Shadow shivered as she carefully made her way through the cells of the base. She flinched every time that she felt just how cold the floor was when her bare feet touched it. She ducked in, and out, of the unlocked cells that she passed on the way, searching through them for anything that could help her, even if it would increase the chance of a cultist finding her.
She found an interesting book in one of the cells. It was called "The Cults of the Torren Region".
"Torren... Is this the name of the Region that I am in?" She silently asked herself as she started to read the book.
The Torren Region has, as far as we know, has always been under the threat of different legendary-worshipping cults. There are five cults currently in power. The Cult of Darkrai, Abyssal Cult, Infernal Cult, Sky Cult, and a group simply called "Perfection." All of these cults are extremely dangerous and should be treated with extreme caution.
Shadow winced as a small memory revealed itself from the fog in her head.
"I remember now, the Cult of Darkrai wanted to forcibly recruit my best friend, but I can't remember why... It seems that even though I don't remember anything, it is possible for me to find information, or do something, to trigger a memory and rescue it from the fog in my head... And if I can trigger the right memories... I can remember who I am... I just have to find the right triggers..."
She continued her walk through the base, going up a set of stairs... And running into a locked door. Shadow sighed, this door was locked, by a fingerprint scanner, and it wasn't the first one that she had seen. She had seen more fingerprint scanners on the locked cell doors...
She was about to go up another set of steps, when Mew tapped her shoulder, making her turn around to look at the legendary Pokemon, who was holding a small note.
Young One, I chose Mew to help you out of this mess due to it's special ability. It is able to use Transform to change it's form and disguise itself as something else. However, unlike Ditto, Mew can transform you as well. If you can find DNA, Mew can disguise you as someone else. You should be able to use this to escape the base. Good luck. Your benefactor.
"I have a benefactor?" Shadow tilted her head. "Well, whoever it is, they really want me to get out of here."
She walked up the set of stairs, only to find a scene that made her feel sick, after she walked pass what looked like a lake of acidic fluid. It was horrible... Because inbetween two statues of Darkrai, there was a circle, that was covered in blood.
"Oh Arceus! Please don't let this be the DNA that I need!"
The blood that she touched was dry, it wasn't wet, but Shadow had to fight the feeling of being sick, she could be sick when she got out of here... There wasn't any time for her to be sick... She didn't know how much time she had before anyone found out that she had escaped!
She gulped as she offered the DNA to Mew, and the Pokemon chirped, before it used Transform on her, turning her into a Darkrai Cultist.
Shadow shivered, and she wrapped the transformed cape tighter around her body... She just had to hold on... She went back to the cells, and to check if Mew's Transform had worked, she unlocked the cells that needed a handprint to be opened, allowing her to grab some useful items, and when she was done with that, she headed into the rest of the base.
She found more items as she made her way through the base, and eventually, she bumped into a cultist.
"Persephone's finally decided to give the summoning of Darkrai another try. Last time, it just flew away. How does she know that's not going to happen again?" A cultist muttered as they walked towards where the summoning was going to take place, where several Cultists had gathered in front of an Altar, with three of them taking their positions on the computers that were close to the Altar.
Shadow gulped, and she followed him... She didn't want to see this, but it seemed that as long as she was disguised as a Cultist, she would have to play the role of a Cultist, and that meant that she had to watch a summoning... She made sure that was in the back of the crowd as the summoning began...
"And so, we begin..." What had to be the Leader of the Cult said, ignoring the screams of the bound Cultist that was standing in the Summoning Circle. He had been tied, with ropes, to the two statues of Darkrai that flanked the Summoning Circle.
"Miss! Please, you can't do this! I don't want to die!"
"H...HE'S GOING TO DIE?!" Shadow started to silently scream, within her head. "This isn't fair! Why isn't anyone stopping this?!"
"You swore that when you joined, that you would give your life for us. How is this any different? Activate the ritual circle!"
The circle started to flash, and glow, as the Leader of the Cult started to chant.
"Darkrai, lord of darkness! I call upon you to enter our world! In return, I offer you the soul of this loyal servant, to be bound to your world of nightmares forever! Voco virtutem umbrarum dominum!"
Everything went dark, and the world started to shake around them, and Shadow closed her eyes, so that she didn't have to watch the last moments of the sacrifice, and when she opened them... Darkrai had taken the place of the offering.
"Darkrai, the lord of nightmares..." The Leader of the Cult said. "You are the great balancer of the world. You punish the great, and slay the immortal. It has been a year since I saw you last. Do you remember what occurred then? We accomplished something incredible that day. I thought that finally, you had accepted our offer to join us, but you fled soon after, never to be seen again. But now, I call upon you again! Darkrai, why will you not join me? I know that my sister had seen you time and time again..."
"Okay Future Shadow, if you ever meet this lady's sister, avoid her." Shadow thought to herself. "Just in case she's just as crazy as the Leader of this Cult!"
"Why do you favour her over me?" The Leader of the Cult continued. "I beseech you, Darkrai, join me. Join the cult that had worshipped you for so long. With my guidance, and your power, the world could be ours."
Darkrai didn't say anything, but it slowly faded away, into the shadows. It was a clear sign that it was saying "No" to the Leader of the Cult, which could be a good, and a bad, thing.
"Well, isn't that just lovely..." It was clear, to Shadow, that the Leader of the Cult was pissed. "It's probably gone off to Selene City to see my sister again... What a waste of a grunt..."
The woman slowly walked away from the Altar, and down a set of stairs, only to be stopped by two Cultists that had blocked her path.
"And what do you two want, exactly?" She snarled at them.
"Miss, please. I'm confident that if we had another try, we could trap Darkrai here!" One of them said.
"And this is why Darkrai won't listen to you!" Shadow silently snarked, within her head. It was a pain to have lost her voice, and that she couldn't speak out loud, but it did mean that she could say snarky things about someone, or something, and get away with it.
"We don't know why it didn't work this time, but if you'll just give us another chance..." The second Cultist said.
"Get out of my way!" The woman snarled, releasing her Houndoom from a Pokeball. "Fire Blast."
Shadow almost screamed as she, and the other Cultists, watched as those two were burnt alive by the Fire Blast. They died screaming, in pain, and not even rolling around on the floor, in an effort to put the flames out, saved them... Everyone slowly backed away from the piles of ash that used to be Cultists...
"I'm going to go and check on the prisoner." The Leader of the Cult barked at them. "None of you had better follow me!"
"And that's my cue to leave!" Shadow started to walk towards the nearest exit, after that woman had left. "Because once she finds out that I'm gone, she'll be looking for me, and I want to put as much distance between me, and her, as I can! I need a head start!"
Shadow found two more books on her way out and she quickly read through them. One of them was called "The Cult of Darkrai".
The Cult of Darkrai is led by a woman named Persephone. Like most other cults in the region, they have made it their goal to summon Darkrai from a different world. Most of her reasons for trying to call Darkrai are unknown, but she is suspected to have sadistic tendencies due to events in her childhood.
"So, that woman is Persephone?" Shadow thought to herself as she grabbed another book. "And the book was right about her having sadistic tendencies... I need to get out of here... And I'm glad that my memory of how to read wasn't taken from me... I would be in a lot of trouble if I didn't know how to read, since no one is telling me what's going on here, and I have to find this out, on my own..."
The title of the second book was "The Kalos War".
The Aroma-Kalos War was a war between the Kalos and the Aroma regions. It is renowned for being the first interregion war that involved the use of Pokemon as fighting tools. Kalos eventually won the war by use of what was basically nuclear weaponry, an "ultimate weapon", charged by a legendary Pokemon.
Shadow put the books down, and she continued to make her way out of the base.
The disguise faded away, once Shadow had exited the Cultist's base, and she took a deep breath, letting the fresh air into her lungs... When was the last time that she had done this? The rocky ground between her feet was hard, and painful, to stand on, without shoes to protect her feet, but she smiled, and she contuied to walk, putting as much distance between her, and the Cultists, as she could, in her current condition.
She ran into a few Pokemon as she made her way out of the forest, but they were chased off by Mew, or she carefully snuck pass them, but when she finally got out of the forest, Mew surprised her with another note, and a small flute.
She took the note and she began to read it.
This flute lets you call upon Mew when you need their help. Good luck. Your benefactor.
Shadow silently gasped as Mew disappeared, right before she heard the sounds of footsteps, and they were heading in her direction...
So, we're out of the forest, and may I say that the background music for the forest is gorgeous... Anyway, now that Shadow is out of the forest, she can actually get some real clothes, and figure out how she is going to talk without a voice...