Pokémon: Wings of Beginnings
Chapter 11: A Frozen World
May 13th, 2020
2:35 p.m.
Castelia City
"I've got my hood on..." Fran fixes his hood on his head, hiding his long antennae as if it isn't here at all.
"Alright, then let's search for the Dulled." Lenna declared as she looked at the city with shock. "An evacuation was ordered but...Why are there still so much people?"
"Then again, Castelia City is already a massive city in area..." Weiss mutters. "It wouldn't take too short to clear out an entire metropolis."
"And being one of the more luxurious cities, the rent here doesn't come cheap." Brandt added. "If they don't get the income necessary, how can they pay for their living expenses?"
"That is right..." Weiss sighed and crossed his arms. "If only some allowed their lives to come first to make theirs and our jobs less complicated than it is..."
Fran nods quietly, looking at the bustling and increased volumes surrounding them. So many people walking with footsteps growing in sound. Cars moving about on paved streets...
"If I remember, they are used to trouble." Brandt tried to recall.
"Yes." Weiss nods. "Considering the many usual happenings in cities such as these. Scams and the like... Team Plasma, the ex-members and the new one which Colress disbanded shortly after Ghetsis's arrest..."
"That incident that also involved Kyurem?" Lenna guessed.
"Yes." Weiss nods. "Opelucid City was the first of the cities to be affected. It then began to spread about the regions. Thankfully, it has been averted due to the trainer who would be Unova's current Champion after the first went out of Unova."
"You mean Rosa?" Brandt asked.
Weiss nods again. "Correct."
"She's busy these days." Lenna pondered. "Which must be why they sent us here to deal with this threat."
"Yes." Weiss was about to continue speaking when he noticed their volume. Turning around, he speaks. "Where's Fran?"
"Over there." Brandt pointed at Fran taking a ball.
They looked over as he flew toward a boy playing along the sidewalk and happily took the ball back from Fran with a smile. It was a good thing his hood was still on.
"Thank you!" The boy exclaimed happily. "I just got this ball on my birthday yesterday."
Fran responds with that smile he had with a nod.
The boy played with the ball and stated, "I want to be a soccer player when I grow up and...If you can...Can you watch one of my games?"
Fran wanted to speak to assure he wanted to do that but all he replied was a nod before the boy went off with the ball. As he watched him leave, the others came to him, two of them were not that pleased with what he did.
"Fran, what are you doing?" Weiss asked with a stern tone.
"I-I was..." Fran stammers. "I was helping to pick up the ball on the street..."
"If you had done that, it would have blown our cover and what would happen if someone working against us would capture you?" Brandt added crossly.
"B-But... the child... he could have..." Fran's hands twiddled more while he felt his antennae fall beneath his hood. "I-I'm sorry..."
"Fran, you can't let personal feelings get too much into your way during missions. Furthermore-" Lenna quickly headed between them, spreading her arms out before Weiss could continue.
"Stop it, he was trying to help a child." Lenna defused the situation. "If Fran didn't help, what would had happened to him?" She pointed at the speeding cars on the road beside them.
The other two males looked back at the traffic and at Fran before looking over at Lenna between them. Weiss sighed and put a hand on his head.
"...I was going too far. I'm sorry." He apologizes.
Fran looked over at Lenna. "Th-Thank you, Lenna..." he tells her.
"It's alright." Lenna comforted. "What's important is that you didn't reveal your face and are alright."
Fran smiled softly at her. "Y... Yes..." he responds.
Weiss turned to Brandt and nods. "Come on, let's get started on our search."
Everyone nodded and began their search. However, Fran noticed some mane flowing through the winds. He stopped and noticed some canine being standing over a building. This canine looked at him with his red eyes.
The canine had cyan fur around the back of his body and on the four legs with white fur at the underbelly and large diamond-shaped patterns around the sides. Two white streamer-line tails flowed beside his body. Between his piercing red eyes was an antler which resembled the antler of the Qilin and two prongs below it. Under the chin was a tuft of fur and a long and majestic mane flowed from his hair. He was a beauty to behold, Fran heard of this canine before.
"Isn't that..." Fran begins.
"Fran?" Brandt called out and Fran turned to face him. "We can't leave you behind."
"H-huh? Oh, um... yes. I'll hurry..." Fran quickly tells him.
He looked back and the canine was gone.
'Was I... really seeing things?' He blinked and quickly shook his head, following the rest of the group on land.
He knew that Legendary Pokémon were real but the way they operate was usually done from the shadows. Yet why, why was that Legend showing himself before him. Even the most arrogant and vain wouldn't dare show themselves to any of them unless called forth by Summoners but...
He held his arms close. For some reason, he had a haunting feeling about this-
"No, don't say that-"
"I'm not... not really..."
"I'm... so glad... to see you one last... time..."
He gasped. What was that?
"Fran."
He heard their calls. "I-I'm coming!" He went after them. To search for this Dulled and save this city.
May 13th, 2020
2:50 p.m.
Castelia City
Inside a chamber in the warehouses near the docks, a loud breathing was heard. There, the dragon Kyurem was suspended by some substances that tricked the mind into seeing them as tentacles for their foreign makeup and ability to distort reality. Kyurem was placed on a crucified position while those substances curled around his body. They slowly ate away at his sanity as his powers were drained off him.
"Hgaah... aah..." his breaths became ragged, his vision is unable to tell reality and illusion altogether.
His mind and his detoriating mind made him remember the time he came to this world. He was the original dragon, who came to this world through a meteor who fell down here long ago. To bring balance as what he thought of why he came and born.
Yet they betrayed him...Why have they betrayed him? Separating his beautiful form, leaving him in this current form and in pain.
He remembers lying and reawakening. But feeling many a things missing. Having such... feelings of hollow. The lack of yin and yang...
He wondered why he felt that and wondered why he lived until he had heard that cry.
The cry of a child left in solitude...
He went out to find where that was...There he found a little Litwick child. All alone over the wreckage of an aircraft that crashed into his domain, his resting place where he thought he would live and die in solitude.
She changed him. She changed his life.
He had a daughter, a sweet and kind daughter. She remembered her smile, her sadness as she apologized for her mistakes, and grow. When that Team Neo Plasma took him away...She found help with the help of this region's Current Champion.
His powers used against his will, feeling the impact spread around the region... The freezing of an entire city and forced to fight his daughter and that young woman...Attempting to kill them. Then forcefully fused with Zekrom. Those were painful memories.
Was he... was he to see this again?
He breathed more as the substances tightened and squashed his body as it drained his mind and power. He looked over his captor, a bird made of ice. A pale imitation of Articuno's beauty. It has... certainly changed more than when he first saw it...
It grew stronger than before. He gritted his teeth, it will do what he was forced to do years ago but on a larger city. He felt harder constricts, causing him to gasp out for air shortly.
Then he felt something in the city. The familiar energy felt was there and the one he loved and care about. He lifted his head up while feeling difficulty doing so. They must... She, all of them... they-
His heartbeat jumped and he coughed up blood. His mind was going blank. His daughter...everyone was coming. He felt tears fall.
No one... neither must... die...
He tried to resist while more blood leaked out of his mouth. The pain... his mind is going numb... his consciousness... fading...
The last thing he ever saw as he lost his conscience was the chilling flap of falling icy feathers...
May 13th, 2020
2:57 p.m.
Castelia City
"Sorry, I didn't see anything like what you said." A resident of a Pokémon settlement answered. "You mean that we need to evacuate? Sorry, can't do that. We've defended this land and this threat will not be that difficult to defend against."
"But..." Brandt interjected. "This isn't what you've seen before! For the best of your inhabitants, leave now!"
"Mister, I appreciate your warnings but we have nothing else to discuss about."
With that, he left while Brandt gritted his teeth and punched the ground in frustration while Weiss appeared beside him.
"Because we're WINGS..." He sneered.
"No luck either?" Weiss says. "...Neither did I."
"...Yes, why are these people so Arceusdamned stubborn, don't they know the danger of the situation?!"
"...Ugh..." Weiss sighs. "Always the problem with these people..." He looked around. "I doubt it, but we should check up on Lenna and Fran and see their progress."
"...Yes." Brandt dejectedly agreed and got up and reached for his earpiece. "Hey, how are you doing up there?"
"We've found some clues." Lenna answered. "Let's regroup and we'll share what we found."
"We'll meet up at the Central Street... right?" Fran asks.
"Sure. Let's meet up and hear it out." Weiss nods.
May 13th, 2020
2:59 p.m.
Castelia City
Soon, the four gathered at Central Street and listened to each other's stories. "I see..." Weiss murmurs.
"They stated about something about something from the docks." Lenna shared. "They told about something about the Gym Leader bringing it to the Champion for investigation. A reason why he wasn't here now."
"Yes..." Fran nods. "We should take a look ourselves..."
"Guys?" Brandt called for their attention. "What is that?"
"Huh?" They turned.
It wasn't just Brandt. There was some chatter as some passerbys present looked up and saw the object of attention. They looked over the sky to see something fly above them. An icy bird of splendour beauty.
Weiss narrowed his eyes at the figure first before he was first to react.
The avian glowed.
"Get around me!" He shouts.
The other three turned and saw the brightening glow and as they closed in, felt a Protect surround them before everything went white.
...
...
...
The team looked around them while Fran began hyperventilating. His mind...He was missing lots of things. He couldn't remember.
"I.. I... what... who..." he began to mumble. "S...Someone... wanted... to be... a soccer player..."
"My Protect... ghh... it's all... frozen up..." Weiss could feel the strain in his arms and he fell to his knees. "...Brandt... break the Protect!"
"No need to ask me twice!" Brandt exclaimed as he already materialized the hammer and slammed the dome. Cracks formed around the impact before it is shattered, cracking and disappearing around them.
Fran looked around in horror when the cold breeze hit him. The city... the entire city... it's... covered in a blanket of ice... Glass panels covered by ice, ice-veiled streets...
And... and... figures covered in ice... unmoving...
He began hyperventilating. "I-I don't... remember... anyone... here... Wh-why did this..."
"...Was there even a settlement here?" Brandt held his head as he looked up at the Dulled. "It is recharging."
"...Then, we have to break it into pieces before it does." Weiss states with a shut eye, noting the spark of red coming from his neck.
"Or shut off its power source." Lenna mused and then realized something. She looked at Fran. "Fran, Fran!" Fran wasn't even listening, holding the sides of his head with his gaze downward as he kept on muttering to himself, shaking very visibly.
"Fran!" Lenna tried to snap him out of his state of shock.
"I-I don't... remember... anything... eliminate... Arctic Avian... and... what... else...?"
"Fran!" Lenna tried to wake him up while the Arctic Avian spotted them. Survivors of its onslaught. It flew down to attack, wanting to test its new powers against them. Destroying this weaklings was nothing compared to a being powerful as a God.
"It's coming!" Brandt exclaimed.
"...I'll begin first!" Weiss announces. The rest felt the space waver around them as the short member glows bright red, body becoming featureless along the way.
The Arctic Avian had ice spikes appear around it as it charged in.
The red glow spreads around the area, a figure starting to grow larger rapidly. An arm moves to the side, conjuring something.
The spikes were fired.
A massive, growing bullet of fire shot out from a swing of the arm.
The fiery bullet struck against the several spikes before they both simultaneously dissipated at the last spike.
Fran could feel the harsh shockwaves along with the others as they could see their now Dynamaxed teammate swinging a card to the side.
"We need to finish these in an instant!" Weiss's voice thunders to them.
"Okay, let's go!" Brandt nodded and rushed over Weiss's arm and got to a higher position while Lenna help Fran get on top of Weiss's other arm.
"Fran, we'll help over here." Lenna tried to get pass him. "You go to the deck and find the source there!"
"!!! Y... Yes!" Fran nods.
Brandt looked up and watched the Arctic Avian fired a tornado of ice at them. "No, you don't!" Weiss echoes, looking and sending a pillar of fire to stop the tornado. He could already feel the time ebbing away with the minimal duration of two minutes. He looked at Fran. Fran shook from his sight and he trembled. But he could see his body begin to relax...
He eyed a direction as Lenna fired an Energy Ball at an incoming projectile. A cold breeze hit him while he gathered the cause of the situation. He shivered but he found an opening Lenna gave him.
"Go!" Lenna exclaimed as she ran over a building and threw several poisonous spells at the Dulled.
"...O...Okay!"
He spread his wings and did a barrel roll forward at a great speed while he felt the cold hit him. He shivered but went forward.
He needed to go there.
May 13th, 2020
3:05 p.m.
Castelia City
He didn't know how long he flew as the cold hit him. Everything was cold and hallow. "Ngh... aah..." the frigid air wasn't doing good for his vulnerability against it. He looked at where the docks was. "There... over there..." he murmurs. "...Huh?"
"Hurry! Come on!" He heard someone exclaim. "Another of that blast, it will kill him!"
"What... who's there?" He murmurs.
"Huh?" Another voice exclaimed. "Someone's here."
He felt heat coming toward him and saw fire passed him. It didn't hit him but the heat removed the cold off his body.
He gasped in surprise, feeling more able to fly without the air slowing down before he felt himself flying over to the source.
He was surprised to see a lion-like being below him. The lion is brown-furred and has a long, light gray cloud of smoke running along his entire back. He has gray plates on either side of the cloud and a plate beneath the cream belly fur on his chest. The lion has gray paws with brown pads and black cuff-like bands on his legs. His main faceplate is red and shaped like fins or a six-sided star. A gray plate, resembling a horseshoe mustache, covers his muzzle. He also has a yellow crest with three sloped points on his forehead and red eyes.
"You... you're..." Fran murmurs. Is it really? Another beast of legend?
"You there!" He exclaimed and ran ahead while Fran followed. "We have to get to Kyurem before he dies. Could you help us?"
Kyurem!? He was stunned, but... a life... he needs to save. "...Okay...!" Fran responds.
"Alright, follow me!" He exclaimed. "Don't stray behind, Summoner wouldn't want her father to die!"
"Um... Yes!"
He did as this Legendary told him and got close to him as he flew and him jumped and run along several buildings. His heat helped keep Fran warm as they went toward the docks. Fran felt his power. He was stunned, shocked, surprised, any of the emotions right now going through him to describe this situation.
He was with a Legendary, a sight usually rare, and to save one. Then it struck him, a Summoner?
He gasped. Aren't they...? They aren't supposed to be...
"Concentrate!" This Legendary, which he heard and knew who went by the name, Entei, exclaimed. "We're almost there!" He skidded and used the momentum to jump over a building. Fran looked down and his eyes widened. Below him were three more Legendary Pokémon. He looked to see that the other two were Legendary Beasts and one was a phoenix. That phoenix... "The one... who... made the Legendary Beasts!?"
It was Ho-oh herself... All four of them here...He looked at the one known as Raikou and there he saw another Pokémon riding on top of him. She rode him to give him some warmth against the cold and to have him continue his dash.
"A... Chandelure?" He mouthed out.
"Our Summoner." Entei explained. "We don't know who her birth parents are but her adopted father is Kyurem."
Fran looked over at her as he touched down onto the frozen ground. The group got together and the others looked at Entei and were surprised at Fran's arrival. "Entei, who is she?" The Chandelure stuttered.
"She joined us." Entei explained. "The signal's here, right?" Fran felt embarrassed, even Legends mistook him as a woman. However, now was not the time.
"Please, we have to find him." Fran says to them.
The Chandelure looked at him and nodded. He watched as she materialized a sword in front of her. Fran took a step back. The way the sword looked didn't look like it was meant for battle but for decorations and was more of an ornament than a weapon. However, he felt massive amounts of magic fused into it, it turned the decoration into a weapon. Fran deduced that it was a ceremonial sword. One wielded by... Summoners.
He watched as she waved the sword around and let it float above her. It pointed at a direction and some magic filled Raikou.
"Raikou, Raijou Beatings." She whispered an order and Raikou was filled with glee as power boosted him.
"Hu-oh!" Fran exclaimed.
Lost power of the Legends, he was finally greeted when Raikou summoned a spear which he took by his teeth. He jumped and spun rapidly and aimed it at the building he saw the Chandelure marked. He threw it at blinding speeds and then they witnessed lightning burst at the spot, tearing the roof of the building in a splendour rupture.
A power only seen on books and murals, now appearing before him... They all peered over at the visible interior now... Fran saw some substance leaking out and a nest formed around.
"A n-nest!" He exclaims.
"Come on!" He heard the Summoner exclaim as she floated ahead. "He's under there."
"Al... alright!"
They rushed and entered a portal to the area underneath.
Fran looked around. This was akin to a space like in a Pokémon Den. He heard a someone letting out heavy, wheezing breaths. Someone whose lungs were collapsed and was in days worth of cold-torture. He was nearing his limits.
"O... Over there!" He shouts.
The others turned to Fran and were shocked. "Father!" The Summoner exclaimed as several of the substances curled around him.
Fran looked, failing to notice some of the substances sneaking from behind. It lunged at him from behind, but the beast known as Suicune had a racket summoned and the head of the racket generated a form of magic and he swung to fire it at the substance.
Fran felt an explosion erupted behind him and turned to see a Dulled disappearing. The one that surrounded Kyurem, those were actually Dulled. A new kind.
His arms reached out as he summoned his bow. He gulped. They needed to finish this as soon as possible.
He looked at Kyurem. He had been in here for days. He knew he only had little time left... he must save...
He watched as a stream of purple flames hit the Dulled. Fran jumped and looked at the Summoner. She was angry as she held her sword with trembling fear. Two emotions hit her simultaneously. Fran knew that she felt those two emotions because of the situation at hand. Her father was about to die by these Dulled.
He saw an incoming attack and waved at her, casting a spell. It caused her figure to flicker, projecting afterimages.
"Huh?" She exclaimed as she managed to snap back to reality and looked at the enemy and thrusted her sword to impale it, it sent a blast of spectral magic that caused the Dulled to explode. "Was that..."
She looked back at Fran. This was a form of magic? But it appeared so much as similar to Double Team.
"Please! We have to hurry!" Fran exclaims, stretching out the bow string.
That was Mirage, so he was a white mage. She waved her sword and Fran saw his arrows filled with purple flames. They didn't harm him but enhance his arrows.
"Hmm...!" He released it at the amorphous blobs, striking them and while the arrows sink into the gelatinous mass, the flames combusted inside them.
Then tongues of fire burst out of them and homed onto the other Dulled. The exploded as the Summoner teleported above and sliced her sword while Raikou jumped and slammed his spear down.
"Remember what Cobalion taught you." She whispered before she sliced the Dulled nearby and sent a wave of fire.
Fran breathed as he got his bow back to aim. He hoped that the others are still standing. He hoped he didn't forget them...
He looked at Ho-oh as a weapon materialized before her. It was a staff, but he noticed that the base was rather... different. It had an open base for one... like a-
He watched her hold it and the end of the staff fired out rounds.
It homed into the Dulled around like homing missiles. Entei jumped out from the area and his claws turned into flames and sliced the Dulled around him. Fran watched as some shots hit the Summoner and she glowed red from taking the hits. Her flames grew stronger. "Flash Fire!" He was quick to know it. It absorbs Fire-Type attacks and stores the power to unleash a stronger Fire-type technique.
She spun her sword around and impaled the ground, an explosion of inferno erupted and hit the Dulled around her. The flames Ho-oh fired increased the effectiveness of it as Fran felt more flames surround his arrows.
He quickly took the opportunity and aimed.
May 13th, 2020
3:15 p.m.
Castelia City
"Whoa!" Brandt exclaimed as he was blown away by a gust of wind and sent tumbling down a rooftop. Lenna fired a seed and vines grew to stop Brandt from falling off as she evaded several icicles fired at her.
Weiss quickly turned, his Dynamax already worn out and back at his regular size, his teammates needed to charge up on their Dynacrystals. He looked over at a card and drew lightning out before firing several shots of spear-shaped lightning bolts.
Quickly teleporting, he asks them. "Are either of your Dynacrystals charged up yet?"
"No." Lenna answered.
"Same here." Brandt exclaimed while he threw a boulder.
"We aren't going to last soon..." Weiss mutters, looking at a card he drew out before throwing it into the air, conjuring a silver aura above it to join one similar card.
Before it fired, Brandt looked at a distance and saw a lightning bolt fall down and strike something from the docks. The resulting impact caused the Arctic Avian to shake violently, a perfect chance.
"Rock Wrecker!" Brandt exclaimed and extending one hand out, gravel rapidly built from the hole in his palm to form a boulder, latching onto his hand. Brandt felt the pressure exert through his arm as he aimed and exerted incredible forced out of his hand, firing the boulder at an incredible speed.
He shut an eye as his arm ached horribly, a common drawback of unleashing this powerful Rock-Type move. However, the attack hit and he watched as the Dulled crashed onto a building. The entire floor was devastated by that attack.
"Come on, Stop..." Weiss mutters and he clicked his tongue at the blue which appeared above him.
"Argh!" Brandt screamed as he was rammed at full speed by the Arctic Avian and was thrown inside a building. With the strain he got from the Rock Wrecker, he wasn't able to defend himself and was stuck on the wreckage.
"Brandt!" Lenna screamed as she slide down to evade the Arctic Avian's charge. "Kyah!" However, the winds hit her and she rolled and hit against the edges of the rooftop and sat there. She opened one eye, the cold hit her body as she gritted her teeth from the cold.
"Lenna! Brandt!" Weiss exclaimed. He gritted his teeth as he faced the Arctic Avian's charge with icicles fired and a tornado of ice blew at him. He was alone now with the other two still needing to recover from the cold that hit them.
He took out a card. It was now or never and he looked over the distance of what Fran was doing now.
He sharply turned back as he got the third of a silver card.
May 13th, 2020
3:18 p.m.
Castelia City
The Summoner did a horizontal slash and spun behind the target she sliced. She continued to slice upward and impaled downward at the one in front of her and flew up. Fran jumped and rode on top of Entei as prowled his way forward while Raikou jumped and slammed his spear at a larger Dulled. He used the shaft to jump as Fran aimed his bow.
"Grave Digger!" Fran released a fan of arrows, sending them down to the ground. The arrows, upon impact of the floor, caused earth to burst out.
He looked ahead. Kyurem's breathing was getting slower while Ho-oh's flames homed into the Summoner. He heard her scream, "Resolve of Steel! Leader of the Swords who protected the forest. Bestow thy knowledge to I to protect the weak." She felt the knowledge of swordsman ship awakened inside her as she looked at the opponent Fran told her that was guarding Kyurem.
The Blade Dancer.
She released a battle cry as that Dulled appeared before and they slashed. She flinched as Fran wave his hand and healed her. Her frames flinched and some cracks formed as she heard Cobalion's voice inside her mind.
"I lend you my sword! Use it as your will commands it!"
"Well, I need to help my Summoner!" Entei exclaimed and disappeared, the Summoner felt some of her energy return when he dismissed himself.
"Cobalion!" She screamed. "I shall protect my father and all the Summons, as the Last Summoner!"
The deflected attack allows her to thrust her sword up as Fran looked at the other Legendary dismiss themselves. The ability to hold them in that form pulled a strain on her. He knew that she couldn't defeat that Dulled alone. He must help as images of the frozen corpses flashed in his mind.
"...Let me heal you!"
He did so and the cracks soon healed. The Summoner looked ahead and readied her sword.
The Blade Dancer charged at her while she let out a battle cry and slashed downward to block the attack. She twirled around and parried against the horizontal slash. She pushed the sword and spun to slice the bottom. The Blade Dancer jumped and did a vertical slash. The Summoner rolled to evade it slashed the blade incoming. Fran aimed.
The Summoner had enough strength to break Kyurem out with the sword about to lose the power she used to have it attack. He needed to hit the Dulled's core. One shot was all he needed. Miss it, all were going to die. He shouldn't miss the mark, the core.
Die... No... no else must...
He took in a breath and released.
The Summoner looked as the Blade Dancer got up with it blade ready. It failed to notice the arrow fly and hit it at the spine, hitting the core from behind. It didn't go through, but was enough to immobilize the Blade Dancer before the Summoner stabbed at the exposed core.
"You're finished..." She muttered before holding the sword with both frames and exclaimed. "First Sword of Justice, Shining Purge!" She flew forward with the Blace Dancer still on the sword as she let out a battle cry. She looked at the core on Kyurem's chest, the core of the Dulled. She pushed on until it hit his chest. Kyurem let out a sharp breath as the core began to crack. Fran watched as everything was engulfed in light. Kyurem fell backward with his daughter falling with him while her sword disappeared.
May 13th, 2020
3:21 p.m.
Castelia City
Weiss was still in his stance when the Arctic Avian jolted and the attack dissipated. It twitched violently as several parts of its body began to break away. He looked at his gathered cards and all of the silvers gathered together. "Giga Stop!"
He spread them and the Dulled froze completely in its' position as a gray blast suddenly burst from where it was.
He watched as Lenna and Brandt readied their attacks after recovering from the attacks that hit them.
"Meteor Crasher!" Brandt exclaimed.
"Toxic Rose!" Lenna screamed.
"Jackpot Ray!" Weiss shouts.
A meteorite, streams of venemous energies and several beams of various elements all burst out from quite out of thin air, the impacts striking against the Arctic Avian.
The Arctic Avian let out a shriek as the combined attacks hit its core and caused it to crack. Just then, a shining light of a blade burst out of the core, the three combatant gasped as the core shattered.
"Is that..." Brandt began.
"A Legendary's attack?" Lenna finished.
"What in Arceus..." Weiss mutters.
The Arctic Avian's eyes lost it luster as the three covered their eyes as it exploded. The cold blast reached them but it wasn't as potent as before. They stood their ground until it dissipated. They looked around as the Arctic Avian is long gone, at the frozen city around them.
"It's over..." Brandt whispered with a tired breath and fell down onto his rear to sit down while Lenna sat with her legs folded.
"We won but..." Lenna mourned as she looked at the city. "...we failed the mission."
"..." Weiss didn't say anything while he stood, pulling his cloak up to cover his mouth. He didn't know what to say...Several lives were lost. If they had gotten here earlier... He looked over the area where the docks were several kilometers away. What about Fran? He looked back at his tired allies.
"...We should look for Fran. We still remember him. We must remember him."
He nearly slipped from one step of the icy floor, nearly having difficulty to regain balance immediately.
He hated it when reality ensures.
May 13th, 2020
3: 28 p.m.
Castelia City
Fran laid on his side, huffing out heavily.
He slowly opened his eyes. The battle took quite a strain on him. So much of the strain he felt from the Dulled around and to conjure a last arrow to help the Summoner deal the final blow to free...He looked.
The Summoner laid forward on a dragon's chest. She had her flames open.
His body burnt so much as he tried to get up with his tired body pleading for rest.
"Mmm..." The Summoner lifted her head slightly. "...What...happened...!!! Huh?" She looked down.
She couldn't hear any heartbeats. She touched once. Twice. And thrice. "No..." she exclaimed. "H-Hey! You come on!" She pushed more times while Fran's head hurt. He felt he was forgetting something. He shook his head as he pulled himself over, touching the dragon.
He still felt cold. Heal...He could revive him. He began to concentrate.
"Come on!" The Summoner's tears fell down from her eyes and in his chest. "You can't leave me alone, you...You..." her head even hurt.
"..." Fran's energy began to flow out of himself, coming into the body of the dragon. He felt a sharp pain in his chest, coughing. He stopped and fell to the ground. He had used too much healing, he can't use anymore to heal him.
He heard a thump and looked to see the Summoner lying on the dragon's chest, weeping.
Fran wheezed out from where he laid. His head hurt. Too much strain on his mind and body. The dragon laid still, not much movement could be seen as he held his head...What was his name again?
The Summoner wept for a few more minutes when...
"...Nmm..."
"H...Huh?" She sniffed as she felt herself rise and fell.
"...Nnn...mmm..."
"F...Father?" She whispered while she looked at his head turned to the side. His eyes... golden eyes... narrowly opened...
Even with head turned to the side, the single eye turned to meet a tearful look as she laid on his chest. A single claw wiped a single tear and she grabbed it with both frames.
"Father..." She choked.
"...Don't...cry..." his throat was hoarse. "It... is... unbecoming..."
"You're...alright." She sobbed. "I thought I lost you."
"...It's... alright now... I must... recover..." He replies.
"Father..." She smiled happily. "Everything will be fine."
He looked at the side and saw the city. He looked at it mournfully. Fran looked. "...Lives... all taken..." He mumbled. "...My... power..."
"It isn't your fault." The Summoner shook herself. "You weren't the one who did this, the Dulled did. We saved you and...If you want to blame someone, it should be me. If I was a stronger Summoner, I would have been there to help you fight it and prevent your kidnapping. Father...I'm so sorry..."
"...At this rate... we will consistently blame ourselves..." Kyurem mumbled.
"..." The Summoner looked up and down. "She helped us."
"...I see..." He turned to look at Fran. "...Thank you, young one..."
Fran jolted. Kyurem may look terrifying and had a very deep voice. However, it was calming and kind.
"...Y...Yes... I...I was... as a member... of...WINGS..." Fran replies.
"...I... see now..." Kyurem huffed. He blinked and let out a few breaths as he looked at his daughter.
"That ceremony..."
"...Please... these lives need it..."
"...Okay, please rest and don't move. Even if lying on your back is uncomfortable."
"I won't move..."
She got off him and flew above the waters. Kyurem looked at Fran, telling him to guide her if she were to fall down. Keep her safe as she danced.
"...O... Okay." Fran pulled himself up. He took in a few breaths as his wings beat and carried his body off the ground.
The two of them were above the waters as Fran looked to see the Summoner call forth her sword. Kyurem heard some hurried steps.
"Fran, are you-holy sh-" Brandt began before gawking in awe at he was seeing.
"What the... who are..." Weiss was stunned.
"This is...Kyurem?" Lenna exclaimed. "Then who's that Chandelure?"
"...WINGS..." Kyurem murmurs.
They jolted and turned to him. He was still weak and couldn't turn his head but watch his daughter about to dance.
"Father...Please." the Summoner muttered. "This is the dance you had taught me."
She set her sword down and fire and dark magic fused to the water. It created a form of passage, for those to rest in peace. The sword vibrated and began a song as she danced around. Fran jolted as water around him danced along with her. He looked at the Summoner dancing. The other three watched her dance.
"It's beautiful..." Lenna muttered.
"A Summoner..." Brandt whispered. "She's doing it, the Tear Among Distortions."
"This... this dance..." Weiss couldn't believe the sight. A way lost in the olden times, now being performed at their time that was supposed to be impossible. Weiss looked at the city.
"...Everyone... look."
They turned to look and saw that the ice and the corpses disappearing. He saw life energy called Phantoma flowing out.
"If this is truly happening, then... it is reality..."
"It's...beautiful." Lenna muttered.
"And performed by a chick!" Brandt exclaimed to try and lighten the situation but he could clearly see their expressions hadn't changed that much. The smile faded and he continued to watch as the snow began to end. They looked as the Summoner finished her dance. She dismissed her sword and looked at her father. Fran went to and caught her before she fell.
"..." Fran carried the Summoner over to Kyurem. "...Please... bring her to safety..."
"...She will." The Summoner used a magical circle and from there, Ho-oh appeared. The three jolted in surprise.
"Holy-!"
"Am I dreaming again of pirates?"
"No, you... aren't."
"WINGS." The Summoner whispered. "Thank you for saving my father...Maybe one day, we can meet again and fight together. Once I became a stronger Summoner. But for now, good-bye."
Ho-oh nodded her head and used some magic to carry both the Summoner and Kyurem with her. She spread her wings and flew off. WINGS looked at her fly over the horizon.
"..." They look at Castelia City, devoid of life in under hours...
"What should we report?" Lenna asked.
"Summoner, we forgot to ask her name." Brandt wondered.
"...Fran?" Weiss watches Fran fly off to somewhere in the city. Fran looked around and heard something thump soundly on the streets. He looked around.
A... a ball.
He flew down and held it. Some tears fell down over it as he gritted his teeth. They grinded against each other. He embraced it, he couldn't remember for whom this ball belonged to. Only a silhouette who looked at him. He smiled when static filled his ears.
It hurts... so much... so... very... much...
He could remember that time... serving his first year in WINGS...
October 12th, 2018
2:00 p.m.
WINGS HQ: Ranch
"I feel like... I forgotten something about this place." Iggy said. "Don't you think so?"
"Hm?" Luigi looked over. "What do you mean?"
"I mean... I can't explain it..."
Fran was there while they were conversing. He heard all about the Dynacrystal since they're bringing him along to familiarize himself with the area.
He flies over to them. "Maybe... you both lost someone special to you..."
They heard someone answer Fran before they did.
"Are you talking about the Gift of the Dynacrystal?" It was that Inteleon. "If that is the what you are talking about, it takes away all memories about the person who passed. Name, information, past, anything about them will be forgotten. Which is why we keep these badges to know who passed on."
"It helps us forget so that the past can't hold us back." Iggy adds.
Fran looks back at the Inteleon. "That... is true... But... Isn't it sad?"
He looked over at him with an intriguing, analytic look in his eyes.
"If, and it's only an 'if' question, but..." Fran breathes "...if I die, I'll be forgotten, right?"
A nod from Sunai.
Fran held his hands together and gave his question. "...So... even if I sacrifice my own life to save another, no one will remember me... Not Luigi... Not anyone..." he speaks solemnly.
"...Take it this way." Sunai inquired. "If you were to suddenly remember one person who passed, it will cause you to stop you from making a crucial decision and get yourself into trouble. Remembering that memory would cost you your life so it is better if you don't remember it. Which is why, you should be thankful of this gift."
"...Oh... I... I see..." Fran looked down.
If he dies, everyone would forget about him. Even then, those who died with and for them would be forgotten. Like insignificant and disposable soldiers.
He found the thought so scary... he didn't want them to be seen like that...
May 13th, 2020
7:00 p.m.
WINGS HQ: Ranch
"...Oh... this Ranch..." Treant mumbles softly.
"Me and Iggs usually spend our time here." Luigi looked over the Chocobo list. "Hm...The ones Eos took care off are now for ours to do now." He read.
"Eos...?" Treant wonders.
"I don't know him that much but he had a record of taking care of Chocobos." Luigi answered. "He's among the dead."
"...Oh... So that's why... you don't... remember him..." Treant understood.
She looks over at him. "...Mission... is good..."
They worked plenty, the sword/knife and lance work the eldest had here... and the martial arts of the one surprisingly younger than her slightly... and her swinging her large blade with massive stomps to control nature...
"I wonder what were Fran and his team are now." Luigi wondered. "Was he supposed to be at..."
They heard a loud sound, an aircraft landing. They turned to look at it and spotted Fran and his team exiting from it. From their looks, they were not in their best looks and Fran held a ball close to him.
"Fran?" Luigi muttered, his smile fading as he rushed at him. "Fran?"
"..." Fran didn't respond to his adopted elder brother's words at all. He held the ball in his hands more tightly, grimacing.
The others were silent too. They went toward the entrance to the HQ while Luigi stared at them retreating. Iggy and Treant went beside him as they left. Nothing could be said right now. Luigi felt a drizzle.
"...It's raining." He looked up.
Iggy and Treant followed his line of sight despite the obvious sizzling on Iggy's head flame.
"...We should head back indoors..." Iggy tells them.
"Yeah." Luigi agreed as he dreaded what happened in the mission they took. He wondered about what transpired there. He felt his head ache, who lived there in Castelia City?
Chapter 11 Concluded