Clara panted, stepping away from the punk dude, who held the knife. He was also panting, both of them having done a complicated dance of slash and dodge.

"Damnit," Clara growled. "You're just putting on a show for them."

"I don't care," his eyes were wide. "I just want to live."

Clara clenched her teeth, both of them unsure of the other's next move. Then, Clara lunged forwards. The guy jabbed the knife forwards, but Clara sidestepped, flipping his wrist around so he would drop the knife. Then she kneed him in the gut and punched him in the face. He fell to the ground, groaning in pain.

"Geez," Clara picked up the knife. "I guess I could kill you, but that would be living up to his image of me. That's not me. I'm no killer."

She turned swiftly and flung the knife towards the cloaked figure who had been announcing. The knife simply bounced off the cloak, clattering on the rocks.

"Tch," Clara backed up as all the cloaked figures stood, faces still hidden beneath hoods.

"It seems," the announcer picked the knife back up. "We will have two sacrifices instead of one."

...

I rushed forwards, swinging my right fist. Bradley didn't move, allowing the punch to strike his cloak. I grunted, the fabric slightly harder than I had believed it to be.

The cultist grinned widely, unaffected by the punch. "Pathetic."

I glared at him. "It wasn't meant to take you down."

His eyes darted down just as I brought my left hand up in a blue, wielding the knife I had snatched from his very hand. He barely managed to stumble backwards, the knife slicing through the air. He stared at me as the Cultists around us didn't move. A thin line of blood appeared on his right cheek. He felt it, grinning again.

"How lovely," he cackled. "You are truly worthy to be a sacrifice to the All-Powerful One."

"Damn you and your All-Powerful One!" I spat. " I refuse to be a pawn in your stupid game! Now, tell me where my friends are!"

"Unfortunately," Bradley cocked his head to one side. "You need to stay here. As long as you aren't killed, you are still our precious sacrifice."

"Oh, Chaos," he chanted, the others repeating his words in a mantra. "Hear your followers prayers, give us the strength to bind those who oppose you. Give us the dexterity to prepare your sacrifice."

The symbol on the floor glowed even brighter along with the ones on the hoods. In the blink of an eye, Bradley rushed forwards, fist heading for my stomach. However, a shield of energy erupted in front of me, blocking the attack. I looked at Lunatone, his eyes glowing.

"Thank you," I said with gratitude. "I don't know what you can do, but let's make sure to work together."

Lunatone hummed with agreement, eyes glowing again. The room shook, dust and small rocks falling from the ceiling. The cultists struggled to maintain their balance, the glow of the symbols fading in and out. A large crack formed in the center of the floor, disrupting the flow of energy.

"NO!" Bradley clutched the sides of his head, shouting over the sound of breaking rock. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?"

A crack split between me and him and I glared at him. "WHATEVER YOUR 'ALL-POWERFUL ONE' HAS PLANNED, I WILL STOP IT! YOU'VE MADE AN ENEMY OF ME TODAY! AND I PROMISE, I WON'T STOP UNTIL ALL OF YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!"

I heard the sound of the ground ripping up on both sides of me and I heard the cultists grunt in pain. I looked to see Lunatone moving the earth to pin the cloaked people against the wall as well as the Lampents.

"Come on," I told Lunatone, looking for Mira's body. But it was gone. I swung my eyes around, but where her body was supposed to be, there was a large crack. As I watched, it sealed up. Maybe it was Lunatone's way of keeping his trainer's body safe.

I ran past the struggling cultists and down the tunnel. I had no idea where I was heading, but I had to hope it lead to my friends.

...

Alex and Robert looked at the ceiling, feeling the soft quake. Dust filtered down from the ceiling and the gate jiggled, making loud noises.

Robert shared a glance with Alex. "You think?"

She nodded, smiling. "Yeah, it's him. It's always him."

...

The cloaked figures began falling due to the earthquake and Clara struggled to maintain her balance.

"This better be helpful," she growled as she watched the punk dude try to get to his feet. "Hey. You done trying to kill me?"

He nodded and Clara grinned. "Good, cause we need to get out of here. Help me with the gate."

She hauled him to his feet and led him to the gate she had been pushed through. Together, they tried to lift it and managed to get it half a foot up.

Clara grunted as she strained her body. "This is harder than it looks."

She glanced behind her, seeing the cloaked figures jumping down into the arena.

"Not good," she clenched her teeth, readying herself for another fight.

...

Whenever we ran into a cultist, either I would slam them into the wall as I passed, or Lunatone would do it for me. We had entered several chambers already, with the same symbol upon the floor, drawn in blood. Each time Lunatone would rip it apart by forming cracks.

Finally, we entered a room with shelves carved into the rock walls. Sitting on a shelf was all the stuff that was taken from my friends, the others who were kidnapped, and I. I located my pokeballs next to my knife and clipped them to my waist. Then I grabbed the knife, sliding it into place next to Arcanine's pokeball.

"Lunatone," I said. "Could you carry everything?"

Lunatone glowed and so did all the items. They were lifted into the air and we continued on our way. The next chamber with the symbol had a gruesome scene. The trainers in the PMC were laying on the ground, dead, the slash wounds on their necks fresh.

"So they decided to kill them despite everything going on," I clenched my fists, making sure Alex and Robert weren't among them. I was relieved they weren't, but a small part of me wondered why they weren't here.

"Maybe they need them alive along with me," I thought, but it didn't encourage me.

"Come on out Arcanine," I said, releasing him. "Take the lead buddy. See if you can find Alex, Robert, and Clara."

He growled and took off. Lunatone and I ran to keep up. Soon, we were in front of a cell.

"Zeno!" Alex and Robert exclaimed from inside, standing immediately.

I sighed in relief. "Thank Arceus the both of you are alive. Arcanine, get them out."

Arcanine gripped the gate with his teeth and heaved it backwards, breaking the ground and ceiling. The shaking from Lunatone's earthquake was slowing down now, but it was still there.

"Where are the other trainers?" Alex asked, grabbing her stuff.

I looked away. "Dead."

Alex and Robert didn't say anything. They knew my past, the horrors I've witness and caused. Anymore death on my hands only added to that. Despite conquering my darkness in Alola, I didn't know if I could conquer the present horrors.

"Mira," I thought, but shook her out of my mind. Now was not a good time to get lost in grief. I had to keep a cool head, for all our sakes.

"Where's Clara?" I asked.

"They took her like twenty minutes ago," Robert explained. "Just down the tunnel somewhere."

My thoughts flashed back to Mira and the other trainers. "Let's go. Arcanine, sniff her out."

...

Clara backed up against the arena wall as the punk guy lay dead in the middle. Several of the cloaked figures leaned over him, carving something into his back. By now the tremors had ceased.

"Damn," Clara cursed as they closed in on her, each one holding a jagged knife. At least she didn't have anyone else to worry about but herself.

"One small advantage in a flood of disadvantages," she muttered, glaring at them. Then the gate exploded outwards, a cloud of dust filling half the area. All the cloaked figures stopped to look, knives dropping slightly.

Nothing emerged from the dust at first, but then there was a flicker of fire. The dust was scattered as a wave of heat blasted forwards. It slammed into several cloaked figures, blasting them backwards.

"So," Zeno said, standing next to his Arcanine as Alex and Robert walked up next to him, blood covering parts of his clothes. "This is where all of you were."

...

"It's him."

"The sacrifice."

"The Hero Born of Darkness."

I clenched my fists. "Yeah, it's me. Now, let Clara go and we'll be on our way."

"No," one of the cultists held out his arms, a knife in his right hand. "She must be sacrificed. The All-Powerful One wishes it!"

"Screw that," Clara ran into him from behind, knocking him forwards. She snatched his knife and swung it around. "Don't come any closer!"

I saw the cultist's cloak move. "Clara! Get away from him!"

"What?" Clara glanced down, just in time for the man to throw a Dusk Ball. A Chandelure floated out, ghostly flames dancing. She ran just as the Ghost type unleashed a burst of fire.

"Arcanine!" I yelled, throwing my hand out. He ran forwards, shoving aside the cloaked figures. He cleared a path for Clara before engaging Chandelure. Both blasted Flamethrowers at each other, stray embers setting cloaks on fire.

Once Clara grabbed her stuff, we began backing away from the Cultists, who had scattered from the two Pokemon. Lampents flew around the room, blasting fire. If it wasn't for Alex's Ninetales blocking the fire, things would be much worse. The cavern began shaking, Lunatone starting up another earthquake.

There were too many things happening now, it was complete chaos.

A chill crept down my spine. I could feel a presence, laughing, drinking in this chaos.

"I am everywhere," a whisper. "Chaos is everywhere."

Suddenly, a glow surrounded us all, lifting us into the air. I looked to see Lunatone's eyes glowing.

I held out my pokeball. "Arcanine, return!"

He was sucked back into his pokeball with a flash of red light just as we hit the ceiling. Or rather, we went right through it. Everything was pitch black and cold. Then, we erupted onto the beach just outside of Ambrette Town.

I fell on the sand, blinking at the harsh sunlight. I heard a rumbling and looked at the cliff. It cracked and part of it collapsed in on itself. The rock formation that had looked thin broke and collapsed to the sand to our left.

"AUGH!" Clara screamed in rage, getting to her feet. "DAMN PEOPLE!"

"YOU!" she whirled in my direction. "I heard what they were saying about you! You were the one they wanted, don't deny it!"

I just stared at her.

Her face was tight with anger. "I'm done. I'm done travelling with you people. First my Pokemon were stolen by Team Radiance, then we ran into Team Flare. Now this! You're bad luck! People around you get hurt! Killed!"

She pointed at the blood staining my shirt. "That blood isn't yours, is it?"

I didn't say anything, but my eyes betrayed me.

"Yeah," Clara backed up. "I thought so. Goodbye, all of you. I hope we never see each other again."

She stalked off in the direction of Cyllage City, slightly limping.

We just sat there, watching her leave. Alex and Robert didn't say anything, so I spoke.

"She's right," I said. "First Kanto, then Alola, now Kalos. Death stalks around me, waiting for prey."

"Don't," Alex stood, grasping my hand. "Don't hurt yourself. You can't control any of that. Besides, you've changed. You saved hundreds, no thousands of lives. You are... were the Hero Born of Darkness. That's why I'm sure you'll stop this Cult of Chaos."

Robert clasped his hand on my shoulder. "We're right here, by your side, no matter what happens."

I gripped my hands, squeezing my eyes shut. Then, I let myself breathe.

I got up, dusting sand off my arms. "Alright then. We'll stop this cult."

I gripped a fist. "And I'll do so, becoming the Hero Born of Darkness once more."

My homework was lighter this week, so I've found time to write this. The next update for this will be about another week since I'll be focusing on TMR this weekend. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, which honestly isn't much. Till next time. Toodles