Authors Note

Hey guys! Hope your enjoying the story, and I just want to thank you for 10 followers! I know it seems small, but it means a lot to me, so thank you. I also may be updating a bit later now as school has started up again, and I'm busy with other things as well, so I hope you understand. Other than that I will be updating the story about every week or two, so I'll try to stay on top of it. Anyway thanks again! You're awesome.

Sincerely

Eon11

Chapter 10

The Arcedix

The Arcedix… is that where I am now? Am I in the maze already? Rowan thought as he slowly walked out of the room. Immediately the walls of the room slammed shut again and he was sealed off. He turned back for a moment, but was turned back by the angry snarls of the guards watching. He crept back and walked further towards the two ways. He looked around the walls of the maze. They were tall. No, they were very tall. They stretched almost two hundred feet into the air. At the very top, Rowan thought he spotted a faint shimmer in the sky. No, it was something else.

A grid.

Of course, no flying pokemon could escape then. Rowan walked down the left way and looked around. Who built this, and why? What was the point?

It took a long time until Rowan found another pokemon. He had spent about an hour making his way through the maze. It was a Zangoose. It spotted Rowan and crept slowly up to him. Rowan stopped and froze in place.

He was going to have to fight him.

He notice the Zangoose's claws were stained red. Rowan gulped, this pokemon wasn't afraid to kill.

It was the Zangoose who made the first move, he dashed towards Rowan, his white claws glowing with energy. He lunged at him and slashed his claws at his pelt. Rowan dodged the attack and jumped over him. He turned around to see the Zangoose swiping furiously at him. He yelped and sidestepped the wave of attacks. He jumped away from him in panic, but the Zangoose's claw nicked Rowan's slash he had earlier in his leg. He yowled in pain as the wound opened up and blood started to seep onto his fur.

He glared at the Zangoose. This time, he attacked first and charged at the Zangoose. The pokemon crouched, getting ready for the attack.

But Rowan knew exactly what he was doing.

Just before he slammed into him, Rowan dropped to the ground and slid into the Zangoose's legs, tripping him onto the ground. He yelped in surprise as he fell to the ground. Rowan got up and grabbed the scruff of his neck and threw him to the wall of the maze.

The Zangoose snarled and got up and ran towards Rowan again. Rowan ran at him too, ready for his attack. But right before he was gonna hit the Zangoose, the pokemon dug his claw into the ground and flung dust and dirt into Rowan's eyes.

Rowan snarled and shut his eyes tightly as the Zangoose tackled him and they both flew to the right wall of the maze. The Zangoose grabbed Rowan's pelt and pinned him against the wall. Rowan swung his paws blindly as he struggled to break free.

Rowan slowly opened his eyes to see the Zangoose. He was smirking. He clasped his claws around the Umbreon's neck. Rowan yelped and gasped for air as he felt the Zangoose's claws dig shallowly into his neck. He knew if he didn't break free soon, he'd be as good as dead. He tried to knock the Zangoose off with his paws, but he couldn't reach the Zangoose's body. He felt the claws dig deeper and he howled with pain. The Zangoose laughed.

"Hmm… An Umbreon, alive. What a rare opportunity for me. A Jolteon and an Umbreon in one day." The Zangoose remarked. Rowan looked at the Zangoose in interest, and he seemed to notice.

"Yeah, I suspected you would know him. Too bad you won't see him again. Hmm… he seemed like such a nice guy too…" The Zangoose said despairingly.

He shouldn't had said that.

Rowan yowled in rage and kicked the Zangoose off him. The pokemon yelped in surprise as he flew across the room to the other side. Rowan charged at him, howling. You killed Zav! He thought as he slammed into the Zangoose, sending him flying into the wall. He tried to get up but Rowan knocked him down and grabbed him with his claws.

"What did you do to Zav?!" He demanded angrily as he dug his claws into his arms. He was angry.

"I… I-I didn't kill him! Although he sh-should be dead by-" The Zangoose stopped, but realized he was too late.

Rowan roared in fury and dug his claws deeper into his pelt. The Zangoose yelped in pain, but Rowan barely noticed it.

The rings on Rowan's pelt began to glow. He roared in fury, and glared at the Zangoose.

He felt energy building up inside him that he couldn't control. The Zangoose looked terrified as he struggled to break free of Rowan's grasp.

But it was too late.

Rowan's rage had taken over and the energy shot out of his mouth, in the form of a dark purple beam. It collided with the Zangoose and immediately the pokemon dropped limp as the beam was absorbed by his body. His mouth opened as if to scream, but no words came out, only his last breath. The Zangoose dropped to the ground, dead.

Rowan panted as he glared at the dead Zangoose in rage. He slowly calmed down until we took a deep breath. He opened his eyes to see the Zangoose lying there limp.

He had killed him.

Rowan now realized what he'd done. He had killed him out of rage, it wasn't his fault.

But Rowan knew exactly what had happened.

He slumped to the ground, exhausted. He didn't look at the Zangoose, but he still felt guilty.

About what?

This pokemon had just murdered his best friend, and he nearly murdered him. Surely that had to be enough to kill him as well?

But it didn't feel right.

No, it felt horrible. Rowan had just ended another one's life. It made Rowan want to throw up.

He would never feel sunlight again. He would never see the moon again. He would never breath again.

And it was because of him.

But The Zangoose had already done it, and he was more than ready to do it again. So why couldn't he?

He looked over at the Zangoose, and he immediately wished he hadn't.

It's mouth was left open, and his pelt was stained with blood, it still oozing out of the deep gashes Rowan had gave him on his arms. His eyes were bloodshot, and the tips of his claws were beginning to turn dark blue. It's eyes were left staring at only the empty space in front of him. Rowan gagged and looked away.

He had done this. No one else, only him. He shuddered as he noticed the blood on his claws.

I won't… I can't do this again. Rowan said to himself. He finally got up and walked over to the Zangoose. Tears formed in his eyes but he wiped them away.

"I'm sorry." He whispered under his breath as he closed the Zangoose's eyes.

Rowan took a deep breath and shook his head. He was going to have to keep moving if he wanted to survive. But I won't kill… not again. Rowan silently oathed, but he knew if circumstances became crucial, he might have to.

He prayed they wouldn't.

He remembered what the Zangoose had said. "He should be dead by now." Did that mean he could still be alive? Hope sparked in Rowan, and he picked up his pace. He wanted to find Zav before nightfall, which seemed to be coming quickly.

It wasn't long after his first fight he found another prisoner. This one was a Sandshrew, and it was running fast. Rowa froze when he saw it, and it seemed to see him too. Instead of attacking like the Zangoose had done, it slowly crept forward until it reached a turn in the maze, and immediately bolted down it. Rowan sighed in relief, he didn't want to fight any pokemon unless he had too.

He had suspected the Sandshrew would run, its eyes were wide with horror even before he saw him. Rowan spat in disgrace, that Sandshrew was barely ten years old, and he was fighting for his life in a maze of death, it wasn't right.

Actually, none of this seemed remotely sane. He glared up at the guards, which now only seemed like dots in the night sky. They were watching innocent pokemon get slaughtered by one another. He mumbled something under his breath and kept moving.

It wasn't long again until found another prisoner, but this one was a bit different.

Rowan's heart sank as he saw the body of a Jolteon lying near one of the walls. He slowly made his way over to was almost until he was twenty feet away from it when it's ears sprung up in alert.

Zav was alive.

Rowan yelped in joy, but was soon sent flying across the room.

Zav had tackled him.

"Wait! Zav! It's me, Rowan!" Rowan exclaimed as the Jolteon growled at him. Zav at first turned his head in confusion, but quickly realized what was going on.

"Rowan! You're alive!" Zav exclaimed as he leaped off the Umbreon.

"Yeah, and so are you!" Rowan said as he ran over to Zav. Zav looked at him still in disbelief.

"I… I thought you had died back at the cliff. I didn't think you'd be here." Zav explained as he pawed the ground.

Rowan laughed, "Well, I thought the same thing, until a Zangoose mentioned you." Rowan said. He stopped laughing at the mention of the Zangoose. He still felt guilty about killing him earlier.

"Come to think of, how are you alive? That Zangoose said he had killed you. Well, I guess he said he almost did." Rowan asked on a more serious note.

Zav nodded, "He almost did. We fought and it was a pretty even match, until he poisoned me. He ran off thinking I'd die anyway, and I would've if Arceus wasn't watching. I found an antidote to the poison right before I was about to die, and it cured me in less than a minute." Zav explained, but he turned to Rowan, his head sideways in confusion.

"How did you survive?" Zav asked, his voice heavy with disbelief.

Rowan looked away, "I… I…" He began. He didn't know what to say. Would Zav think Rowan would kill him? Would he think 'Well, he's done it once, why not again?'?

"I killed him." He said quickly.

Zav's eyes went wide. Rowan cursed under his breath.

"No, it wasn't like that. He was about to kill me and then he mentioned… how he had killed you and… I…" He explained, but couldn't finish his sentence.

"I became out of control and I killed him. I was mad with rage." He said. Zav looked down at the ground. There was a long silence.

"Are you going to kill me?" Zav said, his eyes not leaving the ground.

Rowan looked up, "Zav, I would rather die than kill you. In fact, I'm not sure I want to kill anyone anymore." Rowan spoke.

Zav sighed in relief, "Okay, well that's good to know." He made his way over to Rowan and sat down.

"Listen Rowan, I have killed before too if it makes you feel better." Zav offered.

Rowan looked at him and Zav continued, "Only once, and it felt so horrible that I never wanted to do it again." He gazed at Rowan, "Is… that what it was like-" He was cut off.

"Exactly." Rowan replied simply.

There was a long silence. Rowan finally spoke.

"So where are we anyway?" He asked.

"The Southern Islands, the one closest to land, I'm pretty sure."

"No, I mean, what is this?" Rowan said as he gestured to the walls of the maze.

"The Arcedix. If I recall, it's the maze that Arceus used long ago to determine the legendaries. It tested their skill and power to see if they were the right choice. I guess Torin found it and is now using it to see who will be his royal guards." Zav explained.

Rowan thought about that for a moment. A maze built to determine the legendaries? It seemed appropriate, but why had Arceus just abandoned it for Torin to use? Rowan cleared his mind. That wasn't important right now. What was was surviving. He rested his head and began to close his eyes.

Zav had taken the first watch, now Rowan was taking the second. He was wide alert from the energy of the moon, and he welcomed it. He closed his eyes and let the silence of the maze fill his ears.

His silence was interrupted by footsteps. They were coming from behind him. He spun around, ready to face his attacker, but gasped in shock when he saw who it was.

Aves was walking towards them.