Chapter 14: Show Me Your Dark and Bloody Heart
We went all over Kalos that summer. After spending a week at the beach, we took a train back to Lumiose in order to go find the lost hotel that Shauna wanted to find. There were Ghost Pokemon, but no real ghosts... although we did run into a bunch of punks who turned out rather nice; they taught us some skating tricks once we told them that we liked skating. Then we dropped in on Jack, which happened to be the first time Serena met him. She was wary at first, but was nice to him. After a few hours, he told us to go back to enjoying our summer rather than spending time in his gloomy presence, but I know he was much less gloomy than usual because we did visit.
Then we passed through Route 13 to get a view of some amazing power plants; couldn't get inside, but it was fun watching the others trying to help Serena catch a Gible, only for it to end up with Shauna instead. And she wouldn't let it go, so Serena finally said she'd find another dragon. Because she was interested in the Tower of Mastery, she had us hike past Coumarine and a lively Gogoat ranch to go see it. But as her father had said, it was closed to the public and we had to move on.
Our summer was winding down, but I still wanted to see the monoliths at Geosenge. We passed through Reflecting Cave to get there, which was a cool adventure on its own. But you want to know about the actions of Team Flare... and yes, it was during that summer that people started to suspect that something big was coming, all because of what happened in Geosenge while we were there. And honestly, it wouldn't have happened if we had decided to go somewhere else.
It was hard to believe, but the sky was dark when they finally got to the western exit of Reflecting Cave. While the day had been exciting, they were all tired as they walked up to the gate of Geosenge Town. "Do you think we could find a place to stay tonight here?" Shauna said. "I like camping and all, but it'd be nice to sleep inside again."
"There's inns in a lot of towns, so I imagine there's one here," Calem said.
Serena nodded. "It actually has several really nice ones; I've stayed in this town before. In fact, I can think of one that should let us take care of our laundry too. It's on the other side of town, but the view is quite lov... ah, what was that?" she asked, pausing and putting her hand on the arch.
'That' had been a sudden shifting, as if the the path they were walking on had been shaken without warning. But it was clearly more than that; a church bell somewhere in town rang out noisily, while loose items outside tumbled over. It didn't last long, thankfully. "Was that an earthquake?" Shauna asked.
"Huh, was that...?" Mortan said quietly by Calem's ear. He floated out in front of him, looking around the area.
"Had to have been," Trevor said, looking Merlin. The Meowstic had his dark blue fur fluffed out in fright. "It's all right, calm down Merlin. Although, it is strange that you'd react like this."
"Was it just that?" Calem asked, gripping his head. He'd never been in a natural earthquake before, but hadn't expected it to be as disorienting as it was. But then, feeling something that seemed so immovable as the ground move without warning would be strange. It was different from experiencing someone using a quake-like spell.
Different enough that most of the Pokemon with them, not just Merlin, were agitated by the quake. It took some time to calm them down. But as they were about to go find the inn Serena knew about, Calem realized that Mortan had disappeared from the group. After making sure where the inn was, he let the others go check in while he searched for the Floette.
But as night overtook Genosage, there wasn't a sign of Mortan anywhere.
"Mortan?" Calem walked slowly through Geosenge's dirt paths, trying to find the missing Pokemon. "Were you called back? I thought there would be more warning." After all, he didn't own Mortan like he did Swift and the others. He was just borrowing him from Yveltal for... what reason was it again? To see what resulted of saving him. But it hadn't turned bad, he thought. His close call with death hadn't been like the Ralts he'd watched over once.
Geosenge looked strange in this light. The sky was an orange-pink from the rising sun meeting a cloudy sky, enough to shut off the automated lights but not enough to see clearly by. Even stranger, the ground was covered in a violet mist that was slowly growing thicker. It was so early that he didn't see anyone else walking around. At the moment, he was coming close to a trio of stones that stood in the center of town. They could be ordinary stone, but seeing them in this light made them seem supernatural.
Or, was it early? Something didn't seem right. Calem recalled the earthquake from yesterday, wondering again what about it startled the Pokemon so badly. He should know simply by asking Mortan... but Mortan was missing. Calem had to find him; he felt a strong feeling that something wasn't right here and they needed to get going. Maybe he should've woken up his friends, but his worry over Mortan persisted.
There was a heady scent in the air, he realized. It had a mix of bitter and sweet that felt so wrong. Dangerous? Yes, it was dangerous, it was something about this mist, it was about that earthquake... all of it. But what? "Mortan! Geez, how am I supposed to find a flower in this mist... oh wait, of course." He looked up at the clouds and cast Rain Dance to heighten his awareness. Why hadn't he thought of that sooner? The rain should let him feel Mortan quicker than looking for him.
But what he sensed wasn't his Pokemon, or a quiet town... or anything that should be here, anything that he could see with his eyes. When he sensed was death, saturating the area with the mist. The dangerous mist appeared with death; being within its grasp would cause death. Then... was everyone else dead?
Before his mind could become overwhelmed by that horror, he caught something else in the rain: dream aura. He was dreaming, so it wasn't clear if this feeling of death was real or not. But looking at the stones, which had seemed strange and supernatural before... blood was trickling down them, evidence of murder.
He wasn't alone either. Once he knew that, he turned around and found someone he hadn't wanted to encounter again, even in a dream. "You felt a connection to this place, didn't you?" the faceless man said. "It's not our handiwork, but I felt the connection too. It is a power of death; we have a power of death. That is why you came."
"That's not..." Calem started to say, but then he found himself doubting that. Why had he wanted to come here in the first place? The monoliths had sounded interesting, but was that alone enough to explain why?
Snapping his hand to his chest, the faceless man made a glowing dagger appear. With a fiery glow, he carved out an unusual rune in the air. "Let me make my point another way," he said, then flung the dagger at him.
Calem stepped out of the path of the fire dagger readily. Maybe this was a dream, but he still felt strongly that he didn't want that dagger touching him. Or the next two that the faceless man summoned, one of air aura and one of rock aura. But he wasn't able to escape the next attack... which came not from the faceless man, but from the three stones. They each latched a chain onto him, then began to drag him within their circle. The violet mist was gathering there, so thick that he knew going in there would be instantly fatal. Even in a dream?
This was just a nightmare, he shouldn't be able to die. But he had a feeling that the faceless man was truly there, as was whatever other power of death that was trying to overtake him. Afraid that this was all too real, Calem pulled back on the chains, trying to maintain his ground. It worked for a second, but the pull of the stones was stronger. The chains were glowing with power... just like the daggers. A chain of air, a chain of grass, a chain of steel. Which meant if he got the daggers...
They were lying in the ground now, just within reach. He grabbed the handle of the fire dagger and, after a second's thought, used it to cut the chain of steel. Once that let go of him, the air dagger took care of the grass chain and the rock dagger took care of the air chain. That was actually simple (although his heart was still racing from fear).
"Your fear will die soon enough," the faceless man said. "It will die sooner once you take death into your own hands. The rune you now know summons your higher senses at will, not just in the rain. Use it to know your targets. Use it to kill those near you."
"No, I wouldn't," Calem said, but then whispers came from all around him. Kill them. Death is the key. Kill them. And when he looked out into the misty town of Genosage, he could tell that there were others out there. It wasn't just one faceless man... it was many of them, wishing for him to kill.
"No, I won't," Calem said, finding it hard to speak. The dream began to dim and his awareness changed to reality, of waking up in an inn in Genosage. For a few minutes, he found that he couldn't move except to open his eyes and see the first rays of dawn streaming in through the window. But they were still whispering to him, kill.
He ended up shaking and quietly crying by the time he was entirely awake. He sat up in the bed, but found that Trevor and Tierno were still asleep. For a moment, it seemed fortunate since he'd be embarrassed to be caught waking up in tears. But then a powerful impulse cut through his mind, one that wanted to follow through on the dream and bring death into the waking world.
Calem left the room to take a shower, trying to think of anything but what he'd just dreamed about. But that still led to a problem. Mortan wasn't back and he wasn't sure if he should go looking now. And those whispers clung to his mind; they wouldn't shut up until he killed. Or would they? Something had to stop them. He dug his fingernails into his scalp, even as he realized it was a futile gesture.
When he got out of the shower and was getting dressed, there was a disruption to the whispers. What had caused that? He quickly put on the rest of his clothes and thought of that rune from the dream. Summon his higher senses without rain... he cast it and, just as the faceless man said, he became very aware of this hotel room, what was going on in the hall and the room the girls were staying in, what the conditions were outside. Most disturbing of all, Calem found information of how he could kill those nearby with what was in the room. But he wouldn't. He didn't want to.
Don't think of that, he chided himself. What caused that disruption? He sensed a clash of power out in the hallway, Percival against... something. That was strange, since the Honedge never wanted to start fights. He was afraid of getting addicted to violence. Leaving the room, he saw that it was only Percival out there. He was in a battle-ready stance, the eyes on his hilt darting around trying to find whatever he was fighting. Seeing Calem come out, the red Honedge backed up towards him, reaching his consciousness out to Calem's mind. While it would have been frightening to come from any other Honedge, Calem nodded, knowing he was trying to communicate.
You could kill that Pokemon by piercing its eye and tearing the sash, both actions not just one.
"No," Calem murmured.
Right then, Percival stopped trying to connect and turned to fight. Red sparks flew off his blade and that disruption hit Calem again. The ringing metallic sounds he made seemed determined, like he would be gritting his teeth in the effort if he could. After a moment, the sparks seemed to envelope him in a white light. Was that an evolution glow?
It was. Percival the Doublade emerged with two swords instead of one, still struggling against the connection between Calem and the faceless men. If he was going to that much effort, then Calem felt he should do something to help. But what? Before he could think of anything, Percival managed to win his struggle. His swords dropped in the air and he sounded like he was breathing heavily.
Calem walked around Percival to look in him the eyes. "Percival, thank you. I don't know what that was, but it was terrifying."
Percival crooned, then finally managed to connect to him. 'Something tried to possess you in your sleep. I know not what it was either. It was scary, but, I had to do all I could to stop it. Sorry if I troubled you.'
"You don't need to apologize," he said, smiling and, after a moment in which Percival seemed okay with it, patted him on the sheath. "You did well."
'I think we should leave this place and not come back,' Percival said.
"We have to figure out where Mortan went first. But yes, I think coming here was a bad idea."
About mid-morning, Calem met with his friends and all of their Pokemon in the middle of Geosenge. Those three stones were right there. By the light of the summer morning, they weren't nearly as strange as they'd been in his dream. There were a few other people in the area, some of them in the red suits Team Flare members wore when they were being active. "Anybody find him?" Calem asked his friends, although it didn't seem so.
"I checked some gardens, but didn't see his flower anywhere," Shauna said, worried too. "You sure you didn't lose him in the cave? It was a little confusing for a while."
"No, I know I saw him right as that earthquake happened," Calem said.
"Why don't you use your rain ability to find him?" Trevor asked, glancing away from the stones. He was touching one, but it didn't seem to bother him at all. "At this rate, it might be the best way, plus there's clouds anyhow so people wont' think it's strange."
Feeling a sense of dread, he said, "I know, but... something about this place makes me uneasy. Like what I might sense if there was rain."
"What is it, then?" Serena asked.
"I don't know," Calem said, not wanted to admit about feeling death like he had. They were having so much fun on this summer vacation that he didn't want to scare them in telling them what he might have done.
"Hey kids, you should keep clear of this area," one of the men there said. He wasn't wearing the red suit, but it looked suspiciously similar. Being a crisp white with fine red lines in places, it didn't seem like the kind of outfit one would normally wear to work outside in. "We're conducting an investigation here and we don't need the interference."
"Oh, is this the initiative into better historical sites and less tourist-centered commerce?" Serena asked. "Odd site to choose."
"How do you know about that?" he asked.
"Learned about it through the Flare Club at LMA," she said, although the rest of them didn't know about it.
He nodded. "I see. Then yes, we're here for that. Geosenge isn't too bad, but the tourism sector has been showing more interest in this place. After all, no one knows why these stones are here and mysteries attract many. We're working to preserve and research the site, not break it down or fill it with trash."
"It'd be good enough if you could keep litter away, that's for sure," Tierno said.
Calem found himself looking at the stones in thought. In doing so, he noticed something sparkle at the top of the nearest one. "You don't know what these are for?"
"There's lot's of theories," the man said. "Someone tried to convince me that it was some kind of calendar, but I had to ask, are we sure there's an exact number of stones to match the days? And then these three here out of alignment with the rest, which are in perfectly straight rows and columns, so there's some other reason behind them. Although, I'm not sure what would explain it. Possibly some ritual site, like a church I think."
They didn't know. But then why was he so certain that his dream had a kernel of truth? That it had something to do with death. Maybe just because it affected him so much. The sparkle caught his eye again. Normally he didn't think himself as obsessive, but it bugged him seeing it there, like having an itch on his back where he couldn't reach it. "If you're cleaning up stuff, what's that up there?"
"Huh?" The others looked up and saw the sparkle too. "Didn't notice that before. Definitely doesn't belong there, so we should do something about it. Hey, who has the stepladder?" The man went over to the other Flare members.
This included a woman who was also dressed differently... differently from the group and differently from anyone Calem had ever seen outside of cheesy sci-fi movies. She had a dress that gleamed like metal, skin tight around the torso but flared out in a perfect ring at the bottom hem. Not only that, but she has matching boots and a blue visor that completely covered her eyes. When one of the others fetched the sparkling item off the top of the stone and tossed it down, she caught it.
A line of light swept across the visor as she looked at the item. "Looks like a charm bracelet, but I can't read what it's enchanted to do," she said.
Shauna laughed. "That's weird! How'd a charm bracelet get up there?"
"You're right, how did it get up there just now?" the woman in the visor said, fiddling with something at the side of her device. "It... it wasn't there... fifteen minutes ago when I made the more recent recordings." She looked at it again. "Hmm, I wonder..." she started to put it on her wrist.
"Maybe someone's playing a prank?" Tierno suggested, right before there was a loud snap as the bracelet refused to attach to her and flew out of her hands.
Followed by a second snap as it went right for Calem's left ankle and secured itself there. "Ow, what was that?" he asked, kneeling down to get a better look at it.
"Picky," the woman said, scanning him with her visor now.
The bracelet, or anklet rather, was made of a slim silver chain. As it was on him, he couldn't see a way to take it off as it appeared to be one continuous string of tiny links. Three silver charms were attached to it: the first one he saw looked like a foot, then there was a dagger... and the third one which was more vague, but he recalled immediately from the Psionics class as being a cowl. Then, this was an anklet that was meant for him, one of three items in a set.
"Oo, what is it?" Shauna asked, fascinated and leaning down to see it.
Calem didn't answer, as he felt frozen with fright at recognition of something else. The faceless man he had met twice now had been wearing a cowl, both times using a dagger... he hadn't noticed an anklet, but this was so small that it could easily be missed. It had appeared because it was being given to him... as recognition of progress in a power that was meant to kill...
Someone there was going to die, he realized. And it might not just be one. "Get away from those stones!" he shouted, getting back onto his feet.
His friends and the Pokemon there took a few steps away, thankfully, more out of surprise than actual caution. The woman with the visor tilted her head as she walked closer to him. But the man in the white suit, pausing as he was coming down the ladder, he wasn't quick enough. There was little more than a gurgle as a dagger to his throat ended his life. When his body hit the ground, there was the faceless man standing inside the stones.
"Similar powers resonate," the faceless man said, pointing his bloodied dagger at Calem as the other Flare members scrambled to get away. Then a bolt of lightning blinded and deafened everyone. Despite that, Calem could still hear the faceless man speaking. "It's not quite enough to awaken what sleeps here. But if we give it enough blood, it just might come back to life."
And it was like he was dreaming again; there was no mist but the air was filled with an odd light that showed blood trickling down the stones. Blood saturated the ground too, as if a massacre had occurred here. The people who had been around, save for Calem and the faceless man, all seemed to be shadows of themselves. They were all reacting to the unexpected murder, in shock, horror, or in the case of the woman with the visor a strange detachment. Even stranger, a shadow seemed to fall out of Calem, as if his body had collapsed.
"Welcome to the world of spirits," the faceless man said. "Although you've been here before, it seems."
"What's going on?" Calem asked, fear moving his thoughts faster then caution, which tried to remind him of his father's warning not to trust this monster.
He tossed his dagger at Calem, but not to hit him. Instead, it dropped to the ground with its handle closest. "I'm supposed to be teaching you of our legacy, especially since your cowardly father won't. But as you are, it's going to be nothing but a struggle. You need to lose your fear of death and take command of it instead."
"I'm not going to be killing anyone," Calem said. But just as in his dream, he started to hear whispers from the other ones.
With a small pop, Swift arrived, in full color rather than a shadowy form. She was soon followed by Percival, who had a hold on Nibbles, and Yorick, who had a hold of Starlet. "Calem, how'd you...?" the Frogadier started to ask, but then went tense as she realized he wasn't alone. "...get... here... again?"
"This place looks so much more like a dump on this side," Starlet said, her voice as snobby as he always thought she'd be. But even she seemed wary, making sure that her steel jaw was between the rest of her body and the faceless man.
"How'd you get here?" Calem asked, trying to block out the whispers.
The faceless man chuckled, causing a chill in all of them. "Ghosts of all sorts can always reach this side if they want, even bring others over alive if they dare. And your Swift here has a connection to darkness too, albeit not directly to death like us. She could be just as deadly, though. That is, once you start killing."
"Y-you're not supposed to listen to this one, remember?" Percival said. The Doublade struggled to be brave now that he could see his opponent.
"We won't let you hurt Calem," Swift said, lowering her stance and preparing to fight.
"I have no intention of hurting him," the faceless man said. Not having human expressions, it was hard to tell how much he meant that. "But it most likely will happen over the course of training. No, what you should be worried about is if Calem is going to let you live." But it was possible to see him smirk, just slightly. "You followed him over here. That means you're capable of dying here. Calem, kill them."
"You're talking complete nonsense," Starlet said. "He wouldn't kill us."
"Are you absolutely certain of that?" the faceless man asked, pointing to him.
Calem was trying his hardest to deny that he would. He had no reason to kill off any Pokemon, much less his own. But he found that he couldn't speak. The whispers were clawing their way into his mind, stirring up that horrific impulse to kill again. He didn't want to kill... or did he? It felt so real, and strong, and the dagger was still right there within reach and he knew he could take out at least one of them before they could properly react... but he didn't want to do it. While Calem tried to convince himself of that, his body shook under the pressure of the struggle in his mind.
"Calem, snap out of it," Swift said. She believed in him. There was some doubt in the others... maybe even her as he failed to reply or do anything. Percival seemed to be trying to find that connection again, but this situation where he wasn't alone was making him panic.
Then a fierce cry broke through Calem's mind, blocking out the whispers entirely. Powerful wings stirred the air and right as the faceless man shouted a curse, there was the thundering sound of a spell striking him down. Finding himself on his knees, Calem looked up to see that the faceless man was pinned beneath black thorns. There were two more Pokemon in this realm of spirits now. One was a figure so imposing that it could be nothing less than a god, the dark raptor of death Yveltal. The other was much smaller; Mortan descended down to join Calem's other Pokemon.
"Boy, do you desire to cause death?" Yveltal said in a harsh tone that far exceeded the strictest teacher Calem had ever met.
"No," Calem said, his voice weak. That didn't feel good enough, so he spoke up, "No, I would never kill, except those voices.."
"Then it's not your will that would drive you to kill," Yveltal stated, toning down his strictness some. "You devoted Pokemon have nothing to fear from him. But you do need to fear the will that has tried to overtake his. I've only driven it off temporarily; it lies in his blood and has no source in me, so not even my divine power can free him."
"So he could still kill us?" Percival asked, quivering. "But we can't do anything about it because it's even beyond you?"
"You can help if you have the bravery to stay with him in spite of the danger. This is a battle of wills, after all. Your bonds can strengthen his to fight better."
"But why am I fighting this will that wants me to kill even my friends?" Calem asked, calming a little from the struggle. "What is this all about? There's people who know, but they won't even tell me the name of those, those monsters."
Yveltal snorted. "Monsters? You're fighting the curse of your bloodline. You, descended from a deadly clan, a family without a homeland, a family that passed down the art of murder, assassins who were feared as little was known about them but their mastery, humans who have killed gods and innocents alike... you were born an Asari even as the name was not bestowed on you. Should you take the life of another, any other, the black markings of the curse will appear on you. If you die marked as such, you will become one of the Asari monsters, just like this one."
"That's my family legacy?" Calem asked, feeling like his blood had turned cold. He didn't want to believe it. But, he felt certain that it was the truth. It would be why his father didn't want to talk about it.
"It is," the god said. "You are a monster just as much as they are, just not awakened to that power. And yet, you are also a human as much as any of them once were. It is passed from father to son relentlessly. Many generations before you have struggled with this because somewhere far back in the Asari line, there is one whose hatred and cruelty became so powerful that it still overcomes his descendants. It is his will, in the end, that consumes the will of others and will try to consume yours. It is a will so powerful that it even influences my servants."
"I didn't realize it until yesterday," Mortan said, bashfully hiding behind his flower.
"Shush," Yveltal said, but with a gentleness that was almost fatherly. "The moment is past; we must deal with the results. Now Calem, I am not all-knowing, nor all-powerful. I know I am vulnerable to the power of the Asari, even if I know not how they took down other gods. But what I know of your situation tells me that as you have found the Asari anklet and one rune, it would be best if you learn about your family's history and abilities. It will give you better grounds to fight the Asari will. And yet in order to learn, you will have to fight the Asari will over and over again, so that you do not kill and get lost to it."
"His father wouldn't teach him," Swift said. "I thought it was nonsense then and it seems worse now to choose ignorance."
"Ignorance would work if he still knew nothing at all about it," Yveltal said. "But not now."
"What do you know about my family?" Calem said.
"Hmph. It may be better for you to learn some things elsewhere. I can tell you about the last Asari I dealt with. Heinrich was once an ordinary boy like you, born in another land. But then he learned that his bloodline was cursed, that the Asari will would drive him to kill someone he loved to break his will, or it would trick him into passing the curse onto his son so they could focus on him until he came to kill his father for choosing what they saw as cowardice. Heinrich decided he wanted none of that and opted to kill himself.
"That backfired entirely. He was still taking a life but the curse of the Asari bloodline would not let him die until it could fully claim him. Not only did he survive the attempt, but he was driven insane by it, killing off his family and neighbors before regional authorities captured him. But their land was at war with ours, so they chained him up and brought him here, only letting him loose to kill their enemies here.
"It would have been the end for anyone else, their mind crushed to nothing more than a psychotic killer who viewed the world through a broken will. But when I met him, he was remarkably stable and partially in control of himself. By using his connection to death, he tracked me down as I was beginning to awaken to the war around me and made sure that I stayed asleep. All he asked for in return was the willpower to keep himself from killing anymore, so that he did not end up killing a young woman he was in love with. I told him that if he could keep me asleep when war claimed so much death, then he could keep himself from killing long enough to give himself up to my land's authorities for execution.
"And that's what he did. Unfortunately, the Asari will was strong enough to protect his unborn child from my notice, so my chance to end the line entirely was missed. And yet... it has come to my notice that his child did not join the Asari upon his death. There are those who escape this curse, even if it forces them to continue it. Isn't that right, Heinrich?"
At this point, Calem realized that the faceless man, the Asari, had managed to escape the thorns that Yveltal had trapped him in. Even without a proper face, he could tell that his demeanor had changed. Heinrich Asari looked at them silently for a moment, then vanished. For some reason, he was going to leave them be.
It caused Calem to realize something. "Wait, that's... my great-grandfather?" He found it hard to connect Gran, such a lively and loving person, to this creature that had been so ruthless around him. But the stories matched up far too well.
"Yes, and he is a good example of how powerful the Asari will can be on both sides," Yveltal said. "He may be your enemy, but he can be your ally at the same time. I hope this information will be valuable to you. But I should not linger near you too long. Similar powers can resonate; death can awaken death, which I don't want to happen at this time. Mortan, continue to follow Calem for the time being."
"Is that all right?" Mortan asked.
"I know better than to leave any Asari unwatched in my land once I know he's there, especially when he's still unmarked by the curse. And now that you're aware of their will, I believe you are capable of knowing when it's focusing on him again. I trust your judgment for now. Good luck, to all of you, but especially Calem Asari." Then Yveltal left, simultaneously sending them all out of the realm of spirits.
It was not as simple as coming over had been, as Calem found himself lying on the ground. The blue-haired woman with the visor was kneeling by him. "Ah, here he comes around," she said. "I told you it probably wasn't permanent."
"Calem, what happened to you?" Shauna asked.
Before he could say that he wasn't entirely sure, more of what to tell them than what that was all about, the woman said, "Be patient. I hear that unless you're used to such out of body experiences, it's not easy to find your orientation once back in a physical body. Could one of you get him a soda or coffee, or something to make him more alert."
"I'll go do that," Serena said, going off to find somewhere to buy a drink.
"I think we should get away from those stones," Calem said, his voice coming out weaker than he expect. "It's... messing with them could turn out bad, I think."
"I wouldn't give such a judgment now," the woman said. "But given this unusual occurrence, I agree that reanalysis of gathered data is the wisest course for this day. Also, I'd like to ask you some questions about what you experienced once we've taken care of our loss. I believe you know something important to us."
It wasn't just her that wanted to ask him questions. The police were already there too, starting to close off the area to figure out what had just happened. Fortunately, once he told them that his experience after the freak lightning bolt was nightmarish, the police officer didn't question him further. Calem thought that was peculiar. Certainly if he hadn't been through it, he would have wanted to know about the person that the faceless man had pointed at and forced into the realm of spirits. The others had seen him, but apparently they hadn't understood him like Calem had.
"Maybe we should check out of town for now and do something more fun to get your mind off that," Shauna said once the officer was leaving them.
"Yeah, it's probably better to forget about it, like any bad dream," Trevor said.
Forget? There were parts he'd like to forget but he knew he wouldn't be able to, no matter what he tried. "I don't know if it'd be that easy," he said.
"But hey, at least Mortan came back," Shauna said.
"Eellii," Mortan said in a tone of concern. Since he'd been around Trevor's Floette Coco enough, he was better at pretending normalcy.
"He must've been worried too," she said.
However, there was one person who didn't let him go with just that explanation: the Flare woman with the visor. Her name, he found out, was Mable. When he told her that the experience was nightmarish and he didn't want to talk about it, she gave him a long hard look. At least, it seemed that way. It was hard to tell with that visor covering a third of her face.
"Yeah, so we'll just be leaving town now," Serena said firmly, trying to get her to listen.
"No, I would like an explanation of certain abnormalities I've recorded," Mable said. "For instance, at this very moment, there is a force that originates with none of us that is trying to keep us from discussing what Calem saw on the other side. It's quite potent; if my computer did not detect it, I would have fallen for it myself. Another reason I wish to know is that while I was observing you, you showed signs of being in contact with a divine being. If it is connected to this site, I need to know about it for our research into this place's mysteries."
"Maybe it's just common courtesy that we don't want to make him talk about whatever was clearly bad over there?" Serena said, annoyed that the scientist was pushing the issue when the police hadn't.
"Or the divine being might not want him to talk, if they agreed to something," Trevor pointed out.
"No, it's another force altogether," she said. "These numbers don't lie."
In hearing their discussion and having some time to cool down (and some coffee to clear his head), Calem had figured out what to say in case of this. "Maybe they don't, but I don't want to tell anyone else about what happened until I can talk with my parents about it. It's a personal problem and I don't want to go into it right now with people I don't know." Or people that could very well have died today. "And really, don't mess around with this place too much. The stones can stay and look impressive, sure, but doing anything more than that with them will only bring you grief."
"That statement will be taken under consideration," Mable said, then agreed to let them go for the time being.
When they had got past the field of monoliths to the town of Cyllage, Calem asked to be alone to use his holocaster to call his father. He half-expected him to get angry again, but he told him about all that had happened, even the pushes to kill. Because based on what Yveltal said, he would have dealt with the same pressure.
But Shawn didn't get angry. Instead, he was worried, putting his hand to his cheek and trying to think of some way out of this. "I see. Yes, we are of the Asari family, but Gran made sure to give us her surname instead. Not that it could change things, but she tried."
"Then what else do you know?" Calem asked. "Yveltal seems to think it's more dangerous to avoid knowing now."
He bit his lip, then looked down. "Calem... the problem is, you know more than I do now. My grandfather died before my father was born and we're not sure how much he told Gran. And, my father... well, when I was first pushed by the Asari will, he believed he could do something to stop it and left home one day. I missed him a lot and their presence was powerful, but I resisted because of what he'd told me. Then a couple months later, we got word that he'd died in Kalos. The thing is, I already knew because I'd seen his death, like that dream you had last night. One of the Asari spirits murdered him. Whatever he was trying to do to stop them, they didn't let up on me. At least, not until I met Mary and ended up marrying her."
"He didn't join the Asari spirits, though," Calem told him. Still, hearing this made him feel sick.
"That's good to know," Shawn said, relieved. "And... don't take this the wrong way, but we never planned on having children, not with knowing what would happen. We took measures not to, and you can guess how well that went. So I don't really know what to do now. Except, I don't want to leave you alone to face this like I had to."
For a moment, he felt a strong anger that his father was so incompetent about this. Mortan drifted into the holocaster's field, looking concerned. "Niii," he said, tapping his head.
Then he could detect the Asari will now, which really wanted him to hate his dad. "Um, dad?" He was having some trouble looking at the holocaster camera, but he made himself. "I... I appreciate that, but I don't think I should come back home right now. They want to punish you for failing to teach me like they wanted; they want me to kill you."
Shawn was quiet, then rubbed his eyes. Was he crying? "I see. Yes, that's probably for the best. We'll need to talk to your teacher sometime before school starts; he might be able to help. Calem, your mother and I love you greatly. If I could do anything to get them disconnected to you, I would. I just don't know what to do now. Oh, but... I suppose I should send that to you."
"Send what?" Calem asked, his throat tense as he tried not to be crying either.
"The cowl. I've never seen the anklet myself, but you have it. The cowl somehow got mailed to your grandfather when he was your age. At least, we think it's the cowl as it's in a locked box that neither of us have been able to open; the Asari spirits seem to be saying that it is. There's one more item, some kind of weapon."
"A dagger," he reminded him.
Shaun nodded. "Right, the dagger. The last letter I got from your grandfather was about it. He said that his father, Heinrich Asari, did not have a grave. However, he was memorialized somewhere in Kalos and the dagger was located there. Even being here, I'm not sure where he meant. But you've traveled around Kalos, so you might have a better idea of where."
"Not really, but I know some people I could ask," Calem said. "I'm sorry. I don't want to do this, but more than that, I don't want to end up killing you both. I don't want to kill anyone."
"I know. But it can be beat Be strong, Calem. And it's not like you'll never hear from us again. We'll keep in contact."
"Thank you, Dad." While he did feel conflicted over how he'd not told him any of this until he'd run into the Asari himself, Calem felt it was more important to remember that he loved them. Dwelling too long on the anger would only lead him to doing something unforgivable.
A/N: So... none of this happens in the game! Even if X/Y's story was darker at points. if you don't know what you're getting into, entering Geosenge for the first time makes it seem like it's mostly a pitstop between two Gym towns. You'd might also suspect the plot would come back at some point because of some run ins with Team Flare members around the monoliths.
My first playthrough of Y actually got me a Yveltal with a Gentle nature, which partly influences my interpretations of him and Xerneas. Of course, I also like turning expectations upside-down and still having them make sense, so there's that, haha.
Edit: For some silly reason, I thought Geosenge was Genosage. I think I got them all fixed.