Hey all. Changed the name a bit. Didn't like the test name. Things get a bit testy, that's okay. Hope everyone's enjoying this so far!
Ch 2
Morning brought news from The Under of a mysterious beast that would roam the wilds at night and attack towns and people. It had been rampaging the Orre region for several weeks but this had been the first the creature was spotted heading into a city to hunt down a particular person. The victim managed to escape, but was badly injured and was unable to comment on the creature's looks. Seth frowned as Rui watched the television, munching on an apple for breakfast. He had gotten soup and was propped up with pillows after finishing it.
"That sounds familiar." Rui remarked, looking back at him, "What do you think, Wes? Is that the thing that attacked you?" He shrugged, then winced at the motion, a majority of the injuries were to his back and shoulders. She sighed and picked up the ruined clothing, resuming work on patching and sewing them up. "What could it be then? A Shadow Pokémon that we might have overlooked, perhaps?" she asked as she started on the left sleeve of the jacket, the more heavily damaged of the sleeves.
"It can't be. I stole every single Pokémon Cipher used in creating the Shadow Pokémon, and I stole every single one back." Seth told her firmly, "When Team Snagem said I was the best Snagger they had, they meant it!"
"Weren't there others?" Rui asked, cocking her head in confusion.
"Of course, but they didn't have as high a Snag record as I did." Seth replied and winced as Jupiter leaped up onto the sofa and nuzzled his cheek, the Espeon had been the more badly injured of the twins, but recovered quickly with the use of its Morning Sun ability. "Jupiter! Come on, I'm bedridden here! Go play outside with Pluto or something!" he exclaimed between laughs as it proceeded to lick at his cheek. Rui smiled and eyed her work carefully. The sleeve looked good as new, so she moved on to the main body of the jacket. Jupiter leaped off and headed off to find its brother, a cheerful look on its face.
"Did you snag Jupiter and Pluto too?" Rui asked after finishing work on the jacket and moving on to the shirt.
"Yes and no. I stole the eggs they came in when I was a young thief working for Team Snagem. I raised them up from that. I was kind of surprised to find that the eggs were twins and Eevees at that." Seth replied evasively, "They evolved into Espeon and Umbreon on the same day; Jupiter in the morning and Pluto sometime in the evening after a bit of a jealousy issue."
Eagun stepped in to check on the two and grinned brightly upon seeing Seth up and talking. A drastic change from the night before, the boy was healing far more quickly than he had thought. It was a good sign, but at the same time, it was strangely worrisome. He was wearing a spare over-shirt that had been his son's, Rui's father, to keep Rui from being a constant shade of pink and to protect the bandages that nearly covered Seth's whole body.
"Good morning, Grandpa!" Rui greeted brightly. Eagun nodded at her and studied the trainer.
"Good morning, Rui, Wes. How are you feeling?" he replied. Seth rolled his eyes briefly as he got up and tossed the blanket aside.
"I give. If you want to keep calling me that, fine. I don't care." he grumbled, "And I'm feeling better, thanks." Rui picked up the clothes and smiled at him.
"These have to get washed first, before you can use them again." she remarked, "I'll see if Elenore at the Day Care Center has some spare clothes for you. Be right back!" She hurried off with the jacket and shirt in her arms. Seth watched her leave, then picked up the Snag Machine and a cloth, carefully polishing it and looking for damage.
"Wes, can you describe what it was that attacked you? Can you remember anything more about what happened?" Eagun asked, sitting in a chair opposite the young man. Seth hesitated in his cleaning, then resumed the circular motions.
"I was two days into the training. Third day, a sandstorm brews and I take cover in a cave. I hear something moving and..." he closed his eyes and sat back, struggling to recall what had happened. "It moved so fast. It was huge, but it moved like lightning. I was on the floor, and there was a burning down my back, like claws that had raked down it. Something closed over my waist." Seth shook his head and glared at the machine in his hands. "I felt hot air, breaths being taken, something like jaws clamping down around my waist. I was being lifted up, the ground pulled away. Then there was bright light and I was dropped. Fire, something screamed, and then darkness. I don't remember anything else."
"This thing that attacked you tried to eat you?" Eagun asked in quiet horror. Seth shook his head and finished examining the machine, deciding it was still in good condition.
"I don't think so. If it wanted to devour me, it wouldn't have bothered restraining its power. The jaws that grabbed me were trying not to dig in too hard." he answered, "I think, more than anything, it was trying to take me somewhere."
Rui skipped along the hills and slopes, beaming. Wes was back, whether or not it was his name she would still call him that, and he was staying with her. Of course, he hadn't actually said he was going to do that, but in his condition, he would need an able girl like her around to help him stay safe and healthy. Her bag swung beside her, the clean clothes she had borrowed stowed safely within and the jacket and shirt back at her grandparents' home, hanging on a line to dry. She poked her head into the house and called out a cheery hello. Eagun looked up and smiled.
"Ah, Rui, you just missed him. He's upstairs. Do be careful around him, I believe he suffered a bit of a fright from that strange creature that attacked him." he told her. Rui cocked her head in confusion.
"A fright? I've never seen Wes afraid..." she trailed as she suddenly remembered the first time they had taken the UFO in The Under up to the windmill in Pyrite. He had suddenly stiffened and backed up against her, eyes closed tightly. He'd done the same in the elevators of Realgam Tower. The thought of his being afraid of the heights hadn't occurred to her, she had just taken each opportunity as a chance to sneak her arms around him and rest her cheek on his back.
"Okay, Grandpa. I'll be careful." she finished and ran up the stairs, "Wes! I've got some fresh clothes for you!"
She found him in his room, looking out the window at the town. He had probably watched her skip up to the house. She blushed and shook her head. Well, that's what she gets for not thinking of what he was capable of doing. Putting on a smile, she knocked and he turned to raise an eyebrow at her.
"Look what I got!" Rui declared and dumped a pile of clothing onto the bed, "Ellie had a lot of old clothes from her grandsons and said you could have some! Isn't she the best?" Wes picked up a shirt and studied the cowboy pattern, then turned a blank stare at her. Rui faltered and went still, caught in the gaze again. "It's... all... she... had..." she whispered and blinked when he returned to picking through the clothes again. Did he have any idea what his eyes did to her? Probably, it might explain why he did it so much.
"I'll work with it. Thanks." Wes muttered, the tone insinuating her immediate absence. She hurried out and heard the click of a lock in place. What, like she was going to try to barge in on him as soon as he started changing?
Well, it had been a thought...
Rui contented with using the PDA left on the coffee table to contact the kids in The Under for news on what had happened with the monster in Pyrite. The response came in the form of a photo attachment. Captain Sherles had been the victim of the attack. Confused further by the news, she headed upstairs again to report it to Wes, and to see if he was done changing.
"Wes! News!" she called through the door.
"I'm not coming out until you change that way of thinking!"
"What?!"
"I said I'm not coming out! You keep calling me the wrong name!"
"Are you wearing the shirt with the rabbit print?!"
"Go away!"
She decided to wait a little longer for him.
Seth picked through the pile on the bed, other clothes strewn about the room. So far he had chucked the cowboy print into the far corner the second Rui had stepped out. There were several checkered prints of various colors. Those were sent flying one after another upon consideration of the coloring and his image. The rabbit print made him shudder, and Rui's question of if he were wearing it didn't help. That joined the cowboy print. He pulled out a simple blue shirt, a deep royal color that appealed to him. Seth checked the size and sighed. It was a size too small. Shrugging, then wincing, he pulled it on and checked the mirror. It was a bit more snug than he would have liked, but it was the best he could do in his situation. Sighing, he unlocked the door and returned to the mirror for one last look at himself, grabbing up the Snag Machine and reattaching it to his arm as he did. The door opened slowly behind him; he heard Rui trying to be quiet doing so but, as usual, failing miserably at it. He hid a smile. Seth waited for her to say something about the mess he had made, but she was unusually quiet this time. He looked back at her, eyebrow raised. Rui was staring at him, face a slight shade of red. He ignored it, picking up the small jar of zinc oxide and applying a strip across his face. He set it down and walked to the door, expecting Rui to step aside for him as she usually did.
"Mmph." Rui muttered in a muffled voice. Seth frowned slightly and turned his eyes heavenward. She hadn't moved, winding up with her face planted in his chest as he tried to walk out.
"Rui, what are you doing?" he sighed with an exasperated shake of his head. She stumbled backwards, her face a deeper red.
"I'm s-sorry! I didn't know you were going out!" she stammered, looking incredibly embarrassed and guilty, "That shirt looked hot... I mean great! I mean, it's good!" She stopped abruptly when he placed his fingers lightly over her mouth and stared straight into her eyes.
"I think it would be best if you stopped talking now." he told her slowly, "We can both forget this happened and save you a little face later on." Seth pulled away and walked on down the stairs, leaving her confused and still a bit red-faced.
Rui caught up with him as he was heading into the kitchen, clutching the PDA in her hands. She hadn't remembered to tell him the news she learned until after he had left her behind. Wes stopped at the stove and looked back at her in suspicion as he readied it for cooking.
"The Under sent word that Sherles was the victim in Pyrite Town. The strange monster attacked him." she told him.
"When?" he asked, setting a pan out and dumping strips of meat into it for cooking. Rui blinked and checked the mail.
"Um, yesterday evening." she answered, "Nett says they don't know why he was attacked, just that he was pretty badly injured and had claw marks on his back." He looked back at her with a frown as he added other ingredients to the dish.
"Sounds like the same thing that came after me. Any word on what else it did to him?" Wes asked. She shook her head and he resumed cooking. "I'll look into it later." he murmured and held out a plate of freshly fried bacon and eggs, "Here." Startled, Rui took the plate and watched him serve himself a portion and dig in hungrily. A toaster spat out a pair of freshly toasted slices of bread and he deftly plucked one free, tossed it to her, then used the other to mop up the juices on his plate. Rui always was stunned by how quickly and how much Wes could eat in one sitting. He looked so thin at times, but days of watching him showed he still had a decent build on him.
"Where does it all go?" she asked as he popped the last of the toast into his mouth and set the dishes away in the washer. Wes made a disgruntled noise and glared at her. She figured that would annoy him, but it was still a mystery to her. He would eat enough to fill a grown man, but it never added to his physique. Maybe he was immune to fat?
"The desert preys on those with thick flesh, the sun can kill them with their own stores, and the animals find them to be the slowest prey." he replied cryptically and headed outside, making sure to bring the visor down over his eyes. Rui looked blank, then gobbled her food quickly to join him.
"Wait! Where are we going?!" she cried.
"Didn't I just get through telling you to stay here?" Wes grumbled as he went around to the line and collected the clothes hanging there. They weren't completely dry yet, so he folded and stashed them under an arm. Rui nearly choked on the piece of bread still in her mouth. He was wearing the Snag Machine! The red and black device rested on his shoulder and forearm, connected by a thick red cable that twisted around the length of his arm. Because it was a little on the heavy side, Wes normally wore it over the jacket sleeve to protect his arm from scrapes and burns as it shifted on him. On the plus side, wearing it made his left arm stronger.
"Wes! You can't wear that without the jacket to protect you! Your arm is still badly burned!" Rui cried, tagging after him as he whistled for the twins and walked on to the bike.
"Here we go again." he grumbled under his breath, "Rui, I'm fine. I'm not going to die from wearing the machine." Jupiter and Pluto fell in step beside him. "I'm going to Pyrite to investigate the attack and see what the creature was that is causing all this ruckus." he told her and tossed the clothes into the sidecar with the twins. Rui put on her most sorrowful face and looked up at him pleadingly.
"Pleeeease! Take me with you! I can help! I'll keep you away from dark caves and stuff!" she begged.
"Rui, will you just...?" Wes started to say as he climbed onto the bike and hissed in pain. The Snag Machine had shifted and dug into the wounds on his back. Rui yelped and reached up to readjust it, easing the pain.
"I'll change the bandages for you. You can't do that alone." she pointed out softly.
"Fine." Wes conceded at last and held out a pair of Poké Balls, "Sorry, guys. In the balls." Jupiter and Pluto whined as they were enveloped in the energy fields from the two devices and vanished in bursts of light. Rui smiled brightly as she hopped into the car. "Just try not to get carried away with your 'healing touch'." he added as he started the ignition and drove off to the south.
Pyrite Town was known for the honorable scoundrels and rouges that inhabited the area. So of course Seth was greatly welcome there. It only served to make him a touch more sour than usual. Fateena waved to catch their attentions as the two walked towards Duking's house. Rui tugged lightly on his arm and headed to her. Rolling his eyes, Seth followed. He wasn't one to rely on the words of a fortune-teller to find his way through life. He paved his own path with blood, sweat, and tears, though a lot heavier on the first two than the last.
"Hello, Madame Fateen!" Rui greeted cheerfully, giving her a polite bow. The old woman smiled warmly at her, then watched with a neutral expression as Seth walked up to them. "Have you heard what happened to Captain Sherles? Wasn't it just awful?"
"I know of it. The beast dropped him once it saw he did not have what its masters sought." she replied and crooked a wrinkled finger at Seth, "Come here, young man, and let Fateen tell you of your path." He took a step closer, unwilling to just follow her instructions. "I can see that the creature came for you, too."
"What gave it away, I wonder?" Seth muttered, holding up the bandaged Snagging arm mockingly. Fateen shook her head.
"It will come again for you, where rivers run from dry beds. An enemy you thought to be gone shall rise again on silver wings, and the light will be the blade to strike the beast asunder!" she decreed in a loud and powerful voice, "You would do well to plan your attacks carefully, Wesley." He curled a lip back at the name. Some fortune-teller, she didn't even know what his real name was.
"Whatever. Let's go, Rui." he grumbled and stalked away. She hurriedly thanked the woman and chased after him. "Waste of time and money."
"Wes, maybe we should listen to her. She's been right about a lot of things before." Rui suggested as they knocked on Duking's door. He gave her a look to shut her up and looked down at the small boy that opened the door for them.
"Oh, hi, Wes and Rui! Come on in and meet with Secc! She's waiting for you!" he cried and pulled him in by the hand. Seth allowed himself to be led about, Rui tagging after. Taken into the secret room by the boy, Seth and Rui met with the founder of the Kids Grid, Secc.
"Oh, hey there! I'm glad you came! We have some additional information for you...!" the brunette remarked as she saw them. She took in the bandages on Seth and gasped, "What happened to you?! Did that shadow monster get you, too?!" Seth nodded. "How strange, that it attacked you and Capt. Sherles only." she wondered aloud, "It's like it was chasing down people with gray hair. It nearly went after Silva, but he used a Manetric's Flash ability to drive it away. That thing really doesn't like light."
"It doesn't?" Seth murmured, "Then that's why it dropped me in the cave. One of my Pokémon must have used Sunny Day or some other move to create a light. The shadow beast fled from it." Rui clapped her hands together and looked at him.
"That's it! 'The light will be the blade to strike the beast asunder!' Fateena knew that light will destroy the shadow monster!" she declared.
"We're trying to find out what it is and where it came from. Nett said he would get more information on it when he can. In the meantime, Wes, I'd hide somewhere if I were you." Secc pointed out, "So be careful and good luck."
Rui thought over the information as she and Wes walked back to the speeder bike. The prophetic words of Fateen ran around in her head as Wes reached into the side car and pulled out the dried clothing. She focused on trying to figure out the meaning of the words as he quickly changed back into the black shirt and blue jacket, slinging the Snag Machine back onto his arm at the end of it and wincing slightly as it jabbed the bandages in back.
"What could the evil with silver wings be?" Rui wondered aloud and looked over at him. He shrugged, winced again, and climbed onto the bike again. She mentally kicked herself for missing seeing him strip off the blue t-shirt, then climbed into the sidecar. "'Where rivers run from dry beds, it will come again for you.' Wes! The monster is going to come after you again in a place that has rivers in dry beds!" she cried as he drove off towards the desert.
"I know. That's good." he replied, flicking the visor down over his eyes. She stared up at him. "I want to get another shot at that thing. For revenge, you understand."
"But what about what Fateen said?!" Rui wailed.
"Rui, look, we're going to Agate Village. You get to work on keeping tabs with the Grid on what info comes in. I'll work on getting ready to fight that monster again." Wes replied over the noise of the heat-pipes. Rui sighed and sat back, worried. Then she brightened, an idea striking her.
"Wes! Turn back! I want to go to The Under!" she shouted. He looked at her in confusion, parted lips the only clue she had to his expression. "Trust me on this! Go back!"
"This better be worth it." he grumbled as he leaned aside and spun the bike around to zip back towards Pyrite's general direction.
The Under wasn't exactly one of Seth's most favorite places. Lady Venus, a Cipher Admin, had ruled there once. He wasn't impressed with her temper tantrums when she lost to him, twice. Her battle, though harder than Seth had thought it would have been, was lost, and he snagged her Suicune, which now sat purified and content in the confines of the PC database.
He cringed as they boarded the UFO to cross the gap from the Under Colosseum to the rest of the city. After the initial ride to the Deep, he had gotten the idea that he was still very high up in the air. He hated heights, but not any heights, though. He hated extreme heights, the ones that people warned him would make him get vertigo if he looked down; the ones that, when he did look, he would feel the overwhelming urge to just close his eyes and fall forward, ending his existance and that of the Snag Machine.
This was that type of height; the one that made him contemplate the ending of his own miserable life, but the fall would take so long...
Seth gasped slightly, stepping back and stiffening at the idea of himself falling and falling. Rui was trying her cuddling act again. It helped to distract him from the image so he focused on her arms hugging him from behind. The UFO stopped gently on the other side and he pulled away in a rush, then caught himself and walked off as if nothing had happened. Rui sighed behind him and tagged after as he headed for Nett's house, the place that she had whined she needed to visit so badly.
"I'll wait out here and stock up on some things." Seth told her, "You finish your business and meet me at the elevator."
"The UFO's faster. I can help you get over your fear of heights." Rui pointed out and squeaked when he glared at her. She rushed into the house and he stormed away. How did she find out about that? Who had told her?! It was a fact that he had been able to keep secret from even Gonzap, his former boss.
"Stupid, lousy..." he growled under his breath, but didn't finish. He didn't know what to focus the anger on, so he just held it in and let it simmer until it finally died out on him. He made his way to the vending machine on the second level. A soda would cool his head and no doubt the twins would love a can of lemonade each.
Seth returned with a loaded pack and begrudgingly walked to the UFO after entering the appropriate disk to activate it. It took them across and again, he refused to move or open his eyes to the chasm below him. He didn't spend years under Gonzap's eye and thumb, not to mention a few beatings here and there, just to turn into a quivering mass of jelly at anything higher than four stories. Whatever it was that Rui wanted so badly had better have been worth the wretched images in his mind's eye.
--
Agate Village's serenely scenic views were almost welcome to him now. Parking the speeder in a safe spot, he stalked towards the Relic Forest, Rui tagging after him all the way. He looked back at her in irritation.
"Will you leave me alone?" he growled, "I have things to do and I don't need you around to do them." Rui stopped and looked hurt. Seth turned forward to avoid her seeing the same expression on his own. He hated doing that to her, but the sooner she got the idea that she was going to be cut loose, the better. The lands beyond Orre, the ones known as Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn, the lands Team Snagem would have killed to have access to, were filled with wild Pokémon. They were far different than the barren, desolate wasteland he lived in, a region where criminals ruled. Even though Cipher and Snagem were gone, other syndicates were growing, seeking to claim the throne they left. Rui would eventually move on to those other lands, the safer, life-filled lands. He would remain here, and the desert would take him the same way it bore him, alone and unknown.
It seemed fitting.
"I had things to do, too. So, okay. I'll see you at dinner?" Rui asked quietly, hopefully.
"Maybe." Seth muttered, walking into the forest. Rui sighed and ran off.
She sat in her room, turning the two small chips over in her hands. Nett had put them together after listening to her story. Her fears of losing Wes to the shadow beast drove her to finding a way to track him if he ever went missing. Nett told her firmly that the first tracking chip should be placed on the Snag Machine, the second on Wes directly in case anything happened to the portable snagger device. Getting the Snag Machine away from him long enough to plant the chip would be akin to having an act of God granted on the spot; however, getting the chip on Wes may be a little easier.
Rui quickly unclasped the band she wore around her neck and unhooked the tiny moon charm that dangled from it. She was good at making jewelry, they weren't exactly stellar, but she made do with bits of wire and other materials. The moon charm was one such bit of insulated wire, bent several times to look like a solid piece of metal. She worked it around the chip, fashioning an interesting design to disguise the tracker. Clipping it back onto the band, she eyed it critically. Yes, it would do. Now she had to figure out how to get him to wear it and keep it on.
Running to the Relic Forest, she kept her eyes open for Wes. He could sit on any of the myriad trees and boulders in the forest beneath Agate, and he often did, gazing out at the green foliage with a strange mix of agitation, apprehension and respect on his face. Now she only heard the lilting and captivating notes of the Time Flute.
"The Relic Stone." Rui murmured and ran to the relic in a meadow not far from her current spot. She sighed wistfully as she spotted him. Wes sat on the stone, how he got up there to begin with was beyond her, playing the flute. He had his eyes closed, he always closed them when playing, and the twin Eons on the stone podium danced about happily. Several other Pokemon, the few wild ones left in Orre that considered the Relic Forest to be the safe haven of the region, came out of hiding carefully, watching Wes for any movements and letting the music dictate their own motions. Amid the bright sunlight and the rainbow of Pokémon, he seemed to be the dark spot in the center, a black hole that drew in all the emotions of fear, distrust, and hatred from them to himself. It was almost as if, through the music of the Time Flute, he was trying to purify all the Pokémon in the area, not from having hearts closed artificially, but from having them sealed away from people that would truly care for them and love them because of fear of Team Snagem and others like them.
The music faded as she walked carefully up to him and Wes looked down at her, bringing the visor down to cover his eyes. She was both relieved and disappointed by that. The Pokémon that drifted towards Wes now melted back into the forest, waiting for another chance to hear the music and to learn to trust humans again.
"Wes, I made something for you." she remarked brightly, holding up the necklace in her hands. Wes jumped down from the stone and cocked his head, studying the offering. "It's something I made and I want you to have it." she added. He took the band and studied the round chip criss-crossed with yellow wire in some dizzying pattern. "Need help putting it on?" she asked hopefully.
"I think I can handle it. Thanks." Wes murmured and, after a moment of hesitation, clasped it around his own neck. Rui looked relieved, she had thought he wouldn't buy the story but now he was on the Kids Grid mapping interface, tracked by Nett's mini GPS system through Cipher's old satellites. In addition to the tracking chips, Nett had given her a PDA of her own, with the function to follow the signal emitted by the chips.
"Okay, I'll see you later then!" Rui chirped and skittered away.
Seth walked up the gentle slopes towards Eagun's home, noting the evening lights being put out in windows to light up the village. Again, he regarded the odd charm on his new necklace with suspicion. The design was simple, yet it made him think of those blasted chasms he hated, and he couldn't get over the feeling that Rui had been up to something. She was all too eager to give it to him and then run away like that. Was she finally getting the idea that he wasn't worth the trouble she would get into by tagging after him? The thought was oddly depressing.
He rolled the flute in his hands, the curled end that bent the notes and made them eerie and beautiful, the long silvery shaft with its delicately engraved symbols. At times, Seth would study them and the more he stared at them, the more he was convinced that he could almost read the symbols and find out what the legend was behind the Time Flute and the tiny Pokémon known as Celebi. Senilor had said that playing the flute would summon Celebi and the flute would shatter once it came, but there were several of these flutes scattered around the world. Seth had found two of them in Orre. The first, given to him by Vander on Mt. Battle, he had used to summon Celebi and purify the Entei he now had on his team. When it shattered in his hands, he felt a sense of loss that quickly disappeared. He couldn't afford to be soft in Orre. The desert would ruthlessly destroy him if he ever turned soft-hearted.
Seth had seemed to know the proper song for the Time Flute almost the moment he held the instrument in his hands. It had unnerved him the first time, but he eventually got to pushing the feeling out of his mind. The second flute he found in Pyrite's windmill, of all places, and remained with him to this day. He learned new tunes out of experimentation, but never played Celebi's Summon again. The idea of losing the only flute he had left was not pleasant. He put the flute away.
He moved his arm and tested his shoulders, grinning in pleasure at the fact that they no longer ached and stung. The injuries must have either healed or he had become accustomed to the pain. He believed the latter reason more. Gonzap's beatings trained him to accept pain as an everyday evil, especially if he did something wrong. He didn't become the best Snagger out of loyalty to the gang or for the 'wondrous perks'. He did it to keep his skin on his back, what little there was left after some nine odd years of work with them. Seth calculated the time in his head as he reached the house. He had been seven when he was thrust, rather unceremoniously, into Gonzap's hands, five years later he became a Snagger for them after they received the machines, four more and he blew out the base after they tried to take Jupiter and Pluto from him, one since the end of Cipher and Snagem; he was seventeen now.
He felt like he was forty.
"I could retire now, you know that?" Seth remarked to the twins walking with him. They looked up at him and cocked their heads. "But then I'd be bored out of my mind." he added and entered the house.
"Wes! We're having beef stew!" Rui declared and leaped at him for a crushing hug the moment he stepped into the little house. The sudden rush caught him off guard and, before he could stop himself, Seth had stepped out of 'the line of fire', held out his arm and caught her across the chin, knocking her head back on her neck as he spun to kick her aside. She looked dazed for a moment as she lay sprawled on the floor, then burst into wailing tears.
"Rui!" Seth cried in shock and cringed. What an idiot he was, to stay with this innocent girl for so long! He still had no control over his body when years of conditioning kicked in. The very thing that kept him alive for so long now hurt the one person that dared to attach herself to him of her own free will. Eagun and Beluh rushed in to see what had happened as he bent to help her and check her for injuries.
A bruise was forming on her chin and side where he had lashed out, but nothing as devastating as the tears running down her face. Seth held his hands a short distance from her as he watched her, too afraid of his own reflexes to touch her. He murmured apologies over and over as the elderly couple helped her to her feet and led her away. He let them go on without him and leaned against the wall heavily. The twins had jumped at the attack and were in a readied stance not far from him. They had been waiting for a signal to join in, but upon seeing that danger had passed, relaxed and looked to him for an explanation.
Seth glared down at his hands, clenching them tightly into fists that bit into his palms. He hated himself at that moment, hated who he was, what he was, where he came from and what he did. That attack, that 'self-defense', he had used. It was only because of some still conscious part of his mind altering his movements that Rui survived it. Normally, the blows he had dished out would have crippled a person, if it didn't kill them outright from a broken neck. He had moved his arm to follow her head movement, cushioning the impact; used the sole of his boot, not the side, to kick her, spreading the force of the attack over a wider area; all in attempts to get her away without seriously hurting her.
Except he hadn't been able to cushion the emotional damage.
The Eons jumped at the sudden slamming of bone on wood and stared at Seth, who had spun and punched the wall with all his strength. The sharp pain felt oddly pleasant, deserving. He pulled away and studied the bloody mark left on the wall from his right hand. Now was a good time to leave. He whistled to the twins and left the house.
Few noticed the speeder make an unusually quiet exit from Agate Village, fewer still noted the path it made to the southeast, towards the abandoned Shadow Pokémon Laboratory, the Realgam Tower, and Phenac City.
