Back with another update! Man, I wish writing the in-between intervals are more easier. You know what they say, it's easier said than done. :p
Moonless(OC): Maybe you should focus more on writing than spending time on your computer doing Arceus knows what...You don't want this to drag on for another year, remember? Last time I checked, you said you will be able to write more on the summer and hopefully finish.
"Well, last time I checked, you didn't do anything..."
Moonless(OC): I am a part of you, so whatever you are doing, I'm technically doing. Secondly, this is mostly imagination on a piece of paper, so whatever you write in the story is whatever I do.
"Whatever, you say?~"
Moonless(OC): *Gulps* Er...I mean, um...
*Starts typing* Moonless walks out to buy a bag of pokepuffs, comes back only to throw the bag of puffs out the window again.
Moonless(OC): Y u do dis!?
"Proper English please, I don't speak Engrish..."
Moonless(OC): Why you do this!?
...
Onto reviews!
Jaegothis:
Legionnaire, I am disappointed in you. Always destroy the heart. Thunder, your puns are awful...
Dragareus? Darkeus?
my prayers have been answered
Response:
Disappointed? I think we can work on a better word for him. As for Thunder's puns, yeah can't expect much for the *cough* air- *cough* head.
Thunder: *Sneezes* Either I'm getting the chills, or someone's talking about me...
Darkeus? Dragareus?
Dragareus & Darkeus: *Appears out of nowhere* You called?
Well...We'll find out, at some point.
Rayrudan:
-The hold on a spear tightens to the point of hurting upon seeing this. Deciving. Lies. Fraud.-
-The Blood boils like the lava of a Volcano! Anger. Rage. Fury.-
-The onlooker seeks Revenge! Sweet, sweet revenge on the traitors!-
-He turns his back and goes away, not being able to step in. ... Impotence ... -
yeah... that's me :P
Response:
Um...not much to say here?
Moonless(OC): You can at least say something besides that.
Interesting description for what's going on? I guess?
Moonless(OC): *Sigh*
Toa Solaric:
It's interesting that you mixed pokemon with elements from Kamen Rider Wizard.
Response:
Looks like the cat is out of the bag.
Everyone: *Nods*
BUT I WON'T EXPLAIN WHY! *Laughs maniacally*
Now then, that's all done, we can move on to the chapter. Enjoy!
Also, if anyone happened to miss out on chapter one on the 'IMPORTANCE' notice, just a reminder, chapter 1 has been rebooted. Be sure to check that out too!
Chapter Twenty Five: The Days Prior + The Plan
Rain, the pellets of precipitation hitting against the window still. Moonless' hazy but visible reflection can be seen on the glass window, the Eevee staring off into space as the storm continued its downpour.
The past days has been rough- a storm appeared out of the blue and hit has been raining ever since, the weather never ceased to clear up.
The thought that even mother nature is pitying him brought a sigh to Moonless' mouth.
How many breaths of exhale was that? He lost count around fifty, during the second day the storm had hit.
Nearly a whole week Moonless kept to himself, locking himself in the room across from Ribbon's and not joining others for meals, nor did he ever feel the need to sleep. Even with the lack of rest, surprisingly, he's not suffering from sleep deprivation; no signs of bags under his eyes are proof of that.
Actually, that may have been a lie. He did get a day of sleep, after endless pleads from the others- non-stop banging on the door worried for his well-being as well as the spamming of messages on his phone. You heard it right, a day of sleep and not night. After that, he just couldn't fall asleep for the rest of the week.
Then again, he can't fall asleep, cause during that one day of his sleep...repressed memories, rather nightmares...resurfaced.
Moonless can recall exactly what happened that day; everything from Ribbon's pleads all the way to the second he placed his head on the pillow.
*/Flashback.../*
For nearly the millionth time, came banging at the door. This is already the second day this is occurring. For the first day, Moonless simply tolerated it by ignoring but he's starting to get fed up with this nonsense when the knocking went on for hours on end. And today, was literally his last straw.
"Leave me alone!" Moonless shouted in his position, sitting with his back against the door, his arms wrapped tightly against his knees.
There was a moment of silence from the other side of the door before Ribbon's voice can be heard saying, "Moonless...are you okay in there?"
"I'm fine! Now leave me alone!" shouted Moonless.
Ribbon paused before she replied, "...You stayed up for the whole night, didn't you?"
Moonless blinked and his ears perked. "H-How did you-"
"It isn't hard to tell, the anger in your voice and you basic judgement is clouded...Plus, your voice is so loud that people can even hear it at the end of the hall. I'm pretty sure you are sitting in the same position you were at yesterday." Ribbon said
"...What do you want?" groaned Moonless.
"May I come in?" Ribbon asked.
"...No...I need some time alone. Please, go away." Moonless buried his face in his kneecaps.
A sigh can be heard from the other side. "...In that case, can I ask you a request?..."
"What is it?" Moonless replied, without even lifting his face off his knees.
"Please get some sleep...I know you are having a hard time right now, but you can't miss out on rest." Ribbon said. "I wished I can do more to help you but to know that at least you have some rest gives everyone...and me, an idea you are okay...
She was met with silence so she went on to say, "Do it for everyone..." She paused and blushed at the thought of what she's about to say next. "Do it for me. And not just me but for yourself. For us."
Again, silence was heard but Ribbon soon picked up on the sound of footsteps pacing towards the bed.
"Fine...You win." Moonless voice came from the other side, which brought a smile and a sigh of relief to Ribbon.
With what Ribbon said to him implanted in his mind, Moonless got up and made his way over to the bed, before proceeding to plop his head onto the pillow and pulling the blanket over his body. The Eevee yawned loudly before the lack of energy and sleep knocked him unconscious.
...
It was late at night and the rain was hitting hard against the car's windows, as a pair of teal blue eyes stared boringly into the night.
"Hey mom, are we home yet?" asked the Eevee from the backseat of the car.
"Not yet Azure, just be a patient little Eevee and we'll be there in no time." said a Glaceon to his right, sitting in the seat next to the driver's seat.
"Daaaaaddddd." The Eevee whined, looking over to his left.
"What your mother said." chuckled the Leafeon sitting next to the Glaceon, not averting eye contact as he focused on the road.
The Eevee sighed in annoyance but shrugged it off as he lifted his left hand, smiling a toothy grin at the sight of the bag labeled 'Poke Puff Paradise'. He lifted into the bag and pulled out his favorite treat, taking a bite as he waited patiently like his parents told him to do so.
Just as he was about to take another bite, an alerting call from his father made him drop the puff. "Watch out!" The Leafeon said, turning the driving wheel to the left as far as possible.
Apparently, a truck from the other side of the road began to go off course and drive into their lane. The worst part about it is the fact that the truck wasn't stopping at all, and continued to drive it the direction that it was facing; more accurately, towards the Eevee and its parents.
And then everything went black.
Nearly after an eternity, the Eevee's eyes came to an open, at the sight of bright light blinding his eyes.
"Morning already?..." groaned the Eevee as he pulled the covers over his head.
"He's awake!" The Eevee heard under his cover which made him open his eyes in confusion.
Something doesn't feel right and the first sign is the smell of strong medicine(or whatever a hospital smells like) as he lifted a bit of the cover to get a look on his surroundings. The second sign is the pain he felt coursing through his head.
White bed sheets, white pillow, two chairs resting against the wall, are the first things that the Eevee's eyes fell on. Next were two nurses standing at his sides, a Chansey and an Audino-morph staring at him in concern.
"Are you feeling alright?" asked the Audino.
The Eevee stared blankly at the two nurses as the Chansey started to freak out.
"Oh no! What if he loses his memories?! What if he forgets who he is?!" The Chansey panicked.
"Calm down! Starting to lose your head isn't going to help in this case." The Audino scolded.
She turned towards the Eevee and said with a gentle voice. "Sorry if she scared you little Eevee, she's just trying to look out for you."
The Eevee nodded, bringing a smile to the Audino's face.
"Like what she said though, do you remember your name?" asked the Audino, dropping her smile and it was replaced with a stern face.
"Y-Yeah, my name is Moonless...Moonless Night." The Eevee replied.
"OH! Thank Arceus he remembers! I do not want to recall all those cases of young children losing their memories due to car accidents." The Chansey ranted.
"Car accident?" Young Moonless mumbled. "Wait, am I at the hospital?"
"Yes, why?..." The Audino asked uncertainly.
Then it hits him.
"Mom...Dad..." The Eevee mummured, tears starting to form in his eyes but he blinked them away before they can fall.
"In that case, where are my parents? They are a Leafeon and a Glaceon...Are they okay?" Young Moonless cursed under his breath, scolding himself for the last part.
"Er..." The Chansey struggled to form words but her fellow collegue came to the rescue.
"Of course they are okay, what makes you think otherwise?" The Audino said with a smile.
"Then bring me to them." The Eevee said.
The Audino blinked.
"Please, I want to see my parents." Young Moonless begged, his voice cracking up.
The look from the Eevee eyes were so pleading that the Audino forced down her internal debate and smiled weakly.
"We'll-"
"We'll bring you to them!..." The Chansey said, trails of tear visible on her cheeks.
"Are you able to walk?" The Audino asked, ignoring her collegue's breakdown.
"More than good...Besides this headache, that is. But I'm good enough to walk." Young Moonless said.
"That's good to hear. Alright then, this way..." The Audino gestured, leading the Eevee out of the room to a room a few feets down the hall.
"This-"
Before the Audino can even finish her sentence, the Eevee flung open the door and bursted inside, shouting, "Mom! Dad!"
Just what he feared most, the sight of a Leafeon and Glaceon resting on separate beds with oxygen masks on their faces, white blanket sheets covering up to their upper chests as the pulse monitor displayed their heart rates by the passing seconds.
He hoped by mistake that the nurses had just led him to the wrong room. He keeps telling himself it was just a coincidence that the room he entered just so happened to contain both a Glaceon and Leafeon in hospital beds.
Then again, as much he wanted to be denial, he couldn't...Not after witnessing "Glacier Haze" and "Shredder Knight" written in big letters on the front of the two beds.
"Mom...Dad..." said the Eevee as he walked in the empty space separating the two beds, his eyes beginning to water.
The eyelids of both the Eeveelutions twitched, along with their fingers moving a bit. Either they heard him or it is a coincidence they woke up at the same time he said it.
Either way, the Glaceon and Leafeon looked around until their attentions were brought upon an Eevee standing between them.
"Mom! Dad!" The Eevee said, wiping away his tears.
"You are okay...thank Arceus..." The Glaceon weakly said. "The last thing I want is to see is my little Azure on a hospitalized bed..." She joked.
"Mom, dad, please be okay..." The Eevee begged.
"Don't worry sweetie, although we won't make it, it is great to see you one last time." The Glaceon said.
"What are you talking about?!" Young Moonless said, almost unable to fight back his tears. "Of course you will make it!"
They both smiled weakly and said in unison, "Moonless, you are mom and dad's hope..." along with grasping onto the Eevee's hands.
"I am mom and dad's hope?..." The Eevee said.
"Please...live on for us..." They said in almost a whisper, adding a heart-warming smile at the end of the sentence.
Too soon, too soon did his parents' lives flash before his eyes; his heart felt heavy as the Glaceon and Leafeon's hand slips out of his, falling limp and hanging lifelessly on the edge of the bed. Meanwhile, a Blissey doctor along with a lot of nurses, consisting of Chanseys, Audinos, and Wigglypuffs, came baraging through the door.
The Chansey and Audino from earlier pulled Young Moonless away to give the doctor and other nurses more space to work with.
"No..." The Eevee said, watching helplessly as the doctors and nurses worked their hardest into saving his parents.
"NOOOOO!" The Eevee cried out, finally breaking into tears, collapsing onto his knees.
Upon seeing this, the Audino cannot help but shed a tear from the corner of her eyes, bending down to the Eevee as Young Moonless hugged her tightly for comfort. Meanwhile, the Chansey standing next to her were on the verge of exploding into tears.
"Mom...Dad..." Young Moonless whimpered.
...
Moonless woke up with a cold sweat, the sound of knocking coming from the door once again.
"Moonless! Are you okay in there?" Ribbon's voice came from the other side.
"Y-Yeah, I'm okay...Just talking to myself..." Moonless replied, pushing himself into a sitting position.
"It doesn't sound like it...I heard a lot of screaming and yelling, are you sure?" Ribbon said, her voice uncertain.
"I had a nightmare...That's all." Moonless half admitted, not wanting to tell her that he is rexperiencing repressed memories.
"Do you want to talk about it? Cause it seemed a little serious, based on the way you were yelling..." Ribbon said.
"It's...fine. Don't worry about it." Moonless said reassuringly.
"If you say so." Ribbon's voice was heard one last time before it was followed by footsteps, growing more faint by each step.
When the coast is clear, Moonless buried his face in his hands, clenching his teeth out of frustration.
*/Flashback Ends.../*
POV Change(Moonless)
I just remembered something.
Today is Thursday, July 16...Just one day before the day that my parents passed away.
I remember it all too well. It too was a Friday that day, only this year, I find mother nature mourning a little bit too early.
To be honest, recalling back to the day of the accident, the rain then was not much different from now.
That is, with the exception of being in a ride with love ones rather than standing here like a lonely and meaningless statue.
Speaking of which...
How long have I been staring out the window? I lost count on the amount of hours just like the sighs that escaped my maw.
I kept asking myself, what am I looking at exactly? I don't know, I really don't. I can't even tell if I'm staring at the endless rain hitting against the window still or the broken and lifeless Eevee that is my own reflection; equally staring back at me with as much grief and despair, as if he's eternally trapped.
Heh...Trapped, broken, lifeless, despair...I sound like I'm on the verge of suicide...Great going Moonless, I told myself.
As more and more time passed, wasted from staring at my own reflection, my eyes started to droop.
*'Why of all times, I feel drowsy now?...I have been up for nearly a week yet now I feel-'*
I could have sworn the second before my eyes came to a close, the Eevee in the reflection mouthed, "Sleep, you'll need it."
Then my legs gave out and I collapsed. The last thing I felt was immense pain on the back of my head before I drifted off to sleep.
-Third Person-
"Man, when can I get moving again?..." Legionnaire groaned.
"After you make a full recovery, which shouldn't be much longer...I'll say in two days or so." Darkeus informed, changing into a jet-black Eevee.
"That's way too long! If I don't get a good heart or two, I'm going to die!" Legionnaire complained, whining dramatically.
"Look at you, sounding like someone in needs of heart surgery..." Darkeus joked, which made Legionnaire roll his eyes.
"Are you sure there isn't a faster way? Like that techique you used on me during that day?" Legionnaire asked hopefully.
"It heals you, yes...But taking a toll on your body can reopen the wounds. Therefore, it'll be useless as long as you don't settle down and rest." said Darkeus, crossing his arms.
"Tch..." retorted Legionnaire.
"Stop complaining, you haven't even thanked him the slightest for saving your butt." Sabrina chuckled. "Although I'm impressed at how your dimensional tear technique works...Both the active and passive effects~"
"I can use more of it, if it isn't these damn pain that these wounds are giving me!" Legionnaire roared.
"Chill out smoke brain, rest up and soon you can get on with your rampage again." Sabrina grinned.
"What the mistress said." Darkeus shrugged.
"Damn you both..." Legionnaire growled.
"I'm surprised, however, you were the only one that was able to put Wizard in his place." Sabrina nodded in amazement.
"Give credit to him, the mages haven't even made a single move since that day because of him. Especially Wizard." Legionnaire pointed at Darkeus.
On the black-furred Eevee's behalf, who has recently returned to his Arceus form, was whistling innocently with his hands behind his back.
On an unknown and secluded area off the beach side of Water Street, a teal-eyed Shiny Umbreon-morph slowly wandered around on a rocky waterfront, with a look of confusion plastered on his face as he tried to find a way out.
"Where am I?" The Umbreon asked no one in particular.
The Umbreon wasn't the only one that wanted answers to his quesions. There are several other morphs of all types there besides him- like a Mawhile, Fearow, Houndour, etc- and that's only to name a few.
"Is this Water Street? Then again, I don't remember ever seeing this place before when I came by this district." The Umbreon mumbled, trying to look for an exit or any familiar trails that will lead him out of the uncharted territory.
The Umbreon's thoughts were interrupted at the sound of gasps and exclamations from other morphs, as he looked to see what was going on.
"Look over there, the sun!" Many morphs shouted, pointing their fingers intently.
"Is that the moon?" Another morph pointed out.
To the best of his abilities, the Umbreon was able to make out a large round object move in front of the sun and obstruct it, soon plunging the whole shore into darkness.
"A solar eclipse? Was that suppose to happen?" Many morphs, including the Umbreon, asked.
The darkness didn't last for long.
Dark purple energy erupted beneath the feet of the group of morphs, spreading across the terrain and filling up the area with the raging energy's light. That's not all, since the dark energy began to spread to other things that came into contact with it, including living beings.
It all happened at once when the 'withering' process began, occurring way faster than the blink of an eye.
The shore was filled with cries of agonizing pain and terror; exposure of the dark energy causing large purple cracks to form on the morphs' bodies.
One particular morph, a Houndour, raised his hands in the air and screamed at the top of his lungs till his life left him. The Dark/Fire type's body shattered like glass before it was replaced by a more demonic looking Houndour- three small horns visible on its head.
Many other morphs followed suit after, transforming into various monstrous forms but the view was overshadowed by the darkness that the eclipse brought. Overtime, the place became deserted, with the new beings abandoning the area after shedding away their original forms.
The deathly screams, the malice behind the laughs of those newborn beings. Forever and ever will this be scarred into someone's memory...
There was but one remaining morph amongst all the other beings that were leaving the area, an Umbreon that was partially kneeling with his hands planted on the ground for support. Like many of the morphs earlier, he too is suffering from the purple cracks that the dark energy had created.
"I-" More cracks formed on the Umbreon's body, with the exception of the ones that were already present. "I-" The cracks started to enlarge and spread to upper parts of his body, including his face.
The Umbreon reached out to the eclipsed sun and grasped, shouting, "I will never give up!"
Just then, a bright yellow light engulfed his body, patching and filling up all the open cracks that had formed over the Umbreon's body- Thus returning its current broken state back to its original, fixed one...with a slight defect.
Of course, he was too tired to notice anything of any difference, falling asleep the second the yellow light dissipates because the sudden power surge had seemingly drained away all of his stamina.
Just then, a bright light appeared and it diminished to reveal two cloaked figures.
"Do you think he'll be okay?" asked a feminish voice, as one of the figure turns toward the other figure.
"If you are talking about condition-wise, yes..." Said another, deeper and monotoneous voice. "Hopefully he'll stick around to hear the end of it by the time he wakes up."
"Okay..."
"You must be worried about him."
"Like you're not? Arcy?"
"Mew, stop calling me that!"
"Teehee! Too bad, Arcy-us!"
...
Stirring a few times, the same pair of teal eyes snapped open and the owner pushed themselves off the ground. He stared at his surroundings and saw that the coast was devoid of life, clumps of ashes scattered in the air.
Memories came rushing back like a flood, and out of shock he looked down and saw the noticeable change: a noticeable amount of brown characteristics.
To confirm his suspicions, which he hoped wasn't true; the morph made his way over to where all the shallow water is at, before nervously hovered his face over to stare at the reflection.
"Please be a dream...Please be a dream..." The morph prayed, keeping his eyes shut. "Please tell me this is a just a nightmare...All of what had happened..."
He opened his eyes and hoped that he'll be in bed, breaking into a cold sweat from the nightmare.
Instead, it was a nightmare come true. It is reality that he is in.
Where the Umbreon should have been, at least to the morph's expectancy, it was now replaced with an Eevee.
The Eevee stumbled back in surprise and fell back to the ground with a look of pure distress.
"What the- I'm an Eevee again?!" Horror was displayed on his face, his breathing increased tenfold. "H-How is that even possible?..."
The Eevee however, did not get the chance to get over his moment of fear, at the sight of a shadow looming over him.
He shakily turned around and saw a...demonic Sableye staring down at him with a non-amused expression. A smug grin appeared on the Sableye's face as he unsheathed his claws, which in turn made the Eevee scramble back and cower in fear.
The Sableye lifted his claws and leaped at him, but before he can get any closer, a white circle appeared and it propelled the Sableye through the air.
The Eevee watched in amazement as the circle disappeared, his ears perking at the sound of more footsteps coming from behind as he turned around to see white-cloaked figure, standing just a few feet away from him.
The figure took a few steps forward and came to a stop when he was standing just in front of him.
"Never thought from the darkness of despair...this cursed ritual, I can find a spark of hope." said the figure with a nod. "Well done Azure Moonlight."
The Eevee blinked but his blank face was replaced with one of surprise. "Wait a minute, how do you know about-"
"Those that were chosen by Arceus himself are well-known throughout the Hall of Origin. You were among one of the many choices for the protector legendaries within the Hall of Origins, Azure Moonlight."
The Eevee raised an eyebrow but flinched when the figure mentioned something else.
"Or do you prefer if I call you by your real name, Moonless Night?"
"...I don't know if I should be flattered because I'm...'chosen', or I should be mad at the fact that you know of both names..." Moonless crossed his arms, venom in his voice. "Especially the last one..."
"Ah yes. You should feel honored at the fact you can get such an opportunity- definitely not something that is common amongs an average population of people."
Moonless can only blink and stare blankly. "Where are you getting at?"
The figure went on to say, "You have held onto hope and evaded despair with your own willpower. You have gained the potentials to become a mage."
"A mage?..." The Eevee scoffed. "Like those magicians that can perform magic tricks?...Is that what you're telling me?"
"Your ignorance leaves a bad taste in my mouth...It might even be the end of you one day." The figure said, as the Eevee rolled his eyes at his remark.
"But get this, it is the only way to fight the Mutants- The monstrous beings that you saw being born out of another morph's from despair." The figure explained. "But knowing who's behind all this, they are likely going to perform another Mutant-creating ritual."
The seriousness in the figure's voice is starting to get to the Eevee, as the brown-furred morph double-takes on the situation, mostly thinking of the outcomes and whatnot.
"You're kidding, right?" Moonless said, looking for any hints of a possible lie. He found none.
"That choice falls under your hand...Only you can choose the path you want to go." The figure said, extending a hand out towards the Eevee. "Now what would it be?"
The Eevee looked at him and then at the figure's hand.
After what seemed like eternity of waiting when in reality it was only a few seconds, the cloaked figure sighed and began to retract his hand, only for the Eevee to beat him by a fraction of a second.
The Eevee accepted his hand, both for the help on getting up and on the choice he chose. "I'm in." He added firmly, a confident smile on his face.
"...In that case," The figure helped pull Moonless off the ground. "First thing first, I'll get you access to your spiritual landscape, your Mentality Zone."
"...My what?"
"You'll see soon enough." The figure said, equipping a ring in Moonless' right hand before moving the Eevee's hand in front of an attachment on the figure's chest.
*TRANSPORT, STANDBY*
A large white circle appeared to their right as the figure gestured Moonless to go through.
"Your Mentguard is waiting for you in your Mentality Zone, he should be able to get you prepared and fill you in on everything you need to know." The figure assured.
"Thanks."
The figure nodded. "Till next time, Moonless Night."
"Actually, before you go, can you tell me your name at least?" Moonless requested.
"It is your courage, that shall become the truth...Does this ring any bell?" The figure said, as he fitted on a ring in his right hand.
*TELEPORTATION, STANDBY*
Another circle appears but this time it was beneath the figure's feet. It slowly moved upwards and engulfs the figure entirely, disappearing and leaving behind a fazed Moonless and an active white circle to his right.
"Thanks again...Reshiram." Moonless said one last time before entering the white circle, with it too vanishing after the Eevee phased through it.
...
The sound of thunder and flash of lightning shook me awake from my slumber.
*'Oh man, that was one hectic of a dream...'* I mentally groaned.
I awoke to see the dark night of the sky, instead of the glooming daylight before I passed out. One thing's for sure, the storm is still pouring, since droplets of water are collecting on the outside of the window. However, something doesn't seem right...
"How did I end up in bed?" I said, still half asleep while rubbing my temples to get rid of the drowsiness.
"Simple, sleep-walking."
POV Change(Third Person)
Moonless turns his head towards the direction of the voice, only to see an oversided red-eyed Arceus shift into a Shiny Umbreon-morph, leaning against the window with its attention focused on him.
One thing for sure though, the Umbreon-transformed Arceus wasn't there before but Moonless payed no heed to that thought.
"Deja vu...what now?" Moonless said out of boredom.
"What now?" The Umbreon said with crossed arms. "Good question, if only you knew then I would too."
"What's that suppose to mean?" Moonless narrowed his eyes at the Umbreon, who shot an equal glare back at Moonless with just as much annoyance behind it.
"You asked, not me." The Umbreon replied carefreely, which forced a growl up from Moonless' throat.
"Now you are just getting on my nerves..." Moonless growled threateningly.
"To be honest, you are more or less messing with your own mind," The Umbreon sighed. "why turn down someone's offer to help when they really want to know what's wrong with you?"
"Nothing is wrong with me! I don't need help!" Moonless shot back. "I'm perfectly fine!"
"On the outside but what about the inside?" The Umbreon questioned.
"Shut it." Moonless demanded, to which the Umbreon promtly did. "Even still, what can you see that is wrong with me, genius?"
"Let's play a game...from your previous sentences, replace 'nothing' with 'everything'; remove 'don't' completely and add a 'not' after 'perfectly'...Then reread all your sentences aloud but with the new words to replace your old ones." The Umbreon said.
Moonless scoffed and did as he was told without any hesitation. "Everything is wrong with me! I need help! I'm perfectly not fine!"
It took a solid 30 seconds before Moonless realizes what he had said.
"Wait, hold on!" Moonless blushed but it was already too late to reverse what he had just said.
"There's your problem, you couldn't even think straight in a casual situation like this..." The Umbreon said a-matter-of-factly. "You irrationally made a decision without even thinking of the outcomes."
"Yeah...anything else?" Moonless asked, but he actually wished he hasn't said that.
"You are mentally conflicted with what has been going on recently. Not just now but also during the aftermath when you lost your powers." The Umbreon added. "Furthermore, you simply rejected and pushed away those that were trying to help you; with the thought that nobody will fully have an understanding of what you are going through, that they are too ignorant of what is being dealt with here...If that's what you really think, truth be told, you're the one that's actually ignorant."
As much as he wants to remark at everything that was being said, he couldn't help but admit that most of what the Umbreon said was true.
"And what good is a boyfriend when his counterpart is the one that is doing the caring?" The Umbreon said before his crimson eyes glowed a shade of blue, projecting a blue rectangle on the wall with images being played.
"Is that...Ribbon?" asked Moonless as he kept his gaze fixated on the images.
"Very much indeed...she has been frequently stopping by your room to check up on you." The Umbreon said while pointing towards the image scene that displayed a Sylveon who wore a worried expression everytime she passes by a door.
"Even going as far as to skipping some of her sleeping hours in hopes of seeing you exit your room." The picture now showed Ribbon waiting patiently with her back rested against a door, still wearing an expression full of concern.
"Wait...Dragareus?" Moonless raised an eyebrow in high hopes of it actually being the one he spoke of, and not just another sign of hallucination due to lack of sleep.
"Or you can call me Night, a fragment and remenance of one of the eight plates." The Umbreon shrugged.
"Let me get this straight...You are Dragareus...at the same time, not really?" Moonless attempted to put two and two together but his mind immediately blanked out afterwards.
"Correct, I'm only one of the eight total plates that make up my original form, Dragareus...Make sense?"
"I'm so confused...Are you alive or are you dead?" Moonless kept one of his ear perked and the other drooped.
"To put it simply, I'm technically dead as Dragareus but alive as a fragment of what makes up Dragareus..." The Umbreon explained.
"Then how are you here? Or at least, why do you have access to the form then?" Moonless scratched his head.
"I'm not...I'm just a figure of your imagination." The Umbreon said, now staring right into Moonless' eyes.
All thoughts were interrupted at a loud voice ringing through his ears.
"MOONLESS!" Mew shouted louder, this time successfully snapping the Eevee out of his day- er...nightdream. "Arceus, finally..."
"Wha- what happened?" blinked Moonless. The Eevee quickly looked around, and the Umbreon he was speaking with a second ago was nowhere to be found. Instead, he was met with Ribbon and Mew, sitting on the edge of the bed and staring at him in concern.
"You were daydreaming...and talking to yourself." Ribbon stated the obvious.
"I mean...everything that happened before and up to the point where I'm...talking to myself." Moonless said
"We heard screaming coming from your room but the door was locked..." Ribbon said, her eyes trailing towards the door with broken hinges. "Sooo, yeah you can see where this is going."
"...How are your injuries Ribbon?" Moonless eyed her up and down.
"I'm doing fine...how about you?" Ribbon said hesitantly, faking a smile as she was doing so.
"Don't change the subject." Moonless said with a firm look.
"Um...They should be fully healed in two days, since Mew and Solaire decided to speed things up by using Recover on me." Ribbon explained
"Make that tomorrow morning." Moonless said as he pulled Ribbon into a tight hug.
"Wha-" Ribbon was taken back but before she can push him back in embarrassment, the Eevee placed a hand on her forehead.
"Using two Recovers at the same time is not as effective as say, using another healing move like Moonlight with Recover at the same time." Moonless informed, his hand now glowing brightly on Ribbon's forehead. "It's a process called Healing Stack- by stacking Moonlight with an already used Recover, your injuries are ultimately removed."
"But-" Ribbon tried to argue but she was silenced as Moonless tightened the hug even more to the point where she is being crushed, not that she didn't like it or anything.
"Please, at least let me repay you by healing your injuries." Moonless whispered, his expression changing to a more gentle one.
"O-Okay..." Ribbon said with her cheeks heating up, but one side of her told her to relax and enjoy the Eevee's embrace.
"A hug is a hug, might as well savor it..." Ribbon mumbled to herself, as the glow from Moonless' hand ceased.
"Now then, all you have to do is take everything lightly and rest or else the wounds may reopen." Moonless smiled warmly, making the Sylveon's heart melt.
"T-Thanks..." Ribbon said, poking her index fingers together in a repetitive fashion.
"Ooh~...Maybe I shouldn't hide this after all; you should've seen the look on her face when she was tearing down that door," Mew giggled. "she was ready to kill anyone that was to disrupt her from reaching her prince charming."
The Sylveon's cheeks flushed even more and she turned her away in embarrassment, leaving Mew to giggle at her reaction. Moonless, who was also enjoying Ribbon's reaction, gave a chuckle of his own.
All laughter dies down at the cough that Mew emitted, as she politely asked, "Ribbon, you mind if I have a talk with Moonless in private?"
"Um...sure." Ribbon said awkardly, with her back still turned to them.
"Appreciate it." The Sylveon nodded before she stood to leave the room.
"So then-" Mew started but Moonless raised a hand to silence her.
"In before you start rambling, how much did you guys...er, hear?" Moonless asked sheepishly.
Mew grinned mischievously. "Mmm, nothing too much...but what intrigues me the most is the part where you mentioned about Dragareus~"
"So you heard it all, damn." Moonless face palms.
"I never said that!" Mew chirped.
"Enough about my life, what do you need me for?"
"Right, about Dragareus-" Mew gets cut off once again.
"If it is about before, might as well end this conversation this instant..." Moonless waved.
"At least your humorous side is back...but I'll love it when I don't get interrupted everytime I open my mouth to speak." Mew said.
"...Sorry." Moonless apologized. "So what d you want to talk about? At least, in terms of Dragareus?"
"Okay, it's more about some good news and a bit of...bad news." Mew said. "Let's do this the old fashioned way first, good then bad?"
"Sure, I'm all ears." Moonless shrugged.
"How do I begin?..." Mew pondered. "I don't want this to be one of those giving a long information speech or anything so lets make this quick..."
"...Which is?..." Moonless gestured for her to continue.
"First of all, don't freak out on the things I'm about to tell you..." Mew said. After seeing a reassuring nod, she continued, "Dragareus isn't actually gone..."
"...Did I hear that correctly?..." Moonless said hopefully.
Mew blinked. "At least you are a man of your words..." Realizing she was getting side-tracked, she coughed. "So about Dragareus being alive and all...that Darkeus guy is actually Dragareus, but at the same time, he's also not."
"I assume this is the bad news...So what's up with him?" Moonless said.
"He has...or rather Dragareus has been manipulated by negative energy..." Mew said.
"So that Darkeus guy...Is using Dragareus' body?" asked Moonless with a quizzaled eyebrow.
"Close...but not exactly..." Mew pointed out. "Technically they're both Dragareus, with the difference in their spirits. For example, there is the spirit created from the negative energy, which we learned as 'Darkeus', and then there is his original spirit, the one we know as Dragareus..."
"Then what happened to Dragareus' spirit?" Moonless tilted his head.
"I'm not really sure, but the energy seemed to have somehow create a mind(spirit) of its own and it became the temporarily new host in Dragareus' body...Likelyhood, Dragareus' spirit is being surpressed by the negative energy...If that sounds more accurate." Mew explained.
"How are they even able to do it?" Moonless asked.
"The cause is unknown but recalling back in the Hope and Despair War, the Mutants used an unorthydox method to increase their strength in numbers; manipulating captured prisoners with negative energy that forced them to turn against us- using our own friends, allies, and fellow mages to fight against us."
"These bastards..." Moonless gritted his teeth out of anger, clenching his hands simultaneously. "Do they have no shame in the things they do!?"
"Apparently not," Mew stated the obvious, for whatever reason she did not find the question rhetorical. "but I bet that Darkrai-Mutant's dimension tear technique has something to do with this manipulating process..."
"Probably...but aside from all that, is there any possibility of bringing Dragareus back to normal?" Moonless asked, trying this opportunity better than any to ask.
"Thought you will never ask!" Mew smiled. "We recently found out that Ribbon's powers have the ability to neutralize the negative power's effects."
"So...then..." Moonless trailed off.
"Not just any attacks however, it has to be a special type of spell; a ring created and forged out of a special type of magic stone." Mew stated.
"So what are we waiting for? Let's find that stone and get the plan in action!" Moonless fist pumped.
"Sadly, this stone can only be found in the Hall of Origins, considering the special effects of these stones can be a threat to the world if they are being abused or misused...minus the rarity of the stone itself."
"Shucks...There goes that plan." frowned Moonless.
"Fortunately, I contacted my husba- er...Arceus beforehand and he reluctantly agreed to send a stone over." Moonless' eyes lit up after hearing that but nothing in comparison to what he's about to hear next, not that it is something big but to Moonless, it is one of the greatest news he heard in forever. "I already asked Fin to work on the ring so there's no need to bug him now, unless you want to postpone the time even longer than it should to save Dragareus."
"Thanks Mew." Moonless said, adding a smile at the end.
"No problem!" Mew replied happily.
"Oh yeah one more thing, Mew?"
"What's up?"
"How in the world are we even going to lure Darkeus here?"
"I guess you will have to wait and find out."
Gotta love them cliffhangers. *Gets multiple glares from the audience* Okay, maybe it was a bad idea after all.
BUT, I proudly announce that this story 'The Wizard' is officially one year old...Pretty late if you ask me since the first chapter came out in June 27 of 2015. Happy late birthday to 'The Wizard'!...Yay?