This...'Gizmo'. Her response was somewhat typical, yet true. There is no God here; this is hell, and her name is true.
"So...I suppose your tears are done and over with, Mr. Castagnier?" The Umbreon spoke with relentless sarcasm. "What do you think, should I stuff her now? Or disregard-"
"-Shut UP YOU WHORE!" That's it. I won't be a victim to this hell any longer!
Now, now. Naughty boys don't get any-"
"Your power is nothing, Gizmo, Useless piece of shit." My form soon vapored into gas, pure black. "Don't you hear me?"
My eyes shut immediately after Gizmo realized she could hear me, which was supposed to be impossible in this petty container.
"Yes, and you need TO SUFFER FOR IT!" Gizmo immediately blew a scythe-like attack my way.
But... It was-
"WHAT THE?" The wave ripped through the force field upon contact. But it was suddenly redirected-
"GWAAAHHH!" She screamed. The wave cut open a huge, gaping hole in Gizmo's ribcage. I don't understand, but apparently, I threw the attack back at her. How?
The next thing I knew, I was left holding death's upper hand. She was thrown backwards against a collapsing tree adjacent to Nova's corpse. In front of her, where she stood before, was a trail of hot Earth, erupted by means of, well...
Basically, I told myself "That must have hurt."
"Gizmo." I spoke to her while she was left breathing, however difficult. "Can you not prove to me"
"Master..." She spoke hopelessly, which was exactly what I wanted.
"ONCE! ONCE seems to be a difficult concept for you." I looked down at her.
"S-shit..."
"You're a pathetic excuse for a minion and you know it." I can't believe it! I'm the one doing the killing here! "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm a little uncomfortable in this petty prison.
Something's happening here. A sudden and rather powerful impulse of energy produced from my previous desire to kill 'my servant'. Another thing I don't understand.
Why did I say that again?
"THIS... IS AN EXAMPLE!" God damn. Before I could even translate that very sentence, the whole barrier around me shattered into, now this is really weird, Nova's last gasp for help: her last breath.
"Now now, Gizmo..." I would have expected to fall to the ground on at least three of my feet, assuming I act as a Quadroped. But no.
I was floating down, as if I were an angel or something! What the shit? What's going on?
All of a sudden, it was getting harder and harder to control myself...
Gizmo was given a few moments to intake the filthy oxygen in the air. "M-Master...
...what happened to you?" Now she was the one holding her last breath, yet she had no fear of me at all; like I said, I refuse to be a victim any longer. This obviously meant she was going to fear me now.
As soon as I came close to the blood she spilled at the climax of her travel-
"Stop...please, Erik"
-I violently reached for her neck with my right arm, clasping my claws around her. She was mine... Mine for the taking.
I noticed her pathetic attempt to curse at me, but it was, as I said, a pathetic attempt: no use. I felt her throat move against my right paw, giving me cue to grasp her with my other arm. It flowed with much blood, as if it was angry.
She opened her left eye, which flinched a second after she saw my face, about to mask my pleasure from murder.
Strange. Before, I possessed an innocent, somewhat helpless vibe, basically telling everyone something like "hey, you can rape me if you wanted to, and I still wouldn't do anything to hurt you because I'm too weak to fight back"
But, what Gizmo saw in my eyes...
My head was decorated with nothing at all, not a muzzle, a maw, not even eyes. Suddenly, what I saw by staring at Gizmo for a time was an empty head full of hair, almost like a mannequin. I frightened myself at the sudden sight, then panic ensued. But, by now, I was sure I wasn't in control of myself anymore.
"No, master..." Gizmo successfully mentioned the name 'Master', followed by-
"MASTER STOP!" Another kill?
Sure, I'll take it, and with pleasure too!
NO! What THE HELL am I thinking? Whatever you are GET OUT OF MY HEAD!
Supposedly acting solely on pure adrenaline, I sadly turned the other cheek to Gizmo and threw her aside by Nova like a decrepit toy.
"You're just a child's ragdoll; Gizmo you failure!" WHAT THE HELL AM I SAYING?
After showing Gizmo how I felt about her, I had already reacted to the plead from far away.
"Master Z..." My arm had suddenly cone into contact with a slightly powerful sphere of energy, origin unknown. It was like the ball had just materialized in the center of my paw.
"Master- I-I mean Erik" This voice I could recognize anywhere, even through the thick haze going on in my mind.
"Please...stop."
I stopped in my tracks: frozen. It was...
"Such beauty..."
It was Nova.
There she was, alive and breathing, though she was still wounded by battle an highly fucked up.
I heard her, and better yet, saw her, proving her re-existence
"Hmphfff? Where, how?" Confusion was only expected.
"NOVA!
"Hm?" She looked... unimpressed "You're surprised?
All of a sudden, we saw ourselves looking at other things, instead of each other. I disregarded Gizmo, for she was dead, left to provide little nourishment for the inactive planet.
"Oh right" She said. "You're not him. Getting any hints here, demon boy?"
"Demon boy? Look, all I want to know is... How the hell did you come back?" It's true that her re-existence soothed me after all of this darkness got under my skin.
"Hang on." I started " ...Alright, I know for sure it's you." Well, let me just say that the 'little things' gave her away.
"Erik, still there?"
Her lack of patience. She was so eager to get up to the top of that mountain, even without words.
"Hm, huh? Sorry, I was out of it for a while." I really was; the dizziness was slowly coming back.
...SuperNova... You godforsaken inconvenience...
"How in the hell? You're alive!"
"Would you get over it? There's no room for your glee...ness."
She was obviously different from before. "So I'm guessing you ran into that Giratina too, huh?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're, acting a little hostile. Are you okay?" I was holding it in all this time.
I embraced her in my arms and wouldn't let her go until she asked-
"Uhm... You're kind of making me feel uncomfortable."
"Kind of?" I let her loose, given that she asked for freedom indirectly. "God, I wish I knew how to talk in this situation. I'm just so happy!"
"Hm. Fine, I'll play along." Her voice switched to a monotonous quality. " I'm so happy to see you again..."
I was getting pissed off, but I told myself to control myself around Nova.
Besides, she's my-
"Did you...maybe" God forbid "forget who I am?"
Upon my asking, Nova stretched her neck backward, as if she was very, very bored (or just itchy), and attempted to nibble at her wings.
"Gnnnnaauww..." She had somehow relieved herself, tossed something from her mouth onto the ground, and started floating ahead of me.
But at the same time, she answered.
"Honestly, I don't know you, but, apparently, you carry an extremely attractive scent, and, I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but I'm a sucker for guys who smell like survival, especially foxes." Gesturing to me, I followed her, just as she desired.
But on the way, I accidentally stepped on, and broke, the object Nova had discarded earlier. I examined it while catching up to Nova: it was like a surgical object, like it was a triangular, piercing device. It looked like it was from the future or something.
Wait! When Nova became death's victim, I noticed that the triangle on her chest turned to a dull, grey: the same color it was as I jerked away from it and spoke to Nova.
"A little birdie told me about you."
But, before death, it was-
"Oh, um. Did you maybe see another Zoroark, like me, but blue hair?" I swear, how awkward can this situation get?
Then, Nova suddenly shuddered, like she was being ravaged on the inside.
"Sheesh, this situation is so damn weird." My thoughts exactly. She drew far from me and lowered her head, flinching.
"Nova." I help her small hand, adjacent ligaments, and asked her if something was wrong.
She abruptly showed me signs that she was comfortable: she accepted my embrace and laid her head on my shoulder. She also took my other hand with her other adjacent arm, making an 'X' between us.
"False alarm..." She sighed heavily and her whole golden shadings began to glow bright. "You're not...one of them..." The radiating glow kept me warm in this dark, uninviting world. "...Thank God."
I never wanted this sweet moment to cease, and it didn't for a while. I was too busy savoring this time with-
with...my crush...
"Nova?" I said softly. "I've learned the hard way that we should get moving. It looks like you have something to tell me."
I knew the look from previous experience.
We wasted about, I would say three hours camped (more like taking shelter) from the eyes of evil. We were to find the 'Flower garden' as I called it, but Nova and I were feeling extremely tired, hungry too.
"I remember select things, but I just can't remember you." This was definitely weird. What can't she remember about me? I'm the one who, most likely saved her ass after killing Gizmo.
She sighed again, but lighter this time.
"I suppose it's about time I start telling my oh-so grand adventures..." She wasn't happy at all. "Maybe it'll help me sleep tonight, considering how hungry I am."
"Please. You haven't said much of anything since we met again.-"
"-That damn 'Z'... He tricked me into thinking he would help me survive here, to learn how to use it."
"It?" I just had to chime in. Curiosity would probably kill me here. "How to use... That thing you bit off?" I figured it out.
"Yeah" Said Nova. Apparently, that parasite has a name."
"A leech?" God damn, death is literally everywhere if I was right.
"You catch on quick. That thing was supposed to drain me of my will to live. That's all I know, and, now that it's off, I don't really care either."
"Do you think…" Nova reacted as if she already knew what I was going to say.
"Hell no!" She shouted, not thinking of how her voice could attract unwanted attention. "That…thing! It has a mind of its own. It's unique in the way how it gives itself orders, unlike any normal machine."
I was impressed, but then again, she is a teacher, even in this world.
"Since when did you learn so much about machines?" I teased, and she knew I it. "I mean, did you find this out when you were gone too?"
"I'll have you know," She was calming herself down since she was becoming a carrier of famine quickly. "I've been closer to death more times than you ever have here. I know this because 'Z' took me hostage in order to get your attention once you knew I was here." When she finished, she slumped against dark rocks comfortably. "I'm just glad that you didn't end up getting killed back there."
"Nova…" All I could say at this point was her name now.
"Nova… He took you hostage?" She nodded mournfully.
"Yeah, but being the coward that he is, he sent one of his lackeys, that scumbag. And you know who that was?"
"Who?"
"The life you just took; Gizmo's. She was chosen because she was 'Z''s most loyal servant. She was in love with him, to make things worse."
"Their love is a bad thing?" That was pretty much a given. I don't care about them.
"I…don't understand how, but it strengthens the power of them. Good thing you took her out, and for that, and everything else…" She was momentarily speechless.
She stood there, still slumped against the rocks, when she straightened her back and approached me. She gave me the assumption that she was searching for words…because she was muttering to herself. Then, after some seconds passed, she said: "We're gonna die anyway…"
"Nova…" I couldn't believe she was taking like this. She would never give up in any situation. "You can't-"I blinked, for just one second, and when I opened my eyes, I felt pressure on my lips.
Oh my god…Nova…she kissed me! Yet she hadn't lifted her lips from mine, she managed to squeeze out the words "Never leave me again."
Then, after recovering from this realization, she pushed me backwards until my back was straight against the wall of rock which was a little wet. She was no taller than me, thanks to her levitating body.
"N-No-"She kept on kissing me, but this time I couldn't break away. Was she always this strong? She wouldn't cease until I would participate with her, it seemed. I gave it all my effort, but she was just too strong to simply shake off.
I felt her tongue in my mouth, reaching for mine…
"…..N…ova…" I finally managed to say the one thing I found myself able to say, even still. It was about time she laid her hands off of my shoulders and let me speak.
I shuttered on the inside; I've never been in a situation like that before. She might have gotten a hint of how I felt when I quickly stumbled to the side and tried to run to the exit, leading further into the darkness. But she caught me yet again.
"Erik." She cried as I looked down upon the earth when I made it outside. There was nothing of interest out there anyway. I looked at her somewhat resentfully.
"Yyeeeeeaaaah?"
"You need to stay here, to stay alive." She said, but with more…confidence than before.
She now stood in front of an ongoing advancement in the cavern, which was pitch-black. She was no longer glowing at this point; she stopped about five minutes ago.
…The kiss was longer than I expected… Heh.
"Nova. What was that about? You mean I'm actually needed here? I have no one". I came close to her so she could hear me better.
"I-I didn't say anything, Erik." Exactly why I got close. Apparently she didn't hear me when I questioned my fate. Though…she would know? She did know a lot about 'Z', assuming that it's true. (And honestly, I don't believe her.) She said she was captured by 'Z'. I believe that bit, though. I remembered the parasite Nova freed herself from four hours ago. Maybe her hunger was just driving her into a state of utter confusion.
"Hmph". Nova's mouth, which I oh-so recognize now, wasn't moving at all. "If you haven't figured it out yet, you're in hell, Erik." Then, just as the echoing subsided out of this type of shelter, soft footsteps emanated from the darkness behind the reacting Nova, who just stood there, not in fear, but confusion and what seemed like anger. "Oh, how I've missed you, darling."