For Our Lord N
Cheren walked out of the thick clearing and towards the edge of the cliff. His best friend, Black, was already there waiting for him. He was passing the time by staring down at the sharp, jagged rocks that were jutting out of the sea blow him.
"Black…" Cheren greeted his friend dismally, silence falling between them immediately when Black didn't reply. Cheren stood by his friend and followed his gaze, staring at the dreary sight below him.
It was a while before Black finally spoke up, but his first few words were lost as thunder roared loudly in the sky over their heads. Nonetheless, Cheren understood what Black had asked and answered accordingly, "It has been a year since that incident."
Black closed his eyes in what Cheren thought was a guilty fashion. "It feels…like only yesterday," Black whispered, "I see it every time I close my eyes…"
Cheren didn't doubt it—Black had been present when the whole thing had happened. He had agreed to meet Bianca at this very place, and they proceeded to have a friendly Pokémon battle which Black naturally won. They had then caught up with lots of conversation, and, when they had noticed that it was about to rain, they had said their farewells.
Then the wind blew and knocked Bianca's hat off her head. She chased after it, of course.
She hadn't noticed how far she had run after it, and, as she lunged for it, she jumped past the edge of the cliff…and tumbled right down, with her hat in hand.
Black had run to the cliff to try and do something, but all he could do was stand by helplessly and watch her fall to her death.
When he had snapped out of his shock, Black called everyone on the Xtransceiver and cried over what had happened, and within two hours the place was crawling with officers, rescue teams, Professor Juniper, and all of their parents. Cheren had arrived at the scene late and didn't get to talk with Black as he was being questioned by an Officer Jenny.
It was two more hours after that when they finally found Bianca's body, and Cheren had promptly fainted at the sight of it.
It was many weeks later when Cheren noticed that something had been wrong with the scene, and he knew that Black was the only one who knew why. Although he and Black were best friends, he was afraid to ask about it in case it came out as an accusation. He knew that Black would have understood his plight, but he had already lost one best friend and didn't want to lose the other.
It was many months later that he finally had the courage to ask his friend about it, and when he finally called Black on the Xtransceiver, the Pokémon trainer was completely understanding and told him that he would gladly answer the question, but he would do it in person. They talked for a while longer and set their meeting date on the same day that Bianca had died since it was only a few days away.
Cheren had hung up the phone wondering how a year had passed and he'd missed it.
Now he stood next to his friend. He was filled with nervousness as he asked his question, "Black. Do you know why Bianca had left her Xtransceiver at home? I…I need to know."
"For closure." Black murmured quietly. He was silent for a few minutes before he answered, "I asked her to leave it home."
"W-why?" Cheren asked, "was it because you two were supposed to catch up? Since…since you two hadn't seen each other in so long?"
"…Something like that," Black answered shortly.
"Something like that?" Cheren echoed furiously, facing his friend, "What was it really, Black? I need to know."
Black stood quietly for a while before he answered, "Look out at the sea, Cheren."
"No!"
"Look at the sea, Cheren. Please."
Cheren grumbled and looked back out at the sea. Its color had darkened as the clouds had blotted out the sun.
"The sea…took Bianca's life," Black said calmly, "and I…don't regret it."
"What…?" Cheren asked in shock. He attempted to turn his head to face Black, but there was pressure on his back and the next thing he knew was that he was falling forward and down the side of the cliff.
Except something caught his leg.
His glasses fell off of his face and were shortly swallowed by the sea, but they were the least of his concern. He looked up at Black to see his blurry figure grabbing his leg. Squinting, he could almost see his friend smirking.
Cheren suddenly felt sick to his stomach. "B-Black?"
"She left her Xtransceiver at home because I asked her to," Black said confidently, "I couldn't risk her calling anyone while she was falling. Or while she was drowning. I told her that I would leave mine at home too, but I was never planning on actually doing that. Not like she let it go, mind you. For such a ditz, she was really observant. She noticed the Xtransceiver almost immediately, and I had to scramble to make up an excuse for it."
"Wh-why?" Cheren asked, slowly reaching for the Pokéballs on his belt only to find that they weren't there anymore. As a matter of fact, his whole belt was missing.
"Looking for this?" Black held up the belt while grinning menacingly.
"How did you—?"
"I grabbed them before I pushed you."
"I-I didn't—"
"Feel it? Yeah, I've gotten pretty good at swiping things."
"Why—?"
"I can't have you trying to escape now, you know? The whole point of this is for you to plummet to your death."
"Y-You won't get away with this!" Cheren shouted with uncharacteristic fear, "They won't believe any story that you make up!"
"Oh?" Black smiled sinisterly, "Why not?"
"My belt! It's going to be evidence against you!"
"Mmm, no, no it won't." Black smiled haughtily, "You see, you've been really depressed the last year over Bianca's death. I mean, even the blindest of people knew you were infatuated with her."
"I...I was?" Cheren asked in confusion. He had never felt anything for Bianca besides friendship.
"Well, no, you weren't. Aren't. Whichever." Black chuckled humorously, "But that's what I planted in everyone's heads."
Cheren was completely silent with shock. A part of him didn't want to hear what Black was saying, yet he was morbidly fascinated by it.
"Anyways," Black continued, "So you had a question you wanted to ask me. To try and pin Bianca's death on me so you would feel better. You agreed to meet me here at her…death anniversary." He paused, frowning a little, "We talked for a bit, and then you asked me about the Xtransceiver, and the answer that I gave you…well, you didn't like it. You went on a rage, blaming me for everything. I was confused and tried to calm you down, but you wouldn't listen. You threw your belt on the ground, yelling along the lines of 'who wants this life when it just gets you killed!' before you went eerily quiet looked at me funny, and then walked to the cliff and jumped off. Your last word was Bianca's name. I was still kneeling in shock beside your belt. I was going to pick it up and give it back to you while I calmed you down." Black then smiled, "So basically, you committed suicide. Good enough of an excuse for you?"
Cheren was silent for the longest time before he quietly muttered in defeat, "Why?"
Black laughed before replying, "See, the best part of this, Cheren, is that I'm not going to tell you. Now, bye-bye!"
Black watched as Cheren fell, wincing when Cheren hit the jagged rocks instead of the sea water. He held a moment of silence for his fallen friend before taking out the Xtransceiver and dialing a number. In a few seconds, he was connected to the other side.
"Yes?" The gruff voice on the other side answered.
"It's done, Ghetsis."
The line was silent on the other side before an evil cackling was heard, "Good, good. You are more capable than you look. Now nothing stands in King N's way."
"Of course. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to report a suicide."
"Very well. I will see you at our rendezvous point. For our lord N."
"For our lord N." Black replied, closing the line and dialing his mother's number. He took a few deep breaths and tried to look as panicked as possible.
It wouldn't do him any good to be caught, after all.