Painted Ghouls

Chapter 35

It turned out that Sky Pillar was a lot farther away than Athena expected. Of course, considering she was traveling by water, more specifically riding on Damien, who appeared to be an incredibly slow swimmer, it would take far longer than if she were to ride on Lucas' back. Nevertheless, the distance from the shore they neared on to the ancient tower was remarkable. Thank goodness Damien suggested the idea of bringing berries, for she would've passed out from fatigue without any at this point.

The two never talked much on the way to the pillar. The Swampert kept his mouth shut for the most part, and Athena simply accepted that, guessing that he was just worn off from the amounts of swimming. Every now and then, however, he talked about something completely random and irrelevant, and it seemed as if he lingered on the subject of May quite often. He mainly boasted about his former trainer, but more of in a teasingly friendly manner.

Despite the gestures, all of his words and sentences seemed half-hearted, as if he was holding back something. Athena didn't know what, nor did she really bother to pay attention to that. She sat in silence, going over what she was about to do in her mind. Sky Pillar shouldn't be too far away, and soon she would go face-to-face with Rayquaza. Whether she would make it out alive or not was questionable, but the attempt was certainly worth it. She just had to be weary of her ghoul form, which so far had been activated twice.

Leaning her elbows against the back of the Swampert's skull, Athena released an exasperated yawn, gently rubbing her cranium with her talons idly. "How much longer?" she groaned, resting her beak on the male. She gazed down at the water that eagerly lapped against him in askew ways. Sprays of water droplets poured over her as he thrusted his hind legs back in a swimming motion, quickening his speed just a bit. The salty tang of both him and the ocean made her sick.

Damien shifted around, turning his head to place his vision on the Blaziken. "I think we're almost there," he answered matter-of-factly, blinking his orange eyes. "It shouldn't take too long." With that, he snapped his gaze back to the waters ahead, using his legs to pick up the pace a little once more. The fire-and-fighting type simply nodded her head, gazing down at the water.

Miraculously, the two hadn't even encountered a single wild Pokémon. Perhaps it was due to the fact that they were both fully-evolved and battle-ready, but Athena figured that at least one would dare attack them. Either way, none had even come near the two. It seemed as if the ocean was a barren wasteland, with only the blue waters to occupy it. The waves had been mostly calm, and there appeared to be no sign of a storm due to the lack of clouds. It was a perfect setting for a battle.

Snapping away from her thoughts, Athena looked down to see Damien staring back at her. However, as soon as she did so, he swiftly fixated his attention onto something else. "What?" she questioned, flexing her claws slowly.

"Nothing, nothing," Damien quickly answered, sounding rather flustered. "It's just.. that thing on your leg." The Blaziken looked down at the indigo accessory right above her leg.

"Yeah, what about it?" she mused, poking at the strange gem with one claw. The mud fish Pokémon didn't answer. Why he seemed a little interested in it was beyond her, and it didn't necessarily help due to the fact that he didn't even answer her question. Shrugging it off, she brought her gaze down longingly at Brendan's cap, tracing the outline of the black headband it contained.

"It's a Blazikenite," he said, keeping his attention on the water. She looked back at him. "You can use it to mega evolve, but since Brendan isn't here.." His words drained away, and he went back to his silent state. Athena blinked, pondering over what he said. She remembered that Brendan mentioned such an occurrence before, but that was a cycle of seasons ago. That was back when he was actually alive. Shaking her head slowly, she brought her vision back to the water.