Chapter 7: Punishment
Kiaya and Ninetails traveled for a few days after leaving Fayala village. Candina's mother had kindly packed them enough food and water for the trip. They had passed though Perranol town on their way. Perranol was fairly far off from the isolated village of Fayala, but it was also the only town on the way. It was a suburb not far from the spectacle that was Callani city. Callani city drew tourists from around the world; it was full of various entertainments. Kiaya had not called her Dad in Perranol because she was still deciding what she planned to tell him about what had happened. She doubted she should even tell him about the stone, it would only worry him. Kiaya reasoned that being as under the radar as possible was better, so team gem stone would not find her. As Kiaya walked along, she considered these things, trying to figure out what she was going to say.
She eventually found herself in Callani, the big city she knew so well. There was tropical greenery, nice homes, beautiful hotels and tourism everywhere. There were amusement parks, tour-able pokemon conservation areas (such as the volcano and its surrounding area), theaters, museums, fine restaurants, endless shopping and more. Not to mention, the Diamond family hot springs. As Kaiya walked through the town she recalled growing up, before her father had his fortune. She and her mother had helped him grow his business into what it was today. She recalled hours of scrubbing out tubs in the bath area, dealing with naked old men and endless used towels. She thought about the small broken down home they had lived in. In Callani homes sold for far more than they were worth, so an ex crack house in the bad part of town was all the family could afford. Kaiya thought of this as she neared her Father's mansion. It was the only home located on the pokemon conservation area near the volcano. Her father got it due to the close proximity to his hot springs, also located near the volcano. This area was on the far edge of Callani city, away from the amusement parks and such.
Kaiya noticed that the drive way did not have her Father's nor Cindy's cars there. "They must be out, how am I gonna get in" Kaiya thought looking at the tall white mansion. Night was falling now and the stars were coming out. She tried the front door, and oddly enough it was unlocked. Kaiya opened the door with a feeling of relief, she was finally home.
"Hey there beautiful. I've been waiting for you" said Kane sitting on a chair with his legs crossed. He was sipping a cup of tea in the grand entry room. The room was open with a chandelier hanging above them and a stair case on either side.
Kaiya could not believe her eyes. He was in her home. How did he know where she lived? Kaiya broke into a run, out the way she came. Kane sprung up after her. Kaiya was not sure where to run. She could not go to the police, if the authorities found out she had the stone they would likely lock her up too for protection. Through the police other interests would surely find out about it and she could be then subject to all kinds of things like testing or use for private interests. She needed to protect the stone. Instinctively Kaiya ran though the pokemon conservation area, towards the volcano.
Kane ran after her, intent on catching her. "You are not getting away from me this time Kaiya" Kane spat, a sick grin on his face. He was using her name on purpose.
Kiaya was filled with terror. "How does he know my name and where I live?" she thought before noticing a jagged rock on the ground. She snatched it as she ran and threw it back at Kane, aiming for his head.
"Shit!" Kane cried as the rock hit his right arm, slicing part of it open. Despite this he still chased her. Kiaya could do nothing but run. However she was getting tired fast. She had been through so much the past two weeks; her body could not take it. Her heart burned now, worse than ever before. It was like magma in her core. Kaiya grasped her chest as they neared the volcano.
The air was so thick, it was suffocating. "I've almost got you" Kane snarled, blood running down his right arm. He was close. The cold night air felt like it was cutting Kiaya's face as she dashed through the grassy fields. She was headed towards where it all began.
Her head was foggy and disoriented; she could not let him catch her. As she thought this her foot found a small volcanic rock hidden in the tall meadow. She was flung to the ground, rolling twice before stopping. Almost as quickly as Kaiya hit the ground, was Kaine on top of her. Quickly he grabbed her wrists and pushed them forcefully into the dirt.
"You're mine now"
Kiaya was in shock, her body hurt everywhere. Her heart was burning like a flame. Kane smiled, looking down at her. "Don't ever think you can run from me Kaiya Lilianna Diamond, born July 22nd in Callani city. I know everything about you Kaiya, about your wealthy father and dead mother. You can't run from me" He said whispering in her ear. "Now, you are mine. You will do as I tell you" Kane said before biting Kaiya's ear. Kiaya let out a scream.
"Why would you do this?" Kiya growled back.
"Team gem stone needs the stone" Kane replied.
"But why are you doing this" Kaiya said, feeling his legs tightly straddled around her. His face looked hungry, he wanted her.
"You're fun to play with." Kane said before licking her neck. "I mean, you do have more than one thing I want…" he said and then brought his tongue down to the base of her neck. "It's no different than your father taking the hot spring away from pokemon so that he could use it commercially. It's no different than you living in that mansion, made from the fallen habitats of pokemon. It's no different than Ninetails enslaved in your poke ball or the pokemon in mine. It no different than anything humans do here or anywhere else. Humans use each other and everything else to get what they want. And, what I want right now is you" Kane said moving his tongue and mouth even lower.
"Plus, Miss Diamond. You do need to be punished. You are mine now and I can't have you running away again" He said pushing body against her. "I could not find you in the forest, or your bit*h friend. Good thing I found this, so I knew where to find you" Kane said pulling Kaiya's hospital arm band out of his pocket. Across it was her full name. Kane smiled and grabbed at her clothing with greedy hands.
"It's not true" Kaiya said, the burning in her chest growing even larger than before.
"What?" Kane said, surprised.
"I said it's not true. Not all humans use each other, pokemon or nature. Humans love, they struggle and they try for a better future. We care for one another, we have compassion, and we stand up for the right thing. Those that do use each other, like you, are the lowest forms of human life. Those types of humans give the rest of us a bad name" Kaiya said, conviction in her eyes and fire in her heart.
Kane looked at her, shocked and frozen. Right then, the volcano before them began to rumble and smoke. Out of it emerged a beautiful phoenix pokemon. The bird pokemon emerged powerfully from the lava, shaking the lava off its feathers as it rose into the sky.
"M-moltres" Kane said, still frozen in place. Moltres flew through the air, in a half circle around the two. She was eyeing Kane. Moltres descended downward, grabbing Kane with its claws and throwing him away from Kaiya. The bird let out a cry as it flew around them, watching Kaiya get up and run away from Callani city. Moltres followed Kaiya as she ran. She followed Kaiya until she was outside city limits, far away from Kane.
"T-Thank you Moltres" Kaiya said. Moltres let out a cry in response before heading back in the direction they had come from.
Kane lay there against the volcano, stunned. He blinked and thought as blood ran down his arm and his back. He had talon marks there now.
"Not all humans use each other... Bull shit they don't" Kane said, contemplating what Kaiya had said and processing the situation. Kane thought about this another moment before passing out, a pool of blood under him.
Kane woke up later in a white room. "Urgh..." Kane moaned as he sat up in the bed he was laying in. His arm and back had been bandaged. Kane recognized this room, team gem stone's recovery room within their base. It was used for members that got hurt on the job. Kane got up sorely, put a key code in the door and left the room. He went down the halls of the base, passing training rooms, the dining hall, the lodging rooms for the grunts, the research lab, all the way down to the meeting room for the boss. He put a code into the door and opened it.
"Well there he is, the prodigal son" Said another green haired man sitting at the long meeting table. The man had deep brown eyes and a crooked smile. "You are lucky lucky brother. I was worried about you, all by yourself. Some of my men found you in Callani, bleeding out! My my, the things you get up to" The man laughed.
"Where's Father, Liam" Kane replied coldly.
"Oh you sour candy; he's coming in a few minutes. I would watch out though, he not happy. He knows you let the stone get away" Liam giggled, pressing his hand against his cheek in false concern. Kane grimaced at the mention of his Father, he knew what was coming.
"I know who she is; I found all her information through our data bases. It won't be hard to locate her…" Kane started when the opposite meeting room door flew open. In it stood a tall man with light green eyes and dark brown hair. He was dressed as a business man with a well-groomed beard.
A tall Magenta haired woman followed him. She wore tall Magenta pumps and a dark plum dress. She caught sight of Kane and made a disturbed face. "I will leave you to it then Boss Carter Sir" she said before abruptly leaving. She did not want to be in the way of what everyone knew would follow.
"F-father, I-" Kane began but was cut off by a swift punch in the face.
"You… you complete waste" said Carter before beating Kane some more, focusing on the areas where he was bandaged. Kane fell to the floor, not fighting back. He knew full well this was his punishment and he had to take it.
"Oh Papa, don't hit him too much. I don't want to have to send someone to bandage him up again." said Liam with a huff.
"Too late, he's gonna need it" Said Carter as he let up on Kane. The dark haired man readjusted his suit and sat down at the head of the table.
Liam leaned over the table to look at Kane and then sighed. He would indeed have to take time out of his day to deal with Kane's injuries. "Such an inconvenience" Liam said before sitting back down.
Kane lay there a moment before forcing his body to get up into a chair at the table. His face dripped a few drops of red fluid on table's clear surface.
"So tell me" said Carter as he clasped his hands together "How you could be so incompetent as to lose the stone. Something that you know is so vital to my plan".
Kane, a little light headed, told the two everything that had happened. He told them about acquiring Kaiya, how she had merged with the stone and then losing her. He told them about how he found her again and how the moltres appeared to save her. The dark haired man frowned, thinking.
"Well if the girl has merged with the stone what he need is to control her. If we control her, we control the stone" Carter said, unclasping his hands.
"But how do we even know it's true. What if we can just cut it out of her, that would be easier right?" said Liam inquisitively.
"It's not worth the risk. They said if she dies, so does the stone. Without the stone, we can't complete the plan" Kane said, trying to maintain poise.
"The piece of shit over there is right. I can't risk losing the stone. We need to control her. If Moltres appearing is correlated with her being part of the stone now, it will be difficult. It means her commune with fire pokemon will likely protect her if she needs it. We need to capture her and force her to do what we need" Said Carter sternly.
"Ohhh do you mean torture Papa? I can help with that. Is she pretty Kane? You know I can't resist a pretty woman… or man for that matter!" Liam laughed.
"If she is this so called Stone bearer she likely has some misguided notion of protecting it, courtesy of those lunatic monks. Torture is probably what it will take. If not, we can kill her pokemon or family" Carter said matter-of-factly.
"Or…" Kane said in thought. "Or... we could recruit her. We could make her one of us. She is far more valuable as an ally than a prisoner due to her commune with fire pokemon. We could even use her to gather the other stones"
"…. Ideally ... I suppose. But how would you purpose we recruit her?" said Carter, obviously frustrated to be agreeing with Kane.
"Well, it would have to be voluntary. I'm not sure…" Kane said.
"Oh I know! Just make her love you Kane, then she will do whatever we need. I can't do it, I'm still busy getting the spring stone, and this stone is your job so you will have to do it" said the Liam. Kane froze, obviously flustered at the idea.
"Good idea son. At least one of you can put things together. Kane, you will recruit her by whatever means you need to. Make her yours; I don't care how you do it. But if you can't get her voluntarily you will need to bring her back here and I will make her do what we need" said Carter sternly.
"By torture!" said Liam gleefully.
Carter nodded, got up and left the room. Kane let his head fall onto the table; he was having trouble holding it up.
"Oh brother, Papa is always so hard on you, even if you have a good idea" Liam said fake sighing. "It's a tough life for me being the only son Papa loves; I always have to clean up after you" Liam said as he pulled out his cell phone. "Hi Shandra darling. Yes, clean up aisle my brother, ha ha ha! ... Oh not too bad, Papa used to beat him a lot worse when we were kids. … Yes room 309. … See you soon!" Liam said before hanging up.
"Thanks…" Kane choked out, not fully conscious.
Liam stopped for a moment and looked at Kane. "By the way... I noticed what you did. It's interesting how you found a solution where the girl doesn't have to be tortured, you even sold it to papa somehow" Liam grabbed his chin with his hand in thought. "Unusual for you to risk saying something like that. Papa could have easily not bought your 'more beneficial to us and it will be easier to get the other stones' bull shit. If he did not like it, you know what would have happened." Liam said smiling sickly at Kane.
"I don't know what you are talking about" Kane said weakly, not bothering to look up.
"Just interesting is all. She must be an unusual girl" Liam said before getting up to leave.
"Okay, well hopefully Shandra gets here in time so you don't die, love you byeee!" Liam said before swiftly departing.
