Author's Note:
Here's the new chapter! I hope you all enjoy it and thanks for bearing with the longer wait times! :D
Chapter 21: The Strongest Bond
Scarlet was uncomfortable traveling with Lucinda and Sky, but she really had no choice at this point. She just hoped that Liliana would be lucid enough to fight against them if battle became necessary. Either way, Percy would help so Scarlet supposed she could at least count on that, though against two well trained assassins it didn't count for all that much.
"So Scaaarlet," Sky began, drawing Scarlet's name out. "How'd you end up marrying a Guardian Force officer anyway? Aren't they all boring and rule abiding?"
"Not everyone views rule-abiding as a personality flaw," Scarlet replied. "And no, he's not boring."
"He seemed boring to me," Sky said. "Right Red?" Lucinda didn't bother to respond to that. "She agrees with me," Sky assured.
"Right..." Scarlet said. "How are we going to find the Psychic Pokésoul you know?"
"Magic," Sky said blithely. At Scarlet's unimpressed look, Sky grinned. "No really! We're going to use magic! Lucinda's gonna try using a locater spell."
"Oh," Scarlet replied, surprised. "You can do that?"
"I can't directly track her since I don't have an object that belonged to her, but I can find Pokésouls in general. There shouldn't be many out here," Lucinda explained.
"There's not that many people in general out here," Sky pointed out, gesturing to the wilderness around them.
They'd landed a ways away from Petalburg, wanting to avoid drawing undue attention to themselves and were now walking towards the town. "Here should be close enough," Lucinda said, stopping. Sky walked a bit further to lean against a tree, Locke taking up position beside her. Scarlet grabbed onto Liliana's wrist to keep the girl still and watched Lucinda.
Lucinda rooted around in her bag and pulled out some delicate flower petals and a few herbs that Scarlet recognized as being fairly common spell ingredients. Scarlet made sure to watch Lucinda carefully, so that she might be able to replicate the spell herself if she needed to. Scarlet's own knowledge of magic was mostly healing related, though she knew her fair share of other spells as well, but this particular spell was an unknown to her.
Lucinda carefully drew a small symbol in the dirt and threw the bundle of plants into the center, saying, "Find," in a firm voice.
"Anything?" Sky asked, head cocked to the side.
"That way," Lucinda said, pointing in a direction away from Petalburg. "There is definitely a Pokésoul in that direction, possibly more."
"If it's more that means Zoroark boy's still with her," Sky said.
"Is that a problem?" Scarlet asked, wondering who Zoroark boy was supposed to be.
"Nah, we can handle him if we need to," Sky said with a derisive wave of her hand.
Lucinda nodded in agreement. "Well, let's go then," Scarlet said. Sky rolled her eyes, but lead the way in the direction Lucinda had indicated. Lucinda took a second to rub away the symbol, then followed after.
River and Volke arrived in the City-Town of Goldenrod late in the evening. They agreed it would be best to spend the night there and attempt to get inside the city proper in the morning. This decided, the two sat in the inn, having found a corner mostly away from the other patrons so that they could talk without having to yell.
"Getting in to the city may be slightly difficult," River mused as she tore up pieces of bread and handed them to Mist. Mist was then taking those pieces and dropping them on people's plates. The frightened gasps as bread appeared seemingly from nowhere made the ghost Pokémon rather gleeful.
"I have family that lives there, they might be able to get us in," Volke said. Volt was out of his CD player (which sat beside Volke on the bench) and was playing with the bowl of soup sitting in front of it. River wasn't sure if it was actually eating it or not, but it didn't really matter. As long as he was happy it was fine.
"Really?" River said surprised. "How do you have family in the city?" It was very uncommon for people in the Outerlands to have families in the city. Not unless they were originally from there themselves.
"My parents were born there," Volke said, his voice sounding a bit detached. "They were exiled for using magic before I was born."
"Oh," River said, not sure what else to say.
"My uncle and aunt still live there though."
"Do you know them very well?" River wondered. She didn't mean to pry, but she needed to know. If they didn't know him well she imagined his family would be a bit suspicious of a man claiming to be their long lost nephew. River certainly would be.
"I don't see them a lot, but we get along," Volke replied.
"It's good to know they're there, but I think I'll try contacting the Guardian Force first," River said. "Your uncle can probably get you in for a while, but I doubt he can get both of us inside."
Volke shrugged. "He's gotten me in before. I've never tried to bring anyone else though."
Mist returned at some point and popped out of the soup bowl, scaring Volt who knocked the bowl over, pouring the contents all over Volke. Volke sent his partner an annoyed look. Volt jumped into the bowl to tackle Mist, who quickly vanished and reappeared by River's head.
"We'll go clean up," Volke said, picking up his soggy partner. He walked away, leaving a trail of soup behind them. River got up as well, as there was no point in staying down here without company, and grabbed her bag. She noticed Voke's CD player, which he probably left there so it wouldn't get drenched in soup, and picked it up as well. She'd give it back to him in the morning.
Starlight lay down on the couch as she pondered the mystery of Eclipse. What could have happened to make his bond that way? She'd never seen anything like it before. Gardevoir had no more idea than Starlight, though they'd spent most of their life together so that wasn't too surprising. It was very tempting to sneak a peek into his mind next time she tried to help, but she would never do that, not without his permission.
I just want to know! She complained to Gardevoir. Starlight wasn't used to secrets. Everyone in her hometown knew about her gifts and honored, almost revered her. They told her their secrets and asked for her advice, so meeting someone as reticent and untrusting as Eclipse was extremely annoying.
With time I'm sure the answers will appear, Gardevoir said calmly. Starlight sent a feeling of annoyance towards the Psychic type.
The door opened suddenly, shattering the silence with a loud bang. Starlight rolled off the couch onto her feet. Eclipse stood out of breath in the doorway. "We need to leave," he said.
"Why?" Starlight asked. Yunyi had been drawn by the sound and was staring at the two older people, confused.
"The assassins are back," Eclipse explained.
"What?" Starlight gasped. She ran for the door. "We need to go then!"
"Too late," said a smug voice. Starlight stopped had began stepping backwards as she recognized the tall woman and short girl behind Eclipse from the night she's been attacked.
"I thought you let me go," Starlight said quietly.
"We're totally off that job," the small assassin said, pushing Eclipse roughly out of her way as she came inside. "It was a stupid job anyway. Now we just want to talk." She grinned at Starlight, though even her smile did little to dispel the dangerous aura around the girl.
The taller one entered as well and added, "We aren't actually the ones who want to tale with you." Starlight noticed then that they weren't alone. Another tall woman, though not quite as towering as the mercenary, was standing at the doorway along with a younger girl.
"What do you want to talk about?" Eclipse demanded, glaring at the small assassin, apparently ignoring her earlier statement.
"None of your business. Why don't you go outside and let the grown-ups talk?" The young assassin replied. Barring the fact that this statement was coming from a girl several years younger than him, it clearly triggered something in Eclipse and he glared at her. Starlight just hoped he continued to stare with the eyepatch on.
"I wanted to ask the Psychic Pokésoul for a favor," said the blonde woman at the door. "I hired Sky and Lucinda to bring me here."
"Sky and Lucinda?" Yunyi repeated, sounding very overwhelmed.
"Sky Mayfly," the tiny assassin said, taking a bow. "The strong silent one there is Lucinda."
Lucinda gave a small nod and leaned back against one of the walls.
"I'm Scarlet," the blonde woman said. "And I'm sorry to trouble you like this, but it's urgent." The other girl stood silently behind Scarlet and Starlight glanced at her curiously. "This is Liliana," Scarlet said, pushing the younger girl forward.
"Hi there!" Liliana said, her smile strangely large.
"She's been brainwashed," Scarlet added.
"Brainwashed?" Starlight repeated. She cautiously stepped closer to the girl, careful to stay as far away from the assassins as she could.
"If those two have done their job can't they leave now?" Eclipse demanded, still glaring at Sky.
"We haven't gotten paid yet," Sky replied. "Besides, I want to see what happens."
Scarlet herded Liliana further into the room and led her to the couch in the center of the room. The door remained open and Starlight saw it blocked by a mass of blue and orange. A Samurott and a Dragonite, Gardevoir explained.
"Is Liliana a Pokésoul?" Starlight asked.
"Yes," Scarlet replied. "Percy the Samurott is her partner, but he hasn't been able to feel her presence since she was brainwashed."
"That's not too surprising," Starlight said. "The bond is still there though and that should help me bring her back."
Liliana sat down on the couch and Starlight sat next to her, mirroring the situation she'd had with Eclipse and then Yunyi the other day. "Usually I ask for permission, but I guess she can't really give it to me now," Starlight sighed.
"Just stay out of her private thoughts if you can," Scarlet said. "But I'm sure she'd rather have you in her head than be a mindless puppet forever."
Starlight nodded, then brought her right hand up to gently place her fingers on the younger girl's forehead. It was instantly clear that something had been done to the girl's mind, her thoughts were very repetitive and extremely focused on someone named Razan. Starlight assumed him to be the one who'd brainwashed her, but she wasn't sure. Luckily, whatever had been done to her seemed to have been done in a rush, as it was rough. This would make it easier to fix.
Liliana? Starlight called out with her mind. The brainwashing hadn't actually changed Liliana's personality at all, that would have taken a long time to do. No, Liliana herself, her essence, or soul, was buried deep inside her, trapped underneath the compulsion that had been inflicted on her.
Starlight's query drew no response, but that wasn't too surprising. Starlight batted away the clearly mind controlled thoughts and looked deeper, to find some part of the real Liliana. A faint, glowing thread drifted by and Starlight quickly grasped it.
Her bond with Percy, Gardevoir said.
It must be, Starlight replied. It seemed inactive, likely because Liliana herself wasn't entirely active, but it was still healthy. It was in better shape than Eclipse's which was surprising. Whatever happened to him must have been truly awful. Pushing thoughts of the boy to the side for now, Starlight grasped the thread with her mental hands and followed it down into the depths of Liliana's mind. Starlight would be careful not to dig around, but it was inevitable that she would see some things.
Memories played around her, like flickering TV screens. Faint images of a warm tavern and two older people who must be Liliana's parents. Percy featured often as well, growing from a Oshawott into a Dewott, then finally the Samurott state he was in now. Several fights went on, mostly friendly, with Liliana seemingly the victor of most of them. These memories surrounded Starlight and she began to feel a bit confused. She'd never been this far inside of a person's mind before.
I'm here, Gardevoir assured her. The warm feeling her Pokémon sent her helped her recenter herself, and Starlight took a deep breath, then continued forward, trying not to look a the scenes around her.
Following the bond, she finally reached a door. Starlight reached forward and opened it. Lilliana was inside, but the expression on her face was much darker than the one her body currently wore. "Who are you?" Liliana demanded.
Starlight was instantly certain that this was the real one. "My name is Starlight," Starlight replied. "I've come to help you."
"I didn't ask for help."
"Well, you couldn't, not as you are," Starlight pointed out delicately.
"Why would I trust you anyway? You could be Razan trying to trick me!"
"I'm not!" Starlight said. "I can prove it!" Starlight said this before she actually had a plan for doing so. Then she remembered the blue thread that was still in her hand. "Take this!" Starlight thrust the thread at Liliana, who glared back suspiciously. "This is your bond to Percy, take it and you can talk to him. He'll tell you who I am."
Liliana's expression flickered a bit at the mention of Percy, hope flashing briefly, but still she hesitated. She took one more look at the bond, then finally grasped it. The faint blue suddenly burst to life, blinding Starlight's spirit eyes briefly. Around her the walls disappeared and they were pulled to the surface of Liliana's mind, Starlight being pulled along by her grip on the thread, which was rapidly growing in size. They reached the cloud of confusion Razan had left and it was dissipated by the bond's brilliant strength.
"Thank you," Liliana said quietly. "Now get out of my head!"
"Uh, right." Starlight retreated back into her own mind and opened her eyes. She backed away from Liliana, based on the girl's prickly self in her mind, Starlight assumed she wouldn't like being crowded.
"Did you fix her?" Scarlet asked anxiously.
Liliana's eyes opened and she looked around her, a confused expression on her face. "Where are we?" she wondered.
"You're back to normal?" Scarlet asked.
"I think so," Liliana replied. "I don't have any desire to fulfill Razan's wishes, so I think I'm better. I don't remember anything that happened though."
"I'm so sorry!" Scarlet blurted. "It's my fault that that happened to you!"
"No it isn't," Liliana replied. "I made my choice myself and I accept the consequences of my actions. But I... I didn't do anything too weird did I?" She acted all confident, but it was clear the experience had shaken her up a bit. Though with the memory loss it was actually less bad than it could have been. Seeing her body doing things and saying things without her permission would probably have been more psychologically damaging, so Starlight was thankful she wasn't aware under the brainwashing.
"Uh... No! Nothing weird!" Scarlet assured.
"Yeah, that was convincing," Liliana growled. Her gaze turned to the door and a real smile, not one of the false ones she'd worn before, crossed her face. "Percy!" She ran to the door and hugged the Samurott.
"Your face looked a lot weirder when you were brainwashed," Sky commented.
Liliana turned without releasing Percy and stared at the girl. "Isn't that one of the assassins that visited Nature's Guardians? What is she doing here?"
"I asked for her help in finding a psychic Pokésoul," Scarlet replied.
"Which is me," Starlight added.
"You asked assassins for help?" Liliana said, her voice clearly doubting Scarlet's judgement.
"No, they offered," Scarlet corrected. "And it all worked out, they found Starlight and she fixed you!"
"How did you fix me anyway?" Liliana wondered. "Was it hard?"
"Not really," Starlight replied. "The brainwashing wasn't all that strong, and your bond with Percy was much stronger than his compulsion so I just used your bond to reverse it."
"Does that mean you can't fix people who aren't Pokésouls?" Scarlet asked, her face pensive.
"I don't know, why? Are there more brainwashed people?"
"Several," Liliana replied darkly.
"I don't know for sure, I can definitely try, but it will certainly take longer to fix them than it did Liliana."
"Well fixing them isn't even something we can really think about at this point anyway," Scarlet sighed. "First we have to bring Razan down."
"Right," Liliana agreed. "We're going to make him pay!"
"Maybe I should go with you. To help with the others who are brainwashed," Starlight said.
"No!" Eclipse yelled. "You're supposed to help me," he added more quietly.
"If you come as well than I can do both," Starlight pointed out.
"What's Eyepatch need help with?" Sky wondered. "And who's the little kid?"
"You are," Eclipse retorted.
"I am Yunyi," Yunyi said, though her quiet voice was mostly drowned out by Eclipse's retort.
"Regardless of whether you want to help or not, it's not safe for Psychic Pokésouls anymore," Lucinda said.
"What do you mean?" Starlight asked.
"Nature's Guardians," Scarlet guessed. Lucinda nodded.
"What does that mean?" Eclipse demanded.
Liliana rolled her eyes at him. "It's obvious isn't it? The only people who can break the brainwashing are other Psychic Pokésouls. If he gets rid of them all, then there's no one to stop him!"
"You really don't think we're safe here?" Starlight wondered.
"We found you in a couple days," Sky replied. "Granted, I am the best assassin in the world. Don't worry Red, you're in second." Lucinda rolled her eyes, but otherwise ignored her companion.
"I don't see any reason to trust either of you," Eclipse said, glaring at them.
"Do you think it's true?" Starlight asked Scarlet. "Do you believe Yunyi and I are in danger here?"
Scarlet was silent for a moment, then nodded slowly. "I don't know what their endgame is, or what they're planning but I'm sure Razan doesn't want people out here who can undo his brainwashing." Liliana nodded in agreement.
"Then we have to go," Starlight said.
"Me too?" Yunyi asked, staring nervously at the ground.
"It will be safer in the city," Scarlet said. "You won't have to fight or help with the others, but we can protect you better there than we can out here. We won't make you come, but I don't know how long you'll be safe here for."
"I'm definitely coming," Starlight reiterated.
"That means I'm going then," Eclipse said, annoyance evident in his voice.
"Then...then I'll come as well," Yunyi said. "I don't want to fight, and I don't think I can help much with the brainwashing, but if there's anything I can do, I will try."
Starlight walked over to Yunyi and wrapped an arm around the little girl. "Don't worry Yunyi, we'll keep you safe and everything will work out for the best!"
The small girl nodded nervously.
"We should hurry and leave," Liliana said. "We don't know if anyone is following us." Scarlet nodded in agreement and the group headed out of the small cabin, with only a brief pause for Yunyi, Eclipse and Starlight to gather their things. Yunyi locked the door, Devoir at her side, then firmly turned away from it. "Let's go," she said, her tiny voice firm.
The group started down the path to Rustboro city, pausing only when they noticed Sky and Lucinda still among their ranks.
"What are you doing?" Liliana asked suspiciously.
"We haven't been payed yet," Sky replied. "And we're going the same way anyway. Plus, traveling is more fun with more people!" She said the last with a huge grin, one which made Scarlet instantly suspicious. Unfortunately there wasn't anything she could do about it as they were right, Preston had the payment and Scarlet didn't.
"Fine," Scarlet said. "But if you do anything bad to any of us you're not getting any money."
"We will be extremely pleasant traveling companions," Lucinda promised. Scarlet nodded, but it wasn't the Red Neck she was worried about. Staring at Sky pointedly , the small assassin sighed.
"Yeah yeah, I won't stab any of you or anything." Half-hearted though it was, Scarlet decided it was the best she was going to get.
"Let's get to Rustboro then," Scarlet said. The others nodded and the strange group of travelers headed down the road.
Walking behind the others and keeping her voice low, Lucinda said, "Why are we traveling with them?"
"It's all so interesting!" Sky exclaimed. "Brainwashing, murder, explosions! Don't you want to see what happens next?"
"Not as much as I want to get more money," Lucinda replied.
"You're so boring," Sky complained. "But don't worry, I think we can get ourselves a situation where we get to see what happens and get paid."
"You think the Guardian Force will hire us to help them?" Lucinda asked skeptically.
"If they're desperate enough they'll do it."
"I suppose it's possible," Lucinda conceded.
"Maybe we'll even get put in history books!"
"I'm fairly sure our exploits to date are already enough to be mentioned in those."
"Obviously," Sky said with a snicker. "But with this maybe we can even be heroes!"
"I wouldn't think you interested in that, being an assassin and all."
"Well I don't want to actually be a hero, but being thought of as one might be fun."
Lucinda simply sighed at this and went with the flow. Either they'd get paid to help or they wouldn't, either way she had a feeling she'd end up getting involved anyway. Sky had a tendency to pull her into situations she'd rather avoid.