//------------------------------// // Chapter 16 // Story: Absolution // by ed2481 //------------------------------// I began to near Fluttershy’s house. My journey around the outskirts of the town having gone well enough. At the very least, I was not attacked in any way, so that was a good sign. On my walk, my mind fell to other things, first and foremost the fact that Fluttershy was apparently good friends with a Legendary. My features fell into a frown at thoughts of ‘Discord’. He was stranger than any Pokémon I’d encountered before, and certainly more powerful than all but a select few. As my mind drifted back to our ‘conversation’, one thing in particular stood out above all else. He’d said that he’d never heard of Arceus at the beginning of the conversation. However when I said that I was a Pokémon, he’d immediately mentioned him with the words ‘Funny, I thought he hated Arceus’. I may not be as smart as Belle, but it did not take a genius to figure out who he was talking about. Giratina, my ‘taxi’ to this world. It seemed that both Celestia and Discord knew the Legendary. I suppose that shouldn’t have surprised me too much. After all, most Legendaries knew each other in one way or another. With their long lives and incredible strength it made sense that they’d encounter each other eventually. Counting Celestia and Discord, I’d seen five in my travels. While that was five more than most Pokémon ever saw in their lives, most Pokémon stayed in the same relative location for the whole of their existence. I on the other hand had traveled far and wide with Belle at my side and that leads one into encounters with beings of great power. I supose that may have been one reason behind my belief that Arceus would grace me with his presence. After all, I’d had the good fortune to be rescued by an Articuno in a blizzard and meeting Suicune in the process of purifying a lake, a visit with Arceus hardly seemed like much of an ordeal. Especially after he’d seen how faithful I was to him... A sigh escaped my lips. No, instead I had gotten Giratina and ended up in this world of ponies. Such is the way of life I suppose. As I closed in on Fluttershy’s house, I found her and Discord sitting outside sharing some tea together. I walked up and sat down before the small table that had been conjured out of nothing. “Hello,” I said calmly. “Ah, if it isn’t the lovely Cres,” Discord said with a small smile. “Care to join us in our delightful tea time?” “Sure,” I said while shooting him a cool glance. “How was your morning, Fluttershy?” I asked her instead of continuing to talk to the vexing Legendary. “It was very nice,” Fluttershy replied, smiling. “And yours?” “... well enough,” I replied as I pointedly avoided looking at Discord. “Well enough? Hmph, I must be losing my touch if my razzle dazzle was only ‘well enough’,” the draconequus said in a mock insulted tone. I shot him an annoyed glare. “You have more power than I ever will and you’re using it for self-amusement, I think you should practice your ‘touch’ more,” I told him before lapping at the tea in front of me. “Or you need to grow a sense of humor, for I do have enough ‘touch’ to let others have fun too,” Discord remarked indifferently as he took a sip of his tea. “Or at least you shouldn’t call me a mutt.” “Now now, don’t fight, you two,” Fluttershy said calmly before looking at Discord. “You can’t just use your powers against him because he called you a name,” she told him before looking at me. “And Cres, you’re not supposed to call other people names.” I sighed. “Very well... but he does look like what would happen if a Rapidash, a Pyroar, and a Braviary got very drunk,” I told her with a roll of my eyes. “It is hardly my fault.” Discord looked at me flatly. “Well, there’s rude, and then there’s flat out rude,” he said before taking a sip of his tea. “I’m surprised that mouth hasn’t gotten you killed before getting here.” I sighed, there I went again. “Sorry... Talking has never been my strong suit... and a year alone praying on a mountaintop surely didn’t help.” I shook my head. “All I seem to be good for nowadays seems to be weeping, letting down my love, or making enemies.” Fluttershy shot me a pitying glance while Discord simply shrugged. “Well what do you expect if you let your tongue run wild? Sooner or later, others will find it annoying and down right rude.” “Don’t worry, Cres, I’m sure you’ll get better,” Fluttershy told me encouragingly. “I suppose, at least I managed to avoid making those three fillies hate me,” I said with a small shrug. “Three fillies?” Fluttershy asked me with a worried frown. “Indeed, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scoota-something or other,” I replied, shrugging. “I slept under their ‘clubhouse’ and awoke to them poking me with a stick. They were no real trouble, though I wish I’d been able to sleep longer.” “Oh, those three,” Fluttershy said with a small smile. “I hope they didn’t bother you too much.” “No, as I said, they were no real trouble,” I stated. “Though their goal to find their ‘special talent’ seems rather pointless to me. You cannot ‘find’ something of that nature, it is an inherent part of you and the longer you ‘look’ for it the less likely you are to find it.” “So much like the reason you’re here in the first place, eh?” Discord stated nonchalantly as he took a sip of tea. “I mean who ‘looks’ for something abstract like absolution? Do you expect to find it in a nice box tied up in a pretty bow?” I scowled at him. “I will find my absolution wherever it may be. Until this wound in my heart is healed I am a danger to my Belle and I will not allow myself to harm her. Ever,” I stated flatly. “Then I think you have no right to question three little fillies quest to search for their special talent,” the draconequus remarked to me before taking another sip. I debated continuing the argument but decided against it. How could I argue with someone like him? My tongue lapped up the last of my tea and I stood up from my spot. “I’m off to find something to do. Goodbye, Fluttershy,” I stated with a nod to her. “Goodbye, Cres, be careful while you’re out there,” Fluttershy said with a smile, though I could sense an undercurrent of worry in her eyes. I simply nodded and began to walk away. As I did so, my ears picked up something Discord said to Fluttershy. “I’m betting two bits he’ll be the cause of some trouble,” he whispered to the mare. “You shouldn’t say things like that,” she replied. “Besides... he’s a good cat. He’s just troubled.” “Yes, and he seems to have a problem with keeping that trouble to himself,” the draconequus replied. “So maybe I should raise it to four bits...” I scowled and trotted off, not wanting to be the punchline of more of the strange creature’s jokes. I walked aimlessly for a time until I somehow ended up in front of the same pool I’d entered the world through. My paws fell from underneath me and I lay beside it, a look of longing on my face. I... missed Belle. Her absence was ever present in my mind and now that I thought of it... her face danced in the back of my mind every time I closed my eyes. However, before I could think too deeply on that, I noticed something odd within the pool of water. The reflection of the water showed a rocky path that I remembered belonging to Mt. Coronet and walking casually down it was Belle. I stared for a long moment and I almost began to weep. I... I needed her. My paws moved despite myself and I was halfway into the water before I realized that it was just an image... not a portal. I eyed it angrily, infuriated by the taunt but shook my head and turned away from it. It wouldn’t do to work myself into a frenzy over something like this. Most likely, Giratina was simply amusing himself with me. I wouldn’t give him that kind of satisfaction. “She worries about you a lot, you know?” Giratina’s voice spoke out from the water. “I know,” I said with a frown, still looking away from the pool. “So much so she was able to... ‘convince’ me to show her where you are,” Giratina continued, acting as if he didn’t notice my sour tone. “She’ll do that,” I agreed with a stiff nod. “Logic or fake tears?” “Fake Tears, though she tried logic first,” the legendary answered. “Anyways, I thought since she had a chance to see you after so long, you deserved the same right. Much to my surprise you came here just a few minutes after she left.” “Great...” I trailed off and a thought occurred to me. “What do you mean after ‘so long’? I saw her not but a week ago!” “Well... I might’ve left out that time flows differently in different worlds,” Giratina replied in a somewhat hesitant tone. “You see, as much as legends dictate how Dialga keeps time steady, she just does that for our world, not others.” I turned to the pool to stare at him. Anger lighting the fire in my belly. “AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME THAT BEFORE BECAUSE?!” I roared, the thought that I might have lost years of Belle’s life infuriating me. “Because the time difference is only about a month for one week here,” Giratina replied, not phased by my outburst. “And trust me, that’s a very good difference compared to one year for day spent in someplace else.” I continued to glare, though that did pour a pitcher of water on my anger, causing it to subside slightly. “I see,” I stated flatly. “I still would have prefered to know this ahead of time.” “Sue me,” Giratina replied in a shrug like nature. “This is my first time really ‘trying’ to help another Pokémon. It’s not like I do this for a living.” I smoldered there for a moment before shaking my head. “Whatever,” I stated quietly. “If it’s not you making a fool of me, it’s Discord.” “He’s still around? I thought he was turned to stone or something,” the legendary inquired. “Not as far as I can tell,” I replied, rolling my eyes. “All I know is that he’s extremely annoying and smug. Kind of like you in fact.” “That’s your opinion, to me we are nothing alike,” Giratina replied indifferently. “For instance, I never tried to take any of your body parts off and toy around with it. I got more respect than that.” I glared at him before shaking my head. “Whatever. Just leave me be.” Giratina rolled his red eyes. “Fine, I’ll just be off then, something popped up that needs my attention anyways,” he said in a low grumble. “Till next time, Cres, hopefully then you’ll have lightened up a bit,” he said before the water shimmered and his image faded away. I frowned and stayed where I was lying. I had nowhere better to be after all. At least here I wasn’t likely to be poked by children or yelled at by orange ponies. I sighed and looked back at the water to see to my surprise that it had shifted slightly. It was some part of the Distortion World, for it had large islands floating about in a distorted starry sky, but what really took my eyes were the two Pokémon the water was focusing on. One was Giratina and the other was... Arceus. The lord of everything floated regally in the ‘air’ while Giratina floated yards away with a sour tone expression pouring out from his eyes. “Well... I thought I felt your presence entering into my home,” Giratina said while his six tentacles wings sway unhappily. “Don’t you even knock first?” “I did knock,” Arceus replied, his voice deep and... ethereal. “You simply didn’t hear me.” “Maybe because I chose to ignore it,” the dragon replied indifferently. “Still, why are you here? You don’t visit unless you have something ‘important’ you wish to discuss.” Arceus’s face seemed to soften slightly. “My son, I’m here because you are on the crux of a large tipping point in your life.” “Really? I thought that already happened when you banished me here,” Giratina replied flatly and annoyed. “No, that was the beginning of your new life,” Arceus replied steadily. “You did spend several hundred years destroying cities you know.” “As much as you like to remind me, yes,” Giratina answered sourly as he looked away with distaste. “Then again I also remember you just sitting around doing nothing as I was called the cursed one for all Pokémon, so you know I might have had good reason back then,” he added dryly as he glanced back to Arceus. Arceus just looked at his son with an ineffable expression. “At any rate. You are at an important part of your existence.” “And what is that exactly?” the dragon inquired with a tone that sounded increasingly peeved. “There is currently a woman who plans on revealing you to the world,” Arceus said calmly. “You must take care with how you proceed, my son.” “Oh, heard about that little tidbit, have you?” Giratina commented. “What, I can’t try to rewrite how the legends depict me as some horrible monster now?” “You’re more than welcome to try,” Arceus replied with a small nod. “I’m not telling you that you shouldn’t do it child. I’m telling you that you must be careful with how you go about it.” “What do you mean exactly?” Giratina asked with irked tone. “And none of your ‘parable’ or ‘riddle’ answers.” “I mean that you must be fully prepared to deal with the dangers that comes with revealing yourself to the world,” Arceus replied plainly. “I urge you to be careful, my son... seeing you in pain hurts me and if you do not do this right then you will be in a great deal of pain.” “Hmph... this is about what happened to Dialga and Palkia isn’t it? How they got captured by Galactic and all?” Giratina stated as he closed his eyes and emitted a single scoff. “Please, I’m not like them.” “True, you are not as foolish as your younger siblings can be at times...” Arceus turned to look off in the distance for a moment before returning his gaze to Giratina. “But you are far more sensitive. No matter how you may try to deny it.” The dragon kept his eyes closed and remained silent for awhile. “Hmph... I won’t lose my temper like last time.” Arceus closed the distance between himself and his son and wrapped a forelimb around him, pulling him closer much to Giratina’s discomfort. “Good,” the God of Everything said quietly. “And you also need to watch out for your new friends. There are evil people in this world and you know very well that they who would seek to use your friends against you.” Giratina opened his eyes and scowled at Arceus before his whole body disappeared and reappeared a good distance away. “Any who do so would be very foolish,” he stated lowly as he glared at his father, his mask parting away slightly showing a mouth and it build up a bit of energy within. “As would anyone who did so before, and we both know how that ended,” his father replied levely. “Do not think that it has escaped my notice that Matt and Roxanne have a very close resemblance to those you lost before.” Giratina’s eyes shrank in anger as the energy built up fast and he fired a mighty Hyper Beam that soared right by Arceus’s face. Arceus simply continued to look at him levelly, not in the least bit ruffled by the attack. “You know that what I say is true,” Arceus replied calmly. Giratina was breathing heavily as a small frown formed on his mouth before it got covered up by his golden mask. He regained his composure and looked at Arceus lowly. “Is there anything else you want to discuss?” he asked, his tone leaking he was done with this conversation. “Two things actually,” Arceus stated simply. “Firstly; well done with Cres. I’d been meaning to have a talk with him for some time now but things kept coming up.” My eyes widened with surprise though I kept silent as I watched and listened to Giratina's reply. “Hmph, had to do something with him,” he replied. “I was tired of hearing him everyday praying the same prayer every single waking minute,” he stated. “I’m sure that’s the only reason you did so,” Arceus replied, and I could somehow tell that the God of All was smirking. Giratina rolled his eyes. “And the other thing?” he asked. “That I want you to remember that no matter what you do, I’ll always love you, my son,” Arceus stated softly, appearing directly in front of Giratina and placing his lipless muzzle on the dragon’s forehead. Giratina pulled away awkwardly and glanced away. “As you always say... father,” he said slowly, not entirely believing the words. “I’ve never had any reason to say differently,” Arceus replied calmly. The dragon slowly turned his body away. “Anyways... I’ve other things to do, keeping the balance up in the Distortion World and all,” he stated as he began to fly away. “Goodbye.” “Goodbye, my son,” Arceus called after the dragon’s dissipating back. Then he glanced over at me and winked. “He’s so very stubborn you know. Thinks the whole world revolves around him at times. Kind of like a certain Absol I know, maybe they should both work on that.” The water’s surface broke and the picture disappeared, leaving me staring at it blankly. Arceus himself had just talked to me! “I... I...” I blinked blankly, unable to find any words.