Prologue – The Starchild’s Lullaby

A long, long time ago, the Moon heralded the dawn…

—Opening line of Her Grace, first part of the Celestial Procession: Moon

–

Far away, draped in a thick veil of eternal fog, in a land abandoned by all – from mortal to deity – ran an absol with a pervasive itch in her horn. With unparalleled speed and unwavering focus, she leapt over and through sheer cliffs and steep valleys, towards the heart of this undead land. Her old paws knew the way all too well, each breathless bound taking her higher towards the central mountain range until a tangle of pine ushered her into a timeless abyss.

But before she could take that first step, her vision turned bright red with a premonition.

…

In an alcove beneath a wind-swept cliff, two ghostly zoroark stared each other down. The smaller’s ears were pinned back, her maw contorted into a snarl at the larger’s grin that held nothing but vehement malice.

“How fitting that we meet again like this,” the larger taunted. “But unfortunately, luck doesn’t appear to be on your side this time.”

…

White fur stood on end as the absol blinked away the vision. With it went the unbearable sear that had momentarily replaced the itch in her horn. Her eyes adjusted to the surrounding environment; a thicket that hadn’t been touched by sun nor moon for many millennia, features unnaturally pulled and contorted to form an immense labyrinth as both time and space became naught but a mere suggestion. Most would avoid such a place – in fact, they would’ve been wise to do so – but the absol knew this route far too well as it had always proven itself to be the quickest.

Being so familiar, it was easy to predict how the environment would shift and distort. She ducked to avoid a branch that’d thrusted itself onto her path, leapt over bottomless pits and onto shaking rocks, using the immense root systems as platforms. She passed through barrier after barrier of distortion; not much further until— There!

…

Thin air surrounded the throat of the kneeling – weavile? sneasler? None could tell – siphoning her breath away, the threat of her demise becoming reality as her vision clouded with darkness. How much longer before all was lost in this miasma?

No. She couldn’t think like that. The hybrid’s gaze moved away from the ground as she braced herself, fixating on the frozen sun’s jagged, crystal eye.

…

This isn’t normal, the absol thought, emerging into a great expanse of ruins. Long strands of grass bore through cracked cobblestone. She walked past buildings, their structures and foundations long undermined by the roots and branches of nature’s will. As she did, she thought back to the times when her imagination would whisper of conversations of those who’d once lived here and the routines of their daily lives. But her thoughts never lingered, for if they did, sadness would’ve consumed her long ago.

Past the ruins laid another distorted labyrinth that guarded and entangled what would’ve been a direct path to her destination. More dangerous, more unreliable, but she could not hesitate, even as the shifting sensation in her horn heralded the coming of another vision. It overtook her moments after she stepped through the barrier.

…

A marowak of dark hide and cyan flame walked along the sanded edges of a glistening shore with only her own thoughts for company. She’d long since abandoned the lapras who had brought her here, for there was nothing for her to return to.

Days had passed with little care for pause or precaution, her exhaustion becoming increasingly obvious. Soon, she spotted a great forest that bore the unmistakable appearance of a Mystery Dungeon. Only then did she stop.

…

The spike of pain that came with it was more intense than the last. Absol found herself trying to shake off the ensuing dizziness from such a shock, steps becoming wobbly. This was bad. Very bad. If she was to succumb to these strange visions, let the pain cripple and distract her, then she couldn’t…

Adrenaline coursed through her system, fuelling her. Absol bolted through the dungeon, leaping over its many obstacles, circumventing the corridors, her horn her guide. She passed through many more veils of distortion, the labyrinth growing more complex and dangerous in turn, as if it was fighting back by preventing her from going any further.

But Absol was wise to this dungeon’s tricks. Even if grazed by the odd trap or two, she would always evade the worst of it. Soon, she emerged onto stable ground once more, leaving the tangled canopy of grass and stone trees behind.

…

B efore the great dragon beneath the sanctuary, eyes and scales dulled with age, stood a koraidon, eyes bright and scales gleaming.

“Why have you come? What causes you to disturb my slumber?” the immense creature rumbled.

“Great Dragon, I beg. The Silver Death has reawakened the demon that is Lightless and I do not know anyone else capable of stopping it. Please! before it brings death to all who live in this world.”

The great dragon’s eyes closed as the ground rumbled with… laughter? “Little one, you have seen the altar, have you not? Death has encompassed this world for as long as it has lived.”

…

Absol’s grip on the dirt beneath her loosened. Almost there, she reassured herself. Almost there. Just a straight path forward. For a split second she looked back, frowning at the distortion behind her. Though this land was no stranger to them, even before it had been abandoned, they had never been this intense. The increasingly esoteric environments fascinated her as she drew closer to her destination.

She shook her head. She couldn’t afford to let her mind wander about these things. She continued down the vestigial remains of the path through a dense forest. Wild pokémon who’d made their home here snarled at the disruption but vanished at the realisation that they were being ignored. One sharp left and then…

…

Nothing was real.

The spirit of what had once been a vulpix flickered like a dying ember in the emptiness. It struggled, asphyxiating as it desperately tried to hold onto any remaining shred of existence, but it was like trying to grip onto smooth glass.

And then… a light of brilliant, resplendent gold.

…

She had arrived. The fog was at its thickest here, which made it impossible to see more than a few metres ahead. Through the grey gloom, Absol felt her way forward until her paws came into contact with a steep, rocky incline. Her claws dug in, finding the well-worn punctures that she’d left there so long ago, and keeping her body close to the rock wall, she began to climb.

It wasn’t easy. It was never easy on her old bones, especially when visibility was so limited, but she had no other choice but to continue. Several times her hindpaws would slip, leaving them to scramble, her mind racing with each frantic motion. And once again, In the midst of her clambering, her vision flashed red.

…

A  riolu shivered in the darkness. Her team had managed to find some kind of shelter in these desolate lands, the rocky terrain peppering her paws with orange dust.

Her aura sensors were going haywire. She could sense them, stalking her, tempting her with their abyssal whispers. She tried to get them out of her head, not realising that she was running deeper into the cave, skidding to a stop once she came across a hole that the riolu could sense was unnaturally deep.

Something was down there.

Someone was down there.

…

When Absol returned to reality, she realised that she was standing frozen on the edge of a large, rocky basin. She had made it to the top. She looked behind her, finding nothing but swirling mist; ahead and below, a modest body of water that continuously rippled. She let out a deep sigh of relief; she’d arrived with only seconds to spare.

She walked around the edge towards a collapsed boardwalk that led to the water, its wood caught in a limbo between pristine and rotting, still slippery despite no water touching it for thousands of years. Absol looked around before climbing down. When she reached the rippling surface she took a deep breath, put a paw to the liquid silver and sang.

Starchild, ‘o starchild,
Why do you stir?
Come, ‘o child of stars
Lay down your head
And wrap yourself warmly in this blanket of mist

Still now, dear child
For even you must set
And let me speak to you in ancient tongues,
The language of a thousand stars
To guide you through this eternal night

Cast away your sorrows
Forget about your worries
And return to the warmth of your forest haven
For nothing but darkness remains
And your world is in good hands.

Still now, dear child
For even you must set
And let me speak to you in ancient tongues,
The language of a thousand stars
To guide you through this eternal night

Let your tomb of mountains bear the burden of the cold
Let your memories of forests act as the pillars of your dreams
Let moon and stars carry the skies away from you
Let your weary self rest beneath this cover of silver
And let the world be safe

For only then, will you be home again.

She lifted her paw, allowing her lullaby, her Perish Song, to carry far and reverberate off the steep, rocky walls that surrounded them. For a brief moment, the winds picked up before stilling with the water, leaving nothing but its reflective surface behind. Absol’s tail twitched. Four days, she thought as she began to climb again. Coupled with the fact that her visions were nothing short of an ill omen, it had only been four days since the last time she’d done this routine. Time was running out, her lullaby becoming ineffective. Sooner or later, she would have to sing every day, every hour to keep the inevitable at bay.

When she stepped onto the basin’s pinnacle, she closed her dull eyes and took a deep breath before looking out towards the southeast. There, obscured by a wall of fog, laid the distant ruins of a city once joyous and prosperous – much like the rest of this land. Where it all went wrong.

Where it all began.

…

In the deepest depths of the void, the remains of a man screamed in agony.

The Legion of the Eternal Moon

Book One: Sanctum of Omen