Chapter 2: House Guest
by dust_scoutWe strolled down the main eastern street before going south toward what looked like a residential district. (The buildings there gave that vibe.). While there were plenty of houses on these sandy streets that looked similar to those on the south western side, there was also a surprising number of generic-looking buildings. These buildings had more straight edges when it came to walls. In addition, the textures of each home had grounded seashells tightly packed to look flat and hard; closer inspection of these walls showed hard metal beneath the grounded shell coating. The rooftops of these buildings were also angled upward at the front. Furthermore, some of the buildings were practically connected to one another, even as the streets curved. The only point where there were gaps was when there were major and side streets, or when there was an alleyway.
Lucy happily skipped without much worry at all as we traveled through several city blocks.
As for me, I noticed a few folks giving me strange, almost judgmental, looks. I could have sworn I heard some laughter too, couldn’t tell why though. I did not bother staring back and foolishly thought about that dream I had earlier. No flashback happened this time, but more unusual thoughts invaded my head space. More specifically, I began thinking of places I never heard of in my life as a mythical. (“This humid air reminds me of Hoenn, if it had Sinnoh’s climate…wait…Hoenn? Sinnoh? Ugh, it’s just like the dock and whatever the heck plastic is. Where do these thoughts keep coming from?”)
“Hey Zera! This way!” Lucy shouted.
I snapped out of my thinking session and noticed Lucy had stopped near an alleyway. The corridor Lucy was pointing to moved toward the south-eastern corner of the Hourglass Tower.
The alleyway itself was surprisingly easy to miss. It was kind of fitting, considering a legendary would want their offspring hidden. Why Lugia picked a city as a habitat was still unclear, but I had an idea that Lucy’s behavior was to blame. Which begged the question, why haven’t we met this “Mr. Hero” yet? We should have ran into each other a long while ago if anything.
Regardless, Lucy casually skipped her way into the entrance ahead of me.
As I proceeded to follow, a dreadful feeling made me stop in placed. I questioned if someone was watching us.
To ease my concern I turned around, only to see a yellow figure dashing away from the side of an entrance.
(“What the? An Electric-Type?”) I immediately dashed out of the alley and searched, but no one was there anymore.
I proceeded to check for any possible escape routes, starting with the almost empty streets. Nothing. So, I then glanced toward the neighboring rooftops, which also had nothing. Finally, I crossed the road and looked back at the alleyway rooftops. Nothing. (“What’s with today and my imagination?”)
“Hey! What’s the holdup!” Lucy shouted over, now tapping her foot at the alley entrance.
With nothing to go off of, I reluctantly followed the little one into the alleyway at walking pace. (“Yeesh, today has been too stressful.”)
The alleyway, unlike the streets, did not sport the sand-like paths; instead the path was made of hard stone. Though there was a plethora of trash scattered on the side, the amount lessened as we made our way through.
At the end of the alley, was a large balloon-like structure with a rectangular chimney popping out of the roof’s right side. At the front was a massive front door that can fit Lugia’s size (barely though). The odd structure didn’t compare to the cleanliness of the area. When I thought of alleyways back on the other continents, I always saw them as the polar opposite. Inevitably, I dismissed the details as a part of this town’s standards.
Lucy opened the front door and ushered me inside.
The house’s interior started as a wide hallway with a fourteen-foot ceiling. The end of this corridor, oddly enough, has a small flight of three-foot long stairs as well as an even higher ceiling. (Each step on that flight might as well be its own elongated platform.)
Stepping forward into the foyer, I suddenly felt something wrap around my neck. Whatever it was forced me onto the ground. Instinctively, I tried to grasp my neck and noticed the slick texture on the choking apparatus. My attacker was alive and most likely had access to long arms.
Lucy turned around with irritation, “Grapploct! What the heck?!?”
The attacker revealed themselves in response and I saw the blue colors of the attacker’s arms. Either way, Grapploct had a tight hold on me. I would have tried to send an electrical shock, but the lack of air and time to charge up weren’t doing me any favors.
Grapploct spoke up, “Ahh! I’m glad to see you unharmed, young lady. I just apprehended this pink-faced fiend.”
I tried to speak, but I couldn’t get any breath, resulting in a spastic and fruitless effort to squirm out of harm’s way (spastic meaning flailing the legs like an idiot).
“Let him go! He’s a new friend, not a fiend! I saved his life!” Lucy demanded.
Grapploct’s grip relaxed itself a bit. “Ohhh. My apologies,” he said before releasing his grip.
I rolled over and gasped for air. After a short burst of mixed coughing and gasping, my breathing finally stabilized. “Puh- Pink-faced fiend?” I blurted. “How hard did she slap me?!?” I asked as I let out a wince of pain poking my left cheek.
“Hard enough to fit the crime,” Lucy replied in annoyance.
“Ohhhh. That’s what the loud slapping noise was,” Grapploct exclaimed.
I hissed quietly as I got up. I dusted myself off as I peered at my former attacker.
Yep, he was no doubt Grapploct. The blue body and yellow markings said it all, and that wasn’t even talking about those arms he used to stand up. Seeing a body like that in real life unsettled me. I’ve heard about how these Fighting-Types lived in the ocean and crawl onto land to fight many different opponents. Their bodies were supposedly all muscle, no bones whatsoever. This trait gave the species a dangerous amount of grip strength with its arms. Hence the name, Grapploct. (Just the thought of having your guts bounce around as you move gave me shivers.) Staying this guy’s good side was definitely a priority.
To get my mind off of the horrors of that octopus body, I quickly changed the subject by saying, “A-Anyways, I guess I should introduce myself now. I am Zeraora.”
Grapploct’s cyan eyes immediately focused on me upon hearing that. “Zeraora? You mean you’re the Zeraora?”
I sighed and nodded in response. “Am I famous here or something?”
“No, not necessarily but, let’s just say Lugia doesn’t like you very much,” the Fighting-Type explained.
“Ohhh…good to know…” I was starting to think taking Lucy’s offer was a bad idea (considering Lugia’s friend here seemed to think alike).
“Ehhh…you don’t seem to be a bad guy by the look of things,” Grapploct said, “Plus, the guardian already told me you were a bit of a loner-type.”
Lucy piped up at that moment, “Well as long as he’s here, I’ll make sure he doesn’t try to be said loner.”
“Haha!” Grapploct exclaimed, “She must really like you as friend considering she-” The Fighting-Type cut off his sentence as his expression changed into a serious look that turned him toward Lucy. “Waaaaiiit a second. How did you get out again?”
Lucy only nervously chuckled before responding, “Hehehe. I, uh…I forget?”
Hearing this, the octopus smacked a couple of tentacles onto his face.
The offspring’s eyes widened as she blurted, “Ohhh right. It was him! The little-“
Before she could finish, Grapploct cleared his throat loudly.
Lucy then places a wing over her mouth in a panic. She uttered an apology, “Right, my bad.”
Grapploct sighed and shook his head in a delicate and polite manner.
“Anyways, Zera here is staying with us,” Lucy declared. “So, he’ll need a place to rest?”
The Fighting-Type responded, looking back at me, “Oh. Right…You would need a bed wouldn’t you?” As he attempted to run toward what I assumed was his next errand, he stopped himself and turned back to me. “Oh where are my manners? I’m sure you know already, but I’m Grapploct, the little one’s appointed retainer.”
“Retainer,” I repeated, “Appointed by her?!?”
“Haha! No, I mean her father appointed me as a protector,” Grapploct clarified. “There’s actually two appointed as protectors. But the other one’s out right now, so it’s just me here…apparently.”
The retainer again gave Lucy side glance.
The youngling turned her back to us, innocently rubbing her wings together while doing so.
The Fighting-Type then shook his head while sighing. I could hear him mumbling something, but it was far too quiet to hear. (He sounded irritated at someone else.)
The mumbling was enough to make me a little curious. “Umm, sorry to sound nosy but, who’s this ‘him’ Lucy was talking about?”
Both Lucy and Grapploct shushed harshly at me in an instant; Lucy went further to give me a throat slash signal with her wing. (The question’s answer was clearly related to a very delicate topic by the sound of things.)
Grapploct inches closer while staring straight at my eyes. “Listen very closely,” he said in a serious tone, “the ‘he’ we’re referring to is someone very special, and sensitive. Just know that I’ll be sure to give ‘him’ a thorough talking. Nothing more.”
“Should I meet ‘him’ then?” I asked.
“No. He’s, He wouldn’t come out with you around,” the retainer replied. It was a rather weird response. It sounded like this “him” was a shut-in of some kind.
So I thought it would be right to ask, “Any places I should avoid then?”
Quickly the retainer said, “No.” But then after a couple moments of thinking though, his eyes shifted. “Well actually, yeah there kind of is. Just don’t go down to the berry garden.”
I raised a brow. “You keep a berry garden down here?”
“Yes I do,” the retainer stated as he patted my head, “and you shouldn’t go down there without my permission.”
“But I don’t know where it is,” I said in a fluster.
“Then don’t wander about and you’ll be fine,” the retainer responded with a smile, “And no, it’s not a ghost type if that’s what you were wondering.”
Finally, he whispered to my ear, “Can you do me a favor and keep this ‘him’ business inside of the house, or better yet just forget what you heard about it? I’d rather not speak of it, or worse let word get out. I mean, we all have our inner secrets, right?”
I couldn’t get a good grasp of the situation, but something about the retainer just…resonated with me somehow. I couldn’t tell if it was the way he dropped the act to be serious or if it was something much more subtle. His words had the persuasive power of a group rather than just one mon, which was something only a well-educated pokemon or legendaries could have. (He just didn’t seem like that kind of pokemon though, not at a glance.) Nevertheless, I nodded in agreement.
Acknowledging my cooperation, he then sped across the room toward a small stairwell found across from the entrance. He, now back to his bizarre heroic attitude again, then says “For now, I can only assume the both of you are dying for some grub right now. Make yourselves at home until I get some stuff ready.” He then descended down the stairs without another wasted moment, leaving Lucy and I behind at the foyer.
We stood there for a few moments in silence before Lucy inevitably broke it. “Yeah, that’s Mr. Hero alright,” she said, “Sure, he does seem a little weird, but th- he’s a good man. Just looking out for me. That’s all.”
(“A Grapploct for guarding a Lugia…I guess it would help for the Dark-Types I guess, but…I don’t think Lugia ever anticipated the offspring fighting back against said protection.”) I let out an small “Hmm” before taking a better glance at the place.
Free from introductions, I looked around in the foyer, which was unsurprisingly large and spacious. (How else could a giant near triple my size get around if the rooms weren’t spacious?) The foyer itself featured a fairly large and circular hole, just as large as Lugia’s wide wingspan. At a glance, the hole went down several floors. Apart from the pit, there was also a large and thick rectangular section of the right wall that shot into the ceiling, probably the chimney. Furthermore, there was also lighting provided by what looked like crystals of some kind. I couldn’t tell what they were due to them being obscured by the lamp’s structure. The only other noteworthy features were the aforementioned stairwell Grapploct used (probably for smaller pokemon to use) and two sets of stairs leading to an upper deck.
Lucy guided me to the upper floor, which was almost as large as the first floor. Unlike the first floor’s mat-like ground texture, the upper floor consisted of that smooth material found on the south-western docks. Rubbing my foot against it, I could confirm it had just as much grip as well.
The reason became obvious once the youngling showed what was behind the large back door. The back courtyard had a fairly large stone platform, connected to the house via a smooth, stone pathway. Bordering this platform from the walls was a ring of flowers that extended from the home’s back wall all the way to the wall of another building. Looking up, there was a large opening allowing easy passage for any flying pokemon to use. This area was a landing platform; if the guardian came back from a trip in the ocean depths, he would be less likely to slip upon entering the abode, hence the gripping texture of the upper floor. Standing behind the neighboring building in the distance was the Hourglass Tower’s top half, peeking over as if staring back.
“This is the backyard we keep,” Lucy remarked. “Kind of doubles as a garden and landing platform for Pops, not that he uses it much anyways.”
“Wait, you don’t use it?” I asked her.
“Nope,” the little one replied, shaking her head. “I haven’t learned how to fly yet.” That response eliminated one easy possibility on how she followed me to the mountain peak.
I turned toward Lucy. “Then how did you follow me to that mountain earlier?”
The youngling just made a nervous glance and smiled. “…I dunno…”
I squinted upon hearing the response.
“Uhhh…determination?” she sheepishly spoke.
I sighed and scratched my head in disbelief, (“Geez…followed by a flightless fledgling, am I slowing down or something?”)
Lucy turned away, mostly likely from the awkwardness of our conversation. (I had to admit though, the fact that she followed me up that mountain without flight was quite impressive and worth a compliment. I bet she could use some strong kick attacks if she needed to.)
After a peek at the back courtyard, we returned to the foyer and descended down the central stairwell, which was dimly lit (typical I guess). These two long flights of stairs led us to the home’s first basement floor.
The first sight that greeted us was once again the pit, only this time there was no hallway behind it. The room extended behind us, with each side being almost as spacious as the entrance hall. Past the stairway, was a small lounge room containing chairs, both large and small. To the right of this area, was a room featuring an elongated oval table, definitely a dining area.
Before Lucy could lead me somewhere else, Grapploct came in, gripping three plates of meals. “Hold it,” the retainer declared, “We have our dinner ready right here.”
At first, I was perplexed at how fast the Fighting-Type made it, but the prep speed was quickly justified as he spread out the plates.
He explained, “Since we can’t really cook at the moment, leftover raw tonight.” The retainer posed proudly at his decorative work.
(“Now I where the little one got her pose from.”) Being in a water-based town, I could only expect seafood (a Munchlax could figure that out). What I forgot about was that there was a chance the cuisine also included raw meat. Even though I had what some would call the nomadic lifestyle, I was still a rather picky eater. And one of those preferences just so happened to be that I’d only eat cooked meat…joy.
“Dare I ask what kind of meat this is?” I hesitantly asked.
Grapploct glanced at Lucy nervously. “Uhh…a plenty big fish,” he replied, “You know, not one of us if that’s what you’re wondering.”
I squinted my eyes a little hearing the response.
“You know how it is,” the retainer explained.
I only nodded in acknowledgment. (Yep, he was lying; couldn’t blame him since we were in front of a young child though.)
I had more pressing concerns as all of us sat at the table. (“Raw meat, why did it have to be raw meat?!?”) Small beads of sweat began to pour out of my head as I readied my first bite. Even I knew that one had to be polite when consuming another culture’s food, especially if they happened to be an unwanted guest for the most part. In other words, I had power through it, no excuses. Although the plate had some greens, there was rather strong egg odor coming from the meat as if it was out in the open air for a while longer than needed.
I had to act fast, the others were already making short work of their plates. Despite my screaming gag reflex, I (as quickly as a subtle movement would allow) popped a meat bite into my mouth, but the progress was quickly halted by my suffering taste-buds. The egg and spice flavor did not help matters either. I only cringed and held my teeth shut as both Lucy and Grapploct shared an awkward stare aimed at me.
To combat this awkward feeling (in a very poor attempt to keep composure), I forced myself to swallow; the taste spread itself out as the piece tumbled down my throat. Once the piece was downed, I tried to smile back. (The attempted smile only made the scene that much more cringey).
(As if to pull his focus away from the awkward atmosphere), Grapploct asked me this, “Soooo…What brings a cat like you down in the ocean depths?”
Desperate to distract myself (and them), My thoughts latched themselves onto the question’s topic. “Wait…what? I mean…yeah we’re in the depths, but it’s not like I had a choice in the matter. Good thing, there was this cavern here.”
Grapploct and Lucy twitched their eyes upon hearing my statement. They stared at one another and gestured to each other. It went on for a few moments before Lucy shrugged silently.
Grapploct finally turned his attention to me. “You do know we’re not in a cavern, right?”
I thought the question was redundant. “Uhhh…it’s a town beneath the ocean…right?”
The Fighting-Type’s jaw dropped before he groaned in disbelief.
“Oh my gosh, Zera,” Lucy groaned, “When I said towns under the sea, I meant in water, not under the sea. We are literally underwater, right now. Just in…in a big air bubble essentially.”
(The Klinks finally started turning.) “…Wha-?…What?…WHA-?, “Wwhhaaaat?!?”
“Maybe I should have clarified that sooner?” Lucy commented.
My hands were shaking, “…Y-You think?!? O-Of course you should have! J-Just how?!?”
Grapploct spoke up, “Calm down there, Zeraora. You wouldn’t be here right now if it weren’t for the air here. Though even I’m perplexed how you didn’t see the evidence. The lighting here and horizon here should have told you sooner.”
It was true that I should have noticed sooner. When I first saw the horizon, I did think it was odd. Lucy did say the city lights were based on the time or something. I thought it was a cave beyond the lights. If what Lucy and Grapploct are saying is true, then the horizon wasn’t cavern walls at all…or at least in the traditional sense. I was instead just looking more ocean water. The deepest depths of the ocean right in front of me and I missed it. I heard the ocean gets dark the farther down you go. Only Water-Types had that pleasure. That’s what I thought. (This was quite the once in a life-time chance.)
Overwhelmed by these thoughts, I simply stated, “…I guess…I guess it makes sense…it’s just a lot to take in.”
“We’ll just take it one step at a time,” Grapploct said calmly, “Let’s start from the beginning of your little situation.”
He was right. One step at a time. So I took the time to elaborate on the situation, while trying my best to keep the story consistent with what Lucy supposedly told everyone so far, even the slap unfortunately. (Thanks a lot, Lucy. The retainer laughed upon hearing about that little incident.)
After processing all of this in a weirdly careful manner, Grapploct finally spoke up, “Well now. That’s pretty problematic. But never fear. Feel free to stay at our humble abode for as long as you need…I’m sure Lugia won’t notice if you stayed here for a few days.”
He turned to the fledgling. “So the young one is now, Lucy. Pretty nice name all things considered, don’t you think?”
The young one blushed a little in embarrassment hearing the retainer’s words. (However, something about her expression seemed exaggerated somehow.)
The retainer continued, “Regardless of the matter, the new name will make my job so much easier. I’d like to thank you for helping out with that.” He then banged on the table in declaration, “Now then, let’s eat.”
Everyone continued to eat their meal and I (foolishly) followed suit, only to be reminded of the taste I distracted myself from. Though I tried to remain composed, I still screamed and cried internally, (“Aaaauuugh!!! This is the worst!”). This embarrassment lasted through the rest of the dinner time. Somehow, I managed to eat my meal (but at what cost).
Without drawing suspicion (by some miracle), I convinced Grapploct to get me some berry juice, which I took to the top floor’s backyard. There I stood, drinking down the fluid in an attempt to wash down the meal’s flavor. Even though I still questioned how Grapploct could keep a berry garden down in these depths, I wasn’t about to complain. I was glad I had something to get rid of this awful taste in my mouth. (Too bad the memory of it will remain.)
Gazing upward, the sky err…whatever folks called this dome had now darkened itself. The lights now resembled a peaceful night sky, or at least it would have been peaceful had it not been for the chilling wind that blew through the alley on occasion. These alley gales were comparable to autumnal wind when it came from the north. Cold enough cut through any unprepared soul. The buildings didn’t help much either; they turned this whole alley into a wind tunnel every now and then.
Though partially obscured by the neighboring building, the Hourglass Tower still glistened in the darkness. No, not just glistened, it shined brightly. In fact, the sky-blue color of the main structure was now more pronounced than ever. The golden sun color on the tower’s center also glowed. Even the silver-frame glowed to a certain extent. The tower’s glow at night displayed the daylight horizon of the surface.
It was quite a beautiful sight, it made me wonder who built it. Was it a traveling local or some ancient founder? I never heard anything about it before at that point, not even from those closest to me. I know Lugia or anyone from the sea never mentioned it at all to us storm-makers. It was strange how something that stood out so much went unmentioned. Did I seriously miss rumors of it?
The tower’s dial displayed itself as now being…oh right, I didn’t know how to read time on the clock. (“Way to go, genius.”) The short arm was now on the second-closest wedge to the right of the midnight section. The long arm on the other hand, was near the top section of the dial instead. Either way, it was night-time by the look of things.
I sighed to myself. I then began to drink another mouthful of juice thinking, (“Great, I messed things up and now that youngling’s got me staying here of all places. I swear she’s gonna be the death of me at this rate.”)
As if in response to my thought, a youthful voice spoke up. “Is that so? Maybe this ‘flightless fledgling’ might actually be ‘the death of you’ if you keep up with that attitude.”
Hearing it made me spit the juice out in complete surprise.
I turned around and saw Lucy standing behind me, wings crossed. (“Did she just-”)
The youngling nodded before I finished my thought, “Read your mind? Yeah I did, and that was kind of rude.”
I scratched my head nervously. “Huh, I guess that was obvious, sorry?” (“Lucky guess.”).
“That was not a lucky guess!” the fledgling exclaimed in a fluster, “I’m a psychic type! I can read you like an open book! I thought even you would have known better!”
I couldn’t believe what she was saying. Nobody could truly read my mind, (not even that battle-hungry philosopher Mewtwo). There was only one quick way to test it. I raised my right hand as a promise to tell the truth. “All right, I’ll believe you if you can tell me exactly what all thoughts are word for word after I say done,” I challenged.
“You’re on, buster,” she replied, still staring at me.
I started rubbing my chin. “We’ll see, we’ll see…consider the challenge accepted.”
I was confident that she would fail miserably. So I thought there would be no way she could possibly predict insults and slander (much to my inner dismay). So I began to lay out my thoughts in the most complicated way I knew how. (“Try this you nasty little witch! This is absolutely absurd! So many psychic types couldn’t read my mind before. Yet, this youngling thinks she can. Ha! As if! For all I know she dragged me to this town on purpose. Ohhh…but that wouldn’t be enough of a challenge, would it? Let’s see. How about this random insult? You’re a gigantic liar who gets bored on a whim! And another thing, that slap from earlier still hurts! You would be the worst guardian ever and I hope you fail cause you’re an idiot.”). “Done,” I concluded. That felt good and I knew luck wouldn’t save her now. (This was going to end badly the moment this idea was conceived.)
And then I was proven wrong again as Lucy began to repeat my thoughts as my challenge decreed. My face grew pale and my jaw dropped as it happened. Not even my side remarks were safe from the youngling’s attention to detail. In fact, she even mimicked the emotion behind each worded thought down to the emphasis…it felt too unreal.
The fledgling finished reciting my final statement. “…You would be the worst guardian ever and I hope you fail cause you’re an idiot.” With that said, the little one put herself in a hero pose and wore an devilish smirk. She then stated in a mocking tone, “Done.” (I mean the insult was well deserved, but it was still cruel to have one’s inner thoughts spat back at them and she knew it) . After her declaration, Lucy smugly asked me, “Sooo…how was it, Mr. Idiot? Surely, you didn’t mean it when you called me an idiot. It was for the challenge after all, right?”
In a sheepish manner, I nodded rapidly, finally admitting defeat.
I was truly left dumbstruck at the idea that this Lugia offspring, out of every single pokemon in the world, was the first one to ever read my thoughts exactly. I was even more disturbed at the degree she did it. Maybe it was because I never experienced a psychic type probing my mind before, but it was scary to have someone reading exactly what I was thinking.
It became clear that I had to put a stop to this. If she read my thoughts at a bad time, it would get me in big trouble (or worse, get us killed). With this thought in mind, I asked her, “Look, I believe you now, but it is rude to look into other folks’ minds without their permission. You know that, right?”
Lucy slowly drummed the edges of her wings together out of nervousness. “Hehehe…Th-This is the first time I’ve been told that?”
This wasn’t the first time she was told this, I could easily see that. “Nice try, Lucy, but not this time.” I then calmly asked her, “Did you read anything else in my mind today?”
“I- I did read it when you called me flightless earlier, but that was it, I swear,” Lucy replied with a bow.
This was my chance to arrange something. “You shouldn’t be reading random stranger’s minds, right? So, how about a bit of practice? If you promise, not to read my mind unless I allow it, I won’t tell anyone about what happened with the whole abduction thing. In return, I uhh…I guess I’ll be there for you as long as I’m able to?.” I held out a paw. “Do we have a deal?”
Lucy paced around, thinking, for a short bit of time. After several “hmm”s and “err”s she finally walked up to me and declared, “Okay, but on one simple condition.”
I tilted my head curiously.
“You gotta be my big brother,” she said.
My eyes widened upon hearing the words. “I-I. I’m sorry, what?”
“Be my big brother,” she repeated with open wings. “I never had real siblings before. A lot of other kids got siblings, but not me.” The fledgling crossed her wings as her face grimaced. “It kind of gets lonely when you don’t have friends that are actually your age. Even after we settled in the city, Pops never lets me play with the other kids, saying that…we belong with us and ‘commoners’ belong with themselves…” She then stared at me, “It’s not fair, especially I don’t have someone to relate with, you know?” Finally, Lucy clapped her wings together and begged, “Please…even if it’s just for a week.”
Lucy’s reasoning…I could relate to that (in more ways than she could possibly think). It made me recall my younger years (even if it was in general for a moment). She’s been going through a similar situation. I would be heartless and I’d be lying if I said that her reasoning didn’t mean anything to me. Even still, I was worried if I was really the best guy to call a ‘brother’ though. (If I had the time, if I could reason with Lugia, make amends, I would do it in a heartbeat. But I can’t, not yet. …There had to be a way though…somehow.)
Regardless of my conflicted feelings, I muttered under my breath, “I’m not sure if that’s going to end very well…”
Lucy frowned. “Fine, then I’ll just tell Pops all about how you called me a flightless fledgling and how you called me a whale earlier.” She then sported wicked and sarcastic smirk. “I’m sure he’ll enjoy that when I tell him.”
“Hold up!” I exclaimed, “I did not call you a whale at all today!”
“Yes you did,” Lucy replied.
“No I didn’t!” I retorted.
The fledgling sighed. “…What do you think the word ‘Balena’ means?”
“Well…” I cut myself off as I thought about the definition. And then I realized it (“Balena is another word for whale”). “…Oohhhh.” I gritted my teeth and winced as a sense of realization hit my system.
“W-Would he really break me for that?” I asked.
“Ohhh come on. Are you really in a good position to take that chance?” she shot back, still smirking. The implications of Lucy’s counter argument more or less terrified me.
We both had dirt on one another, but the most Lugia could do to her was a small punishment. Me on the other hand, I stood no chance (more accurately, just doomed). So, I had no choice but to agree, as awkward and embarrassing as it was to have my arm twisted by a child.
“Alright, a promise is a promise,” I said while reluctantly shaking Lucy’s right wing.
Afterwards, the fledgling jumped in excitement. “Woo! Yeess!” After a few moments of trying to compose herself, she then ran for the house’s backdoor. Once at the door, she, still somewhat excited, turned to me and said, “Okay, starting tomorrow, we got a lot ahead of us. So let’s get some good rest tonight.”
After a whole day of nonsense, I couldn’t agree more. I nodded and took my time following the youngling back to the house.
As Lucy and I entered the foyer, Grapploct came up to us. “Ah, you’re done I see. I just finished up preparing your room for tonight.”
We followed the Fighting-Type down to the second basement floor. Like with the dining area, the first sight we saw was the pit.
Gazing at the ground floor from the hole’s edge, I saw a seal, though it seemed upside down from where I was looking. The mark showed a massive hourglass. In each of the non-diagonal directions, were smaller markings. To the right of the main object (from the current perspective), was a lightning bolt. On the left was some kind of tree. Below the object was a mountain covered in what looks like fire and ash. Finally at the above position, was an eyeball that typically used to brand the Psychic-Types. All of these objects were bound together with drawn decoration in the form of lines flowing in a similar manner to the chaotic ocean waves ringing around the circular seal. If I was looking at it from the proper direction, I’d probably be able to see more of it, but alas I wasn’t so fortunate.
Behind the pit were a pair of doors that featured the aesthetics of a dojo, perhaps a training area.
Moving around the stairwell behind me, I saw yet another small relaxation area adjoined by two hallways. The major difference between this area and the one above was that there was a massive box table type of device. This device had quite a few smaller pieces of wood. The many visible lines gave that indication; some of the pieces were also raised up in some kind of pattern. The halls and doorways were also quite large; it was pretty easy to tell why. Though it was all quite spacious from my perspective, I could see it being somewhat cramped for someone larger, as if one were standing in a tent.
Past this area in the forward direction, was a long hallway lined with several doors. To the right was a stone-walled corridor. I followed everyone in the forward direction. I took a small peak at each door as we passed by them. The first of these doors, on the right, seemed to be some kind of disposal room. The next two doors were shut tight, but the next door on the right after seemed to be open. Though I had a brief glimpse, I could tell it was filled with an awful lot of trinkets. There were some rocks, gems, and other weird stuff from who knows where. It was obvious Lucy’s room by the looks of it.
Finally at the end of the hall to my left, was an open room. Grapploct led me inside and grabbed the container of berry juice out of my hands. This guest room was pretty empty, spacious as usual. The desk found within had no items on it or anything. At the left corner of the room, relative to the doorway, was a hay bed arranged in a rectangular shape, with a small fluffy rectangle. (I believe it was what some called a pillow.)
While watching me look around the room, Gapploct said to me, “This will be your room, for the time being, of course. Use it however you like.” The retainer then pointed at a particular knob on the wall behind us. “This knob here is the light switch, turn it when you’re leaving or when you want to rest.”
I glanced at the knob. “This turns off the lamps?”
“It doesn’t use fire you know,” Lucy commented.
“Electricity,” Grapploct added, “…but there’s a lot more complicated stuff about it.”
I peered at the bright lamp on the ceiling. “I guess I’ll take your word for it. I think I just need some rest.”
“Okay. Have a good night,” Lucy said with enthusiasm. The fledgling then dashed out of the room.
Grapploct glanced at me before saying, “Just turn the knob when you’re ready to rest and well…relax. Have a good night.” As he walked out, a crashing noise could be heard. The retainer ran through the hall as he called out, “Young On- I mean Lucy, Lucy! What happened now?”
Taking advantage of this new opportunity of peace and quiet, I decided to close the room’s door. I looked at the bed with a blank expression. I then turned the knob on the wall and sure enough on Grapploct’s word, the lamp light faded away. The room became much darker. It wasn’t total darkness surprisingly enough; I noticed a couple of small holes where light seemed to be coming in. It was pretty dim, but I could assume the light was either from above ground or from something else. At that point, I was too tired to care.
I slowly moved toward the bed before toppling right onto it face first. It was a lot more softer than what I was used to. Finally laying on my side, I began to reflect on this long day. (“What went wrong?”)
Before thinking of a possible answer to my own question, I drifted to sleep quicker than I expected.
As I slept, another dream made its invasion. It was yet another lucid dream. The first sight that greeted me was a wash basin. I also noticed a pair of small bald hands, with the right hand being somewhat burnt at the palm.
“Ow…” a voice muttered. I recognized it as the same voice I heard before in the previous daydream. The view shifted itself upward to face a mirror. In the reflection, stood a small boy behind the basin. The blonde fur, or rather hair, on his head looked soaked, along with the garments he wore.
When I gazed at this boy, I could only think of a singular word, human. I was raised with the idea that humans are figures of myths and fairy tales; the legendaries were told that the humans were from another world, another dimension. None of us on the lower end of the hierarchy knew exactly what they looked like; the most realistic depictions were long since destroyed and anything else tended to exaggerate features, according to Reshiram. The most notable detail Reshiram told me about humans was that most humans were said to have bald bodies save for their heads. I never looked into these fairy tales; yet, here I was, watching one.
A mother’s voice caught the boy’s attention. “Ohh Volant, you’re such a mess right now.” Overwhelming sorrow began to stir within upon hearing the sound of the voice. The view turned to the left and showed a much taller human. This human had longer hair that reached her shoulders. The sight of her nearly caused me to tear up. The view covered itself in static right after she entered the room. However, the sadness and longing did not disappear, in fact, the emotions amplified themselves.
When the static cleared up, I saw a Shinx laying on a small bed. It was no doubt the same Shinx this “Volant” boy rescued before. It was now bandaged and seemed to be resting. I could assume Volant was crouching while watching the youngling rest. The scene was peaceful, the opposite of how I was feeling. I tried to wake myself in a desperate attempt to avoid seeing that Shinx. For whatever reason, the sight of Shinxes made me uncomfortable. I didn’t know why. But every time, a strong feeling of dread and uninvited emptiness came to me.
Being forced to see this one, it was no ordinary sighting, it was just agony to me.
Instead, my vision faded into darkness briefly before I found myself in a blurry and desolate empty space. There was a blurry light source above me, but I couldn’t tell what it was. The only object I could accurately make out was a large mirror to my right. Everywhere and anything else was either blurred or encased in total darkness. Unlike moments before, I could control the movements of my body. I glanced at own paws. (“Good, I’m in control of myself here.”)
I glanced at the mirror and moved toward it to get my bearings. Instead of the expected Zeraora reflection, I saw Volant at eye level. (“I don’t remember the boy being this tall.”) Briefly forgetting the fact I was looking at a mirror, I leaned to the left; I was trying to get a better look at the human. However, Volant mimicked my movement exactly, even my surprised expression. This was nothing like my past dreams at all; this one felt far too real. (“Okay…calm down…it’s just a dream…not real”)
I reached out with my right paw, only to find it was now bald like Volant’s hand. No, it was Volant’s hand. The burn mark in my palm proved it; even the reflection had it. I made frantic glaces at my body, arms, and legs.
I felt my fur blowing away in smoke as this happened. I progressively felt more cold until my whole body was now like Volant, complete with the garments. I grasp my head, which had the smooth feeling of skin save for the hair on the top. I glanced back at the mirror, the reflection was still mimicking my movement. I became Volant somehow. A disturbing thought then entered my mind, (“I was a human, I am Volant”). I teared up more as I shook my head in denial.
A familiar soft-spoken voice sounded out from somewhere. It wasn’t Volant or anyone I knew for certain…or least I thought it wasn’t someone I recognized. “Volant, it’s time you remember,” the male voice said, “I will do as I promised in our deal.”
“Wait!” I shouted to the empty space behind me, “Who are you? Where are you? Why am I here?!?” There was no answer.
I faced the mirror once more, only to find something new in addition to my reflection. It was…me? Or rather, I saw a Zeraora behind me, towering over me with the look of a predator. A shiver of fear consumed my body at the sight. I turned around to see this Zeraora glaring at me with malice-filled blue eyes.
Within a split-second, the cat’s eyes changed and glowed with a violent red as it leaped at me. The attacker grabbed me and I felt an intense pain in my chest and neck. Before I even blinked, I was slammed against the mirror; shards of glass could be felt on my back as well as my head as my vision went black.
I awakened and snapped up in a cold sweat. I breathed heavily as I frantically glanced around the room. Nothing. The room remained as untouched as when I last saw it.
I placed a paw on my head. (“It was just…just…just a horrible nightmare…”) As I thought this, my head ached in pain. More images flashed in my mind. The dreams I experienced before began to connect themselves firmly as fact.
After the burst of flashbacks, I covered my mouth in horror as my eyes teared up. It finally hit my mind at long last. The dreams were all memories, the memories of Volant. They were my memories. “I was…” I blurted, “I was, I am, I am h-” Despite my best and most forceful efforts, I couldn’t say the words at all.
Just after this realization, the world warped. The room twisted and stretched, leaving me in a drowsy, dizzy state where my vision was blurred. My whole body felt heavy, causing me to fall backwards onto the bed.
Laying helplessly on the bed, I turned my head; it was the only thing I could do in my state. Though subtle, the movement allowed me to see a figure, someone else in the room. Despite my blurry vision, I could tell it was someone with yellow fur and a deathly stare that could scare Ghost-Types to submission. Could it have been the same Zeraora from before? Was the nightmare continuing?
The figure spoke with a masculine and echoing voice, but it was far too muffled to tell what words he was saying.
Once the figure finished saying whatever words he wanted, my eyelids forced themselves closed. My mind went blank into unconsciousness once again, leaving me at the mercy of my uninvited visitor.
Fragment of Knowledge:
Lucy (Soon to be Lugia the Fifth)
Status: Soon-to-be In-Training (Sea/Oceanside Guardian)
Age: 4 Myth-Years (42 Years)
This 4 Myth-Year Lugia offspring is the soon-to-be heiress of the title of “Guardian of the Sea.” She is rather rebellious and prone to making hot-headed decisions such as exploring Silspring’s city districts alone. Insensitive folks, particularly among the higher ups, tend to nickname her “Five” as a result of this trouble-making reputation. Her current combat skills are undeveloped due to her lack of experience. The youngling’s Gust attack pales in comparison to her parent’s attacks in terms of power. Nowadays, she is cared for by two retainers assigned by Lugia himself.
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