Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Shadows of Ganderosa
Chapter 10
The Cave of Crystals
It had been several hours since Team Rapture left Kerroshia. By this time, Dillan had just finished telling Hazel about Grace and Reya.
"So which is it?" Hazel asked. "Do you have a sister or not?"
"Like I said," Dillan said calmly. "I don't know. Ryan thinks it's my mind inventing things in an attempt at fixing my memories. Personally, I don't know what to believe."
"I for one think it's true;" Hazel said. "though I don't know about Reya... She seems like a strange pokemon... What did you say she looks like again?"
"She has a white dress and green hair." Dillan told her.
"Sounds like a gardevoir to me." Ryan said.
"Answer me this, Ryan." Hazel said. "If Dillan is inventing it all, how did he know what Reya looks like? He doesn't remember seeing a gardevoir before Reya."
"Dillan?" Ryan asked. He wanted his acknowledgement that he could discuss this topic.
"It's ok." Dillan said. He wanted to hear the arguments and decide for himself.
Ryan nodded and stated, "You could have had a gardevoir as a relative. If you were close to her, your subconscious mind could have brought the said relative into existence as a way to communicate with Dillan in his dream."
Hazel was stunned by all of the information that had just spewed out of Ryan's mouth. She started thinking of a way to protest while Dillan looked at the scenery. It's beautiful...
Dillan stared at the river that separated the grass from the sand. They were about to cross over that river and be on the gravel path that stretched onwards. There were mountains ahead. The path took a curve about fifteen miles ahead as it followed the mountains into the distance. Trees stretched upwards from the mountain-side. There was a field of flowers trailing the sides of the path. He loved the view. The sun was at its peak in the sky.
"What if it is true." Hazel said.
"Nice recovery." Ryan said with a friendly smirk.
"Shut up." Hazel laughed.
Ryan focused his attention to the question as they crossed the river, leaving the deserts of Kerroshia behind.
"This is the Alka Region, right?" Dillan asked.
"Yep." Hazel answered. "Originally, it was part of the Kerroshia region, but... never mind."
"If Reya is true," Ryan began. "then we head to the Castle of Ruins; though I would rather do that once we get on our feet and have some money to spend."
"What do you think, Dillan?" Hazel asked.
"I agree with Ryan. We should do some missions before going to the castle."
"Unless we find a mission that takes us to the castle?" Hazel asked.
"I think the odds of that happening are zero." Ryan said.
"I for one think the odds are twice as much now that we're at the Bronze Rank." Hazel stated.
"Two times zero is still zero." Ryan pointed out with a smile.
"Ha ha." Hazel said sarcastically.
Dillan wasn't listening. As usual, he was lost in thought. I love everything here. It's all so bright and colorful. The flowers are a nice touch, as well. I wish I remembered things like this earlier... Then again, not remembering things makes everything feel new... Though, shouldn't I feel familiar with anything? The only thing that felt familiar was the pendant... I wish I had been paying attention. Why does it feel like everything that goes wrong happens when I'm not looking? With that thought, Dillan looked around. He half expected a giant fissure to appear from beneath him and swallow him into the earth. Would that be so bad? I mean, I could dig my way out. How about a meteor to fall out of the sky and destroy the planet? Nah... Too cliché.
After a few minutes of walking, Dillan thought of a question. "Hey Ryan."
"Yeah?" Ryan asked.
"Is the Palando Mountain pass a Mystery Dungeon?"
"Yes and no." Hazel said.
"What?" Ryan asked. Apparently, he was just as confused as Dillan.
"In a Mystery Dungeon like the pass," Hazel began. "there is a path that leads to a certain position in the dungeon that it stable. It's a strange phenomenon called a Mystery Pocket; or 'M. P.' for short. The M. P. lies at the end of a mystery dungeon. The path to or from the M. P. is the mystery dungeon itself. Some M. P.s are easy to find while others are difficult. If I were to guess where the kidnappers are holding up, I'd say they're in an unknown M. P. in the Palando Mountain Pass. Does that make sense?"
"I think I get it." Dillan said.
"Alright then." Ryan added. "Let's move on. All this talk about pockets inside of mystery dungeons is confusing enough without excess info. Let's just focus on saving the child."
"Ryan," Dillan asked. "About the kid, does it say where he or she lives?"
Ryan thought about the question. "One second..." Ryan pulled out the folded piece of paper from his arm band. He unfolded it and started reading aloud. "'Dear exploration team. My name is Kierra Leanne and my son was kidnapped in the Palando Mountain Pass. We were moving from Kerroshia Castle to Palando Town when we were ambushed by three pokemon who took my child away from me. We just lost his father a month ago and I couldn't bear to lose him, too. Please help bring my son back to me.' As awful as this is, I for one think kids shouldn't be allowed in Mystery Dungeons for this very reason and more."
"I don't know." Hazel said. "If parents were more careful, it might turn out ok. I know my dad took me into dungeons all the time without having to worry."
Ryan was about to counter her statement when Dillan cut in with, "It doesn't make sense to argue about something like that. We might as well drop it and focus on getting to the pass."
"You gonna take the lead, Dillan?" Hazel asked.
The lead? "Uh..." he started. His feelings dissipated and turned to worry. "I don't think that's such a good idea..."
"Why not?" Hazel asked.
"It didn't go so well last time." Dillan said with a frown.
Hazel looked baffled by Dillan's uncertainty. "That's not true! I would have been a squishy mess if you didn't react."
"Yeah, but I led us into a trap which resulted in you getting hurt. I can't do that again."
"But-" Hazel started.
"Hazel." Dillan interrupted. He stopped walking. "Please, I don't want to lead. I don't trust myself to make the right call as a leader."
"It's cool." Ryan stated. Dillan looked at him with an expression that said, "Thank you". "If Dillan doesn't want to lead, he doesn't have to."
"Alright." Hazel said. "Well, since I have the only other source of light, I'll lead; But Dillan, you need to warn us if we're about to go into a dead end or if some crazy is going to dump a rock on us."
"Alright." Dillan said nervously.
When they got to the pass, Dillan realized it was more of a cave. It was very dark. Every so often, a piece of white quartz would protrude from the wall and shine red in Hazel's flame. Hazel was at the front, followed by Ryan. Dillan was at the rear. Dillan's miracle sense switched on as soon as they entered the cave. It wasn't too narrow. If two pokemon tried hard enough, they could both squeeze through the cave at one time, so there was a lot of breathing room. The stone walls stretched out in a seemingly infinite direction. Dillan tried sensing for anything strange, though he couldn't feel anything. Hazel took a left, then a right, then another right. Occasionally, Dillan would warn her of a dead end, then he would dig into the wall and let Hazel step over Ryan so she could take the lead. Granted, Ryan hated when that happened for obvious reasons. The process continued for what felt like hours until something felt odd.
"Take a right at the next corridor." Dillan instructed.
"Alright." Hazel obliged. She walked onwards until the road forked. She took a left. Hazel stopped abruptly with a "thud". "This," Hazel began as she put her hands to her muzzle. "is a dead end..."
Dillan tried to sense his surroundings. "No, not yet." he stated.
"Not yet?" Ryan asked.
Dillan started digging through his side of the wall. He dug into a new passageway on the other side of Hazel. He proceeded to dig through the wall towards Hazel. Once he broke through, Hazel looked mildly annoyed.
"What?" Dillan asked.
"You NEED to take the lead." Hazel insisted. Dillan rolled his eyes and stepped back into his hole to let her and Ryan pass. They walked for about a minute before Hazel stopped. She knelt down to pick up the object Dillan had sensed earlier. The object was the reason he wanted to come down the path. It felt out of place.
"It's a rock?" Hazel asked.
"Why was that statement a question?" Ryan asked.
"Look." She brought the rock around so Dillan and Ryan could get a look at it.
It was a small rock with a symbol on it. The symbol looked like a stick with a large eye in the middle of it.
"That's unown writing." Ryan stated.
"What?" Hazel asked.
"That's the term used today because of the pokemon, unown, that the writing is based on. Most archaeologists refer to it as "Kandernaan Writing" because of when it was used. Kandernaan was the line of kings before the Armadine family took over."
"How do you know that?" Hazel asked.
Ryan didn't answer. He just stared at the rock.
"Let's move on." Dillan said. "There's something about this place that's off."
"What makes you say that?" Hazel asked
"Just a feeling... Not like my Miracle Sense, just a feeling I have."
Dillan stepped back and let Hazel take the lead again.
Team Rapture walked for another hour or so.
"Hazel," Dillan said. "just a heads up. There's a big room ahead of us."
"Thanks." Hazel said cheerfully. Dillan was right. After a minute of walking, the team came into a big room. It was too dark to see much; though Dillan's miracle sense let him feel five rows of big stone altars. Most of them were smashed and vandalized. There were only two that were untouched. Dillan sensed a big object in the center. It felt like a massive bowl with thin bricks inside. Hazel blew a puff of flame into the air which illuminated their surroundings. The bowl turned out to be a massive torch with wood inside. Hazel directed her next blast towards the pile of wood. She kept breathing for ten seconds so that it would light. When she stopped, there was a massive flame licking the ceiling of the room. It lit up the room like a beacon in a fog. It showed different pieces of rubble scattered across the floor. Each piece of rubble was like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle. They were all able to be pieced together to form a piece of a bigger puzzle. The quartz in the wall were reflecting and refracting the light from the flames, making a sea of orange dots littering the room. Dillan was stunned by the sight. It was fantastic. There was a hall way at the end of the room that led farther into the cave.
"This is amazing!" Dillan exclaimed. He wanted to take in every aspect of the scene before his eyes. Hazel looked just as stunned.
"Look at the altars." Hazel pointed out. She ran up to one of the altars that was intact. It had symbols covering it. "It's like the stone." Hazel pulled out the strange stone from earlier so she could examine it with the altar. Most of the symbols looked similar while very few matched it exactly. "I wonder what it says..." Hazel wondered aloud.
Ryan walked up to the altars. He examined them closely. His expression was that of a person who was taking a math exam. He looked at the stone closely from the top to the bottom. He ran his paw over every crevice of the thing.
"What are you doing?" Dillan asked. Hazel didn't take note of Ryan's strange reaction to the room. She continued to look at the altars in awe.
"I thought so." Ryan said with a stern look.
"What?" Dillan asked.
"They're fakes."
Hazel finally took notice of Ryan. "Fake?!" she exclaimed.
"Exactly." Ryan said.
"It isn't funny." Hazel said.
"I hardly joke when it comes to things like this."
"How can you tell?" Dillan asked.
"See the rubble?" Ryan asked.
"Yeah?" Dillan responded.
"They're not round enough."
Hazel looked at him for five seconds before smirking. "Yeah. Right."
"I'm not joking!" Ryan shouted defiantly. "If this was real, the rubble would be round; instead it's more jagged."
"You're point?" Hazel asked.
"My point is that it isn't eroded; neither are the altars. The edges are too jagged. If these altars really date back to before the Armadine's were the rulers of the land, then it goes to reason that there should be some effect somewhere that there was erosion."
"What if there isn't anything to erode it?" Hazel asked.
"Then they wouldn't have chipped." Ryan responded calmly. Hazel was taken aback. She looked at the altars with a new found disgust. "Also, the writing is wrong. It's sloppy as well as backwards. These sentences should be read right to left, not left to right. The only explanation is these are new and fake. My only question is why. Why put up these fakes?"
Dillan thought back to their mission. "Maybe it's to hide the kidnappers hideout." he stated. Hazel and Ryan looked at him for an explanation. "What?" Dillan asked nervously.
"Nothing." Hazel said. "I just think it's a brilliant idea.
"I think you should use your Miracle Sense to find an entrance." Ryan proposed.
Dillan closed his eyes. He blocked out all noise from his head and focused on his surroundings. He saw the passageway they had taken, the room, and the last path that was used to exit the room. He saw nothing else. He opened his eyes.
"Nothing." Dillan said. "Just the room and this path."
Ryan looked around. "There has to be something here." he said. He looked at the next altar. He traced his paw along the writing as if trying to decipher it.
"So, you're an archaeologist?" Hazel.
"My parents were." Ryan said half heartedly as he moved on to study the next altar.
"That's so cool!" Hazel exclaimed. "Does that mean you can read the unown writing things?"
"Somewhat."
"What are you looking-" Dillan began.
"Hazel," Ryan interrupted. "hand me that rock Dillan found earlier." Hazel gave Ryan the stone. Dillan got in closer to see what Ryan was looking at. Ryan's paw was next to a hole along some writing. It was near the bottom corner of the altar, so it was very easy to over look. Ryan put the stone next to the hole. They both had the same diameter. The pachirisu inserted the stone into the slot. As soon as the stone was placed, there was a "click" noise. The torch's fire turned blue. The orange spots turned the color of the sky. It reflected the light across the altars. The unown writing began to glow blue. Ryan took a step back. The flame danced wildly on the torch. It lashed out at the oxygen in the room. Dillan took a step away from the fire as it started burning brighter. Dillan turned around instinctively. That's when he saw something different.
"Guys." Dillan said. "I found something.
Ryan and Hazel turned around. There was a new set of unown writing on the walls. It glowed blue in the fire.
"Was that there before?" Dillan asked.
"No." Hazel responded.
Ryan walked up to the wall. He set his paw on the writing and started reading aloud. "'Welcome, recruit, to the hide-out of Team K. P. You are our latest member. The passageway to your right has changed. Due to the nature of this mystery dungeon, we found a way to use the move wonder room to our advantage in order to alter passageways in order to have them lead to our hide-out. Consider yourself lucky to have joined a team of our caliber. You will never find another team as devilishly sick as ours!' Ok. This is obviously the hide-out."
"What did it just say about shifting passages?" Hazel asked.
"Who cares?" Ryan exclaimed. "All we know is that these pokemon are major idiots for literally saying this is their base. Also, I think it's safe to say we have entered the M. P."
"Guys." Dillan said calmly. "There is a kid who needs us. We need to focus on saving the kid first, then we can talk about how this room makes no sense."
"Alright." Hazel agreed. "I guess I'll take the lead. Come on." She signaled them with a wave as she walked towards the right path. Dillan and Ryan followed behind.
They walked for about five minutes. The walls were no longer laced by quartz. Dillan tried to sense for a room that they were about to enter or a trap that they were about to set off; though his focus was divided between that and his thoughts. What is the kid feeling right now? I know I would feel pretty helpless and scared and alone. Joining this team was the right thing to do. Pokemon need help from bad situations. I don't know if I could live with myself knowing that there was a billboard filled with problems that I would never help solve.
His train of thought was interrupted when Ryan stopped. If it wasn't for Dillan's Miracle Sense, he would have trampled the pachirisu. Ryan perked his head up and closed his eyes. He stood there for ten seconds of silence.
"What is it?" Dillan asked. Hazel stopped walking a few feet in front of the two pokemon.
"Something's wrong..." Ryan stated. "Listen..."
Dillan closed his eyes. He didn't feel anything. He didn't hear anything either. Hazel seemed to be in the same situation.
"Ryan-" Hazel started.
"Shh." Ryan interrupted. Hazel was starting to get irritated with Ryan's attitude. Dillan didn't care. There must be a reason to be silent. That's when Ryan broke into an all out sprint. It was probably the one time he wasn't annoyed with his height. It allowed him to rush right under Hazel. Hazel looked at him with shock.
"What in the name of-" she started.
"Come on!" Dillan shouted as he dug around Hazel to follow Ryan. Hazel ran after him.
"Do you see him?" Hazel asked.
Dillan focused on his sense. There was a little object bounding down the tunnel. "Yeah." Dillan acknowledged. "I see him." Dillan's view of the catacombs vibrated in his head. "Wait..." His miracle sense stopped working correctly like a light that suddenly went out. Dillan stopped moving. His feet were vibrating. He tried to use his miracle sense. He tried to focus on a certain object; any object. He started to see something; though it was filled with static. Everything was shifting wildly.
"Dillan!" Hazel prodded.
"I can't see anything!" he said worriedly
Hazel looked behind her. When she looked back to Dillan, her face was flooded with worry. "We're about to see something if you don't move!" With the last word of force, Hazel and Dillan broke into a mad dash down the tunnel, unsure of what was causing the vibrations, though they did not care. They ran for about three minutes before Dillan saw a light ahead. Dillan had to squint to let his eyes adjust to the light.
When Dillan could see his surroundings, he found himself at the entrance to a large room. The roof was about thirty feet above the floor. On the ceiling was a massive crystal that shone light across the cave. The source of the crystal's light was a fire that burned at it's center. The crystal looked like a massive cluster of spikes sticking out of a glass sphere. The crystal was above a square structure. The structure itself looked like it had been carved out of the cave. It was the same color as the stone surroundings. It had crystals of a variety of colors covering the walls of the structure. There was a big stone door with handles. There was nothing around the structure except for the stone floor and walls. Ryan was no where to be seen.y
Dillan ran around the corner of the entrance and started digging frantically into the wall. It took at least five seconds to dig a space barely large enough for the two pokemon. Hazel darted into the hole followed by Dillan. The gabite tried hurriedly to put the wall back together; though how well can you sculpt a wall when vibrations are rattling through the floor. Dillan was nowhere near completion when he heard large feet stomping on the ground. Dillan hurriedly dug into the ground, flinging dirt at Hazel's face. She tried her best to shield her face from the onslaught. He was about waist deep in dirt. Hazel was covered, making a kind of camouflage.
A massive pokemon came from the entrance, pounding a giant rocky tail into the soil as it went. Dillan looked on at the bipedal behemoth with its rock-hard skin and the orange plates that lined it's waist. Dillan was particularly worried about the set of grey horns protruding from the top of its head.
"Baht!" it called. "Baht! Get down heah right now!"
Dillan looked at a shadow come gliding out of the structure. It moved against the floor like paper. When it got close to the rhyperior, it came up from the floor and became a three dimensional creature with purple skin. It levitated a foot off of the ground. It's purple sombrero-like hair sat on its circular head. Its body was like a dress, flowing out into a cone-shape.
"Yes Leon?" the mismagius addressed the rhyperior slowly. Dillan sunk lower into the hole for fear of being spotted.
"Baht! We have intruduhs!" Leon said.
"Don't you mean, 'Bart, we have intruders'?" Bart asked.
"This is no tahm to get on me because of mah accent! This is urgehnt!"
"I haven't seen any intruders." Bart told Leon in a shrill voice.
"Don't take thaht tone with me!"
"It's the only one I use." Bart said.
"Whell let Borras know about the issue!"
"I will, Leon sir." Bart turned away from the rhyperior and floated up to the second story wall. Bart then phased through and was gone. Leon then walked forwards while thumping his tail on the stone floor. He openned the door and entered the structure.
"That must be the kidnappers!" Hazel said quietly.
"Now what?" Dillan asked.
"I don't know..." Hazel said. "I think we need to find Ryan."
"He's probably inside."
"Agreed. Let's try to find a way in."
Dillan and Hazel got out of their crevice and headed towards the structure.
"We can't go in through the front;" Hazel said. "they'll see us for sure."
"How about the back?" Dillan suggested.
"No, same problem."
"How about a window?"
Hazel thought about it for a few seconds. She started to smirk. "That should work; given we choose the right window."
Dillan scanned the windows. his miracle sense wasn't working because of the size of the room; though that didn't bother him. He was too focused on finding the right window. It can't be too high. What about one at ground level?
"Here." Hazel said as she pointed to a window that was on the first floor. Hazel ran over to it, carefully looked inside, then signaled Dillan to follow. He proceeded to speed-walk next to Hazel. He peered into the room cautiously. He heard large thumping noises coming from above the room. There were shelves in the room that were filled to the brim with an assortment of plants and berries that filled the air with a wonderful aroma that bombarded Dillan's nostrils. He and Hazel climbed into the room cautiously. There was a door to the left side of the room. It was the only entrance into the hiding place.
"That's not good..." Hazel said in a hushed tone.
"What?" Dillan asked.
"That door leads into the same room that the front door does."
"Do you want to try another entrance?" Dillan asked.
Hazel thought about it for a minute or two before saying, "No. I'm pretty sure we would run into the same problem. Now what?"
They both sat in silence for a few minutes; thinking about their next move. If all the entrances lead to the same area, then we would get caught... If they'll find us inside no matter what we do... Then maybe they can't be inside to begin with!
"Hazel!" Dillan said with an increased pitch.
Hazel shushed him softly before asking, "What is it?"
"I have an idea."
"Did I mention how much I hate this plan?" Hazel asked sarcastically. The two were outside. Dillan was still in the room, staring through the window at Hazel who was out in the open.
"Do you know of another way to get to the kid?" Dillan asked.
Hazel gave a sigh. "No." she said. "but I'll let you know when I come up with a different idea."
"For now," Dillan started. "stick to this one."
Hazel went up to the door of the structure and knocked three times. She then shouted, "Hey kidnappers! Nice place you got here! Where'd you get it; on the corner of dumb and lame?" It wasn't the best insult; Hazel knew that. She just wanted their attention. A large stomping could be heard through out the structure. The mismagius from before came out of a wall on the third floor. Hazel looked at the ghost type with a mixture of shock and fear. She started running back towards the exit like Dillan planned. She dashed into the tunnel. The mismagius stopped at the exit. The rhyperior flew through the structure's door and darted to the mismagius' side.
"Is she gone?" Leon asked.
"She just left." Bart told the rhyperior.
"Then we can still catch her!" with that, Leon charged down the hall with his tail thumping against the ground.
"Leon," Bart said quietly. "you are a pain in my side..." Bart drifted along after his companion. Once they were out of sight, Dillan went towards the door and openned it. He was now in a big room that had chairs around a small table in the middle of the room. There was a plaque on a door to the north-east side of the room that read, "Stairs". Dillan ran towards the door and openned it up. He found a flight of spiral stairs that led upwards. He started climbing the stairs frantically, trying not to think about how bad of a plan he had come up with. I hope Hazel is alright... I hope this plan doesn't backfire... When he reached the second floor, he found a door with a sign that read, "Shredder, Lounge, and Mystical Room of Darkness". What in Ganderosa?! Dillan reluctantly openned the door. He was now in a hallway that went on for about five feet, then veered left. He took the hallway down and came to the door that said, "Mystical Room of Darkness". He could feel something ominous about the door; nevertheless, he openned it. When he peered inside, he saw a pitch black room with candles that created a border for a pathway. The path led to a circle of candles. There was a pokemon who was sitting there, staring at the door. The pokemon was a bipedal. It had yellow fur with a chest plate of brown skin. It's head was yellow with a long, flowing mustache. The mustache was like a wave of fur had swept onto its face and stuck into position. The pokemon's gaze was fixed on Dillan.
"Who are you?" the alakazam said.
Dillan slammed the door. Dang it! He ran towards the stairs. When he reached the corner, he looked back at the door to the room of darkness. The door did not open. Dillan waited for ten seconds. Nothing. He began to worry about the pokemon he just met; not because it was going to chase him, but because it didn't. It felt very strange.
"Why are you here?" the alakazam's voice asked from behind Dillan. Dillan whipped around to face the voice. A hand grabbed at Dillan's face. Dillan instinctually slashed at the alakazam; but he couldn't. Some kind of force was holding his hand back. He couldn't tell what it was, but the alakazam was bathed in a pink aura.
"Do not struggle." The alakazam said calmly. "I only wish to understand your reason for being here."
Should I tell him? Would he kill me if I did? These questions did not matter; for the alakazam did not want him to answer. Dillan looked on as the creature pulled out a spoon. He held it by the hilt and begun to swing it back and forth.
"Sleep." the pokemon said slowly and ominously. Dillan felt himself growing colder. His eyes rolled to the back of their sockets. Dillan lost consciousness.
(One Day Earlier: Arlon)
Arlon was walking through the catacombs, wondering to himself about that gabite. His thoughts were running left to right with different emotions; some were of joy for the mission he had accomplished, some were of hatred for the scars he had sustained and will endure for the rest of his life, and the rest was of a lust for revenge. He will pay... That gabite will pay dearly for my scars and my suffering; just like the old Arlon did! If I ever meet that filth again, he will know true pain like a gabite has never felt before...
Arlon reached the end of the catacomb. He slammed his leaves against the icy doors. He wanted to feel the chill against his leaves or the pain of his leaves bending along the cold surface. He tried to get a feeling, any feeling, into his leaves; though he knew he would never feel the bark of a tree again or the chilly breeze of a mid-day afternoon in his mane. He yearned for the feeling of the grass on his feet or the touch of a woman against his skin. He hadn't felt anything since the fiery punishment that was forced upon him. He didn't blame the ashes of his old commander for his pain (Or in this case, lack of it). That old fool did so in order to keep respect and obedience amongst the ranks. No, he blamed that runt of a gabite. It was his fault he could no longer feel the sun on his face, or the bark of a tree, or the soft touch of a woman. He blamed the gabite for his agony. He will pay... He will pay for my scars and my suffering; just like the Arlon did! If I ever meet him again, he will know true agony as I break both his legs and make him walk amongst rusted nails. If he doesn't walk, he will be dragged. He will know pain, then I will show him how to fell nothing at all! He will suffer!
Arlon turned his attention back to the door. He had business. Arlon slammed his leaves into the door three times.
"Come in, Kieth." a voice called from behind the icy doors. With great effort, Arlon pushed them open. He pressed on the ice so hard, one of his burned leaves chipped; though to his disappointment, he couldn't feel it.
The room before him was massive. There was a big sheet of ice with a massive fog on the other was also a massive chair in front of the sheet. There was a pokemon sitting there; though the lack of light made it impossible to see what the creature looked like.
"Yes, my lord." Arlon said as he got down on one knee to bow.
"I wanted to congratulate you on your promotion to commander; though you will have to remind me of the circumstances." the pokemon commanded. It's voice was plagued with hatred, pain, and delight.
"Arlon." he stated slowly, choosing his words very carefully as to not cause an upset. "was incapacitated by an escapee-" A blast of ice flew forth from the shadows and pelted Arlon in the chest. The shiftry doubled back from the impact; though he grimaced for the lack of pain he wanted so badly to feel. He recalled the scars on his legs caused by his own leaves in an attempts at feeling something.
"Do not lie to me!" the voice commanded with harshness. "I am no fool!"
"My humblest apologies." Arlon said as he stood up and took a bow. "I won't test the boundaries of your knowledge again."
"You best not. Continue with your explanation; though remember the icy blast, for if you lie, it will not be the final time you encounter my wrath."
"My lord," Arlon continued. Arlon told of the circumstances that led up to his commander's fiery demise. He intentionally left out the part about the gabite.
"And the prisoner's?"
"I delivered them this morning, my lord."
Another beam of ice flew forth and struck Arlon's arm. His leaves were encased in ice; though Arlon did not flinch.
"What I mean to say is that I delivered most of them."
"One got away?" the voice blared.
"Two, my lord."
"Then you have failed in your task!"
"My lord, that is not true." Arlon said with a calm voice. He did not fear the being in front of him. He could no longer feel any pain. His only reason for living was to hear the pleas of the gabite as Arlon took everything from him. "I ask your forgiveness when I state this; but my late commander's job was to bring the prisoner's. I only took on the mantle after the two prisoner's escaped. I have made it my life goal to hunt down the two escapees. I will make up for my commander's short comings."
"I have half the mind to smite you where you stand;" the voice proclaimed harshly. "but you should consider yourself lucky. The world will need you alive for the time being. I will not kill you. You will be granted a second chance to achieve your commander's mission. This means you will inevitably encounter the gabite you loath. Do not take this lightly, Kieth. Though you may have overpowered your predecessor, you do not have my favor. If you fail, I will make sure you feel again so that you will experience all of the agony your feeble mind can tolerate and then some. I need competent commanders; be one. Do you understand?"
This is the chance I have been waiting for. Arlon thought. Finally, he will suffer for all of the agony; my agony. "There are only two thing I ask in return:" Arlon said with a maniacal grin.
"Go on."
"I wish to feel again. I want to feel everything."
"And the second?"
"I want to make the gabite suffer!"
There was no response for a few minutes. The shadowy pokemon thought about the request for a few minutes before stating, "I will grant you these things; though I want the gabite unharmed until he meets with me."
Arlon's grin grew wider upon hearing those words. "Where do I start?"
(Author's Notes)
Hey guys! MasterKnight here. I just wanted to say that I tried all week to come up with a name for this chapter, but failed. I don't like this name so one of two things will happen which will mean this chapter will be republished. A. I'll come up with a better name and rename the chapter. B. You guys can have some fun and contribute to the story by helping me come up with a chapter name! (If you don't want to, I completely understand. I wanted to include you guys in the story ;) )
That's all! Thanks to the new fans (avidreader-everafter, eevee3960, CharTheLittleCharmander, AZalmega, DiegoAvmor, and Hohomanho)! Hope I can give you guys some better chapters as the story unfolds! Also, thanks to all of my secret fans who haven't followed/favorited my story, but continue to read! Hope you liked this chapter!
P. S. This chapter was REALLY LONG when I originally finished it, so I cut it into three chapters. I will be posting the other two I have for you guys shortly! (Not today, Nov. 4th, but Nov. 5th or 6th will have a new one and the last chapter will come shortly after (again, not the day of that chapter)) :)
