Shadow had faced tough propositions in the past.
He'd fought bare handed against Ursaring, Rhyperior and even sparred with his own Charizard!
He'd dealt with countless men who had tried to overthrow him as the "King of the Underbelly," a nickname he had been given by the people of Kanto and Johto, considering his power amongst the darker streets.
But, sitting with the enthusiastic, energetic Princess Maple, was more tribulation then anything that he had ever faced before.
"So, Shadow, what do you want to talk about?" May asked, her voice oozing with excitement and happiness.
Shadow thought he was going to be sick.
"I don't particularly talk much," Shadow replied, offering a little shrug as well.
The two were sat in the "lounge" area of the Castle; Shadow had sat down in the dark armchair, which had an amazing view of the garden, and May was sat on the larger couch, which was placed adjacent to the armchair. Pikachu was curled up; eyes closed, on Shadow's lap, whilst Eevee was in a similar position on May's lap, however, the brown fox's eyes were fixed firmly on the electric mouse.
May frowned at the response, but didn't have the insolence to press Shadow on the matter, instead she just smiled again.
"Do you have any other Pokémon other than Pikachu, Rapidash and Sceptile?" She asked, the smile never wavering, as she watched Shadow shift slightly in his chair.
"I have plenty of others," was the blunt reply.
"Are they here at the castle?" May asked, her enthusiasm not wavering despite Shadow's cold exterior, something that intrigued Shadow slightly.
"Yes, I transported them here before I arrived," Shadow answered, slightly intrigued by May's constant upbeat attitude.
"You can transport things using aura?!" May asked excitedly, shooting forward in her seat so she was perched on the edge.
Neither May nor Eevee could have predicted what would happen in response to May's sudden movement.
Shadow flinched. Noticeably, lowering his head even more as he did so, completely obscuring his face from view.
May frowned slightly, before looking at Eevee with a confused expression.
"Are you okay, Shadow?" May asked softly, placing her left hand on Shadow's right arm.
Pikachu's eyes widened in surprise at May's actions, having been awoken by his trainers flinching.
May looked at Shadow then Pikachu confusion written across her face.
Shadow was shivering, very slightly, under May's hand.
Pikachu started to squeak and wave his paws at May, trying to get the Princess to move her hand off Shadow.
They were both stopped in their tracks when Shadow suddenly stopped shivering, and two bright blue lights shone from underneath his hood.
Suddenly, a translucent blue orb, the same colour as Shadow's eyes, formed in between the two humans, and slowly began to expand out until it surrounded the four sat in the room. The orb then solidified around them, making curved, unbreakable walls.
"Pi-Pi-Pikachu… what's happening?" May stammered, her eyes washed with fear.
"I'm not sure, he's never reacted like this before," Pikachu replied.
May's gaze shot from the orb around her to the yellow mouse sat across from her.
"I-I can understand you?" May exclaimed, staring wide-eyed at Pikachu.
"It seems that the Aura bubble has allowed you to understand me," Pikachu replied, cautiously eyeing the blue sphere surrounding them. "I believe it is because there is aura in all of us, a basic aura, and this sphere has connected our auras so that we can understand each other."
May looked stunned. How intelligent were Shadow's Pokémon?
May was snapped out of her thoughts by an image flickering into focus on the wall of the bubble.
"W-What's going on, Pikachu?" May stammered, feeling scared about the new developments.
"I don't know, Princess," Pikachu replied, "he has never acted like this before."
Their conversation was cut short when the image cleared into a visible scene.
Tears formed in May's eyes as she watched the scene unfold, it was a town being destroyed by an army of knights.
Little kids were screaming for parents that had been murdered in front of their eyes. Houses and livelihoods were being torched to the ground.
The knights were relentless, heartless and cruel in their rampage on the town, but their progress was halted when a man stepped in front of them.
May gasped. It was wearing an identical outfit to Shadow, except this man was taller, broader and his face was visible.
He had sharp auburn eyes and spiky black hair underneath his Aura Guardian hat.
"This stops. NOW!" He shouted at the oncoming forces, before he formed a huge aura sphere and unleashed it on the army in front of him.
The sphere was so big and lethal that it disintegrated the first five lines of troops instantaneously, before exploding and wiping out another three lines.
"You'll destroy my town over my dead body," the man growled dangerously.
"Aaron!" A woman's voice shouted with urgency. The mans eyes widened in surprise, and he turned in the direction of the voice.
A couple of troops had a women in a firm and aggressive grip, as she was struggling violently.
She had brown hair and matching eyes, which were staring pleadingly at the man, Aaron.
"Delia? I told you to stay with him in safety!" Aaron shouted, fear evident in his voice, clenching his fist as he saw his wife physically lifted and thrown at his feet.
He attempted to move towards her, but both the knights drew their swords and held them at the back of Delia's neck.
"Move, Aaron, and she dies," a new voice proclaimed.
Aaron's eyes widened in fear, as he turned once again, to the source of the new voice.
A man in regal clothes and a crown cantered up to Aaron on a horse, his green eyes glinting with malice.
"The last Aura Guardian, brought to his end by the woman he loves," the man taunted.
May couldn't believe what she was seeing, it had all clicked into place.
She was watching the death of Sir Aaron, the man who was believed to be the last Aura Guardian. The final casualty of the Aura War.
Realization of what was to come crossed Aaron's face.
"Not in front of Delia," Aaron said, staring at the man on the horse with disgust.
The man smirked evilly. "I'm afraid you don't have a choice, dear Aaron, I've waited too long for this moment, the Aura Guardians will become extinct, here and now."
Aaron didn't even have time to say goodbye to the woman he loved before one of the knights standing next to Delia stepped forward and drove his sword through Aaron's chest.
Delia let rip a bloodcurdling scream which made May's heart pang with sympathy, tears streaming down the Princess' face. Pikachu watched with his ears peeled back onto his head, his own eyes watering.
The image seemed to fuzz before sharpening back into focus, but this time the scene was different.
There was a young boy sat at a broken and splintered wooden table, staring at his right hand, which seemed to be flickering blue, before returning to its normal colour, before once more taking on the blue haze.
The boy had spiky black hair, and auburn eyes that looked tired, and wise beyond their years, he had distinguishable "z" patterns underneath his eyes.
A sharp voice knocked him out of his daze.
"What did I tell you about using that?"
The young boy turned with fear in his eyes to look at his mother.
May gasped at who it was.
Delia.
But she looked half the woman she was in the previous image, she looked disheveled, sickly pale, and way too skinny. She was wearing ripped and dirty clothes, her hair was tangled and greasy, her eyes were dark and bloodshot, and she had huge bags underneath her eyes.
"I-I'm sorry, mother," the boy stammered, the fear not leaving his eyes, as he nervously watched Delia.
The broken woman watched her son momentarily, before something seemed to break in her features and she strode purposefully over to her son.
SNAP.
May's hand shot to cover her mouth as she watched the boy hit the floor, his cheek stinging red and tears rolling down his face.
"Why, mother?" he asked quietly and fearfully.
The brunette woman just stared at the boy, her eyes glaring daggers at her son.
"You are too much like him, I can't even look at you," she replied, disgust dripping in her tone.
The image blurred before fading away completely, and the blue orb surrounding May, Shadow, Pikachu and Eevee disappeared, and Shadow's eyes stopped glowing blue under his hood.
May sat stunned at what she had seen, why did her touching Shadow's arm cause her to see images of Sir Aaron and his son?
And why did Delia hit the little boy, just for being an Aura user?
"She was broken by witnessing Aaron's death," Shadow's voice broke her out of her reverie, "watching the love of her life get brutally murdered before her eyes, wouldn't that be enough to scar anyone?" he asked.
May sensed that Shadow was being rhetorical in his questioning.
"Why did I see those images?" She asked, her voice quiet after witnessing the traumatic scenes.
May could feel Shadow's gaze piercing through her from under his hood, and she sensed that it was a sensitive topic for the Aura Guardian.
Pikachu hopped from Shadow's lap onto his shoulder as he stood up.
"Don't ask questions that you're not ready to hear the answers to," Shadow replied, as he threw May a cursory glance before walking to the door, he looked back over his shoulder, and once more, May could feel his aggressive gaze, even though she couldn't see his face.
"And never, ever, touch me again."
Shadow let his gaze linger for a few seconds after he spoke, as if to emphasize his point, before walking swiftly out of the room.
He stalked through the castle, heart racing.
How could he let this happen? She'd seen his past, although, she hadn't appeared to make the link.
However, at this point, he was more worried about the reaction he'd had when she'd touched him. He'd had panic attacks when women had touched him ever since his mother went insane, but never ever had it triggered his aura in such an aggressive way.
There was only one person in the region who could offer him advice in this situation.
Brock.
Shadow quickened his pace, still able to hear his blood pumping around his body. Pikachu was watching his companion with concern in his eyes, Shadow never usually reacted this badly to a female's touch.
"I'm fine, Pi, just shaken up," Shadow muttered quietly, flashing the electric mouse a tiny smile, which made Pikachu relax slightly, only slightly.
Shadow opened the door to the kitchen, where he assumed Brock would be, and sure enough, his old friend was stood at one of the counters, seemingly preparing lunch.
"Why would I have an aggressive aura reaction to the Princess' touch?" Shadow asked as he entered the room, not wanting to exchange pleasantries, cutting straight to the chase.
Brock didn't seem at all surprised at Shadow's abrupt entrance and question, but took a moment to consider his answer.
"You've always been nervous, and rightly so, around women, so what was different this time?" Brock asked, turning to face the young Aura Guardian.
"As I said, I had an aggressive, uncontrollable reaction from my aura," Shadow reiterated, closing the distance between him and Brock, and sliding onto one of the stools next to him.
Brock frowned slightly.
"Uncontrollable?" Shadow nodded in reply.
"The Princess touched my arm, and all of a sudden I felt my aura filling my body, like there was too much of it for me to control, or contain, and it flooded out, creating a sphere around me and the Princess, and starting showing images from my past," Shadow explained, Brock raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Shadow's voice had cracked, emotionally, when he mentioned his past.
"What exactly, Shadow?" Brock asked, taking a seat on another stool that was stationed nearby.
"It showed my dad's death."
Brock's eyes widened in surprise at Shadow's statement.
"You witnessed your father's death?!" Brock exclaimed, having no prior knowledge of Shadow being present at Aaron's death.
Shadow nodded slowly.
"I heard the loud noises from inside the house, I peeked out the door just as he was stabbed," his voice was broken and quiet.
Pikachu and Brock looked at each other in concern, neither having seen Shadow this emotional before.
"And then the scene changed, and it showed Delia hitting me for using my aura," Shadow added, his voice instantly regaining its strength, and an incredible amount of venom.
"And all this stemmed from May touching you?" Brock asked, an old myth about Aura Guardians was worming it into the forefront of his mind.
Shadow nodded, his eyebrows furrowed under his hood as he tried to figure out the reason for his unexpected reaction.
"You've never reacted like that from a female's touch before, correct?" Shadow once again nodded, "have you ever heard the myths about the emotional aspect of aura?" Brock asked.
"No, what's an emotional side of aura?" Shadow asked, confusion evident in his tone.
"It's the theory that the aura of an Aura Guardian is matched by that of an ordinary person of the opposite sex, but their aura ability is dormant," Brock explained.
Shadow wasn't stupid, he knew what Brock was implying.
"So you're suggesting me and the Princess are connected by our auras?" Shadow spat, glaring daggers at Brock from under his hood.
Brock, however, was one of the only people in the world who knew how to talk to and act around Shadow.
"I'm not suggesting it, I'm stating it, Shadow," Brock replied, not faltering under Shadow's intense gaze, instead locking onto him and almost challenging the young Aura Guardian to disagree.
Shadow racked his brain for any other theory, or anything to counteract Brock's statement, but he couldn't.
It was the only logical answer.
"But why a Princess?" Shadow questioned, his anger evident in his voice, "because this only goes one way from here, now that our aura's connected, am I right?" Shadow said, more as a statement than a question.
Brock knew what Shadow was implying, and the answer to the next question was going to verify whether or not Brock's theory was correct.
"Can you sense her?"
Shadow knew what Brock wanted him to do, so the former closed his eyes, and didn't even have to focus at all before sensing where the Princess was.
"We're connected," Shadow said quietly. Brock and Pikachu were surprised.
There was fear in his voice.
"Why don't you just give her a chance? She's actually a really nice girl, Shadow," Brock said gently, trying to help the young man through a tough time.
"Because I'm broken, Brock!" Shadow snapped, lifting his head up and glaring at the man before him.
Brock furrowed his brow in confusion, but Shadow didn't give him the chance to ask his question.
"I've been damaged from the start, the first woman I ever loved gave me a horrific and lasting impression of all females, what can I do when it's been ingrained into me from my own mother that I should be terrified of whether or not a woman is going to lash out and hit me?" Shadow questioned, his voice level rising through his monologue, as he rose from his seat.
"PikaPi! (Shadow!)" Pikachu squeaked, getting Shadow's attention, "Pikachu pika pi pika Pikachu pi chu! (Just calm down, and listen to Brock!)"
Shadow stared at Pikachu momentarily before inhaling deeply and calming himself down.
"Just give her some time, start off small, just try talking to her at the dining table or something, just little so you can get more comfortable, then build it up from there," Brock said, trying to help his childhood friend break away from his traumatic past.
"But I just don't trust woman," Shadow replied quietly.
"Then trust me," Shadow looked up at Brock, who was smiling lightly at him, "trust me when I say that May is not going to hurt you, physically or emotionally, she's a lovely person and she is incredibly interested in aura, give her a chance," Brock almost pleaded.
Shadow considered it momentarily, before standing up and walking out the room, leaving Pikachu and Brock behind.
The latter sighed, standing up and walking to the door, Pikachu on his shoulder, to try and talk to Shadow again, but when he opened the door, he heard voices down the end of the hall.
"I'm sorry about earlier, Princess, I couldn't control my aura and when that happens I tend to be more aggressive."
Brock poked his head round the door and saw Shadow with his back to him, facing an astonished and surprised May.
"Errm… th-that's fine, Shadow," May stammered, obviously incredibly thrown off by Shadow's sudden apology, before regaining her composure, "and please, call me May," she added, with a bright smile.
"O-Okay… May."
Brock couldn't help it, he broke into a huge grin.
EOC
I have to be extremely apologetic for this chapters delay, as mentioned in previous chapters, each chapter is written me or Ashura, and unfortunately I've had an awful 2014, I don't want you all to pity me and I'm certainly not saying it for sympathy, but the reason for me not writing recently has been explained in an Author's Note on the story If You Could See Me Now over on my profile (Advanced Faith), and I would like to apologize profusely for the delay and thank Ashura for being fantastic to me during the delay.
But moving on, some clear progression in this chapter, and we can move on with the Advanceshipping side of the story, but don't think it's all smooth sailing for our favourite pair! (NO SPOILERS FOR YOU GUYS!)
See you all next time!
Advanced Faith out!
