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- #1
This is your last ride ever, forever
Fill up your lungs - feel better?
Look - it's you, good as new
New hands, new throat, new living tissue
You earned this new purpose
Lifetime Achievement Award
Rumors had spread on the whispering wind that somewhere in Jubilife City, there was a door to a dimension of Myths one could only dream of.Fill up your lungs - feel better?
Look - it's you, good as new
New hands, new throat, new living tissue
You earned this new purpose
Lifetime Achievement Award
While this story isn't a horror in the gore/slasher sense, it does focus on existential time-loop themes that may be disturbing to some users.
This was originally going to be several drabbles, one based on every song in Lemon Demon's album Spirit Phone, but then writer's block happened, and this was the only part I was really proud of. I'll probably eventually write the others, but for now, enjoy.
And Dawn had found it. Dawn had found the void deep in a building in the city. It wasn't any sort of special building, just a regular office building. People came and went, seemingly unaware of the void. Perhaps it would have been wise for Dawn to be concerned, but if anything, she felt special for being the only one who could see it.
"Will you enter?" It seemed to coo, like it was trying to win her heart.
She reached out her hand, and the void took her in.
Travelling through darkness in search of light, she ran with legs of lightning, steps of precision. Steps to a dance burned into her memory. A ritual to summon—
Arceus.
The Creator of the Universe, the Father of all being. They stared into her eyes with a glare made of rubies and emeralds. Its white fur glowed like marble. It stood before her, the only light in the darkness.
She gasped at the sight of Arceus. Few, if any, could say that they had seen it, and now here she was, on the cusp of capturing it and declaring herself its Trainer.
And then a voice came from its maw, echoing across the empty:
“Soft reset.”
-
She was back in the building, back in front of the void. What... Why...
How had she come back to the building? Why did the people walking by look so familiar?
Had she... Had she gone back in time?
"Will you enter?" The void seemed to coo.
Time travel or not, she had to enter again. She had to find Arceus again.
Travelling through darkness in search of light, she ran with legs of lightning, steps of precision. Steps to a dance burned into her memory. She had done this dance before. She had done it before. It was a ritual. A ritual to summon—
Arceus.
The Creator of the Universe, the Father of all being. They stared into her eyes with a glare made of rubies and emeralds. Its white fur shone like marble. It stood before her, the only light in the darkness. Few had seen Arceus, but how many had seen it twice in their lifetime?
It said again, “Soft reset.”
-
She was back in the building, back in front of the void. Same people. Same movements.
What was going on?!
"Will you enter?" The void seemed to coo.
Something told her to enter again—or forced her, perhaps.
Travelling through darkness in search of light, she ran with legs of lightning, steps of precision. How long had she been running? How many times had she run through the void? How many times had she seen Arceus? More times than there were people who even worshipped it, probably. Steps to a dance burned into her memory. Her legs were tired, and yet she moved onward. A ritual to summon—
Arceus.
The Creator of the Universe, the Father of all being. They stared into her eyes with a glare made of rubies and emeralds. Its golden fur shone like ancient riches. It stood before her, the only light in the darkness.
“Soft Reset.”
-
She was back in the building, back in front of the void.
Dawn blinked, her mind stopping. Then it began to run. Arceus’s fur had been golden, not white. What changed? Why did it change? What—
“Damn it. That was a shiny.”
Arceus’s voice reverberated in her head. The voice was nauseating, mocking.
The same damn people were making the same damn movements. They couldn't see the void. Dawn screamed at them, but no sound came out. Could they even see her?!
She tried to run, but her body wouldn't move. Her arms wouldn't move, even as her thoughts moved faster and faster. What was going on what was going on WHAT WAS GOING ON??????
"Will you enter?" The void seemed to coo.
NO! Dawn shouted in her head and tried to shout to the real world. I WON’T! I WON’T! I—
She was thrown back into the void by a force she couldn't see.
No control over her body, only her mind. Thrown through darkness in search of light, she was moved with legs of lightning, steps of precision. She couldn’t even register her movements anymore. They happened without her even being aware of what was happening. Her mind was filled with ineligible thoughts. Steps to a dance she didn’t even know anymore. She was a sacrifice in a ritual to summon—
Arceus.
The Creator of the Universe, the Father of all being. Dawn had heard so many stories of Arceus, but now it was no more interesting than a regular Bidoof. They stared into her eyes with a red and green gaze, no more powerful than her mother's scolding glance. Its white fur was... like paper. Boring copy paper. No longer did it have the luster many claimed it had. It stood before her, the only light in the darkness.
“Soft—”
“Why are you doing this to me?!”
Arceus was silent, as though they didn’t expect Dawn to be able to speak. Neither did Dawn.
“Because it’s not shiny," Arceus said. "I need to soft reset for a shiny Arceus.”
The voice was Arceus’s, but it was in Dawn’s head, not its mouth. Like how it had been in the building
“But you are Arceus!”
“I need to soft reset until it’s shiny.”
“IS IT NOT ENOUGH TO CAPTURE THE CREATOR OF THIS FORSAKEN UNIVERSE?!?!?!”
Her shout scraped her throat like knives, but she needed to speak. She needed to break free.
“What does it matter if you see it with a golden or white coat?!”
“I already accidently soft resetted a shiny Arceus. I can’t give up now.”
“How many times?” Dawn rasped. “HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU HAVE TO DO THIS?!?!”
“It might take hundreds or thousands of times. But I promise, it will be worth it. Shiny Pokémon are rare, and Shiny Mythical Pokémon? It’s to die for. The reward of a lifetime. You should be glad you get to witness such an experience. You’re luckier than you can ever imagine.”
“Lucky… LUCKY?!?!”
“Soft reset.”
-
She was back in the building, back in front of the void. The same people passed and went as they always did. Dawn didn't even try to talk to them.
"Will you enter?" It seemed to coo.
She had no choice.
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