NOVEL NEXT Chapter 9: Chapter 9
--AN) +15 Chapters on https://www.patreon.com/c/invayne --
"Ivy, we are almost there." Ellee did not know what to make of the situation. As they reached the mountain, Ivy had fallen to the ground, gripping her chest, and was having a hard time breathing. The only thing she could utter was that she needed to get to the top of the mountain. Ellee couldn't understand what was going on or why she felt the need to help Ivy. She did not understand why she felt pain from seeing Ivy suffer. They had only known each other for about two weeks. But here she was, worrying about a human. Someone who should have been her food.
What bothered Ellee more was the unnaturalness of everything. The road that they were on slowly came to an end and turned into more of a path. But what she didn't understand the most was the lack of pokemon. An area that should be dominated by pokemon was empty. They had only seen a few rattata, which she would capture and kill for food. The other strange thing she noticed was the water sources. They were spaced out, and they always seemed to come upon a fresh water source when they needed to rest for the night. It was as if whatever was forcing Ellee to come to these mountains was making sure she would survive long enough to do whatever it was she was supposed to do.
Ellee adjusted her grip on Ivy's thighs as she continued her climb up the steep slope. There seemed to be a path she could follow, and there were also signs of old ruins here and there. But the thing that worried her the most was the temperature of Ivy's body was getting hotter and hotter the higher she climbed. She could only hope that by the time they made it to the top of this mountain, that Ivy's condition would slowly get better. 'Why am I worrying about this girl so much?' Ellee wondered if it was because of her connection with the girl. Ivy was technically her master, even though it seemed like it was the other way around. Ellee gritted her teeth and kept moving one step at a time as fast as she could, no matter how tired she was getting.
Almost six hours later, Ellee came to a stop in front of a large cave opening. "We're here… I must go…" Ivy slid off Ellee's back and, as if controlled by someone, stumbled past Ellee and entered the cave.
"Ivy! Wait!" Ellee hurried after Ivy. She watched as Ivy, with unsteady steps, continued forward. The girl's skin was red and looked as if she was about to combust at any time. Ellee could tell Ivy was in pain, but she did not dare stop her. She was afraid of what would happen if she did try to stop her.
The cave they were in was dimly lit and looked like any other cave, but there was a lack of life. There were no mushrooms, moss, or anything else that would grow in a cave, and, of course, there were no pokemon either. It was just the two of them and nothing else, or so Ellee thought.
When they reached the back side of the cave, Ellee saw Ivy step through the wall as if it were not even there. Ellee stopped just short of the wall before placing her hand on it and watched as it easily passed through. "An illusion?" Ellee took a deep breath and walked through it as well. What lay before her was no longer a cave but a temple of some kind.
The walls were lined with large slabs of white rock, which had paintings of some kind showing what looked to be an ancient pokemon. Each image depicted this pokemon either flying or swimming. There were even ones where the pokemon was wrapped around a large orb of some kind. She couldn't make heads or tails of what any of it meant. She could only follow Ivy as the girl continued forward without pause. Slowly and unsteadily, Ivy did not stop.
They walked for another ten minutes before they came to a massive hole that blocked them from continuing forward. The hole did not seem to have a bottom and was like a black abyss. Ellee thought Ivy would stop walking forward, but to her surprise, Ivy just continued walking right out into nothingness! "Ivy! Wait, what!?"
Ellee called in surprise as she watched Ivy walking on air as if there was a solid floor under her. Ellee stood at the edge of the abyss, not knowing what to do before gritting her teeth and jumping from the edge to right behind Ivy. She held the corner of Ivy's shirt and nervously followed behind her until they reached the other side.
"No way…" From the other side, Ellee only saw a solid rocky ledge like the one she had been standing on, but now that they had crossed and were on the other side before her was a palace carved out of the rocky wall. Tall pillars rose up into the sky while a large open door leading into a dark entrance of the palace looked to be made for giants. Ellee slowly followed behind Ivy as they entered the palace.
They had only crossed the threshold when the entire place began to light up. Blue flames hung on the white stone walls. There were more paintings of the giant pokemon all over the place. But this time, there were other paintings as well. But they were of things she did not recognize. Humans with swords fighting horned creatures. Strange humans covered in wounds eating other humans. Depictions of what looked like some kind of fruit or plant. There were also these rectangle boxes with words in them. Ellee couldn't make heads or tails of any of it.
They walked and walked until they finally arrived at a massive door that had chains stretching from the ceiling and floor, all connecting in the middle of the door. Ellee did not know why, but she felt fear staring at this door. She felt that no matter what, it should never be opened. She reached out to try to grab Ivy's arm, but before she could even touch a hair, Ivy's body was suddenly engulfed in a purple light that shot out of what seemed like the lock on the door and began rising off the ground.