DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon or any characters from the show or game.
Nor do I wish them harm.
"Keegan must be trying to tell us something about Ariel in this game, but what?" Madelyn said ignoring the scene between Morigan and Damon. "Florence, any ideas?"
My aunt shrugged, "There was nothing strange about her except her death."
Yeah, Trinidad catching her when she was running away, I thought sourly just before Madelyn's face brightened, revealing another discovery.
"Trinidad said she was running for her life, remember?" she exclaimed.
Julian nodded and his face mirrored Madelyn's, "So we figure out what she was running from and we win."
"Not quite." Said a too familiar voice behind us. I spun to see Keegan with two large lean men at his side.
One stood around six foot eight with sickly yellow skin. His head was shave so close there wasn't an ounce of hair on his scaly head. His eyes were green with yellow rings and slits like a cat's. He wore plain shoes, form fitting black pants and muscle shirt.
The other had shaggy black hair almost to the point you couldn't see his pale skin. The hair on his head went down past his back in massive tangles. His eyes were a familiar amber color.. like Julian's wolf's. Like the other man, he wore all black.
It was then looking at them I realized that this was the Lurker and Creeper.
"You may have figured out what to be looking for but you won't win." Keegan told us. "Now that you know I can stop being easy on you."
"Easy? You call sicking zombies on us easy?" Joan exclaimed, "That's just plain low."
Keegan shrugged, "Now when did your opinion matter to me?"
Joan's jaw dropped as Madelyn stepped in.
"Okay, we're up for the challenge. What's our clue?" she told him.
Keegan seemed to think about that one and then smiled viciously. Bad sign, very bad.
"There is someone at that pub of yours that wishes to speak to you." He told us. "But there's a price for speaking with him."
"What price?" Julian asked taking up a defensive position in front of Madelyn. I followed his lead and moved in front of Morigan and Moria. Damon and Stefan both protected Elena and Joan.
Keegan flashed us an eerie smile, "The price is chosen by him, and only him." He chuckled, "He's waiting for you."
"Gee, letting someone dictate the rules of your game?" Joan said snidely, "How weak."
The Lurker growled at her menacingly. Keegan laid a gentle hand on his shoulder and he relaxed.
Keegan then addressed us again, "You better hurry, he won't be there for long." Then he and his guardians vanished.
Joan, Madelyn, Julian, Damon and I dashed out of the door without another word.
The sign outside said the pub was closed but the door was open inviting us to enter. Inside the ever-present music was missing and a single figure sat at the pub.
The figure was vaguely feminine underneath the red-black cloak but also masculine. The bartender stood in front of the figure and handed them glasses of bottled water then carefully watched them down the glass.
"It isn't nice to stare." A voice hissed sending shivers down my spine. A voice that was old as time and just as evil.
"So Keegan brought one of our own kind as a clue." Julian said with disdain.
"He brought me to reveal something to you." It replied, "That is, if you can pay my price."
"What's your price?" Julian demanded with a disgruntled sigh.
"My price is nothing much, just a little gesture on your part." The thing told us, "What I want is someone to teach me to play the game of Pocket Monsters."
Did he just say he wanted to learn how to play Pokemon?
Everyone's jaw dropped and Madelyn giggled a tiny bit.
"Keegan has shown everyone the game and we would like to know all the possible monster battles." It continued to tell us, "The game has become extremely popular."
"So you, would like to know, all the pokemons' names?" Madelyn asked stifling her laughter with great difficulty.
The thing seemed to nod as I tried my hardest not to laugh or smile. A demon wants to learn how to play Pokemon, what a trip!
The bartender appeared with a sheet of paper and a pen then left without a word.
"I don't know all of the names and types but I can research it on the Internet for you." Madelyn said as she wrote off a series of names. "I should have it by tomorrow or sooner."
"The ones you know will be enough." It replied, "We grow tired of killing Pikachu and Tentacruel everyday."
"I never was a big Pika fan." Joan commented casually, "There's only a certain amount of times you want to see Team Rocket get electrocuted."
The Shadow man chuckled, "Add this Team Rocket and description to your list. I would like to see this amusing sight."
Julian groaned as I walked away.
I tapped a vase as I passed tables and then ran my fingers over the stage. I noticed someone following my movements from the deep shadows and stopped to look at them.
"You look so like your mother, Angela Taliesin." Said the bartender from the shadows. "The same blue eyes, same flaxen hair. She wore all white as well."
I cocked my head intrigued. He knew my mother? How? When?
"Ariel was truly her namesake, ethereal. A beauty amongst beasts. A light in the darkness." The man sighed, "I was very upset when she died. She was truly an angel among men."
As he left, I began to think of the woman who gave me life. I had seen picture after picture. Heard story after another of her. But with these few and heartfelt words, I felt closer to my mother than ever before.
How I wish I could have met her, I thought sadly as arms gently wrapped around me. I turned and inhaled Damon's scent, a mixture between the leather of his jacket and expensive cologne. I felt myself relax in his loose yet secure embrace.
And then he had to ruin it.
"You're weakening."
I pushed him away and punched his arm hard enough to make him take a step back. He chuckled and rubbed his arm as we returned to the group.
"What did we find out?" Damon asked as the Shadow man faded away.
"The shadow men like Pokemon." Joan replied wryly.
"And they know Ariel." Julian added with joy. "He said they pulled the same trick on her as I did with Jenny."
I must have looked confused because Joan explained the whole story about Jenny and Julian.
Julian saw the chick, fell in love, lured her into another world and tried to capture her and her friends in this creepy house. To make a long story short, she won and Julian died. Only to be resurrected by Madelyn and fall in love with her.
How romantic.
"He told us that Ariel was defeated in such a game but he didn't reveal what happened when she did lose." Madelyn told me. "Just some vague comment about an honor she had."
I rolled my eyes as Damon asked, "So what's the next clue?"
"I spy something dead." Julian replied with a smirk.
"Not very original, is he?" Damon asked as we left the pub.
"He is such a dud" Joan snapped as we hopped into the car. "He says he's going to be harder on us and here we are getting the same old easy clues.
If only we knew. If only.
"Keegan must be trying to tell us something about Ariel in this game, but what?" Madelyn said ignoring the scene between Morigan and Damon. "Florence, any ideas?"
My aunt shrugged, "There was nothing strange about her except her death."
Yeah, Trinidad catching her when she was running away, I thought sourly just before Madelyn's face brightened, revealing another discovery.
"Trinidad said she was running for her life, remember?" she exclaimed.
Julian nodded and his face mirrored Madelyn's, "So we figure out what she was running from and we win."
"Not quite." Said a too familiar voice behind us. I spun to see Keegan with two large lean men at his side.
One stood around six foot eight with sickly yellow skin. His head was shave so close there wasn't an ounce of hair on his scaly head. His eyes were green with yellow rings and slits like a cat's. He wore plain shoes, form fitting black pants and muscle shirt.
The other had shaggy black hair almost to the point you couldn't see his pale skin. The hair on his head went down past his back in massive tangles. His eyes were a familiar amber color.. like Julian's wolf's. Like the other man, he wore all black.
It was then looking at them I realized that this was the Lurker and Creeper.
"You may have figured out what to be looking for but you won't win." Keegan told us. "Now that you know I can stop being easy on you."
"Easy? You call sicking zombies on us easy?" Joan exclaimed, "That's just plain low."
Keegan shrugged, "Now when did your opinion matter to me?"
Joan's jaw dropped as Madelyn stepped in.
"Okay, we're up for the challenge. What's our clue?" she told him.
Keegan seemed to think about that one and then smiled viciously. Bad sign, very bad.
"There is someone at that pub of yours that wishes to speak to you." He told us. "But there's a price for speaking with him."
"What price?" Julian asked taking up a defensive position in front of Madelyn. I followed his lead and moved in front of Morigan and Moria. Damon and Stefan both protected Elena and Joan.
Keegan flashed us an eerie smile, "The price is chosen by him, and only him." He chuckled, "He's waiting for you."
"Gee, letting someone dictate the rules of your game?" Joan said snidely, "How weak."
The Lurker growled at her menacingly. Keegan laid a gentle hand on his shoulder and he relaxed.
Keegan then addressed us again, "You better hurry, he won't be there for long." Then he and his guardians vanished.
Joan, Madelyn, Julian, Damon and I dashed out of the door without another word.
The sign outside said the pub was closed but the door was open inviting us to enter. Inside the ever-present music was missing and a single figure sat at the pub.
The figure was vaguely feminine underneath the red-black cloak but also masculine. The bartender stood in front of the figure and handed them glasses of bottled water then carefully watched them down the glass.
"It isn't nice to stare." A voice hissed sending shivers down my spine. A voice that was old as time and just as evil.
"So Keegan brought one of our own kind as a clue." Julian said with disdain.
"He brought me to reveal something to you." It replied, "That is, if you can pay my price."
"What's your price?" Julian demanded with a disgruntled sigh.
"My price is nothing much, just a little gesture on your part." The thing told us, "What I want is someone to teach me to play the game of Pocket Monsters."
Did he just say he wanted to learn how to play Pokemon?
Everyone's jaw dropped and Madelyn giggled a tiny bit.
"Keegan has shown everyone the game and we would like to know all the possible monster battles." It continued to tell us, "The game has become extremely popular."
"So you, would like to know, all the pokemons' names?" Madelyn asked stifling her laughter with great difficulty.
The thing seemed to nod as I tried my hardest not to laugh or smile. A demon wants to learn how to play Pokemon, what a trip!
The bartender appeared with a sheet of paper and a pen then left without a word.
"I don't know all of the names and types but I can research it on the Internet for you." Madelyn said as she wrote off a series of names. "I should have it by tomorrow or sooner."
"The ones you know will be enough." It replied, "We grow tired of killing Pikachu and Tentacruel everyday."
"I never was a big Pika fan." Joan commented casually, "There's only a certain amount of times you want to see Team Rocket get electrocuted."
The Shadow man chuckled, "Add this Team Rocket and description to your list. I would like to see this amusing sight."
Julian groaned as I walked away.
I tapped a vase as I passed tables and then ran my fingers over the stage. I noticed someone following my movements from the deep shadows and stopped to look at them.
"You look so like your mother, Angela Taliesin." Said the bartender from the shadows. "The same blue eyes, same flaxen hair. She wore all white as well."
I cocked my head intrigued. He knew my mother? How? When?
"Ariel was truly her namesake, ethereal. A beauty amongst beasts. A light in the darkness." The man sighed, "I was very upset when she died. She was truly an angel among men."
As he left, I began to think of the woman who gave me life. I had seen picture after picture. Heard story after another of her. But with these few and heartfelt words, I felt closer to my mother than ever before.
How I wish I could have met her, I thought sadly as arms gently wrapped around me. I turned and inhaled Damon's scent, a mixture between the leather of his jacket and expensive cologne. I felt myself relax in his loose yet secure embrace.
And then he had to ruin it.
"You're weakening."
I pushed him away and punched his arm hard enough to make him take a step back. He chuckled and rubbed his arm as we returned to the group.
"What did we find out?" Damon asked as the Shadow man faded away.
"The shadow men like Pokemon." Joan replied wryly.
"And they know Ariel." Julian added with joy. "He said they pulled the same trick on her as I did with Jenny."
I must have looked confused because Joan explained the whole story about Jenny and Julian.
Julian saw the chick, fell in love, lured her into another world and tried to capture her and her friends in this creepy house. To make a long story short, she won and Julian died. Only to be resurrected by Madelyn and fall in love with her.
How romantic.
"He told us that Ariel was defeated in such a game but he didn't reveal what happened when she did lose." Madelyn told me. "Just some vague comment about an honor she had."
I rolled my eyes as Damon asked, "So what's the next clue?"
"I spy something dead." Julian replied with a smirk.
"Not very original, is he?" Damon asked as we left the pub.
"He is such a dud" Joan snapped as we hopped into the car. "He says he's going to be harder on us and here we are getting the same old easy clues.
If only we knew. If only.