Labto Journeys

Chapter Twenty-Two

By Arizima

AN: No AN today.

Key: See Chapter Twenty.

            After Prida "went potty", I looked up at the shrine again, and went up the steps. Jade and Prida followed.

            " Rachel, are you sure it's safe in there!?" Adam called.

            " Sure I'm sure! Come on up!" Chris and Adam looked at each other, shrugged, and walked up.

            " Okay, we're on the shrine, can we go back to the center now?" Chris asked.

            " Nope!" I looked at the huge doorway, and walked toward it. Suddenly, when I was walking into it, there was a sense of something resisting my going into it, but it relaxed, and I stepped in.

            " Ouch!"

            " That hurt!"

            Yowie!

            Auntie Jade, why'd you stop? I almost fell off!

            " Huh?" I looked back at the others. They were sitting on the covered stone porch, rubbing their noses, except for Prida, who was just glaring at Jade.

            " Guys, come on in!" I said.

            " That's just the thing! There's a force field or something!" Adam said, then stared at me. " You… got in! How!?"

            " I walked."

            " That's not what I meant!" Adam shouted.

            " Okay, okay! This gives me the creeps." Why, though? Why had I been able to go in when they couldn't? Why did I have that vision? I'm in way over my head. I walked back out, the same resistance popping up and disappearing again. " Let's get back to the center, guys." We headed down the same path we had before. Adam kept on sending furtive looks at me, but the others were just acting normally. Finally, I turned to Adam.

            " What's with all the glances, Adam?"

            " You're worried about something."

            " How do you know!?" I'm usually good at hiding my emotions when I want to. Adam tapped his head. I gulped. " You… read my mind? I know you're psychic, but…."

            " No, I read your emotions. That was empathy, not telepathy. I can't help it. And I can only sense it when you're feeling it strongly enough, anyway. It's not like I've been training recently…." Adam looked around, then whispered, " Why are you worried?"

            " I…. I'll tell you later." I guess I'll have to tell somebody, and Adam is the human I trust most here. We came to the center sooner than I expected. I guess time flies when you're thinking about something you're worried about. When he stepped inside, Nurse Amy waved to us.

            " Welcome back! Did you enjoy your visit to the shrine?"

            " It was alright. But we couldn't get inside…." Adam said, glancing at me again.

            " No one can! And if they could, believe me, it'd be a major tourist spot in an instant!" Nurse Amy smiled at us. " It's past lunch time, but not too much. Want some food?"

            Yeah! Jade and Prida chorused.

            " Well, the Pokémon do, at any rate! What about you?"

            " Sure." Chris replied, and Nurse Amy stepped into another back room. A few minutes later, when we were seated, a Chansey came out with a tray laden with juice, little squares of meat that I couldn't tell what they were from this distance, rolls, and Pokémon food. She set the tray down on our little table, and walked off with a cheerful " Chansey!" We picked up the dishes, and I gave Jade and Prida theirs before I started eating.

            " Those pictures I got of the shrine were great!" Chris said, getting out his photographs. His camera is the kind that develops the film while it's still in the camera. " Huh!?"

            " What is it, Chris?" I asked.

            " The pictures I took of the inside, before I tried to walk in! They're all black!" Chris showed me the photograph. It looked normal to me—dark, stone walls, and the back of my head.

            " What do you mean by that? Look, there's my head, and the walls, and the ceiling. It's kinda dark, but—"

            " What are you talking about? Those are black!" Adam said, looking at the photograph and then me.

            Looks black to me too, Jade said.

            I can't see the things Mama sees! Prida chirped. Adam gasped.

            " That's it!"

            " What's it?"

            " Can I speak to you in private?" Without waiting for my reply, he grabbed my arm and hauled me off to the dormitory thing. No one else was there, luckily.

            " Rachel, I need for you to tell me what you saw when you were spaced out in front of the shrine!"

            " Huh?"

            " Tell me what you saw!" Adam demanded.

            " Okay! It was the shrine, only it was a lot younger. It was springtime, and there were two statues in front of it. One, I had seen before in real life, and that was Delmyr."

            " Back up! You saw Delmyr, in flesh and blood?"

            " Yes! The night of August 21! Actually the morning of August 22, but oh well."

            " But that's the same day that the statues disappeared!" Adam exclaimed.

            " I know that!" I practically yelled back.

            " Then…. The legend is true!?" Adam stepped back, and rubbed his chin. " Were you the only one who saw him?"

            " Jade was asleep."

            " Alright. Tell me what else you saw, okay?"

            " Okay…. One statue was Delmyr, which was basically a lion with two tails and wings. You knew that, right?" Adam shrugged.

            " Actually, there was no description in that book. It just said they were griffins."

            " Alright, so now you know. The other statue was a lioness with strange markings on her forehead and paws, and wings."

            " What did the markings look like?"

            " Kinda like diamonds with diagonal lines coming out of the corners in the middle, going up." I made the symbol with my fingers. " And that was all."

            " Put that together with the fact that only you were able to go inside, and that you could see what was in the photograph…." He trailed off.

            " What!?"

            " You have something to do with this legend." Adam said, finally.

            " How? It was written thousands of years ago, if not more!" I was surprised, and I remembered. The night I saw Delmyr, the morning after, I had said I had no great big destiny. Jade said that I didn't know I didn't have one.

            " I don't want to have some big destiny! I just want to be a ten-year old female Pokémon trainer!" I groaned. It isn't fair! Why me? Why not Luke or Jia or my dad?

            " Want it or not, you have it, and sooner or later, you'll have to act according to it." Adam said. I sighed. Training Pokémon is tough enough, but now I have a destiny to deal with, too! " Come on, let's go back to lunch." We started to walk back into the lobby.

            " Adam?"

            " What?"

            " Thanks."

            " Oh, er, um…." Adam stammered. " Er, you're welcome." With that, he dashed off to the table.

            " Boys," I muttered.

            Hi Mama! Did you and Papa have a nice chat? Prida asked.

            " Uh, yeah…."

            That's good!

            Rachel, what happened? You're freaked out.

" I'll tell you later."

Alright. Here, eat. Jade said, pushing my plate at me. I just picked at it, despite the fact that I usually love rolls.

" I've got a great idea for what we can do tomorrow, guys?"

" What?" I asked gloomily.

" The Biotite gym! You look kinda depressed, Rachel, and I know battling cheers you up, I've watched you."

" Yeah! Great idea, Chris! Thanks!" I said. If I got the Fang badge, I'd be halfway to being eligible to entering the Labto Championships! I grinned, and wolfed down the rest of my food. Tomorrow, I'll get the Fang badge!

AN: Don't you think that's enough for today? Ah, well. See you guys next chapter!

Disclaimer: Pokémon and all related insignia, except for the insignia I created, belong to their respective owners.

Claimer: Labto, all original characters, and all related insignia belong to me. All rights reserved, unless you have my permission.