Chapter 3: Remembrance and Regret
The moon was shining bright in the starry sky by the time the Riolu and Lucario walked out of the temple itself and into the northern part of the grounds. It was a straight walk down a wide cobblestone path from the front steps of the temple to the northern gate, with numerous dormitories and gardens lining the route. Luckily, most of the inhabitants of the temple grounds had gone to sleep, so they didn't make much of a scene as they made their way towards the gate.
The only ones that seemed to be out were a few guards here and there, mostly Lucario. There were also some other species mixed in among their ranks, like Poliwrath and Manectric. The bipedal Pokémon wore tunics similar to Viggo's while the quadrupeds wore simpler vests that, while more fitting for their bodies, still made it clear that they all shared an affiliation with each other. They all stood near burning braziers, their stern features only sporadically illuminated by the flickering fire. Some of them gave Eli and Viggo suspicious looks, but after a preemptive nod from the Lucario they would stand down without a single objection.
The pale, weathered wall separating the temple and its grounds from the world beyond was near, as was the northern gate. Once Eli and Viggo were sure they were out of earshot of any guards, they continued their hushed conversation.
"So, you're really not going to tell the Sage about… me and Lara?" Eli asked with a hint of apprehension.
"Unless she wants to tell him herself, no," Viggo answered. "Besides, it's just a date, right? It's not like you two decided to be mates forever or anything…"
"Y-yeah, of course!" Eli chuckled anxiously, before his face hardened slightly. "But seriously, I didn't come back here just to ask her on a date and tell her Happy Egg-Day. I came back to make things right with her."
The Lucario gave the young male a sideways glance. "Really, now? How so?"
"It's just…" he began, falling silent for a few moments. "I don't wanna say. I haven't told her or anyone else what I'm planning," he finally said, causing Viggo's ears to perk up. He immediately stopped walking, and so did Eli.
"What you're planning?" Viggo asked slowly as he turned his head back to the Riolu. "Eli… I swear to Arceus if you're thinking about pulling some hare-brained stunt, I'm going to—."
"No! It's nothing like what you think!" the Riolu argued. "It only concerns me and no one else. It's something I've been thinking about for a long time, and I just don't think I could live with myself if I end up never doing anything about it."
"So let me guess. That's what the whole debacle you had with the Sage before you ran off was about?" Viggo asked, raising an eyebrow. His hunch was confirmed as Eli solemnly nodded. "Might I ask what exactly it is that's been eating you?"
Eli sighed and shook his head. "I've been trying to keep it a secret. Lara knows a little about it already, but not what I'm planning to do. You have to understand, Viggo. It's something I can't exactly wrap my head around, but at the same time it's something I feel like I have to deal with for my own sake. I could put it off for as long as I want, but it would just eat away at me if I did that. I can't live the way I want to if its hanging over my head all the time," he explained. "But even then… The Sage knows. I know he does. I could feel it when I was arguing with him that day," he continued, catching Viggo by surprise.
"Are you sure he knows? I mean, I haven't heard anything about it from him at all."
"I'm positive," Eli responded. "That's why he was so angry with me."
Viggo stood there in silence for a few moments, contemplating what Eli had just divulged to him. "It must be something major if even the Sage isn't telling anyone about it…" he thought. "Fair enough. If you don't want to tell me right now then we can just talk about it another time," the Lucario sighed as he started to walk again. "But remember, if you try to do anything stupid or dangerous then I'm going to be the first one you answer to."
"Right, right…" Eli murmured as he walked alongside Viggo.
"And seriously, you need to consider making up with the Sage soon."
They walked up to the stone arch of the northern gate, where a gatekeeper— a rather gruff-looking Lucario in a white cloak, was standing guard next to a burning torch. Viggo motioned to the guard, who nodded back to him and unlocked the iron gate, holding it open for the two of them as they slipped through. Once they were outside the gate, it clanked shut behind them.
Eli looked out onto the moonlit plateau from underneath the shadowy, stone canopy of the gate tucked inside the wall, and saw that they were now standing in front of the old graveyard between the temple grounds and the forested basin. A gray, brick road ran from the gate and through the center of the graveyard until it disappeared into the dark woods beyond. On both sides of the road stood hundreds of gravestones and numerous mausoleums made of wood, stone, and marble.
"Hey wait, why are we going out this way? It'd be easier for me to get back to Zephyros if we went out the western gate," Eli told the Lucario.
"Well, since you came back, I was thinking you might want to pay her a visit," Viggo replied prudently before looking over to the Riolu. "Do you?"
"Oh… Y-yeah, I want to…" Eli murmured softly.
They made their way down the faded brick road in silence, with nothing but the low whistle of the soft breeze and the chirping of crickets in the distance passing by their ears. The sharp shadows cast by the hundreds of gravestones under the moon gave the area a solemn yet serene atmosphere, as was appropriate for a place of mourning and memorial. Once they were near the center of the graveyard, they turned down a smaller path that led deeper into the field of gravestones and towards a large, round mausoleum built from dark marble. It was raised slightly off the ground and had a white, domed roof held aloft by large, marble pillars. As they drew closer to the building, a soft blue glow could be seen emanating from inside.
They walked up the short series of steps that led into the mausoleum, and once they entered they were greeted by a hauntingly beautiful sight. The building's single room was illuminated almost exclusively by a collection of glass orbs that were hanging from the ceiling in the back of the room. Within each orb was what appeared to be a small, blue flame, burning bright as a star and giving off an ethereal glow. They were all individually suspended from the ceiling at the end of a string, each one different in length. This array of glowing orbs hung behind a shrine of sorts, consisting of multi-tiered tables covered with offerings of flowers and bags of what the Riolu assumed was food.
Near the center of the shrine was a simple wooden box, flanked by two modest candles that had burned nearly to the base. As Eli's eyes fell upon the box, a lump got caught in his throat and he felt his heart beating faster than before. His paw clenched and his entire body tensed up as he was reminded of a certain fateful event— one that ensured he would regularly return to that very same mausoleum years after.
Although the display of glowing, glass orbs would attract anyone's eye as they walked in, that didn't mean that the center of the room was devoid of interest. A peculiar Pokémon was floating a few feet off the ground in a cross-legged, sitting position in the center of the room, meditating silently as a light blue aura surrounded him. He was a Medicham, a psychic-type Pokémon. He wore a simple black cloak that draped onto the floor behind him, as well as a large, golden necklace with different-colored gems hanging on it.
Eli and Viggo walked closer towards the Medicham, just as one of his eyes flew open and stared at them. "Good evening, Captain," he murmured smoothly to the Lucario. "And you too, young Eli," he added as he looked at the Riolu.
"Welcome back…" his telepathic voice echoed throughout Eli's mind, making him wince a bit.
"Good evening, Miron," Viggo cordially greeted back. "We're here to see Audrey and pay our respects."
"Of course," the Medicham responded as the blue glow around him disappeared and he effortlessly transitioned from floating to standing on the ground. "Right this way."
The three made their way to the shrine in front of the display of glowing orbs as Miron stood on its left side. He closed his eyes and raised his hands into the air as white, shimmering particles began to emanate from them. Almost immediately, one of the glass orbs began to glow white as well. Eli and Viggo looked to the orb as the flame within it burned a bright blue and white.
"There she is…" Viggo whispered. He closed his eyes as well, lowering his head as the appendages on the back of it started to levitate and vibrate. Eli stood by and alternated between staring at the orb containing his old friend's last remaining fragment of life force and at Viggo as he began to read it along with Miron. He silently shut his eyes and concentrated, but nothing was coming through for him. After a few moments of trying, he opened his eyes and felt a pang of sadness in his chest, eliciting the faintest of whimpers from him.
"I feel that she is… Happy… In the presence of you two," Miron relayed, concentrating hard on reading the faint emotions being expressed by the last remaining piece of Audrey's life force. His reading brought a slight smile to Eli and Viggo's faces.
"I can feel that as well," the Lucario said.
"However…" the Medicham added ominously. "I can also sense… Regret. Yes, regret as well…" he said, bringing the mood of the reading down a little. "Especially because of your presence, Eli…" The Riolu felt the faint warmth around his heart rapidly chill upon hearing those words.
"Yes… Unfortunately…" Viggo replied as he opened his eyes and his appendages reverted to their natural state.
Miron slowly shook his head as the white particles around his hands began to fade, as did the white glow within the glass orb that held Audrey's Aura. "I cannot say exactly why… It seems to be ingrained in her very soul," he observed. "So strong in fact, that it stayed with her even after her death…"
Eli fidgeted uncomfortably as he stood next to Viggo, staring up at the orb as his ears began to droop. "Well, she regretted many things in her life. I think we all know that. Still though, its unfortunate that those regrets were so powerful that they're still lingering even after she died…" the Lucario commented as Miron nodded in agreement.
"Yeah… We all know what she regretted…" Eli said suddenly, causing the two adults to turn towards him.
Viggo shot him a stern glare. "Eli… We've been over this. What happened wasn't your fault," he told him firmly. "Both of us were there when she passed on, she said she didn't blame you."
"It's not about what she said, it's about what she felt," the Riolu growled back. "I can't read Aura that well yet, but I can sure as hell read what someone is feeling. If I wasn't so selfish, I…" he started, but was stopped when Viggo placed his paws on his shoulders.
"None of us wanted to lose you that day, Eli. Sure, you can be a real pain in the ass sometimes. Sure, we might've never seen eye-to-eye on absolutely everything. But believe me when I say that I would've gladly given my life for you to live on as well! Do you know why? Its because…" he began, pausing as he took a deep breath. "It's because you're family, Eli! If she truly cared more about surviving than keeping you safe, she would've never gone after you. Everyone here at the temple, we're all one big family. Not because of blood, but because of how much we care for each other and believe in a common cause. That's why she saved you! That's why everyone else freaks out when you act detached and then leave for a whole month! Do you understand?!" Viggo explained passionately.
"You're not my family, though," Eli sighed as Viggo's grip on his shoulders loosened. "You're my friend, but you're not my family. I was dumped on this island because my parents never wanted me. It's obvious, you can say it. All I've ever been is a burden to everyone. A mildly entertaining annoyance. That's all there is to it. You, the Sage, Lara, and especially Audrey. Because you guys insist on making me one of you, all I do is disappoint you. I couldn't be an Auracle like the Sage wanted me to be. I couldn't honor Lara's skills in battle. My actions caused Audrey to get killed. I can't even function in this fucking place anymore. I feel like a wild animal locked in a cage! All I see when I'm here is a place I can never fit in because I'm too damn selfish and I can't help it. That's why I left!" he seethed, gritting his teeth as he looked away from Viggo.
"Come on… That's not really what you think," Viggo countered.
"Oh yes it is! I've been thinking about it a lot lately…" Eli shot back. "There was no reason Audrey should've died because of me. She wanted nothing to do with me. I annoyed her day in and day out because I wanted to know more about my dad who never even cared about me in the first place! The only reason she went after me was because she felt bad after I couldn't accept her feelings. If she was selfish just like me, she could've been alive today. And guess what? She deserved to live more than me— by a long-shot!" he yelled as Viggo bared his teeth.
The Lucario suddenly grabbed him by the fur on his chest, lifting him up into the air until he was staring at him eye-to-eye. "You ignorant, ungrateful little… After all we've done for you… After all we've forgiven you for… You still have the absolute nerve to doubt Audrey's sacrifice she made for you?" he hissed, his eyes burning with anger as the Riolu glared right back at him, not saying a word.
"Let me go," Eli grunted as he hung limply in his grip. His simple order seemed to do the trick, as Viggo wasted no time in dropping him to the floor. The Riolu landed on his back as the wind was knocked out of him, groaning a bit before sitting up and glaring at the irate Lucario.
"You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Take it back," Viggo ordered bitterly.
Eli sat there for a moment with a paw on his knee, before sighing and slowly standing back up. "I need some fresh air," the Riolu curtly responded, dusting himself off before turning away and walking towards the door.
"I said—," Viggo spat, but was cut off by Miron.
"Captain! Breathe deep, seek peace! We should just let him go. He obviously wants to be alone right now," the Medicham observed.
"Yeah, you don't have to tell me twice!" the Lucario grumbled as he scratched his head. "Oh and by the way, I'm totally telling the Sage about you and Lara now!" he yelled after Eli as he left the mausoleum.
Miron brought a digit to his chin and let out a snort of surprise. "Oh, do tell. What about those two?" he asked innocently.
"He finally asked her out. Big deal, right? But at the same time you just know that the old Sage is gonna go into conniptions once he finds out."
"Ah, I see now. Good for them, I suppose," Miron replied bluntly.
"Good for them? Whose side are you on, anyway?" Viggo scoffed.
"Why, the side that creates the most drama, of course!" the Medicham laughed.
Meanwhile, Eli was back outside walking down the path leading from the mausoleum, his arms folded as he kicked at any pebbles he came across in an attempt to vent some of his anger. His thoughts were racing like a hurricane inside his head, constantly flipping from one extreme to the other. He felt anger, guilt, grief, curiosity, and lust welling up inside him all at the same time. He couldn't reconcile any of the wildly varying thoughts he had swimming around in his fuzzy noggin to save his life! It felt as if every bit of emotional baggage he had accumulated over the course of his short life was being dropped on his back all at once that day. His life so far on the island had been a complicated one to say the least. He definitely hadn't expected a simple visit to Audrey's resting place to turn so emotional and volatile.
His thoughts turned to Viggo— once merely an authority figure to him and many other youngsters, the gruff and proud Lucario quickly established himself as a sort of "big brother" to those who otherwise didn't have one, including Eli himself as well as Lara. Even after he became Captain of the Auracle Guardians, that didn't change things between them. They had butted heads over many things on more than one occasion, but what had just happened between them felt much different. The Riolu could tell that he had truly, perhaps deeply offended Viggo with what he had said in the mausoleum. Viggo had idolized Audrey just as much, if not more than Eli ever had, and her tragic death six years prior took an unimaginable toll on him as well as everyone at the temple. Eli had always felt like he was to blame for Audrey's death, but rather than confirm his blame, Viggo always insisted on absolving Eli of any of it. It was so agonizingly patronizing. He figured it was just because he didn't want him to feel bad, but given his sincere tone and the sheer conviction he saw in him back there, he was beginning to wonder if he actually had a point.
"Ugh. Maybe I'm still going through puberty…" he groaned.
Now that he was back out in the cool night air, he felt his conscience flowing freely once again. His mind wandered back to Lara and how happy she was when he gave her the Gracidea for her Egg-Day. His cheeks glowed a soft red as he started to think about all the fun they could have on their date in a few days. Just the thought of her smile was starting to bring him back to his old, playful self. It wasn't that late after all; he could take his time going back to town!
His inquisitive eyes scanned the graveyard, looking for anything of interest out there in the dead of night. Soon enough, he spotted a glass bottle of some kind sitting atop a large tombstone a few rows over. He walked up to the tombstone and grabbed the bottle, which turned out to be bigger than he expected. There was no cap or cork, and it appeared to be empty. He looked down its opening and sure enough, it was completely empty. "What was this stuff anyway?" he muttered to himself as he sniffed the opening. He recoiled a bit in disgust as his snout was filled with the burning, residual scent of alcohol. "Yuck! Must've been whiskey or something…" he groaned. He looked at the gravestone and chuckled. "Mind if I wet my whistle?" he asked jokingly. He then leaned down and brushed some of the dirt and dust off it with his paw until he could see the name.
"Hmph. Taron Lightfoot, huh? Died… Yeesh, fifty-three years ago," he observed. "Oh, what the hell… To you, Taron Lightfoot!" He held the bottle to his lips and tilted his head back, pretending to drink from it. "Ah! Now that's the stuff!" he chuckled as he wiped his face. He lightly tapped the bottle against the tombstone a few times before letting out a big sigh.
"Wow! Did not expect today to be so emotional…" he said as he leaned against the large tombstone. "I really should've just kept my big mouth shut."
"Sssssyaaa…"
The Riolu's ears perked up and his eyes widened as he heard an unfamiliar voice on the wind. He began to think that it was just his imagination, but he soon heard it again.
"Ssyaaaa…"
A shiver traveled down his spine as all of the fur on his body stood on end. "Is someone there?" he asked timidly.
"Sssssyrraaa…"
It sounded like it was getting closer. He ducked behind the tombstone, clutching the bottle to his chest. His heart began to beat faster and faster and he started to shake as he frantically looked around, unsure of where the strange voice was coming from.
"Ssssssssss…"
"Lightfoot? Is that you?" Eli whispered. "If it is, I'm sorry about taking your booze! I don't even drink!"
Just then out of the corner of his eye, he saw a shadow moving around on a few nearby tombstones. He sat there frozen with fear, unable to decipher exactly what its shape was. He then started to pick up on a light shuffling noise that was coming from the direction of the graveyard's main path. Eli quickly scrambled to his feet and poked his head out from behind the tombstone, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. The young Riolu was shaking like a leaf, eyes wide as saucers as he tried to figure out what was making the strange noises.
Then, all of a sudden, the shuffling stopped.
Eli stopped breathing for a moment and perked one ear up as far as it could go. After listening for a minute or so and hearing nothing, he lowered his ear and stepped out towards the main path.
"What the hell was that about? Some kind of spirit?" he thought. He walked onto the brick road, the glass bottle still in his paw as he casually swung it back and forth at his side. It seemed as if whatever the strange anomaly was had left, leaving Eli alone once again with nothing but the wind and his own musings.
"Sssssyrraaa…"
Or so he thought. The Riolu let out a frightened yelp and froze in place as he heard the haunting voice call out once again. Only this time, it sounded far closer than before. He could see a shadow stretching up the road before him, meaning that whatever was casting it was now behind him. Eli turned the bottle he was holding upside down and shook it, just to make sure there actually wasn't anything in it and that he wasn't under the influence. While not a single drop fell out of the bottle, his stomach felt like it was dropping into his feet.
"Okay, Eli. Don't turn around. You hear me? Don't turn around. Don't turn around. Don't turn…" he shouted internally, only for his curiosity to overpower him. He slowly turned around and was horrified at what he saw— a nightmare he had hoped he would never have to face again. The bottle fell from his grasp, shattering across the bricks below.
"N-no…"
Standing tall and hunched against the pale light of the moon was a pitch-black, plasma-like mass that had a vaguely humanoid shape. A thin black smoke appeared to radiate from all over its misshapen body, making it even more difficult to parse exactly what it looked like at first. It stood on two thick legs that thinned out near the bottom and it possessed two long, tendril-like arms that hung limply towards the ground as it was hunched over. Its body seemed to be composed of the shadows themselves, and the contours of its form were nearly impossible to distinguish due to how utterly abyssal it was. A pair of beady, gleaming white eyes bored into his very soul from what he assumed as its head, and below them festered a drooping maw that churned and twisted into various expressions of agony and desperation. In his frightened state, the Riolu estimated that it stood around ten, maybe even twelve feet tall. The horrifying entity took a few more steps towards him, its movements jittery and stiff.
"Aaarrraaa…"it moaned, almost pathetically as it shuffled towards Eli. The creature unfurled the tips of its tendril-like arms, revealing and then dropping an assortment of small animals onto the road before it. There was a squirrel, a porcupine, and a few little birds, all of which appeared limp and lifeless as their eyes stared straight ahead.
"No… No!" he gasped desperately while shaking his head, his throat tightening as he found it harder to breathe just from looking at the unnerving monstrosity. His eyes were peeled back in utter terror as he continued to step backwards, unsure if he should scream or run.
The hellish figure continued its advance, its entire body pulsing and undulating faster the closer it got to the terrified Riolu. "Aaarrraaa…" it whined in its unsettling tone as it began to raise its right tendril towards him. Suddenly, its eyes flashed red and its writhing tendril violently stretched towards him as its tip morphed into a fiendish claw. "KRRYYAAHH!"it bellowed, its mouth stretching to twice its size as it lunged for the Riolu.
As the monstrosity made its move, Eli's legs collapsed beneath him and he fell backwards to the ground. The tendril was mere seconds away from touching him, but to him it looked like the world was moving in slow motion around him.
He was so shocked and terrified that his entire body locked up, refusing to listen to his brain's primal commands to get away and survive.
He couldn't think, move, or scream.
End of Chapter 3…
