Unity

Chapter 18

''So this is... Wow...'' 

Hop looked around in awe of this place. The golden rays of sunlight fell upon the old stones covered in moss. There were still a few pieces of stained glass among the old walls of torn down houses, colouring the ground around it in a pretty purple, red, and blue. Gloria placed her arms behind her back with a smile, watching her best friend with a smile on her face. His yellow eyes were shining as he glanced around the area. She'd been feeling guilty about keeping it a secret to both him and Victor.  She probably hasn't been acting like her true self at all since all this weird stuff started to happen. Spending a day just chilling at Hop's house like the usual days really helped her a lot. The young champion was feeling better than she did the two weeks before. 

''Y' know... Cane told me this is the place where the two heroes spend their final days together, along with the two ghosts of Zacian and Zamazenta.'' Gloria explained to him. 

Hop started to wander around a little around the town square, studying the small well in the middle and the buildings around it. ''So that means one of these houses belonged to the heroes... Also, looking at the ground here, it seems lower than the rest of the Slumbering Wealds... Calyrex saved our legendaries from a meteor impact, in which Eternatus was involved, meaning... This could be the place where Eternatus fell down to Galar!'' 

Gloria nodded. ''That's right! I expected nothing else of the great professor Hop! It took Cane nearly a year to figure it out. You're something else, you know?'' 

Hop blushed and placed his hands behind his head. ''Just watch me, I'll be the greatest professor ever! One that will be on par the greatest champion ever— you.'' 

Gloria stretched out her hand with a grin to him. He accepted her hand and looked her into her eyes. The two heroes were standing at the place where their predecessors were living once too long- long ago. Something great was gonna happen soon, but Gloria was sure; if the two of them were together, she could face anything or anyone. Hop gave her hand a soft jerk to snap the young champion out of her thoughts. He placed his free hand on his chin and glanced around once more. 

''If this was the resting place of the past heroes, does that mean that one of these houses is theirs?'' He asked the girl, his yellow eyes sparkling with curiosity. 

Gloria slowly let go of his hand and pointed in the direction of what the remains of an old small church. The purple haired boy tilted his head at her with confusion. She knew it sounded a bit weird, but inside, this ruin was a secret passage that led to a small underground temple. Cane showed her the first day they arrived. He hadn't been able to go inside it himself yet, since it radiates a certain energy which causes an enormous headache for everyone but Gloria to come near. Hop was a hero, too, so she figured he should be able to get inside as well.

They entered the passage. It was old, moist and it was full of spider webs. Gloria held onto Hop's hand tightly. They arrived at a weird room. It was completely empty, except for a large shattered gem in the middle.

Hop shared a glance with Gloria when they both were facing the large, nearly shattered gem. The brunette girl pulled the necklace up from under her dress and showed it to Hop.

"See, this tiny part belongs to the crystal. It was found by Cane's brother!" She explained.

Hop kept inspecting the weird object. There seemed to be a whole star like shape missing from the middle. "Can I hold it for a minute?" He asked.

Gloria nodded as Hop gently took the necklace in his hands. He studied it closely and found some very faint blue fragments in the corners of where the missing fragment was.

"The part that's missing seems to be a blue stone... Do you know what that means?" He asked Gloria.

She shook her head. "Not a clue."

Hop grinned. "Zacian is the blue sword, Zamazenta is the red shield... we are its trainers! The red represents you, so the blue one must represent me!"

Gloria was quiet for a moment, deep in thoughts... "Do you remember the hero statue in the Budew Drop Inn?" She asked him.

Hop's eyes gleam up more now. "You're right! The sword and shield each have a coloured gem on them! We should check it out as soon as we can!"

--

Victor and Cane stood in front of a small house in Hammerlocke. It was near the docks, one level lower than the vault and Raihan's gym. Victor decided to follow Cane despite his distrust in the boy. He studies the house closely. It was a rental house. Cane mentioned he wasn't from Galar before, so he and his brother probably rented it so they could do their research.
Once they entered the house, the two boys were greeted by Cane's brother. A tall man around Leon's age with dark red hair and green eyes. He was holding a walking stick and was wearing a long red coat.

"Come in, I was expecting you." His voice was hoarse and deep.

Victor sat down on the chair across of the man. He looked around the room, trying to take everything in in case something went wrong.

The man laughed. "You don't have to be so weary around me, Victor. We share the same goal, after all, keeping your sister safe."

Victor didn't lower his guard, however. "Sir, if you know so much about... Gloria's connection with Eternatus... why won't you go to Professor Sonia instead?"

"Please, call me Arthur," the man corrected him with a smile,"I mean no ill to the professor - but I don't believe she's up to whatever we want to achieve. She's a brilliant girl, but a weak trainer."

Victor didn't respond.

Cane sat down, smiling confidently in his brother.

"Victor, what if I told you that there is a way for you to become even stronger than your sister is?" Arthur said as he leaned in closer.

The brown haired boy sighed and shook his head. "I dunno... I really don't think that's possible at this point." He mumbled as he was reminded of the battle with Luxio and Rillaboom they had awhile back. Luxio completely beat Victor's Rillaboom, who had been travelling with him for two years now.

Arthur sighed, too. "Victor. I can give you the power to protect your sister for now and forever. She deserves someone like that after all she's been through. Don't forget that no single bond is stronger than blood."

"What are you planning to do?"

"There's another stone!" Cane spoke this time. "The legends say that the second stone helped the hero control Eternatus!"

Victor looked more interested now. Gloria seemed to have Eternatus's power under control already- but if Victor could help Gloria too... The two of them would he the strongest in all of Galar, perhaps even the whole world!

Victor sighed. "Fine." He finally gave in. "But you still don't completely have my trust."

The two brothers smiled at each other. Cane stood up and smiled. "Thank you, Victor! You won't regret it!"

.