PARAGON
Remnants of the Great War Arc [33]
Chapter 42 : Fury
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Kalos Region - Beneath Geosenge Town
The heat from the crystal spire was scorching, and Zinnia felt like she could barely breathe without burning her throat. Her broken side throbbed in agony where that kid had punched her, and she sucked in air through gritted teeth. Just in front of her, N had the bastard held down, and she pulled herself toward him, through the maelstrom of winds that gusted out from the gaping hole in the ceiling. At first, she’d thought her vision was poor because of the sudden flood of daylight, but as the seconds passed, it became clear that the blinding light from above was not simply due to the sun.
The spire was pumping power into the sky, each burst releasing an eerie whine as it shook the earth around them. Gravel and dirt alike fell from above, and white smoke began to curl around them, drifting from the spire.
After what seemed like ages, the light above finally started to fade, and the machinery beneath the spire began to stop, its glow fading.
Zinnia panted on the ground, her knuckles red from pressing against the stone floor so hard. She hadn’t realized before, but she was covered in a sheen of sweat, and a draft of wind from above almost made her shiver.
Behind her, Salamence spit the Klefki out of his mouth, and it hit the ground with a metallic thud. He snorted furiously, unable to believe he’d been subjected to such humiliation.
Ever diligent, N had kept the boy firmly beneath him the entire him, but he looked nearly as out of it as she did. As N lifted himself off of him, his eyes seemed glazed over as he stared vacantly at the sky, and his lips quivered as he took quick breaths.
Seeing her having trouble, N walked over and offered a hand, which Zinnia gladly took, hiding her wince as best she could. Then, together, the two of them stared down at the boy.
His eyes slid between them, but he didn’t react.
“What did you just do?” N said in a low voice.
It was rare…well, actually, Zinnia had never heard N use a tone this threatening. She didn’t even know he was capable of such a thing, compassionate and aloof as he usually was. It gave her pause, and she glanced between the two reservedly.
The boy coughed, and moved a dirtied hand up to his neck. Sweat matted his brown hair to his dirt-stained face, messy and disheveled now. He swallowed, and fixed N with a flat gaze. He said nothing.
“You’re not gonna talk, right?” Zinnia asked.
The boy smirked, though laying on the ground, with dirty sweat glistening on his face, it looked a little pathetic. He shook his head.
Zinnia’s foot slammed down on his skull, and almost immediately afterward, she cried out and fell to her knees, clutching at her injured side.
“Zinnia!” N knelt beside her and grabbed her shoulders before she could tip over. He glanced at the boy, then back at her.
“Broken ribs. And that’s exactly where he got me,” Zinnia bit out, motioning as best she could with her hand on the same side. “Don’t get mad, he had it coming.”
N looked down at her injured torso with furrowed brows. “I won’t get mad. It’s my fault. I pointed it out to him.” He glanced over at the boy, and the gray and red footprint on his forehead where Zinnia had kicked him. “But please don’t exert yourself in this state.” He helped her up again, though this time, she stayed slightly hunched over in pain. “I don’t mean to be dismissive, but we need to figure out what he did, and fast.”
“I told you not to worry about me.” Zinnia supported herself on N’s arm, but she let go as she hobbled over to the spire. “Now that we’ve seen it in action, it seems pretty clear that its some sort of energy conduit.”
“I saw similar phenomena during my time in Team Plasma. A doctor there was very interested in the sort of energy that could be derived from structures like this,” N agreed. “Perhaps it’s my bias speaking, but I fear that this crystal, like the others, has a violent purpose.”
“I’d assume so. If that kid rushed back here for that, then I’m sure it’s nothing good. But we’re all the way in Kalos… That energy he fired…if its target is in Rota…”
“Let's get back to the surface,” N said curtly. “We can’t do much from down here, and if all that energy is truly set to land in Rota, then we must do everything in our power to stop it.”
“What about him?” Zinnia asked, pointing at the boy.
N paused for a moment. “Let’s just bring him to the surface for now.” He quickly recalled the boy’s defeated pokémon and attached the pokéballs back to his waist, then helped Zinnia climb onto Salamence’s back. Salamence stomped over and took the boy in his mouth, but it looked like the dragon was exerting a tremendous amount of willpower to keep from crunching him in his jaws.
As they crested the lip of the hole, Geosenge came into view. Several ancient stones, which had stood in the center of town for generations, had been crushed or knocked over. Civilians stood in a pack around the hole, though luckily they were a distance away, behind a perimeter set by the local police. Upon seeing Salamence rise out, the officers barked orders at their pokémon, immediately rounding on the dragon.
“Stand down! Dismount from the Salamence, immediately!” one of them roared through a megaphone. A wave of concern passed through the gathered civilians as they exchanged words, and some closest to Salamence took a few steps back.
“We don’t have time for this,” Zinnia mumbled as she leaned against Salamence’s neck. Her sight was pointed down; she was in so much pain she didn’t even want to move her neck.
“I agree,” N muttered back. “No need to look, but I can see the energy high in the sky, and getting higher.”
“Get off the Salamence, now!”
“If it’s already that high up, I doubt Salamence can catch up.”
The dragon snorted in indignation beneath her, but she was in too much pain to retort.
“Reshiram can fly us,” N said. “He’s rested enough for that.”
“And the guy?”
“Let’s leave him here. The police will want something to chew on after we head out.”
“Are you listening to me?! Get off the damn Salamence or we will attack!”
“Ahhh, shut up,” Zinnia moaned. “On your move, then.”
N nodded and reached into his bag. He leaned down ever so slightly and whispered something unintelligible.
“Hey, keep your hands where we can see them!”
Salamence opened his jaw and dumped the boy’s body carelessly on the ground.
The Light Stone rolled out of N’s bag and hit the ground below with the thump. The police officers barely had time to register it before its surface melted into orange, and it expanded outward, sweeping beneath Salamence in a storm of blazing embers. The police screeched in alarm, and several ordered their pokémon to attack, but a billowing white wing swept in front of N and Zinnia, shielding them from all harm.
Salamence clung to Reshiram’s back in confusion, flapping his wings to keep himself upright, for fear of hurting his trainer. Reshiram glanced back and snorted.
N rested his hand on Zinnia’s shoulder. “You can recall Salamence now. I’ve got you.”
Zinnia nodded and braced herself. As she pulled out Salamence’s pokéball, she felt N’s hand grip her back. She activated the pokéball, and Salamence disappeared beneath them. She hissed in pain as she dropped, but surprisingly, Reshiram’s body rose to meet her, and the impact was soft and bearable. In front of her, Reshiram roared, and the air began to get even hotter as his tail flared, and he began to flap his wings.
This was Zinnia’s first time riding Reshiram. She’d been far too proud to ever ask N before, but even then, it was her personal philosophy that legendary dragons should be afforded a certain level of reverence that did not permit her to make such a recreational request in the first place. But since the opportunity had presented itself, she gladly drank it in.
The first thing she noticed was how hurt he was. Congealed blood ran from cuts across his body, and Zinnia nearly yelled at N out of reflex. How could you let this happen?! she wanted to say. But even before that, she had to wonder, how could this even have happened? She glanced up at N’s back, her lips pouty. She’d stomped him out, but clearly that kid had been strong, to be able to injure Reshiram so. She wondered what would’ve happened if she and N had found themselves reversed, with her challenging the boy, and N and Reshiram plowing through that horde of acolytes. Perhaps they’d gotten bad matchups. But maybe that was by design. Either way, they’d both come out victorious, though neither unscathed.
Reshiram’s blood gave off a bronze smell, and Zinnia found herself ignoring his wounds out of respect. Instead, she observed the rest of his body.
His fur, if it could be called that, was hot and soft, but it felt more like resting on thick smoke than actual hair. The way it billowed in the wind, it felt like she was resting on a bed of fire, but instead of burning her, it made her feel invigorated. Reshiram smelled of smoke and power. Despite the agony in her side, she couldn’t help but smile. This is a dragon.
Reshiram rose into the sky, leaving the shouts of the police and the chaotic Geosenge Town behind. Their heading was clear. For above them, a bright star shined above despite it being the middle of the day, white light trailing behind it like a comet.
“We’re going to speed up!” N shouted over the roar of the wind. “Hang on!”
Despite it feeling slightly inappropriate to do so, Zinnia grabbed on to Reshiram’s fur and clutched him even tighter, pressing her body against him. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore everything else going on around her, focusing exclusively on the warmth beneath her.
A moment later, Reshiram zipped skyward, and though it somehow didn’t exacerbate her broken ribs, Zinnia felt her stomach turn at the sudden change in velocity. Salamence was fast, but not this fast. A new respect for N birthed in her.
As the sky whipped past them, Zinnia refocused on the catastrophe at hand. The energy fired from the spire gleamed above them, burning through the fluffy clouds above Geosenge as it ascended. It was climbing far faster than Reshiram was flying, but Zinnia could tell the dragon was trying to catch it ahead of where it was now. It was curving slightly, and Reshiram was rocketing toward the sky in front of it. Despite how fast they were flying, the buildings and ruins of Geosenge now little more than pebbles in the distance, the ride didn’t feel perilous at all, nor was the wind freezing them as they flew. Such was the majesty of a legendary dragon.
Zinnia squinted as they neared the streaking mass of energy. She hadn’t noticed before, but now that they were closer, she could tell it was huge. It must have been the size of a skyscraper, like the ones in Lilycove and Mossdeep. The spire in that underground chamber was minuscule by comparison, and it made Zinnia wonder how such a thing had fired off something this large and powerful. It seemed to burn as bright and white as the sun as it roared across the sky.
“Reshiram!” N yelled. “Blue Flare!”
“Wait, aren’t we too close?!” Zinnia screeched.
Reshiram and N both ignored her as Reshiram opened his jaw, summoning a glowing power with a sapphire hue from deep within itself. The mass of energy was above them, but in just a few seconds, it was going to roar past them. Clearly, N intended to destroy it as it crossed their path. Even as he charged his attack, Reshiram kept soaring through the sky at a breathtaking clip. Closer, closer, and closer it got, and brighter, brighter, brighter, did Reshiram’s maw get.
“Now!” N roared.
A snort oozed from Reshiram’s smoking nostrils, and he reared back, before blasting the attack forward. A gleaming ray of sapphire fire shot from Reshiram’s mouth in a concentrated line. At the same time, the mass of energy rushed past in a blinding blur. The Blue Flare crashed into its side, ripping through its surface like a frozen lake. Reshiram roared even louder, unleashing even more power, and his body shuddered beneath them.
N gripped Reshiram’s side, sweat dripping down his temple. Zinnia glanced between him, and the awesome display of power with worry. The mass of energy wasn’t collapsing. It was like it was regenerating itself as Reshiram’s Blue Flare tore across it.
“Enough, Reshiram!” N said, clapping his neck, and the dragon extinguished his attack. Just a moment later, the last of the energy streaked past them, leaving them in the dust as it continued to rocket out of their reach.
Zinnia swallowed. It was strangely quiet now, the only sound in the air coming from the beat of Reshiram’s wings as he kept them aloft. “What now?” she said.
N exhaled and leaned back against Reshiram’s neck. “Reshiram isn’t strong enough to destroy it.” He glanced back at Zinnia. “It’s not because he’s worn out from the battle earlier either. Even at full strength…I’m still not sure we’d even be able to dent it.”
Zinnia hadn’t wanted to say it aloud, especially since she was riding atop the dragon himself, but she had been thinking it. She already knew it’d be futile to send her own dragons at it. She’d clung to the hope that Reshiram would be able to destroy it, but if N had assessed that he couldn’t, then that was that. A dragon’s strengths, and limits, were best known by its master, after all. “What even is it?” she said.
“Something terrible, says Reshiram. Aster was right to be worried.”
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“We need to let Sylvester know,” Zinnia said, trying to hide the panic in her voice. “If we can’t stop it… Look.” She pointed at it. “The way it’s curving…it’s heading west.”
“Toward Rota,” N said in a low voice. “And it’s getting faster.”
Now that he said it, Zinnia could see that it certainly was. It was so far above them now, it seemed almost inconceivable that they’d been so close to it just a short while ago. “That much energy is enough…” Her voice caught in her throat.
“Enough to level a city,” N finished. “Perhaps we should just call one of our friends in Rota directly. If Sir Aaron could be notified, maybe he—“
“Let’s keep after it,” Zinnia said. “Even if we can’t catch up, we can still track its movement. Aster can. If it keeps getting faster, who knows how much time they’ll have in Rota to react. We’ll be able to give them the most accurate intel.”
N paused to think it over, then nodded. “I agree. I’ll still call Sylvester, though.”
Zinnia nodded, and pulled out Aster’s pokéball.
She tried to keep her mind off her friends in Rota.
But she couldn’t.
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Land of Rota - South of Cameran Palace
“Riley!”
Sabrina watched as Sarah surged forward through the fray and embraced the spiky-haired Guardian. He looked tired, but determination gleamed in his eyes. He gave the girl a tender squeeze before gently pushing her away, and he fixed her with a worried gaze.
“What’re you doing here? You told me you were assigned to the medical team.”
Wordlessly, Sarah pointed back at Regigigas, its eyes shining through the storm. Riley’s eyes widened as the unbelievable sight sank in, and he swallowed, clenching his fist. “Ah, I see.” Noticing Sabrina, he turned. “Sabrina. Thank you for notifying me about Anabel, and for closing that portal.” He glanced around. “We’re barely holding our own now. I can’t imagine having even more of them to contend with.”
Sarah grabbed at his sleeve. “Riley, please help us evacuate the palace! There’re still Guardians inside, and soon, it will collapse beneath Regigigas! Sabrina…Sabrina said she would handle it, so you don’t need to fight any more!”
Riley scowled at the gargantuan golem, his lips pursed. He turned to Sabrina, searching for the truth of Sarah’s words, but Sabrina was resolute. “Are you sure?” he asked. “It does me no favors to say this, but this isn’t your fight. Why would you go so far for us?”
Sabrina opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Good question. Though really, that question could be applied to everything and anything she did. Why? Why did she join Paragon? Why did she come here to Rota? Why had she just zipped all across Rota like a maniac?
Why did she even wake up this morning?
Riley and Sarah had their reasons. Ash and Anabel had theres. Hell, even AZ had his. But for Sabrina, life was a numbed affair. Usually, it was easy enough to ignore that reality and simply live day to day. But today, she’d undergone far more suffering than usual. Why did she subject herself to that?
She glanced back at Regigigas. As its fingers curled around the edge of the roof of one of the buildings, crumbled rubble dropped down the side, crashing through the forest below. With every move, it groaned, echoing its mechanical malevolence across the lake.
Riley hadn’t taken his eyes off of her. It seemed he actually wanted an answer.
Unlike matters of her heart and mind, dispatching an ancient golem the size of a castle would be a simple task.
“Because it’s easy,” she finally said. And it was true.
Riley frowned incredulously. “Easy? That thing? Are you sure you don’t want—“
He spun as one of AZ’s men charged him, and he palmed him in the chin, before kicking him back. His Lucario swiftly launched an Aura Sphere at the man’s Manectric, and both combatants went tumbling away back into the chaos. Once that was taken care of, he locked eyes with Sabrina once again, concern coloring his expression.
But she was stoic. “You should get back to the palace now. The Queen is still inside.”
Riley hesitated, but eventually nodded. “Very well. Thank you, Sabrina. Let’s reconvene when this is over so I can thank you properly.”
Sarah shot him a look, but Riley grabbed her hand, and she jumped. “You’re coming with me.”
“O-Okay!”
“I know how stubborn the Queen can be. Only a spiel from you could hope to get her out of the palace.”
Sarah scowled in embarrassment, but Riley was already pulling her along toward the palace, their Lucarios in tow behind them.
With that handled, Sabrina exhaled and spread her consciousness across Rota. Anabel and Cynthia’s Lucario were almost here, and he already knew to take her straight to the evacuation point. Ash was now dangerously close to AZ and Sir Aaron’s fight. In fact, he may have already joined. It was difficult to tell, but that only heightened Sabrina’s anxiety. And Cynthia was still in front of the Tree of Beginning.
She retracted her perception and took several deep breaths. She needed her mind cleared for the foe ahead. For now, she needed to trust that everyone would keep themselves safe while pursuing their various goals. Not everything was in her control.
But this Regigigas was.
Her gauntlets whirred, and she vanished in a flash of emerald, reappearing in the air above the titan. The rain dumped on her, the wind casting her hair this way and that. Her eyes glowed dimly in the storm as she kept herself aloft, and a crack of lightning lanced down behind her, illuminating the valley.
Regigigas hadn’t seemed to notice her yet, so she began to extend her power forward, jade light curling around her arms like snakes.
All of a sudden, Regigigas froze in place, its massive arm hovering in midair just before grabbing the tiled roof of the building it was nearly at the top of. A deep groan reverberated from the golem’s form, and despite its inorganic nature, its feelings were clear: anger. Anger that something had dared deign to challenge its ascent up the palace.
She couldn’t physically see it from this distance, but Sabrina’s jade psychic energy had found its way to Regigigas and latched on. Its entire body brimmed with a furious potency, as if exerting itself against the invisible power. Then, Regigigas released another booming roar, and her hold over it shattered, dissipating into emerald sparks that quickly disappeared in the rain.
I thought so. AZ had also broken free from her, but that was AZ, so she’d thought maybe it’d work against Regigigas, but it seemed his pokémon were at least as tenacious as he was. I didn’t want to have to do this.
Sabrina raised her left wrist to her face. Her gauntlet glowed in the darkness, casting a green glow on her face as it rotated about her wrist with mechanical precision. “Disable left arm restraint.”
The gauntlet’s light faded and gradually began to stop spinning. Sabrina shuddered, clutching her head as her mind reacclimated to their new power level. The energy flickering across her body flared, and the air around her hissed in protest. Slowly, the light around her shifted from a vibrant jade, and a deep violet. Purple cracks webbed out across her skin, and when she opened her eyes, they were nothing more than depthless bits of light. Her hair blew around her in gales, and when she exhaled, her breath condensed in a white haze.
She suddenly became aware of everyone and everything in Rota. She knew exactly how many Guardians there were below, and how many of AZ’s acolytes. She could see Cynthia’s Glaceon dueling with her opponent’s Sylveon by the Tree of Beginning. She could see Sir Aaron and AZ, Ash and Anabel, Queen Ilene and Captain Magnus. She could feel the thundering of the hills in the north as countless pokémon fled from the annals of the Tree of Beginning, obeying a command Sabrina could now hear.
It is absolutely imperative that these restraints are never damaged or removed. If they are, it would be lethal for Sabrina. And not just her…everyone around her as well. Even if only one is removed…well, I’ll just say it would be difficult to call her human at that point.
Sabrina hadn’t been trying to eavesdrop on the doctor, but her parents hadn’t spared much of a thought to her or what she’d be up to.
She was far enough from anyone else that at least that wasn’t a concern. If I combust, maybe the Guardians will get a nice light show out of it.
Regigigas roared and screeched, sounding like an angry dog barking its fury at Sabrina as it clung to the palace’s side.
Sabrina raised her hand once more, the tips of her fingers limned in a dark energy, and she flicked her wrist.
Regigigas was suddenly ripped from the palace’s side. It screamed in a deep voice of pure hatred, echoing throughout all of Rota.
Sabrina spun her wrist, and Regigigas responded accordingly, curling in midair like some demonic puppet, until it was upside down. Its legs and arms flailed as it grunted in anger and confusion. As its body turned, all six of its beacon-like eyes found Sabrina and swiveled on to her, bathing her in a multicolored spotlight. She narrowed her eyes.
Regigigas strained against her hold, fighting to raise its arms in her direction. Sabrina didn’t react as each arm locked on to her, like the barrels of two enormous cannons. A searing light began to gather in front of both, and with a baleful screech, Regigigas fired twin Hyper Beams.
Sabrina raised two fingers on her other hand and drew them through the air almost lazily. Just before the Hyper Beams engulfed her, two perfect circles opened in front of her, holes in the fabric of space. The Hyper Beams disappeared into them, and two more opened above Regigigas, the Hyper Beams firing out not a moment later. Regigigas roared in agony as they splashed down on its head, and ceased its attack immediately.
But she wasn’t done. Sabrina opened her palm, and a constellation of rifts opened all around Regigigas. A second later, a Hyper Beam blasted out of each one, scorching Regigigas all across its body with its own attack. The cloned portals had duplicated their contents too, and Regigigas screamed.
Now, show me your memory. Sabrina’s blazing eyes seared violet as she peered through reality, piercing Regigigas’ soul and reading its divine language in an instant.
Despite the fact that it was an automaton and had no real brain, its soul had accumulated memories all the same, and visions of them flashed in Sabrina’s mind, years passing in a single instant. Her heart palpitated as she experienced a hundred emotions at once, but she willed a psychic slice through her mind, severing them before they could take hold.
AZ had met Regigigas early in his tenure as king. He’d found the ancient golem in the far north, in a land called Hisui. While touring the world, he’d found himself in a blizzard, lost from his men, and the guides that had taken him there. He’d found solace in a nondescript temple of some ancient tribe. A Regigigas slumbered within, and it had slipped into one of his pokéballs without him even knowing, as he lay shivering, frostbitten, and dehydrated on the cold stone floor.
It wasn’t until later in his journey that he discovered his new companion, a stalwart but brooding guardian who allowed no harm to befall his master, but also did not participate in any conflicts personally. Apparently, it had sensed a coming catastrophe, and AZ’s importance therewith in the tapestries of fate. But was that affection it felt toward its master? And anguish at his eventual defeat?
It enjoyed war just as much as AZ, but actively refrained from battle so its master could enjoy the full spoils of violence…?
Tears pooled and dripped from Sabrina’s eyes unbidden, but the emotions that had caused them had already come and gone, and they too lost themselves in the rain.
Time to finish this.
Sabrina rose higher into the sky, breaching the ocean of storm clouds above. Lightning flashed around her as she swam up through the darkness, but she soon emerged above them. In complete contrast, here, it was silent and serene, but also bright and scorching.
Almost immediately, Sabrina’s hair caught fire, burned by the sunlight that AZ’s Groudon had amplified over Rota. Only Kyogre’s storm protected the Guardians from a similar, albeit less extreme, fate.
The sunlight meant nothing to Sabrina now. She opened her hands and devoured as much of it as she could, gathering its flames around her in a fearsome corona. As her blaze expanded, she locked eyes with the sun as she did every morning, and squinted wistfully.
Regigigas spent most of its life in the cold. It dislikes warmth.
With her fire anchored to her, Sabrina plunged back into the storm. The fire attracted lightning, and electricity surged across its roiling surface, imbuing the ring with even greater destruction.
As she breached the cloud line below, she could sense the attention of those gathered below suddenly turn on her. It wasn’t a surprise. Surely, she looked like an otherworldly sun right now. At the very least, she must’ve looked as bright as one.
Regigigas hadn’t moved from the spot where Sabrina had suspended it, still squirming in midair. It glanced up at her too as she approached, and through the maelstrom of emotions it was emitting, another suddenly became clear.
Fear.
Sabrina closed her eyes and willed the storm above her to move. Dark clouds whipped into a cyclone and began to spin around Regigigas and Sabrina. As the twister descended, the gray winds got faster and thicker, racing around in a spiral that cloaked the both of them from the rest of Rota. Lightning arced from the raging walls of the cloudy prison to the crackling surface of Sabrina’s fiery ring, and the thunder that followed boomed throughout the stormy chamber in an echo.
In the ravenous winds of the twister, flecks of Sabrina’s skin flecked off from her body as glowing violet embers, and they swirled around in an arcane storm. However, she paid it no mind as she raised her arm.
I can’t let you see this.
Regigigas roared in challenge, as if daring Sabrina to launch the spinning disc of fire.
Please forgive me. Though to whom exactly that request was addressed to, Sabrina couldn’t say for certain. She brought her hand down.
The ring of fire blitzed downward in a furious frenzy. Regigigas grunted, trying to move its arms to block, but the attack was far too quick, and Sabrina had strengthened her hold over it too. There was no escape.
The ring burst into a blinding, searing light as it reached Regigigas. Without hesitation, it cleaved the ancient golem in half, separated diagonally from head to hip. Three of its eyes ended up on each half, but their lights were silenced instantly, and the pieces of its body went slack. The half with its legs and left arm crashed down on top of the one with its head and right arm as both tumbled down to the lake far, far below. They disappeared in a plume of white foam, sinking down to the pitch black lakebed.
Once the foam had dissipated, and the surface of the lake was calm again, or as calm as the roiling tempest allowed, Sabrina willed her restraint back on, and her eyes melted back from violet to jade. The fissures across her body sealed up, the light seeping from within fading. The cyclone around her began to calm, and before she could draw any more attention to herself, she teleported away.
She reappeared on the center island, within the grove of golden maple trees before the palace. In the darkness of the storm, their leaves were damp and dull, and Sabrina collapsed into their shadows against the trunk of one of the trees. Her left gauntlet was once again glowing emerald and spinning, and after confirming it, she closed her eyes, taking several deep breaths. No light show today.
There were very few things Sabrina was confident about, especially regarding herself.
Her ability to destroy was one of them.
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Land of Rota - East of Cameran Palace
Aaron stared up at the sky, the rain falling through his Aura body. “No…” he murmured.
“Hah hah,” AZ taunted. “Something the matter, hero?”
All around them lay unmoving pokémon. Corviknight and Nidoking. Tyranitar and Ampharos. Gallade and Dragonite. Escavalier and Magmortar.
All defeated by AZ.
Only Lucario still remained conscious, but wounds peppered his body, and he panted with exertion, leaning against a ruined tree to stabilize himself.
The rain ran down AZ’s bare chest, and he grinned. “Give me more! You can’t end this just yet! Stay and entertain me longer!”
Aaron trembled, his face shadowed by his hair. He clenched his fist. “You fool.”
AZ raised an eyebrow.
“You blasted fool, how could you?!” Aaron shouted. “You fired the weapon!”
“That’s right!” AZ said triumphantly. “Struggle all you want, but my victory is assured. So what will it be? Will you stay and fight me, or will you abandon your people like a coward again?”
Aaron closed his eyes. “Don’t think for a moment that you’ve won. You underestimate the Guardians far too much.” As he spoke, he clapped his hands together, then pulled them apart. Grasped in his right hand was a sword of pure Aura that shined so brilliantly it was almost white. As Aaron arced it around and brought it to his side, it left a mystical trail of azure mist in the air, power radiating from its every move.
“Hmph.” AZ rested his hand on his chest, and his body lurched. A bright light gleamed at the center of his chest, and he slowly pulled his hand away. He too held a blade in his right hand, but while Aaron’s was elegant and sleek, this one was jagged and misshapen, far larger, and somehow gleaming even brighter. As AZ drew it to his side, it released a keening wheeze as it throbbed and pulsed.
“The Fairy Plate made manifest,” Aaron breathed. “You’ve turned it into a weapon.”
“An unbeatable weapon,” AZ said.
Aaron glared at AZ, and a moment later, he vanished. AZ frowned, but Aaron reappeared right in front of him, raking his sword across his chest at lightning speed. AZ grunted, and his fist shot out instinctively, but Aaron dodged. AZ’s eyes burned, and a moment later, a white blur slashed across the air where Aaron had been planted not a second ago. The path of his Fairy Plate blade shimmered, but Aaron had already jumped back.
AZ smirked, unperturbed by his injury, or his failed counterattack. “Yes. This is more like it,” he hissed. Angling his sword around, he licked his lips. “Let us clothe ourselves in the crimson garb of this violent world!”
Next — Chapter 43 : Aaron and Azett
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It is nothing short of a miracle that this chapter came out on time considering the Elden Ring DLC just dropped. Honestly, I’ll just say that future chapters may be late until I beat it :P
Okay, proofreading done— time to fight Messmer. Wish me luck :D