"How did we end up sleeping for so long?" Misty was shocked when she found that they slept for more than 5 hours.
Aizen laughed at the disbelief on her face.
"It's okay. No worries." He stretched his arms and legs and smiled at the girls.
"You seem happy." Leaf noted the change in Aizen's demeanour after he woke up.
"I am." He replied. "Let's get going. I know where the Clefairy are hiding."
"They are safe?" That was the first question Leaf asked. "Wait.. how do you know where they are hiding?"
Misty looked curious as well, but Anira had a knowing smile on her face.
"I saw it in my dream." He winked at the hazel-eyed girl. "And yes, they should be fine." He nodded.
"You get visions in your dreams?!" Misty exclaimed.
"No he doesn't." Anira shook her head.
Aizen did not say anything and only smiled brightly before turning around and leading the way.
"Come on!" Misty pestered. "Tell me, how do you know where they are?"
"Nope. I don't want to." He replied with a smirk and did not pay any attention to her pestering again.
Misty gave up after a while, and huffed before crossing her arms, not looking at him again. He found her way of expressing her anger quite amusing.
The group had to travel for nearly an hour before they arrived at a dead-end.
Aizen calmly stepped forward and tried to send his Psychic powers beyond the wall in front of him, but found it not able to penetrate through.
He sighed and glanced at the girls before using his powers to slide the wall to the left, revealing that it was, infact, a secret door.
As soon as the door slid open, a cold gust of wind spat at them, making them shiver. And a passageway illuminated by blue veins in the walls revealed itself. It was truly mesmerizing.
After scanning the passage for a while, they stepped inside and walked down the path.
They came across a sight that was majestic, just as much as beautiful and terrifying.
There was a platform in a great hall, surrounded by hundreds of Clefairy and Clefable. There were some cute little Cleffa as well. And all of them were glaring daggers at their group.
However, the four youngsters were not looking at the pink Fairies. Their eyes were fixed on a creature that was massive, yet deadly beautiful. In their trance they even failed to register the chilling cold in this place.
"Isn't that..." Anira whispered.
"Articuno." Aizen nodded.
The Legendary Ice Bird of Kanto laid on the platform, sleeping peacefully. It was surrounded by heaps of shining Moonstones that were basking its form in their light.
"Clefable!"
A pink fairy threateningly called them out, bringing them out of their trance, and they finally realized that they were in a dangerous situation.
"We are not here to hurt her." Aizen frowned at the Clefable and said.
"Clefable.. Clefablee!" The pink fairy warned them again. And as if on a cue, all the pink Fairies stepped forward.
Aizen and Anira immediately revealed their Aura and conveyed their sincerest feelings. Seeing the two of them covered in a beautiful Violet Aura, the Pink Fairies stopped approaching them, but they still looked warily at the youngsters.
Suddenly, a wave of cold air kissed everyone in the Hall and they knew that the Legendary Bird was now awake.
Aizen looked it straight in the eyes and frowned when he found out why the Pink Fairies were so protective of it.
The girls watched as Aizen and Articuno stared each other in the eyes. It was as if they were communicating with each other, and they waited for the outcome with bated breaths.
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"Rest.." Aizen finally whispered and nodded. He clenched his fists tightly before turning around and walking out of the Hall.
"Preeee!"
He heard the bird sing before falling asleep but he was so furious that its effort to comfort him went in vain.
The girls silently followed him back to he entrance of the hidden passage, and once outside, he sealed it the way it was.
"Brother..." Anira worriedly called him out.
She could sense the chaos his Aura was in.
"She was hurt." He whispered and closed his eyes. "Some people are trying to capture her, Zapdos, and Moltres."
His words shocked the girls to the core. Leaf and Misty felt a chill down their spines as Anira found it hard to keep her powers in control. Her Violet Aura was visible to their eyes now as it was raging.
"Who?" She asked. Her fury was evident in her voice.
Aizen placed his hand on her head and gently caressed it.
It helped Anira get back in control and she lowered her head in shame of losing control of her powers.
"It's okay." Aizem leaned in and kissed on her head. "And I don't know who they are. Moltres was ambushed first, then Zapdos and Articuno came for its rescue. However, the men were prepared for all three of them, and if it wasn't for Ho-Oh, who appeared out of nowhere, all three of them would have been captured." He told her what Articuno had revealed to him. "Now all three are resting inside their respective Halls. This place is Articuno's Hall."
"Did Ho-Oh kill them all?" She looked her brother in his eyes and saw him shake his head. "Then they will come back with greater strength to hurt the three Guardians." She whispered.
"They will." Aizen nodded to her. "And Clefairy came across a team that tried to capture them and steal all the Moonstones. That is why all of them are now inside the Hall."
"What if they find it.."
"They can't." Aizen shook his head to Misty. "No one can find the Hall if Articuno does not allow it. I don't think they possess the means to find its location. The Hall is an isolated space, and even Aura or Psychic powers can not penetrate in there."
"Will she be alright?" Leaf asked. She was really distressed at knowing that Articuno was injured. Misty looked at him for the answer as well.
Seeing the worried looks the girls had, he smiled at them.
"She will be fine in a few weeks."
They walked through the dungeon in silence, not disturbing the Pokemon inside.
It only took them a couple of hours before they found an exit, and returned back to the cave-route to the Cerulean City.
Some of the Pokemon had returned to the cave as it was nighttime. Though they did look warily at the young Tainers, no one confronted them or ran away.
"I can't believe that all those Legends were real..." Misty recalled how majestic and beautiful the blue Ice Bird was.
"Believe us, they are all true. Well, not all the stories, but all the Legendaries mentioned in them actually exist." Aizen informed her and then his smile vanished. "No one must know that we have been to the Hall of Articuno. Understood?" He spoke gravely.
The girls nodded to him a little scared, but they knew why he was so serious about it.
They were about to exit Mount Moon when a pokemon caught their attention. It was a Zubat that started dancing in the air around them.
Aizen smiled and used some his Psychic Powers to play with it, and after a few minutes, the bat approached him and hooked itself on his Backpack like an ornament.
"You finally found your Zubat." Leaf commented and the girls burst out in giggles at seeing Aizen sigh at her words.
"Yes, finally." He smiled.
He was not in a rush to capture the Zubat. They way Zubat had decided to cling to him meant that it wasn't going to run away.
"How far away are we from Cerulean City?" Leaf looked at Anira and asked.
"We won't reach it before dawn." Anira looked at her PokeNav and replied. "We should find a place to camp and eat something proper."
All of them nodded to her and they continued walking under the starry sky.