Ch. 22 A Faint Hope

Glorfindel leaned against his staff, with bandages all over his body and a cast on his left forearm. Even so, he hovered his left hand-paw over the unconscious Adrian with a grim expression. It glowed green for several seconds, going up and down Adrian’s body even as he sighed. Soon, he stopped, and pressing against his bandages over his right eye, he took a step back.

At that moment, Adrian’s bed was covered in a horizontal glass that was see-through for a moment before Glorfindel waved at it. The glass turned white, with nothing able to see through it, and he shook his head. He spun around, where Maya lay unconscious herself, the illusion device separated from her while a collar with a green light wrapped around her neck. All four of her paws, tail, and head were restrained onto the bed.

“You’ll live,” Glorfindel said towards Maya.

Soon, he stepped out to the hallway, limping even as four Pokémon, Faith, David, A-Ninetales, and Saria, approached him.

“Is he going to be alright?” David asked, his ears folded forward.

But Glorfindel shook his head. “I may be an expert in magical arts, but the curse that Adrian fell under is beyond my power.”

“Are you sure?” Faith asked, her ears flattened back even as David lowered his head. “I don’t know much about this Fëanor, but he couldn’t be that much powerful than you.”

“Believe me, he is,” Glorfindel said, with him hovering his staff over his casted arm. “We are equal in skill, but unless I tapped into The Philosopher itself, my power would be nothing more than a shadow to him, and I may need all of it. It would also be helpful if I know exactly what curse we’re dealing with.”

“Faith,” Saria said as Faith lowered her head as well. “You were there when Adrian got cursed. Did Kyle explain anything about it and how to remove it?”

Faith thought back to that time even as her body shivered. “He mentioned a few things. One is that, unless the curse gets removed, Adrian will die within 120 hours. Another is that his master, this Fëanor, can be able to remove the curse.”

“A timed curse.” Glorfindel rubbed his chin with a couple of his fingers before he shrugged. “I don’t get what is Fëanor’s game plan is. He would usually play with his victims, especially by zapping them of their hope, but he wouldn’t do direct action unless it was needed. Plus, he would rather gain minions rather than kill potential ones.”

“Anything else, Faith?” A-Ninetales asked as he rubbed her back. “Even a small thing can be useful.”

Faith waited until her throat to unclogged before she answered, “There is one thing. Namely, that it was meant for me. Just that Adrian got in the way.”

“Oh?” A-Ninetales tilted his head. “Why you?”

Faith thought about what Kyle said, about her having some kind of power that Fëanor sought. That it could be found in A-Ninetales as well, and it could grant him godhood. But, other than that, he knew nothing else.

Faith leaned her head up to speak, but Glorfindel said, “Of course. It was so obvious that I missed that. He did because he wanted a hostage.”

“Eh?” David said even as Faith blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t you recall in that battle? Fëanor wanted Daren to rescue us.” Glorfindel rubbed one of his eyes even as he paced in front of them. “But Daren didn’t come, and Fëanor retreated, so Kyle enacted a backup plan. Namely, to use Faith as a hostage so that Daren would be forced to come in exchange for Faith’s life. It’s just so happened that Adrian took the hostage role instead of Faith.”

“Faith, is this true?” A-Ninetales asked, his ears folded back even as Faith took a step back. “Don’t be afraid. We want to help Adrian as well.”

“Kyle did say something like that, yes,” Faith said, though she couldn’t help but notice David squinting at her.

“You see? Even Faith knows that what I said is true.” Glorfindel rubbed a bit of his exposed hair. “However, this doesn’t get us closer to figuring out how to overcome this curse. At this stage, there are only a couple of things that I can think of. One is that I fused with,” he paused for a second, “an acquaintance of mine, who powers match Fëanor but is woefully unskilled. But even without his reluctance to fuse with me, I doubted that we could do it in time. Fëanor had a few months to prepare this curse, and I’m sure that there are traps that could kill Adrian.”

“And the other thing?” David asked.

“Call upon a god to remove it,” Glorfindel answered before he shrugged. “But that can be just as risky business, especially if this god proved to be a bigger bother than we asked. And yet, those are the ones who would be willing to leave their realm for a short time.”

David sighed, his ears folding forward as he shook his head. “And we are dead set against giving A-Ninetales up for that monster.”

“Of course, we are,” Glorfindel said, holding his hand against A-Ninetales, whose mouth was half-open. “And while I know that you’re willing, I won’t let you.”

A-Ninetales nodded before he sighed. “Indeed.”

“But what can we do to save him?” David bent over to Faith and patted her head. “Can’t you tell us anything else?”

“I-I—”

But then hurried paw steps came down the hallway, and the others turned to it. The doors swung open, and Acting Mayor Rosemary stepped through them, her hair messy even as she carried a large suitcase. She lowered it in front of A-Ninetales before she bowed to them.

“Sorry for being late,” Rosemary said, brushing her hair back a bit. “It took a while to get the leaders of the other nations to come to the meeting. And even more to agree to vote on my proposal.”

“What are you talking about?” A-Ninetales asked as Rosemary pulled out four keys, each for the suitcase. “And what did you bring?”

“I guess you can call it our secret treasure,” Rosemary answered as she undid each lock on the case. “It’s been passed down the mayor’s office since our exile began. We haven’t used it since, and when the anthros broke up to three different nations plus The Second Capitol, we kept it in this case. And, given on what is going on, I think the terms will still be upheld even if it’s to help your friend.”

As soon as she undid the final lock, she opened the case, exposing a wooden box within. Her hand-paws shook as she picked it up, with her sliding the lid off. Then, she leaned its contents to the others, with all of them widening their eyes, the content only seen in pictures or drawings.

Within lay a strange-looking flute, with massive lumps before ending with holes on the ends. On one end lay a red tube-like structure, while the opposite end lay a simple hole. Its sides were polished perfectly, with not a blemish on it, and when Rosemary turned it over, not a single print remained where she touched it.

“That’s the Azure Flute!” David said as he took a step back.

“Yes. It was given by Arceus himself,” Rosemary said as she lowered it back into the suitcase. “He told us that, if the need is required and an era is ending, come to Destiny Tower and play this flute.” She sighed. “Because of how serious and holy this object is, we anthros agree that we’ll use it if all leaders agree. Six times before in our history where we debated on using it and all failed.”

“But how did you achieve the unanimous vote to use it?” Glorfindel asked as he rubbed the back of his head. “Especially since I know that, to pass a bill into law here, you need at least ¾ of the city’s senate and representative. And I honestly doubt that you got it through Adrian’s condition alone.”

“I confess that fibbed a bit.” Rosemary blushed a bit as she rubbed the back of her head. “I told the city’s government that, by using it, we’ll be gaining a powerful ally in this such uncertain times, especially since Saria mentioned before that she sensed a great danger.”

“Huh?” Saria said as she rubbed her horn some more. “Yeah. I did say that. And I can’t let go of that feeling.”

“Plus, I use the snapshots I took of the Arbok symbol,” Rosemary continued as she pulled out her smartphone and fiddled with it before showing them the cracked symbol. “I told them that it’s a sign that our exile is coming to its end and, if we don’t act soon, we’ll be trapped in this cycle.”

David chuckled, though its tone was dark. “I must say, you’ve already proved to be a sharp politician. Still, do you think that Arceus would bother to use his powers to save Adrian?”

A-Ninetales rubbed his chin a bit. “You never know unless you try. Take me to the base of Destiny Tower, and I’ll meet with Arceus himself.”

“Are you sure, Daren?” Saria asked, rubbing her side against A-Ninetales.

“My dear, I am the most likely of the group he’ll listen to,” A-Ninetales replied, with David squinting once more and Faith remembering Kyle’s word about this power. He nosed Saria’s cheek and smiled. “I’ll be alright.”

“I’ll come too!” Faith said, and all eyes turned to her. “Adrian sacrificed so much for me. I should repay him for it.”

“Faith, are you sure?” David asked, crossing his arms.

“It could go wrong, and you’ll get killed in the progress,” Saria said while tilting her head.

“Are you sure you want to go?” Glorfindel asked, kneeling down to her side.

Faith and A-Ninetales’s eyes locked into each other for several seconds before she nodded. “If it meant fighting Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina themselves along the way, I’ll still do it.”

A-Ninetales nodded back before he turned to the others. “Then it’s agreed. But it can’t be more than just us two.” He turned to Rosemary. “You’ll be needed here to help lead this city, no, this continent in its biggest crisis yet. So get the other nations involved.” Rosemary nodded, and he turned to Glorfindel and Saria. “And if Fëanor or Kyle came back, we’ll need some heavy hitters, and you two are the most reliable ones here. So try to get as many allies as you can in the meantime.” David’s ears twitched as A-Ninetales faced him. “Make as much Wonder Orbs as you can. We’ll likely need all of it.”

“That I can do,” David responded before he rubbed the back of his head. “Of course, I’ll need materials to make them.”

“I’ll give you as much as you needed,” Acting Mayor Rosemary said, and David grinned. “Plus, I’ll see if I can get any Pokémon teams to come in for various duties. We’ll need as much as we can get.”

“Very well,” A-Ninetales said before he patted Faith on the head. “Let’s get ready.”

Faith and A-Ninetales stepped into the giant Flygon mech, with Faith carrying a bag for the Azure Flute. As they stepped through hallways, her chest felt heavy, and anthros ran through, speaking in a language that she didn’t understand. She turned back for a second, half-wondering if David was there or if he snuck on board.

“David is not here,” A-Ninetales said, and Faith relaxed a bit. “I would’ve sensed him otherwise.”

Soon, the two stepped into the bridge, where anthros took their seats in front of the screens. The mech hummed for a moment before it vibrated, with it floating off from the building it hung against. Then, it turned north before flying forward, with the moon in the middle of the sky and a few stars shining with the moon.

Even so, Faith turned down to the buildings below, thinking about Adrian. Though it was only for a moment, she wondered if her love for Adrian surpassed Kyle instead. But the stalemate continued, even though she knew that it was dumb for her to let it continue.

“It’ll be alright, Faith,” A-Ninetales said, rubbing her back. “We’ll be back and, when we do, Adrian will be better.”

“Yeah,” Faith replied before turning ahead. “I won’t lose another.”

David stood beside Glorfindel, his eyes red even as Glorfindel removed some of the bandages from himself, both of his eyes useable. Ahead was the multiverse travel system, where Glorfindel sent out a few of his messages several hours ago and waited, his wounds healing up in the meantime even as the sun shined above them. David swayed a bit before he steadied himself.

“How much longer?” David asked, rubbing his eyes. “And who do you think will come?”

“How much, I do not know,” Glorfindel answered, removing the cast from his arm. “As for who, at least one will come. And he’s the one I least wanted to come here.” David squinted at him as he continued. “One is too focus on making sure that the universe, the one that he and I came from, doesn’t decay into nothingness before its time. One may be too shy and lacks control, which is a shame since he would’ve overpowered Fëanor easily. And one may come as well, but only if he allowed it.”

David tilted his head, but sparks appeared in the room before them at that moment. He blinked, with Glorfindel groaning even as cracking noises come and sparks formed, with clouds forming on the ceiling. Thunder rumbled within, with a few other anthros blinking at it, with none of the electricity leaving any damages.

Glorfindel sighed and shook his head. “Ah.”

“What?!”

“Dramatic.”

David opened his mouth, only for a flash of light to appear at the center of the room. It soon encompassed the entire room for a few seconds before fading, only for softer yellow and white light to take its place. But it gave way to clouds and smoke, which faded and exposed a figure within.

This figure kneeled with a pair of massive wings on his back and extended outward. Then, with the wings folding back, he soon stood up, even as his black scales and yellow claws and horns shined on him. A turf of yellow fur hung on his head like hair and on his tail tip, with his tail long and scaly otherwise as it swayed. His dark blue jeans and blue shirt were torn, showing his yellow plated scales on his torso, and he opened his eyes, his yellow iris brighter than the yellow sclera.

He stepped forward, his gray and crazy-looking staff ending with a tall green gem tapped with every step. David tilted his head, wondering if this newcomer wore a cape. But as the smoke cleared up, the cape revealed itself to be a long scarf.

“Hello, Glaurung,” Glorfindel said, his voice struggling to hide the disdain.

Glaurung grinned, and he slammed his staff down, sending out a thunderous boom.