Draco: If you're the creator of a story, you do not get to control what direction that story goes in. Not completely. You can control what mood the story carries - and that can indirectly influence the direction the story takes - but you do not have control over the story itself. Now if you're adapting a story to a different medium - literature to film, manga to anime, game to literation (novelization, whatever) - you do have some modicum of control over how the story is different; but if you're doing it because you love the story, the story itself will still go in whatever direction it pleases, influenced only by the mood with which you adapt it.
Pokémon and protagonist © Nintendo. Character designs © Koei. Ransei © somewhere in the middle.
Ultra Kingdom - Depths of Darkness: The Tortured
"EVIA!"
This time, when Sylveon led Oichi and her accompaniment to the destination, there were been no barriers taunting them. Evia was lying on the floor of a wide-open chamber, limp and motionless; Oichi rushed up to her side, her staff and Evia's blade falling to the ground beside her as she knelt down and tried to turn her wife upright.
Half of the following Warriors immediately grew uncomfortable as Evia's exact state of undress became clear; Mitsunari, Kiyomasa, and Masanori all turned away. Okuni turned bright red, and even Kotarō felt disinclined to look, his eyes closing in discomfort. Ranmaru let his gaze fall, and Gracia found herself glancing aside - and she saw something lying against the wall of the cavern.
Is that her shield?
"Evia!" Oichi lifted her so she was sitting upright; a hand against her chest revealed a heartbeat. "Evia, wake up! Please, wake up!" One hand went for her staff, and she turned it so the last bit of water would drip out between Evia's horns; as it started to drip down her face, the Auroran's eyes started to flicker open.
"O...Oichi?"
Relief flooded the healer at that. "Evia! Oh, thank Alphm-!"
She was cut off as Evia pulled her close, capturing her lips in a kiss. This was no tender touch, either; there was a ferocity to the kiss, a complete lack of restraint that Oichi felt she should have anticipated after being separated for so long. For just a moment, she was satisfied to let Evia hold her, to remain there and ignore the world.
And then that moment ended.
Evia's hands shifted as she broke the kiss, and she shoved Oichi away, pulling backwards. Oichi yelped, her staff slipping out of her grip as Evia got to her feet.
"No... You're not..."
Oichi's gaze rose, panicking. "Evia?"
"You can't be here." Evia's voice had a violent edge to it. "Not in this place. And not..." Her gaze rose to the Warriors gathered there, and respect for her lack of decency fell to the wayside as they felt her fury. "Not with this army..."
"Evia, it's me." Oichi didn't want to believe this was happening. "It's Oichi. Please-"
"Don't lie to me!"
There was force in her voice as she said that; Evia took one step forward, a fierce stomp in the motion. Her heel collided with the hilt of the Warlord Sword, knocking it into the air as Oichi pushed herself to her feet, terrified; as the blade came down, Evia's hand moved, seizing the handle as the blade was point down and then bringing it before her in a ferocious swing.
"I've had enough of these monsters showing me what isn't there - what can't be there! I'm sick of watching phantoms of the people I love torment me! A fake is a fake..."
She raised the blade over her head.
"...and no matter how appealing it might be, it can't compare to the real thing!"
The blade moved down.
And a plate moved in its path.
When all was over, Gracia would have a newfound admiration for Evia's strength, that she carried this thing alongside a sword and braced it one-handed. The shield was heavy, and it took all of the Nixtormer's strength just to move it in the way of that sword - but that weight meant the added pressure of the blow was almost nonexistent, and Evia's sword recoiled from it roughly as Gracia turned to the fallen healer.
"Get up, Lady Oichi!"
Evia's yell warned the next blow; Gracia moved to stop it again as Oichi reclaimed her staff, and this time Ranmaru moved in to pin the Warlord Sword between his wrist-blades. Gracia flung the shield aside and struck her hands together; psychic energy wrapped them as she moved in and struck Evia's sword arm, and the numbness gave Ranmaru the leverage he needed to force the blade from her hands.
He wasn't expecting Evia to drive a furious kick into his gut; he barely had time to react before she brought her elbow up and bashed it into his nose, sending him reeling. Gracia saw her next punch coming and met it in her hands - and the strike was focused in her palms, earning a yell of pain as the energy dispersed. The numbness entered one arm as it faded from the other, and Evia grabbed Gracia's arm and threw her aside before seizing her fallen blade.
Okuni moved in before she had the chance to swing it, meeting it on her closed parasol and bashing the hook into her chest. Without garments to shield her - and the armour they usually carried - Evia had the wind knocked out of her; Okuni hooked the hilt and tried to sweep it out of her grip, only for Evia to halt the motion in mid-swing and drive a knee into the wanderer's stomach, leaving her grip the one to falter as she tumbled aside.
"Masanori's Kanabo attack!
Evia moved her sword to meet the swing - but the weight of the kanabo that struck it meant she was only disarmed from the force of the strike alone. Masanori let his weapon continue into the cave floor before making to sweep it towards Evia's legs; the Auroran leapt over the second swing, letting it pass beneath her before driving her knee into Masanori's stomach. As his kanabo was released, Kiyomasa brought the shaft of his scythe-spear down on her leg, hoping to strike a nerve; Evia only brought her hand down and seized the shaft before he could draw it away, wrenching it from his hands and then bashing him with the end before bringing the blade forward to strike Mitsunari's iron-plated folding fan from his hands.
Kotarō lunged forward as Mitsunari stumbled away; his claws hooked on the blade of Kiyomasa's weapon, and he managed to wrench it out of Evia's hands - being as she was unused to a spear, it was an easier matter to force her grip off the end of a narrow shaft than a sword with a pommel to stop it from sliding out of her hands. Evia dove under the next blow he went for, seizing her fallen sword in retaliation; when she made to strike him, Kotarō crossed his claws before his chest and trapped the tip between them, halting her thrust when the breadth of the blade drew wider than the gap in his edges.
The Yakshan started as he realized that he had defended his body and met the blow - which meant Evia was going for the kill.
She pulled her blade from the join and meant to swing at his head; Kotarō swept the edge aside before bringing his claws towards the hilt with intent to pry her grip free. Evia twisted into a spinning blow, prompting Kotarō to duck under the swing; he lashed his sabatons at the leg Kiyomasa had struck, causing her to fall to one knee before he brought his knee up on her sword arm. His attempt to falter her grip on the sword fell flat when she moved the blade in its path, leaving his knee connecting with the flat of the blade, and she promptly rose with a skyward swing; Kotarō managed to avoid the blow, only for it to pry one set of claws off his hand.
For a moment, her furious rage seemed to subside; she swept the remaining pair off his other hand, and drove a kick into his stomach to knock him to the floor.
Then it returned, and she made to advance on him before Oichi stood in her path. The healer struck Evia's sword aside with a turn of her staff; when the blade came down towards her, Oichi braced her staff above her, finding herself fighting against the pressure as Evia tried to force her down.
"This... isn't... you," Oichi forced out. "Please, Evia... I know this isn't you!"
Even weakened as she was, Evia still had more strength; the healer could feel her stance faltering.
"This isn't the Warlord who stopped Nobunaga..."
Oichi fell to one knee, trying desperately to fight back.
"This isn't the woman who earned my love..."
Evia started to turn the blade against her staff, forcing the tip towards her helm.
"...This isn't the Warrior... who duelled with Arceus."
The moment she said the Alpha's name, Evia's expression changed. The pressure faltered on her blade; Oichi forced it aside, and her fingers slacked on it without resistance. The Auroran stumbled back, shocked, and her eyes widened as she gazed at the healer kneeling before her; her staff was set against the ground as she tried to catch her breath, looking up at the Warlord before her.
"...Oichi?"
A desperate smile rose on Oichi's face, and she shot to her feet, seizing Evia in a tight hug. "You're still a demon."
"...And you're still a goddess," Evia gasped.
After a moment, Oichi pulled back, drawing off her outer layer and wrapping it around Evia. "What the hell happened to your clothes?" she asked. "Here, wear this until-"
A reverberating cry got everyone's attention. The Warriors, all battered from trying to fight the maddened Evia, panicked and tried to reclaim their weapons; their Pokémon, who hadn't dared interfere in the fight to right her mind, immediately charged forward. A Nihilego was descending; Oichi quickly dragged Evia away as it descended, its tentacles reaching towards them as they got just out of range.
"Dammit!"
Zoroark charged forward and leapt at the beast, darkness gathering around it for a Night Daze. The beast swooped out of the axis the attack was coming at, and Power Gems manifested around it; Gothitelle didn't even have time to ready a pulse before they soared towards her, striking her to the floor. Bisharp, Haxorus, and Krookodile charged at it, but it only flickered out before they were close enough to strike, reappearing over Kotarō; the shinobi leapt aside before it could descend on him, and as Lucario hurled an Aura Sphere at it, it swooped around.
"What the hell?!" Oichi screeched. "The last one was nothing like this!"
"This thing's been tormenting me since I got here," Evia forced out. "It's been making me face phantoms when it takes me - with itself acting in lieu of my Link! It was learning from me!"
Ranmaru reached for his necklace. "Then let's give it something you've never faced!"
Prismatic light encased Lucario, and then shattered to reveal the changes upon him; he seemed to vanish from where he had been standing, reappearing in the air before the Nihilego, and it had no chance to move before he bombarded its bell with Close Combat. As his momentum carried him away, Type: Full charged forward; he leapt at the beast, dirt trailing his claws, and brought them down hard, sending it to the ground.
That was all the vulnerability they needed; Volcarona leapt forward before it could tumble away, stopping it on a Fiery Dance that bombarded it from all sides. Lucario hurled another Aura Sphere at it, sending it reeling past as the last embers faded; that put it in range for Bisharp to rush at its soaring form and stop it on a Night Slash. Haxorus bombarded it with Outrage before it could right itself, and Krookodile Crunched it as the dragon mist was fading, throwing the beast into the air.
The Nihilego flickered out in mid-flight - and reappeared above Oichi and Evia.
Evia panicked, pushing Oichi aside as the beast started to descend; no one had the time to send an attack its way before it encompassed the Auroran, earning a scream of pain as it enveloped her once again.
Gracia swore, striking her hands together for a crack as the psychic wrap faded.
"Lunala!"
The screech of the moon echoed into the cave; with a surge of brilliant light, Lunala was suspended in the air before the beast, wings alight and void illuminated. The beast hadn't even begun to darken before a chilling glow manifested around her; she screeched, loud enough to rattle the fallen weapons, and the Nihilego gave a cry of futile defiance. Evia was released, and Oichi caught her once again as the beast tried to flee; but moonlight surrounded Lunala, and surged forward in a blinding pulse, striking the beast with an impact like a specter's fury.
The Nihilego was flung into the wall of the cave, and slumped to the ground.
Oichi glared, sweeping her hand towards it; and Type: Full charged towards the already-unconscious Nihilego as he had tried to do to every beast as Type: Null. Warriors and Pokémon turned away as he leapt towards the beast once again, claws surging with energy.
One set was swung through its tentacles.
Another was brought down on its bell.
Evia's gasps drew Oichi's attention back to her; she was fighting to move, and the healer quickly pulled her close, wrapping her carefully. "No, no, no," she insisted. "Don't move - not so quickly."
"We have to go," Gracia realized. "Solgaleo!"
"Not back to Ransei," Oichi insisted, raising her gaze as Solgaleo appeared in the cavern as well. "Take us to Nagamasa's castle."
"...Okay," Gracia confirmed. "The guy with the Sea Princess."
Solgaleo nodded, his mane shining as his void, too was illuminated. He turned and roared, and the gate appeared upon the cavern wall; Oichi quickly picked up Evia in her arms as Lunala soared in, and the healer dashed in immediately after her, followed quickly by Sylveon.
Kotarō, Lucario, Okuni, Kiyomasa, Gothitelle, Haxorus, Ranmaru, Mitsunari, Zoroark, Krookodile, Volcarona, Masanori, Bisharp, Type: Full; Gracia brought up the rear, Oichi's staff in her hands, and then Solgaleo leapt in after her.
Draco: After so many fights between Pokémon with only passive Warrior involvement, it was nice to have a fight between Warriors with no Pokémon involvement.
