To Melchior the Mewthree and company: *watches as the brawl takes place in the review box* .... O_o; Um... Those bloodstains will come out, right? This place is rented... ._.;
Anywho, thanks for the lovely review! ^_^ And there's no such thing as too many exclamation points... Unless you've done a whole row of 'em. ^_^;
To Tanya*Nonsutoppo/Tanya: *holds up a tissue* Don't worry. It'll get better. You'll see. ^_^
To Light Sneasel: It's good to hear from you again, buddy. ^_^
Anywho, you've looked deeper than some of the other reviewers, which is what I was aiming for. I can't (actually, shouldn't and wouldn't want to) answer some of the questions you've posed; as always, the answers are all up to the readers' interpretations. However, I compliment you on the way you were able to look at what I, as the narrator, was able to tell the audience to see a bit more of the picture in a different light. Hopefully, that makes sense to you and to anyone else who's reading this. ^_^;
To DarkCatXX: Well, okay. There's ONE question I can answer, and it's the one you asked. And it's a good one that I've been meaning to explain anyways. ^_^;
Anywho, I chose Meowth as Bill's dream form for two reasons. The first being that it was the closest thing to the white cats in Cat Soup, and my original vision for this story was to be a sort of Cat Soup idea in the Pokémon universe. (So, essentially, one reason why I turned Bill into a Meowth is so that he could become the Nyaata of the Pokémon world.) The second reason, however, is just because I thought it would be amusing to turn Bill into a character with the same voice actor. (Both Meowth and Bill are/were voiced by Maddie Blaustein.) I dunno. I get amusement out of the littlest of things. ^_^;
As for the title (which no one seemed to get), it's really just a reference to The Seven Nights' Star of Hope: Jirachii (aka The Wishing Star of Seven Nights), the sixth Pokémon movie. And I swear, I'll try not to stoop as low as to do something that corny again. ^_^;
And as for the first part of your review (the part where you hoped Bill would wake up soon)... You'll just have to wait and find out... ^_-
Explanations: I thought I had to clear things up a bit. ^_^;
1. I'm well aware that Ellie is too young to understand what the machines that are hooked up to Bill do. (She's only supposed to be seven or eight, mind you.) However, she constantly heard her father say that he thought it would be best if the doctors "pulled the plug on Bill." She thought it meant literally. =P
2. I'm surprised no one took it the wrong way when I had mentioned that Bill "wasn't used to being touched so innocently" when he was hugged by "Alice." I thought it would be interesting if someone took that as some odd sign that he had been through abuse or even rape, as one person took the ideas from the second episode of Alien Nine. (Yuri was scared of boys with aliens on their heads in that episode, and one reviewer took it as a sign that she had been raped in the past. ^_^;) However, I meant it as a sign that he WAS abused -- by his father. Whether it was physical or mental (or even, on a very sick and very dark level, sexual) abuse is up to your own interpretation. ^_- (Thought it would be amusing to bring that up.)
That said, enjoy this chapter! ^_^
---
Night Eight: Total Eclipse of the Heart
The shadowed figure stared up at the building with his dark green eyes. The wooden doors before him with their intricate carvings of runes and symbols were the only two things that stood between him and total control. Well, actually, two of three things...
"Nightmare!"
With an irritated glance, he looked back to see his feathered comrade land behind him. She ruffled her ebony coat as she looked at him in anger.
"My sisters are dead," she sneered. "The dreamer is strong when you made him seem weak. His will overpowered Enochlophobia and Agoraphobia before their battle began. I watched it all."
"What is your point, Ornithophobia?" Nightmare snapped. "Your sisters were weak."
"The Dreamer overcame them!" Ornithophobia hissed. "He'll overcome all of us, one by one until not one of us remain standing!""
Nightmare laughed and pushed open the doors.
"Silly little being," he said. "You worry about the impossible. I will become the dreamer, and we will do whatever we want. And the current Dreamer... He will fade away into nothingness."
Ornithophobia replied with a skeptical look as Nightmare walked inside, looking about the ornate, golden hall. All over the place, there were doors and corridors, all leading to something wonderful. The best memories and the happiest thoughts all resided within that very temple, enshrined like a million gods upon golden thrones.
"It's too bright," Nightmare commented as he held up his clawed, demonic hands.
Darkness flowed from his body, seeping into every corner and through every wall. Shadows tainted the sanctuary, making what was innocent and holy corrupted and dark. The shrines were vandalized.
"Much better," Nightmare murmured as he lowered his hands. "Come, Ornithophobia. We are looking for a pin among needles."
As the shadow glided through the temple, the bird queen gave an uncertain look to the outside before reluctantly following her master.
---
It had taken what seemed like hours to reach the Lotus Temple, and, as Bill stood breathlessly at the open, wooden doors, he stared in dismay at what he saw. The same green, dark, labyrinthine room he had been in when he entered this world.
"Don't tell me we're back where we started," Bill muttered with a groan.
Morpheus frowned. "No. We're not back where we started. We are in a different place. But..."
Bill looked up at the god. "But...?"
Morpheus' golden eyes glanced about the chamber. "No Lotus Temple I have ever entered appeared quite like yours. Something is wrong..."
A dark, cold feeling gripped Bill's heart. "What... What do you mean?"
Morpheus frowned. "Never mind. Our first priority is only to find the portal to the real world."
"Right," Bill responded with a nod before he glanced at the interior of the temple. "...But I haven't the faintest idea where that might be."
"The portal is something very precious to you," Morpheus told him. "Something that is irreplaceable. Something you need desperately."
"What?" Bill asked, listening to Morpheus closely.
The god smiled sheepishly. "I don't know."
A strange look graced Bill's face, twisting his feline features into an expression of a cross between confusion, frustration, and fear.
"The thing I speak of varies by person," Morpheus explained. "The reason why is because people vary in needs. However, you will be able to tell what it is you're missing as soon as you see it. As soon as right now, actually. What do you feel deep within your heart?"
Bill gave Morpheus a perplexed glance before shutting his cat eyes. Carefully, he searched deep within the darkness, trying to find the thing that Morpheus was referring to. He found nothing within him. Nothing except...
A space. A space deep inside him. Gingerly, he "felt" around its edges and into its interior, getting an idea of its depth. However, he didn't know what went in there. He knew something did, but what was another story. He didn't even know how long the hole was there -- how long he had gone about his way, oblivious to the growing space inside him.
"Well?"
At first, Bill didn't respond to the god's word. He only kept sensing in awe that thing that he had somehow overlooked for all this time. At last, he spoke.
"There's something missing, but I don't know what was there... or how long it's been gone," Bill said.
Then, as if his body acted on its own, Bill stepped forward, into the temple, going further and further into its dark depths as he explored that within himself.
"Morpheus, what was there?" Bill inquired.
Silence was all around him.
"Morpheus?"
He opened his eyes and glanced over his shoulder to see an empty space behind him.
Suddenly, the floor gave out beneath him. His hind paws betrayed him, and he plunged into the darkness below. A darkness as deep and unknown as anything else he ever knew...
---
His cat-like eyes opened up to find himself face-down in a world of dull light. Pain spread through his feline body, causing him to flinch just slightly before at last he turned over to lay on his back, moving his tail out of the way to make himself a bit more comfortable. He remained there with his eyes closed, doing absolutely nothing for the longest while. At last, he opened his eyes once more and stared at the ceiling of the room, noting that there was no portal through which he fell through, though he obviously fell when he came to this area.
"Where am I...?" he asked himself before pushing himself into a sitting position.
He looked about himself. He was in a hallway lit by dim lamps set every few feet in the ceiling. Doors lined the hallway, each one having a different number and a different color or made of a different material than the one next to it. And all of them stirred Bill's curiosity. What could be behind each door? A way out? Or something... else?
A cold fear settled within him, resting in his chest and landing as a hard knot in the pit of his stomach. He shivered at the ideas of what that "else" may be. A thousand terrors ran through his mind -- fantastic ideas of the worst of things, ranging from an aviary of raptor Pokémon to a trap that would keep him there forever. He trembled with anxiety as he slowly stood up and began his long walk down the hallway. He glanced from one side to the other, examining each door. Minutes flew by like a swarm of butterflies on the wind as he kept going, further and further into eternity. Still, he didn't touch so much as a doorknob for fear of what might be beyond it. To try to take his mind off of this odd thought, he took a deep breath and looked forward -- straight forward. The hall before him extended into a dot in oblivion.
"Morpheus...?" he murmured.
His voice echoed as a soft whisper against the silent walls of the hallway, but otherwise, no one responded. He was alone. With that thought clawing at his brain, he kept walking.
Curiosity soon got to him, and he walked to the right to stand in front of a wooden, blue door with seventeen in numbers of gold nailed to the door. Carefully, he reached up to the knob and turned it. It swung open rather easily, revealing a still room beyond it.
The room was as large as a cathedral and twice as somber. On the walls, covering them like wallpaper, were thousands upon thousands of index cards in neat columns. Each column rose up the wall like ivy --some marked with dark, ebony ink, most still blank. Bill stepped in and walked to a wall to read the headers of each card at eye level.
"Books I've read," he read aloud. He paused to raise his eyes up the tall column before continuing on to the next column and the one after that. And as he walked, he read each header, one by one. "Music I like... Pokémon I like... People I've met... Embarrassing moments... Things' I've done with my sisters..."
Here, he stopped, staring at the next header. He felt the color drain from his cheeks as his wide, feline eyes found themselves unable to look away. The words on the card burned into him like fire.
"...Sins I've committed."
Bill's eyes rose, traveling up the column as his heart filled with guilt. He couldn't remember doing much of this, and yet, it all seemed familiar. The crimes he had committed...
The last card marked in ebony ink was far too high for him to read, but he knew what it said. He just knew it. The reason was simply that it was the most basic sin he is guilty of.
"Denied the existence of god," he muttered to himself.
Bill had no use for god. He just didn't. Almost everything could be explained by science and logic, and the things that COULDN'T be explained could probably be defined by a science yet to be known. It was his philosophy, and he stuck by it. He purged himself of all belief in god, in Heaven, and in angels as well as in Hell, the devil, and demons. He didn't consider any of it to exist. In fact, the presence of Morpheus didn't even help him think about the existence of an afterlife; he simply thought that everything that had happened so far was plainly the result of his subconscious. Nothing more, nothing less.
Yet, deep in his heart, he had a streak of Christianity. He was born a Catholic and had attended church with his mother and sisters up until he was around ten years of age, the time when he denounced religion and went with atheism. However, it had been that streak of Christianity still within him that stabbed his heart and soul with the knife of culpability as his eyes remained glued to the cards on the wall.
He closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head before continuing on. However, the next cards weren't too promising either.
"Things I should do but don't. Things I shouldn't do. Mistakes I've made. Promises I've broken. Things I wish I did. Things I wish I didn't do..."
His paws froze to the ground as his eyes forced him to look at these columns. Dark brown irises clouded with a watery mist as he read the things on the cards, one by one. The people he lied to. The times he couldn't make it home for Christmas because he was busy. The incidents when his father and him had vicious rows because they couldn't see eye to eye. The moments he made Ellie cry because of that. He realized with a blunt horror that he hurt a lot of people. He had thought and hoped that he could do no wrong (intentionally), but here it all was. Every last fault he had, every last crime he intentionally committed against those around him. They were all there in plain, black ink. His true humanity.
He couldn't let it be so obvious! He... He had to get rid of those cards!
His claws shot out of his forepaws, and with an animalistic scream, he slashed at the wall, cutting the cards to the point where they were virtually unreadable. However, his blood ran cold when the damaged cards put them back together, dark ink glistening like snake fangs once more. Again, he screamed and slashed the cards, only to have them come back together yet again. The cycle continued twice more until Bill slumped down in defeat as his claws moved slowly down the wall and as tears rolled down his furry cheeks.
"I'm sorry," he sobbed. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry...! I'm sorry... I'm..."
Bill breathed in slowly, already tired by it all. He closed his eyes and rested a bit until he heard a small rattle behind him. His eyes shot open, and he slowly sat up and looked over his shoulder cautiously. There was nothing there. Nothing but a blank space.
Slowly, he rose to his hind paws and slinked towards the open door. Carefully, he stepped into the doorway and peered beyond it, looking down the way he came, then down the way he had yet to go. Just as his gaze went down the unknown path, a red door several feet away slammed shut. Curiosity and fear crawled into his heart, curled up, and slept with each other there. A thousand dark thoughts crossed his mind. There was something there, but what it was, he didn't know.
He hesitated for a moment, debating with himself about whether or not to go on. At last, he pushed himself forward, out the door with the note cards and down the hall to the red door. His eyes were fixed to it. He looked like a child staring at something he shouldn't touch, but he felt like a mortal facing the unknown depths of death.
At last, his furry paw lifted from his side and to the shining, gold knob. With another pause, he stood, frozen like that in a strange uncertainty. Then, slowly, he turned the knob and pushed the door open...
...Only to see another hallway.
But it wasn't exactly usual. Beyond the door, he saw a hallway identical to the one the rest of him still remained in. And several feet down this hallway, to the left, he saw a Meowth leaning through a threshold similar to the one he leaned through, peering into an unknown space. He was looking into a mirror image...
Suddenly, a shadow appeared at the far end of the hall. Swiftly, it made its way down the hall, gliding closer and closer to Bill. As he felt it glide past his tail, a shriek of terror ripped from his throat. With that, he slammed the door shut on the face of the shadow, creating a precious barrier between its terrifyingly green eyes and his own. He gasped for breath as his blood ran cold and as cold sweat began to soak his fur coat.
He heard the creaking of another set of hinges. His heart pounded in terror as he turned his head towards a door a few more feet down the hall. It was a green one that swung open without anyone to push it open. He stared at it in dread, expecting a demon of some sort to leap from it and attack him.
Moments -- precious, silent moments passed without a movement from any living creature in the hall (the doors included). Cautiously, Bill parted from the red door and made his way towards the green one. Slowly, he peered around it to gaze beyond the threshold.
There, before his eyes, was a grand garden. He pulled himself beyond the door to get a good look at its stone pathways and green grass. Its beds of unfamiliar (and familiar) flowers and rows of berry trees lay before him. All of it seemed so quiet and peaceful. He couldn't help but step beyond the entry, straight into the garden. He didn't notice as the door closed gently behind him.
The warm air enveloped him and pulled him forward. Aromas danced into his unseen nose, and a strange, soft feeling eased through his white fur and onto his soft skin. He dwelled in the beauty of it all.
As all his worries seemed to part his body, Bill meandered about the garden, gazing silently at all the foliage in his serene wonder. At last, he found himself ascending a grassy hill on which a Pomeg Berry tree grew. When he at last realized where he was standing, he glanced up at the grand tree and at the figure sitting in its shade.
She was a delicate girl in a white dress. Her skin appeared to be that of a china doll's: pale and smooth. Her eyes were an azure blue, and her hair was a raven black. She didn't look too old -- only about nine or ten. She glanced up at Bill with a white smile.
"If you get a few Pomeg Berries for me, we can divide it," she said. "I'm hungry, and I'm sure you are as well."
Come to think of it, Bill DID feel rather drained for an unknown reason. He figured he really DID feel hungry, even in this world, and so looked up at the tree. Far above them, among the green branches, four berries hung. Red in color and bell-shaped in general appearance, each one contained juices that would certainly delight the palate... if one could get past their hard exterior. But in any case, they certainly were a treat. In fact, Bill recalled spicy, bitter-sweet candies he used to have as a child made of those very berries. They weren't exactly PokéBlocks, though even Pokémon seemed to like them.
A strange sensation came over him at that moment as the smile ran from his face. He realized that his memories didn't seem as if they belonged to him. He felt as if he never was that little human boy... or human at all. The unreality of this absurd world was eating away at his mind...
But... Did it matter?
It was a dark thought, but it took over Bill's mind. An inappropriate feeling of apathy entered him; he didn't care whether or not he returned to his human form. It didn't seem to be important anymore.
With this, he ejected his Meowth claws and embedded them into the soft bark of the Pomeg Berry tree. Carefully, he climbed up the trunk, making his way closer and closer to the fruit of the tree. Within moments, in fact, he was at the branch and pulling himself along until at last, he reached the red crop. Charily, he used his claws to cut all four off. And just as cautiously, he made his way back to the trunk and down to solid ground next to the girl. Gratefully, she took two of the four (leaving two for Bill, as she promised) and began to eat in silence. Bill brought his share to his lips before a sudden fact came to mind.
Persephone.
He knew that, according to classical mythology, Persephone had been tricked into eating six seeds of a pomegranate, the fruit of the Underworld. As a result, she wound up being bound to the land of the dead, unable to come back to the land of the living except for one half of the year. And as Bill held the small fruit to his mouth, he stared at it in wonder. If he had eaten this, what would have happened?
"If I ate this, would I be trapped here?" he inquired aloud.
The girl polished off the first Pomeg Berry and stared at him strangely.
"Like Persephone," Bill explained. "Would I be stuck here, like Persephone had been stuck in the Underworld?"
The girl grinned as she brought the other Pomeg Berry to her lips.
"Why should it matter to you?" she asked. "Don't you want to spend the rest of your life here in paradise? Nothing has to matter here. You have no responsibilities. No worries. And most of all, no rules to be bound by. If you wanted to break a pesky law of science, then go ahead and do it. It's not like anyone would care."
She took a bite, chewed it, and swallowed thoughtfully.
"Then again, nobody cares about you anymore outside of here, either," she added.
Bill dropped the fruit he held gingerly in his paws. "What do you mean?"
The girl smiled sweetly. "Nobody cares about you in the real world anymore. Nobody comes to visit you. Nobody says anything about you. You're simply a forgotten body occupying the bed of someone else."
Bill felt something tug at his heart. It wouldn't be too surprising if that had been true, but... No. No, it couldn't be!
"I don't believe you," he said flatly. "I know now that there are people out there who care about me and who don't think of me as an alien being. No. I'm not alone."
With that, he stood up, placed both Pomeg Berries in the girl's lap, and began to walk down the hill. Suddenly, however, he heard a great screech. His head shot up, and he looked over his shoulder cautiously to see Ornithophobia rise from where the girl had been sitting just moments before. With another great screech, the sky filled with birds, all staring down at Bill with a strange, devious look upon their faces and in their beady eyes. Bill fell to his knees as he stared up at the feathered clouds far above him. He heard Ornithophobia's squawk, but it meant nothing to him as every bird swerved and pointed their beaks downward at him. Thousands of birds dove at an alarming rate, all headed straight towards him.
Suddenly, a shadow burst from the ground, and from the depths of it came a set of gray claws that sliced through most of the birds with ease. A rain of feathers fell upon Bill in a harmless display. He stared at the figure as it took the form of Morpheus with his back turned towards the Meowth. Effortlessly, Morpheus glided towards Ornithophobia and stared into her wide, red eyes. Quickly, one of Morpheus' gray hands shot from the folds of his robes and pierced through Ornithophobia. She gave a strange, strangled sound for a few moments before at last, she disappeared in a puff of smoke and feathers. With this, Bill felt as if a large weight had been taken off of him. A weak smile drew across his lips because of this.
"Don't smile yet," Morpheus muttered. "You have only a little bit further to go. Then comes a most difficult challenge. But, before that happens, I suppose we'll have to find what it is we're looking for, right?"
Bill gave a vague nod. Morpheus turned around and descended back down the hill to join his young companion.
A smirk drew across Morpheus' lips. "Well? Lead the way."
With another nod, Bill turned and began leading the god out of the garden. He had no idea what he was about to face.
---
"Please! Just leave him on for a few more days!" Rose pleaded with the doctor as the tube was drawn out of her son's mouth. "I'm sure he'll wake up!"
The doctor sighed. "I'm sorry, Mrs. McKenzie. It's been almost a full year since William was admitted here, and nothing seems to change. We've done everything we can. But don't worry. There's a possibility that William will come around due to the shock of not having life support. And even if he doesn't, the hospital will give you the money to carry out..."
He stopped in mid-sentence and glanced at the mother, who only stared at him with eyes brimming with tears. He hadn't seen her husband around; usually, Davis would be up at the hospital, trying to sign the papers that would allow the doctors to pull the plug on him (though his wife and daughters always interfered). But everyone in that unit knew that the family was falling to shambles, and everyone was taking bets that Davis had either divorced Rose at last or just left her altogether.
"I'm sorry," the doctor apologized before looking at the clipboard he carried. "There's nothing more we can do to help William."
With that, he turned away and walked out of the room before Rose could protest. She was left, all alone in the room with her only and dying son.
At last, she moved, but only to turn to the chair set up by his bed. She walked over, sat down, and stared with unseeing eyes at his young face. In a way, he looked like his father...
Carefully, her hands made its way over to his and gently lifted it, holding his hand between her own. She squeezed it as tears began rolling down her eyes. This was the last place she wanted to see one of her children -- on a hospital bed, slowly slipping away into the afterlife.
"William," she murmured softly as she cried.
She could have sworn she felt his hand move just then. Perhaps he wasn't too far from reality after all...
Anywho, thanks for the lovely review! ^_^ And there's no such thing as too many exclamation points... Unless you've done a whole row of 'em. ^_^;
To Tanya*Nonsutoppo/Tanya: *holds up a tissue* Don't worry. It'll get better. You'll see. ^_^
To Light Sneasel: It's good to hear from you again, buddy. ^_^
Anywho, you've looked deeper than some of the other reviewers, which is what I was aiming for. I can't (actually, shouldn't and wouldn't want to) answer some of the questions you've posed; as always, the answers are all up to the readers' interpretations. However, I compliment you on the way you were able to look at what I, as the narrator, was able to tell the audience to see a bit more of the picture in a different light. Hopefully, that makes sense to you and to anyone else who's reading this. ^_^;
To DarkCatXX: Well, okay. There's ONE question I can answer, and it's the one you asked. And it's a good one that I've been meaning to explain anyways. ^_^;
Anywho, I chose Meowth as Bill's dream form for two reasons. The first being that it was the closest thing to the white cats in Cat Soup, and my original vision for this story was to be a sort of Cat Soup idea in the Pokémon universe. (So, essentially, one reason why I turned Bill into a Meowth is so that he could become the Nyaata of the Pokémon world.) The second reason, however, is just because I thought it would be amusing to turn Bill into a character with the same voice actor. (Both Meowth and Bill are/were voiced by Maddie Blaustein.) I dunno. I get amusement out of the littlest of things. ^_^;
As for the title (which no one seemed to get), it's really just a reference to The Seven Nights' Star of Hope: Jirachii (aka The Wishing Star of Seven Nights), the sixth Pokémon movie. And I swear, I'll try not to stoop as low as to do something that corny again. ^_^;
And as for the first part of your review (the part where you hoped Bill would wake up soon)... You'll just have to wait and find out... ^_-
Explanations: I thought I had to clear things up a bit. ^_^;
1. I'm well aware that Ellie is too young to understand what the machines that are hooked up to Bill do. (She's only supposed to be seven or eight, mind you.) However, she constantly heard her father say that he thought it would be best if the doctors "pulled the plug on Bill." She thought it meant literally. =P
2. I'm surprised no one took it the wrong way when I had mentioned that Bill "wasn't used to being touched so innocently" when he was hugged by "Alice." I thought it would be interesting if someone took that as some odd sign that he had been through abuse or even rape, as one person took the ideas from the second episode of Alien Nine. (Yuri was scared of boys with aliens on their heads in that episode, and one reviewer took it as a sign that she had been raped in the past. ^_^;) However, I meant it as a sign that he WAS abused -- by his father. Whether it was physical or mental (or even, on a very sick and very dark level, sexual) abuse is up to your own interpretation. ^_- (Thought it would be amusing to bring that up.)
That said, enjoy this chapter! ^_^
---
Night Eight: Total Eclipse of the Heart
The shadowed figure stared up at the building with his dark green eyes. The wooden doors before him with their intricate carvings of runes and symbols were the only two things that stood between him and total control. Well, actually, two of three things...
"Nightmare!"
With an irritated glance, he looked back to see his feathered comrade land behind him. She ruffled her ebony coat as she looked at him in anger.
"My sisters are dead," she sneered. "The dreamer is strong when you made him seem weak. His will overpowered Enochlophobia and Agoraphobia before their battle began. I watched it all."
"What is your point, Ornithophobia?" Nightmare snapped. "Your sisters were weak."
"The Dreamer overcame them!" Ornithophobia hissed. "He'll overcome all of us, one by one until not one of us remain standing!""
Nightmare laughed and pushed open the doors.
"Silly little being," he said. "You worry about the impossible. I will become the dreamer, and we will do whatever we want. And the current Dreamer... He will fade away into nothingness."
Ornithophobia replied with a skeptical look as Nightmare walked inside, looking about the ornate, golden hall. All over the place, there were doors and corridors, all leading to something wonderful. The best memories and the happiest thoughts all resided within that very temple, enshrined like a million gods upon golden thrones.
"It's too bright," Nightmare commented as he held up his clawed, demonic hands.
Darkness flowed from his body, seeping into every corner and through every wall. Shadows tainted the sanctuary, making what was innocent and holy corrupted and dark. The shrines were vandalized.
"Much better," Nightmare murmured as he lowered his hands. "Come, Ornithophobia. We are looking for a pin among needles."
As the shadow glided through the temple, the bird queen gave an uncertain look to the outside before reluctantly following her master.
---
It had taken what seemed like hours to reach the Lotus Temple, and, as Bill stood breathlessly at the open, wooden doors, he stared in dismay at what he saw. The same green, dark, labyrinthine room he had been in when he entered this world.
"Don't tell me we're back where we started," Bill muttered with a groan.
Morpheus frowned. "No. We're not back where we started. We are in a different place. But..."
Bill looked up at the god. "But...?"
Morpheus' golden eyes glanced about the chamber. "No Lotus Temple I have ever entered appeared quite like yours. Something is wrong..."
A dark, cold feeling gripped Bill's heart. "What... What do you mean?"
Morpheus frowned. "Never mind. Our first priority is only to find the portal to the real world."
"Right," Bill responded with a nod before he glanced at the interior of the temple. "...But I haven't the faintest idea where that might be."
"The portal is something very precious to you," Morpheus told him. "Something that is irreplaceable. Something you need desperately."
"What?" Bill asked, listening to Morpheus closely.
The god smiled sheepishly. "I don't know."
A strange look graced Bill's face, twisting his feline features into an expression of a cross between confusion, frustration, and fear.
"The thing I speak of varies by person," Morpheus explained. "The reason why is because people vary in needs. However, you will be able to tell what it is you're missing as soon as you see it. As soon as right now, actually. What do you feel deep within your heart?"
Bill gave Morpheus a perplexed glance before shutting his cat eyes. Carefully, he searched deep within the darkness, trying to find the thing that Morpheus was referring to. He found nothing within him. Nothing except...
A space. A space deep inside him. Gingerly, he "felt" around its edges and into its interior, getting an idea of its depth. However, he didn't know what went in there. He knew something did, but what was another story. He didn't even know how long the hole was there -- how long he had gone about his way, oblivious to the growing space inside him.
"Well?"
At first, Bill didn't respond to the god's word. He only kept sensing in awe that thing that he had somehow overlooked for all this time. At last, he spoke.
"There's something missing, but I don't know what was there... or how long it's been gone," Bill said.
Then, as if his body acted on its own, Bill stepped forward, into the temple, going further and further into its dark depths as he explored that within himself.
"Morpheus, what was there?" Bill inquired.
Silence was all around him.
"Morpheus?"
He opened his eyes and glanced over his shoulder to see an empty space behind him.
Suddenly, the floor gave out beneath him. His hind paws betrayed him, and he plunged into the darkness below. A darkness as deep and unknown as anything else he ever knew...
---
His cat-like eyes opened up to find himself face-down in a world of dull light. Pain spread through his feline body, causing him to flinch just slightly before at last he turned over to lay on his back, moving his tail out of the way to make himself a bit more comfortable. He remained there with his eyes closed, doing absolutely nothing for the longest while. At last, he opened his eyes once more and stared at the ceiling of the room, noting that there was no portal through which he fell through, though he obviously fell when he came to this area.
"Where am I...?" he asked himself before pushing himself into a sitting position.
He looked about himself. He was in a hallway lit by dim lamps set every few feet in the ceiling. Doors lined the hallway, each one having a different number and a different color or made of a different material than the one next to it. And all of them stirred Bill's curiosity. What could be behind each door? A way out? Or something... else?
A cold fear settled within him, resting in his chest and landing as a hard knot in the pit of his stomach. He shivered at the ideas of what that "else" may be. A thousand terrors ran through his mind -- fantastic ideas of the worst of things, ranging from an aviary of raptor Pokémon to a trap that would keep him there forever. He trembled with anxiety as he slowly stood up and began his long walk down the hallway. He glanced from one side to the other, examining each door. Minutes flew by like a swarm of butterflies on the wind as he kept going, further and further into eternity. Still, he didn't touch so much as a doorknob for fear of what might be beyond it. To try to take his mind off of this odd thought, he took a deep breath and looked forward -- straight forward. The hall before him extended into a dot in oblivion.
"Morpheus...?" he murmured.
His voice echoed as a soft whisper against the silent walls of the hallway, but otherwise, no one responded. He was alone. With that thought clawing at his brain, he kept walking.
Curiosity soon got to him, and he walked to the right to stand in front of a wooden, blue door with seventeen in numbers of gold nailed to the door. Carefully, he reached up to the knob and turned it. It swung open rather easily, revealing a still room beyond it.
The room was as large as a cathedral and twice as somber. On the walls, covering them like wallpaper, were thousands upon thousands of index cards in neat columns. Each column rose up the wall like ivy --some marked with dark, ebony ink, most still blank. Bill stepped in and walked to a wall to read the headers of each card at eye level.
"Books I've read," he read aloud. He paused to raise his eyes up the tall column before continuing on to the next column and the one after that. And as he walked, he read each header, one by one. "Music I like... Pokémon I like... People I've met... Embarrassing moments... Things' I've done with my sisters..."
Here, he stopped, staring at the next header. He felt the color drain from his cheeks as his wide, feline eyes found themselves unable to look away. The words on the card burned into him like fire.
"...Sins I've committed."
Bill's eyes rose, traveling up the column as his heart filled with guilt. He couldn't remember doing much of this, and yet, it all seemed familiar. The crimes he had committed...
The last card marked in ebony ink was far too high for him to read, but he knew what it said. He just knew it. The reason was simply that it was the most basic sin he is guilty of.
"Denied the existence of god," he muttered to himself.
Bill had no use for god. He just didn't. Almost everything could be explained by science and logic, and the things that COULDN'T be explained could probably be defined by a science yet to be known. It was his philosophy, and he stuck by it. He purged himself of all belief in god, in Heaven, and in angels as well as in Hell, the devil, and demons. He didn't consider any of it to exist. In fact, the presence of Morpheus didn't even help him think about the existence of an afterlife; he simply thought that everything that had happened so far was plainly the result of his subconscious. Nothing more, nothing less.
Yet, deep in his heart, he had a streak of Christianity. He was born a Catholic and had attended church with his mother and sisters up until he was around ten years of age, the time when he denounced religion and went with atheism. However, it had been that streak of Christianity still within him that stabbed his heart and soul with the knife of culpability as his eyes remained glued to the cards on the wall.
He closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head before continuing on. However, the next cards weren't too promising either.
"Things I should do but don't. Things I shouldn't do. Mistakes I've made. Promises I've broken. Things I wish I did. Things I wish I didn't do..."
His paws froze to the ground as his eyes forced him to look at these columns. Dark brown irises clouded with a watery mist as he read the things on the cards, one by one. The people he lied to. The times he couldn't make it home for Christmas because he was busy. The incidents when his father and him had vicious rows because they couldn't see eye to eye. The moments he made Ellie cry because of that. He realized with a blunt horror that he hurt a lot of people. He had thought and hoped that he could do no wrong (intentionally), but here it all was. Every last fault he had, every last crime he intentionally committed against those around him. They were all there in plain, black ink. His true humanity.
He couldn't let it be so obvious! He... He had to get rid of those cards!
His claws shot out of his forepaws, and with an animalistic scream, he slashed at the wall, cutting the cards to the point where they were virtually unreadable. However, his blood ran cold when the damaged cards put them back together, dark ink glistening like snake fangs once more. Again, he screamed and slashed the cards, only to have them come back together yet again. The cycle continued twice more until Bill slumped down in defeat as his claws moved slowly down the wall and as tears rolled down his furry cheeks.
"I'm sorry," he sobbed. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry...! I'm sorry... I'm..."
Bill breathed in slowly, already tired by it all. He closed his eyes and rested a bit until he heard a small rattle behind him. His eyes shot open, and he slowly sat up and looked over his shoulder cautiously. There was nothing there. Nothing but a blank space.
Slowly, he rose to his hind paws and slinked towards the open door. Carefully, he stepped into the doorway and peered beyond it, looking down the way he came, then down the way he had yet to go. Just as his gaze went down the unknown path, a red door several feet away slammed shut. Curiosity and fear crawled into his heart, curled up, and slept with each other there. A thousand dark thoughts crossed his mind. There was something there, but what it was, he didn't know.
He hesitated for a moment, debating with himself about whether or not to go on. At last, he pushed himself forward, out the door with the note cards and down the hall to the red door. His eyes were fixed to it. He looked like a child staring at something he shouldn't touch, but he felt like a mortal facing the unknown depths of death.
At last, his furry paw lifted from his side and to the shining, gold knob. With another pause, he stood, frozen like that in a strange uncertainty. Then, slowly, he turned the knob and pushed the door open...
...Only to see another hallway.
But it wasn't exactly usual. Beyond the door, he saw a hallway identical to the one the rest of him still remained in. And several feet down this hallway, to the left, he saw a Meowth leaning through a threshold similar to the one he leaned through, peering into an unknown space. He was looking into a mirror image...
Suddenly, a shadow appeared at the far end of the hall. Swiftly, it made its way down the hall, gliding closer and closer to Bill. As he felt it glide past his tail, a shriek of terror ripped from his throat. With that, he slammed the door shut on the face of the shadow, creating a precious barrier between its terrifyingly green eyes and his own. He gasped for breath as his blood ran cold and as cold sweat began to soak his fur coat.
He heard the creaking of another set of hinges. His heart pounded in terror as he turned his head towards a door a few more feet down the hall. It was a green one that swung open without anyone to push it open. He stared at it in dread, expecting a demon of some sort to leap from it and attack him.
Moments -- precious, silent moments passed without a movement from any living creature in the hall (the doors included). Cautiously, Bill parted from the red door and made his way towards the green one. Slowly, he peered around it to gaze beyond the threshold.
There, before his eyes, was a grand garden. He pulled himself beyond the door to get a good look at its stone pathways and green grass. Its beds of unfamiliar (and familiar) flowers and rows of berry trees lay before him. All of it seemed so quiet and peaceful. He couldn't help but step beyond the entry, straight into the garden. He didn't notice as the door closed gently behind him.
The warm air enveloped him and pulled him forward. Aromas danced into his unseen nose, and a strange, soft feeling eased through his white fur and onto his soft skin. He dwelled in the beauty of it all.
As all his worries seemed to part his body, Bill meandered about the garden, gazing silently at all the foliage in his serene wonder. At last, he found himself ascending a grassy hill on which a Pomeg Berry tree grew. When he at last realized where he was standing, he glanced up at the grand tree and at the figure sitting in its shade.
She was a delicate girl in a white dress. Her skin appeared to be that of a china doll's: pale and smooth. Her eyes were an azure blue, and her hair was a raven black. She didn't look too old -- only about nine or ten. She glanced up at Bill with a white smile.
"If you get a few Pomeg Berries for me, we can divide it," she said. "I'm hungry, and I'm sure you are as well."
Come to think of it, Bill DID feel rather drained for an unknown reason. He figured he really DID feel hungry, even in this world, and so looked up at the tree. Far above them, among the green branches, four berries hung. Red in color and bell-shaped in general appearance, each one contained juices that would certainly delight the palate... if one could get past their hard exterior. But in any case, they certainly were a treat. In fact, Bill recalled spicy, bitter-sweet candies he used to have as a child made of those very berries. They weren't exactly PokéBlocks, though even Pokémon seemed to like them.
A strange sensation came over him at that moment as the smile ran from his face. He realized that his memories didn't seem as if they belonged to him. He felt as if he never was that little human boy... or human at all. The unreality of this absurd world was eating away at his mind...
But... Did it matter?
It was a dark thought, but it took over Bill's mind. An inappropriate feeling of apathy entered him; he didn't care whether or not he returned to his human form. It didn't seem to be important anymore.
With this, he ejected his Meowth claws and embedded them into the soft bark of the Pomeg Berry tree. Carefully, he climbed up the trunk, making his way closer and closer to the fruit of the tree. Within moments, in fact, he was at the branch and pulling himself along until at last, he reached the red crop. Charily, he used his claws to cut all four off. And just as cautiously, he made his way back to the trunk and down to solid ground next to the girl. Gratefully, she took two of the four (leaving two for Bill, as she promised) and began to eat in silence. Bill brought his share to his lips before a sudden fact came to mind.
Persephone.
He knew that, according to classical mythology, Persephone had been tricked into eating six seeds of a pomegranate, the fruit of the Underworld. As a result, she wound up being bound to the land of the dead, unable to come back to the land of the living except for one half of the year. And as Bill held the small fruit to his mouth, he stared at it in wonder. If he had eaten this, what would have happened?
"If I ate this, would I be trapped here?" he inquired aloud.
The girl polished off the first Pomeg Berry and stared at him strangely.
"Like Persephone," Bill explained. "Would I be stuck here, like Persephone had been stuck in the Underworld?"
The girl grinned as she brought the other Pomeg Berry to her lips.
"Why should it matter to you?" she asked. "Don't you want to spend the rest of your life here in paradise? Nothing has to matter here. You have no responsibilities. No worries. And most of all, no rules to be bound by. If you wanted to break a pesky law of science, then go ahead and do it. It's not like anyone would care."
She took a bite, chewed it, and swallowed thoughtfully.
"Then again, nobody cares about you anymore outside of here, either," she added.
Bill dropped the fruit he held gingerly in his paws. "What do you mean?"
The girl smiled sweetly. "Nobody cares about you in the real world anymore. Nobody comes to visit you. Nobody says anything about you. You're simply a forgotten body occupying the bed of someone else."
Bill felt something tug at his heart. It wouldn't be too surprising if that had been true, but... No. No, it couldn't be!
"I don't believe you," he said flatly. "I know now that there are people out there who care about me and who don't think of me as an alien being. No. I'm not alone."
With that, he stood up, placed both Pomeg Berries in the girl's lap, and began to walk down the hill. Suddenly, however, he heard a great screech. His head shot up, and he looked over his shoulder cautiously to see Ornithophobia rise from where the girl had been sitting just moments before. With another great screech, the sky filled with birds, all staring down at Bill with a strange, devious look upon their faces and in their beady eyes. Bill fell to his knees as he stared up at the feathered clouds far above him. He heard Ornithophobia's squawk, but it meant nothing to him as every bird swerved and pointed their beaks downward at him. Thousands of birds dove at an alarming rate, all headed straight towards him.
Suddenly, a shadow burst from the ground, and from the depths of it came a set of gray claws that sliced through most of the birds with ease. A rain of feathers fell upon Bill in a harmless display. He stared at the figure as it took the form of Morpheus with his back turned towards the Meowth. Effortlessly, Morpheus glided towards Ornithophobia and stared into her wide, red eyes. Quickly, one of Morpheus' gray hands shot from the folds of his robes and pierced through Ornithophobia. She gave a strange, strangled sound for a few moments before at last, she disappeared in a puff of smoke and feathers. With this, Bill felt as if a large weight had been taken off of him. A weak smile drew across his lips because of this.
"Don't smile yet," Morpheus muttered. "You have only a little bit further to go. Then comes a most difficult challenge. But, before that happens, I suppose we'll have to find what it is we're looking for, right?"
Bill gave a vague nod. Morpheus turned around and descended back down the hill to join his young companion.
A smirk drew across Morpheus' lips. "Well? Lead the way."
With another nod, Bill turned and began leading the god out of the garden. He had no idea what he was about to face.
---
"Please! Just leave him on for a few more days!" Rose pleaded with the doctor as the tube was drawn out of her son's mouth. "I'm sure he'll wake up!"
The doctor sighed. "I'm sorry, Mrs. McKenzie. It's been almost a full year since William was admitted here, and nothing seems to change. We've done everything we can. But don't worry. There's a possibility that William will come around due to the shock of not having life support. And even if he doesn't, the hospital will give you the money to carry out..."
He stopped in mid-sentence and glanced at the mother, who only stared at him with eyes brimming with tears. He hadn't seen her husband around; usually, Davis would be up at the hospital, trying to sign the papers that would allow the doctors to pull the plug on him (though his wife and daughters always interfered). But everyone in that unit knew that the family was falling to shambles, and everyone was taking bets that Davis had either divorced Rose at last or just left her altogether.
"I'm sorry," the doctor apologized before looking at the clipboard he carried. "There's nothing more we can do to help William."
With that, he turned away and walked out of the room before Rose could protest. She was left, all alone in the room with her only and dying son.
At last, she moved, but only to turn to the chair set up by his bed. She walked over, sat down, and stared with unseeing eyes at his young face. In a way, he looked like his father...
Carefully, her hands made its way over to his and gently lifted it, holding his hand between her own. She squeezed it as tears began rolling down her eyes. This was the last place she wanted to see one of her children -- on a hospital bed, slowly slipping away into the afterlife.
"William," she murmured softly as she cried.
She could have sworn she felt his hand move just then. Perhaps he wasn't too far from reality after all...