselves, only speaking once she was certain they were done. "I am here alone... because my people are not friendly to outsiders... which is why I don't want to say much before I am sure we may trust you..." The Riolu started as she said that, realising what her words implied. "I promise by the Eon I come forward in friendship... I can't trust too fast though."

"I can understand that thinking," Guardia responded with a nod of her head. "We've been burned in the past too by trusting some we shouldn't have. But I agree that this works both ways. We really don't know anything about you yet so we're not sure what we can do for you until that. Maybe we can come to some sort of agreement? A trade for a trade? Help for help? It's the only way I can think we can both get what we want, without fully trusting each other yet."

"You are in need?" Nyalla inquired, her tone rising a little with the question. "I... can only try. Our situation is dire, I do not know what, if anything we may offer. Only myself."

"Yourself?" Guardia questioned. "Do you have some skill in combat or negotiations?"

"I am not certain. Do your people?" She asked. "I would be willing to show if you need."

"The Gold Tribe are known warriors, yeah," Guardia answered as she loosened her shoulders. "I guess a quick spar couldn't hurt, could it? Just to see what you're made of," Guardia bounced up and down a few times to get a bit more loose, and then positioned herself in a fighting stance. "Let me know if I'm going too hard, alright?"

Nyalla, on the other hand, did not seem to put up any guard at all. In fact, the only sign she'd done anything was a very hard to spot flicker of blue aura over her eyes that flared for only a fraction of a second. A Detect. Whatever this Zangoose had planned, she'd have it read before she even began. "If this is how you test, Chief Guardia. At your ready-ness..."

Guardia nodded and went to work right away. She decided to try a Crush Claw on the Riolu, though she held back as she struck so as not to harm Nyalla too much in case she was not an experienced fighter.

Nyalla smirked. Of course, she had it read out already, shooting forward and sliding beneath the Zangoose as she leapt, leaving only empty ground for her claws to strike, rising up behind her with... a laugh? She'd never seen an attack like it before, not from one of her tribe or their enemies. "Aren't you supposed to hit me?" She hadn't learnt the subtlety to put on a mocking tone, which almost seemed like she was genuinely asking Guardia if her intent was to miss. Regradless, she had a good idea for how far the Zangoose could reach now... just stay a little outside of that...

Guardia was impressed by the initial dodge of the Riolu. She was definitely a fast one, or maybe she had just been lucky with the first dodge. Guardia decided to try and test it again to make sure. "Not bad, let's see how you take this!" She yelled, and ran in again for a slash against the smaller opponent.

The Riolu most certainly was a fast one. With all her focus on defense, she could probably keep that up forever, although frankly, it'd never win a fight. But she was starting to figure Guardia's style, very aggressive, almost akin to a wild Tauros... She was going to have to strike after each attack, when the opportunity presented itself. Her size was actually to her advantage - if she'd been any larger, the Zangoose would've put a far nastier cut into her than she did as Nyalla spun sideways, just catching Guardia's claw in her side with a little grimace. No matter. She pulled her arm back, focusing and feeling her Aura energy convene, shooting it forward to release an Aura Sphere, one that would shoot over Guardia's shoulder, but definitely an apt demonstration of the 'special thing' she could do.

Guardia seemed to be cautious for a moment when her claws connected upon the Riolu briefly. She studied her reactions to see how exactly she fared. Surprisingly, she didn't pay it much mind, which was a good sign for Guardia. When the aura energy shot out at Guardia, she quickly ducked to the side to narrowly avoid it as it passed over her shoulder. She briefly observed the attack go past her, before turning back to Nyalla and bracing for whatever would happen next, as well as prepare to go in for another Crush Claw.

Nyalla had already scouted the Crush Claw once, and seeing it come again, she was ready to jump backwards out of its path... and keep backing up and up and up, putting some space between the two - watching the Zangoose carefully, a few sparks of Aura flaring at her fingertips, but she didn't make her move just yet.

Guardia smirked as she watched Nyalla dodge the next attack as well. It confirmed for her that her initial dodge definitely wasn't a fluke. The 'mon was fast. But Guardia needed to know she was more than just a speedster. She had to see if she was able to take a hit... or hit back. She decided to speed forward and close the distance between the two. Taking off into the air, the Zangoose leader prepared her claws and burst forward a few meters off the ground and jumped at the Riolu. As she came down, she went for her side with an Aerial Ace.

Nyalla didn't flinch or even try to evade this time. That space had been made with a purpose, giving her time as the Zangoose strode up to her to focus down and prepare another Aura Sphere - with a shout in her own tongue, she released the blue soul bullet, straight at her - realising as she'd released it she hadn't remembered to hold back on the attack at all, her eyes already widened in shock at how much she stood to hurt her.

Guardia's eyes opened wide as she saw the blue aura shoot of directly at her. Being in mid-air and with no where to move or dodge, the Zangoose leader took the attack directly in the chest and was forced back. She collided and skidded heavily with the ground and groaned once she finally came to a halt. It took a few moments for Guardia to lay there and process what had occurred before she began to slowly make her way to her feet. There was a tingling pain which emitted from her chest that she attempted to ignore, though it was a definite confirmation for her that Nyalla was no pushover.

The Riolu charged up to the stricken Zangoose, offering a paw as she hauled herself to her feet. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that so hard!"

"Ugh... don't worry, don't worry," Guardia stated as she grabbed hold of the Riolu's paw on her way up. She grinned at the Riolu and dropped her guard. "Yep, that'll about prove it. You've got a warrior in you, definitely."

Nyalla nodded. "All of my people have... I do not know if it is the same for you, we must hunt and fight every day in our lives. We cannot be weak." She seemed to relax a little more now that Guardia was back safely on her feet. "Then, is it settled, Gold Chief Guardia? Do we have co-operation?"

Guardia nodded. "It's a bit different, but there are similarities. Just like you we are the warriors of our people. Every day we must protect them," She explained as she gestured to herself as well as Kaveri and Callimer. "Right now, our people are in trouble and we can't protect them on our own. Which is why we're going to Anatellia to find help. To stop Darkrai and his armies. We can use a warrior like you on our journey. So I say we have cooperation. You help us now, and when you've gotten to know us, when the time is right, we'll return the favor. Agreed?"

Nyalla seemed very troubled, especially at the mention of Darkrai. "Darkrai... we face a god?" She bowed her head to focus. Perhaps going against a god was crazy. No, it definitely was. "I... I will go. In the names of my ancestors, my gods and my people. We need the help. I have question though. What is An...atellia?"

"It's a place far north of here, where many 'mon live together," Guardia explained. She tried to put it in simpler terms so that Nyalla would understand. "Like you and I, they have many different tribes living together in one area, over a hundred in fact, but many don't get along, and all worship different legendaries, err, gods, as you put it. My... associate will probably tell us more about them just before we head there."

Up above, near the rooftops, a dark figure sighed to himself as he stared across at the scene. He made sure to stay in the shadows as he began to hop along the shingles on the roofs. Now, the problem was figuring out how to keep a few details away from Penance.

 

[SV]

Welcome to Anatellia

As the sun rose and everyone was finally ready to go to Anatellia, the group eventually made its way toward the Network Point in Fort Ferrol, where there would be a quick briefing. Guardia had received most of the information she could about the place from Penance, but she wanted everyone else to be aware of what it was like too. From what she heard, though, things wouldn't be the same as in Tollen. Once everyone was standing in front of the Network Point, Guardia proceeded to speak first.

"Alright, looks like we're all here. Before we head out, we're going to make a quick rundown of what to expect in Anatellia. It's different than Tollen, so pay attention and if you have any questions, now would be the time to ask," She gestured to Penance and Obsidian beside her. "Since the Seekers know this place best, they will explain everything we need to know."

Penance snorted and crossed his arms as he leaned back against the point itself, "Don't drabble in the contemporaries, and make sure you don't punctuate the points out too much." He gave a firm nod.

"Um...." Obsidian started, "Well... we're pretty much going to be in their caves while there..." He started out, "There are different factions present in the country itself. All of them tend to clash a lot, but the main thing you all should know is that there are three main factions that have been set up. The Sons of Arceus are our main buddies there. There is a group dedicated mainly to Darkrai, and finally there is a group that is, more or less, starting to gain traction too known as the Reverse Kings."

"Don't diss legendaries." Penance said firmly as he climbed up the point and laid on top of it. "You do so, they'll most likely kill you."

Obsidian nodded at that, "Legendaries are sacred there. Certain ones to certain mon. You diss them... well... that religious sect might kidnap you in the night, tie you to a wooden log, and suspend you over a giant pit while a fire slowly licks away the rope."

"Just ONE punishment!" Penance said with a snicker, "We'll be meeting with good old wabtufjamensen." He said with a smile, "Don't worry! I'll be more clear while there, but you diss and you DIE! Probably with fire too." He said with a few nods.

Guardia nodded at Penance's explanation, and decided to add on a bit to it. "It's true. A lot of these sects treat their legendaries sacredly. Not all are ultra-religious anymore, but many still hold high respect for them, especially if that legendary is the main one they worship, or take pride in. But keep in mind that many of these 'sects' are more like gangs now instead of actual factions. There are over a hundred of them, some small, but like Penance said, those are the three main ones. The smaller ones are beginning to ally with the main ones, and recently the Darkrai sect, the Dark Moons, have been gaining ground. But as of now, as it has been for centuries, no one sect controls all of Anatellia."

"Question," Razathiel called out, raising a stubby hand, "The fuck am I supposed to do?"

"We're all going to try and see what we can find out here," Guardia answered the Ralts. "I'm guessing our main concern is finding the source of the signal of the 'mon who sent the message. Besides that, anything else we can find out about legendaries or Darkrai will be useful. I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but I'm also guessing getting rid of the Dark Moons in Anatellia would go a long way toward helping both us out, and the Sons of Arceus. But I'd rather see what their leader says once we arrive."

The Dreadmage kept his hand raised, rolling his eyes, "I mean, what am I supposed to do about a load of zealous, feckless pricks who meet reasoning with death? That should be my job, not theirs."

"Simple. Don't make them resort to death." Snype said as he joined the group. "Sorry I'm late. I was checking in with the refugees down south. They were a little spooked by me being the K.O.T, but we warmed up after getting a bit of activities going! Kehe," Snype said with a wide grin..

"You mentioned the Reverse Kings?" Zai asked Obsidian. "What legendary do they follow?"

"Zekrom and Reshiram," Guardia answered with a small look to Snype. She hoped he didn't do anything too crazy with the refugees. She put it out of her mind for now. "They're probably the wild cards in all of this."

"An interesting name," Zai commented. "What exactly is their stance on all of our current goings on? Or is that unclear?"

"From what Penance has told me, they are neutral for the moment," Guardia stated with a shrug. "They don't particularly like either of the other two sides, but instead are focusing on building their own alliances and sects up. I couldn't tell you for sure what they think though."

"Simple. What I do." Penance said in a matter of fact voice, "Either going to sway for a deal or take for their own. Probably gobble some fishes up." He giggled, "Now alabaster, that's the prime rib there."

Charlie rocked up, fashionably late as one could expect him to be. Although, it wasn't exactly as if he was motivated to join the others. It just usually meant more abuse he probably didn't deserve usually. "'Sup. Caught most 'a that, duck's talkin' crap as always now, so I guess he's done with what we got ta listen to?"

Guardia gave Charlie a small glance of disapproval, but figured now was probably not the best time to take out her frustration on him. "I think he is. Does anyone have any other last minute thoughts or questions before we head out?"

"I have many." The voice came from a Riolu a scant few of the Gold Tribe would recognise. "But they can wait." Nyalla had been standing to one side for a while, but she had been very apprehensive and quiet surrounded by the Stone Dwellers.

Razathiel raised an eyebrow from his place on his staff, gesturing to the newcomer. "I have one - who the fuck is that?"

"Everyone who hasn't met her yet, this is Maxia Nyalla," Guardia announced as she gestured to the Riolu beside her. "She's from a nomadic tribe, but she's a capable fighter and is going to help us on our journey. Our language is not her primary language, though, so keep that in mind when you talk to her." Nyalla gave a small, general nod in response, still looking quite uneasy and out of place.

Guardia then gestured to her other side. "And for anyone who hasn't met her, this is Silence Quickslash. She's... well, she's basically a mercenary. She'll also be accompanying us."

Snype gave a sharp glance toward Silence (the Weavile casting a smirk in his direction)... so she DID end up getting in... figures. Guardia already had a tendency to bring interesting characters along. Though Nyalla was new to him. A tribal? Snype hadn't recalled the last time he spotted one of those during his travels...

The Dreadmage chuckled, "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised I wasn't consulted."

"Just like I didn't consult anyone when I brought you along too," Guardia responded back to Raz. "Ultimately, these are my appointments, so I'll live with any consequences that may come up."

"Face it, shortstuff, if ya ain't wearin' gold, big boss girl here don't got a f*ck ta give." Charlie added, helpfully.

"Not that it makes a difference, but I didn't consult my brothers and sisters about their hire either," Guardia snapped to Charlie. "Or Raz's, or Sylvio's or Snype's, or yours either, for that matter. Actually, nobody told me anything about you originally coming," She stated as she briefly glared at Snype. "Again, not that it matters."

"Oh, ya don't got no f*cks ta give about yer own crew either." Charlie rolled his eyes. "Yeah... yeah, that's much better."

Kaveri gave Charlie a look that could've been either just neutral or one of dislike - whatever it was, it passed quickly. "I trust her judgement."

Raz exhaled, "I'll tell you what, I've got no fucks to give about this conversation..."

"Yeah better just drop it," Guardia agreed as she shot a glare to Charlie.

"Heh, I'm seeing double!" Penance shouted out. "It's too dark here, we need to brighten it up."

Obsidian just sighed, "Should we get moving then?" He asked.

Guardia looked around once more to ensure that everyone had spoken their minds. She looked over to the Fort Ferrol Psychics and gave them a nod, then she looked toward Nyalla. "You'll want to stand close, this may be a new experience for you."

"Connecting to the Psychic Network Point in Reverence," The head Psychic of the Fort Ferrol Network Point stated. The Psychics all closed their eyes and concentrated silently, before the head Psychic opened his eyes. "Network connection established. Better brace yourselves. It's cold, and you've got a welcome party. Sending you to Anatellia now."

A moment later, the group found themselves being teleported away from the familiar surroundings of Fort Ferrol. Guardia closed her eyes, and mere moments later, felt herself land in a new surrounding. She knew this immediately because of how much colder it felt. The Zangoose opened her eyes and took in her new surroundings.

She was met with a bright, white landscape. As far as the eye could see, the land was covered by a sheet of snow and ice, with nothing but frozen mountains to be seen in the far distance. There didn't seem to be anything here at all, which was puzzling. However, as she examined her surroundings more, she gazed up to notice that she was actually standing in the entrance of a cavern, or hole of some sort. As she turned around she noticed the rest of her companions beside her. Directly in front of her, she saw the familiar sight of SEC Psychics huddled around the Network Machine. And directly in front of them, about twenty or so unknown 'mon stood. They were different than Tollenians, who wore full outfits. Instead, they wore only a layer of fur, either around their necks, their chest, waist, arms, or legs, probably for warmth. She noticed some of them also had small chains, pendants or earrings, ones with a unique design that was shaped in the form of a 'mon, she recognized. Arceus.

Penance shivered a bit as he arrived, but Obsidian just closed his eyes as the cold hit him. It was good to be back in Anatellia.

"Oh, sir!" A Sliggoo off to the side said. It quickly slithered up to Penance, holding out a fur scarf for him, albeit a bit to the left of the duck. Penance grabbed hold of it and wrapped it around his body as he nodded, "Thank you, Chean." He looked over at the host that had come to greet them, "So, this is the group." He stated. "Shall we get the questionnaire down? Or are the boils festering?"

The group's impression was probably hampered by the appearance of a Riolu, face-down on the floor, groaning with nausea. Sure, she'd been warned it would be a new experience for her, but a warning still didn't help her swirling head. "Urgh... I think I'll be okay..." Nyalla reassured the others as she slowly dragged herself up to her feet.

The group of Anatellians glared menacingly at the group from the Network Point. For the moment, none spoke, until a small chuckle could be heard from one of the Anatellians from the back.

"Hey, shut up!" Another Anatellian Seedot hissed to the chuckler.

"I can't help it, it's friggen Penance again! Boils festering, where does he come up with this shit?" He asked, chuckling again.

"Hey, Obsidian's with them, good to see him again too!" Another Anatellian whispered from the back. The Anatellians that glared menacingly in front started to have trouble keeping up their angry looks, with a few of them holding back smiles, laughs or grins.

A Bidoof in the front, who was trying to maintain animosity, suddenly shook his head and broke into laughter. "Arceus be damned, Penance! We're trying to be menacing here!" He said in between his laughter. Most of the rest of the Anatellians already began laughing and chuckling.

"Good to see ya, Penance!" One shouted.

"The mad foreigner!" Another female shouted.

"Good ol' Obsidian!"

A few of the Anatellians now broke ranks and ran up to Obsidian and Penance and exchanged hugs, pats on the back, and handshakes. Guardia just stood by and watched the scene unfold, not sure how exactly she should be reacting. She decided to keep quiet for now until the others were acknowledged.

"SHUT UP!" Another voice called from the back, and the Anatellians quickly stopped and gave Penance and Obsidian some room. They made a path, allowing the 'mon who shouted to walk through. It was an Ambipom, one who wore a fur piece around his waist, as well as two more smaller ones which circled around his tails. He also had two sets of earrings, ones with the same Arceus insignia. The Ambipom angrily stormed his way in front of Penance and Obsidian, before stopping a meter or so away from them. "Penance." He said, not really in a friendly way as the others had done before, but neither in a very angry way either. It seemed more of a neutral acknowledgement.

Penance smiled weakly back, "Hey Gaiyo.."

"Mr. Nyys." Obsidian said, with respect lining his voice.

"I know you weren't... dancing last time we spoke, but that's why we have the meeting, right?" He asked. "Look, they seem like hot shots I know, but honestly the well is too far down at the moment. I had to think it over, and it was the best stone skip-"

The Ambipom known as Gaiyo Nyys held up one of his tails into the air, to signal Penance to stop talking. Then, he suddenly ran forward and gave the Golduck a hug. "Haha, you bastard! 'I'll be going to Valkaria just for the party', he says, 'I'll be back real soon', he says! Two whole weeks and I hardly heard from you! And then this?! Are you kidding me?! I mean, foreigners! Valkarians! Thieves! GOLD TRIBE! WHAT IN THE HOLIEST OF HOLIES NAME WERE YOU THINKING?! You're insane. Fuck you. I hate you. Welcome back." He stated both angrily and happily, mixing back and forth between the two. He sighed and shook his head. "Remember I'm only doing this as a favor to you. And because I kinda don't want Darkrai to kill me. Let's get this over with."

The Ambipom turned to the rest of the group, acknowledging them for the first time. "My name's Gaiyo Nyys, leader of the Sons of Arceus. They call me the Historian. I would offer you welcome, but I'll be frank: none of you are welcome here. Not one bit. You're here because Penance says its important. And I trust him. So before I take you below into Reverence, I want to know who you all are, where you're from, and who you're with. And I want to know now."

"I guess I'll start then." Snype said. He had a bit of a different tone then he normally would. A bit more.. sophisticated. "You can call me Snype. King of Thieves. I'm usually not welcome in most places that aren't my home so don't think too much on it. Kehe." Snype said with a grin.

"Yeah, we ain't the most popular 'a guys. 'Specially with these golden chumps!" Charlie jabbed, before he raised a claw to stop himself. "But to be civil! I am Mr. Charlie Vensworth! I would shake you by the hand but, well, you know..."

"Thieves," Gaiyo murmured, as he scribbled down their names and factions on a smooth stone with a sharp, pointy rock, using one of his two tails. "Watch what you do."

"I'm Guardia, leader of the Valkarian Gold Tribe," The Zangoose stated to the group. She received a few glares in response, though that seemed to be the case with everyone not named Obsidian or Penance.

"I'm Callimer Vian, second-in-command of the Valkarian Gold tribe." He wondered how they'd react if he mentioned fighting Darkrai directly, but decided against it. Even though the sons of Arceus might have good reasons to like it, that didn't make it a good idea to rock the boat.

"Kaveri Vian, otherwise known as Jetstream of the Gold Tribe," Kaveri piped in from next to her brother.

"Alizai Arashi, known as Skuld among my comrades within the Valkarian Gold Tribe," a particular Absol added in.

"Atrox, second-in-command of the Beatrucian Gold Tribe," Abel stated in his usual, monotone voice.

"Gold Tribe, of course," Gaiyo stated in disgust as he shook his head, rolled his eyes and wrote down their names.

And the Delphox, wearing the duelist's robes, stepped forward and bowed greatly towards the Historian. "I am Sylvio Arcansus," he stated simply but loud and clear, with an accent very obvious. He did not see fit to share more; after he cast his eyes on the Ambipom, he said, "welcome or not, it is still such a pleasure to be in Anatellia." Again, he thought to himself, but such a thing wasn't the wise thing to say at the moment, with the leader of the Sons of Arceus present.

"Sylvio... Sylvio..." Gaiyo repeated as if he were processing the name. He looked down at the name as he wrote it down, then cocked an eyebrow. "Sweepin' Sylvio? You're kidding me," He stated in surprise. As soon as he mentioned the name, many of the other Sons of Arceus around Gaiyo, upon also hearing the name, spat along the ground. "That's a name I'd never thought I'd hear again, or want to hear."

They remembered. What a pity! Sylvio's eyes darted to the ground, where the Sons had spit in his name, and he thought he ought to give them some of the venom he'd been saving ever since he set foot out of Anatellia. He let a smug smile form on his face and he spread his arms defensively. "It's good to see you as well! I bet you missed me terribly, yes? Well, you're in luck. Sweepin' Sylvio is here to stay!" And to Gaiyo, he extended his arm in a business-like manner, saying, "Would you shake my hand, dear adversary?"

Gaiyo scoffed and dismissed the Delphox. "I wouldn't shake your hand even if Arceus himself touched it!" He responded with a grin. His reaction earned the cheers of the other Sons around their leader.

Sylvio's hand was left in the air, so he pointed at the Ambipom with it, and his smile changed nature. It became colder and sharper, more teeth on the display. "You're smart," the Delphox whispered, a threat disguised as a joke. Guardia gazed intently at the exchange between the two, and raised an eyebrow. Sylvio had never mentioned before about knowing anyone from Anatellia, or having been there. He had mentioned Karn to her, yes. But not Anatellia.

Gaiyo turned to Penance and shook his head. "You're really not helping your case. Who the hell else did you bring along?!" He asked, looking at the remaining 'mon yet to be introduced.

"Excuse me... I do not... why is everybody trying to fight? Or is this not a fight? I am not sure..." Nyalla stammered, trying desperately to figure out if this was normal for the Stonedwellers or not.

Guardia turned to the Riolu and whispered to her. "They're not fighting. Well, not really. They're just... well, that's the way they are. Just introduce yourself to them so they won't get mad."

"But they got mad when the Delphox introduced himself and I don't want to cause them mad at me..." Nyalla protested.

"I think they only got mad at him because they know him," Guardia reassured her. "But at this point, they're going to get mad at us no matter what they do. Better to answer his questions and state who we are then make them wait and get more mad."

"Okay..." the Riolu nodded to Guardia. "My name... Maxia Nyalla. I am tribesmon of the Eleven." She said, matter-of-factly, hoping not to get reprisal.

Gaiyo gazed at the Riolu from his stone tablet. He exchanged looks with a few of his fellow Sons of Arceus. "What the hell does that mean?"

Nyalla started. She didn't know what there was to not get. "I-I belong to my tribe... is that simple! My kin are the eleven tribes of the... um... Eleven!"

"Surely you all have at least heard of tribes before." Cal added, honestly shocked at Gaiyo's skepticism towards Nyalla. "She's a part of one of many groups of pokemon not affiliated with a nation, or really the greater world in general."

"Pst, Gaiyo my man." Penance suddenly said, "She's one of those tribe mon. Hardly knows anything about us civilized lot." He looked over at Guardia, "Talk to goldy there if you want to know why she let her on."

"I'm familiar with what a tribe is," Gaiyo responded venomously toward Callimer. "I was inquiring as to what her specific Eleven meant, because we've never heard of that. But you and Penance seemed to have answered my question... relatively," He scribbled more notes down on the smooth stone and waited for the rest to answer.

"My apologies, it's simply that there isn't more to tell right now. She's here with us as a representative of her tribe, but the rest of them aren't really relevant right now." Cal answered apologetically.

"You're not relevant right now," Gaiyo spat at the giant green Dragonite. "You big, fat, green giant!" He yelled, which caused some snickers and laughs from the other Sons. Guardia clenched her jaw but remained silent.

"Is that not a childish comment to your people?" Nyalla enquired. Guardia silently placed a paw to the bridge of her nose and pinched it, but did her best to remain calm.

"I'm sorry?" Cal questioned, he expected hostility but not such...immature animosity, from trying to clarify no less.

"You should be sorry!" A Nidoran Son of Arceus yelled back at him. "Outlier! Arceus-unworthy! Fatty!" His insults were met with more snickers and laughter.

"Gold-blind!"

"How the hell does he fly with them small wings?!" Another Son yelled, drawing more laughter.

Kaveri's smile could be twitching slightly at the admittedly childish insults being thrown at her brother - didn't mean they irked her any less, though. "It's pretty simple, really. He flaps them."

"Alright, all 'a ya loud f*ckers just shut the hell up! That's you, and you and you-" Charlie pointed around at the conflicting members from both sides, both his own and the Sons. "-and anyone else who's gonna get loud an' get in the way, 'cause we got sh*t that's gotta get done here an' it's clear enough none 'a us are gonna get it done while we're b*tchin' at each other over insults that my damned brother could top!"

Various members of the Sons of Arceus glared at the Scyther who had just yelled at them. They then exchanged glances with each other and stared at their leader, Gaiyo Nyys. The leader of the Sons of Arceus stopped his writing upon the smooth stone as his eyes trailed between his followers and the 'mon who had insulted them. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence as Guardia swallowed hard and clenched her fist. She was about ready to pulverize Charlie then and there for being a massive idiot.

"... What's your brother like?" Gaiyo asked the Scyther.

"Well, I think about the kid an' the first words that come to mind are 'dweeb' an' 'don't know when it's time to shut his mouth an' quit arguin'." Charlie looked almost smug, although truthfully he was trying to retain his pride after he'd realised his temper had gotten more than a little out of hand. Best pass this off to someone who could handle it better. "But then, I'm kinda... how'd ya call it? Biased? Guardia's probably got the guy handled better, he was a Goldie an' I'm a thief an' all."

Snype was about to tug on the Scyther's wings if he kept this up. Nothing he was saying was helping their case at all! Sylvio chuckled quietly to himself; he thought of intervening, but that would turn out badly for him.

To the side Penance was starting to sweat and Obsidian was already putting his pack back on, no doubt ready to head back to the fort if need be.

Once more, the Scyther's words were met by immediate silence. Guardia knew for sure that this was probably the end of the road here. If they were turned back now, she was most likely going to beat Charlie until he was unrecognizable. She couldn't believe that he had done this.

Gaiyo then turned to his followers, and puckered out his lower lips. "Not bad," He stated to them with a curt nod of his head. The Sons of Arceus burst out into laughter.

"He called you a dweeb!" One of the Sons said to another who was pointed at by Charlie.

"Please, that was lame, I could get him with waaay worse!"

"You're alright, Sharpie," another one stated to the Scyther.

"Alright, enough, enough, we'll get to that shit later, I need to know their names!" Gaiyo yelled to his followers, who quickly quieted up.

Silence had watched the banter in silence, a brow raised and her mouth twisted in a smirk. "Silence Quickslash," she said when things had finally calmed. "I'm my own 'mon. Though currently in an... agreement with Guardia there." She waved a hand nonchalantly towards the Zangoose, then added with a nasty grin, "And believe me, that's good for everyone."

Somersaulting in from the side, Razathiel landed in front of the Sons of Arceus in a cloud of dust and smoke, cackling and spinning his staff before bringing it sharply to a halt. He was dressed for the moment in his signature robe, along with his pointed wizard hat which he adjusted before speaking.

"Razathiel the Dreadmage, at your service for now," He began, "Seeing as apparently you feel entitled to know, I am a nomadic wizard of immense power. The blood that boils in my veins crackles with arcane energies most can only dream of comprehending," The Ralts' voice dropped to a harsh whisper, "Death and destruction follows in the wake of my fearsome gaze..."

Raz turned, swishing his robe and tapping his staff once on the ground before hopping away merrily. "So by all means, take me into your home, if you would be so kind."

Gaiyo and the Sons of Arceus stared at Raz with blank expressions. None spoke, beside the occasional whisper to one or another. Gaiyo silently wrote in the Dreadmage's information, while another Son awkwardly coughed through the silence.

"Look at his weird hat," One of the Sons whispered to another, which was followed by a small snicker.

Razathiel turned with a glare, "This hat is fucking flawless!" He cried, picking the hat off of his head briefly and turning it in hand, "Get your own. Jealous prick."

"EEYYY!" Some of the Sons shouted in response to Raz's insult.

"Now ya mention it, shrimpy, it does kinda look like... well, a prick." Charlie chuckled, noting on the hat's shape. He liked taking his chances to dig at people when he knew he could excuse it and get away with it.

"OOOHH!" The Sons of Arceus yelled again in approval of Charlie's insult.

"You can't have it either, it's mine," Raz said in response, dismissing the comment with a wave of his hand.

Snype could hardly believe they were still standing at the gate with all of the nonsense brewing around.

Gaiyo Nyys finished scratching in the names on the stone tablet and handed it over to a nearby Son of Arceus. "We're going down into Reverence now. Stay close together, and follow me. Don't get off the path, don't wander, and don't talk to anyone. As of now, I'll let you all pass with us here, but I'm making you all stay together. That includes you and Obsidian too for now," Gaiyo explained to Penance. "We'll go to my home, and there we'll see why you decided to come all this way, and if I'll let you go any further. Understood?"

"Got it Nyys baby!" Penance said with a smirk, "Though.... try not to let them slip on the trout. I'm plenty sure they'll have ice skates by now!" He said with a crackle of laughter, tightening his scarf more around his body.

Obsidian was about to speak, but he closed his mouth and looked away with a sigh.

Gaiyo grinned back at Penance and began to march down the cave tunnel. Half of the Sons marched with Gaiyo, and the remaining half waited for the rest of the Valkarian group to follow before proceeding after them. The path was dimly lit, with torches across the tunnel being the only light provided. They went deep, deep and further down than Guardia expected. She was initially cold on the top level, where the Network Point was. It felt like her feet were covered in a block of ice. But the further they went down, the warmer it became. Then they began to hear the faint sounds of life; laughter, shouting, and conversation.

As the group passed through the dark cavern into a clearing, they finally saw the first signs of their destination. Reverence was unlike any other place Guardia had ever seen in her life. Within these caverns she expected to run into a set of campfires, huts or tents perhaps that were suited to the immature and juvenile nature of the Anatellians. What she found instead was what, in her opinion, looked like the origins of the world. Enormous, colossal towers and bastions the size and scope of which she had never seen, carved from a stone seemingly only than the cave that surrounded them. They were ancient, probably millennia old, judging by the extensive moss and erosion that was visible upon them. Yet still sturdy they stood, as if nothing could bring them down. These large structures were present in all shapes and sizes across the gargantuan cavern, and extended as far as the idea could see. There were towers, obelisks, statues, and much more. Many were connected, and as Guardia got closer, she noticed that they weren't just there for show. Countless Pokemon were actually residing inside of them, like one, large territory for the Sons of Arceus.

It was said that in ancient times, legendaries walked freely here in Anatellia, here which was once called the center of 'Higher Life'. That phrase has been interpreted a thousand times over in Anatellia, with many different theories brought forth. Whatever its true meaning, the 'mon of Anatellia always knew they were special, chosen for a higher purpose. In the old days, they walked these ancient halls as high priests, respected scholars, and voices of enlightenment. Their mannerisms and etiquette were unmatched, their knowledge unquestionable. But countless centuries of disputes, disagreements, and violence, both external and internal, had brought the once proud, cultured nation into degradation. The worshippers of the legendaries morphed from priests into fanatics and crusaders, and from there they degraded further. The country transformed into a collection of hundreds of opposing sides, all vouching and praying to their own legendaries. These sides eventually became known inside of Anatellia as sects, but in actuality were little more than gangs. Now, with over three hundred sects running around, rummaging through the scraps of the glorious civilization they were once apart of, Anatellia has long since ceased being an actual country. Only about half of the sects truly worship their legendaries in a religious basis, while the vast majority treat theirs like their gang symbol, their callsign.

It is here that Gaiyo Nyys hopes to grasp at the legendary glory this land once held, and unite the sects into a country again.

 

[Ray Maverick]

People

Guardia followed Gaiyo Nyys and the Sons as they made their way through this extraordinary city while apparently on the path to somewhere specific. Many of the Sons who initially greeted them had already broken away from the pack and gone about other duties, while others continued to follow, probably to ensure the group wouldn't try anything. The Zangoose Gold Tribe leader noticed that they were getting a lot of furious or angry looks from the locals. On more than one occasion, someone shouted something to the group. It was usually silly or harmless, but a few of them had nasty intentions behind the words. Razathiel, surprisingly, seemed to be quite enjoying himself, even going as far as to thrive on the fear and apprehension of the Anatellians. Every now and then he would let out a sinister cackle, sometimes glaring at passers by and wiggling his eyebrows. Sylvio, too, appeared to be glad he was here; the super ancient city with its child-like citizens was all a pleasure to him.

Guardia still couldn't understand how such a thriving civilization as the Anatellians had devolved into nothing more than common gangs who fling immature jabs at one another.

"Here we are," Gaiyo Nyys called out in front of a sizable (yet compared to the other gigantic buildings, quite small) ruin. It appeared to be a temple of some sort, with a dome-shaped roof covering the top. "This is my home," He stated and looked over to the rest of the Sons of Arceus. "I want to talk with the foreigners for a few minutes on my own," He explained. "You guys can do whatever in the meantime."

"Eh? Historian, are ya sure? What if they try something?" A Ledian Son of Arceus asked with a bit of worry in his eyes. Others in the Sons seemed to share the sentiment.

Gaiyo merely laughed it off. "Ha! You think they'll try anything here? I'll be fine, don't worry. If they do anything, they'll never make it out of here alive!"

The Ledian grinned and nodded. "Alright boss! You better not try anything!" He warned the Valkarians. Gaiyo led the group into his home. Guardia was greeted with an interior similar to the exterior. Moss grew across the walls. The rock was ancient and eroding, but still holding strong. There were leaks and cracks all across, but there were also many personal effects and trinkets which decorated the place. By the design of the home, Guardia figured this must have been a church at some point, with a clearing in the center of the building which led to stairs at the end, where she suspected prayers were once held. Instead, a large bed resided there.

Gaiyo sat on a stone chair with a pillow on it to make it more comfortable. He gestured for the others to also sit down with him across the rather large room. "So? Tell me exactly what you want. Why are you here? I want the specifics."

Guardia looked around and figured as the Gold Tribe leader, she ought to be the one that answered, despite how Gaiyo Nyys felt about them. "Where to begin... I guess this all started with Darkr-"

Gaiyo held up one of his two tails like a hand to stop the Zangoose. "Before you give me an entire history lesson, just know I know all about your past history with Darkrai, and the invasion. What did you come for, help fighting his armies here?" The Ambipom asked with a laugh. He extended his arms outward. "Do you see any armies around here?"

"We didn't come here for your... military strength," Abel jumped in without flinching. Gaiyo turned his attention to the Medicham. "We came here for your knowledge about legendaries, most especially Darkrai... and Cresselia."

Gaiyo leaned back in his seat and crossed his legs. "Aaah, Cresselia. You're after her then... that makes sense. Sorry to burst your bubble, but of all the legendaries, Cresselia has been absent the longest. For millennia... silence. Even when Darkrai returned, she has not! What makes you think she is even alive anymore? More specifically, what makes you think she's here, in my home?"

Snype chimed in. "Well while we were in Tollen, we received a message not too long ago saying Cresselia was spotted not too far from here. The message was sent from North of Karn but there's no network point up there. It sounds like it could be a total hoax, but a message written by one of Darkrai's agents mentioned they noticed the very same message. Only a Pokemon with alot of power on hand could possibly send a message all the way to Tollen's network point from Karn. So we decided to investigate up here. The source was close to here after all. It went something like... Rejoice, A hymn do I sound, Darkness afoot and chaos abound, Rise to the light which blackness was drowned, Cresselia has been found. Er... to put it roughly anyways. Kehe," Snype explained.

The Ambipom Sons of Arceus leader sat in silence. Guardia noticed his expression change as Snype began talking about the message. It went from passive dismissal to intense contemplation. Gaiyo looked surprised and completely serious now. He had to know what they were talking about!

"This message, would have happened a few months back, yeah?" Gaiyo questioned the group.

"Right." Snype simply replied. "I know the time gap is pretty huge, but we figured this would be the best place to learn of the matter nonetheless...unless you know about it?" Snype asked.

Gaiyo Nyys inhaled sharply, and then exhaled. "I do. It's not Cresselia, though, so don't get your hopes up... but it is a Legendary Pokemon who sent that message, and it could be someone that can help you."

"Kehe, I guess it would be pretty weird if Cresselia sent a message about finding herself eh? Still, this could be big for us." Snype replied once more.

"The problemo is that we have a key." Penance said, "And that key needs to be refunded." He whistled, "Four legs! Over here! We have to show off and get ready to mine. Gold might be flowing soon."

"Who the hell are you talking about?" Guardia snapped to the Golduck.

"I think he means me," Alizai commented, taking a few steps forward. "At least, I'm not sure who else he could be referring to."

She turned to the Historian, looking the monkey over. "He seems to believe that an item I possess could be the key to all of this. He even surmised that I could be a legendary in disguise at one point because of it. Sadly, he was wrong in that regard. But perhaps you could tell us something about this?"

She reached up her right foreleg and grabbed her necklace, pulling it out from within her fur. The round stone glistened in the reflective lights of the cavern.

Obsidian gave a nod at that. "We already informed you of Gabriel in our earlier communication here, sir, but we didn't get enough chance to tell you more. Gabriel, at least while in his Greninja disguise, had a stone similar to Zai's. They looked so similar, and she talked of how a family member had obtained it from some legendary. We assume that it might hold the same properties as Gabriel's stone as well. Maybe it can allow us to speak to a legendary or even be enough to summon one here."

Gaiyo examined the orb carefully for a moment then grinned at the Absol. "You're a lucky one, aren't you? Finding such a rare treasure. You say Gabriel, who you say transformed into Darkrai, had a similar stone?" The Historian asked.

Obsidian gave a firm nod, "I saw it with my own two eyes. Snype and Cal saw it as well. When we had a meeting after the battle I saw Zai's and assumed the worst at first, but is it good news?"

"Yeah, spare the peace." Penance said as he leaned on back, "Can we rope up a sparkle or two?"

Gaiyo Nyys shook his head. "No sparkles here, Penance," He answered and brought his gaze away from the orb. "Looks like you've got a lot of questions. The orb, the message, and probably a few others. I can probably answer some of them, but I know someone who can answer all of them: the one who sent the message. Luckily for you... I know exactly where that one is. Unluckily for you... I haven't actually decided yet if I want to help you or not. I mean, you get all this free info and a nice cozy time here in the caves, but what do I get out of it? If you want this, then I want some assurances as well."

Razathiel folded his arms, leaned against a wall and let out a 'pff'. "What you get out of it is a chance of the world not going to shit," He said. "Even I don't have an ulterior motive, and I'm evil."

The Ambipom shrugged at Raz. "There's a very high chance the world is going to go to shit regardless. Or at the very least part of the world. The truth of the matter is that while the Keeper of Nightmares destroys the other nations, he's done little here, mostly because we haven't yet earned his ire. The minute we help you, that could all change. We would be a target. Obviously I'm not going to help you if we're going to be putting our necks on the line. Not for free. I want a few things in return."

"What do you want?" Guardia asked somewhat impatiently.

The Ambipom Sons of Arceus leader stood up from his head and walked toward one of the open windows beside him. There, he had a decent view of the surrounding immense towers which connected to one another into a spectacular construct. "Do you know the first thoughts foreigners usually get whenever they see where we reside?" He asked rhetorically. "'I can't believe 'mon like that live in such an amazing place like this," Gaiyo Nyys snorted. "'Mon like that. As if we were too low-born or undeserving to have it. And you know what? They're right. Look around you! Look what we've become! We were once the Legendaries' Chosen! The caretakers of Higher Life. Now what are we? Rabble? Gangs? Look at the way they act! They're children! I had to claw my way through their ways just to get to the top. If it weren't for me, who knows where we'd be now! And even with all my efforts, it adds up to little."

Gaiyo Nyys turned around to the gathered and continued to speak. "The only way we can reclaim our true potential is if we become a nation again. A united nation. I want to call upon you, at some point while you're here, to help make that happen. I've got things in motion turning toward that goal, but there's a few roadblocks in my way. Clear some for me and we'll be square. In fact, as a token of our agreement, I want one of those wheels turned right now, since he's here," Gaiyo gazed over to Sylvio. "I don't know what the hell you're doing with them, but Sweepin' Sylvio was notorious for stealing out our recruits for the Reverse Kings. Time you return the favor."

Obsidian looked over at Sylvio, "Sylvio... you can't be serious." He said.

Sylvio smiled broadly and widened his eyes, regarding Gaiyo as if he had just said a nice joke. He pretended he didn't understand. "What, me? Oh, I just helped them find their way down the most righteous path, that of the Reverse Kings," he said innocently. He wants to build a country, Sylvio thought quickly, right away, when he looked at the Ambipom, the famed Historian. Cute. Sylvio dropped the innocent act and took on his reliable face and tone, as if he was an actor. "What would you ask of me? If it is to forsake the Kings, or harm them anyhow, then I cannot help."

Penance snorted, "Conniving fox. No wonder you butted with me." He muttered angrily.

Obsidian frowned, "Sylvio... if we don't do this. If YOU don't do this, then how else are we going to save the world?"

Razathiel winced. "Alright, Obsidian, you don't have to use such sickeningly heroic terminology."

Sylvio fixed the lining of his black cloak, the features of his face hardening considerably. "Are you asking me to forgo my principles in an act that would serve yours?" he asked sternly.

Obsidian sighed and leaned on back again, "I sort of thought the heroic terminology might have quickly convinced you." He muttered. Sylvio's eyes swept past the scrawny Weavile, with whom he'd had private chats the most, and his heart grew cold in his chest; he did not appreciate Obsidian pressuring him at all, and if the little one wished for them to continue interacting, he would be made aware of this.

Gaiyo snorted. "What principles?" He asked the Delphox. "You're as classless as a Shuckle. But don't worry, I'm not asking you to leave the Kings, or harm them. I only want you to act as our recruiter for a change, like you've done so many times with them. There are a few third tier sects up for grabs, and I want to get their alliance before the Dark Moons or the Reverse Kings do."

The Dreadmage snorted from his place leaning on the wall, "I'll have you know, you degenerate clod, that a Shuckle has unrivaled potential to be the most destructive force on the planet."

Sylvio was passive, unmoving for a few moments, before he raised a claw. "Give me one moment," he said, and he looked off to the side of the miserable place Gaiyo called home. There was so much potential here... he clapped his hands and cast his eyes on the Ambipom. "You do know that harms my clan, indirectly, yes?" His look darted to Guardia, "you, too, realize that?"

Guardia cocked an eyebrow when the Delphox gazed at him. She was suspicious of his motives, but remained quiet.

"No, it only doesn't help, and in the long run it helps us all out because it would be one step closer to uniting the sects together," Gaiyo answered.

"Yes, but I could have very well persuaded those other sects to join mine instead," Sylvio said, making his disturbance apparent.

Gaiyo snorted and grinned. "Are you willing to lose my help and everything I could offer you and your group just to fat up your sect?"

Sylvio exclaimed dramatically, waving his arm, "No, no! Did I speak of such?! Of course not! What a preposterous suggestion!" He looked at the group now, and said, "let it be noted that I will do this under duress. It was never my goal to empower the man before me. If I am to make it my goal now, then I, like him, will expect a compensation, for what am I to become, if my own sect learns that I work against them in such a way?"

"What the hell do you want me to do?" Guardia questioned the Delphox.

"Right now? Nothing," Sylvio said easily, with a devious smile, "but we shall discuss it later, and I am sure we shall come to an arrangement to everyone's favor... yes?" He glanced at Gaiyo innocently, copying his 'not bad' expression, then looked back at Guardia. "Don't hold me in contempt, please. If I was not looking out for my best interests in Anatellia, I would not be called Sweeping Sylvio; more like Weeping Sylvio."
​

 

[SV]

The House of Gaiyo Nyys - Reverence, Anatellia

Before Guardia could respond to Sylvio, Gaiyo jumped back in. "Then if you're agreed, let me lay down some grounds rules. Number one: because you're all foreigners, and the Sons already don't appreciate you being here, none of you are allowed to travel alone, save for Sylvio who is already a sect member," He looked toward Obsidian and Penance. "Even you two are going to have to travel with your team. It's not that I don't trust you. It's that I'll need you two to be the ones to keep an eye out on the rest of them. Make sure they don't do anything stupid. Number two: You staying here means you've agreed to help me out at some point too. Sylvio doing this is a start, but the rest of you will need to cash in and make a little magic too. I'll even be fair and say that you don't have to do it right away now, since you're probably going to get real busy in a bit. But I expect you to hold up to your side of the bargain," Gaiyo explained with a grin, before he continued.

"Number three: Going along with number two, to make sure that you do hold up your side of the bargain, I'm gonna have to ask one or two of you to stay behind with me as a sort of... collateral. Just to make sure you don't go running off after you've gotten what you came for. Let's say... " Gaiyo thought for a moment, then pointed to two random members of the group, which happened to be Zai and Silence. "... you and you will do. You can stay behind with me in the meantime and start helping with thing around here. If you want, the Absol can hand over the orb to the rest of you guys for safe keeping," Gaiyo then turned to Zai. "Don't worry, they won't be able to do anything with it anyways."

Silence shrugged. "Fine by me. Though the choice is for miss Goldie to make, not me," she said, nodding to Guardia. She'd agreed to listen to the Zangoose - not this Ambipom twerp.

"If it's fine with Silence, then it's fine with me," Guardia agreed with a nod of her head.

Barely containing laughter, Razathiel raised a hand. "And what if the efforts of certain 'mon to help with the recruiting process are obviously going to end up horrifically counter-productive? It doesn't take a genius to tell I'm not a people-person. More of an evil-person, really."

"I'll leave the recruiting to Sylvio then, little one with big hat," Gaiyo replied. "We'll put you on something more suited to your talents, when the time comes."

"The name is Razathiel," The Ralts clarified, "I understand if my performance earlier addled your brain to the point you forgot."

"He also answers to Tiny, though," Kaveri added with a small cough.

"I will kill you one day. That is all."

"No, you won't. THAT is all." Cal countered, his tail smacking the ground near Raz.

"If you wish to save her soul then shut her mouth," The wizard snapped.

"Just eat a bunch of candy in front of her and don't share, and if she pulls out some of her stash, take it, that'll get her."

Razathiel raised an eyebrow, pleasantly surprised. "Hmm. I will... yes. That."

"Cute," Gaiyo muttered as he watched the three 'mon speak to one another.

"Say that word again," Raz murmured, "And there will be no Dragonite to save you from my unholy wrath. Yveltal almighty, I deserve a medal for this 'restraint' thing."

The leader of the Sons furrowed his brows. "You best watch your mouth when adding legendaries to your cursing. There's a lot who don't take kindly to them. Just a fair warning."

"If he gets on your nerves Raz, just remember the Historian leads a band of petulant children and be content." Cal mentioned to the dreadmage, not exactly trying to be heard, but not going out of his way to be quiet either.

"More like a company," The Historian corrected. "And plenty enough to take the head off of a single giant green Dragonite. Not that I'm suggesting anything."

"Ah yes, a company of petulant children; a fate comparable to death as it is. Hmph." The wizard gave a glance in Gaiyo's direction, "Regardless, I was aware of the circumstances. Rest assured tongues will be held in less favourable situations."

"Oh?" Cal said, contemplating his outstretched arm as if he was on the verge of forgetting Gaiyo was speaking. "I must have underestimated your brats if you think them enough to finish what Darkrai didn't." He let the reference hang in the air, not sure after the mention of knowing their pasts if Gaiyo had heard of that particular tidbit.

"... You fought Darkrai?" The Historian asked.

Razathiel couldn't help but grin to himself, "Boy, that wiped the smile right off your face, eh?"

Cal nodded gravely. Despite the possible consequences of Gaiyo knowing, he was much more afraid of what might happen if it got out later at a less convenient time and place. "Yes, I did."

"Been having any bad dreams lately?" Gaiyo questioned the green Dragonite in a much more serious tone.

"No, corrupting me seems not to have been a part of his plan. The mad'mon honestly just thought it would be fun when he saw what I could do, far as I can tell." Cal answered equally seriously.

"Is that what he said?" Gaiyo asked with a curious chuckle. "Give it time. From what I can feel right now, he most likely got you."

The Emerald Sentinel's eyes widened, but otherwise he remained still. After a few seconds of tense silence he refocused his gaze on the Ambipom and spoke, trying to keep his voice solid. "What do you mean feel? What do you know?"

"Spirituality runs at an all-time high here, but I'm on another level right now," Gaiyo stated with a smirk. "In Anatellia, legendaries were known in the past to sometimes form special 'bonds' with particular 'mon. It could happen for many years, months, or sometimes just for a few minutes or seconds. The legendary who you mentioned sent that message happened to bond with me. And while I remained bonded, for however little time that remains, I can also feel others who are bonded or who have recently been bonded. One of you were recently with a legendary as well. From what you've just told me, it could likely be Darkrai who has infiltrated inside of you now. How unlucky."

Snype was worried that Darkrai could possibly be involved as well. There was no trace of him inside Snype despite him being in very close contact in multiple occasions. Yet...

"It could have been another," Guardia jumped into the conversation, taking note of the somewhat worried expression on Callimer's face. "Raz ran into Mew back in Fort Ferrol."

"You're shitting me," Gaiyo cursed and looked at the Ralts. "Him? Of all 'mon? That could explain it too. Actually that would make more sense."

"Not necessarily," Razathiel said with apprehension, "It isn't as if whatever came from it was at all fucking conclusive."

"Was it cryptic, ambiguous, and overall not really helpful directly?"

"They were no fucking help at all, is what they were. Apparently the notion of trust is an abstract concept - either that, or it was simply a failed trick."

"Sounds like a legendary to me," Gaiyo replied. "Most have that separation factor from regular 'mon. An entitlement that makes them think they're better than most."

"Odd," The Ralts murmured bitterly, "That among most 'mon we call that arrogance, or stupidity."

"Indeed," Gaiyo agreed. "Among most 'mon. Few here. My bonded legendary's alright though. Very straightforward and to the point. I think you'll like 'em. Want to meet it?"

"We most certainly do, that's one of the biggest reasons we came here to begin with." Cal piped up. "When can we?"

"Right now," Gaiyo replied immediately. "It'll have to be now. It's in the House of Infinity, just a bit out of the way in these caverns. Penance and Obsidian know the way, they should be able to show you. It said it would leave soon, and if I have you do the tasks I wanted to you to do for me now, you'll most likely miss it. But I'll leave that decision up to you. You might be able to meet it later along the road, or in some other part of Anatellia, but the likelihood of running into a legendary like that is not that high. Want to go meet it now?"

"I say we should. We'll still be able to fulfill your requests nonetheless. In fact I'd be even more then happy to help if we meet this legendary. Kehe." Snype said.

"Yes, but you'd have to do other ones, since the ones I'm requesting will be time sensitive," Gaiyo explained.

"Fair enough." Snype simply replied.

"I agree," Abel chimed in. "This takes priority at the moment."

Penance nodded, "Time can't be rewritten." He stated, "The juxtaposition has to be claimed with a stake, right?" He asked with a large grin.

"How else?" Cal answered, smiling at the duck. "This moment has to be ours right?"

"You're getting it!" Penance said with a mad crackle of laughter, "Plus one on Guardia there!"

"Looks like we're all in agreement here," Guardia added, and shot a quick look to Penance. "At least from the ones I understand," She commented, then looked back at Gaiyo. "We'll go see the legendary."

Gaiyo nodded. "Like I said before, the legendary is in the House of Infinity. Penance and Obsidian know where to go so they'll lead you there. Meanwhile I'll put your two people to work, and get Sylvio started on his recruitment obligation. It's a days walk, so I'd prepare any way you need to."

Obsidian smiled a bit, "Um, sir, could we just chat a bit? It's just something that's been on my mind."

Penance huffed at that, "You'll miss the balloons and favors!" Penance stated.

"I'll be fine, Penance." Obsidian said with a small nod, "I just need to ask a question, that's all."

"Let's make it quick," Gaiyo stated as he hopped off his seat. He pointed at Penance and then to the rest of the group. "You watch them in the meantime."

Penance gave one of his usual salutes, "So we can chat among the bees." He said with a snicker, "Come along, oh and Guardia~." Penance walked over and pointed her a few times in her chest, "I'm the big zoon around here. Sooooooo make sure to stay on the line." He reached behind his back and brought out a bucket of white paint along with a paintbrush, "Specifically this line!"

"Shut up, Penance," Guardia cursed at the Golduck as she followed him out of the large home of the Historian, being shouted at by the Golduck as he began to pain a large white line on the ground as soon as they stepped outside, "Either you stay on this line or we'll just turn around and park it!" He said with a huff.

 

[Greiger]

A theoretical and quite serendipitous discussion on the theory and concept of chaos, woot woot​

Obsidian was silent as he looked up at the top of the cave. The silence only lasted for but a brief moment as he wanted to get his point across, "... I think Darkrai bonded with me." He said quickly. "I think that was the bond you sensed."

Gaiyo sat on a set of smooth rocks within the large cavern and gazed inquisitively at the Weavile. "What makes you think that?" Gaiyo asked him curiously.

Obsidian frowned and crossed his arms, "I'll try to sum it up... but when we went back to Valkaria we found that people were voluntarily working with Darkrai. Our Sceptile General, Grett, was such one mon. Not sure how Darkrai convinced him on that, but he did. Another that came was Gabe. Back at the city, we had no clue of that, and when we went to Tollen we found out he had managed to manipulate his way to become the leader of their military forces."

He sighed, pacing a bit from nerves, "Even then we didn't know of his true nature. I was part of a subterfuge team, and following the discovery of the rebel hideout there, I made my way to the Network Point to contact Alex. I held off the knights long enough to do so... and after I ended up blacking out. I came to in the dungeons, with Gabe right there. I'm not sure how long I was out. Maybe only an hour, maybe hours, but I think he could have used that time to try and bond with me." He shuddered a bit, "Would... would it be feasible for him to do so? He is a dark type legendary, and I am a dark type myself. I... I just don't know."

"Entirely feasible," Gaiyo replied in a matter-of-factly manner. "I don't want to alarm you, you know I care for you and Penance but... the fact of the matter is you're going up against Darkrai. His name's been thrown around a lot probably in the past, and you fought Sentinels in your war thirty years ago, and even his direct minions from his own power. But you've barely faced off against him himself," Gaiyo hopped up off the ground using his two tails as a push off and stood in front of Obsidian.

"Every time you fought him or seen his power, it was through some sort of proxy," He explained.

"I fought him alongside Cal and Snype." Obsidian said. "He tried to use Dark Void to awaken my chaos and brainwash me. My Seeker training kicked in, so he used it instead to make us go to sleep temporarily."

Gaiyo's expression changed slightly, but even more of a frown. "I know, Penance told me. I'm sorry to say that I don't buy it. If he wanted to, he could have put you all through the worst sort of hell. Seeker training may have delayed it, but you're going up against the one who controls chaos itself. Think of every tough battle Penance told you about in that Silver War, now multiple dozens of time over, and then you'll get an idea of what you're dealing with. I've read up on your history a bit. Before Darkrai was sealed up by you Valkarian thousands of years ago, almost one-third of the entire population of your country perished in the process. Do you understand that if you even attempt to go up against him conventionally, you wouldn't last long, if he were really trying to kill you?!" Gaiyo asked and shook Obsidian's shoulders a bit with his two tail-hands.

"So to ask if he could have bonded with you in one altercation while you were sealed up... yeah, he could have, and that type of bonding is exponentially worse than a friendlier one like mine. I can't even begin to describe it because I would have never experience it."

Obsidian frowned all the while, pushing Gaiyo's hands off of his shoulders. He began to pace once again and put his hands on top of his head, "Crud." He muttered. "I know he wouldn't kill us. I know plenty from Paradox in that regard. He would want us alive so we can fight back. Killing us would have been counter-productive." He turned to Gaiyo with a frown as he lowered his hands, "So... what can a legendary do with a bonded? I mean... can he see through my eyes? Can he see this conversation right now?"

"Yeah, it's possible," Gaiyo answered. "He could be listening now, but each bond is different. Theoretically it's possible, but there are so many bonds created for so many different reasons. Sometimes it's random acts on the whim of that legendary. Sometimes it's to achieve some purpose. Sometimes it's to repay and act of kindness, or to create an agreement of cooperation. It's hard to say why it's done, only that on some rare occasions, it's done. But... I somehow doubt you're the one with the bond. Unless you've been seeing visions of the reciprocate as well. A bond works both ways, usually. If something is acquired by one, it is done so as well by the other. Unless... you've been having any bad dreams lately?"

Obsidian frowned, then shook his head, "I know Alex came with the gold bracelet and wiped us clean. I doubt that would remove a bond... but I just don't know yet. I mean, we spent a few days in Tollen and I haven't had such things happening. But... if in the future if it does, what could I do to try and use it to my advantage? Could I try and disconnect it in some way?"

"Gold bracelet?" Gaiyo asked for a moment, before he went back to Obsidian's question. "Hell, if he's trying to get some advantage on you, I say you do whatever you can to get the same back! He's spying on you? Spy back on him! He's speaking in your mind, try to speak back in his!" Gaiyo answered with a grin. "It'll be harder to reciprocate, but it's possible. Your Seeker training would help you focus your mind for those things. I can help you focus more while you're here, if you'll need it. But like I said before, I somehow doubt it's you. I think signs would have already appeared. There is one way to know for sure... ask the legendary I'm bonded with once you get there. They'll know."

He nodded slowly, "Right..." He let out a shaky sigh, "But... Penance hasn't told you of the golden bracelet?"

"Remind me," Gaiyo replied.

"It's a bracelet that Hanso Sharpeye has." He explained, "Right now it's in Alex's hands, but it's a artifact filled with Cresselia's power. Everyone in Valkaria sort of knows about it in some way, and it can fight the corruption that Darkrai places down."

"Riiight, I remember now," Gaiyo stated and crossed his arms. "And you said that you, that Thief 'King' and the Green giant fought against Darkrai, the Lord of Nightmares, one of the most terrifying legendaries directly, right?"

"Yes." He stated. "What are you thinking of, Gaiyo?"

"A bucket of water can put out a fire," Gaiyo replied as he clapped his two tailed-hands together. "But a bucket of water can't put out a volcano."

"Yes, but it's temporarily. At least for now." Obsidian said with a shrug. "If we can find more artifacts of hers, then it could help us temporarily until we find her again."

The Historian gritted his teeth together. "No, it isn't. Obsidian, there should be no reason that this bracelet could have stopped a direct blow from Darkrai himself. No reason. It may lower some in that moment, maybe delay the chaos from engulfing you, but it would still display, even now," The Historian went up to Obsidian, and held out one of his tails to him. He feigned as if he held something in his hand and moved it up and down in front of Obsidian's body. "That you have Darkrai's corruption. That gold bracelet can remove smaller portions. It can do great against second-level chaos and hand-me-down chaos like from the war thirty years ago. But a direct blow against Darkrai? Nu-uh. Not possible. Trust me. Which is why this is all so damn... interesting. Plus you have that stone with you too."

"So what?" He asked, his voice already rising from anxiety, "That... that I'm just going to turn into a freak? That I'm just going to start mass murdering everyone around me!?" He cried out out, his voice significantly rising from his fear.

"Nope," Gaiyo replied simply. "I'm saying you should. And you won't. Which is interesting. Go talk to the legendary. They'll explain everything. Much better than me."

 

[SV]

Reverence, Anatellia

After sending the group off to meet the legendary, Gaiyo Nyys returned to his cathedral-like home, where the two remaining members, Silence and Zai, were waiting. He walked inside and shut the door behind him. His gaze fixed on the Absol, then the Weavile, and kept going between the two of them. He was relatively silent, and broke his gaze to rummage through his things to look for something. He placed on his fur straps on his arms and legs, and tossed a set to the two 'mon as well.

"Here, use these," He suggested as he began to tighten on his fur straps onto his arms and legs with the help of his two tail-hands. "The caves are usually warmer than the outside, but it can get chilly sometimes either way," He explained. Once the set were tightened, he hopped up and examined the two again.

"Alright, I might as well use you since I have you," He began to explain. "I'd need your entire group to handle the bigger jobs I have, but I think you guys can handle some of the smaller tasks I have planned. I sure hope you two are fighters. Or at least can do so in a pinch," He stated as he gestured them to follow him outside. A few Sons of Arceus were waiting for them once they emerged from his home.

"We're going to be going to help a third-tier sect a little off of our territory," The Historian explained. "They're priests, highly religious, and follow Coballion exclusively. But they've been having some issues lately with other sects messing with them and taking their stuff. We're going to meet with them and offer them protection, as well as deal with whoever these other sects are. If we do this right, this could be one more sect that joins mine as an ally."

Gaiyo Nyys looked at them sternly. "You're going to be here as extra protection. Guards. Don't do any talking unless I say so. And don't do anything stupid. Clear?"

 

[Fort PokePower]

Silence Quickslash

​

Silence gave the furs that had been handed to her a disgusted look. She was a Weavile, built for the iciest conditions, not some damned Sunflora that would freeze the moment winter came around. Still, she tied the furs loosely about her waist - you never knew when something so simple as an article of clothing could come in handy. If nothing else, she could always use them to choke someone or something.

Without her "contractor" there, Silence considered for a moment simply ignoring Gaiyo's orders and doing her own thing. Guardia hadn't even thought to give her any orders, the idiot, so the Weavile honestly felt little need to listen to the Anatellian. Hmm, but if she ruined things here, that'd probably lose her any opportunity to continue traveling with the Valkarians - and considering she needed the group's resources if she ever wanted to find Cresselia, getting the boot wasn't really an option. So, she'd continue to obediently follow after Gaiyo, at least as long as it suited her.

But only as long as it suited her. If any of his orders became a threat to her mission... she was done.

"You're going to be here as extra protection. Guards. Don't do any talking unless I say so. And don't do anything stupid. Clear?" Gaiyo said, giving her and the Absol a stern look.

"Shouldn't be a problem," Silence said, giving the Ambipom a mock salute. Well, she would obey. Not respect.

 

[Nakuzami]

Zai, the Absol Female, age 30 Valkarian Gold Tribe Moveset: Perish Song - Play Rough - Stone Edge - Sucker Punch - Substitute - Thunder

Alizai "Skuld" Arashi
III.I :: The House of Gaiyo Nyys
Gold Tribe Errand Girls

---

Okay. So this had been an interesting turn of events.

Gaiyo had decided that Zai and Silence were to stay behind as some sort of insurance. Had it been coincidence that he'd picked her? Probably not. She wasn't going to let her necklace out of her sight, which meant that the others weren't going to be able to show it to the legendary that they were to meet.

Her curious side was a bit irked that she was missing out on meeting a legendary.

She was also stuck here with two individuals that she did not personally know. Gaiyo seemed to be well acquainted with Penance—that figured—and Silence? A mercenary at best. Zai observed the Weavile from the corner of her eye as Gaiyo handed them some furs. The Weavile's disapproving expression was obvious, but it was the subversive gleam in her eyes that Zai didn't trust.

After Silence's little show of disrespect, Zai returned her attention to Gaiyo. "I would not dream of it," she responded. "But if I may ask . . . I'm curious: do any of the legendaries that the various groups follow often show themselves to their followers? Evidently they at least make appearances," she stated, referencing the legendary the rest of her group was off to meet.

"I know that Cobalion is a bit less . . . elusive than other legendary pokémon, so that's why I ask."​

 

[SV]

Reverence, Anatellia

Gaiyo Nyys gave the Weavile a momentary stern glare. He already didn't like her attitude, and wondered if perhaps he made a wrong choice when he was picking members of the Valkarian group to stay. However the Ambipom reminded himself that these 'mon didn't need to be respectful to him. As long as they did their jobs and kept quiet when it was necessary, things ought to run smoothly.

The Historian motioned for the two to follow him as they began to walk through the caverns of Reverence. He took this time, as they were walking, to answer Zai's question. "All legendaries are usually quite rare," He began to explain as he strolled through the cavern, making occasional glances back to ensure the two were following him. "But some have been known to show themselves to normal Pokemon for the right reasons. It's especially more common here in Anatellia, where our connection to them is much stronger. Priests like the ones we're about to see, who have a strong spiritual connection to their sect, have it even better. I know personally of some priests and spiritual folk who have seen multiple legendaries in their lifetime. On the flip side, I know of many, many more who have tried to encounter a single one their entire lifespan and have had no luck. It is a rarity even here. It requires a great deal of luck, patience, and the right conditions. After all, in the temples, where its the highest likelihood of encountering some legendaries, one must often do certain actions or show certain object to be granted an audience."

Gaiyo jumped through the cavern onto an elevated plateau, where a sizable group of Sons were waiting for them. Among them were a Linoone with multiple piercings across its face, most of them with small designs of Arceus in some way. Another Shinx that came forward had a large Arceus tattoo covering its entire face.

"What's the news, Linx?" Gaiyo asked the Linoone. The Linoone gave a somewhat displeased look at Zai and Silence, before turning her attention to the Historian.

"We've got two dozen Sons to follow you and the..." The Linoone's eyes traveled to the Weavile and Absol, "... guards, to meet with Just Root. Something's definitely spooked them, though Historian."

"Dark Moons?" Gaiyo asked.

The Linoone shook her head. "We're not sure. Someone's been stealing from them and making them vulnerable, definitely. Probably a tactic to have them go to one of the bigger sects as an ally. You'd better expect others to come in to try and swoop them away too. I'm not sure if the two area related, though. If the ones messing with them are also the ones trying to get them to ally."

"We'll soon find out," Gaiyo stated as he crossed his arms. He looked over the other Sons and spoke to the Linoone and Shinx in a lower voice. "What else is going on?"

The Shinx nodded his head and spoke. "We've heard chattin' from one of our 'Arceus Eyes' that two second-tier sects are meetin' today."

"Meeting why?" Gaiyo asked as he furrowed his brows, clearly not taking the announcement well. "And when?"

"We can't say on either accounts," The Linoone replied with a frown. "They could be two sects who are already allied, or two that haven't chosen a side. Or two making an alliance and joining another. Two things are for sure, it's not to join our side, or we would have heard about it, and... this took some digging to uncover, so that means whoever's calling it doesn't want us to know about it."

"That can't be good," Gaiyo muttered. "You got a meet spot?"

"Yeah, we think we picked up on that."

"Send Bore with eight of the best Sons we have," Gaiyo ordered. "If they find this meet, have them monitor, but not engage. If it's big trouble, report it back immediately. Pray to Arceus it's not one of ours." The Shinx nodded it's head and ran off.

"Anything else?" Gaiyo asked the Linoone, somewhat hoping there was no more news to deliver. The Linoone saw the Ambipom's expression and nodded with a frown.

"Yeah... the Dark Moons are gonna stage another rally during the Spirit Seeker's Rising Ceremony." She responded.

"Arceus damn them," Gaiyo cursed as he inhaled sharply and then exhaled. "That's going to end in blood. There's no avoiding it. Things are just going to keep getting worse and worse with those Darkrai dogs. At this rate..." His voice trailed off, as the Ambipom seemed to hold back saying what he wanted to say. "The Spirit Seekers need more protection. Send in three hundred of our mixes and some Seekers as support that Penance loaned me. And take half of the ones we were going to send to meet with Just Root."

"You want us to take half of your guys?" The Linoone questioned. "But that'll leave you with less than fifteen total, Historian! Ain't those bad odds?"

Gaiyo pouted for a moment, then turned from the Linoone, to the other Sons of Arceus laughing and joking among themselves, and then to the Weavile and Absol beside him. "Then I'd better hope I know how to pick 'em." He replied as he stared at Silence and Zai for a few seconds. He turned back to the Linoone. "Go ahead, we'll manage."

The Linoone hesitated, but nodded her head and gave the orders to the rest of them. Soon enough, half of the remaining Sons in that area left, leaving four Poochyena, a Quilava, two Machops, a Mankey, one Spearow, two Poliwag, and a Hariyama, along with Gaiyo Nyss, Silence and Alizai.

"Looks like this will be it," Gaiyo muttered and turned to Silence and Zai again. "As I said before, our main goal is to recruit this third-tier sect, the Just Root. Our secondary goal will be to find out who's been messing with them. I'm expecting we'll run into another sect, maybe even one of the first-tier ones, or their allies, so if we do, expect that we might run into a fight. Before we head out to meet with Just Root, got any last questions?"

 

[SV]

Anatellia - The House of Infinity

The travel through Reverence proved decidedly uneventful, which was somewhat surprising to Guardia given the nature of the Anatellians. The walk did take them all across the underground caverns, and through the Sons of Arceus' territory. Along the way, Guardia learned a bit more about Anatellians and their history but for the most part the locals seemed to ignore them, no doubt an order passed down from the Historian. The monumental structures and ruins continued for quite some time, for hours upon hours as they continued their march. Eventually, these structures became less frequent, and other 'mon around who bore the symbols of the Sons also were seen less often.

Eventually, there were few signs of other life, and the enormous cavern became just that, a large cavern for the group to walk through. They camped once or twice along the road, but Guardia found little to do but ponder on the upcoming meeting they were to have with the legendary. She wondered who it was, and how she knew anything about Cresselia. Did all legendaries know each other to this degree? There were so many questions to ask.

It was only on the following day that the gathered of Valkaria reached what appeared to be a lone structure, a temple of some sort. It was an elongated building, built for length rather than width, and with a point at the very end with an odd symbol Guardia hadn't seen before. It seemed like a sign for 'infinity', but it was surrounded by a crest resembling a sun. This appeared to be the group's destination.

"So this is the House of Infinity..." Guardia stated as she examined the building. Like the many other buildings in the Sons of Arceus territory, it appeared ancient, and worn, but a single light was seen through an open window, as if someone inside had lit a fire. There definitely appeared to be someone there. "What exactly is protocol here? Do we knock, or...?"

Snype took action and simply knocked on the door. He couldn't be yelled at for that right? It was only polite. "Did you just ask what the protocol was for walking up to a door? Kehe," Snype joked.

Penance snickered at Guardia, "Hehe, sooooomeone is too fluffy today." He giggled out.

Obsidian just let out a weak sigh, "It's alright to knock. But, honestly, Guardia, you need to chill."

"I was only saying that because we're dealing with a le-" Guardia began to shout back at Penance, Obsidian and Snype, when the door to the tower began to open.

"Huh, that's new." Penance muttered.

The light from inside the room shone through the dark cavern, and the group saw standing at the doorway a 'mon with a small, cream body and a pair of v-shaped ears. It was smaller in height than even Snype.

The Victini exchanged a stern glance with the group in silence, as it seemed to examine the group in front of it. Then it spoke. "You're not from here," It stated with a somewhat high-pitch voice. "Who're you?"

Guardia stood there staring at the small legendary 'mon in silence. She was a bit surprised at how casual and unceremonial this all was. This was technically the first legendary she had seen besides Darkrai, but besides the species and name recognition, there was little that made it actually feel like a legendary encounter.

Snype blinked at the legendary's size. He didn't seem to be surprised at it for whatever reason. Snype gave Guardia a hard nudge to the side so she could start speaking up. "Guardia you're being addressed." Snype said.

"We're all being addressed." Obsidian corrected him.

"Howdy prowdy!" Penance said, frowning a bit after. He walked up to the smaller mon, peering down, "... You're really teeny." He said with a nod, "Guess that's why it's a Vic-teeni!"

"Dammit Penance..." Snype said with a facepalm.

Obsidian just stared at Snype, "Tell me, did you honestly expect anything different?"

The Victini glared at the Golduck, then quickly slammed the door in their faces.

Snype sighed and knocked on the door again. "Don't mind the duck Victini! We're from Valkaria. We were sent over here by Gaiyo because we heard you knew something about a message sent through the SEC network. We had other questions to ask too regarding all of that..." Snype said. "...You can totally smack Penance if you want to." He added.

Obsidian frowned, "This isn't exactly the best first impression... "

The door once more swung open. Victini this time had wide eyes and a huge smile on it's face. "You've got a lot of questions no doubt. Come on in, everyone!" It chirped. It glared once more at Penance as they were ushered into the tower. Surprisingly, the inside appeared to be quite homey, like a cozy cottage suited for a villager. Only a corner of the tower was in use, by a fireplace, where food was being cooked, an assortment of different books were on the table, and maps were laid out on the dining table there.

Snype walked inside and gave off a grin as he looked around. "You got a very cozy home here. Kehe. " Snype said as he looked over to the table with the map and different books curiously.

"Just a rest stop!" The Victini pipped cheerfully. "I don't usually stay in one place very long. This is actually my last day here, so I'll be packing soon. But not before I get a chance to talk to you!" The Victini hopped onto one of the seats at the dining table and folded its paws together. Its wide, exuberant eyes scanned over the group from Valkaria.

Snype followed the Victini and sat down in one of the seats of the table as well. He was pretty pleased by the cheery personality. It was something he could easily get adjusted with. "Heh, well glad you're so willing! Uh... guess we should introduce ourselves first. I'm Snype. King of Thieves. Kehe" Snype began.

Victini listened to everyone's introduction and replied with a smile. "You can call me Vee!"

Snype said with a grin. "I guess we should get to the important part... regarding that message we received over in Tollen." Snype asked.

"Tollen... Tollen... what's a Tollen? Is that a place? I'm not well versed in places," Victini stated with a small shrug. It opened its eyes wide again. "Oh! You mean the message of Cresselia!"

"Yup! You know about it then?" Snype asked curiously.

Vee gave the group a confused look. "Well, yes, don't you?"

Snype blinked. "Er... yes, we heard you knew who sent the message or more specifically where Cresselia would be." Snype continued.

"Yeah, I sent the message," Victini replied, still holding a bewildered look. "... Do you mean to tell me that you came all this way and you don't know?" It asked and looked around the group. Victini blinked a few more times and sighed. "I sent the message from my spot... to there! Why the heck would I send one message from my spot... to there?!"

Snype rubbed his head. "...Eheh, ya know I figured something was off about that message. Kinda obvious now that you mention it. Kehe. Guess we never really looked into what spot exactly it was sent from. Just that it wasn't a network point."

Victini shook his head again. "No where. She's still there, she's been there," The legendary replied. "I don't understand... you haven't seen her? Didn't you just come from there?"

"From where?" Guardia questioned. "The spot from the message?"

"No! No!" The Victini shook his head. "I came from the spot in the message! I sent it from there. I'm talking about where I sent the message to! The land in the south! The land of forests!"

Snype blinked and scratched his head. Valkaria was in the south... at least... according to the way it was made at least. "But the message came form near here! We traced it and everything... Land in the south? Hang on..." Snype walked over to the map on the table and looked down at it. "But Valkaria is in the south. The thieves would have known if a message like that was sent to our forest..."

"It could mean your thieves are traitors then." Obsidian muttered. "They got this message, but refused to pass it on. Either that, or it went right over their heads and the enemy intercepted it." He frowned, "How did you send the message to... this area then?" He asked as he pointed to Tollen on the map. "We talked to some psychics there, and they got your message here. Did you not send it then?"

Snype glared at Obsidian. "Call my thieves traitors again. I dare you." Snype said coldly before looking down at the map again. Something was off here but he couldn't quite... "...what..." Snype looked over the map for a moment and suddenly out of nowhere... a huge blush formed on his face.

The Victini walked over to the map, and tilted it, and presented it to the group again. It tilted it in a way to show Karn and Anatellia in the North. "This is north. We are north. South is..." The Victini's hand wandered over to Tollen. "... Here, and here is where Cresselia is. I thought you just came from here. This is where I sent the message. This is where Cresselia is!"

 

[Megaman765]

Anatellia - The House of Infinity -Part 2

"WE JUST CAME FROM THERE!" Obsidian snapped in response, "Cresselia wasn't there! Darkrai was! If she was there why didn't she show up!? Gah!" He gripped his head, "You telling us we missed her? That she didn't want to be found by us? No." His hands fell, "Darkrai was there... and.... " His jaw fell, "He was trying to capture the queen..." He looked over at Snype, "Wasn't he?"

"Well more like trying to kill her but sure all the same." Snype said, trying to hide his red blush. He felt really silly for not noticing how odd the map was earlier.

"No no. He didn't kill her!" Obsidian stated, "Amid it all, he tried to capture her. Why choose Tollen to be the first place to capture?" He stared hard at the map, ".... Snype... while you were with the queen... you very may have been with Cresselia." He whispered. "Why else capture her? Why take over her kingdom? Either that or someone that lived in Tollen... we have to send a message back quick!"

Penance frowned, "Queens are always the head of the deck." He muttered.

"You're both being silly. Well..." Snype scratched his chin. "...Guess it could make sense considering I wasn't touched by Darkrai..." Snype shook his head. "No that's completely silly."

"She duped us...." Penance began to say, realization slowly coming to his eyes, "... She duped us this whole time..." His voice was starting to slowly grow with fury, "We were seeking her. She knew it... and she let them all die..." His body began to shake just a tad, "She. Knew."

Snype pinched between his eyes. "And this has been another episode of assumptions with Penance. Duped? Comon now. For what reason? Victini please explain." Snype added.

"I hate to burst your bubble," Vee stated to Penance. "But she actually most likely didn't know. In fact, she might not even know she is Cresselia in the first place. Not sure who this Queen is but... how old is she?"

"About 17," Guardia replied curiously. She wondered what this all meant.

"Yeah, that sounds right," The Victini nodded. "Have you been around her recently?"

"We kinda saved her butt recently. Kehe" Snype said with a chuckle.

Penance's eyes flashed as a sudden psychic burst came out from him. Not enough to damage anyone, but enough to cause papers to fly. The duck twitched there on the spot, slowly bringing his hands to his face. Then he stormed out, making his way to the door and closing it behind himself with a loud bang.

Obsidian winced at the response, "Yeah... that news might have served to piss him off more." He murmured. "Um, sorry about that. He can get... emotional."

"Well his loss if he wants to go on a tangent without the full story." Snype stated bluntly before turning back to Victini. "Sorry about that... go on?"

"Err, yeah sure," Victini stated as it watched the Golduck depart. "So... you've been around her recently... what about, you, you and you?" It asked, pointing to Snype, Callimer, and Obsidian. "You three, you definitely were exposed to her," Victini stated as it came a bit closer and sniffed the air around them. "You were exposed to two opposing forces. One which could have likely killed you if it hadn't been for the other."

Snype shivered and blushed slightly as he started getting sniffed at. "Yeah.. Cal carried her for awhile, I practically held her hand and helped her get out of harms way, and I think Obsidian made contact as well. Funny enough, when we were hit by Darkrai's Dark Void, only Cal and Obsidian were affected and I was apparently unaffected." Snype said.

The Victini sniffed at Snype once more, casing Snype to laugh a little. It kind of tickled! "Yep. You were exposed to a lot more of Cresselia's power. While you..." He sniffed at the giant Dragonite. "You were exposed to a lot more of Darkrai's. A tremendous amount. If you three hadn't been veiled, in fact, you may not be here now. I think whoever you're talking about, whoever this Queen is, is most likely your Cresselia!"

Obsidian frowned, "She has no battle training, no idea of her power. I mean, it's good news, but how is it exactly the best news?" He put his claws together, "Darkrai has centuries of practice under his belt. No wonder he was so smug. And even then, he easily carried the queen around without being worried one bit. How are we supposed to train her up to be able to battle an eon old entity who has mastered all of his abilities if she doesn't yet understand who she is? Does she need some sort of teacher or something? Cause we can't be affording to spend months or years training her. There has to be some quick way to get her to master everything."

"No teacher, no training," Vee pipped happily. "The only thing that she needs is to be reminded of who she is! The only thing she has to do is to become who she was born to be! Or more specifically reborn to be! Cresselia!"

Obsidian grew readily alert, "... Darkrai knows she's Cresselia." He said slowly as he looked over at Guardia, "We just left her there with only a bare amount of people protecting her. What's more humiliating a defeat? Letting your enemy win a small battle? Or letting them think they won and then heading back to the battlefield and truly staking a win?" He frowned, "Either, at this point... he's already grabbed her while we left none the wiser, or she's still there." He crossed his arms, "... No wonder he was so smug..." Obsidian murmured to himself. "All he had to do... was wait."

"Obsidian. Its the same case as why he didn't kill us. If Darkrai really wanted to just snag Cresselia then he'd have done it already. It's a game. Remember?" Snype said.

"Yet she's different. We cause chaos for him. She can't." He replied softly.

"Everything can cause chaos," Vee interjected. "Even the vessel in her current state. And knowing Darkrai, or as he's called by us legendaries, Gabriel, he's far too gone to ever care about what Cresselia could do."

"Kehe, so Darkrai's gotten over his head eh? Could definitely be his downfall then. Kehe. If he's not gonna take us seriously then we can just do the opposite." Snype said with a grin.

"... So Darkrai's name actually is Gabriel, which means..." Abel muttered to himself. "The Greninja was Darkrai all along? How does that make sense? And how does a Florges being Cresselia make sense?"

"Have you ever heard of the Guardians?" Victini asked.

Snype's ears perked up. "Y-yeah! Actually we had a book about it awhile back but we ended up losing it during the whole mess. Never got a chance to read it really so can't say we know much about them." Snype said.

"Then I'll enlighten," Victini chirped. "There are different kinds of legendaries. There are Mystical Legendaries like myself, where there may very well be others of the same species in the world, though that's not always the case. But Mystical Legendaries are born from what they are and live their lives accordingly. Then there are the Spacial Legendaries, ones who have always existed and who may very well always will be. It is believed that there is only one version of each of these legendaries, and there will always only be one."

The Victini held up a finger. "Then there are the Guardians. These legendaries are different than others because they aren't born... they're made. Chosen. Selected. As the Guardians mythos states: 'Once, they were normal Pokemon. Then they became more'. These are Pokemon who are selected, chosen to become the legendary. Sometimes it's done at birth, other times it is a selection process through one's actions. The process varies, but the result is the same. Normal Pokemon become legendary Pokemon. There are nine of these Guardians total: Groudon, Kyogre, Rayquaza, Azelf, Mesprit, Uxie, Zekrom and Reshiram, who are considered a single Guardian, and the last two, Cresselia and Darkrai. There have been many of these legendaries over time, but only ever one at a time. When one of these Guardians die, another is chosen from among the Pokemon of the world. But there have been hundreds, thousands of Guardians before these ones, and there will likely be a thousand after."

"Legendaries that are made?" Guardia repeated in confusion.

Victini continued. "Each Guardian is a watcher over a different aspect of the world. Sometimes it's a physical trait the world embodies. Sometimes it's an idea or a characteristic. Whatever it is, these Guardians are masters of the traits they are assigned, rulers over it. Embodied by it. Strengthened by it. And they are tasked to preserve the world by watching over such aspects, to keep them in check, to ensure that the world never has an abundance of any one trait. For example, Darkrai is the Guardian of chaos, nightmares, and malice. This isn't to say that he is inherently evil, merely that it is tasked with preserving these aspects of the world. Balancing them. Because a world thrown out of such things would also be without balance, same as would be the case if these aspects overwhelmed the world."

The Victini frowned and shook its head. "So you see, the idea of Darkrai isn't the problem here. It's this version of him. Gabriel. The latest normal Pokemon to ascend to Darkrai. He has become... corrupted, by whatever malicious or demented thoughts that has encompassed his mind. He has long ago since broken off from whatever tasks he was assigned to do as a Guardian, and has since gone about his own crazed agenda, whatever that may be. He's old, thousands of years old, older than most other living Guardians. And he is powerful now too. Even trapped inside a prison for millennia has done little to change that. He's become so powerful now, he's even begun breaking all of the rules of the Guardian contract, even finding a way to hide in plain sight, to revert from his legendary form into the normal Pokemon he was so very long ago: a Greninja."

Snype crossed his arms, trying to take in all of this information. "...Sheesh, wonder what kinda guy Gabe used to be then to just go crazy with power? You'd think this kinda thing would be dealt with before it got out of hand! So does that make Tollen's Queen possibly one of these Guardians? Cresselia? We could have stayed and tried to figure it all out! Have a fighting chance against Darkrai! Well... then again she seemed a bit frail. Not exactly in a condition to take on big bad Darkrai or anything." Snype said.

"It means she could become one, yes!" Victini chirped. "But she hasn't yet ascended. A few months back, a terrible affliction laid waste to the south kingdom you came from... err, Tollen? Was that what you called it? Yes? Yes! An affliction with power from multiple origins, but one that definitely had its power drawn from Darkrai himself. But an odd thing occurred those few months back. A power was awakened. A small, but controlled power which preserved a handful of Pokemon from the affliction, made them immune. I knew immediately this was Cresselia's awakening, so I instantly sent my message to her, to let her presence be known!"

"The immunity in the palace," Abel muttered.

The Victini frowned. "Gabriel became aware as well, and I felt him go to that kingdom as well. He has since stayed there, keeping the vessel of Cresselia separate from her true power. After all, if he simply killed her, then Cresselia would eventually be reborn somewhere else, unknown to him. But if he kept a watch on her, kept her contained and weak for as long as he could, cut off from her power... that's another story entirely."

Vee lifted its hands in the area, and a psychic distortion formed around the area above the group's head. Suddenly, a vision began to form for all of them to see. A vision of objects spiralling above them. The first appeared to be a form of some sort, a Pokemon shape. "When a Guardian is selected, there are two main things which occur," Two more objects began to appear around the vision of the Pokemon form. "First, the spirit of the legendary is bound to the new Guardian. This includes all of the memories and knowledge of that legendary, which is infused to the Guardian directly. The spirit is usually found to be in the form of another 'mon temporarily, used as a harboring vessel," The first spiralling object in the vision suddenly connected with the shape of the Pokemon and shined brightly.

"The second is the soul of the legendary," The Victini continued to explain, as the second object came into view. Guardia seemed to recognize it instantly. It's spherical shape was similar to that of Zai's orb! "This contains the form and power of the legendary. It is with it that she can transform into her true form," In the vision, the second object connected with the Pokemon as well, and again the vision shined brightly, until a new shape was formed. The Pokemon revealed itself in the vision, transforming from its shadowy shape into the shape of Cresselia. "And with these two objects, a Guardian is born. The problem is, that when Gabriel discovered Cresselia, he blocked out both the spirit and the soul of Cresselia from entering the Guardian's body. That is why Cresselia does not yet know who she is. Because her rebirth has not yet been completed. You seem to now know where Cresselia's vessel is. Now all you have to do is find her spirit and soul."

"So going back to Tollen and saying "Hey Queenie! Surprise! You're Cresselia!" isn't going to help much if her spirit and soul is still wandering around lost in the world huh? Unless its still back there!" Snype replied. He wondered what this meant for Zai... was she a guardian as well? Or did Zai just happen to be hanging onto a trinket that belonged to a previous guardian... which quickly reminded Snype of another question.

"Um... just curious. When we fought against Gabe I managed to snag that orb right under his nose. I caught it in a bag thankfully but uh... what would happen if I ended up making physical contact with it...?" Snype asked.

"You would most likely die. Quite painfully too," Vee replied a bit more upbeat than it probably should have. "That orb was Darkrai's soul. Where all of his power resides. That power is drawn from touch. Imagine thrusting even a fraction of that power into the body or mind of a non-legendary! Even a tiny portion would likely kill you, overwhelm you."

Snype felt a shiver through his body. He practically collapsed and fell onto his rear. "Y...yikes...e...eheh... man I r-really dodged a bullet there then..." Snype said, feeling sweat drip down from his head. "B-but... that vial... wasn't that the same thing...that poison..." Snype muttered to himself but loud enough for Victini to hear him.

"Show me?" The Victini demanded curiously, as it stuck out its arm. "If you still have it on you!"

Snype blinked a moment. Mostly about the whole mind reading thing this Victini had. "Right I did hang onto it. Dunno why but I felt like I shouldn't have gotten rid of it..." Snype said as he reached into his bag and pulled out the vial, still filled with a clear liquid. He handed it over to Vee.

Vee snatched the vial and carefully removed the top. He sniffed it and tilted its head, then licked the top of it. The Victini smiled and splashed a bit onto Snype. "Water," It stated. "Completely purified by your interaction with Cresselia's vessel, likely. See how powerful she is getting even without her powers? Even after everything Gabriel's tried to do. Even after everything, after so many years, decades, centuries! Cresselia's power is returning!"

Snype jumped when he was splashed. "Ack! R-really? I thought it was just because Gabe left Tollen alone. I had a weird vision when I touched the vial for the first time but I guess that was negated when I held her hand... heh... well hey at least we have some good news!" Snype said happily as he stepped forward and held Victini's hands excitedly. "We just have to find Cresselia's spirit and soul and then we're set! We can take on Darkrai!" Snype said happily, turning to Obsidian.

Vee giggled along with Snype and jumped with him. "You're funny for a Sableye!"

"See? You two were being totally silly like I said! The Queen wasn't Cresselia... not yet anyways! There's no way she could have known." Snype would say before turning back to Vee, his face slowly changing to a frown. "But...just like Obsidian said earlier... what's to stop Gabe from just invading Tollen again? That'd cause us alot of trouble! He clearly knows who Cresselia's vessel is!"

"No, here are real questions." Obsidian said, rather calmly, "Number one... who is choosing who becomes what legendary? It isn't a natural process. It isn't like we all have a dice rolled to see who becomes what. If it was a natural evolutionary process, then we would have several mon running around who could become legendaries. And you specifically said the word 'chosen'. 'Selected'. That means someone up there is choosing." He crossed his arms, "If that's the case, then it means a boss in the sky decided that Gabe would become what he is now, and isn't taking that power back. Number two, where is Cresselia's soul then? If Gabe snatched it then it isn't a simple process of just walking up, knocking on his door, and asking for it back with a smile. Number three, you've been here this whole time... just moving from place to place. If there REALLY are other gods out there that are still in power, why not? Oh, I don't know, TARGET GABE AND TRY TO KILL HIM!?"

Obsidian let out a deep breath, "Sorry... sorry." He said as he slipped back to his calm demeanor. "But, from my perspective at least, it is a concern if the gods of our world aren't really fighting back, instead letting mortals fight against a god who went rogue. So, I'm not certain here. Is no one in charge of keeping other gods in check? Is that only Cresselia's responsibility in regards to Darkrai? Because if he wins this war, I imagine he might just try and do whatever he wants and wreck everything up for you other gods."

In the corner of the room, Razathiel stood perched on his staff, the edge of his robe hanging over the staff's tip and his sleeves interlocking. His head was lowered, the brim of his wizard hat half-obscuring the glow of his crimson eyes like some miniature demonic scarecrow. The mage had been silent until now, though he chuckled darkly at recent developments in conversation, eyes glinting with sinister mirth.

"Something funny, Rass?" Guardia asked the Ralts in the corner of the room with a cocked eyebrow.

The wizard sighed in exasperation. "You could say that, Garbodor."

"Care to share?"

"Perhaps later," He smirked, despite a lingering hint of antipathy in his tone. Anna made a confused expression, but said nothing in reply. Snype gave the Ralts a suspicious look in response, but Raz paid it no mind.

Vee turned to Snype first after the brief exchange between Raz and Guardia. "I guess nothing is stopping him. If he wants to, he can go after Cresselia or that country anytime he wants. I'd suggest you get her some extra protection if you can."

The Victini then turned to Obsidian. "To answer your first question... there are many theories as to who is the one deciding, but none of the Guardians, nor any other legendary has actually seen or met with whoever does. There IS however, believed to be a tenth legendary, one who understands and controls the Guardians' process. The process which guides their rebirth. Some say it's Arceus. Other believe it's another legendary."

"As to your second question, I have no idea where Cresselia's spirit or soul is. I do know this: the spirit is usually discovered in the body of another Pokemon, as I said before. That Pokémon may not entirely be aware of it's importance, but it will often be drawn to areas which require it's specific need. In other words, since it is the spirit of Cresselia, places with a large amount of chaos are great places to start looking. As for the soul... I think the best chance you have of finding out where that is, is by asking one of Cresselia's brothers or sisters. One of the other Guardians. You may just be in the perfect spot to ask for that too. This place is known for their legendary worship. They have temples dedicated to them, after all. And in some cases, they've been known to actually meet these legendaries, if the right conditions are met. Ask Gaiyo about it, he might know more!" The Victini chirped. It lowered its eyes for a moment and seemed to pout.

"Asking them about both the spirit and soul would be a good move. But that might be a good opportunity to ask them why they aren't doing anything about Gabriel too, if you wish to. I have my theories, though," The Victini stated in a voice barely above a whisper. "If you want to ask me specifically, and other legendary Pokemon in my position, why we're not doing anything... the answer is a lot more simple. The basic thing is, at this point... we can't do anything. He's old... older than most other legendaries alive. And with his age comes power, so much power that he's gathered and abused. I have never seen Arceus. I have never even heard of the extent of his might or the power it can wield, and yet I stand before you now and say that even he may have trouble against Gabriel. The truth is... we're scared. Scared of what he's become. Scared of what he might do, and scared that if we try to get involved now, he'll destroy us. As of now, his eyes aren't on us, and while this part of the world suffers, many legendaries are vacating it and moving on while they can."

 

[SV]

Anatellia - The House of Infinity - Part 3

Snype frowned at Victini. Even the legendaries were afraid of Darkrai? Things were worse then he could have expected... When Snype first thought of a place full of chaos, Karn or Gold City was the first thing he thought of. What if Cresselia's spirit was holed up in one of those places? Or perhaps it would be heading toward wherever the plague was spreading. Either way it would be complicated... at least the Soul was more straightforward. Darkrai really had a heck of a strategy going in.

He could see how afraid Vee was just by listening to him talk. Snype let go of the Victini's hands and placed one of his hands on his shoulder. "...So you're all just going to run? Leave us? You do know Darkrai won't stop here right? He'll just spread his power to the rest of the world! Running won't do anyone any good! After we're dealt with, he'll go after the Guardians next! He'll persist on that until the entire balance of the world just topples over! We're already facing against impossible odds ourselves but we're at least trying!" Snype said, suddenly getting more aggressive then normal. "...s-sorry Vee... I didn't mean to... I'm speaking out of line I know but I just want to say that we do have a chance of winning. I still think we can!...I just want to believe there's some way to pull it off!"

Razathiel had stifled the sound of his laughter, but his body still convulsed with obvious merriment and his eyes still held the glint of bitter amusement. Guardia shot the Ralts a glare to get him to quiet down, which rather unsurprisingly didn't work.

"Not all of us, but enough of us in my position are getting out while there's still an out to go to," Victini chirped. "I won't go... I'll travel around this area a bit more, see what I can find about certain things. Who knows? Maybe my travels will take me to the southern kingdom, where Cresselia is! If that happens, I can always keep an eye out on her for you guys."

Snype smiled. "Ah... well thank you then Vee. Sorry for assuming something like that and well, snapping at you." Snype said with a bashful grin. "Just been a stressful couple of days... and hey if you end up watching over Cresselia for us that'd be a huge load off of our shoulders. I'm sure you could beat up a couple of punks down there if they try something funny!" Snype said with a chuckle.

Vee nodded its head. "But don't count on me to watch her the entire time you're away. I don't usually make a habit of staying at one place too long. I could be in the south-kingdom for a month tops before I'm moving on."

Obsidian thought for a moment, "Fair enough, I suppose. But if he really frightened you all that badly... why not do something about it earlier? You had, I presume, thousands or hundreds of years to plan for his return. Those years could have been spent going around and informing us mortals of who he was, and how to combat him. Or maybe planning among yourselves on how to protect yourselves from him should he return. By all accounts of Penance and the Gold Tribe warriors that released him those years ago, he was rather weak when he came out. Wouldn't that have been a good time to collectively pounce and kill him? Ensuring someone far purer would have been given his mantle instead?"

Vee glanced at the Weavile and frowned. "Again, I can't speak for all legendaries. They have their own reasons for doing or not doing things. As for me, I was born a few hundred years ago, on the other side of the world. I didn't even get here until about four years ago, and even then, that was far west from here. I grew up hearing almost nothing about Darkrai, and whenever I did, I knew he was imprisoned by the normal Pokemon of the east. There was no need to worry. When he was released thirty years ago, I was on the opposite side of the world, trying to make sure Ereaghor didn't sink into the ground," Vee looked around then scratched the back of its head. "Ehh, you probably never heard of it. Point is, and this probably goes for most legendaries, this isn't the only thing going on in the world. Every legendary isn't going to sprawl to this location to take down a threat half of us didn't even know was actually going to be released... in hindsight maybe more of us should have paid attention, but most of us were either wrapped in our own problems, out of reach, or uninformed. We're not nearly as united as you think. The world is much bigger than you know... and because of that and those things, the world will eventually suffer for it."

Obsidian let out a sigh, "So... in the end we're all perishing, and the world might perish as well, because you all forgot about him?" He asked, "Yet... you knew his name. And every legendary seems to be pretty knowledgeable in what he is as well if they are all running for the hills." He rubbed at his temples, "So... if the legendaries aren't able to fight him, can Cresselia even stand up to him? I mean, he's been accumulating power for so long. Is it a safe risk to put all of our trust in her if he's this strong?"

"I never said we forgot," Vee stated somewhat impatiently. "I said that we all have lives to live, and we can't all just abandon them and wait around the area for thousands of years to await his return, IF it would even happen! Especially when there were two almost equally cataclysmic events happening in other parts of the world at the exact same time! Say we tried to go after Darkrai then and there when he was released. If the 'Noble Ones' were on this continent instead of Moriabu, then Giratina probably would have enslaved half of the continent by now! And he's pushed back now because Darkrai wasn't. Do you see what I mean? Bah, you really don't know what I'm talking about anyway, probably."

Vee looked back at Obsidian after it examined the rest of the room and shook his head. "No, maybe. I can't be sure. All I know is that she is your best bet. Chaos's natural enemy is serenity and harmony. And serenity's natural enemy is chaos. When two opposing elements face off, the odds aren't as openly favorable to any one side. Darkrai's accumulated power would be much more potent against normal 'mon than it would be against Cresselia, as would be the same situation the other way around. This becomes more so the case because a Guardian's power is affected so much by the state of the world. There is always chaos, as there is always peace."

"Each legendary has their own priorities. We aren't the most important thing in the universe so we're not going to get special treatment from every legendary and their mothers when something sneezes at us. Makes sense to me. I'm sure there's forces out in the world just as fearsome as Darkrai." Snype said. "I say our odds are pretty favorable. Once we get Cresselia back in action anyways.

"Speaking of Guardians and all of that, Gabe isn't the only one we saw with one of those orb things. Heck one of the 'mon in our group has something kinda similar to it. Not exactly the same but it's definitely just like the one Gabe had. She doesn't recall being linked to any legendary Pokemon though and it didn't have the same presence like Darkrai's soul did. Would you know anything about that?" Snype asked.

Vee smiled a bit as it heard Snype's reply. He was alright for a normal 'mon. He seemed to understand. "Was it a bit bigger than Gabriel's? And a different color?"

"Yeah actually. I'm...pretty sure its a bit bigger...never exactly got to compare the two. Kehe. Oh! But it was also blue!" Snype said.

Vee's smile grew even wider. "You've found a very valuable treasure! They're similar, but not exactly the same. The orb that Gabriel has is what can be referred to as the Soul Stone. It is the power and abilities of the legendary Guardian to whom the Soul Stone is assigned. When the Guardian is selected, the Soul Stone becomes a permanent part of the legendary, inside of the body it will always reside. Of course, Gabriel has found a way to break that permanent bond. But usually it would be permanent."

Vee made a vision appear before the group and display the stone that Snype describe, a perfect replica of Zai's orb. "This stone is different. It isn't meant for us legendaries, or even for Guardians. It's actually meant for normal 'mon like you guys! Well, certain ones. With it, as the sayings go, 'normal 'mon can walk among the legendaries'. What this means is that normal 'mon can achieve a power that, while not rivaling all legendaries, can elevate them to a higher status, a Higher Life, which can make their powers closer to that of legendaries. Unlike the Soul Stone, this stone is not permanent, but temporary. However, when it is utilized, it offers a tremendous boost to one's natural abilities. It is said that the origins of these two different orbs are from the same creator. This second one is called… Mega Stone. And trust me, it's going to be really useful in your fight against Darkrai."

Snype hung his mouth open in awe. "Mega Stones... so they can ascend to a higher status with it? Kind of like evolution in a sense then. That's incredible..." Snype said, rubbing his head. He could only imagine if that sort of thing happened to him.

"I haven't seen anything about Zai change while she's had the stone... is there like, something special you need to do to achieve that state?"

Vee nodded its head. "In a manner of speaking. The Mega Stones are intended to be used by those who are worthy to walk with the legendaries. It takes a considerable amount of power to be able to wield it, and 'mon must be of strong mind and body to be able to achieve this. Normally I'd say that being in her line of work, she'd be getting the call pretty soon, if not already. But Mega Stones also need enough power inside of them to activate. That power is usually achieved by continuous training, or battling. My guess is her stone has been dormant for so long that she will need to spend enough time on the battlefield with it in order for both herself and the stone to achieve the necessary power in order to activate. After that, it's all a matter of concentrating on it to reach in for its power."

"Makes sense... I don't know how long she's had it on her but she could be pretty darn close for all we know! Guess she'll have to troop it out. Kehe, She's doing some errands for Gaiyo so it could happen soon!" Snype said, trying to keep positive on the whole thing!

"It could!" Vee replied happily. "You're in a fight against a legendary, after all."

"And yet she's been in the Gold Tribe and fighting among them for years." Obsidian reminded Snype, "Shouldn't it have already been activated by now? Or at least be more than charged up to be used?" He asked the Victini.

"Possibly," Vee stated as it pondered the thought. "Maybe it's waiting for something. I have heard before about stones reacting in certain situations. Maybe if it were in the presence of certain conditions it would be more likely to be unlocked. For example, facing an overwhelming force!"

Obsidian stared blankly at Vee for a moment, "So... we throw her in a pit of enemies. Basically?" He asked. "If it's something with those conditions, I don't think I would risk it, nor Penance would." He looked over at Guardia, "Then again, that's not my call."

The Dreadmage chuckled, "I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that, given our current predicament, we will likely be facing an overwhelming force at some point or another without having to invoke it ourselves. Think of it as a fail-safe for when that time inevitably comes..." Raz perked up and reached for a pocket as though remembering something, then let out a humph and returned to his previous position.

"Rats is right," Guardia stated with crossed arms. "We'll likely be getting no choice, eventually, Obsidian. And Zai's trained for moments like those to begin with, so it won't be as much as throwing her into a pit of enemies as her going there herself."

Obsidian just sighed, "But these aren't normal enemies. While she's fighting them she'll just..." He frowned, "I'm just afraid that her mega stone will be a source of more chaos for him. Yes, it's helpful to us, but think of the fear it alone will generate in anyone around her? How many mon against us will have their fear rise because an Absol turned into a pure blood monster of sorts?" He looked at Vee, "Is there anything else in this world that can help, but in a more... peaceful way?" He asked. "Besides Cresselia, of course."

Razathiel frowned at the Weavile, "Dropping our potential effectiveness in combat for fear of empowering Darkrai is not a productive way of thinking, Obsidian. On the contrary, having greater power to use against our enemies would likely shorten the battles in which we do use it, generating less chaos for him instead."

Guardia cocked an eyebrow and nodded, once more finding herself agreeing with the Ralts. She wondered what had gotten into Raz to make him so sensible and concrete.

"Regardless," the wizard continued, "the silly notion of using peace against an enemy with any kind of bloody will had better be some kind of poor joke, lest I vomit up the majority of my intestines."

Obsidian frowned at him, "Yet it's also empowering to Cresselia." He countered. "If we can raise some harmony to oppose chaos then not only will Darkrai's overall power start to slowly dip, but Cresselia's likewise will be reinforced. Right?" He asked the legendary.

"The Weavile Obsidian is right, in a sense," The Victini stated, but as it replied it put on a small frown. "But also he could be wrong. It's hard to say because the powers you're dealing with are so open to interpretation. What action is right to choose, and what is wrong? Sometimes, those answers aren't so straightforward," Vee once more formed an image above the heads of the gathered 'mon. The image formed into a row of houses in the middle of a lush, green field, with a single fire burning in the center. "Picture a village. A thriving, peaceful village that is isolated but self-sustaining. It's members have lived there for the past millennia, built on a foundation of traditions. But a terrible fire has been caused by one of its founding members, a fire which burned a home filled with innocent lives. The 'mon responsible is at large, and plans to burn another house, with more innocent lives. To stop this madmon, the villagers band together and elect to slay the villager. The deed is done, and the result is that peace returns to thrive for many more generations."

The vision concluded, and the Victini blinked at the group. "The villagers acted with violence and malice, but their results concluded in a lasting harmony. Did they act wrongly by bringing about more chaos to achieve their goal? Consider another scenario..." The Victini created another vision above their heads. This time, a group of 'mon sat in a semi-circle, in simple, white robes. They were still, unmoving, and seemingly in a total trance with their environment and themselves. "A group of monks sit around and pray to their deity day and night. They are righteous folk, who do not attach themselves to the materialistic possessions of our world, and thus, are in complete peace with the world around them and themselves. Yet the deity they pray to is a malicious one, one who brings about the destruction of others. How do we define their actions? Are they ones of harmony and peace, or malice and violence?" Vee asked the group, seemingly rhetorically.

"Is the usage of the Mega Stone beneficial, if it provides chaos on one hand, but ends the violence sooner to enact peace?" Vee asked again. "Will the act of finding powers of peace help if through their implementation in an unstable time, war continues on? The answer I choose to believe is that there is no real answer. It's a numbers game, sacrifice one thing to gain another somewhere else. Gain one power, and cast aside another that may have been useful. Destroy a hundred lives and in the process save thousands. Or conversely, attempt to save every life possible, but in that attempt lose something more dear." Vee shook its head and smiled again. "Sorry if I rambled. Something to consider. To answer you, yes, there are powers in this world of a more peaceful nature. Some of the other Guardians can enact some powers which would be considered harmonic in nature. Perhaps you can ask them for aid?"

"But killing the bastard is probably a lot more fun..." Razathiel grumbled to himself.

"So basically we just roll with it? I'd say it'll all come naturally either way. If the Mega Stone activates then we'll know we're in a serious situation." Snype said with a nod. He was surprised to hear Raz making... so much sense. Snype himself was being less of a goof though so perhaps Raz just knew when to take something seriously. That or he really didn't want to piss off a legendary.

"Maybe we could find other Mega Stones in our adventure! Not that I know where to look but it'd be good to have when we eventually go head to head with the big guy himself." Snype was trying to think of what else to ask the legendary. He couldn't really think of much else.

"I hear there may be some here in Anatellia, actually," Vee responded to Snype. "I've felt it earlier, there's definitely something here but... I can't pinpoint exactly where. Maybe Gaiyo might know?"

"I might have a few laying around," Raz noted.

"You what?" Guardia asked the Ralts with a cocked eyebrow.

"I might have a few mega stones laying around," The Dreadmage repeated. "Use your ears."

"...How?!"

"You tend to run into nice little artifacts like that when you're a fucking magnificent wizard like I am."

Snype turned back to Raz. He tended to pick up little trinkets too... that or eat anything resembling a gem. He sure hopped he didn't chomp on a Mega Stone on accident. "Well the more the better! Maybe we can all get them working!" Snype said.

Obsidian was silent through out this all, then he spoke up, "So... even if we beat Darkrai... we won't necessarily beat him..." He said slowly, "Legendaries seem to go out of control every so often, from my understanding. How can we be sure that this won't happen again?" He tilted his head, "You said that the legendaries have no need to be trained. Whenever a new one is 'selected' they just need to combine with their soul and they are free to continue whatever they have to do. You even said that such components can contain their memories. So... if we beat Darkrai... wouldn't the next person to be selected just regain those memories? Remember that whole world domination business and hop right back to it?"

"Once Guardians are selected, they are still bound by some rules," Vee replied after a few moments of quiet pondering. "There have been countless Darkrai, countless of the other legendaries selected. Very few go off on these tangents, but it has been done before, as long as the Guardians will last, it will perhaps continue to go on."

"Pretty big flaw in your divine intervention huh?" Snype said bluntly.

"It's not my divine intervention," Vee responded with a frown. "But it is a system that seems to still work relatively well."

"Sure is." Snype said with obvious sarcasm before shaking his head. "Sorry I need to quit pinning things on you. I know its not your position or anything." Snype said.

The Victini fell silent once more, as if deliberating whether to speak again. Guardia could see some sort of conflict on its face. "... The Guardians are a continuous cycle. An infinite loop. When one dies, another takes its place. It is endless, timeless. But... there is said to be a tenth Guardian. One who controls that cycle. The one who gives it the cycle. That legendary is a Guardian, in name only. There is only one, there's only ever been one. It's not a certainty, but it is said by some among us that if this legendary were to ever die, the Guardian cycle would be broken forever."

Obsidian took in a deep breath, "Hypothetical query here. Just... a small one." He said out loud, "Let's say... oh, a legendary named Victini ends up trapped in a crystal." He idly walked around, "Let's say... three thousand years?" He looked at mon in the room, "Sounds good enough, right? Let's say... oh, mortals went against you and... say, trapped you in it. Three thousand years pass. First thousand or so years, you're alright with it. You know you'll eventually get out, and you'll continue doing your job. The next two thousand, however, an anger begins brewing in you. You start... hating those who put you in here. Your hate grows with every, say, one hundred years that passes. Finally, the spell breaks. You're so hateful and angry, you decide to kill as many mortals as you can. You make it your mission to do so. Now, let's say that some chosen ones manage to kill you. Given the foundation of memories of a guardian being passed down to the next one to take up that mantle, wouldn't those two thousand years of hateful memory, likewise, go into the next one to become Victini?"

Obsidian frowned, "I guess what I'm saying is... isn't it the same with Darkrai? The dude spent, what, a couple thousand years locked inside a crystal? With no one to talk to? Slowly, but surely becoming rather insane by the time he's been let out? Wouldn't those powerful, emotionally driven, memories hit into the next Darkrai's head? Perhaps drive him to become like the Darkrai before him?"

Vee shook its head. "You're mistaking memories with emotion. The next Guardian doesn't inherit the old one's thought processes or tendencies. They inherit their memories, yes, but those are more like logs rather than powerful emotions. It's very rare for two Guardians in a row to get on this level of bad because of that. In fact, it's never happened. Probably never will either, because whoever selects the following Guardian is careful to avoid a repeat situation."

"... But could Darkrai ensure it happens?" Obsidian asked. "He's already built up a lot of power while in there. Is he powerful enough to even bend some of the rules there?" He shrugged, "I mean... we have no idea what he's capable of. You said no guardian could revert to their original form, yet there he is, breaking the rules."

"Neither do I," Vee stated with a shrug. "Can he do it? Possibly. Maybe. Who knows? If he dies, unlikely, I'd say. But at this point, Gabriel has become one of the most dangerous Guardians to ever arise."

"So overall its still down to stopping Gabe himself... then we'll have to figure out the whole situation with stopping the whole Cycle overall..." Snype crossed his arms and gave a small sigh. "Just another series of mysteries to solve eh?"

"Is it something we should really try to stop?" Abel, who had been absent from talking the entire time, spoke up. "What exactly will be the repercussions of doing so?"

"I only brought it up because I felt I had to say everything," Vee stated. "Breaking the Guardian cycle... it's not something I recommend to happen, nor should it. At least, I don't think it should."

Snype nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. Just stopping this sort of thing could have serious consequences. We're already taking on one legendary. If we start stopping them all then what does that make us?" Snype said.

"Legendary killers, world-enders," Vee stated in a serious tone.

Razathiel grinned, "Ooh, I like the sound of that!"

Snype glared at Raz. "We're no gods. And even with these Mega Stones we could be cutting it close. You defeat one legendary and suddenly you feel like you're on top of the world. That one mon and their little group can rule the entire nation with the ability to kill a god." Snype crossed his arms. This related back to some of his own ambitions with the thieves...just taken to a bigger extreme.

 

[Megaman765]

Anatellia - The House of Infinity - Part 4

Obsidian sighed, "So... what else CAN Darkrai do? At least from what you know of?" He asked the guardian. "I mean, it would help to know what he could throw at us. He might not go so easy on us next time."

"That I know of?" Vee repeated. "His abilities are chaos. But they range from subtle to direct and powerful. He can bend others to his will through his Nightmare abilities. He can infuse them with his power, thereby making them stronger while also making them his subordinates. He can combine his abilities with other abilities, like what happened in the south kingdom. That was definitely Darkrai's power, but there was something else fueling it as well. Apparently he can also revert to his Greninja form, so watch out for that. Beyond that, what you know is what I know. I think through your experiences you have a good grasp on what other abilities he can do."

"... I meant in what can he really do?" He asked. "Look, I was taken prisoner by him. It would be really nice if you could tell me if he did some, well, for lack of a better term, f**cked up s**t." He said as he crossed his arms, "I don't like surprises that well."

The Victini cocked an eyebrow and stepped forward to Obsidian. He glanced over him, inspecting his body as if to see if there were any irregularities anywhere. He then sniffed him a few times. "You're fine. No real problems with you that I can see."

"Then, he's not bonded to Darkrai or anything?" Guardia asked. "Gaiyo mentioned that one of us may be bonded with a legendary."

"Yep, that's true," Vee replied right away without missing a beat. "I felt it the moment you entered the House of Infinity."

"Really?" Guardia questioned, as she looked around at the other 'mon beside her. "Do you know which one of us it is?"

Vee nodded. "Yep," It replied again, but said nothing else after that.

Guardia waited to hear a reply, but none came. She cocked an eyebrow. "... are you going to tell us?"

"No," Vee replied simply.

Guardia furrowed her brows and crossed her arms. "Why not?" She demanded, clearly irritated by the legendary's behavior.

"Because they don't want me to tell you."

Obsidian frowned, "So... they know they're bonded?" He asked. "Well, they aren't bonded to Darkrai, right? Can you at least tell us that much? Cause it would be really bad if Darkrai's bonded was spying on all of this."

"It doesn't look like it's Gabriel," Vee stated as it concentrated with its eyes closed. "No, it doesn't look like it. I can't say with 100% certainty that it isn't, but it appears to be another legendary. I won't say anymore on it."

"I trust you're not making a stupid decision by withholding this from us," Raz said with a grimace.

"Bonds are sacred things, sometimes," Vee stated. "They're made for a hundred different reasons, and while I can't say for sure why this one is made, it's probably done for one good reason or another. I'm sure if this person is committed to your cause, they'll tell you about it if it becomes relevant. For now, it must not be."

Obsidian held up his own hands, "It isn't me, and it certainly isn't Penance. If he had been bonded, or if I had been, you all KNOW he would have been dancing around Guardia, pretty much bragging about such a thing."

"Then let's just drop it," Abel stated swiftly. "Move along to something else actually important."

Snype glanced over to Abel with a raised brow and back to Vee.

Vee looked out to the fireplace set up and smiled. "Oh boy, it's getting late. I should be going soon, but I will answer any remaining questions you may have about anything. If you have any, ask them now."

At that the door slammed back open yet again. A duck strolled on in, this time with a lollipop he idly sucked upon, "It's hot in here." He said with a frown, "What? You all want to bake?" He walked right up and past Vee, looking down at the fire too, "So," He pulled the loli out of his mouth and held it down to Vee, It turned out to be cherry. "A suckle helps the blood." He said with a shrug, "Open him again. You're a finger licking, so I know you could try it."

"For psyduck's sake," Razathiel muttered.

The Victini furrowed its brows, then pouted and stared up at the Golduck. "I don't understand you," It stated to the Golduck.

"Penance, what the hell are you doing now?" Guardia demanded from the Golduck.

Penance kept staring down at the Victini, "Sacrifice one thing, to gain another." Penance repeated. He tapped his head and kneeled next to the legendary, "Slacken the chains, and we'll gain more than realized." He said with a slow nod. "Burn up the wicker, so to speak."

Obsidian let out a loud sigh, "You people have been around Penance for THIS long and still can't understand him? He wants you to go into his mind and, up to interpretation here, open up Paradox again."

"Sacrifice is always necessary." Penance murmured, "Damnation for one, eternity that dwells deep."

Vee cocked its head to the side and continued to stare at the Golduck. Guardia already began to protest.

"You can't be serious!" She yelled at Penance. "There's no way in hell we're doing that!"

Penance let out a loud, weary, sigh, "And we hasten our threat?" He asked her. "Just because I was outside doesn't mean I'm deaf... nor pressing my head reeeeaaaaaally hard against the wood." He said with a few nods, "Harmony at any cost, in any fo-"

A sudden, powerful Psychic blast burst forward from the Victini and went straight toward the Golduck. The energy swept the Golduck out of the front doors and propelled a good distance away from the House of Infinity back out to the enormous cavern where the dwelling resided. The sheer enormity of the energy expelled in a single push caused Guardia to look on in awe. Shock swept across her face as she watched the event unfold.

From outside Penance's voice shouted out, "I GUESS THAT ANSWERS THE QUESTIONS! THANKS FOR NOT DANCING AROUND THE ISSUE! ALSO, I THINK I LEFT MY LOLI IN THERE!"

Vee wiped its hands together and turned back to the others. "Anything else?" It asked the others. "What?"

Snype gave a small clap to the Victini. "Nice. I think you're my favorite Pokémon in the world right now."

Obisidian walked over to where Penance had dropped the loli and picked it back up, "So, query. I guess since it just came up. At least from how Penance feels it, Paradox is locked back up. Darkrai just sealed him up. So what harm is he?"

"Well for one, he's the most dangerous member of your group," Vee answered as it turned to Obsidian. "You're worried that Darkrai did anything to you? You should be worried about what he did to him," It stated with a slight bit of disgust as it pointed to Penance all the way across the cavern. "I could feel it from the moment he stepped foot in here. He has Darkrai's power inside of him. And it's not just sitting there, it's growing."

"Fan-psyducking-tastic," The Dreadmage muttered, sulking. "On top of all this calamitous liability regarding Penance, I'm not even standing out as being dangerous. 'Tis a truly sad day, the day I'm reduced to playing hero and a jabbering duck takes my villainous cake..."

"WHAT'S HE SAYING OBI!?"

"HE'S SAYING YOU'RE GROWING-"

"OH I KNOW THAT! I GROW EVERY DAY!"

Obsdian ground his teeth in frustration as he shouted louder, "GROWING IN DARKRAI'S POWER! DON'T INTERRUPT NEXT TIME!" He looked back at Victini, "He was corrupted by Darkrai early on. Controlled and all, but he and his dark half broke off. What... exactly is Darkrai doing to him then? He sealed off Paradox just recently, at the celebration in Valkaria."

"It's hard to explain, but..." Vee crossed its arms and chewed at the inside of its cheek. "Imagine having all of your built up chaos being plunged into a single location within the mind, deep within. It's an artificial prison that lingers deep within the subconscious, whereas before that power had a much wider range of motion within the mind. Now, any bit of interaction with chaos is not only being sent into that small portion, it's being sent solely there, as if it's a magnet pulling on anything it touches. That portion of Darkrai's power is completely sealed off for your use for now, but once that seal is released, all of that power will explode out at once."

Vee stared at its hand and back at Penance. "What I just did with that blast was attempt to expand the prison holding that energy. I could have probably done it more gently but... I don't really like that person," It stated with a huff. "Of course, since it was Gabriel who put up the seal, it won't likely be broken, even by me. But at least that energy won't be as concentrated. Some chaos may even make its way to the surface for you to use. If that happens, I suggest that you make use of it while you can. Every bit you take away will weaken it if it ever is released, and trust me, you don't want it to be released."

Penance groaned, "Paradox would care to disagree!" He shouted out.

"When it's released, it won't be whatever that Paradox thing is," Vee stated with a frown. "You say that the chaos broke off from Darkrai?" Vee asked.

"Yes." Obsidian stated, "Paradox didn't see Darkrai for a long time. He sort of... resents Darkrai. Looks to him like Penance looks to his own father, with hatred and rebellion." He weakly shrugged, "I mean, the guy left him in the midst of enemies without another care in the world. What can you expect? It's why he's all for getting Cresselia back in action."

"I see," Vee nodded understandingly. "That's probably why Gabriel left it alone. Hatred and rebellion has a way of festering and growing. Gabriel probably figured more chaos would be gathered from being apart. And it seems to be right."

"Waitwaitwait." Obsidian said as he held up his hands, "Gabriel... did it on purpose? Knowing it would drive Paradox insane with anger?" He thought for a moment, "He's a real son of b***h."

"I'm not sure, maybe," Vee added helplessly with a shrug. "But either way, it won't matter. Because that prison Gabriel made around that energy is Gabriel's. Not that separate entity's. And it's taking that power back. It separated from Gabriel, but it was always Gabriel's power, even if it has long been apart. If Gabriel breaks the seal, it will cease being Paradox and once again be whatever he wants it to be. He's a ticking time bomb, a mass of energy that could be released with likely a flicker of his finger at any time. If I were you, I'd see to stopping that. Because the longer it builds up, the more power will come out in the end."

"Speaking of that," Razathiel began with a hint of annoyance, turning towards the Golduck. "Penance, I feel the need to ask you - despite the fact that it would be a miracle by anyone's standards - any chance you've seen sense since Ferrol, or no?"

Penance blinked at him, "Sense is always there. It's best when used wisely." He replied with a nod. "The best use of sense always comes in limited supplies. Especially for when you want to save a good idea." He said in a calm tone.

"Ah, for psyduck's- you know what I'm talking ab- you probably have no idea what I'm talking about, psyduck it," The wizard shook his head.

Penance smirked at that, "Words only tie up tongues." He repiled.

Raz turned his attention instead to Victini. "Judging by your other comments, I assume you can probably help with this, though at the moment most of you are severely lacking context- regardless; apparently, Penance seems completely unable to accept the possibility that I'm not a psyducking idiot. Or a sentinel. Or his brother- even saying that is pretty disgusting, hells preserve me..." The Ralts shivered a moment, then shrugged and looked up at the legendary. "I suppose, long-story-short, get this psyducker off my back, please?"

Vee tilted its head to the Ralts. "What do you me- ooooh," The Victini murmured. "You're talking about the energy inside of you... you must be incredibly strong-willed."

"Yeah, no psyducking muk. Now get to the part where you tell the mad bastard to piss off, if you would."

"The energies that you and the Golduck posses, or rather I should say possessed, are from a similar source, but are quite different," Vee stated. "One of you have embraced that power, and the other, well, the other seems to have not only turned from it, but almost completely eradicated it through your own capabilities. It is an interesting thing, especially since that power was acquired at such a young age. Many would seek to use it to their advantage." Vee smiled brightly.

"YOU. ARE. MY. BROTHER!" Penance said with glee, "I knew it! Hahaha!"

"Err, were maybe, in this context," Vee stated with a small cough. "This one no longer has any of that power inside of it. The minuscule amount that was left, was recently doused away."

"Once a brother, always a brother!" Penance declared, "We shall do everything... together." He said, a creepy smile forming along his bill.

Razathiel's left eye twitched as he turned to the Golduck, speaking between clenched teeth. "Tell me, Penance, surely you've heard of those times when sometimes, people want something to be real so much, they start to believe it really is? You're fooling yourself. Any connection we have is tenuous at best. Additionally, I just might stop reacting to you very soon, because I'll have become so entranced by the prospect of your death, I'll have imagined it to have actually transpired. If only."

"Just a bit curious but..." Snype finally spoke up. "Do you happen to know anything about the plague that hit the "southern kingdom" awhile back? Any kind of specifics are a means to keep it contained or something. We never did delve into that little mystery." Snype asked.

"The affliction, yes?" Vee asked to clarify, and nodded. "Yes! The affliction is actually not Darkrai's power in origin. Though it contains Darkrai's power and abilities, I do believe it to be the work of something else... or someone else. The method by which it moves, I do believe it is an ability of some sort. Which I believe means one thing: if you trace the source of the ability, you may be able to stop the affliction, even if you do not immediately have Cresselia's power."

"Well theres a second problem on our belt... that kinda thing just benefits Darkrai so we'll have to deal with it eventually..." Snype said, crosssing his arms.

"Well... if nobody has more questions, then I'd like to ask something myself.." Snype said as he stepped forward to Vee. "...How much faith do you have in us stopping Gabe? I want to hear an opinion from an honest legendary." Snype said, holding out his hand.

Vee looked at Snype and frowned. "... If I'm being honest, I will say that I don't like the chances. I won't say I'm writing you off completely but..."

Snype's hand kept held up as he stared Victini straight in the eye with a straight face. "...Thought so." Snype said as his hand dropped. "Well, I tend to take my chances for a living. And I've made it out of some pretty low odds. Every little thing I end up doing is a huge gamble. Even now, our little adventure here? A huge gamble. If I lose? Well, bye bye Valkaria. But ya know what I do when I start getting involved in a game of chance?" Snype asked, his face turning into a smirk.

"I cheat. turn things to my favor. Keheh. So whatever odds you have on us don't scare me. I haven't found it yet, but sooner or later, I'll find a way to cheat this... gamble. And I'll take the whole pot for myself scott free. Kehe. Sucker won't even know what hit him." Snype said confidently. "Or steal it. Whatever comes first. Kehe!"

Vee smiled. "That's an interesting attitude to have. I can't say I fully understand it, but... believe me when I say I'm not telling you to give up! If you've got motivation, then use it in whatever fashion you can! But remember one thing: your opponent isn't one to follow the rules either. If you plan to cheat, there's no saying he won't either."

"Then I'll out cheat him! Wouldn't be the first time! Kehe!" Snype replied showing off his big toothy grin. "I'm not the King of Thieves for nothing." Snype said with a smile. He couldn't really come up with any more important questions to ask. He felt pretty satisfied. Well except for one more question...

"Thank you for your time Vee... its uh... been an honor talking with you." Snype said as he held out his hand.

Vee examined Snype's extended hand for a few seconds. It moved over to the table, and grabbed a sack from the end, and placed it in Snype's open palm. "Hold that for a second," It commented, as it grabbed up bits of food and books lying across the table, including a few maps. It piled everything into the sack in Snype's hand, and tied it up. Then it grabbed a stick near the door and pulled it through the tied knot, allowing Vee to carry the sack over its shoulders. "The pleasure was all mine!" Vee stated finally as it grabbed hold of its sack. "I wish you luck on your journey!"

Snype stared at the Victini as everything was placed in the sack given to him. "Heh... was more expecting a handshake or a goodbye hug but hey whatever works for ya Vee! Kehe" Snype said with a grin. "Uh... one more question though...nothing big really." Snype said with a bashful grin. "...We uh... didn't smell too bad right? Kehehe." Snype said with a laugh. Snype had to fit in a prank somehow! Either totally embarrass everyone by mentioning the stench or get Vee to actually double check!

"What the hell are you saying, Snype?!" Guardia questioned the Sableye.

"Whaattt you worried too? Kehe! When was the last time ya bathed anyways Guardia?" Snype replied, giving off a random sniff to nobody in particular.

"Leave it to you, minion, to drive the topic of bathing habits in the presence of a legendary," Razathiel commented dryly, though he still seemed somewhat disturbed in Penance's company and would often spare the Golduck a cautionary glance. He faced Victini, arms folded, "So, can we expect further updates on Cresselia's condition, or at least a watchful eye?"

Vee stared for a few seconds at the Sableye silently, then turned its head to Guardia. Then it turned it's head back to Snype again, before it quietly picked up it's sack and slung it over its shoulder, and proceeded to head toward the door. "Once I make my way to the southern kingdom, you can count on me to keep an eye on her. Besides that, I don't expect us to meet up again. Good luck!"

"Thanks Vee!" Snype said as he waved to it. He turned to the others with a snicker. "See he didn't wanna make you all feel bad by answering my question. Kehe!" Snype teased again.

 

[Greiger]

The COOLER ghost enters​

Penance was silent, but this silence was different. Obsidian had been around him long enough to know that the silence wasn't good. A bad energy was coming off of the duck, and frankly, Obsidian didn't want to be around him when he let it loose. The only problem was that the faster Obsidian walked, the faster Penance walked. The Weavile wasn't going to throw him off anytime soon, he knew that much. Still, surely he would be interested into talking to someone else? Anyone else really. They were far ahead of the others now as Obsidian sighed out loud, "Do you want to talk or not?" He asked point bluntly.

For anyone else, Penance would have just been his usual cryptic self. Since they were far ahead, he could let the masquerade drop just a tad. "Yes." He muttered out. "Paradox is me. I am him. We are we. That's that."

Well, it wasn't much of a drop, but Obsidian could easily understand what the duck was saying. "Out of the times I met him, he wasn't too bad. Just bossy." He crossed his arms and let out a weak sigh, "I think we need to find these parts of Cresselia. If we get her up and running, then she'll be able to help Paradox out even. I mean, if we can get rid of the extra chaos around him, then it should be alright."

Penance was just silent through it all. He slowly shook his head and let out a deep sigh. "Well, geez, if you didn't want my opinion you didn't have to ask." Obsidian grumbled.

Penance looked over at him, then let out a cheery laugh, "Enough flabbers. How about some jacks?"

Obsidian just frowned, "I don't like that game, Penance." He muttered.

"Oh, come on!" Penance said with glee, "You get jacks, and I'll get pebbles. How about that?"

Obsidian just sighed. He was never good with strategy, especially against Penance. The duck would always see every move he would make two turns before he could make it. And they were moving at the moment. No way they could play the game on the road. "Look, how about-"

"BOO!"

Obsidian screeched and fell back, his right arm immediately swinging out, and right through the Banette that stood before him. Obsidian gasped and panted as the ghost fell back, cackling with laughter. "HAHAHA! TOO GOOD!"

Penance chuckled as well, "Beating the punch to dust." He said with a nod. The duck held down his hand as the Banette slapped it heartily.

"Dammit Yun!" The Weavile snapped as he got back on his feet, making sure to dust himself off a bit, "You know I hate it when you do that!"

The Banette grinned at Obsidian, putting his hands on his hips, "Well, not my fault you weren't in the times!" He said. He held up a hand and shook a finger back and forth, "I thought you were trained better, dude?"

Obsidian shook his head, oophing as Yun gave him a big hug, "Hehe, but how are you doing, dog?" The ghost asked as he let go, "I heard things went wicked over in the big T."

"Yeah, they did." Obsidian replied, "Though I should be asking what you're doing out here, of all places?"

Yun put his two hands behind his head, a small frown forming along his zipper. "Well, I just thought you would like to know. The big bang. The splatter that went on."

"Splatter? When'd Gaiyo cook them?" Penance asked eagerly.

Yun shook his head, "Not Gaiyo. Well, yeah him and the others too." He held out his hands, "Check out this wicked truth. Turns out the darkies just slam-boweled the Sons like it ain't no tomorrow. Wicked splatter along the rocks! Just straight up owned them! You hearing me?"

Penance scoffed at that, "I don't think frosting comes naturally."

"Are the others okay?" Obsidian asked Yun.

"Yeah, they're chilling. Wanted me to go and scratch an itch." He replied with a cheery grin, "So I scoped out and trailed the shadows." He let his arms drop down, "But honestly, the dice are rolling, dude. Things are getting wicked. They're going to grab some hood-dogs and teeter over there. At least, that's my three eleven."

Penance frowned, "We need to spleel." He murmured. "We have new toys to try!"

Yun shot a thumbs up at the duck, "Cool, P-Man! Mind if I join the ropes and spread the swag?"

Obsidian nodded, "Yeah, things are getting rather tense over here. If they already attacked the sons, then they could be ready to really strike out."

Yun grinned at that, "Sweetness!" He looked over at the rest of the mon some distance back, "Are those your hoodlums?"

Obsidian frowned, "Not really…"

"They're our cheese rack." Penance replied.

"Great! Heh, wait till Mince hears of this!" Yun said with a loud crackle. "Oh, we're going into prime territory here!"

 

[Megaman765]

Snype and Abel

With Victini gone, the group was left to head back to Gaiyo and figure out what to do next. The ended up with loads of information to work off of and now had more to do then ever. Mega Evolution...Cresselia's soul, and more on Gabe in general. It was alot for the Sableye to take in. He was surprised everyone was so quiet during the conversation... mostly Guardia and Abel. Snype felt like he was leading the charge back there! He couldn't help it... he was extremely interested! Snype looked over the many different Pokemon around him but paused at Abel. He almost forgot about that threat he gave awhile back. He wondered if Abel was still holding him to that. It'd be obvious he was looking right at him. Heck he hasnt been talkitive at all this whole trip! Something about it rubbed the Sableye the wrong way...

"..."

"... Problem?" Abel asked in his usual cold tone as he saw the Sableye staring at him.

Snype just kept on stareing. "No...well, kinda. Just noticed you've been quieter then usual. Well until recently anyways." Snype simply said. "Alot of you were actually. I didn't ask all the questions you all had did I? Kehe" Snype said, glancing around a bit before turning back to Abel. "Or you have something else on your mind."

"I'm no more quiet than I usually am," Abel responded harshly. It felt as every syllable he uttered was mixed with an extra pinch of venom just to show how displeasurable it was to be conversing with Snype. "You seemed to cover most of what we needed to know."

"Fair enough." Snype said, but he wasn't done there. He glanced over to Guardia and the other Pokemon again. Abel couldn't exactly throw out more threats with them around... right?

"Ya know it wouldn't kill ya to be a bit more cheery. Something up? Besides talking to me of course. The group really doesn't know much about you honestly other then a couple stories..." Snype said with a stern look.

"Probably better that way," Abel responded in his usual tone. He examined around the area, at first it appearing that he was admiring the view. But upon reflection, if could probably be discerned that he was simply just making sure no one was around to follow or watch them. "The less you know about me, the better. And I'm no different to you than I was earlier... or have you forgotten what I told you back in Ferrol a few weeks ago?"

Snype winced a bit. "No. But how bout you remind us?" Snype said, glancing to Guardia again and back to Abel.

"If you remember, then there's no need to remind you," Abel stated simply. "So why don't you focus instead on getting back to where we need to go instead of asking me useless questions? Or have you forgotten that while you walk around with that idiotic grin and that unbearable laugh, Pokemon are being slaughtered, in not just your home, but mine?"

"We're taking a walk to where we need to go. I'm having a casual conversation in the meantime. You all hear this guy?" Snype said looking to everyone else. "I just like to keep up to date. You can keep whatever secrets ya want, but threatening me isn't gonna win you points with the others. If anything it just leaves a very bad impression." Snype said with a glare.

Abel turned toward the Sableye and glared at him. "Do I look like someone who gives a damn about leaving an impression?"

"No. Not really. Sure wouldn't hurt to though. At least it normally shouldn't." Snype replied. He was about to give Silence alot of credit. At least he could talk to her! "I just like to know my allies. Even just a little bit. I'm not asking for your life story here. I already know everyone in this group his keeping secrets to their selves, so I won't press on that either. I'm hardly the guy to do that." Snype said.

Abel continued to walk at his normal pace and glare at Snype silently. He turned forward to the cavern and spoke swiftly but organized. "I'm from Beatruce. I joined the Gold Tribe when I was 23. I rose through the ranks due to my service. I became the second-in-command. I join this group to help stop Darkrai from killing us all. Satisfied?"

Snype gave a subtle grin. "Heh. Brief but yeah. Guess you could say I'm satisfied enough." Snype said as he turned forward as well. "Its a step forward anyways." He'd add once more, followed by another moment of silence. "...If you're worried about Beatruce..."

"Worried about Beatruce?" Abel repeated with a hint of sarcasm. "What reason do I have to be worried about my homeland? Other than the plague ravaging it, the one that nearly destroyed Tollen? Other than the fact that the plague continues to rage on while we travel first to Tollen and deal with their problems, and then Anatellia to deal with theirs? Other than the fact that while I'm here, most of my brothers and sisters are going deeper into infected territory and dying?"

Snype frowned at Abel. Wasn't much different form his situation... well it was actually way different. The Plague was no slouch but if they didn't go here first, they likely would have never learned about all of Victini's knowledge. They're more prepared then ever now. "I know... but now we know Darkrai isn't the direct cause of it. Once we finish we can focus on getting rid of that plague wherever the source is. I'm worried about it too Abel. Why not multitask while we're here? The legendary Pokemon here could help us trace the source if anything."

"... Assuming we find another legendary Pokemon," Abel responded. "You think they're all just lying around over here?"

"Well...that's why we're here. To get more assistance from them. Or get a heads up on where Cresselia's soul is at. Either way we could solve most of our problems in a fell swoop. Like Vee said, the folks here worship them and have often met these legendaries. We just need to do our part and we'll be able to get answers as well as assistance." Snype explained.

"And that'll lead to another place which will get us more 'assistance', which will lead to another place," Abel stated coldly. "And it'll be a continuous cycle of going places and solving their problems while my country rots. I know how this goes. And if you think everything will be rosy by the end of this, you're more blind than I thought."

"I don't think we'll be stuck here as long as Tollen. The only two places that are on our radar are Karn and Beatruce..." Snype paused as he ended up thinking of his own choice. He had originally wanted to go to Karn several times but with the Plague, who knew how bad that would get? "I have my own people in Beatruce as well. For all I know they're suffering the same thing. And I'm positive they're using their resources to look into the plague. When we go to Beatruce, we'll be more prepared then ever now that we have more knowledge on it." Snype stated before turning to Abel again. "...I don't want to say everything will be all one hundred percent rosy by the end of all of this. But I like to have some hope to keep me going."

"Do whatever you want to keep yourself going, then," Abel stated. "Say what you need to yourself to make it all better. If lies keep you going, then lie all you want to yourself. But know that what you say isn't always what will actually happen. You can comfort yourself. As for me, I'll see things as they are, so that I won't have any surprises later."

Snype frowned once more. He hated to admit it, but Abel wasn't exactly wrong. "Guess we all just have different ways of going about it I spose..." Snype said as he turned forward. "You aren't wrong though. Maybe I am lying to myself. Just going through this whole journey in denial just to cheer myself up. Whatever the case, we all have a goal and one way or another, we'll do our best to accomplish what we went out here for. That's one thing we can at least both agree on right?" Snype said.

"You're not a complete idiot, at least," Abel muttered to himself. "Our goals interlope for now. I saw what happened in Tollen and I understood that working together is best. So for the moment, we need every angle we can to defeat Darkrai... which is one reason why you're still here."

Snype smiled at Abel. "Well at least I can have that much from you." He replied. "For now I guess we'll...see things as they are. Watch your back out there Abel."

"... If anything, King of Thieves, you should be watching yours."

 

[Fort PokePower]

Silence Quickslash

​

Hmm, Silence had been hoping for a better reaction out of Gaiyo - more annoyance about her disrespectful attitude, perhaps. Ah well, she supposed it was better that he was able to put up with her, since it would be rather hard to work with (or for) him otherwise. She followed the Ambipom silently as he rattled out an answer to Zai's question, one ear twitching in his direction to listen should the information later prove useful, while her gaze roved about their surroundings, taking everything in. When they met up with a large number of the Sons of Arceus, though, Silence returned her full attention to the group. Well, nearly her full attention. Habit meant her ears were pricked for any suspicious sounds - though what would constitute a suspicious sound, she wouldn't know until she heard it.

As she listened to the following conversation, Silence couldn't help but let out a snort, nearly rolling her eyes. Not at the topic of the conversation, no no; but rather, that the names of the factions. Dark Moons, Spirit Seekers, all so fancy. Even back in Valkaria, there were the silly Gold Tribe and Seekers; no one seemed capable of just basic naming. In that are, she had to hand it to the Thieves - at east they kept things simple.

A feathery ear twitched at the word "blood". Sounded as if she was going to miss out on some fun, hmph. The group she was with better get something good too, or she'd likely stab something out of bored. ...On second thought, she should avoid doing that, best not upset the locals til all was said and done. Well, from what Gaiyo was saying it seemed there was a good chance of them running into a fight as well anyways. Good, good. While she'd prefer attacking from the shadows (something that likely wouldn't be possible with her current group), it wasn't like she was useless in a head on fight. Like any good ol' Dark-type, she had a few tricks up her sleeve.

"Before we head out to meet with Just Root, got any last questions?" Gaiyo asked, looking to the two Valkarians.

"Just one," Silence said, wearing an amused smirk. "Is it just Root, or is Just Root? Wouldn't wanna mix up names of important 'mon, eh?"

 

[Turnip]

Walking ft. Complaints and Murder Thoughts
Featuring Guardia, Razathiel, Anna, Yun, Obsidian, Nyalla and Charlie​

Guardia had been uncharacteristically quiet on the road back to Reverence. She was deep in thought as she considered everything that Vee had told them. To many it can almost seem ludicrous, unbelievable. Normal Pokemon ascending into legendaries? She had never heard of such a thing. Yet here it was happening among these Guardians. The one positive she did take away from it was that once, long ago, Gabriel was just another 'mon too. Which means deep down, he is just like the rest of them. He could, theoretically be stopped. At least, that's what she hoped.

The main question for her, and the one she pondered the most in silence, was where to go from here. Now that they knew where Cresselia was, it was all about putting her together, making her whole. She wondered where her soul and spirit was. Upon hearing someone clearing their throat, Guardia glanced down to be greeted with the sight of Razathiel, who waddled along beside the Zangoose while staring straight ahead - either it was a matter of the wizard's mood, or the wide brim of his hat made it just that difficult to look too far upwards. Probably a bit of both.

"Something on your mind, Rags?" Guardia asked the Ralts beside her.

Raz flinched with anger, "Do you begin every conversation trying to provoke your own death, or is it just the ones you start with me?"

"I've made a habit out of pissing people off most of my life," Guardia responded with a shrug. "Comes with the job. What are you thinking about?"

"Murder, rather unsurprisingly," The Dreadmage said dryly, "Not yours, as much as it may shock you to know - well, probably in the background, but there you go. Not at the forefront of my brain, in any case. Fucking hell..."

"Murder?" Guardia repeated as she stared more seriously at the Ralts. "I thought we talked about this a few weeks ago back in Fort Ferrol. No killing the innocent! We had an agreement, didn't we?"

"Do not take me for a fool," Razathiel snapped. "The innocent are not involved. Penance is treading a dangerous line and my patience is wearing thin. I'm not entirely sure why I should have to explain further at this point, though if need be I suppose I shall."

"Oh, Penance," Guardia repeated with a heavy sigh. "I would ask what he did now, but at this point I've seen about everything with him. And yet, you understand that we can't have him die now. Here, of all places?"

"I understand perfectly the risk of killing him," Raz retorted. "My worry is that you fail to understand the risk of keeping him alive."

"I've been calculating that risk for almost thirty years, Rants," Guardia stated solemnly. "Thirty years after Darkrai and we're all still here, and he's made progress in stopping Darkrai. Think about it: if Penance died earlier, we would have never established this connection with Anatellia. And if that hadn't happened, we would have never met Vee, and we would have never learned all of this information about fighting Darkrai, and finding Cresselia. I think at this point, the benefit outweighs the cost."

"Because the cost has not yet come to pass is a poor reason to dismiss it as meaningless," The Wizard replied with a grimace. "You think the worst isn't yet to come? If the tension in this group does not trouble you, then you have a troubling lack of perspective; I am not saying that murder is the answer, but it is nonetheless the first thing that comes to mind," He paused to let out a bitter huff. "Go figure."

"What exactly is the main problem that you see?" Guardia asked Raz. "I know he's a loose canon, but he's also been helpful. And I know he did some questionable things in Tollen. But what we have to ask ourselves is, if he is removed now, will it help us more than it'll hurt us?"

Raz sighed, "That is the question, indeed. He certainly has potential purpose, but outside of that... the less he does, the better. You have at least some kind of understanding with him, whereas I am powerless in that regard, barring some kind of violent action. Regardless; you have some kind of rapport. Use it."

"I've been trying to use it whenever I can," Guardia answered with a huff. "He doesn't exactly make it easy. But I'll see what I can do about him. Arceus knows when he'll try to enact one of his crazy plans without us knowing," She snorted. "And he's supposed to be the honest one. Look how things have changed."

"Excuse me?" Anna turned to face Guardia and Raz, and incredulous look on her face.She was shock--no, horrified--that they would speak about such a subject! And right near her no less! And what about everyone else? What if they heard? "Normally I'd keep my own ears to myself, but what they've picked up is... " Insane!

"Crazy to even consider," Guardia finished Anna's thoughts. "As most people would say. And at this point I might agree. He's way too valuable to even consider that. We don't have the luxury right now to pick our allies."

"Picking our allies is one thing, ensuring their co-operation is another," Raz snarled, sparing but a quick glance in the Mareep's direction. "Penance shows very few signs of restraint, and for him to be reprimanded is either rare, or of no consequence. For a 'mon named Penance, there is a deceptive lack of penance to be found for his actions. Something must change, because with things continuing as they have, the deaths of at least one of us is not a choice I will be able to make..." The Ralts paused, clenching his small fists. "It is an ultimatum," he said.

Guardia was silent as she contemplated what Raz was saying. He had a point in what he was saying. She knew that Penance was needed, but she also knew that everyone should be held accountable for their actions, no matter who they were. As the Gold Tribe leader, she should respect that tradition more than most. It was rather strange that it was Raz who reminded her of that.

"... You're right, something should be done," She finally stated. "Penance can't simply do whatever he wants without consequence like this. Especially if his plans or actions endanger innocents."

Razathiel eased up slightly, though he soon grimaced with a bitter chuckle. "You didn't even see what he did in Tollen. To be fair to the mad fuck, I don't think he even remembered doing it."

"Ooooor, maybe you shouldn't be so loud." A voice spoke out. Guardia's shadow shifted as a Banette reared up, "BOOO!" He shouted out with loud laughter.

"What the hell?!" Guardia yelped out. Her training instantly kicked in and she swiped at the Ghost 'mon out of habit.

The swipes faded through the ghost as he continued to laugh, "Boy! You sure are cracking!" He said as he wiped some tears from his eyes. The Banette was suddenly pinned to the ground by unseen force as Razathiel turned and pointed his staff at the ghost, sinister shadow forming at its tip.

"Your antics bore me," the wizard spat. "Give me a single reason they shouldn't grant you a one-way trip to the Torn World."

"RAZ RAZ DON'T!" Obsidian shouted out. He ran between the Banette and Ralts, holding out his hands. "He's a friend! He was just playing a joke! That's all!"

"Sheesh, the mini dude is a weeb, ain't he?" Yun asked out loud, "They are totally sucking out the snazz."

"Playing 'jokes' on 'mon prone to murder is a good way to end up a victim of murder," The Ralts stated dryly, dispelling the shadow energy on his staff with a grimace. "You know I've always found the idea that a ghost can be mutilated rather amusing - perhaps a joke I could help you with, unless the idea of 'joking' is suddenly strangely unappealing..."

Yun grinned at that, "You know, that old school Jake? Yeah, he could wrap some posers!"

"Er, no thanks Raz." Obsidian said as he helped Yun up. "But... thanks for... the offer?

"So you're a friend of Obsidians?" Guardia asked as she lowered her defense, though did not entirely become at ease. "You should have said something before coming out. That's a way to get yourself killed. Either by me or the Dreadmage. Did you just come by to say hi?"

Yun shook his head, "Nope! Just reporting on the blood grounds!"

"There was an attack on the sons." Obsidian said, "The two gangs just went at it. No doubt there's going to be some minor chaos in the city from it." He explained, "Probably Gaiyo can tell us more once we get back."

"You mean Darkrai's gang?" Guardia asked for clarification. "Damn them. Looks like things might be worse than I thought. We won't know for sure until we talk to Gaiyo."

Yun frowned a bit, "They always fight. You know, your gods are really stupid if they just want to cause death all the time."

"'Our' gods...?" Raz said with a raised eyebrow. "Don't make me fucking sick."

"Aren't they Anatellian? Are they your gods?" Guardia questioned back.

Yun frowned more, then sighed, "I don't like... look, stuff happened a long time back." He said, "Like really far back. Let's say... my view of the gods is in the minority." He gave a small shrug, "Honestly, this is the first time I can actually say anything about it. You so much as jump a gullet back in the city and you'll never wake up the next cycle."

The tribesmon amongst the others had remained silent, out of respect, uncertainty and now, just a tinge of fear. She had been told the stories about her peoples' past. Animosity over gods was never a productive path. "I had hoped more from Stonedwellers. You have advancement so far beyond my knowledge, but you curse your kin over gods? Do you truly fear your own?"

Guardia glanced at Nyalla. "Most of our reaction comes from our own, not the legendaries. I personally don't see them enough to fear most of them. But regular 'mon? Regular 'mon can always be dangerous. Like Penance, who we were just talking about."

Yun snorted, "Yeah, you bet to hell I do! Just wait till you hear what the Sons do when you try to leave their group." He looked away, "Whatever. If you're just bottom tenders then I'm not even bothering."

Obsidian sighed, "Just know that something big happened. Probably there's going to be a lot of sons dead from this, but also from Darkrai's sect. It'll be tense for a bit, that's for certain."

"Sounds like a good ol' fashioned turf war ta me." Charlie helpfully added. "Kinda like the underbelly in ol' Gol' City ya don't wanna admit's there." The jab was aimed, of course at Guardia, but really, any of the Goldies could take offense if they liked.

Raz had been staring intently at Yun. "You mean to say the Sons are planning something when we try to leave? I suppose I should have expected as much, though if they honestly think they can come out on top from such a gambit they're sorely mistaken..."

Obsidian frowned, "It's more if we try to join another sect." He explained. "There are several reasons why the Sons don't leave Gaiyo's side. It's just one side of their culture."

Charlie's eye arched over. "Ya mean their culture or their crew? The more yer tellin' me, tale out the gods an' we're talkin' gangs." The bug smirked a little. If anyone knew about gangs here, he was sure it'd be him.

"Glorified gangs indeed - bandits, essentially," Razathiel agreed, "My point is that whatever they do to their own is largely irrelevant at this point. We're exempt from what they do because I'd fucking kill them, and it doesn't matter what they do to others because I already want to fucking kill them."

"An' we're safe 'cause it'd be a really f*ckin' dumb idea ta kill us." Charlie figured that Raz's ways might actually land them in more trouble. "'cause if they kill us all these buddies they're gettin' us ta gather'll know they stabbed the guys that last helped 'em in the back. Nothin' says 'trustworthy guy' like a couple 'a knives in the back... unless we're the ones throwin' the first shot, ya hear?" He added the last part specifically for Raz's benefit.

"Er..." Obsidian rubbed the back of his neck, "I mean.. isn't like if someone tried to turn traitor on the Gold Tribe?" He asked Guardia, "If someone did that and tried to join Darkrai, wouldn't you take action against them? It's the same idea here."

"Take it from first hand experience. Ya can get away with turnin' yer back on the Goldies." Charlie slyly returned.

"If you would have joined Darkrai, you wouldn't be here right now to be a smug prick," Guardia retorted venomously. "The only reason why nothing has been done to you yet is because of an agreement with Snype."

"Exactly my point." Obsidian said with a nod, "If you turn traitor... well... you're probably going to be a liability in terms of information you know, where people live, stuff like that. It's dangerous in of itself."

"Why don't we agree to make sure we're all as loyal as possible then?" Anna chimed in, unsettled by the conversation. It was bad enough that Tollen was home to so many traitorous people and then Gabriel had secretly been Darkrai all along. She didn't want to have to worry about her own team as well. "We don't have the time--" or the emotional energy "--to wonder who might betray us and what we'll do afterwards."

"On the contrary, in a position where betrayal can be so potentially catastrophic, I think it vital we make the time to worry about it," Razathiel countered. "Although it is hardly productive to point fingers, having contingencies in the case of such disasters is quite an important concern - though really, that should already be dealt with. I certainly have mine. Why we should be taking the time to talk about this now is beyond me," The wizard paused to chuckle slightly, "As for agreeing to be 'as loyal as possible', I'm sure a servant of Darkrai couldn't possibly find a way to fault such a steadfast security measure..."

 

[SV]

Reverence, Anatellia, and beyond

"Just Root is their name," Gaiyo replied. "You best watch what you say about any legendaries with them. They're pretty religious as far as things go. And they tried their best to keep it that way. I had to roll out a red carpet and put on my nicest tights to get this meeting with them. And now it looks like I won't even be there to meet them. Linx!"

"Yeah, boss?" The Linoone asked Gaiyo.

"You'll lead the march to Just Root's camp. Keep me posted how things go, and good luck."

"You got it, boss," The Linoone chirped.

"Oh, and watch those two foreigners for me, will ya?" He whispered to the Linoone softly. "Don't know what their gameplan is here full yet.

"You got it boss," The Linoone replied again with a nod. Gaiyo patted the Linoone Linx on the shoulder before he departed off into the city. The remaining group of Sons of Arceus all gathered around Linx.

"I hope you packed enough shit to last," Linx called out. "Walk there's gonna be two days. So stay sharp. We'll be passing out of our territory too, so eyes open. Let's go."

---

Two days later

It was cold, colder than the cave where Reverence lay. Even though they were still underground, the air felt more brisk here. The group bound for Just Root's territory had traveled long north and then turned east to the far reaches of the realm. Travel in Anatellia is never an easy thing to do. Going along the surface is an impossible task. Going through the caverns was less so, but it was still difficult what with the jagged rocks and impossible slopes and climbs.

Overall, it was a fairly tiring journey, but they eventually reached what appeared to be their destination. It wasn't a large city like Reverence. Heck, it was barely a town. It seemed to just be a few dozen tents surrounded by a decently-sized pillar. Though by the grand standards of Reverence, it would probably be considered one of the smaller ones. There appeared to be a few 'mon around, setting up fires for the night.

Linx stopped the group at the top of the hill overlooking the small village. "Here we are. This is Just Root's turf. They only got a couple hundred living here." Linx turned from the village to the group in front of him. "By the looks of things, no one else got here yet. So we've got that going for us. Our best bet is to go in and talk to the guys, and get them to come with us. They'll no doubt be stubborn, but their place is dying, and if this other sect keeps coming at them, they know they're through. So convincing them won't be too hard."

Linx looked back over at the village. "Then again, Gaiyo also wanted us to see who the sect that's been messing with them is. Might have to wait around to see what's going on with them. If we convince them to go and run with us, we might not stay here long enough to see them. Bah! I hate strategy! I'm no good add it..." Linx shook his head, and his eyes wandered to Zai and Silence. "What about you guys? Have any military experience. Not that I'm askin', but if you were running this thing, how would you do it? Straight up walk in? Sneak in? Leave some scouts behind? Do we wait for someone to show up? What?"

 

[Ray Maverick]

Fox in the Box
​

Reverence encompasses a wide range within Anatellia. Cities are connected through the enormous caverns to such an extent that they expand well beyond many normal cities in other nations. But if you head far enough north and through the territory of the Sons of Arceus, you come upon the realm of another sect: the Reverse Kings.

The Reverse Kings, like the Sons, are a first-tier sect that worships the legendary duo of Zekrom and Reshiram. They are a third, more neutral side to the two other first tiers, the Sons of Arceus and the Dark Moons. However, they are nearly just as powerful, and just as influential. Their territory expands the northern caverns of Anatellian, and throughout the east, until the ends of land. Like the Sons of Arceus, their province is filled with all manner of statues, large monuments, converted churches, and enormous cathedrals, all which have been altered to suit the Reverse Kings as their dwelling areas.

However, most impressively within their territory stands a structure unlike any in other locations. Spanning dozens of kilometers long, half a kilometer high and over a kilometer wide, the wall-like structure, known appropriately as Convergence Wall, is the center-point of all Reverse Kings activity. Able to ask as though it were a city on its own, Convergence Wall houses thousands of residencies for the sect throughout it's many levels. Over half of the total population of the sect live inside of it, but it also houses the main central chamber where the leaders of the sects gather.

The hierarchy of the Reverse Kings is as follows: on the top, there is the Saint, who leads the entire sect. Currently, the Saint of the Reverse Kings is Fen Driar, a practical, though somewhat impatient 'mon who seeks to establish his sect as top dog in Anatellia. Just below the Saint are the High Priests, who act as both lieutenants to the Saint and as recruiters to lure in other sects to the cause of the Reverse Kings. There is no set limit or minimum for the High Priests, though there are typically between 5-10 of them. There are currently seven High Priest. That is, until a certain Delphox made his way back into Reverse King territory.

The eighth High Priest walked with a carefree step and a straightened posture, humming a merry tune as his robes swept the ground. Sylvio came across Pokemon of his sect, who looked at him curiously at first. He knew some of these people from memory - core members of the sect of Reverse Kings, or people once belonging to other sects that Sylvio convinced Reverse Kings was the only one and true sect... through charm, or through a shower of gold. Some of them cheered for him and asked him where he had been, others simply waved. Sylvio greeted them all politely and with a casual smile on. ss


A shadow was circling around him for quite a while; high up in the sky, his Braviary was soaring, looking for wild prey. Sylvio had attempted to teach him that the natives were not food, but he had good cause to doubt Griff wasn't ready to accept there were two kinds of meat... His hungry eye fell onto the people who closed in on his master, looking for the vulnerable ones, until Sylvio met his glare with a reassuring glance. You will be fed soon.

Convergence Wall wasn't far. The grey edifice, rectangle in shape, massive in size, had just appeared from the side of the rock Sylvio was circling. Fen Driar was there, somewhere. As soon as he saw it, Sylvio's fist begun opening and closing around a flame he had conjured.

Word of his arrival had reached the Wall through the followers who had seen him on the road. Some of the followers with whom he was friends had gathered in front of the gates to welcome him. He nodded at them and his bird of prey landed next to him, bringing dust up from the rocky path.

"Balance in all things, High Priest Sylvio," they said as he approached within range, "welcome back!"

"Balance in all things," Sylvio agreed solemnly. He hadn't spoken that phrase in several years. "Good to be back. Griff and I are delighted. Take me to the Saint, if you would. Now, I will talk to him. Tonight, afterwards, we party for my return!"

The small group of Pokemon cheered, and he let some of them kiss his hand and hug him. Never mind the pain of being hugged by a Conkeldurr, Sylvio felt something distant, something blurry that he could not define in this very moment, but he ignored it. Feelings were secondary, a waste of space in his mind right now, which was occupied with his objective. He needed to inform Saint Fen of what was going on; about what he was asked to do by Gaiyo. Fen would not agree, nor would he be happy, but Sylvio's intuition assured him a middle ground would be found with the 'mon, and he would do his business unscathed, for everyone's sake.

He told Griff to stay outside; a follower offered to find him a place to stay and food. Sylvio thanked him and proceeded into the Convergence Wall, reflecting that it looked like a massive box. The design inside was plain and simple, the decoration kept to a minimum, with only statues of various Pokemon greeting him in the hall. It all reflected the character of the Reverse Kings; humble, yet strong and somehow pervasive. In the middle of the hall, there was the biggest statue, Zekrom and Reshiram. Made of silver, glistening in the little, distant light after the followers polished it every morning. Sylvio's eyes were fixed on it for a moment and a smirk broke on his face.

The formidable statue of Zekrom and Reshiram had been very expensive, when Sylvio had had it made. But it was worth it. Because, when he made a gift of it to Fen, the Reverse Kings weren't as prominent a sect as it was now. It was so imposing that its fame grew throughout Anatellia, and when Sylvio so brazenly attempted to sway members of other sects into the Reverse Kings, he was met with awe and at worst, toleration, instead of hostility. This country was funny from the beginning, Sylvio reflected, they revere the Gods, yet the power this statue holds are still more important to them.

"The kings up front told me of a dirty foreign Grumpig lurking around the gates," A low, hoarse voice stated from behind Sylvio. As he would turn, he would be greeted by a Sandslash with a large, fur coat and a double piercing along his left cheekbone, with both symbols of Reshiram and Zekrom sticking out of them. "Call me surprised when I find out that stinkin' foreigner is Sweepin' Sylvio himself!" The Sandslash exclaimed with a grin as he crossed his arms.

Sylvio half turned to the Sandslash. He wasn't fazed by the familiar mockery; he responded with a theatrical exclamation. "If it is not the High Priest Crowl! You must have misheard. I do hope your ears are working properly, for I may be a foreigner, but I look nothing like a dirty Grumpig, and everyone here is ready to say so. But, look at you! You have grown so very old since the last time I saw you! Do you require a cane...? I reckon I might have one in my 'Room!"

"I reckon you do, being at your advanced age yourself!" Crowl shot back in jest. He approached the Delphox and extended his hand. "Good to see ya, my friend. I hope all things came balanced to you."

Sylvio shook the High Priest's hand firmly and briefly. "Likewise. I see there have not been major changes since the time I left for the Temple of Balance." Last time he'd been inside the Convergence Wall, it was for the election of the members of the sect who would be sent on a mission to the Temple of Balance. Sylvio went on that mission, but a twist of fate, pleasant for Sylvio, forced him to not return to the turf of the Reverse Kings for many years.

"On the contrary," Crowl began with a small shake of his head. "Nothing was ever the same after you came by. We took off from there. We've never been bigger than we are now, and a big part of it is thanks to you," Crowl snorted. "Never thought a foreigner would take us so high and so far. And now you're back! Here to do good by the two Watchers again, eh?" He nudged the Delphox gently on the ribs.

The Delphox grinned almost naughtily, "oh, yes," he said cheerfully, although wearily. "Would you take me to the Saint, old friend? I would rather start as soon as possible, for you see, I bring news that will hatch plans..."

"Ever the eager Bidoof," Crowl stated with a chuckle. "He's probably in the main chamber, but I'll take ya to him. Come on," He gestured for the Delphox to follow. They began to make their way through the Convergence Wall. The interior was just as impressive as the exterior. Strong, ancient, yet sturdy foundations. Yet decorated over its old layer is the Reverse Kings' designs. Scriptures dedicated to their legendaries, sculptures etched in, engravings. These were some of the finer works along the wall.

Yet even those looked somewhat older. From a time in the Reverse Kings when religion mattered more. Sprayed over that layer of design was what could be best described as graffiti. Sometime there would be offerings to Zekrom or Reshiram, but for the most part it was scribbles protesting the greatness of the Reverse Kings and the glory of their Saint.

"So whatcha been up to since ya left, Sweepin' Sylvio?" Crowl asked as they passed further into the wall. They would encounter many Reverse Kings along the way, all of which would give the two of them looks of surprise or happiness. Some of them even followed from a distance in curiosity.

"Sweepin' Sylvio left Anatellia to become Duelist Sylvio. I do seem to make quite a name of myself everywhere I go, and pardon me for the boast. Four years ago, I scaled down the mountains from the Temple of Balance all the way to Daggen after I had slain my sister Pietra in honorable combat."

He threw a sideways glance to the Sandslash with the coat, to make sure he knew; none of the followers scurrying on the back seemed to be unaware of how the mission to the Temple of Balance had ended. A memory flashed before the eyes of Sylvio's imagination; the wind rushing at the top of the mountain, blowing snow on the great, dark walls of the Temple. Late at noon, a four-year younger Sylvio was standing inside a circle of warriors of Karn and followers of the Reverse Kings. His foe had fallen before him, on the snow, staining it red. The body of his sister was nothing but a shadow in his memory; he had kicked her, to make her roll on her back and get up. The warriors of Karn were screaming her name rhythmically: Pietra! Pietra! Pietra! Hoping for her to gather her remaining strength and fight back. The followers of the Reverse Kings were silent, having realized what size of cruelty their usually friendly fellow believer was capable of.

But of course they knew, Sylvio thought with satisfaction etched across a devilish smile, unusually dark for him. Those who witnessed my duel with Pietra would come here and preach of it with vigor.

He remembered this vividly, but the body of his sister remained a shadow. Sylvio could not remember the species of his own step sister, despite having lived with her for years.

"Afterwards, in Karn, I took the reins of the Arcansus family and their warriors," Sylvio said to the High Priest, "but after three years, I opted to take a break. You know how my heart always yearns to share knowledge that is relevant. I traveled to Valkaria, where I gathered students and taught them about our ways, the way the balance of the world requires us to follow, without that is attempting to encompass them in our sect. And then... while I was in Gold City, Darkrai lay siege on it with a whole army."

He nodded, to show that he was serious.

"It is best if I shall tell what comes next whilst Fen is present, also, friend."

"Karn... peh," The Sandslash's face convulsed with disgust. It was clear that the animosity between the nations of Anatellia and Karn was still very much present. "But this Valkaria business, this I heard about... should be just through here."

The pair made their way through one of the larger stone doors to the right. They pushed on the large, thick doors together, a habit many Reverse Kings picked up when opening these ancient pathways. Many say that it has some connection with the two legendaries they represent, as two halves of a whole shall try to push through this ancient doorway, thus so shall it be two halves that represent the balance of life. As for Crowl, he simply believes that some doors take a bit more muscle to force open. Sylvio seemed not to have forgotten that fact, much to the joy of Crowl.

The other side had much of the same designs as the first part of the Convergence Wall. It appeared to be a large room, with a great chandelier hanging above a long, round table. There were multiple Pokemon in the room, most of which were no-name lesser members of the Reverse Kings. The only one that mattered was the seemingly agitated Shiftry, the only one that was sitting down. He had multiple piercings across his face and body, most notable on his long, pointy nose, and across his ears. He also wore a fur scarf around his neck. This was Fen Driar, Saint of the Reverse Kings.

Fen held a bored look on his face. He was clearly not amused with what the other Reverse Kings were talking about. No doubt it was a set of grievances that did little but annoy the leader. He noticed Crowl and Sylvio enter from the back of the room and held up a leaf-covered arm to stop the others from talking.

"I've heard your complaints," Fen stated with an annoyed expression. "And we'll get to them as soon as Pokemonly possible. Give me the room."

"Yeah... uh, sure Saint," one of the other 'mon, a Ratata stated, as she and the rest scurried off. Fen crossed his legs and observed the two newcomers make it further into the room in front of him.

"Well, well, well," Fen began at the Delphox. "What do we have here?"

"You have Sweepin' Sylvio," the Delphox presented himself. "I return, at last. How do you fare, Fen?"

Fen snorted. "It's a strange thing. Right now, at this moment, the Reverse Kings have never been more powerful. We're stronger than we've ever been, and more organized. I feel like I should be thrilled, but I keep finding myself wanted more, because others still have more." He stated with a clenching of his leaves on his hands. "And I'm beginning to feel their pressure around us... long story short, not bad, could be better. How about the famed foreign fright? How's Sylvio doing?"

"Sylvio is faring well," Sylvio said with an easy smile, making himself comfortable on the leafy chairs of the room; inviting Fen with a friendly gesture to sit. He raised a finger up, "just a moment!"

Out of nowhere, a bottle of fire-wine appeared and Sylvio pulled it from the air around his hand and shoving its tip into his mouth. He sighed and closed his eyes for a few seconds, letting the wine wash away the fatigue of the day. The time between the morning, when he'd been outside Fort Ferrol with Obsidian, seemed like forever ago, despite the travel through the link being extremely swift.

Once he was rested, his expression became one of seriousness, as he was rather tired and wanted to get to the point. "My letters must have reached you privately, as requested; Karn has been every bit as difficult and uncivilized as you all seem to so readily describe it. You have not heard from me for the past year; that is because I could not bear the barbarity of it all and desired to have a break from dueling. I now have involved myself with a group of southerners, Valkarians. Quite the droll bunch, these people! Always up to a fascinating scheme and allegedly suitable characters to push it into fruition. You have heard of them, yes?"

Fen gave the Delphox a nod. "I have."

He glanced quickly to Crowl and added, "Crowl mentioned you have heard the news about the situation their homeland is in."

"Peh, they meddled with a legendary, what do you expect to happen when they do that?" Fen asked with a shake of his head.

Sylvio returned his gaze to Fen Driar and proceeded to explain his position to him clearly and with brevity. "I had joined them previously on a mission to Tollen, where they requested military assistance; and now they come here in search of information on Cresselia and the Guardians in general. As we arrived via Link, we were... welcomed by the parade of little fools, named the Sons of Arceus, and Gaiyo himself. And, the Valkarians did what they came here to do, ask for help. The cost of Gaiyo's help is Sweepin' Sylvio's skills... I was asked to sweep lesser sects to flock to the Sons side."

The Delphox had a perfectly straight face when he said that, knowing very well that it was betrayal to his sect to agree to such a thing. He paused for a second, then added, "I would like to know what Fen thinks of this." He caught the Shiftry's glance and slightly arched one eyebrow. "Like the scheming of the old times, friend, perhaps we can make something out of it so Reverse Kings comes out on top," Sylvio said, and they could hear it in his voice, the hint of an idea.

"Gaiyo," The Shiftry leader clenched his leaf fists again, then gritted his teeth. He stood up and threw a cup across the room, and watched it shattered into a dozen pieces. "Gaiyo! Always stirring up everything possible! Why can't he just leave things be?! Zekrom be damned! The Ambipom drives me mad! Here I am, at the top of my game, and he's always one more step ahead. And do you know why!? It's because he cheats! He cheats because he doesn't respect our ways!" Fen began to pace furiously across the room.

"First it was making pacts with other sects, then he straight up added them into his own Sons, like a recruitment game! He changed the way we have to run things because of that! Then he invited those blasted Seekers, and now Valkarians!" Fen paused and sighed deeply.

"You obviously said no, right?" Crowl asked the Delphox. "... right? You said yeah? Why? Why the hell are you helping them?"

Sylvio was silent for a moment, unfazed by Fen's display of anger. He had been in this position with the Saint in the past; well-placed words could shift his mood. "Because," Sylvio stated calmly, "I am an opportunist. You see, in Valkaria, there is a group of thieves, led by the King of Thieves, which has been dominant for many decades now, only because Valkarian officials cannot make their way through the tangled and ever-changing forest they had made their home." That was partly a lie, of course; Sylvio had a hunch Guardia would have mustered the entire Valkarian army to trample the forest and every thief in it, if she did not tolerate their existence. But there was no reason Fen should know of that. "And these thieves are smart, they want to expand their group beyond their country, so they followed us in Tollen and now in Anatellia."

Sylvio quickly continued, not wanting to make the Saint impatient. "It is quite simple, my friend," the Delphox said. "We must be like the thieves. We must expand Reverse Kings to other countries, secretly so, if we wish to deal with competition. And if we cannot establish footholds, we ought to set up enough footmen to at least recruit more - the world is huge! There are so many people, so many gullible simple-mon who would join without much thought, because we would present it as the right thing to do; as it is, of course. Do you know how many people in Karn alone would be impressed by the awesome stature of our Watchers? Anatellia is drained of Pokemon that would be so easily swayed. The effort and resources spent in gaining allies and keeping them to your side is no longer worth it. So, I thought, grant Gaiyo his crumbs with my help, and we shall aim to catch the fish in other countries, where it is fatter and tastier! Now, I see an opportunity in helping the Valkarians. Because, if they do learn more about the legendaries... the news will travel home, fast. And it is easier to preach about Gods who have already been heard of."

"Getting one step ahead of Gaiyo..." Fen muttered. "It's ambitious, but it's also never been done before. Never in the history of our country," The Shiftry looked worriedly at the Delphox. "It's a bold step. One I don't even know how to begin."

"Be bold, Fen, that's what Gaiyo is. He's daring, he's challenging the norm and defies tradition. That is why he is one step ahead. Is this not the problem, the way he thinks? To outdo him, we must think like Gaiyo thinks and beyond that." Or we could put him two feet under the ground, then he would cease to think like he does, Sylvio thought to himself, but such kind of damage had best not be brought up so openly. "And if you start thinking like Gaiyo," he continued, "you must be prepared for war. He is not going to let you expand unscathed."

Sylvio watched the expression on Fen's face (a constant smirk that all Shiftry's have), and he perked up his chest proudly and tapped it quickly with one hand, as if to say, leave it up to me. "Don't you worry too much, friend. Besides, you have me, nothing can go wrong."

 

[SV]

Guardia, Abel, Anna, Penance, Obsidian, Snype and Raz - Return to Reverance, Anatellia

Reverence was different than when the Valkarians first passed through. Everyone seemed on edge. Groups of Pokemon from the Sons of Arceus all across the cavern were marching around, shouting and hollering at each other. Many seemed to be preparing to depart somewhere. Others, the children, were being ushered into homes. Guardia looked around at the scene and wondered what had indeed happened. The Banette stated there was an attack, but she didn't really understand the extent of it until she saw Reverence. The Sons seemed to be gearing up for something.

Guardia was about to lead the group toward the large home of Gaiyo Nyys, but she suddenly stopped when she noticed the 'mon outside of his home, standing on top of a large rock. He appeared to be rallying a large group of Sons of Arceus around him. As she got closer, she began to make out what he was saying.

"- know who they're messing with! Sons or not, the Spirit Seekers are apart of us now! And when you hit one of us, we hit you back, twice as hard!" He declared to the group, which was followed by a loud roar of approval. "Get the groups ready! We move out on my order!"

Another round of cheering followed, and the rallied Sons began to disperse to prepare for what seemed to be a fight of some sort. Gaiyo spotted the group of Valkarians heading toward him and met them halfway. "You're back. I don't have a lot of time right now, so let's make this brief. Did you learn everything you needed to?"

"We got popsicles, but there were poop." Penance said with a decisive nod.

"... What he means is we got what we wanted, and some not so good things." Obsidian explained.

"We've found out where Cresselia is, but we haven't found... all of her," Guardia added. "We're missing two parts. Vee said you might be able to help us find the others."

"Did Vee say that? Hmm, well what do you need to find?" The Ambipom asked curiously.

"The soul and spirit." Obsidian stated. "We know what they look like, but one part could be here in Anatellia. We can get some Seekers on it. Would you be open for us to search all of the Son's territory, Gaiyo? The soul of Cresselia is a stone, similar to what Zai has, but it's a bit different. We need that as an item first off."

"As long as you two," He began pointing toward Obsidian and Penance. "Stay with the rest of the group, you can go wherever you need to in our territory. But if you're looking for what I think you're looking for, you might not find it in our territory. If you need a Guardian stone, the best place to look is in the lair of another Guardian."

Penance frowned at that, "Still, I'll let the grassroots know of the ingredients." He said as he made his way over to another group of Seekers that had been standing by as protection.

"Do you know where we may find one?" Anna asked Gaiyo.

Gaiyo placed one of his tail hands to his chin and pondered for a moment. "Finding a legendary is a hard thing. Finding a Guardian is even harder. There's only one of them in all the world. I'd say the best chance you have is taking a look at one of the Guardians' temples. It's said under the right conditions, they can be summoned there," Gaiyo placed his hands behind his back and began to pace. "Normally I'd send you to the Spirit Seekers' Temple. But they just got hit by the Dark Moons at their temple, during the Rising Ceremony. There's no way you'd get in now. Rayquaza's temple is in ruins. It's been abandoned ever since the worshippers of Rayquaza joined Green Sea with Xerneas and Celebi's folk. Obviously you don't wanna go to Darkrai's Temple, since that'd be counterproductive. And that goes double for Groudon's since they're currently allied with the Dark Moons here. Which means the last two temples you really have a shot at meeting a Guardian are the Temple of Balance, and the Temple of Life."

"Who do they belong to?" Guardia asked.

"Temple of Balance is the Reverse King's main worship spot for Zekrom and Reshiram. The Temple of Life, that's Monsoons ground, who worship Kyogre. They recently allied with the Reverse Kings too. Both are in their territory or... at least they were." Gaiyo clenched his fists. "The bastards from Karn control that part of our land now."

"Those might be good places to start," Guardia stated, looking over the others. "What do you guys think?"

Snype held his hand under his chin, thinking over the different possibilities. They still had a favor to handle for Gaiyo and that was bound to change the more they continued to stall and do their own tasks... but they did have their priorities.

"...You know Gaiyo, you never did say what exactly that favor you wanted is to do for you was. Just curious." Snype asked.

"You're right, I never did," Gaiyo began and shook his head. "And it doesn't matter now. You could say those favors already passed their expiration. I was going to have you look into a few things for me. Find out why a set of sects were meeting up, figure out about the protest at the Spirit Seeker's Rising Ceremony, and the third which two of your group are handling now, which is recruiting Just Root. They don't matter now, since they already happened, and I'm here having to pick up the pieces of one hell of a mess. If you wanted to help now, they'd have to be new tasks."

Snype nodded. "Makes sense. Meeting with Vee just wasn't something we could afford to miss out on. Though whichever task you have now, we may as well pay our debts and then fully focus on what we came here to do. If everyone else is alright with that anyways." Snype said. "What kind of tasks are we talking here?"

Gaiyo shrugged. "It's only natural for you to look out for yourselves before others. If I were in your position, I'd do the same. It's not heartless, it's just the truth. As for now..." Gaiyo took out a note he had stashed away in his fur wrapping. He grabbed it with one of his two tails and examined it. "I have a few things you could get done. First off, one of my scouts reported a group of Earth Dwellers that they say were around our territory. They lost track of them, but we have a strong suspicion they're here in the city. Earth Dwellers are a third-tier sect, allied with the Dark Moons. I don't like 'em hanging around here, even if they're just trying to be pissy."

Gaiyo moved the note a bit further down. "Second up," Gaiyo pointed one of his tails down the cavern. "We've got a big problem cookin' right here at Reverence. There's been... someone, someone causing all sorts of problems. We get different reports about who they are. Some say they're a Dark Moon, others just say they're a foreigner. But they've been stealin' our guys. You heard that right, stealing. They plays some sorta game with them, and if they lose, they vanish. We call him the Gambler. I want you to look into who he or she is, and end them. Or bring 'em to me to end."

Gaiyo once more scrolled down the list. "And lastly... I don't expect anyone of you to have heard of it, besides Penance or Obsidian, but ever heard of the Under-race?"

Guardia crossed her arms and shook her head. "Can't say I have."

"It's a semi-annual race we hold here in Anatellia. Most of the sects compete in it. Except this year, there's been a lot of cheatin' going on. People dropping out, people gettin' lost. Basically, I need some more pilots for that race. It might not sound important, but it's a very important prideful moment for us as Anatellians, and something to take back with honor to the sects. It's one of the last traditions we all do together as a nation. So if you decide to help me out, those would be the three things I'd need you guys to look into."

"We can handle it." Obsidian said with a nod. "It shouldn't be that hard really. The Gold Tribe can go after the Earth Dwellers easy. If they want to that is. Or we can send some Seekers their way and mop them up. Either or. For the gambler... I'm not sure. I mean, if he's into gambling then we'll need some of our own guys who are great with cards."

"I have a hatter." Penance objected.

Obsidian just groaned, "Yeah... but let's not get too hasty here I would think..."

"Nah, hats are best." He said with a few nods, "We can see. But I think the cherry should really be shaved first."

"As for the race, I do know some Seekers here from Anatellia. They could give the race a go if no one here is familiar with how it works. I've done a bit of piloting myself, but I wouldn't say I'm an expert."

"If this 'Gambler' is a tricky bastard, it might be a good idea to put them up against Snype," Razathiel suggested. "Unless of course they're the type where it isn't good to use trickery versus trickery, in which case I'm perfectly happy to obliterate the shithead."

"Yeah, maybe," Guardia shook her head. "But we don't know anything about this Gambler. It could be more than we know we're signing up for. And what about this racing? We don't have any experience in it!"

"I've still got my remaining jockeys who'll take the first seeds," Gaiyo explained. "We'll put you guys in only if we need to, which I don't think we will. But you never know. And you'd get some training ahead of time."

"If that gambler fella hasn't lost yet, then he's clearly pulling some kinda cheat. Thankfully I'm an expert at tracking that sorta thing. Kehe" Snype would add. "I'm not exactly that fastest fella when it comes to a race, but I could find my ways to spot cheaters. Same case as the Gambler, nobody pulls a fast one when I got a lock on them. Kehe"

"I didn't say the Gambler hasn't lost," Gaiyo retorted to Snype. "The problem is that even when he loses, he simply disappears and then reappears at another time. It's hard to get to him."

"Right. Hmm..." Snype scratched his chin a moment. Who knew what he'd be getting into if he faced his Gambler. Either way, he wasn't about to let some shmuck pull a fast one on him.

"Well... what's most important?" Obsidian asked. "I would say this gambler is really big trouble. These earth dwellers are just scouting at the moment. Yes, still dangerous, but losing reinforcements is something bigger to worry about. Along the way we can actually try and recruit some other mon for the race. If not that, I can try and give you all a quick lesson in racing."

"Is killing your opponents allowed in the race?" Razathiel asked.

Gaiyo held up his fingers on one of his tails, showing three of them up. "There are only three basic rules in the Under-races. One, stay on your ride. Two, use only a land-based rider, and three, first one to cross wins. Mostly everything else is fair game. And yeah, there's hasn't been a single Under-race that's happened where someone doesn't either get seriously injured or die."

"So theoretically speaking," The wizard said with a growing grin. "One could simply begin the race by obliterating everyone else, before walking to the finish?"

"Theoretically speaking, yes," Gaiyo answered with a nod. Raz only chuckled deviously in response.

The Ambipom shrugged. "Prioritize all you want. You'll have to do all three to be square with me. So what will it be? Are you going to do what I ask?"

"I'm alright with this." Snype said with a nod.

"Can you give us a minute to discuss among ourselves?" Guardia asked Gaiyo.

Gaiyo shrugged. "Sure, whatever, but hurry up. I've got things to do as well. Blasted Dark Moon bombing and now secret meetings about defecting on my hands..." He muttered as he walked away from them.

"So, what do you guys think?" Guardia asked the rest. "We can always help later if we don't want to now. I personally don't know anything about this racing business. Might be risky going in without knowing much, even if Obsidian can help us a little. I mean, what if they expect us to do well?"

"Well these favors don't seem to be as bad as I thought it'd be. Think about it, we take too long and we could get ourselves stuck in something nasty, like going after Karn territory or something like that." Snype said.

The Dreadmage opened his eyes and let out, "We're clear, by the way."

"Of what?" Guardia asked the Ralts.

"Bugs," Raz answered, before pausing to snicker. "Although Charlie is still here. HA! I'm evil; I had to do it. Don't blame me, blame whoever made Common for making those two words the same."

"Bugs? You mean..." Guardia's voice lowered. "From Gaiyo? I haven't really thought about that, but... hmm, at least it's clear. But you sweeping for these means you probably don't trust him."

The wizard almost snorted, "I don't particularly trust anyone, and it's not really him specifically I'm searching for bugs from, it's anyone who would have the audacity to place a bug near us. Frankly, if that's unusual practice, you aren't nearly secure enough."

"Bugs are good for puttin' in bugs too. Don't ya doubt it. Seriously, ya see a bug, ya better be lookin' fer bugs. An' ya heard it from a bug. Ya seen any bug-usin' bugs around?" Charlie grinned, he was having his fun today it seemed.

"We've worked with folks who seem shady in the past." Snype said. "If anything I'd do the first two tasks first. It'd give us time to prepare for that race or whatever. I plan on observing it and spotting just what kind of foul play is going on."

"Maybe, but I believe it would be easier to do all three," Annabelle answered Snype. "We've stuck together for every task, which I agree with. It's harder to do something... Tricky... while we're together. However, these tasks don't seem to necessarily need our full strength, especially with the addition of the Seekers on our side." She thought for a moment about each of their assigned tasks before speaking up again. "The most risky of the three would be the Gambler and the Earth Dwellers. If we send someone in that loses to the Gambler there is no telling where they would go. It would be a damaging loss of an ally unless we were sure there was a way to get them back." A tracker of some sort? Or maybe... Anna let her mind sift through known items and equipment. If there was no other way she may be able to get something from the SEC. "The Earth Dwellers pose the threat of besting us in battle or having something up their sleeve that we didn't expect." Anna shuddered at the thought of the things that could go wrong. "I have doubts about their abilities compared the Gold Tribesmen here, but I believe it'd be wise to ask for more information about this group before proceeding." Though with Raz's suspicions over Gaiyo it made her wonder if he would tell them everything. "I would be more concerned about the Race, but again, we have trained, capable fighters among us. If anyone has doubts, so be it, but I believe the 'mon we have are conditioned enough to counter their opponents and survive the Race, whether or not they win--though I don't think we necessarily need to win. Discouraging cheating should be enough.

"I believe we have enough 'mon to split up and do all of these tasks simultaneously, especially if we split them up by our strengths. It would only take more time to wait for each task to be finished to go on to the next and we don't have the kind of time. If we wait on any of them I would suggest only waiting on The Gambler simply to strategize what to do if we lose and what to do if we win. Or get more information on them at the very least. We don't yet know if 'disappearing' means he simply takes 'mon away or kills them first. Gaiyo already explained his men giving us preparations for the Under-race and I'm sure we have experience in dealing with rowdy groups. Depending on when the next Race is scheduled it should be finished within a few days. Once we have most of these tasks out of the way we can focus on getting to the next Temple."

"Ya can strike out fer info too, ya know." Charlie piped up. "Ya don't gotta just sit on yer claws an' wait fer a guy ta come to ya. Look at where the asshole's been an' try ta look at the patterns 'n stuff guess where the f*cker's gonna turn up next. No need ta be waitin' around on nothin'." The bug didn't seem to want to stake his claim where he'd help out yet. He could see his skills being applied in more than one place.

"Splitting up could always work," Guardia stated. "We can have the best people for the job we think could suit them. And Anna's right, we can always got o the Temples afterward."

"If I may, I want to comment on that," Abel interjected. "I'm not sure if going to these Temples to begin with is a good idea."

"What makes you say that?" Guardia asked the Medicham curiously.

"Right or not, those Temples are in Karn territory now. If we go over there from Anatellia without any say from Karn, we'd be acknowledging that we believe they're still apart of Anatellian territory. You never know what that could do for our alliance, if we have any, with Karn. We should at least consider the idea of going in from their country, not this one."

"Exactly why I wanted to take care of these jobs sooner rather then later. Next thing you know we would be forced to go to these temples for some kind of job for Gaiyo. It wouldn't do us any good." Snype commented. "If we're splitting up I can take on the Gambler. Its kinda my forté. Kehe"

"An' I'm with the Boss." Charlie nodded. "It's what us Thieves do best. Better 'n all 'a you lot anyway."

"So long as I can trust the rest of you to do whatever you do best," Razathiel said. "I certainly wouldn't mind a bit of killing. To be honest, there's fair potential for that just about anywhere besides visiting the temples in Karn, if we're even doing that, so I suppose I'll fill."

"How about them words, eh?" Penance said out loud with a grin. "Eh? Eheheheheheheheheh?"

Obsidian looked around at the confused mon and let out a drawn out sigh, "He means the books we were researching here. The sons have a vast library of knowledge from... well... way back when. It details ancient rituals, legendaries, all manner of things that are associated with them.... basically, it's a gold mine of information. Penance had been browsing through it before we left and he had this stack of books set off that could help us out. Plus with our new knowledge we'll probably find tons of books talking about mega stones or even the temples themselves."

"We get what we get." Penance said with a nod, "Jobs for some nice words. Fair? I say! Like pie on cream!"

"Another reason to do these tasks first instead of go through to the temples," Abel added in after Obsidian's explanation. "We might gain favor with them. It's doubtful they'd let us see any of their knowledge now. If we're picking, I'm probably going to consider going the Earth Dweller assignment. Though I can tag along to another if necessary."

"Exactly." Obsidian stated, "If we do these jobs for them, that's how you all can get favor. Just ask in return you see some of their books. I know Penance pulled out a lot on Cresselia last time. We could find some clues in them as to where the other parts of her being could be. Maybe there's a pattern in them or a specific place such pieces usually show up at."

"Looks like we're in agreement," Guardia stated. "Let's tell Gaiyo," She stated, and walked back over to the Ambipom.

"So?" He asked expectantly.

"We're going to help you out," Guardia replied.

"Oh. Good. Well you know the tasks," Gaiyo nodded.

"Yeah, we'll probably split in three groups an-"

Gaiyo held up one of his tails in front of the Zangoose, cutting her off. "Wait, what? Three groups? No, not happening. Like I said before, you don't go anywhere alone. You'll either have to have Obsidian or Penance with you. At all times."

Guardia stared at the Ambipom and clenched her jaw. She was getting pretty irritated at the fact that this guy was behaving like an asshole. "... Fine, then we'll do two of the assignments first to start with, then go on to the last one after."

"That's better. I'll have one of my guys escort the racers to our tracks. As for the Gambler, good luck finding him. Better luck beating him."