Here's the third chapter, which I had a good time writing and decided to release early. From here on out, I will try to stick to 4-day updates if I can. I've also had a great time playing the game this story is inspired by - I still recommend it.
I'd like to thank everyone who has read this far. It means a lot to me that you're willing to give this tale a chance. And as always, if you want to talk to me on Discord about anything at all, the tag is Lucas the Lion#2967. Happy reading!
Current music: A Scar Is Born - Three Days Grace
The next thing I became aware of was still being in a heap. It was as though someone had pressed my body into a rectangular prism, even though the overall shape of an Eevee isn't conducive to that.
For a moment, I wondered if I was still dreaming, but I dismissed that suggestion right away. Sleep wasn't supposed to hurt this much.
"He's waking up, dude," a caustic voice announced unceremoniously. "We'd better put him under again."
"Nah" the other voice, this one sounding awfully familiar, replied. "He won't understand the true meaning of our doctrine if he isn't fully conscious. And our job is to convert the villagers of Fortuna, not to kill them."
"With all due respect, Falconi," the other voice said curtly, "it's clear that we have two different strategies for assimilating new sheep into our flock. Personally, I've always believed that fear keeps them loyal."
"If fear is what you require", Falconi replied, "then there's certainly plenty of it present. They already know that we can't be planning anything good if they refuse to join. What else is needed?"
The other voice grunted. It seemed he didn't have any good way to push back on Falconi's assertion. And then the conversation in front of me stopped, allowing me to hear my surroundings a little better.
Permeating the air was the sound of a motor vehicle's engine, which was in itself an anomaly for me. Most Pokémon didn't drive cars, let alone trucks, so it was rare to see one in the village. I'd certainly never been in one.
There's a first time for everything. It's just horribly unfortunate that my first time in a car has to be under these circumstances.
I then realized just how much my eyes were watering, and then the pain hit me. The sensation of one's tail being crushed is never pleasant, no matter how much of a masochist one may be. I tried to get up…
…and was immediately restrained by the belt over me. Of course, safety must come first, though I highly doubted my captors saw my well-being as paramount. If they had, they wouldn't have attacked my village.
I tried to scream, but there was something in my mouth; a gag! Perhaps they didn't want to listen to me wailing like a baby, demanding to be let out of this terribly uncomfortable position. Or maybe they wanted to make sure I didn't yell for help, not that anyone outside the vehicle would have heard me.
Whatever the case, at least the tape didn't go over my nose; I could still breathe. That was almost cold comfort, though, for if I'd fully processed the events that had occurred since the sirens had shaken me awake, I might not have been so relieved to continue drawing breath.
Okay. Let's take inventory here…
I had been rudely awoken by the sound of literal alarm bells ringing. Of course, the bells had served a purpose, but that didn't mean I liked not getting enough sleep. And I'd swiftly learned that the village was under attack.
I didn't want to tell you about it, because I didn't want you to worry just in case it didn't come to pass. My father had said those words to me, and I was worse off for it.
My parents had kept the truth from me for all these years. Okay, it might have only been a few months, but I might never know now. I'd be lucky if I even got to speak to them again.
They'd elected to stay and fight. They wouldn't abandon Fortuna until there was nothing left to abandon, and maybe not even then. Dear old Mom and Dad had been looking out for me, yes, but what they hadn't considered was that my life would be unlivable without them.
If I thought they might still be alive, I was kidding myself. They'd both given their lives for me, but it didn't make me feel loved. Rather, it made me feel further pressure.
I have to do what they would want me to do. But how do I know what they'd desire?
Perhaps I would have had a better idea if I'd been able to focus on any rational thought. In reality, my tail was still being crushed by the rest of my body, leading to an unspeakable level of agony.
Judging by the way the two Pokémon in front of me were chuckling with one another, though, I got the sense that far greater pain was headed my way.
And Teren…he's gone too. At least, he's going to be gone before long. He can't have been used to fighting - he was always too good for this world. That's what I kept thinking about him, and I was right!
But I couldn't dwell on that right now. I had to find any method of resistance, however futile it might be. I couldn't just sit here like a lost Wooloo, not knowing which way was up.
So I screamed again in an effort to be heard over the gag. The stupid thing made it impossible to chew through my seatbelt, a necessary action in order to jump out of the vehicle. Of course, leaping from a moving car isn't the safest thing to do, but I still preferred that outcome over wherever I was headed.
"I can't wait to get back to the HQ, Prince," Falconi told the Pokémon in the passenger seat (whose species I still couldn't make out.) From my current vantage point, I could see the Magmar grinning from ear to ear.
"Yep," Prince responded. "We'll be able to tell them that we have a new follower. He might not be a true believer yet, but that's about to change!"
No. I am never going to buy into their bullshit. They can bind and gag me all they want, but they won't be able to trick me into drinking their grape juice.
I also saw that the windows were blacked out. It was only natural, as despicable as the Fire Sanctuary's attack on Fortuna had been - they wouldn't want me to know what direction we were traveling in. Otherwise, I might be able to escape my new "home."
"He fell for the lamest trick in the book, too," Falconi said, barely able to suppress raucous laughter. "A mechanical Pikachu - that was a decision borne out of budget cuts! And he's still ensnared in it all!"
I could have beaten Falconi into a bloody pulp; of course, for obvious reasons, I didn't. But I had the will to do so.
"Man, it's a good thing there aren't any pesky humans to deal with!" Prince exclaimed. "It's like Arceus took pity on us Pokémon! That virus that came up half a century ago - it wiped them all off the map!"
"You're preaching to the choir, Prince," Falconi shot back playfully, steering the vehicle onto a different road. This one felt different somehow - less bumpy. Perhaps it had been paved.
In that case, we must be getting close to our destination, for better or worse.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, the engine's roar simmered off into a dull hum, which I could have used as a lullaby were I not so panicked. And soon enough, it ground to a halt.
"Here we are," Falconi said, licking his lips. "Altai Eevee, welcome to the Fire Sanctuary. This is your new home, so you'd better plan accordingly."
I sat there blankly, my eyes twitching, my stomach close to ejecting its contents through my mouth, both out of disgust and pain. My heart raced, pumping blood and adrenaline through my veins.
Prince turned around in his seat, revealing himself to be a short teal-green creature with fiery "hair" - a Quilava. And he grinned.
"There's the door. Now get the hell out," he said, opening his mouth to reveal perfectly white fangs.
The vehicle's door opened, revealing the light of high noon. This meant that if my math was correct, I'd probably been asleep for roughly six hours (not that I felt rested.) And, just like magic, my seatbelt unbuckled itself, enabling me to fall to the floor of the van.
Crushing my tail all over again, I tried to get to my paws. And that's when I processed just how stiff the rest of my body was from being in one position for so long. Everything felt scrunched up, my muscles still tense after the forced inactivity.
"What did I just tell you?" the Quilava snapped. "Get. Out. Of. The. Vehicle."
I'm trying!
Eventually, I was able to crawl through the door and fall to the ground. Right away, however, I found myself blinking like crazy to get my eyes adjusted to the new light.
This may have only been a function of the dark van, but my eyelids felt as though someone were taking a lighter to them. I could hardly see, and I kept shutting my eyes so that they didn't become strained. Even so, I was fighting a losing battle.
"Look around, Eevee!" Falconi instructed me. The Magmar was stretching his legs just outside the car, lunging forward as though he were preparing for a long run.
As Prince removed the gag from my mouth, I swung my head around so that I could get a better view of my surroundings. The sun was still pervasive over everything, but I was able to see something in the distance.
Of course, that "something" was an enormous building that looked rather like a warehouse. I'd never been to a factory, but if this building was a factory, it would have made perfect sense.
"Is that your compound?" I asked indignantly. Despite the anger present, it did feel good to hear the sound of my own voice again. I just wished it could have been under different circumstances.
Falconi nodded. "That's the headquarters for the Fire Sanctuary, and like I said, you'll be living here for the foreseeable future. You'd best not complain about it."
Truth be told, I couldn't think of a dwelling that would look less inviting. The warehouse was constructed out of what looked like metal, and the ceiling was at least fifty feet high. There's something cozy about smaller homes, which this warehouse absolutely lacked.
"Please explain why we're doing this," I instructed the Magmar in a tone I had rarely heard myself use.
Falconi looked back at me with a sort of angry smile, if that's even possible. "I'm afraid that would come under the heading of complaining, Eevee. It's wise to be more stoic about your new circumstances - it'll make things more pleasant for all of us."
If I'd even been considering further objection, the bit of flame Prince produced put any revolutionary thoughts of mine to rest. There was no way out, all because I'd been stupid enough to follow that Pikachu into the tavern.
Despite the stiffness in my joints, Falconi and Prince forced me to walk to the building without any support whatsoever. I didn't complain out loud, but make no mistake: I absolutely wanted to.
As we got closer to the warehouse, I could make out a few more details. For one, the structure was coated in a fine layer of dirt, and a series of cobwebs adorned the exterior. Additionally, a sign on the building's facade contained the image of a car, complete with headlights and taillights.
The sign's text was difficult to read, faded as it was by age and obvious neglect, but I thought I could make out the word FACTORY. That confirmed my earlier hunch that this building had once been used for manufacturing purposes, though those days were clearly long gone.
Anyway, once we reached the door to the warehouse, I was unceremoniously dumped inside. I mean this quite literally; the Quilava kicked me in the ass and I fell in a heap onto the ground.
Trying to suppress the pain somehow, I arched my neck upward so that I could see my new surroundings. In the midst of this, I was vaguely aware of Prince's sneering tone: "Welcome to the Fire Sanctuary, Eevee."
"Can you please call me by my given name, not just my species name?" I begged.
Right away, I regretted those words; it would hardly be likely to help ingratiate myself into the group. But then, did I truly want that?
No. These people are responsible for so much death and destruction. They don't deserve my forgiveness, let alone my friendship.
And yet, as I glanced around at the warehouse's interior, I found that there were dozens of Pokémon seated at various positions on the floor. A few were in circles, while others sat listlessly on the stairs leading up to a catwalk. There was even a Vaporeon seated in the middle of a car chassis, looking up at the ceiling as though praying.
Most of the Pokémon were relatively small in stature compared to my captors. For the most part, they consisted of Eeveelutions; in addition to the aforementioned Vaporeon, there were Glaceon, Espeon, Umbreon, and others.
My face flushed as I realized I was the only Eevee in the group. In other words, the only creature in the warehouse who hadn't yet evolved from their original form. That set me apart in a big way.
Luckily, my abrupt arrival didn't seem to have drawn too much attention. The Pokémon seated all over the warehouse were too busy conversing with one another to give me much notice. But I wasn't going to get complacent.
Sooner or later, one of them would have a reason to judge me for something. I was convinced of that. And then I'd become a pariah somehow, for some reason that I couldn't quite comprehend.
Don't worry too much about it. I'm the new guy, and that's how it always is with the newcomer. It's not indicative of what's coming - I hope.
Eventually I felt a tap on my left shoulder, and I shivered. Was it one of my captors once again, bent on psychologically torturing me until I told them what they wanted to hear?
Outwardly, I ignored the tap and kept looking up at the ceiling. But whoever it was just wouldn't quit. They kept stroking the fur on that part of my body, to the point where I was forced to turn and face them.
I was looking right into the eyes of a Leafeon, probably roughly my age. And for some reason, a twinge of emotional pain hit me in the chest.
"Uh, what do you want?" I asked, all that pent-up emotion from earlier forcing its way to the forefront. "I'm just trying to survive here."
"Oh…sorry," the Leafeon responded. "But I think you should know that they don't tolerate dissenters here. The language you used suggests that you wanted to dissent."
I frowned. "What are you talking about? I'm not going to dissent."
"You could've fooled me."
How cultish is this place? It's like, Arceus, the Leafeon could have been a little less overt about it! But using words like "dissent"...that sounds like a red flag to me!
"Okay, so who are you, if I may ask?" I said to the Leafeon. "And how did you get here?"
The Leafeon glanced at me as though he were looking at a dumpster on a hot summer day. And then he responded, but not before a long and awkward silence.
"Questions like those are dangerous, Eevee. The Fire Sanctuary is meant to be a sanctuary from our past. After all, the past will eat you alive."
"That's a great way to say nothing, but sound like you're saying something," I replied. "Don't you know what I've been through?"
"We've all had hard times, Eevee. That doesn't give you an excuse to bitch and moan about them all day."
"Please stop calling me Eevee," I instructed the Leafeon. "It's just so demeaning."
The Leafeon looked like he'd just been slapped across the face. "Well, what would you rather I called you? You haven't given me a name."
"Didn't you just say that names were dangerous?"
My "companion" appeared to be weighing the question carefully, but he eventually gave me an answer. It did, however, come in the form of a whisper.
"They can be. But if you promise to trust me no matter what, to make a blood pact of sorts…".
"Hold up. Blood pact?"
The Leafeon nodded. "If you stay here long enough, you'll become certified to perform that ritual, as well as others. I haven't been trained in setting up the bonfires, and only our leader gets to do the sacrifices, but -".
"Fine," I said, all my earlier bravado forgotten. The steely resolve I'd possessed earlier had vanished from my heart, to be replaced with timidity.
My companion narrowed his right eye. "What do you mean by fine?"
"I'll do the blood pact, as you call it," I replied. "Whatever you want. Just please tell me…what's your name? I'm Altai."
"Thormer. The name's Thormer" the Leafeon responded sheepishly, as though he were embarrassed to bear it.
"Nice name."
Thormer shrugged. "It is what it is. Now, in order to do the blood pact, I'll need to get a needle and -".
He never got to finish that sentence, for an extraordinarily cacophonous cattle bell rang throughout the cavernous warehouse at that very moment.
Although my stomach dropped to the middle of the planet at the sound, and my head felt fuzzy, I knew that something important was about to go down. Isn't that what a bell usually means?
The other Pokémon seemed to understand it too. They were all rapt to attention, getting to their feet like a military unit. Clearly, they took the bells just as seriously as I did.
"Attention to all members of the Fire Sanctuary" a disembodied, gruff voice announced. "Please follow the posted signs to the temple."
