ALONE.its.SONG.will.FAIL
December was coming... not that it made any difference, but still.
Somewhere, far beyond the usual parameters of human competence, there was a series of islands called the Orange Archipelago. As the name suggested, the Orange Islands (as they are sometimes called for the sake of those who aren't endowed in the art of wordcraft) are an extensive group of smaller landmasses grouped together, none of which are large and important enough to be counted as a destination in their own right. In the corner of this mess of sea and land, there lies an island which in many ways is so much like the others.
However, unlike the others, this island is worth caring about.
For on this island, there was a prophecy. Granted, like most prophecies, the locals trusted it so ferociously that it sounded like nothing more than a crackpot theory induced by the excruciating heat. This is not true. The prophecy they followed like a law, and honored every year with a truly impressive re-enactment, was (for the most part) true.
The legend has been proven more than once, though only to a select few. Those great monsters of Fire, Lightning, and Ice have depended on the sacred Guardian of the Sea - that is, Lugia - to calm the fighting.
...Admittedly, we have argued rather a lot without the interjection of Lugia, but those squabbles have never actually put anything in danger except perhaps a couple of stray Wingulls. And they were only out of the air for a few days. So while we were able to contain most of our disputes, most of the reason for this came from the Sacred Orbs that sat on each of our islands.
The Sacred Orbs were made for us when Lugia was created to be our master, our guardian, and our peace-keeper. As one can imagine, when these Orbs are in peril we get rather... unpleasant... until they are saved. And when said Orbs are destroyed - for though they are sacred, they can be broken and their powers rendered useless - things can get nasty...
...such as right now.
From inside the cave walls came a raging screech.
"Zapdos!" I yelled through the rocks, just as loudly. "You must calm down!" We had been locked in this stalemate for a rather long time now. It had been a unanimous agreement for all of the Legendary Court that, until Lugia had finished making a new Lightning Orb to keep on the respective island, the ballistic Zapdos would need to be contained somehow. By process of elimination - that is, Mewtwo flatly refused, everyone else explained that they lived too far away, and Moltres said that Fire Island was 'simply too small' - he was shipped off to Ice Island.
Admittedly, it was a rather large mountain island with quite a lot of caverns, but I wasn't keen on letting Zapdos in with his delusional state of mind. But what was I to do? Having not even attended that meeting due to a rather annoying squabble with a young Trainer, it was almost without explanation that the Thunder God was placed on Ice Island with a little pat on the head and a, "We know you can handle him, Articuno."
A load of Tauros, if you'll excuse my human slang.
"I will not CALM DOWN!" roared Zapdos, pecking ferociously. I didn't want to imagine how badly charred the chamber inside had become due to his rage. "I NEED the ORB to CALM DOWN! LET ME OUT! I MUST REACH IT!"
I gulped. Why had I even come to see him? He was acting just as strangely as he always had been.
"Uh... the Orb is still being worked on," I said, backing away from the rock-sealed chamber very slowly. Snow crunched under my talons. "It's going well, really it is. Lugia said it will be totally finished... you know, soon." Lugia had said nothing of the sort, but what was I to do? "Please, Zapdos, just hold on a little longer and we'll all be back to normal, okay?"
"NO!" boomed Zapdos. "I need to see it NOW!"
"Well then you'll be looking at a mess of pointy things," I replied, "because all you'll find is that human's airship." And it was; after that enormous ring-spewing capture mechanism - which I had escaped, I should point out - had been taken down, it crash-landed directly onto Lightning Island. And the shrine. This left the Lightning Orb without a home, so it remained on Shamouti while the other two were returned… of course, it was stolen soon after.
"But it will..." started Zapdos, ending the sentence with a choked cry.
There was silence.
"...Zapdos?" I asked the rock. "Zapdos? Are you alright?"
There was a groan from inside. It was Zapdos' - he was okay, just having a mental breakdown. It had happened before. He would be up and screaming again in just a few minutes. Having satisfied myself for his continued survival, I nodded. "Alright, fine. I'll... I'll be back later."
I backed up once again, landing directly in a snowbank. After regaining my balance and climbing out of the pit, I gave a farewell cry and turned to the skies.
Little was I aware, I would most certainly 'be back later', but for now I was circling Ice Island. For some reason, I was unable to locate the certain cave entrance that led to my sleeping quarters. For through that tunnel was the deepest and coldest area, as well as one of the few open-sky entrances, on the entirety of Ice Island. Within that area was the ancient stone altar – carved by Heatran himself – of the Ice Orb.
It was also where I slept, but the primary focus was the Ice Orb.
In any case, I couldn't seem to find it, and it was making me rather aggravated. Yes, I could have in theory simply flown to the top of the mountain and took a plunge down the center, but the air is too thin up there for me to breathe properly, and I've needed to turn back every time. I was stuck with the ground entrance, just like everyone else.
It wasn't until I had been flying around a little longer before I realized that, once again, my mind was wandering back to Zapdos. Yes, I cared about his recovery, and yes, I did want the Lightning Orb back, but I had already tried to work with him to absolutely no avail. So I paused to land on a particularly rocky outcrop and, looking out over the arctic scenery, attempted to clear my head.
Instead, it filled up even more.
Trotting stubbornly along the expanse of white was a small dark blob, shaped vaguely like a human being. Immediately I took to the air again, thinking he was a wanderer who had lost his bearings, but as I approached it became increasingly obvious that this man knew precisely what he was trying to do.
He also looked rather unnerving… for a human, of course.
I stood there, watching him, until the man stopped abruptly and began looking around. I assumed I was far enough away from him that he wouldn't be able to see me with his inferior human eyesight; unfortunately, this wasn't the case. He actually turned and looked right at me, face registering surprise – and that was when I figured that I was shot anyway, and flew up into the sky with a loud squawk.
Might as well give him something to remember the trip by, especially considering that I and the shrine were the only objects of interest here.
The traveler shouted and ran after me, but I had already given him his taste of the Ice God. With a final whip of my tail, sending sparkling ice crystals out into the sky, I soared upwards into a cavern just below the clouds. All of the caverns were connected – except Zapdos' – so if I was lucky, I could tunnel my way through these icy corridors and hopefully find the shrine at the center.
Eventually I did. I settled into my nest, situated above the stone shrine, and curled into sleep.
The beast stirred, but only faintly.
Its immense blue body, even curled in a nest, was a sight to behold – a long, dark blue tail streamed out from behind it, and the similarly-colored crest on its head was just as spectacular. The lighter-blue feathers bristled as I approached, but fortunately the great god is a heavy sleeper, for it soon returned to its pleasant dreams. It did, however, turn over in its nest – I was not aware that birds did this as humans did, but it had definitely happened, showing the pale blue underbelly that was just as impressive as the rest of it.
I believe that, right now, I am composing the only first-hand description of the legendary Ice God, Articuno. I will tell you now, that even asleep – ESPECIALLY asleep – it is a wonder.
However, Articuno is not the area of my interest… not now, anyway.
For there, right in the middle, was the second part of my puzzle. The freezer. Part Two. Numero dos… or is it uno? I took another look at the giant, sleeping bird, its shoulders rising and falling slightly as it slept. I smiled at my own joke – see, it's funny because 'dos' is Ancient Shamoutan for two and… well, yes. But I had other things to do right now.
Articuno would come in time.
As I soon found out, though, reprieve from the tasks at hand wasn't going to last long. For when I awoke again, there was an immensely loud slamming sound echoing around the caverns. The noise rang across the walls, amplifying itself the further in it got – and being directly in the middle, my cavern was the epicenter and ultimate destination.
Needless to say, it was quite loud.
I screeched in surprise, not really expecting anyone to reply; it came as no surprise when the only thing I heard – or was capable of hearing – was the thundering din. Not exactly wanting to think about what was happening outside, but feeling obliged to go look at it anyway, I turned around to face the shrine and the Ice Orb, still shining and gleaming brightly in its—
…!
The orb.
It's gone.
Giving another screech, this one of rage and not shock, I took to the skies. The hail splattering down around me – from rain that hardened as it came within the frigid temperatures of Ice Island – only briefly stopped me before I steeled my eyes against them and continued to whirl upwards. Eventually, after taking a side passage through another cavern, I emerged once again into the frozen skies.
I knew exactly where I was going – or, rather, to who I was going.
He was standing where he always was, perched on the large stone shrine that served as the gathering place for the three Orbs every year. It being wintertime outside of the Orange Islands, the tourists were few and far between, and the true resident of that shrine was allowed to lay about at his leisure. I saw him stir as I approached, no doubt because of the change in temperature that always came in my wake, and he looked up with a bright smile as I landed next to him.
"Good day," said Slowking pleasantly.
"Good day," I responded gruffly. "I woke up this morning to find that the Ice Orb is gone."
"It's what?" Slowking got to his feet immediately. He realized that this was serious business, a rare occurrence when it comes to Slowking. "The Orb is… missing?"
"Yes, just like the Lightning Orb," I replied.
The Pokémon immediately descended into panic mode, muttering things as he paced around the length of the stone circle on the ground. At first Zapdos, Moltres and I had assumed that this was some sort of meditative ritual – he was a Psychic-type, after all, and very wise since he could talk to humans – but we eventually figured out that he was just having a panic attack.
"Slowking!" I barked.
The pink, round Pokémon looked up and nodded sadly. "You are right," he said. "I need to keep in control."
"Thank you," I said icily. "Now, I figure that the Ice Orb is still intact, considering that I do seem to be acting normally." Slowking nodded sagely. "It's also very possible that the thieveries of the Ice and Lightning Orbs were connected, or even done by the same person. And we also know that Zapdos is acting strangely, which is likely due to the destruction of his Orb, so…" I stopped when I saw Slowking's face. "…what?"
"We must find the Fire Orb and the Ice Orb," he said grimly. "For your sanity's sake."
I looked back at him, having caught on to what he was saying. "Oh, yes…" I muttered, turning to the crashing ocean behind me. I looked along the horizon, through the lessening rain; save for the unfortunate clump of metal that had dominated Lightning Island, it looked completely normal. It didn't at all suggest the corruption going on inside its boundaries… but that corruption could not last, for the sake of Earth.
"To Fire Island," I said.
Slowking nodded. "Yes."
From below me, Slowking was swimming frantically through the rather choppy ocean waters. The rain had died completely now, and I found (much to my own discomfort) that the water and sky was now dreadfully warm. If Slowking minded at all, he didn't show it, and for that I was impressed; but we didn't have time for that. If the Orb thief had planned to do what we thought he did, then it was only a matter of time before he disposed of my Ice Orb in the same way that the did the Lightning Orb, and the Fire Orb after that.
And then it would be Lugia, on his lonesome, against… us.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts as the volcanic Fire Island came into sight. The temperature spiked even more; I wasn't exactly sure how much more of this I would be able to take. Just as my flying was beginning to sag – for all the thermals in the world I didn't think I could survive in this heat – there was an ice-cold blast of water from under me.
Looking down, I saw the beaming face of Slowking. He was swimming on his back.
I cawed as a sign of thanks and continued to soar, whipping my tail. He got the message and returned his head to the proper underwater position, so that only his shell and tail showed above the water. Articuno and Slowking – we were on the watch now, and I really do think that jet of water did more than lower my body temperature. Just for good measure, I released another shriek to the air.
The Orb thief had it coming to him, and that was a good reason why.
Eventually we landed on Fire Island; it took a short while for Slowking to navigate the rocks, but he eventually joined me on the shore. Just in time to meet the yellow Fire God himself as he made a nice turn around the volcano and dove straight towards us. His words were loud and forceful: "What?"
"Come down and we'll explain!" called Slowking. When we were younger he was the one who cared for us – and yes, even then he spoke the human language, just as most of the other Legendaries did – and as neighbors and destiny-bound companions, we quickly agreed that we would trust him more than we trusted one another. It was probably a good thing that Slowking spoke and I didn't.
Moltres landed on spindly legs, regarding us with his sharp eyes. "Can I help you two?"
"There is something terrible happening," said Slowking, "and we are all in danger. You must help us to stop this menace which has already claimed Zapdos and is getting ever closer to taking Articuno as well." At the mention of my name I nodded gravely.
"He speaks the truth," I said. "My Orb has been stolen, as Zapdos' was."
Moltres stared between me and Slowking, quite shocked. "…You're not serious?" he said eventually.
"Completely." I returned the expression. "We believe these thieveries were committed by the same person… and if he is planning to follow through, then he will claim the Fire Orb next. He has obviously destroyed the Lightning Orb already… but I am safe for now." I looked down at my own beautiful blue plumage. "We came to warn you. Watch your Orb carefully."
Moltres nodded frantically. "I will," he said. "I will check on it right now. Thank you for informing me." And without another word, he took off again, heading directly for the peak of Fire Island.
"Farewell!" Slowking called after him.
We stood there for a moment, my feathers ruffling in the breeze, watching his burning light disappear into the darkness of the shrine. The sky was turning gray again, and clouds were beginning to form in ominous-looking clumps. "Slowking, I think you should look after Zapdos," I said.
"What?" he asked, turning to me. "Why?"
"He was cut off mid-sentence when I tried to talk to him yesterday," I said. I turned to face my own island, where Zapdos was being held captive for his own well-being. "It sounded like he was hurting."
"Well, of course he was hurting," said Slowking, placing a paw on my wing. "I'm sure it…"
"No, not hurting as in his feelings are hurt. It sounded like he was attacked, abruptly, as I talked to him." I gulped. "I resolved to go back and check on him this morning… I told him I would do that today… but the storm… and the Fire Orb…"
"I see," said the Water-type. "Someone must keep an eye on him. I will do this."
Turning to him as he waddled back to the rocks again, I flew up in the air and whipped my tail again as a sign of farewell. Before he dove in, he turned around and held a paw up in the air, smiling and waving with a sort of tragic happiness.
Then we turned our separate ways – me to protect the innocent, he to comfort them.
I said in a previous entry that Articuno's time would come. It has. When I have claimed the other parts of the puzzle, they will be truly released from their prison, left to act as all primal beasts do. And when that happens, they will be trapped, because the Legendaries are just such a productive bunch. Then they will have been sanctified, ready for the atoning of their kin.
And then, they will die.
Just as Zapdos did, they will die.
And then they will see the error of their ways. For one of them was responsible for the demise of another; one who it had sworn to protect by its own law. To save the forsaken was his duty, to find the lost ones and return them to their former glory. And yet, on that one day in the Seafoam Islands… there was a block of ice. A block of ice, with my sister encased inside.
Dead.
For the love of Adrienne.
They will die.
I had a bad, bad feeling about this.
Of course, it was partly due to the fact that Pokémon naturally have the ability to sense when things are going seriously wrong in nature, Legendary Pokémon even more so. This sense, though, was beyond that. It was beyond the dread, beyond the cold, beyond the heaviness and the horror of what laid beyond Dialga's veil. This was more. It could not be described as what it was, but it was most certainly not normal.
And as I flew up to the top of Fire Island, I was facing it head-on.
Like a storm it continued to blast at me, taking me hostage inside just as much as it was outside. But – also like a storm – I blasted back, and eventually I found a way to overcome my own unease and simply walk up the steps to the top of the volcano. I felt slightly degraded at having to take this drastic measure, but the weather was getting too harsh for even my snowstorm-traversing tendencies to overcome.
But there it was.
Right there, nonchalantly walking down the steps. He was dressed for the weather – something I thought was strange considering the awkward circumstances said weather found itself in – and he was looking directly at me.
He snapped shut a journal in his hand, smiling wickedly.
I stood there, ready to fire an Ice Beam at any given time, but instead he put the journal away in the sack he carried over his shoulder. "Well," he said in a voice laced with poison. "We meet yet again, guardian of Ice Island." It was at that point where I recognized him.
"You were… the traveler," I said.
In English.
"Yes," he replied. "It would seem that you continued to forget your roots, hmm, Articuno?"
"Forget my… what are you talking about?" I took to the air. I believe some Pokémon called it 'battle position', but I didn't have any fancy words – just the urge to get out of here alive. "I am Articuno, the God of Ice. You are a human with a book. Who here is forgetting their roots?"
He shook his head, still looking decidedly devilish. "But your job, Articuno, your job. Is it not your duty to protect those lost in the cold? You merely stared at me when we met last, as far as I can recall."
"You looked like you knew what you were doing," I replied. "And you clearly were. You were not in need of rescuing."
"Ah, I wasn't," he said. "But can you think of someone else who was?"
"Some wanderers are past the point of survival," I said, eyes narrowing. "Is that what this is about?"
"No…" he said, the cocky grin wiped straight off of his face. "She was not beyond the point of survival. But you pushed her over the edge!" His voice rose to quite a loud shouting, one which could likely be heard in Ice Island. "You KILLED HER!"
I was rather shocked by his outburst. "I'm sorry, who was this? I don't recall killing anyone." Yes, he was obviously quite shaken by the death of this 'her', but I was being honest. I really didn't recall the intentional slaughter of human or Pokémon. But he clearly did – or thought he did – and at that point a horrible thought crossed my mind. I flapped my wings ferociously, sending a torrent of small icy sparkles in his face, and said: "Whose corpses are left in your quest for vengeance?"
"Who suffered for this, you mean?" he asked, swatting away as many of the shards as he could. "Why, nobody important!"
There was a pause.
Then:
"Zapdos?"
He looked up at me. Some shards had connected, sending drops of blood welling up over his face and arms.
"Yes," he said. "Moltres is to be next. And then you." He held out the two things that I really didn't want to see at the moment. Those two things were a couple of sparkling circles, one of them with a blue internal glow and one with a small but eternal fire sparking within. The Orb of fire, and the Orb of ice.
"Just watch," he said. "Just as you have taken my other half, I will take yours. All of them."
I stared down at him. "Have I… are you accusing me of killing your mate?"
"My wife," he corrected with a truly scary expression. "Found enclosed in ice, with large puncture wounds and deep gashes."
"That doesn't prove…"
"They fit your beak and talons," he said darkly, "exactly."
There was a pause.
"I have never done that to a person," I said, choosing my words carefully. This man was clearly very touchy on the subject of me… or merely touched in the head. Either way, he was to be treated with caution, like an Electrode ready for detonation. "I would never do that to a person."
"Then explain it!" he yowled. "This occurred on Mt. Seafoam! Your nesting place!"
I paused. Mt. Seafoam was a frigid mountain located on the appropriately-named Seafoam Islands, and it was indeed the location of one of my nests. "Listen," I said. "It is true that I nest on Mt. Seafoam sometimes. But that does not make me automatically responsible for the unfortunate demise of your…"
"Don't say 'unfortunate' like you care!" he barked. "You killed her!"
"I did not." My expression was indifferent now. I had finished trying to cooperate with this love-crazed man. "Now listen. You have killed a Legendary Pokémon, do you know that?"
"You have killed a human, do you know that?"
"I have not. But instead of killing you now, I will take mercy on you. For you will be given your just punishment when you speak before the Original One, I will not bring your demise quite so soon. My talon is not the one which should kill you; no matter how enraged you are, I am not a killer, and I will not begin today.i"
"Then what will you do?" he screamed. "Keep me on the brink of death until God catches up with me?"
"His name is Arceus, and I will not do that either," I said, landing. "I will now ask you to surrender the Orbs."
"No!"
"Merely the Fire Orb, then."
"Oh, so now you're being so selfless," he spat. "Save your brother while you're left at the mercy of this little ball!"
"Give me the Fire Orb," I repeated.
"You want it so badly? Catch!" And he turned to the side of the mountain and lobbed the small object, as hard as he could, over the edge.
Thinking entirely on my feet, I fired an Ice Beam at the Orb. It hit its mark, and the icy coat that then surrounded the Fire Orb made it roughly the size of a Jigglypuff. "The Fire Orb's power will be diminished," I told the man, "but when it falls it will not be broken immediately and shall float in the water. I will do the same if you toss the Ice Orb… but you're not going to do that, are you?" I tilted my head.
"No!" he barked.
"And you're not going to go try and get it back now, are you?" I continued, walking forward.
"No," he said, having sobered slightly by the presence of a bird just as tall as he was pointing a sharp beak in the general direction of his throat. I took a step back, pleased with his answer.
"Wonderful," I said. "So you won't mind terribly if I do this."
And I froze him up to his neck.
"What are you doing?" he cried. "Are you going to kill me now? Stab your beak into my face and rip apart my skin?"
"Of course not!" I said disgustedly. "That's so brutish."
That was the last straw for him, for he immediately began to struggle, roaring incomprehensible things like a trapped beast. I stood there and let him let out his anger for a few minutes, remembering to stand well out of his range, and watched as his attempts got slowly weaker and finally stopped. The ice was chilling his body, and hopefully my effect of lowering the temperature around me could combat the heat coming from Fire Island. (That heat itself was dimming, due to the frozen state of the Fire Orb.)
Eventually he retorted to glaring dreadfully at me, and I took a step forward.
"I don't know who you are…" I began.
"…but I've seen you," he hissed back, "in my dreams. For years I stood by, thinking of your terrible act committed against dear Adrienne. And… and I saw you in sleep, finally falling. At my hand. At mine!" His voice rose again, which prompted me to recoil slightly.
"I'm sorry about that," I said.
He glared.
"I'm sorry that you've went so long without your mate, and that you have gone through all this to plague an innocent Pokémon." I looked at him. "Listen. I will offer you an idea."
"What's that? Let me wait here until Arceus comes down through the heavens and beams me up?"
"No," I said, feeling rather peeved now that he had referred to the Original One with an old human joke. "I will use Mind Reader to get your account of the situation, of the state of her. If I see it, perhaps it will stir up a memory. Alright?"
He snarled at me. "You want to see the results of your murder all over again," he said. "Fine."
I nodded, and my eyes glowed blue.
There is a woman there, covered in ice.
She is, as some humans would say, a 'looker'; long blonde hair and fine features, strong but graceful. However, her body was encased in a large wad of ice, and as her husband had described, her body was covered in injuries. Two large holes were in her arm. Various scratches and slashes covered her skin. Her expression was a look of utmost, primal horror.
…
…I remember.
There was a pause, again.
I said, "I see."
"Do you remember her now? Do you remember?"
"Sir, the loss of your wife was not my doing," I said. "For you, the day she was attacked and frozen was the most important day of your life. For me, it was rescue two hundred and thirty-seven."
He stared at me with an expression of utmost hate. If I weren't so steeled against his antics, I would have cringed.
"Your wife – Adrienne, was it? – had been attacked by a swarm of Golbats," I explained. "It was deep in Mt. Seafoam, and she had stumbled across their nest. The bite marks were the work of a Golbat, injecting poison, and the scratches were from Zubats and Golbats raking away at her."
Miraculously, he remained silent.
"I arrived in an attempt to save her, but I saw that the poison had already been injected. I had known for a long time that the best way to slow down poison was to chill it, so I used Ice Beam to induce a strong change in temperature. It was designed to make the poison move slower through her body, as well as destroy it. Golbat bites are common incidents in the Seafoam Islands, you must understand, so I soon learned how to stop them." I paused to take a breath. "But it clearly did not work as well as intended. This is the risk of using such a crude healing method. The poison still spread, and combined with the temperature and the attacks… she passed on."
We stood there in a stalemate for a rather long time.
Eventually, there was a glint in the sky, and I looked up. "Oh," I said.
"W-what is that?" he asked, teeth chattering from the cold.
"I believe that the Original One will see you now." Stepping up to him, I had the ice around his right arm melt. "I would very much appreciate it if you could return my Orb."
The Orb dropped weakly out of his hand, now thawed out, and I caught it in my wing.
With a final dip of my head, I clutched the Orb in my talons. With my prize captured again, I took to the air and headed for Ice Island; the Orb needed to be returned to its rightful place, or else the island's snow and ice could melt and cause quite a catastrophe. From behind me, a radiant yellow light shined from the sky.
“A-Articuno!” he called at last.
“Yes?” I asked, stopping to turn my head in his general direction.
He was about to reply, but in that instant a horde of large Arcanine, giving off an ethereal glow, appeared around the man. His words were lost as one of the Arcanines picked him up by the back of his jacket and wind began to swirl around the lot of them. I knew this was going to happen - the Arcanines were the servants of Arceus, ‘footsoldiers’ if you will, and these specially-trained creatures never missed a call. It’s just a shame that he was being taken up to Arceus (and the grossly exaggerated trial that was to follow) for this.
For the heinous crime of loving another.
Somewhere, far beyond the usual parameters of human competence, there was a series of islands called the Orange Archipelago. As the name suggested, the Orange Islands (as they are sometimes called for the sake of those who aren't endowed in the art of wordcraft) are an extensive group of smaller landmasses grouped together, none of which are large and important enough to be counted as a destination in their own right. In the corner of this mess of sea and land, there lies an island which in many ways is so much like the others.
However, unlike the others, this island is worth caring about.
For on this island, there was a prophecy. Granted, like most prophecies, the locals trusted it so ferociously that it sounded like nothing more than a crackpot theory induced by the excruciating heat. This is not true. The prophecy they followed like a law, and honored every year with a truly impressive re-enactment, was (for the most part) true.
The legend has been proven more than once, though only to a select few. Those great monsters of Fire, Lightning, and Ice have depended on the sacred Guardian of the Sea - that is, Lugia - to calm the fighting.
...Admittedly, we have argued rather a lot without the interjection of Lugia, but those squabbles have never actually put anything in danger except perhaps a couple of stray Wingulls. And they were only out of the air for a few days. So while we were able to contain most of our disputes, most of the reason for this came from the Sacred Orbs that sat on each of our islands.
The Sacred Orbs were made for us when Lugia was created to be our master, our guardian, and our peace-keeper. As one can imagine, when these Orbs are in peril we get rather... unpleasant... until they are saved. And when said Orbs are destroyed - for though they are sacred, they can be broken and their powers rendered useless - things can get nasty...
...such as right now.
From inside the cave walls came a raging screech.
"Zapdos!" I yelled through the rocks, just as loudly. "You must calm down!" We had been locked in this stalemate for a rather long time now. It had been a unanimous agreement for all of the Legendary Court that, until Lugia had finished making a new Lightning Orb to keep on the respective island, the ballistic Zapdos would need to be contained somehow. By process of elimination - that is, Mewtwo flatly refused, everyone else explained that they lived too far away, and Moltres said that Fire Island was 'simply too small' - he was shipped off to Ice Island.
Admittedly, it was a rather large mountain island with quite a lot of caverns, but I wasn't keen on letting Zapdos in with his delusional state of mind. But what was I to do? Having not even attended that meeting due to a rather annoying squabble with a young Trainer, it was almost without explanation that the Thunder God was placed on Ice Island with a little pat on the head and a, "We know you can handle him, Articuno."
A load of Tauros, if you'll excuse my human slang.
"I will not CALM DOWN!" roared Zapdos, pecking ferociously. I didn't want to imagine how badly charred the chamber inside had become due to his rage. "I NEED the ORB to CALM DOWN! LET ME OUT! I MUST REACH IT!"
I gulped. Why had I even come to see him? He was acting just as strangely as he always had been.
"Uh... the Orb is still being worked on," I said, backing away from the rock-sealed chamber very slowly. Snow crunched under my talons. "It's going well, really it is. Lugia said it will be totally finished... you know, soon." Lugia had said nothing of the sort, but what was I to do? "Please, Zapdos, just hold on a little longer and we'll all be back to normal, okay?"
"NO!" boomed Zapdos. "I need to see it NOW!"
"Well then you'll be looking at a mess of pointy things," I replied, "because all you'll find is that human's airship." And it was; after that enormous ring-spewing capture mechanism - which I had escaped, I should point out - had been taken down, it crash-landed directly onto Lightning Island. And the shrine. This left the Lightning Orb without a home, so it remained on Shamouti while the other two were returned… of course, it was stolen soon after.
"But it will..." started Zapdos, ending the sentence with a choked cry.
There was silence.
"...Zapdos?" I asked the rock. "Zapdos? Are you alright?"
There was a groan from inside. It was Zapdos' - he was okay, just having a mental breakdown. It had happened before. He would be up and screaming again in just a few minutes. Having satisfied myself for his continued survival, I nodded. "Alright, fine. I'll... I'll be back later."
I backed up once again, landing directly in a snowbank. After regaining my balance and climbing out of the pit, I gave a farewell cry and turned to the skies.
Little was I aware, I would most certainly 'be back later', but for now I was circling Ice Island. For some reason, I was unable to locate the certain cave entrance that led to my sleeping quarters. For through that tunnel was the deepest and coldest area, as well as one of the few open-sky entrances, on the entirety of Ice Island. Within that area was the ancient stone altar – carved by Heatran himself – of the Ice Orb.
It was also where I slept, but the primary focus was the Ice Orb.
In any case, I couldn't seem to find it, and it was making me rather aggravated. Yes, I could have in theory simply flown to the top of the mountain and took a plunge down the center, but the air is too thin up there for me to breathe properly, and I've needed to turn back every time. I was stuck with the ground entrance, just like everyone else.
It wasn't until I had been flying around a little longer before I realized that, once again, my mind was wandering back to Zapdos. Yes, I cared about his recovery, and yes, I did want the Lightning Orb back, but I had already tried to work with him to absolutely no avail. So I paused to land on a particularly rocky outcrop and, looking out over the arctic scenery, attempted to clear my head.
Instead, it filled up even more.
Trotting stubbornly along the expanse of white was a small dark blob, shaped vaguely like a human being. Immediately I took to the air again, thinking he was a wanderer who had lost his bearings, but as I approached it became increasingly obvious that this man knew precisely what he was trying to do.
He also looked rather unnerving… for a human, of course.
I stood there, watching him, until the man stopped abruptly and began looking around. I assumed I was far enough away from him that he wouldn't be able to see me with his inferior human eyesight; unfortunately, this wasn't the case. He actually turned and looked right at me, face registering surprise – and that was when I figured that I was shot anyway, and flew up into the sky with a loud squawk.
Might as well give him something to remember the trip by, especially considering that I and the shrine were the only objects of interest here.
The traveler shouted and ran after me, but I had already given him his taste of the Ice God. With a final whip of my tail, sending sparkling ice crystals out into the sky, I soared upwards into a cavern just below the clouds. All of the caverns were connected – except Zapdos' – so if I was lucky, I could tunnel my way through these icy corridors and hopefully find the shrine at the center.
Eventually I did. I settled into my nest, situated above the stone shrine, and curled into sleep.
The beast stirred, but only faintly.
Its immense blue body, even curled in a nest, was a sight to behold – a long, dark blue tail streamed out from behind it, and the similarly-colored crest on its head was just as spectacular. The lighter-blue feathers bristled as I approached, but fortunately the great god is a heavy sleeper, for it soon returned to its pleasant dreams. It did, however, turn over in its nest – I was not aware that birds did this as humans did, but it had definitely happened, showing the pale blue underbelly that was just as impressive as the rest of it.
I believe that, right now, I am composing the only first-hand description of the legendary Ice God, Articuno. I will tell you now, that even asleep – ESPECIALLY asleep – it is a wonder.
However, Articuno is not the area of my interest… not now, anyway.
For there, right in the middle, was the second part of my puzzle. The freezer. Part Two. Numero dos… or is it uno? I took another look at the giant, sleeping bird, its shoulders rising and falling slightly as it slept. I smiled at my own joke – see, it's funny because 'dos' is Ancient Shamoutan for two and… well, yes. But I had other things to do right now.
Articuno would come in time.
As I soon found out, though, reprieve from the tasks at hand wasn't going to last long. For when I awoke again, there was an immensely loud slamming sound echoing around the caverns. The noise rang across the walls, amplifying itself the further in it got – and being directly in the middle, my cavern was the epicenter and ultimate destination.
Needless to say, it was quite loud.
I screeched in surprise, not really expecting anyone to reply; it came as no surprise when the only thing I heard – or was capable of hearing – was the thundering din. Not exactly wanting to think about what was happening outside, but feeling obliged to go look at it anyway, I turned around to face the shrine and the Ice Orb, still shining and gleaming brightly in its—
…!
The orb.
It's gone.
Giving another screech, this one of rage and not shock, I took to the skies. The hail splattering down around me – from rain that hardened as it came within the frigid temperatures of Ice Island – only briefly stopped me before I steeled my eyes against them and continued to whirl upwards. Eventually, after taking a side passage through another cavern, I emerged once again into the frozen skies.
I knew exactly where I was going – or, rather, to who I was going.
He was standing where he always was, perched on the large stone shrine that served as the gathering place for the three Orbs every year. It being wintertime outside of the Orange Islands, the tourists were few and far between, and the true resident of that shrine was allowed to lay about at his leisure. I saw him stir as I approached, no doubt because of the change in temperature that always came in my wake, and he looked up with a bright smile as I landed next to him.
"Good day," said Slowking pleasantly.
"Good day," I responded gruffly. "I woke up this morning to find that the Ice Orb is gone."
"It's what?" Slowking got to his feet immediately. He realized that this was serious business, a rare occurrence when it comes to Slowking. "The Orb is… missing?"
"Yes, just like the Lightning Orb," I replied.
The Pokémon immediately descended into panic mode, muttering things as he paced around the length of the stone circle on the ground. At first Zapdos, Moltres and I had assumed that this was some sort of meditative ritual – he was a Psychic-type, after all, and very wise since he could talk to humans – but we eventually figured out that he was just having a panic attack.
"Slowking!" I barked.
The pink, round Pokémon looked up and nodded sadly. "You are right," he said. "I need to keep in control."
"Thank you," I said icily. "Now, I figure that the Ice Orb is still intact, considering that I do seem to be acting normally." Slowking nodded sagely. "It's also very possible that the thieveries of the Ice and Lightning Orbs were connected, or even done by the same person. And we also know that Zapdos is acting strangely, which is likely due to the destruction of his Orb, so…" I stopped when I saw Slowking's face. "…what?"
"We must find the Fire Orb and the Ice Orb," he said grimly. "For your sanity's sake."
I looked back at him, having caught on to what he was saying. "Oh, yes…" I muttered, turning to the crashing ocean behind me. I looked along the horizon, through the lessening rain; save for the unfortunate clump of metal that had dominated Lightning Island, it looked completely normal. It didn't at all suggest the corruption going on inside its boundaries… but that corruption could not last, for the sake of Earth.
"To Fire Island," I said.
Slowking nodded. "Yes."
From below me, Slowking was swimming frantically through the rather choppy ocean waters. The rain had died completely now, and I found (much to my own discomfort) that the water and sky was now dreadfully warm. If Slowking minded at all, he didn't show it, and for that I was impressed; but we didn't have time for that. If the Orb thief had planned to do what we thought he did, then it was only a matter of time before he disposed of my Ice Orb in the same way that the did the Lightning Orb, and the Fire Orb after that.
And then it would be Lugia, on his lonesome, against… us.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts as the volcanic Fire Island came into sight. The temperature spiked even more; I wasn't exactly sure how much more of this I would be able to take. Just as my flying was beginning to sag – for all the thermals in the world I didn't think I could survive in this heat – there was an ice-cold blast of water from under me.
Looking down, I saw the beaming face of Slowking. He was swimming on his back.
I cawed as a sign of thanks and continued to soar, whipping my tail. He got the message and returned his head to the proper underwater position, so that only his shell and tail showed above the water. Articuno and Slowking – we were on the watch now, and I really do think that jet of water did more than lower my body temperature. Just for good measure, I released another shriek to the air.
The Orb thief had it coming to him, and that was a good reason why.
Eventually we landed on Fire Island; it took a short while for Slowking to navigate the rocks, but he eventually joined me on the shore. Just in time to meet the yellow Fire God himself as he made a nice turn around the volcano and dove straight towards us. His words were loud and forceful: "What?"
"Come down and we'll explain!" called Slowking. When we were younger he was the one who cared for us – and yes, even then he spoke the human language, just as most of the other Legendaries did – and as neighbors and destiny-bound companions, we quickly agreed that we would trust him more than we trusted one another. It was probably a good thing that Slowking spoke and I didn't.
Moltres landed on spindly legs, regarding us with his sharp eyes. "Can I help you two?"
"There is something terrible happening," said Slowking, "and we are all in danger. You must help us to stop this menace which has already claimed Zapdos and is getting ever closer to taking Articuno as well." At the mention of my name I nodded gravely.
"He speaks the truth," I said. "My Orb has been stolen, as Zapdos' was."
Moltres stared between me and Slowking, quite shocked. "…You're not serious?" he said eventually.
"Completely." I returned the expression. "We believe these thieveries were committed by the same person… and if he is planning to follow through, then he will claim the Fire Orb next. He has obviously destroyed the Lightning Orb already… but I am safe for now." I looked down at my own beautiful blue plumage. "We came to warn you. Watch your Orb carefully."
Moltres nodded frantically. "I will," he said. "I will check on it right now. Thank you for informing me." And without another word, he took off again, heading directly for the peak of Fire Island.
"Farewell!" Slowking called after him.
We stood there for a moment, my feathers ruffling in the breeze, watching his burning light disappear into the darkness of the shrine. The sky was turning gray again, and clouds were beginning to form in ominous-looking clumps. "Slowking, I think you should look after Zapdos," I said.
"What?" he asked, turning to me. "Why?"
"He was cut off mid-sentence when I tried to talk to him yesterday," I said. I turned to face my own island, where Zapdos was being held captive for his own well-being. "It sounded like he was hurting."
"Well, of course he was hurting," said Slowking, placing a paw on my wing. "I'm sure it…"
"No, not hurting as in his feelings are hurt. It sounded like he was attacked, abruptly, as I talked to him." I gulped. "I resolved to go back and check on him this morning… I told him I would do that today… but the storm… and the Fire Orb…"
"I see," said the Water-type. "Someone must keep an eye on him. I will do this."
Turning to him as he waddled back to the rocks again, I flew up in the air and whipped my tail again as a sign of farewell. Before he dove in, he turned around and held a paw up in the air, smiling and waving with a sort of tragic happiness.
Then we turned our separate ways – me to protect the innocent, he to comfort them.
I said in a previous entry that Articuno's time would come. It has. When I have claimed the other parts of the puzzle, they will be truly released from their prison, left to act as all primal beasts do. And when that happens, they will be trapped, because the Legendaries are just such a productive bunch. Then they will have been sanctified, ready for the atoning of their kin.
And then, they will die.
Just as Zapdos did, they will die.
And then they will see the error of their ways. For one of them was responsible for the demise of another; one who it had sworn to protect by its own law. To save the forsaken was his duty, to find the lost ones and return them to their former glory. And yet, on that one day in the Seafoam Islands… there was a block of ice. A block of ice, with my sister encased inside.
Dead.
For the love of Adrienne.
They will die.
I had a bad, bad feeling about this.
Of course, it was partly due to the fact that Pokémon naturally have the ability to sense when things are going seriously wrong in nature, Legendary Pokémon even more so. This sense, though, was beyond that. It was beyond the dread, beyond the cold, beyond the heaviness and the horror of what laid beyond Dialga's veil. This was more. It could not be described as what it was, but it was most certainly not normal.
And as I flew up to the top of Fire Island, I was facing it head-on.
Like a storm it continued to blast at me, taking me hostage inside just as much as it was outside. But – also like a storm – I blasted back, and eventually I found a way to overcome my own unease and simply walk up the steps to the top of the volcano. I felt slightly degraded at having to take this drastic measure, but the weather was getting too harsh for even my snowstorm-traversing tendencies to overcome.
But there it was.
Right there, nonchalantly walking down the steps. He was dressed for the weather – something I thought was strange considering the awkward circumstances said weather found itself in – and he was looking directly at me.
He snapped shut a journal in his hand, smiling wickedly.
I stood there, ready to fire an Ice Beam at any given time, but instead he put the journal away in the sack he carried over his shoulder. "Well," he said in a voice laced with poison. "We meet yet again, guardian of Ice Island." It was at that point where I recognized him.
"You were… the traveler," I said.
In English.
"Yes," he replied. "It would seem that you continued to forget your roots, hmm, Articuno?"
"Forget my… what are you talking about?" I took to the air. I believe some Pokémon called it 'battle position', but I didn't have any fancy words – just the urge to get out of here alive. "I am Articuno, the God of Ice. You are a human with a book. Who here is forgetting their roots?"
He shook his head, still looking decidedly devilish. "But your job, Articuno, your job. Is it not your duty to protect those lost in the cold? You merely stared at me when we met last, as far as I can recall."
"You looked like you knew what you were doing," I replied. "And you clearly were. You were not in need of rescuing."
"Ah, I wasn't," he said. "But can you think of someone else who was?"
"Some wanderers are past the point of survival," I said, eyes narrowing. "Is that what this is about?"
"No…" he said, the cocky grin wiped straight off of his face. "She was not beyond the point of survival. But you pushed her over the edge!" His voice rose to quite a loud shouting, one which could likely be heard in Ice Island. "You KILLED HER!"
I was rather shocked by his outburst. "I'm sorry, who was this? I don't recall killing anyone." Yes, he was obviously quite shaken by the death of this 'her', but I was being honest. I really didn't recall the intentional slaughter of human or Pokémon. But he clearly did – or thought he did – and at that point a horrible thought crossed my mind. I flapped my wings ferociously, sending a torrent of small icy sparkles in his face, and said: "Whose corpses are left in your quest for vengeance?"
"Who suffered for this, you mean?" he asked, swatting away as many of the shards as he could. "Why, nobody important!"
There was a pause.
Then:
"Zapdos?"
He looked up at me. Some shards had connected, sending drops of blood welling up over his face and arms.
"Yes," he said. "Moltres is to be next. And then you." He held out the two things that I really didn't want to see at the moment. Those two things were a couple of sparkling circles, one of them with a blue internal glow and one with a small but eternal fire sparking within. The Orb of fire, and the Orb of ice.
"Just watch," he said. "Just as you have taken my other half, I will take yours. All of them."
I stared down at him. "Have I… are you accusing me of killing your mate?"
"My wife," he corrected with a truly scary expression. "Found enclosed in ice, with large puncture wounds and deep gashes."
"That doesn't prove…"
"They fit your beak and talons," he said darkly, "exactly."
There was a pause.
"I have never done that to a person," I said, choosing my words carefully. This man was clearly very touchy on the subject of me… or merely touched in the head. Either way, he was to be treated with caution, like an Electrode ready for detonation. "I would never do that to a person."
"Then explain it!" he yowled. "This occurred on Mt. Seafoam! Your nesting place!"
I paused. Mt. Seafoam was a frigid mountain located on the appropriately-named Seafoam Islands, and it was indeed the location of one of my nests. "Listen," I said. "It is true that I nest on Mt. Seafoam sometimes. But that does not make me automatically responsible for the unfortunate demise of your…"
"Don't say 'unfortunate' like you care!" he barked. "You killed her!"
"I did not." My expression was indifferent now. I had finished trying to cooperate with this love-crazed man. "Now listen. You have killed a Legendary Pokémon, do you know that?"
"You have killed a human, do you know that?"
"I have not. But instead of killing you now, I will take mercy on you. For you will be given your just punishment when you speak before the Original One, I will not bring your demise quite so soon. My talon is not the one which should kill you; no matter how enraged you are, I am not a killer, and I will not begin today.i"
"Then what will you do?" he screamed. "Keep me on the brink of death until God catches up with me?"
"His name is Arceus, and I will not do that either," I said, landing. "I will now ask you to surrender the Orbs."
"No!"
"Merely the Fire Orb, then."
"Oh, so now you're being so selfless," he spat. "Save your brother while you're left at the mercy of this little ball!"
"Give me the Fire Orb," I repeated.
"You want it so badly? Catch!" And he turned to the side of the mountain and lobbed the small object, as hard as he could, over the edge.
Thinking entirely on my feet, I fired an Ice Beam at the Orb. It hit its mark, and the icy coat that then surrounded the Fire Orb made it roughly the size of a Jigglypuff. "The Fire Orb's power will be diminished," I told the man, "but when it falls it will not be broken immediately and shall float in the water. I will do the same if you toss the Ice Orb… but you're not going to do that, are you?" I tilted my head.
"No!" he barked.
"And you're not going to go try and get it back now, are you?" I continued, walking forward.
"No," he said, having sobered slightly by the presence of a bird just as tall as he was pointing a sharp beak in the general direction of his throat. I took a step back, pleased with his answer.
"Wonderful," I said. "So you won't mind terribly if I do this."
And I froze him up to his neck.
"What are you doing?" he cried. "Are you going to kill me now? Stab your beak into my face and rip apart my skin?"
"Of course not!" I said disgustedly. "That's so brutish."
That was the last straw for him, for he immediately began to struggle, roaring incomprehensible things like a trapped beast. I stood there and let him let out his anger for a few minutes, remembering to stand well out of his range, and watched as his attempts got slowly weaker and finally stopped. The ice was chilling his body, and hopefully my effect of lowering the temperature around me could combat the heat coming from Fire Island. (That heat itself was dimming, due to the frozen state of the Fire Orb.)
Eventually he retorted to glaring dreadfully at me, and I took a step forward.
"I don't know who you are…" I began.
"…but I've seen you," he hissed back, "in my dreams. For years I stood by, thinking of your terrible act committed against dear Adrienne. And… and I saw you in sleep, finally falling. At my hand. At mine!" His voice rose again, which prompted me to recoil slightly.
"I'm sorry about that," I said.
He glared.
"I'm sorry that you've went so long without your mate, and that you have gone through all this to plague an innocent Pokémon." I looked at him. "Listen. I will offer you an idea."
"What's that? Let me wait here until Arceus comes down through the heavens and beams me up?"
"No," I said, feeling rather peeved now that he had referred to the Original One with an old human joke. "I will use Mind Reader to get your account of the situation, of the state of her. If I see it, perhaps it will stir up a memory. Alright?"
He snarled at me. "You want to see the results of your murder all over again," he said. "Fine."
I nodded, and my eyes glowed blue.
There is a woman there, covered in ice.
She is, as some humans would say, a 'looker'; long blonde hair and fine features, strong but graceful. However, her body was encased in a large wad of ice, and as her husband had described, her body was covered in injuries. Two large holes were in her arm. Various scratches and slashes covered her skin. Her expression was a look of utmost, primal horror.
…
…I remember.
There was a pause, again.
I said, "I see."
"Do you remember her now? Do you remember?"
"Sir, the loss of your wife was not my doing," I said. "For you, the day she was attacked and frozen was the most important day of your life. For me, it was rescue two hundred and thirty-seven."
He stared at me with an expression of utmost hate. If I weren't so steeled against his antics, I would have cringed.
"Your wife – Adrienne, was it? – had been attacked by a swarm of Golbats," I explained. "It was deep in Mt. Seafoam, and she had stumbled across their nest. The bite marks were the work of a Golbat, injecting poison, and the scratches were from Zubats and Golbats raking away at her."
Miraculously, he remained silent.
"I arrived in an attempt to save her, but I saw that the poison had already been injected. I had known for a long time that the best way to slow down poison was to chill it, so I used Ice Beam to induce a strong change in temperature. It was designed to make the poison move slower through her body, as well as destroy it. Golbat bites are common incidents in the Seafoam Islands, you must understand, so I soon learned how to stop them." I paused to take a breath. "But it clearly did not work as well as intended. This is the risk of using such a crude healing method. The poison still spread, and combined with the temperature and the attacks… she passed on."
We stood there in a stalemate for a rather long time.
Eventually, there was a glint in the sky, and I looked up. "Oh," I said.
"W-what is that?" he asked, teeth chattering from the cold.
"I believe that the Original One will see you now." Stepping up to him, I had the ice around his right arm melt. "I would very much appreciate it if you could return my Orb."
The Orb dropped weakly out of his hand, now thawed out, and I caught it in my wing.
With a final dip of my head, I clutched the Orb in my talons. With my prize captured again, I took to the air and headed for Ice Island; the Orb needed to be returned to its rightful place, or else the island's snow and ice could melt and cause quite a catastrophe. From behind me, a radiant yellow light shined from the sky.
“A-Articuno!” he called at last.
“Yes?” I asked, stopping to turn my head in his general direction.
He was about to reply, but in that instant a horde of large Arcanine, giving off an ethereal glow, appeared around the man. His words were lost as one of the Arcanines picked him up by the back of his jacket and wind began to swirl around the lot of them. I knew this was going to happen - the Arcanines were the servants of Arceus, ‘footsoldiers’ if you will, and these specially-trained creatures never missed a call. It’s just a shame that he was being taken up to Arceus (and the grossly exaggerated trial that was to follow) for this.
For the heinous crime of loving another.
