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Title: Lines in the Sand

Author: Shinymonkey8

Chapter 14: The Training Begins

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Previously:

Giovanni called in a psychic human to try and track the clones. The psychic knew that this was impossible; humans didn't have near enough psychic power. Despite this fact, as they were nearing the end of their search of the complex, the psychic sensed something. It was just a faint residue, but it confirmed the fact that something very powerful was living just outside of the complex for a long period of time.

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"What's wrong Amber? What's happening?"

"It feels… like its time… to say goodbye."

"Goodbye?"

"I have to go…"

"Why?"

"I don't know… but it's all right. Thank you for caring about me. And don't cry Mewtwo, you should be happy! You're alive, and life is wonderful!"

"Life is wonderful."
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Mewtwo jolted up in his bed, panting and sweating profusely.

It was only a nightmare.

He sighed and looked around. It was still dark; the sheet blocking him off from the rest of the room shut out any light that could get through.

What kind of nightmare was that?

And why had it made him so distressed?

Who is Amber? Why do I feel like I remember something?

His thought process was interrupted by a small whimper.

Was that Alvar? He wondered.

Another whimper sounded. He could hear the familiar snoring of Alvar as well as the whimper, so it couldn't be Alvar…

It must be Lyric…

He quietly got up out of his bed and moved the sheet aside. As he walked over to the foot of Lyric's bed, he could see her shifting under her blankets, and he thought he heard another small whimper.

She must be having a nightmare… Should I wake her?

He had experienced his own share of nightmares. Nightmares are agonizing; no one ever wishes so stay in a nightmare.

The sooner she wakes up the better, right?

With his mind made up, he gently put a hand on her quivering shoulder and shook her, trying to wake her.

"Lyric? Lyric, wake up!"

It got worse before it got better. She began to jolt spasmodically, and the panting and sweating increased. Mewtwo finally saw her eyes flutter open and her struggling came to a stop.

Lyric looked up at him with an aura of fear and confusion.

He looked down at her and tried soothing her, "Lyric, you were having a nightmare, so I woke you."

She sighed and massaged her temples with the three fingers of her paws. "Yes, I was. I have been having them every night now."

Mewtwo did not want to ask her what the dream was about. He didn't expect her to be comfortable explaining her nightmares in detail to him. Surprisingly, she went ahead and told him without even being asked to.

"I dreamed about when I got attacked in the alley by those… humans… Luckily you woke me up before it got too bad."

Suddenly, she leaned forward and groaned, massaging her head again.

"Lyric, is something wrong?"

"I have a terrible headache…"

Mewtwo waited to reply; he didn't know if this was a good idea…

"May I help you?"

She stopped massaging her temples and looked at him.

"What?"

"I could soothe your headache if you like."

She thought about this. It was just an act of kindness; any normal being does not want to see another in pain.

She nodded, and watched somewhat nervously as Mewtwo raised his paw toward her head. He gave a light touch near her temples and closed his eyes, sending the soothing power of Recover through her mind.

After he finished, he let his hand drop and looked at her still closed eyes.

"Is it any better?"

She opened her eyes, "Yes, it's completely gone… Where did you learn to do that?"

The male clone relaxed. The tension in the room had faded. "It is actually a very basic psychic skill."

"I need to learn all these skills sometime. I'm completely defenseless… completely useless."

Mewtwo frowned. Why was she discouraging herself like this? Did she really think that lowly of herself?

"I could train you…" It really came out of nowhere, but it seemed like the right thing to say.

She looked up at him again. "Would you really do that for me?"

Mewtwo was surprised, "Of course I will, you're a part of the Mewtwo race; you should know how to use your abilities."

It felt awkward calling it a race; he had been so used to being the only one.

"That would be wonderful… How could you teach me?"

"Most likely the same way I taught you telepathy."

When she didn't answer, Mewtwo continued, "I would also have to get you in shape, teach you how to fight. Psychic powers are not the only thing that you need for a battle."

She smiled, thinking of the possibilities of being able to defend herself.

Mewtwo continued on again, "It will be a lot of work, but I am sure you are capable of it."

"Could we start tomorrow?"

He was surprised that Lyric was so eager to get started. "Very well. Are you sure you are well enough?"

"Well my headache is gone. I feel fine; I think I can do it."

"Get some sleep then, we will start the training tomorrow."

She smiled and slid back under her covers. She fell back asleep instantly, with no more nightmares to plague her.

Mewtwo also went back to sleep. He would need to rest up as well. If Lyric was resilient as he imagined she was, tomorrow was going to be exhausting…

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They both woke up at about the same time. It was noon, and the songs of bird pokemon were drifting through the open window.

Mewtwo didn't normally allow the window to be open; he believed it was an unnecessary waste of secrecy, but made an exception when Lyric asked. The air blowing through the window also seemed to bring in the scent of some type of sweet pastry. It was heavenly, and was the perfect way to start a morning. The Skitty in the corner, however, was still asleep.

"How does Alvar sleep so much?"

Her voice had continually gotten louder and clearer; Mewtwo thought it should be sounding normal in a few days.

"I don't understand it either, Lyric."

He was slicing up some fruit with a knife for breakfast.

"Do you prefer oranges or pears?"

Lyric looked back at him, confused.

"I've never had either…"

Mewtwo looked awestruck. "You've never had oranges? What did you eat?"

"Well… most of the time I wasn't sure… I got bread some days. That apple from yesterday was wonderful; I wouldn't mind having another of those."

The male clone just stared at her. All he had ever eaten was fruit. It was the only food he had ever known.

He handed her the orange, "Here, come and eat this."

She nodded her head and slowly got out of bed. As the blankets rolled off her body she noticeably winced in pain. She looked down at where the pain had been coming from. There was a large, red rash on the top of her left forearm.

Mewtwo noticed this as well and was concerned. "Lyric, what has happened to your arm...?"

The female clone looked up at him, her face shrouded in confusion and pain, "I don't know… this wasn't here yesterday…"

He was equally confused, looking at the mysterious rash, "You may have rubbed your arm up against something in your sleep."

She didn't answer, and slowly brought a round finger from her other arm to touch it. Immediately as the skin collided, she pulled her arm back in pain.

"It hurts…"

Mewtwo turned around and walked toward one of the many shelves in his room. "I have some gauze that I could bandage it with if you would like."

He brought the gauze back over to the bed she had sat back down on and began to wrap the gauze around her arm. Alvar had finally gotten up and was just noticing the rash.

"Lyric, what happened to your arm?"

Mewtwo replied for her, "We are not sure; she may have acquired it in her sleep."

The kitten looked at the rash, then back at Lyric's face. "It looks bad… does it hurt?"

Lyric turned to face the Skitty, "Only a little bit."

Mewtwo had finished bandaging the wounded arm. "Hopefully the rash will fade in a day or two. Try to keep from bumping it in to things."

She nodded in response, then looked up at him, slowly rising to her feet, "So are we still going to train today?"

"I did not think you were in the proper state to do any type of strenuous work."

"Well besides the pain from this rash, I feel fine."

She did not tell him that whenever she used her left arm, pain shot through her elbow joint. It wasn't excruciating pain, so she did not think it mattered.

"I would recommend only training your psychical skills, not anything physical."

"I guess that's okay…" She replied with a frown. Sure, she could defend herself with basic psychic skills, but even more so with increased physical strength.

Maybe if I knew my abilities when I got beat up, I might have been able to defend myself and not have been so completely helpless…

It was a painful memory, but she couldn't help but blame herself for what happened.

"Do you still want this orange?" Mewtwo had silently moved back over to where he had been slicing the fruit.

She walked over to him. He continued, "Oranges can be either sweet or sour. I prefer the sweet ones myself."

She looked down at the sliced orange on a small white plate he handed to her. "How can you tell the difference?"

"Normally you can't, but if I performed a scan of the fruit I could most likely find out. I, however, enjoy the surprise." He managed a small smile, which was odd for him. He had been doing that more than usual lately; usual being never.

I wonder if my smiling has to do with the arrival of Lyric. He had found himself to be happier than normal. He wasn't used to this feeling… happiness. Well of course he was happy… He had just found out he wasn't alone in the world. There was another of his species!

"Well, don't tell me, I want the surprise too!"

She snatched up the wedge and stuck the entire thing in her mouth at once. Immediately, Mewtwo tried helping, "Normally, one does not eat the orange peel…"

She enjoyed it nevertheless, smiling. "This is great!"

I guess it would be great, compared to the moldy bread she must've consumed, Mewtwo mused.

After a few more wedges for Lyric as well as the hungry Skitty, without the peels this time, she had regained her strength and all three of them headed up to the roof. Alvar had wanted to watch, having nothing better to do but sleep. A small doorway opened to some stairs that led to the mostly barren roof of the building. Mewtwo did not spend much of his time there; he did not want to risk being seen.

The roof was the ideal place to train, however. There was nothing around to clutter the area. It was especially ideal for learning levitation, which could go awry if not used correctly.

As they reached the top of the staircase leading to the roof, Mewtwo explained, "Today I will teach you how to levitate yourself in the air with your psychic powers."

This got an excited look from Lyric and they both walked to the center of the roof. She heard the Skitty behind her comment, "Wow, look at that view!" She looked around. It was actually quite beautiful for a cityscape. The sun was in the center of the sky, illuminating everything around. Even the alleys in between the buildings on all sides of her seemed less menacing with their entire length completely lit up. She could see the forest in the distance, and the lingering aroma of the pastries was still in the air.

"Are you ready to begin?"

She nodded her head. They both sat down with their legs crossed, facing each other. Alvar sat down over in the corner, watching them with an amused look in his eyes.

"Levitation is a very crucial ability for transportation. It drastically reduces the time to get to any location without the use of teleport, a much more concentration and energy consuming skill. Even though levitation is a fairly basic psychic skill, it still requires a fair amount of concentration."

Mewtwo narrowed his eyes. He was running in to the same problem he had with teaching telepathy to her. He couldn't really explain how he levitated, he just did. It was strange, not being able to word the instructions properly.

"I'm not sure how to teach this, but…" He quickly glanced at her. She was listening intently, taking in everything he had to say. He had to try his best.

"I will try to keep the focus on getting off the ground rather than changing directions and moving in midair for now." She nodded in response, so he continued. "When I levitate, I try to think about my body being weightless; floating off the ground. Just try to imagine your body lifting off the ground…"

It was really the best he could do. He closed his amethyst eyes and lifted himself of the ground about a foot.

"That's exactly what you told me when I learned to levitate!" the Skitty butted in, almost making the levitating clone lose concentration. "It took me a month to get it down!"

"If you have a better way of explaining it, then please do not hesitate to tell me," he said sternly. It had an obvious playful undertone to it, and Alvar just smiled. Mewtwo thought he heard him mutter something about 'the wrong side of the bed' before he turned away and was laying down in an opposite corner.

After watching him levitate, she closed her eyes and made an attempt. After a few moments she let out a breath she must've held and opened her eyes.

"Hmm… I don't feel that… buzz… that I get when I use my telepathy."

The male clone responded, still hovering with his eyes closed, "try channeling that feeling… that energy… into your thought processes."

She tried again. This time, Mewtwo felt a wave of excitement as her eyes bolted open, "I feel the buzz!" Then she looked down, "…but I'm not getting off the ground."

Mewtwo had finally drifted back to the ground and was watching her, "Keep concentrating."

They sat like this for a little over ten minutes, with the same result. Alvar, off in the corner, had begun chasing a leaf that had drifted on top of the roof. She was determined, and not the least bit discouraged after more time passed. Finally, Lyric looked up, opening her eyes, "My headache's come back… along with some nausea…"

Worriedly, Mewtwo replied, "Perhaps we should be finished for the day. You have already made progress."

"We can't already be finished! I haven't even gotten off the ground yet!"

Amused, the clone answered, "Do not expect to have levitation mastered in a single day like you did with telepathy. I still do not understand how you did—"

He was interrupted by a moaning coming from Lyric; the nausea had gotten worse. She had hunched over so her face was hidden from view.

"I don't feel very well…" she managed to mutter.

She had been concentrating hard for near half of an hour now, that was probably why she was so exhausted.

"I believe that your mind is not used to the continued strain you are putting on it. You should probably rest."

She didn't refuse this time as he helped her up and she hobbled over to the top of the staircase. Another wave of nausea washed over her as she tried to take her first step. Luckily, she managed to keep her breakfast of oranges in her stomach as Mewtwo picked her up telekinetically and levitated her down the steps. She managed to whisper a thanks while still floating through the air.

He floated her over to the bed and gently set her down there. The nausea had progressed fast. He couldn't help blaming himself for making her put too much stress on her mind at once. Lyric had her eyes closed and had her paws on her head again.

Her headache must be back… What is wrong with her! This cannot be normal…

After a few minutes she had grown calmer now, seemingly already drifting into a deep sleep. He walked over to her and gently began to unwrap her bandages. As he removed the last of the gauze, his amethyst eyes widened at what he saw…

The rash had spread.

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End of Chapter 14

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Yet another cliffhanger, I know how much you like them!