[X] … the path to the right contains a dangerous ninja-like Pokemon.
I want to see Elpis write a ninja. I bet she can make it very interesting.
[X] Practice with Inana when you have time.
Inana's look of superiority is worth it (also, she knows how to work with blades already, look at her claws.)
"An ancient god created five demigods in his image" rings of Regis to me. I can't think of another notable group of five pokemon. Does beg the question of what's buried here, though. Regirock? There's not exactly a Regiground.
Alright, time to get back to cracking opening Update 13, but I wanted to take a sec on this:
The Empire of Sol is a thousand years old. The girl called Aria is hardly seventeen. But this is a ballad, and her name is a song—and Aria refuses to let it be sung with melancholy.
It's the next morning, before the sun even rises. You are on a mission, and it's of the utmost importance. Sophia and Ray are still sleeping, you cannot let anyone distract you from your prey.
Well that's a completely normal way to talk about catching a pokemon.
I've said this before, but it's fun to think this really is the first time Aria has ever decided to get a new pokemon on purpose, reflects how being the one in charge of her life's direction is such a new and bold experience for her.
In the high grass around Olympia, where the plants stand at attention from the charge in the air. The static is lessened inside the city itself, and though you know that part of it is the massive deposits of electricity aspected minerals in the ground, there is a feeling of something more surrounding you.
Or maybe that's just your entire body waking as the sun crawls over the horizon and touches your skin. You feel home—
Inana raises her arm, motioning for you to stop. You do, crouching down to look around and see what she sees. You spot him, the small lizard that you've had your eye on since you sprinted past the grass towards the city.
Helioptile.
Your fingers dig into the dirt as you give Inana a nod—
She tries to sneak up, but Helioptile is already aware of your presence. He jumps back, his ears flapping in the wind as the impressive jump creates a significant distance between the two Pokemon. You're no longer hiding in the grass, instead standing tall as you face your adversary.
Inana can't quite see anything outside of the grass though, too short to look above it. You grab her by the back and throw her forward. "Go, Inana!"
She makes a rude gesture with her arms as she flies through the air and lands on her feet, turning to glare at the quite nimble electric lizard.
The fucking. Commitment to playing off the conventions of random encounters in the games is hilariously in depth, it's like Aria is hearing the battle theme in her head and she's immediately driven to violence:
"Snee," Inana says. Helioptile chirps, sounding vaguely mocking. Inana reacts as expected, shaking her claw at him. "Sneeeeeeeee!"
Though she's clearly upset, she waits for your command. You point at Helioptile and raise your arm. "Go!"
Inana jumps, understanding your motion without looking. You can see bits of ice dancing on her claws as she comes down, her body freezing the water in the air until it becomes a weapon. Helioptile's frills open up, the electricity in the air gathering around his neck and forming a ray of light that shoots forward.
Inana blocks, unable to change trajectory in the air, the beam of light hitting the cross she forms with her arms and sending her tumbling down. You catch her, ignoring the pain as the electricity runs down your arms, putting her on the ground. She shakes for a moment, then rights herself up, twice as angry as before.
The very air makes the Helioptile stronger. The ground itself is filled to the brim with energy. But neither you or Inana will lose a fight over something so trivial! "Inana! Stay low!"
Our first proper Pokemon Battle since Update 1! And already quick to the punch, we're seeing Inana's Ice-Type abilities for the first time, not that it manages to get past Helioptile's Charge Beam, and it's fun to pick up that he's benefitting from what's basically the Electric Terrain Olympia is always basted in.
Aria catching her angry little weasel : )
Wait this is literally getting Aria electrocuted when that's straight up how she and Inana met, what the fuck.
Its ranged attacks are a surprise, but this does not mean you have to keep making the same mistake. If attacks from above don't work, then you'll have to stay low to the ground, make sure the electricity has somewhere to go to, rather than her body.
The approach begins again. Inana rushes over the ground. You can see small bolts of lighting under her feet—
"Inana," you say loudly, "dig your claws into the ground!"
She does, dragging along a cloud of dirt behind her as she runs forward. She knocks some of the dirt into Helioptile's eyes, then follows with a solid kick to its head when it's distracted. Instead of retreating, Helioptile responds by biting into Inana's leg, dragging her to the ground as streaks of blue begin to gather around it.
There's no way to block something like that, so the only way to keep going is to get the hell out. "Inana, the ground's soft! Dig!"
The order manifests in a rather ridiculous display of Inana digging a hole into the ground while Helioptile's teeth are still in her leg. The explosion of electricity happens inside the hole, sending the soft earth around it inside and filling the hole quickly.
Love the interplay of making use of the primary weakness of Electric-Type, Aria telling Inana to ground herself, which the Sneasel intuitively follows up with Sand Attack because she's a bastard, and then Aria straight up gets her to use Dig to avoid the attack and drag Helioptile along for the ride.
You hold your breath for a moment, then watch as Inana digs herself out again, burns and scratches all over her. Helioptile is still holding onto her, though with his frill-ears rather than his teeth. It stumbles for a moment as they both touch normal ground again, then lets go to shout loudly. The sound makes you flinch, and Inana, too, seems irritated and slightly off-center.
She swings at him, only to miss and turn herself around. He tackles her, sending her to the ground.
"Inana, listen to my voice!" you order. She stills for a moment, then nods as she stands up again, still not quite able to stay steady. Helioptile attacks from— "Left!"
She raises her arm, catching the frill with her arm.
"Below!"
She lifts her other arm in front of her chest, catching the other frill. Helioptile looks slightly offended at how easily the attacks were stopped. Inana grins wide.
Oh, FANTASTIC, Helioptile rattled Inana's inner ear and lowered her accuracy, so Aria is playing spotter while Inana reacts with perfect smoothness, this is a showing of high trainer/pokemon compatibility right here.
The fact that Helioptile is straight up boxing with his ear frills is funny as hell, love how bothered everyone is by each other's horseshit.
"Remember the Tauros?" you ask. Inana's grin turns feral. She jumps on the spot, twisting her entire body and dragging Helioptile with her. She spins the poor lizard, the frills tying themselves up before Inana touches the ground again and slams Helioptile down.
It cries out weakly. Though quite nimble, he should avoid close combat. That's something to remember for the future.
You raise the empty Pokeball up and throw it. It aims true, hitting Helioptile while Inana is still holding him down. You swear you can see a grin on his face as the red light takes him into the ball. It wiggles but once before a loud hiss announces the proper capture.
You sigh in relief. It's your first actual capture, and your first battle against a wild Pokemon with Inana. Even if Helioptile is clearly at an advantage in this place, it really shouldn't have been that hard of a fight. You need to practice more with Inana, or perhaps learn more about your enemies before you start approaching them.
This was a fun fight, a great showing for all three of our principal characters.
Aria is a talented but very unpracticed trainer, mostly relying on intuition and strong trust to pull off a win, which makes sense, she had like all of one Pokemon Battles with Skiddle she was actually able to focus on, and the same goes Inana, now that they're out of Wallburg and can just go around together without restriction.
I'm interested in how this thread with progress, since it's been a noticeable implication that Aria hasn't yet internalized that her strongest weapon isn't her sword arm—
You do worry. You grab your sword when you see that not even the guards that are taking a break move out. The door to the tavern slams open, your sword drawn, white steel reflecting the lantern lights which have gone up while you were inside.
—But her partnership with her pokemon, so it'll be interesting to see if her steadily building willingness to rely on other people for help is going to translate smoothly into letting her team take the forward position in fights, or if she's gonna keep stumbling into situations where her first impulse is "Well I have two fists and a bunch of repressed rage, that should see me through."
Inana is really funny for being such a physical powerhouse that there was basically no reason to use her elemental command over the cold once she's close enough to throttle people, you get the sense she'd really like the Fighting-Typing her cousins benefit from, though considering everything in Gildera is constantly freezing, it might just be that she's not used to fighting people without stupid cold resistance.
Helioptile is our first showing of a peer level combatant who relies on projectiles and stat change interplay, and it's a great sign of the future, the back and forth of "So I just start blasting" "DID YOU LEVEL HP ENOUGH FOR WHEN I REACH YOU" was very nice, and the fact he's clearly satisfied by the capture shows how pokemon really do just straight up bond by trading asswhoopings.
Inana falls over and breathes heavily, sneeing at the sky. You sit down next to her, picking up Helioptile's Pokeball. You hold it up, letting the lizard out again. He comes out slightly miffed, though clearly unwilling to make a scene. He walks up to you, poking your arm with his face. You respond by patting him in the head, ignoring the rather strong electric charge that is dancing under his skin.
"Hello," you say. It feels strange, to actually have captured something for the first time. To go out of your way to battle and find yourself a new friend and ally.
Helioptile seems quite new to the experience, too, so at least that makes two of you.
"I am Aria," you introduce yourself. "And this is Inana. I'll have a name for you soon."
Like, look at this. This is expected protocol. The fact neither Aria or Helioptile quite know what to make of each other is just because they're newbies to the standard courtesy of becoming a team through getting ass beat. It's important to the overall social dynamics of Pokemon as a setting because pokemon are clearly independent actors who know full well how they can benefit from human partnership and vice versa, which is why in Gildera (and probably Sol, given how much seeing Inana shocked Lora and Justus) pokeballs are a controlled product, the class system is reliant on it being that much more inconvenient for anyone but the nobility and their sponsored to feasibly train pokemon.
Anyway I love this. Lizard that headbutts you until you pat his weird staticy dome.
You have made a new friend. Helioptile represents your Righteousness, your belief in yourself, and in the path you have chosen. It is also something that resonates with your Authority. In that tall grass, you find yourself with a letter [R]. Imp r al. That's strange, perhaps you can find the others on the way through Sol?
You cannot watch as the world around you treats people badly, for all the wisdom you have you'll never find yourself without the courage to speak up against monsters. This is what you asked for, and you do not regret it.
Your new friend needs a name. He's a bit too exhausted from the fight, though. Some rest and food will surely help.
Helioptile has been caught. Do you want to give Helioptile a nickname?
[ ] Major. The melody keeps going, even when the instruments have long stopped playing.
[ ] Zeus. Though the name is positively electric, you have already chosen a name for Lissy.
[ ] Topaz. The stone shines so beautifully in the sunlight, you are blinded by its brilliance.
[ ] Perun. Thunder and lightning follow where he walks. Drake loved the old myths.
Anyway I like this a lot, the fact that we're basically going down the list of loved ones Aria wants to honor is really charming, and look at this little guyyyyyyyy he's all stanced. Cracked lookin' chrome dome. Genuinely love the way you mildly accent the design of each plot relevant pokemon to match the overall palette of Aria's team.
At this point, we're two letters away before Imperial and Aria's team are complete, I wonder what the full picture will look like?
Helioptile has been caught. Do you want to give Helioptile a nickname?
You decide to investigate the brothel. Ray will check with the temple, and Sophia is going to check out the guards. Though there's suspicion on every faction in this conflict, the ones who have the most to gain are the emperor's knights.
But that does not mean there's nothing wrong with the brothel itself. The temple's cause is clear, they never liked the prostitutes but they accepted their presence in the city as much as they had to with the guards enforcing some sort of truce.
Money speaks, and the amount of gold coins that must be produced from the work of all the men and women you've seen cannot be small. If anything, it'd fit the kind of intrigue that you've read about before. Someone decided to steal the money, frame the matron? It's not impossible.
But until you know the people you are dealing with, the brothel is the target of your own search.
Aria is saying what I'm thinking, the shape of this mystery is interesting, there's so many people who could stand to benefit, but why are they in the position to benefit? The guards' reasons, as an extension of the Centurion's, makes enough sense if we take Justus and Lora's word for it, they want protection money, and the temple and brothel being at each other's throats is great for business, but why is there a conflict to begin with?
We don't quite know why Olympia's clergy is invested in driving out the prostitutes, the one priestess of Raikou we've interacted with hasn't suggested there's any kind of religious contempt motivating it, and it's hard to imagine they're a threat to their power when paying off the guards is the only leverage the brothel has to defend itself, so like...
"The Thunderbringer's blessing is with you, Agnes," the girl says, tracing a bolt of lightning over the air. You can see—
You can see the distinct glimmer of thunderstone shards, sitting on top of the girl's fingers. As she traces the symbol into the air, the shards ignite in yellow light and electricity. A small spark touches the woman, and makes her jolt.
"I can feel it!" Agnes shouts. "The Thunderbringer! He is with me! Thank you, priestess! Thank you!"
The old woman jumps up, running out of the crowd to do what she wants with that blessing now on her.
Except that's not a blessing, is it? You narrow your eyes, and for one moment the girl smiles at you. The crowd becomes rowdy, people pushing and pulling you to get into the front, holdings bags of gold to offer to the priestess. You grab Sophia's wrist again and drag her out, walking towards the inn until you are finally away from the group.
"So here's the thing, high priest Aggamemnon wasn't the most popular person," she says. What a mouthful of a name. You're fairly certain it's a traditional one, you read the name in a book before. "He was a whoremonger, he gambled with donations to the temple, but he was the de-facto leader of the temple so unless someone from higher up the food chain came to Olympia to get rid of him, we were all stuck with him."
"Sounds like a lot of people could have a motive then," Sophia says. She's back to normal now, though still slightly miffed.
"For sure, but we do have one suspect." Ray grabs a scroll from her bag, rolling it out on the table. There's a drawing of an older woman, beautiful in a way that you cannot put into words. "The Matron, Debora, was the last person seen in his chambers. Since the murder, she's been missing."
"That doesn't mean she did it," you say, frowning. "That just means she's missing."
"Well, that's for the temple to decide if they catch her," Ray says, smiling as she rolls up the scroll again. "And you seem like two capable young women, so I've got a proposal. The bounty on catching her is quite high, easily enough to keep trailblazers like you going for half a year. I propose fifty-fifty."
Priestesses are hustling the citizens for donations, a fairly populated brothel can't access their money with the matron because it keeps getting stolen, and both are being bleed dry by the Centurion's protection racket, so like.
It really could be that the brothel is just too much of a business competitor for the temple to tolerate, their businesses being physical comfort and spiritual comfort are too close for comfort in the artificial scarcity imposed by the guards' fees.
If it were simply the weight of greed destabilizing the economy, that'd be interesting enough, but I have to wonder if the biased source of information we got the key ingredient of this analysis from means there's something deeper going on with why the Centurion is taking so much from Olympia's collective coffers, hm hm.
When you're not running to save a life, the brothel looks a bit different. It's a home, in a lot of ways, the outside is taken care of. Flowers and trees, decorations with lights of various colors. While the mansion where the brothel is located lies in a rather suspicious neighborhood, where the sun barely reaches in between the taller buildings which have been built on the higher hills, it begins to look more like a home when you watch the people.
"It's kind of a mess," Tia says. You glance at her. She woke up after a good night's rest, the painkillers and potion doing their work. "Debora was always telling us we had to be prepared for something like this, but we always thought she'd be there to help us through it."
"Like this?" you ask.
"The temple never liked us," Tia says. Her frown is deep. "We never hurt anyone, our profession isn't outlawed, they simply hate us because it's easy to. As if the color of their robes and the target of their worship make them better than us."
You can't comment, because you're unsure just where your own opinions on the matter are. It does feel strange, to you. To have shows of affection so intimate with strangers for coin, is that really alright?
Can you articulate why you think it isn't? Can you articulate why you think it should be?
But in the end, your approach to this follows the way you've always chosen—the people involved all know what they're doing, at least nobody here you've met seems uncomfortable or unwilling.
It's funny how Aria is like. Such a prude that the fact this seems like a pretty nice place with good people keeps taking her aback, but she's practicing the all too critical "Well I don't get it but it doesn't seem like any harm's being done, I'll mind my business", which literally everyone could stand to do on every matter across the board.
Tia: Organized religion is a scam and faith racketeering for manipulating the masses.
Aria: [Is uncertain about this praxis because theocratic oppression has never been her field of study, taking notes regardless]
Debora's people really do trust her, and it's easy to see in how forward thinking they describe her as, though a lot seems to hinge on "None of this works if she's not here to lead", which, interestingly, is a fairly consistent motif in ABfI!
You can hear children playing in the distance, running through the streets uphill.
"I can't say I understand their issue with you." You lean back on the bench, against the wall of the building. "My own issue lies with the guards, are they not supposed to be knights? Is it truly this easy to accept the greed in their hearts as normal?"
"Most of them aren't knights," Lora says. You scowl. "Guards technically don't get involved in the hierarchy of orders that exist in Sol, they can consist of knights, like the border guard, but it's just a job you can apply for. The only condition is that their leadership has at least one knight."
I love how the class politics in ABfI are fairly grounded and reacted to with sobriety, but then when "Knights" come up Aria's brain goes "Hey did you know this is duty ordained by higher fields than sacks of shit nobility could ever comprehend?" Like just a big hole in her political manifesto, always takes her by surprise with a fucking > : O on her face because she demands this office of state power predicated by violence to live up to her standards.
"Centurion Argos Thile" you say. The name fell as you continued asking your questions, and it's one that keeps tasting like bile on your tongue when you say it. The Thile family is one of those that use their knights to harass the Spectrier Knights at the border. Sophia has had a few choice words when she heard the name. "I understand why he doesn't help you with the expulsion, but if he was relying on the money from Agamemnon, would he not be interested in finding the murderer?"
"I don't believe people like him have friends," Lora says. "The next high priest will no doubt pay him what he's owed, so why'd he care about one or two falling over dead?"
"Because he clearly cares about the brothel," you say, putting a finger on your chin as you lean forward again. "No, I think it makes no sense, actually."
"What doesn't?" Tia asks. You think for a moment, the puzzle pieces are nowhere near complete, but…
"I think he knows that only Debora knew about the stash," you say. Tia and Lora don't look happy at the idea. "He waits until she's vanished to approach the brothel, he knows he's going to meet people who don't have enough at hand to pay his demands. So someone at the brothel informed him."
"Nobody would betray her," Tia says, and the conviction in her voice makes you want to believe that as well. The truth is that everyone has a price, and in a group of seventy people, who work hard yet have barely enough to live most days, that price might be lower than you're comfortable with.
"No," Lora says, looking sad. "Some would. We work together, so the money gets put together. Some people try to take a larger cut, they end up expelled when caught."
"Angry former employees," you say, nodding. "That's an angle. Those tend to have loose lips, though if they wanted to hurt you they'd not tell the guards, would they? They'd go to the temple."
"They would," Lora confirms. "They usually don't get to do that, the temple's puritan enough to reject them outright."
So the guards might double dip with that information. Of course. Yet, somehow, you don't think a former prostitute did this. Something about the situation smells fishy, and it's not just the excess amount of perfume on Tia and Lora.
Honestly, I think what's more interesting to ask is "Why is a guy who's only interested in money looking to kick out a faction that's amping up the tension in the city and justifying the income he's draining?" Argos doesn't strictly stand to gain if the brothel gets thrown out, but then, if he didn't have a hand in the circumstances surrounding Agamemnon's death, it could be that he sees the writing on the walls and is looking to squeeze out all he can get before the ceasefire implodes.
The fact that Aria is dismissing former employees, but she's certain that someone in the know made the tipoff, hm...
"Here," the woman says. On the ground floor is a door, far to the right and past more of that overwhelming stench. The woman opens it, and you step in to find yourself in a rather plain looking room with a single bed and a man sleeping in a chair.
"Justus," the woman shouts. The man starts awake, his entire body coming alive to knock the chair over. You can see it in the way he stands, in the way his hand twitches to a sword that used to be on his hips, that he used to be a soldier. "Justus, Tia is injured!"
"Does she have an office?" you ask. Lora tilts her head at you. "Matron Debora, did anyone check her office after she vanished?"
"Justus did," Lora says. You don't know much about him but his mannerisms don't make you suspect him, something about the way he holds himself, the distinct movements of a former knight, makes you biased. "But nothing stops us from checking ourselves, you think you can find something he missed?"
"I think so," you say. If nothing else, it will not hurt. Lora stands up, helping Tia get on her feet before leading you back to the brothel.
Debora's office is… not plain at all. There are various furs on the walls, a desk with so many decorations that you don't even know where she'd write a letter if she had to. You can see a bed that's likely enough to hold four people, a large window that points at a building which blocks out the westward sun.
You sit down at the desk, thinking. If you are a prostitute, where'd you hide a secret? On your person, if the clothes permit. If they don't then—
You rub the bottom of the desk, trying to find something off. Nothing stands out. You bend down under it, checking if there's something off, but from the looks of it it's completely normal. You stand up, perhaps you've read a bit too many—OW.
A loud bang, a hollow thud, you didn't crawl out enough and bashed your head against the bottom of the table. Tia has the decency to say nothing, but Lora laughs loudly. What a, wait, hollow thud?
You stand up properly this time, looking at the table again. The desk is too cluttered. You will apologize later, shoving all the decoration off. Lora protests for a moment, but you ignore her. You knock against the table with your knuckles. Solid wood, solid wood, solid wood—hollow thud.
Near the edge, where you're seated, something is off. You grab the edge, push and pull, even try to twist it, but nothing works. If Sophia was here, surely you'd find some way to finesse your way into this, but right now you're not interested in showing off. You grab your sword, using the pommel to bash against the table. Something cracks. You do it again.
"Hey, that's—why is that cracking so easily?" Lora says. Tia looks in awe as you raise your sword one final time and bash clean through the table's edge, sending wooden chips and dust across the ground. "Justus is gonna be so angry."
Under the cloud of dust you find a key. You hold it up, checking the girls' reactions. They don't recognize it.
"I'm sure there's some mechanism to release the key without breaking the table," you say, shrugging. "But I'm not here to keep a desk intact, I'm here to help you find your matron."
Fair is fair, and the search continues. You point at the north-side wall.
"Remove all the furs from there," you say. You'll take the south-side wall. A key must have a lock. Unfortunately even after ruining most of the expensive furs, which do feel a bit too expensive for what looks like a struggling operation that can just barely afford protection money, nothing on the wall looks off. You knock on the walls, but all of them simply return the hollow noise of a room next door, which you know are the various bedrooms that the people here use for themselves and their customers.
Look, it's important for the ambience. High class courtesans have to be a really expensive feeling experience, and that comes with having really spiffy rooms to fuck in. Which you ripped apart like some angry cat.
"Guys, I think someone ransacked—" "Oh, uh, don't worry Justus, that was just us doing the search." ". You MOTHERFUCKERS."
You check the key again. It makes sense that you can't find the lock in this room, it looks too old for it. Made from the same metal as the armors of Sol's own knights, shining bronze and gold, with cuts from uses over many, many years.
It looks as old as the temple could be, perhaps. But there's no way Debora vanishes from the temple with the key still being here, this could mean that whatever door this opens is nearby.
"What's the oldest building in this neighborhood?" you ask. Tia shakes her head, unable to answer. Lora thinks.
"Probably the old tower," she says. "It used to be a watchtower before the city expanded outwards. It's the building right out the window."
While you do want to believe it can't be that easy, you also know that there's no real need to think too hard. You look out of the window, at the base of the old tower, and spot the strangeness of dead plants in the middle of a patch of living flowers.
Well, in for a gold coin— you open the window, jumping out and holding onto the windowsill, letting go once you get into the right position to roll from the fall, and rush the rest of the way with the key in hand. Fortunately none of the guards are back here, unable to fathom that someone could be scaling the tower to sneak out of the mansion.
Tia and Lora shout something at you. You don't hear them, all your focus is on the key and the patch of dead plants. There in the wall you can see a hole, filled with what looks like wax. You grab some firestones from your bag, igniting them in your fingers and pressing against the wall. The wax melts within a few seconds, leaving a keyhole plain to see.
The key fits perfectly. It does not turn from your hand, instead some mechanism forces it around, and you take a step back as the ground under you opens up. A trapdoor, so silent that nobody in the neighborhood could hear it even on the quietest of nights.
The door opens wider and wider. There's a secret underground dungeon. You try not to sound excited, you really do.
But it doesn't work.
"Lora," you shout back at the window, grinning so wide you must look like Inana when she gets going. "Please get Sophia and Ray here. We have a lead."
How Aria must LOOK LIKE to Lora and Tia. This unhinged baby girl who wants to kill herself for Secret Lore.
I love the locked room design to this entire scenario, because yeah, sure, okay, this is pretty clever, good work Debora.
Aria: I am NOT taking personality traits from Inana by the way.
Aria: [The Sneasel Smiler]
Every little penny in the wishing well, every little nickel on the drum—all them shiny little heads and tails, where do you think they come from?
There is a world under Olympia, where stone has been built up top. You can hear the howls of the wind underground, you can hear the growls of Pokemon you've never heard before.
The electric charge grows stronger the further down you go. The road to hell is paved and quite cold— down here, Sophia seems to be looking for a new friend of her own. Ray joins, looking almost as excited as you.
[ ] You explore the left. You hear a familiar tune there, a melody whistled, the smell of blood.
[ ] You explore the right. You hear a deep howl, a drummed rhythm, the taste of ash in the air.
Cubone is really really cute, truly. Aria must teach her some sick sword skills, maybe she can learn Ground Blade or something and be really cool!!! Some Ray lore too, and poor girl... damn. Lightning Blade is a perfectly good name, smh smh. Calling out names has style! It intimidates your enemy! They won't know what hit them! Perfectly optimal.
Anyway, chapter good, ty epis *patpat*
[X] Practice with Inana when you have time. Inana is aspected to Ice. She's the memory of Gildera, of home.
[X] … the path to the middle contains a dangerous dinosaur-like Pokemon.
[X] Practice with Inana when you have time. Inana is aspected to Ice. She's the memory of Gildera, of home.
Lightning Blade was really funny, but I feel Ice might be more Aria's speed. Lots of a tactical options waiting for us there. Plus I like the idea of her using the memory of Gildera as a source of strength.
[X] … the path to the right contains a dangerous ninja-like Pokemon.
[X] … the path to the right contains a dangerous ninja-like Pokemon.
Top of the landing page status, OP @Elpis huge congrats although ummmmm 😅 I bet this thread is going to be super busy. But, yes getting back right on track the voting is still open, let's go!!
I'm very much enjoying getting to know Ray although, using a Jolteon as a mount was really funny to me. Since I've always seen Jolteon as about the size of my dog.
Can Ray tell me how she got infinite stone magic. I want some. That looks fun.
And also an Eevee / Jolteon? Do priests generally get pokemon or did she manage to get a pokeball on her travels?
[X] Practice with Inana when you have time. Inana is aspected to Ice. She's the memory of Gildera, of home.
[X] … the path to the middle contains a dangerous dinosaur-like Pokemon.
I'm in a peculiar set of circumstances where my time and energy to review are present while my talent for witty openings is not, so, here we are, the start of Arc 3, and a reunion with An Old Friend, let's jam.
Ahahahahahaha, ahhhhh, this new story arc had to do a lot to live up to the presentation of the last, and it has to be said, this cover piece is a worthy successor to the blowout of the Arc 2 art!
You get the feeling this is a still from a 90s anime opening, Ray and Sophia on flipped corners of the screen, side profiles in primary colors that contrast the backshot of Aria walking down the path in yellow that represents Olympia, the really nicely defined cloak dimensions, the works.
The door is locked again and you retreat to the mansion, giving yourself some time while waiting for Ray and Sophia to join you. Your excitement grows, but it's dampened by the worry on Tia and Lora's faces as they sit with you. Justus was only slightly irritated at the broken desk in the matron's office, his own emotions clear as the possibility of finding where she had gone opens up.
"The Undercity has been a rumor in many places," Justus says, leaning against the wall of his own office, where you've decided to wait and maybe annoy him a bit. "There's always something like this, it's in fiction, it's in history, it's in myth. The old heroes explored labyrinths, or people would speak of whispers under their feet."
"Is that far-fetched?" you ask. "The mountains were formed by the Sunsinger using his sword, after all."
Justus looks slightly doubtful for just a single moment. You guess he does not like the old stories too much.
Justus is funny. Man who really does not appreciate the genre he's in.
Aria is almost funnier because she's in an internal war between "I want to have an adventurrrrrrrre" and making a stick in the mud tweak out.
The fact this is called the Undercity, though, that gives Interesting implications regarding the scope and former inhabitance of the dungeon crawling we're about to embark on, and more than a little about whether the conflict in Olympia has been the petty matter of politics it appeared.
"It's just unfeasible, the infrastructure of the city, the hill itself, the force that these stones must be putting on the caves below. It's a wonder it hasn't collapsed onto itself by now. It's no wonder to me that some people know about it, though."
You nod. "I imagine the high priest was at the very least aware, one doesn't have that much power in a city like this without knowing a few secrets."
"The Centurion might know, too," Justus says. You see his hand gripping into his sleeve. "You are lucky none of the guards were there when you found the entrance, there's a good chance we'd be flooded by them by now."
"I imagine if he knew something like this, he'd have increased the presence of his men." Ray stands in the doorway, smiling as she walks in. Justus looks very pissed off by now. You try to negotiate, but before you can get a word in, Ray continues. "Justus, old pal, how's it going?"
"Quite well, Ray," he stresses her name, and you can see her smile widen. "I didn't think I'd see your tiny ass in the city again, didn't the high priest banish you?"
"Bah, dying has a habit of destroying your credibility," Ray says, shrugging. She sits down on the man's desk, jumping up to make it. "If anything, you being here makes much less sense. How's your arm?"
"Good enough to throw you out," he says. You can see it shaking, though. At first you thought his motions were badly concealed anger, but now that Ray mentioned it, you feel like something else is going on with him. The spasms in his limbs are rhythmic, and the time between them is almost always less than five minutes.
You don't comment on it, for fear of his threat against Ray coming true. Right now, you need all hands on deck.
This is Quite the spicy meatball being sautéed across the scene, both of our mysterious Olympian locals are well-acquainted and possessing quite a bit of dirt on each other, Ray apparently having been fucking banished by Agamemnon, which makes her jumping in to stake her claim on the bounty for his killer, interesting, and Justus having some arm localized nerve damage that hints more at why the hell he's a sickly doctor at a brothel despite all his Captial-K Knight vibes.
They're also just Incredibly Bitchy about one another, which is just. So fun.
The question of who else in Olympia knows about the Undercity is curious as well, because it leads you to ask who encouraged it to be forgotten in the first place, and why?
Wonder if "why hasn't Olympia collapsed onto itself by now" is gonna be relevant.
The door opens again, and Sophia walks in. She looks a bit uncomfortable, and very unhappy to see Tia and Lora for some reason, which causes the two young women to take a step away from you as Sophia approaches.
She gives you a once over, then nods, as if nothing is wrong.
"Alright," you say. "We have two choices, really, we can wait for the reinforcements that Uten might send us, if he's willing to listen to the two messengers we sent. Or—"
"There's no choice," Ray says, sounding unusually serious. Her voice tightens further as she continues. "The energy in the city is off, there's lanterns of thunder stones popping left and right. Whatever's going on is probably related to the underground you found."
Well, you were hoping to have the joy of sharing yourself, but it seems the people that were sent out had loose lips. Hopefully not so loose that anyone overheard, though it hardly seems to matter now.
"As much as I dislike saying this, I agree with her," Sophia says. "I was doing my investigation at the guard's headquaters, the Centurion has gone missing as well and someone has reported cracks in the ground visible from the temple."
Something is stirring. You don't know what yet, but it does remind you of that old story in Lissy's book. Something so powerful, it practically electrifies the air with its presence.
We're getting to the "this whole fucking city might collapse" bit already!
I think someone's gonna have to tell Justus to be less doubtful of old stories once Raikou bursts out the fucking mountain.
Argos is missing, just like Debora, and with Agamemnon dead that means the leadership of Olympia is all but decapitated.
The buildup we've been experiencing is nice, because it's a reminder that for all we've been living in the geopolitical theater of the setting, this is a land where the gods still walk, and A Ballad for Icarus is about to get incredibly Pokémon about that.
"Before we go," you say, turning to Ray, "be honest with me, did you know about this?"
"No," she says. Her tone is still curt and serious. "There's always been rumors about the 'old city', but even in a place of faith we were taught that these are nothing but superstitions."
That adds more credibility to the high priest knowing and keeping the information from the other faithful.
I really dig that this is the Real Shit moment for Ray, whatever the shape of her goals before, she's ready and willing now that the mountain is about to shake apart.
"I can't join you, as much as I wish I could," Justus says. "But if you find Debora, please bring her back. I promise, whatever I have is yours if you accomplish that."
"I don't need anything, Justus," you say, walking up to him. You put your hand on his shoulder, and you can feel his body shake under your grip. "I don't help because I want anything from you, I told you this before."
"Nobody is that kind," Justus says. He hesitates for a moment, then raises his own hand to put it on yours. "But I suppose I've never met a hero before."
You laugh it off, but his words do warm your heart. While you're not sure if you can call yourself something like 'hero', it is a virtue to help where one can. And in that virtue, you will forever find solace and hold onto the ideals that your grandmother and Drake have taught you.
"Hey," Lora calls out. Sophia takes a step between you and her. You let go of Justus' shoulder and turn around, leaving Sophia to pout as you step around her.
Tia makes a rude gesture, then turns around. You can see her side-eyeing the gift though, held in Lora's hands. It's wrapped up in a box, which she opens to reveal—clothes?
Shirt and trousers, in a rather distinct red that you've seen some of the prostitutes wear. It's a material and color that does not come from Olympia itself, you know, which means it must have cost quite a bit.
"Before you say you can't take it, consider it's not go to anyone else," Lora says. "And Tia will cry."
"I will not," Tia says. You… you can see some cuts on her fingers, she must've taken all the free time she had since waking up to work on it. Considering how much time Tia and Lora spent with you, that must include even when you were asleep.
"I'll accept it," you say. Sophia makes a sound, but you ignore it. "Thank you, Tia, Lora."
It lacks any emblems, and it looks a bit too noble and expensive for you, but it's incredibly comfortable and easy to move in. There's even a cloak, with a heavy hood to use in heavy rain. Sophia does look slightly less annoyed when she sees you in it, and you give Tia a grateful smile.
"Can we go?" Ray asks. You nod, tying your sword to the belt and your shield to your back.
"Let's," you say, taking the key to the secret entrance.
At last, Blue Aria has graduated Red Aria, a long awaited turn!
Wonder when Purple Aria will happen?
The Underground. The Undercity. The Old City. The Labyrinth of King Minos (you know Lissy would call it that, even though Minos' Labyrinth is a very popular tourist location in Eastern Sol).
You have arrived in something that very few humans have ever seen, and you know it will take some time to get through here. There's a good chance you'll have to take breaks, make camp, eat some of those rations you have eaten way too much of already…
While you're doing that, you can talk with your companions. You'd love to hear…
[ ] About Justus' Arm. Though she tried to hide it, you saw Ray's regret when she mocked him for it. The tremors in his arm felt like electricity.
[ ] About Ray's banishment. That's new, you thought she's been in the city the whole time, but she was also out and about? What'd banish a priestess?
Putting that aside, so the mysteries from earlier came up instantly! Ray is pretending like she doesn't feel Kinda Shitty about her comment at Justus, and hustling the devout for cash gains implications now that we don't quite know how long she's been in Olympia recently.
Ray, for her part, looks both excited and annoyed. The prospect of finding something like this would be incredible if it wasn't on the back of a murdered high priest and a missing woman. It reminds you of Gildera, in some ways, with dark rocks and blue rays of light that seem to spill from cracks in the walls.
On proper observation, you can see fungi in those cracks, glowing so bright you have to look away after only a moment.
Aria and Ray are both feeling that "Really Ambivalent Sense of Adventure" from the present circumstances, though I suppose the homecoming is taking its sweet time for the both of them.
Love how the cave walls are described, lightning funguuuuuuus.
"I guess we're learning something new today," you say. You hear something in the distance, and strain your hearing to focus on it. A melody of sorts, something that feels familiar. The path continues on and further down until you come to a fork in the road.
What started human has become more like nature. Cut stone gives way to roughness, and the path diverges either to the left, where that familiar melody comes from, or right, where you can hear rhythmic drums.
"You decide," Sophia says before turning to Ray. The priestess gives a nod, agreeing with her. You take a deep breath. Both directions offer something that urges you forward, yet there's no certainty, and in the face of the unknown, you pick what irritates you the most— "Why do I know that tune?"
Sophia frowns, but says nothing as she can't offer any answer that'd satisfy you. So you move on, taking the left path slowly, your Pokemon stirring on that belt of yours. The paths are too tight to move with a large group, though. A little bit of patience. Just a little.
A few more minutes of walking, you don't know how long exactly considering the lack of natural light down here, but you reach something. The path narrows, before it opens into a large area. You can see yellow crystals on the walls above, you can see blue fungus lighting the way, you can smell blood.
The hairs on the back of your neck stand at attention. Your hand moves to your sword, the Skarmory steel ready to be unleashed at whatever lies in the darkness. Inana stops wiggling and just comes out of the Pokeball, unable to leave you by yourself. Spring does much the same, putting himself in front of Sophia.
"What unruly children," Ray says. She puts her hand into her sleeve, pulling out a tiny ball that expands to a normal Pokeball size. A flash of bright yellow light is released, revealing a very spiky and very annoyed Jolteon.
"Gumi," she says, pointing at you and Sophia, "those are our new friends. Do not hit them when you're fighting."
Gumi the Jolteon looks only vaguely offended at the idea that she'd do such a thing, but she does not do much more than nod before sniffing at Inana and Spring.
You give Ray a blank stare. "Your partner has an interesting personality."
"Isn't she just the cutest?" Ray asks, smiling brightly at you. It's the most teeth you've seen from her, and it looks more feral than it should on a girl that tiny. "Anyway, we have to focus."
You nod, taking a look around. You can't describe it properly, because there's so little to describe. It's a hollow space inside the cave, filled with nothing but lights and paths that cross up and down. A maze, of sorts, though you're not sure just whether it was created by human hand or by the sheer will of nature.
There are more and more paths, but you can strain your ears and hear the whistling come from a specific one. Knowing which path to take makes the decisions much easier.
Until it gets hard. A loud growl behind you makes you turn around slowly. The ground starts shifting, and from below you can see spikes pierce through the rock as it moves like water. Stone upon stone, an angry face, a very, very large Rhyhorn whose slumber you've just disturbed.
"Yeah," Ray says, looking at Gumi before both turn to you. "You're on your own with this one."
You try not to sound irritated as you bark for her to get back.
IMMEDIATELY dropping out of the teamplay, unbothered queen, staying in her lane and Type Advantage Equation.
Okay but this Rhyhorn entrance pops the hell off, turning the very earth into malleable soup to exit is a great way rank up the elementalism.
The fact the first non-Electric-Type we've meant in Olympia's hidden underbelly is both poetic and obviously logical, like, yeah, what would lurk in the slumbering nightmares of a city of lightning?
Inana and you catch the Rhyhorn's tired swipe with claw and sheath, actually stopping it long enough for Spring to shoot a burst of leaves into its eyes. The Rhyhorn reels back, standing on two feet for just a moment as it scratches the tiredness from its face, then comes down on its forelegs with a thud that cracks the stone beneath it.
You see some flashes of lightning, Gumi trying to help, but her attacks don't bother the Rhyhorn whatsoever, all the electricity immediately traveling into the ground where it stands.
The very air makes the Helioptile stronger. The ground itself is filled to the brim with energy. But neither you or Inana will lose a fight over something so trivial! "Inana! Stay low!"
Its ranged attacks are a surprise, but this does not mean you have to keep making the same mistake. If attacks from above don't work, then you'll have to stay low to the ground, make sure the electricity has somewhere to go to, rather than her body.
The approach begins again. Inana rushes over the ground. You can see small bolts of lighting under her feet—
"Inana," you say loudly, "dig your claws into the ground!"
She does, dragging along a cloud of dirt behind her as she runs forward. She knocks some of the dirt into Helioptile's eyes, then follows with a solid kick to its head when it's distracted.
"We can win this," you say. The confidence in your voice rallies your friends to you, though Ray looks still quite helpless without any weapon. You catch sight of a few stones in her hands, shining brightly blue. "Go—"
The quaking floor is shifting again. Heads dig up, some bald and some with a few strands of hair. Digletts, who have been roused by Rhyhorn's movement.
"Run," you order, and they do. Inana and Spring jump back into their Pokeballs, while Gumi rushes under Ray and lifts her up, giving her a ride. The mad dash ends at one of the new entrances leading further into the cave system, where Rhyhorn decides it just wants to go to sleep again and lies down.
You see the Diglett bury themselves around it, shoving more and more stone and sand on top so it starts to sink into the ground again. This is either a very sophisticated alarm system, or the weirdest case of symbiosis you've ever seen.
Think this is the first time Aria has ever gone "Okay we need to LEAVE", which is funny considering. Wisdom Stat Main.
Apparently Ray literally just throws Thunder Stones like grenades, which is, sure, fine. The fact Gumi can just give her a ride is a reminder of how fucking small she is, though I'm reminded that Aria could have legitimately ridden Skiddle once she finished growing...
"It won't be delayed," he says. Your heart drops into your stomach. "But I'll still give it to you. It's not a task that will require you to fight, after all. You can ride it out on your dear Skiddle, or perhaps you can find yourself a carriage."
Skiddle tilts her head. You smile, your hand touching her head. She's grown so much already, reaching above your waist. With a proper saddle, you should be able to ride her soon. She leans into your hand, warmth spreading across your body as she nods.
Anyway, really fun moment for providing the logically accurate but hilarious to see cost calculus of a single Rhyhorn being way less concerning than a wack-a-mole table's worth of Diglett, the fact there were some Alolan variants too is a little fascinating.
"That's a lot of Pokemon," she says. A lot at once, at least. By the end of the Diglett's ascent, you must've counted a solid three dozen of them.
"A lot of pokemon aspected to Ground," you say, frowning. That's the strangest thing. Caves like these would obviously be the kind of place where you find ground and rock Pokemon, but this close to Olympia the electricity is still incredibly thick in the air and even resistance and immunities would not make it a place where they'd nest. "I think the Pokemon were brought here, that's not their natural habitat."
"It's not," Ray agrees. "But I can't seem to figure out why you'd need so many of them guarding an entrance, there's nothing here."
"Not that we know, there's still a long way to go," you say, pointing at the cave where the whistling comes from. The smell of blood is growing stronger. "Can you smell that?"
"No," Sophia says. Ray shakes her head, leaving you alone with the uneasy feeling. You shrug, continuing the path. Inana is not happy at having to run away from a fight, but you can't be hung up on minor things like these when there's a mystery to be solved.
Okay, now this is interesting, I would have expected the ecological advantages to give Ground-Types a tidy niche even with Electric-Type energy bleeding off the walls like a storm, but it is the case that both Kanto and Alola local Diglett in the same swarm when the environment should be making them adapt the same way...Yeah, the convenience is becoming apparent.
Aria's Awareness sure as hell is doing a lot of legwork, though it has to be just a little bit concerning that she's uniquely suited to sniffing out blood.
So you continue, and the blue fungus becomes more and more sparse…
Calling it caves would be too diminutive. The system of pathways under the city lead further and further, the temperature rising as stairs take you down. Ray looks unbothered, unlike Sophia, who has been holding onto your arm whenever a strange sound echoes around you. Her grip tightens when the soft whistling melody suddenly becomes a loud boom.
"I'm holding your arm so you don't feel scared." "I'm not—" "IT'S IMPORTANT THAT I MAKE SURE YOU DON'T FEEL SCARED."
In which we realize that Sophia is the kind of person who takes her girlfriend to a scary movie so she can look dashing and protective, only to end up being the one actually cowering with her hands over her eyes.
There is— a man. In the distance, holding what looks like a rather large staff. Ray recognizes it even from this far.
"That's the high priest's staff," she says, sounding offended at the thought of a non-believer holding onto it. The man slams it into the ground, creating another loud boom and lightning crackling all over the place. "That bastard!"
You hold onto her collar before Gumi takes her forward to him, forcing the girl off the Jolteon. The Pokemon under her looks almost grateful to you, its size makes it an okay mount for someone like Ray, but she does not seem to have that much stamina.
"Careful, we can sneak up on him," Sophia says. You give her a nod, and Ray calms down for just a moment before joining your slower approach. Step after step, after step, after step— the cracks became louder, the lightning more fierce. Above the man's attempts to bash the staff into the ground, you can see something. It's so massive, yet hidden in the shadows of the cave.
It's at the halfway point to him where the staff-work stops. You stop as well, holding your hand up. Ray and Sophia join you, and the man turns around, no doubt aware of your presence.
He is wearing a mask, but his spindly form and strange taste in clothes is unmistakable.He tilts his head, and though you can't see his face you just know the exact smile that must be dancing on his lips.
"Wilhelm," you say. You sound incredulous, and Sophia's own low growl is the only thing that makes you realize just how real the sight in front of you is. Though some time has passed since your rough treatment of the man, there's no way he'd be up and about.
There's no way he's here and somehow got over the border!
"Ah, my reputation precedes me," he says, giving an exaggerated bow. "Indeed, it is me! Wilhelm the Fool, at your service, Miss!"
You don't know what kind of expression is on your face, but it makes him hesitate. He cups his chin with two fingers, bending forward as if that makes all the difference in recognizing you. Even this far away, in this dark of a cave, you can see his eyes through the mask. There is no recognition in them.
"Ah, you know me, but should I know you?" he asks. "I apologize, I don't believe we've met before."
You take your sword out, the Skarmory steel glowing blue in the cave as the fungi reflect off it, sending rays of the same color into every direction. Despite that clear indicator, he still does not seem to understand who you are.
Which leaves two possibilities: you left him with enough brain damage to completely erase his memory of your encounter, or he's not actually Wilhelm.
The twin blades that he used against you on his hip also look like they have a different grip. An impostor? An ally of his?
Honestly this is really adding to the atmosphere of who the FUCK is this guy and what kind of mothers and fuckers would even deign to design a Wilhelm Everywhere System?
You take your sword out, the Skarmory steel glowing blue in the cave as the fungi reflect off it, sending rays of the same color into every direction. Despite that clear indicator, he still does not seem to understand who you are.
He raises the staff, and you find yourself reacting before he can even attempt anything. Inana is summoned from her Pokeball, and blocks the way behind you ask you run forward.
A Tauros appears, as if from thin air, dashing through the darkness only to be met with Inana's claws. Sophia and Ray begin moving as well, joining you as Spring, now released as well, and Gumi, help against Tauros.
"Ah, sorry," Wilhelm says, raising the staff far above his head. "I'm afraid the stage is not ready yet, ladies. Please, let me show you to your seats."
He slams the staff onto the ground again, and the lightning blinds you for a moment. Sophia reels back with you, leaving only Ray to continue, undaunted by the bright lights. Unfortunately his goal was not to hit you, it seems.
The ground under your feet begins to rumble again, like with Rhyhorn earlier, and what seems like solid rock becomes soft and brittle for a moment.
"Wilhelm!" you shout. The man spins the staff like a toy, slamming it into the ground again. "Wilhelm you bastard, I don't care if you forgot, I will make you remember!"
"I'll look forward to it, Miss," he says. Sophia stumbles, and you turn, reaching out with your hand before your own knees give out under you. Ray reaches him, holding onto a bright blue crystal that she slams down on his face. It explodes with a bright light, and you can hear the mask shatter under the weight of the water released by the gem.
The face under the mask is the same. It is Wilhelm. Though the hit was direct, he does not let that stop him. He slams the staff into her, and the electricity explodes between them, sending Ray flying backwards.
You catch her, fortunately in the right spot even as you cannot move forward. In an instant, everything turns dark.
The ground below you opens up and swallows you whole.
Seven red eyes stare down at you as, once again, you find yourself falling.
Also this piece of shit has been calling down a REGIELEKI. What the FUCK.
Does. Does Olympia realize they're worshipping the wrong Lightning God???
"Wilhelm!" you shout. The man spins the staff like a toy, slamming it into the ground again. "Wilhelm you bastard, I don't care if you forgot, I will make you remember!"
There are many concerning implications being made regarding Wilhelm the Fool and how much of a continuous person he is, but let it be said that Aria is planning to make this VERY personal!
Actually fucking insane that Ray's fighting style is "Break Evolution Stones on bitches' faces."
Aria keeps. Being. Dropped.
She's gonna get a head injury about this! She probably already has!
The Fool's weapon is powerful, and this place is not something he is unfamiliar with. What began as a descent has become an ascent, Inana and Spring are still floors above, unable to help you right now. Fortunately, you've found yourself with Perun, who is very happy at getting his chance to shine.
Sophia is sleeping next to you as you try to plan your approach for Wilhelm. Though he lost against you the last time, you cannot use brute force again. This is not the same Wilhelm, after all.
Perhaps it's how Leif described it, a strange group of people who all seem related. You hear the girl next to you stir, turning your head. You see a Pokemon that seems to be interested in your friend.
Sophia is woken by…
[ ] … a Cubone, poking her with its club.
[ ] … a Baltoy, dancing and spinning on top of her.
"you cannot use brute force again" Aria the degree you are a recovering meathead is so profoundly funny to me.
So yeah, this is great! It's so interesting that Sophia's choice in pokémon so directly foils Aria's, picking up Ground to fill the hole her liege and Ray have left in the team comp.
This was a really solid chapter, a deep sense of exploration, haunting atmosphere, the way it was such a free for all with everyone contributing with some very funny choreograpgy alignments...Save for Sophia, interestingly; I wonder if it's meant to suggest anything, that everyone human and pokémon managed to throw down at some point, but not her?
A wonderful time was had, so I'm looking forward to how everything shakes out next time!
I really like the way this story is paced. Very little wasted time in Aria's journey.
She's also just living her her life as a full time Hero-Empress in training and I love that for her. I can't help but imagine her going somewhere that isn't in the middle of a crisis and spending the entire time on edge/confused.
"The fact that this city isn't falling apart around me must mean that something terrible is happening just out of view."
Inana, why have you graced Wilhelm with more honor to his appearance than Tauros?
This is a fun piece though, Wilhelm has a particular jackass silhouette and hat+collar combo that turns what should just be a scummy mercenary into an exceedingly scummy clown.
Tauros is like a muffin.
So that's what the High Priest's staff looks like...
You wake up with a start, standing up so fast that you see stars in front of your eyes. A small cry announces that the weight you felt on your chest was Perun, now on the ground and not that happy about the sudden wakeup call. He looks at you with wide eyes, the cracks in his head pulsing with the same color as the bioluminescent fungus around you.
The cave you're in now is… different. It's still very much a dark and dusty cave, but the energy down here is less intense than above. You look around, finding Sophia on the ground still, looking like she's having the most restful sleep of her life.
Unfortunately for her, she's not going to stay asleep long. A Cubone stands next to her, poking her with its club. It has a rather long tail with a bright blue tip that Sophia is lying on, trapping the poor girl in a stalemate, too polite to actually attack Sophia outright.
Aria when she falls through several stories of rock: I've gone through this too many times for the PTSD to do anything. Oh wait, there it is.
Sophia when she falls through several stories of rock:
Imagine being the Cubone with the biggest tail extensions in the word, and this is what you have to deal with.
"Here," you say, taking Sophia's arm and turning her to free the tail. The Cubone turns around, now free, and finds herself staring up at you, then back down to Sophia. "Sorry about that, we didn't mean to land here. Are you alright?"
Cubone checks her tail, then nods when satisfied that nothing is wrong with it. You can see electricity sparking when the tip touches the ground, small bolts of lightning vanishing in the darkness in fractions of a second. You nod back, looking around once more for your other party member.
I do think it's funny how pokemon like Skiddle and this Cubone will be like "If you think the element of this environment is the opposite of mine well no it isn't."
Ray is not lying down at all, you see. The hole above you closed, and as she was the final one thrown in by Wilhelm, she ended up stuck with her feet in the ceiling.
It'd be funny if her face wasn't so red from all the blood rushing into it.
You point at the ceiling, it's not too far, but you don't want to pull on her unless you know it'll give. "Hey, can you help with that?"
You ask both Perun and Cubone. They look at each other and nod, and you find yourself used as a ladder. Perun is on your head after climbing up your back, and Cubone takes a small leap on top of Perun's head to jump up and smash the club into the ceiling. It breaks apart, releasing Ray, who wakes up from the sudden motion.
You catch her, one arm under her head and one under her knees, slightly kneeling to cushion the fall. She growls as she finds herself in your arms, flailing about and forcing you to let go.
She falls on the ground with a thud, face first.
"You really shouldn't be moving around that much," you say. "It's dangerous."
Sophia waking up with a jolt: UNGRATEFUL for the princess carry.
Ray: Actually fuck yourself, because Aria sure won't!
Sophia: She will if I fight off enough prostitutes, right? Right???
Love the multi-tier pratfall endeavors of this chicanery. Aria the Pokémon Totem.
Kinda charming how Ground-Types like Cubone were just about explicitly stated to be for warding off Electric-Types the trainers of Olympia would naturally be incentivized to partner with, and then she's like instantly drift compatible with Perun.
"That fucking bastard," Ray says, pushing herself off the ground. "That utter piece of shit, how dare he, that staff doesn't belong to him!"
You move aside when she starts swinging her arms around, all the emotion she usually puts under a mask of false sincerity spilling out into movement. "Careful—"
"That stupid priest should never have been promoted, that imbecile!" Ray's fist connects to a wall, and though the loud crack sounds like a broken bone, she does not look hurt or in pain. She turns to you, her finger pointed at your face. "You let him get away!"
You raise an eyebrow, pushing her hand down gently. "I think this has become a bit more complicated than a murder, so maybe we should take a minute to gather our thoughts. There's no need to become enemies at this point, right?"
That does seem to calm her somewhat, but not by much. Her hand comes back again, grabbing your arm, drawing you in close.
"We need to get that staff," she says, her voice low and demanding. Something in her eyes looks off, different from the usual coolness she tries to put on. "If nothing else, if I can't ask you for any favor after this, that staff has to go back to the temple."
"Fine, yes," you say, taking her hand off you. You hate that grip, that feeling of fingers twisting your skin under them. "Let's wait for Sophia to wake up and then we can talk about the staff, just take a deep breath. This isn't productive, Ray."
Aria definitely isn't having any erratic flashbacks about her unstable ex, no sir, she's chill, she's the rational adult in the cave.
Kinda feel like maybe Ray can throw hands. Like "Break Solid Stone" throw hands.
Every time her Reigen Mob Psycho veneer gets pried off it becomes apparent Ray is a very angry woman with a troubled relationship with the faith she devoted many unrewarded years into.
She walks off, not too far, and without any purpose. The distance is enough for her to be alone with her thoughts and come down, so you turn to Sophia, who now has Cubone, fascinated at her deep sleep, sitting next to her.
"Wilhelm's still up there doing his nonsense," you say, irritated at how easily this man got rid of you. "Sophia, we can't stay here any longer, we have to go."
She does not stir, so you do the only thing you can. You walk up to her and pinch her nose shut.
It takes a good minute, but she starts to wake, gasping for air. You let go, watching as the now slightly blue girl comes back alive. Cubone jumps back in shock, holding her club up in two hands.
"I had such a nice dream," Sophia whines. A moment later, she remembers just how you got here and her eyes light up, now fully awake. "Where's Wilhelm?"
Aria: Looks like my white knight is sleeping on the job. Let's suffocate her.
Sophia: NOOOOOO I WAS GONNA WIN THE POKEMON LEAGUE!!!
Aria:
Aria: The what?
Sophia: Well I don't remember now, you meanie.
Cubone is SO distressed, Sophia is already her blorbo from the ceiling.
"Up," you say, pointing at the ceiling of the cave. There's paths out and about, though which way is up is going to be difficult to tell. "That staff of his is dangerous."
"It's not his staff," Ray says, back in the fray. "Let's trade information then, who the fuck is he?"
"That's not a polite way to ask," Sophia says. You give her a hand to stand up, shaking your head. It's not the time to fight, and that much is still true now as it was three minutes ago when you said it to Ray.
"Sorry, it's been a bit of a day. That man's Wilhelm the Fool, a thief whose organization should only be active in Gildera. And it's… impossible for him to be here, really."
"Impossible?" Ray asks. You frown, thinking back to the man's face. It was undoubtedly him, from the characteristics, his way of speaking, and that stupid mug. "I guess that makes two impossible things then, that staff is a holy relic. It's not kept accessible to anyone, not even the high priest can get to it without the keys."
"Keys?" you ask. "What keys?"
"These," she says, pulling on her collar and revealing a rather ornate, triangular key hanging around her neck. "There's only three of them, and if I still have mine I don't understand how he got to the staff."
...Ray, who the fuck are you? Why do you have one of the keys to a holy relic?
Yeah the weirdness is stacking up, somehow Wilhelm, or someone so weirdly and independently from fucking with Aria identical to Wilhelm has taken a sanctified lightning staff that was missing one of the three keys necessary to get it out, and we STILL have no idea what any of this has to do with Agamemnon's murder.
"Two impossible things indeed," Sophia says. "Aria and I fought the man over a month ago now, she broke all his limbs and left him unable to hold a spoon by himself, there's no way he's up and about. Rather, there's no way he managed to escape and cross the border. That place is shut down tighter than the royal treasury."
"I guess we'll have to break all his bones again, then," Ray says. You can see teeth as she speaks. "I don't really care about the hows and whys, if he has the staff then he can only be up to no good. It's… not something a person should wield."
The last sentence trails off into a tone you have heard from her only once before. The pain in her voice tells a story.
Before you can ask, however, Cubone interrupts you, looking up at Sophia. Sophia looks down, finally noticing her previous victim and giving her a smile.
"Aw, aren't you just adorable," Sophia says, bending down to pick the Cubone up. "Did you take care of us while we were asleep? That's so nice!"
Cubone actually looks somewhat bashful at the praise, scratching the back of her head. She wiggles a bit, forcing Sophia to let go. Cubone lands on her feet, turning to Perun and saying something. Perun nods, then looks up at you and gives you a bright smile. You tilt your head, finding yourself slightly confused at what he's trying to say.
Then Cubone points her club at one of the pathways and begins to walk forward slowly. You smile back at Perun.
"Well, we have our guide," you say, clapping your hands. "So let's go, if we want to catch Wilhelm we have no time to waste."
Ray and Sophia nod. Perun takes to your shoulder, chirping in your ear.
"Inana and Spring will be fine," you say, glancing towards Ray, "and Gumi. Tauros is strong, but those three won't be stopped by it."
"It does feel quite bad," Sophia says, her hand tracing her belt until she touches Spring's Pokeball. "To be separated from him, he's… been with me since I received him from the Guards."
"Yeah," you say, your mouth dry. Sophia realizes just a moment too late, but your own separation from Skiddle is not something you've been trying to dwell on too much. You know for sure that Capella and the others will take care of her, you know for certain you'll one day be re-united.
So you have to keep going, and every step that takes you further away from Gildera will make that reunion all the more sweet. Sophia puts an arm around your shoulder, and you try to smile as she makes a joke you can barely hear.
Aria trying to be soooo normal about being apart from the light of her life (Capella seething and ripping apart a pillow with her teeth because she isn't the light of Aria's life).
The parallels between Aria and Sophia as Grass Knights makes it funnier when Sophia accidentally stumbles on these little barbs "Man if sucks to be separated from my little buddy (these past ten minutes)" "Yeah."
Aria: I have absolute faith in Inana and Spring.
Aria: I don't know about Gumi, but let's pretend that I do.
The cave walls become more artificial again and you realize just how it comes together.
"It's a temple," you say, blinking. Ray stops, turning around with narrowed eyes as she takes a look around. Really looks, rather than stomp behind Cubone the entire time. The fungus hides a lot of it, but if you really pay attention you can see faded murals. Depictions of people, abstract and ancient, so old and in a language that must precede even Ancient Elysium. "This whole thing has been a temple all along."
"It all comes down to faith," Ray says. She's finally calmed down from before, though the sharpness in her eyes and voice has not settled completely. She brushes off some of the fungus from the murals, the cracking sound returning as she touches the wall, and you can see how the images form a greater whole as Sophia makes an excellent Magikarp expression. "But it's predictable, something you can find anywhere."
"Indulge me," you say. She shakes her head, but continues nevertheless.
Something deeply funny about Aria and Ray debating lore intricacies while Sophia is just. Stupit.
What the fuck keeps breaking when Ray touches the walls?
Anyway so uh. Pre-Ancient Elysian society. Whole underground city a monument built in honor of the Legendary Giants. Just so happens to get a temple city dedicated to Raikou built right on top of it.
...You know, considering the lore of Regieleki, how much effort was made to seal it...Were the Ground-Types brought to keep trespassers out, or the sleeping giant in?
"Before humans reigned, Pokemon controlled the world," Ray says, tracing over the mural with a soft touch. You can see the image of a giant, humanoid something. "To protect that world of Pokemon, an ancient god created five demigods from his image. Unfortunately…"
Unfortunately humans. You can see the spears in their hands, the staves held up high, the and the three beasts depicted. You see the ancient struggle, the world of before, and after.
"Humans have something most if not all Pokemon don't," Ray says, sounding bitter. "Endless curiosity, a desire to understand and own the world around them. The things they don't understand, the things that they can't control must be destroyed and buried. You're wrong, Aria."
You frown, a tight feeling in your chest as Ray turns around and points at the image of something that initially looked like the sun to you.
"This isn't a temple, it's a tomb," she says. "For a god that we humans have killed and forgot."
This is a really fun moment because Ray, in a sense, represents everything Aria doesn't yet understand about this world, the nature of the gods and ends faith compels humanity to.
Regigigas lore...You know, you really have to wonder what's waiting in Regis' Pass.
A mountain of treasures...Like a dragon's hoard...The blue eyed giant...
"You don't sound surprised," Sophia says, leaning against a wall. Cubone is imitating her, trying to look cool after putting the club next to her as if it were a sword on her hip. "I thought you didn't know about this place?"
"I didn't," Ray says, crossing her arms and looking away. "But it's not a new story to me, it's just told differently on the surface."
Of course, history is written by the victors of a conflict. Or at least the surviving parties. You imagine that the original intention of the tomb was to honor the remains of that dead god, even if it was in conflict with the people who built it. But hundreds, thousands, maybe even tens of thousands of years, can make people forget. Generations move on, and temples are built atop of those tombs.
One man's murderer is another man's hero.
And so the cycle repeats, over and over again, as senseless greed takes and takes and takes.
"Back then, the priest's taught me that the demons had such powerful control over the weather that humans were forced to live in caves," Ray explains. She sounds bitter, as if the realization her faith was built on misinformation had taken something from her that she can't get back. "So the three beasts came and offered their help. Those ancient demons, those ancient demigods, were defeated with their help. In those places where they were fought, we built temples to honor our saviors."
"That doesn't sound completely wrong," you say. She nods. Her issue seems to lie elsewhere. "Though the version is twisted, was it wrong for those forced to live in darkness to fight back against forces of nature? Pokemon and human alike are not all the same, the beasts helped humans, your faith is still true."
"My faith does not waver," she says, nodding. "But the truth has to come to the surface, and I'll make sure it does, even if the temple becomes my enemy."
After so long forced to live without the sun, humanity hid the storm down in their old prison...
This is the big number reveal of Arc 3, and one that suspect Elpis would've wanted to land no matter what given how going to a city that worshipped the Three was a guarantee of our entrance to Sol, so I imagine Mallus and Siren's Call would play into this motif of aboriginal gods cast down at the hands of the Sacred Beasts' adherents, though I wonder which Legendaries would have been dethroned by Entei and Suicune, the obvious conceit being that they would've shared their Fire and Water-Typing.
Now, what really has to be asked, is what does Wilhelm and the people holding his strings even have to gain by drumming a thunder staff until a dead god wakes up?
"even if the temple becomes my enemy" Ray you're goated, but also you were literally excommunicated before last week, I think you're kinda. Already. The temple's enemy.
A shriek to the side makes you jump slightly. You grab the sword from your hip, the shield on your back attaching to your left arm. You see… Zubat.
A lot of Zubat. While you were talking, a group of them gathered above you, and some began to descend. Perun stands in front of you, and though Cubone tries to do the same for Sophia, she looks rather worried at the large group of wild Pokemon.
Aria: Hey do you think we can bank on your Type Advantage for EXP grinding?
Perun: [Chirps what would translate as "Don't have enough PP for that boss."]
Aria: Shit.
You raise your shield. The Zubat are large, but not very heavy. You can block some of them. Ray's bag, which always seems to have some solution to whatever problem she is facing, reveals a few stones that glow in a very light blue.
"Follow my lead," Ray says. Sophia nods, drawing her sword as well. "On three, attack with everything you go. They're usually in packs, if we beat enough of them back the rest flee."
You give her a nod as well. After floating around for a little bit, the Zubat swoop in all of the sudden, the large group on the ceiling descending all at once. Just before they reach you, Ray throws the stone up. It creates a loud noise, bad enough that it rings in your ears, and much worse of the Zubat it looks like. A lot of them end up crashing on the ground, Perun hitting a few of them in the air with a beam of condensed lightning.
You see Cubone slam her club into one of the Zubat that lands in front of her. She looks to Sophia, giving a thumbs up. Sophia smiles, then slaps one of the Zubat out of the air with the flat of her blade. No need to hurt anyone more than necessary, after all it's much harder to deal with grief and anger than just plain hunger and annoyance at their nest being invaded.
So many of the fully realized human-pokemon dynamics in this fic have been "Raised from birth to partner with you" "An unforgettable gesture of kindness binds you together (Annoyingly)" "You fought each other and gained a mutual respect for the valor and skill on display" that it's just incredibly funny that with Sophia and Cubone it's just:
>Be me
>White girl lands on my tail
>Wow she's like Sleeping Beauty from hit Disney film Sleeping Beauty
>My club will bonk her enemies in her hour of direst need
"Perun," you say, holding up the blade above his head. You don't know if this will work, but you can't imagine why it shouldn't. Skarmory steel is, after all, the shed armor of a Pokemon. Perun grins, standing on both feet to touch the blade with his head, then wraps his frills around it. With a loud shout, he begins releasing electricity, charging up the blade until the blade begins to crackle. "You're a dear."
You ignore the rather annoying pang in your fingers as some of the excess electricity decides to move into your body. The hilt is not metal, so you know you can do this.
"Sophia," you say, sheathing your sword. It's a technique you've seen exactly once, and Silvia has told everyone who witnessed it to not attempt any imitation, on pains of death. "Get behind me."
It's amazing how cool and how stupid this is in every stroke "I need to do something really badass here and I'm gonna pretend like no consequences will come about from the electrical damage or Silvia damage."
She does, slapping one of the Zubat to the side and letting Cubone bat it away with her club. There's still a good two dozen of them flying in the air, having recovered fast from the strange gem that Ray used.
You take a deep breath, the sheath of your blade vibrating with all of that power and energy. There's no way you'd be able to do this without practice anywhere but Olympia, where the electric energy is so abundant that everything is filled and touched by it—but you are in Olympia.
And you really wanted to do something cool like this before.
"Lightning Blade!" you shout, drawing the sword from the sheath. It sounds like thunder, and it smells like fresh rain on dry earth. The blade sings as you slash in front of you, the bundled energy releases in a line from the tip of the blade as you trace a path among the Zubat. The lightning explodes forward, the thunderwave hitting six directly and causing them to fall out of the air again.
You don't know what Silvia has, this is eas—and there is the drawback. There is too much energy in the blade, and it has to go somewhere. Rather than swing it further around and risk hitting your friends, you stab it into the ground, releasing all that energy into the floor.
It explodes with such a force that it sends you back. Sophia catches you, sliding back a few meters as she leans forward to make sure both of you don't get hurt. Unfortunately you still haven't moved on from the mural, so those few meters end up sending you both into the wall.
"Are you doing this as a necessary gamble to surv—" "No I'm doing it because it's cool as shit you nerd."
The way Aria is a clapping monkey so long as something's rad enough is the most hysterical turnabout from literally everything else about her character.
"Lightning Blade!" you shout, drawing the sword from the sheath. It sounds like thunder, and it smells like fresh rain on dry earth. The blade sings as you slash in front of you, the bundled energy releases in a line from the tip of the blade as you trace a path among the Zubat. The lightning explodes forward, the thunderwave hitting six directly and causing them to fall out of the air again.
Fortunately, the force of the impact is negligible. You feel a bit bruised, but that's nothing a potion can't fix up in a moment. Your hands… are burnt. Not badly, at least, but the palms definitely require some ointment. Not great, but not bad either. The Zubats turn and fly away, and Sophie lets you down slowly, sliding down the wall to sit down and catch her breath.
Perun looks… stunned. As if he never knew just what kind of power could come out of those little frills. Cubone, too, finds herself rather awed at the sight of twitching Zubat on the ground, paralyzed and quite unhappy with you. They crawl away, rather than fly, and you find yourself having to deal with a whole new problem.
"Pfff-hahahahahaha—" Ray begins to laugh. A genuine, deep laughter that causes her to hold her stomach and keeps her unable to stand straight. "Lightning Blade! HAHAHA—"
You feel your face heat up. "It's… it's what one of the Glastrier captains called it, it became her epitaph…"
"It's so—it's so childish!" Ray says, laughing even louder. The heat reaches your ears, it's not such a big deal is it? What's wrong with shouting the name of your attack? She seems to calm down for a moment, then looks at your sword, still stuck in the ground, and begins all over again.
Sophia starts laughing as well. This betrayal is too much for you, so you just ignore them all and stick your hands into your bag, getting all the medicine you need out for treatment.
Women are laughing at you in the replies Aria. It's all over for you.
This is so fucking funny Aria just up and ruined any hype she could've kept if she just kept her mouth shut. Incredible.
Perun looks… stunned. As if he never knew just what kind of power could come out of those little frills. Cubone, too, finds herself rather awed at the sight of twitching Zubat on the ground, paralyzed and quite unhappy with you.
The fact both of the pokemon agree this was hecking baller makes it that much funnier that this complete L+Ratio+Thinks she's in Fire Emblem is the most joy Aria has ever given Ray in their time together.
Anyway, don't worry about this betrayal Aria, when Sophia comes back to Caer Rivenhold with you, she's gonna backstab you much worse by talking about how you did Lightning Blade in earshot of Silvia!
Steel made from Pokemon materials has unique properties. While they suffer from similar weaknesses as the Pokemon they come from, they are also aspected to the elements around them. With the proper training, you can become even more effective at combat.
When the time calls for such a boon, you must be prepared. Spreading yourself too thin will not help you become stronger, so you have to pick your preference:
[ ] Practice with Inana when you have time. Inana is aspected to Ice. She's the memory of Gildera, of home.
[ ] Practice with Perun when you have time. Perun is aspected to Electric. He's a reminder of the path ahead, of Sol.
Oh, so this is the first vote! Interesting duality, especially in context of the comparative synergies between Ice and Electric for Steel/Flying, wonder which got picked.
Alright, this is all the time I could spare for the review, but what a high point to pause on! Looking forward to next time.
[X] Practice with Inana when you have
[X] … the path to the left contains a dangerous dragon-like Pokemon.
###
The knowledge that the walls around you are not simply a temple or a city, but a tomb, makes the experience much harder to swallow in retrospect. If you're not careful, it might become your tomb as well, joining that giant something that was murdered by Raikou and the first Olympians in eternal slumber when your journey has only just begun.
Your hands are still twitching, streaks of black burns over your fingers announcing that Silvia was absolutely right and continues to be right about using techniques one wasn't practiced in. You'll see about getting that practice in for sure now, though perhaps starting with Inana. That's both less likely to blow up in your face and immediately more useful.
Cubone's still leading you forward, her tiny hands holding the bone club with such confidence. You can see the joy in her eyes when Sophia 'aaahhhs' and 'ohhhs' at her excellent navigation skills. The path you picked is warmer than the others, to the point where you feel uncomfortable.
You never thought you'd miss the Gilderan winter, but here you are.
"Ray," Sophia speaks up, causing the girl to glare up at her. "The way you fight isn't really conventional, is it? That's not something you learned at the temple, I reckon."
"It's not," she says, shrugging her shoulders. "Sol is not a country where someone can travel by themselves if they don't know how to fight. I learned on the go."
"Still," you join in, "the amount of stones you have hidden in your robes can't have come cheap."
"They're not real stones, they're… simulacra," she says. She pats down on her sleeve, and a lightning stone falls out. Holding it up against the light of the fungus, you can see its green sheen, the 'lightning in a bottle' spark in the middle. It's a bit paler than the ones you've seen before, but besides that nothing about it screams imitation. "The right kind of quartz can be filled with elemental energy, lightning is easier to me than anything else."
She throws it at you, forcing you to catch it. You can see the impurities on closer inspection, it feels much lighter than a real stone for sure.
"Fascinating." You squeeze the quartz slightly, and it does release some sparks into your already burned hands. Ignoring the sting, it could break easily with just the slightest amount of pressure. "I don't know if you're brave or stupid, Ray. If you walk around with these all over your body, isn't there a risk if you're hit?"
"I simply don't get hit," Ray says. You try not to comment about her own inability to fight Wilhelm before he disposed of you so easily, but the look in your eyes must've been enough for her. "That asshole doesn't count."
"Sure he doesn't," you say, throwing the quartz back to her. She grumbles as she puts the stone away.
"Elementalism," Sophia says. You ears perk up at the word. It's something you've read about in Lissy's book. Some of the heroic figures were said to control powers similar to Pokemon, either through prayer or through sacred objects. "Like in those children's books?"
"They're not fairy tales—" "They're not just for children!"
Ray and you speak at the same time, and she cuts herself off, giving Sophia a mean look. While you understand her anger and worries, her attitude has started to sour again as the trip up starts to take longer than expected. Unfortunately you can't attempt another attack like before to make her laugh right now.
"There's some people with certain dispositions," Ray says. She holds her hand up, and you can see just the tiniest bit of lightning in the air around her fingers. "Born on certain days, in certain places, or just some freak accident. Those who have caught the attention of deities, or powerful demons. They're not that rare either, you can't tell me you've never met anyone like me in Gildera."
You stop walking, giving Sophia a glance. She frowns, crossing her arms as she leans against the wall. It explains the strange energy you keep feeling when you touch Ray, she isn't just charged from all the stones she wears. That energy, it comes from her?
"No," you say, and Sophia shakes her head as well. "What you're describing is practically magic, isn't it?"
"And the deeds of legends aren't? You just charged a sword with so much electricity it could've cut the stars from the sky."
That's different, isn't it?
That's just the right amount of energy in the right mineral, it's practically science!
It's… "Magic." The word tastes wrong on your tongue. As if fantasy has become reality in ways that even the deeds of ancient kings and heroes could not properly manifest in front of your eyes. But more than that, if not uncommon, why does Gildera not have people like this?
Are Solians really that different? Does living under the gaze of the Sun God grant blessings that those banished to darkness cannot hold in their soul?
"I really don't understand why you're surprised," Ray says, her earlier irritation once more slipping away to ponder with you as Cubone looks up at Sophia, confused. "Aren't you the same, Aria?"
Are you?
You think, and think, and think, but nothing seems to stand out. Except—
"I was never an early bird," you say, frowning. "But since coming to Sol, I wake up when the sun comes up. That's the only thing that's changed, really."
"That's one of those things," Ray says, nodding. Sophia's eyebrows rise, and the way she looks at you, as if there's something new and exciting, makes you shrink into yourself. "I don't think it's the blood that does it either, I've met Gilderans before with eyes like yours."
"Maybe it's the geography then," Sophia suggests. Your frown is stuck on your face now. "Elysium is the land of the gods, and Gildera… Gildera was punished by Kael. Maybe as long as they're stuck there, they can't truly be blessed by the sun and the sky."
It makes a disgusting amount of sense and suddenly turns your view of the whole conflict into a minor puzzle piece. Is the greed of man that Redwood was so convinced of something so much more than land and wealth?
"Or perhaps it's numbers," Ray says, shrugging at Sophia's reasoning. "In terms of population, Sol as a whole dwarfs Gildera, so finding people like me is more rare. Though I wasn't born like this, it's something that happened… after."
Freak accidents, right. You imagine it might have to do with the staff, or perhaps with what the accident did to Ray's mother. Perhaps that scar Drake left on Kael's Stand was not made by Typhon alone.
"What do I feel like?" you ask, grabbing Ray's hand. Sophia makes a choked sound, her eyebrows quickly furrowing in discontent. Ray looks surprised for a moment as that spark that happens whenever you touch jolts her to attention. "You feel like electricity, like my hair will start floating if I keep holding you. What about me?"
Ray looks unenthusiastic, but unwilling to fight you on this. Instead, she closes her eyes and concentrates. You see sweat on her brow after a moment, and the next spark causes your hand and hers to fly apart, not forceful enough to hurt but like magnets of the same polarity trying to meet in the middle.
"It feels like…" she tries to find words, opening and closing her mouth a few times before hooking her index fingers together, trying to pull them apart. "Like a tug of war. It's not some element, so I can't really put it into words."
A tug of war.
And though her own words fail her, you find that it explains more than you had hoped for. The world that you left behind and the world that is ahead of you are both part of what makes you whole, so perhaps whatever power is held in your soul, or heart, or mind, is tied to that divide.
"What about me?" Sophia asks, holding her hand up. Ray sighs, grabbing the hand softly. After just a few seconds, Ray lets go. "Nothing?"
"Nothing," Ray says. "It's really not a big deal for the most part, some people are good at certain things. I once met a man blessed by a wood spirit that could grow any plant in any season, most of these blessings are very minor."
Sophia still looks kind of sad. Her shoulders slump down, but before you could try to cheer her up, Cubone pokes her with the club, holding up her tiny hand. Sophia takes it, holding on with a single finger, and bending down so Cubone does not have to stand on tiptoes.
O Aria, whose blood mixes like the rivers Styx and Lethe, what pulls you apart?
The eyes on you are numerous, and your choices determine your fate more than any gods ever could.
While it is too early to truly decide what world opens up to you, you can learn more about this. Ray is a scholar as much as she is a priestess, and surely will not mind speaking to you about the various gods of the Elysian continent.
You decide to ask about…
[ ] The Dark King, whose name will forever be synonymous with the desecration of bonds.
[ ] The Skywrath Sovereign, patron of the Gilderan bloodline, defender of the sky between mountains. This is something you can work on when you go back to Gildera and pick Skiddle up.
[ ] The Sun God, the patron of the Solian bloodline, who blesses the sky all over the continent.
[ ] The Twins, whose cries echo across aeons and whose temples are far to the west.
###
This is not just a cave anymore. This is a temple, plain to see. A massive gate stops you, the language of the mural painted on it. Ray looks tense as her eyes trail over the writing.
"Careful," she says. Your hand moves towards your sword, and Perun looks up at the ceiling. You can see something up there, hidden in the darkness where the fungus can't reach. "There's a guardian here. I can't read the rest, it's too—"
You grab Ray by the collar and drag her out of the way as fire comes from above. Sophia draws her sword, Cubone jumping on top of the blade before she swings it with a force that breaks the earth under her feet. Cubone goes flying, her club slamming into a part of the ceiling and breaking off stone.
Behind that stone, as if buried by it, is something big, scaly, and orange. The hole it used to breathe fire from begins to crack apart and reveal a Charizard, massive in size, and very unhappy at being woken up. Sophia catches Cubone, dodging the strong gust of wind that Charizard summons with its wings.
You draw your blade, pushing Ray behind you. Charizard descends without any intention to break its fall, feet slamming into the ground until the entire cave begins to shake. Its tail flame is bright blue, even as the flames between its fangs are angry red.
Cubone raises her hands up, saying something to the Charizard, and for just one moment the big lizard hesitates. Cubone jumps out of Sophia's arms, approaching slowly.
A moment later, it swings its body around and knocks Cubone back. Sophia catches Cubone again, her displeasure obvious as she points the sword at it.
Charizard opens its mouth, but instead of flames, a sound comes out that sounds almost like… language?
Ray perks up, and walks forward even as Perun tries to pull her back by the hem of her robes. She looks… focused. Too focused for you to interrupt whatever is going on. She turns her head towards you. "It says that we're trespassing."
"You can understand it?" Sophia asks. You blink. Somehow, you can understand that it's speaking something that a human must have spoken, a long, long time ago.
Yet the language is not common Elysian, and so you cannot understand it whatsoever. At least you have Ray with you.
"Can you answer it?" you ask. Ray shakes her head.
"I can barely understand it, nevermind speaking. Maybe it can understand us like this, though."
Pokemon are very empathetic creatures, so it's worth a try. You sheathe your sword, raising your hands and addressing the Charizard.
"We didn't come here on purpose," you say. Cubone, injured but not unhappy, chirps up in confirmation to your words. "A man is using a powerful weapon to do something on the upper floors, he trapped us down here when we tried to stop him."
Charizard speaks again.
"Hallowed grounds," Ray says in translation. "Warriors who deserve peace. Something about… about graverobbing? We're not graverobbers, ancient guardian! We're victims of circumstance—"
Charizard roars. The sound echoes around you with a force that makes you lose your balance, your hands slapping over your ears. Perun roars back, not quite as loud, but still brave.
You draw your blade again, trying to ignore the pain shooting up your arm as you grip the hilt tightly. "Fine then, this is not gonna be pleasant."
Charizard agrees, which is why it aims at Ray first. You grab her shoulder and she spins with you, crushing a gem in front of her to cause a flash behind you. The flash blinds the guardian, giving you enough time to bring your sword up, catching its claws. Though strong, the lack of proper swing due to the flashbang gives you enough leverage to hold it in place for Perun to come down, stabbing its frills into its chest.
A flash of lightning later and Charizard takes a few steps back, flying up to create some distance. Cubone swings at it, but fails to hit. She climbs up Sophia's shoulder, shouting something.
Charizard says something in response, and Ray looks vaguely uncomfortable.
"I'm not going to translate that," she says, taking more of the quartz out of her robes. "Aria, you got a plan?"
"Working on it," you say, holding your sword ready. Charizard does not make the same mistake twice, gathering flames in its mouth to spew from above instead of getting in close. The fire hits the ground where the Charizard stood, and then starts to move towards you. You jump to the right, rolling in the dirt to get out of the way. It singes your fancy new robe, and even Perun looks a bit miffed by the heat after its frill is caught in the intense wave.
You look around. If you can't ground that monster, there's no way you'll win this. Retreating could work, but that'll just set you back further. You're not one to run from your troubles, not if the only way forward is through that damn gate.
"Catch me when I fall," Ray says. You blink, opening your mouth to ask her what the hell she's talking about.
You don't get the chance.
Ray grabs something from the back of her robes, where you can see a large pocket she must hide some of the things she needs for her sleight of hand tricks. It's another stone, though this one does not look like quartz. Even in the distance, it feels cold and airy, like a deep breath in the woods of Gildera.
She slams the stone down, and a gust of wind sends her up into the air. Charizard… looks just as stunned as you are. Ray ends up shooting toward it like an arrow, barely missing it before slowing down towards the ceiling. Charizard, having dodged, moves to attack you again.
Ray comes down holding a lightning stone in her hand and pushes it into the Charizard's wings.
A loud bang, and Charizard begins to tumble down. Ray falls as well, and just like she had requested, you catch her, bending down slightly to cushion her. Charizard is clearly irritated at the attack, but cannot fly up again, one of its wings clearly injured by the very effective priestess.
"Up top!" Sophia shouts. You see her and Cubone working together, coming down on Charizard with their weapons. The wings come together to form a shield around it, and though the sword is sharp and strong, the scales on this ancient guardian do not give in to human weapons or tiny Pokemon attacks.
The wings unfurl, sending another gust of wind out. Sophia and Cubone fly backwards, to your left and right as you let Ray down. You move your hand behind your back, grabbing your shield.
You see glint in its eyes. Something primal, and dangerous. You see the bright idea forming, and you know there's no way you can dodge what comes next.
Which is unfortunate because you don't think you can block it either. Charizard opens its maw wide and you see something come out of it. Not fire, but something that makes the air all hazy. It raises its head up, its tail coming all the way up to meet it.
Its mouth ignites into blue flames.
Cubone stands in front of you, quickly slamming its club into the ground. A wall of dirt shoots up, hardening along the edges. Sophia and Ray push up next to you, and you can see Charizard blow its flames onto the ground, creating a ring around it that expands outward until it hits the wall of dirt.
You push your shield against it, holding on as Cubone looks worried its wall will not hold. Sophia and Ray help you as the heat crawls around you, their hands on your back, giving you support even as everything in front of you threatens to crumble.
"It's like a tug of war," you hear the echoes of your earlier conversation. Fear grips your heart. You cannot let it end here, you cannot lose to something like this.
You cannot lose to someone like Wilhelm.
So you let go of your sword and put your hand around your shield arm, pushing with your entire body against the overwhelming pressure.
"Hey, Drake?"
"Yes, child?"
"How did you get so strong?"
You roar with energy you don't have, a powerful feeling welling up in your chest as the world around you descends into a haze. The edges of your vision turn black, you can feel bits of your clothes singed even as Ray scrambles to use water stones to dampen your environment.
"You might not like the answer."
Your voice becomes louder than the flames. Though all the strength in your body is not enough, you cannot accept giving up. If that light in you is not burning bright enough, you have to make it radiant. You cannot let this be the end. You cannot let this be the end.
You cannot let this be the end.
"The right motivation makes us surpass our limits, Aria. I cannot say what works for me will work for you."
You let go of your arm, crossing your arms behind the shield instead. The world around you becomes fire, and in that crucible you have to become someone Drake would be proud of. Someone your grandmother would love to meet again in the Elysian fields. Someone who always holds her head high.
"I will always be proud of you, Aria." - "You're a good child, Aria." - "Courage. Wisdom. Power. Hope. Faith. Love."
Silence.
Your mouth is still wide open, and you scream at the top of your lungs, but you cannot hear anything. You stand in the shadows as the sun rises in front of you. But it's not the shade you should be cast in.
The wall of dirt explodes, unable to withstand the heat any longer. The pressure, however, is gone. You see the path ahead, the light and the obstacle that casts it. The water stone explodes at the same time, creating just enough water to stop the heat for a single second.
You throw your shield, hitting Charizard's snout with a force that snaps its mouth shut. The heat cuts off immediately, and though some of it still hits your group it does not burn you to cinders, leaving burns that you can treat afterwards.
The sound returns, and your feet do not stop. You hit the ground running, catching the shield with both hands as it comes down and slamming it on the Charizard's head as it still reels from the sudden interruption. You do it again, and again, and again. Though what is now victim of your violence is a powerful and large Pokemon, which seems mostly annoyed rather than genuinely injured, you are reminded of that asshole in the woods.
Only it's not a Tediursa on the line this time, it's your friends, your partners, and your own life.
Charizard recovers and knocks you back with a swipe of its claws, cutting the surface of your belly as you try to get out of the way.
Sophia swoops in, using her own blade to stop the followup attack and getting knocked down right next to you. It roars at you. You roar back, unable to find a human way to express yourself as your tongue lies heavy in your mouth.
Ray throws another one of those flying stones, this time between you and the Charizard. The strong wind drags you away from your opponent. You scramble for your sword, still hot to the touch, and point it at Charizard. Perun barks up at you, and you give him a nod.
But then—
A loud slam. Dust and dirt knocked from the door. Charizard… stops. It turns around, looking at the door in clear confusion. After a moment of silence, another loud bang. Something behind it slams against it with an absurd force.
You'd have taken the time to take a cheap shot at it, but the next slam makes it panic. It flies at the door, trying to hold it shut. Though menacing and powerful, it looks genuinely lost as the door is slowly being pried open.
Another slam causes the… hinges? To fail. You're not sure if it has hinges, probably some sort of locking mechanism using stones and gears from the inside. The door slams open with a force that knocks Charizard back. It opens to reveal the heroes of the hour.
Spring is on top of Tauros' back, using his vines to hold tight onto its horns. Inana is right in front of him, holding onto the vines and pulling on them, steering the rather dangerous bull.
Gumi is there, too, cheering from behind. Tauros… looks absolutely exhausted. It is injured, from the fight against the three no doubt, and now the slamming against the door with all its might even broke off part of its right horn. It falls down, unable to stay conscious.
Charizard looks lost, and you can't help but laugh in joy as Inana meets your gaze.
"Inana!" you shout, smiling. "Perun!"
They react without any more words. Inana joins the fight with a powerful kick on Charizard's shoulder, where the wing meets its back, and Perun shoots forward a charged beam of lightning as that one moment of inattention gives you the upper hand.
Charizard roars in pain, and gets ready to retaliate.
Which is why the rest of the gang joins in. You can see Ray throwing Gumi one of the quartzes, and Gumi bites down on it, supercharged with so much electricity it begins to glow blue.
"Spring!" Sophia shots. "Hold it down!"
Before Charizard can recover, Spring's vines wrap around it. Gumi begins to run around the room, taking time to build momentum before slamming into Charizard with a force that knocks the poor wanna-be-dragon into a wall, all that electricity paralyzing it.
The final blow comes from Cubone, who looks towards Sophia first for approval. She smiles, pointing at the still twitching Charizard with her sword.
"Winter," she names the little guide. "Get even."
Winter the Cubone stabs her club into the ground and pulls it out like a sword, rocks stuck to it to make a rather interesting mace. She slams the mace on Charizard's head, knocking it out. The fight is over, and you breathe a sigh of relief.
Ray falls to her knees. You'd do the same, but Inana decides to jump at you with a force that knocks you onto your back instead. You wince, too happy to be bothered by the pain.
"Did you miss me?" you ask. Inana seems to notice what she's doing, jumping off you and crossing her arms, clicking her tongue. Perun stands next to her, imitating the pose and clicking his tongue as well, clearly mocking his senior. Inana swipes at him, and Perun dodges, laughing loudly at the now upset mustelid.
The relief is short-lived as something moves in the corner of your vision. Charizard stands up again, but this time, all the energy leaves you. You can no longer stand up, your hand will not be able to hold that shield again.
Winter says something to the guardian again, and your vision starts to darken.
###
Drake stands tall, as he always does. His vigil never ends, and though he always looks like the weight of the world is on his shoulders, and his eyes grow ever distant, you wish to share his burdens.
Capella is currently being punished, leaving you two alone just weeks after you entered the Caer to become aspirants. The way she spoke to your teacher means a good week of cleaning duties, which have to be fulfilled after everyone is already turning in for the night.
There were strong words about that too, which just means that the punishment was extended by another week.
Drake simply laughed when he heard, softly like he always does, not loud or boasting. Not like other knights. He never was like anyone you've ever met before.
"You look like you want to ask me something," he says. One of his hands holds some hard wood, the other a dull knife. Though the blade is gone and attempts to sharpen it have failed, it still remains the thing that he uses to carve things. It's one of his important heirlooms, he once said. All the things that the princess of Gildera gave him while he served her dutifully were precious to him.
"You are strong," you say, and his hand stills. "You are stronger than anyone, aren't you?"
"I don't know if that's true," he says, his voice low and full of something you have never felt before. Something that he always feels when his eyes grow distant. Something you know one day will be longing, as Capella described it. "I am strong, child. Stronger than many, but even I have things I cannot do."
"You can't carve the mountains between borders," you say, nodding. He smiles at you. "And you can't really cook either."
"Well, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses," he says. "But there are three things a knight needs to be a knight, in abundance."
"Courage. Wisdom. Power."
He nods. "They're the pillars of chivalry, a union of all that makes me whole. But they're not all that makes a person, because we are more than just knights."
"Hope. Faith. Love."
He nods again. "All desires are linked to these. Some yearn for them, some yearn for too much, some yearn for so little they become shells of themselves."
You try to understand, and though you know this kind of conversation would be harder if you had not grown up with the likes of the Flambergs, it is still not something you can grasp with the experiences you have now.
"How did you get this strong?"
It's a question you've asked before, when you saw him swing his sword once to defeat a dozen bandits. He did not answer then.
"You might not like the answer," he says, and you pout, unwilling to let his habit of cryptic reasoning be the end of this conversation. His hands begin moving again, carving into the wood and slowly revealing the form of a Psyduck. "The truth is, I can't tell you for sure. The right motivation makes us surpass our limits, Aria. I cannot say what works for me will work for you."
"What did work for you then?" You move up to him, your hand coming up to the carving, your fingers holding the dull knife until he finally looks at you properly. "What do I need to do to become someone you can be proud of?"
"I will always be proud of you, Aria," he says, putting his tools on the table. He takes your hands into his, so big that a single one could wrap around both of yours. "What's important isn't how other people feel about you, but how you feel about yourself. Become someone you can be proud of, and I will forever be happy that we have met."
This is Drake. He is tall, and imposing, and his scars look scary.
But the biggest part of him is his heart. With a love so great that it would shame even Aphrodite, who inside of her could only hold the affection for a single world.
"One day you'll realize that I am not such a great man," he says, as if reading your mind. You blush, your thoughts ever obvious on your face. "If you find you can forgive me for not living up to your expectations, I believe it'd be my turn to turn red."
You laugh, ignoring the stinging in your eyes.
###
You have surpassed the Guardian of the Tomb. While your deeds will not reach the ears of the people, the world knows of your strength. To surpass impossible odds requires impossible ambitions. Drake's strength was born from his desire to keep the princess safe, and though you know he would have never admitted it, it was out of love.
As Drake once said, all three things are necessary. You are not really just a knight anymore, you don't only deal in chivalry, because chivalry is just too small for what lies ahead. You are Aria—
[ ] ...the Hopeful.
Not for the future, but for here and now. Not the knowledge but the instinct that everything will be alright as long as you keep your head up and face the world.
[ ] ...the Faithful.
No, not the faith in gods. The faith in people, in yourself. In your deeds, in your kindness that nobody can see, and the kindness in others that you wish to reveal.
[ ] ...the Loving.
Not for a person, but for the world around you. Drake loved a single woman so much that nothing in the world could stop him. Have you ever loved so much it hurts?
