"Um, Miss Tia, where did Nari go?" Nina asked. She sat with Lucas and Jay on one of the vacant beds.
Tia hummed to herself, patting Kora's bandaged paw. It was probably time for her to deal with Jax, so she sighed and turned to the Machamp. "She said she had a few important things to check on. Paperwork, data filing… Maybe she's speaking with the Guildmaster," Tia said, glowing a faint pink after she finished poking Jax.
Kora tilted his head, "The Guildmaster... is here?" he asked. "I thought almost everyone went offshore?"
"Well, of course. Being a 'Guildmaster' isn't exactly the safest occupation around. It's rare that one leaves their guild more than a small handful of times a year." Tia answered, crushing an assortment of berries and herbs, mixing a white powder into it.
"Really? I just thought our Guildmaster was a shut-in," Lucas hummed, scratching his chin. Nina and Jay both nodded.
"I guess being on this island for so long might have kept you kids out of sync with current events. Can't say I don't envy that," Tia sighed, nudging Jax to sit up and handing him the mixture she made.
Nina and Lucas both wondered what she meant, while Kora realized he really doesn't know anything about life off the island. Other than the stories he heard while growing up, nothing about outside life ever came to his notice.
"What do you mean? You make it sound like... something bad happened..?" Jay asked. "It's been a couple months since we've been to the mainland."
Tia blinked when she realized that she said that last part out loud. "O-Oh, I didn't mean anything like that! I-I just meant that you're lucky to live the island life! Yeah, that's what I meant!" Tia tittered.
Before anyone could say anything else, Jax immediately shot up and banged his head on the ceiling, leaving a crack in it. "H-HOLY MILTANK! Was that Energy Powder FRESH or WHAT!?" he laughed, not noticing any pain from hitting his head at all.
Tia looked at where she got the Energy Powder from and sighed. "Did I put all of it in..? Fantastic…" she said.
"Man, I gotta RUN! SEE YA!" Jax sprinted out of the room. The force of his footsteps were felt all throughout the mountain.
"If you kids wouldn't mind, could you go make sure he doesn't get himself, or anyone for that matter, hurt?" Tia asked with nervous laughter.
The three nodded and went to keep the Machamp out of trouble. Just outside the Infirmary was Zen, who was carrying an unconscious Kane over his shoulder.
"What happened to him?" Jay asked, squinting.
"...He fell," Zen said, dropping Kane on the bed. "On his head."
"Well, uh, we're gonna go catch Jax. See ya!" Lucas waved and ran out the room. Nina followed behind him, and Kora behind her, but Jay stayed back. He looked Zen in the eye, and Zen looked back. The first to turn away was Zen, putting a smirk on Jay's face.
"Hypocrite," Jay chuckled.
"Hmph," Zen crossed his arms. "Don't you have to follow behind your friends?" Jay nodded, running down the hall to catch up to the others.
"I'll be damned," Tia snickered. "You've loosened up a fair amount. It only took you a decade."
"I have no idea what you are referring to," Zen huffed, frowning and turning away from Tia.
Following a giant, hyped up Pokemon in a mountain full of tunnels was obviously going to be tough. It took Kora and the others a while to even see Jax, and the second he saw them, he bolted in the other direction.
"Whoop! Nevermind!" Jax laughed as he ran off. "Hehehehehaaa!"
"After him!" Lucas cheered.
"Really? I was thinking about letting him go," Kora snickered, getting on all fours and sprinting after Jax.
Kora managed to keep up with Jax for only a few seconds before Jax made a sharp turn. Kora tried to do the same, but vastly overestimated the amount of traction he had. "Oh shi-!" As far as first impressions go, the stone could have left a better mark on Kora than bruising his face. Kora slid down the wall, moaning painfully. There was only a tiny streak of blood so he should be fine.
"Yikes," Nina winced as she and the others caught up to Kora. "You alive?" Kora raised his thumb claw. Nina sighed, relieved.
"We'll try and handle this, you just, uh, don't go anywhere," Jay said, patting Kora's shoulder. He and his friends looked at each other and nodded. Lucas went down the same path Jax did, while Nina and Jay followed a different one.
After a few minutes of searching, Lucas managed to run into Jax. Or rather, Jax ran into him, and Lucas bounced right off.
"I-I found him..!" Lucas shouted, holding his head. He tried to look at Jax, but couldn't tell which one to look at. "I-I mean, I found them! Wait no…" he shook his head. "I-Is there three Jaxs? Jaxi? Jaxes?"
"NYOOOOOOM!" Jax yelled as he ran off again. He made it only a few steps before a blue blur jumped on his back. Jax made no attempt to shake Nina off, instead decided to go even faster. "BEEP BEEP! THIS BUS IS ZOOOMIN'!"
Nina held on tightly, instantly regretting this idea. "GUYS DO SOMETHING!"
"Alright… I just, uh, need a second," Lucas said. "Or a minute. Or a few…"
Jay jumped out of a hall just as Jax passed. "Gotch- wait, Nina?" Distracted by Nina not following the plan they didn't discuss, Jay's face collided with Jax's side.
"BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME, HAHA!" Jax taunted as he sped off.
Jay rubbed his beak, grumbling to himself. He helped Lucas off the ground and dusted him off. "Alright, new plan."
"There was a plan?" Lucas tilted his head.
"Shut," Jay pressed a claw to Lucas' lips. "I had thought Nina would have thrown frubbles on Jax instead of jumping on him, but now we have to corner him to catch him the old fashioned way."
"Oh yeah, Nina has frubbles," Lucas chuckled. "Alright boss 'mon, how do we corner him."
"First, we need Kora, so let's-" Jay turned, bumping into Kora's chest tuft. Jay felt he should have been surprised, but wasn't. "... Hi Kora."
"Howdy," Kora snickered. "What's the plan this time?"
Jay pushed Kora back a bit, then cleared his throat. "Just… follow me."
As per Jay's plan, they waited to see where Jax was heading. After finding him of course. Which was a lot easier than any of them thought.
"FANCY MEETING YOU HERE!" Jax waved, then turned on his heel and made a mad dash back the way he came.
"Wait, no! GUYS!" Nina cried out, still holding on for dear life.
"Just let g-" Jay said, but Nina and Jax were already too far for her to hear him. "Screw it. Just remember the plan guys. Kora, follow Jax and try to slow him down. Lucas, go down that tunnel. We should have this in the bag, alright?" Lucas and Kora nodded and saluted before doing as they were told. Jay rolled his shoulders and went down his own tunnel.
Just like Jay predicted, Jax was heading towards a three-way intersection of tunnels. All Lucas and Jay had to do was get to there before Jax did. Completely cut him off from the rest of the mountain, and then… Well Jay didn't really think that far ahead, but hopefully he wouldn't have had to.
The first to reach the intersection was Jay. He exhaled and wiped his forehead. Just to make sure everything worked out as planned, he booked it here as fast as his short legs could take him. "Alright, I'm in position. I think Lucas might show up so-"
"HEEEEEEEEEEELP!" Nina's and Kora's voices echoed down the hall. Jay peaked his head around the corner, then deadpanned and facepalmed. Kora was barely hanging onto Jax's back.
"WHY?!" Jay yelled, throwing his arms out.
"I THOUGHT IT WOULDA WORKED!" Kora yelled back.
"IT DIDN'T!" Nina shouted, started to slip off of Jax's back.
"CHOO CHOOOOOOO!" Jax laughed.
Jay gulped. Lucas wasn't there yet, and with Kora no longer chasing Jax, that means Jay had to let Jax go down Lucas' hall and hope Lucas was close by. He stepped out of his hall, waving his arms to get Jax's attention.
"Uh, boo?" Jay said.
"HA! YOU'RE NO GHOST!" Jax stuck out his tongue and ran down the other tunnel.
"I might not be, but at least my plan is… kinda working," Jay shrugged and sighed, running after Jax.
"JAY HELP!" Nina reached back. "I'M GONNA FALL!"
"Then JUMP! You're a FROG!" Jay said.
"WELL I'M NOT!" Kora whined, also reaching for Jay.
"You're a Halfbreed! Just ju-" Jay was again cut short, this time from Jax suddenly stopping, and Jay running into his backside. Jay fell back, staring at the ceiling in defeat. "Can I give up and try again tomorrow? Nina and Kora hopped off of Jax's back, looking down at Jay.
"You alive?" Nina asked, smiling shyly. Jay looked her in the eye and shrugged. "I guess that counts."
Kora turned to Jax. "Why'd you stop big guy?"
"Hnnnnnngggg, WALL!" Jax huffed. "THERE'S A WALL HERE!"
"Wait, really? Then where did Lucas go?" Jay sat up. "Oh well, this works for us. Kora, grab Jax ple-" There was a sudden, loud BOOM, followed by a loud high pitched scream. "-WHAT NOW?!"
Jax had punched a hole through the wall, and on the other side was a tunnel, and a screaming Charmeleon clutching his tail tightly to his chest. "FREEDOM!" Jax cheered, running down the tunnel.
Lucas let out another scream as Jax ran past him, then quickly clamped his snout shut when he noticed the others were there. He waved sheepishly at them. "F-Fancy meeting you here."
Jay sighed and rolled his eyes. "You come here often?" he asked, sarcastically.
"No, and I probably won't ever again," Lucas chuckled. "We still going after him?"
"Yeah…" Jay stood to his feet, walking down the hall with his shoulders hunched. Kora and Nina followed behind him, and Lucas next to him. "Let's just get this over with…"
After who knows how much longer, about an hour actually, the group managed to find their way back to the entry area of the guild. Jax just kept evading them, and they were getting more and more worn out while he just didn't. This just wasn't set up for them to win.
"How many times do we have to regret living in a maze?" Jay panted, leaning on the giant crystal in the middle of the room.
"How does he know where to go? We've literally been going in circles, and none of us can catch him!" Nina said, exhausted from their fruitless efforts.
Lucas sat down beside the giant crystal in the Main Area, holding his chest and panting. "How many more tunnels did he make? I'm surprised the mountain is still standing."
"He's gotta be cheating..." Kora groaned, rolling onto his back and breathing heavily.
"There's gotta be a way to trap him, or to close off the tunnels so he can't keep going. Running after him obviously isn't working," Jay said, having finally caught his breath.
Nina remembered the flower Kora made and suddenly had an idea. "Hey Kora... can't you run through the tunnels and make walls behind you?" she suggested, holding the flower over Kora's face. "Just like how you made this flower, remember?"
Jay let out a sigh. He intended for Nina to pick up what he was hinting at, but alas.
"Make… walls? I've never tried to do anything like that before. But I guess, it's worth a shot." Kora stood up, trying to hear where Jax might be or is heading to.
Kora and the others went down one of the other tunnels. As they went past the entrance, Kora placed his paw on the wall and closed his eyes. After a few seconds, however, nothing happened.
"Damn," Kora hissed, trying again. His aura flickered and sparked for a moment, but again, nothing. "Dammit!"
"Well it was worth a shot," Nina sighed, sticking the flower back in her frubbles.
Jay blinked. "Why don't you just… put frubbles on the floor?" he asked Nina.
"Oh, right," Nina deadpanned. "Sometimes I forget I can use these, despite, uh, using them pretty often." She laid a bed of frubbles on the ground, hopefully too much for Jax to avoid.
"Perfect!" Lucas grinned. "Let's hope he doesn't break the floor trying to get out of it, hehe!"
Kora turned his head down the tunnel, smelling something interesting. "What's, I mean, where's this tunnel leading to?"
"The, uh…" Jay tapped his chin. "The Cafe, if I'm remembering correctly. Who wants to bet Jax is heading there?" Nina, Lucas, and Kora raised their hand, claw, and paw.
"And not because we're getting hungry," Lucas smiled innocently.
"Not at all," Nina nodded, also smiling.
"Well I guess I'm the only hungry one here then," Kora snickered.
Jay sighed and rolled his eyes. "Of course…"
"We're lost..." Kora said, defeated. "There's no way we walked down this tunnel and haven't come up to a Cafe yet. I can't even smell anything anymore."
"Maybe we shouldn't have gone down the center path when we got to that three-way," Nina thought out loud. She was still laying frubbles down at any turns or intersections. She found it convenient that her frubbles were basically never-ending.
"I have no idea where we're heading then. Whoops, my bad!" Lucas shrugged and laughed.
"Why did I let you lead…" Jay shook his head.
"Because you had faith in me and thought I'd succeed?" Lucas said with a chipper tone. "Which is strange because I am terrible with directions."
"Then why did you ask to lead?" Nina deadpanned.
"More importantly, we haven't heard Jax at all recently," Jay pointed out.
"So basically… we're going the wrong way?" Kora asked, his shoulders drooping.
Lucas patted Kora on the back, grinning. "Or maybe he got tired and passed out."
"Zen could have caught him," Jay shrugged.
"Or my frubbles," Nina said, puffing out her chest.
Kora let out a groan. "Either way, we've been walking for nothing." He looked up, noticing a strange something just up ahead. He forgot about his hunger, in favor of finding out what this new thing was. "What's this?"
There was a purple torch on either side of a thick wooden door, and a red mat below it. The door was lined with silver. Intrigued, Kora approached it to find out what was behind it. When Nina and Lucas noticed what Kora had found, they both immediately froze.
"H-Hey Nina. How m-many rooms have expensive looking d-doors like that..?" Lucas asked, shaking slightly.
"Oh... not many. J-Just the G-Guildmaster's..." Nina gulped.
"Kora, stop," Jay said, grabbing Kora's arm. "We are not allowed in there."
"It's the G-Guildmaster's room!" Lucas added. "We're not even supposed to be down this hall!"
"The Guildmaster? This is his door?" Kora asked, getting nods from the others. Kora looked back at the door. It was enticingly mysterious. The wood looked expensive, the silver was shiny, and it was pretty much begging for him to open it. "...I'm gonna open it."
"Don't!" Nina said, grabbing Kora's other arm.
"I think I might. I mean, what harm could it do?" Kora slowed his approach, still driven by curiosity.
"If you go into there, the guildmaster will totally kick you out and you'll never join the guild!" Lucas warned. He decided to grab Kora's leg since Nina and Jay had the arms. For some reason he found it funny. "Pfft, leg."
Fortunately, Kora stopped trying to be nosy and backed away from the door. "Alright, fine. I'll wait." Kora sighed, pulling his arms away from Jay and Nina. He didn't notice Lucas. "So I guess we're heading back then?"
Nina and Lucas nodded, both overjoyed to have avoided whatever punishment they would have gotten. The trio went on ahead, but Kora stayed back a bit longer. His eyes met the door once again, and that urge to open it came right back to him. He figured he could at least touch it, right?
He tapped his claw tip on it, then laid his entire paw on it. If Minerva was here, she'd probably be able to tell just how expensive that door was from the feeling alone. Kora had much less experience in judging prices, so he settled on it being "really, really, expensive." While he admired the door, he felt a sudden sharp pain in his paw and reeled back.
"Owww! I got a splinter!" Kora whined, looking at his paw. Funnily enough, there was no splinter. In fact, maybe there never was. "...What?" After a moment passed, the torches started to burn red, black, and blue, before the door cracked open. Jay, Lucas, Nina didn't turn around. Looks like they didn't hear or see what was going on.
'I'm pretty sure this counts as an invite, right?' Kora thought to himself. 'Yeah, this is totally an invite. It'd be rude if I didn't go inside.' He nodded to himself, but stopped just before going inside. 'But they'll be upset if I did! Aww man, I need, like, another me to follow them…'
A dark glow appeared around Kora's body, then he suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder and jumped. He turned around to face… himself? He blinked and rubbed his eyes, and sure enough, that other him was right there. Did he get, like, a wish granted?
"...I need a pie?" Kora spoke. Nothing. "I wish I had a pie?" Nothing. Again. He huffed and shook his head. "Whatever, just, like, follow behind them and act like me, alright?" Kora asked his double, who nodded silently and followed behind the young trio. Kora snickered to himself and slipped inside the Guildmaster's quarters.
The inside was far more spacious and elegant than any other room in the Mountain. The floor was smooth, the crystals more radiant, and the ceiling was curved. There was a three-way once Kora walked inside, the path in the middle had two purple torches where it started, had four rooms on either side of the hall, and led to a downward staircase. The path to the left led to another door, and the right path led to a large, open area with a table in the middle. The room on the right took Kora's intrigue more so than the others, so he crept his way towards it.
The right room, a meeting room, had torches placed around it to keep even lighting all throughout. There was a noticeable lack of colorful crystals, instead being replaced with black ones, with one large one in the middle of the ceiling. The table was made of the same wood as the large door, and in the center was a hole with glass filing it.
Kora noticed a stack of papers on the other side and walked up to it while gently gliding his paw on the table. Before he reached the papers, the table pricked his paw like the door did, and started glowing.
"Whoa…" Kora gasped, then covered his mouth. A glow appeared in the glass, growing brighter and brighter until a near-solid beam of red shot up, hitting the giant crystal above. The black gem was now glowing a bright, vivid crimson. The crystal then projected the light back onto the table.
Kora was awestruck; there were tall mountains, deep oceans, forests and deserts stretching over a huge continent. Even the clouds moved like actual clouds would! There was also this strange grey area along the edge of the continent. It had tall things, like rectangular mountains, and a bunch of pretty lights too.
Kora then noticed two red spots, both in different spots of a mountain on an island he felt was vaguely familiar. There were four other dots too. One in a desert, another in a forest, and another in that strange grey area with rectangular mountains.
"What's this?" he asked no one in particular, rubbing his paw along the table. His paw went right through the mountains and trees, and he couldn't feel a thing. He was a bit disappointed, honestly.
His amazement was cut short, however, when he heard someone open that fancy door. He panicked, unknowingly casting an illusion on the room to make it look untouched, and looked for a place to hide. He didn't have many options, so he quietly threw himself under the table.
"...Oh! I thought I left these in here," A guy's voice said, approaching the table. Kora kept his eyes trained on the Pokemon, seeing orange and cream colored fur. "I thought I lost these profiles. Although, once Zeke, Nate, and Jax done training these three, do we still gotta keep an eye on them?"
"Yes, it'll just be easier to do it when they're under our care," A familiar girl's voice spoke from out of nowhere. She sounded like she was above the table, but Kora didn't dare poke his head out and risk being seen. "Besides, what the Guildmaster says, goes. He said he wants damn near constant watch over these two, and the Outlander is going to be a part of their team, so we gotta watch him, too."
"My ears are ringing~!" A third, younger guy's voice entered the was sweating bullets at this point. He hid his face under his paws and tried not to make any sounds. This third voice gave Kora chills, something about it not sitting well with Kora's instincts. "You two are back again? What, missed me?"
"No, sir. James thought he misplaced the files on the new Outlander and his team-to-be," the girl explained. "But, while you're here, how about you actually read them for once?"
"Wha- I never! I am the Master of this Guild, I forged it with these very hands! I poured my blood, sweat, and tears into making the Sunset Guild the respected and well known Guild it is today! And for you to assume that I didn't read the files on the three most potentially decisive Pokemon on the island-"
"You didn't, we all know you didn't, please cut the act," the female huffed, getting a 'Harumph!' from the Guildmaster. The sounds of paper getting snatched and someone tapping their claws on the wood filled Kora's ears, then the Guildmaster's voice spoke again.
"Fine, you caught me. Eh hem... First, Minerva, Daughter of Frost and Thea. Extraordinarily Powerful. Insane Amounts of Untapped Potential. Currently… Unconscious? Wait, why? What happened to her?"
"Long story, she was in a paralysis-induced coma and Rio saved her," the first guy explained. "I wasn't there for it, but Nari witnessed it first hand! It sounds like quite the spectacle." Nari was here? That explains the voice Kora recognized, and to be honest, he sort of recognized that first guy's voice too, but he was more subconsciously focused on keeping his illusion up to think of who it was.
"Interesting, it would be wise to further investigate the Outlander then, speaking of which..." the Guildmaster again cleared his throat. "Eh hem, Rio, the Outlander... not significantly powerful, but highly adaptive and surprisingly capable. Unknown potential, currently unconscious. Why do you write these like this? With so few words and such brief descriptions, are you a machine?"
"Hey, I need to get these updated almost everyday! It's been hardly a week and so much has happened to them already! And it doesn't help that I'm getting my information from Zeke, Nate, and Jax! I found Zeke and Nate passed out in the Square, and Jax just up and vanished until recently.
"James, you are just as, if not more, lazy than those slackers! You spend five minutes 'updating' these profiles, and all you get down is a sentence with the most bare-bones description possible!" Nari huffed and stomped on the table. James... yes that name was familiar, and that orange fur... He was a Floatzel, right?
"Ok, ok, easy you two. No use bickering like children over something so trivial. Pass me that last profile, if you would?" Paper was handed between them, and the Guildmaster paused for a moment. "Koraza, son of Arceus' Wrathful Knight, Diana, and the "Loyal Jester"... Orion." Another pause. "Are you sure this is all correct, James? He is, understandably, powerful, and with his parents being who they are, it stands to reason that his 'potential' is so grand... but unstable? And how is he a danger to anyone?
'Dad...' Kora's panic bled into sadness, and he felt an ache in his chest, up until he heard his description. 'Unstable? And dangerous?
"There have been a few… incidents lately. According to Zeke, there is a thing called a Dark Berry that imbues any Dark Type that eats it with a vast increase in power, at the cost of them losing control of their bodies and lashing out in a Berserk state. Zen, Kane, and even Rio have fallen to it, and while their episodes were more than just harmful," James started to explain, taking a deep breath before finishing. "Kora has had two separate Berserk incidents, and his power increase was far greater than the others."
"During his first Berserk, Kora easily fought against Rio and Zen, the latter of which found some way to boost his power without losing himself to the Berserk state. If it weren't for Minerva, Kora would likely have defeated those two. We were told by Eva about the second Berserk episode with Kora. He acted like a beast, without thinking, impulsive. She thought he was… going to tear her and Minerva to shreds. She was terrified when she came to us, saying it was like… like the incident before the guild arrived," Nari said. The others grew quiet, and the air got heavier.
If Eva told them, Kora had a feeling he knew what it was. His body ached as the memory of so many years ago tried to pry itself back into his mind. He let out a faint growl as he suppressed it, digging his claws into the stone beneath him. He stopped himself before long, hoping no one else heard him.
'Goddamnit! Goddamnit, I messed up!' Kora started to panic. 'What do I do? WHAT DO I DO?!'
As if Kora's problem couldn't get any worse, another Pokemon walked in! They had toned, black-furred legs and red claws that Kora would recognize anywhere. 'It's me!' he thought-shouted. 'Wait, no, it's Mom! That's even worse!' Pure fear ran Kora for the few moments of silence until the new Zoroark finally spoke.
"I thought you'd sleep in a bit longer, Guildmaster. We just finished our training and as you can see, these two wore themselves out," the fox said with a familiar male voice. The tension rolled off of Kora's shoulders, but it was still strange that he didn't recognize that voice at all. "If I knew we were all gathering, I'd've gone to the Cafe and got some pastries and coffee for everyone."
"It's convenient that you brought these little ones, actually. The Dark Berry is… something I was hoping to bring up with them. Illusions with form... A berry that enhances darkness... if they didn't cause it then I'll eat my own tail! And I know it was his idea, too!" the Guildmaster huffed. "What good is an apprentice that doesn't listen to a word their teacher says?! He's just like Orion was!" the Guildmaster then sighed. "And I cherish this child because of it. Orion was… he meant a lot to me, to us, and although he was more childish and foolish than any child, Orion was brilliant. I… I still miss him."
"So you aren't gonna scold them? You've gone soft," James chuckled. "But, knowing you, you probably want to see what this Dark Berry will do further down the line, I bet you're grateful he didn't listen to you."
"Oh, hush! I'll scold you if you aren't more diligent with your work!" the Guildmaster barked. "That's it, I want you outta here and, uh, make rounds around the guild! I don't want to see you back here until every inch of this mountain is inspected!"
James sputtered some objection, which was met with the Guildmaster and Nari arguing with him, and they all left the room. Now was Kora's chance! They were gone, and by some miracle the door was wide open! He slowly crawled from under the table and bolted out the Quarters without a second thought.
It was a pretty straightforward run back, all he had to do was remember what turns they took. As anyone would expect from him, however, he still managed to get lost. What he didn't think of, which is of no fault to him, was what would be waiting for him once he got back.
As he arrived at the Main Area, Kora was met with… quite a lot, actually. Eva was holding down that copy of him, Nina was hurt, Lucas put on a brave face, Jay leaned on the crystals, and James stared at Kora. That last thing was strange since Kora was sure he saw James in the Guildmaster's place.
"Whelp, looks like I owe you a cake Eva," James said with a sigh.
Before Kora could even ask what happened, Eva answered. "This illusion, or whatever the hell it is, was attacking those guys. They held their own until we showed up, then I pinned him to the ground, and here we are," she explained, understandably pissed. She pierced the fake Kora in the chest with her claws, causing it to dissipate into black and purple particles.
Kora felt a faint sting in his chest as Eva got rid of the fake. He shook it off and went to check up on Nina and Lucas. There scrapes and cuts here and there, but overall alright.
Lucas bragged about how he was going toe-to-toe with the clone while Nina, however, was very upset with Kora. "What the hell?!" she yelled, hitting Kora's chest. "You just up and left us with that, that thing! Where WERE you?!"
"Um... I was, uhh-" Kora stammered, backing away.
"You went into the Guildmaster's Room, didn't you?! We told you not to go in there, but you did anyway and left that MONSTER with us!" Nina turned her back to Kora and pointed at three large diagonal cuts across her back. Kora felt a chill run down his spine. The wounds weren't too deep, but they were painful to look at. "That's what that thing did to me! Do you know how much it hurt?!"
"I never… I didn't… I wouldn't try to hurt you on purpose, I promise!" Kora replied, feeling a weight form in his chest. Before either of them could speak, Eva pushed Kora to the side and hugged Nina. The Frogadier sniffled quietly and hugged Eva back.
"I'm sorry we didn't get here sooner, before you got hurt. James'll bring you guys to Tia. I need to talk to Kora for a minute," Eva said softly. James led the trio to the Infirmary, trying to lighten the mood with a couple jokes.
"...I know what you're gonna say," Kora sighed.
"Do you?" Eva replied, crossing her arms.
"I'm an irresponsible idiot who barely thinks, does whatever he wants, and gets others hurt in the process," Kora said, sinking down a bit.
"If you already know all that, why did you do it?" Eva hissed.
"I swear I never meant to hurt either of them!" Kora turned his head, gritting his teeth. "I don't know why this happened, but if I knew it would have, then I never-"
"That doesn't fix anything, Koraza!" Eva exclaimed. "You put your friends in danger! Again! You didn't even listen to the one thing they asked of you! How do you expect me to believe you're sorry when this is the third time this has happened?" she asked.
That weight in Kora's chest grew more, and he started to feel nauseous. "It's not..."
"It's not what, Kora? It's not your fault that you let Minerva take that attack for you at the springs? Or is it not your fault that that other YOU attacked those kids, and scarred one of them?" Eva asked, poking Kora in the chest.
Kora couldn't say anything. His mind kept going back to what he heard about him. Unstable… Dangerous… Maybe it was right. "I-I'm... I'm..." Kora stuttered, trying to find something to say, and failing.
"Don't waste your pitiful apology on me, I don't care to hear it again. I keep wanting to believe that you are better than this, Koraza," Eva said, walking past Kora towards the Infirmary. "And time and time again you prove me wrong. Guess that's my own mistake."
Kora stood motionless. He felt like falling over, but he couldn't even do that. Even when a cold draft swept in from the outside, he wouldn't budge. He was alone. The only thing he heard over the silence around him were two words, endlessly repeating in his head.
Dangerous…
Unstable…
Dangerous…
Unstable…
"...Rio..."
"...Riiiiio..."
The Outlander woke up thanks to a stick poking his face. It was kinda pointy, and as he came to, he could tell his face and chest were getting poked for a while. As per the usual, his vision was somewhat impaired. He took in a deep breath, held it for a moment, then let it go.
He smelled salt, saltwater to be specific. The sun was beating down on him, hurting his eyes even when he shut them. There was that serene song and dance of waves which nearly dragged him back into slumber, and a gentle mist that flew from that cooled his body. Sand shifted beneath him as he moved, nice and hot from the sun. Rio shook his head and sat up. As his vision came too, he was looking a Lucario dead in the eye.
"You awake, princess?" Orion asked, poking Rio one last time. Calmly and gracefully, Rio grabbed the stick, snapped it, and tossed it to sea. "No! Sir Stickinworth!" Orion cried.
"Hello, Orion…" Rio groaned, rubbing his eyes. "Why were you poking me?"
"We got a deadline to meet, and you're sleeping like a log! A log I had to carry!" the Lucario huffed. "C'mon, into the mountain we go!"
Orion grabbed Rio's leg and dragged him along through the sand, which he would not have really minded, but he was being dragged too fast to enjoy it. It was like hot sandpaper, and Orion was practically running! With a swift kick to Orion's speeding legs, Rio managed to stop the Lucario in his tracks. And make him fall face first into the sand as well. A welcome bonus.
"Ow! What the hell?!" Orion exclaimed.
"You were dragging me through the sand!" Rio picked himself up and dusted the sand off. "You have any idea how much that hu-"
"Do you have any idea what will happen to us if you don't get your ass into that mountain?!" Orion snapped, grabbing Rio by his shoulders. "We do NOT have the time for this! If that orb of your isn't lit soon, you're dead! Now let's go!" the jackal grabbed Rio's arm and continued his race to the mountain, only to be stopped again after a few steps.
"Wh-What? You said I was already dead!" Rio yanked his arm from Orion.
"You technically are! You, Rio, have died! You were alive, and then died! Technically, you're no longer dead, but I do not have the time to properly explain the intricacies of the soul to a guy that doesn't listen to the one person trying to help him not be dead!" Orion said with an unfitting serious tone, again grabbing Rio and pulling him towards the mountain. "To be absolutely blunt, you are on the verge of losing your second chance at life. Once we ignite that soul of yours and attach it to the body we're currently in, you would have fully bonded with the body and be able to use all of its abilities!"
"...What?" Rio was lost entirely. Orion wasn't making any sense.
"Rio, I am beyond serious right now. You only have so long to do this until the main body wakes and we lose even more of what little time we had to begin with. If we can't finish this now, you're going to fade away, and the body will become a soulless husk, waiting for some wandering soul to fill it. And if no soul fills it, the body will rot and decay into nothingness," Orion said. He sounded entirely different from before, hardly a shred of that carefree attitude was present. "This is urgent, so forgive me for being rude, but you need to shut the hell up and do what I say. Got it?"
There was no reason for Rio to say no, he felt. It was ludicrous to believe such things were possible, a soul being given another chance at life, but it felt true. It might've had something to do with how serious the Jester had gotten, but Rio didn't hesitate in following his orders.
"Got it. Lead the way," Rio replied with a nod.
Orion grinned, a golden glint in his eye. "Perfect. You'll have your body soon enough, Rio."
The two sped off towards the Mountain to the North, now aware that the sun was beginning to set, causing the sky to start turning orange. It was a race against time, and unfortunately, neither knew how much they had left.