N might as well have called Hell out of that pokeball. Fire shot across the room like a flamethrower and a screeching howl cut through the air, making my hands fly to my ears. Reshiram stretched her wings wide making the pretty spiral staircase collapse and shatter like a piece of glass. Her neck stretched up and she had to hunch over to fit before N's room above blocked the way.
"Shhh!" N raised his arms to the legendary pokemon who turned her ocean blue eyes on him. They flickered in discomfort as the ceiling began to crumble around her. The floor groaned with effort and I noticed a beam to the far left, supporting the Swanna statues by the fountain, was snapping.
The lights were flickering, the alarms going on an off, wailing with effort as a blinding red light flashed above. Kayne's triumphant wail sounded above the roar and even N managed a smile, unable to hold back his excitement.
We were going to be free!
Reshiram, fed up with the lack of space, turned and blasted a gaping hole in the wall with the largest window. The hot summer sun poured in and made the flames lick the walls like hungry beasts.
"Unfezant!" I yelled as N hauled himself onto Reshiram's shoulders. The alarms were getting louder, and the angry, buzzing speakers were announcing something above out heads.
"Hurry!" N reached down to grab my hand. I latched onto a fistful of Reshiram's long thick fur and he helped me up with little effort.
"Kayne?" I yelled wrapping my arms around N's back. "Unfezant!"
Suddenly a blur of gray and green feathers flashed in front of us and Unfezant dove for the hole leading to the outside world. His terrified call faded and I hoped he wasn't so scared as to forget his job.
Don't let me down now, I chanted.
Kayne jumped up onto Reshiram with not a heartbeat to spare. She was turned with half her body stretched out of the wall, her tail engine glowing a vibrant bed and making my shoulders burn with the strength of ten suns. My skin was fizzing until Kayne pressed his cold bloodless body to me and held on tight.
"PRISINOR ESCAPE! PRISINOR ESCAPE!" the alarms wailed louder as the castle floor trembled like an earthquake.
"Over the mountains! South!" N commanded to the legendary pokemon, who flapped her giant wings twice before launching herself, lopsided from the floor and into the mid-day heat.
The sound of gun shots behind us made me flinch and I scanned the area for Unfezant with a sinking feeling. If there was anything I taught that pokemon about stealth it was to use its speed above anything else. He would be fine… he was strong and careful. Still, I couldn't find him in the sky anywhere.
I turned and looked back past Kayne to the castle behind me, having never seen it from outside before. Window after window after window was stacked in lines showing every floor of the monstrous sized building. There was a terribly tall iron fence surrounding the thing, and billowing clouds of smoke shrouding up into the sky from what I could only guess were kitchens throughout it.
A violent flapping sounded beside me. "Unfezant!" I turned, expecting to see my pokemon and finding something completely different.
"Touko!" N shouted as I was struck by an impossibly strong force. Under a layer of white feathers was firm muscles, strong enough to knock my arms free from N's waist. I heard his wild frantic gasp as I slipped off Reshiram's back and scrambled at her side for anything to grasp. My life flashed before my eyes as hot blood oozed from my side where the Braviary's talons had clawed me.
"I got her!" Kayne howled, making me realize that his hands were gripping my wrist with all his might.
"I'm slipping!" I cried as the Braviary hurtled tours me for one more striking blow. They wanted me to die… it was the only explanation why this Plasma pokemon was after me and no one else.
"NO!" N turned and risked his grip in Reshiram to try and grab me. My hand slipped from Kayne's too soon though, and I slid down Reshiram's solid stomach into the air, Braviary missed me by a hair and clipped Reshiram's foot on the way down, but it was the least of my worries.
I screamed in horror, knowing that I couldn't possibly live through two falls like this. My arms flailed, my hair slapped me in the face, and my eyes watered against the wind as the forest floor approached me at a terrifyingly fast pace.
Let N be free…
It was the final thought that crossed my mind before I lost all the air in my chest and my scream cut off into a choking gasp. I could feel myself trembling, prepared to die for the second time in my life.
Mienshao's wail echoed in my head, but was echoed by Unfezant's screech of warning. My eyes flashed open for a fraction of a second before I was hit hard by something under me. The wind was knocked from my chest almost as soon as I had begun to recover it, and I dug my fingernails into the mass falling with me.
We started to slow, the ground taking its time now as it approached us, but we were still falling.
Unfezant wailed, trying to find the wind, trying to flap his wings with my weight dragging him down.
"Come on Unfezant!" I rasped, releasing the hold on his shoulders and sliding back. I found myself clutching under his stomach and my face hidden between his wings. They tucked in for a second, making us spiral downward fast once again. My squeezed my eyes shut, about ready to jump and save Unfezant from this death as well.
Then his winds unfolded and stretched into the wind. Like a parachute we were launched upward and all the strength in my arms lifted as Unfezant determinedly dragged my weight through the air tours an approaching Reshiram. Wide eyed with terror I saw the legendary approach.
"Touko!" N swallowed his fear and reached tours me, his arm stretching across the space between Reshiram and Unfezant.
I crawled slightly further up Unfezant's back and reached out, my fingertips shaking with effort.
"Just a little further!" Kayne directed Reshiram, now sitting in the drivers seat on her neck.
Unfezant's wings collided with Reshiram's for a terrifying second before he disappeared beneath me, his strength decreasing quickly. I clutched N's hand and he yanked me up to him in no time at all. Panting I turned and buried my face into his chest.
"No time for reunions!" Kayne hissed back at us. "We have company!"
The Braviary dove back and fourth under Reshiram, daring to come to close. N clutched me even tighter, refusing to let me slip away again. But it didn't seem to have me in mind this time.
"Unfezant!" I gasped as the much larger bird bowled into his side and sent his spiraling to the floor. I fumbled for his pokeball, ready to call him back if necessary, but he was a fighter, that's for sure.
My pokemon, the third one I raised and the very first pokemon I had ever caught on my own, opened his wings again and dove through the air in swooping strokes. His shape appeared back in my sight within a moment and I could see the Braviary preparing to attack again.
"Archeops!" N shamelessly launched another pokeball into the air. His rock flying type exploded in a fit of rage and battered the air furiously in shock, eyes blazing. I remembered having Samorott defeat this pokemon so long ago. It was wild and almost uncontrollable, but that made it fearless and powerful.
This bird type was the complete opposite of mine. He hurtled his rock hard body through the air and rammed the Braviary before it could ram my Unfezant. This turned into a sky fight instantly, and as we made our sweet escape the three bird types fell further and further behind.
"Turn her around!" I commanded. "We have to make sure Unfezant and Archeops are ok!"
N didn't argue and Kayne started directing the huge pokemon in a long circle to be facing the castle, which was just a dot in the distance. Two shapes flapped by, heading straight tours us. I crossed my fingers, praying that Unfezant, who was weak from saving me, hadn't fallen yet.
I pulled my pokeball up and squirmed from N until I had a clear shot. I aim at the two flying shapes and held my breath.
A red beam cut through the air and I breathed a sight of relief as one of the flying shapes was sucked back into my pokeball.
N called Archeops back as well and then the two of us turned and settled tight onto Reshiram, scanning the area for any other attackers. Everything was growing quieter, making the sky turn into a peaceful wonderland instead of a battle zone. Finally I looked up at N, finding his green eyes smiling hugely, victorious.
"We did it." he whispered.
A very nauseous Kayne was clinging to my back, groaning with discomfort as we approached the town closest to mine. Reshiram was descending slowly, her tale engine flickering and leaving a trail of black smoke behind us.
"We're almost there." I called back to him, my thighs tightening around N. I had spent at least twenty minutes braiding the length of his hair and now that I was reaching the ends I realized that we hadn't been flying as long as I expected. We didn't feel like we were moving all that fast either, it was too much like being in an airplane. I didn't understand why Kayne was the motion sickness type, what with his teleporting abilities.
"See that little bunch of houses?" I pointed, trying to distract him from puking all over me.
He nodded, his breath hot on the back my neck. "Nuvema, I know."
I had forgotten that he had been to my town already, to talk to me. I turned my attention back to N. "Do you see it?"
"Yes, but my grunts never said it was so small!" He shook his hair, making pieces of come loose from the braid. "I wouldn't have assigned so many to invade the town…"
I flinched. "You sound like you are happy with the results!"
He glanced back at me, a small smile playing on his lips. "Sorry. I'm not… I just didn't realize that you came from a town consisting of five houses."
"And a local market!" I challenged as Reshiram neared the tree tops, her tail completely out now so she wouldn't start a forest fire. Things seemed to speed up for the last and final moment of our ride, and I realized that I would be facing my mother very shortly.
I had been dreading this moment almost as soon as we took off, and it wasn't getting any easier. She would be livid… if she wasn't already gone looking for me. Would Professor Juniper be there with my mother? Would they be best friends again and care about each other like they used to? Or would my mother blame the Professor for my escape?
I was sure poor Bianca was still stationed with her parents, unable to leave her own little protected bubble, but it dawned on me that Cheren may have come back. If Kayne was right and his brother had rescued him then surely they would have come back to Nuvema town. Hope flared in my chest as well as terror. Would Cheren realize how long I put off his rescue for my own selfishness?
I swallowed the lump rising in my throat as Reshiram landed just outside the small town, in a meadow filled with grass and short thick leaved trees. There was just enough room for her to stretch out her wings and let us scuffle down to the ground. My thighs hurt as if I had been riding a Zebstrika or Ponyta all afternoon, and the burnt skin from her tail engine was feeling somewhat tender against the long grass. Why hadn't I worn jeans?
N scrambled down after me and smiled, his green eyes matching the green of the trees. Something in his eyes told me he was waiting a very long time for this… to feel like he was free at last. The last time N had even been out of that terrible castle was the day we went to Nimbasa together. I hadn't realized that my measly month—give or take some time—didn't compare to the years he spent locked away being used by his own father to take over the Region.
Kayne stretched and cracked his back, having been the closest to the tail engine his skin was cherry red and he looked very sickly covered in sweat. Between the summer sun and the heat of Reshiram's body I could only imagine the way he felt. I wasn't surprised when he stumbled away into a mass of shrubs and vomited violently.
I flinched and turned to see N, as peaceful as ever, completely unfazed by the whole journey, call his legendary back into her pure white pokeball. Her blue eyes sparkled before she disappeared.
"Right…" Kayne groaned, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and walking back over to us. "What's the plan?"
"Oh there is a plan now?" A chilly voice slipped through the trees and whispered into the clearing. The three of us turned in shock, looking in all different directions to try and find Tate. It was his voice, no doubt, but he was no where to be found.
"Tate!" I swallowed hard and forced myself to stand straighter up. "We want to talk to you… We want to explain."
"I'm not talking to either of those two." His voice was hard and his response was fast. It was the way he spoke when he knew he wouldn't be swayed, regardless of who said what. He was furious.
"Me?" I suggested.
"Of course."
"Where are you?"
"Come into the trees." he called icily calm.
N clutched my arm before I could make any move. I could feel the intensity in his grip and I knew that I was going to have to assure him I would be fine. His mouth was parted slightly in a silent plea.
"Don't worry… Just stay here…" I bit my lip, knowing that there wasn't a way around this. Tate always won… he was a cheater to begin with, but he always won. I flashed Kayne a sorry look and began to wad slowly through the long grass to the far side of the meadow. His voice was clearest in this direction but I couldn't see him yet.
The dark shade of the trees shadowed my face as I peered into the undercover. Thick air filled my lungs, sickly sweet with the smell of foliage. N and Kayne were watching my every step.
I forced myself to remember the days when me and Tate had been something. Friends…
"Tate…" I whispered into the trees. The whole world seemed to mend itself around those tree trunks and branches. Even the few pokemon chirping away happily seemed to stop.
"Tate…" I repeated. "I'm sorry…"
And then he hit me.
Not in the literal sense of course, but the force of his landing having just teleported, made the wind push straight up out of my chest. I gasped as his cold arms wound around my back and his chin settled on my shoulder. He was hugging me in an angry kind of way. I stiffened and stayed perfectly still, aware of the fact that my fingertips were twitching in response.
He pressed the side of his face to my neck and I could feel every muscle just roll back lazily into a hopeless lapse of emotion. He shook for a second, not answering me, and not breathing. There was no heart thudding in his chest and I realized that all those times I thought something was different about him and couldn't figure it out, it was this.
Tate was dead.
Just like Kayne, Tate had his life taken from him a long time ago when he signed up with team Plasma. I wasn't sure when his heart had stopped beating completely, because he sure never acted like Kayne did, but I knew that at some point it happened.
I could also feel all the hurt, all those blocked emotions he never let anyone see just come rushing out of him. My heart seemed to roar in my ears and I couldn't bring myself to understand why I never noticed this about him before. It was like suddenly the piece of Tate that was always missing was there, calling out to me.
I'm hurt… I'm guilty… I'm lost…
The unresponsive part of me snapped and my hands came up, my fingers knotted in his wind blown hair and I hugged him back twice as hard as he hugged me. The iciness of his chest made me shiver and the cool air pushing its way out of his mouth tickled the strands of hair on my neck.
"Why the Hell did you leave?" Tate sighed after a long moment. I could tell it took a lot of work to put those words into action and not sound angry. He was trying at least…
For me…
"I… I love N." I whispered. How could I deny that? It wasn't possible… and I was convinced that Tate needed to know the truth. "I promised him I would protect him… I had to… to go back."
"So you used my brother?" Tate snorted and pulled back to look at me. His face was more stunning that I remembered it. A freckle-less Kayne with more definition along his jaw and brow. "What a cheap shot."
I shook my head, getting lost in the silver depths of his eyes. He was… sad. No matter how hard he wanted to hide it. Regret shadowed his face like a ghost pokemon ready to pounce on its next victim.
Something seemed to trip up my heart. I had MISSED this disobedient boy. I hadn't realized it until now…
"And you don't love me?" Tate asked his voice more tender than I had ever heard it before.
Some foreign guilt gnawed at my heart and my lower lip quivered. How could I do this to him? How could I hurt him like this? A single tear rolled down my cheek, but I forced myself to shake my head.
"No…"
Tate, in his entire attempt to be sincere, just couldn't hold on any longer. The pain escalated across his face and was replaced in a silent heartbeat by a wicked smile. A fraud. Tate was in pain and the only way he could control it was with a bone-chilling attitude.
"I'll just try harder then." His voice was icy again… too slick.
I shuddered.
