Chapter 1- Days Gone By.
Author's Notes:
It's here. Be quiet and read.
If you have an questions feel free to ask.
…
…
The subway rocked from side to side gently, only the occasional bump giving its occupants any difficulty – and most of those sudden lurches in movement had nothing to do with the subway itself. That evening was fairly quiet on the subway and thankfully most of the battles that took place within its carriages were tame. After all after today the subway was going to be without its two masters for a while.
Smiling at the thought Alice absentmindedly jotted it down into her journal. At the same moment the train gave one of its more sudden jerks but having been a passenger on this particular subway for some time now Alice was at least able to remove her pen from the paper before the bump caused her to draw wonderful scribbles all over the page.
How long has she actually been using these subways now?
Pausing to dwell on that thought a small frown formed on Alice's face and in answer to her own off handed thought to simply drew a small five on the page. Five years.
That's quite a while.
"What are you always scribbling down in that Alice?"
Alice was not alone in the cart but she hadn't expected to suddenly be spoken to by one of her companions, she assumed they'd all fallen asleep by now, but Bianca always was one to surprise. Thankfully Alice had also gotten use to this trend.
"Nothing important." Alice replied with a faint smile, not looking up from the book in her hands as she mindlessly wrote down words that held little meaning.
"Hmm?" Bianca let out a disappointed whine when Alice seemed to evade the question. Chuckling to herself Alice glanced up from the heavily inked pages to the pouting face of her friend.
"Anything and everything." She changed her original answer. "Pointless things. The colour of the sky on certain days, the temperature, what clothes are nice or what people say. Just things."
"Oh." Bianca murmured in disappointment. "I was hoping you'd be drawing up plans for us." She admitted, not bothering to hide her enthusiasm. It was getting to the pointy end of the game after all.
"Don't I do that enough already?" Alice groaned, leaning back in her seat and placing the book open on her face. "I've been doing so much planning and teaching I can probably do it in my sleep. It's in my dreams I tell you."
Bianca simply laughed at Alice's distress, watching as her friend from another world let out a heavy sigh of exhaustion. "We know, but we can't let you rest just yet." She told Alice sympathetically.
"Suck it up!" Alice's eye twitched slightly from under the book as another voice spoke. "Everyone is working, not just you."
Gradually letting her journal slide off her face and into her lap Alice stared straight at Hugh as he chastised her. Her unimpressed expression must have irritated him further because the spiky haired boy continued. Standing with his arms crossed Hugh dove head first into one of his little speeches, which could just be called well justified whining.
"Everyone is tired, we're all working hard to track down that Legendary for you. We're all trying to clean up this mess and it's only taken the last five years of our time and-"
"Come on Hughie." Alice groaned, slumping forward to rest her elbows on her knees as she looked at the frustrated boy with a faint smirk. "Cut me some slack will ya?"
Bristling with anger Hugh prepared to spit out what Alice could only assume was more angry exposition. But a larger hand dropping onto his shoulder caused him to tense up and freeze, forgetting what he was about to say. Inch by inch he turned to look at the person who had grabbed him, wearing a mortified expression.
"Problem?" The question came from the owner of the hand, in an impassive tone. It probably was not meant to be intimidating but it was hard for it to come across in any other way when spoken by that subway master.
"Ah! Ingo, Emmet, are you finished for the day?" Bianca asked before Hugh or Alice could respond to the question and possibly start and argument.
"Yep." Peeking out from around his brother Emmet shot them a brilliant smile, playfully lingering half hidden behind Ingo as he waved. Ingo, who kept one hand on Hugh's shoulder, stood like a statue with his permanent frown in place.
The two brother's had been part of their team for a while now, getting the small group from place to place with only a few battles as compensation for their troubles. When they'd first met Alice had not particularly liked them. It was not their doing and they were perfectly helpful wherever they could be, but still they tended to concern her.
Ever since the link between their worlds had been explained Alice had looked for similarities in those she met and for some the matches were easy to spot. Bianca and Rose might as well have been the same person at times, in the same fashion the Riley and Red mirrored one another. The subway masters had a somewhat strange link back home, one that caused Alice endless bouts of concern. She couldn't say if her assumption on who their counterparts in the other world were was correct – hell they could just have easily been Tharja and Len. Still it gave Alice reasons to think about home and that tended to get her down.
"Thinking about home again?" Alice looked up in surprise and found that Emmet had slid out from behind his brother and bent to her level, far too close for comfort. Yelping, Alice flinched back in alarm. Emmet's ever present smile only grew when she responded so comically.
"Brother." Ingo muttered warningly. Immediately Emmet pulled back, handing in the air innocently as he spun on the spot, full of his usual energy.
"I didn't do anything." He chimed childishly, hands moving quickly behind his back as he rocked back and forth on his heels. "I was just wondering if Ally would tell us more about the other world."
"I'm off duty." Alice replied breathlessly, once she'd got her bearings sorted again. "No more lessons till we get to the meeting." Much like Bianca had earlier, Emmet pouted and made a small sound of complaint.
"What's all the noise about?" The small group turned to see a rather tired and cranky Cheren sitting forward in his seat. Adjusting his tie with a scathing glare the black haired man sighed in irritation. "If you wake up Riley we'll all be in for it."
There was a silent agreement between the carriage occupants though Emmet just giggled cheekily at the thought. Alice looked over at the only other person that belonged to her home world. Riley slept with his hat pulled over his eyes, arms crossed and sitting upright on the subway seat.
Five years seemed like a long time to Alice but Riley did not seem to notice it at all. In fact he didn't seem to even have aged that much. Riley was the oldest of the group at home and he was one of the older members of the group in this world. Twenty six years old now, and he wasn't ever trying to keep track. Every time his birthday rolled around he seemed to be surprised when everyone else told him and congratulated him on another year. To every birthday however there was a lingering thought shared by Alice and Riley.
Another year and still not home.
Pushing away discouraging thoughts Alice eased herself up out of her seat, walking by the train masters who both followed her movement in their own strange ways – one a statue and the other a jittery shadow. Coming to stand in front of Riley Alice bent down at the waist and unceremoniously bonked him on the head with the spine of her journal.
Hugh tensed and Alice heard Bianca giggling while Emmet made a soft 'oh' sound, definitely amused.
For the most part Riley was silent and still, giving only a small huff of annoyance as proof her felt any of it. After a few seconds of silence Riley reached up to tip his hat back, revealing on glaring eye. Alice simply smiled in response.
"We're almost there." She informed him, getting that glare to soften just a bit. "Time to get moving."
A ghost of a smile curled on Riley's lips and slowly he sat up straight, pulling his hat back onto his head. A glance around the cart and Riley nodded once, acknowledging them and what Alice had said.
"I'm not sure I'm ready for this." Bianca admitted nervously as the subway gave another jerk in the same second an electronic voice sounded from the surrounding speakers.
'Next stop, the Pokemon League.' The younger members of the group all turned to look up at the speakers as it announced their arrival. No time to back out now. 'Please stand clear of the doors.'
"You've met them all before." Cheren reminded Bianca reasonably. "This will just be like meeting up with old friends." Cheren always was the one to calm Bianca down and be the ever present voice of reason. Riley could have been something similar, if not for his aversion to speaking. He could speak just like anyone else but preferred to remain silent until something absolutely needed to be put into words.
"I know that." Bianca huffed indignantly. "But we've never met them all in one place before. Of course I'm nervous seeing that many people."
"Five years worth of new friends." Alice mused, vocalising her train of thought. "It is rather daunting to think we've gotten to this point."
Five years of gathering people to aid them. It was a long time and there were a lot of faces to remember, some friendly and some not so much. Alice couldn't help but smile when she thought about all of the effort that had gone into convincing each person to help them, some agreed purely out of goodwill or friendship. Other had more demands and Alice had often found they acted more like a mobile task unit than they did a team on a quest. Still whatever got the job done was fine.
"You're both being wusses." Hugh informed them in a matter of fact tone. "Everyone is waiting on us, we're late as it is."
"And just whose fault was that?" Alice shot back watching as Hugh's face turned bright red. "If you didn't have such a temper we wouldn't have gotten into half the fights we did."
"I was training for the battles ahead!" Hugh argued indignantly, not one for having his pride knocked down.
"How many times do I need to tell you? Where we're going you won't need those skills." When Alice said this Hugh did not respond, a grim expression coming over his face. He wasn't looking forward to the next part of the journey. Knowing this Alice's defences dropped and with a sigh she sat back down next to Riley and amended her snappy tone.
"I know it's going to be hard for you." Alice admitted while watching all their gazes drop to the floor. "But the pokemon will be safe here. That's all that matters." Alice prepared to go over the usual pep talk but was shushed by Riley who raised his hand and simply said.
"Save it for the League." With Alice silenced the raven haired man turned to peer at Hugh. "Prepare yourself." Was all he said but it was all he needed to say. He and Hugh while not exactly harmonious were long time friends and Hugh knew that Riley meant to calm him.
"Right…" Hugh answered in a flat tone.
"My, my." Emmet piped up in a bright tone. "What a gloomy bunch! Come on, let's have a little match to lighten the mood." At the invitation the subway master flashed a pokeball in his hand and grinned.
"Not a chance." Emmet almost dropped his pokeball in distress. "We're almost there. We don't have time to play games." Alice told him seriously and Emmet began to pout. Wandering over to her he jabbed his finger against her cheek, wearing Alice's patience with him terribly thin.
"I remember when you were a cute little trainer." He complained. "Couldn't wait to get out there and have a battle."
Alice resisted the urge to bit the offending finger and settled for a simple glare at the subway master. "Hmm, come on!" Emmet continued to whine, clinging onto Alice's arm and tugging childishly. "Just a quick battle I swear!"
"Brother…" Ingo growled from where he stood, still a statue. He hadn't moved an inch since he released Hugh's shoulder. "You'll get bitten." He told his brother in a matter of fact tone. At this Emmet's gaze slipped up to the girl he clung to, nervously checking to see if his brother was correct.
Alice simply cast him a small smirk and muttered. "Ivan will eat your face." To add to her threat a low growl immited from below the subway seats. A glance down from Emmet and immediately Alice's arm was released from his vice like grip. Laughing sheepishly he put some distance between Alice and the growling ball of white fluff.
"I didn't see you down there Ivy." Emmet spoke to the somewhat hidden pokemon. Again the little Eevee growled at Emmet though it was more for the nickname than a threat. After this the disgruntle pokemon jumped out of its hiding place and up onto his trainer's lap.
Ivan was her first pokemon, it had taken some time for his name to be picked and despite the fact this little discoloured Eevee had followed her through multiple worlds, both trainer and pokemon were a little bit disconnected. Ivan guarded Alice with a fierceness most were not willing to oppose and even Alice was taken aback by the lengths the small pokemon would go to just to ensure her safety. Yet at the same time Ivan could completely blow Alice off, as though he wanted nothing to do with her. It was frustrating to say the least.
Alice could only assume this had to do with the fact this Eevee was not originally hers. She had not caught him, rather Touko had some time before her death. Alice guessed this was why Ivan felt so strongly about guarding her, losing another trainer could do in any pokemon's heart. For this reason Alice never questioned his odd behaviour towards her.
"We'll battle another time." Alice finally promised Emmet though it was probably a lie. They may very well never have a pokemon battle together again.
"I'll hold you to that!" Emmet announced, his smile back in place as he returned to his usual cheerful self.
"You always do…" Alice sighed, pulling a face as her mind flashed over the many different times she arrived at the subway only to be tackled by the master and roped into battles. The worst time had been when he insisted on twenty battles in a row, they only got to the seventh before Alice caved in. It was no question that Emmet could outlast almost any of them in multiple battles and frankly Ingo was even worse. The best they had so far was a draw between Ingo and Riley after the twelfth match.
"It'll have to wait." Riley spoke up as the subway began to shudder to a stop. "We're here."
A silence settled around them as their ride slowed to a stop. Bianca was the most openly anxious but Alice could guess most everyone was feeling something similar. Well maybe not the robots. A glance at Riley, Cheren and the subway masters has Alice wondering if it really might only be herself, Hugh and Bianca that were concerned.
Alice closed her eyes, arms curling around Ivan as she took a deep breath. Ivan turned to look up at his trainer with a curious expression. It didn't take him long to realise she was simply nervous. Five years of work and now they were nearing the end of it, they could only hope it went well. Ivan huffed quietly, not one to comfort Alice much as he wasn't a fan of showing affection. Still he placed a paw on her hand while staring off in the other direction, making a show of not caring. Alice simply laughed under her breath and pretended she didn't notice the gesture.
They would be fine.
They had to be, it had already been too long and now they were getting close to finding their way back home.
Finally the doors slid open to the sound of a soft electronic 'bing' and it was time to leave and meet up with some old friends.
"Well then." Alice stood up, Ivan jumping onto her shoulder as she put on a confident face. "Let's get on with it."
…
…
Everything was proceeding perfectly.
The pace of progress was rapid and they'd successfully embedded themselves within a world that was not their own to begin with. In some ways it was more simple and in others infinitely harder to work with, thankfully they were fast learners and already well practiced at hiding their tracks.
New recruits had joined, adding to their ever growing reservoir of information and assets. They had discarded their traditional uniform for the time being in favour for the formal attire suitable in this world, with only a single 'P' stitched into the right pocket of their new uniforms. Discreet, efficient and invisible.
Everything that he had once hoped for when first discovering the new world.
However if Ghetsis was to nit-pick, there was one minor detail that troubled him from time to time. Unfortunately it just so happened to be a very important and influential piece to the game – and naturally it had to be his own son.
Perhaps it was simple inevitable that this would happen. No matter the setting and plan, N seemed to be an ever constant source of dismay for the great sage. However it was also imprudent and impossible to remove N from the equation, now so more than ever.
Ghetsis observed as his son made yet another formal address to what he could only call a council of fools. It was boggling how anything was achieved in this world where all decisions were argued over mercilessly and those in charge ruled with their tails between their legs. Far across this new worlds vast oceans there were other nations in which their rulers held a style more akin to Ghetsis's own vision and while that comforted him somewhat, it did prove to be a problem.
A problem for another day – a day soon to come.
They had been fortunate to find themselves on this part of the world, a small and relatively unnoticeable country that was isolated from the others by great distances. Even more fortunate was the council of fools, they made no decisive action until months of argument had come and gone, usually without a notable outcome. The changing of a road sign would boggle these morons for weeks had they not all been backed by the actual intellectuals.
At first Ghetsis was discouraged by the system of government they'd found but quickly found it to be just as easily corrupted and bendable as any other. They made a great big song and dance about the importance of honesty and righteousness but they seemed ready to steal, lie and slander at the drop of a pin. Beautiful - absolutely spinelessly stupidly, uselessly, beautiful idiots.
It hadn't taken long for Ghetsis to place his seeds. A man here and there in various parties, in various positions of politics, in any and every possible department. They were perhaps one of the most efficient underground opperations this sleepy little desert island nation had ever seen.
A country so innocent to deceit and war on its lands, so blissfully unaware of the danger – was simply perfect for Ghetsis.
As Ghetsis once again marvelled in the ridiculousness of ease that they had captured a nation unaware, a small shifting by his side caught his attention. Without turning to look he spoke to his visitor.
"The results?" He asked calmly as the blonde scientist by his side flicked his fingers over an illuminated tablet. Colress looked less groomed then when he last saw the man. He'd become somewhat eccentric…more eccentric that is. The new world fascinated him beyond compare and he often lost himself in his work, forgetting the most basic of human needs. If Ghetsis found him passed out even once more he was going to let him die.
"Good. Good." Colress hummed approvingly. "Stable connection and a steady flow of energy." Looking up from his tablet towards the speech their young 'king' was currently giving, Colress smiled mirthlessly. "He certain seems to be handling the new additions to his body well."
Ghetsis's single seeing eye rolled back over to his son. He could barely hear the buzz of words as N presented his argument in the parliament. At a glance he barely resembled the boy that first arrived in this foreign land. Seven years had aged a boy into a man and while N was still very much in his early years he barely held the same innocent glow as he once had. N's green hair had been carefully hidden away behind fake strands of blond so as not to alert the world to his different nature. Ghetsis was in a similar situation and while he detested having the same colour hair as the foolish doctor sitting next to him – some things were simply necessary to the overall plan.
However it was not his immediate appearance that caused the sage to smirk – instead it was his 'new' glow. An unnatural aura that even those who were privy to the secret behind it were sometimes at its mercy. N captivated people's minds with his words even when he'd been a young boy and now he captivated them with not only those beautifully strung together sentences but also a gift not from the world they currently resided in.
As N stood, the centre of attention and spoke in a firm voice, delivering his beliefs and demands onto a world new to his face and influence, Ghetsis looked over the signs that the pokemon's influence was in effect. N's eyes blazed as he spoke, passionate and certain – he lacked the ability to turn back or change his ideals. All for the sake of a past mistake he foolishly sought to rectify. Children could be so easily manipulated.
That alone could have been enough to keep all eyes on him but it was the unnatural power that coursed through his veins that made the entire nation stop to tune in.
No, what ensnared the unknowing humans was not N's sharp tongue – it was the legendary god Arceus.
Chuckling Ghetsis eased himself back into his seat, eyes remaining on N as he spoke. "I had thought you completely mad when you suggested this, but it has surpassed all expectations." Ghetsis praised Colress begrudgingly and in response the fool merely smirked.
"Of course it was a long shot that he would survive the process at all." Colress admitted nocholantly, as though they were discussing the colour of the sky. "But his body had accepted Arceus's gifts exceptionally well. I never could have guessed he would take to it this quickly. But just…just look at them." Colress laughed shamelessly at those captivated by the human in possession of a pokemon's demanding aura.
"It was lucky we were able to obtain even this much of Arceus's left over powers." Colress murmured anxiously, as though he was still afraid they may lose it should he speak of its fragile nature. "It was a risk implanting it in N. We could have lost him and the remanets of Arceus's influence."
"However that did not happen." Ghetsis reminded the doctor sharply, not approving of the negative talk. "Once this meeting is finished have N return to his room and take another dose. If he is stable then we can double what he has now."
"Now Ghetsis." Colress chided his partner in a teasing tone as he waved his finger back and forth. "Push him too much and his side effects may very well worsen. What would we do if he started glowing? He couldn't deliver speeches looking like a monster."
"You forget." Ghetsis responded flatly. His gaze following his son as, by chance, the young male looked up towards where he and Colress were seated. His eyes piecing and hardened beyond anything Ghetsis could have hoped for. "That he is nothing less than a monster."
"Perhaps, and it may be best not to let that monster know exactly what it cost to give him his new found influence." Ghetsis cast the smiling doctor another warning glance. The plan had never been to reopen a link between the pokemon world and their own, though they kept N blissfully ignorant to that and Ghetsis fully intended for things to remain that way.
"I'll be sure to bring you more wonderful results next time as well." Colress merely smiled as he excused himself and stood back up, having no interest in politics he intended to return to his research. As he eased out of his seat and prepared to leave the doctor's gaze caught one of the usual shadows lingering behind Ghetsis.
"Vigilant as always I see." Colress laughed as he came to stand level with the silently standing guardian, the shadow had grown quite tall in passing years. The original shadow triad had been lost back in the pokemon world but they had been able to find suitable replacements. This particular shadow barely spared Colress a glance but he could see the clenching of the young man's jaw – he was certainly not deaf.
Turning back to look towards the political arena Colress continued to speak at the boy's expense. "Your prince certainly has grown into a magnificent king, don't you agree?"
"He is no king." The response was just as Colress expected and a cold smirk formed on his face. The shadow did not look away from his duty but still he spoke. A shred of disobedience remaining. "I only serve one king."
"Your brother, no?" Colress rest a hand on the shadow's shoulder only to receive a scathing glare. If looks could kill. "My, my, such a hateful young man. Well I must be off." Speaking in his usual light-hearted tone Colress released the boy's shoulder and began to walk off down the hall and as he went he called back to the boy.
"I trust you'll look after our master, little knight." With that last jab at the boy's dignity Colress gave one last wave and vanished from the room.
With Colress gone the shadow's eyes lingered on his 'king'. Seven years he'd served the man known as N but he still remembered a time where instead of serving and being forced to remain by the foolish king's side, that foolish king had smiled in a carefree way and destroyed a kitchen with him.
Seven years of this. Time seemed to hold little meaning when every passing day belonged to someone else. Standing in the darkness the would be knight let out a silent sigh, closing his eyes for just a moment though he knew such an action could be punishable if Ghetsis were to catch him slacking off.
Seven years and still not a single night of rest. Seven years and still not one day he could remember having smiled as they once did. His smiles were bitter and forced but still he tried to maintain them, still he tried to keep them alive so that his true 'king' would not feel any sadder than he already did.
"Boy." The shadow knight tensed when Ghetsis spoke but made no vocal response, fearing his small moment of rest had been seen by the sage. "Return to the main house."
"My lord…?" He questioned, worried that if he left and something were to happen to Ghetsis he would have the brunt of the punishment. Loyalty through fear and nothing more.
"Do not argue." Ghetsis snapped. "I need an empty room, alone with my thoughts. Send the witch to escort me when the meeting in through."
"Of course my lord." Knowing better than to argue the shadow turned and left without another word. The witch. A fitting nickname for the dreadful twin but still it irritated him somewhat. They referred to her so often as 'Witch' that sometimes her real name left his mind.
"Tharja would curse me if she knew." He chuckled to himself as he walked back towards 'home'.
Ah. The young knight had not been home in a very long time.
Seven years felt even longer without a home.
Still he walked towards it as he always did. Returned unwillingly to the place he must always go, there was no helping it because the only thing he had left was chained to that place. Although the knight could not return home happily he could look forward to at least one thing.
Stopping along the way to pass on the message to Tharja about her new job, the knight could only give her a sorry smile and continue on his way, ignoring the stare that followed him as he walked away. Old friends did tend to stare at him in that way, if it was pity of loathing he could no longer distinguish. It couldn't be helped, he was bound to this bloody place and its masters, he could not escape even if his legs carried him to whole other worlds. Because they had the only thing that the young knight had left in this world. It was similar to Tharja and Len's situation. Lock one twin up and the other cannot disobey, it was an effective method of control.
As he did most days returning home the knight paused at the doors, thoughts of fleeing or simply not going inside strong in his mind. But as always he pushed them aside and walked straight back into his cage once again.
"Brother." As the knight entered the front doors of their prison named a home a familiar figure appeared before him, just as it did every day. Again he put on the familiar false smile, the one he always forced when he saw the last of his family come to greet him. The boy that came to the front door to welcome him back to their prison wore nothing more than a long white shirt and perhaps his usual cream coloured shorts under it. When they were not dressed as shadows they preferred to were little and to always wear white. The thick black of their hoods and cloaks were an eye sore to both boys. Pulling his hood back from his face the knight stepped forward to properly greet the other.
"Evening, I'm home safe and sound. How was your da-" His words were cut off as the smaller of two brothers suddenly wrapped his arms around his torso, clinging tightly to his knight. After a brief hesitation the other sighed with a wistful smile and raised one arm to hug the smaller male to him.
"I'm sorry I left you alone – Vince." At his name the blonde haired male's arms constricted around his brother's body, clinging to him tightly. Allowing Vincent to hug him the knight raised his other hand to rest atop Vince's head, returning the gesture. Vincent's hair was growing to unmanageable lengths again. The thin strands of blond hair were already beginning to make their way to his lower back. He knew that soon he'd need to fight with Vincent just to cut a little bit of the hair back, Vincent hated it when people tried to mess with his hair, even his big brother.
N would not return for a while and so the two brother's took comfort in the display of affection they so rarely were able to show now days. As Vincent's shoulders began to shake his brother held him tighter, guessing nightmares were to blame for his little brother's desperate clinging. Elliot got them to, the nightmares.
"I'm sorry I took so long." He murmured the quiet apology.
"Just…stay with me for a while." Vincent muttered into his big brother's chest. "Don't leave yet Elliot."
Elliot wanted to promise he'd never abandon his brother but he knew such a promise would be met with anger and sorrow, so he kept the vow silently to himself. He'd never abandon Vincent or leave him on his own.
"Come on." Elliot murmured in a hushed tone. "Let's get to our room before N returns." Vincent needed no more urging than that and immediately turned away from Elliot, still clutching his gloved hand tightly as he did and began to walk back towards their shared room.
Elliot sometimes thought about the time before those seven years had passed. It wasn't so much that he missed those days as opposed to simply hating these times. What always stood out to the want-a-be knight was not the change in himself or his little brother but rather the drastic change in their caretaker and 'big brother'.
It was not too long ago that Elliot might have even stayed to greet N as well, just for the sake of old times and relationships but now they both scurried to the security of their room before their king came knocking to drag the two down to dinner.
N's insistence on having a 'family' dinner was perhaps more nightmare inducing than the early days. The days in which Vincent and Elliot had tried…for lack of a better word, to escape.
Dark days not worth thinking about. There were a lot of those recently.
Their caretaker had always insisted he did this for their sake, that they had to be kept safe out of duty to his guide. So much time had passed and still that nickname had stuck for their big sister.
A big sister that Elliot could only assume had died.
It was an unspoken law around the household that the mere mention of their former sister was forbidden. Only N and occasionally one of the brothers would slip up and in someway reference the long gone girl. It was always met with grim results, none more so than when it came to Vincent and N.
Shuddering at the thought of those two entering another violent argument Elliot's hand gently squeezed Vincent's. Perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad living under the same roof as the now, somewhat mad, king – had it not been for the fact both he and Vincent shared a mutual hatred. Elliot never wanted to see the outcome of another outburst from either one of them, knowing it ended with a locked room and a great deal of tears and screaming.
N always reassured the two of them that he did everything for the sake of the greater good. That he did it to protect them or to eventually bring about what he described as the perfect world. Elliot had seen N's idea on the perfect world and he did not want to be part of it, even in the early days when he still tended to smile and act normally.
Elliot could not pretend to understand everything that Ghetsis and Colress spoke about that day though he'd heard it all before. He could not pretend that he knew how to help N get through what he saw as some sort of illness but he did know what it did to the young king.
The days where he treated subordinates tenderly and showed at least some form of empathy were long gone. The N he'd met as a child when his sister brought him home was no longer there, the one left in his place was some sort of monster.
"Brother?" Vincent turned to look at Elliot, noticing a pained expression lingering on his face. "Did something happen today?"
When Elliot didn't answer immediately Vincent's eyes narrowed into a spiteful glare. "Was it him?" He asked demandingly. Vincent always assumed it was the kings doing and to be perfectly honest, most of the time it was.
"No." Elliot muttered quietly, not wanting Vincent to try picking a fight with their caretaker again. "Just…just tired. Long day."
Vincent's expression softened and he gave his big brother's hand a small squeeze, at least reassuring him that Vincent wasn't going to go after N…at least not right then.
"Vince…tonight please don't argue with him." Elliot asked quietly, staring at the ground when he asked. "Tonight when we have dinner, just try to be nice."
It took Vincent a while to say anything, looking frustrated by the request but it was his big brother asking so begrudgingly he agreed. Smiling in relief Elliot reached up to ruffle Vincent's hair, knowing that Vince would growl at anyone else that tried to do such a thing.
"Thanks." Elliot murmured gratefully. Hoping that tonight would be alright.
It wouldn't be so hard to just have one good night.
…
…
Alice never could understand why the place had to be made of sand and dirt.
The moment they set foot onto the pokemon league grounds she'd been underwhelmed by the scenery again. Oh yes, the main structure was grand and beyond anything she could have dreamt up herself but where it was built was the exact opposite. Bleak brown dirt was what paved the way to the pearly gates f Unova's pride and joy. Alice didn't like it one bit.
"You're making that face again." Emmet lent down close to Alice who in return recoiled. They were currently walking towards the final meeting place and Alice had wanted to be serious about the whole thing but it seemed Emmet was not feeling the same atmosphere – and stupid her for responding to him.
"What face?" Alice demanded while glancing over at the white subway master. "There's no face, this is my face."
"And what a face it is." Emmet chuckled, getting a glare from Alice. She kinda wanted to hit Emmet most of the time.
"He's right you know." Cheren cut in before realising his words might be mistaken for something else. "About the expression you're wearing I mean." He clarified quickly.
"Alright so maybe there was a face." Alice admitted begrudgingly. "It's just that…well couldn't they have prettied this place up a tad?" She asked indignantly. "It's the pinnacle of every pokemon trainers journey and it looks more like a wasteland than it does the thing of dreams."
"Ah, what it's what inside that counts right?" Bianca chimed in gleefully. "It's beautiful inside there!"
"Besides." Hunter added with a rude huff and wave of his hand. "It doesn't matter how pretty it is, all that matters is the battles inside."
Alice hesitated, taking a distasteful glance around the somewhat empty dirt path to the league and the vast wasteland that stretched out around it. She couldn't help but think it wouldn't have killed them to try for some desert plants of water features but…the others made a good point.
"I guess you're right." Alice allowed finally. At these words Emmet plastered a large smile on his face and did a strange salute gesture.
"That's right!" He hummed happily. "It's what's inside that counts." After he said that cheesy line however a somewhat eerie grin came over his face. "And the wonderful, glorious battles…" As Emmet chuckled in his usual battle obsessed way the usually silent Ingo spoke up in a flat tone.
"Appearances do not matter." He said simply, leaving no room for argument in his final tone. "Not here. Not now."
Both Alice and Ivan shared a sceptical expression, not exactly about to climb aboard the inspirational boat. However a gentle pressure on Alice's head caused her to glance back at Riley who watched her with a faint smile. Seeing this Alice let out a sigh and smiled herself. The message coming through loud and clear.
"Aye, aye captain. I got it." Alice murmured, eyes turning back to the grand structure looming ahead of them. They were right, it really didn't matter if it was pretty or not. This is where dreams were made and hopefully where they'd make a miracle or two of their own.
"N-Now that we're here…" Bianca seemed to be getting anxious again. Immediately Cheren was by her side, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Come Bianca." He smiled encouragingly. "Don't get skittish now. We're finally here." Bianca nodded, putting on a determined expression as she clenched her hand into a tight fist.
Bianca might have been easily made nervous or embarrassed but she genuinely gave it her all and Alice couldn't help but smile while watching the effort she put into everything she did.
"Where are we going to be meeting them all?" Hugh asked curiously. He probably wanted to go looking through the entire league.
"Someone will be here to greet us." Riley spoke up, saying that and nothing else as he walked ahead of the group. Alice's gaze followed the male as he walked ahead, figuring that he knew who would greet them. Still she didn't try forcing anymore words out of the quiet male and instead trailed after him silently.
As the looming building stretched over head and began to block out their view of the sun Alice felt her nerves pricking again. She wasn't so sure that they'd be able to work together coherently once the meeting was settled in. various terrible outcomes ran through her brain despite knowing that they'd all met before and for the most part gotten along.
Without thinking Alice reached forward to grab the back of Riley's jacket, causing her friend and big brother figure to pause and glance back at her. It was a momentary hesitation before he started walking again, allowing Alice to hold onto the back of his jacket like she was a nervous child. For all the growing up she'd done Alice still liked to hold onto her big brother's jacket for comfort.
"It'll be fine." Riley spoke back to her in a hushed tone. Saying no more than that, but it was enough.
Quietly they proceeded to the front of the league, a small set of stairs and sliding gate marking its entrance. But what caught their attention was the person sitting on the top step, arms resting on his knees with a small smirk plastered on his face.
The group came to a halt not too far from what Alice guessed what their guide. Even Riley's smooth steps slowed to a stop as he looked up at the other male. Sitting atop the steps was an orange haired male, Alice swore she knew.
After a momentary pause Riley's head dipped down slightly and he took a step towards their greeter, Alice trailing after him as she was unwilling to release her grip on his jacket. At his approach the sitting male's head tilted up slightly and his grin grew.
"Well look who decided to show up." He crowed in a mocking tone. "You kept us waiting, loser."
Alice bristled at the insult but Riley barely seemed to register it and instead continued towards the other. Coming to stand at the bottom step Riley looked up at the smirking male with his usual deadpanned expression. After a few seconds of silence the other let out a bark of laughter.
"Ah, come on man. Do you have to pull the same face as that guy?" He asked with a smile. Once his laughter subsided he lent forward from where he sat on the step.
"Hmpf. Looking at an idiot tends to do that to you." Riley responded with a small chuckle, genuinely surprising Alice. "It's good to see you again Blue."
Finally the other stood up, leaping off the steps and down to the same level as Alice and Riley. His smile never faded though it seemed a tad more genuine this time. "Well some things never change." Blue mused, reaching out to bump fists with Riley who wordlessly obliged the odd gesture.
Once they'd exchanged their greeting Blue bent down to peer around Riley at Alice who looked back at him with a small glower. She wasn't angry at all but she couldn't decide what face to make when meeting Blue. She hadn't recognised him immediately. It had been a long time since she'd seen, let alone thought of the character and so she'd genuinely not recognised him.
"So this your little sister?" He asked while looking at Alice's unfriendly face for a moment longer. Only after a few seconds more he glanced up at Riley from his bent down position. "Thought you said she was cute."
Before Alice could growl about that Ivan beat her to it, the little silver pokemon snarling warningly at Blue. Apparently the trainer found this adorable and just laughed, straightening back up before he could have his face clawed off by the unfriendly little beast.
"Behave yourself." Riley said simply, casting a glance between both Alice and Blue. The message could have gone to either one of them and frankly they both needed the warning.
"Everyone, this is Gary, or Blue." Riley introduced them to the male who causally waved. "An old friend, and a blatant bully."
"Hey, don't go tarnishing my good name before we even start." He protested but he didn't seem to actually deny being a bully.
"Good name?" Alice glanced past both Riley and Blue to see who had spoken then, a female's voice. Standing by the gate was a girl that looked roughly the same age as both Blue and Riley. She had fairly plain features, long greyish hair with dark eyes and a ready smile. This time Alice did recognise the character.
"Leaf!" Blue complained turning to glare at the girl. "You were meant to wait with the others."
"Yeah, but seeing as they sent you to wait for them I thought I'd better check on you." Leaf laughed, skipping down the steps to joining Blue. "You were taking your time."
"Hardly my fault that they're late, they just got here." Blue defended himself but Leaf simply shook her head with a smile and hands on her hips.
"Hi everyone." She greeted them all brightly. "Sorry we left Blue to greet you. My name's Leaf." She paused with introductions when she saw Riley and her smile brightened further. "Riley you've grown so much!" Leaf cried gleefully and leapt forward, wrapping Riley up in a tight hug.
This forced Alice to let go of his jacket, backing away from the display of friendship. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Riley and Red had swapped places numerous times, so it made sense that he would have interacted with the same people that Red had. Alice just hadn't realised they were this close.
"It's about time you got here." Leaf chirped as she got set back down on her own two feet. "Come on, everyone is waiting."
Much like Blue had paused to take note of Alice earlier, Leaf did the same. She was older than Alice and seemed to think that Alice was still a child as she came over and bent close to her height. Okay, Alice was on the shorter side of the size scale but she didn't look that young! Maybe Leaf was just the affectionate big sister type?
"You must be Ally." Leaf greeted Alice with the nickname she really wished would just up and die. Somewhere behind her Alice could hear Emmet snickering and she reserved a inner glare for the gleeful bastard. "You really are as cute as Riley said."
Alice wasn't sure what concerned her more, the idea that her silent brooding big brother figure was going around introducing her as his cute sister, or the fact Leaf and Blue had completely opposite views on her yet both referenced the same idea.
Leaf then smiled in a sad sort of way. "But you're going to be talking to everyone today huh? Sounds scary."
You pointing that out isn't helping! Alice cried internally but Leaf was being too friendly for her to snap at.
"I'm sure you'll do fine." She concluded in a encouraging tone. With that she stood up straight, turning to the rest of the crew. "We'll do all the introductions once the meeting has started. Lots of new faces and names to remember. Let's get a move on."
With that Blue and Leaf turned towards the entrance of the League, leading the group through. Once Hugh crossed the stairs, the last to step across an unseen line, the sliding gate slid shut with a loud bang. Alice jumped and grabbed hold of Riley's jacket again. She didn't want to admit it but she was a scaredy cat through and through. That was why Len and Tharja had a habit of pulling pranks on her during Halloween. She didn't really miss that part of her old life…not really.
Again Riley was very tolerant of her and didn't comment on the fact she kept tugging on his jacket. As all the group gathered at the base of a large statue Alice took a glance around the entrance to the various chambers that belonged to the elite four. Four sets of pathways and stairs that took the trainer to four separate challenges. Alice could only just remember this part of the game she once played. She remembered…she loathed those stairs.
"Face, the face~" Emmet murmured in her ear causing Alice to snarl at him in time with Ivan. The train master merely laughed gleefully. "Do you hate everything?"
"I like plenty of things." Alice hissed back before muttering under her breath. "You try to beat the elite four without training your pokemon enough…you have any idea how many revives I used just to go through each battle…?"
"Huh? But Alice. You never challenged the elite four." Bianca joined in and Alice simply sighed. No point explaining she meant in a game. It would probably just make her seem petty…pettier than she already was.
"Never mind, it's nothing." Alice murmured before looking up at the massive statue. If she remembered correctly what happened next was…
"Brace yourselves." Blue called just as the base around the statue gave a violent shudder and dropped straight through the floor. The base lit up in brilliant shades of blue, and as they rapidly descended Alice ended up grabbing onto Riley's jacket with both hands.
Somewhere behind her Alice heard Bianca give a yelp of alarm and Emmet laughing again, apparently enjoying himself. Cheren gave an audible sigh, rather wishing his companions would be a little more composed.
Riley reached back with one hand and gently pat Alice's head, just to reassure her that they wouldn't fall right to their deaths. Alice was too old to be clinging to her big brother but she wasn't about to let go any time soon. It didn't take long for them to approach the ground, too quickly for Alice's liking but thankfully when they did hit the ground thankfully none of them fell off the edge or even fell over. At worse Hugh stumbled a little bit, he quickly composed himself and pretended that never happened.
"That wasn't so bad was it?" Blue asked, looking over his shoulder…right at Alice with that smug smirk. Alice glared back, not voicing that it really was so bloody awful. Still one hand relinquished its grip on Riley's jacket while the other remained firmly gripping the soft material.
"Now comes the real hard part." When Blue said that and turned to look back ahead of him everyone's eyes followed his. Alice did not remember much about the league and she had absolutely forgotten this part.
"Oh no. Hell no!" Alice immediately yelped when she saw the…mountain ahead of them. Alice swore she'd never seen so many stairs in all her life. Alice had stairs when there was only three or four and ahead of her now was the mother of all staircases.
"Thought you said you'd done this before." Emmet teased.
"Yeah…when it was in bloody 2D!" Alice complained. It didn't look so bad when her sprite – who had infinite sprint mind you – climbed a bunch of tiny looking steps.
"Alice." Riley's firm voice muttered her name, getting her to immediately stop her whining though she wasn't the only one that looked sick by that point.
Reluctantly they all approached the first set of stairs and while everyone else was happy to take their time and not burn themselves out on the first of three sets of stairs, Emmet rushed on ahead of them with seemingly endless reserves of energy. Laughing to himself the whole time the clown bounced up and down the steps, as if to spite Alice. Finally when Alice had enough of his joyful frolicking up and down the stairs she glanced to Ivan who wore the same agitated expression and muttered.
"Bite." With that Ivan took off from Alice's shoulder, becoming nothing more than a white blur as it charged towards its target. Seeing Eevee before it was too late Emmet yelped and took off like a rocket up the steps, vanishing beyond the first set and somewhere off onto the second set of endless stairs, Ivan not far behind.
"We might as well use a flying type pokemon for this." Hugh muttered disgruntledly but technically they were still indoors and flying indoors was akin to opening an umbrella indoors. Plain rude.
"Uh, Ingo?" Alice glanced to the silent one of two brothers. "Shouldn't you go after Emmet?"
"No." Was the sharp reply Alice got for her suggestion. While Emmet seemed to be a puppy that was all to happy to be kicked by Alice time and time again, Ingo seemed to dislike her. He seemed to dislike everyone…maybe. It was a little hard to tell when he acted like an emotionless robot.
However not a moment later Alice guessed why Ingo felt no need to go fetch his brother. Emmet came tumbling down the stairs, tumbling head over heels down each step until he came to land flat on the first break between the sets of stairs, just as Alice and the others had reached it.
He lay face first on the cerement, smiling foolishly though he was obviously hurt and above him on the second landing of stairs Ivan huffed indignantly, obviously having been the cause for Emmet's fall. Ivan sat himself there, not about to walk back down to them, he'd wait till his trainer staggered her way up the steps to collect him. Lazy bugger.
As Ingo stepped up to stand next to his fallen brother the statue like trainer looked down at his injured brother with ice cold eyes. "Climb." He spoke the simply command to Emmet, not cutting the more playful brother an slack. Alice almost felt bad for poor Emmet. Still…they all had a lot more steps to climb, no time to feel bad for someone else.
…One agonising climb later.
Alice all but dragged herself over the last step, panting and whining shamelessly as she collapsed against on the stone pillars that at least kept her from falling face first on the ground. Bianca was nestled on Cheren's back, having been offered the lift halfway up and Hugh was in a similar condition to Alice. The only people that seemed alright were the subway masters, minus a few cuts and bruises on Emmet who had ended up being dragged the rest of the way by his brother, and the three older trainers that watched the children all struggle.
"Wow, the younger generation is absolutely hilarious." Blue laughed at them, ignoring the scathing looks cast his way.
"Lets just…give them a minute to compose themselves." Leaf chuckled as politely as possible. Giving the more exhausted members of the gang to at least catch their breath and let their faces cool back down. It took a few minutes but finally everyone was breathing normally and was able to make themselves presentable.
"Well let's never do that again." Alice announced firmly. She wasn't one for exercise, even after having tracked all over Unova.
"…What about getting back down?" Bianca asked meekly.
"Never. Again." Alice repeated with a demon glare. Bianca laughed nervously, putting her hands up defensively, there was no point trying to reason with Alice when it came to possible undesired exercise.
"You ready?" Riley cut into the conversation. Alice calmed back down and nodded, though she still felt a little bit anxious. "Let go." Riley nodded, turning to Leaf and Blue who in turn nodded and took the lead and stepped through the large archway the lead into the mansion like building. Wordlessly the rest followed, entering a place that could be considered the top of the world.
It was a little like stepping into a castle and knowing you couldn't so much as touch the walls it was so important. Alice was walking behind Riley as they walked through the entrance hall but as they neared the main room Riley slowed up suddenly and placed his hand behind her back, forcing Alice ahead of him. Alice gulped nervously but didn't try to hide behind Riley again. They had long since agreed that she was the one to lead this whole project.
Alice had always thought it should have been Riley but he wouldn't have any of her arguments. In his eyes it was her responsibility to mend this. Once he had said that it should be her and N working to mend it. When he had said that Alice had finally agreed to play the roll, she could only hope that N was doing something similar back home.
N…
God it had been so long since she'd let herself think about the male and now was absolutely not the time to be getting caught up in those thoughts.
Raising her head as the hallway stretched out into a full room Alice felt her breath catch when she saw a large table, filled to the brim with faces she had met in the past few years. All heads turned to look at them as they entered. Blue and Leaf darted off to the sides, leaving Alice alone at the front and now the centre of attention.
Alice froze up, a little bit terrified by the sudden attention put on her. It was a small hand against her back that jolted Alice back into motion, a much needed sign of support from Riley who lingered close behind her. Taking a deep breath Alice put on a confident smile and with one hand raised in a wave she finally got to open the meeting on a positive note.
"So, who's ready to catch a god?"
…
…
Alice: "Hey….Hey….OI!"
Malice: *Jumps up from her desk in alarm.* "Oh god what!?
Alice: "Where the hell have you been?"
N: "What sort of time do you call this?"
Malice: "I don't suppose you could just be happy I put this up can you? Ungrateful little…"
Alice: "So anyway!" *Cuts across Malice and her potty mouth.* "You might be a little confused about the state of things. Don't worry it should all be fleshed out later. Please fell free to ask questions…leave your hate for the wait and everything else."
Malice: =_= "You grew up to be a wanker… Anyway, see you next chapter….but seriously leave me some feedback. I got a new style and the characters had undergone some rather major changes in my mind. Tell me what you think about this new approach."
Alice: "Review addict." .
Malice: "If you hate it, write your own damn chapter. Later."