Book II: Impending Twilight

Chapter 124: The crimson storm

Point of View Stark

Far out away from the city, I went to where Rhys had ordered me. A while back I had ditched the bag. I didn't need it slowing me down for now.

The sun was now just peeking over the horizon, but off in the distance, a storm had blocked out the sun. The darkness loomed over Snowbelle as a strange red lightning flashed through the stormy darkness. It couldn't possibly be a storm, though, it only shared a resemblance to one from so far away. I was lost on what it was, and I could only hope that it wouldn't harm Naomi.

'This'll only take a few moments, then I can go check on her, I thought. I knew this would just have to be quick. Then after Naomi and I could finally be free.

A large expanse of a meadow stretched out for miles. A few trees were scattered about, and I could imagine in the spring that this place would be blooming with all sorts of flowers and vegetation. Far out in the distance, the ground rose up into a large hill, at the top, I could see a very large tree much older than the rest reaching out for the heavens. I knew this was where I would find him.

I continued at my pace until I was at the bottom of the hill. I struggled my way up the hill. At the top, I wasn't sure what to expect. To an extent I was nervous. One slip up and I would be spending the rest of my life on the run. I couldn't allow that, I had to provide Naomi a good life that wasn't running in fear every day.

After a few minutes of struggling, I made it. At the top, I could see the wide expanse of the meadow, and far off on the horizon, I could watch Snowbelle. From here I could see what had truly been going on, and my suspicions were correct. It wasn't a storm. I bit down at the site of what appeared to be an onslaught from something I couldn't make out from so far, but I could see bright beams coming down on the city.

"And who are you?" a voice muttered. My head turned to see a flareon stepping out from behind a large stone. He stood protectively in front of what appeared to be three large rocks, almost looking to be gravestones. Engraved on each was an element. The one on the left being a drop of water, the middle a leaf, and the right a bolt of lightning.

"I'll ask again, who are you? What business do you have here? Don't you know this is a burial site, it's not meant to be trampled upon by others."

"I see," I whispered, seeing just who the graves belonged to. "So, this is where it happened?"

"Excuse me?" The flareon snarled. "I didn't come here to be pestered. Now leave."

"Zack, the leader of the WPA," I said.

"Whoever you are, I don't have time for you. Now-" Zack stopped as I shot a shadow ball straight at him. Quickly he countered with a flamethrower. The two attacks exploded upon impact, blowing the two of us away.

I tumbled down the hill, but with my claws, I managed to dig them into the ground and slow myself. Just as I was getting up a pillar of flames came down the hill. I rolled to the side barely dodging the attack. The melted snow steamed as I stood.

It didn't take more than a few seconds for me to realize that this approach was a mistake. In an open area, he had a total advantage on me. Zack's flames could easily cover a lot more space than my dark matter. Plus there was also the lack of over.

"You think you're the first to try and kill me?" The flareon snorted. "I'm not the leader of the WPA for nothing!" the flareon shouted as flames spewed from his mouth. "And you dare desecrate the resting place of my family!"

The flareon rose his nose in the air before shooting out a large orb of fire. It grew in size as it reached the air and erupted. Flames came down everywhere making it hard for me to maneuver around them. With each impact to the ground, the flames exploded into a thick steam.

I did his best to avoid each attack until the shadow of a figure emerged from the steam. A bright silver whip lashed out at me. Unable to move fast enough the force hit me in the side, sending me tumbling to the ground, coughing up my own blood. Without control, I tumbled down the hill.

Before I could even reach the bottom I felt a force slam directly down on me, pushing me into the ground and stopping my momentum with a bone snapping force. I would have screamed out in pain if it weren't for the fact that all the air was forced out of me. All I could do was scream silently as a silhouette of the flareon approached in my darkened vision.

"So, who sent you I wonder?" The flareon scoffed as he pushed a paw down on my throat. "You going to talk? Or perhaps you'd rather I slowly burn you to death over the next ten minutes?"

The form of the flareon became clear as he looked down at me with all of his anger. The inside of his maw burned as embers flickered onto me.

"I knew your son, you know," I uttered, just trying to buy a little more time.

"No, you didn-"

"He's an albino espeon, very smart guy, know it all type of person."

The flareon snarled before biting down onto my ear and throwing me onto my front side. He held me down onto the ground as his body became smoldering hot. I grunted in pain as I felt the heat burning into me.

"So then, where is Vincent? I've been looking for him for quite some time."

Through my pain, I gave a laugh. "Like I know," I muttered, before releasing all the dark matter I was charging. The energy shot straight out of my backside and at the flareon. He flew off me and I was free. His form hit the snowy ground, leaving a splatter of blood all around him.

The flareon twitched on the ground, blood pouring from between his visible ribs. His breathing became hoarse as his eyes ebbed in and out of consciousness.

"Hope… you're… happy…" the flareon struggled. "This world… it'll always be Hell with monsters like… you."

I gave a sigh as I took one step towards the flareon. "You're right," I agreed. "This world would be better without pokemon and humans like me. Truthfully, I don't even want to be here right now."

The flareon gave a pained laugh. "Monsters like you spilling all this blood, ruining lives, taking and taking and taking and-" the flareon gasped in pain.

I didn't respond, I wasn't even sure what to say. I've killed many in my days, children even, yet this felt wrong. I was murdering a symbol of peace, someone who devoted their life to making a better world. All I wanted was to benefit myself and Naomi, even if it meant doing something as terrible as this.

"I swear, Ar-Arceus has a plan for you… monsters. Every last one of you will burn. I can't wait to see it, I can't wait to laugh at you when you get what you deserve."

I didn't utter a word.

"Just do it!" The flareon shouted as he threw himself onto his front side. He yelled out in pain from the cold snow over his open chest as he dragged himself forward.

"Kill me," he uttered, losing the rage in his voice. "Just kill me, please. I'm tired of trying… I… I have nothing more for you devils to take. My beautiful wife… my adorable daughter… My eldest son… all gone. My only other kin resent me and it's because I failed them. I failed everyone."

The flareon looked up towards me, revealing his teary eyes.

I stood back from him, feeling sick in a way I never felt. This was how such an iconic person was going to die? He was the spark that so many pokemon needed to fight for a better world, and now the flame was being smothered out in such an ugly way.

"Please… I can't take this anymore," the flareon begged.

My paw pushed hard into the ground as I struggled to do this. Why was it so hard now? I've killed so many that this should've been a joke… Despite what my mind told me, I forced myself to move. I lunged forward at the flareon and snapped my jaw down over his throat. For a moment the flareon gave a pained cry, but when I heard his neck snap he no longer cried.

I pulled back from him and spat out his blood. I observed the body devoid of any form of peace. He died an ugly death, he didn't die happy with his life choices. I deprived him of any chance to make things right. He was a failure of a father that raised two killers. What went wrong?

I approached the flareon and grabbed his hind leg in my maw. Slowly I began dragging the flareon through the snow back to where I left the bag Rhys gave me to hide the body in.

Off in the distance I could see the chaos in the city. Knowing I had to find Naomi I picked up my pace. Of course, I knew if anything was wrong in the city Naomi would be able to take care of herself. So, for now, I would have to focus on completing my deal with Rhys, then after her and I would forever be free.

The body weighed a lot when it came to rushing. I found myself tiring out quickly. I couldn't keep Naomi waiting any longer, especially with whatever was going on in Snowbelle. It didn't set in until now, but I regretted sticking around to complete the mission. Had I left to make sure she was alright I could avoid any complications. But now I was stuck with my decision to waste time on my deal with Rhys.

All I could hope was that Naomi could take care of herself.

Third person point of View

A thick black smoke loomed over the city streets, the only light piercing through being the red flaring of the burning city. By now most of the screams and cries had fallen silent.

Mandus slid down to his rear against a building. He panted heavily as he took this one moment to catch his breath. While he had sustained no damage, his exhaustion was inching him towards an early defeat. Even in his mega evolution form he didn't have the strength to overpower the Legendary.

By now most of everyone in snowbelle had run away or been killed by the wrath of the god. To Mandus the lives of the humans meant very little, he'd gladly let all the humans in Kalos burn if it meant killing Ghost.

The lucario stood and his aura flared up around him. He took one deep breath as the aura hissed and burned, eventually losing all color and fading white. The rubble below was pushed away as the concrete at his foot cracked. His fur turned to a snow white and when his eyes opened they burned a deep red, emanating with fury.

Unfortunately, the lucario knew the toll this form would take on him. He wouldn't have a lot of time to win, but at this point, he only had one choice. Go all out, or die.

He crouched low to the ground before shooting up into the air while charging up an aura sphere in both palms. Yvletal soared over the city, only turning its head at the flaring white aura around Mandus. The lucario chucked the first sphere towards the god, ripping through the smoky air. The god dove down, barely avoiding the attack. Mandus clenched his free hand shut the aura sphere detonated.

A loud explosion shook the city, blinding everyone with the bright radiance of the nuke. Yveltal was consumed in the bright light and it didn't take long for everything to be lost in the overwhelming blast of the attack.

Mandus landed atop of a building, shielding his eyes with his free arm, still holding the other aura sphere in his other hand. He wondered for a second if he won, but the high pitched screech of the God answered his thoughts.

Appearing in a flash at the edge of the building next to Mandus was Dawn. The absol didn't cast Mandus a glare and kept her eyes panned out towards Yveltal as it emerged from a thick cloud of smoke.

"What're you doing here? This doesn't concern you."

The aura sphere in Mandus's palm died out, and for a brief second, the lucario gave a faint smile that could barely be seen. After all the long years, Mandus was seeing his childhood friend, even if she was one of his most dangerous foes.

"It's been a while, Dawn," Mandus ignored her question.

The absol scoffed at the remark, "I don't have time for this." The absol launched herself off the building and towards Yveltal to continue the fight. Mandus joined in too, jumping from ruined building top to ruined building top.

Dawn jumped at the Legendary from every direction, launching herself at the speed of gunshots and barely appearing visible. All that could really be made out were the streams left by her horn attacks. Deep gashes were left on the avian, but within seconds the afflictions had healed.

Mandus followed the absol's lead, giving the avian his own attack. Extending out his palm Mandus shot a scattered blast of aura, coming at the avian in a barrage of beams. It attempted to dodge but the majority of the attack landed. Dawn followed up with her own attack, a strong bolt of lightning.

The Legendary gave a loud screech that shook the city and cause Mandus to clench his ears. Dawn on the other paw gritted her teeth as her horn illuminated with a white energy. She came at Yveltal and gave it another deep gouge from her horn.

Like all previous attacks the god healed. This left Mandus thinking. There was no doubt that this style of fighting wasn't working, the God would heal as much as they attacked. There was no gauging how much energy it had left, and knowing Ghost he would have tampered with the Legendary to keep it going for as long as it took to win. That only meant one thing to Mandus. Beating the Legendary over a short amount of time wasn't an option.

The lucario took in a breath as he crouched low to the ground and looked up at the avian. While the bird had appeared invincible in every way, Mandus didn't fail to see one small blind spot that the Legendary did have. It's front side. While getting to that spot would put him in a direct path with all of its attacks, it was its most vulnerable area.

One more deep breath and the lucario launched from the ground and went towards the Legendary. The avian had been focusing on Dawn with its laser attacks, failing to see Mandus as he slammed into it. The Legendary was pushed further up in the air, it's back arching as the lucario's fist sunk into its gut.

Before Mandus descended back down he grabbed at the avian's shoulder and firmly grasped it. The god screech as it spun in circles trying to throw the lucario off. Mandus held tightly as he felt his grip slipping from its shoulder.

Yveltal pecked at the lucario and tried to reach him with it's talons, but he was easily able to swing around the attacks using the Legendaries body. Between one swing Mandus slammed his fist into the bird's throat, making the legendary flinch back as its body locked up.

This was the moment Mandus was waiting for. Using the Legendaries neck he swung to one of its wings, firmly holding it as he charged an aura into his right fist. Repeatedly Mandus mauled on the wing, slamming punch after punch into the bone of the wing. After so many hits Mandus felt the cracking of bones.

Out of the corner of his eye, Mandus made out a movement. Turning he saw the muzzle of a gun pointed at his from Ghost as he peeked over the god's shoulder. A round fired as Mandus kicked off from the Legendaries wing. The shot just whizzing past Mandnus as he fell.

Descending down, Mandus made out the blur of Dawn shooting up like a star in the night sky. Her radiating horn blazed through the wing, leaving a long white streak that burned in the sky. A spray of red rained down with the lucario, a severed wing following too.

Mandus was barely able to correct his fall upon landing. The avian on the other hand had lost its wing and lost all control as it crashed into a building on the way down. A cloud of smoke emerged from the crash site as Mandus watched for any sign of the Legendary rising again.

This time, it stayed. The lucario rushed to where the god had landed with Ghost.

The site was nothing but a pile of rubble, flames, and smoke which blocked out the early sunrise which only allowed a few beams to pass through. Dawn joined by Mandus's side as they both swapped a glare before looking back at the downed Legendary.

It laid motionless in the rubble, but its master didn't. The human coughed as he pulled himself out from a large rock. He rose up to one knee and whipped the blood from a deep gouge on his forehead. The human only spent that one moment on his wounds before looking up at his two opponents.

Most would have felt terrified being cornered by the two, but Ghost didn't appear the least bit worried as he faced them. His eyes met with the two and for a minute no words were needed. Ghost knew there wasn't much room for talking, and the two had no need for words, they needed blood.

It's over," Dawn muttered, stepping forward.

"Even if you kill me, it's never going to end," Ghost smirked. "My plan still commences in just a few days. And besides, if you could kill me, I'd already be de-" In a blink, Dawn had moved to Ghost and swung her sickle down at him. A blade of energy slashed down spilling blood from the palm of Ghost's palm as he caught it. Her horn trembled as she pushed down against the human, but his hand firmly held her attack.

"I'm talking," Ghost muttered before a shot fired and a bullet tore straight through the absol, spraying blood everywhere as she fell. Mandus's eyes went wide as he saw the smoke clearing from the barrel of a single shot gun, one that could hold a much larger caliber than your average gun.

The fighting type couldn't even remember when the gun had been drawn, surely he and Dawn would have noticed before such a thing was done. Yet… Dawn was defeated by something as petty as a gun. The dark type convulsed on the ground, puking up her own blood as she gave a pained cry.

"You two are getting slow," Ghost shook his head as he opened the chamber of the gun and loaded another round in it. Behind him the legendary was recovering from its fall and stood up on its feet, dwarfing Mandus in comparison. It severed limb stretched out, revealing that the limb was regenerating.

Another aura sphere formed at the tip of the lucario's palm, but a bang sounded, this time impacting Mandus's elbow. His aura sphere detonated in his palm, scattering bone and blood everywhere as he collapsed to his knees. An explosion of pain traveled up and down every nerve in the lucario's body, making it feel as if he was being torn apart

The lucario gave out a loud yell of pain, trying to comprehend what had happened. He had remembered the round being loaded, but never did he notice the muzzle pointed at him. Yet when he looked up, he could see the smoke coming from the gun that had been pointed at him. The pistol was opened again, ejecting an empty shell that was smoldering red. A third round entered in as the gun clicked shut.

"Bastard," Mandus groaned as the white aura faded from him and his form returned to a regular lucario. With his free hand, he tried to form an aura sphere, but he found himself unable to produce the smallest form of energy.

"Those aren't any ordinary rounds," the human stated. This time Mandus saw the gun pointed at him, but the tearing of his nerves made him too weak to even move. He laid there, at the mercy of Ghost.

"Only a few dozens of these special bullets exist, and that's only because they are very expensive and difficult to make." The human walked over Mandus and crouched down. The lucario was forced to look his mortal enemy in the eyes as he was humiliated.

"One shot into a pokemon has the ability to overload certain powers that flow through them, causing them to run rampant in your system and tear your apart from the inside. On an opponent who uses aura it was very effective. Even against Dawn, since her body utilizes multiple affinities of all kinds of natures. It also doesn't hurt that the stronger the power inside the more damage it inflicts on the user. In the end, it was your own power that bested you.

"You had a fair chance to join me back last time we talked. Now I'm afraid my patience has run thin." The human stood from over Mandus. A strong wind blew, scattering ashes, making the human's jacket ripple.

He reached into his pocket, pulling out an envelope and tossing it on the lucario. "Till next time we meet, old friend." The human gave a devilish sneer.

Another shot fired at the lucario, this one into his left knee. The last thing Mandus felt was an overwhelming pain, then the cold dark.

Point of View Zylen

Seven hours later

"Dammit!" I yelled, banging a fist into the remains of a crumbling wall, leaving a smear of my blood. Truthfully, I had hit so many walls my knuckles felt broken, and the drops of blood coming from them said they were finished. Yet the pain was all I could do to distract myself.

"Calm down, I'm sure she'll-"

"Just be quiet!" I snapped at the umbreon. Like he would know a damn thing about what I was going through?! He didn't just lose his closest friend! How could he dare tell me to calm down after that!? Annie could be dead… she was all that mattered to me, and now… I don't even know what to think.

A long silence lingered as the umbreon waited for me to do something. Although he was wasting his breath. I didn't want his help. He didn't even help stop her. He owed me that! I saved him and he couldn't do one thing for me! Now I don't even know what happened to my friend, there could be nothing even left of her.

I dropped down to my knees and dug the claws of my own good hand into the ash-like sand.

"Annie…" I said, just thinking of our last moment together. I had to wonder if she really meant what she said, did she really want to be with me like that, or was it just an attempt to calm my anger? Why did she have to leave like that? Did she not realize that it hurt for her to just confess like that and leave!

"We should keep looking," Black suggested.

I didn't say anything in response. I wasn't sure if I could believe she somehow survived the chaos. The city was in ruins now, hardly anything left where the main fight happened, and that's where she was heading…

I bit my lip, drawing blood. For a minute I was lost in my own world until the roar of a helicopter flying above woke me from my trance. I looked up to see the bird flying above.

A voice began speaking through the helicopter, one that was very urgent. "If there are any survivors out there, help is coming! If you can move head towards the east side of Snowbelle where we have medical teams to help the wounded and aid for those in need!" The voice went on and on until eventually, his voice was out of range.

"Maybe your friend went there," Black stated as he walked in front of me. "Either way… I need to find someone too, and I think he might be there."

I rose up from the ground. "Who are you looking for?"

The umbreon gritted his teeth as he trembled, but not out of fear but anger. "I need to see the WPA leader, Zack."

"Why would you want to see-"

"Because he's my Father! He's also been lying to me about everything apparently! Now I don't even know what to think about anything, the organization I thought was going to unfuck this world is out to fuck it along with everyone else!" The umbreon took a deep breath as he turned away from me. "Now, I need to find him. I don't know what I'm going to do when I find him, but I'm getting answers."

"I see," I nodded. "I can't say I want any part of your argument with your dad, but I'll go because there may be a chance Annie went there."

Point of View Flare

When I finally arrived at Snowbelle nothing was as I planned. All that remained of a once great city was the empty husk of what was. Smoke fumed from numerous buildings. Many helicopters flew around searching for survivors.

To think if I had arrived hours sooner, I too could be dead. I had only arrived just in time to see the finale of what transpired, and I never dared set foot in the city until I was sure that whatever that thing was had left. Never have I seen such a scary pokemon, especially one that could fly and bring buildings to ruins with one attack. Truthfully, I felt smaller than ever knowing that such powerful beings existed.

With such awesome power, how could someone use it for this? The world is a terrible place, and such a powerful being would use it to bring more destruction. What has the world come to?

Aside from the thoughts of the powerful pokemon, I could only wonder if Zylen had been here for it, or even my sister. Tyson told me where to find my first clue… but for obvious reasons I was doubtful I'd find much in the ruins of this city.

Still, Zylen and Annie were the least of my concerns. All these people were dead. I could hardly believe such a thing. Each step through the city had brought horror to me. Seeing the wastes of the city, the ashes of the dead, knowing that pokemon and people were crushed under the rubble, it was harrowing. This was a true act of evil.

"This is what Team Flare wanted," I whispered. Saying that reminded me of a grim truth. At one point, I worked towards such a goal similar to this, but much more catastrophic on a global level.

I hugged myself, holding the tattered scarf closer to me. Suddenly I felt so chilled. This nightmare, it was something I wanted when I was with Team Flare. I wanted all these people to die, I wanted something like this! I was no different!

I collapsed to my knees, trembling in disgust. My nails tore into my skin, drawing blood.

"This is why everyone thought I was some demon child."

For a few minutes, I stayed where I was. I knew this wasn't the time for wallowing in my own past, but something about this just brought those thoughts to the forefront of my mind. Seeing something I worked so hard towards made me sick to my stomach. If everyone else knew who I was would they be just as sick as me now, knowing that I worked for monsters who aimed for a similar goal?

Point of View Zylen

At the refugee camp, everything seemed to be a whole new kind of chaos. I walked through the sea of humans and pokemon, seeing the loss on each face. The cries of the children brought an ache to my heart as I shoved my way through. Medics seemed the busiest, they constantly were transporting the injured or moving supplies or just always on the run.

The voices continued to resonate in cries. It was too much, my head ached from all the stress, I'd kill for a smoke. Not only that, I no longer possessed the strength to numb the pain in my arm. With each bump in the crowd I'd give a yell of pain. No one even paid any care to my broken limb, even when they were shoving me to the side for their own greedy purposes.

I looked everywhere, but no braixen was in site. Everywhere all I saw were the broken humans and pokemon, rows of bodies stuffed into bags! Somewhere she was out there, she had to be!

"Annie!" I screamed, not even caring if I just became another cry in the wave of the crowd.

"Annie!" I cried even louder. Over and over and over and over I cried for her. Often it became a shouting match between me and others, but fuck them I needed to find her.

"Anni-" A hand suddenly grabbed my shoulder. Spinning I turned back, "Annie?!" I said excitedly but was quickly disappoint. My ears flattened against my head at the site of a familiar greninja. Not that I didn't mind a familiar face, but she wasn't the one I wanted right now.

"You're hurt," she said in her monotonous voice.

"It doesn't matter right now, I need to find Annie."

"Annie," the greninja mused. "Your braixen friend, right?"

"Yeah," I sighed.

"I encountered her earl-"

"Where?!" I quickly grabbed the greninja on the shoulder, shaking her for an answer.

"It was during the attack, we didn't see each other for long, but she was alive then."

"Where is she though?!"

"I don't know," the ninja freed her shoulders from me. "During the battle, Mandus was gravely injured along with The White Reaper. I tried to rush to them, but by the time I arrived the WPA had taken the two away."

"If those two weren't a match for Yveltal and that Ghost guy then we're in trouble. I've never seen two pokemon fight like that and knowing they're still not good enough is quite unsettling, to say the least."

"Agreed," Scarlet nodded. "Now I must find Mandus. If possible I would prefer not to keep him in the hands of the WPA."

"Well good luck," I said.

"And to you too, Zoroark Zylen. One more thing."

I turned back to the greninja.

"You could have some luck finding the braixen on the west side of this camp. There is a pokecenter that's still standing and being used. Perhaps she could be there, helping or being helped."

"That's a good idea, thanks," I nodded at her.

The greninja simply nodded before heading in her own direction. I did the same and headed to where I hoped I would find Annie.

I shoved my way through the army of survivors. Covering such a small distance wasn't easy in these conditions. And things only worsened at the doors of the pokecenter.

A thick mass of humans trying to get help for their pokemon waited, blockading the entrance. It was clear that the pokecenter was well over its capacity. I watched from afar as many begged for help, but no one was able to do a single thing. It left me wondering if Annie really would be there, as someone offering to help or someone who needed help.

I could have waited like all the rest, but I didn't care about that. I needed in now. Shifting my form, I became a tiny joltik. I carefully navigated around the feet of all the pokemon and humans, taking extra care not to get stepped on.

Easily I infiltrated past the crowd where they were kept at bay by a few police officers and faculty. Inside the walls, things were just as crowded.

I shifted into a poochyena, not caring if anyone was startled by a pokemon coming from seemingly nowhere.

I sniffed the air, searching for anything. The mixture of smells was gut wrenching, overwhelmed with blood and medicine. I continued to sniff around, just trying to catch the smallest hint of anything resembling the scent of a braixen. Every type of pokemon had their own scent, but a braixen I always found to be more peculiar. To put it simply, they're a much cleaner species and always kept clean, unlike other pokemon that'd go months without cleaning.

So wandering around for the perfect scent was all I could think of doing. In such a busy chaotic setting it would be nearly impossible to pinpoint one smell over another, but what else could I do? Sitting around and crying would never be an option.

It took a while, but my nose caught a sweet fragrance. My nose went into the air and breathed in the scent. It only took a few seconds for me to realize it resembled Annie. She always did use lilac smelling shampoo. To be perfectly honest I always did like the smell, even if I never said anything, or else she'd tease me for sure.

Putting aside my thoughts, I followed the faint smell. It was almost gone, nearly nonexistent in the mixture of all the other smells. The only reason I could pick it out was just from the familiarity of it.

On the next floor at a dead end of a hall I reached my destination. Reverting back to a zoroark I took a deep breath. In truth I was scared. If this wasn't her it would be back to square one, or even worse I wasn't sure what her condition would be.

I could feel my heart pounding against my ribs as I reached to the door knob. I twist it open and heard the steel latch open and the door cracked open on its own. Taking one more breath I swung the door open and was blinded by the lights within, but through the light, I could make out the silhouette of a figure in the bed.

"Annie!"

Chapter End

Author Note: Late update, I know. A lot kept me busy, from a minor sugery that made it a bit too uncomfortable to write, to the magic of my friends always messaging me whenever I felt inspired to write XD. Seriously though, every time I write someone messages me.

Anyhoo, thanks for reading!

Question of the chapter: What do you think Annie's condition is?

Also another reason I got so distracted on this chapter was due to me working on my other story a bit. Lately I've been wanting to write for it, so that took up my time. Which speaking of my other story "Unraveled Soul" I have decided it would be best if I hold off on updating it until after this story. So, expect a revamp very close to the finish of this story. I'll give more details later to those who care :)