Hello all and thank you for viewing my latest story! I know I haven't updated This is War in a while but I've been drowning in school work for the past month or so so please excuse my inactivity. This is my most recent project to turn to whenever I'm feeling a bit stuck with TiW but it will still remain my main project, I just really want to edit several areas before I continue since after rereading, some parts are a bit... iffy and rushed. Hopefully it won't be long until that updates again.
Anyway, I can just feel that this story is going to have a special place in my heart because you know, today is the 5th November, otherwise known as Bonfire Night in England or my birthday. I'm treating this as a gift of sorts to you guys? I don't know how many of you will be reading this but I hope you all enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Now, on with the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon
Chapter One: Red Eyed Flygon
A faux happy murmur buzzed through the air, lingering around every aristocrat present as they strutted around in expensive formal wear and elegantly plucked glasses of champagne and other small treats from the platters of passing waiters and waitresses. They laughed their fake laughs and drank in the false compliments of others, smiling and returning the gesture after a few modest comments. The women gathered together, throwing a critical eye on every garment worn that evening whilst the men prowled around the crowds, looking for an unsuspecting victim to pounce on.
May Maple didn't fit in at all.
Her mother and father had dragged her to the party after they had struck up the deal. May would go to the godforsaken social gathering in exchange for them holding off their usual attempts at finding their darling baby girl the most perfect suitor they could get their hands on. Of course, it never turned out well for the brunette. She was clumsy by nature so when you were expected to become the picture of elegance and grace, her fumbling hands and remarkable ability to trip over nothing put her at a disadvantage, much to the disappointment of her parents. May knew this, of course they wanted her to marry a rich and handsome nobleman, it was probably why they brought her to the party in the first place. The host, a successful Duke, had sent out invitations to everyone of any significance and maybe her mother and father thought that she would find her partner, maybe fall in love.
May snorted an unladylike snort, earning her a look of disgust from a nearby woman in a periwinkle blue ball gown before she strode away. It didn't bother her in the slightest, it was almost sad but she had grown accustomed to such treatment over the years but still. Her, in love? It was a ludicrous idea because May Maple first and foremost did not fall in love. May Maple was far too invested in her other interests to pay any attention to anyone else. May Maple scorned the idea of romantic love and rolled her eyes at the sappy interactions of couples. May Maple hated the idea of becoming a mere prize for men to show off.
"Now May, remember what we agreed to." A hand rested upon her shoulder. She didn't have to look up to know that it was her father addressing her, his deeper voice layered with exasperation. "Please, at least try. Just for tonight."
"I'll try Papa but there aren't any guarantees." She shrugged, placing her own hand on top of his and making eye contact. "It's not my problem if everyone else has issues."
Her father sighed and gave a small smile. "That's all I ask for, dear."
And at that, she felt somewhat guilty. Her parents had such high expectations for her and she couldn't even dream of beginning to fulfil them. Was she supposed to be perfect? She certainly wasn't perfect.
Was she gentle? That almost earned another snort of disbelief. She practically wrestles her younger brother to the ground every other day after he recites his whole 'problems with his sister' speech. The little brat had the nerve to poke fun at her eating habits and not so ladylike nature. Unbelievable. Children really needed to learn to respect their seniors.
It was a harsh reality but she was the furthest away anyone could be from the image of a perfect lady. Of course, her parents had learned to deal with that over time and loved her all the same, but grand balls like this simply weren't her cup of tea so to speak.
"Ah, Baron Cacture!" Her father's cheerful tone drew her attention to the one he was addressing, no doubt another noble in the vicinity.
May put on her best forced smile, one that didn't quite meet her eyes but she still made an effort to look like she wanted to be there. Despite her hatred of grandeur, she despised to idea of shaming her parents who brought her up with all the care and affection that she could ever desire, it was the least she could do after all.
"Lord Maple." A rather haughty voice acknowledged the presence of her father.
She glanced towards the speaker and was rather taken aback by the outrageous shade of purple that tinged his hair. The man had an air of superiority around him, eyes narrowed slightly as he stuck up his nose whilst addressing her father. At first glance, his clothes looked well made, his outfit being made up of a patterned forest green shirt that was possibly made out of silk. May couldn't tell but the way it almost shined as he moved was almost blinding. Sheesh. Some people needed to tone it down a notch.
"It's a surprise to see you here, isn't it? I wouldn't have thought that Duke Matsubusa would extend an invitation to you and your family."
That did it.
He was looking down on them.
An overwhelming feeling of anger surged through her, her hands balled up into fists beside her. She saw red. May already knew that her family weren't regarded as important in Hoenn but there was no need to be so obnoxiously rude!
The hand found its place on her shoulder again, almost urging her to calm down. Taking a deep breath, May let go of her rage, finally bringing herself to look the man in the eye.
"It seems that he remembered us after all." Norman responded curtly, his hand unmoving. "It's good to make your acquaintance once more."
"Right." Cacture almost sneered before shifting his beady gaze to the teenaged girl beside the lord. "Ah, is this one yours, Maple? What a pleasant little monster you have there."
Ah, what? Oh. She was glaring at him. Oops. She should fix that quickly.
Her eyes softened as her father spoke up once more. "That's right." He completely ignored the monster comment as if it had never been uttered. "This is my daughter, May Maple."
They stared each other down. Baron and Lady. "Oh how pleasant it must be to have such a man for a father, Lady Maple."
"It is." She responded coolly, fingers twitching. Cacture didn't seem to notice, even if he did, he didn't mention it.
"It must be lovely to live with barely enough to sustain yourself. Rather shameful isn't it? For a Lord no less."
"It's fine." She muttered, doing her best to continue smiling. "It is better to not have much and cherish all you have rather than have too much and cherish none."
His eyes flashed for a brief moment. "Well said Lady Maple." His tone was that of an adult handing out obligatory compliments to a small child after learning their first words.
Arceus, he was infuriating.
"Spoken like a true commoner, am I right?" He laughed his flamboyant laugh that sounded much too forced to be anything but. "Well it has been nice to catch up, Lord Maple. I must be off now." His gaze darkened for a moment as he shot May a final look. "And you better watch your backs, you don't know who will take advantage of this pretty little thing over here." Cacture laughed again as if he was joking before sauntering off into the crowd, yelling at a waiter just before he disappeared into the swarm of people.
May let out a breath she hadn't realised that she had been holding when he finally disappeared from view. "Strange, irritating man." She hissed under her breath as her father sighed.
"You did well seeing as it was your first time meeting him." He admitted, running a hand through his hair. "I would have preferred to avoid him but he would have taken personal offence if I hadn't tried to speak to him for the entire evening. I figured it was better to get it out of the way now whilst he was still in a good mood and not later when someone else like Baroness Saori puts him in his place."
Baroness Saori? Where had she heard that name before? It was oddly familiar but May couldn't remember where. Maybe she was some important noble but May seemed to have looked confused because her father answered her inquiries without her having to utter a word.
"Your mother speaks fondly of her." He scanned the ground, looking for where Caroline had disappeared off to. "It wouldn't surprise me if the two have already found each other."
Oh. That was where. She remembered the repeated gushing of her mother, her name was Solidad Saori if her memory served her well. There was even a picture of her with Caroline hung up in their living room, a pink haired woman several years older than May herself and she was positively stunning, long flowing hair as smooth as silk and deep blue eyes in an intensely pretty shade. May was almost jealous that such a person existed.
"So what's her connection to Baron Cacture? I hadn't realised that someone would willingly talk to him."
Her father laughed, eyes shining once more, having put the latest clash with the baron behind him. "They like to bash their heads together each time they meet and bring out their claws, so to say. She generally tends to come out on top though."
May giggled. "Oh, that's good. It must be a nice feeling to knock him down a peg or two."
Norman was about to respond before his name was called by a group of nobles with pleasant looks on their faces. From the way he reacted to them, they must have been friends from work.
May's father was a peacekeeper of sorts in the small settlement of Petalburg City, in fact, he was the leading operator there so he often kept in touch with his counterparts from other towns of Hoenn. All eight of them had been trained in the art of self-defence and Pokemon Battling, an area that May herself shirked from due to some unreasonable fear she had developed for the creatures when she was still young. She shuddered at the thought, at least her father's were well trained and had made a habit to not approach the teen unless they wanted to be greeted with a high pitched shriek that would shatter the eardrums of anyone in the vicinity. Nope. They had learnt their lesson after the fifth time.
"So Norman, has work been keeping you busy?" A man with bright blue hair questioned, looking uncomfortable and out of place from wearing a suit and tie for the evening. "Dewford is an island so it's been peaceful in the past but you'd be surprised at how frantic the League is getting."
"That's right." A brown haired woman piped up. "There's that one group who've been causing more havoc than usual-"
"Stealing important League Documents–" A shot haired girl interrupted with a scowl.
"Picking off important higher ups-" Another who looked just like her but with longer tresses added.
The first woman pulled a face at the pair's antics. "And they've been wiping out entire League Data Bases."
May's father reacted to the news with raised eyebrows. Apparently he hadn't heard anything of it before which came as a surprise to the others considering the group's infamous reputation amongst the underworld residents. "How do you know it's all been them..?"
A white haired man, the oldest of the group, chose to answer the question. "They leave behind the same mark at every scene. Ah… what was it again? Ah yes, a black Flygon with glowing red eyes… And their name was-"
He paused, almost as if for added effect, staring his colleagues straight in the eyes.
"Night City."
May took a deep breath, the cold night air stinging her throat and lungs. She has excused herself from the small group of her father's 'work buddies' after the conversation turned almost stifling as they began to converse about private affairs and rumours regarding the mysterious gang. There was a quick introduction to the rest of the nobles before she hurriedly scurried out of the room ('Watson, you scared the poor girl off!') and promised to not get lost.
So here she was, leaning against the rails of a balcony somewhere in the manor. It was only when she got outside had the realised that it was suffocating in that Arceus forsaken ballroom. Here, it was nice. A chorus of Kricketot could be heard chirping in the background, she didn't like them but even she could appreciate the finer points of life.
Below her, she could just make out the outlines of numerous trees and bushes that made up the garden. Moonlight reflected off the water gurgling quietly from the centrepiece of the allotment, a white marble fountain crafted into the form of two Pokemon May didn't recognise but her brother undoubtedly would. He was aspiring to just be like their father so of course, he studied extensively throughout the day and trained whenever he could as soon as he became old enough to receive his first Pokemon. It was hardly surprising that that made her parents turn to him to uphold the family name, it wasn't like she was doing anything productive anyway.
May let out a sigh, resting her chin against the thick rails, tilting her head to the side as she raised her arms up to cushion it from the unwelcome cold of the metal it was made from. Her parents' highest hopes for her were to get married to a rich man and that in itself was pathetic. A pitiful notion. If only she could find something to do to make her parents proud…
"Well, who do we have here?" May spun around defensively, she had been too deep in her thoughts to even notice the glass doors open, much less hear a man walk in.
The first thing she noticed about him was the considerable amount of red splashed upon his attire, his slicked back hair, clothes and even boots were all shaded the same hue of red. The second was the frown that adorned his face as he scanned the teen in front of him from head to toe, clearly wordlessly judging her from where he stood.
"W-who are you?" She managed to speak out, trying her best to conceal that fact that she had been caught off guard with no place else to turn.
At her tone, the man's frown disappeared to be replaced by a warm smile, vastly different to those made by the nobles in the ball room. "Relax my dear, I didn't intend to frighten you." He held up his hands as if talking down an agitated beast. "My name is Maxie Matsubusa and I was merely surprised to find someone else here, much less a beautiful young girl."
Maxie… Matsubusa? May's eyes widened considerably and she lowered her head into a sharp bow. "Oh Arceus I'm so sorry! I hadn't realised that it was you, please forgive my impertinence." The man who stood before her was the owner of the very mansion that the party was being held in, the duke who has sent out invitations far and wide to welcome those into his humble abode.
"Nonsense child." He laughed. "I am the one who is at fault seeing as it was I who appeared without warning and startled you. Lift your head, there is no need for formalities here. Tell me, what is your name?"
May straightened up with reluctance, thinking back to the lessons her mother had drilled into her for proper conduct when dealing with a noble of much higher status, the Duke being one of them. "My name? I am May- er- Maybelle Maple, Duke Matsubusa."
"Ah, Maple?" He looked thoughtful, raising a hand to his chin like the detectives in the old stories. "Norman and Caroline's daughter? You look like the spitting image of your mother, I should have guessed."
"Thank you..?"
He let out another chuckle at her awkwardness. "That reminds me, I have yet to greet them tonight, and no doubt that Baron Cature is giving him a hard time for it."
May smiled, a genuine smile- probably the first one she had shown that night. "He already came, Duke Matsubusa."
He shrugged. "It was inevitable." The duke took several steps forward to join the girl at the edge of the balcony. "So, what do you think of my garden?"
"It's beautiful." She admitting, turning around again to face away from the manor. "I especially like the fountain."
"As do I, Miss Maple." Maxie nodded. "It cost a fortune but it's worth it, eh? The Legendary Pokemon, Groudon and Kyogre, what I would give to even catch a glimpse of those in person."
She nodded and smiled along, as if she knew what he was talking about. In reality, the two names he had just given went straight over her head but the term Legendary Pokemon wasn't unfamiliar to her. Max would often gush about them and it had come to her knowledge that they were all powerful beings, much like the well-known Arceus, the creator of the world.
"Me too… But I don't know too much about them." She admitted, knotting her fingers together behind her back.
"Not many people do." He muttered, running a hand through his hair whilst the other shifted in his pocket. "Look." He diverted her attention to the fountain. "The one that's standing on its hind legs with those sharp claws is named Groudon, it has power over the land and some say that Groudon has the ability to create land."
"Wow." She leaned forwards, squinting as she tried to make out the outline of the Legendary in the moonlight and completely missing the shift in her companion's expression as he continued to talk.
"They say that it once clashed with Kyogre, the one who has power over the seas and-" He dropped his voice to a low mutter, speaking into her ear. "I'm awfully sorry for this, Miss Maple."
"What-"
May had no time to react as she finally realised that his presence was right behind her. An arm wrapped itself around her to restrict her own movement before a cloth was pressed firmly against her own mouth and nose. Gasping for breath and struggling, she could begin to taste the scent of something sweet before her eyelids dropped and the pressure around her disappeared.
Her entire world went black but not before she cursed her own stupidity and naivety at being so trusting.
AN: Aaaand here we are! Please remember to leave a review and tell me what you think, I swear, hearing from you guys makes me happier than a pig in mud.
Thanks for reading,
Lisitair