Between 26-27
"His wound is infected."
Those words were the cause of my world crumbling to dust. Spoken by the Blissey taking care of Pyro when she noticed the anomaly in how his condition worsened. Such calmness, those words were spoken with, it caused me infuriation.
"Please tell me it's just Pokerus or something," I growled through gritted teeth. She shook her head before checking the monitors again. I stared at Pyro, who was unconscious and breathing heavily and sweating. "How bad is it?" She looked up to me again, before shaking her head slowly, suddenly looking downcast.
Fatal
"How did you not notice earlier?!" I screamed, making Pyro stir a little, but he remained asleep.
"It was infected before we healed the minor wounds. Those cuts and scrapes were infected by the time we did heal him. The wound closed but the infection remained in his blood. We just noticed when it showed its symptoms, which means that it's already spread around the body. I'm afraid we can't do anything more than make him more comfortable," she still spoke with calmness.
I rubbed my temple, this can't be happening. All this because Pyro disguised himself as Mew and I was too blind to see through it. How could I not recognize my brother? Maybe I really was blinded by rage to see clearly, I would never make that mistake normally.
"How much?" I asked, keeping my voice steady.
"Pardon?"
"How much time does he have left?"
"I'm not sure about that. Hard to say. It depends on the physique of each infected. But with him," she nodded towards Pyro, "I would say not long."
"Leave." She bowed and then backed out of the room. I collapsed on the side of Pyro's bed, staring at him. Why is fate such a cruel mistress? I lay my head down on his bed, closing my eyes and sighing.
"Aqua?" I heard him say weakly. My eyes shot open and I looked at him.
"Hey there. Are you all right? Do you need anything?" I whispered to him.
"I'm okay, Aqua. But…" He looked down. At this, I grew concerned.
"What is it, Pyro? Whatever you want, just tell me."
"I… I can't move. Why can't I move, Aqua?" he started to panic, "Wh-what's wrong?! Why can't I move my body?! I can't move anything but my head!"
"Pyro. Pyro!" I tried to calm him down, but he wasn't listening.
"Help! Help, Aqua! I can't move! I can't feel anything!" he shouted frantically, his head thrashing on the bed. This caused several pokemon to come into the room. First, the Blissey, who ignored Pyro and checked all the machines. Secondly, Mew came into the room, followed by Vulcan. It took almost an hour to calm Pyro down and for me to explain to all of them about the infection.
"So… I'm never going to move again?" he asked with a shaky voice. "And I'm going to die soon?"
I could do nothing but nod as my throat seemed to have been blocked. He sighed and closed his eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Pyro. I'm so sorry," I finally said after a few minutes of silence. "I-I… I was… There's no excuse for what I did to you. I would understand it if you were to ask to never see me again, I really would."
"Uncle Aqua… Did you really do all those things?" Vulcan asked me. I slowly nodded, guilty.
"I don't hate you for it, Aqua. I'm just accepting what happened. I guess my time is going to be up soon, I've already died once, haven't I?" he asked, staring at me with those ruby-red eyes of his. "It's just that this time I won't be born again as a Shadow Mew, correct?"
"Y-yes," I croaked in reply.
"I have three requests; think you can handle it?"
"Whatever you want, Pyro. I will do whatever it is you ask."
"I want to talk to Luna, Umbreon Luna, alone."
"Okay. We can do that now, if you want. I'll take you there," I replied instantly. He smiled and nodded.
A few minutes later, I found myself setting Pyro down on the ground in Giratina's room. He was looking at Pyro with a look of pity. He started his ritual of summoning a spirit and soon enough, we were leaving the room and Pyro and Luna behind us.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Luna and I stared at each other while Aqua and Giratina left. It was a little while before she spoke up.
"So… Um… Pyro?" she whispered, her tail swaying behind her mesmerized me.
"Yeah?"
"Aren't you going to move at all?"
"I can't." She froze up at this.
"Wh-what do you mean you can't?"
"I can't, I'm paralyzed. For life."
"Have you tried a paralyze heal?" she asked, cocking her head. I chuckled a bit at this.
"If only it were that simple. No, nothing can help it now. It doesn't even matter anyways."
"What do you mean 'it doesn't matter'?!" she burst in a worried fit, "Of course it matters! If what you are saying is true, you can't move anything!"
"I can move my head," I replied, smiling and lifting my head up.
"That's hardly any better!"
"Luna."
"What happened to you?! What, or who, caused this?!"
"Luna."
"I will find whoever it is, and pummel them into the ground!"
"Luna."
"Why aren't you the least bit worried?!"
"LUNA!" I finally shouted, gaining her attention.
"What is it, Pyro?"
"Don't pummel Aqua to the ground, please," I replied, grinning slightly. I saw her suddenly confused face and knew instantly. She's in an emotional conflict. She wants to be mad at Aqua like she was last time, but she knows that he must not have intended it.
"Y-you mean… Aqua did this?"
"Not intentionally, of course. But I have another thing to tell you, and it's why I am not so worried about not being able to move." She sat down next to me and lay her tail on top of my body, looking at me as if to tell me to go on. "It's because I'm going to die soon."
Her eyes went so wide I almost laughed.
"AQUA!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. "GET THE FUCK IN HERE!" I giggled slightly, I knew she would say that. Well, not exactly that but similar. That was why I told him to go back to the mansion and come back in an hour or so. I sure hope he followed what I said.
"Luna."
"YOU'D BETTER GET YOUR SORRY ASS IN HERE BEFORE I GO OUT THERE AND BEAT IT UP!"
"Luna!"
"What?"
"He's not out there, I told him to go away."
"Why-"
"Because I knew you would want to beat him up, of course. I knew you're that kind of pokemon." She sighed and shook her head, looking like she had a headache.
"Pyro," she whispered, "You have one chance. One chance to explain to me why I shouldn't go and kill Aqua."
"It's because it's my fault I'm like this," I replied back, confident that this will convince her.
"Like hell I'll believe that." Maybe not, there goes plan one.
"Look, Mew and Aqua was fighting. I disguised myself as Mew so Aqua can get rid of his anger and whatnot on me. But he may have taken it further than I thought I could handle and I'm like this now."
"Still Aqua's fault. He should've realised it was you."
"All right. I admit that he may have been a bit too mad to see through the disguise but I don't blame him. It's natural to be mad." She jumped up and looked at me, frustrated.
"It is not natural! It is not natural to be so mad at someone and hurt your own brother who you love so much! I've never seen any sibling care for each other as much as you two!" All right then, how about plan two?
"Luna. As my last request for you, can you forgive Aqua?" I asked her, hoping that playing this card will achieve my goal.
"Pyro. I-I can't. I love you but I just can't-" Maybe this will help. I splayed my ears back and looked up at her with wide, watery eyes.
"Are you r-really going to deny m-me my last request?" I asked, voice shaky. I saw her falter as she saw this and added, "D-don't you love me a-anymore, Luna?"
"All right. I'll forgive him, I'll forgive him. Now stop crying, Pyro," she sighed, "I love you and all, but that was cruel."
"I know, but it works!" I instantly ceased the (fake) tears and smiled at her. I nuzzled into her fur as she sat down next to me again. "So I'm going to see you soon, on the other side."
"As lovely as that sounds, I still don't want you to die."
"Everybody's got to die at some point. Dying just a bit earlier doesn't make that much of a difference."
"But this is not 'just a bit earlier', Py. You have years more to live. You still have to take care of Cloud and Luna!"
"I'm sure Mew can handle it. Plus, they can visit and talk to us at any time, right?"
"Yeah," she mumbled, "Until we decide to be reborn as another pokemon."
"Maybe we will, maybe we won't. Who knows?"
"I hope I won't see little, new-born Eevee or Zorua kits running around in the Afterlife," we heard behind us.
"Aaah! Giratina, I thought you were waiting somewhere else!" Luna scream in surprise and, probably, embarrassment.
"I'm just here to say that the long conversation is sapping my power really quickly. Can you tie it up soon?"
"Well… Guess I'll see you later, Luna," I said. She nodded and faded away as coloured wisps again. I looked up at the big Renegade Pokémon, "Can you bring me back home to Aqua?"
"Hm? Oh, 'course," he replied, looking down at me.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
"My second request is for me to stay in the room we built," he said. I nodded, knowing instantly what he was talking about. I carried him along the hallways until we reached a small room, about four metres by four. It was full of photos and paintings. Most of the photos contain us, during vacations, meeting others, generally having fun. No matter how many times I enter this room, it still takes my breath away. At the back of the room was the largest, most realistic painting of all. It was of us in our original forms. Pyro was depicted crossing his small arms and looking away to the side, having a frown on his face while I was floating beside him with a large smile on my face, trying to cheer him up.
I miss the old Pyro. And I will miss this Pyro too. Arno, the Arcanine, and I set the room with a few blankets and pillows for Pyro to be comfortable.
"Thanks," he said, smiling at us.
"If you ever need me, I will be nearby, Lord Pyro." Arno bowed and backed out of the room, leaving me with Pyro.
"For my last request. I want you to forget about what happened or will happen to me, live your life, and do take care of Luna and Cloud for me. Can you do that?"
"Pyro. I-I don't want to forget-"
"Please. Can you do that, Aqua?" he pleaded. His voice sounded so desperate I just couldn't say no. I don't want to forget him though, I want to remember him, remember the good times we had together, I need to remember him. But to ease his worry, I replied,
"Yes, I will do that. I will take care of Luna and Cloud as best I can."
"Thanks Aqua." He yawned and closed his eyes, going to sleep. Peaceful and calm, I will make him as happy as I can, I just need to. If only there was a way to save him…
{A/N} You have a chance to edit your sets of truth or dares for LToD now
