-I- Her Divine Light -I-

Chapter 2 - I Will Protect You

"Remember, fighting with a fogged mind will only lead to your downfall. Clear yourself of distractions, distance yourself from emotions."

A Sylveon sat up on her hind legs atop a stump, her eyes closed and ribbons floating gracefully in the air around her. Next to her on an adjacent stump an Eevee sat much the same, with his legs hanging over the edge and heels kicking against the dry bark.

"Oh come on sis... I just want to learn how to attack and other cool things!" Swiping his white paws at the air in front of him he made playful attack noises, laughing as his sister, Estelle, opened her eyes and sighed.

"I know you do, Shrike, but this is important. Your mental state is just as crucial when it comes to battle as your physical is." She extended her ribbons over to the Eevee and grabbed his paws, pushing them down into his lap. "Please? Can you just try to focus?"

Shrike grumbled, looking downwards before glancing over to his sister. She was looking at him with genuine concern, her blue eyes a match for his own even framed by the goggles she always seemed to wear. "All right..." he finally caved in, stopping his kicking. Estelle rewarded him with a smile and let his paws go, closing her eyes again though not before peeking at Shrike and ensuring he was doing the same.

The two siblings sat quietly for a few minutes more only to soon be interrupted by a tiny squeak. Estelle sighed and cracked her eyes open expecting Shrike to be playing around again, only to find a small Cyndaquil sitting amid the grass and looking up at them.

"Aw, it's cute! What's your name?" Shrike exclaimed as he leaped up and off his stump.

"Wait, Shrike! Leave it alone!" Estelle yelled, but it was too late. Shrike had already reached out to the Cyndaquil with a paw, the small Pokemon nervously taking a step backwards only for the Eevee to reach out and pat it on its head.

The Cyndaquil let out a flurry of squeaks at the touch, running away and disappearing into the brush. Shrike blinked in surprise and looked at his paw, then back to Estelle. "What's his problem?"

"That wasn't a kid from the village, it was a feral Pokemon. We should leave now," She warily looked around as she grabbed one of Shrike's paws with a ribbon, turning to drag him away when it hit.

It was lightning fast, surprisingly so for its size. Neither Shrike nor Estelle had any idea it was coming right up until the moment it slashed down, claws tearing straight the ribbon tethering siblings together.

Estelle screamed as she stumbled and collapsed to her side, grasping at the torn ribbon. It took a moment more for Shrike to realize what had happened as the severed ribbon fell slack around his arm, but when he realized it was no longer connected to his sister his scream nearly matched hers. Falling down he frantically stumbled through the ground to get away from the severed limb, and that was when he caught sight of what had attacked them.

The Typhlosion was the single largest Pokemon Shrike had ever seen, towering over the both of them, even big enough to eclipse some of the musclebound loggers that worked back in Woodhurst. Its eyes were fixed on Shrike as a low growl ripped from its throat, fresh blood still staining its claws.

Just as the Typhlosion readied a burst of flame, Estelle leaped in front of Shrike and wove her remaining ribbons into a shield in front of her. Flames battered the shield and flowed off from its edges, Estelle digging her feet into the ground as the force was strong enough to push her backwards.

"Get away from here!" she yelled, glancing over her shoulder at Shrike as he continued crawling backwards through the dirt. His body quivered as he shook his head.

"I-I can't... Can't leave you..."

With one last blast of flames Estelle was finally uprooted, the Sylveon pulling her shield apart and using the ribbons to lash out at the Typhlosion as she stumbled backwards. Their edges now sharp as a razor they sliced across the Typhlosion's arms, drawing another roar from the beast as it swiped out and plucked the smaller Pokemon off the ground while she was off balance. Wheeling its arm back it threw her over their shoulder, the Sylveon tumbling through the dirt as stick and stones slashed open cuts all over her body.

The Typhlosion turned to focus on Shrike again, drool dripping from its enormous fangs as it slowly approached him. The Eevee's eyes dripped with tears, but before the Typhlosion could hurt him Estelle's ribbons lashed out again. This time they wrapped around the Typhlosion's shoulders and one leg, tugging backwards until the beast was toppled and fell down on its back with a great thud.

"Run! Shrike, please! I can handle this!" Estelle pleaded, but it didn't work. Shrike knew she was lying, that if he left he would never see her again.

The Typhlosion glanced between the siblings as it stood up until its eyes locked on the Sylveon. Estelle breathed a sigh of relief and stood her ground as her three remaining ribbons were raised into battle position, facing down the beast. Yet it seemed to be learning and didn't go for a head-on attack this time. Instead, when the Typhlosion's mane of fire flared with a roar, it began blasting streams of flame at the grass and shrub around her.

Shrike could practically see Estelle's fur rising as the grassy clearing quickly went up in flames, rising so high he could no longer see her through them. "E-Estelle!" he yelled, shaking and rolling to his feet. "I... I'll be right back! There's a well nearby!"

Off Shrike ran, tears streaming from his eyes. He wasn't leaving her though, no. He had to do what he could to help, and now that meant getting some water to put out the blaze. He quickly made his way to the nearby well and drew up the bucket, grabbing the handle in his teeth and straining to carry it back the way he had come. He knew it alone wouldn't be enough, but if he made several trips...

When he got back the Typhlosion was gone, Shrike feeling his heart twist into a knot. Surely, she couldn't be... "Estelle!" he frantically called out, desperate for a response.

"Shrike?" he heard her voice yell from amid the flames, the Eevee sighing in relief. "Shrike! I told you to get away!"

"I got some wat-AH!"

Shrike was interrupted by the reappearance of the Typhlosion, the beast charging out from the trees and heading straight towards him. In his fright Shrike dropped and knocked over the bucket as he pulled himself back against a tree, biting his lips as he saw the water soak into the earth.

Just when it seemed the Typhlosion was on top of him, ready to end his life, a blur of white and pink shot out of the flames. His heart practically sung with joy as he saw it was Estelle, her ribbons woven in a sphere around her. Charred and blackened from the flames the ribbons fell lifelessly to the ground, but still Estelle leaped into the air and spun around to slap her tail at the stream of fire the Typhlosion had blasted at Shrike. She screamed in pain as the flame burnt the fur off her tail and blistered the flesh beneath, but the sacrifice was successful in diverting the flames around the small Eevee. "Shrike! GET OUT OF HERE!"

"B-But..." his lips quivered, eyes glancing between his sister and the Typhlosion. No, not like this...

"I said... LEAVE!" she roared at him, turning her eyes away from the beast. When it struck the world seemed to fall still. Those claws sliced deep into Estelle's sides, deep enough that Shrike could swear he saw sparks where the claws scraped against ribs. The force knocked her back amid a spray of blood, Shrike mouthing a scream but his throat too hoarse and dry to make the proper sound.

His world was a daze as he saw the Typhlosion slowly walk over to his sister, the Sylveon lying in a growing puddle of her own blood. He would never forget that moment, looking at her and seeing her mouth that word, "run". Nor the next moment, when the Typhlosion's claw once again came down, digging into the already open wound and ravaging her chest. Her body leapt into the air with the force, but when it came down she was still and quiet. Shrike stared at his sister's body with wide eyes, feeling something rising inside him as the Typhlosion continued to ravage her corpse. Anger, hate, fear, regret... All at once he felt it bubbling to the surface, and then just as it had for her, the world went black.

"...You blacked out?" Celine spoke as the story died down, seeing how heavily the recollection had weighed upon Shrike. He was breathing slowly, gripping those goggles tightly. Hesitantly he nodded.

"When I woke up again the fire was out and the Typhlosion gone. All that remained was... Her corpse. With these, still somehow intact..." he stared down at the goggles as he said it. "The last remnant I have of her..."

Celine pursed her lips in thought, running the scenario as Shrike had told it through her mind. Finally she said, "So, you're saying, you don't believe the Typhlosion could have died as you didn't see it, yet... You did fall unconscious, so what keeps it from dying after you blacked out?"

"I'm saying that..." Shrike fumbled about, trying to come up with what to say before relenting and burying himself deeper into his chair. "I'm saying that I have no idea what happened after I blacked out. I thought it had just assumed I was dead and so left. It never occurred to me that... Somehow, it died."

Celine could tell his frustration was growing as Shrike slid out of the chair and began pacing back and forth, his fur occasionally bristling with static that would be released in an arc towards the exposed pole. "How even? Estelle was DEAD, I saw her die. It's not like she came back to life and killed it. Was there someone else? Did someone else come and kill them? And then just LEAVE me there?"

"There's another possibility."

"Eh?" Shrike grunted, stopping his pacing to look at Celine as she gave a smirk.

"You never blacked out. You killed it, but locked away your memory of doing so."

Shrike was silent for a moment, Jolteon staring at Vulpix blankly. Then he burst out into laughter, falling backwards and catching himself on the arm of a chair. "Hah, good one! I mean, me? Kill that thing? I couldn't even hit other kids my age back then, I barely had gotten any training in! Maybe NOW I could at least TRY to hurt it, but when I was an Eevee? You're out of your mind!"

Celine gave a knowing smirk but simply shrugged. "Doesn't hurt to keep an open mind, does it? Perhaps it had a sudden and rather inconveniently late stroke, perhaps a wandering hunter took it down, or perhaps you found a well of inner strength and killed it in your lust for vengeance."

"Even then, what happened to the body? There certainly weren't any dead Typhlosion lying around when I came to," Shrike pointed out, still refusing to believe Celine's joke.

"Now that's a mystery for the ages." She smiled at him and raised her paws into the air, Shrike letting out a breath and shaking his head. He was right, there was no way he could have killed it.

Still, something was bugging Shrike, nagging the back of his mind. He looked into the fire as he thought back to when he had been talking to Celine before. Slowly he spoke, "All that aside... You mentioned communing with the dead?"

Her expression immediately changed, growing somber. It was clear she knew what Shrike had in mind, but still she tried to divert him. "I couldn't ask the Typhlosion how it died if that's what you're getting at." She shook her head, the curls of fur sitting between her ears bounding lightly. "Feral Pokemon... They're completely different from you and I and that includes language. I could ask them a question but any answer I got would be unintelligible to us, if it would even have meaning."

"What about Estelle then? Could you talk to her?" Shrike pushed at it, beating back Celine's deflection. He leaped up and dashed over to the Vulpix, standing in front of her. "Could I talk to her? Just one more time..."

Celine gave a heavy sigh. She always dreaded when this subject came up. "That question is a lot more difficult to answer than one would expect. Communing with a soul isn't like asking a friend how their day went, after all. When someone dies, their soul departs from their body and becomes one with what we call the Aetheric Flow, a current of Aether that blows through the world like wind. This means that the soul of a specific person at best may not be anywhere near here, but at worse... Well, with it being five years since she died it's probably already dissipated, spread thin across the world and essentially become one with all the other departed. To pluck her out of the millions, perhaps even billions that have died before... It would take someone much stronger than me." Celine frowned before shaking her head, looking up at Shrike with apologizing eyes.

"O-oh..." Shrike looked down to the ground and his feet, slumping down and giving a sigh. "I had just thought, well..."

Celine watched in silence as the Jolteon's eyes grew wet, tears forming in their corners that he tried to blink away. He didn't want to look weak in front of someone he'd known for just a few hours, but it was hard to keep it all in. "It's been so long, and she was... Without parents she wasn't just a sister..." He quietly explained, rapidly blinking to keep the tears from flowing.

"You know... I didn't say it was impossible."

Shrike's eyes immediately darted to her, staring at Celine with those bright blue eyes he had shared with his sister. He stayed silent as Celine continued, "I assume you've heard of how, well, magical Falonde is? The Aetheric Flow is strongest there, twisting and turning to such an extent the concentration of Aether is several times greater than in other regions, such as here in Whiteholt. This means the concentration of departed souls, even ones who have spread thin with age is highest there. Lastly, my master... She's one of, if not the best at the manipulation of Aether. Five years may be a stretch even for her, but if anyone can do it, it would be her."

The nearly crying Jolteon remained silent, sniffling back the tears now. Slowly he reached up to wipe at his eyes with the back of a paw, squeezing his goggles tightly in the other. "I've never left before. Never traveled... I wouldn't know what to do, or where to go."

"I will be returning there shortly once I have seen to my affairs here, if you wish you can come with me. There's only one catch: to commune with the dead, you need something that was important to them." Celine glanced to the goggles Shrike held and gave a nod, "You said those were recovered from her corpse? I believe they should work."

The Jolteon was breathless, his tears drying up as he raised the paw holding his, no, his sister's goggles and looked between them and Celine. "So, if I travel with you for a month, bring these to your master... I can talk to Estelle?"

The Vulpix twitched her tails, pausing for a moment. "It's not guaranteed. Five years is a long time, there's no telling what if anything remains of her soul to be talked to. It may be too much even for the greatest witch in Falonde."

"But there's a chance."

"Yes."

Shrike sat in thought, tumbling the idea over in his head. It wasn't like he didn't want to travel, indeed he had always yearned to leave Woodhurst and see the world beyond these wooden walls and the surrounding forests. Then, getting to talk to his sister one more time, to tell her how sorry he was that his ignorance had gotten her killed? To tell her how much she meant to him, and show her all the effort he had put in to live up to her even when she was gone?

Yet... Looking at Celine, Shrike realized just how little he knew of this mysterious Vulpix that had conveniently shown up at the site of Estelle's death, and who he had now taken into his house and was considering journey with to the far reaches of the land. He barely knew this Celine, not even what she was looking for that she'd come all the way out here. She seemed nice and felt honest, but could he really trust her enough to travel with her?

"When will you be leaving?" He finally asked, keeping his eyes looking down to the floor.

"That's hard to say. I'll probably stay a few days, but it may be less or even longer. If you want to travel with me, I really need an answer today."

"All right... Today, huh?" Shrike stood up on all four legs, shifting his balance to just three as he extended a paw out to Celine. "I need to check in with some people later, but I'm inclined to say yes."

Celine stared at Shrike's extended paw for a moment as if she didn't know what to do with it. Finally she seemed to grasp the gesture, leaning forward to take Shrike's paw in her own. "Well, I'd be glad to have the company on the way back if you do come. You'll be alone on the return trip though, you realize?"

"One of the things I want to check in about," Shrike smiled and gave a nod towards the door to Zeke's room. "Would a third person weigh you down?"

"Zeke? Hmm, I was wanting to talk to him, but I don't think it'd be a problem." Celine stood up and stretched out her body, extinguishing the fireplace with a wave of her tails despite how little wind she generated. "But enough about that. How about you show me around some more?"

Woodhurst had changed since the morning as the people mostly settled into their daily routines. Kids ran along the streets and dashed down alleys between the tightly packed buildings, while adults sat inside shops or behind wooden stalls doing everything from cooking food, tailoring clothes, running inns, or just hawking their wares. Shrike and Celine spent hours wandering through the streets, poking their heads into a shop here or there and grabbing a bite to eat for lunch at one of Shrike's favorite cafés.

Shrike led Celine around with the ease of someone who had lived there all his life. Past the shops, they made their way to the great walls that surrounded the town and out a small door that led directly to the logging camp outside. He nodded to a few workers he recognized but let them go about their business; meanwhile Celine marveled at the strong Pokemon who could carry one or more logs all by themselves and the teams of Pokemon who would work together to cut the logs into smaller pieces.

Back inside the walls they went, the sun having long since crested and beginning its journey down to the horizon. Still there was much left to the day, Shrike almost pulling Celine along as he led her into the heart of the town. The buildings rose taller and stronger around them, more stone now used in their construction to support their greater size. At Woodhurst's heart was the largest of them all, a towering five-story building that Shrike explained to be Town Hall, the center of all government there in Woodhurst.

"It really is different here from back home." Celine murmured, glancing down and kicking a stray rock, watching it skitter across the cobblestone path. "Even just having the ground under your feet..."

"Still seems odd to me that you live in trees. I mean, how do you deal with, well... Plumbing?" Shrike nodded at a small pump that sat alongside the road as they passed, one kid grabbing the handle and hopping up and down to pump it while another splashed around under the faucet as water poured out.

"We carry buckets of water up as needed, of course," she answered, not exactly satisfying Shrike's question but he didn't feel the need to push it anymore.

Continuing on, the pair finally came to what Shrike had been wanting to show Celine: a large park in the middle of the town, a spot of green amid all the brown and gray buildings. The Vulpix smiled as she wiggled her paws into the grass and looked around at the trees and flowers. "So your town isn't so cold after all," she remarked.

"Just wait until winter, then you'll be rethinking that," Shrike replied with a grin.

For a few minutes they simply walked along the dirt paths between the trees, taking it all in. The park really was the most beautiful part of Woodhurst. At this time of day it was quiet too, letting Shrike think in peace as they walked. The chance to leave this place, to really, truly, finally leave home was in front of him. He glanced to the Vulpix at his side, looking over her lithe form. They had really just met, but there was something about her all right. It was pure luck that he had met her, almost as if she had come just for... Him...

Shrike stopped suddenly, eyes wide as he watched Celine continue to walk forward a few steps before stopping and turning to look at him, "Why'd you stop?"

"Celine... This person you're looking for... Who are they?"

"I thought we were over this? I really can't..." Her voice trailed off, her eyes turning from Shrike to look behind him. Slowly he turned to follow, sitting back and raising a paw to shield his eyes as he looked through the trees to the street beyond. "Isn't that your friend?"

Sure enough, it looked to be Zeke. He bounded down the street with a leaping motion that sent him flying almost three or four steps in a single stride. Dodging around and leaping over people who got in his way, he bounded down the road and through the park before coming to a stop with a skid in front of Shrike and Celine.

"Man, I've been looking for you two! I told you, something's happening!" he said, gripping his knees and panting. "These odd guys, they just arrived in town half an hour ago or so and are looking for-"

Zeke was cut off as Celine suddenly shoved him and Shrike to the ground, her tails raising in the air and uncurling before plunging into the ground. A glyph composed of glowing gold lines appeared on the ground around the three Pokemon, a crystalline blue dome rising around them just in time to deflect a barrage of arrows raining down on them. "Us, I assume?" she finished for Zeke.

Shrike gasped as he looked up to see the arrows clacking against the blue dome, their sharp points more resembling those used to hunt than the blunt tips used for practice or target shooting. Who had shot them? What had Celine just done? Was this what Zeke had been talking about happening today, not just him meeting Celine? He felt an odd thrill rise in his chest combining fright with, he had to admit, some excitement as well. This was certainly different.

"He has a witch!" a voice shouted, the arrows subsiding. The trees shook as a large number of Pokemon dropped down from where they had been hiding; Shrike estimated there had to be at least ten of them. All were dressed in black robes that concealed their bodies, emblazoned on the front with a golden symbol that looked like a sun atop a throne.

"Well, Shrike, to be exact. I don't think they expected you," Zeke stated the obvious, pulling himself to his feet and spitting to the side. He slid his legs apart and raised his fists, pounding them together before holding them in front of him. "Nor me."

"Shrike, this is very important," Celine slowly said, glancing down at the Jolteon behind her. He saw energy pulsing around where her tails were planted in the ground, the barrier surrounding them flickering. "We cannot let you be captured. Do not try to fight. Stay low, stay still, stay out of my way, and I will protect you."

"M-me? Why do they want ME?" Shrike stammered, his eyes going wide.

"That question's going to have to wait for another time." Right as she said that the barrier shattered into pieces, Celine pulling her tails from the ground and fanning them out behind her. She shot forward in one direction while Zeke took off in the opposite, the Riolu leaping up to launch himself through the air. A blue aura sphere formed before him, the Riolu slamming a fist into it and rocketing the sphere at one of the black-clothed Pokemon while he crashed down atop the one next to them with a swift kick.

Meanwhile Celine was standing her ground, an array of golden glyphs appearing around each of her tails in midair. Fire flared around first her paws, then her neck, and finally the base of her tails. The sheer sight seemed to unnerve the attackers, especially once each tail began to independently launch a barrage of fireballs at them.

At first the duo seemed to be driving the attackers off. Zeke swiftly leapt between opponents as he delivered barrages of punches and kicks. When one drew a sword and tried to swing it at him, he managed to precisely catch it in a notch on his right paw's spike while punching at their wrist with an open palm. A burst of blue energy shot from the palm as he hit his opponent's wrist, the impact of the force palm sufficient to get them to drop their sword. Zeke stomped on the tip as it was in mid-fall, the sword's hilt flipping up to let the Riolu catch it in his paw. He gave the blade a couple swings in the air to test it before grinning and pointing it at the next foe who was approaching him.

Shrike watched with ears flat against his head as Celine continued her fireball attacks, each sphere of flame exploding into fiery shrapnel wherever it hit; the ground, a tree, or even an unlucky Pokemon who got slammed right in the chest. Finally someone wised up, holding back and trying to shoot an arrow at her again. One of Celine's tails flicked out of formation to knock the arrow out of the air mid-flight, the fire around her paws and tails disappearing as she raised them in the air behind her, twisting them together. She leapt into the air and spun end over end as fire flared around her again, glyphs appearing on either side of her spinning body as she barreled down on the archer. They screamed as the fire-wreathed Vulpix slammed down atop them, the fire consuming their form. Celine uncurled herself as she stood atop their body and growled at the others scattered around.

At the sight of Celine's fire, Shrike felt his heart leaping. Her attacks were ferocious and while the embers quickly faded to avoid an uncontrollable blaze, trees were shattered apart, flowers uprooted, and grass left charred and burnt. Recalling the dead clearing from the feral Typhlosion's attack, Shrike felt his body shaking as he turned around and tried to crawl away. He knew Celine had said to stay still, but he couldn't keep watching as she destroyed the park around her.

So he did his best to crawl slowly, trying not to attract any attention. Unfortunately, trying wasn't enough. "There he is!" he suddenly heard someone say, the Jolteon looking up with a yelp as he saw one of the attackers approaching him with a sword in hand. Seeing that brought a grin to his face though, a bolt of lightning arcing from his body to the metal blade and traveling down into the black-clothed Pokemon's body. They spasmed as they dropped to the ground, but it was too late.

"Gotcha," a voice behind him said and Shrike felt a pair of arms close around his waist, lifting him off the ground with a surprising lack of effort. Remembering what Celine had said and desperate not to be caught, Shrike nearly bit his lip as he bucked his head backwards and slammed his skull into his would-be captor's face.

Shrike was thankfully rewarded with a howl and a grumble from the Pokemon as they reflexively dropped him to the ground. He was just about to run away when their hand came down again and tried to close around his head, Shrike ducking low. He managed to avoid them grabbing his head, but in its place their hands instead closed around the goggles he had placed back atop his head after leaving the house.

There was a snap as the goggles were torn away from Shrike's head, the elastic band splitting apart. "God damn piece of..." the Pokemon growled, followed by the distinct sound of his fist closing in a ball around the goggles, the fragile plastic and glass crushing into dust.

The world seemed to fall still to Shrike as he heard it, slowly turning around to face the Pokemon. Their hood had fallen to reveal themselves as a Machoke, their fist gigantic in comparison to the crushed remains of the goggles it dropped to the ground. He casually dusted some plastic off his hands before reaching out and grabbing Shrike around the neck. The Jolteon's eyes remained locked on the ruined goggles, however, Celine's words echoing through his head. All the hopes of talking to Estelle one last time, of communing with her spirit... Of traveling to Falonde with Celine... Crushed, before his eyes.

"Shrike!" he heard Celine shout, looking over to see the Vulpix looking back at him, then down at the goggles as she worked out what happened. Zeke also turned his attention to Shrike lowering the sword he had claimed. The world was in slow motion. Shrike watched as Celine tried to run forward, her steps taking a minute each. Then a black-clad Pokemon took the chance to grab her, the Vulpix fighting against their grasp as she yelled, "Shrike, whatever you do, don't-"

He didn't hear the rest of her words before a roaring noise filled his ears and everything went black.