🌙Moon – Chapter 14; Finale

Read from the start

Characters: Pearl/Lillie, Skymother, Guzma

Warnings: horror elements, deadly parasites, major injury

Wordcount: 2,934

Vibe: haha uh oh

happy 9th anniversary, pokeau!

let’s finish this off with a bang.

(the full author’s note will be found at the very very end, this time. thought it’d only be fitting)

---

Lillie was in a trance, and remained silent in awe of the Skymother’s divine grace.

Pearl, meanwhile, did not.

“HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLY SHIT?!” is all Pearl could cry out, at least after giving Lillie and Skymother a moment of silence.

Skymother’s attention ceased its fixation on Lillie, and she faced Pearl with a playful smile – her chuckle had an otherworldly reverberation to it.

“It’s nice to meet you like this too, Pearl. The avenue of dreams can only go so far when the dreamscape’s ruler is so strict, especially with you in particular.”

That made Pearl think for a second, before she realized what Skymother meant.

“Ohhh!” she exclaimed, having recalled the few dreams she’d had where she encountered a figure similar to Skymother.

“That makes sense, though. Auntie Aster knows she can be kind of scary sometimes, but it’s not entirely on accident…”

“Huh? What does that even mean?” Lillie chimed in to ask.

“Isn’t your aunt just a spirit medium? She can’t control dreams, can she??”

There was a pause, and Pearl’s expression grew awkward.

It was a secret she had promised to never tell anyone, not a soul, but…

“Geez, um…” Pearl started, trying to think over her next words very carefully.

“So. Lillie. Uh… there’s a traditional Draconid belief that the gods of the land – legends… that they walk among people, right?”

Lillie nodded.

“Yeah, I had read about that in some of the archives with Acerola! Are… you implying that your aunt is…”

“Yeah. But, uh, it’s not just her.” Pearl replied, a heavy lump forming in her throat as she got ready to speak her next words.

A secret that was only safe with family.

But Lillie was…

“I am the emissary of Palkia, god of space.”

There was an uncomfortably long pause. Skymother was predictably unsurprised, but shock washed over Lillie’s face – and Pearl couldn’t tell if it was a good kind or bad kind.

Finally, Lillie spoke up.

“So you’ve been like… a god? This entire time?”

“Yes! I mean, no! I guess… kind of? Sort of?” Pearl said, flustered. She’d never quite felt such the weight of those words since it was so normal in her family, but from Lillie…

“I’m more like… a real life magical girl? Check this out!”

With a twirl and a flash of sparkles, Pearl shifted to the godform she’d perfected in private and with her legendary training with Aster. A pink puffy dress with a long tailcoat, four arms, and two giant swords.

Pearl did a quick pose, before putting her focus back on Lillie.

“So… that’s… the story!” she said, her voice audibly an uncharacteristic type of nervous.

For a second, Lillie stared blankly, and Pearl was terrified because she couldn’t read her expression.

But soon enough, Lillie’s eyes lit up wide.

“That’s… that’s SO COOL?! HELLO?!” Lillie exclaimed, running up to Pearl to more closely inspect the interesting transformation.

“Sorry if this is weird, but… you didn’t make some kind of weird contract that puts you in danger or anything, right? Is that why you kept it so secret?”

Pearl stared blankly, then broke out into a laugh.

“No, of course not! That kind of thing only happens in fiction!” she snorted.

“Well, I guess my parents kind of made a contract, but in reality it was more like a direct reward from Arceus themselves, they-”

“Let’s talk about something else!” Skymother abruptly interrupted.

Pearl didn’t think too much of Skymother’s interjection, just because she’d already been standing there to patiently for so long already.

“Shoot, right, sorry!” Pearl said, scratching her head a bit.

“I can ramble about my family history to Lillie after we get down to business.”

“Yes! Which was? My vessel wasn’t conscious after the woman I presume was Lillie’s mother captured it, so if you’ve discussed any plans, I haven’t heard anything about them.” Skymother asked in response, nodding.

“Yeah, uh… after that happened, she… used Nebby’s – or, er, your power to open up a bunch of these wormholes in the sky, and there’s been a lot of strange creatures coming out of them…” Lillie explained.

“Oh my. That does sound… not good. I suppose though, it was only inevitable that humans would figure it out.” Skymother sighed.

“No worries though, it should be an easy fix now that I’m at my full power for now!”

Skymother gave a bit of clearance between herself and the teenage duo, and did a few hand gestures – as the wings on her back raised and started to glow brightly. While her eyes were closed, the third eye on her forehead was wide open and glowing as well.

Then, quickly, she was consumed with a pillar of light that went up to the top of the sky, before it spread outwards in all directions.

The pillar of light cleared, and Skymother dusted off her hands.

“All done!” she said with a smile.

Both Pearl and Lillie were wide-eyed in reaction to what they’d just witnessed, as it was truly unlike anything of this world.

However, Lillie was the first to gain a more determined composure.

“Uhm, actually, Skymother… there was one other thing we came here for…”

“Oh? What is it, my child? For you, there is no task too great.”

“The night that… my mother opened the wormholes… she went into one herself, along with someone else… that other person’s friends are really worried about him, and at the very least, want closure as to what happened to him…” Lillie explained.

“I’m not sure if you sort of… innately ‘know’ where wormholes lead, or something, but I do know my mother was obsessed with these strange glassy creatures that look a bit like a tentacruel, to the point of making me dress like one. If she’d open a wormhole to anywhere, it’d be wherever she could find more of them, I’d think.”

Skymother’s expression suddenly grew very grim.

“I’m afraid… that assisting you with that specifically is the one thing I cannot do.”

“What do you mean?! Didn’t you just say there was no task too great?!” Pearl chimed in defensively.

“If I was able to, I would in a heartbeat, Pearl.” Skymother sighed.

“But… based on what Lillie has said… it sounds very likely those two went to the Ultra Deep Sea, a no-man’s land that’s best to be avoided at all costs. As grim as it sounds, I think it’d be safe to assume those two are… no longer with us.”

“I mean, Plumeria sounded like she thought that Guzma guy was dead already, what she was looking for was closure.” Pearl huffed.

“Skymother, you’re like, some kind of ultimate god, right? And I’m the god of space! With both of our powers combined, I think we’d be equipped to take on a dangerous location like that!”

Skymother sighed with a bit of a grimace.

“Pearl, I so do appreciate your determination to prove yourself. It reminds me of… someone who was dear to me.” she started.

“But this place is unlike any danger of this world – literally. And I only have a limited amount of my full power left, so if something were to go wrong…”

“We’d just be looking for remains and leaving, then. I know how important closure can be, because a lack of it is what caused my mother to…” Lillie started, but her words trailed off into nothingness upon recalling her family situation.

“Team Skull may not be the best people, but they deserve peace of mind – they’re human too, after all.”

There was a pause as Skymother thought, followed by her letting out a deep sigh.

“Alright.” she said seriously.

“But only to look for remains… with the things I’ve lived through, I’m not sure how I live with myself already – but if something were to happen to one of you two…”

Lillie nodded, with a determined look.

“I understand. But I promise we won’t do anything stupid. Right Pearl?”

“Right!” Pearl replied, equally as serious.

Skymother took in another deep breath.

“Alright. If you both stick closely by my side, you’ll be safe.” she nodded.

Skymother proceeded to turn around and do a few new hand gestures, which caused her wings to raise and glow once more. This time, a large wormhole not unlike the ones Lusamine had summon appeared right in front of her.

“Hold on tight, interdimensional wormholes can be a bit bumpy.”

Skymother knelt down, allowing for Pearl and Lillie to get a firm grip on her wings from behind. Once the two were in place, Skymother gracefully dove through the wormhole.

It was a feeling unlike any Pearl has experienced before, despite her rather frequent usage of teleportation and space gaps. It just felt like too much in every way, and before Pearl could properly process it, it was over – and she was surrounded by cold water.

Pearl tried to gasp and hold her breath, but found that despite definitely being underwater, she could still breathe perfectly fine. Glancing over to Lillie, it looked like she had the same panic and realization too.

As Pearl was finally able to center her senses, she was able to glance around at the surroundings. It was incredibly dark, only illuminated by spires of glowing, coral-like crystal that seemed to come from the depths of nothingness.

The area seemed to carry an overwhelming feeling of loneliness and dread, and Pearl was already sort of starting to regret her decision to convince Skymother to come here.

“I’ve gotten us to the point where Lusamine’s wormhole ended up – if there’s any remains to be found, they shouldn’t be far.” Skymother nodded.

“…But, given the nature of the parasites here, I’m not hopeful.”

“So those weird glassy things are parasites? How so?” Lillie asked.

“Once they latch onto their victim’s head, the neurotoxin they possess renders the victim nothing but dead in seconds.” Skymother sighed.

“It’s incredibly unpleasant and there’s no reversal or saving those who are caught.”

“…I see.” Lillie mumbled in response.

Suddenly, a not-so-distant voice echoed out.

“Oi, who the hell is there?! Y’all don’t sound like those… things.”

“Guzma?! You’re there?! Alive?!” Pearl said, shocked to hear his voice.

“Careful.” Skymother said sternly.

“The parasites can mimic sights or sounds to draw in victims, I wouldn’t be surprised if-”

“Shut the fuck up, yo!” the voice said harshly, promptly interrupting Skymother.

“Do I sound like one of those jellyfreaks?! I bet you’ll listen to what I have to say if I say this: y’all are stupid!”

“HEY!!” Pearl exclaimed, hopping off of Skymother’s shoulders and onto the seabed, but still staying close by.

“…Though I have a hunch that, despite the odds, this voice may be genuine.” Skymother sighed.

“You there! Come out!”

“No fuckin’ way! What if you’re one of those nihilwhatevers trying to trap me?!”

“…It really does sound like Guzma.” Lillie groaned.

“Hmm… I think I know where he is based off how the sound is bouncing. I just need to focus…” Pearl said.

“Guzma, can you say something?”

“FUCK!!”

As much as Pearl wanted to give some kind of snarky response, she had to focus. It was a skill she’d learned when training with Aster, but tuning in psychic energy and focusing enough seemed to allow her to visualize the path of sound.

And given how there was a complete lack of any other sound in the depths, tracing Guzma’s location was easy.

“There!” Pearl exclaimed as the visual came to her, and ran over to a where two of the crystal pillars formed a tight crevasse nearby.

Lo and behold, Guzma was curled up tightly in the gap – shaking and with his arms tightly over his head.

“The hell?! Four arms?!” was all Guzma said upon seeing Pearl, but he did seem somewhat relieved to see someone he recognized – even if it was the ‘meddling scamp’ who did nothing but ruin his plans.

“Whatever! Explanations can wait! Come with me, Team Skull is worried about you!” Pearl huffed, reaching two of her arms out to Guzma to help pull him out of the gap.

Guzma grabbed on with one arm, but still kept one over his head – and returned to having both as a ‘shield’ once he was out of the gap.

Skymother and Lillie seemed shocked to see him living and breathing, expressions that were seen more clearly as Pearl ran through the water’s pressure to bring Guzma to the safety of Skymother’s side.

“How… did you survive that long?” Skymother said, her tone filled with a somewhat horrified shock.

“It was wild, yo! After the boss lady got caught, I ran and a lady who looked like she had a shiny octillery for legs found me! She told me to cover my head and hide in that gap!”

“…So society there has progressed to the point of outsiders coming even here…” Skymother briefly mumbled under her breath, before shaking her head and more properly turning to Guzma.

“No matter. You say the woman with you got caught by a parasite?”

“Man, it was less she got caught by one, and more… she caught it.” Guzma replied with a huff.

“Freaky as hell either way. She’s obsessed with those things…”

“I fail to understand why, but… if she’s beyond saving, we can leave.” Skymother nodded.

“Lillie, I don’t believe you’re too hard pressed about seeing what happened to her, no?”

Lillie paused for a bit, and looked a bit unsure of herself as she was thinking – but ultimately shook her head without a word.

“Alright, give me a second to form the wormhole out, then-”

Skymother’s words were abruptly cut off by a chilling call – a call that sounded far too close-by for comfort.

“Lillie, there you are, darling! Why don’t you come join us?”

The voice was undoubtedly Lusamine’s, but… the way it echoed was twisted in ways Pearl couldn’t describe.

She wasn’t quite sure how close the source of the sound really was, so Pearl closed her eyes to focus again, until…

Shooting her eyes open, adrenaline took control as the realization hit Pearl. She quickly re-summoned her large swords, and teleported in a flash of sparkles to just above Skymother’s head – before letting out as mighty of a slash the water resistance of the sea would allow her.

And, in that same horrible, twisted voice, a scream rang out as the cloak of disguise that Lusamine was under vanished from the blow.

But… it wasn’t quite Lusamine.

It was horrifying to behold – Lusamine had seemed to have… merged with the parasite. Her hair had gone black, and in place of human arms, the fusion possessed two oversized tentacle claws. She didn’t exactly look ‘dead’ at first glance, but her slack expression and dangling legs weren’t very reassuring.

Pearl was able to put enough distance between the fusion and Skymother and the others for them to react and backtrack.

“In such a short time… she…” Skymother mumbled under her breath.

“This is exactly what I worried would happen.”

“It’s like… some kind of… motherbeast, man!” Guzma remarked.

Lillie was silent, but the sight made her bury her face in Skymother’s shoulder as to not see after her first glance.

While the tentacle arm Pearl had hit appeared to have a gash in it from the blow, after some flailing around, it healed back up – looking almost like molten glass fusing back together.

“Pearl. I’m so deeply terrified of asking this, but…” Skymother started, breathing sharply in as she faced Pearl with a dead serious face.

“I… need you to do your best to hold her off. I can try and focus as best I can to form the wormhole as fast as possible, but…”

“Leave it to me!” Pearl nodded.

“I’ll make sure there’s enough room between you two!”

Though it looked like Skymother wanted to say more, possibly in protest, she simply nodded – turning around to begin wormhole preparations.

Lillie’s face was still tightly buried, while Guzma seemed to be onlooking with an air of excitement.

“Give her hell, scamp!”

Using the blades of her swords as paddles of sorts, Pearl ‘charged’ towards Lusamine. She wanted to go in with the intention of inflicting any kind of blow to debilitate the amalgamation, but quickly found she was having to play the defensive role – with Lusamine’s large tendril arms swiping heavily in attempt to throw Pearl off.

Thankfully, in part due to the blades of her swords being so comically large, Pearl parried whatever Lusamine had to dish out and maintained the distance between herself, Lusamine, and Skymother.

Parry after parry, Pearl finally saw a gap, and went for a thrust to the ‘dome’ of the parasite. Despite it’s delicate-looking nature, the attack didn’t cause a tear like it did in the arm tendril earlier… but definitely must’ve hurt, considering the gut-wrenching inhuman screech that was let out.

Figuring this meant she had an additional gap for an attack of her own, Pearl unsummoned her blades and in turn manifested a large, ornate-looking blaster – dubbed the ‘chaos buster’, it was a weapon Pearl had designed herself based off of one in a video game she liked. She doubted it’d have any practical use, at least, until now.

But the buster was taking longer to charge its powerful blast than Pearl had anticipated, and soon enough, the amalgam had shaken off the hit.

Pearl wanted to trust that a few seconds left to charge would be an OK affordance, but…

The first swipe disarmed her, and the second sent Pearl flying – her vision blacking out as she hit the seafloor.

Next Chapter