A.N. Dark part ahead. This chapter contains discussions of psychological torture. Also, something me and my younger brother have been arguing about, how do you pronounce Rei's name? I pronounce it Rye (rhymes with dye), and my brother pronounces it Ray (rhymes with day). Who's right? (Yes, I'm aware this has nothing to do with the story I'm just wondering.) But with that tangent over, onto the story.
CHAPTER 3
Bravery and Fear
Adaman was bored. They were sitting in Kamado's office, waiting for Laventon to show up. the professor was finishing up a bit of research, and would be along in a couple minutes, they were told. But that was 20 minutes ago. Adaman had taken to scanning the room and seeing just how much had changed since Rei left. But there was no change as big as Rei himself.
The Rei Adaman knew was much smaller, roughly eye level with Irida. His hair was much shorter, and he had a baby face. But now, Rei was taller than him, and had proper facial hair. Adaman had to admit, he was a little jealous.
He turned his gaze away from him and it landed on Akari. She was different too. She'd grown a bit, but not by much. She was taller than Irida, but that wasn't hard since she probably didn't grow an inch since she was 14. He didn't fail to notice the way Akari was staring at Rei, especially with his new get-up. but what truly made him smile was the way Rei was looking right back. He had the same expression she did.
Then, his gaze shifted to Irida, and something odd happened. As his eyes met her face, his heart quickened. But that wasn't the odd part, his heart fluttered nearly every time they crossed paths. The odd part was, as his gaze landed on her, she laughed at the faces that Rei and Akari were making. When the sound reached his ears, Adaman suddenly felt strangely warm, and he thought it was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard. He shook, his head, quickly shooing those thoughts away.
Thankfully, before his brain dug an even deeper ditch, Laventon appeared apologising for his tardiness. "It's quite alright my friend," Kamado assured him. "Now, why don't we get to the bottom of how Rei returned to us, and where he's been all this time, shall we." Rei nodded, then stood up, and began his tale.
"When Arceus summoned me," Rei began, "he wanted to congratulate me on stopping the calamity that Volo had planned. He then told me that if I battle him, he'd join me as a partner. So that's what I did. But, as I was being returned, something… dark, struck me and sent me spinning off course." "So, were you sent to a different place in space and time?" asked Adaman. "No," Rei answered, "I was sent somewhere else. Somewhere beyond space and time. But I wasn't alone."
At this, Adaman looked confused. How could someone else be stuck with him. "What do you mean by that?" he asked. Rei sighed, then said, "There was something living in my head, feeding off of my negative thoughts and my nightmares. It tortured me like this for the whole time I was in that limbo, feeding off of me to get stronger."
A grim feeling of dread crept up Adaman as he described his experience. That sounded like Darkrai alright. He looked over to Irida, and noticed she bore the same expression as him. But he waited until Rei was finished with his explanation. "If Arceus hadn't been with me, this… thing, Darkrai, would have killed me." Akari gasped when she heard this. But Rei wasn't done yet. He continued, saying, "The thoughts it fed me were horrible. It would show me things like Volo succeeding in my absence, those I love perishing before my eyes, while I'm not able to do anything."
He had to stop for a minute to clear the lump in his throat. Adaman could see tears glistening in his eyes. "But then," Rei continued, once he was able to control his emotions, "it managed to extract information from my head." "What kind of information?" Irida asked nervously. "How to get into Hisui," Rei replied. "It knows about Mt. Coronet. Once it got that, it took me away from the limbo area and forced me to take it to Mt. Coronet. But thankfully, before it could enter, Arceus interfered, and forcefully removed Darkrai from my body. But the process completely drained me and blew me into the Crimson Mirelands. As one last desperate act, it took a swing at me, giving me the gash." Rei felt the long scar on his forehead as he said this.
"And then, you ended up unconscious in the Mirelands" Akari finished for him. Rei nodded. A thick silence fell over the room following his story. Eventually, Laventon asked, "did Arceus tell you where he was going to bring you?" Rei thought for a moment. Then he said, "He was going to send me home." "Well then," Laventon replied, "if you give me a few weeks of research on the space time distortions, I'm sure I can cook up something that'll bring you back to your time."
Adaman felt disappointed at this news, and he selfishly wanted to veto the idea. Akari looked absolutely distraught to hear this. But Adaman knew that, like him, she didn't want to get in the way if that's what Rei wanted. So, it was a surprise when Rei said, "No!" "No?" Laventon asked, "But surely you want to see your family again. You have friends over there too, right?" Rei shook his head. "I'm an orphan."
A collective gasp came from the congregation at this. "I've spent nearly my entire life living on the streets" Rei told them, "With no friends, no family. But then, Arceus brought me here, and now, I've got all of you. My real friends," no one missed his eyes move to Akari when he said this next part, "and my family. Arceus was going to bring me home. This is my home."
Adaman could feel a tear welling in his eye as he heard this. He wiped it away subtly. Irida was also tearing up, and Akari had embraced Rei in a big hug. This got Adaman really curious, and he saw no better time than now to finally get an answer for all the rumours. So, he cleared his throat, and asked Rei, "Something we've all been wondering since you first left. Is there anything between you and Akari?"
Rei and Akari immediately separated, blushing furiously. "Nothing other than friendship" Rei replied. "But" Adaman interjected, "when you told us that we were your family, you looked over to Akari specifically." "And, during the festival, I noticed something" said Irida. "I noticed you two wandering off, then return with bashful faces." The two of them went redder at this, if that was even possible. They tried to deny it, but Laventon, Kamado, and even Cyllene weighed in with their own points.
Eventually, the two of them were backed into a corner. So, with their faces bright red, and expressions of embarrassment but also incredible happiness, the two of them took each other's hands. Adaman thought he was going to go deaf from how loud Irida squealed as she ran to embrace them. "Such a nice voice" he thought to himself, before subtly kicking himself for thinking that.
Sorry if that got a bit too cliched but I just thought it would be a sweet thing to add. I also wanted to change the usual, didn't remember where they were from, or, unable to return to present, that you see in other fics. I wanted Rei to be happy to be back in Hisui. Nut anyway, thanks for reading, and I'll see you in chapter 4.
