A/N: (Apologetic bow) I'm a horrible person. I didn't update yesterday. :)
I was sick with something that felt like a mix of a cold and fever. Nasty thing, it's still not gone today.
I was sick on senior ditch day:(
Anyhoo, here's the next chapter.
Just a question,anyone who's played both FF-X and Pokemon - does a crossover (inject random person into Spira - well, in this case, a pokemon trainer) sound like a good idea?
I seriously got bored one night...
Chapter Eighteen: Coma.
Chris flinched… and passed out. His gift was too much for him to handle without help.
Crystal, seeing the trainer collapse, called off the match. She tried to see what was wrong, but apparently nothing was. His heart was racing, but she couldn't get him to wake up. It was like he was in a coma, or something.
She called the hospital, and the ambulance brought the trainer's pokemon with him. They (the pokemon) wouldn't be left behind, and tried to attack anyone if they moved him without one of the two of them nearby. Or if anyone tried to do anything with his bag besides carry it. Even the cute Vulpix looked ready to kill.
It looked like they didn't want his private information known, or to leave his side.
Kani woke up, and froze at the sight of Chris's still form.
"How could I forget! Damn it!"
Anekiro turned, and shook his head. "Kani, it's not your fault."
She hung her head. "It IS MY FAULT! I did that to him! I forgot what I was doing – that I was shielding him!"
"Still… it's my fault too. If I had just been a true dragon, I could have dealt with that stupid Starmie, and you wouldn't have to fight that water-dragon."
Kani sighed, and shook her head. Instead of responding to Anekiro, she threw her mind into Chris's. She felt like killing herself, but that wouldn't help anyone. This might do both.
She looked around. There was nothing there, except for small fragments of a song, floating in the air. Her own physical body was replicated in this place, but there wasn't anything else. Only the fragments of the song, still playing in discord.
"CHRIS!"
The fragments drifted into harmony (a sad tune), but nothing else happened.
Kani used her power, trying to scan for him. She could only find his psychic and 'gifted one' aura. No stream of quick-fire thoughts, no multi-directional planning, no music underlying his mental processes, nothing that was characteristic of Chris's mind. His psychic aura radiated waveringly then began to respond to her, slowly.
She sighed, and touched that part of his mind, before it tried to throw her out. Interestingly enough, it still functioned somehow. She tutored it on how to 'tune out' the sounds it heard, until she felt it understood. She felt it go from damaged and scarred beyond belief (how it managed to respond to her was a mystery), to healing, to stronger than ever before.
If he managed to awaken from this, he wouldn't run the risk of falling into a coma again. Ever.
A glow enveloped her, and she felt something awaken from inside HER mind.
"What the…"
"Kani? "
Chris somehow appeared from inside her, and stepped out. He looked more or less unharmed, and as she remembered him. The only difference was that the dragon's tattoos glowed a bit brighter, and his face was… peaceful.
She burst out crying. "I… thought I was going to lose you!"
Chris sighed, and hugged her. "There, there… it's not your fault." His voice was calm, more or less. It even echoed a bit.
She sniffed, still inside the embrace. "But… it is!"
Chris just smiled faintly. "No, it isn't."
Kani tilted her head sideways, trying to understand what he was saying. "Then who is?" Her voice was stuffed with tears.
"No one… everyone… me. I wasn't strong enough, wasn't fast enough to manage to block out the noise."
"You shouldn't be able to. It's because of me that your mind was so open…" She was ready to weep again, except that Chris removed a few of her tears.
"Don't do that. I'll be fine. It's not my time to go yet."
Kani gasped. "You… almost DIED!"
Chris shrugged. "Death… it's not so bad. I've seen both sides of the coin. Of course, since I'm coming back I won't remember." He sounded a bit saddened by the last part, as if he actually wanted to remember what was on the other side.
"This is all my fault. Me and my stupid gift."
Chris shook his head, and squeezed her. "Stupid? No. It's the best thing that happened to me, and you know it."
She shook her head. "I bet it's not so wonderful now."
Chris snorted. "You're kidding, right? I know what you did. Now I can control it, so you don't have to take care of me anymore."
She kicked her tail. "Too little, too late. Can you even come OUT of this thing? Most humans…"
Chris shrugged, cutting her off. "Don't know, don't care. I'm getting out of this damn thing. I told the Elders that I refuse to die without at least fighting, and I intend to keep my word. Oh, and Mom turned out to be better off dead, apparently." His voice turned quiet, when he talked about his mother.
Kani looked at him. He didn't seem sad, just content. "Remind me about that. That mom's better off where she is now. You'd best get going."
She looked at him. Something seemed different… was it darker now? "What's going to happen?"
Shadows converged, moving into the lighted area, and Chris eyed them. Kani turned, then flinched when she saw them. They mostly looked humanoid, but... evil. "That would be what's going to happen. They said I'd have to fight my way out of this, prove that I deserved it. They weren't kidding." Somehow, a silver-colored spear came into Chris's hands, and he sighed, leaning heavily on it. "Sorry Kani. But you should know that some battles can only be fought alone. Well, mostly."
"What?"
Chris smiled faintly, gazing off into the distance. "We're connected. You knew that, all along. Don't doubt it, ever…" it looked like he was going to say something more, but something cut him off. His eyes hardened.
He charged forward, into the shadows. Kani froze. This might be the time to say it… she might not have another chance. "Wait! I…"
By the time she'd worked up her nerve, he'd disappeared. Kani felt something gently pushing her out of his mind, and let herself be pushed out. There wasn't a point to staying.
She hadn't even gotten a chance to say it.
She opened her eyes. Anekiro hovered nearby, glancing first at Chris, then Kani, then back again. "Anekiro… what?"
He jumped up (which was no mean feat, Dratini can't jump very well), and slithered over to her. "You… the two of you… I saw something linking the two of you! Then Chris gave off some weird light, and the connection broke."
Kani smiled faintly. "I know."
Mathrara walked in, looking worried. "What's going to happen to him?"
Kani turned her head. She knew she should yell at him (he'd left Chris, with only Anekiro guarding him), but she didn't have the energy. "He'll either come out of it, or die. For now, I'm going to find a way to make sure he doesn't get killed. And you two are going to help me make sure NOTHING gets through."
The other two grimly nodded. They knew very well that if Chris's identity was discovered, his life would be at risk. That wasn't going to happen. Even if they drew the public eye. After all, a mystery trainer was better than a 'Chris' who resembled the 'dead' Chris Wolf.
