Deliverance

Hi all. Soul here. As of this moment, The Wind and the Rain is currently on hiatus. Popular demand has called for me to write this story.

Well, that and the fact that I absolutely adore this shipping.

-(000)-

Exposition

The first thing Ikubi noticed was the warm glow all across his body. It was like basking in the afternoon sun on a cloudless day. It was the sort of warmth that wasn't just felt on the skin, but under it as well; the kind of gentle heat that makes all the bad feelings just melt away, leaving only simple contentment. His heart began to race. Was it possible? Was she coming back tonight?

Without opening his eyes Ikubi gently strained his ears, listening intently. Gradually, the smile on his red beak began to widen even further. He could hear them, the way he always could whenever she came to visit him: the faint but unmistakable tones of crystal chimes ringing soothingly. He was almost sure now, but there was still one last test to make: he had to see. Holding his breath, hardly daring to believe, the adult male Blaziken slowly opened his eyes.

What he saw made his heart flutter like the wings of a Vibrava. He was floating in the center of a shining golden aurora that wavered and fluctuated slowly. As he watched, the shimmering liquid world of light began to slowly shift from rich, deep gold to bright vibrant cobalt. Soon it would begin shifting toward a sprightly forest green and then a fiery red. Then the cycle would repeat. Of course, Ikubi cared absolutely nothing for this. It took all the willpower he possibly had not to whoop with delight, for now he knew beyond all doubt: she was coming to visit.

Unfortunately, the fact that she was coming did not at all mean that she was here yet. It could take anywhere from 10 minutes to half an hour for her to sufficiently acclimate to his mind and enter. This was, of course, sheer torture for Ikubi. Patience was not all one of his strong points.

After another ten minutes, Ikubi's grin widened even more, for he could see the faintest of outlines beginning to gradually appear in the space before him. At first, the details were completely indistinct, but the form was slowly becoming more and more clear, like a shape slowly emerging from a fading mist.

Within another five minutes, the translucent image of a beautiful woman with snow-white skin, forest green hair and bright garnet eyes was visible. She wore a beautiful, elegant white dress with green sleeves and an even more beautiful smile.

"It's been a long time, Ikubi," she said in a warm tone, her voice soft and pleasant.

"Much too long, Lily," he agreed, his tone matching hers.

"So, what horrible and unbearable truth about my life and my existence here have you come to tell me today?" he asked in a mock weary tone. Lily had visited him often in the past. However, very few of those visits had been purely to spend time with him. More often than not she had been the bearer of rather unpleasant news.

However, instead of laughing slightly as he'd hoped, Lily's face fell, and she seemed unable to meet his eyes anymore.

"I didn't enjoy telling you those things," she said quietly. "I didn't have a choice. I was the only one who could, and if I didn't, you never would have known what to do."

'Oh, great. Way to go, genius,' Ikubi berated himself silently. There he went, saying the first thing that popped into his head without thinking. Lily was a very sensitive individual. Of course she would react like this. He really needed to learn to stop charging ahead without thinking.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm really glad you're here."

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments, but eventually the soothing atmosphere and ambience caused it to melt away like the morning mist. Not for the first time Ikubi wondered whether Lily chose this setting for a reason. It was just so hard to feel anything negative here for any real length of time.

"You seem to have been doing well while I've been away," she said after a time. "Diamond rank, if I recall correctly."

"Sharp as ever," he confirmed. "However, I don't plan to rest until I have that Lucario statue sitting outside my font door. After all, given everything I've done for this world I think it's the least I deserve."

Lily laughed slightly at his words, but she couldn't shake the feeling that he actually believed what he was saying. He meant a lot to her, but she sometimes found it just a little trying having to deal with his arrogant attitude. He usually managed to keep it under wraps, but every once in a while it would let slip.

To distract herself from these somewhat dour thoughts she turned away to look into the heart of the aura. Soon she noted Ikubi standing next to her, and she could not suppress a smile. Whatever his flaws, he was the most important person in her life and she would gladly take him just the way he was.

"It's quite beautiful," he commented softly. "You really have an eye for things like this."

"Thank you," she said. "I like to use my emotions to help me create an image."

"And what feeling would this be?" he asked. She smiled gently.

"It's the feeling I get when I think of you."

He gave a small smile and put his arm around her shoulder. However, much to his dismay it passed straight through her body without any kind of resistance. This motion was not lost on her, and her expression darkened slightly. Every once in a while they would manage to forget that they were anything other than a normal couple. Every time they were forcibly reminded that a barrier that neither of them could ever pass separated them.

"Just once I wish I could put my arms around you and hold you," he said sadly.

"I'd love that more than anything," she replied, her tone matching his, "but I don't think that's ever going to happen." He angrily buried his fist into his palm.

"I wish I knew how to break this damn curse," he muttered. "Then you wouldn't have to suffer anymore. You don't deserve this pain. It's that spineless Gengar who should be trapped without a body."

"Don't think like that," she said. "Besides, I'm fine. I've learned to live with it, and anyway it's not so bad. I've told you that, remember?"

"Yes, that's right," he answered. He floated over to her and looked deep into her eyes, smiling softly. But he didn't feel happy. Her words might be light and carefree, but her eyes told the truth. There was pain there, the pain of starving to death for two decades without being able to eat so much as a scrap, being parched of thirst and unable to quench it. There was longing, longing to feel something, anything, even pain, just one more time. There was loneliness, loneliness born of years spent in solitude, without a soul in the world to talk to.

'You've told me that,' he thought sadly. 'But you can never make me believe it.'

The visit didn't last much longer after that. Within an hour Ikubi's brain was already beginning to awaken.

"I'll be back again," she said as she began to fade away.

"I'll be waiting," he replied as he watched her go.

"I'll try not to make the wait long," she whispered just before she vanished completely. "Au revoir." A slight quirk of hers, that. She wasn't French in the slightest, nor did she have any kind of an accent. However, whenever she left she always offered her farewell as such.

"It's such a beautiful sounding phrase," she had once said. "I like to think it makes the pain of separation a little less."

-(000)-

Ikubi was fully awake within the next ten minutes. He slowly sat up on his little straw bed, basking in the warmth of the small fires set around the walls of his rescue base and reliving Lily's visit in his mind. It was a bittersweet memory, as they always were. Sweet because of the time he got to spend with her, bitter because this was all he would ever have.

Damn that Ninetails. Why did she have to be so vindictive? So the human grabbed her tail. So what? He could probably have done a lot of worse things than that. Now, if he'd caught her in a pit trap and started beating her with a stick, that Ikubi could understand. But grabbing a tail? It was like jumping someone from behind and shouting 'Boo!' Not really worthy of eternal damnation.

And if she absolutely had to have her revenge, why couldn't she have delivered it upon the one who actually deserved it? All Lily did was stand in the way to protect a scumbag who abandoned her in a heartbeat. Why didn't Ninetails just transfer the curse? She was perfectly capable of it. Granted, the human eventually got his, being trapped as a Gengar that pretty much everyone around these parts hated for one reason or another, but Lily was still suffering for no reason.

The more Ikubi thought about it, the angrier her got. What he wouldn't give to hold that fox's head against the wall and force her to break the curse. Then he could have Lily forever, and they could be happy. She would be his for the rest of his life, and every day would be that much more beautiful because she was there. If only Ninetails would let her go.

But why shouldn't she? Gengar had already received his punishment, and anyway now that Ikubi had fulfilled his role there was no reason for Lily to remain cursed. To keep her like this was just cruel, or at the very least absentminded. Surely she could be, ah, persuaded to undo the curse. And who better to do the persuading than the one Lily loved?

Yes, Ikubi resolved. That was his mission in life now. He would go to Mt. Freeze. He would force Ninetails to break the curse, painfully if need be. Then he could spend the rest of his life with the one he cared most about, and they could be truly happy together. Heartened by this resolution, Ikubi leapt to his feet and marched straight out the door, right past a rather groggy looking Swampert.

"'Morning Ikubi," Slag said blearily. "Hey, where are you off to?"

"Mt. Freeze," Ikubi said without even looking over his shoulder.

"Oh, okay," Slag replied. He turned to look at the entrance of the rescue base for a few moments, yawning hugely. Then he finally managed to register what Ikubi had said.

"Wait, what?!" he spluttered. "Did you just say Mt. Fr-…" but his voice trailed away to nothing. Ikubi was already out of sight, and he was just talking to empty air at this point. With a sigh Slag sank to the ground and leaned back against the doorframe, his face to the sky and his eyes closed. Ikubi had done some stupid things before, but heading out for Mt. Freeze without even grabbing the Toolbox? This, without a doubt, was the very epitome of hotheaded lack of forethought.

Fairly soon, Slag was aware of someone approaching up the road that led to the Friend Area Junction. After straining his eyes for a little bit he was able to make out a quadrupedal body covered with bleached white fur. The face was bald, revealing midnight black skin. Extending from the side of the head was a cruel looking black scythe. Soon, Dusk the Absol was within hailing distance.

"Hey," he said. Dusk wasn't one to waste his words.

"Hey Dusk," Slag said, still sitting.

"You look exasperated," Dusk observed.

"Ikubi," Slag replied by way of explanation. Dusk nodded. Not much else to say.

"What is he doing now?" the Disaster Pokemon inquired.

"He's heading off to Mt. Freeze," Slag explained. "Alone. With no supplies at all." Dusk said nothing for a moment.

"Will he ever learn?" he finally asked. "Arceus gave him a brain for a reason…I think."

"Have you ever known him to use it?" Slag asked. "Sometimes I think the reason Arceus gave him anything was so his head wouldn't rattle." Dusk glanced down the road that Ikubi had taken.

"He's not gonna come back, is he?"

"You have to ask?" Slag sighed and slowly got to his feet. "Well, I guess that means I'm in charge for the next three weeks or so. Come on, let's check the mailbox."