#paike

In this realm lived two groups of powerful creatures who I'm sure you're familiar with; The Solgaleo of the Sun and Lunala of the Moon. However, unlike their counterparts in other realms, these two groups despised each other. They fought and argued, and believed the light of their others were false ones.

While conflicts of this nature are not without precedent even within the legendary circle, there was one thing that drove this conflict onward; a creature existed that could steal the powers from one of these two species and take on a form similar to the one it had drained. It would then use its off appearance and ill-gotten powers to sow further discord between the two groups.

But not all believed the false sightings, and some, not many, but enough, believed in the balance that they were meant to uphold. And it was two of these like-minded beings who came together and, through their union, created the two sisters.

The two loved each other dearly, and cared for their daughters with all their heart, however it was not meant to be. For on the day where the moon eclipsed the sun, they were found out and killed for their treason. But while they perished, in their last act of defiance, they sent their children through a portal to the furthest realm they could reach, in a desperate bid for them to live.

And so they fell and fell and fell, past millions of different dimensions, until they landed right into the waiting claws of our beloved Star Mother, Maksviah.

—

She had sensed a strange portal was going to open and had arrived there just in time to watch them exit. They were tiny back then, much smaller then any normal Cosmog, and they were injured too. The attack had, despite the best efforts of their parents, not left them unscathed.

They were tiny and alone and so injured they would surely perish without any guardian to watch over them.

So, Maksviah resolved to raise them herself.

Taking them back to her icy home, she stayed within her mountain cave for many months, carefully feeding the sisters food meshed with her own stardust and bathing them regularly in healing light until, finally, they were no longer at risk of perishing.

But for all her power and experience with children, Maksviah was still a creature of stars, and knew she would need help in raising the two. So she called on two of her very close friends, creatures of the ever-shifting sky just as the Lunala and Solgaleo are. I'm sure you'll be able to guess who instantly!

Truly, calling upon Dawn and Dusk was the best choice she could have made. The two helped the sisters in a way Maksviah couldn't, as their powers more closely aligned to those that the sisters would soon grow to have. The youngest took a liking to Dawn and his powers of day while the eldest found herself following behind Dusk and his powers of night.

They lived in peace for many years, however, as the sisters' powers grew, so did a connection to their birth dimension. And it was this connection that allowed these celestial beasts to find them.

The sisters were viciously attacked by multiple Lunala and Solgaleo, and with the two groups of pokemon arriving so close after the other, it soon turned into a larger conflict. These battles were not uncommon to the two groups, and stained the white snow more and more red the longer it raged on.

But this time there was an interruption in this long and bloody war.

Maksviah, descending on wings of flame in her more older, primal form, tore through the two groups mercilessly. She batted away any who would attack her and unleashed her wrath upon those who dare harm her daughters.

At the sight of the foreign and fierce opponent, the two groups fled through their portals, back to the dimension they came from. And through this battle did the sisters come to a unanimous conclusion.

Carefully, the sisters approached Maksviah and said, “Mother, mother, please listen. We love you so, we truly do, however they are also our family just as you are. You showed us Kindness and Balance, and we wish to share that with them too, but we are too small and our bodies too weak. Please train us in body and mind so that we may end the conflict between our people.”

Maksviah heard the sisters and saw their words to be True, and she could not be more proud of them for it. So she took the two sisters and, with the aid of Dawn and Dusk, began to teach them one of two ways; Night for the  eldest and Day for the youngest.

It took many months of hard training and battles, but eventually the two sisters evolved as they had been torn; during a solar eclipse. And perhaps it was a mix of this celestial event and of ancient magic which resulted in their miraculous evolution.

The eldest, Kou, took on the form of a Solgaleo of the Moon.

The youngest, Paike, took on the form of a Lunala of Sun.

And it was so, with this evolution and one final goodbye, the sisters rushed forward and dove into the ultra space.

—

The sisters were quick to find out that, whilst the conflict between sun and moon was old indeed, something was provoking the two groups into further clashes in a most unnatural manner.

During their investigations they learned that when those off appearances occurred, a weak and ill Solgaleo or Lunala would soon appear afterwards. It was further prodding of the non-celestial locals and timid folk of the realm that revealed it seemed to go after those who wandered off alone. It left them with no memories of their encounter. Most often the two groups would explain this sudden illness on their opposition.

So, the sisters devised a simple but effective plan; Paike, with her radiant form, would draw the creature's attention while Kou hid in the shadows, and when the creature went to strike she would pounce.

The plan was easier to execute than expected, as the unique form of the sun sister drew its attention like a moth to flame.

When they finally got a good look at their opponent, the sisters were shocked.

There before them lie a creature so obviously empty and torn it pained them to look at. Its jagged edges were sharp and piercing, and its bony body had no colour to be found on it other than the dull shades of black to white. It thrashed wildly beneath Kou’s giant form, and she struggled to keep a hold of it.

Carefully, hesitantly, Paike began to weave it a song, which Kou soon joined in on. They sang of sun and moon, of balance and warmth, of light and dark and all things kind. They sang of the hearth fire, their Mother, and they sang of the lovers, their Uncles. And all the creature could do in response was sigh and listen with a deep longing in its heart.

“Alas, what you have shown me is terribly lovely,” it began “and holds all the things I could only ever yearn for, but I am the product of discord and violence. With my heart shattered I am unable to swerve from my dark fate, with my only imperatives to CONSUME and DRAIN and TAKE without the option of Giving in turn. I wish it was otherwise, but it is not. Only if by some miracle I was to return to my true state, but it is not. Thus I will forever be chained to this wretched existence.”

The two sisters heard the creature and saw its words to be True, and they could not be more saddened. So, carefully, they took a bit of their own powers and, to the shock of the creature, placed it within its darkened shell.

With the light of sun and moon combined, sparked by old magics taught to them by their dear Mother, the creature's dark form softened in a way, and while its dark coloration remained, its face lit up with the colors of the rainbow.

Carefully, Kou stepped off it, and it rose up once again, this time calm and quiet, almost bashful and shy.

“You gave me a priceless gift today. You sang to me in comfort and restored my sanity, and I will repay this kindness in turn. I am Necrozma, former Giver of Light, and I swear I will aid you in your quest to heal your people. Whilst my form is the result of their conflict, it was wrong of me to antagonize them further. Perhaps if I hadn't they would have become peaceful on their own…”

“Oh, please do not speak that way.” Kou crooned gently, bumping her head against Necrozma in comfort, “Whilst you may have provoked the conflict, they did harm you in the first place and cause you to shatter.”

“And we have little idea if they truly would have stopped fighting.” Paike pointed out, “You had no choice in the matter. They did. All we can do now is make this right.”

—

Now, the three couldn't just waltz up at any moment to the two groups, they needed to time their appearance at the moment when they would be most impactful.

Was doing it right before a massive battle the most impactful decision? Yes. Was it the most intelligent of decisions? Well… 

The sudden appearance of the sisters and their shattered friend shocked the groups, and at the site of their overwhelming power they quickly fled the battle ground.

It seems the sisters' appearance had shaken the two groups. A Solgaleo of moon and Lunala of sun? It was something unheard of until Kou and Paike revealed themselves.

And that shattered creature… was it a representation of the shattered bonds between sun and moon?

After all, why did they fight? Based on some belief that one was true while the other was not?

Well then, what did that make the two creatures they saw?

…Something needed to change.

Thus two small groups formed, one of sun and one of moon. These groups consisted of the ones who would set out to find the two themselves to see the Truth. And this time, when they ran into each other, they did not fight as they had done in the past, but instead an uneasy alliance was formed. It was a small thing, weak and wavering and barely there, but it was made. And that growing unity was what allowed them to find the sisters.

The two leaders of the groups approached carefully, gazing at the sisters in thinly veiled awe for a moment before, surprisingly, they turned to bow before Necrozma and revealed a hidden shard they had each been carrying with them. 

The shards were as black as the body of the fallen light. 

They apologize profusely, explaining that they had realized who Necrozma truly was and recognized the shattered form in the shard pieces their tribe leaders had hidden away.

They did not know the full truth of why they fought, and they were still ignorant to the many beauties of their counterpart, but they were willing to try.

And it was this willingness to change and grow that reignited the shattered ones light and ushered in a new era of peace.

~