So that took longer than I wanted. Also, I promised a plot twist in this chapter, but that's actually going to be next chapter. Sorry, but I tried forcing everything into one chapter, and it felt like things were getting too overloaded. Also, this is the first of my five updates for today, so I'm pretty excited. Anyway, here's chapter 21!
The first thing May noticed was the emptiness in her hand, as palpable as if she had been burned. But when May tried to open her eyes, she realized that they were already open. The darkness that surrounded her was all encompassing, almost suffocating. Panic swelled inside of her, and May tried to scream, the sound catching in her throat.
Just when she thought she couldn't take it anymore, May noticed that the world had begun to lighten. Slowly, so slowly, the world around May reappeared. She supposed that she should be grateful, but all May could feel was confusion. Because instead of the windswept plain on top of the cliffs, she was standing in a small, dingy kitchen.
"It would take me back here," Anna muttered darkly, making May jump. She was certain that Anna hadn't been there a second ago.
"How did you . . ." asked May, her brain starting to hurt.
Anna shrugged. "Memories are weird. The others should be here soon." And sure enough, first Dom, then Kriggs, and finally Drew appeared in the kitchen, all looking a little worse for wear. Which was exactly how May felt. Trying not to collapse from relief, she went and wrapped her arms around Drew tightly, burying her face in his shoulder. She felt him return the embrace, the warm weight of his arms resting comfortingly around her waist.
"Not to break up the cozy reunion," Kriggs said, sounding slightly irritated, "but if we're here, shouldn't Zaphara be too?"
"Oh, I'm right here," a cold, sneering voice said behind them. Everyone but Anna and Dom flinched and spun around.
"Relax," Dom said lazily. "She can't do anything in here."
Zaphara lunged, trying to dig her nails into the side of Dom's face. Her hand swept through him fluidly, as if neither one of them had any form. Zaphara looked absolutely furious as Anna chuckled.
"Oh, just you wait," she hissed. "When we're back in the real world—"
"Oh, shut up!" snapped Anna. All at once, Zaphara stopped talking. Her mouth kept moving, but no sound came out. She clutched her throat wildly, glaring at Anna.
"We're in my memories now," Anna said softly, her eyes completely black in the dingy light. "For once, you're at my mercy."
Just then, a woman stumbled into the room. At first, May thought it was Anna herself, but then she noticed the lines on the stranger's face, the deep-set weariness that seemed to permeate the woman's entire body. But despite all this, she was still beautiful; the damage life had done to her inadequate to completely obscure her elegant features.
She collapsed to the floor, body twitching and limbs jerking horribly. May immediately started forward to help her, but Anna held up a hand.
"It's already done, May," she said, a similar weariness settling over her. "You can't change the past."
But that didn't make watching this woman die any easier. Especially not when a little girl rushed into the room to crouch by her dying mother's side.
"He's killed you," the little girl whispered in horror. With a start, May realized that she was looking at Anna as she must have been as a child, no more than seven or eight years old.
"Back when I was still Annaliese," May heard Anna say, as if in response to her unvoiced observation.
The dark haired woman sprawled gracefully across the linoleum, lovely even in death. Her hair fanned out around her, a midnight coronet for a corpse. Trembling, Annaliese reached out and took her mother's hand in her own, squeezing it tightly. But a second later, her grip loosened. Annaliese turned her mother's hand over in her own, revealing a pill bottle clutched loosely by long, thin fingers.
"You've killed yourself," Annaliese said quietly, her face hardening. "And left me alone." Rage, grief and, above all, betrayal, spread across her face. The child hunched over, the warring emotions too much for her body to bear. Grief and pity pierced May has sharply as a knife, and she felt tears of her own spring to her eyes.
May expected Annaliese to cry out, to scream, to pound the floor in grief, but she did none of that. Instead, Anna stood up and stepped lightly around her mother's body. She walked to a door, and slowly, slowly, drew back the latch. The door opened, revealing a darkened staircase leading into what looked like a basement.
Beside her, the others stood frozen, watching the scene play out in front of them. Only Anna remained unaffected, staring out the window with a look of disinterest on her face. Zaphara watched the whole episode gleefully, laughing cruelly when Anna's mother had finally died. May gritted her teeth, wishing that they weren't all intangible. She would love dearly to sink her fists into Zaphara's face.
The scene shifted, following Annaliese into the basement. This time, May couldn't keep a gasp of horror from escaping her lips. All around her were caged pokémon in various stages of death and torture. After the first few cages of burned Jigglypuff, it was too much, and May averted her eyes, forcing herself to stare at the memory version of Anna and nothing else.
Robotically, Annaliese started unlatching cages and opening doors, freeing the pokémon. At first, they were too frightened to move, but after a few encouraging noises from Annaliese, they began to crowd around the stairs.
She crossed the room to the final prisoner, a choked sob finally breaking through her determined veneer. It was a Latias, a red, full grown Latias with lacerations and scars crisscrossing its body. It was strapped to an examination table, eyeing Annaliese tiredly.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered, starting to undo the straps. The Latias shook its head and motioned toward another cage, half hidden behind a stack of cardboard crates. A pair of frightened amber eyes peaked out from between the bars.
"Is that your . . ." Annaliese turned back to ask the Latias a question, but it was too late. She was dead.
Anna moaned, sliding to the floor. May watched as her thin body started to shake, grief finally begin to take over. A mewl from the cage brought her back to reality. Taking a deep breath, memory Anna crawled over to the cage and shoved the boxes out of the way. She wrenched open the cage door, her eyes dull as she turned away and walked back towards the stairs.
Baby Lottie was perhaps the cutest thing May had ever seen. She was red, not the violet that May had grown accustomed to, but still. She moved cautiously out of the cage, floating over to her mother. She nudged the body sadly, keening when the Latias didn't respond.
Annaliese had started to climb the stairs, followed by a throng of injured and abused pokémon. Back in the kitchen, she threw the back door open, letting them all rush out into the night.
Finally, only Lottie remained, resting her head on Anna's shoulder.
"You should go, too," Anna said dully. "Before he comes back."
Lottie cocked her head and made a questioning noise.
"It doesn't really matter what he'll do to me," Annaliese said, shrugging. "Nothing really matters now."
Lottie looked hesitant for a second, and then shook her head.
Annaliese shrugged again. "It's your choice."
And then the kitchen was dissolving, reforming into a cliff side scene.
Beside May, the older Anna chuckled darkly. "In retrospect, I should probably avoid cliffs. Nothing good ever seems to happen."
Annaliese was standing with her back to the cliff, fear mingled with defiance playing out across her face. She clutched Lottie to her chest, her eyes darting back and forth. A mob of uniformed men and women had cornered her, and a tall man with black hair and a cruel smile was slowly walking forward.
"Now, now, honey, let's not be stupid," he said, his voice sickening sweet.
"Go away," Anna whispered, inching farther back toward the edge of the cliff.
"Annaliese," the man said, his voice now authoritative. "I'm your father, and I want you to step away from the edge right now."
"Go to hell."
A woman stepped up to Anna's father, and with a jolt, May saw that it was Zaphara, younger, but still as cruel looking. "If you can't get her to come here, we're going to have to shoot her. That pokemon's too important." Zaphara might have thought she was speaking quietly, but the wind carried her voice to Anna easily. May watched the little girl stiffen. Her dark eyes were fixed on her father's face, waiting for his decision.
He nodded.
Annaliese jumped.
The scene shifted again, and May and the others were falling with Anna. It was terrifying, plummeting through the dark air like this. May bit back a scream as she saw the ocean rushing up to meet them.
And then the air was replaced by water, dragging at their limbs and trying to pull them down. May could feel, rather than see, Annaliese's eyelids fluttering closed, her grip on Lottie lessening. And then a burst of violet light blinded them all.
The world was dark, the shadows taking their time to reform. May saw the real Anna standing nearby, her face grim and drawn. Behind her, Kriggs and Dom were staring at her in horror. Drew chuckled hoarsely and gave Anna a very bitter smile.
"And I thought I had a rough childhood."
She laughed weakly. "You know me. Always the competitive one."
Drew frowned slightly, looking troubled. "I'm confused. I've met Solidad's parents before. Those weren't them."
Anna sighed. "After Lottie and I woke up, we were dazed, confused. Solidad was the one who found us, and convinced her parents to take me in. We're sisters in every way except blood."
"Um, I have a question," Kriggs said, raising his hand. "Could someone explain to me why jumping off a cliff makes lots of purple light appear?"
Zaphara snorted derisively from somewhere behind them. "It's a mutation that certain Latias have. Call it a defense mechanism."
"It saved our lives," Anna said quietly, "but it did have a cost. There wasn't enough to save us both separately, so . . ."
"So it linked you," May finished. "That's why when Lottie got hit with that lightning, it hurt you too."
Anna nodded. Slowly, the world began to reform, until it seemed like they were back on top of the cliffs. May, Kriggs, and Drew immediately turned and eyed Zaphara warily, shifting into defensive postures.
"Oh, relax," she snapped, waving them off. "We're not done yet. Unfortunately, the egg targets the worst memories a person has. So we're going to be here a while."
"And whose fault is that?" Anna countered. "You're the one who's been making my life shit for the last decade."
"Both of you, shut up," Dom said suddenly, his eyes fixed on something in the distance. "This isn't . . ."
"Yep," Anna replied, looking miserable.
Three figures appeared out of the tall grass, two girls and a boy. As they drew nearer, May began to make out their features. The first was Anna, younger than she was now, but unmistakable, even with a short mop of dark hair. The second girl was taller, ganglier, but moved with a kind of grace that made May think she was a dancer. Her long hair was braided back, and even in the moonlight, it seemed to be shimmering gold.
"Leila," Dom whispered, stricken.
The third member of the trio came into view. Anna inhaled sharply, her eyes trained on the boy.
"Danny."
Uh oh. We finally get to see what happened to Danny, and how Zaphara and her Rayquaza really play into things. But I'll leave that for next chapter, which is going to be called "Nightmares". I usually don't know the chapter titles before hand, but since I do this time, I thought I'd let everyone know. Thanks for reading, and the finish line is in sight. I think chapter 30 will probably be the last chapter, but if I have to write one or two more, I will. Thanks, and please, review!