Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Adventurers of the Universe

The Sky is Calling

-< Greetings, young Lani. >-

Uh... greetings?

-< If you don't mind, I'd like to meet you in person. >-

I'm sorry, who are you?

-< My name is Ray. I'm the keeper of the Sky Melodica, one of the Seven Treasured Instruments of the world. Oganesson has told me about you. >-

Oganesson?

-< Oganesson. He's a Mew. Specifically, the keeper of the Grass Cornet. Back to what I was saying, I would like you to meet me at the Sky Stairway, which is currently passing over your guild. I know that it's the dead of night, but if you could maybe sneak outside? I could then drop a staircase down to you. I'm at the stairway's Apex. I've had all of the stairway residents stand down, as usually they attack all intruders to help protect the Melodica. >-

So... you want me to wake up and sneak outside?

-< Precisely. >-

Alright, see you soon. I guess

Lani wakes up and looks at the time. Quarter past midnight. Good. She gets up and peers out of her dorm door, to find someone patrolling the halls. Not wanting to have the chance of being caught by them, she closes the door and hops out of her window instead, then runs to the front of the guild. She looks up to the clouds. The clouds above merge and form a staircase that descends all the way down to the surface.

-<You may proceed. >-

Lani climbed the stairs, which surprisingly wasn't tiring her out despite there being thousands of steps.

As she ascends, the front door of the guild creaks open. Lani looks back to check it, but nobody is there. She sighs in relief and continues climbing the Sky Stairway. Eventually, she reaches the Sky Apex, and the stairway becomes a normal sky dungeon again. All alone, Lani looks around, and builds up the courage to look down. No surface, only clouds. Nice.

"Hello there."

Lani spins around and finds a Rayquaza behind her. "You're Ray, right? Why'd you want me up here?"

"Ha. Simple." Ray says. "I wanted to dispose of you so that the master can finish eating the sun."

"What?!" Lani jumps backwards and prepares to fight. "This was a trap?!"

"Ha! No, it wasn't. I'm just messing with you! I wanted to show you that you must be careful, and that you can't trust ev-!!!" Ray begins to say, but is cut off as Lani charges at him and sends him flying into a chunky cloud. He flies back at Mach Three, in Mega Forme. He ascends further upwards before diving back down and smashing into Lani.

 --- Rayquaza's Delta Stream! ---

A mysterious air current begins to blow, and Lani is nearly knocked off her feet. But, miraculously, she endures the hit and strikes back.

"Listen! I wanted to give you the-!" Ray gives up with the explanation attempt. "Screw it."

Lani charges at full speed and a frozen, white slab of stone appears above her. It orbits her once as she jumps, then disappears again. A blade of light p\flies through Ray from behind, dealing supereffective Ice damage. Then five more blades of cold light drop from the literal heavens and stick Ray in one spot.

"I can't believe you manipulated me so easily!" Lani shouts at Ray as he charges up a Hyper Beam. The beam of energy zooms into Lani and deals lots of damage. Then Ray dispels the icy light blades.

"You win! You... win... okay? Calm... the frick... down... please..." Ray begs, out of breath and at low hp.

"Fine. You were trying to say something as I pummeled you in an unnatural way?" Lani asks.

"Yeah. I was saying that I just wanted to show you that you shouldn't trust everyone, and that you need to be careful. I also called you up here to give you the Sky Melodica."

"I swear, if this is another trap-!" Lani shouts, but is interrupted by a voice from behind her.

"It's not. Trust Ray. He just wants to bestow the Sky Melodica upon you. Let him." Adelno says as he walks between Lani and Ray. "Alright, Ray. I'm sorry for what has transpired here on this fine night."

"It's fine. Now... we know that... phoo, I'm tired... she can defend herself... against anything if... she tries..." Ray says as a sphere of light appears in front of Lani. It's surrounded by blowing winds. "Lani. Take this." The light fades and the Sky Melodica floats in front of her. She takes it and puts it in a safe spot in her explorer satchel.

"If you play this song..." Ray whistles a song, "Then you can call upon me and my winds to help you out. The Delta Streams will blow in your favour, and I'll be ready to assist you. You can also use it to fly back to the guild at any time if your situation is dire enough. But I must be in the same world as you. So remember the Song of Delta, and use it when you need it most. You may play it." Lani plays the Song of Delta, and the Delta Streams begin to blow. They swirl around her and Adelno. "I wish you the best of luck. Have a good night." The winds consume them, and they're suddenly in front of the guild.

"That... was awesome!" Lani shouted with some awe.

"Shh shh shh! Not too loud!" Adelno quietly hissed. "It's still only two in the morning. Sneak to bed quietly and get some good rest. Don't worry about waking up on time tomorrow, I'll explain this to Nat so she doesn't get pissed."

Lani silently snuck back into her dorm through the window and landed in some hay. She climbed out and into her bed. where she tried to sleep the night away. Her mind races as she reflects back on the past two hours. She eventually closes her eyes, though, and when she does, she immediately falls asleep.

-< Good night, Lani. >-

Good night, Ray. Thank you for the instrument.

-< You're welcome! Again, call me anytime, I'd be happy to help out. Anything for a friend of Arc's! >-

Hey. I never asked while I was awake, but... who is Arc?

-< Arc? Oh, he's... well, you'll find out eventually! >-

But I want to know... Okay...