Chapter 7 – Shadows on the Wall
"You don't get it, Dawn." Lucas's Alakazam disappeared back into its pokeball. Dawn stared in shock at her own defeated pokemon. He had defeated her soundly and fairly, but the viciousness in which he had done so… "I'm done with this."
"You can't just run away!" Dawn shouted, fear gnawing at her heart. So many months now he had been restless. Always away at night, writing madly in the dark or sitting alone in the living room, staring as the lights in the distant city dwindled. "What about starting a family?"
"What if I don't want one?" Lucas shook his head. He grabbed a pokeball, the one containing his Pidgeot. "I'm tired of this life."
"Don't you leave!"
"What, are you gonna stop me?" Lucas smirked. "Champion?"
"What the hell has gotten into you?" Dawn felt the tears come, just as they had so many times before. "I don't know why you're like this!"
Lucas just stared.
"Is it an affair? Am I not good enough for you?" Dawn shouted, "Or is it money? Your responsibilities? Talk to me, Lucas! We were so happy once…"
"It's all empty!" Lucas's body posture snapped from laid-back to aggressive as he stomped over to her. "People, our society, our government. We're so consumed by this ridiculous worship of consumption that we can't see past our own noses! We're spied on by our own government. We're at the whim of corporate power. We're encouraged to hate our fellow man, to constantly be on the look-out lest they hurt us! Unions are a relic of the past. The neoliberal man rises. Political struggles have less to do with people and more to do with power dynamics between multi-national companies. Doesn't it all strike you as so useless? I cannot exist in Sinnoh any longer. The sooner I wash my hands of it, the better."
"Then take me with you." Dawn pleaded, "If you just want to run away, I can go with. We can find somewhere clean. We can find some country in the ass end of nowhere that doesn't have these problems. Together. Please."
"I – " He paused, a mixture of emotion crossing his face. Just a hint of his sadness, of the despair that lurked under the anger, of his constant fight against the emptiness within. Dawn knew his pain. She too watched as her country descend into its current state. Lucas was not wrong. "I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because I intend to fight." Lucas said, his glare returning, an evil look in his eye. "And when I'm done, there will be nothing left of this fucking country."
o
Dawn jerked awake, her heart pounding. She seized the front of her chest, sweating madly. Her eyes scanned her small room before settling on the clock. 2:08. She'd been asleep barely two hours since the other professor left, since confirmation came in that Lysandre's weapon had indeed been fired. What did she expect? The same nightmare returned to her every night these days. There was no avoiding it.
"Lucas?" Dawn lay back in her bed. It was a tough thing. Military-grade, even though the room was meant for non-military guests. At least she didn't have to sleep in a tiny bunk with the rest of the men. "Where are you right now?"
She'd had no information on his whereabouts for nearly three years now. Three years of being alone. She'd tried moving on, finding another person, but it was impossible. Her life had been planned out, even down to the small details. Champion of Sinnoh married to a research professor and soon-to-be gym leader living their lives quiet and out of the way. It had seemed so tranquil and ideal. Enough so that Dawn had ignored the early warning signs.
Lucas was always too political. She'd resigned herself to that, thinking it was just part of who he was. In the heavily mediated country that Sinnoh was, one more opinion wasn't really a big deal, honestly. Everyone had a damn opinion. What she didn't count on was how people would react to Lucas's opinions. He was the husband of the Champion of Sinnoh and was known to occasionally beat her in battle. He was a man distinguished not only for his skill with pokemon, but for his groundbreaking research as well. That was an opinion people took seriously.
It started small. At research conferences, a word would be passed around here or there. At bars. A little slip in interviews. But it was growing. It always was. Lucas grew less patient, and his impulsiveness was bound to get them both in trouble eventually. The Autonomous Zone of Sinnoh wasn't really known for allowing deviant political ideas.
"Was it all doomed from the beginning?" Dawn extended her hand outwards. There was something she hadn't told the Parliament of the Autonomous Zone of Sinnoh. The characteristics of the weapon Lysandre was rumored to be pursuing very closely matched theoretical research Lucas had been pursuing. When she'd told the nuclear scientist of Lucas's research earlier, she'd left out exatly how close the two aligned. "What have you done, Lucas?"
She rolled over. Why couldn't she have just found another man or something? Forget Lucas and start over. Make an actual life instead of always pursuing a shadow. But she never took off her wedding band. Not even for a moment. She wasn't so sure anymore if that was a good thing. Was it love or obsession that drove her now?
"And you always were a ladies man, Lucas." She laughed to herself. "God, you've probably gotten a million bimbos to spread their legs for you since you left for Kalos."
A long time ago, that used to bother her.
Now, she just wished that it still did.
o
Seth checked his watch. 2:10 AM. The soldiers just finished with the second round of waterboarding. The big one left silently again. The small one rained threats down upon the defeated girl. Serena didn't snap at him again. She sputtered, struggling to breath as she writhed about, defeated.
Serena lay crumpled on the ground to the side of the table, her stomach to the ground. Seth felt his heart twist. He had to help her. Beneath his lab coat, he clutched her possessions. There were eight soldiers surrounding the tent where she'd been tortured. Past that, the stones stretched out for miles. It would be difficult for the military to pursue them on foot, but their best bet was escaping into the air. Yet Seth had no idea which of Serena's pokemon could fly, or if she even had one. And if her pokemon wouldn't listen to him… It didn't matter. Seth had to try something, or she'd be killed.
"Wish me luck…" He breathed onto the pokeball containing his Alakazam, then let fly. He chose one of Serena's at random and threw it as well. He had one chance.
o
Pain. Darkness. Fear.
Serena wandered amongst her thoughts, unsure how much of what she saw was real or not. The choking and burning in her lungs, the terror and the anguish. Shauna, where was she? The thought burned in her mind. God, she missed her. Calem, Tierno, Trevor. Where were they?
"Shauna," She croaks, extending her arm to the shadow in the doorway. Commotion outside. She didn't know what. "I – "
"Sorry, Serena," She felt strong arms wrap around her, lifting her, "But I think it's about time I stopped running away."
Author's Note:
No new reviews. :c
