Melissa jolted up from her slumber, feeling most of her body was covered in a light coat of cold sweat. She breathed heavily and held her head in confusion and fear; the brunette recalled the nightmare she had, one of which was very lifelike. She saw flashes of her friends laying on the ground horribly injured, and a silhouette standing over them, holding an unconscious Aaron in their arms. He too, like her other friends, was beaten half to death. The unknown figure laughed at them before turning around and leaving, taking Aaron with them.
After a couple more fear inducing seconds, Melissa came to her senses and looked at her surroundings. She was in the bottom of a bunk bed underneath light red sheets, and the bed itself was rather soft. Glancing at the rest of the room, she saw more bunk beds with sleeping female soldiers in them. Sighing lightly, the brunette removed the red sheets and rose up from the bed. She checked who occupied the top bunk, and wasn't surprised when she saw a sleeping Sophia in it. The ex-roserade slept softly with a small smile on her lips, enjoying the dream she was going through. Melissa grinned at her, noting how peaceful Sophia looked while she was sleeping.
The brunette exited the barracks, still exhausted from her interrupted slumber. Her body shook lightly as the images from her nightmare plagued her mind; She tried to think of anything else, but the nightmare's images wouldn't cease popping up. As Melissa walked, noticed several ghost type pokemon floating or walking through the halls, patrolling them through the night. Some of them glanced at her before continuing their watch, knowing she was an ally.
Melissa made her way through the underground base, wondering how large the complex really was. After about a minute of exploring, she heard the light sounds of metal clashing against metal echo through the halls. She followed the sounds, and soon came across the large training crater. Several ghost type pokemon were looking down at the crater, watching what was happening within it. Melissa checked the crater herself, and saw Aaron and Caroline sparring with their sabers. Aaron was now dressed similarly to the ginger, helmet and all. His clothing however was a dark blue and his armor was slightly larger. Both were glowing in their aura, and were constantly going on the offensive and defensive, trying to find a weak spot on their opponent to exploit. After their blades clashed for a final time, both jumped away from each other, catching a breath from the friendly battle.
"Wow, you two were really going at it." Melissa called down to the duo, leaning against the railing. She smiled at them when they realized she was there.
"You're up early." Aaron looked up at the brunette, letting his guard down for a moment.
"Right back at ya," the brunette responded. "By the way, hasn't anyone ever told you not to get distracted when you're in a fight?"
Aaron cocked his head in confusion before he realized what she meant. By the time he glanced back at Caroline, she had already dashed closely toward him and tackled the teen onto the ground, effectively pinning him. Aaron grunted as he felt the air heave out of his lungs as he was pushed onto the floor. He tried to move, but came to a halt when he saw the ginger holding one of her sabers close towards his neck.
"I did, at the start of his training." Caroline called up to the brunette while glaring down at Aaron, expecting him to yield. The curly hair teen chuckled quietly at his sudden defeat, releasing his saber from his grip.
"Alright, you win for today," Aaron said. "Next time though, you should prepare for the worst."
"I'm sure." The ginger rolled her eyes and got off him, helping Aaron up in the process. She glanced up at Melissa before saying, "So, what are you doing up so early?"
"Nightmare." Melissa answered.
Aaron raised an eyebrow. "Nightmare you say? What was it about?"
"Oh, you know, a random world-wide food shortage." Melissa lied. "All the meat in the world was transformed into worms."
"You know I can tell when someone's lying, right?" Carol told the brunette.
"Y-you can...?" Melissa stuttered, taken back by the ginger's words.
"Yep, all comes with the aura sense, which allows me to feel what emotions your emanating." Carol confirmed, tapping a finger on the side of her head. "Right now, I can sense a lot of... fear... coming from you, and I doubt a food shortage is that terrifying to you."
"You can sense my emotions...?" Melissa questioned slowly and quietly. "That's... a little creepy, and a violation of my privacy..."
Caroline shrugged. "Sorry, I can't really control the sense, so I'll unintentionally feel yours and other's emotions. I'm still trying to learn how to wield it correctly."
"So, do you wanna talk about it?" Aaron asked the brunette, getting back on the topic of her nightmare.
"I'd... rather not," Melissa said, already seeing the images that frightened her in her sleep. Carol and Sophia's bloody bodies were on the ground, and the figure carrying Aaron laughed in a devilish voice. "It's messed up just thinking about it," she whispered.
"Hmm... well, how about we take your mind off it then?" Carol offered the brunette. "We could teach you how to fight with a weapon, how does that sound?"
The brunette thought about it, thinking that training would help her get off the topic of her nightmare. "Okay, I guess," she said. "But I don't want some regular sword! I want something more interesting and unique."
"Alright then, come on down and follow me," Aaron responded, walking over to a nearby wall then placed his hand on it. He pulsed the wall with his aura, and after a couple seconds, it began moved itself, revealing a large armory with all kinds of weapons within.
"Whoa..." Melissa awed at the room before she climbed down the ladder and made her way over to Aaron and Carol. She walked all over the armory, gazing at each of the individual weapons stored on each rack like a child in a candy store.
"Go ahead, choose whatever weapon you want," Caroline said. "You can keep what you choose."
Melissa kept up her search for a weapon she wanted. She held a couple of them, examining them and seeing how much they weighed before putting them back in their proper racks. After a minute, she came across one that caught her interest. Sitting alone on a weapon rack was a double bladed katana. One blade sat on the end of each hilt, and both blades were pointing opposite of each another. Melissa approached the double katana and picked it up, brushing off the dust that settled on the long handle and blades. She twirled the weapon around her fingers, making it spin slowly.
"This," Melissa whispered with a large grin. "This is the one for me."
Aaron approached the brunette and examined the weapon she chose. "A double bladed katana, huh? Never seen anyone use that before," he said. "Well, interesting choice, I just hope that you can use it right."
Melissa was going to say more, but stopped herself as she stared at the teen in front of her. The thought of him saving her back in Castelia City crossed her mind, and snapping off at him and Caroline afterward. The memory caused the brunette feel guilty, so she frowned and stared at the ground as the same thought bounced around her head.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"... For what? The double blade?" Aaron said, confused by her sudden sadness. "Well... it's noth-"
"Not just that," Melissa said, cutting him off. "I... meant for saving Sophia and I back in the city. I... never thanked you for that yesterday, in fact... I kinda snapped off at you. I'm sorry for all of that..."
Aaron paused for a second before placing a hand on one of the brunette's shoulders, giving her a smile. "There's no need to apologize Melissa, I did what I had to do," he said. "Don't you remember the promise we made?"
Melissa recalled the day she and Aaron made the promise, said promise was a couple days after Ryan disappeared. They swore to one another that they would keep each other safe and in sight, so that way neither of them would vanish like their friend.
"For the rest of my life, I intend to keep that promise, so please, don't fret." Aaron kept his smile, trying to reassure the brunette. "Besides, I know if I were in that kind of situation, you'd do the same for me, so there's no need to apologize."
Melissa gave him a small grin, feeling comfort from his words. "Still, thanks for saving me, I owe you one," she said.
"Anytime," he responded. "Now, let's go practice in the arena."
The duo approached Caroline, who smiled at the touching moment they shared. The trio then returned to the training grounds, during which Melissa stared at her new weapon with awe and curiosity. She continued to spin the double blade constantly, making sure not to move it too fast, not wanting to hurt herself. Caroline approached a rack filled with long training sticks and grabbed a couple, bringing one over to the brunette.
"Now that you've chosen a weapon, we're going to practice with training sticks before we start actually using it," Caroline said to her, wielding two of the sticks she brought with her. "Hold the stick like how you would hold the double blade."
Melissa set the bladed weapon on the floor and held the long training stick, making sure that both of her hands were located in the middle. She spun it around like she did with the double katana, pretending the edges of the sticks were blades. Once she got comfortable with the training stick, she glanced back at Caroline.
"Ready? Let's go," the ginger said, getting into a defensive stance. "Start off by trying to attack me with it."
Melissa gave her a small nod before looking at the training stick once again. She readied herself, then began to run at the ginger, raising her fake weapon for a strike. When she got close, she swung it down, which was easily blocked by Caroline, who knew what her attack was going to be. Melissa made a small grunt, annoyed by her predictability. She quickly swung the other end of the training stick at the ginger, who blocked the next attack with her other training stick. The brunette hopped back a bit, then jabbed her stick forward, trying to hit Caroline in the stomach. The ginger however, moved her body over to the right, dodging the fake stab. Melissa tried to slash at her again, this time coming from below, but like her previous attacks, it was easily blocked by the ginger.
"Dammit, I'm making it too easy for her to block my attacks.' Melissa thought as she jumped back. "I have to move quicker, and be less predictable.'
The brunette closed her eyes and drew in a small breath, relaxing some of her nerves. Once she opened her brown orbs, she charged at Caroline once again. The ginger readied herself and raised her training sticks into a defensive stance, seeing Melissa raise her weapon for a downwards strike. However, right when it seemed she was going to bring the top of the stick down, she quickly diverted and swung the other end of the long pole at the ginger's left side. Caroline's eyes widened a bit in surprise, but she quickly regained her composure and blocked the strike with one of the sticks. Melissa then started to strike at the the ginger with a lot of speed and strength. The flurry of attacks managed to force Caroline back a couple steps while she blocked them, and even forced her to jump back when Melissa slammed one of the ends of the long pole onto the spot she was on. Melissa panted tiredly as she finished her last attack, looking at Caroline for her opinion.
"S-so... what do you think...?" Melissa asked, still panting from the short exercise.
Carol gave the tired brunette a small smile as she lowered her dual training sticks. "Not bad, not bad at all," she said. "You need several improvements in your form and attacks, but hey, that's why we're training. For now, let's focus on your form."
Melissa heard Aaron grab another training stick that was identical to her's. He approached her and begun to instruct the brunette on proper stances.
"Alright Melissa, follow my lead." Aaron instructed, getting into a certain stance and holding the stick like Melissa. The brunette quickly copied his form and began to mimic what he was doing, learning how to wield her weapon properly.
The Bellator queen sat quietly on her throne, thinking to herself deeply. She was conflicted, to say the least; she wanted to launch her forces onto unova today and see the savages of the army called 'Aurora's Light' burn. She wanted to spread the rest of her influence across the globe, and slowly shape it into her image. She wanted to torture Caroline half to death for turning Aaron against her.
"Aaron...'
The Bellator queen ever so badly wanted to be with the teen. She wanted to hold him, kiss him, love him, protect him, and make the teen her king. The queen couldn't wait for the day she would finally make love with him, and to start a family with him. The anticipation was killing her.
She shook her head at the thoughts, lightly blushing and grinning to herself. "Now's not the time to really think about that sort of stuff." She thought. "Not for now anyways."
Suddenly, a Bellator soldier entered the room and approached the throne. He kneeled at the sight of queen once he was close enough. "Your majesty, your plans grow closer to completion," he said. "In several weeks, they'll be ready for your final command."
"I see," the queen said. "Dismissed." The soldier nodded before rising up and leaving the room. Once he was gone, the queen smiled once more.
"In a couple weeks, Bellator's forces will be unleashed. Once it is, unova will be within our grasp, then the rest of the world will follow suite. There will be nothing to stop us, and once we're unleashed..."
The grin on her face grew into a devilish toothy smile as she thought about the destruction of her enemies.
"You'll be my main target, Aurora's Light.'