I have a new story posted on my profile! Please either read the A/N at the end of the chapter or go check it out for more information! It's not a project I'm prioritizing at the moment, but it's something I hope you all enjoy nonetheless.
Chapter XXVII - Domestic Affairs
Vulcan dragged another corpse near the fire, the darkness hindering Axle's ability to identify the species. The Swampert nodded quietly towards the Haxorus before standing and grabbing a few sticks from the nearby pile to reinvigorate the fire.
Vulcan made quick work of skinning and dismembering the mysterious prey before allowing Axle to wash it all down and begin to cook. Often, Axle had been the one to tend to his team's fire in long-term camping situations, considering he had the ability to extinguish it quickly if need be.
As such, he'd picked up cooking very quickly, and often even cooked Somin's prey for his teammates after particularly difficult days of hiking. Generally, the team only hunted on special occasions, as it was rarely more than a few days' journey between some small town to resupply. However, Axle's ability to wash the meat using his own water made for a relatively easy job each time he was put to the task… After, of course, convincing the team the water he conjured with his energy was, in fact, sanitary.
Such was evident by the only other occupant of the area, Drayden. He sat on the ground, back propped up against a log and breathing steady. His demeanor was the meaning of the word disheveled. Posture slacking, hair untidy, it went against everything Axle had seen of Drayden up until that point. He was shocked to find how frail the old man seemed now, after all that'd happened. Had Reshiram's energy really been that large a factor in his seemingly everlasting youth?
"So, uh," Axle began, adjusting the sticks propped over the fire so the provided meat would cook more evenly. "How uh… How've you guys been?"
Vulcan looked up from the leg he was silently eating to stare at Axle indifferently. In his mind's eye, Axle saw snippets of his previous battle versus the Haxorus; how he'd been completely annihilated. He quickly lowered his head.
"I'm sorry about Mew," he mumbled. "I hardly even know her myself, so I just…"
"I'm sure Mew has the maturity to apologize on her own accord if she feels regret regarding the incident," Vulcan put simply. "Don't defend her if you don't know her well enough to argue her case."
"O-okay…"
Vulcan tore into a piece of raw meat from the creature he'd caught, devouring an entire thigh within a matter of a minute. Throwing the bone aside, he licked his claws clean of any remaining blood before moving to join Drayden in his spot next to the fire.
The Haxorus had hardly left Drayden's side in the day or so since they'd been on the island.
"Anything yet?"
Skipp's sudden voice startled Axle. For his size, the Flygon was unbelievably quiet. He'd just come from the trees for reasons unknown to Axle. The fact it was the dead of night didn't help Axle's trepidation.
"U-uh, yeah… Vulcan brought some meat back. Don't know what it is, but I'm cooking some up for the humans and whoever else likes it cooked, I guess."
Skipp looked around until he found what was left of the carcass Axle had mentioned. His face contorted into something of a grimace.
"I-it's really not like Vulcan to be so messy about hunting," he remarked. "I'll, uh… Take one of the cooked ones whenever they're done. Thanks."
"Sure."
Axle didn't feel particularly comfortable looking at Skipp, or any other being associated with Drayden. Even though he hadn't seen the event personally, Mew's apparent bloodlust made all too much sense considering stories he'd heard of her while on the team. Even his own conversation with her had been oddly robotic, as if she was just acting amicable.
Her killing of Drayden's Druddigon wouldn't easily be forgotten, and he couldn't help but think Drayden blamed the team in general. Were they not just victims of circumstance?
"Your n-name was Axle, right?"
Axle hadn't noticed Skipp had been watching him. Turning his attention back to the roasting meat and ignoring Mew's behavior, he nodded.
"I'm Skipp, if you, uh, didn't already know. Heh… Guess we never fought, but I remember Seraph telling me how good of a fight you put up. I-It's been a long time since she's had to resort to using Sing in battle."
"Oh… Thanks, I guess."
"Good we finally met, then?"
"Yeah, definitely."
At that point Axle just wanted Skipp to leave. He was feeling oddly uncomfortable, much in the same manner Mew had made him feel earlier the same day.
Jet, this is getting borderline unbearable. Just come back, please? Mew, Somin, Vita, and Victor are in Unova, and you choose now of all times to disappear?
"The Pidgeotto's almost done… Does Drayden want any?"
"You ask me as if I'm his keeper. He's earned enough respect to be addressed personally, no?"
"Um… Okay."
Axle could feel heat rushing to his face as he broke eye contact with Vulcan. The Haxorus wasn't interested in helping him in the least.
To get Drayden's attention, the Swampert approached the duo. The old man was staring off into space, but his eyes focused on Axle as he approached.
It felt funny, but the best way Axle could think of getting his point across was to sit on his hind legs and simulate eating from a roast as if he were playing charades. He then pointed to the roasting Pidgeotto, sizzling over the fire.
Drayden simply nodded, letting out a quiet, "Thank you," as Axle turned and headed back towards the fire. Skipp was standing nearby, looking on the scene with something of a grimace.
"Hey, Axle… I know Vulcan doesn't mean anything by it, y'know? He's just… Uh… In a bit of a rough spot here."
The Haxorus snorted audibly, obviously having heard Skipp's excuse for his behavior. He opted to say nothing further, however.
"Now, uh… Do me a favor and grab me a piece of that Pidgeotto? It kinda hurts to go near the fire…"
"Hurts?"
"My visor," Skipp said, pointing to the eye in which the visor had been broken. "My eye is still really, really sensitive. Y'know, haven't seen light through anything but a lens in a long time."
"Oh, right…"
"Never knew Swampert's highlights were orange, weird enough. I'm from Hoenn, too, but never actually saw a starter until I was already a Vibrava. They've always just seemed… Yellowish, I guess."
"Hmm…"
Axle could think of nothing else to say outside of the most basic of responses. Skipp was obviously trying to start up some sort of conversation to lighten the mood, but Axle could feel Vulcan's piercing stare on the back of his head. Excusing himself, he quickly detached the stick on which the Pidgeotto was skewered, holding it out towards Skipp so he could lob himself off a leg with a claw.
He crossed back over to Drayden, making sure the skewer wasn't hot before carefully handing it over. Axle eyed Vulcan out of the corner of his eye, in case he'd done something wrong. The Haxorus, however, seemed preoccupied with his own food.
"I appreciate the gesture, Axle," Drayden said with as much power behind his voice as he could muster. Axle simply nodded, surprised the Gym Leader had remembered his name.
"I'll have some too, if you wouldn't mind."
All heads turned to face Seraph as she emerged from one of the nearby tents. Her head was held high, holding out under the pressure of everyone's stare.
"Seraph," Drayden and Skipp said simultaneously, the latter taking a step forward before the Altaria shook her head. She calmly crossed the campsite, making absolutely sure to send Axle a brief glare, before setting herself down next to her trainer.
Axle looked away again, keeping his head down. He wanted nothing more than to disappear in that moment.
Seraph extended her neck and let her head rest in Drayden's lap. Grateful, Drayden smiled.
"I'm sorry for any strife my dragons have caused you," Drayden said, prompting Axle to turn back around. "It seems we're all on edge. However, my quarrel lies with Mew, not you. I know full well you were doing what you thought best for your trainer."
Axle smiled lightly, nodding in thanks despite Vulcan's apparent discomfort with the scene. Skipp had tried making conversation and lightening the mood, but Drayden's attempt simply felt different.
"This Pidgeotto is cooked rather well given the circumstances. I take it you're the chef for your team, no?"
"Uh, yeah," Axle said, demonstrating his point with a small spray of water in no general direction. It elicited a chuckle out of Drayden.
"It's inventive, I'll give you that. Not many trainers choose to rely o-"
He erupted into a violent coughing fit, prompting each of his three dragons to react. Skipp even crossed back towards his team from Axle's side of the fire to ensure his trainer was okay.
"Cut that out," Drayden said after regaining his breath, seemingly scolding his dragons. "Worry about me when I'm dead. I'll be fine."
Axle allowed himself to calm back down, choosing to sit and listen to Drayden as he continued on.
"Looks like Vicus assisted me more than I could've hoped. It's because of his energy I've probably even lived this long, let alone maintained a Gym. Heh…"
A momentary pause.
"I suppose I truly never explained why we call 'Reshiram' Vicus… Of course, we intended to keep his presence a secret from you all, but it's just as much his name as mine is Drayden. Not a codename, not an alias… Vicus was the surname of a UPF admin."
Axle's eyes widened. What was Drayden saying?
"Is that…"
Drayden turned at the apparent shock of his friend. The Champion's worry regarding the sight quickly took hold, considering both the men only had three battle-ready Pokémon between them.
Drayden's team had succeeded in the seemingly impossible feat of defeating a UPF-controlled Entei, but at a heavy cost to their stamina. Only Vulcan and Shanta remained conscious after the fact, even if the former was heavily battered. Shanta's nature as a distanced attacker allowed her to escape with simple scrapes and exhaustion. Both the Haxorus and the Goodra stood close behind Drayden.
Sanuek, having participated heavily in the opening assault on the compound, had worn out his entire team relatively quickly. His Reuniclus, Solomon, was all that could manage consciousness, floating low to the ground to conserve energy.
The observation area they now found themselves in was lined with computers and machines of all sorts of sizes, all off in the power outage that'd ensued at the start of the raid. The only light in the area was that provided by their headlamps of each individual soldier and the lights on their respective firearms.
All of it, of course, except the dim, red light exuded from the tail of a white-feathered dragon on restraints in the adjacent room. The creature towered above both of the men present, eyes closed.
"Drayden… Is that who I think it is?"
At that moment, Drayden felt the weight of the world leave his shoulders. He dropped his head, laughing quietly to himself. Both of the dragons present were paralyzed in pure awe.
Tears streamed down each of their faces. Reshiram was not only the dragons', but Drayden's god. He was truly a sight to behold.
"Look, Drayden, I hate to burst your bubble, but we gotta be on guard. On top of the fact I promised we wouldn't mess with Reshiram if we found him, what if they're controlling him like they did with that Entei? You never k-"
"Sanuek. You're a friend, so I'm going to forgive you this once. You insult Reshiram's name to even suggest the UPF could have controlled him. And, quite frankly, even if he did attack me…"
Drayden turned towards his best friend, golden eyes gleaming.
"I would want nothing more than to die by his hand."
A few seconds of silence followed, broken only with the Champion sighed, defeated.
"Fine. You take your time, and I'll keep watch outside. I'll just be ready to book it if he's aggressive."
Sanuek extended his hand. Drayden peered at it oddly.
"If your dumbass gets killed here, just know you're the greatest man I've ever met. That's a fact."
Drayden nodded, taking his friend's hand. After only an instant, however, he yanked him in for a tight hug.
The embrace only seemed to last seconds, and within a minute Sanuek was out of the room entirely. Drayden's sense of time became muddled, his thoughts too clouded with the call.
He felt quite uneasy after the fact, choosing to look towards Vulcan for assurance.
"With you until the end. Nothing's changed," the Haxorus said
Drayden chuckled for a moment, nodding his thanks towards the Haxorus.
Of all that could've managed the situation, Reshiram had enlisted Drayden's help. He wasn't the small boy the dragon had encountered all those years ago. Drayden himself was a dragon now, a true member of the species. He'd been shown favor by one of the two Lords of Dragons himself. What better confirmation was there?
This is what Drayden had been born to do.
"The switch. Tabletop. Encased in glass."
Reshiram's call until that moment had been nothing more than appeals to his subconscious, an itch. Gratification when he moved one step closer to locating Reshiram, despair when he went on the wrong tangent.
But now, with the proximity, Drayden could hear his lord's deep voice, if only in fragments. No doubt Reshiram was weak after the entire ordeal. Drayden would do all he could as a humble servant to ensure all was well again.
His instincts overcame him before he even had the opportunity to process the words he was hearing. His eyes twitched in their sockets as he scanned each and every surface for an emergency release switch. He threw machines, glass jars, observational equipment. Much of it was broken upon hitting the ground, but Drayden couldn't bother to care.
He found the switch near the front of the room, wasting no time in lifting the glass casing so hard it broke off its hinges. The switch wasn't powered by electricity for fear of the restraints releasing their subject in the case of an outage. The key had already been generously inserted.
With a satisfying click, Reshiram's restraints broke apart, leaving the Prime to collapse to the ground. He'd been positioned in such a way as to restrict movement entirely. His muscles ached with years of disuse. However, a creature of his caliber would be able to recover relatively quickly. He simply needed time to readjust.
Drayden forced open the partially-closed steel door blocking his way. Vulcan and Shanta quickly followed, equally anxious and eager.
The call seemed to disappear right then, leaving Drayden's mind with a certain level of clarity he hadn't been able to achieve in years. His natural urges still compelled him forwards towards the exhausted beast. He was a dragon, after all.
He dropped to his knees before Reshiram's limp figure, head bowing in respect. Shanta and Vulcan repeated Drayden's actions in the manner best suiting their anatomy by sitting with their tail plastered to the ground, head bent and soles of their feet inward-facing.
Moments passed, the only visible sound being the occasional hiccup erupting out of Drayden as he wept. His entire life had led to this moment; his entire existence was for this sole purpose. A natural-born human, raised amongst dragons as their own, tasked in using the resources available to him only as a means to serve his lord. What an honor. What a privilege.
And yet, something changed the moment Reshiram opened his eyes. They were magnificent, certainly, but not in the way Drayden had imagined. He decided not to speak as Reshiram made it evident he was still conscious. Drayden didn't have a need to say anything.
"Why do you weep for me? I am not worth your tears."
"W-What?"
Reshiram's gaze was calm, calculated. However, he closed his eyes again shortly after as he continued speaking.
"I was forced to call for help because I myself was unable to escape. To say my life is somehow more important than yours… I wouldn't have given you the power to understand your friends if such a claim was true."
"M-My lord, I… I can't accept that."
"What have I done but manipulate and confuse you? You worship me as your god, but on what pretense? I gave you the ability to understand dragons as a sign of respect for what you could become. A bridge between the human world and our own. Nobody else was capable of handling such a crisis, not even myself."
"T-then…"
Reshiram opened his eyes again, looking upon Drayden with conviction.
"You were the only being I knew capable of saving me in my time of need. And, for that… Dræden, I hope you will accept my gratitude in its fullest."
"My lor-"
"'My lord' nothing. I reserve no right to be called your lord."
Drayden said nothing. Perhaps Reshiram was simply confused. He surely had to have been exhausted after years of captivity.
"There is more I must do. The administrators of this place fled upon the first sign of trouble. There are underground passageways beneath our feet."
"How many?"
"Dræden, I ask you leave this to me. It's much more a personal issue."
Drayden shut his mouth once more, solemnly lowering his head and nodding.
"You look as if you have issue with my decision."
"N-No, my l-"
"The truth, Dræden."
Drayden, mind racing, tried desperately to stop himself from quivering. This encounter had gone nothing like he'd imagined. He shivered, feeling as if the temperature of the air had dropped significantly around him.
"I… I mean no insult by you, my lo-... Reshiram."
The dragon narrowed his eyes. Was his gaze one of satisfaction, or annoyance?
"I came here with every intention of freeing you, but I have an obligation to those that allowed me to come. The administrators… I need to see to it they don't escape."
"Though your partners are battered and exhausted?"
Drayden turned to the Goodra and Haxorus behind him. Looking between the two gave him the only answer he needed.
"Yes."
"The rest of that night was a blur, to be honest… Reshiram allowed us to rest after we found out the admins were long gone, and the next few days might as well have not existed entirely. I must've been asleep for days, and yet, he never grew impatient. He'd brought us to an island far south of Unova so we could all recover in privacy, and it wasn't until I tried contacting Sanuek that anyone knew I was actually alive. Of course, only him and a few others knew Reshiram actually existed."
Axle had since sat, eagerly accepting Drayden's story despite the smell of overly-cooked meat behind him. He wanted to know more about the UPF, certainly, but it was also interesting seeing the apparent differences between Drayden's and Ray's interaction with the Primes.
Reshiram seemed like a creature much less fallable than Mew, despite the obvious difference in power. He knew when to be humble, when to be assertive, and held fast to his ideology.
"I know I mentioned Shanta… She and Deon came as a parting gift from the woman who held the Opelucid Gym before me. A woman very dear to me… Deon was her signature Hydreigon, and Shanta herself was a real force to be reckoned with. They both retired a few years ago and now stay on that very same island, but… that's how I came to met Crag. He was a very young member of their team, and the only one left with me after their retirement. He was almost like a son to them."
Axle could feel his thoughts come to a screeching halt as all gazes turned to him. Vulcan, Skipp, and Seraph, all seated next to their trainer, sent Axle glances of varying intensity.
"I'm getting off-track," Drayden said simply, closing his eyes. Axle wondered if the reference to the Druddigon had been intentionally planned. Either way, the Swampert felt just as bad as when they'd started right after the fact.
Those two dragons didn't even know their teammate was dead.
"I worked using my human contacts to hunt down the one person we could point out as the 'head' of the UPF at the time. Roxanne Vicus. Reshiram worked as part of our team, and when we finally cornered her… Who was I to deny him of what he wanted?"
What Reshiram wanted?
"Sanuek and I decided we could do nothing to stop Reshiram from unleashing his rage on the woman that'd knowingly tormented him for years. So, we left him with her. Alone. To this day I still don't know what he did. He may have burned her to a crisp, squashed her, or even eaten her. He may have even let her go…"
Axle looked towards the ground. As the story continued, he'd hoped to find at least some commonality between Mew and Reshiram in regards to their interactions with the humans they'd chosen. Ray was very much Mew's equal in terms of the team, as they all were. However, even if Reshiram had said he was Drayden's equal in his account of the story, his actions spoke entirely otherwise. Was there any right way to go about that sort of partnership, though?
"All I know is that Reshiram, from thenceforth, was to be called Vicus. It was a personal custom of his, to adopt the name of those he respected in order to make sure they were revered and remembered after they were gone, regardless of their ideology or how it contrasted with his own. I don't know how long he will bear the name, but it's admirable, in a sense."
Axle couldn't think of much else to do but nod quietly, more concerned with the question of why Drayden chose to tell him this story rather than the odd behavior exhibited by Reshiram. Was it Drayden's attempt at easing the tension? If that were the case, he wouldn't have brought up Crag. Then again, Drayden didn't seem like the kind of man to act petty for the sake of pettiness.
"The UPF has, in a way, made me into the man I am today, just like it has your human. He and I are oddly connected like that… His father, after all, was one of the men who facilitated the organization's return."
Drayden's voice adopted a gradual tone of conviction. He sat up, staring the uncomfortable Swampert straight in the face.
"Outside of that, however, I'd hope you see little to no similarity between us. I was adopted by dragons, raised by dragons. I was a dragon in my entirety until I learned humans even existed. I worked my way up from absolutely nothing, built credentials, and rescued the celestial being who would later endow me with his full and complete trust in the wake of tragedy."
Drayden's eyes no longer held the golden hue they had while Reshiram's power had been inside of him, but they still gleamed with the same intensity despite the disheveled nature of the rest of his body.
"I would like you to think about something, Axle. What has Ray done during his short time on this earth in order to garner the favor of a being such as Mew?"
"That's enough."
Axle jumped away from the new voice as it reprimanded Drayden. Skyla stood there, arms crossed and brow creased.
"S-Skyl-"
"Zip it," Skyla snapped at Axle. "Two years. Two whole years I go without a call, a text, a voicemail, anything! If I wasn't so upset about everything earlier you bet your ass I'd be yelling at all of you. Not. A. Word."
Skyla turned towards Drayden, same glare applied to each of his dragons.
"And you. Gods, if I don't have a rant and a half for each and every one of you!"
On that note, Skipp looked towards the ground. Seraph, obviously irked by Skyla's interruption, stood and began walking away. Skipp followed, sending Axle an apologetic glance as they disappeared from sight behind the treeline.
"This doesn't concern you, Skyla."
"D-doesn't concern me?! Isn't that what you've been saying for the past month?! After my nephew disappeared! You knew all about the UPF, and how legendaries were seeking human protection, and you said nothing! And now, here you are berating one of his Pokémon for nothing more than an association to the entire thing! What is wrong with you?!"
Vulcan stood silently, not letting his gaze leave Skyla. He let his tail swing back and forth, making it clear he wouldn't allow Skyla to continue on her tangent. Drayden called him off, however, with a simple hand on his tail.
"We can talk about why I withheld information from you later, but I'm afraid you're mistaken if you think I'm berating Axle. I simply want to warn him about Mew. I very much doubt Ray is even nearly as much culpable as Mew and her… Poor decision-making. Vicus knew this, and chose to intervene because of it."
"You're not about to say what I think you're going to say. I know you're not going to say what I think you're going to say."
"Both Vicus and I are of the opinion Mew's decision-making was in remiss. Mew and Vicus could very well have coordinated with one another in preparations to stop the UPF before the problem got out of hand, but she was too caught up in her ties to an incompetent human to make rational decisions, let alone act on them."
Skyla lunged forward, prompting Vulcan to crouch down and beat his tail on the dirt beneath him. As it turned out, however, he wouldn't have to protect his human.
Axle jumped in front of Skyla before she could close the distance, standing on his hind legs and extending his massive arms to impede her progress. As she tried ducking under him, he simply grabbed her and forcefully sat her down.
"Let me go!" she screamed, fighting Axle in an attempt to get to Drayden. "You heard what he said! He never cared about Ray! Damn it, Axle, he deserves it!"
Axle sent a glare in Drayden's direction, but didn't let go of Skyla. Having his human called incompetent right in front of him wasn't something he would just take, but it wasn't as if anything could be done by either of them.
"I would like to save Ray, Skyla. He's a young boy caught up in something greater than him and I can empathize with that. However, that 'something greater' is, and always has been, a greater priority. Mew couldn't take any of this seriously, and was actively making the situation worse before we captured her. I hope you can come to understand that."
Skyla grit her teeth, cursing to herself. Taking her attention away from Drayden for a few moments, she pushed and kicked Axle until she was able to separate herself from him. She began grumbling, sitting with legs crossed and eyes lowered. As much as she wanted to slap the older Gym Leader, Vulcan wouldn't let her get close.
"I want to emphasize again I feel no ill will towards either of you. Mew is the aggressor. Not for the fact she…"
Drayden cleared his throat.
"It's not for the fact she killed my teammate. No. We were afraid of how her actions would come to harm our efforts in stopping the UPF and acted on it. Though their relationship has been rocky in the past, Vicus spoke of the importance of easing her into cooperating with us. It failed, as has every attempt to do the same ever since."
"Why are you telling us this?" Skyla asked, annoyance seeping into her voice. Axle sat a few feet away from her, careful not to try anything that might set her off.
"I want to make sure priorities are established," Drayden said, voice now imperative. "Mew, as she is right now, is a threat. Her behavior is too erratic to rely on and her mind is too fixated on Ray to be in the right place, and because of that, I've come to learn that it's impossible to work with her, despite Vicus' opinion to the contrary. Even if she were to find him, she would leave with him and his team, never to be seen again."
"Drayden…"
"I've never been the best when it comes to empathy, but I'm sure I can't imagine the personal conflict you both must be going through. However, this situation is larger than all of us. You must conv-"
"Shut up, Drayden. She's on your side."
Silence fell around the now-dying fire. Axle looked at Skyla, dumbstruck.
"What?" both he and Drayden said simultaneously. This was one of the rare times Skyla ever found Drayden at a loss for words.
"Mew's not stupid. She loves Ray, and when we talked earlier I felt why. But I think I saw something else, something she didn't want me to see…"
"Explain," Drayden said simply, having regained his composure.
"What do you mean you saw something?" Axle asked. Skyla was able to interpret the meaning of the question.
"It was like a vision," Skyla explained, crossing her arms, "but I really don't know what I saw exactly. When she just up and disappeared earlier, she went to go check something, and…"
Skyla shivered, hoping to describe the emotions she'd felt through Mew.
"Gods, she was terrified, and not for Ray. Something is happening because of all the UPF's abductions, and Mew knows it. And she's conflicted about it. The fact she couldn't do anything to stop Alder, or the UPF in general. I felt all of it. All of her thoughts, her feelings. I don't think she wanted me to, but when she touched me, I did."
Skyla sighed, raising her head to glare at Drayden.
"She knows more than any of us do about what's happening, and I think she's starting to learn that this is becoming so much more important than Ray. You, though, you never wanted to try to help him. You don't know what it's like having somebody close to you in danger like this."
Drayden said nothing. Skyla knew nothing of his past, and interrupting her for the sake of correction would lead him nowhere.
"So you know what, Drayden? You win. You got us all here, all together so you can settle your score with the UPF, while Ray and Misa may very well be dead. Enjoy it, prick."
Silence fell yet again over the group. Drayden looked Skyla in the eyes for a few moments before closing them, pondering.
"I'll speak to Mew about this when she returns."
"That's it? You have nothing to say to me, or Axle?"
"Why would I? I haven't lied to either of you."
Skyla sighed, standing and turning to leave. "Whatever."
Axle initially moved to follow her, but a glare from the young Gym Leader made him stop.
"I'm still mad at you."
He decided not to follow, allowing Skyla to disappear into one of the nearby tents. Reluctantly, he sat back down, eyes fixated on the ground lest he accidentally meet Drayden's or Vulcan's piercing gaze.
Jake could faintly hear something through the veil of unconsciousness. He grimaced, head panging.
"Hey."
He tried opening his eyes, but felt his eyelids were much too heavy.
"Get up. Now"
Something was wrong. Why had Jake been asleep during the middle of the day? The sun was beating down harder than he'd ever felt it in Unova. He fought through exhaustion in order to blink a few times. His vision was blurry, but it was oddly bright outside.
Something poked him. A claw? It wasn't applied with enough force to break the skin, but his shoulder hurt.
He pulled away, raising his hands to rub his eyes. After blinking a few more times, he made out the figure standing nearby.
"Try running and I'll hunt you down. I won't be as gentle as last time."
Jake remembered in that instant what had happened. He tensed, looking for a way to escape. He promptly stopped, however, at the sight of Somin's claw.
He seemed to be in a densely forested area, foreign trees with bright, vibrant leaves sprouted up on all sides, one of which he was sat up against. Shrubbery was all over the ground, oftentimes in lieu of grass, replaced instead by a coarse, dirty sand. He couldn't make any sense of his surroundings, nor his situation.
He bit his lip, feeling tears of fear rising to his eyes.
"I d-didn't mean what I said earlier," he began, tripping over his words. "S-Somin, or Ray, or whoever you are, I'm sor-"
"Don't worry about it."
Jake said nothing. Somin sat down, bored eyes focused on the frightened human.
"Your Pokémon are safe, and so are you if you just chill for a bit. Chat with me."
The trainer gulped, nodding soon afterwards. Somin nodded back.
"W-Where…"
"Hm?"
"Where are we? I-It's okay if you c-can't answer, I ge-"
"Kalos. We're in Kalos."
"W-wow," he said, obviously forcing a reaction. "That's… Far."
Was Somin telling the truth? Jake couldn't think of any way they were somehow in Kalos. The air was humid, tropical even, nothing like Jake had ever heard a destination as far north as Kalos to be. Not to mention Kalos was, after all, all the way across the world.
"Jet, our Braviary teammate. He's really good at flying."
That much was obviously a complete lie. No flying type, let alone Jet, a still freshly-evolved Braviary, could fly all the way around the world in the time it'd taken Jake to wake up. Jake, though, was in no place to argue.
So, he said nothing, waiting for Somin to continue.
"You know what you did for us to bring you here?"
"N-No… I just… I was just walking, an-"
"You ran into someone I care about very much. And I don't like how you treated him. Not one bit."
Did Somin somehow know about the night Jake tried capturing the Zorua and Axew? He felt a shiver run down his spine as he saw the Zorua, shivering cold in his mind's eye.
"Oh gods…"
"You know the one?"
"S-Somin… You are Somin, right?"
"Always was."
"Look, I… I really didn't mean. I-I thought about how maybe the Zorua and Axew were the same ones that showed up with Drayden in Opelucid, but… I didn't know! I didn't think it-"
"Relax."
Somin yawned deliberately at that moment, making sure Jake got full view of his teeth. He smacked his chomps soon afterwards, smirking in delight at the trainer's obvious discomfort at the notion.
"Can't say I appreciate you trying to catch them. I get being a trainer, sure, but that Zorua is very special to me. Do you know why?"
A flurry of emotions hit Jake at that moment. He shifted uncomfortably, refusing to meet Somin's gaze.
"Your… Son…"
Jake's voice cracked with the words, positively terrified. Somin's smile disappeared as his eyes narrowed.
"Oh gods, I'm sorry. I'm so so so so so sorry. Plea-"
"Not gonna hurt you as long as you play nice. We all make mistakes. What's important is that you make up for it, right?"
Jake said nothing, dreading what the Zoroark was insinuating.
"I'm sorry," he restated, whimpering. "I-I didn't know."
"Well, now you know."
Somin stood and turned his back to the kid, rummaging through what Jake recognized to be his own pack. After taking a few seconds, Somin turned back around, tossing a few objects at him. He wasn't able to catch them all at once, but he instantly recognized the Pokéballs of his team.
"Now, boundaries," Somin pointed to his right, hardly bothering to even give Jake a glance. "Over there is a cliff, don't go walking off of it unless you want to drown in the ocean."
Pointing to his left, he continued. "Back there is a small waterfall. There's fresh water for you and your team, as well as a few Berry bushes if you're hungry. Don't eat the pink ones, they sure ain't Pecha."
"Back there," he said, pointing behind Jake, "there's a fallen tree, and over there, a big 'ol boulder. Can't miss it."
By the time he finished, Somin was pointing directly in front of Jake. The boy didn't make sense of anything Somin had said, but felt as if the weight of the situation was crushing him.
"Those are your four boundaries, go outside them and you're fair game," Somin said matter-of-factly, smirking. "And when I say game, I mean game. Been a while since I've hunted as something as big as you, might be a little bit rusty."
The words sent a chill down Jake's spine. He nodded quickly, looking at his own, curled-up legs as Somin took a step to leave.
"Think over it all for a little bit, and I'll be back later. Do whatever the hell you want until then, but I'd set up your tent if I were you. Tends to get a little rainy here during the day."
Jake nodded quickly, refusing to meet Somin's gaze. His lip was starting to bleed from how hard he was biting down.
His tent had been stolen a couple weeks back.
Somin left, sighing to himself. He couldn't help but feel bad for the young trainer; he hadn't wanted any of this, after all. He himself had been not only been confused at the news Mew had opted not to erase his memory of their encounter, but at the suggestion the trainer be taken back to their hideout in Kanto.
And yet, in her usual fashion, she up and disappeared as soon as her, Vita, Somin, and the boy had all been brought back to Kanto. It seemed she wanted to see if she could track Ray from where the boy's Pokénav had last seen him, but if her absence for the remainder of the Kantonian night had been any indication, a full day's search in Unova had turned up fruitless.
Somin hoped to find her mulling about the camp. The trainer was a liability, and taking him to Kanto for no reason other than to 'keep an eye on him' was frightening. Somin being forced to put on a show of strength in order to apply pressure meant the boy's actions would certainly be unpredictable.
Jet knew the island better than anybody at the camp, with the exception of Mew, so Somin had consulted him on a good place to stash the boy until the Zoroark knew how to deal with him.
The Braviary himself showed soon after, gliding down from a nearby palm tree to land on a boulder near Somin.
"So we're just glorified babysitters now?"
"Shut up."
Somin continued onwards, prompting Jet to follow along, gliding between spots he could stop to speak.
"You did a good job, I guess. Kid seemed terrified, but for what? Did Mew even tell you why she didn't just erase his memories and leave him in Unova?"
"No clue. I'm hoping she's back at camp so she can tell me… We all probably need to talk, anyways."
"About?"
Somin huffed, confused.
"She said something when we were looking for Ray that worried me. Something about how the legendaries disappearing are going to start having major consequences, and how reviving Reshiram to help take down the UPF should be a priority…"
Jet looked at Somin with eyes full of skepticism.
"Is she losing it?"
"No."
"The hell do you mean by 'consequences', anyways? And what are we supposed to do about it? You saw how badly she got beat back in Opelucid. She thinks we can fight Alder?"
"That's why we're all gonna talk, to get on the same page. You're asking me like I know the answers to any of this."
"Whatever," Jet said, rolling his eyes. "Do me a favor and have this little 'meeting', or whatever, by the lake. I'll be waiting there."
"What's wrong with just coming back to the camp? I know Drayden isn't exactly the best, but isn't this the kind of information everyone should know?"
"I… No. No, I don't think so."
Somin stopped to stare at Jet scrutinously. The Braviary had his head down, averting Somin's gaze.
"It's Skyla, isn't it?"
"You can't say shit about wanting to avoid Skyla, hypocrite. It's my business."
"Yeah, but you can't let your grudge work against the team here, Jet. I thought you'd finally gotten over that whole 'she gave me up' vendetta."
"Oh, like how your grudge against Mew ended up leading us to get captured? Somin, I'm doing enough by sharing an island with her. If I don't want to see her, I won't see her. It's as simple as that."
Somin scratched his snout before carrying on, knowing his words wouldn't do much to sway Jet.
"Ray worked out, didn't he? Just because Skyla gave him your egg doesn't mean she 'didn't want' you."
"It's not like that!"
"It sure as hell sounds like it."
Jet said nothing, letting a scowl take his face before he took off.
"By the lake. With the team. Nobody else."
Somin couldn't help but scoff as the Braviary disappeared from sight. He figured Jet's outrage with Skyla would've been more justified had he been a lot younger, but he was now three years old.
Skyla had given Ray Jet's egg as a gift during his campaign at her Gym in Mistralton. He was the son of her own Braviary, and for the longest time resented Skyla for the fact. Most of the reason, admittedly, came from the turbulent atmosphere, just before Sierra's death, in which he'd been born.
Sentiment against Skyla was at its peak after Sierra was killed. Somin and Ray often perpetuated the idea Skyla's suggestion to go see Ray's family had lead to Sierra's death. Jet quickly caught on to this sentiment, and he grew to resent Skyla entirely.
Somin still blamed Skyla, if only a little. There was no way the Gym Leader could've known what would happen, but Ray went against his better judgement to steer clear of Black City, all because of her assurance 'everything would be okay'.
Jet still held his resentment, much more than anyone still did. Somin had always thought it was because of the same concerns he'd had when he was younger about her 'giving him up', but there had to be something more to it. Jet wouldn't sink so low as to avoid Skyla entirely for a reason so petty, so far into the past.
He supposed, however, there were more important things to worry about at the moment, like why they'd just kidnapped a child and brought him around the world.
After about another minute of walking he'd made it back to camp. Vita and Victor, still not having adjusted to the jet-lag, were snoozing in the shade of the early-morning sun, while Axle sat, face cast downwards, next to a dead fire. Vulcan, sitting nearby, eyed Somin cautiously.
He could pick out Skyla's scent, and narrowed down her location to a nearby tent, likely sleeping as well.
"Where's everyone else?" he asked Axle, shifting forwards and taking a seat next to the Swampert.
"H-huh?" he asked, jolting up. He'd evidently been half-asleep. "O-oh, Somin. How long've you been here?"
"A few hours. Mew went AWOL again and we've got a bit of a problem… Kinda wanted to talk with her and you guys about it."
"Problem?"
Both sets of eyes turned to Vulcan as he forced his way into the conversation.
"Nothing important," Somin lied, turning back to Axle. "You seen her anywhere?"
"Uh… Don't think so. I've been here since, like, last night… Haven't seen her."
"She came about a half hour ago, Drayden requested to speak with her."
Axle and Somin turned towards Vulcan once again, silent.
"Your Swampert friend was asleep," the Haxorus continued, monotone. "The two of them went off together somewhere else on the island. Alone."
"I thought Mr. Dragonpet would've stayed by his master's side no matter what," Somin sneered.
Vulcan's tail swayed at the remark. He retained composure, however, saying, "Mew did not want a third party, and Drayden agreed. I'm no more a pet to my trainer than you are to yours."
"Sure buddy," Somin said, turning away from the Haxorus yet again to address Axle. "Any food leftover, by chance?"
"Yeah… It's a bit old, but should be good," Axle said, motioning towards the nearby carcass of a Doduo. Somin couldn't even initially find the fatal wound, the slice running the length of skin between its heads so clean blood hardly even stained the feathers.
"Vulcan and Victor have been doing most of the hunting so far, so you can thank them for that. Knew you liked your meat uncooked so we left that for you, or Jet, whenver he decides to come back."
Somin nodded in Axle's direction, taking a few steps towards the neatly-killed Pokémon. "I just saw him a bit ago. Has he not been staying around camp?"
"I mean… You know Jet. He's hardly ever sticks around since he evolved. Now that he can fly a lot farther and longer, it's kinda like we're holding him back."
"Do you know something we don't?"
"W-what?" Axle said, flustered. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Does Jet not want to be part of the team anymore? That's what I mean. Can't imagine he'd talk to you about it in secret, but you seem like you know more than I do."
"N-no… Not as far as I know, anyways. He wanted to go to Hoenn and do the Gym Challenge there, didn't he? Why, did he tell you something?"
"Was just curious," Somin concluded, turning his focus to the Doduo. He noticed Vulcan was staring at him with scrutiny, but he wouldn't let the Haxorus get under his skin. There were more important things to think about at the moment, including Mew's vague indication of inevitable danger should events continue on their present course.
"Skyla came to me and said she'd seen what you're trying to describe."
Mew sighed, averting her eyes.
"Yeah… I didn't mean to scare her. Haven't really ever had a reason to practice against emulating my emotions, it just kinda happens."
"Vicus didn't often share with me the intricacies of how the Primes governed the universe. What does Giratina's disappearance mean exactly for the future of our world?"
"Think of the Reverse World like a central hub for all the dimensions governed by Palkia, but a hub nobody's allowed to enter unless they die. If the Reverse World falls, dimensions start colliding and collapsing and then suddenly, we're all goners."
"And how long do we have to stop the UPF before this happens?"
Mew was surprised at Drayden's calmness regarding the situation. As much as she hated the human sitting on the sand a few feet away from her, she couldn't help but feel some sense of respect. The gentle lap of the waves against the beach almost gave the air an ambience of a casual encounter.
"Obviously, they either tricked Giratina into capturing him or found a way to enter the Reverse World to follow his escape attempt. Palkia is trying her best to hold everything together right now, so that gives us a good bit of time, but if the UPF actually did find a way to enter the Reverse World, then, well… The second they nab Palkia it's game over. Unless Arceus comes to save the day, you can't take two from the Creation Trio and expect reality to still exist."
"The odds of Arceus coming?"
"To be honest, pretty high. I don't want to have to rely on him if we don't absolutely, 100,000% need him, but I don't think he'd just let the universe fall apart. He's the sorry asshole who made it, after all. Even if everyone says otherwise, I'm still sticking by my belief it's literally impossible to trap something like him. He bends reality to fit his will. That's just how it works…"
"I'm sure your judgement has been crystal clear," Drayden jabbed, scowling. Mew chose to let the comment pass, taking a deep breath. "In any case, is that not a reason to at least give me my power back? We need to prepare, no?"
"Prepare for what?" Mew scoffed. "Running into whatever the hell's going down in Unova is suicide. This ain't like your little escapade however many decades ago. It took nearly your entire team to take down a single Entei, and what Alder's got now between Giratina and some of the other missing Primes like Regigigas and Ho-oh, it's on a whole 'nother level."
Drayden closed his eyes in frustration. "Even so. I need to be able to speak with my team. I hate to ask you, Mew, but you're my only hope in that regard."
"You don't get it, do you? Even if I could, I wouldn't just to punish you for putting me in a ball."
Drayden opened his mouth to protest, but was promptly interrupted.
"I don't wanna hear yada yada about how 'we needed you to listen' because it's bullshit. I'm a mind reader. I can hear what you told Skyla and Axle earlier. How you called Ray incompetent. How do you expect me to give you my power if you're just speaking behind my back about stuff like that?"
"You've made it quite obvious you yourself don't listen to reason, so I was hoping Ray's Pokémon would make you. Albeit, my words came out rather harsh, but we aren't going to make any progress if we aren't honest."
"Well then, here's a bit of honesty for ya. You're never getting any of my power. You haven't earned it."
Drayden wanted to say something about Ray's apparent 'earning' of Mew's power, but opted to keep his mouth shut. Mew saw what he was going to say anyways, a thought sitting at the forefront of his mind.
"Ray's gone through so much more than what you can possibly imagine. What did you do for Reshiram's favor but grovel at his feet? Hm, notail?"
"Get out of my mind."
"Notail… That's actually a good one. The little Axew with no tail. Or scales. Or power. Just some useless hands instead of claws. He can't hunt. He can't even eat raw meat. Is he even a dragon?"
Memories flashed in Drayden's mind's eye, prompting Mew to smile a wicked smile. It contrasted sharply from the look of pure rage on Drayden's face.
"Just figure out how to get Reshiram back faster, and I'll go around and find who I can from the remaining Primes. Call it the alliance you always wanted. The sooner we work this out, the better."
With that, she popped out of existence, leaving Drayden, hardly able to stand, alone to find his own way back to the camp.
"Drink."
I was given almost no warning as what I tasted to be ice-cold water ran down my tongue and the back of my throat. I cared not from where it was coming, but focused what little consciousness I had on gulping down as much as I could. It'd been so long since I'd last had a drink.
I couldn't move. Not that I wanted to, anyways. Everything was much too sore.
I heard what I thought to be two voices conversing, but couldn't quite make out every word. I was still half-asleep.
Something scooped me up from underneath, leaving my cold body suspended in the air for only a short moment longer before I was in a world of warmth. It flooded around me on all sides, overloading my nose with an unrecognizable mix of smells. I opened my eyes, half-lidded, only to find I was surrounded entirely by blackness.
"Hey, you okay, kid?"
Was that Misa? I didn't bother responding, letting the bliss of the warmth take me once more into unconsciousness.
The last thing I felt was the gentle bob of movement as I was carried away.
I'm alive.
I wanted to get this chapter out before the New Year, but the interim course I was taking at the time had other plans for me.
I wouldn't call college more busy than completely motivation-sucking. I just haven't exactly found the motivation to sit and dedicate myself to writing for long periods of time, partly because of the slow pace of this chapter. I wanted to establish certain character dynamics in order to flesh them out to their fullest as I move on with Act III.
In any case, there's really not much else to say except that I have a new story posted.
I explain a lot in the opening author's note of that fic regarding both it and SaC. I still wish to prioritize SaC, as I've made much more of a commitment to it, but this new fic is a project I hope to follow through with, as it's a concept I've had a lot of fun imagining. Please go show it a bit of love, or hate, or whatever you think is best to help it, and me, grow as a story and author.
Believe that's it. Go check out 'Your Great Kingdom' over on my profile!
Cheers!
