My kingdom shall prosper… by any means necessary.
Nilous
by DoomHuntleyMonths of preparations.
The sound of steel striking a flint rang clear through the night, a reverberating sound that bounced off the hollow tree trunks, echoing into the abyssal heavens above.
Years of unrest, anguish, and disorder.
A spark pricked at the darkness, an oasis of sight in a sea of blind depth, a forest so consumed by an eternal void that it was hard to see barely past your outstretched hand without aid.
And finally… it will soon come to an end…
I stood from where I had kneeled, eyes staring into the embers before me as the flames licked hungrily at the kindling, consuming it with fiery passion. Shadows flickered and danced around me as the meager warmth of the campfire kept the cold at bay.
For a moment, I simply stared at it, watching the fire waver and twirl over the smoldering logs.
Nearly… nearly time.
I turned around, tearing my gaze away from the light and kneeling before a small stump before me. A large bulb like the one atop my green head, I lifted a scrawny white limb to touch its skin. It pulsed as I came into contact with it, our hearts syncing.
I took a deep breath, and closed my eyes, feeling the life within me swirl.
I opened them, and for a moment, the bulb pulsed, liquid squirting from the top, where hints of raw, fleshy red could be seen. The sap ran onto my hand. I withdrew slowly, bringing my stubby arm up to my face while closing my eyelids. The sap smelled of copper and salt, a bloody taste which I savored. I liked my palm clean, letting the bitter flavor of the liquid sting my tongue and creep down my throat, invigorating me.
It was ready.
I opened my eyes, and my pupils began to glow a piercing shade of pink. One of the logs in the fire before me shuddered, a faint aura of identical hue emanating off of it as it began to rise into the air by some will. My will.
I gave the bulb before me one last glance before turning my back on both it and the campfire, hovering above the tangled wet grass below my feet as I entered the forest’s inviting depths, only the torch floating by my head lighting my way.
The campsite and bulb were soon lost behind me. With luck, I would not see them again.
Thoughts flashed through my mind as the sightless eyes of the birch forest glared at me, red leaves flapping and waving above deathly white trunks. A thousand stares from a blind world. A forest that never welcomed, and never would.
So be it. I was not here for parties or adventures.
Suddenly, the trees began to widen, the spaces between each trunk growing as I came upon a great clearing. I glanced up, and waved by torch forwards. Before me, carved into a mountain that had entirely snuck up on me, was a great doorway, two pillars and an arch framing great wooden gates that towered over me, easily two Copperajahs tall.
I stared up at it, wordless, before focusing myself. The door on the right glowed pink, and with a grunt, I wrenched it open with a creak that split the quiet night.
I followed after my torch into the chamber just beyond. A hall, just as tall, leading down a seemingly endless tunnel.
This must be it.
I hesitated.
…
…
A breath.
It was time.
And I floated forwards, stepping foot in a place that no Pokémon had dared tread for centuries.
The tunnel itself was uninteresting. Stone walls covered in dirt entrapped a musky, dust-filled space that felt suffocating to breath in. The air was thick and foggy, the torchlight only just barely illuminating the walls around me as I wandered down the middle of the path. Roots of trees above poked in, forming a canopy of worms that writhed and wriggled over my head.
The entrance disappeared from view, swallowed by the inky blackness tailing me. The corridor seemed to never end, a journey that took a giant only but ten steps, but which cost me what felt like an eternity.
I used the time to rehearse, to recall.
To remember.
Two beasts… Both of which I must tame…
One of ice… I could trip its feet, and shut it out with walls of vines. The undergrowth will succumb, but I am confident that my powers of life far exceed winter’s strength.
One of shadow… I can use my foresight to feel for its presence, and my speed to escape its deathly void. I am sure that mind will not submit to fear.
I cannot fail… not until I can summon the powers of–
I bumped into a solid wall, snapping me out of my trance. Glancing up, a titanic statue stared back down, a looming wyrm that spiraled around the space of a massive dome, spindly centipede legs crawling around on the ceiling as its enormous, eyeless head glared at something beyond space itself, even my regal presence insignificant in its domain.
It’s not the real thing, but it definitely captures the image well.
At the very least, I had come to the right place. That as much was a small victory.
Stepping closer to the wall, I raised an arm, stroking it along the surface. A thousand years’ dust leapt into the air at my touch, exposing the true stone beneath, a murky, dark red obelisk that felt grimy to the touch and was darker in some places than most.
I can guess why the dust was left here to settle, I thought grimly as I stood back from the blood-stained pedestal.
But where–
Aha.
To my left, a tall, sleek statue stood, a faceless horse with a mask of ice, a matching crown of spikes, and hooves of steel that adorned what was otherwise a muscular but undecorated body.
Glastrier.
I glanced behind me, to the right. Just as I thought. Facing opposite the icy steed was a mount of similar stature, but with a much sleeker build, a mane of flowing silk frozen in time, with legs that hovered impossible in the air above studded hooves.
Spectrier.
These were my tests. To see if I had the strength to wield the power… the power of death itself.
I knew both had to fall.
I hoped that I would not have to do them at the same time. The crazed Hypno I had extracted the legend from did not specify.
…
…
I would just have to hope then.
My mind had been made previously before I was permitted to tackle them one at a time. My biggest advantage was my mind. My vines were potent, but I had my doubts if they could truly subdue the embodiment of an avalanche.
Spectrier first.
I gave the icy stallion one last glance, and then turned my back on it, treading towards the other horse with pittering, light steps that echoed through the cavernous space.
I craned my head, looking up at Spectrier. I stared at it for a while. Thoughts swirled through my head.
Doubts.
Scenarios.
What-ifs.
The plan.
My eyes narrowed, and I outstretched my arm. I touched the statue.
And it came to life.
I summoned my psychic energy as I dashed backwards, watching as the statue came to life, purple and black replacing the gray like a ripple bursting from where I had touched it. Its mane, moments prior still, now rippled and waved in a windless space. Its tail whipped outwards, and its hooves clattered as it stretched its joints for the first time in centuries. Its emotionless face glanced at me, long lashes folded over closed eyes.
It opened its mouth, and a terrible sound stabbed my ears, a high-pitched neigh that made my heart pulse and my soul writhe.
I instantly leapt into the air with my psychic power, aiming to put distance between itself and me. Pointing an arm downwards, I summoned a tangle of vines from the ground far below, the coils tangling over each other as they spread and grew, covering the floor with an uneven mess that surely no creature could stand on without tripping.
I focused my mind, and placed my arms around my head, preparing to use Future Sight to–
Where did it go?!
I scanned the room, hoping to catch a glimpse of it, but it was completely out of sight. I closed my eyes, hoping to use my divination to see where it would strike ne–
Cold air assailed my face as I gasped, slime coating my face and invading my nostrils and mouth as I was birthed from my prison. I fell forwards, the rest of my body following suit as I collapsed with a wet splat onto the grass before the disgusting bulb I had grown earlier. The campfire had gone out long ago, leaving me in the darkness of night, even the moon shunning my pathetic form.
I coughed, hacked. Slime dribbled from my mouth onto the grass. I raised an arm, trying to wipe it from my eyes, but to no avail, as it only spread it around and coating my wrist in the stuff. My head screamed and my heart pounded, every muscle in my body contorting with the pain of having been reconstructed from nothing.
I gasped and panted, shaking my head violently back and forth to shake off as much slime as I could. The migraine worsened, and I groaned, standing up on wobbly legs. My eyes peered open just the slightest amount, enough to see, but keeping the muck out still.
I barely lasted a minute against that… thing.
I clutched at my chest. I could still feel the darkness lingering in my soul, the Shadow Ball having struck my very core, shredding my physical form and nearly erasing my spiritual one.
It had galloped into the air, a corporeal form of scant visibility that appeared before me at the last moment, stared into my eyes with its soulless, blind glare, and then erased me.
I glanced back at the bulb, which was still and closed once again, slime leaking out of its top a little.
I felt a little relieved that I had set up safety nets.
I pivoted, and marched back into the forest, not looking back.
The trip back was shameful, but thankfully quick, as I now knew the way. The eyes of the birch trees once again watched as I trudged down the path, leaves rustling and laughing at my failed attempt.
Fine by me. I was not here for parties or adventures.
Finding the door to the cavern once again and pushing through the doors again, I was once again greeted by an endless corridor. The tunnel was as long as ever, but I took twice as long this time, wary of my surroundings and glancing around for even a hint of a black coat or a wisp of ethereal purple hair. But to my surprise… there was none. Not even a whinny pierced the silence. And when I reached the end of the chamber and saw the frozen statue, it was clear why.
So it resets upon loss… I thought to myself. It was a saving grace, I supposed. And I now had the confirmation that I did not have to tackle them both at once. Not particularly comforting, but reassuring at least. Maybe. The wound on my torso was a little too fresh to be feeling optimistic.
And so I turned my back on the ghostly mare, and walked up to the great titan opposite.
I reached out an arm.
I hesitated.
…Remember the plan. Deep breaths.
I touched its breast, a coarse, rough pectoral that bulged with chained strength.
And then it burst apart.
Like shattering ice, the stone broke away, crumbling to dust as the shining blue-white fur beneath was bathed in the dim light of the cavern.
Like before, I dashed backwards, though I did not try to take to the air. Clearly, it would have a strategy prepared for such a thing as Spectrier did.
Instead, I stood my ground a short distance away as Glastrier shook itself clear of dust, before rearing its dazzling crown.
A deep rumble rippled through the air, a cold, chilling sound that poked needles into my spin and made my arms tingle with goosebumps.
It turned.
And it saw me.
Immediately, I crouched, summoning a swarm of vines that entangled themselves over each other, climbing higher and higher until they formed a sturdy wall. I reared my arm back, summoning a sharp vine of my own that I held aloft like a spear. Ready to strike.
But I wasn’t ready for Glastrier as it burst through the barrier, ripping the vines to shreds with its crown and disintegrating the rest with a ravenous frost that seemed to spread to anything it touched.
I threw the spear to the side, dashed backwards and formed another wall. It tore through that one too, almost with more easy than the first.
I created a third, hiding at its corner, hoping to perhaps trick Glastrier into charging past me.
A blizzard flew by me, missing me by a hair as the ice type exploded through the vines, sending frost-covered bits of it flying, some bits staining my face. The icy pellets stung, but they were only superficial wounds.
Glastrier looked around for its prey, and I took that opportunity to run away from my crumbling wall, using its turned back to hide my retreat.
With an almost unnatural swivel, its neck spun around, and it spotted me, locking on instantly.
Another chilling neigh pierced the freezing air as I crouched on the cold stone floor, summoning a verdant spear in my hands. Glastrier began its charge, and I stared it down as the ground beneath me shook.
I yelled, lunging forwards and throwing the spear at its heart with all the psychic energy I could muster.
I watched the tip touch Glastrier’s chest and crumble to snow, before Glastrier leapt into the air and l–
“GAGH–!”
Once again, I lay in a puddle of slime atop wet grass, the bulb next to me folding back up with a tired satisfaction, resting in the lonely dark night. The campfire was not only extinguished now. It was also cold.
I touched my forehead, and a splitting headache greeted me once again. My vision swam as I tried to sit up, only to fall victim to nausea, hurling the acid from my empty stomach onto the ground in front of me, a grimy mix of sludge and vomit pooling around my knees.
I could almost feel where Glastrier had slammed down its hooves on my bulbous head, iron hammers crushing a berry, my body freezing at the touch and shattering into a thousand shards of blood and ice.
“Guh,” I gasped, my mouth gurgling as I hacked out slime.
Both Glastrier and Spectrier… So much stronger than I…
“Eugh–”
Splat.
…
…
…
…I had to keep trying. I needed a new plan. A better plan. I had come too far to turn back.
Spectrier is fast and evasive. My mind’s eye was too slow to track it, but perhaps a barrier…
I touched the cold surface of the stone, and once again dash backwards as the gray gave way to a void of black.
I crouched low to the ground, having learn my lesson from the first attempt, instead focusing my energy into creating a circular wall of vines all around me, an impenetrable fortress that soon sealed up at the top. I was in darkness, but I could still see with my psychic powers.
But what I saw horrified me as the ghostly horse phased directly through the vines, a ghastly head peeking out from behind the curtain of thorns.
A grim neigh split my head, and a Shadow Ball flew my way–
Perhaps I could use my mind’s eye better on Glastrier? I had not quite used flight against it yet…
I touched the statue once again, taking to the air as it roared to life and escaped its prison. I closed my eyes, and waited for its first move. It looked around for a moment, attempting to locate its target, before spotting me high above.
“No running now,” I grinned with a vicious satisfaction as I concentrated and began to charge a Future Sight.
A crackle above me.
I glanced up just in time to see a storm of icicles raining down on me.
They both have counters to my most potent strategies… I need to experiment, to think outside of the box.
I grimaced as Glastrier burst into life once again, but instead of backing away, I hopped directly onto its back before it was prepared, summoning vines from my wrists and binding its snout to my arms.
It instantly whinnied, soaring off its pedestal with a mighty leap and crashing into the ground, where it began to buck and lash out, trying to throw me off. I held on with all my might, enforcing my feeble arms with all the psychic energy I could muster, keeping the vines tight on its muzzle.
Suddenly, the back I was seated upon began to coat itself in frost.
I gasped, letting go of the reigns, but it was too late. My body instantly froze over, petrifying me up to the neck. I toppled off Glastrier’s back, landing on the ground with a solid thud before staring up in horror as a hoof crashed down upon–
I will not even attempt it for Spectrier… It can simply knock me off by charging into a wall, and then I will be stunned and helpless.
Rather, I positioned a number of thorned green tentacles around me, tendrils that twitched and flexed as I glanced at the statue. A single root crept from the ground, snaking its way up to the horse, before touching it, summoning it to life.
Immediately upon spotting me, it reared, releasing that terrible, terrible scream, evil gathering before its mouth one moment and hurtling towards me at the next.
With a flick of my wrist, a tendril shot up and smacked the Shadow Ball, deflecting it into the ceiling behind me. I turned to see it explode in a cloud of shattered rubble that fell upon the floor in a heap beside a still-frozen Glastrier.
I smirked, turning back to face Spectrier, only for my eyes to widen as it sprinted directly at me. It phased directly through two of my tentacles, their attempts to grapple its spectral form fruitless as it passed through me, my muscles seizing and freezing upon contact. Twitching, I fell to the floor, the protective vines around me going limp.
And what greeted me as I stared helplessly upwards, my mouth agape in a silent scream, was a shadowy muzzle, and a growing black hole.
Maybe I can restrain them?
As I summoned Glastrier, I raised my hands above my head, hundreds of whip-like vines streaking towards the stallion and snaring its limbs, neck, and muzzle.
It struggled and tugged, snapping some. I replaced them, panting from the effort.
I glanced up to see a hailstorm of icicles plummet towards me, and I dragged my tense body to the side with telekinesis, feeling cold air flush against my cheek as the attack exploded beside me.
I closed my eyes, and began to charge up the Future Sight.
Pink energy began to build in my mind’s eye even as my body continued to grapple with the powerful steed, and as I opened my eyes, Glastrier knew what was coming.
With a bang like striking thunder, Glastrier burst in half at the middle in a bright pink explosion, bits of white and blue flying everywhere as its bloodless body fell to the ground, limbs melting like snow under the sun and head whining its pain.
I smirked, and felt a grin creep up my–
“Hurk–!”
I glanced down, and there, extending up from the ground, was a great blue pike, extending from the ground and piercing through my heart.
My body seized up as copper coated my tongue and dribbled out of the corners of my mouth. My shaky eyes looked up at Glastrier, hoping that I had at least taken it down with me this time.
The white swirled in the air, and like a blizzard, Glastrier’s body flew up, falling gently like snow into place. Ice crystallized upon its forehead, until the crown adorned the king of ice once more.
From the wound on my chest, ice began to creep along my skin, numbing my limbs, stopping my heart, and consuming my neck.
The last thing I saw before my eyes disappeared beneath the frost was Glastrier’s cold, unseeing stare.
Perhaps I can attack them while they are still statues?
With a desperate cry, I hurled the hardened lance forwards, the pink aura surrounding it evaporating as it hurtled through the air. I watched anxiously as it sailed straight towards the petrified Spectrier’s neck.
It struck true, but upon contact it instantly vaporized in a haze of purple smoke.
And from it emerged the grim reaper.
Armor?
I surrounded myself with thick vines, a barrier that folded as a great icy hoof crushed my skull–
Levitation?
Seemingly ignoring my powers and slipping directly out of my grasp, I could only watch as the Shadow Ball sailed towards my face.
Both at once?!
It was foolish to the extreme, and I paid the full consequence for it as a blast of darkness shattered my frozen body.
WHAT DOES IT WANT FROM ME?!
…
…
…
I gasped as I slid out of the ugly green pod once again. As I fell upon the Earth with a soft plap, I simply laid there, limp, coated in a mucus that was quickly becoming familiar to me. I had died…
…
…I had forgotten. There were too many attempts to count.
Groaning, I rolled over, my body eagle-spread as I stared blankly up at the heavens. Clouds rolled and tumbled through the sky, a curtain of smoke that hung over a forest of death.
I felt something leak from the corner of my eye, and I knew it was not slime.
A whimper built up in my throat.
And for a few hours… I simply let it all out.
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…I give up.
Trembling, I lifted myself into the air with a gentle psychic grasp, not even bothering to clean myself of the muck.
And for the hundredth time, I crept into the woods alone, the eyes of a thousand bleached birch trunks turning to glance at the strange, pathetic Calyrex.
I cared not. I was never here for parties or adventures.
I pushed open the doors, slipping inside without a sound, no more than a hazy apparition, a weak wraith.
The tunnel that had taken so long to tread before now seemed to pass by in the blink of an eye. A lifetime of battles passed through my mind, etched into a brain that had been reborn many a time now.
I slowed as I found myself before the great statue of Eternatus once again.
I glanced up at it, and though it had no eyes, I could have sworn it stared back at me now.
I raised a hand to my chest, and held it over my heart. My skin was cold to the touch, and my heart was barely alive, beating to sustain what was no more than a ghost at this point.
I looked down, absent-mindedly tracing the wyrm’s body with my eyes, until it reached the tail, where the pedestal held up the massive stone beast.
I reached out, and touched the stone once again.
Blood-red.
Blood.
…
…I have nothing else to lose now. I cannot go back.
I looked up at the statue, locking eyes with it. We gazed at each other for what felt like an eternity, what was an eternity.
My mind twitched, and I could feel my creation wilting a thousand steps away. This would be it. My final breath.
I summoned a spear in my slimy right hand, twirling it to hold the point like a knife up to my chest, directly over my heart.
I looked up at Eternatus.
My eyes shook, and my body became oddly still, the air serene and the world at peace.
The statue nodded.
SHIRK!
…
…
…
…
My eyes flew open as I awoke.
I was blind, but only for a moment as my eyes adjusted. Above me, guarding my still body, was Eternatus, solid, gray, looming. A god, protecting its herald.
Me.
I knew it from the moment I opened my eyes.
I sat up slowly, calmly, propping myself up on an elbow first to check my body for wounds. I would find none, but something immediately became clear to me.
My cape was not the usual shade of green and blue. A dark red stained it, the black interior spreading up my back, around my chest, dotting my arms and legs and blotting out the pristine white that had covered it before.
Not a trace of the slime remained, not even on the floor around me, and I glanced down at my chest, remembering what I had done.
There, visible beneath the now-red beads around my neck… was a star-shaped wound. Directly over my heart, with lines like pulsing veins rippling outwards from it, staining my torso with my blood.
Eternatus’ blood.
I looked up silently at Eternatus.
…
…
…Thank you.
A quiet neigh caught my attention. I tore my gaze away from my god, and saw before me a familiar white and black pair of steeds.
Glastrier, the stallion of winter, greeted me with a low grunt.
Spectrier, the mare of night, acknowledged me with a shake of its mane.
Both were still. Both watched me quietly, calmly.
They were mine.
I had conquered death.
…
…
No, that’s not it, I thought.
I had not conquered death.
I… AM death.
Red aura surrounded me as I raised my body from the ground. My head throbbed, but I welcomed the sensation for the very first time.
My mission was complete.
I turned back to Eternatus, sweeping my cape behind me. I took in its great appearance once again, carved with magnificent, splendid detail out of a mountain of lifeless stone.
I bowed low to my god.
I turned around, and nodded at Spectrier and Glastrier. As I passed them, I could feel them follow me, death’s chilling embrace to my left, and death’s heartless stare to my right.
I pushed open the doors, an unknown strength flowing from my arms and blasting them off their hinges, centuries of dust scattering to the air as the gates crashed upon the ground with a mighty thud.
I breathed in the smell of debris, savoring it.
My bloodshot eyes flew open, and I greeted the night.
“My kingdom shall prosper… by any means necessary.”
Thus proclaimed… no. That was not my name. Not any longer.
A wide grin tore a fresh gash open my face, and behind me, the bringers of death hailed my arrival to the world, my birth.
Thus proclaimed… the Bloodroot.
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