Book II: Impending Twilight

Chapter 127: Dead inside

Point of view Flare

"So all of that really happened?" Zylen said in astonishment.

I nodded, "Yeah, I know it's far fetched," I admitted. Truthfully, explaining the past months out loud almost felt silly. Even to myself it didn't feel real. I could only wonder what Zylen thought of my story. Then again, with everything that was going on maybe he'd be more thoughtful.

"Doesn't sound far fetched at all," he responded. I cocked my head a bit to the side as I glanced and tried to search his expression for a lie. "Like I said, I've been through my own train wreck of events recently. So no, you saying all of that sounds far more believable than what I have in store for you."

"You mean that, you actually do believe me?"

"Of course," Zylen smirked. "I mean none of it isn't impossible, and the Shalour incident was real, and I know Dawn is a very cold woman. So yeah, I believe every word."

Hearing that brought a smile to me. It took a lot for me to come out with all of that without having to tone it down for credibility. Knowing that my only friend now would trust me really just made a huge difference.

"So what about you?" I asked Zylen. "I know you said you had your own stories."

"Right," Zylen chuckled as he flicked the remains of his cigarette across the store. "Well, I suppose I'll start right after Annie and I got separated from you," Zylen paused for a second as he stared at Annie. "Well, you see after the WPA took us in, we made a deal with Dawn in exchange for our lives. We joined some secret team she had formed and we could live, and she'd give you a better home to live in."

"I heard about that from her," I commented. "I wasn't sure whether I believed her or not, but I guess she was telling the truth."

"For that she was," Zylen said. "So, after that Annie and I were split up, she was trained for two years to properly do an undercover job they had for her, and I was only trained for six months before they sent me on my mission. Mine was to go undercover and infiltrate some of the biggest gangs and mercenary groups in Kalos and relay intel back to the WPA. Annie's job was to undergo an undercover mission in one of Genesis's biggest facilities. She was a therapist for the pokemon they experimented on there. She was supposed to give the WPA information on their experiments and stuff."

The thought of my sister doing that made me angry. Not at her, but at those who forced her into it. I still remembered what Genesis did to those pokemon back when Black got captured, and even worse, what happened in Shalour. My sister was forced to sit in the center of all that evil and endure it… I could only imagine the effect it had on her.

"Up until recently Annie and I have been enduring those lives, until something changed."

"What was it?"

"Well halfway through all those years I made a friend doing some mercenary work, and while helping him out on some work I ended up getting Annie involved. Your sister gave my friend and I a lot of information on one of Genesis's bases where they were holding a lot of pokemon captive. Because of the information she gave us we were able to effectively get all of them out and take down that base. What was even better is that we were able to keep them from figuring out who did it, so we weren't wanted by them or anything.

"After as a precaution I did change my name to Shade, didn't want them magically discovering what I did. Seemed to work. Anyways, because of that connection I made that same person came to me for help very recently. He needed Annie's psychic abilities for something very strange…"

"Strange, in what way?"

Zylen hesitated for a moment, before smirking, "Believe it or not, but he wanted Annie to delve into the mind of a Legendary known as Zygarde."

I flinched in response to his story, "Wait, my sister went into the mind of a Legendary pokemon?!"

"Yeah," he laughed. "I know, I know, this is getting a bit silly, but the matter was very serious at the time."

"I don't get it, why would this person want my sister to go into a Lengendaries mind, and how did they get the Legendary to even agree to-"

"Oh they had an espeon hijack Zygarde's mind. They needed your sister because she was the only psychic he knew he could trust. The espeon wasn't able to keep Zygarde under control and go into his mind."

"Well, what did my sister find?"

"Hmmm, that's kind of an odd topic. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but the Legendary talked to her."

"It did, What did it say?"

"Apparently, it said some weird things to her, something about someone being trouble, which actually leads to the next part of my story. Annie had me go and spy on that espeon I mentioned, since Zygarde mentioned something odd about him being very dangerous or so. Since I wanted to stay close to the espeon, I ended up helping them some more since they trusted me." Zylen paused for a moment, "Then things got really F'd up."

I waited for Zylen to continue.

"So this guy took me to hunt down another Legendary, this one being Xerneas. Well, all the Legendaries apparently stay in touch or something, because when we went for Xerneas the Legendary beast trio was there waiting for us… So our crew of six pokemon had to take on four Legendaries."

"Wait, how could you even survive that, aren't they godlike?"

Zylen nodded, "Oh yeah, they're tough. I ended up facing off against suicune on my own, mostly everyone teamed up on Xerneas while the leader of that group held off the other two beasts on his own. Anyways, I fought against Suicune for a bit on my own, I didn't like where the battle was going so I used an illusionary clone of myself to escape. In the end, I escaped with the leader, who was gravely injured."

"What about the others?"

"Well, we met a bit later in another shit storm. While looking after the leader in a hospital, the leader of Genesis came and confronted us. He lured us out in the middle of nowhere, where we were reunited with the others I mentioned earlier. More importantly though, this guy, Ghost had Annie hostage. He found out who we were.

"So eventually things went south and it turned into a huge fight. I managed to escape with Annie, but I got hurt. We then ended up hiding out in some run-down shack until I was better. After, Annie and I decided it was best to confront Dawn, so we set out to find her, but when we did the WPA was under attack. This is also the night Yveltal went on a rampage," Zylen gave a sigh as he looked towards the ground.

"This is also when we found out the truth about the WPA. They aren't the organization they appear to be. Underneath the WPA facility in Snowbelle is another part of the base, down there they're spying on the whole world, hacked into traffic cameras and stuff… That grovyle Isaac tried to kill us because we knew the truth, I suspect he's responsible for what happened to Annie in some way."

"Wait," I quickly interrupted. "What do you mean the WPA isn't the organization we thought they were, and what happened with Isaac?!"

"Right, I don't remember exactly, but Ghost was there too when I learned the truth. He said something about the WPA only fight Genesis so they could steal their research and weapons because they want it for themselves. Apparently the WPA is planning to use them to strong arm at least Kalos into submitting to their tyranny. That's how they think they're going to bring peace, or so Ghost said."

I found myself speechless as my jaw hung wide open. If what he said was true, it made me wonder how much of what I knew was true. I've met many of the WPA agents too, were they in on it too, or was this some scheme only the higher ups knew about.

What about Gray? There was no way he was lying to me too! I was certain he wouldn't, I know he wouldn't agree with that. That still left Black, his father was the leader, did he know anything about this? Surely his Dad had to say something about it to him at one point.

"Not only that," Zylen continued, "He also said the WPA faked terrorist attacks just so they could make Genesis appear more as the enemy of the world. They're trying to get everyone on their side so they can get more support to fight them, but only so they can take the throne as the top dog. Isaac wants to kill Annie and I because we know this."

"That's terrible," I said, still in shock.

"Which reminds me," Zylen said. "There's one more person who was there with us. He was a pokemon who we happened to run into that day, he learned the truth too, but he was different from us."

"How so?"

"Well, he was the son of the WPA leader."

"Wait, the son of the WPA leader?!" I said excitedly as I stood. "Was he an umbreon or an espeon?!"

"Umbreon, why?"

"Holy shit…" I whispered below my breath. "That's the umbreon friend I mentioned!"

"Wait, you mean the one who got you into all of that trouble with Genesis?"

"Yes!" I shouted. "If he's in trouble I need to find him now! Where is he?!"

"He was…" Zylen stopped himself as his eyes widened. "He was trying to find his Dad." Zylen forced himself up onto his feet, using the wall to assist him. "If he actually succeeds in finding his Dad then I'm sure Isaac will succeed in getting a chance to kill him."

"You stay here, I'll go out," I insisted.

"No," Zylen snapped, "I'm done sitting-"

"Someone needs to keep Annie safe," I sternly stated. "You're honestly going to slow me down in your state, right now I need you to watch my sister until I get back. Make those phone calls you mentioned while I'm gone."

"You're sure about this?" Zylen asked.

"I'm positive," I nodded. "Now I need to go, he could be dead already for all I know."

Zylen slid back down to a sitting position against the wall. "Alright Flare, I trust you to come back safe. Just don't do anything stupid, your life takes top priority."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to let Isaac get what he wants, someone has to stop him."

Point of view Black

"Where are you taking me?" I asked as I trailed behind the jolteon, her quick walk difficult to keep up with. Especially with the constant whips of cold air scattering ash into the air of the ruins of Snowbelle. Not much had remained of this side of the city, just lots of ash and ruins of buildings. Just by traversing the remnants of Snowbelle the two of us were covered head to paw in ash, looking as if we came out of a mine.

That sweet jolteon I once knew still seemed dead, even if she walked before me. Her emotions were dulled, I would have imagined if I met with the old Kana she would have at least tackled me to the ground in an embrace. But this Kana barely looked at me as a friend, more like some kind of tool she needed for her mission or whatever she wants to call it.

"Kana?" I called to the jolteon, but she didn't respond. I cleared my throat. I had to say something about what was going on, because I couldn't do this another second. "Listen, I can't keep this up," I started, my voice filled with pain. "I understand you said you needed time, I get that, but you're scaring me…"

Kana didn't even so much as flinch, only kept walking ahead.

"You know, when I first met you, you were the nicest pokemon I had ever met. You were kind, gentle, funny, you had this flair to you that made you fun to be around. You and Flare even managed to make me open-up, no one was able to get through during all those two years I felt depressed.

"Before you guys, I was just waiting around to die, I wanted everything to end, but I was too afraid to actually do it. Honestly, if Alex hadn't caught me, I might have tried something," my voice went quiet. My heart was started to race and my paws shivered. For so long I had kept thoughts like those in, and while I tried to express them in the past, I just never felt like it was enough to thank them.

"You hear that?" I started again, still finding the jolteon unresponsive. "Everyone saved me. I would have killed myself or done something stupid just to get it to happen. I hated every second of that life on my own. If pokemon like the old you weren't around, I wouldn't have the strength I do now." I took in a deep breath. "Looking at you now, is like looking in a mirror and seeing that old me."

Kana's ears perked up as she stopped. The ash from her movements stirred in the air, slowly settling to the ground as a silence lingered between us. The jolteon turned back at me, staring at me out of the corner off her eye.

"That Kana you knew back then, forget about her." Kana turned forward and started walking again. "She may as well have died."

"Don't say that!" I snapped, refusing to follow her one more step. "Kana, this isn't you! This isn't who you want to be either!"

The jolteon spun around and looked at me. "And what do you know about how I feel now?" she growled, something I had never heard from her in the past. The fur on the back of my neck stood as I backed up a step, feeling that this Kana would hurt me if pushed enough.

"I… I don't know what happened, but I know the pain of feeling-"

"Just stop!" Kana snapped her teeth. "You don't know a damn thing about how I feel right now. What I feel right now is completely different than your pitiful angst that you held," Each of Kana's words bit into me, her icy tone making me shrink in size. "So, you lost half your family, at least you got to know them!" Kana's fangs showed as her muzzle wrinkled in anger. "You want to know what happened when Genesis took me?! I found out that everything I had known was a lie, that I wasn't loved, that I was used, that I'm nothing to anyone! Everything in that life I had was a lie! My emotions probably weren't even real! My compassion towards you was all some stupid lie, because I learned that who I was wasn't really who I am!"

When Kana finished, she was left panting. Her eyes never left mine, they kept piercing into me, convincing me that Kana really had died.

After such a bashing, I couldn't even move. I was in shock. The tears that rolled down my cheeks stung from the bitter cold, but more from the apathy of the jolteon. Without a word the jolteon turned from me and continued.

I couldn't move from my spot; I couldn't follow her anymore. Kana was dead.

Tears still coming from my eyes, I cleared my heavy throat to say one last thing, "Do you hate me?" I said in a whisper, but the jolteon remained deaf to my words.

The walk onward was a long one. I kept my distance from her. Something in me kept pushing me to follow her. As for why, I couldn't answer that. Maybe I was just hoping that something would snap some sense into her and we could just start over.

I stared up towards the nearly full moon. As great as the moon could feel for me at times, I also hated what it made me. I know now that I have the power to control elements without the moon, but still, if I had never been an umbreon I might have had a chance at a normal life. Maybe I wouldn't have ruined Kana's life.

"This spot should work," Kana announced as she walked into the remains of a parking garage. Compared to most of this side of the city, this was one of the few buildings that had been nearly untouched.

As the jolteon walked in through the entrance I found myself hesitant. I didn't want to follow her, I wanted nothing more to do with this war, but something in me wanted to follow Kana even if I really didn't want to.

Against my better judgement, I followed her inside. A number of vehicles had been parked inside. I wondered how many of the owners of these vehicles lived so they could one day retrieve their possession.

The jolteon lead me to the center of the garage where she sat.

"Why did you bring me all the way out here?" I asked as I sat away from the jolteon.

"Isaac will probably be out looking for you again soon, at least out here it will be harder to find us."

"I see," I said, before sucking in a deep breath to help inflate my courage. "So, do you miss Flare?"

"No," She dryly replied. "I don't miss anything from my old life."

"I find that hard to believe," I said, knowing that I was treading on thin ice.

The jolteon scoffed as she laid down on her front side.

"You know," I started back up, "I left everyone because of you, right?" Kana didn't respond, she only closed her eyes. "I felt a lot of guilt, I thought because of me you were killed. Lots of pokemon in Shalour died because of me. I couldn't live with putting everyone in danger, so I left to keep them safe. As far as I know, it worked."

"Your point?" Kana snorted.

"I just wanted you to know how I felt," I said more quietly, knowing it was pointless. "Maybe we could just leave," as I continued on my words became frantic, desperately wanting her to see things my way, "I don't want to fight anymore. We can both leave right now and head home, we can forget everything that happened here and just be happy with everyone else again."

"I already told you, I'm never going back there again."

"Then let's just run away!" I yelled. "Together, you and I, we can both just leave Kalos and go somewhere else, forget everything that happened and just be happy!" My words became desperate as I spoke, Kana's head rose and for the first time she looked at me with some form of interest. "Please Kana, let's just leave, I don't want to fight anymore, I can't!" As I begged I could feel myself tearing up again. Tears dropped to the cold floor, forming a small wet spot.

"Where would we even go?" Kana asked, her ears still perked up.

"I don't care, just somewhere far away from here. I've heard Hoenn is a nice region, we could go there."

"Hoenn…" Kana repeated, her eyes looking downward. "I… I can't leave yet," Kana stated. "I have to finish what I came-"

"Why?!" I shouted at her. "I don't even know why you would want to help Genesis, aren't they the ones who hurt you in the first place? This isn't our war Kana, let's just leave, please. It won't matter what happened, we'll be somewhere new, the past won't mean anything."

"I really want to," Kana said, and for the first time I could see a flicker of life in her eyes.

"Let's go then, right now," I insisted. "We can get to Coumarine city in a week if we really tried. We can sneak onto a ship from there and go wherever they take us."

Kana's eyes lifted up from the ground and rested on me, her eyes filled with some kind of happiness. "You really would leave and run away with me?"

"I would, I really would," I smiled at her. "Will you?"

Kana nodded, "I will," she smiled, "But…"

"But what?"

"I can't leave until after I've done what they asked."

"Why, I don't get it? If you want me to help you at least throw me a bone or something, I can't just run in there and risk my life for something I don't understand."

Kana gave a sigh as her eyes averted from mine, "I can't tell you why."

"Why not? It's just us here," I insisted.

"I can't tell you that either, even if I wanted to," Kana replied. "I physically can't."

I bit down on my lip to resist the urge of prying more. "What can you tell me then?"

"I already told you everything I can tell you, I just need your help in killing Rhys."

"Are you able to tell me why?"

Kana nodded, "The most I can tell you on that is that you were the one who left Genesis with Rhys, they also know Rhys went to the WPA, so given your connections with you Father, you're my most valuable asset in killing him."

"I see," I nodded. "And if I help you with this one thing, you promise we'll leave right after?"

Kana faintly smiled, "I promise."

Point of View Flare

I couldn't remember the last time my legs had burned so much from running. I attempted to check every street possible for the past three hours, but give me a month and I still wouldn't be able to find him. A week would still be too late.

"C'mon, where in the hell would you be?" I muttered below my breath as I ran down the street. As I pressed on I could feel my speed dropping, it didn't take too much longer before I had to stop. I dropped onto my hands and knees panting. My head throbbed as my lungs burned in their desperate attempt to keep up.

"Dammit, where are you?" I muttered between my breaths.

For about a minute I remained in place, reposing before I got back up. When I was ready to continue I slowly walked forward, my legs too weak to handle much more.

"Where… are you?" I said again.

As I struggled my way around, many humans and pokemon casted glances at me. At one point a pokemon did come to check on me to make sure I was alright. I questioned him about the umbreon, but found he had nothing to offer.

No matter how hard I tried, I knew this was pointless, and if Zylen was right about the WPA having access to a multitude of cameras, then they'd have a total advantage on finding him.

"Dammit," I muttered as I gritted my teeth.

"Flare?!" a voice called from across the street. My eyes widened as my head spun to see an umbreon.

"Black?!" I said excitedly as I spun to see an umbreon walking across the street, but it wasn't him… and it was a her…

"Nia- I mean Naomi?" I corrected myself as I stared at the umbreon in disbelief, before shaking my head clear and remembering what was more important. "Naomi, where is Black, it's important that I find him now."

"I don't know, I haven't seen him in a while," she replied, "Have you seen Stark?" She then asked me, her voice frantic. "He went off to do something before that attack, I haven't been able to find him since."

"No," I answered. "If you're not here with Black, then why are you in Snowbelle?"

"It's a long story…" She mumbled.

"Yeah, same," I nodded. "Listen, it's really important that I find Black, he's in danger."

Naomi's ears perked up, "He is, what's wrong?"

I inhaled a deep breath, "Don't go around saying this." I leaned in close and whispered into the umbreon's ear, "The WPA aren't who we thought they were, they're just as bad as Genesis. Black found out and now they're trying to silence him."

Naomi froze up for a second upon me revealing the secret.

"I can explain more later, but not now or here," I said as I spun in a circle to make sure no one was watching. "Don't say what I told you to anyone, if they know you know that you could be in real danger."

"Wait!" Naomi piped up. "If it's dangerous then why did you just tell me!?"

"Because, if you find Black you can tell him so he knows," I replied. "Besides, you're smart, I trust you with that."

"I guess, but still… I mean you could have given me a warning first…"

"Right, sorry."

"But, thanks for telling me," Naomi nodded. "I'll keep my eye out for Black if you keep your eye out for Stark, and maybe we could meet up later so we can stay together. Things are getting really messed up recently, I'd honestly feel safer around friends."

"Even if I got the WPA out to get me now?"

Naomi sighed, "The WPA already doesn't like us. I'm aware of the risks, but I won't say I'm not looking to see Black again. Last time we met things got a bit heated, I'm still looking to patch things up."

"Is it because of Stark and you?" I asked. Naomi nodded in response. "I'll just speak the truth, I can't blame him for being made, I mean the idea of being near him makes me uneasy too. Not that I'm saying you shouldn't be with him, that's your choice, just how I feel since he did try to kill us at one point."

"I understand," Naomi replied with a single nod. "Stark's a good pokemon, you just have to get to know him. I get that he's done horrible things though, but him and I are both trying to move on from our past lives and be better pokemon."

"Right, I won't claim to be a saint either, I get that things happen in life," I smiled at Naomi.

Truthfully I did get what she meant. Stark was a murderer, and I wouldn't ever be able to feel safe around, especially after what he did to Ebony's sister. Even so, it's not like I had a clean past either, I could have very easily turned out worse than him.

"Anyways, we both have pokemon to find, so would you mind if I choose the place we meet, I have two injured friends waiting at an abandoned convenience store for me to return later."

"sure, we could meet there," Naomi nodded.

"Thanks," I smirked. "My friend's name is Zylen, he's a zoroark. There will also be a braixen there too…" I stopped myself there, remembering my sister's condition.

"Is something wrong?" Naomi asked.

"Kind of," I admitted. "No rush, but you're smarter than me, so when you get there can you check out my braixen… Zylen will explain things when you arrive, if you do before me."

"Sure, I can do that," Naomi nodded.

"Alright, the store is located on (something) street, the store is called (something something)

"Alright, noted," Naomi responded. "What time?"

"I don't know, maybe try and be there around sunrise, that's when I plan to be back since more WPA members will be out around that time."

"Okay, I'll be there at dawn," Naomi said.

"Thanks," I said as I turned to walk away, but stopped myself. "And Naomi." I glanced back at her, "It's good to see you, it really means a lot to see a familiar face after so long."

"You too Flare. Be safe," she said, before heading on her way and I did the same.

Point of View Black

The night seemed to linger on forever. I tossed and turned a lot, but couldn't catch a single second of real sleep. Too much was on my mind.

I had decided I would help Kana, if that meant we really would leave this forsaken region once and for all. Truth be told, I didn't want to kill Rhys. I knew he was strong and that I was no match for him, but not only that, he was decent to me when I was around him. While I wasn't sure what he was planning, he never did treat me terribly. Maybe he was hard on me, but only to prepare me. Although, I could never be too sure if that was really his true personality. He was a zorua, deception was his natural affinity. He could have easily deceived me to get his way.

Aside from thoughts of not wanting to fight Rhys, I was mostly left with thoughts of a new life. It would be my first time leaving Kalos, it was a scary thought, but I was also excited. It would finally be a chance for me to be happy, I could put everything behind. Sure, I would be abandoning Kalos in its time of need, but I had nothing more to give this region besides my life.

Still, the idea of leaving with Kana sounded better than staying. It's a big open world out there, I could finally get a chance to see more of it. During this year I practically saw all of Kalos, save for a few cities, but I did see all of the main cities for sure.

With Kana I could see the world, and I wouldn't ever have to fight for someone else again. Maybe I could finally even find somewhere to settle down, find a mate even and start a family. That was always a pleasant thought, except I had no idea how to deal with kids…

Kana gave a grumble as she stirred around in her sleep. The jolteon nearly struggled as much as me to fall asleep, but she did manage somehow.

Feeling like I wasn't going to sleep for a while, I stood up and began to pace around the parking garage.

There was also the linger thought of what happened to Kana. Whatever it was, it had to do with everyone back home, or at least one of them. I just couldn't fathom what was being kept from her this whole time. How would someone benefit from keeping secrets from her? Not only that, a secret she realized upon being abducted by Genesis… A secret so horrible she couldn't face anyone ever again, something that made her deny the old her, even so horrible that the only solace she could find was the thought of leaving everything behind.

I stopped pacing by Kana and looked down at her. She continued to twist and turn in her sleep, almost as if she was having a bad dream.

"Kana, what happened to you?" I whispered below my breath.

Point of View Gray

My return to Snowbelle after so many years wasn't a pleasant one. Horrifying would be an understatement. Everything I had known about the city of Snowbelle was nearly erased, all by some story of Yveltal coming back to our world for the rapture. The stories varied, but the appearance of the God was a fact.

The voices of the rumors whispered throughout the temporary WPA base that had been set up in a commercial building. Most of the activity here was frantic and just getting here, I had lots to do myself. First I did have a meeting with Zack.

I took an elevator to the top floor of the building. I took a few turns down the halls before arriving at my destination. A gardevoir waited outside a set of dual doors.

"Zack is inside," she bowed and opened the door for me.

I took in a deep breath as I stepped into the conference room. Inside I found that Zack and Isaac were the only two pokemon I'd be seeing here today. The grovyle sat at the end of a long table, tapping his fingers on the wooden table as he peered at me.

"Sir?" I spoke up as I walked towards Zack, who had been staring out the window at the ruined city.

"Grayson, just who I needed to see," the flareon started, still looking out the window. "Do you know why I brought you in today?"

"No, sir," I answered.

The flareon tore his eyes from the city for me, "It's about two things," the flareon started. "First, Stark has been sighted in Snowbelle. I need you to work with some selected pokemon to hunt him down and finally stop him."

"You want me to kill him at a time like this?" I said quietly. While I in no way liked the umbreon, I didn't see a reason to shed more blood on these streets. Snowbelle has seen enough, the last thing the civilians needed was more violence.

"Yes, as soon as possible," the flareon nodded. "He's a menace, a danger to the WPA, if he's not killed who knows how he might retaliate against us in the future. It's our responsibility to prevent any future disasters from occurring, starting with him."

"I understand," I nodded, despite not agreeing.

"Now, the second matter at hand," Zack started up again. "It's my son, Ryder, he's in Snowbelle."

"He is?" I said with surprise.

Zack nodded, "He is, but we need to find him. There seems to have been a misunderstanding, now I'm afraid my son doesn't even trust me. Ghost planted lies in his head, now my poor son doesn't even know which side to turn to."

"What kind of lies?"

"The kind of lies where he thinks we've been deceiving him. You're his friend, Grayson, I need you to talk some sense into him and get him to come and talk to me. He won't listen to me, but he might listen to you if you can find him."

"Well, I can try, but Ryder and I were never exactly on the best terms," I admitted.

"I understand that." Zack turned from me and went back to the window. "But, right now he's even less likely to listen to me than you. If necessary, you are allowed to bring him back by force, I just need to talk some sense into him before he does something he'll regret."

"Alright, and which of these two missions should I prioritize?"

"Both are equally important, but start with Stark," Zack replied. "I have others focusing on my son."

"I see," I said, not knowing how to respond.

Of course, how would I respond? Something wasn't quite right, and I knew that for a fact. Call it my absol intuition of disasters. I couldn't fathom why Zack would prioritize some lowly umbreon with the life of his son, it made no sense.

"Wouldn't it be better for me to focus on Ryder, I feel Stark isn't too big of a threat at the moment, I'd also like to refrain from causing more panic amongst the civi-"

"Prioritize Stark, let my other men focus on Ryder, but should you find Ryder, you know what to do."

I hesitated to respond, knowing that I was very close to arguing with my superior on ideals. All I could do was bite my lip and endure his bizarre behavior that didn't make sense.

"I… understand." I forced myself to bow before taking my leave.

Upon entering out into the hallway a sylveon was waiting for me. She stood up and gave a bored look at me.

"You Grayson?" the sylveon muttered.

"Who are you?" I questioned the eeveelution.

"My name is Lilly, Zack assigned me to join with you in hunting down Stark. Apparently, you have some vendetta with him?" The sylveon walked away from me and down the hall, her eyes watching out the windows.

"I'd prefer not to talk about that with you," I firmly stated. "This is professional business, if I had it my way I would be prioritizing other tasks right now. Personally, I don't understand why he'd use my tracking skills for an inconsequential umbreon like Stark."

The sylveon shrugged before spinning around with a creepy grin, almost looking sadistic. "Well, who knows for sure. Maybe Zack just finds it amusing watching you chase around a ghost from your past."

My claws scraped against the ground as I stared down at the sylveon. Many words were at the edge of my tongue, I had to keep telling myself it wasn't worth it to not blow up on her. I could already tell she was one of those pokemon, the kind that got her kicks from messing with others.

"Like I said, I want to keep this professional. I'd much like it if you didn't antagonize me."

"Right, play that role," she snorted, but kept that mocking smirk. "I bet you're more scared of what you'll do if you find him," she said in a tone that was playful, but I saw through it, I could see her malice.

"What's this about?" I growled at her.

Her grin widened, "Oh nothing, I'm just twisting your balls is all," the sylveon continued leading me. "Come, we've got work to do and not a lot of time."

My tooth punctured into my lip, letting out a tear of blood which dripped down my jaw. Something about that sylveon was wrong, in no way was this right. Something was up, I knew it.

Point of View Aiden

At first it was easy. I'd just laugh and make my witty comments. Sure, it helped for a small while, but after so long I realized that it made no difference. The things they did to me every day. The mental and physical afflictions didn't take long to catch up and run me down into the hopeless little charmander I was.

Why me? I had to ask that one every time I closed my eyes at night, or every time they pinned me down on a table and sedated me through drugs till I'm too high to tell that they're fucking with my body and head!

Fuck, I just want to go home. I couldn't tell you how many times I uttered those thoughts in what's left of my mind.

Worst yet, none of this will ever end. I'm here to suffer and pay for being the fucking r-tard I am for following Lucy…

In a Hell like this, I knew my only solace would be when they either fucked my head so hard I finally crack and can't tell what's going on or I die.

All I wanted was to just go home.

Chapter End