Calling the Gods

[emsiecat]

They had been with the wolves a day or so when the rag-tag group reached the crest of a small rise in the terrain. From atop the small hill they could see that a large imposing building lay below them. It was shrouded in the early morning mist; the rising sun caught the white structure and seemed to make it glow.

"We made it!" Rhys pumped the air and let out a small whoop of victory.

Lucinda clapped her hands in an excited motion and the wolves sent up a congratulatory howl which made the Rapidash shiver.

"This is the temple of the Gods. Many humans come here to worship the legendary Pokémon that aided us so long ago." Lucinda explained to Mewtwo, he still wasn't talking to Liana. "I've never been here before but I read about it. Amazing isn't it?"

Mewtwo nodded in agreement.

"Wait until you see inside. It's absolutely beautiful." Rhys nudged Apollo into a trot as they began to approach the temple.
"Thank you for your company Bloodclaw. Are you joining us inside too?" Liana questioned the alpha. Strictly speaking animals weren't allowed in the temple. However it had been practically abandoned since Mewtwo had started his reign so Liana doubted anyone would be around to stop them.

"I would like to see the temple. I would also like to pay homage to your Gods. We worship different Gods but there's no harm in showing respect."

Liana smiled at the wolf. He was a noble creature if ever there was one.

Rhys was right about the temple's interior, although hardly anyone had visited it in four years the place was miraculously immaculate, hardly a speck of dust.

The hall was filled with a swirling mist of soft pastel light that curled and flowed through the air as though it were alive. Tall, slender pillars filled the hall like a marble forest, and the walls and ceiling were invisible in the haze. Beneath their feet, the floor was a complicated and beautiful mosaic of pale colours, arranged in patterns that seemed to move and change as they looked at them.

Mewtwo let out a soft, astonished breath in spite of himself. He had heard briefly from his last slave, that this temple's dimensions were slightly out of sync with the laws of time and space that were the norm everywhere else.

Rhys led them across the mosaic floor. In the mist ahead darker shapes loomed suddenly as if appearing from a dream, and Mewtwo's eyes widened at what he saw. Twenty statues, more than three times his height, each one depicting the legendary Pokémon which the humans and other Pokémon worshipped. Their stone faces gazed out across the temple, and Mewtwo's eyes widened still further as he recognized the central figure. It was Mew; she looked quite a lot sterner than he remembered until he looked at her eyes. They were large and innocent but had a hint of mischievous humour in them. The clever human who had carved Mew had got every detail right, and had taken the pains to insert large sapphires for the eyes instead of just carving them out of stone like the others.

The air was practically humming with an energy that sent shivers down Mewtwo's spine. There was great power in this place; even the wolves could feel it. They were sloping along behind the others occasionally giving a puzzled whine, their heads bowed either from fear or respect.

Liana lit an old stick of incense that had been left in front of the statues. She clapped her hands twice before kneeling in front of the statue of Mew.

"Rhys, Lucinda, could you do the same please? I think we're going to need some strong pleading to get any of them to listen to us."

Rhys nodded and copied Liana's movements. Lucinda followed though she looked more nervous than the other two, having never been here before.

"You do know they could get angry at us for this." Rhys murmured before he bowed his head as Liana had done.

"I know but we have to try."

Mewtwo watched the humans for a few moments as they began a summoning. Pikachu and Meowth had joined them and were trying to imitate the humans as best as possible. He turned his attention back to the statue of Mew and glared hard at it. He could still remember that day when his reign had started…

The clones were winning and the battle was taking its toll on the originals, which Mewtwo was quick to point out to Mew, were very poorly trained.

He was slowly driving Mew towards the ground and was saving his energy for a final attack which would finish his rival off. Although he had to admit, she could put up a fight if it was to save some worthless, pitiful creatures.
Mewtwo took a quick glance down and saw the originals falling one by one and the clones beginning to advance towards the human trainers. Mewtwo felt a hot, fierce joy and turned back to Mew.

~You see? None of you are a match for my clones and I. Why don't you make this less painful and surrender, Mew?~

"Never! These humans have done nothing to you and nor have their Pokémon. You will not harm them!"

Mewtwo's eyes flashed angrily at her retort. He sent a wave of psychic energy towards the tired Goddess. It struck home and sent Mew plummeting to the ground.

Mew looked at the helpless humans who were now surrounded. Calling up some of the last reserves of her strength she waved her tiny paw and the humans and their Pokémon were teleported from the stadium. She smiled triumphantly at her clone.

~How very noble of you, Mew.~ he sneered. ~But all you did was buy them a little time. I will hunt them down eventually.~

"You may think you can hunt them down, but I will always be there to help and protect them if they need it." Mew smiled again at the empty space where the humans had been seconds before.

~I think I can arrange for that to be proven false.~ Mewtwo snarled and lashed out at Mew with another blast of psychic energy.

When the dust had settled, Mewtwo inspected the crater left in the ground, but there was no Mew. She had teleported at the very last moment.

Mewtwo had been angry at her escape, but as weeks turned into months and months into years there was no sign of Mew. He had assumed that she was much too weak to challenge him again and protect the humans after all…

Mewtwo came back from his musings to see the humans and two of his clones desperately starting the summoning again. However by the fifth try it began to appear fruitless.

Rhys stood up and stretched. Lucinda looked disappointed. Liana stayed stubbornly knelt at the foot of the statues.

"Liana we tried but it's no use. Nobody's answering our summoning." Lucinda slowly rose next to Rhys and rubbed her sore knees.

"I told you this was a bad idea, Liana. The Gods won't answer us since they made that pact not to meddle in the affairs of humans." Rhys tried not to let the I-told-you-so tone creep into his voice too much.

Liana looked angry. She turned back to the statue and tried again, on her own. Rhys rolled his eyes and tried to drag the young woman up into a standing position. Liana's hand had shot out before Rhys could react and smacked him away harshly.
"You want to go? Fine, go. I'm staying. One of them has just got to answer us."

"Liana now you're just being pig-headed. You were wrong on this, admit it and we'll go back to New Island and think up another way to get rid of the creatures."

Liana stood up and began to argue with Rhys. Lucinda tried to interject comments to soothe the pair but it didn't seem to work. Rhys insisted that it would never have worked and that Liana should just give up and come with them. Liana was telling him to shut up so she could try again. The humans were all so keyed-up that within seconds tempers had frayed and the small clash was spiraling towards a full-scale fight.

To make matters worse the Pokémon and wolves began to get involved. Pikachu and Meowth wanting to try again, the Rapidash and wolves wished to leave. Mewtwo wanted the lot of them to shut the hell up. Soon they were all shouting, facing each other and gesturing angrily, the echoes of their voices; Liana's demanding, Lucinda's loud, Rhys's high pitched with nerves and Mewtwo's deep and booming, ricocheted around the temple adding to the clamour. Their purpose for being here had been completely forgotten as had the fact that the temple was meant for quiet contemplation.

Suddenly, from the direction of the statues, came a sharp, resounding 'crack', like a pane of glass snapping in two.

[emsiecat]

They cut off the shouting match in appalled shock and, frozen, stared at one another. All their faces masked slight horror and they didn't dare look at the statues. What had they done? Had they done some terrible damage with their shouting? Liana felt sick with dread. She had to look at the statues. Slowly, so very slowly, Liana forced herself to turn her head.

There was a shadow at the bottom of the statue that hadn't been there before; it was obscured by the ever present mist. Like a distant mirage the shadow moved towards them with lithe grace before becoming clear.

Small but imposing, a pale pink creature came into view. She had a very cat-like appearance and astonishing blue eyes that sparkled as she met the gaze of each individual, they put the sapphires in the statue to shame. There was no mistaking the creature now, it was Mew.

Mew turned her head to look at each creature in the temple, her gaze was penetrating. Rhys and Lucinda looked beyond shock; Mewtwo stared angrily at Mew, and Liana's head swum with panic.

Suddenly Bloodclaw let out a bark. The sound shattered the rising tension, through her daze Liana saw their Rapidash and the wolves approach Mew without hesitation. The clones however did not; they knew that Mewtwo hated Mew.

Mew noticed them and laughed – it was a gentle and affectionate sound, if a little childish. She extended a paw to Bloodclaw and petted his head.

Mew then turned to the humans, she was still smiling but her voice was stern when she addressed them, or rather more towards Liana as she could understand. "You know that you're not supposed to call upon the legendary Pokémon do you not? We had an agreement."

"W-we do…" Liana trailed off and bowed respectfully to Mew, Lucinda and Rhys followed suit. Mewtwo however stood defiantly, his eyes dark with hatred.

"So you saw fit to breach the rules anyway and summon us. I do hope there was a purpose."

"Mew, I…" again Liana trailed off, wet her lips and said nothing more.

Mewtwo looked at Liana and felt his resentment increase somewhat. She was submissive and polite in the presence of Mew, yet she was strong and down right impertinent towards him.

"This was merely a test, a childish impulse? You wished to see if the Gods would answer your whim." For the first time her eyes rested on Mewtwo, there was borderline anger in her gaze. "A plan concocted by my clone I suppose."

Liana bit her lip, she wasn't about to let them start fighting. She could see there was no sort of 'sibling' love between the pair. "It wasn't his idea, it was mine. It wasn't a test or an impulse though."

Mew smiled knowingly at the girl. "So then, what was your purpose of calling the Gods here?"

With a great deal of nudging and whispering from Lucinda and Rhys, Liana told Mew how Thanatos had called up the creatures from the Gods Realm.

Mew looked confused and disappointed. "So the boundaries have been breached. Zapdos swore that it was impossible. I am sorry to hear that your uncle is behind the plot, Liana. As a young man he visited the temple often, he was kind and charming. From what you've told me it seems that greed and hatred has consumed him." She turned a sly glance onto her clone before carrying on. "It's a shame when one goes bad, really. It can almost be enough for you to stop trusting."

Liana looked at Mew and waited for the Goddess to continue. Mewtwo ignored her comment and finally took a step forward.

~So what are you going to do about this mess you've let happen right under your noses?~

"There is little I can do I'm afraid. The pact my brothers, sisters and I made so long ago is still in practice. Legendaries may not meddle in the affairs of mortals and humans."

"Mew, before the pact was made. It was your duty to prevent the creatures gaining entry to our realm." Liana felt like a punctured balloon leaking hope. "Surely that would override the pact."

"It may do, but this problem was caused by a human. Ho-Oh would never allow us to help."

~Didn't you once swear to protect them? You should be protecting them from this evil at work now.~ Mewtwo told himself that the only reason he was siding with the humans was because Pokémon would be in danger if these creatures stayed here.

"Evil powers are not the same as evil men." Mew pointed out gently.

~So you'll do nothing to help us!?~ The force of his voice made the humans clap their hands to their heads.

"I don't believe I said that. I am willing to notify my brothers and sisters of this development. We will keep an eye on the boundaries linking the realms. Thanatos will not be able to bring through anymore creatures without us knowing and we will stop him. However I cannot banish what he has already summoned. This would be seen as meddling in a human affair."

Mewtwo snorted at the paltry offering that Mew was making.

Mew turned her angry gaze on Mewtwo once more and looked as if she was going to say something quite un-Goddess-like before Liana butted in.

"Thank you Mew, I apologise for summoning you but we really did need help. We know that you can't do much for us but we're grateful all the same." She bowed politely again.

Mew smiled at the girl seeing her intentions before turning back to her clone, she spoke to him privately through telepathy. ~I don't wish to fight you again. Not in front of them especially. Liana doesn't wish for there to be any blood-shed between us.~

~What business is it of hers?~

Mew heard the resentment in his voice and touched his mind with hers quickly. She saw the argument they'd had.
~Is all that aggravation between the two of you really necessary? She's sorry for what she did and she didn't mean any harm by it. She was just curious.~

Mewtwo baulked that he'd had his mind read so effortlessly and glowered.

Mew ignored him and turned back to the humans. "I wish you all the very best of luck. I hope everything works out for the best."

She placed a small paw on Liana's shoulder and giggled suddenly childish as she spoke privately to Liana too. ~Don't worry so much it'll be fine. Ooh my what a lovely necklace you have!~

Liana looked down startled at the necklace that was hidden within the folds of her shirt and looked back up at Mew with a bewildered expression on her face. The mysterious Pokémon Goddess had already disappeared.