Sky's the limit

Chapter 22

Warning: There is a scene in here that may make readers feel a bit squeamish. Not going to say what it is, because that would spoil it, but don't say I didn't warn you.

Gina and Soren had arrived at Crystal Cave a few hours before, and now Soren was walking down a long path towards a dim light. Gina was farther behind, marvelling at the crystals jutting from the ground and walls, occasionally stopping to stare at her own reflection in a patch of crystal in the floor.

"Come on, Gina. I need you to focus," Soren called behind him.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say," Gina muttered, quickly catching up to him. She still looked around at the shimmering crystals pointing at them from every wall. "Are we getting to the deepest part of the cave?"

"I think this is it, yeah." It only took him a few more steps before he was enveloped by the pale light of the sun, shining in through a small hole in the ceiling, reflecting off the crystals. He looked around, not seeing anything of importance until he saw three enormous crystals that reached towards the ceiling, all standing in a triangular formation of some sort. "Gina, look!"

She peered out from behind him, her face brightening when she saw the crystals. "They're all in different colours, too!" She ran up to the one nearest to the back of the cavern, coloured bright purple, inspecting it closely. "This is so awesome, Soren!"

"They're nothing like the other crystals we've seen, that's for sure." He snapped his fingers as an idea formed in his mind. "If this is the first thing out of the ordinary that we've seen here, then maybe these crystals are the clues to the Time Gear's location!"

"Well, what're you waiting for?" Gina asked, her eyes darting this way and that. "Let's get searching!"

The pair poked around the cavern, looking along the walls for a hidden passage, anything that would lead to a lake. Soren went back to look at the purple crystal, running his hand along the smooth side. "If only there were something here that would-" He yelped and jumped back as the crystal suddenly changed from purple to orange. "G-Gina, did you see that?"

The Eevee turned away from her reflection the tiny crystal in the wall. "See what?"

"The crystals! They change colour when you touch them." He walked over to the red crystal on the right side of the entrance. "Watch." He laid his palm against it, and Gina's eyes widened in surprise when it changed to green. "See?"

"I gotta try this!" Gina pranced over to the yellow crystal across from the one Soren was at. "Like this?" She touched her paw to the crystal, watching as it changed to blue. Tapping it again changed it to red. "This is so cool!"

"Yeah, but what does it mean?" Soren wondered aloud. "Three crystals? All changing colours? Could they be hiding the secrets to finding Azelf...?"

The rest of her partner's words were lost as Gina felt her ears fill with silence, her eyes fluttering as the room spun beneath her numbing paws. Oh, no... she thought, trying to look for the crystal so she could keep herself upright. I should've known this would happen... Another Dimensional Scream...

White light cut across her vision, fading to a familiar inky blackness. She realized that the last time she had a vision like this was back at the Groudon statue near Fogbound Lake. She nearly jumped at the sound of a voice, the same voice from her last sightless vision, but still too garbled to know what it even sounded like.

"I see..." the voice murmured. "Of the three spiritual elements of knowledge, emotion, and willpower, Azelf is the Being of Willpower. It's the motivation that drives us, a unifying power. To unify is to make one. If the colours of the crystals were made one, then the path reveals itself." It paused. "But the question remains, what is the colour of Azelf's spirit? If Azelf lives at Crystal Lake, then Azelf's spirit should be affected by the crystals..."