[ti]open[/ti]THE LIVING SHRINE

“This is it.” Kazuki took a step back, beholding his handiwork—which wasn’t really his handiwork at all. He stared at his shrine, and his shrine quite literally stared back.

“You happy now? You happy with this, egg?” He grumbled, despite already knowing the answer. The egg’s markings had not stopped glowing since he began, and only seemed to glow brighter as he finished. He held it in his hands now, and knew it was ready.

All he had to do was put. The egg. Down.

The Stakataka had already opened up, bricks pulling back to create a doorway to welcome Kazuki and the egg into its interior. The black sand acted as its floor, and with only the eyes on its walls as lighting, it felt like entering a rift in space.

“Turn this egg into an omelet and I turn you into an Ostellian gift shop, understand?” he said to the walls, before placing the egg on the sandy floor. He stepped outside. The walls shut closed.

The gaps between Stakataka’s bricks began to glow. It grew brighter and brighter, to the point Kazuki stepped back, thinking it would explode.

Only for it to instantly shut, making a noise like a microwave ding.

The door opened and Kazuki peeked inside, only to find—nothing.

“What the fuck?!” he sifted through the sand and found only eggshells. He stood up, about to demand answers from the eyes all around, only to feel something smack against his face.

The man went stumbling and yelling out the shrine. He yanked whatever was on his face off, feeling it peel off his skin.

It was a worm. A worm. Unlike the Zygarde he met at the Tree, this one was puny, fitting perfectly in his hand. It had a soft, gelatinous green body, with some kind of gem stuck inside. He squeezed it, and its eyes popped open, comically huge with googly-eye pupils.

“You can’t be the worm. You look nothing like it.”

The little worm blinked at him, and then it emitted a series of noises: <.--. .- .--. .-?>

“What?” Kazuki’s face only scrunched further. The worm only continued its strange little beeps, until he gave up and just pulled open his UI.

The egg was no longer in his inventory. The Zygarde he’d been promised sat in his PC box, so the hatching had been a success. After a little more digging, it became clear: this worm was indeed the legendary, albeit its first stage. Its baby stage.

“Well, shit.” Kazuki looked around, not knowing what to do. He could shove it in a ball, and then what? Have it be a ball-warmer?

Come to think of it, the worm didn’t really resemble any worm he knew. With its fat cone-like body, it more resembled a...

He put it on his chest. The Zygarde stuck with ease. It seemed to take a moment to gather the transfer from handheld stress ball to sticker, but eventually flattened. Apparently it liked body heat.

“Guess we’re off, Leech,” Kazuki snorted. He paused as he began to move away, wary eyes glancing at The Living Shrine.

But the Stakataka stayed put. It sat quietly, legs tucked into the sand, as it watched the man and the baby zygarde return to civilization.