Here's chapter fourteen. Thank you Antex-The Legendary Zoroark and LeTantris for reviewing last chapter!
Chapter Fourteen: The Fool
"W-what?" Eris exclaimed. "How did you-I mean-ah, dang it."
The man seemed mildly amused. "I've met some who've been Marked before. Trust me, I know what that means." He gestured to the barely-visible Mark.
Eris self-consciously covered it. She asked hesitantly, "What do you know about it?"
A thoughtful look crossed the man's face. His voice came, slow, quiet, saying, "It's an interesting phenomena." He paused. Eris waited. The man swallowed, continued, "From what I've seen, those Marked will gain a portion of the powers from those they were Marked by. After a time, they may even gain a part of that legendary's personality."
"Oh."
"Now, then. There's a honedge attached to your arm, and you don't seem concerned about it."
"Oh! Right." Eris looked at the sword pokemon. "Well, it hasn't been draining my energy, but it won't let go. I'm, ah, trying to find a way to get it to let go."
"I see."
Honedge's eye switched between them, revealing nothing.
The two sat silently. Eris broke it, saying, "My name's Eris."
"Nice name."
Eris prompted, "And yours?"
The old man laughed. "I don't think my name's important. I'm not even sure I remember it." He considered. "You may call me AZ."
She thought that was an odd name. "AZ-ah, Mr. AZ-" he snorted "-do you know what it means to be Marked? I mean, what do you have to do? I mean, I don't know what I mean." Her voice sounded small, quiet, and she found herself folded against her legs.
AZ had gone rigid. The moonlight painted him eerily, like a ghost; she thought she could touch him, and he'd disappear.
After a length of time he sighed. "A beautiful night." He stood. "Be careful with that honedge."
Honedge shivered, an acknowledgement.
AZ left.
Eris stared. She sighed. The grass rustled. No more wild honedge appeared.
She leaned against the gate. "Maybe we should sleep."
"Hone."
-Honedge wished it didn't dream. It never understood them. Or maybe it did, and it simply forgot.
It saw fire. Something wheeled overhead, screeching. It followed it with its eyes.
It saw a man. It saw many men. It thought it recognized them, ghosts of names-Aaron? Gryffon?-but then they slipped away, fragile as mist.
It saw graves. So many graves.
It saw blood. And it reveled in it. It laughed, a sound seeming so human, yet so inhuman.
And then it felt pain and horror and sickness and why couldn't it just stop-
But it would. It would wake up. And still, nothing would make sense.
-Absol stumbled. That odd feeling he'd had since being captured pulsed beneath his skin. I should return to-
No! I refuse. I can't just be caught. I have things I need to do. Like find that Marked human and find out why a legendary would decide to do such a thing.
But first, he had to recover.
The pack was much as he'd left it. The caves were left open to the elements, though on a calm night like this, nothing would happen. The rocks remained ridged, and he struggled to scale them, especially with his injuries not fully healed. But still he made it, collapsing at a cave mouth, panting, shaking.
A gasp. Footsteps. "Light, you're back."
Light? Oh, yes; that was his name, once. He stood on shaking legs. "I'm just an absol, mother."
The took a step back. Something cold flashed in her eyes. "The outside world has changed you."
"The world hasn't-" He stopped, collected himself, started again. "I'm not here to argue. I'm here to seek refuge, for the moment."
A scathing laugh echoed further in the cave. "The fool finally comes tottering home?" A burly absol stepped into the moonlight, his horn gleaming.
Absol dipped his head. "Father."
The larger absol's gaze burned his skin. He waited, tense. His father sniffed the air. "You look horrible."
Absol's eyes narrowed.
"And you smell of more than blood."
"That's not important." Absol took a steadying breath. "I have much to tell you and the pack. And I need time to recuperate, where I won't have to worry about being disturbed." He tried to keep the venom from his voice.
His father grunted. "Fine. You may stay. We could never turn away someone in need."
Absol bit back the retort, How very heroic of you.
-Eris awoke when someone shook her. "You stayed here all night, kid?"
Her vision cleared. The salesman from yesterday stood over her, sunlight framing his head. She sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Yeah."
The salesman scratched the back of his head. "Hey, you know what I forgot, kid? Today's a holiday! The celebration of the end of the Unovan War! And you know what that means?"
She looked at his too-excited face and stuttered, "N-no?"
"That everyone gets in free today." The man smiled crookedly and unlocked the gate. "After you."
Eris hardly believed what she was hearing. "Th-thank you!" She entered.
The lane stretched to the castle, surrounded on both sides by an expanse of green. Okay, so, the honedge were causing the disappearances. Probably. So I still have to look for signs of Xerneas? She sighed. Unless the honedge are still causing problems. And then, I have to- She shook the thought away.
She entered the castle. For a moment she stood in awe. The walls stretched, gold and red, around her. Elegant statues-mostly of furfrou-guarded the doors. The dim lights gave the setting a medieval feel. It seemed she stepped into another age.
Honedge nudged her. "Edge," it whispered. It pointed to a shadowed hallway.
Eris frowned uncertainly but followed its prompting. She wandered through darkness, continuing through other hallways at Honedge's prompting, then, to her surprise, found herself staring at a massive garden. Hedges ran around and through it, creating and maze. The statue of a white dragon stood in front of her; a black dragon waited across the garden. "This is amazing."
"Hone." Honedge lifted, turning, its eye taking in the scenery.
"Honedge?"
It started. It lowered.
Eris frowned. She considered asking what was wrong, but was interrupted. "My, that's a strange way to carry a pokemon."
A strange man smiled at her kindly. "Um, hi?"
The man asked, "Are you here for the celebrations?"
"Ah, yeah."
"Well, then, I hope you enjoy your day." He left.
A sort of confusion and anxiety settled over Eris. "Come on. Let's fine somewhere to stay until there aren't so many people around."
Eris found herself sitting on a balcony when night had fallen. Her legs dangled over the edge, her arms embracing the bars. She touched her Mark. It didn't burn. No sign of Xerneas. And I don't think the honedge are acting up again. She heaved a sigh. Maybe I should check.
She didn't want to check. If they were, she'd have to-
She closed her eyes. I could run away. Honedge isn't hurting me. I'd be alright. But she knew she wouldn't. Yveltal may be kind to her, but he wouldn't let her go after he Marked her. How could she even become un-Marked, anyways? Could she? I just want to go home. Get my normal life back. I didn't want this.
A voice startled her. "Eris. I didn't think I'd be seeing you again."
"Oh. Mr. AZ."
AZ nodded to her. "I get the feeling you're not here to celebrate the end of the Unovan War."
"Well, no. Not really. Are you?"
"No. I'm here for a more selfish reason." He sighed, the sound weary, shaking his chest.
Eris turned away. Something about the man's eyes made her feel her problems were insignificant; that being Marked was a small thing compared to whatever this man had seen. She wasn't sure why, and she didn't like that, while a part of her felt sympathy, a part took comfort that she was not alone.
Something at the horizon's edge glowed and burst. Multi-colored fireworks exploded, sending streaks across the sky above the garden.
AZ stared absently at the statues, highlighted by fireworks. "What makes a pokemon legendary?"
"Hm?"
"Are they created, specifically, for that purpose? Or do they become that way? Were they once normal pokemon, like so many others?"
Eris worried her lip. "I don't know." She remembered something Yveltal said, and ventured, "But maybe they are born that way."
AZ grunted. "But those two dragons weren't." He gestured.
Eris tilted her head. "The Unovan dragons?"
"They weren't meant to exist. They were one dragon once. And then the kings began to fight, and they split."
"But doesn't that technically mean that they were born as legendaries?"
"Perhaps."
She wished he'd stop being so cryptic.
The man heaved a heavy sigh. "I don't know, Eris. What it means to be Marked, or what you'll have to go through."
She realized he was answering her earlier question. Her shoulders fell. "Oh."
"But I do know that you can't dwell on it. That will only be a source of insanity." His lips curled, and he released a derisive laugh. "Trust me." He moved away.
"Mr. AZ! Where are you going?"
He stopped. "Well, I am a fool on a fool's quest. But I've been on my quest too long to understand how to quit." He left.
Eris stared at the space where he'd been. He fingers curled into fists. Not dwell on it? Is that right? Something inside her clicked. I need to know. I need to understand. What Yveltal means, what AZ does. And I'll stay with Yveltal until I do. And, if that means, she swallowed, if that means obeying his orders, even if I don't like them, I'll do it.
A voice broke her from her thoughts. "E-Eris?"
That'd be the end of chapter fourteen. And here are the review responses:
Antex-The Legendary Zoroark: Yes, indeed it was.
LeTantris: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! Hopefully this one met expectations.
Questions or comments? Drop a review and let me know!