Hey guys! It's been a while, hasn't it? Yeah, I've been really busy with school stuff lately. But in about two week, I'll be taking on the final exam, and then I'll be pretty much done with all this school stuff. (Wish me luck, guys!)
Anyways, chapter 43! I wasn't entirely sure what was I going to do with this chapter, aside from showing how things were going after Samara had undone Erebos' curses. In the end, I guess this ended up focusing mostly on Stella, Bow, Samara and Malefica, with some focus on Chiaki for a bit. Malefica is fun to write for, at least. I hope it turned out okay!
So, as usual, I hope you're all enjoying the story so far, and if you have anything you'd like to say, whether it's your thoughts on the chapter or advice on how I can improve my writing, feel free to let me know! Here's chapter 43, hope you enjoy it!
Chapter 43: As I was casting my spell, I felt as if something was off…
The stars were shining brightly in the night sky. Together with the glow from the crystals placed in the makeshift lampposts, they provided light for the few Pokémon that were still up and about around Fenix Town at this time. Samara was floating to each of the glowing crystals, casting a spell on each of them while Stella and Bow watched. This was part of a protective charm she was putting on the town, in order to repel Erebos if he were to come close.
"Everyone in town can feel a bit safer once she finishes casting this spell," Stella commented, smiling as she observed her friend.
"I know I will!" Bow responded, giggling a little. "This town will be a no-Erebos zone!"
"Indeed," Stella replied, patting her daughter on the head.
As Samara continued working on the protective spell, Bow suddenly realized that Samara's apprentice, Malefica, was nowhere to be seen. Failing to see her anywhere around the shops that were closed for the night, she turned her gaze to the sky, hoping that the stars would show her the mischievous Misdreavus' current whereabouts. An image of a familiar wooden building briefly appeared in a vision.
"The rescue team HQ…?" Bow thought, blinking a few times. "Is that where she went?"
Bow decided to make her way over to the HQ, just to make sure that Malefica wasn't causing any mischief. However, when she got there, she noticed that the entrance was closed off.
"Oh, right…" Bow said, tilting her head slightly. "This place is closed for the night too… Malefica can probably phase right through the walls, though, so she may have been able to get inside…"
Not sure if there was any other way of getting inside, Bow decided to try something else. She closed her eyes, and the white bow-shaped feelers on her body began to glow as she tried to reach Malefica with her power.
"Malefica…? Can you hear me?" Bow tried to call out via telepathy. "You're not supposed to be in there!"
However, Bow's thoughts didn't seem to be reaching the Misdreavus, who was currently in Kala's office, curiously watching the sleeping Abra who was still in said office.
"Why are you giving me oranges…?" Kala muttered in her sleep.
"You should throw them at someone!" Malefica whispered into Kala's ear, giggling a little.
Kala made a grunting noise in her sleep, before slowly opening her eyes and glancing up at Malefica.
"… Do you have any idea what time it is?" Kala asked.
"Nope!" Malefica responded, grinning. "Do you?"
"Not really…" Kala replied, yawning. "However, I can tell that it's dark, which means that it is currently night. I can also tell that none of the rescue teams are around at the moment, meaning that no one should be around to disturb my sleep right now."
"Well, I'm here!" Malefica said, giggling. "Is that a problem?"
"Yes, yes it is," Kala responded, her half-open eyes beginning to glow green. "Get out."
Bow was still outside, unsure of how to get to Malefica. Suddenly, the young Misdreavus was sent flying through one of the walls, screaming as she was thrown a good distance away from the building before landing on the ground. Bow blinked a few times in confusion, before running over to where the Misdreavus landed. Malefica seemed unharmed, albeit a bit dazed from being sent flying that far.
"Whoa… That Abra is stronger than she looks," Malefica said, blinking a few times.
"Yeah, Kala is actually pretty tough," Bow responded, nodding her head slightly. "I've never actually seen her fight, but I think she's strong enough that she could probably evolve anytime she feels like it."
"Then why hasn't she evolved yet?" Malefica asked, tilting her body to the side slightly.
"I guess she just doesn't want to," Bow responded, shrugging slightly.
"Why not?" Malefica asked, hovering closer to Bow.
"Um… I'm not sure," Bow responded, holding a hand to her chin as she tried to remember if she had ever heard anything regarding why Kala didn't want to evolve.
"Evolving makes you more powerful," Malefica said, hovering in circles around Bow. "Who wouldn't want to be more powerful?"
"Well, all Pokémon grow and get stronger at different rates," Bow responded. "I guess some take longer to decide whether to evolve or not, once they meet the requirements and all that."
"I want to evolve as soon as I get a Dusk Stone!" Malefica said, grinning. "Then I'll be stronger and can have even more fun with my magic tricks!"
"Is that the only reason why you want to evolve?" Bow asked, tilting her head slightly.
"Why would I need any other reasons?" Malefica responded.
"Evolving changes your appearance too, you know," Bow replied. "And my mother says that some Pokémon may have certain parts of their personality change when they evolve!"
"Oh, is that so?" Malefica asked, floating upside-down next to Bow.
"Apparently," Bow responded, nodding her head slightly. "Plus, some Pokémon, particularly ones that evolve via certain items like you do, might be unable to learn certain moves if they evolve too soon!"
"If you say so," Malefica replied, sighing. "I guess even if I had a Dusk Stone, Samara wouldn't let me use it…"
"You've been learning a lot from Samara, haven't you?" Bow asked.
"I suppose," Malefica responded. "She's taught me some pretty neat stuff, but I also have to learn all this boring stuff as well…"
"Even if you don't find everything that interesting, it might be important to know for your future," Bow replied, holding a hand to her chin. "At least, I'd assume so…"
"What about you?" Malefica asked. "Don't you have to sit through a bunch of boring stuff in order to learn about the whole town oracle thing?"
"I don't really find it boring, to be honest!" Bow responded, smiling.
"Huh, really?" Malefica replied, blinking a few times. "There has to be something you find boring, but still have to sit through?"
"Not really," Bow responded, shaking her head. "I find it all really fascinating! I just wish I could remember some of the details better…"
"… You're kind of strange," Malefica replied, flying ahead of Bow.
"Oh, wait up!" Bow called out, running after the Misdreavus.
Once Samara had finished her protective spell, the night went by as it usually did and the Pokémon of Fenix Town could rest with no major concerns.
Another new day began, and everyone in the town plaza seemed to be in good spirits. Blitz and Chiaki spotted Mirage and her rescue team in front of the item shop, discussing which items to buy. Mirage seemed unsure if she wanted to spend any more money right away, but according to Cordyceps, the mushroom was insisting they buy more Heal Seeds while they were there. Chiaki was glad to see Cordyceps back to normal. Thanks to Samara's magic, there were now a few things less to worry about.
The curses Erebos had cast had been undone, and there was now a spell on the town that would keep Erebos away. Chiaki still wondered if Samara could help him as well, and hoped to get a chance to talk to her while she was still in town.
"Blitz! Chiaki!" Sera called out, running over to her two teammates. "Good morning!"
"Good morning, Sera," Blitz responded, smiling at her as she joined him and Chiaki.
"Hi Sera!" Chiaki said, waving at her. "Nice day, isn't it?"
"Sure is!" Sera responded, nodding her head. "So, what's the plan for today?"
"We don't know yet," Blitz replied. "However, I wanted to stop by the dojo before we head to the rescue team HQ."
"And I'd kind of like to talk to Samara," Chiaki said, smiling.
"To see if she can help you get your memories back, right?" Sera asked, smiling back at Chiaki.
"Uh-huh!" Chiaki responded, nodding his head. "Regardless of whether Erebos was the one who erased my memories or not, I think she might be able to help!"
"All right, sounds like we have a few stops to make before we head to the HQ," Blitz said.
"Shouldn't take too long to do those things, right?" Azure called out, running up to her teammates with Frederick following closely behind.
"Oh, good morning, Azure," Blitz said. "I guess you heard what we were talking about?"
"Of course I did!" Azure responded, grinning. "First the dojo, then Stella's house and then we head for the HQ?"
"Yes, I think that's all," Blitz replied, nodding his head.
"Well, let's get going then, shall we?" Azure responded, winking.
It was only a short walk to the dojo. Inside, Hercules and the other Pokémon working at the dojo were helping Pokémon from various rescue teams train like they usually did.
"Oh, hey there, Blitz!" Hercules said, smiling as he noticed the young Shinx and his teammates.
"Hello," Blitz responded, smiling back at his mentor. "I see you're already back to work."
"Yeah, I'm okay now," Hercules replied, nodding his head. "I figured I might as well get back to work right away."
"I see," Blitz responded, nodding his head slightly. "I'm glad you're okay now."
"Sorry for worrying you," Hercules replied, petting Blitz's head.
"Oh, you don't have to apologize or anything," Blitz responded. "You got cursed because you were trying to protect Stella, after all."
"Ah, right," Hercules replied.
"So, looks like everything is fine here," Blitz commented, looking around at some of the other Pokémon working at the dojo.
"Yes," Hercules responded, grinning. "The others have been doing a pretty good job during my absence."
"Of course they have!" Chiaki commented, nodding his head. "Everyone is always doing their best, aren't they?"
"I suppose," Hercules responded, chuckling a little.
"Are we done here now?" Azure asked, gently prodding Blitz with one her paws. "I'm just itching to go on an adventure, you know!"
"Oh? Where?" Frederick asked, turning his head in Azure's direction. "Is it a spot you can't reach?"
"Not that kind of itch, Frederick!" Azure responded, giggling and affectionately patting the young dragon's head. "It's just a figure of speech!"
"Oh," Frederick replied. "You don't need any help reaching it, then?"
"Azure is right; we should probably get going now," Blitz said, nodding his head slightly.
"Good luck on today's missions!" Hercules said, smiling at the group.
"Thanks," Blitz responded, smiling back at his mentor. "I'll be back for more training soon."
"Stop by anytime you and your teammates want!" Hercules replied, waving good-bye as Blitz and his teammates left the dojo.
The next stop was Stella's house, where Samara and her apprentice were currently staying. After another short walk, the five of them found themselves in front of Stella and Bow's house. Blitz cautiously approached the front door and looked inside.
"Um… Hello?" Blitz said, calling out to get the attention of the occupants of the house.
"Oh, hi there, Blitz!" Bow responded, running up to the door.
"Hey there, Bow," Blitz replied. "Can we come in? Chiaki has something he needs to speak to Samara about."
"Oh, of course you can!" Bow responded, smiling. "The town oracle's house is always open for whoever needs our guidance!"
"Thank you," Blitz replied, nodding his head slightly.
"Samara is upstairs, talking to mom about stuff," Bow explained. "Wait here; I'll go get them for you!"
Blitz, Sera, Chiaki, Azure and Frederick entered the house while Bow quickly headed up to the second floor to get her mother and Samara. Malefica was also in the room upstairs, resting in a corner. The other three Pokémon decided not to wake her up, and made their way downstairs to greet their guests.
"I had a feeling you would be coming here today," Stella said, smiling at the group. "Again, thank you all for accepting my mission yesterday and bringing Samara and Malefica here."
"Oh, but we're the ones who should be thanking you!" Blitz responded, looking up at Stella and Samara. "You two are doing your best to put an end to this crisis by helping locate the missing crystals and finding a way to stop Erebos."
"Yeah, we're sort of just doing what we can to help," Sera added, giggling a little.
"Every little bit counts," Samara said, nodding her head slightly. "It is thanks to our combined efforts that we've gotten this far, haven't we?"
"You mean because we're the ones who have retrieved four of the crystals so far?" Azure asked, grinning. "Yeah, I suppose we do deserve a bit of the credit there!"
"Anyways, as for why you are here…" Samara said, hovering over to Chiaki. "Stella has told me about you."
"Do you think you can help me get my memories back?" Chiaki asked, looking up at the Mismagius.
"Stella told me that she didn't sense any signs of mind manipulation when she examined you before," Samara responded, shaking her head. "I don't know if my magic can help you, but I can give it a try, if you want me to."
"Yes, please!" Chiaki replied, nodding his head. "I'm sure you can do it with your amazing magic!"
"All right then," Samara responded, touching Chiaki's forehead with one of her sleeve-like hands. "Close your eyes and I'll try a simple spell to see if we can jog your memory."
Chiaki nodded his head slightly, and closed his eyes as told. Samara then closed her eyes as well, and began chanting a spell…
After a few moments, Chiaki could no longer hear Samara's voice. He waited, but couldn't tell if anything was happening. Everything was completely silent. Chiaki wasn't sure if his eyes were still closed or not. Everything was dark. He tried to move, but for some reason his body felt stiff. He couldn't move at all. With nothing else he could do, he decided to just wait for something to happen.
"Samara's spell will probably start taking effect soon," Chiaki thought to himself. "I'll just wait… It's not so bad… I can wait… I don't mind waiting…"
For what felt like an eternity, nothing seemed to be happening at all. Chiaki didn't mind, however. He just kept waiting, and waiting…
"This is fine… Yes, I can just stay like this…" Chiaki thought to himself. "I'll just… I… I…"
Suddenly, Chiaki's thoughts were disturbed by the sound of thunder and pouring rain. He opened his eyes to find himself lying in the middle of a forest, his fur wet from the rain that continued to pour down from the cloudy skies above.
"This is… the mystery dungeon in Meridian Forest!" Chiaki thought, looking around at his surroundings. "Blitz and Sera… this is where I first met them… my friends…"
Chiaki was able to move again without difficulty, and sat up. He then stared down at his own paws, briefly baring his claws before retracting them again. He continued to stare down at his paws, seemingly unaware of everything else happening around him.
"This is me… who I am now…" Chiaki thought, sighing and closing his eyes. "But… I still don't know who I was before… the real me…"
Chiaki opened his eyes, staring up at the sky.
"… The real… me?" Chiaki thought, blinking a few times. "Who I was before… who I am now… which one is the real me?"
Chiaki put his paws over his ears, attempting to block out the sound of the rain. The forest around him was starting to fade away into darkness as he closed his eyes once more…
When Chiaki opened his eyes again, he found himself back in Stella's house. Samara was still hovering in front of him, quietly watching him. Chiaki glanced around to see his friends giving him concerned looks. Had Samara's spell failed? Chiaki had hoped that Samara's magic could help him remember at least a few more things about himself, but no new memories had resurfaced.
"… Well?" Samara asked, curiously looking over Chiaki.
"… I don't think it worked," Chiaki responded, shaking his head.
"… I see," Samara replied, sighing. "I'm sorry I couldn't help."
"But why didn't it work?" Chiaki asked, tilting his head slightly. "You were able to help everyone else with your magic, so why didn't it work this time?"
"I do not know," Samara responded, shaking her head. "The spell I just used is a simple spell for remembering dreams or small details, for example where you left a certain small item you just can't find as you are preparing to head out. It should also be sufficient to help remember any information that may have been blocked off by small amounts of mind manipulation, should such a thing have happened."
"Then… Maybe you should try a different spell?" Chiaki asked. "A stronger spell might work!"
"I don't think that would be wise," Samara responded, shaking her head.
"Why not?" Chiaki replied, looking rather confused.
"I'm not sure why, but… I get a strange feeling from you," Samara responded, staring down at the Mienfoo. "As I was casting my spell, I felt as if something was off…"
"What do you mean?" Stella asked, looking over at her friend. "I haven't felt anything unusual from Chiaki…"
"Are you sure about that?" Samara responded, meeting Stella's gaze.
Stella blinked a few times, holding a hand to her chin as she tried to remember if she had ever noticed anything unusual at all about Chiaki. As she thought back to when she first met the young Mienfoo and looked inside his mind, she realized that there was indeed something strange about what she saw back then.
"Chiaki… didn't have any memories from before Blitz and Sera found him," Stella said, looking over at Samara. "I couldn't find anything."
"I see," Samara responded, holding one of her sleeve-like hands to her chin. "That is indeed unusual… You should've been able to find at least traces of his memories, regardless of what may have caused his amnesia."
"Well, he's gotten some memories back," Azure commented, looking over at Chiaki and the other team members. "Isn't that right?"
"Ah, right," Sera added, smiling. "We were able to learn Elina's name because Chiaki remembered her!"
"… Who is this "Elina"?" Samara asked, tilting her head slightly.
"A friend of mine," Chiaki responded, smiling at Samara. "We were friends before I lost my memories too!"
"Ah… Is that so?" Samara replied.
"Yes!" Chiaki responded, nodding his head.
"I see…" Samara replied, looking away. "If that's the case, then…"
"Ooh, what's going on down here?" a high-pitched voice asked, and the others looked up to see that Malefica had woken up and was now floating down to join them. "What have I missed? Why are there so many Pokémon in here?"
"Good morning, Malefica!" Bow said, waving at the Misdreavus.
"Yeah, good morning, or whatever," Malefica responded, glancing over at Bow for a moment before turning back to the others. "Oh, you're the ones from yesterday!"
"We were trying to see if Samara could help Chiaki get his memories back," Sera explained, looking up at the Misdreavus.
"Ooh, really?" Malefica responded, giggling merrily. "Did it work? If not, can I try?"
"No and no," Samara replied, shaking her head. "I haven't even taught you any such spells yet!"
"Teach me now!" Malefica responded, playfully hovering around in the air. "And then I'll help the Mienfoo with his memories!"
"Malefica… is kind of scary…" Frederick muttered, trying to hide behind Azure.
"Well? Are you going to let me try?" Malefica asked, grinning.
"… The answer is still no," Samara responded, sighing.
"Okay, fine," Malefica replied, rolling her eyes. "I'll go find something else to do, then!"
Malefica started floating away, only for Stella to grab hold of her with telekinesis to prevent her from leaving the house.
"What? Hey!" Malefica shouted, trying to free herself from the psychic hold.
"Thank you, Stella," Samara said, before turning back to Chiaki and the others. "Anyways… I'm sorry I couldn't help you."
"It's okay," Chiaki responded, smiling at Samara. "At least you tried!"
"You're… not upset?" Samara asked, tilting her head slightly.
"Nah, I'm fine," Chiaki replied, still smiling. "I'm sure I'll get my memories back eventually!"
"If you… say so…" Samara responded, looking away with a concerned expression.
"Well, I guess that means we're done here!" Azure said, grinning. "Let's head to the rescue team HQ!"
"All right, let's get going," Blitz responded, nodding his head slightly.
"Good luck with today's missions!" Bow said, smiling at Blitz and the others.
"Thanks, Bow," Blitz responded, smiling back at the Gothorita. "Bye for now."
After Blitz and his friends had left, Samara began to gather up her things and turned her attention back to Stella.
"Well… I suppose I've done everything I could here for now," Samara said.
"Eh? We're heading home already?" Malefica asked, looking over at Samara.
"I need to get back to working on the spell to seal Erebos away once more," Samara responded, looking up at her apprentice.
"She's right, you know," Stella added, finally letting go of Malefica. "I wish you two could stay a little longer, but this isn't the time to relax. We need to do everything we can to make sure Erebos is stopped as soon as possible."
"Aw, okay, I guess…" Malefica responded, pouting.
"Don't be upset, Malefica," Bow said, smiling at the Misdreavus. "You two can come and visit again sometime after this is all over, right?"
"Ah, right!" Malefica replied, glancing over at Samara. "We can do that, right?"
"Of course," Samara responded, smiling and nodding her head slightly. "It will be something we can all look forward to."
"Yay!" Malefica replied, happily floating around in circles. "We'll have lots of fun in Fenix Town!"
"As long as you don't get into trouble," Samara said, smirking.
"Yeah, whatever," Malefica responded, hovering over to Bow. "So, see you later, I guess?"
"I guess so," Bow replied, nodding her head. "Let's play together again next time!"
"Okay!" Malefica responded, grinning.
"Keep me updated on the situation with the crystals," Samara said, looking over at Stella.
"Of course," Stella responded, nodding her head. "And you'll let me know how the sealing spell is coming along."
"Indeed," Samara replied, nodding her head. "I hope to finish it soon, but I still can't get it right. However, when I was helping remove Erebos' curses, I managed to get a better look at the dark aura when the spells were still active."
"Ah, right," Stella responded. "All you had to go on before was the plant sample I sent for you to analyze a while back."
"Yes," Samara replied, nodding her head again. "The ancient magic in that sample was enough to confirm that Erebos was indeed the one responsible for these strange events, but I hope I can use the new information I gathered here to complete the spell."
"I know you can do it, Samara," Stella responded, smiling at her.
"I have a question!" Bow said, raising her hand.
"What is it?" Samara responded, looking over at the young Gothorita.
"Once you seal Erebos up again, what will you do with him after that?" Bow asked, tilting her head slightly.
"Ah, you don't need to be concerned about that," Samara responded. "I will not leave anything up to chance. I will make sure that Erebos can never return to cause more chaos again."
"… Okay," Bow replied, nodding her head slightly.
Samara gathered up the rest of her things, and began floating towards the door.
"Well, I suppose I'll ask Kala to send me and Malefica back to Silver Woods now," Samara said, smiling at Stella. "Bye for now, Stella."
"Bye for now," Stella responded, nodding her head slightly.
"Bye-bye!" Malefica said, cheerfully hovering around in circles around Samara as they headed out the door.
"Good luck finishing the spell!" Bow said, waving good-bye at the two ghost-type Pokémon.
And so, the two ghost-types began making their way towards the rescue team HQ. Bow quietly hoped that Malefica wouldn't get into trouble with Kala again, but figured that Kala would just send them home as fast as possible so she could resume her nap like she usually did. That's just how Kala was, after all.
The rest of that day was pretty much just a regular day in Fenix Town. The rescue teams returned from their missions and received their rewards, some of them stopping by the café before heading home. As other Pokémon were going to sleep, Stella and Bow were watching the stars. While Stella was trying to seek answers from the stars regarding Chiaki and the location of the remaining crystals, Bow was thinking about how Samara said she would make absolutely sure that Erebos would never return once she had sealed him away. Just what did that entail?
She didn't like how it sounded, but surely it wasn't anything bad, right?
"I see it…" Stella muttered, staring intently at the stars.
"Oh?" Bow said, looking over at Stella. "See what? Is it a crystal?"
"Yes… A crystal hidden in a mystery dungeon…" Stella responded, holding a hand to her chin with a concerned look on her face. "However… if this mystery dungeon is the one I think it is…"
"… Is it a difficult one?" Bow asked, tilting her head slightly. "Even so, I'm sure one of the high-ranked rescue teams can handle it!"
"I hope so," Stella responded. "However, this particular mystery dungeon requires more than just strength…"
Bow focused as Stella explained just which mystery dungeon she had seen in her vision, and what made it so infamous among rescue teams…
End of chapter 43