Whoop! New chapter, yo!
THANKS FOR REVIEWING AND FAVORITING AND FOLLOWING AND READING AND ALL THAT GOOD SHIT, PEOPLE! It means a lot to me!
Note: Keep in mind this story is in fact rated T, and it WILL have swearing, blood, dark themes and even later on, child abuse, insanity and gore. Nothing in here in bad enough for me to change the rating to M, but if there was a T+ I'd problably rate it that.
Disclaimer: Galefire owns nothing of Pokemon. Other then merchandise. But not the content. This story belongs to her though.
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"This place looks worse then the last time I saw it." Lyra commented, starring up with wide eyes at the tall building before them, almost hesitant to approach it.
It was true. Burnt Tower, though it had always been in rough condition, seemed to be about ready to fall over as it loomed darkly above the three trainers, scorch marks somehow looking even blacker and the fire -stained build creaking at every gust of wind. What little remained on the roof was bleach white and stripped of all properties, the rest having caved into the building itself. Lyra played with the edge of her sleeve nervously, swallowing the lump in her throat.
"Well..." She tried to look confident, taken aback by the silence of her two companions. "I can definitely see why Team Rocket would stow away here. Shady..."
From the corner of her eye, the girl could swear she saw Silver stiffen, just slightly, at the mention of the organization's name.
"...Bastards..." He whispered, an odd look casting itself across his face. "I'll kill them all..."
Lyra frowned, not sure if she had heard him correctly. "What was that?"
"H'mm?" Silver's expression returned to normal, his eyes holding a hint of confusion, as if he was not aware he had just spoken.
"Stop flirting you two!" Gold snapped suddenly, interrupting any possible response from the girl. "We've got stuff to be doing!"
Silver's head snapped around to face the boy, the way his right eye was twitching suggested he had heard something that pissed him off quite greatly. Before anyone had a moment to react, the red haired trainer had grabbed a firm hold of his younger compainion's throat, ultimately cutting off his supply of air. Narrowed silver orbs burned into wide gold ones, alive with rage and what could only be described as hatred.
"Stuff?!" Silver snapped, voice shaking a little. "This is not "stuff", or whatever bullshit way you chose to describe this!" His hold on the boy visibly tightened. "This is serious fucking business, you hear?! WE COULD ALL END UP DEAD! DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THAT?!"
Gold struggled desperately, face turning a bright shade of red.
"S-Silver..." He just barely managed to cough.
"What are you doing?!" Lyra finally managed to yell. Running over to the action, she grabbed forcefully onto the older boy's arm, pulling with all her might to make him let go, to no avail. "Silver, stop!"
Whether he had not heard or chose not to listen, Silver's grip did not loosen, if anything, he continued to squeeze down harder, expression holding an unfamiliar look of blind panic.
"DO YOU TAKE THIS AS A GAME?!" Silver continued to shout, almost sounding on the verge of tears. "HOW ABOUT I BREAK YOUR PATHETIC LITTLE SPINE?! HOW FUN WILL YOUR STUPID FUCKING GAME BE THEN?!"
"SILVER!" Lyra screamed at the top of her lungs, praying she would be loud enough to peice through his own cries.
The red haired Dexholder seemed to break out of a trace. The dead look to his eyes seemed to fade as he backed up, looking what could almost be described as utterly terrified. Lyra saw his gaze shift down to his hands, moving each finger rhythmically as if to make sure they were really there. Not once did he look up at his companions.
The three sat in silence for a moment, disturbed only by Gold's heaving breaths as he fought to get lost air back into his lungs. Lyra had to wait, wait before she could even finish comprehending what had just happened.
"Silver..." She whispered in a chocked voice. He did not break his focus. Swallowing, she went on. "...Why?"
Silver didn't answer.
The girl could feel a pressure rising in her chest. "Why would you do that?" She repeated, now managing to find her train of thought. "He said one sentence, one scentence, and you go insane! He wasn't even trying to piss you off! For once..." Gold gave her a look at that last comment.
The red haired trainer only shook his head slowly, trying his very best to look calm, before quickly turning around and walking in a fast yet controlled pace, not even daring to look back.
Gold pulled himself off the ground with a snort, dusting himself off. "Way to overreact, dick."
Although Lyra wasn't particularly fond of the course language he had decided to use, the brown haired girl found herself actually siding with Gold on this case. Silver HAD overrreacted, especially in regards of his character and the amount if time he had spent with the black haired boy. He knew how to keep his cool when Gold was being... Well, Gold.
Lyra forced a neutral face and pretended to shrug it off, hoping she looked believable. "He's probably just stressed. Hearing about Team Rocket's potential resurrection must be wearing him down a little."
Yes. Her mind nodded. That made sense.
"Yeah, okay sure." Gold didn't seem to agree. "Let's just get going already. I don't want to see what happens when he gets "stressed" when the presence of a large rock."
Oh sweet Acrceus Lyra prayed he was joking.
Just as the boy spun around to head to their designated area, Lyra placed a hand on his shoulder, mentally sighing. She didn't want to have to do this. It felt like she was betraying Professor Oak, which was one of the last things she wanted to do.
Yet she felt she had to. "Uh, Gold, I was thinking..." The girl but her lip at his confused expression.
"Yeah?"
"I... I need you to stay behind. Just for now!" She added quickly.
Gold starred at her for a long time, only deepening her displeasure. His dark golden eyes looked utterly taken aback, hurt even.
"...Why?!" Lyra winced at the tone in his voice.
"Because, when me and Silver go inside the tower, if it were to turn out to be a trap, we'll need someone to call for help so that happen." At least, that was half the story.
"But why can't Silver stay back?!" Gold hissed, expression betraying the massive blow his self-confidence had just taken. "Oh wait, is because 'ooh! He's SUCH a good trainer! Nah nah nah, I can't fight my way out if a paper bag! Nah nah nah!'" He spat each word out bitterly, like they were nothing more then a bad taste in his mouth.
Lyra flinched. "No! It's not like that! In fact, I need you to do something else," she leaned in slowly, voice lowering to a whisper. "Something I can't trust Silver with..."
This seemed to excite the youngest Dexholder quite greatly. "What is it?!"
'Probably should have though of that first...' The girl thought with a wince.
"Well you see, uh, I umm..." She looked around desperately, trying to bring up something, anything, that could get her out of this predicament. Lyra winced, noticing his gaze getting more suspicious. Gold wasn't an idiot, this was something she knew well. He wasn't the smartest person on earth, far from it actually, and he did have a tendency to ignore all commen sense at times, but he most definitely wasn't STUPID.
Lyra quickly perked up, the stray seeds of an idea planting themselves into her head.
"Yes! Of course!" She forced a laugh, feeling sweat beading on her forehead as the younger trainer's eyes narrowed further. This was just PAINFUL. "I need you to watch my Nidoking!"
Gold raised an eyebrow as she started shuffling through her bag. "...Why?"
"Because he's... Hurt!" Lyra prayed her smile looked natural.
"Then heal him."
'Crap. He knows about logic.'
"I... I um, can't."
The black haired boy rolled his eyes, looking utterly exasperated. "And might I ask what the magical reasoning for that is?"
Lyra finally found the Pokeball she was looking for. "Oh it's not magical. Quite the contrary, actually. It's science." Without even waiting for a response, she quickly sent out the large, purple dinosaur-like Pokemon, covering her ears as it let out it's trademark roar. "You see, in a battle against a psychic trainer a few days ago, he injured his ankle by tripping over a pot-hole." The girl made a small gesture towards the Nidoking's lower leg. "It was bent up pretty badly out of shape, and although potions and Pokemon centres can heal most of the damage, the nerves are still very sensitive, and he needs to have someone look after him to make sure it doesn't get infected."
Lyra knew how bad of an excuse this was, it didn't even make any physical sense, but it was all she had. She couldn't shrug off the gut feeling that something would go terribly wrong inside the burnt tower, and the last thing she wanted was the young trainer in the midst of all that.
"His ankle doesn't look swollen." Gold pointed out, snapping her back to reality.
"Not every injury swells, Gold."
"Yes, but-" The boy cut himself off, shaking his head. "You know what? Fine! I don't even care anymore! You want to go do the actual mission with your precious little Silver, go right ahead." Clearly enraged, he hastily grabbed the Pokeball that was sitting on the third slot of his belt, tossing it to her begrudgingly. "Just take my Bellossom. I'll just sit here. Being useless. Like always."
Lyra cast him a concern look. "Gold..."
"Just go away!" He snapped, turning his back to her.
The girl sighed wistfully, wishing that had gone better. The last thing she needed was one of her comrades to be holding a grudge.
"Alright, but if anything goes wrong out here, use Togekiss to fly to the lab immediately. It's not because I don't think you can handle it," she added, seeing his fist clench into a ball, "but that way you'll be able to find help for me and Silver. If someone is targeting you, they'll be targeting us too. We're a team Gold, remember that."
Without another word, Lyra flipped around, stalking off towards her destination, feeling her heart sink with every step, the cold image of two golden eyes, sharp and alight with raging fire burned into the back of her mind.
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Lyra winced at a loud creaking noise once again split the silence of the Burned tower, resonating throughout the whole area. And she had thought the outside looked terrible! It was clear that by the combined efforts of it's old injuries, and the passing years, that the Burnt Tower was slowly falling appart, which was very evident by it's current state.
The entire interior of the building was a crumbling mess, the darkened walls caving in ever so slightly with a fair amount of the dark wood that had made them up missing. The roof was more or less the same, but had an a collection irritating leaks somewhere in the room, the area if which was hidden by the dark surronding shadows of the building. Lyra cast a nervous glance down towards the hole in the centre of the floor, disturbingly aware of how much more immense it had grown since the last time she saw it.
Silver walked silently beside her, head down. Occasionally, he would look up, eyes darting around the room, as if he was expecting someone to jump out and murder them both, before returning to his previous state.
Lyra frowned deeper, casting the red haired trainer a concerned look. His behaviour lately was getting stranger and stranger as time passed by. Not only had he strangled Gold just mintues before, but after Lyra had spent so much time talking to said boy afterwards, Silver didn't made a snide remark about how slow she was, or how having the other two on the mission was such a huge waste of time. He hadn't even given her a side look of silent annoyance like he usually would, which was so un-Silver-like it HURT.
The panicked expression in Silver's gaze that she saw now wasn't helping either.
"Silver?" She spoke up tentatively, not completely sure just how much trust she should bestow upon her other companion.
Silver froze in the spot. He didn't answer verbally, but his body language was enought to send Lyra the message that she should continue.
The girl swallowed, before continuing. "Are... Are you okay?"
The question hung in the air for a moment, unanswered.
Silver finally lifted his head, half his face shaded over by the darkness of the surronding area. A hint of shiny grey was visible in the shadows, but no more.
"What do you mean by okay?" His voice was icily calm.
"I mean... Um..." The girl took a second to consider her answer. "Silver... Are you scared?" An odd pang hit her heart as she uttered the last question.
Dead. Silence.
The look that he gave her was almost indescribable. His gaze was hollow, devoid of any life or persuading emotions, lacking of any luster.
He looked... Dead.
Finally, Silver responded."No."
That simple statement had enough force behind it to cause Lyra to take a step back, in shock that someone looking so empty could bring such power into their voice. A loud, echoing "crack!" emitted through the air as her foot hit a charred plank, one that was just barely jutting out over the large, gaping hole. Taken by surprise, the brown haired girl lost her balance, the wood breaking under the pressure. Before she could react, Lyra fell backwards, down into the deep pit below.
A strangled scream found its way out of her throat. Lyra felt a jolt of panic flash through her, arms reaching out desperately for something to grab ahold of, but the attempt proved fruitless, her hand missing the edge by a hair's breadth. However, before she could plummet further into the inky darkness of the large hole, something gripped firmly onto her wrist, stopping her descent entirely.
Lyra hissed in pain as pain flashed through her shoulder. Her entire form hung, pale and shaking, directly in between life and certain death. Her breath hitched in her chest, heart beating furiously.
Finally, after giving her mind a moment to comprehend what had just occurred, the girl found the courage to look up, to find out what had saved her.
Silver.
The red haired teen starred down upon her, silver eyes looking almost uninterested in what had just happened. His right hand gripped tightly upon her arm.
"That was stupid." He muttered in a bored tone.
"Tell me about it!" Lyra laughed nervously, forcing herself not to look down.
Silver sighed, as if the whole situation was just a massive bother to him, and started to pull the girl up. His arms shook ever so slightly, wether this was from the effort or just the shock kicking in, Lyra didn't know. At the moment, all she really cared about is that she wanted to feel solid ground beneath her feet.
"I have a sudden understanding for Gold's fear of hights..." Lyra said to nobody in paticular, at last level enough to grab onto the edge of the floor. The loose splinters bit into her hands as she did so, causing her to bite her lip from the light sting.
Silver rolled his eyes in response, still holding onto her arm.
"Uh, Silver?" Lyra pulled herself up, dusting herself off with her one free hand. "You can let go now."
However, despite what she had just told him, the red haired trainer still held on, grip only tightening. His eyes widened, starring into nothing.
"Okay, okay!" Lyra attempted to pull away. "I get it! I won't fall again! You're hilarious!"
Silver's mouth moved, as if forming words, but made no sound. His nails digged deeply into her skin, not deep enough to break into the flesh, but enough to cause her to start tugging away desperately.
"Let go!" She cried, wincing as he didn't react.
Just as the girl had raised her arm, fully prepared to slap him across the face, the spell was broken. Silver shook his head, his eyes showing an odd sense of rage.
Snapping his arm away from her, he cast a glance around the room. "Do you hear that?!"
Lyra paused. Around her, the air was silent, appart from the constant dripping of the supposed leak. Nothing out of the ordinary, so what was he talking about? Snapping back to reality, she answered, "What?! Silver, what the heck is up with you?! You were totally out of it just a minute ago!"
Silver starred at her for a long moment, as if he was making sure she was serious, before breaking out into a run, sprinting deeper into the tower.
"Silver!" Lyra was taken aback for a second. This wasn't like him! Sure, being the silent type, he was far from talkative, but at least he often gave explanations for what he was doing! Not wanting to lose sight of him, Lyra started to chase after the red haired boy, gritting her teeth. "Could you please tell me what's going on?!"
"Shh." Was his only response.
"Did you just-"
"Shh!"
Picking up the pace, Lyra ran alongside Silver, glaring at him. Her fists curled into balls as she forced down her enraged words.
Sometimes he really got on her nerves.
Meanwhile, the leaking sound was getting louder, beginning to sound like many drips instead of just one. Slowly, Lyra got the faintest hint if an idea for what he was doing.
Finally, as the noise reached its climax, signifying that the two trainers were closing in on the source, Silver stopped dead in his tracks, almost cause the fuming girl to crash into him.
Lyra reeled back for a moment, before regaining both her composure and her anger.
"Silver, I demand you tell me what's going on!" She hissed, reaching the end of her wits. It was hard to believe she was having to be so short with Silver!
Finally, the male teenager answered her, albeit quite vaguely.
"Look." He instructed in a chilling monotone, pointing to the area before them.
Lyra peered forward, having to squint to see what he was indicating. As she did so, a terrible, sour scent hit her nose, mixed with a slight metallic tang. The putrid scent caught in her throat at that very moment, causing her to gag, tears welling up in her eyes. It was then that she saw what could only be described as one of the worst, most horrifying things she had seen in her life. The girl could only stare, mortified, frozen in the spot.
Laying right in front of her, was a collection of dozens, possibly hundreds, of mutilated Marowak corpses, their blacked flesh rotting right off the bones. Most were thrown lazily into a mesh of splayed limbs onto the cold floor, but some were tied by their own decomposing intestines, onto the broken ceiling boards. Thick blood dripped from the creatures' torn stomachs. The organs had been slashed beyond repair, to the point that some had been reduced to a foul-smelling mush, strewn across the bloodied ground.
Lyra clapped a hand over her mouth, heart skipping a beat. Any and all words were at a loss to her. Beside her, Silver tensed.
"They're here." He whispered.
And at that very moment, the girl felt a hand squeeze her shoulder, warm breath running down her back.
"So good of you to join us children," a voice chided joyously. "What do you think of our experiments?"
Dead silence hit the room, filled only by the soft squelching of rotting organs as the dead Marowaks suddenly all turned to face the two teens.
Every single one of them was crying.
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Ugh... I meant to have this out sooner, but then vacation, sickness and writers block happened.
So yeah, I really hope you enjoy this chapter, because it was actually a lot of fun to write.
Next chapter: SHIT. GOES. DOWN.
Thanks for reading!
~*Galefire*~