Author's Note: Second chapter of this large update chunk, and longest I've yet written. I don't consider it that great though, too much dialogue... Still, it's very explanatory.
Chapter 25
Shrike
"Long time? It's only been a few days..." I said as the platform I had been standing on throughout most of the gym battle lowered to the ground and I stepped off it, walking over to Zack as Ramiel ran up alongside me. Noah, not knowing who Zack was, decided to stand back for the moment after recalling Poliwhirl.
Zack reached out from under his cloak and grabbed my shoulders, staring into my eyes as his mouth twisted into a sort of half-smile, "But it seems like it's been so much longer, almost like it's been a year since we've last seen each other."
I knocked his hands off briskly. "What do you want? I'm sure you didn't come here just to hit on me again."
"As I said, we have a lot to talk about. This is no place to have such important chats though, so how about we return to your room at the Pokémon Center?"
"How do you know we have a room there?" I narrowed my eyes, wondering how long Zack had been watching me.
"How should I not know?" Zack's voice suddenly turned a lot more serious as he spoke. "Listen, you wouldn't believe the attention you've been getting from certain circles as of late. And I'm not just talking about CORE and The Crimson Dawn, though of course they are the two biggest. You've drawn a lot of attention for reasons I'm sure you have no idea yet, and information on your current whereabouts is very common if you know where to look. Ever wonder how you were found so quickly back in Petalburg?" Zack stepped back and I noticed that all of a sudden he looked a lot different than he had a moment ago when he had been hitting on me.
He has a point there, we do seem to be easy to find... That's sort of creepy... I thought, before asking, "And those other circles are?"
Zack smirked. "Daedalus, for one"
My eyes widened as I suddenly pieced it all together. "Wait, so, you're..."
"No, I'm not Daedalus. No one is Daedalus, as Daedalus is not one single entity. Daedalus is a group, a collective of spies and moles who infiltrate into the very heart of this world's dark underground. I am simply a Daedalus agent; one of their CORE agents, to be exact. Of course, I've royally fucked that up now, in no small part due to you and the incident at Petalburg where I really had no choice but to jeopardize my own mission for the greater good. But I digress, as I said this is not the place. Go on, get your badge—you've certainly earned it—and return to your room. I'll be waiting for you." Zack turned around and walked back into the shadows and through the door.
"What was that about? Did you know that person?" Aira asked from up on the bleachers, leaning over the rail.
"I'll tell you about him later; it goes back to the Petalburg attack. It seems we may be due for some answers, though..." I turned around and walked over to where Noah stood, recalling Ramiel into his Pokéball as I walked.
"Friend of yours?" Noah asked.
"Depends on your definition of friend. I'm pretty sure that he's an ally at least, though."
"Personally, he kind of creeped me out. Was he hitting on you?"
"You don't want to know…" I sighed. "Anyways, that was a good battle. Quite different than what I was expecting..."
"Have to say I didn't really expect half of that battle either. If it had been an exhibition match half the audience probably would have left halfway through, and the other half would be worshipping you and trying to get you on TV. Too bad it wasn't; you really could have found some fame," Noah said.
"Yeah, well, I don't exactly want to be famous." I shrugged, wondering what it would be like to be famous, but really not wanting to find out.
"You never know until you are, and of course half the time it's too late then. Anyways, I have something to give you for this of course." Noah grinned as he pulled a small plastic box out of his pocket, placing it in my hand. "As an official representative of the Pokémon League, and reigning Gym Leader of Dewford Island Pokémon Gym, I am proud to present you with this official Pokémon League Knuckle Bade. A very well earned congratulations on your achievement, Shrike Flamestar."
I looked over the plain plastic box for a moment before prying it open. The badge inside glinted in the light, resting on a pad of foam. The badge was shaped like a boxing glove, signifying the gym's primary fighting type alignment, and colored blue for the most part except for the circle at the bottom which was orange. My first gym badge... But...why don't I feel happier? This is what I've always wanted, and even through the struggles with CORE and the Crimson Dawn, I achieved the first step in my dream. "Thank you," I finally said. "No matter what happens, the badge will always be a remembrance to me of this battle."
"That's what they're for! Come on, let's go and get the paperwork over with." Noah gestured me to follow as he walked towards one of the doors in the side of the battlefield.
"Paperwork? I've never heard about that before..."
"Because it's boring and no one likes it. It's not like that badge is magic or anything, it's just a piece of metal. How else is the League supposed to know you beat me?"
Sometimes, being a
Trainer is a lot less glamorous than it looks on TV...
"Where have you been?"
As soon as Aira, Oriel, and I walked into our room at the Pokémon Center I found Rayne standing with her arms crossed, looking extremely agitated. What did I do now...? "Having a gym battle with Noah, I thought I told you about that? After the battle the paperwork took longer than expected, and by the end of that I was hungry so Aira and I went out to get something to eat. During that time we talked some and I told her about Zack and his involvement in Petalburg. Along the way she saw this shop selling, well, I really have no idea what but she had to go in there and look around for a while. In return she let me stop at the Pokémart so I could buy some food and such for my Pokémon to congratulate them. I then of course had to drop off my Pokémon down the hall to be checked up and cared for; Zethro got hurt pretty bad..." I gestured towards my belt, which for the first time in a long while didn't have any Pokéballs attached to it.
"Do you know what time it is?" Rayne asked, looking even more agitated.
"...No." I scratched the back of my neck, realizing that I had sort of lost track of time.
"Six. We're doing this whole Night Ravens thing tonight, and we need time to plan what to do in case things go bad. We can't waste time on petty things like gym battles and shopping."
"She's right. Gym battles are of little consequence to us, much bigger things are happening in the world and we need to be focusing on our more important objectives." Matariel spoke up from where she sat between the beds the two girls slept in.
"Well excuse me for being human and a Pokémon Trainer who wants to actually act like one rather than some sort of superhero." I walked over to my bed and dropped the bag I was carrying onto it, dropping down onto it hard. Rayne's sour mood had made me feel sour as well.
A voice was suddenly heard through the open window that looked out over the balcony, not surprising me but startling Aira. "Ah, so you learned of that gang already. Well, I can help you out there." Out on the balcony, Zack dropped down from above and walked in through the unlocked door.
"...Were you on the roof? How did you get on the roof? How long have you been on the roof?" I asked. Rayne seemed surprised by his appearance and I realized I had forgotten to tell her that I was expecting him to show up again.
"Same way I got in that tree when we first met, I climbed."
"Buildings aren't trees you know; you're not supposed to climb them."
"But I did. You should try it sometime."
"Um, why is he here?" Rayne finally asked.
"He's apparently been stalking us. Can't say it's a surprise," I remarked, shrugging.
"Ah, stalking is such a harsh term. I've merely been following your trail. Of course, if you go by the popular meaning, I guess I have been stalking Shrike..." Zack flashed a grin my way and I bristled.
"Oh, fuck off already. Just get to the point."
"Fine. As I told Shrike earlier, you guys are drawing a lot of attention and leaving a very clear trail behind you. I am not a member of CORE as you may have thought; I am a member of Daedalus, an underground organization with a mandate to root out those secrets that make this world tick and spread them to those who want to know. We have agents infiltrating all manners of secret organizations and secret sections of not so secret organizations. I was one of their agents assigned to CORE, but our encounter back in Petalburg proved disastrous and I had to bail out before I was caught. However, it wasn't just my assistance in helping you escape that brought all the unwanted attention down on me; there's actually no hard evidence to prove I did help you. Rather, I've been framed."
I was surprised at that. "Framed? By who?"
"Lord Fira himself, apparently. I'm sure you know all too well of what happened at Laboratory 13?" Seeing the confused look on our faces, Zack continued. "But of course not, you had no idea what happened, just that something did. Laboratory 13 was one of CORE's top research facilities. It was located on a small island somewhere northwest of Dewford, with most of its facilities extending underground. As with all CORE facilities, Lab 13 was powered by two separate power plants, an older one that predates Lord Fira's arrival using nuclear power, and a newer one similar to the one that Rayne shut down at Petalburg that uses Arcana Energy. Something disastrous happened to both of them at the same time, both power plants suffering catastrophic failures at the exact same time. Something important was happening then too, but I couldn't find out what other than that it involved another one of CORE's bioengineering experiments codenamed 'Thanatos' and Lord Fira himself was there to monitor it. The explosion you saw out at sea was the nuclear reactor exploding; the Arcanum reactor wouldn't create any visible effect except in the immediate area, where the massive energy it contained was probably enough to warp space-time itself around it. However, seeing as one of those things has never exploded before, no one really knows for sure what happened, and no one wants to send an investigation team to see."
"Oh, that. Yeah, it's kind of hard not to remember that with the whole falling into the ocean and then washing up on an island belonging to the Crimson Dawn," I said. "What's it have to do with you, though? And does that mean Lord Fira is dead?"
"Unfortunately, no. He somehow escaped, claiming that he received 'advanced warning.' Bullshit I say, no one could have predicted that. I seem to be the only one that finds it odd, though. Anyways, Lord Fira has now put me under investigation claiming that I sabotaged Lab 13. He must suspect my involvement at Petalburg and this is his way of rooting me out as a traitor. Personally, I think he was somehow behind it. How else would he have known it was going to happen at that specific time? I did manage to pull off some very minor sabotage before I left, though." Zack reached under his cloak and pulled out none other than a very hi-tech looking gun. It was bigger than a normal pistol; however he still seemed to be able to use it comfortable with one hand. It didn't appear to have a traditional slide, although the top portion of the gun which would normally be the slide was colored silver while the rest of the frame was black. Other than its large size and the lack of a separate slide it otherwise looked to be a normal gun.
"Gah! Careful where you point that!" I exclaimed as Zack waved it around carelessly.
"Oh, it's fine. I know how to handle a gun." Zack fortunately stopped waving it around, although the sheer fact he had it out at all kept me nervous.
"It doesn't look like it..." I muttered.
"Anyways, this is the fully functional prototype of a new weapon CORE has been developing. Stealing it will hopefully set them back a little, however above all I wanted something good to defend myself with. It's called the AWP Pistol, AWP standing for Arcanum Wave Pulse. As expected from the name, it's an energy-based weapon rather than projectile, firing bursts of modulated Arcana Energy. The shots it fires are capable of crippling someone with a single shot, no matter where it hits, by overloading the target's natural capacity to store Arcana Energy. It's important to realize that everyone has a level of Arcana Energy they can store inside themselves safely, usually referred to as their 'aura,' and that they need to have some amount of energy stored to continue living. Too much or too little stored can prove fatal. One shot will simply cripple the person, causing them to spasm uncontrollably as their body does its best to leak the excess Arcana Energy. Another shot on top of that will further overload them, and in most cases reach the upper fatal level. Of course, it all depends on the person's native ability to store Arcana Energy. Since most people these days have very little capability, two shots will be plenty, and in a few cases one just may be enough. However for actual channelers who are adept at channeling Arcana Energy, it may take a lot more to overload them enough to prove fatal." Zack glanced over at Rayne, and I knew he had her in mind when he said that.
"The energy it fires is stored in a magazine-like battery," Zack pressed a lever on the side of the gun and the battery popped out of the grip like a normal pistol, falling into his free hand, "which is charged gradually from the natural energy of the person using it. It can also be fired without the battery and directly from the person's energy, but that's risky and could easily drain them of all their energy, thus causing the opposite of the overload the gun causes in its targets. Arcana Energy is both needed and dangerous like that..."
I pretty much got it, but Aira seemed confused over Zack's long explanation. Rayne clarified it by saying, "In other words, it's best used by someone who has a decent capability to store and control Arcana Energy. While it can easily kill normal people it isn't so great against people such as myself." Rayne paused before continuing, "Is this all you came here for, to show us your new toy and reveal your true allegiance; if you're even telling the truth now, that is." Rayne seemed thoroughly unimpressed with Zack's revelations, although I personally found them fascinating.
"Don't worry, I'm not done yet. I'll get to this Night Raven business later, but there's one more thing I think you'd be interested in learning more about first; the Crimson Dawn. Now I'm no expert on them, I specialize on CORE and the basics of Arcana Energy, but I can always ask the other people I work with about various things. That's the very basis of Daedalus, open information sharing. Fortunately I did collect as much information about the Crimson Dawn as I could before I came here." Zack holstered his new gun underneath his cloak before continuing.
"The Crimson Dawn has existed in various forms for centuries, seeming to disappear and reappear in cycles of variable length, but there's usually around a forty to fifty year gap in between their appearances, and about five to ten years of activity before they disappear again. They have always been led by the person they call the High Chancellor, or more formally, The Blessed Light of the Occult. Whether each High Chancellor is different than the past one is unknown, however it'd be the only logical explanation. They follow a belief that Earth was originally created without Pokémon, with only normal animal and human life. The angel Zeruel, in his desire to make his own world filled with sin, is then said to have seeded Earth with Pokémon by creating one Mew from which all other Pokémon were born. He also granted Earth the fruit we today call Apricorns, which early Pokéballs stemmed from. It is the belief of the Crimson Dawn that this introduction of Pokémon to the world introduced violence and war to humans through the Pokémon battles that developed, and is thus the root of all sin. Much research has been done, but this belief seemed to be exclusive to the Crimson Dawn, and no other mention of it among other modern religions could be found."
"Yes, he told us that story when we met him... I remember that. It's not exactly a very sensible belief, and doesn't really make any sense..." Aira spoke up.
"You didn't tell me anything like that..." I frowned.
"Anyways, due to these beliefs, the Crimson Dawn has taken up a mandate to restore the world to its pure state by eradicating all Pokémon life. This is obviously such an unfeasible goal that the people who do know about them have for the most part ignored them. I do have to say that this cycle they certainly do seem to be acting a fair bit more violently than before, though. One of the sects within the Crimson Dawn is devoted to the covert assassination of specific targets, and quite a few recent news stories involving killing Pokémon certainly seem to match their style." This time Zack looked at Aira. "The Crimson Dawn is of the belief that if a physical link is created between them and the target, the fury of the gods will pass from them to the target and into its body through its wound and cause their soul to be banished to eternal hell. The primary weapon of the Crimson Dawn against Pokémon is thus bladed weapons, such as swords, as they allow that physical contact. Particularly, they favor gold swords that aren't forged, but materialized using Arcana Energy to allow them to be stronger than normal; they believe that gold further enhances the ability for the fury of the gods to pass on to the Pokémon. Their swords also serve as a sign of their member's ranks; higher ranking members will earn blades adorned with various runes and glyphs that are said to be the language of the angels while normal member's blades are unadorned. As for using swords in the first place... Well, cutting someone open with a sword is just all the more painful than hitting them with a mace or something, and more graceful than a heavy axe. To them, inflicting as much pain as possible is almost a game.
"Now, the Crimson Dawn rarely kills humans. In fact, killing humans without due cause is expressly prohibited, and probably the only reason you all are still alive. Due cause to them means pretty much any way that a person expresses allegiance with Pokémon over allegiance with the Crimson Dawn. If a person protects a Pokémon from the Crimson Dawn that is considered due cause to kill them. If a human orders a Pokémon to fight the Crimson Dawn or fights them themself, that's due cause as well. In those cases the Crimson Dawn will kill humans; however to avoid bringing the fury of the gods down on the human which they believe would occur if they used their sword against a human as well, they prefer to use other methods which do not cause a direct link between the two of them. In contrast to killing Pokémon, they also prefer for human deaths to be less painful. In modern times the preferred method of killing humans seems to be using a gun. This presents some problems though, as normal Crimson Dawn members do not carry guns. Only the elite members of that assassin sect I mentioned are explicitly trained in the use of guns and carry them, and such are traditionally the only members of the Crimson Dawn who kill humans as well as Pokémon."
"...It's them, it's definitely got to be them now... The meaning behind the separate dagger and gun, killing their Pokémon with the dagger but mom and dad with the gun..." Aira murmured, looking down.
"Ah yes, I've heard of what happened to your parents. From the descriptions involved it certainly does seem like it was a Crimson Dawn attack. Did you actually see it?" Zack asked.
I quickly shook my head back and forth, trying to stop Zack from changing to this topic. Fortunately, Zack was interrupted when there was a knock on the door, which I jumped up and walked over to get. Opening the door I found Nurse Bridget standing there, holding a tray with six circular indentations in it, three of the indentations occupied by Pokéballs. "Hello, Shrike. We've finished taking care of your Pokémon; they should be in prime condition again now."
I picked up each Pokéball in order, noticing a label taped to the tray next to each one that indicated which Pokémon was inside. I reattached them to my belt in my standard order with Zethro at the front, then Jehiel behind him and Ramiel last, nodding to Bridget. "Thank you, I was a little worried about Zethro after the beating he took during that battle against Noah..."
"Noah? Oh, so you had your gym battle? Wow, did you win?" Bridget asked, as if trainers at the Pokémon Center having gym battles was a new thing.
"Of course." I grinned and pulled the badge, still in its tiny plastic case, out of my pocket and flashed it at Bridget. I'll need to remember to get a proper case sometime...
"How cool, congratulations. Well, I need to get back to work now. Hopefully I'll see you later. Well, hopefully not because I need to treat your Pokémon, but..."
I laughed. "I get it. Don't worry, I'll try to keep them from getting hurt much more. See you later."
Bridget seemed to, for the first time, notice Zack standing in our room along with the other three of us. He had turned away and was looking out the window, so she couldn't clearly see who he was, though, and decided to ignore him. "I'll see you later too, then." She turned and walked back off down the hallway as I closed the door behind her.
"You're too proud of that thing..." Rayne muttered as I walked over to my backpack and dropped my badge into one of its side pockets.
"So, who was that?" Zack asked, turning back around. "A friend of yours?"
"Yeah, she's a nurse who works here," I answered.
"Oh, a nurse? Just what kind of friend is she?" Zack dug deeper.
"A friend. A normal friend. That's it." I narrowed my eyes, knowing where this was going.
"Oh, good. Wouldn't want you to be taken or anything."
I nearly punched Zack. In fact, I was so close to it that I had already walked over to him and clenched my hand into a fist before I regained control over myself. "Can you please fucking stop that?" I sighed.
"Sorry, sorry. I have to take a chance when I see one, part of my nature." Zack shrugged as he backed away from me, a slight smile on his lips.
"Are you even serious with all of this hitting on me, or is it just an act like the whole CORE thing?" I asked, exasperated. I had been wondering about that since he told me about his true allegiance earlier that day and that being part of CORE was just an act.
"Wouldn't be very fun to tell you that now, would it? For now, we should focus on the matter at hand; maybe sometime later there will be a better time to talk about personal stuff. Now, where was I...?"
I sighed, wondering if he ever planned on telling me an answer. "You just went over the whole thing with the Crimson Dawn rarely killing humans..."
"Oh, yeah. Well, I think I've pretty much covered almost everything that you need to know for now. Let's see...well, as I mentioned there are various sects within the Crimson Dawn, each of which serves its own purpose in the grand scheme of the cult, each sect being led by one leader. Above the sects in the command hierarchy is a relatively secret organization called the Five Divines composed of, surprise, five people. Only the sect leaders can speak to the Five Divines, and even they don't know who they actually are. The Five Divines seem to be closely associated with the High Chancellor himself, and seem to serve as a middle party between the sects and the High Chancellor. Other than that and that they answer directly to the High Chancellor I couldn't find out much more about them. They could be secret members of the sects who serve a double life in both the sects and the Five Divines, or they could be completely separate from the rest of the workings of the Crimson Dawn. I suppose it doesn't really matter though, as for the immediate future it looks like CORE's your biggest threat again. That's why I'm here, so that I could get to you before they do."
"So CORE is looking for us again? Seriously, what did we ever do to them in the first place to justify being kidnapped back in Petalburg...?" I said, not really expecting an answer. Zack, however, had one anyways.
"That's easy, you guys have something which Lord Fira himself personally wants. Don't ask me what, I just know that the moment I reported meeting you guys to him that he ordered me to bring you to the base. He didn't elaborate any more than that, but he obviously has some personal reason to kidnap all of you, or at least you and Rayne. Aira being picked up by the AEWG prototype was just, in the end, a rather convenient coincidence."
"So if CORE is after us, what exactly do you propose to do to help us?" Rayne asked.
"I'll show you, and it ties into your little visit to the Night Ravens tonight. However, it's not here; you'll have to follow me back to my cave," Zack said.
I almost fell over, but managed to just sigh. "You're living in a cave again...? Can't you get a hotel room or something like a normal person?" Zack's great love for living far differently than a normal person was getting a little odd.
"Ah, but caves are free, seem to be everywhere if you just look, are outside of cities rather than in them, and allow me to feel like I'm part of nature. Come on, I'll show you the way." Zack walked out onto the balcony and vaulted over the railing to the beach below, which fortunately was empty of people due to this being the time of year when people began to stop going to beaches.
"Hey, can't you walk down there like a normal person!" I yelled after him as I ran out onto the balcony. Behind me Rayne recalled both Matariel and Oriel who had both been out this entire time and followed behind me along with Aira. I looked down over the railing and saw Zack standing on the sand, looking up at me from about fifteen feet below.How could he survive that...?
"Oh, you'll never built up your leg strength and learn to manage your falls if you don't take drops like this. If you seriously don't want to drop down all the way, use that rock as a stepping stone of sorts." Zack pointed to a tall rock partially beneath our balcony that jutted out of the cliff the Pokémon Center was built on top of. While it was mostly underneath our balcony, part of it was exposed to the side and it looked like I could drop onto it and then to the ground from there.
"I...think I'll take the long way," Aira said as she walked up beside me and looked down. "Don't forget to wait for me, okay?" She turned around and went running out of the room and into the Pokémon Center's hallway, like any sane person would.
"Fine... I'll try it..." I muttered. I grabbed onto the rail that faced the rock and jumped over it, swinging my legs over and letting go as I dropped down to the rock about six feet below, trying not to think of what I was doing. I fell onto the rock and let my legs absorb the shock before standing up again. All seemed fine until my left foot suddenly slipped on a wet patch on the rock, causing me to lose my balance and fall off the rock in a completely uncontrolled manner. Fortunately I was able to push myself away from it as I fell so that I wouldn't hit my head or anything against it. Nonetheless, I ended up falling face first into the sand, Zack walking over to me.
"You okay?" He asked.
"I'm fine. I'm a natural at falling and crashing into things..." I picked myself up and brushed sand off of me. I wasn't really hurt that bad, unlike the inevitable if I had been to try to jump all the way down from the balcony. At least Zethro wasn't out this time...
Next to me Rayne
dropped down, her arms spread out and legs bending under her as she
much more gracefully landed, having taken the more direct route.
"Let's get going." She said, turning to look at Aira who was
running down a set of stairs carved into the cliff. The sane way
of getting down, but what's sane about my life anymore?
"Welcome to my abode!" Zack exclaimed, spreading his arms wide as we emerged from the trees to find the entrance to a small cave not that unlike his old one.
"It's a cave. Where does the abode part come in?" I was more than a little bit tired of Zack's quirkiness.
"Well, I'm living here for the moment. I think that's more than enough justification. Anyways, come on in." Zack beckoned as he ducked into the cave, which seemed to be recessed into the ground slightly.
I walked over and ducked down to enter the cave, dropping down about a foot to the recessed floor. This cave wasn't all that different from Zack's last; it was moderately deep and wide enough to comfortably house a couple people. I noticed that it was more sparsely decorated though, likely because he hadn't been here as long as in Petalburg. All there was was a sleeping bag, a small fire pit, a large backpack, and a brown tarp covering something at the very back of the cave. I looked at it for a moment, remembering noticing it back in his Petalburg cave. Rayne and Aira dropped down next to me, looking around just like I had. Rayne let out a grunt and dropped down onto the ledge at the entrance to the cave where the ground dropped down, while Aira remained standing.
Zack pulled his cloak off and threw it aside, revealing a plain white shirt and brown pants underneath. He bent down next to his backpack and pulled out a circular metal grille, folding out three metal legs and setting it on the ground as he further dug out a large pot, some instant ramen packets, and a large jug of water. As he began trying to light the fire I spoke up "Hey, Zack. What's that?" I asked, pointing to the tarp. "I noticed you had it last time too..."
Zack had gotten the fire started and set the grille over the fire. He glanced back at the tarp before returning to what he was doing, placing the pot on the metal grille and filling it with water from the jug. "I'll show you in a minute. Let me just get the ramen started first, I couldn't stand having people over and not having anything to feed them. Is ramen fine with you two?" Zack looked up at Rayne and Aira, who both looked like they didn't know what to make of this.
"Whatever, so long as we get started soon," Rayne said.
"I love ramen, thank you." Aira smiled and nodded as she leaned against the cave wall.
"Good. It's all I really ever have..." Zack ripped open the ramen packets and picked out the smaller flavor packets inside, dumping the bricks of noodles into the pot of water and setting the flavor packets aside. Standing up he walked over to the tarp-covered object, I following him. "So, I'm guessing you remember this from last time? Well, it's one of the things I wanted to show you."
Zack bent down and picked up a corner of the tarp, pulling it off. Revealed beneath were several things; however the most prominent was what appeared to be a large, antique radio. Dials and displays filled the surface of the wood-paneled device, speakers set into either end of it and a microphone connected to it by a coiled wire. Along with the radio there was a metal briefcase and a bunch of other small device scattered about that I couldn't quite grasp the purpose of. "That is some old radio... Dig it up from someone's grave or something?" I asked
"Tch, it may be old, but it's not to be underestimated. Because it's so old no one bothers to monitors the frequencies these radios broadcast in, so communication across them is pretty much entirely private. As such, they make perfect means for Daedalus operatives to communicate with," Zack explained.
"If it's just the outdated frequencies you care for, why not modify more modern radios to broadcast in them?"
"Well...a lot of us do do that... I guess I just like this old technology, makes me appreciate all the new technology we have more when I have to think of what people in the past had to use."
"...And what you are needlessly forcing yourself to use."
Zack seemed a little annoyed at how I was insulting his radio and glanced back at the ramen pot. "Oh look at that, I think the ramen may be about ready," he said, quickly changing subjects.
I glowered weakly at Zack as he turned away to attend to the ramen, pulling out a ladle and stirring the pot filled with water and noodles. Tearing open the flavor packets he dumped them into the pot and mixed it around some more, before producing four metal bowls and dishing the ramen out into them. I walked over and took mine from him along with a spoon he also seemed to magically produce out of nowhere. Aira walked over and took hers too, but when it became evident that Rayne didn't plan to budge I walked hers over to her.
"So, while I don't intend to go with you into the Night Raven's hangout, I will stay back here and use the radio to communicate with you. Before I came here I dug up blueprints of the building they meet in, so I can guide you all around if you get lost in it," Zack said as we began eating. "I'll also be in contact with other Daedalus operatives at the same time, so if anything pops up I can let you know."
"Why would we get lost if they just want to meet with us?" Aira asked.
"We don't know if that's all they want. All we know is that they're looking for us. For all we know, they're looking for us so that they can kill us," Rayne answered between slurping up noodles. For seeming to be the one most begrudging about the ramen, she was eating hers awfully fast.
"Harsh but true. I find it hard to believe that a gang like this would just want a peaceful meeting," Zack said.
Getting back to the main point I questioned Zack further. "You said you plan to use the radio to communicate with us, so I assume you have radios to give us or something?" I asked.
"Even better." Zack set down his ramen and pulled a small metal canister out of his pocket, popping it open. From inside of it he rolled out three small and very familiar looking devices.
"Hey, aren't those the Pokécom things like me and Aira have?" I asked, noting their similarity to the device I had stuck in my ear and which, surprisingly, I didn't really feel any more.
"Yes, but they're a little, well, a lot different. For one, these have a radio packed into them as well. Amazing really, how technology has gotten to the point where two entirely separate devices can be built into one pea-sized object small enough to fit in your ear... Surely puts my radio to shame." Zack grinned as he rolled the Pokécoms around in his palm before sliding them back into the canister and snapping it shut. "But also...you want to know how you've been able to be found so easy?"
"It would sure be nice... I'd prefer not to have any surprises like back in Petalburg again..." I said.
Zack grinned slyly. "The Pokécoms both you and Aira wear contain a radio transmitter that has been broadcasting your location to all who know the correct frequency from the moment you put them in your ears."
My eyes snapped open wide and I almost dropped my ramen, managing to set it down properly before sticking my pinkie finger in my ear to try and dig the Pokécom out. "What! I want this damn thing out of my ear this moment!" I yelled, trying unsuccessfully to get a hold on the tiny device.
"Oy, you'll just push it in further like that. Come here." Zack pulled a pair of tweezers out of a slot on the other end of the canister, holding them up into the air. I quickly walked over to him and turned the ear with the Pokécom in it towards Zack so that he could reach in and pull it out using the tweezers. I rubbed my now vacant ear, wondering how I hadn't felt the device in there all this time. Hmm, but without it I can't understand anything my Pokémon say... "Here, hold still now so I can put the new one in," Zack said, opening the canister again and pulling out just one of the new Pokécoms. Zack grabbed my head with one hand as he pushed the new Pokécom in with the other, and I felt the seeming hole in my ear fill again.
"That new one is exactly like your old one, except it's had the transmitter replaced with the radio which has been pre-programmed to operate on a secure Daedalus frequency. It and any others within ten feet can be recalibrated to new frequencies using this remote. Take it, it does me no good." Zack pulled a small, flat remote from his pocket and handed it to me. I looked over its face, which was relatively simple with just a standard number pad and an enter button. "The only difference you'll notice is that when you first hear Pokémon speech again, it'll take a moment for it to calibrate like last time."
"Thanks, this makes me feel a lot better knowing that CORE will no longer be able to track us..." I sighed, sliding the remote into my pocket and returning to my noodles.
"Yeah, but of course it means I won't be able to track you with it either. Too bad, I guess. Come over here Aira so I can replace yours too; nice idea stealing one from the Petalburg base, but all of the models CORE makes have the transmitter so they can keep track on their own employees as well."
Aira walked over and Zack pulled hers out too, setting it next to mine on the ground. "This feels sort of weird having it taken out; I was so used to it and couldn't even feel it..." Aira said, voicing my thoughts.
"Yeah, they're designed with a coating of a weak numbing agent that is just strong enough to make the person not feel it, in the hopes that a person wearing one can keep it in for almost forever. Of course, I'm sure there are some health side-effects of keeping it in all the time..." Zack inserted a new Pokécom into Aira's ear, and she got up and walked back to her ramen. "Now Rayne, I have one for you too."
"I don't need one. I can already understand Pokémon." Rayne flatly said, continuing to eagerly slurp her ramen.
"Yeah yeah, so I hear. It's not a completely unheard of talent; some theories attribute it to an abnormally large capability to store and channel Arcana Energy. However, you can still at least make use of the radio in it, and can remove it afterwards if you want."
Rayne grumbled but remained silent, but at the same time didn't move. Zack sighed, starting to realize how difficult it could be to work with Rayne. Grudgingly he got up and walked over to her, strongly grabbing her head and forcing the Pokécom into her ear right as she slurped up more of her ramen, splashing Zack in the face with broth.
So as to avoid anything breaking out between them, I quickly spoke to fill the silence. "You said that all the ones CORE makes have the transmitter, so who made these?"
Zack went back to his seat next to the fire as Rayne continued slurping up her ramen indifferently. "Well, CORE still originally made them. However, I sent a few samples to Daedalus and they modified them to their current form. It was simple enough really, all they had to do was replace the circuitry for broadcasting the radio signal with a normal radio; it already had a suitable antenna and everything."
"Interesting. Is it just a radio receiver, or can it transmit too?" I further asked.
"Ah, good question. I was just about to get to that. Yes, they can transmit, and quite well. To activate the transmitter you'll need these," Zack pulled out three more very small remotes. They could hardly be called remotes, being just a very small square of plastic about an inch square with a single, flat button on it. "Press once to activate, press again to deactivate. They only have a range of about five feet and are universal in that any remote will activate any of the transmitters so be careful when you're next to each other; don't want someone else's activated accidentally. I advice to keep them in your pockets; they shouldn't get accidentally pressed, and you can activate the transmitter easily that way."
I took one of them as Zack handed them out to us, having to throw the last one to Rayne. I slid it into my pocket, deeper than the other remote to program the channel, and felt it through my pants before tentatively pressing it once.
"Activated" an electronic voice spoke in my ear. Quickly I pressed the button again. "Deactivated" The same voice spoke.
"Audio cues..." I murmured.
"Yeah, it's to help alleviate confusion as to whether it's on or off. Anyways that settles communication. I have a few more gifts I think you might appreciate..." Zack finished the last of his ramen, and I couldn't help but wonder when he had actually eaten it with all the talking he had been doing. Standing up he walked back to the treasure trove at the back of the cave, picking up something which I couldn't see from where I sat. Turning around Zack walked back and held it out to me. "Shrike, this is for you."
In Zack's hand rested a sheathed dagger. It wasn't that long, but not that short either. Judging from the length of the sheath, the blade was about five inches long while the leather-wrapped handle was four inches. The crossguard was a simple, flat oval, matching the simple design of the sheath, just some black leather with a ring of silver trim around the opening for the blade and on the tip. Using both hands I took the sheath in one and the handle of the dagger in the other, pulling the dagger out as I took it. The double-edged blade ran straight for a while before the two edges curved slightly and tapered into a point. Right down the middle of the blade on both sides there was a thin, slightly recessed line, the blade to either side of the line sloping downwards as it came to an edge. I was relieved that the blade was a normal silver color, and not gold.
"It's nice, where'd you get it? Why are you giving it to me?" I asked as I looked over the dagger more.
"I pick up lots of things as I travel, that dagger being one of them. Can't recall exactly where it came from, but whatever the case I have no need for it. I don't think you're much of a fighter yourself and you didn't seem too enthused about using a gun back in Petalburg, so I thought I'd give you an edge, so to speak."
A part of me died at the pun and I slid the dagger back into its sheath, snapping a flap of leather down over the crossguard to secure the dagger so that it wouldn't fall out. I noticed some belt hooks on the other side and tried clipping it onto the back of my belt with the handle facing to my right, finding that it fit pretty securely. "I'll forgive you for that pun just because it's so nice. I like it better than a gun, but I still don't think you should plan on me going around killing people with it. It's strictly for emergencies." I let my jacket fall down over the dagger, finding that it was concealed rather well. I still wouldn't want to walk around in public with it, though.
"I hope someone trying to kill you counts as an emergency, then. Moving on, sorry Aira, I don't have anything for you. Hope you don't mind."
"That's fine, I don't really like fighting anyways..." Aira said.
"Well good, although I hope you don't plan on being able to avoid it completely. Rayne, though; I've got a little gift for you too."
"I already have a knife." Rayne reached into her back pocket and whipped out a switchblade. I tilted my head, recognizing it as being the same switchblade she had picked up from Ramirez all the way back at the Pokémon Academy. She's been holding onto that ever since?
Zack picked up the briefcase I had noticed earlier and carried it over, sliding it over to Rayne. She slid her switchblade back into her pocket and popped open the latches of the briefcase, her eyes widening as she looked inside it.
"But...do you have a gun of your own?" Zack asked slyly.
Rayne
I stared at the contents of the briefcase, my eyes wide. In the bottom half was nested an all black, polymer frame gun in a bed of hard foam-like material. Also nestled in the foam were three full magazines, the hollow point tip of the bullets visible at the top of each magazine. The top half of the suitcase was covered by a web of elastic bands, behind which several more boxes of bullets were held. The boxes of bullets clearly displayed that they were the fairly standard nine millimeter caliber.
"So, you like it? It was actually mine, but with the AWP, I figure I don't need that anymore. I know of the aptitude you displayed for guns back in Petalburg, and figured this would nicely complement your developing Arcanum abilities," Zack said. I heard him, but it was like his voice was quiet and far away. All I could do was stare at the gun in the case before me.
My gun... Mine...
I felt myself falling, but all around me seemed to turn white, as if I had fallen into a pool of infinite white. Before I could think anymore about it, the white suddenly dissolved and what seemed like reality formed before me.
I was in some sort of large chamber with a domed ceiling and no defined walls, just the ceiling which came down to meet the floor. The floor and ceiling were made of some sort of smooth, black stone, red veins forming intricate but ultimately senseless patterns throughout the stone. All light come from a circular lamp hanging from the apex of the dome, the light from the lamp seeming much smoother and natural than the artificial light put out by normal lamps. Other than the lamp there was a single door into the room, but other than those the room was featureless.
I was standing in the room alone, but not for long. Not long after I appeared the doors swung open and two figures walked through. One was a lot taller than the other, while the other was quite short. I was able to identify both of them as girls as they approached. They both wore black, hooded robes not that different from the ones the CORE soldiers who had kidnapped us had worn, or the Crimson Dawn's either except for color. Differentiating these robes from CORE's was the red stitching these robes had. Nonetheless, the robes reminded me greatly of CORE and the Crimson Dawn.
The two girls didn't seem to be able to see me, and as I looked at the younger girl I knew why. Her long black hair which flew loose behind her and her black robe trailed along the ground, her recognizable face flat and emotionless. She didn't bare much resemblance to my current self, but I still recognized her as being me nonetheless. This must be another one of my memories... A lot more vivid than the others though...
I stepped aside as they walked through where I had been standing, though I figured I wouldn't get in their way anyways. I turned and walked to catch up with them, sizing up the older woman as she walked.
She too wore a black robe, but her hair was blonde and neatly tied into a ponytail. I ran in front of her and looked at her from the front, staring at her piercing blue eyes. Her entire face seemed hardened and fixated on whatever it was she and my younger self were doing. The two of them suddenly stopped and the older woman spoke.
"Rayne, this will be your final test. You haven't been with us long, but you've shown remarkable progress and aptitude. Pass this test, and I can ensure that you will go on to great things." Her voice was stern, yet kind.
"Thank you for your training, miss Hunter," my younger self said. "You have taught me so much."
"You have your weapon?" the woman, Hunter apparently, asked, ignoring the praise.
"Yes, ma'am." My younger self reached into her robe and pulled out a small, compact gun. While it was compact, it looked like it fit my younger self perfectly.
"Then let's begin."
Air started to swirl around the room, whipping around the two girls' hair and robes. On the ground around Hunter some sort of symbol appeared; it looked like a pentagram circumscribed within a circle, composed of brown energy. The pentagram made of brown energy rotated, picking up speed until it was no longer distinguishable. "Spirits of the earth, lend me your control over the forces that bind this world," Hunter calmly chanted. The wind grew more intense and along the walls the red veins seem to glow. "Release your hold; bring unto me the power of Terra!" There was one more intense blast of wind before it suddenly died down and the energy whirling around Hunter's feet broke apart and dissipated, rippling throughout the entire cavern as the energy seemed to permeate into the floor and ceiling.
"Rayne, prepare yourself. I will give no further warning as to your targets." Hunter said as she held out her hand, which seemed to glow with a slight brown aura.
A chunk of rock suddenly broke out of the ground, floating up into the air. I glanced over at Hunter and saw that her fingers were twitching slightly; I had a good feeling she was the one controlling the rock. That spell or whatever must have given her the ability to control the rock this cavern is made of...
As soon as the rock floated up out of the ground, there was a loud bang as my younger self fired a shot at it. The rock shattered and its pieces fell to the ground, no longer under Hunter's control. As soon as that rock was destroyed, another dropped down from the ceiling, as if it was breaking free of the bonds that had held it there. It didn't fall to the ground though, content to float in midair. It didn't last long as just like the first my younger self destroyed it in one shot. Next came two rocks from opposite sides of the cavern, however even then I was fast in acquiring and switching targets. I watched as the targets I had to shoot got progressively more intense, until countless rocks were zipping all around the room at various speeds, leaving only a small circle Hunter and my younger self stood in clear. It was impossible to shoot them all before new ones were added, but the younger me was doing a good job at keeping them under control, even with the reloading she had to do every seven shots.
"That is enough."
All the remaining rocks dropped to the ground and shattered, leaving the floor and ceiling of the chamber scared and pitted with the several spots the floating rocks had emerged from. "Spirits of the earth, I return to thee your power. I release my hold on the power of Terra; return to your rightful master," Hunter quietly said as the wave of energy that had come from the symbol below Hunter's feet raced back from the edges of the cavern, reforming into the spinning mass of energy beneath Hunter's feet. It quickly slowed down, returning to the pentagram shape before fading away completely.
"Are you pleased, ma'am?" my young self asked.
"You did an admirable job. Even when the odds were impossible you kept going. You didn't miss a single shot, and on top of that you're the fastest shot I've seen in years. You pass with honor, my student. But of course, I suppose you're no longer a student."
Younger me ejected the magazine from her pistol and racked its slide, a bullet falling to the ground. To Hunter she held out the gun in one hand and the magazine in her other. "Thank you. If I'm no longer a student that means you can take this back now."
Hunter smiled as she looked down at the younger me and the compact pistol in her outstretched hand. "No, this time I'd like for you to keep that gun. It's a good gun, and it will serve you will in the years you have ahead. Keep it and walk with pride, Rayne. That gun is yours now, a memento of your training with me."
The younger me drew her arm back and looked down at the gun, seeming stunned. "I don't have anything else that is mine... All I had was my ring, but that was taken from me..."
"Then let this gun be your first possession of your own. Don't forget the significance of it." Hunter placed a hand on Rayne's shoulder before turning to walk away.
"I won't... Ever." Younger me quietly said, before the cavern turned white again and I was once again floating in that endless sea of white.
Shrike
As Rayne looked at the gun, I noticed her eyes start to close and jumped up as she suddenly slumped forwards, unconscious. "Rayne!" I yelled, walking over to her and lifting her back up from where she had been sprawled over the briefcase. I laid her down on the ground in the cave's opening, on the ledge she had been sitting on. Other than her mysteriously fainting, she seemed perfectly fine.
"What's that?" Aira asked as she walked over next to me, pointing at the ring Rayne wore on a chain around her neck.
"It's just a...huh?" I picked up the ring and rested it in my palm, staring at the blue stone set into it, which from the inside was glowing with a bright blue. "I've...never seen that before.
"Let me see that ring," Zack said as he walked over to my other side. I placed the ring in his palm and he looked it over carefully, being careful not to tug too hard since it was still on the chain around Rayne's neck.
"Do you know anything about it?" I asked.
Zack looked over the ring some more, but his focus seemed to be on the stone. His eyes narrowed as he looked at it, but he shook his head. "No, this is new to me. I'm going to have to ask my associates about it." Zack set the ring back down on Rayne's chest.
"Do you think she will be all right?" Aira asked.
Before either Zack or I could respond, Rayne's eyes suddenly snapped open. Sluggishly she sat back up, as if she had just woken from a deep sleep. I noticed the stone on her ring stopped glowing the moment she opened her eyes, and I cocked my head, wondering what it meant.
"I'm fine," Rayne said. "I...experienced another memory. It was more vivid than in the past, and I could tell it was very important to me..."
"Memory?" Zack asked
"She's been having these resurgences of memory the past few days, seems like something is causing her amnesia to gradually go away," I explained. "What was this one about?"
Rayne paused before answering. "I was...training. It seemed to be some sort of test, to see how well I could use a gun. The woman who gave the test, I called her Hunter, and she seemed to be my teacher. She was able to manipulate Arcana Energy quite well, and created targets out of the rock the cavern we were in was composed of. I passed, and she gave me the gun I had been training with. That's it."
"I see, getting your own gun for a second time must have awakened the memory of when you first got one," Zack said.
"Do you know when that was? Was there anything to indicate when or where it took place?" I asked, eager to find out more about why Rayne was the person she was now.
"...No. I couldn't tell when it took place," Rayne flatly said. I had the feeling she wasn't telling me the whole truth, although I didn't pry further.
To move away from the subject of her recovering memory, Rayne bent down and picked up the gun from the briefcase. On the side of the slide were engraved the manufacturer and model of the gun, this one was apparently a fairly old HK USP Compact chambered for nine-millimeter rounds. Rayne then picked up one of the thirteen round magazines and slid it into the base of the gun, feeling its fully loaded weight. "I like it. The weight and size are perfect for me." She ejected the magazine and racked the gun's slide to eject any bullet that may have been in it, although since she hadn't racked it with the magazine loaded nothing came out.
"Good, it may be close to an antique—although not as much as my radio—but it's served me well," Zack said
Rayne picked up a holster that had been lying beneath the gun and clipped it to the back of her waistband much as I had with my dagger. "It's getting late, we should go visit the Night Ravens soon," Rayne said, checking each of the three magazines to ensure they were full.
"Okay then, here's my plan for that," Zack spoke up. "Rayne, you're the best fighter of your group so you'll go in first. Be sure to activate your radio so that we can all hear what's going on. Shrike and Aira will stay behind, but if you get in trouble, they'll go in to assist you, using largely their Pokémon to fight, although Shrike can use his new dagger in a pinch if needed. You looked pretty comfortable with it, right Shrike?"
"Yeah, I...have experience. Of sorts." I thought back to my days of pretend sword fighting, wondering if that really counted.
"Good. Hopefully you won't need to kill anyone, but if they attack you..."
"If they attack me I won't need either of their help," Rayne said, snapping a magazine back into her new pistol and racking the slide, arming the gun. Making sure the safety was on she slid it into the holster behind her back, clasping it in so it wouldn't fall out.
I sighed and shook my head, but Zack just shrugged. "We'll see. Overconfidence can bite you back, keep that in mind," he said.
Rayne stuffed the other two magazines in her pockets and stood up, crossing her arms across her chest. "You said you know where they're located? Take us there. I want to get this over with."
"Oy, I was thinking we should stop at your place first to drop that off," Zack nodded towards the case he had given Rayne her gun in, and which was filled with extra ammunition for it.
"We can come back for it after we're done. Let's go." Rayne turned around and stepped out of the cave, walking away despite not knowing where to go.
Zack glanced at me and I shrugged. "She gets like this at times."
Zack pulled his cloak back on. "I'll lead you there, then return here so I can give you radio support and advice." He glanced down at the old Pokécoms lying on the ground and crushed them beneath his feet before rushing out of the cave.
Aira smiled at me and together we followed Zack as he ran ahead to catch up with Rayne, I at least hoping that nothing bad would happen tonight.
Yeah right, when has anything ever gone well for us?
End of Chapter 25