They began searching the bookcases of that section one by one, Lucas looking from left to right and Inyssa doing the opposite, with Barry using the moving ladder to look at the books which were too high to reach.
It was pleasant at first, or at least more than she would have expected. The dry, cracked leather, the faint smell of old pages, the texture of each book as she picked it up by the spine, opened it and ran a finger through its pages, it made her feel calm and content in a way few things could. Some books smelled of dust and dried flowers, while some had a faint scent of citric or coffee or chocolate. The smell was always there, and yet it was never strong enough to bother her nose. It made her feel strangely at home.
However, her enjoyment was short-lived. Inyssa got bored easily, and twenty minutes later the whimsy and pleasure of reading through every book had completely evaporated, leaving only a nagging, biting frustration. All she found were countless myths, stories and studies about the Lake Trio with occasional mentions of the Lunar Duo. Not a single scrap of paper detailing new information about Dialga and Palkia, or… anything else for that matter.
She slammed one of the books in its hole out of frustration, earning a glare from Lucas. God, why bother mentioning those two Pokemon if they weren't going to provide any detailed information about them? All she found were stupid rumors and nonsensical myths. What did they look like? Cute, fluffy dragons, apparently. What were they like? Nice and cuddly, it seemed. How were you supposed to meet them? By dragging them down from space with a chain made of rubies. What the hell was wrong with these people? How could they write something so asinine with a straight face?
She even found a red leather-bound book with no title and pages so brittle and yellow one could only assume the tome was hundreds of years old, if not more. She opened it, saw it was some kind of travel diary, and promptly closed it. What a waste of time.
The strangest part of the evening however was when she pulled a book out and found herself face to face with a yellow, fuzzy bug Pokemon the size of her palm, staring at her with its eight blue eyes. Luckily she wasn't the one checking the upper rows, otherwise she would have fallen backwards as she yelped in surprise, probably cracking her head open in the process.
Lucas explained –from the other side of the hallway, his voice barely reaching her– that she shouldn't be afraid of the Joltik; they were supposed to be there. The library gave shelter to hundreds of the little buggers, offering them a place to stay and a share of the building's electricity in exchange for eating any critter that might want to harm the books and absorbing the dust of the building onto their own electrically-charged fur, thus extending the books' lifespan and keeping them nice and clean.
Inyssa listened to his explanation as far away as she could from the Joltik. As interesting as she found the idea of a modern, mutually assisted ecosystem between humans and Pokemon, that didn't mean she wanted to examine it up close. She hated anything with that many legs.
At least Lucas seems to be having fun…
Another twenty minutes passed and Inyssa could feel her frustration quickly turning into exhaustion. Now each book felt heavy in her hands and the mere act of reading a few lines made her head hurt, not to mention she had to reread every paragraph at least two times to fully understand it. It felt as if someone had poured cement fix into the cracks of her brain.
She closed the last book, sighed and took a step back to rest for a few seconds. How much ground had they covered so far; half of this one bookcase? Less? She looked out toward the space between the hallways and toward the end of the floor. A spark of vertigo hit her stomach. How long would it take them to look through the title and summary of every single book in the library? A week without sleep or rest? Two weeks? Judging by the fact she could barely see the ceiling or the base subterranean floor, she guessed it was probably more than that. How dizzying, how overwhelming…
And yet, a strange determination remained within her. The book they were looking for was here. She could feel it in her bones, in the spark behind her eyes every time they turned golden, urging her to keep looking. It was here. All they had to do was find it.
She came back to reality with the sound of Barry gently slamming his head against one of the books.
"How much longer is this gonna taaake?" He let out an exaggerated scoff, his voice tired and slightly whiny. "We're barely halfway and there's like a million more bookcases to look through."
"Hey, weren't you the one who said we couldn't give up?" she asked, crossing her arms and glaring up at him. "Don't go regretting your words now."
"Yeah well… it's your fault for listening to me."
"Hmph."
Lucas placed one of the books back where it belonged and cracked his knuckles, looking as determined as ever. "Maybe the Champion left you some other clue in that letter? A hint about where the book might be?"
"I don't think so." She grudgingly took out the letter from her pocket and unfolded it. "Unless you can find some clue I missed, which I doubt."
Both boys huddled up behind her, almost pushing her to the floor with their weight as they looked over her shoulders at the letter. There was silence for a few seconds, until Lucas spoke.
"Hmm… you might be right. I don't see any other secret message besides the two you already told me about."
"Yeah. There's only the letter and her signature at the bottom. Unless she wrote something else with invisible ink I doubt we'll find …"
That's when she felt it. A powerful wave of excitement, so sharp and sudden it made her incredibly dizzy. She heard Barry's gasp a second after.
"Wait… that's it!"
She frowned, pushing him away. At least try to control your powers, asshole was written all over her face.
"What, invisible ink? That's stupid, Cynthia would never…"
"No, not that!" Barry smiled like a madman and pointed at the piece of paper in her hands. "Those letters and numbers at the end! Cynthia never told us what her middle name was, did she?"
"I… uh, no?" She tilted her head to the side, baffled. What the hell was he talking about? "But judging from the letter it's safe to assume it starts with V."
"Does it really?" he asked, his body almost vibrating from excitement. "Lucas, you said something about this being section DCL, right? What's that about; how are the books here organized?"
Lucas shared the same look as Inyssa. "W-well… they are divided by section, row and number. The numerals out there in the hallway tells you what section it is, the row is a single letter that represents a specific bookcase and then the number tells you…" His voice slowly fizzed away as his gaze turned distant. "…where you can find the book in question."
Inyssa's eyes went wide, realization coming to her as well. She looked down fast enough to make her neck click and focused her eyes on what she thought was Cynthia's signature and the date of the letter.
"x.C.V.A 2506." She read the letters out loud, voice barely above a whisper. "Th-they're numerals. Section ninety-five, row A, book 2506! T-this… this is it!"
There was a moment where they simply looked at each other, the joy and excitement in that hallway almost enough to make the bookcases vibrate around them. Then, almost unconsciously, Inyssa threw herself at Barry. She placed both arms around his shoulders and planted a sudden kiss on his lips, still smiling.
"You really are an unappreciated genius," she whispered as soon as the kiss broke.
He shot her one of those smiles of him which she loved. "All in a day's work."
"W-wait! Did you…" They turned to find a flabbergasted Lucas, eyes wide and red covering his cheeks. "D-do you just go around kissing everyone now or are you two…"
She interrupted him by grabbing his arm, as well as Barry's, and pulling them forward toward the hallway.
"I'll explain later," she said. "Come on!"
----------------------------------------
Once more Lucas led them through the labyrinthine layout of the library, heading down toward the third of the five subterranean floors where he said section ninety-five was. The light of the windows and the glass ceiling above dimmed the more they went down. Inyssa had to squint once they reached the end of the stairs leading to B2. She could barely make out the shapes of the bookcases around her, much less the metal plaques on the side of them announcing what section they were in. How were they supposed to find anything here?
Luckily she didn't need to voice the question out loud, as Lucas answered it before she could.
"Stay here for a second. We'll need some lights." He cleared his throat and placed both hands on the side of his mouth as he whispered into the darkness. "Uh… excuse me? Could we get three of you over here?"
Inyssa blinked in confusion. "Three of what?"
"Yeah, I don't think the lights are gonna come to us just because we…"
Barry's voice trailed off as a bright, purple glow appeared at the end of a nearby bookcase, slowly approaching them. Two more flickered to life a moment after. The silence around them became thick as the lights came into view, as well as the things carrying them.
They looked like candles at first. Chubby, white candles the size of her palm floating through the air toward them, their wicks burning with a weak purple flame. But… there was something else too, a faint glimmer just under the head of the candles. Gold. It looked like… an eye? Inyssa felt a rush of panic and her hand immediately went to her belt.
"Wait!" Lucas put an arm between her and the candles. "It's okay, they're here to help."
The three… things stopped a few inches from them, and only then their form became clear. What Inyssa had mistaken for a candle were the Pokemon's bodies, and the gooey bumps of wax falling down at the sides of their heads were their hair, apparently.
The one in front of Inyssa opened its mouth to smile, its one golden eye finding hers. She couldn't help but shiver, a sudden rush of cold spreading throughout her entire body.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
"Oh my gosh…" Barry whispered. She didn't need to see him to know he was smiling. "Look at their little arms and mouths! They're so cute! What are they?"
Inyssa grabbed the Pokédex from her pocket and pointed it at one of the creatures, determined to answer that question herself.
Litwick: The Candle Pokemon – Ghost/Fire Type. This species is most commonly found in cemeteries and dark forests. They will offer themselves as a light source for lost humans and intentionally lead them astray, slowly absorbing their life force to use as fuel for their flames, until their victim collapses and dies of exhaustion.
An uncomfortable silence spread through the dark hallway. Inyssa looked down at the Pokédex, blinked, then looked up at the smiling Litwick, its expression so cute and innocent that it was hard to believe what she had just heard.
"I… I don't know about this," said Barry.
"Yeah," she added. "Like… I have a flashlight app on my Pokétch."
"It'll be okay, trust me!" Without fear or hesitation Lucas showed its palm to one of the creatures, who came down to rest on top of it. "The Litwick in this library have been trained not to hurt people. The heat from your hand should be more than enough to fuel their flame, which won't burn or produce heat unless they want them too, so us and the books will be safe."
"That still sounds like more trouble than it's worth," she said.
"Well, flashlights and lamps are actually prohibited inside the library so…"
"Yeah come on Niss!" Barry took a step forward and followed Lucas' example, offering his palm to one of the remaining Litwick. "We get to use ghost fire to look around! How can you say no to something that cool?"
She squinted at the little bugger in front of her. Still floating, still smiling that eerie smile, not to mention the flicker of its flame looked… hungry, almost. Sighing, she raised her palm and let it rest on it.
"All right… just try not to eat too much of my soul; I doubt you'll like the taste."
"It's probably cold and bitter, like wine," said Barry.
"Shut your fucking mouth."
Despite the uncomfortable feeling of having the heat of her palm slowly absorbed by a ghost Pokemon, she couldn't argue with the results; their light was just strong enough to guide them through the lower floors without being burdensome on their eyes. After a couple more minutes of wandering around they finally reached their destination. Bookcase A, section ninety-five. It looked exactly the same as every other one they'd seen, and yet the spark in Inyssa's stomach crackled strongly. Here it was. Now all they had to do was grab it.
"Must be a displaced book since this is the embroidery section. Oh well, it should be… up over there." Lucas pointed at the second highest row of the bookcase, which rested at least nine feet off the ground. "The… thin, black one, I think."
"It's a bit too high up," she said.
"Yeah, let me see if I can find one of the ladders." Lucas turned around, focusing the flame of his Litwick further down the hallway. "Should be over here…"
Inyssa felt fingers brushing her hand, and a moment after Barry appeared at her side with a familiar grin on his face.
"What are you planning?" she whispered low enough for Lucas not to hear her.
"Just watch."
He furrowed his brow, took a deep breath and almost immediately his eyes turned a bright gold. A faint purple glow covered his arm as he raised it up at the book, which a moment after came out by itself and hovered in the air, still. Barry slowly lowered it toward his hand, grabbing it with a satisfied look on his face.
"Showoff," she said. "Think you're cool because you're good at telekinesis and I'm not?"
"Kinda, yeah."
The sound of her swatting at his arm caught Lucas' attention. He turned around and looked confused at the book on the boy's hands.
"H-how did you grab it?"
Barry opened his mouth, though it took a couple seconds for the words to come out. "I… jumped."
"Oh… must've been a nice jump then." Lucas smiled, and Inyssa had to contain her desire to slap her palm against her forehead. Not a great idea considering Litwick was resting on it. "All right, let's see if this is the one."
Barry handed the book to Lucas and the three of them huddled close in a triangle, their ghostly companions now floating above them like crowns, shining their pale light on the tome. It was thin and encased in black, cracked leather that smelled of something she couldn't quite identify, but it reminded her of the Old Chateau. As Lucas opened it she saw the paper, dry and yellow-ish, crackling at the turn of every page.
It was a small book, she realized. Couldn't possibly have more than fifty pages. Lucas reached what looked like the middle-point, and stopped.
"Here it is."
The room seemed to dim and the air became dense as the boy took a deep breath and began to read.
"I stand here today at the base of Mt. Coronet, the result of millions of years of change, of creation and destruction, and I wonder. I wonder what lies above. I wonder of times long past, when legends walked this earth and reality was nothing but the canvas through which they would manifest their fate. I stand here and I wonder… what lies beyond the stories and myths?
"Not much, according to those around me. They are simply tales of the past, my predecessor tells me. Our task is simply to memorize them and make sure they are never forgotten, for even something as insignificant as stories are a form of knowledge, and knowledge is the most important weapon of all. One day, my father tells me, others may ask what we know, and then our true task will commence.
"It seems, even after becoming the Lorekeeper of Sinnoh, there are still secrets that escape my grasp. But that is just fine. For what fun is there in finding the truth the easy way?"
Inyssa felt a chill. The Lorekeeper? Could this be…?
No, the book looked too old to have been written by Cynthia. Someone from her family, then? If it belonged to her grandmother or one of her ancestors then it explained why she knew about it when no one else did.
"…the latest target of my interest have been the twin dragons themselves, Dialga and Palkia. Unlike with every other myth I have attempted to study, these two have proved quite troublesome, as the few pieces of truth I have been able to find are barely sufficient to paint a bare sketch of what lies beyond. These legendary Pokemon are said to embody time and space and, unlike other beings with similar characteristics (Groudon and Kyogre, for example), their domains lie not within our world or even our dimension, but beyond it.
"And… that is it. Until today, that is all the information I was able to find. How… harrowing. There are statues of Dialga and Palkia in Eterna City, probably built hundreds if not thousands of years ago, and yet no other record remains of their existence? Of their story? We honor and worship Arceus, the Original One, and yet talk not of its two most powerful creations? I wonder… is it the power itself? Stories of the Lake Trio and their chosen humans are exciting; their struggles, their foolishness, their rises and falls, it all works wonderfully to paint a picture of humanity itself. The legendary heroes reminds us of what we can achieve, of the power we have over reality. Perhaps this is why not many stories have been told about Dialga and Palkia? Not many interesting stories can come from omnipotent beings who share nothing in common with us, after all.
"That's where my search should have stopped. And yet my mind, as usual, wanted more. It wondered… are they truly omnipotent? After what happened in Hoenn many years ago, after those people somehow managed to capture and control the lords of the sea and the land themselves… one can't help but think. Is the same possible for these two? The thought itself was enough to send a shiver down my spine, which is why I knew I was on the right track. After all, as long as power exists, no matter how grand or unattainable, humans will try to seize it. This is an undeniable truth of life."
Inyssa had to remind herself to breathe. In a moment she felt a familiar crackle and a multitude of memories flashed before her. Team Galactic…the Lake Trio... what Cyrus had said the first two times they had met…
No, that can't be it, she tried to convince herself. That's… it's just absurd…
"I shared my thoughts with my father, and while he at first seemed hesitant to address the topic, in the end I managed to convince him to lend me the golden ring. Already technically mine, as I am the new Lorekeeper, but it still felt right to ask. After all, I know that there is still one place left which might offer me the answers I'm looking for.
"And indeed I found something, even if it wasn't what I expected. In the heart of the Celestic Ruins lay a most peculiar fresco, one whose secrets can be unveiled by the ring I now hold. At first it didn't seem like much, simply an artistic recreation of what I assume was the origin of Sinnoh itself, but at the end waited for me a most peculiar poem, written in ancient sinnohan and emblazoned in shining, golden letters. My familiarity with the language isn't perfect, but I will do my best to translate it accurately. It read as such…"
Lucas looked up. "Should I do a voice or..."
"Oh, that'd be fun," said Barry.
"It's fine. Just read it," she said.
"Alright…" Lucas cleared his throat and began to read. "In the beginning there was nothing but a tempestuous sea of chaos. A light broke through the heart of nothingness, and the Original One began to be. Its power gave rise to two entities. Time began to turn. Space began to expand. Its soul gave rise to three smaller souls. Once together, the three ordered reality to manifest…"
Inyssa and Barry glanced at each other while Lucas finished reading the poem. The rest was the same as when they had read it themselves –if somewhat awkwardly translated– but that sixth line was new. It was the one that had been erased. The one she had theorized to describe the original duty of the Lake Trio, before they became the protectors of the human spirit.
Interesting…
"…it seems my search was not in vain." Lucas continued to read. "I wrote the poem down and read it over and over again, all night long. Even now I find my mind pelted by innumerable questions, few of which I have answers for."
Preaching to the choir, sister, Inyssa thought.
"What is this sea of chaos that existed before Arceus came to be? Where is the Hall of Origin located? What are these seventeen shards? And most importantly, what is the nature of the connection between the Lake Trio and Dialga and Palkia? I can't help but wonder… what if their existence isn't a simple coincidence?
"The possibility is haunting, but if the combined might of Mesprit, Azelf and Uxie are able to…"
Lucas' finger grabbed the edge of the page and turned it, filling the hallway with a dry, crinkly sound. Inyssa held her breath. She could feel the anticipation around her, so thick it could be cut with a…
"W-what…?" There was a moment of silence. "What the hell!?"
The next page was blank. Not only that, but the little spikes of paper jutting out from the connecting point of both halves showed that the following two pages had been ripped from the book. Inyssa opened her mouth and didn't know if the sound that came out was a scoff or a gasp. The sheer anger and indignity in the room was almost palpable, and not just because Barry was broadcasting his own all around.
"Oh come on," Barry sighed, his shoulders dropping. "Really?"
"You can't be fucking serious," she muttered angrily.
Lucas frowned. "I can't believe someone would do this to a book."
"Is there something after that?" she asked. "Like, about Dialga and Palkia."
"Well…" A few seconds passed while the boy's gaze flew through the following pages, his expression turning sourer with every second that passed. "No, it looks like the author moved on to writing about other myths after that."
"Son of a bitch…"
Three echo-y giggles reached her, and she looked up to find the Litwick trying their best not to burst into laughter. She felt heat rise to her face. Would it be a dick move to punch one of them in the face? I mean, they were ghosts so they were technically already dead…
Her revenge fantasy was interrupted by Barry. "At least we learned the whole poem this time. So we did gain something from coming here."
"Yeah… I guess you're right." She rubbed her eyelids slowly, letting out a sigh. "Do you think we can like… keep the book? Even if that's all it says about Dialga and Palkia I'd still like to read the rest."
"Well… the book is technically displaced." Lucas looked like he shrunk into himself, an uncomfortable look on his face. "And the Champion did send you to retrieve it, so as much as it pains me to break the library's rules…"
"Awesome. Give it here, then."
Lucas did as he was told, somewhat reluctantly, and let the tome rest on her hands.
Then everything went white.
She heard the distant sound of thunder, and when she opened her eyes she found herself someplace other than the library. It was a small room with a bed, a wardrobe and about a dozen books and pieces of paper strewn all around, barely illuminated by a couple of candles placed on the floor below. A young, blonde girl sat between them, looking down at the pages of the very same book Inyssa held in her hands.
The blonde girl turned the page and blinked, her stormy grey eyes almost as bright as the smile on her face.
"What the…?"
She blinked, and the scene changed again. Now she was back in the library, in the very same hallway they had found the book in, but neither Lucas or Barry were anywhere to be found. A single person stood before her, reading –once again– the same book. Her ash-black hair was tied back in a ponytail and the green of her eyes seemed to shine with something she couldn't quite identify.
"S-Shadi?"
Inyssa saw her sister turn the page, and then her eyes went wide. The name of the chapter was written in big, stylized letters, so she had no problem reading it.
Darkrai and Cresselia: The Lunar Duo.
"Here you are…" Shadi's lips formed the shadow of a smile. "Now…"
Her fingers closed around the edges and, without hesitation, she ripped out every single page from that chapter, crushing the pieces of paper into balls and saving them into her pocket. Inyssa could only stare with a mix of anger and horror. Why would she do that? What could possibly drive her to…?
"See? That wasn't so hard" Shadi let out a little laugh and looked over her shoulder, her gaze meeting something invisible. "Wouldn't want anyone to learn anything they're not supposed to… eh, partner?"
Inyssa blinked one more time, both the memory and the world itself vanishing as she did so.