• Published 13th Sep 2020
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A New World, A New Way: Requiem from the Lostbelt - Metroid Prime



The seeds of fantasy have descend. Now, 7 worlds fight for the right to live.

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The Silence before the Storm Wall

Arc 2

Holy Conflict in the Divided Kingdom, Zebrica:

Last Stand of the Pokemon Liberation Army


Cario, Captial of Zebrica.

The streets were busy with Pokemon and Zebra walking and interacting with one another. It was pretty much a peaceful morning all things considered. And given the nation's recent history, a peaceful morning was the least they could ask for.

PLA and Zebra soldiers trained in the nearby military base, honing their skills and learning to work with one another. After fighting together in the Civil War, they had truly learned to respect one another. But even though that conflict was over, the current events would not allow them to relax just yet.

Peace, after all, is only transitory.

-

Sev slithered through the halls of the main palace, the Commander was in a good mood today.

He passed by delegates and individuals who gave him either looks of respect or weariness. Both reactions were understandably valid.

He finally made it to the room of his destination, only to be blocked by two guards.

“Sorry, Commander. But the King is in the middle of an important meeting right now.”

“Wait, you say that he’s in an important meeting and I wasn’t invited!?”

“It is a private meeting between him and an old friend. Nothing that concerns you.”

Sev raised an eyebrow, before speaking what he had guessed.

“It's Celestia isn’t it?”

The guard flinched, which was enough for confirmation.

“Great! I need to speak with her as well!”

Without any heed to the guard's protests, Sev opened the doors and slithered inside to the sight of King Trot on his throne, with a mirror right in front of him.

“Sev! What did I tell you about just barging in!?”

*Sigh* “That I can only ever do it if it's an emergency.”

“Indeed.”

Sev opened his mouth but was cut off.

“And let me further reiterate, unless it's something like a Servant attack, Diamond Dog riots, or the end of the actual world, it's not worth bringing to my attention.”

The Seviper slowly closed his trap.

“I thought so, now if you could please leave us.”

“Wait, is that Celestia you’re talking to?”

Trot attempted to stay silent, but the pony in the mirror gave him away.

“Trot, is that Sev I hear?” said the voice of Celestia.

“So it is her! Great!”

Trot sighed himself into his throne as the Pokemon went up beside him and looked in the mirror. Sure enough, a reflection of Celestia was staring back at them. Said mirror was a new addition to the castle, sent by Princess Celestia herself. After the letter King Trot wrote to her a few weeks ago, she thought it would be best if all the world leaders had ready and immediate forms of communication with each other. As such, she requested that Arceus give each of the world leaders a magical looking glass so that they could talk to each other in case of emergencies or important discussions.

“Princess Celestia, just the pony I wanted to see!”

“Hello Sev, how are you?”

“I am doing fine, things in Zebrica could not be better. Not a single incident to report.”

“I see, so what Trot says is true.”

“Huh, what's true?”

“I was just telling Celestia before I was so rudely interrupted, that things in Zebrica have been relatively uneventful ever since you got back from Equestria. There hasn’t been a single Servant sighting or summoning since that broadcast Arceus made to the world.”

“And that's good, after the war your country went through, you and your people have seen enough conflict for one century. I’d rather you not get involved with what's been happening. Your people deserve peace and respite.”

Trot smiled, he for one was glad they had some peace and quiet after so long. Well, as quiet as one could be with Sev around.

The Commander on the other hand had a different opinion. While he too was enjoying peacetime. Part of him was disappointed that he or his forces had yet to encounter any servants.

While his dislike of the human race was not as strong as it used to be, he still did not have a high opinion of them overall. Not to mention he still had some lingering regrets about not being able to overthrow them as he envisioned.

So when he heard that humans existed in this new world and that they were trying to destroy all Pokemon. It was almost a godsend. Finally, Sev would be able to once again fight against the oppression of humans who would trample upon the lives of Pokemon.

That is if he could find any of them.

Sev was then pulled out of his thoughts by someone calling his name.

“Sev?”

“Oh yes, I’m here!”

“I said was there something you wished to ask me Sev?” Celestia stated.

“Oh yes, I wish to speak with Princess Luna! Is she there?”

“Oh, no I‘m afraid not, she's currently sleeping and patrolling the dreamscape.”

“Aww.”

Celestia could understand Sev’s disappointment. Ever since the Gala, the Commander had renounced his worship of Arceus, and instead made her sister the new patron of the PLA. Apparently, the Commander did not take too well finding out that Arceus never acknowledged his existence.

Luna on the other hand was become something of both a mentor and therapist for the Seviper whenever he was sleeping. Thanks to her, Sev came to accept that not all humans were evil and that his father was not someone he could try to feel anything for but shame.

When she asked Luna how it felt being made an object of reverence for an entire army, her sister declined to comment.

“But I’ll tell her that you wanted to speak with her.”

“Is that all you wished to ask her Sev?” Trot said impatiently.

“I believe so yes.”

“Good, now can I please have the room?”

The Pokemon slithered out of the room, leaving the King alone with the closest thing he had to a mother.

“Sometimes I wish he would learn some manners, or at least be normal.”

“I can agree, that Sev can be eccentric, but you must never forget that he is still your friend. One whom you fought alongside and helped save your kingdom.”

“I know, it's just that Sev is very competent and reliable when it comes to a fight, but anything else he just…I don’t know.”

“Well, back to what we were talking about, you said things have been relatively alright where you are?

“Yes, everything is fine, for now at least.”

“For now?”

Trot looked aside to see if any of the guards in the room could hear him and then back to Celestia.

“To tell you the truth, I’m a bit worried now.”

“How so?”

“Well, I don’t know if Arceus or any of his Legendary Pokemon have noticed. But one of the Lostbelt borders has been inching closer and closer by the day, I can almost see it out by my bedroom window by now.”

“I see.” Arceus did indeed inform Celestia that the Lostbelt that had covered the Marelantis nation was expanding the fastest and that in a few days' time it would make contact with the Zebrican border.

“Does the public know about it yet?”

“No one except the border guard knows about it. I don’t want to cause a panic nor entertain the idea of…relocation. Not after we fought so hard to save this kingdom.”

Celestia knew the reason for Trot’s refusal to evacuate was two-fold. One, it would take a considerable amount of resources and time to relocate an entire nation's worth of citizens if it truly came down to it, and that was something they did not have. Two, it was a matter of pride. Zebrica was their home, it had been around before even she was born. Despite the public opinion becoming more accepting of other races, she was sure not many would like the idea of uprooting their livelihoods and moving somewhere else if it came down to it.

Since they had no way of currently invading a Lostbelt and cutting down its Tree of Emptiness, an evacuation was almost certain, given that they had no idea who was in these Lostbelts. And after the civil war, Zebrica was in no shape to fight another drawn-out conflict.

Still, Trot had made it clear he would not make his people leave their 1,000-year-old ancestral home unless they had no other choice.

Celestia hoped it would not be too late by then.

“I understand Trot, but I still just want to make sure you still have that option on the table. At the very least you should have plans to evacuate if it comes down to it. In fact, I’d suggest you start with the villages closest to the storm walls. If what you say is true, they may not have a choice much longer.”

Trot thought about it, but not for very long, when it came to Celestia, he always took her advice. In fact, this personal call was more of a push he wanted from her about the idea of evacuating. And with that being said.

“Alright, what do you suggest?”


In the streets of Cario, a young Riolu waited by a food stand as he kicked a few pebbles to pass the time.

He wore a blue wristband on his right arm, with a crescent-shaped moon embroidered on it. The cutie mark of Princess Luna, which was meant to replace the colors of Arceus the PLA previously flown on their banner.

His name was Lu, the young son of General Rio. At one point in time, he was somewhat shy when it came to certain subjects, and as a fighter, he had a ways to go like the rest of his family.

When he came to this world, he got the opportunity to prove himself when the Civil War erupted. While many of his comrades including several of his brothers and sisters died in battle, he managed to come out of it alive, and more grown-up.

The person whom he was waiting for was part of that growing up.

Nearby, a young Kirlia and a mature-looking Audino walked through the streets, passing by vendors selling wares and stands selling cooked food and fresh fruit.

“Mom, you really didn’t need to come with me. I think I’m grown up now that I can look after myself.”

“Oh, from what I’m looking at, you haven’t evolved into a Gardivor yet.”

“Mom!” Lia pouted.

“I’m just kidding. It’s not that I don’t trust you Lia, but I just want to make you get to where you’re going safely. After what happened with those Diamond Dogs, I don’t want anyone kidnapping you if I can’t help it.”

Lia was still a bit miffed but understood. In the first few days of arriving in this new world, she was taken hostage by a Diamond Dog chief as part of a larger conspiracy set up by the Thirst.

Thankfully, her brother rescued her in record time.

Aside from that little incident, Lia had gotten to experience many strange and wondrous new things in this world. The World Summit and gala in Equestria were a lot of fun, but the Civil War she returned to back in Zebrica was less fun.

But eventually, that too came to pass and now she was looking to enjoy a peaceful date with her new boyfriend.

If there was one other thing she could want, but could not have it was….

Lia looked at her mom, at this point she could barely remember what her human form looked like, and that's saying something since members of her family all looked the same.

She never admitted this to anyone, not even her brother at the time, but she wished her mother stayed human.

Indeed, Lia was one of the few natural-born Pokemon who disagreed with Arceus’s decision to change all the humans into what they are now. While she understood that many humans had done bad things, her mother was not one of them. And while she did not dislike her mother's new body, she did not ask for this, none of them did. She did not ask to be taken away from her home.

There was a time when Lia thought that Arceus was always right, that he could do no wrong. That's what her brother told her after all. But then Sev went and told the PLA that they would be paying respects to Luna, the Moon Princess of Equestria. When she asked him why, he simply told her that Arceus was not as infallible as Sev thought he was, in fact his own words were: “That jerk won’t acknowledge or respect me!? Then I’ll just give it to someone who will!”

And with that validation, Lia confessed to making paintings about humans so that future generations would remember them, as a way to stick it to Arceus. That little piece of info went about as well as you could expect.

And given the situation now, she need not try and paint them anymore. Because no one was going to forget humans anytime soon.

“Oh look there he is!” Joy said.

Lia look to where her mother was pointing and spotted her boyfriend.

“Ok, thanks, mom. I can walk from here.”

“Stay safe, and come back before dinner!”

“I will!”

Lu finally spotted Lia, who closed the distance with a short teleport.

“Kept you waiting didn’t I?”

“Oh, I don’t mind. You look great by the way.”

Lia blushed and then took his hand and wrapped her arm around it.

“Shall we get going?”

“Let’s.”

The young couple then walked off into town. Enjoying the moment of peace together.


The Zebrican western sea border.

The west of Zebrica was, for the most part, a location of not much significant other than the port towns that brought in trade from the other nations. Ever since they had reopened diplomatic negotiations with their neighboring countries, the port cities had exploded in terms of business and commerce.

Of the most prominent was the port city of Tortuga, which was the main hub for trade in the western area of the nation.

It also just so happened to be the closest settlement to the Lostbelt Storm Wall.

In the tallest watchtower in the city, Private Rummington of the Zebra Border Guard looked out to the sea. The ocean was restless, as it always was. But it seemed every day that it was becoming more and more untamed. And he knew the reason why.

Not but 30 miles out, the enormous storm wall that was the barrier between them and another world stood there like an ominous omen.

He like everyone else had only heard what Arceus and the World Leaders had told them about exactly what these walls were and what they meant for the rest of the nations around the world. About the resurgence of the species known to the Pokemon as humans and how they were using ghosts known as Servants to try and destroy the world. But Rummington was less worried about humans and dead spirits attacking, and more about what these walls were. And more importantly, what was inside them.

He like many assumed several things about the Lostbelts. How would they attack? Would they just let the storm walls roll over them like a steamroller? Would strange creatures emerge from it and attack them with weapons and magic the likes they have never seen before?

The scariest part about these Lostbelts was the things they did not know about them.

And people have since the dawn of time, always had a fear of the unknown.

“Hey Rum! I’m back!”

The Zerba sighed as he pulled away from his telescope. He turned around and looked as his friend and guard partner Barb walked into the room carrying a bag of food.

While he was grateful that she had gotten them something to eat while they were stuck up here. He did not like being called “Rum”, as it sounded like that alcoholic drink. And as such, that was the nickname people used to and still called him to this day. Needless to say, this caused him to never drink, he didn’t want the association.

“Got your favorite curry just like you wanted.”

“And the naan bread?”

“Yes, I got the naan bread.”

Barb decided to eat first as Rummington kept a vigil watch, on the sea and the storms.

“Have you been staring out that thing the whole time?”

“Yes.”

“You know that staring is not gonna make it do anything.”

“And yet when something does happen, I want to be the first one to know it. We are the first line of defense between whatever comes out of that storm and the rest of the nation. You should honestly take this more seriously.”

“Okay I’m gonna level with you, constantly worrying about something is no good for anyone. If something happens, it will happen, nothing you can do to change that.”

“I know I can’t change it, but it's what we do after that matters. An attack could happen any minute and every second we have is one more to fight, to save lives, to make it back home alive.”

“Well, from what I see, if something wanted to come out of that storm and attack us, they would have done it by now.”

“And yet, one might point out that they’re just letting the storm get closer so that they would give us less time to react. Or they might just let the wind decimate this entire port and save them the trouble.”

“I’m pretty sure the King would send orders to evacuate before they get close enough. Now, why don’t you take a break and eat your food.”

Rummington look and saw that Barb had somehow inhaled her food while she was talking this whole time. With another sigh, he got down from the telescope as she took over.

As he started to eat, he could not help but still had his mind on the unknown. And what it might mean for them.

“Hey Rum?”

“Barb, what have I told you about calling me tha-”

“What's that over there?”


Sev slithered through the halls of the main palace, the Commander was now in a bad mood today.

“Preposterous!” He said to himself. “I am the great Commander Sev! I win every fight, I solve every case! There is nothing beyond me in this world except Luna herself!”

The Commander was currently wracking his brain on something he had suggested to Trot 2 weeks ago.

How he was going to get a servant.

Aside from what he had been told, he knew next to nothing about how to get one, let alone how to make it work for him.

“What am I saying!? I can convince anyone to join my cause, why else is the PLA so large and loyal as it is.”

Indeed, most of the PLA listened and followed Sev due to the sheer charisma he possessed(which under the servant system would be treated as “Rank EX”). Despite his rather wild ideas, this was the only reason why many of his loyal soldiers stuck with him for so long. Sure, there were some who followed him because he was the son of the previous Commander, but Sev was warry of that small sect of followers. He was not his father nor would he ever be.

At this point, he was pretty sure the only reason they were now following him was that their enemy was once again humanity.

As much as Sev did not like humans, he did not wish death upon them like Viper did. And while his mother was human, in his mind, she was a Pokemon, always had been.

The way Sev’s rather…unique mind worked is that if you were nice to Pokemon and supported the PLA cause, then you were not a human, you were a Pokemon. For by his logic, there can be no good humans, only good Pokemon.

It took a talk with Luna to make him see otherwise. But then again it didn’t matter since his mother was now a Pokemon in both name and body.

“All I have to do is find a servant, and let my words do the rest, it’s foolproof!”

There was just one problem.

“Now where can I find one?”

By some good luck or rather bad luck, there had just to be any servant sightings within Zebrica. Which was weird since his spies had reported servants appearing in other countries, with Equestria having the highest count. Part of him worried for his daughter, but thankfully she was not harmed.

In fact, he heard that she had taken the initiative and participated in several battles against Chaldea.

“I’m so proud of her,” Sev said, wiping a tear. His daughter was already following in his footsteps by fighting back against the tyranny of man!

But back to what he was thinking, Sev was still baffled why no servants had shown up yet.

One theory that General Loom offered up was this. During the climax of the Civil War, Thirst had made use of all the Ley Lines in the country in order to perform a spell, one that would absorb all the hate and death from the war that she used to free Ragnoros. However, as a consequence, the Ley Lines were destroyed due to the magical overload from said spell. And since Servants needed magical Ley Lines to be summoned, none of them could actually appear in Zebrica.

Sev’s only real hope was if one of them migrated from the other neighboring nations. But another thing he had heard was that the appearance of servants has been few and far between ever since Chaldea left Equestria. So that made things even worse.

“Hmph, no matter, I’m sure I’ll think of something! I always do!”

-

“And let's not forget, once the evacuation starts, there must be routes secured in order for refugees to properly make their way to safety. You can’t let people wander off thinking in confusion. We must save as many as possible.”

“I understand.”

Celestia and Trot continued to converse as a scribe wrote down everything they were saying so that it could be planned accordingly later.

“So how are things going in Equestria? I heard the Chaldeans escaped.”

“Yes, they did.” It had been 10 days since Chaldea amazingly escaped the combined forces of Equestria and the Legendary Pokemon. Arceus was in foul of it, but she kept that fact from Trot. The Zebra King still had no love for the Pokemon God, and she’d rather not give Trot material to laugh at him. Just in case the Alpha Pokemon would hear it and “retaliate”.

“Are there still any servants there?”

“For the most part no, one or two maybe, but servant activity is almost nonexistent.”

“Why do you think that is? Was it because Chaldea left?”

“Perhaps. If it is true, I can’t imagine what they may be planning next.”

“Well, whatever they may be thinking, well be ready for the-”

The door slammed open.

“SEV! I thought I told you to-”

Trot looked expecting to see an annoying snake, but instead, he was staring at a now sacred messenger Zebra.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I thought you were someone else.”

“No apologies your majesty, I should have knocked before entering.”

“Well, since you didn’t I assume there must be an emergency of some kind?”

“Y-Yes your majesty! This is news you’ll want to hear now!”

“Well, what is it?”

“A servant has appeared, your majesty!

The room then became so quiet you could hear a pin drop, of which the scribe actually did.

“A servant. Here? In Zebrica?” The look on his face was a mix of shock and confusion.

“Yes, your majesty. Patrol guards made contact with the servant and have asked me to inform you at once!”

Trot looked back to the mirror.

“I’m sorry to cut our conversation short Celestia, but-”

“No need to explain, go and be the ruler I raised you to be.”

Trot could not hide his blush before the mirror turned off.

“Alright, so where is this servant located?”

“Just 42 miles west of Cario sir! The guards are trying to set up a perimeter right now.”

“A perimeter? Have they contained the servant?”

“Well, not exactly, sir.”

“Then what is the meaning of their actions?”

“It's best if you read their report yourself, your majesty.”

The messenger then took a clipboard out of his sack and presented it to Trot. The Zerba king then began to read it.

But as he kept reading each line and sentence, his face became more and more upset. And by the time he was done. He was positively annoyed.

“What is your name?”

“Kira you majesty.”

“Kira, deliver a message to Commander Sev. Tell him to meet me in the airship hanger bay in 10 minutes.”

The Zerba nodded and went off to find the Pokemon.

“Guards!”

The two guards by the door walked up to Trot and saluted.

“Yes, your majesty!”

“Bring me my sword.”

-

About half an hour later…

The royal flagship sailed over the sea of sand as it made its way to its destination.

Aboard was a detachment of guards as well as a battalion of Pokemon Liberation soldiers.

Aside from Sev, high-ranking officers General Gard, General Rio, and General Loom sat in the command deck.

There was talk about where they were going but so far all Trot had said was that they were going to fight a servant. The first appearance of a servant in Zebrica.

“Finally! I get to see what a Servant actually looks like!” Sev said.

“Don’t they just look like humans?” Gard pointed out.

“Uh uh! Ghost humans!”

Trot meanwhile paid no attention to the banter in the back, only looking out the window of the bridge as the ship flew closer to its destination.

“So, where are we going?” Said Loom who walked up to the Trot.

“To fight a servant.”

“Well yeah, but you seem pretty reluctant to say anything else other than that.”

“Look, it's nothing to worry about okay, where just gonna go there, where you guys and Sev can provide backup while I personally kick his butt.”

“Just you? Why just you?”

“My king, we’re coming up on our destination.”

Everyone looked as the ship came over a hilltop. The sun blinded them for a moment before they saw something that made them gasp.

Right in the middle of the desert was a large Pyramid adorned in the middle of a temple complex. It looked majestic and stunning the more they all stared at it.

On the ground below were the patrol guards who were waiting for them. Looking at their numbers, there was no way they could have established a perimeter with what they had. At the very least they have made a landing zone for the ship.

“I didn’t know you guys had a Pyramid built out here,” Loom said.

“We don’t,” Trot, responded gritting his teeth.

Before the General could ask what he meant by that, Trot had already turned around and was heading for the landing bay.

After the ship landed, everyone pilled out and unloaded what they had brought with them. Trot lead everyone as the leader of the patrol guards went up to him.

“Your majesty, you really did not have to come.”

“Oh but I did. Tell me what's the situation?”

“The servant has holed himself up in the Pyramid your highness, he has refused to come out to speak with anyone.”

“Wait, did the Servant make all this?” Gard said.

“I cannot say for certain, but it appears so.”

“How is that possible?” Sev said.

“Well, our spies from Equestria have informed us that they have seen servants capable of manifesting giant castles or fortresses. Whoever this is must be one of them.”

“Well, he’s not going to be around for much longer!” Trot muttered.

The king marched forward, at the protest of his guards. Soon he was at the gates of the complex. But just as he was about to step in, he was immediately flung back by a force field.

Trot pulled his head out of the sand as the others caught up.

“Are you alright your majesty!?”

Trot spit sand out of his mouth. “No, I am not!”

He then drew his sword and marched up to the gates again.

“Alright, whoever is in there, come out and show yourself! The King of Zebrica demands it!”

“Has anyone ever seen him act like this?” Gard said.

“No,” said the scribe who had accompanied them. “I don’t think I have ever seen the King this incensed.”

Suddenly there was a loud rumble, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and take a step back.

Then a deep commanding voice filled the air.

“Who approaches my temple? State your names!”

Trot was about to speak, but Sev beat him to it.

“I and the great and mighty Commander Sev! Leader of the Pokemon Liberation Army! Chosen of Princess Luna! And the bane of all Zangoose!”

There was no response from the voice for a few seconds.

“And?”

“AND!? What more is there to say, if you do not let us in, then you will find that this temple of yours will be painted pink sometime next week!”

Sev leaned over to General Loom. “Are the paint cannons ready yet?”

“I still need another 2 weeks to finish them, sir! Pink paint is hard to come by in this nation.”

“Drat!”

“What nonsense is this you speak of? Begone, while I still allow it.”

“Ignore him!” Trot said now very annoyed at Sev. “Listen to me now whoever you are! You better let us in, or I swear I will bring the full force of Zebrica down on you!”

“Are who is speaking?”

Trot planted his sword into the ground and loudly declared.

“My name is King Trotankhamun the First! King of Zebrica and the reigning Pharaoh!”

There was no response from the voice, then came a loud heartily laughter.

“Heheahahahahaha!”

“Did we say something funny?” Loom asked.

“I’m pretty sure Sev did,” Gard responded.

“Very well, you may enter!”

The force field shimmered before deactivating.

“I King Ozymandias Ramesses II, King of Kings, and the greatest Pharaoh of Egypt do permit you to enter my Ramesseum Tentyris!”


The Zebrican western sea border.

“Hey Rum?”

“Barb, what have I told you about calling me tha-”

“What's that over there?”

Rummington got up and looked through the telescope to where Barb was aiming it at.

"....Barb."

"Yeah?"

"That's just a rock, a big rock jutting out of the ocean."

"Oh."

Author's Note:

Theme Song for this Arc(Suggested by Evowizard)

Well, I kept you guys waiting long enough. Welcome everyone to Arc 2 of this story!

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