"The truth may hurt for a while, but a lie never stops hurting."
-Old saying of the sand continent.
Chapter XVI: Endless Battles II
-Shadow Gallery-
Floor: 9
Weather: miasma
"L-Lawrence….!" Pichu could barely suppress the tears forming in her eyes. Her heart was hammering against her chest.
The togetic smiled, and caressed her cheek, wiping the tears and the blood from her fur, "I couldn't bear watching you beating yourself up like that." His brown eyes glimmered, much like the aura that flared around the angelic pokémon, as well as the glow his very body created, as if he was made of pure light. For Pichu, it felt like she was staring at a star on a clear night. "Sorry I'm late." The togetic completed.
The tone in his voice was different from how she remembered. No stuttering, no nervousness, and none of the shyness that Pichu often associated with Lawrence. Yet, the kindness and purity he previously displayed were presented tenfold in his words.
It felt like this pokémon carrying her was nothing like the nervous togepi she met in the village, but at the same time, she was 100% sure it was him. No other pokémon made her heart beat so fast as it was currently beating.
"I-I'm so happy to see you…" She sniffed, lifting a single paw to touch his cheek. She felt feathers against her fur, soft and delicate, exactly the kind she'd imagined Lawrence would have, though for some reason she felt like she was touching on something that wasn't solid. Something that wasn't physical. It felt almost like she was pressing her front paw on a liquid given form, but she didn't care in the slightest, "I w-was so worried… I couldn't stop t-thinking about you, despite what Sharazad said…"
The ethereal fairy lifted a single of his hands to meet hers as she felt up his cheek, his gentle smile never fading, even as he tilted his head to the side slightly, "Whoever this 'Sharazad' is, they had a point. You shouldn't worry, me and Mirari are fine."
Lawrence couldn't help but cringe at his own words as his mind remembered how he was almost buried in quicksand just moments earlier whilst fighting an outlaw in the middle of nowhere. "Well, mostly at least." He smiled sheepishly at her.
Despite his playful tone, Pichu still kept a straight face. Even as tears ran down her eyes, she tried to remain as stoic as ever. "There's so much I want to say to you… t-there's so much I want to do!"
He was a bit taken back, but once more, he tried to comfort her by tightening his grip on the paw touching his cheek. He opened his mouth, but before he could speak, a large piece of stone was hurled his way. Forcing the fairy to hug the yellow rodent in his arms and fly to the side, watching as the projectile missed him and collided against the wall.
"You little- oh I'll gut you for that!" A loud, growly masculine voice said, coming from the middle of the small room they were in.
"I'm afraid that will have to wait. That guy seems to be quite angry." Lawrence carefully set Pichu back on the floor, and much to her surprise, she could stand with barely any difficulty, save for the exhaustion and stress that still hindered her.
"Right…" While Pichu was disappointed by his response, she knew he was correct. No time to blabber about her emotions, "this pokémon is insane… nothing he says makes any sense! He's senselessly aggressive too… and just look at his eyes! Did he sew them shut with stones?"
"That was not his doing…" Lawrence's stern expression softens up, "His heart is in great turmoil. He is confused and angry. I have seen one in such a condition before, drowned in their own sorrow."
"Have you…? Then what should we do? I can't seem to hurt him no matter how hard I try!" She looks up to the togetic, her eyes reflecting the shiny, ethereal light he produces.
"What you must do is find a way to set his heart free." He looks down to her with a smile.
"'Set his heart free'? Lawrence, we have to put him down, like the other shayta-" Before Pichu could finish, she was once again pushed aside by the flying fairy, who saved her from getting hit by the berserk perrserker's claws.
"Grrr! Stay still so I can slash ya, prick!" The blind steel-type growled, trying to hear where the child had gone off to.
Little did the feline know, she was currently being carried by the angelic pokémon, who was flying above the berserk and hugging the electric-type tight.
"See!?" She whispers at him, her head beating so loud she could feel her chest hurting from the pain, "he's gone feral! We shouldn't waste time talking to him… trust me, I tried!"
Despite her nervousness and stress, somehow the more time she spent in his arms, the less her chest hurt, and she felt less of those headaches that came when she was overwhelmed.
"He is lost and alone, Pichu." Lawrence's voice was as sweet as she remembered, yet she couldn't ignore how powerful and otherworldly he sounded, "this place has twisted him. Used his insecurities and his fears to turn him into its servant. Only you can set him free."
The perrserker growled and jumped towards the duo, swiping wildly in the air, but missing them barely due to Lawrence moving to the side.
"Why me? Why don't you just attack him and finish this?" She presses her head on his neck, desperate to just close her eyes and rest, "you've evolved! You somehow teleported here and are effortlessly breaking the darkness of this dungeon! By Arceus, you look like you're made of light! This thing has no chance against you!"
He rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile, "Sheesh, you wanna make me blush? I'm the same Lawrence as ever, Pichu. I'm not some almighty savior! I've come here because you needed me, that's it. You could say I am more of a cheerleader now that I think about it."
"Look, I can't do it. I just can't." She whispered, only for her to feel his hand gently move her head up, so she would stare at his yellow eyes.
"Yes, you can. And you will." He smiled at her. Her heart fluttered.
"Lawrence, I-" Pichu was interrupted by a loud growl as the perrserker once more charged at them, but this time he was stopped by a pink shield that protected the duo.
From inside the barrier, they couldn't really hear the profanities he was shouting at them, only the loud sounds his attacks made whilst trying to break their protection.
"This guy really has no manners." The togetic had his arms lifted, struggling to keep the barrier active as the feline kept hitting it with reckless anger. "Whatever you have to say, it'll have to wait. As much as I'd love to talk to you, and trust me I'd really love to, we still have to deal with this first."
She nodded, hiding her disappointment, but faced reality and prepared to fight again. "Right."
Lawrence threw his arms forward and shattered the shield right at the enemy's face, making him flinch for a second, which was enough time for Pichu to hit him with her blue lightning head on.
The electric rodent then ran forward and covered her small forepaw with her blue electricity, which caused even further pain on the young girl, but with Lawrence flying next to her, she didn't care. The perrserker almost didn't feel the punch itself, but the powerful shock he received due to it staggered him.
"Nice job! Now try and talk to him!" Lawrence urged her, but she looked at him in confusion.
"Chatting with the opponent in the middle of a battle to the death sounds completely crazy, you know." She muttered, but nodded at him. "But I trust you."
"It is! But some conflicts can only be truly solved with words, not punches!" Lawrence then suddenly looked behind him, an expression of worry in his eyes.
"Help Miss Kommo-o, Lawrence! I'll… try this strange strategy of yours.."
"Ok. I'll have to go for a sec! Don't forget: use your heart this time, Pichu! Not your brain!"
She saw the shining fairy fly where she had come from, where she knew the adult was stuck in. "Easy for you to say…"
Pichu stares at the perrserker, who's kneeled and taking heavy breaths as small bolts of electricity leave his body.
"Ugh. What should I even say?"
Kommo-o was on her knees, her right arm bleeding profusely despite her armor-like protective scales.
A single, large magenta crystal impaled her limb. Similar to the ones that the other shaytans of this cave had previously fired at her and Pichu, but way bigger. She had to use all her energy to break free from the tentacle bindings, had she not struggled free, that large crystal would have probably done way more damage.
Her body felt like it had tripled in weight. Even though she knew gravity itself was normal in this dungeon, it still felt like something invisible was weighing her down significantly.
But the thing that ached the most was her heart. It felt like someone was actively squishing it inside her chest.
In her view, the three ooze-like abominations were not their usual monstrous and amorphous selves, but instead three kids she knew very well.
"I've always hated you. That's why I kept ignoring your 'lessons'." An eyeless, spiteful imitation of Mirari spat at her.
"The time I spent in your hut was miserable. You couldn't protect us from anything." Lawrence said, in a similar tone to Mirari.
In the middle of them, a reflection of Pichu stood, with the angriest expression of the three. "You lie, manipulate and hide things from us… all in the name of 'protection'. And yet, look at you. I'm dying in the other room, and what are you doing about it?"
All of their words stung Kommo-o's very core. To her, all of it was true. And that fact hurt more than any crystal projectile ever could.
"You are the cause of all of this. It was your fear of telling the truth." 'Pichu' spoke, cracking her head to the side, as if she was trying to snap 'her' own neck, "your daughter hates you, the human hates you… I hate you. I wonder if your dead teammates hate you the same?"
"Be… quiet…" The large dragon whispers, shaking as she tries to get on her feet, "you are… but a fake…"
'Mirari' cackled loudly, "Perhaps we are."
"But our words aren't. And you know it." 'Lawrence' smirked.
Kommo-o growled, but the increased weight on her own body, plus her various wounds and exhaustion, caused her to collapse on the floor yet again, unable to get back on her feet.
"It is not gravity that is weighing you down…" 'Pichu' cracked 'her' neck again, "but your guilt… oh, your delicious, exquisite guilt. Had you come earlier, you'd have made a fine host."
'Mirari' shook her head, "Who knows, maybe after that fussy cat is sucked dry. For now, I know of someone who would love to see you again."
Behind the three illusions, a fourth one came. The fog-like darkness from the cave took shape, forming into another all too familiar form.
"Your heart is heavy… I wonder if you've ever felt like this back when we first met." The being she fought before getting separated from Lawrence and Mirari started to float ever closer to her, a perfect reflection of the warped being she fought back in Oasis Village.
That voice had a hint of that gentle and warm tone she remembered so well, but completely drowned in a sea of malice, "you acted all high and mighty… you still do… yet look at you, stumbling in fear once you come face to face with all of your mistakes."
It lifted its three-fingered palm, readying another of those huge crystals, "Close your eyes. You will join your partner in eternal darkness… though hopefully you'll be less resistant than he. With luck, the child will join you soon too."
Kommo-o felt her entire body shaking. Each word hit her like a rock slide, despite being prideful of her self-control and composure, she felt more vulnerable than ever. She took a step back and closed her eyes, getting in her usual pose as used her left clawed hand to charge a ball of pure aura that ate away the darkness around her.
It took all of her effort to form this relatively small sphere, but the cascate of negative emotions made the ball of energy lose its shape and quickly be dissipated by whatever corrupt energy was surrounding her in this dungeon.
The four shadowy fakes all laughed in unison, a cackle that was distorted and singular despite coming from four supposedly different beings. The taller one then finally shot the magenta crystal with a loud 'BANG'!
She closed her eyes.
…
But the impact never came.
Instead she felt light. Lighter than ever, in fact. It was like she had been previously filled with heavy stones… but then they all had turned into nothingness from one moment to another.
When she opened her dark blue eyes, she saw a shimmering spirit of pure light flying right above her.
It shone like a beacon in the night, its rays of light seemed to burn the darkness away, cleansing both the dungeon she was in, as well as her very soul… and just like that, all those dark voices and feelings tormented her no more.
The four beings that once imitated her loved ones now revealed their true, horrendous forms… deformed oozes made of darkness, that were pitifully struggling and shaking their amorphous shapes as the light of the spirit burned them. Their 'mouths' were unhinged as they slowly burnt to nothingness, no doubt trying to screech and spit more hurtful words… yet no sound came out.
Kommo-o could only hear her own heavy breathing, and the soothing melody of the spirit's bright energy.
It slowly came down from high above, close to her level.
She instinctively got on her knees in reverence, lowering her head and bowing, ignoring the pain of her still grievously injured right arm.
The adult was surprised when the first thing the spirit did was land on the floor right in front of her, and immediately kneel to pick her right hand, then transfering a bit of the light that surrounded it to her.
Her eyes then adjusted to the intense light before her, It was then she noticed how small this spirit really was. In fact, her hand by itself was almost as large as he was.
"Are you alright?"
This voice…
She immediately lifted her head back up and opened her muzzle, but managed to only whisper incredulously "Lawrence…?"
Kommo-o then could identify the angelic togetic, smiling gently in front of her, lovingly touching her hand with his two stumpy ones, vanquishing all of her injuries as easily as he did the shaytans.
"I'm sorry I took so long. Pichu needed me." His brownish-yellow eyes stared at her, scanning for any injuries he had not yet mended, "their distorted truths will hurt you no longer."
"So does that mean you and Mirari are…"
"Perfectly safe, yes. Mostly. But nevermind that, we must worry about you and Pichu right now!" He noticed just how… stunned she seemed at everything, from the bravery in his voice to his glowy and sacred-looking form.
For a few more seconds, the adult just silently observed the fairy in front of her. He let go of her hand, and kept smiling, "I assumed you wouldn't be so alarmed, since you've seen me like this back in that other dungeon."
"I've… only detected your aura back then. I could not properly see you in this form." She admitted, "I am out of words, little one. At first I thought you were a heavenly spirit… you are not a normal togetic, that much is certain."
"Yeah, I'm not a togetic at all actually." He winks, then flies closer to her. Kommo-o could feel radiant energy he produced even more intensely now, as if it was piercing right through her scales. "In any case, is there any injury left on you?"
Lawrence kept staring deeply at the adult, who still found herself in quiet awe at the sight of the usually modest former-human. "I can sense that there is… one place that's still hurt."
He pressed his stumpy hand on her scaly chest, with a melancholic expression. "In here… the only place I can't reach. Miss Kommo-o, why do you bottle up so much here?"
She contemplated that simple, yet complicated question.
"It… comes with being an adult." She places her comparatively enormous hand on his small one, "we have to carry burdens to avoid bringing hurt to those we love."
She looks down, remembering in shame all the information she withheld from Pichu, Mirari and Lawrence. All the pain and harm she caused because of her own mistakes…
But then, she felt two small arms wrapping around her plated neck, as the togetic laid his head on her scaly neck. "The only one who you're hurting is you, Miss Kommo-o."
Ironically, Kommo-o didn't remember the last time she hugged someone. Nor the last time she was hugged by someone. Such a simple gesture of affection was one she rarely ever did, she simply wasn't used to it.
"I prefer hearing a painful truth than a pleasant lie. I know I'm a kid but… I deserve to know. Who cares if I will cry? We can cry together, right?" Lawrence whispered as he kept hugging her neck, and she hugged back the shining, translucid pokémon. It was like trying to touch light itself, but she didn't care.
"I want to cry together with you, as well as laugh!" A voice from a time long past spoke, bringing back simpler, more pleasant memories, contrary to what this dungeon did.
"You should let your emotions out more. Speak your mind with no restraints, Mirari and Pichu would appreciate that, I'm sure." Lawrence kept hugging her neck as she hugged back, "I know I would. You know we three love you, each in our own way."
"Of course I love you! In my own way of course, just like how you love me in your own way!" The phrase of the sweetest pokémon she ever met rang through her head, unlike the portrayal by the cave, this was the real him, the one she cherished and remembered.
And Lawrence carried the same innocence and honesty in his words.
"Ever since Mirari hatched, I've been trying to protect her from…" She gestures with her hands, "all this. Same to you and Pichu. I wanted you hatchlings to have a peaceful and normal life without worries… even if I've always known fate doesn't allow that…"
Before Lawrence could speak more, the noises of battle coming from the other room distracted them both.
Kommo-o looked straight at the fairy and nodded with a serious expression. "Go help her. I'll be fine."
He nodded back with a smile, "Of course."
Lawrence then started to fly away back where he came from.
"And little one, one more thing."
He turned around to see Kommo-o with a single tear down her scaly cheek.
"You are a wonderful boy. Mirari and Pichu are lucky to have a pokémon such as yourself as their partner."
He was a bit taken back, she could swear that behind his transludescent form, there was a large blush in his cheeks.
"W-Well…" He stuttered for the first time since he got here with a smile aimed at her, "we're all lucky to have you as our mother."
Lawrence winked and left a speechless Kommo-o behind, another tear forming in her eye to join the first.
"Why did you make me say that to her!?"
"It was what you were feeling, was it not? I though you wanted to speak your mind to her after that speech."
"Yes, but it's still embarrassing! What if she doesn't like it or something!? She's not really my… y'know!"
"We both know she loved hearing that. Especially from you."
Lawrence internally groaned as he flew back towards Pichu.
"Besides, I certainly cannot possibly force you to do or say things you'd rather not." Mawile spoke from inside the togetic's own mind, "I can only give you nudges."
She saw Pichu in the middle of a power struggle with the corrupted perrserker, dodging his various furious attempts at cutting her to shreds as she desperately tried to say something following Lawrence's guidelines, "What's your favorite book? You like to read? Urk… are you even literate?"
"STOP MOCKING ME!" He growled and thrust his sword-like claws into the rodent.
She jumped back and fired a small bolt of blue lightning at his face. "I'M… NOT!"
Lawrence frowned awkwardly at the scene, "Nudge me into helping Pichu then, please!" Lawrence pleaded to the spirit inside his pendant, then flew right next to his friend, creating a barrier of light that staggered and made the blinded Perrserker take a step back.
"Do not forget, human." Mawile reminded him mentally, "our role is to assist and protect. It is her duty to win this battle herself."
"Roger." He didn't quite understand how it all worked exactly, but just being here to help was more than enough for the former human.
The togetic flew down so he was closer to Pichu's level, near the ground.
"No luck in trying to reach out?" He questioned her, even though the answer was obvious.
"Back in the village, the elders didn't quite teach how to debate philosophy with someone that's trying to kill you." Pichu replied, panting heavily, but immediately felt better with Lawrence's mere presence.
He touched her shoulder gently. "You just need to speak from the heart."
She shook her head, "I'm… not good at doing that. Clearly. Doesn't help that this one never seems to tire out."
Another angry growl came from the angry feline, "You… I'll make you pay for what you did to them… to my team… to me!" The perrserker started to spin into a whirlwind of strikes, desperately trying to hit whatever was around him.
Thankfully, Lawrence carried Pichu away from the wrathful enemy. "I know! Remember back in the village, when we played 21 questions with Mirari in one of our many sleepovers?"
Pichu held onto Lawrence for dear life, staring up at him in confusion, "Sure. It was wonderful but… is this really the time?"
"You see… think of this like that game!"
Pichu cocked her head to the side.
"All you gotta do is try and make him open up… then when he does, you defeat the darkness that's corrupting him and see the truth. Simple, right?" Lawrence set her down a bit far from him. "Now… try asking about this team he keeps mentioning."
"By Arceus… here goes nothing." She shook her head and closed her eyes, "h-hey! HEY! About this um… team you had? Who killed them?"
Surprisingly to her, the perrserker stopped his mad attacks and simply started to 'look' around him randomly, "Grrr… It was you, creature! You made them your playthings, along with me!"
Lawrence nodded with a smile, encouraging her to continue further. "If you mean the dungeon… then no, I am NOT it!" Pichu shouted angrily, "and second: you are still their plaything! This place is making you act like a maniac for no good reason!"
He swiped the air around him, more in anger than as an all-out attack attempt, "Liar! You are trying to feed my hope, so you can drain me more!"
"Of course not! I am trying to-" She was forced to roll forward to avoid another attack that would easily decapitate her.
"Urk… am I allowed to attack?" Pichu whispered to the fairy that flew close to her.
"Yes. You might still need him to bash him a bit before making him change his mind… but be careful not to overdo it."
"Ok. Again, I am not the best at controlling my electricity, nor at all this… heart to heart thing…" She charged a small blue electric aura around her, flickers of it leaving through her cheeks, "but… I believe in you. If you say this is the way to do it… then I'll do it, Lawrence!"
"We'll do it, Pichu. I will always be there for you no matter what!" He got ready for battle once again.
Pichu smiled brightly. "Yeah… then let's save him, together!"
-Western Desert-
The sands of the desert were moving along with the breeze, who was getting stronger and stronger the more time passed.
Sundance stood in the middle between Mirari, who was helping the fainted Lawrence way behind the dark-type, and an injured Krookodile, who had dark sand both underneath her as well as acting as bandages for her injuries, most of which were healed by now thanks to the use of an oran berry that was meant for the togepi.
The dark, soft sand underneath them started to move like a river, forming waves that tried to swallow the ice-type. He jumped and dashed around randomly, managing to avoid being grabbed.
"Do tell me, Sneasel." Krookodile casually spoke as she stood still, "I have heard you were known for being a solo hunter. Didn't know you also had a gig as a babysitter."
He spun middair and, from his claws, shot an icicle spear straight at her head, but some of the sand sprung up and blocked it, which blasted more of the dark sand everywhere.
Sundance then ran straight at her with ice covering his arms, "I prefer being a babysitter than being a clown like you."
He tried to slash her with various fast-paced swipes, but another pillar of dark sand rose, which once again got damaged instead of her.
"It's useless. Know that I know your speed, you won't be able to touch me." She yawned and flickered her claws, causing the pillar that acted as a shield to explode and throw Sneasel backwards.
He once again spun in the air and landed on his feet, immediately running back at her to try to land more of those fast attacks, yet once more the dark sand formed a protective wall around her.
"Your previous strategy of trying to land a single decisive blow was more effective," she commented again, rolling her eyes. "Are you perhaps trying to make sure I am too focused on you to attack the two brats?"
She stomped on the floor and caused several blasts of sand in an area around her, which once more resulted in the sneasel being hit directly and flying backwards, bleeding more and more. "If so, that is adorable. And so predictably stupid."
Yet even still, the injured pokémon repeated the same move. He got back up and immediately fired more ice projectiles at her, which caused more sand to come up and explode as it blocked the sneasel's attacks.
This time he ran behind her and did the same reckless swipes, carving through the wall of dark sand that appeared to defend her.
Once more the cycle repeated itself, with more of the mushy dark sand exploding and being dispersed all around the red crocodilian pokémon and the dark-type.
"Are you even trying to hit me?"
Mirari focused all her attention on Lawrence, catching mere glimpses of the battle in front of her.
Her tail was moving erratically behind her, her scales clanged as her body trembled in nervousness.
"Focus, Mirari! Focus! Lawry needs you! You're a dragon! You're the best! Even Sneasel knows that! You can do this! C'mon! Just think!" She desperately told herself, her scarlet eyes squinting.
"OK! I got this! I just have to…" She nodded with a smirk in her beak-muzzle, "have to…"
"WHAAAH! I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT TO DO!" She started to frantically walk around the fairy's fainted body as if that would help in any manner, her clanging scales created a chaotic melody that reflected her current emotional state.
Unbeknownst to her, her frantic walking had made a bunch of sand fall onto Lawrence. Which made her jump once she noticed it.
"Sorry, sorry! I'll get it off of ya-" -she quickly and sloppily used her claws to clean the togepi's face from sand.
-Shadow Gallery-
Pichu and Lawrence's combined effort was proving successful, making perrserker get more and more defensive the more they fought and spoke.
The rodent dodged another blow, and when the corrupted steel-type went in to hit her middair, a shield of light denied the attack.
She used both her rationality and her heart to try and make the enemy see the truth. "Think, Mr. Perrserker! If I am the evil being you think I am, why am I trying to save you? Shouldn't I be provoking you if I really wanted you to keep endlessly draining you of your energy?"
"You… are a deceiver! Your voices lie! I don't know… I don't know why you do anything you do!" He stopped his attacks to speak yet again.
"Well, when was the last time one of the voices tried to make you stop? When was the last time you remember that one of them tried to make you feel peace, not wrath?" She continued her logical approach.
"I… I don't… I…" His screech-y voice started to normalize, he put his two front paws in his head, grunting in pure pain.
"This is it! C'mon, Pichu! Keep going! Try and make him feel some more!"
Pichu nodded at the togetic's instructions.
"If you want to avenge them… if you want their deaths to mean anything… you will stop this and listen to me!" She shouted in her squeaky voice, "we can't save them… but we can save you!"
"Can't… save… them…" He started to shake, the aura of darkness still burned around him, but it was now chaotic like a flame on a strong wind, "Avenge… them… I'll… I'll…"
"Maybe I can try and heal him now. Worth a try…" Lawrence lifted his arms and pointed them at perrserker, starting to channel some of the light like he had done with Sableye.
But then, he suddenly started to feel a stinging, unpleasant feeling all over his body, especially his face.
"Lawrence? Are you alright?" Pichu looked up in concern as he then started to sneeze and scratch himself.
"Yeah… just… ACHOO!" He shook his head and floated erratically in the air, "god… I hate sand!"
"I'll… I'll… I'll kill you!" The perrserker once again descended into primal anger, screaming at the top of his lungs.
A powerful wave of energy coming from the enemy made Pichu fall back on her rump.
The steel berserker then ran towards her after hearing her fall, blade-claw ready to finally finish her off, but she rolled out of the way, earning only a bleeding cut on her cheek.
-Western Desert-
Mirari was growing more and more desperate, the sounds of Sneasel's and Krookodile's battle only making her get even more nervous.
"What… what would Lawry do if it was him in my place?" She tried to think, "first: Panic! Second: Cry! Third: Panic some more!"
She smiled to herself in pride, "I've done 2 out of 3! Great job, me! But then, how would he actually save me…? What's the fourth step?"
The jangmo-o remembered what had happened back in the cave after their scuffle with Sableye, how it was more or less similar to the situation she was in.
She was down, her body completely scorched due to the fairy light that was used to faint the ghost and dark-type, that had also hit her. Lawrence started to cry (because of course he did), and then… then…
It was also the case for when Lawrence had fallen into that lake of darkness. How she cried and teared up, begging for him to return with all she had.
"You are a wonderful friend, Mirari. You saved me as I drowned in darkness. Thank you." The voice of that confident angel echoed in her mind.
She had an idea! She knew how to save him from drowning again!
"OK! I get it! I have no clue if this'll work or not… but I gotta try!" She placed both her clawed forepaws in his chest, and closed her eyes, "I won't lose you again Lawry! You're counting on me! I promised I'll protect you, so I'll…"
She shut her eyes even tighter, trying to channel an energy she didn't exactly know. "I'll recharge ya back up, you little battery of emotions!"
-Shadow Gallery-
Once again, the perrserker's anger was amplified by whatever was corrupting his mind, which meant that Pichu was forced to keep dodging to avoid his hits, whilst Lawrence healed and blocked the ones she failed to.
"Last time, with Sableye…" Lawrence tried to explain whilst he kept another temporary barrier around the electric-type, "he only really calmed down after I landed a huge dazzling gleam on him. He was like this one, but it was the words we spoke that made him mellow out in the first place, he said it himself after we saved him."
"I think I remember Mirari saying something along these lines." Pichu was panting in exhaustion, but thankfully Lawrence's healing made sure she never ran out of energy completely.
"Let's try and get him to calm down again, then I'll channel a dazzling gleam to finally end this."
"Sounds like a plan." She nodded at him, "we almost did already. Shouldn't be too hard to get into that position again."
"He can't hear me, so it's up to you!" He smiled, "You can do it!"
Pichu took a deep breath and prepared to once again speak with the steel-type.
"Hey! Can't you see what this thing is doing?" She shouted at him. "Whenever you consider my words and try to get peace, this thing pumps you full of more anger! Do you really think I'm your enemy?"
Her words once more made the sewn-eyes-perrserker shake his head and struggle with himself.
"Don't forget who did this to them! It wants you to become a monster like itself!" She kept pressing forward with her logic.
"I… I have to… avenge them… I…" He whispered, his entire body started to shake.
He then kneeled, punching and scratching his own head violently. "I… think this will be an easy job, right guys…? We'll be able to… to afford all that stuff for our clan… with this much money… we'll be able to… stop wandering around so much… won't we, guys?"
"Lawrence!" She started to channel her lightning like she did in the beginning of the fight, covering herself in that blue aura of electricity once more.
"Right!" Lawrence landed on the floor right next to Pichu.
She placed both her paws together, using her aura to create a blue ball of pure electricity in between them.
Lawrence placed his stumpy hands on top of her paws.
Their bodies and minds were in sync. The electric ball started to grow, until it doubled in size. Now it shot blue electricity around it, but had a rainbow-colored core.
The perrserker's dark aura started to return, his internal struggle was a doomed one.
"Now-!" Pichu shouted, but then all of a sudden, the angelic togetic fell on his knees.
Pichu's eyes widened as she saw his light fading away.
The ball of energy they created quickly dissipated as Pichu now tried to touch her spiritual friend to see what was wrong.
"I'm… ok, Pichu." He explained, his translucent form started to fade away more and more. "I guess… my time's up… Mawile did say it wouldn't last forever…"
"W-Who's Mawile? What do you mean, 'time's up'?" She sniffles and tries to shake him. "This is unfair! You… y-you just got here!"
"I… I gotta go back and help Mirari too…" He tries to explain, now phasing in and out of reality, "only you… can do this, Pichu. I promise… we'll see each other soon."
She remembered the small wrapped up gift that was still in Kommo-o's bag, waiting to be delivered. "Lawrence, please no! I… I still have so much I wanna say…!"
"Then… say it when we meet again, ok?" He winked and caressed her cheek with the last of his energy, shrinking back down into an unimpressive togepi right before her eyes. "T-That way… y-you and I both have a r-reason to keep fighting!"
The electric-type opened her mouth to speak, but before she could the ghostly togepi disappeared for good.
Leaving her alone once again.
The mist-like darkness of the cave slowly started to return, and with it, the dread Pichu felt.
"At last, that pest is gone." The distorted voice from earlier returned as well, echoing through the darkness. "His mere presence made everything so much harder for us. I couldn't even properly speak. Now then, where were we?"
-Western Desert-
Mirari was feeling it.
She thought of everything she liked about Lawrence.
"His friendly personality… his funny words… how he laughs at my jokes even when he clearly thinks they're bad… how he loves to play with me, and lets me pick what we do every time…" She kept listing them in her mind, as well as revisiting some of their various memories together back in her house, "his… kindness. I like him, everything about him! Even the bad! That's why I want… I want him to… I want him to be my…"
Cough. Cough.
She finally heard sounds coming from the fairy in front of her.
The jangmo-o gasped once she saw an enormous, pleasant red aura all around her. Burning like a flame, but running down like a river towards the petit pokémon's body.
His strange pendant was shining brightly too, returning the color to his body.
The togepi coughed out sand, which was previously choking him and damaging his lungs.
"Oh! I think I know what I gotta do! Pichu even said something about that when we were played pretend!" She started talking to herself and to the choking togepi, "It's called… something like… CQC? CCP?... Oh, CPR!"
She pressed her claws at the center of his chest and started sloppily pushing hard and fast, "C'mon… C'mon…"
He coughed louder and louder.
Her own heart sank.
She then immediately pressed her mouth against his, unsure what exactly she was doing.
Then it was as if time was standing still.
That is, until he finally opened his eyes. They immediately got wide once he saw what she was doing.
Lawrence's stumpy hands touched her, and she quickly pulled back from it, smiling brightly once he put out all the rest of the sand that was still inside him.
"W-Wha-"
"LAWRY!"
Mirari immediately tackled him back down and started to nuzzle him, rumbling in affection and joy as she hugged the togepi.
"C-Can't… breath… a-again…"
"Oh! Sorry!" She stepped aside and allowed him to wheeze and breathe back.
"I'm so glad you're ok!" She jumped and danced around the confused togepi, making more sand splatter all around them. "I'm the best~ I'm the best~ I saved you with CPR 'cause I roooock!~"
"C… PR?" He blushed scarlet red, "oh that's what that… oh. Oooooh."
"Uh-huh! There was this spooky magic thingy with my aura too that I-"
Mirari was interrupted by a stray bomb of dark sand that almost hit the two of them, thankfully she used protect to disperse it.
The two of them could see Sneasel bleeding profusely, cuts, bruises and even burns all throughout his dark-furred body. Krookodile on the other hand was largely the same as ever, save for the fact that her body was covered in the dark side after so many blew up close to her.
"W-We got… to help Sundance!" He muttered, feeling his entire body get cramped up as soon as he tried to stand up.
"No! I'll help him, you sit this one out!" Mirari ordered, patting him in the back with her tail, "you look exhausted enough as it is. Don't worry, your awesome dragon friend will deal with that sand-chewer over there! Just do me a favor and watch me, 'kay?~"
Her smile was contagious, the fairy nodded and decided to follow her advice. "Hah. O-Ok. I guess I-I do owe you one, so sure!"
"Didn't know Sneasel had a name. Oh well!" She got in a battle pose and clanged her scales in anticipation.
Mirari then roared and charged at Krookodile, ready to headbutt her. The ground-type saw that from a mile away, and blocked with another of her sand-shields.
That made her not notice the fast sneasel coming from behind her, she widened her eyes and turned around, her claws ready to block a physical attack.
But much to her surprise, Sundance used his claws to pick up more dark sand and throw at the Krookodile, adding yet another layer to her already sand-covered scales. He also put something close to her feet, buried in the sand, but she didn't really pay attention nor care all that much.
She pushed the injured Sneasel away with another close-range explosion of sand. He flew back, but once again landed on his feet.
Mirari ran next to him, "Mr. Sunday! You're all banged up!"
"It's Sundance. Who the hell told you- Oh forget it." He shook his head and spat on the sandy floor.
"You've been trying the same thing over and over… shouldn't you like, do something other than just rush in and get blasted by sand?"
"No." He muttered.
"Why?"
"Because thanks to that, I've already won…" He winced and placed a claw in one of his many, many injuries. "I have to admit, I didn't think it would cost me this much energy, though…"
"I can help! Please!" She nudged him, causing him to wince in pain some more, "pleasepleasepleaseplease!"
"No."
Another wave of sand formed, almost swallowing them both. Sundance got up to dodge, but his injuries kept him stuck in place. Thankfully, Mirari's protect once more came in clutch.
After the wave died down, Sundance sat back on the floor and stared at Mirari's eyes.
"Pretty please?"
He sighed and shook his head, "Fine. Here's what I need you to do."
Sundance and Mirari both stood side by side, staring at Krookodile's eyes.
The outlaw had a cocky smile that showed her sharp teeth, "You're gonna give up or what? There's no way you can defeat me once I focus all my efforts in defending."
"We'll just have to break through!" Mirari charged together with Sundance, both going in different directions.
"This again? Please be more creative!" She got ready to block their physical attacks, but was surprised as the dragon fired an azure blast of flames at her, and the sneasel shot various ice projectiles.
She blocked them all, the barrier of sand blocked her view.
The jangmo-o then jumped at her from the left, attempting to land a headbutt. But she took a step back and used her tail to smack the dragoness away. She felt a stinging pain on her feet as if something had pierced it.
Sundance then came from the left, his feet, arms and head all covered in ice.
Krookodile landed a single blow on his chest, but before he was thrown away, he managed to scratch her sandy arm.
Both Mirari and Sundance then fell on the dark sand, which quickly started to cover them. "Got you. Any last words?"
"Yes." Sneasel muttered.
"Time to chill, Koolkodile!" Mirari shouted.
As soon as she said that, the ground-type felt the arm where the sneasel scratched her start to freeze. Then it was the feet in which she had felt that pain before
And then her chest. Her other arm. Even the sand bandage she made on her neck.
"Sand is virtually impossible to freeze, see." Sundance explained, as more of the krookodile's body was encased in ice, "but the dark sand you use is special. I figure that it was more like mud or clay, hence why it's so mushy."
"And all of those have water, which everyone knows can freeze!" Mirari triumphantly finished the explanation.
"Of course, I had to use a lot of my ice attacks. Make sure they melted in the heat to add some more water to your dark sand." He freezes himself from the sand prison, cleaning his fur as he did. "It was a gamble, but one I was sure on. Made me pretty thirsty though, I could go for some water."
"So… all of these repetitive attacks you did…"
"They weren't meant to hit you. At all. I just wanted you to cover yourself in your strange sand thanks to those blasts you used to push me away, all that so I could freeze you. Plus the water from each of my moves." He turns around, walking towards Lawrence. "And you stepped on a particularly large icicle spear I planted earlier. Thank the kid for that, it improved my chances of freezing you."
"You-"
He fired an icicle spear that hit her frozen body, making her fall on her back and spread the frozen area on the dark sand below her, creating a small frigid field she had no control over.
"I'll deal with you later." He kneeled in front of the exhausted togepi, "you ok? Scared us a bit there."
"Y-Yes… thanks Mr. Sundance…" He smiled weakly, "you were a-amazing."
"And so was I!" Mirari butted in, posing proudly.
"It wasn't a bad performance." Sneasel shrugged in agreement. What he didn't expect was a tackle-hug from the jangmo-o, which made him fall on the floor due to how much heavier she was compared to him.
"You really think so? Like, really? Really, really? Really-really!?" She bombarded him with questions, whilst he tried to push her away.
"I'll freeze you next if you don't get off!" The sneasel growled one last time as he attempted to throw her away from him. "And don't EVER do another one-liner in any way, shape or form related to ice!"
-Shadow Gallery-
Pichu was once again hit from another strike coming from the perrserker.
Bleeding profusely, she was forced into an uncomfortable position, now that Lawrence was gone for good. The darkness that surrounded her made everything harder once more.
Talking worked only for a limited amount, without Lawrence to aid her, she felt vulnerable and weak.
"You… you… you'll die here!" The enemy shouted as he landed another swipe at the electric-type, this time making her fly back towards the wall, and land face-first into the rocky floor, bleeding even more.
"A shame. Such an interesting one you were, little mouse." That distorted and otherworldly voice spoke, seeming to come from the walls themselves. "But alas, it is time for this game to end. That pest is here no more, and gone with that incompetent savior was your hope."
"Don't… talk that way about him…" The rodent coughed, "you… you could never understand someone like him. A thing like yourself that only knows deceit and pain… could never grasp a Pokémon like Lawrence!"
"How cute. Do not worry, your fairy friend is next in line… he is much too important to be left alone." It laughed in a warped way after it was done speaking. "Finish her off, slave."
"F… Fuck… you…" The once-angry perrserker shouted back weakly, kneeling in the middle of the cave.
"Resisting now?" It cackled, "petulant little fool."
The blinded steel-type howled in agony as more and more darkness flooded his body, causing him even further pain.
Pichu was laying down, eyes half closed, feeling almost out of energy completely.
"Little one!" Kommo-o's booming voice stopped her from closing her eyes. "I have something to tell you!"
Her large ears moved from side to side, even in the dark they could detect the adult's voice. "I haven't been honest with you all this time. I have been hiding things from you in the hopes of saving you pain… but as little Lawrence said, it's only causing more harm than anything!"
The pichu lifted her head, with her eyes wide. Even though she could barely see anything, she knew how hard it must've been for the kommo-o nicknamed Shahrazad to admit such things.
"M-Miss… Kommo-o…" Pichu whispered, coughing weakly.
"I have much to apologize for. But for now…" The younger pokémon felt something touching her side, no doubt after being thrown by the adult dragoness. "I shall be done with lies and deceit, leave that to the cursed being in this cave. You deserve to know the truth."
She picked it up, it felt like…
"A letter. From someone back in Oasis Village, to you."
Pichu opened it without a word, despite the pitch-black darkness she could use a small amount of her electricity to read the words in it.
Her eyes widened with each word, her paws shivered and threatened to rip off the paper the more of it she read.
"It belonged to an innocent child… like yourself. One I couldn't save…" Kommo-o shouted, despite her lack of stamina. "One that was…"
"YOU IDIOT! STOP STRUGGLING AND KILL HER!" The voice tried to interrupt the dragon and fighting pokémon, yet the perrserker kept struggling against its command.
"...was killed. Along with the rest of our village." Kommo-o continued. Pichu's heart skipped a beat. She desperately kept reading the leader word for word, her eyes watered up once more. "The creature that did it… is the same that's possessing this perrserker."
She started to shiver, her worst fears becoming reality.
"And its objective… is to hurt Lawrence. He and Mirari are the prime targets." Pichu got up, letting the letter fall to the ground.
"OBEY ME! OBEY ME AND FIGHT, MERCENARY!" The dark being shouted at Perrserker, who chuckled weakly and refused to move. "IF SHE ASCENDS… IF HER EMOTIONS EXPLODE AND AWAKEN HER TRUE POTENTIAL… THEN… THEN…!"
"I didn't tell any of you… because my plan was to make sure you all never had any contact with The Entity, the darkness that haunts this place and possesses the pokémon you face. It was misguided, and for that I apologize." Pichu clutched her paws, tears falling down her cheeks. "So I ask not for your forgiveness, but for your understanding. Pichu… your power… the lightning you wield, the same one that hurts you… it is a gift, a blessing… and you must now use it to avenge Oasis Village! Use it to protect Lawrence and Mirari!"
Blue electricity started to shoot from the rodent's small body, ricocheting around the battlefield like thunderous bullets.
"Use your anger Pichu! Let it all out!"
Kommo-o didn't need to speak twice.
"AAAAAAAAAH" She shouted at the top of her lungs, the aura of blue electricity formed around her like a roaring bonfire, shooting bolts of lightning at all her sides.
"SHE'LL KILL YOU! SHE'LL KILL US! YOUR BROTHERS WILL HAVE DIED FOR NOTHING!" It tried to make him return to his mindless state, but the steel-type shook his head. "SHE'S A GUARDIAN IN THE MAKING! SHE HAS THE POWER TO REDUCE US TO SMITHEREENS!"
"I would rather die and go meet them in the great beyond than be your slave for one more second." The feline laughed, got back up and opened his arms, welcoming in Pichu's wrath.
"YOU USELESS SACK OF FUR! I SHOULD HAVE NEVER PICKED YOU AS THE HOST! YOU STUPID, SPINELESS PIECE OF-" The voice was quieted down when Pichu landed a single, thunderous punch right on the perrserker's face.
She followed up with another punch, and another, and another, and other, jumping up to land each of them on the steel-type, causing a huge shockwave of electric energy with each impact.
"Pichu," The words of the letter echoed in her mind as she barraged the enemy with more electric-type punches, each paragraph returned to her gradually, further fueling her righteous anger "ever since you sat across the room at school, ever since I heard your voice in class, so filled with knowledge yet so free of the taint of pride. Ever since I saw you go alone every day to your home, so lonely yet so dignified… ever since ever, I knew i had feelings for you."
Her entire body was getting scorched by the very electricity she produced, yet she kept going, using every bit of strength she had to keep mercilessly landing more hits on the blind steel-type. Each hit created another bolt of blue lightning that ricocheted around the cave.
"My mom said I should never be near you, she said you carried 'bad karma' for the sins of your family. My friends always told me you were weird, a 'freak who couldn't even control her electricity right'." The stray bolts she produced started to come back to her, further searing her fragile body, but also hitting her foe and further causing harm to him, "Despite the anger that hearing those words caused me, I heard them in silence."
The perrserker cried in anguish, and the evil voice also screeched along him. Pichu's every hit caused an indescribable amount of pain on both. "At least, I did. I write this not because I want these words to be a secret, but because when I picture looking at you, I just can't bring myself to say anything. I am quiet. It was silence that caused me to remain idle, and so by writing this letter I want to let my true feelings known, for once. So let me say it outright:"
Pichu jumped all the way to the top of the cave, her aura turned into a ball of energy that surrounded her. "All those terrible things others told me about you were wrong. Every single one."
She started to fire even more bolts of blue electricity that rebounded multiple times throughout the small space she and Perrserker were stuck in, "Togepi, or 'Lawrence' as he insisted on being called, was the one to confront me. He was the one who, through a few words, inspired me to break my silence, even if I couldn't speak what I felt, due to my own weakness."
"I wonder if that's why you look at him so? With the same quiet, shy adoration my own eyes had for you for so many years." The possessed perserker was flying in the air, being the center of the devastating move. He was screaming in agony, every atom of his body felt like it was being electrocuted by a thousand thunderbolts. "In any case, I can understand if you do not, or can not, share the feelings I have for you. I am far too young and too foolish to say I understand what the things I feel actually mean, but I can say I do know what a wonderful pokémon you are, and how stupid I was for always watching in silence as all those around you spread such absurd misinformation. I cannot blame you if you don't want me as a friend either, though it pains my heart to say it, I know I've hurt you too much."
"Be it as an acquaintance, a friend or something more, I will always love you, and will always fight for your happiness. I'll talk to my friends, much like I've talked with my parents." She then flew down from the top of the cave, the electricity accumulated throughout her body in the form of a single lightning bolt-shaped blue whisker made of pure blue energy on each of her cheeks. She also had a blue tuft on her forehead, as well as a ponytail-like bunch of fur that extended from between her shoulders. "I won't watch in silence anymore. I must thank Lawrence/Togepi for that, even if he somehow understands less about love than I do."
All electricity that she was aimlessly firing started to return to her, almost like she was absorbing it all back. It built up on her closed forepaws. "I vow to become a better pokémon. I vow to try my hardest to fight, and to be worthy of what I feel for you."
"Plasma…" The energy expanded and enlarged. Her fists were now overcharged, ready to release the insane amount of electricity she had formed. "You are the strongest pokémon I know. Thank you for filling my heart with so much courage. I guess you do the same to all the fortunate ones that have the privilege of calling you 'friend'."
She flew closer towards Perrserker, landing a single blow right in between his eyes. "FISTS!"
The blue electricity bursted as she connected her supercharged fists on the enemy, and shocked the steel-type's body to the point where he was close to exploding.
Yet, before anything, the crystals around his eyes turned into dust, and the voice of the dark being started to screech in the purest display of agony.
A dark, magenta-colored aura was separated from the steel-type. It was similar to the many crystals surrounding the cave, as well as the ones that previously sewn Perrserker's eyes shut. It appeared for a second, before being shocked to oblivion.
"Signed, your silent friend,"She was falling straight to the rocky floor, the dark mist that covered the cave was now dissipating.
"Sand… shrew…" She whispered, her body smoking like she was on fire. She saw the grievously injured Perrserker also fall along with her. His eyes were completely blank, she couldn't tell if he was alive or not.
She remembered all the times she was bullied by the other kids in the village. There was always one that watched in silence. At the time, she thought it was out of apathy… but it was out of fear.
He was always silent, yet he had so much to say. Words that will never be spoken, words that were stolen from him by the fiend she had just rampaged against.
That child watched her suffering, his own inaction caused him to suffer just as much.
That child's name was Sandshrew, and he had a kind heart.
"Why should… it matter, your dreams of a child?" She whispered a song she remembered from one of the many poetry scrolls she hoarded in her home back in the village, "innocence is gone. Only fear to play with…"
"Faces are changing, but nothing is changing the pain…" She coughed, her mind getting foggier and foggier. "Over and over it calls to your soul…"
She felt someone pick her up gently, then nuzzle her. She felt raindrops touching her scorched fur. "Say it isn't so. Emptiness surrounds you..."
"No one can help… if the angels refuse to… come here." She closed her eyes, tears formed and ran down her cheeks, "it's... too late…"
A/N: Hey guys! I am SO SORRY for the delay, a bunch of stuff happened- from me losing access to many of many accounts, to college making me write a ton of papers. I even lost the drafts for this chapter many times and had to redo it (so yeah, sorry if there's any outrageous grammar mistakes in this one), I almost thought this one was cursed!
In any case, the support ya'll give to me and this fic is tremendous, and I shall keep my vow to never stop updating!... even if it takes a while sometimes. I hope to hear what you think of how things are going so far!
NiceColdDay: thanks for your kind words! Hope you keep being invested on what's coming next too! Feel free to point out what you liked and disliked, I love hearing thoughts about how things are going!
Khirokorok: It certainly hasn't died out, worry not! Your words of encouragement gave me even more inspiration to keep writting! Ironically, I really love krokorok too, but I guess that having them as a minion that gets killed is not much of a honor, hah. I wonder what you thought of this chapter, considering what you've mentioned of each character! I tend to write everything thinking of the characters first, and this chapter in particular was certainly one that explored a lot of them! (oh and about the mistakes with krookodile and krokorok... yeah, I have no excuse for that. I went back and fixed all the typos I found, hopefully it's better now! Thank A LOT for pointing it out, dunno how that happened!)
Guest: Oh, a shipper, I see! This chapter will definitely be to your liking, hah. Thank you for your review!
