They of the Sun
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Lake of the Moone

     Alive.

Alive was the only way to explain the feeling of the long abandoned temple. The roaring waters swirling beneath it made my heart hammer in my chest. The close we got, the more I could see the pitch black of a vortex. The water rushed into its endless maw. It was hypnotizing. I kept closer to Gladion than I wanted to be, but if I went in... I wouldn't go in alone. A gulp hit my throat before I averted my brown eyes up to the structure.

       In its prime, it would've been magnificent with the emblems of the moon and what seemed to be a Pokémon etched into its pillars. A mystic aura hung around. Its pressure seemed to drag at my boot-clad feet, threatening to drag me under; I wish it would. There was the feeling we shouldn't be here... We were trespassers.

And there was only one other time I'd felt this way before. It was hazy, but it was there. I grit my teeth in an attempt to focus on the present.

      "Wow!" Zossie exclaimed, hopping up  and down as she yanked on Dulse's arm, "This is nothing like what we have at home! The Blinding One's tower is sooo boring."

"Blinding One?" Gladion spoke up from his brooding silence. Beside him was his Type: Null, where he rested his pale hand against its feathered mane. Even the stoic creature seemed on edge in this place, green eyes glowing from within the depths of its headpiece. Dulse nodded as he cast a look back at us. In the clouded sunlight his normally colorless eyes seemed to reflect greens and blues of our surroundings.

     "The Blinding One is a creature captured in Megalo Tower," he explained, "It has been there for many centuries now. It may seem harsh, but we can't risk it stealing the light of all worlds it comes to contact with. It has become more active as of lately which is a worry amongst our people. It is why we've come here: to find the light which has been stolen."

      "Alola has many phenomena leading us to believe that it has been here," he continued, stopping at the entrance of the shrine looming over us. "Maybe even originating from here due to the abundant energy residing within the land itself and the Pokemon. Totem Pokémon, I believe you call them, seem to have residual energy of the Blinding One. Although the areas they lie within do not seem to have any connection to the Blinding One."

The visor over Zossie's eyes glimmered as it processed the world around it. She bobbed her head with enthusiasm. "Here! Here, too, is an energy like the Blinding One's!"

      "This is going to take forever," I grumbled. "Why did we have to come along? This is Guzma and Plumeria's business. We aren't grunts!"

"Quit your whining," Gladion snapped, flicking my ear in one swift movement. I wish I had been quick enough to bite his hand off like the Yungoos had done to me.

Oh to be a hand-biting Yungoos.

Zossie let out a giggle at my expression of irritation, quickly shutting up at my glowering eyes. Her smile remained, though, bringing about more annoyance in the back of my head. Smiling. Always smiling. What was worth fucking smiling for anyway? Dulse waved at us from further along the narrow corridor where it splintered into other halls.

"We should split up," he said, his deeper voice seemed to rumble the empty ruins around us. "Do not let your guards down. This signature isn't quite like the ones before. Zossie, you're with Gladion. Send a transmission for trouble."

The red-haired humanoid quickly saluted with a wide grin, "Understood!"

I could only be left with the assumption I had to follow the purple-haired alien. Keeping my distance, I let my eyes wander along the decaying walls. Most of the murals were of the lunar phases and a skeletal Noivern-like creature, others displayed smaller creatures with shell-like armor along their bodies. Familiar markings painted them. My sight settled on a faded orange, beaked shell with jagged lines of pale yellow emerging from it. Tapu Koko.

      The sound of cracking stone caused me to jump around, ready to defend. I turned towards the source of the sound: Dulse lowering his foot away from the hole through stone door. He tilted his head back at me, his clear irises meetig mine, bluntly stating, "It was blocked."

"Isn't that desecration?" I asked, moving closer to peek into the hole. The passageway widened into a room where light seeped at the end. A soft breeze ruffled my sticky mess of hair and the obscure chirps of Oricorio followed. The decorations on the now ruined mural were different from the rest. A small sun-like symbol caught my eyes but I didn't bother to think more of it. I'm sure there had been more that I missed. After all, the moon reflects the sun's shine. Or whatever they say.

Dulse grinned at my question, amusement glimmering on his face for a split second.

"No one has been in this place for hundreds of years. If it mattered, it would show."

He lifted his long legs over the rubble to hoist himself to the other side, before offering his hands to me. I was surprised as he pulled me with ease, like I was nothing more than a rag doll to him. My skin wanted to crawl at the extended contact despite his suit covering any of his faded, grey skin. The sensation intensified as his fingers brushed along the scar on my hand. Dulse didn't let go until I was absolutely down on my two feet. I frowned. I was not a doll.

        Not bothering with a 'thank you', I yanked myself away. Brushing my hands off on my tank top, I made my way towards the light. The air had become stuffy and stale. Dulse strayed behind me, I could hear him mumbling about the hieroglyphics along the stone walls. In the open room the floor was a scatter of star markings with lines connecting them into constellations. At the center was the motif of a moon interlocked with a sun. While the sun was the same bland material as the rest of the temple, the moon seemed to smolder in hues of blue and purple.

     The wind came in from the opening on the opposite end of the room, carrying a voiceless whisper.

       You do not belong here.

"Did you say something, Cyra?"

My heart skipped a beat as I whirled around yet again, my own fist in Dulse's before I could process what was going on. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't relieved it was only him. A snarl still met my lips, "Don't do that!"

      He knitted his brows in confusion.

     "Hey, guys!" Zossie's voice came from an adjacent hall; not the way we had come and not the exit we had discovered. She began to ramble on about 'all the interesting stuff' the paintings depicted. Behind her Gladion had his hand deeper in his Pokemon's feathers, his lips were moving but the whispering was undetectable to anyone who wasn't paying attention. Type: Null let out huffs of air, low guttural sounds forming in its throat.

Leave this place now.

      Dull pain came with the voice this time. The four of us flinched while Type: Null darted like an overly-excited Growlithe, weaving it's way through Zossie and I before disappearing out of the exit. Gladion was after his Pokémon in a heartbeat.

     "Null!" He shouted, his unbearable edgy persona melting into one of panic. His softened eyes as he ran after his partner showed the resemblance clear as day even in the dim light. The world seemed to slow.

Lillie.

"Gladion!" Saying his name felt foreign. Running after him felt even more so. I don't know if Zossie or Dulse came, I didn't care. I shielded my eyes from the pale rays of sunlight reflecting from the mist as it parted for me. Gladion ran up a set of stairs, Type: Null at the top with hackles raised and body lowered. It's focus hung on a creature suspended in the air, star speckled wings wrapped around itself like a blanket. Crescent and star shaped bones jutted from its wings and head, forming a horns.

I'm sure today would give me a heart attack, the way it was fluttering. The way it was aching. None of us said a word, the tension was now gripping us head to toe in the presence of the Legendary.

LEAVE!

Its gleaming magenta eyes opened, wings unfurling like a galaxy revealing its skeletal ribcage protecting a calm blue moon. Mist gathered around it in small wisps, illuminating the shine of its golden outer cartilage. I could hear Zossie behind me gasp it's name, the excitement drained from her voice.

"Lunala."

•••

Guyyyssss I hit 200 yesterday! And while that may not seem like a lot for others, it is to me ;w; thank you Doppelgengar  for that. I feel like a cool kid now. <3

-sj