Pokémon Chronicles 零 (ZERO)

Episode 18: Brine's trial

"To you who have met the qualifications to awaken this altar, I offer you my elemental trial. Should the trial be complete, you will be granted the essence of the sea. The cells of water will awaken within you, the cells that merge with aquatics..."

"There's that voice again... so it's true. This place was a bestia fountain, and a shining warrior trial," I stated, facing Lucca. He was still staring up with the others, unable to take his eyes off the fantastical creature that was forming above us.

"What, you guys have been through this before? What's going on?" Brine cried, sliding backwards a little bit.

"It's just a trial. This is what you came here to do!" I shouted, getting her attention. "We just beat this thing, and the bestia fountain appears. Plus, you'll get those bracelets you came here for."

"The bracelets... yes, my parents!" she gasped, turning back to the watery ceiling. The water was slowly descending into a form, swirling around above us as it shaped into an enormous monster that I couldn't fully recognise. It was difficult to make out its features due to it all being made of black water, but the glowing red core gave away that it possessed a humanesque figure, with a head, arms, and just barely, a chest. Huge wires of water hung loosely behind it, resembling hair or tentacles. Other than that, it remained attached to the ceiling, looking at us upside-down.

"Whatever that thing is, we've got to beat it somehow. No hesitation, everyone!" Lucca announced, drawing his weapons. I growled and did the same, already hesitating upon realising what I was doing.

"Uh, this is a monster made of water. How in the world can weapons damage it?" I asked. The way Lucca flinched implied that he hadn't even thought about that himself, but we didn't get the chance to consider what to do about it.

The monster was apparently ready and targeting us with a weapon of its own, an extremely long trident made of the same black water as the host. It had no trouble pushing that trident towards us, smashing it into the ground so hard that rock crumbled around it.

"Whoa, I didn't even see that!" Megan screamed, thrown to the floor by her rough dodge. Neither did I, at that – the blue of the area combined too well with the water on the ceiling and the texture of this monster. Still, I did my best to examine it and make out its features to try and come up with a course of action. It seemed to have nothing from the waist down, so its vulnerable point had to be somewhere here.

"That red core is all I can think of... I might not be able to hit it, though," I growled, tugging at the scarf around my neck. I couldn't sheath my sword in it quickly right now, so I dropped the sword to draw back an arrow instead. The monster seemed to react at just that, rearing back to dislodge its trident and return to the ceiling. This caused Megan to scream for some reason, completely throwing off my concentration.

"What's wrong?" Brine cried. Megan pointed to where the trident had hit, which was now a large set of holes in the ground. The magical lights weren't coming through these holes however, black water was sprouting through it instead, and it was splashing all over the ground.

"I get it... we have to do this quickly before the cave fills with water. But how can we hit? I can't reach up there!" Lucca shouted.

"Throw your swords! Swim through its arm! Do something!" Megan squealed, dancing on her toes.

"I don't blame her for being this anxious," I sighed, shaking my head. I returned my sight to the monster just in time, coughing in response to the way it was bent back. I could see it swinging the trident across the ground again and dove into the wall to avoid it, feeling a heavy wind nearly throw me into the air from the force of its attack.