"So, what is it, cousin? Do you wish to bother me with your antics? Or do you actually have something good?"
There were a lot of things Zoe Lucifer was. By some, she was known as the devil incarnate. Her vices were well known and even an inside joke in the film and fashion industry. However, to others, she was seen as an inspiration. A proud and determined face, child prodigy and even a progressive and feminist icon to many.
Being patient with her brother's antics was never one of the things she ever was.
"Look, Zoe, I know that I've screwed up a ton before. This time is different, though. I finally got everyone back together and-"
"Cousin, let me tell you something. There's no use in reviving dead relations." She glared at him as she snarled. "Especially when you've been spending more time reviving old ones than making new ones." She spun her chair back to her desk and pushed everything on to her right. She grabbed a pencil from the pile beside her and started sketching, annoyed at her brother's attempts to even bring her back into this. "The die is cast. So, let the cast die already."
"The die may be cast, cousin, I get that. But if I'm not changing things around, I'm not doing my thing. After all, the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb."
"Shut up, I'm trying to work right now," Zoe said, annoyed that he was so persistent to keep on going. She sighed. "Look. Can't we just leave this childish nonsense behind already? I've now got a position as a fashion designer and as an actress. Tons of people look up to me. I'm literally a symbol of determination for tons of women and girls across the globe. Give me one good reason why I should go back with you."
"It's in your blood too," was the only response she got. She shuddered hearing that. As badly as she wanted to deny it, she knew it was true. No matter how much she tried to change, no matter how many alternate universes and resets she went through, she'd always be a Lucifer first and foremost. She knew about the whispering behind her back, the stories, and jokes going around about who she stole from and tricked into sleeping with. She knew they knew about her abilities to create illusions and her sweet, trapping words. Yet she always felt a perverted sense of pleasure when she knew that they couldn't resist it. They had fallen into her trap, much as they thought she may fall into theirs. A smile grew on her lips as she-
"No," she told herself. "I am better than this. I can change. I'm not like her anymore. I'm not a demon. I am determination."
"Zoe, I could actually care less if you stayed with us after we reassembled. All I just need is for you to help me find them all, OK?" Noticing her worried look, he went on. "Come on, you know you love it. That feeling of power when you've got prey ensnared in your trap. The perverted joy you get whenever you're the one, and the only one, in control. Don't you wish to feel that power, that joy, once more?"
"S-shut up, you demon," she said weakly. Her breathing had grown heavier, her body feeling weaker. Had it not been for the table in front of her, she would've fallen over. She placed down her pencil to prevent him from seeing her shaking hand. "I-I am not like her anymore. I-I am not. Like. You." The room grew darker and her vision grew blurred. Her mind swirled with a million thoughts. "W-what's happening to me? I-I...This can't be happening! No, not now! Not ever!". "Y-you're the one doing this to me. W-why would you? Of all the people I could trust?"
"You know, Zoe, we aren't exactly too far apart. Not too different," he said, a smirk plastered on his face. "We both may as well embody lust, the beautiful 'I want to have, to get' attitude. That passionate desire for something that clouds the mind. Which is exactly what I'm doing. Your lust for power, for control and for domination is far too strong for you to bottle up. I'm just helping you let it out safely so you wouldn't explode and die when it would overcome you, later on, had I not have been here."
"I-I refuse to accept that." Zoe panted. "I-I can change. I can...overcome...it." She let out a loud screech as pain surged through her body, her dark oily sins completely drowning her, blocking her goodness from showing. She laid in pain as her spirit was plucked from her body by her former self before being plunged into the dark abyss of her heart, where no light reached."
"Now Zoe, I know this hurt but sooner or later you'll understand that it was all for the better," he said in a caring voice. His words pierced her ears, making her scream out yet again. He cackled, scaring her. "Remember, once a member of the Shadow Fang, always a member of the Shadow Fang. I'll leave you to finish packing up, alright? I should meet you with everyone else tomorrow at midnight. Don't be late!" He cackled as his body burst into dust, spreading all over the room.
Zoe refused to go down like this. She fought her way through the black oily pool of sin that she was trapped in, swimming as fast as she could despite the thickness of the oil slowing her down. Just as she reached the top, she felt a tug on her leg. She frantically flailed and kicked, trying to get it off of her to no avail. She slowly sank back into it. Tears streaming in her eyes, she let out one last cry for help but no sound passed her lips. It was no use. She was dead.
"I-I'm sorry everyone," she thought, as she saw her spirit, the essence of good in her, leave her body "I didn't mean for this. I-I thought I could change. I-I thought I could become-"
"A better...person." She felt her eyes shut and her heart slow to a stop and before she knew it, she was dead. She was no longer the good girl everyone saw her out to be. She was no longer fashion designer, actress and feminist icon Zoe Lucifer. She was now Lady Zoe Lucifer, queen of the Shadow Fang.
Over the next couple of days, she had changed drastically. She had gone back to having her midnight black hair in a faux mohawk, the tip of it now scarlet. She had the crazed look of an insane criminal on her face with wide eyes surrounded by huge circles of black eyeliner, a crooked grin plastered on her face and long sharp scarlet nails. She wore a wrinkled frilly black dress caked in tears and blood, scratched up black leggings and red dress shoes.
Rarely ever leaving her room, she spent most of her days scribbling furiously on paper, crying, clawing at herself and sleeping. She felt trapped in her small room like she was in prison. Despite that, she never left her room at all and refused to open up for anyone. "Swingin' between insanity and death," she used to repeatedly say to herself, like a broken record repeating itself. "I'm swingin' between death and insanity. It seems dear cousin's left me to die or join him. I'd rather live in peace. Alas, I'll never be able to. Once a Lucifer, always a Lucifer."
Eon Lucifer could never stay out of trouble. It was in his genes, his mother always used to say. And she wasn't far off from the truth; being the Devil's son had its downsides at times. But he wasn't concerned with how much trouble he'd be in if his plan backfired, or how he was likely to die before he even made it to the top or even how no one remembered him. He had one thing on his mind: make it to the Hall of Origin. That was all.
"So, I guess this is where we part, sir?" A voice said behind him. He turned around and took one last look at his crew, the very ones who had sacrificed everything to help him get here.
"Yup." Eon sighed. "This is goodbye, but only for now." He waved goodbye to everyone before teleporting them all back with a powerful roar. He fell to his knees, exhausted from using such a powerful move. "Gotta...keep...moving. Can't...stop..now," he huffed to himself, pulling out an Azure Flute. Weakly blowing into it, he saw stairs magically appear ahead of him before fading away. He took a deep breath and puffed harder into it and the stairs came back, solidifying themselves there. He slowly marched up the stairs, chuckling the entire way. Just at the top, right before the door, he put the Azure Flute back and cackled. "It's a good thing...that imposter...ain't there...no more. Now I'm the top...top dog." He glitched as he entered his final destination, the Hall of Origin.
"Hello everyone, it's me. Eon The Zoroark, Commander of the Shadow Fang. And it seems that my time here isn't done."
Hello everyone, Eon here and yes, we're continuing the Pokemon Legends series, it seems. So feel not shy and send some Truths and Dares over for ya boi, alright? Details are over on my profile.
Anyways, have a good one and I'll see y'all next chapter.