Chapter 151: Legacy
Following an especially lively breakfast, Jason was prepared to head out with Ren when…
“Oh, Jason, one moment. Before you begin another day of trying to earn that little one’s trust, there is something I wanted to show you alongside Lillie. Please grant me a few moments of your time,” Lusamine expressed, smiling.
“Yes? Of course,” Jason responded, brows raised—equal parts confused and curious.
“Excellent. Right this way,” Lusamine hummed, taking the lead to depart the dining room with Jason, Lillie, Ren, and a carried Runa following after her.
Sensing the question that had formed in Jason’s mind, Lillie confirmed, “Mother informed me about this last night and again this morning. She didn’t reveal what she wanted to show me, but she said it was important that she did.”
“It’s related to your father,” Lusamine revealed, causing Lillie’s brows to shoot up.
“Father…?” Lillie repeated, her eyes gaining a gem-like gloss.
“I was hoping to show you and Gladion this together. But since we’re going to be stuck here for a few days, I concluded that now was as good a time as any to let you experience part of your father’s legacy,” Lusamine revealed, her voice tinged with melancholy as she stopped before a large wooden bookcase and pressed on the spine of a large and thick red book with golden embossing.
vrrrrr-rr-rr-rr-rrrrr shnk
“A hidden door…?” Jason noted aloud, blinking in surprise at the sight of the bookcase swinging open to reveal a hidden room, its floor lined with brown and beige tiles and slate-grey tarps covering what he presumed to be furniture.
“I understand your concerns, but if anyone tried to enter here without an escort and the proper biometric clearance, they would be trapped within and knocked unconscious by a stream of quick-release anesthetic gas…” Lusamine revealed, glancing back at Jason with playfully narrowed eyes as she appended, “That means you won’t be able to enter without Lillie or me present.”
“Right…I’ll be sure to keep that in mind…” Jason responded, presenting a wry smile.
“What did Father keep here that it would require such an extreme level of security…?” Lillie questioned, her curiosity visibly piqued.
“See for yourself…” Lusamine responded, stepping aside and gesturing to the interior of the hidden room. In response, Lillie turned to meet Jason’s gaze, her emotions, particularly her expectation, flowing into him.
“We’ll enter together…” Jason affirmed, stepping behind Lillie and placing his hands on her shoulders in support. He would have grabbed her hand, but she was holding Runa.
With Jason giving her a gentle push from behind, Lillie stepped into the hidden room. To the right was a bunch of tarps, while to the left was a slate-grey stone staircase, currently made inaccessible by a metal grate.
fh-wh-wh-wh-whm
As Lillie entered the room, tiny, inconspicuous, dome-shaped lenses on the walls released quickly moving green lasers that scanned her, Jason, Ren, and Runa. Once the scan was complete, the metal grate prohibiting access to the underground area of the room slid open with a mechanical hiss.
“I’ll have Hobbes remove all these tarps and clean up later. For now, the four of you should head to the lower floor,” Lusamine stated, entering the room and pulling away the tarp to the right to reveal a display case full of ancient-looking artifacts and a large leather sofa.
“What are these…?” Lillie questioned.
“Your father was a brilliant engineer by trade, but he had a deep-seated interest in archaeology—particularly the study of technologies that had been lost before the League came to be,” Lusamine revealed, running her hand along the display case’s surface, clearly reminiscing.
“But these are just trinkets,” Lusamind added, meeting Lillie’s gaze as she stated, “Except you, Gladion, and the Foundation, all of the treasures your father left behind can be found below.”
“Father’s treasures…” Lillie muttered, glancing longingly at the stone staircase. As she did, Jason gently steered her toward it, giving her the support she needed to step forward and bring the past into the present…
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After descending a short flight of stairs, Jason, Lillie, Runa, and Ren found themselves at the entrance of an underground study, illuminated by faux, electric-powered lantern light. Large bookshelves lined every wall but the entry wall—one with a built-in armoire. And atop its smooth, naturalistic stone floor were a drawing table flanked by what appeared to be rolled blueprints, a long cabinet lined by pictures and stacks of manila folders, and a small but well-made wooden desk—topped by a vase-like lamp, a feathered quill inside of a long-dried ink well, a large and ancient-looking book, and an open laptop.
“These are Father’s treasures…?” Lillie asked, glancing around the room with raised brows. She had expected to find a half-finished invention or an Ultra Wormhole generator. Instead, the room appeared to be a private study, populated mostly by books.
“Don’t be so quick to judge. Some of the books here are transcribed texts dating back as far as three thousand years,” Lusamine revealed, entering the room and stepping around Jason, Lillie, and Ren to descend the seven stone steps leading to the rooms’ lowest level. Then, making her way over to the desk, she traced the fingers of her left hand along the grimoire-like book present, adding, “Your father was a wonderful man, Lillie—someone people couldn’t help but admire.”
Picking up the book and turning its pages to face Jason and Lillie as they approached, Lusamine smiled and wistfully revealed, “He was also a man who, despite his age, never stopped believing in fairy tales. Rather, it was one of his passions—researching the origin of hereditary tales to uncover the hidden truths behind them. It was precisely that passion that brought us to Alola, and, through your father’s perseverance, allowed us to lay the foundation for our research in Ultra Wormholes.”
“What’s this? An Ultra Beast…?” Lillie questioned, referring to the images that were depicted in the book. They showed a vaguely humanoid figure with rounded joints, visible gears, large, crescent-shaped ears, and a bell-shaped, gown-like bottom.
“It’s Magearna…” Jason recognized, causing Lusamine’s brows to shoot up a great deal as she asked, “Is this something you’re familiar with from your previous world?”
Nodding, Jason revealed, “I can’t recall if it’s a Legendary or a Mythical Pokémon, but I remember a few tidbits of information—such as the actual Pokémon being the spirit inhabiting its doll-like body and it being capable of Mega Evolution.”
“Well, that’s promising~” Lusamine hummed, returning the book to the table before making her way over to the armoire and opening it to reveal the very Magearna they were discussing, sitting lifelessly with its pointed hands folded neatly atop its lap.
Stepping aside to give Jason, Lillie, Ren, and Runa a better look at the armoire’s contents, Lusamine, glancing at her daughter, revealed, “Your father discovered this Magearna in an antique store while I was pregnant with you. He sincerely believed it was fate that he chanced upon it at that moment, as, five hundred years ago, Magearna was gifted to the Princess of a now lost Kingdom to protect her. It was his hope that it would protect you, his soon-to-be Princess, in the same manner…”
“Oh, Father…” Lillie muttered, entrusting Runa to Jason before stepping forward and caressing the face of the Magearna with great sadness and longing. Unlike her brother, she had never had the chance to know her father, who had disappeared into an Ultra Wormhole when she was just a few months old. But everything she heard about him made it clear that he loved her greatly—a fact that pained her heart all the more.
Not wanting to interrupt the moment her daughter was having, Lusamine approached Jason and, in a hushed tone, asked, “Are you perhaps aware of the method to awaken Magearna?”
Shaking his head, Jason reluctantly admitted, “Unfortunately, it wasn’t a Pokémon I had a particular interest in. I do remember that it’s a Steel and Fairy Type, though.”
“Is that significant in some way…?” Lusamine questioned, tilting her head.
“Well, according to Tapu Koko, Fairy-type Energy is emotion given form…” Jason stated, gazing intently into the large, doll-like Pokémon’s vacant, concave eyes as he speculated, “With that in mind, its activation must have something to do with channeling emotions and forming a connection with the spirit slumbering within.”
“Should Ren try…?” Ren asked, drawing Jason’s and Lusamine’s gazes as she pointed to herself and plainly reminded, “Ren can become a Fairy,” in a matter-of-fact tone.
“No. If possible, I would like to discover the method to awaken Magearna myself…” Lillie interjected somberly, shaking her head before looking back at the group with conviction in her glossy green eyes, asserting, “It is my responsibility…”
“Then, until your father’s return, I shall entrust this place to you, Jason, and, when he returns, Gladion…” Lusamine affirmed, nodding approvingly at her daughter’s conviction.
“Do you still believe that Father might return…?” Lillie questioned, a hint of hope manifesting in the depths of her eyes.
Nodding, Lusamine revealed, “It was mentioned in the dossier that Jason provided. We haven’t been able to ascertain its location, but in the games of Jason’s previous world, your father was still alive, living as an amnesiac on a remote island.”
“Is that really true…?” Lillie questioned, her words and hope-filled gaze directed at Jason.
“I distinctly remember him being alive in the games…” Jason confirmed, nodding. His rational side found it hard to believe that someone as high-profile as Mohn wouldn’t have been discovered if he had been living as a hermit in Alola, but if Lillie requested it, he would lead the search for the man himself.
“Then he must be alive,” Lillie decided, her expression and tone firm. She could feel Jason’s doubts, and with her intelligence, she understood the odds were slim. However, even if there were a 0.000001% chance that her father was still alive, she would find him.
“Yes. I, too, believe that your father is still alive…” Lusamine whispered, stepping forward and embracing Lillie from behind, hugging her tightly as she vowed, “And I will continue to hold that belief until we’ve scoured this and every other world linked to ours in detail…”
“Nn…even if he isn’t in this one, there’s a chance he can be found in others…” Lillie affirmed, closing her eyes and enjoying the reassuring feeling of being held in her mother’s arms.
“…”
Observing Lusamine embracing Lillie, Jason couldn’t help but feel guilty about his actions two days prior. Instead of allowing his guilt to swallow him, however, he opened his chat interface and telepathically petitioned the Constellations observing the scene, asking, ‘Is anyone willing to sell me information related to Mohn’s status and location?’
[The Dragon Who Slumbers Beside a Hearth exhales a weary sigh and reveals that the exact location of a person or object cannot be disclosed, as it would interfere with the Aspirant’s growth.]
[The Great Sage Who Peers Under Skirts says that they can give you a hint for 100,000 AP.]
[The Maw That Grins From Within the Abyss scoffs and retorts that a hint could be something as inconsequential as the requested person or object existing in the present setting.]
[The Ivory Star Who Amasses Plates suggests that it can set the Aspirant on the correct path, but that it will cost a minimum of 5,000,000AP.]
[Various Constellations raise their brows at The Ivory Star Who Amasses Plates.]
[The Blue Star Who Refutes Its Flatitude beams happily at The Ivory Star Who Amasses Plates.]
‘Five million AP…that’s not unreasonable…’ Jason noted, his expression gaining a hint of severity. His current reserve was 342,900AP. But if he prioritized some of the low-risk, high-reward Quests the League offered to help him with, he would only need a few days to gather the requested amount. And that was only because of the Quarantine. Had it not been in place, he might not even require twenty-four hours…
With such thoughts in mind, Jason lingered like an attentive ghost as Lillie and Lusamine explored and reminisced about Mohn’s study together. The thought of leaving crossed his mind several times, but he decided to stick around, enjoying the positive emotions flowing into him from Lillie—all the way up until Runa revealed to him that she needed to poop…
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