Book II: Impending Twilight
Chapter 136: You have everything to gain
Point of View: Flare
"We'll stop here," Zylen said.
My aching feet were happy that at long last I could sit down. I found a spot against a large oak tree and relished the fact that I could finally take a second to breath. Mandus on the other hand didn't sit, he stared at Zylen, wanting to say something, but seemed to settle for an angry death stare.
"We shouldn't be stopping until nightfall, and even then, I'd only call for a short resting period."
"Yeah well, you're not the one carrying an umbreon on your shoulder all day, now are you? My shoulder is stiff as hell," Zylen calmly debated, before suddenly snapping at the lucario, "Wait a second, you're the hostage, you don't even have a say in these matters!" he shouted. In the end Zylen carelessly dropped Black face first on the ground, with a splash of snow the umbreon sank into the snow, not leaving much left to be seen, aside from his back. The zoroark gave a relieved breath as he plopped down against a tree.
"Does this guy have some serious narcolepsy or something? It sure as hell would save us a lot of trouble if he would just wake up already." Zylen had only made it halfway through his first sentence before he was reaching into his mane for a cigarette, but scowled at the realization that they had slipped out at some point.
"That always happens."
"That's not it," Mandus said. "Rhys has trapped the umbreon's mind in an illusion, making him unable to wake up, at least not without the proper intervention from us."
"Alright." Zylen nodded slowly as he picked Black up from the ears out of the snow. Raising his hand he smacked the unconscious umbreon across the face. Black's head snapped to the left as the sound of Zylen's hand meeting his cheek could be heard. Black didn't so much as budge, which brought a twitch to the zoroark's face and his hand met with Black once more, and again, and again.
"Arceus, will you stop before you hurt him!" I couldn't help but shout.
"Yeah, I'm gonna stop, his skull is thick!" Zylen shook out the numbness from his hand.
While Zylen was distracted by his sore hand Mandus walked over to Black and slowly kneeled, his left knee struggling to make the descent.
"He wasn't meant to ever awake again. Rhys saw this as one final kindness to him, trapping him in his own mind so he could be left to himself in his final hours. As for why, I don't know."
"That doesn't make sense," I said. "Why would Rhys put him in that state and not you?"
The lucario didn't answer, only inspected the umbreon. Silence lingered for a few seconds, my question still being ignored. I reached down into the snow and rolled up a snowball, which I threw at the lucario. The snow exploded against his head and at first Mandus didn't move, almost like he didn't notice, but then his head spun and his face bore a look of disbelief.
"Why didn't Rhys put you in the coma?" I reiterated the question.
"Spite," the lucario answered. "As I said, the condition he's in was meant as a kindness, so Ryder could die in peace. Rhys no doubt wanted me to be conscious through the whole thing."
"Well jeez, what did you do, piss in his cereal?" Zylen joked.
"It's a long story," Mandus replied.
"Well we got a minute, so tell us, in twenty words or less," the zoroark ordered.
The lucario stopped for a moment, choosing his words wisely, "I can do it in one," Mandus said as he rose up from Black. "Betrayal."
"So, you two were best buddies at one point? That's a hard duo to imagine."
"Perhaps another time I will tell you, zoroark, Zylen."
Point of View Kana
The sun had made it past noon by the time we were retreating. The thought was a bit scary, and because of this, I was slow to tread through the snow in the espeon's tracks. Looking ahead, he had gained about two trees of distance on me through the forest. I tried to catch up, but I just wished I had a way to stall this. I wasn't ready to meet with everyone again, I wasn't even sure what all changed since I last saw them.
I cleared my throat, "Ummm, hey, Vincent," I meekly asked, keeping my head low out of fear of his answer.
"Is something on your mind?"
"Yeah, you could say that." I gave myself a second to compose my thoughts. "I haven't seen my friends in months, it's really felt like years, and so much has changed since then… I umm, never really planned to see them again after a certain point, I was troubled by something, still am, but-" I stopped myself, "I don't know if I'm ready." I remained silent afterwards, lost in anxious thoughts of what would happened when I returned.
"Believe me, I'm not looking forward to this reunion either, in comparison I will make you look good, for whatever reason you're afraid," Vincent dryly replied, but I couldn't help but see a bit of humor in those words.
"So… Do you know how Flare is doing, the fennekin friend I had? I believe you fought him in Lumiose city."
Vincent shook his head, "Afraid not, never actually did discuss this whole plan with your friends. We were ordered by someone else to come."
"Mandus?" I replied, vaguely remembering that name to be their leader.
"No," Vincent responded. "Mandus is being held hostage by the WPA, as of now I'm retreating since my brother was saved. It's what Mandus would have preferred, even if he was left behind. I can only pray Scarlet managed to find him."
I couldn't help but dread that response, a lack of knowledge on my friends and the fact that I might actually meet the leader of the Crimson Dawn… It didn't sound like a pleasant time.
Point of View Aiden
'It's for sure time to get the H out of here.' I nodded in agreement with my thoughts as I took my headset off, placing it on the control panel. On the cameras I could make out a bunch of the guards returning to the manor from my little distractions. I hoped they liked it as much as I did. Now for the hard part though…
Heh, bring it, think all your petty dogs can take on the charmeleye-ghost!
I never even realized the smirk that had found its way on my face, I was a bit excited to do this, there was some thrill to being so strong all of a sudden, nothing could stop me. From a puny Charmander to a charmeleon spliced with a sableye… badass. To be doubly sure of what I was getting into I gave one quick glance to the wall of monitors, seeing the WPA members storming in the manor to do a sweep. Sure, I got this, I got in, I could get out, otherwise what kind of spy would I be, right? I rolled back in my chair with a spin and hopped up with that same grin plastered onto my face.
I stepped over the monferno I had knocked out earlier and made my way towards the door. I didn't bother to open it and just walked right through it and went back out in the hall.
"Now! Which way is out of here…?" I spun in a circle, finding I had two ways to go, left or right. I did come from the left originally, so sneaking out the same route I came in would have been ideal, but ah screw it, let's just find a new way.
I ran down the hall, a steady pace and not in too much of a hurry since no one really posed a threat. I took a left, two rights and before I knew it I had some stairs in sight at the end of a long stretch of hall.
"Oh, heck yeah," I threw my fist into the air as I ran. And once I reached the first floor I could easily phase out a wall and book it! Instant winner, oh yeah.
Of course, things never were that simple as what I presumed to be the final boss of my game walked out before me. I loved bosses, and like the monferno this guy would be easy, just some old zorua guy. Cake.
I slid to a stop, the blue flame on my tail burning more intensely as A blew a flame out to intimidate him, but the guy didn't even flinch in response.
"Oh-ho, you picked the wrong charmeleon to mess with today, buddy!"
The zorua didn't look too amused with my antics as his snout curled a bit, ears pointing back. "I suppose it's no surprise there are more of you wandering around," the zorua said.
"Oh, already got an ass whooping from my frien-"
"I caught two of them already, now they're paying the price, now the score is going to be three."
The flame at the tip of my tail suddenly died down as his words hit me.
"I don't believe you, which two?"
"An umbreon and a greninja, would you like to go and see them?"
"Wait… not the greninja, everybody loves her!" I shouted out in a panic. I jumped up into the air and phased through the ground when I came back down and fell one floor. As I fell to the floor below I crashed down onto a table, the wood snapping from my impact as silverware and all sorts of food went flying everywhere. The pain had the wind knocked out of me, but I forced myself up over the broken table, covered in a mess of food.
When I struggled back onto my feet, I managed a limp, shaking off the pain wasn't so easy. When I heard talking just outside the dining room I dropped into, my heart started to rush. Suddenly the pain in my back didn't seem so bad.
"Oh no," I uttered as I saw the swarm of shadows around the corner. Never, had I turned tail and ran, but waiting there for me when I spun around was the zorua, his expression still not amused.
"I'm not letting you leave here alive, so sit down," he ordered me.
"Why would I sit down if you're going to murder me? Besides what's some stupid zorua going to do?" As if challenged the zorua shapeshifted, his form bended and twisted until I was met with a greninja and oh boy was I annoyed that he was trying to copy Scarlet
"I was surprised to see a charmeleon slip through the floor like a ghost-type, took me a second but I recollected something a friend of mine told me, and then I realized just who you are." By the time his sentence was over the room was swarmed with 4 additional pokemon, all circling around me.
If things got too sticky I could always slip down to the basement, but once I slipped down there I'd be out of floors to drop down… I needed to be careful for once in my life or I'm actually going to die. More importantly though, who was this pokemon he was talking about, there was only a small group of pokemon I had contact with after my change.
"Wait, you said someone described me to you?" It was out of curiosity that I asked, but mostly to buy time until I figured out what I was doing. "This pokemon, it wasn't a servine by chance, was it?"
"Hmm, then you really are the one who saved Lucy," the false greninja smirked. "In that case, if you cooperate I won't hurt you one bit, but-"
"But first you're going to let my comrades go," I spat out. "Oh, and of course let us leave unharmed, yeah that's really how you show some gratitude, old man."
"Suppose that would be the ideal outcome for you, wouldn't it? Look around you though, what do you see?"
I did as the geezer said, finding that an excadrill was sharpening his claws, making an unsettling grinding noise throughout the room as he grinded them together. A luxio was jumping in place, eager for a fight and didn't look too friendly either, the salandit wouldn't pose too much of a problem though.
"I see a bunch of pokemon trying to intimidate me." Out of the corner of my eye I could see the excadrill sneering at me.
"Right, but in the eyes of someone who is smart they see that they have no leverage. You don't call the shots here, this is where we compromise, and if you play your cards right you just might walk out of here alive."
'Alive, huh?' I looked around the room, finding two doors to slip through, plus the floor which I could phase below as a last resort. Things weren't looking good for good ol' Aiden, but this is what made heroes. I was going to win, and depending on where that went I'd maybe save the other umbreon dude and ninja-lady. I don't know… it's really starting to look like a lot of work now, instead of the quick stop I had imagined it to be.
"Well, this sucks hard." I shrugged. "Literally, I planned for this all to be a bit easier, no one said I was going to have to get my hands dirty. So thanks for ruining my day."
"Choose your next moves wisely, you'll regret this in an instant."
"Try me, part of me is already dead!" The whole crowd backpedaled when I exhaled a massive flamethrower and created a vortex of hellfire. I made sure to ignite my fists in my whirlwind. The entire dining room was lit up in flames, the pokemon shielding themselves as I bolted for the door.
I only made it a few steps from my exit before a burn went across my cheek as red trickled down to my jaw. Sticking out of the door frame I spotted a water star that held its shape for a moment before dripping down the door frame. I only had a split second to run through the door before a set of three stars were thrown at me. I wasted no time scurrying behind the safety of the other side of the door in the manor's kitchen as I heard the clunking of the stars hitting the wood. And just when I thought I had a second I realized the luxio had somehow slipped his way past me into the kitchen.
"God have mercy," I meeped as the feline fur stood up, electricity buzzing in its fur. I was about to run, but a blade shoved its way through the wall before and an entire pokemon forced its way through. The remainder of the wall crumbled down as I stood in shock when I realized that there was no slowing down this guy.
"God please, stop!" I shouted as the excadrill took a jab at me. I ducked down and returned fire literally as I rapidly punched his gut with my flaming fists. While wimpy in force, the flames seared the bastard and forced him to retreat. Suddenly the salandit found her way on top of the Excadrills heads and surprised me with a pounce as her claws reached out towards me.
I extended my fist outward at her but just then I felt an overwhelming pain circulate through my entire being. Every nerve in my body locked up as I was lost in a blinding pain, only to be met with the salandit's claws raking into my muzzle. I flinched back, a mix of stars and my own blood flying into the air as I hit the hard ground.
"It was a decent try, but an amateur never stood a chance in a fight against four pokemon," the greninja said as he walked through the door.
"Yeah… went better in my head admittedly."
"Now then, care to tell me where your friends are going, I'd like to reclaim my original hostages. Tell me and I might let this-"
"Sorry, try again," I interrupted before I slipped through the floor. Everything happened so fast I couldn't readjust myself and my back slammed onto the concrete floor, hurting much more than when I had a table to break my fall. I coughed up violently as I rolled over to my side in agonizing pain. My entire back throbbed in pain, nearly making my black out.
I knew this was bad and that I was screwed right now. I needed a plan, something, anything. And just then I wanted to slap myself from the sudden epiphany I had, "Right, I can call for backup!" I reached for the earpiece I had and pressed the transmission button. "Hey, I need help, serious-" I stopped before I finished, finding that it wasn't transmitting anything. "Oh no…" The luxio had to of fried it, "I'm so screwed…"
By the time I was getting back up to my feet the ceiling above exploded with a violent cry as the excadril landed in front of me with his war cry. Rhys came through a cloud of debris and landed perfectly with his arms crossed.
"I'm not letting you off the hook that easy," the greninja said as he held up his hand and formed three ninja starts between his fingers.
"No-no-no!" I shouted out as I ran as fast as my legs would carry me, but my movements felt sluggish and blurry and before I reached a wall to phase through I felt something stab into my back. I yelled loud enough for all of Snowbelle to hear me as I reached the wall and phased through before crashing to the ground.
"Someone… help," was all I could think to utter as I pulled myself up once more. The water star stayed materialized in my back, and as I felt my muscles tearing I was left with no choice. Being quick about it, I reached around my back and yanked the stars out one by one. As I gave out another cry the star lost its solid shape and slipped between my fingers.
"Calm down, dude," I whispered to myself, but nothing was going to stop my hands from shaking, the overwhelming fear that those pokemon were going to murder me down here. I frantically shook my head; no freaking way was I going to kick it at the hands of an old man.
"Plan, I need a plan," I said, but my head felt so clouded and sick. "Great…" I muttered, realizing that the salandit probably used some poison on me when she scratched my muzzle. No doubt it was strong, I could feel it even with my affinity being strong against most toxins.
"Okay, there are four of them…" If I can somehow get them split up then maybe I could have a chance of picking them off one by one, or even escaping. Regardless, I still needed to watch out for the zorua, he was no doubt my biggest problem. Weren't old people supposed to be slow and not total bad asses like that jerk? Regardless, it didn't change the situation, or the fact that there was something oddly familiar about him gnawing at me.
Before I could ponder things anymore something started bashing against the wall. Each hit made the wall cave in, and when a hand burst through the wall I knew that things had gone worse.
"Time for a game of hide and seek, huh?"
Running away, I found my way through another wall, leading into a dark hallway. The blue flame of my tail casted its eerie light over the crumbling stone brick walls. I took in a breath, everything about this basement was creepy, and despite the darkness outside the reach of my light I could still make out what awaited in the umbra of the unknown. Perhaps a perk of being spliced into a ghost, but this meant this dark place was now my element, not just the flames. The darkness was a part of me now, my greatest asset.
My eyes shut and with a few steady breaths I concentrated my inner flame, snuffling it out with a chilling aura. Shivers coursed all throughout me, something as a charmander I had never felt. When my eyes opened I was met with darkness, the tail which had been my life force gone.
"I'm not going to win as a fire type," I said. With the flame gone I found there was nothing left of the other me to get in the way. In my eyes everything was as clear as day, just starker in color. It was strange, but to me, an acceptable change I found comforting.
While I would have enjoyed getting lost basking in the cold dark, my attention was swept away by the excadrill finally tearing down the wall in the room over. Silence followed and since I couldn't take it I pressed my ear up against the wall and prayed he wouldn't make this spot his next target.
A scoff came from the other side, "Great, finding him will be a nightmare down here."
"Maybe not, he does have a tail flame, so hiding isn't an option for him. It's just a matter of when we corner him," a female spoke.
Another voice added in, "Enough chit-chat, with my eyes and speed he won't get away again." It was no doubt the luxio who was flexing there.
No other words came after, meaning my pursuers were on the move and it was my turn. With my ghostly ninja skills, I prowled through the dark, knowing I was invisible to them. When I stumbled upon the basement's storage I decided it was more than suited for my ambush. All it would take is one foolish pokemon to come looking and... they're dead. I was even more pleased with all of the stacked crates that would be more than sufficient cover for me. Also, didn't hurt that there was only one entrance to my room to watch, assuming the excadrill didn't create his own.
A few minutes at least had to of passed before I caught a glimmer of light outside the room I dwelled within. I sunk into a wooden crate, only peeking out just enough to watch. My first prey stumbled into my trap. The smaller lizard held a flame in her palm as she carefully made her way through the shadows.
'Too easy' I smirked as I moved along the inside of the crates that were placed along the wall. The Salandit nervously turned about, spinning around like one of those top toys as she lost her nerve. She was tense, I could tell, as weird as it sounded I could sense her fear. The sensation of her emotions were ushering into me, teasing me with something delicious I had never tasted before and was this pleasure something morbidly disturbing to experience. Not that I minded, I liked it.
Resisting the urges I felt seemed as futile as resisting natural urges and wants such as eating, drinking, sleeping, mating, and embracing this new thrill I was experiencing. And her fear only fed my infatuation with this new game.
She wasn't dumb, she knew I could be anywhere, but when she backed herself to the wall I couldn't help but feel my heart skip a beat in excitement. Needless to say, I didn't waste a moment to slip through the walls and end up on the opposite side of the pathetic spot she thought was safe. Without a sound my arm slipped through the wall, slowly but eagerly it began to near her. When my arm wrapped around her neck she didn't have a chance to cry out and show me her beautiful voice. I pressed my chest against the wall, pulling her in tighter before my arm had reached around her neck enough for me to connect it with my other hand. For a moment I savored the thrill, but when I gave one strong pull with her pinned up against the wall I felt her neck cave in and snap like twigs.
Her weight became too much and she slipped from my arms. I phased back into the room to find her body twist up against the wall, her purple eyes wide in tears of regret. I grabbed at my stomach, feeling something turning from inside me as I looked at her crooked neck. What had I done?
Very rarely have I ever afflicted others with pain… let alone end their life. It was a disgusting feeling welling up in my stomach, horrible, yet strange. Always throughout my life I had threw around words about killing jokingly, to intimidate enemies, or even for one of my crazy stories, but when it's all said and done and you're left to look at your mangled creation, it wasn't as easy. I stepped back from the corpse, trying to take my eyes from her and not think about the choice I made, or that there were still two more to go. How was I going to do them in, was I going to be able to?
Wish I had more time to ponder that, because when I heard heavy footsteps I realized I was out of time.
"Crud," was all I could say as my next opponent met the eyes of the lifeless salandit.
"I'm going to take my time ripping you apart, freak." The excadrill pokemon charged at me, his massive claws rose up and ready to stay true to that threat.
"Not like I have a choice," I said to myself, taking one last breath before I stepped back from his swing.
I wasted no time turning around and bolting away from him, making my way out of the storage and back into the narrow corridors. As I made my way through the maze my head was beginning to spin, legs growing heavy as my feet dragged. Didn't take long for me to begin dragging my hand along the wall. By the midpoint of the empty corridor my stomach was reaching its limit, I needed to stop, but how when I had three pokemon out for revenge now?
"Looks like you're having a bit of trouble there," A voice spoke, and when I heard the crackling of electricity charging my head shot up and I stumbled back from the luxio.
"No doubt the salandit's poison is taking effect. How does it feel to have your body shutting down at such a dire moment? Wonder how long until you drop down half dead, unable to even crawl like the insect you are."
"Not soon enough to save your ass," my fists tightened as I crouched down, ready to dodge his attack.
"Careful!" Another voice boomed from behind. Out of the corner of my sight I could see the excadrill catching up, blocking off my rear escape. "He killed Rey so don't hold back on this guy."
"Self-defense," I said lightly, my witty humor used to saying stuff like that in these moments, but my mind wasn't there… It felt fried from the over sensation of everything going on around me.
The luxio's charge intensified, his eyes focusing in on me with the kind of hatred you would expect towards the guy who just killed his friend. "Let's make this quick then."
"Try me!" I hissed as blue flames combusted from my tail as I readied my claws for a fight to the bitter end! But just as I thought things were going to get nasty something emitted from me, a ray of light that came from my tail and forced my foes to shield their eyes.
"What the," was all I could think to say as the two froze up. Both of their hands gripped over their heads, a sudden migraine taking them by storm. My stare swapped between the luxio lying on the ground and the excadrill with his claws digging into his cranium. The electric pokemon was the first to break as he gave a howl. With a frantic shake of his head he managed to fight the migraine off and focus those red eyes on me.
"Great," I sighed as the bounded at me, but with my back turned to the other I failed to see that he had made his move. My body went stiff where I thought I was screwed, but to my surprise the excadrill ran past me and at the luxio. Together, the pokemon attacked each other, completely ignoring me. Blood splattered onto the wall as the excadrill slammed his claw into the luxio's ribs. A scream came, followed by a powerful discharge of electricity that shot up into the excadrill as he pinned the feline against the wall. Both hissed and snapped at each other in a wondrous bloodbath, all while I gawked at the two with a perplexed expression. But as the pool of blood reached by feet I couldn't help but form a crooked smile.
The luxio tried to fry the excadrill to death with a blinding shock, but its potency was not enough to stop the excadrill before he gave a strong push of his claw and dug it into his ribs and straight into his heart. The luxio's body tensed for a moment before he gave one final grunt. His head fell limp as his muscles relaxed, all while I wore that same grin.
When he ripped his claw from his chest cavity he gave a satisfied smile, one of pure ecstasy from the victory, one that was quick to turn into a look of disgust and horror. His claw moved over his mouth, his eyes looking down to the mess he made of his friend, finally able to see the reality of his actions.
"But… I swear I… what the hell…" the excadrill stammered, his claws moving up to grab at his skull. "No way, no way, no way," he started in a whisper, before breaking out into anguished screams.
"Just what did I do? Was it really me?"
I only had one second to ask the question before something slithered along the ground. My eye caught a shadow creeping around the corner at the screaming pokemon. The shadow broke into two slithery-vines that shot up at the excadrill, coiling around him before reaching up to his head. He gurgled as pressure was applied to his throat and over the bridge of his nose. He rose up his claw to cut himself free, but sharp spikes emerged from the tendrils and stabbed all around the excadrill. He was only able to wear that panicked expression for a split second before the vines twisted around him, tearing flesh and spitting it all over the place like a blender. By the time he hit the ground I could see clear into his windpipe, his cheeks and nose shredded apart to form a big bright red smile that reached to the ends of his face.
Both the tendrils retracted from around the corner. I braced myself to run, whatever that thing was, I didn't want a part in being turned into processed meat. My breathing stilled as a shadow crept from the corner, two red eyes piercing into me, making me remember what it meant to be afraid.
"You really came," Her voice stunned me, making me unsure if I should have been happy or terrified for my life.
I swallowed hard, "It's been like a day," I said. "Look, you know why I'm doing this, you were there when that freak proposed this all to me."
"You wanted to find out who killed your trainer so bad you were willing to come here and kill anyone who stood in your way? Looks like a vicious cycle of killing."
I rose a brow at her, before glancing over at what was left of the excadrill. "You literally just turned this man's face into sloppy-joe meat and you're going to lecture me about murder?"
"I've always been a killer, and I just watched him kill his friend, I'd rather have him out of the way for what comes next."
"Next?" I said as the servine stepped forward, making me backpedal away.
"Yeah," Lucy nodded, her frown deepening before she snapped at me, "So listen up you moron, just this once I'm going to help you out of here, after that get out of my life!"
"Wait… what?" The sudden blow of surprise hit me so hard that my legs gave out and I fell to my rear on the wet ground. I looked up at Lucy as she stood over me, still terrifying, but somehow she was going to be my savior?
"Yeah, you heard me, I'm going to help you this one time, and only this one time. Only because I owe you one."
"Owe me?" I said, my mind drawing a blank as I nervously glided my finger along the dry ground, smearing a streak of blood.
"Really?" Lucy scowled. "Do you not remember what turned you into the freak you are?"
"Oh… right," I said, after which I nervously laughed.
"Now then." Lucy extended a vine towards me. I couldn't help but look at it nervously, unsure if the instant I grabbed it thorns would poke out and I would discover it was all a trap.
"You really think I'm going to hurt you?" Lucy scowled. "I would have torn your neck open instead then, it's a lot less paperwork that way."
I gave a weak nod and accepted her vine and she pulled me up. I smiled at Lucy, feeling a bit more comfortable now. Despite partially hating her, there was something about seeing her again that made my heart flutter.
"Umm yeah, so thanks, for you know, wringing out his neck like a rag and not mine."
"No prob, it's what I do." Lucy begun to spin around with my vine in her hand, "Let's just make this quick, you know, before something we'll both regret happens."
"Like before I find out?" A voice whispered in the servine's ear, and as if I missed it in a blink I found the greninja gripping Lucy's shoulder, leaned in invasively close to her ear.
The greninja shifted his form back into a zorua. His face wore a look of anger, like he'd lash out at any moment and end us. Finally, it clicked in my head on who the old fox was! And crap, why him!
"So, this trick you were leading the charmeleon in can end now, you won't have to do such a thing to take care of him now that I'm here," Rhys spat bitterly. "Kill him, should you struggle I'll intervene." I turned towards Lucy, afraid that it really all was just a hoax.
Lucy's voice trembled, "But… I-"
"Now!" Rhys ordered.
The venomous glare he gave and his harsh tone said it all, he didn't believe it was a trick, he wanted her to redeem herself right here. Lucy turned back towards me, her vine still in my hand. My grip tightened as I looked her deep in the eyes. It all came down to this moment, she was either with me or against me. But there was no way I could expect her to betray someone she has known all her life.
But, I also had to consider what would happen if she didn't comply. This zorua guy was known to be brutal, deceptive and a total ass from the little I've heard. Even Lucy had to know the brutal part to be true if she would tremble in his presence. There had to be something to do from here, anything, but how could I get us both away from him alive, it's not like I could phase through everything with Lucy and run.
"I'm waiting," Rhys said.
For now, I didn't care about myself… Not like have much to live for anyways.
"Lucy," I spoke up. The servine averted her stare from me, knowing what she had to do. "It's okay," I said with a smile. "Do what you got to do." My grip tightened even more around her vine, knowing that at any second she was going to do it, and it was all finally going to be over at long last. All these years of drawn out games could finally conclude.
"Aiden…" Lucy whispered, her vine coiled around my hand. When the pressure between our interlocked appendages increased our eyes met. Her vines unsheathed themselves and bit into my hand, bringing out a sharp pain. I only winced a bit from the pain, and when looking at the damage her vines had already done I could see a thorn sticking clean through the back of my hand.
Seeing my hand and the troubled look of the servine, I did what I thought would make it easier on the both of us and closed my eyes. It felt easier to accept my fate, die at the hands of someone I at least liked. Better this way before things become even worse.
The vine's grip on my arm loosened, "Why are you acting this way?"
I kept my eyes closed, "Because, I'm awesome."
"Because what?!" As the servine's voice flared up so did the intensity of her grip.
Despite the pain, I couldn't help but give a snort in laughter, but the amusement was quick to slip away and be replaced with my hand rubbing at the corner of my eye. "You ever just take a second to stop looking down at where you are and up ahead? Whenever I do all I see are the obstacles ahead, never ending pain and loneliness. I look back and see how far I've come and I see the same thing I see now, except far out in the distance I see my past, memories of what I'll never have again. Maybe… maybe it isn't that bad to just stop here, maybe in another life I'll have better odds."
"You are really okay with dying here without any meaning?"
"Yup," I smiled and opened my eyes to look at the servine. "So, just make it quick at least. You are kind of making this slow with the whole indian-burn on the arm thing."
Lucy didn't respond, no words, no violence, just silence as she stared into me. I wanted to assure her that I was fine with this, but it wouldn't make a difference. She was going to do what she wanted to do regardless.
"You don't have what it takes to kill him." Rhys strutted at me, his movements eager as a flare of purple burned from him. "I really wanted you to be able to do this on your own."
"Oh, just shut up!" Lucy screamed as she ripped her vines from my arm and lashed them out at Rhys. The fox gave a gasp before throwing himself back from the vines and stumbling in the process.
Rhys's muzzle scrunched up and revealed his fangs as her forepaws trembled, "You dare turn against me?" The purple energy returned and burned stronger than before, but this time instead of himself changing to another shape the light stretched out along the walls. It only took a second before the radiance had covered the entire basement.
"Aiden, Run!" Lucy's shout became a distorted mess that rang in my head even after the light had grown to the point of blinding me. I covered my eyes and gave a loud cry for Lucy.
Only a few seconds had passed when I checked to see if the madness was over. My eyes themselves were a bit blinded, even as a fire type. I rubbed at them slowly. A ray of warmth touched my face as I found myself looking out to the street where a ray of light had slipped through the clouds and down onto me. My tail dropped to the ground as I wondered how I was looking out to a street. What happened to the basement, Snowbelle, and why was it fall weather outside? Everything seemed familiar, making my heart ache when I realized that this was the afterlife.
I spun around, "This can't be real." My eyes darted around the room, from the broken recliner, to the coffee table at the center of the family room and even that fuzzy television set. Just as I remembered it, two worn controllers were laid out on the table with cords reaching all the way to the console in the TV stand. My body moved on its own, picking up the smaller of the two controllers. To me it felt alien, like something I had never held in my life.
How long had it been since I last touched anything videogame related that wasn't a store display? My eyes drifted upward, finding a childhood game I remembered always playing. We'd always fight over who was player number one, I think most of the time my persistence got me it. Looking back now… it was childish, even for me. I set the controller down, and with it still in my hand I gave one last look, before my orange hand caught my attention.
"I'm… I'm normal?" I held up my hand. With a quick look down, I saw that everything was almost back to normal. No longer was I some edgy looking demon charmeleon, but a normal charmander! Just for some reason I was smaller than I last remembered when I was a charmander. I could have done with Arceus making me an adult sized charmander, but I was okay if I was orange. It still beat being the monster version of myself.
"What else is going on here?" I slowly walked towards the kitchen, still looking at all the memories around me. Maybe I could find something good to eat if Rhys somehow transported me all the way to home… That would be nice of him.
I stopped just outside of the kitchen. "Home," The words seemed like a fleeting dream.
The food I had sought after was quick to escape my mind as I entered the kitchen, finding someone sitting at the table with a smile on his face. With a wave of his hand my jaw dropped. Could it really have been him? Arceus, it was! He may have been a kid somehow, but it was real!
"David!" I cried out, running at the human with my arms wide for an embrace. The human got up from his chair and kneeled to meet me in a tight embrace. Both my arms wrapped around as far as they could go to his sides.
"Hey, what's gotten into you? You left the room while I made you a bowl of cereal and now this?" The human said, but he had no idea what the hell I was feeling, all the pain welled up inside me. Did he not want to say something else after not seeing each other for so long?! We were finally reunited!
"I don't know if you can understand this here in the afterlife, but you have no idea of everything that's happened since I lost you, things didn't get better ever, just worse and worse!" I broke down in his arms, tears streaming down my face and onto the human's blue hoodie.
"Hey, it's alright, bud, what's the matter?" David softly spoke as he fingers gently rubbed his hand the back of my head.
I took a deep breath, breathed in through my nose to stop my snot from ruining the moment by grossing us out. "Well…" I said, "I don't really know where to start, it was just one massive shit show with no end. God, please tell me you can actually understand me."
When I pulled away from the human I simply saw him frowning down at me.
"Come on, David, say something already, tell me you can understand me, for god's sake, please!" I couldn't even properly hold my human I was so scared. I dug my claws into his jacket, not wanting him to slip away like it was all some dream.
"Well," David broke my thoughts. "Whatever it is, we're going to have to make it better, right?" David gave me a pat on the head.
"You can't understand me, can you." a strong burn came from my throat as I gnashed my teeth together. Why-oh-why, I needed to talk to him before he's taken away again! I can't do this! And before my teeth could crack under the pressure a loud shout came from the other end of the house. My heart sank, it hit me hard when the familiar voices shouted at each other.
The bickering between a man and a woman began between David's parents. The wife screamed at the husband, demanding to know where he was going out every night, and why he has not gotten a new job. His father only took so much of it, before a hard smack could be heard. Only silence followed. Just like I remembered this moment, his father insulted her, calling her horrible things before storming out the door, leaving a crying mother at home, struggling to pay the bills and care for her only son.
David wore a disgusted look, he too was trembling like I was, but where his trembling was fear mine was something much more. But what I really wanted to know was why I was seeing this again? This wasn't far from when David's mother would demand to be separated, but his father would pull some lies and get David stuck with him… If I really was in the past, then I had to stop it. If his mother somehow wins then maybe David doesn't have to die in the future! If he doesn't die, then maybe things don't go horribly for me and I'll always be where I should be!
The idea was exciting, and I had a lot of time to think over the details over a bowl of cereal. The taste of real food had almost managed to blind my mind from what really mattered. David couldn't understand me, which meant I couldn't tell him what was going to happen, but that doesn't mean I can't guide him and his family in the right direction.
No… Why do I have to guide things? I'm going to do what I should have done, take things into my hands and do what need to be done to save David.
I rose up from my spot, catching my human off guard as I jumped from my seat and bolted towards the door. When I accepted my plan my form began to change, I wasn't sure when it happened, but by the time I reached the door I was a monster again. The dark scales had returned, along with the horrid surgery scars, all illuminated from a blue tail flame.
Good! I needed to be a monster to kill one! I reached for the door and phased through it, meeting the crisp air of Laverre city. Nostalgia hit me all at once as I slowly looked around the rainy streets, seeing the dead leaves scattered about the streets. The buildings were much older in age compared to a city like Lumiose, but at the same time this gave the city a bit more flare in a sense. Especially with all the older mom and pops shops, worn brick buildings and the many renovation projects to bring the city more up to code. The nostalgia of my old town wasn't what mattered though. What I cared about was my hunt, and there was only one place that man would go. It took me no more than five minutes to make my way to an old run-down bar, one that probably had cheap watered-down booze, the only kind a sick man like David's father could afford.
To my luck, I caught the human outside with his pants down, pissing on the wall of an alley just outside the bar. Under his breath he grumbled something. By the time he stopped grumbling he zipped up his fly, but when his head turned he felt the burn of three jagged claws tearing down on his soft flesh. The human yelled a curse and his arms moved to shield his face as he tumbled to his back side and splashed into a mucky puddle.
"What the hell!" The human-no, he was nothing more than a weedle, a weak weedle that I would play with and torment until I grew bored, regardless, he screamed like the pitiful creature he was.
"Oh, I've always wanted to do that," I smirked, licking his red essence from my claws, it was better than the finest cut of steak I had ever had. Guess there isn't anything better than a slice of vengeance.
"Wait, what are you?" The human tripped on his words, trying to backpedal away, but his eyes unable to leave my glare. By the time he flopped over onto his belly to try and crawl away I grabbed at his leg and sunk my teeth into his Achilles heel. The tendon was tough, but working my teeth at his flesh like a saw left very little of the tendon.
The screams that came from him were almost inhuman, like a beast that needed to be put out of its misery. I crawled over top of him as he flailed on the ground, trying to kick me away with his one good foot, but every attempt failed as he phased through me.
"It's a damn shame, I wanted to spend more time with you." I pressed his face into the water and held it down firmly. My other hand gripped at his shoulder as my maw lowered down, and my jaw opened to accept his neck into my maw. Like a vice my bite tightened down, a horrible scream followed, but it was silenced when I felt his bones snap in a cluster.
I withdrew from him, panting hard and savoring the taste of his blood. the ecstasy of it all had been more intense than anything I had ever felt, even being much greater relief than satisfying any of my Carnal urges. If only I could have had more time to play with him, but this wasn't the place to do that, someone had to of heard that.
With thoughts of someone seeing me in my mind, I quickly got off the human and scurried away. I took the long way home, and found a large puddle of water that I was able to clean myself from. It was around then that I noticed that I changed again, from a monster to my former form as a child charmander.
When I made it back home I was easily able to slip back into the house. Inside I heard David talking to someone, more than likely his mother.
"No, I don't know where he went, he just ran off for no reason. I didn't even hear him open the door or anything." My human was panicking, and when I peeked my head into the living room I confirmed that it was his mother.
"H-hey, I'm here," I spoke up, catching the attention of the two.
"See, I told you he was just hiding, sweety. Now, mommy's very busy, I need to run out and find your father," His mother scowled at the mention of the father. More importantly, her words made my heart jump… boy was she in for a surprise.
It hit me all at once, like a slap! I had no regret of my actions, but I left his corpse in the middle of an alley. Someone was going to find it if they already haven't. I wasn't even sure if they could link it to me. The forensic people were getting good at these things by now, so would they connect the dots and see that it was the family pet? How could they when I killed him in that monster form, so maybe they wouldn't be able to accuse me if the bite and claw marks didn't match my own.
With all that in my mind the day went excruciatingly slow. Whatever was taking the Mom so long to get home didn't ease my anxiety either. Night came after a very long day, his mother did return home, but looking pale and a sobbing mess. She knew about him, but judging from the lack of a response from me she didn't know it was me. His Mom decided to keep it a secret and went straight to bed, lying to David on why she was crying. Smart woman, I didn't have it in me right now to deal with this anyways.
David eventually grew tired and went to bed, but my unease wouldn't allow me to sleep, so I remained downstairs while he retreated to his bed upstairs for the night. I wasn't really paying attention to time, but I spent most of it haunted by my choice.
I decided to pass the long night by sneaking out. At this hour the city streets were vacant, and the only night dwellers that could be found were the occasional dark type or drunky stumbling home from the pub. By now drizzle of rain had died off, but the streets were already full of puddles. That didn't matter as I strolled through the city and eventually made my way to the outskirts where I found the forest. I followed a beaten path, most of which required trekking through a lot of mushy mud. At the end of the long trail I made it to a small lake. Sitting at the shore was a small shack and the remains of a peer constructed of now crooked and rotting wood. The condition of the structure didn't phase me though as I found a spot to sit at the end of the peer.
To me this was a nice quiet spot to sit down and think out my problems. Right now, I had a lot on my mind with murdering David's father. Still no regrets, but an unsettling fear of getting caught was there. No matter what, whether I got caught or not, I didn't care, because David was less likely to die now.
"Aiden," a voice whispered from the darkness. I jumped up fast, my eyes darting around before a pokemon crept out from the shadows.
"I-Ivy?"
"Wha-no! Just what the hell do you think is going on here?" The snivy hissed.
"Wait… if you're not Ivy, then who?"
"Who?" her voice went low with anger that was going to erupt at any second. "Do you really not remember the servine that was thrown in here with you?! Sure, I'm a snivy now, but you can't be serious. It's me!"
My head started to throb as she went on and on. When did I meet Ivy? No… I met Ivy in Lumiose after David moved out… then who? Did I know a servine from this time, was I getting girls this early on in life? No… It's not making sense.
My hands grabbed at my cranium, squeezing hard as I started to lose it. "W-what's going on, why can't I remember you, if you're not Ivy, then who?"
"Aiden?" The snivy took one small step towards me as I pleaded to myself to remember what was going on.
"Aiden!" She cried out and a vine smacked me across the face and all at once I remembered.
"L-Lucy?" I said as I rubbed my raw cheek. How did I forget Lucy of all pokemon? She meant a lot to me…
"Yeah, but did you really forget me there? You were starting to get really creepy."
I gave a weak nod, I didn't want to lie to her, not with everything that was going on. The throbbing in my head never ceased, it still ached. While I remembered her name, I still couldn't remember the circumstances of how we met, why she was here, just that she had something to do with saving David, maybe.
"How much have you forgotten in here?"
"How would I know?"
"Well, we need to find a way out, Aiden. Rhys is just toying with us right now, we don't have long."
"Rhys?" I mumbled unsurely.
"Arceus, we don't have time for-"
"You're right!" I snapped at her, fighting through my headache. "We don't have time for this. David's in trouble, all I know is that something is going to happen to my best friend, and I have to do everything I can to protect him, no matter what."
"Wait…" Lucy cocked her head to the side as she looked at me in shock. "You think this is real, don't you?"
"Think what is real, that my human is in danger? Yeah, I do, I don't remember why, but I just know something is going to happen."
Lucy stayed silent for a moment, before she came up with something to ask, "Okay, tell me everything, how did you get here, why do you think you need to save your trainer who's dead?"
"Well, I mean I met David when I was very young you see, my parents' kind of abandoned me, but David rescued me. Now, I just know he's in danger, I think by umm… doing something I did, I think I might have saved him from possibly dying in the future."
"So, you don't remember anything about me, Lucy, the servine, or even Genesis, Rhys, the messed up world we live in. Not even the fact that you were trying to save an umbreon named Ryder or Black or whatever?"
"Huh, Ryder, that's a cool name," I said thoughtfully, suddenly wishing that was my name. "Nope, I don't recall any of that, though it sounds cool I guess."
"Sounds cool? what?" Lucy stared at me in disbelief for a moment, before her eyes lit with insight. "I think I know what's going on with you," Lucy walked up next to me and grabbed my shoulders. "When you were captured by Crimson Dawn it was right after David died, his death traumatized you, he was your world and it just ended. To cope your mind blocked out anything having to do with David dying and you were fed lies by Crimson that they were holding him hostage. They used you, don't you remember that? They took advantage of that mental condition you developed!" The snivy began shaking my shoulder, trying to talk her claim into me. Personally, I had no idea what she was going on about, but I wanted her to stop touching me.
"Listen here." I slapped her hands from my shoulders, "why don't you go pitch your fanfiction about me to someone else, you are weirding me out." I gave the snivy a strong push and her vines slithered out from her shoulders and coiled around her arms.
"You're doing it again, snap out of it!" Lucy screamed. "He's dead and none of this is real!"
"Shut up!" I shouted over her, lunging forward and tackling into her, pinning her against the pier. I blew my flames at the vines she had coiled around my arms. With a screech she retracted them.
Cringing in pain, the snivy continued, "Don't forget that you also saved me, you idiot!" Before she could spout more crap I pressed both of my hands over her throat.
"I already killed one man today, I won't care about killing you any less," My voice went cold as gripped her skinny neck. My orange hands faded to a black color, changing me into that monster again as I watched her gulp for air. It didn't matter though, she just needed to be silenced, she was annoying, and I told her too much.
"Ai-den, st-op" the snivy gurgled and just when I could see her eyes closing something stabbed into my back. My grip loosened, and two vines shot out at my face. I threw myself back from her. When I looked back I saw that the snivy used her tail as a leaf blade and stuck it into me.
"Cleaver little brat." I grabbed at the flesh wound. "Why don't you try sticking that in me again, I might actually like it this time." I sneered at the snivy, ready to tear her piece by piece and embrace the urges I had.
"You have completely lost it, you know that?" The snivy snapped at me. "I said I owed you one, but after all this you're going to owe me!"
"Oh yeah? Let me get you back then." I huffed up my chest. The snivy tensed up as she saw what was coming her way and when I exhaled a blue flame towards her she ran away off the pier and into the shadows. What was left of where she was were the blue flames eating at the pier.
"What, you're going to hide?" I called out to the snivy as I pushed in her direction. She thought she could hide in the umbra, but when I was like this I could see clearer than day. Once I found her, I'd burn her till there is nothing left, then-
My thoughts were cut short as a burning pain slashed down onto my shoulder and left an open gash going down to my lower back. I gave a loud hiss as I shot flames out and spun around to get her to back off. All shadows were pushed away and illuminated with the cold blue flames.
My eyes looked over my work, but no snivy. I bit my lip as I brushed my hand over my back and felt the warm sticky essence of mine. She'll pay for that.
"Are we really going to play this game?" I spoke out into the woods, but the only response I got were the crackles of my flames burning into the trees I ignited. "It's only a matter of time before I find you, and what do you think is going to happen then? That's twice now you've hurt me and quite frankly I'm getting sick of it."
No response followed, and that's when I felt the unease set in my stomach. I had no idea where she was, and even if I could see out here she'd be hard to spot since she blended in. The both of us just needed to land one good hit to win, but was I going to be able to land that hit before her?
My eyes widened at the realization that it was a game of hide and seek. It was a game I always sucked at, me being a flashy fire pokemon. It didn't matter though, I had the power of attrition, if she wasn't going to show herself then I'd smoke her out.
I took in a deep breath, spread my legs for a base as I conjured a flame breath that I shot out with a blinding light that even I flinched at for a moment. I held my flame breath, focusing it on all the trees and brush until a good amount of the mucky swamp was starting to burn. By the time I had to stop I was panting for air.
"Come on."
"Aiden, what are you doing?!" The snivy yelled at me as she dropped down from a tree. "You're going to get us both killed!"
"Dummy, I'm a fire type, I can handle my own flames." I laughed at her stupidity and the fact that I won, I lured her out and she was mine now!
"A tree falling over top of you will kill you!" Lucy screamed at the top of her lungs.
I stopped laughing at her and looked around to see if any trees were about to collapse over me. The forest was burning quicker than I had expected. she may have had a point that I put myself in danger too, but It didn't measure up to the danger she was in with being a grass type. The snivy started hacking up her lungs. She moved her hands over her mouth to protect herself from suffocating, but that was it, I checkmated her.
"Well, we're low on time, so I'll finish you here." I sneered and took in a deep breath before I exhaled a fire breath over my right-hand claws and ignited them to use as my method of killing her. "How about a hug!"
The snivy turned to run, but just then a tree timbered over onto her escape route. Blue embers scattered into the air as smoke rose. She frantically looked around, but her eyes became more and more lost as the smoke got to her fragile lungs. By the time I had reached her she dropped to her knees to see a charmeleon lunging at her with a flaming claw ready to meet her throat. The hand I had left unlit grabbed her by the neck and pushed her to the ground. Her eyes widened in fear as I rose up my flaming claws.
"I win." I smirked as the snivy accepted her defeat and clenched her eyes shut in fear of the end. Now she wouldn't know my secret that I killed David's father, nor would I have to hear her spouting her nonsense about everything being a lie. Things would go back to normal, I could be with david again, l can be happy!
Except something in the back of my mind told me no. Ripping her throat open won't fix the real problem. The problem that something was wrong with me, that I wasn't me right now. I wasn't always a killer, nor was I a monster, I was a little boys Charmander, we played games, laughed, at dinner. When did things get so dark?
A throb pulsed through my mind, something connected, and I saw it all in a bright flash that told me I wasn't a murderer. For a moment a foggy picture was painted, the real Aiden, the one that I believed wouldn't kill someone.
I rubbed my burning claw off in the dirt, smothering out the flame and picking up the snivy in my arms. The flames had spread everywhere, burning viciously and taking the forest as its own. Looking at my paws, I saw I was no longer a monster and I had returned to a normal charmander.
"I'm sorry," I whispered at the snivy as I picked her up in my arms, but she was unconscious... or worse. I wasted no time bolting through a clearing from the flames. If it had been myself things would have been easier, but for Lucy I had to maneuver around the chaos. As I ran I heard a crack just above me. I froze in place and a tree collapsed over my planned path. I shook my head, it didn't matter which way. I turned left and picked up my pace as I sprinted as fast as I could with her.
Snaps of wood sent blue embers into the air were all around me, trees crashing down and a thick smoke. My heart raced, I was scared, not for my life but for hers! I put her in this mess, I did this, now I couldn't lose her because of my own stupidity!
My legs felt like they were going to give out at any moment now, but just then I saw the end of the forest I felt reinvigorated and gave one final push to the end of the woods. I didn't stop running until I was past the brush and felt the fresh breeze against my scales. My legs started to give out, and I struggled to carry Lucy through an open field. I made sure we were a safe distance from the flames before I collapsed with her in my arms just under a tree. Despite my body being exhausted, I rolled to my side and held the snivy in my arms and watched the forest burn and change the night sky to a bright. The smoke fumed up into the air, obscuring all the night starts over the forest.
I felt the snivy stirring in my arms, her eyes rolled back and forth under their eyelids before opening. Where I expected her to yell she instead started coughing, her lungs shot from all the fumes she took in. I patted her on the back, but her hand batted me away.
"You idiot, you almost killed me," Lucy said with a hoarse voice.
"I was very close to doing it, you know. Then it flashed in my head, all at once, because I realized I wasn't a killer, that I'm supposed to be some kid living a somewhat happy life with my human. Instead I was acting cynical, and wanted to eliminate any threat to David to protect him." I remained leaned up against the tree. At this point I covered my face with my hands out of shame.
Lucy stood over me. Between my fingers I could see her peering down at me. "And you remembered the truth?"
"David's dead," I nodded. "Gone forever, and nothing I do is going to bring him back." The words hurt as they left me. Even if what I said was true, I wouldn't have minded staying here forever.
As I sunk lower into the tree I felt a hand over my arm. My hands lowered down to see Lucy leaning over me, close, but usually when she was this close she was strangling me. After trying to murder her I couldn't stand to look her in the eyes.
"Are you alright?" Lucy asked. "You really did a number on me back there, but you were acting crazy. You had me scared."
"I don't know." I shook my head. "As of late, I haven't been me." I stopped for a second and felt frustration that I didn't know how to explain these changes. "Like, I've had different thoughts since I've changed. I don't know how to describe it other than a bloodlust."
"A bloodlust? Like you want to hurt others?" Lucy rose a brow at the question, I could tell how strange she thought it was.
"I mean, it's not like I walk down the street and think of cutting people and pokemon up, but like, when I'm forced into a fight I almost enjoy what I can do. I enjoyed killing this salandit before we were trapped in here. At the time I was disgusted in myself, but I kind of liked it. Then, in this dream world I hunted down David's father and tore his throat open, it honestly felt very good, like I loved it more than anything I've ever felt."
Lucy's grip on my arm tightened. "And what are you feeling now?"
"Disgust, afraid, confused," I said the first words that came to my mind, knowing that Lucy would be judging me for the confession.
"I see," Lucy said as her grip loosened on me and she sighed. I looked up at her curiously as she eased herself.
"What?" I nervously asked.
"It's not a surprise you're acting sadistically, I mean it's not at all."
"Huh? It isn't?" I cocked my head to the side.
"You literally have an entirely different pokemon inside of you." Lucy's hand pressed against my chest. "Ghost types are known for their darker personalities, and you have one in you, or you were spliced with one at least. Now the darker nature of a ghost type is clashing with the short temperedness of a fire type. A lot has changed inside of you, I can only imagine the neural changes you're experiencing due to hormones and other chemical imbalances in your body changing all at once.
"If we get out of this alive, I promise we'll find a way to help you get it under control. Believe me, I don't like seeing you like this, I honestly preferred the old you." I frowned at the mention of getting out of here alive. It was a bitter reminder that our struggle back there wasn't even our biggest problem. Plus, even if I did get out what was the point? I had nothing out there, and being trapped within this mirage reminded me of what I had.
When I thought of leaving I couldn't help but look away from Lucy. "I know you were trying to do the right thing by coming after me, but I wish you didn't snap me out of whatever the hell was going on in my head." The words were hard to admit to Lucy, but they were true.
"What do you mean?"
"I would have happily traded my life for just one more day with David. I know Rhys would have killed me, but at least that way I could have had one last happy moment to smile about before I die alone."
"W-wait," Lucy tried to interject, but I kept talking.
"There is something I've never told anyone, it's something I've been trying to forget about since I retrieved my real memories after I remembered David was dead in Shalour," My voice became weak and hollow. I didn't have the strength to say what I was going to, but I forced myself regardless since I'd probably be dead soon anyways.
"Back long ago, I had a friend, well, someone who was more than a friend. You know her as Ivy, the snivy I confused you as a lot because I'm obsessed. Well, you know I had feelings for her and that something happened, but I never gave you the details of how that connects to me and everything." My hands started to shake as I started the story, I clasped them together to help with the shaking, but things were already in motion and I couldn't stop yet.
"To start, I met Ivy because she reminded me a bit of David's situation with his dad. I found her one day crying, and well, I talked to her because I felt bad. I eventually got her emotions under control, and when we were able to have a normal conversation I found that she was pretty funny and cute, and things just clicked between us.
"Despite her living in an abusive home, I was able to make her life a bit less miserable, and she gave me something to do when David was eluding his own father by working a lot. As you know, we became a thing."
"But something happened?" Lucy interrupted.
I gave a nod of my head. "I was never sure of what details were true, but her human tried fighting back against her father one night… Things got very violent, and Ivy tried to intervene. I don't know if she finally found out what that sick father was doing to his daughter or what, but something made Ivy snap and she took his eye out using a razor leaf. Though, what followed was the father's rage, he grabbed the nearest object which was a frying pan in the kitchen and smashed in Ivy's head.
"She didn't die, at first… Ivy's human was able to rush her to a pokecenter and she was able to live for two days. Doctors thought she'd have a chance of recovering with minor brain damage, but when the second night came things changed. It came out of nowhere from what I heard, but her brain hemorrhaged, and she died before anyone could help." Tears were streaming from my eyes by the time I finished. I rubbed at my eyes as I gave myself a moment.
"That's awful," Lucy said in shock, "What happened to the father, there is no way he could have gotten away with that."
"No, he didn't. He was charged with pokemon cruelty for murdering Ivy, but what really got him in trouble was what he did to his daughter. Prick should have gotten a death penalty for what he did."
Lucy looked bothered by the story as she stared at the ground, unable to say anything. This wasn't the point of my confession, nor was the intended goal to make her pity me.
"There is more to what I wanted to say," I added. My eyes wandered off towards the burning forest, following the fuming smoke into the night sky. "Her death hit me really hard, like to this day I still have not recovered from it at all. Then, David was next, which you already know what happened to him."
"Yeah, some gang targeted him because he was covering news stories about them," Lucy added.
From her it almost seemed too blunt, but I shook my head clear of those thoughts, it wasn't what mattered to me. I needed to just accept things as they were, even if it was painful. I gave myself a moment of silence to clear my head and continue.
"After David died I had nothing, Ivy was gone, I lost my home, no one would take me in, I was scared and alone again, and that kind of pain sits heavy over your shoulders." As I neared the part I never said to anyone I grabbed at my wrist and dug my claws into it. Ivy carefully watched me as she waited, no doubt seeing my struggle.
"I tried to cope, I really did, I knew I was strong, and I kept telling myself I'd see him again somehow… I knew it was a lie, but it made me feel better. Of course, I realized it wasn't going to happen. I couldn't do it, I wanted to see him again, Ivy too, someone that was just familiar to the way things were."
A cold breeze passed through the night, scattered the blue flower petals across us. I looked up at the night sky. So dark, and only a small glimpse of light above, such was the way hope felt for me. Only a spec in the darkness that eventually fades.
With one final breath, I opened my mouth to reveal the truth I had never wanted to admit to anyone, "When it all became too much, and I couldn't bear having nothing to live for, I tried to take my own life."
"Aiden…" Lucy said quietly, not saying anything else for a moment as the words sunk in.
"I contemplated the idea for a long time from his death, thinking how I would do it. I didn't want anything painful, so I eventually realized what would be the quickest way to go out." Lucy still couldn't come up with anything to say. "One stormy evening I built up the courage to walk far out into the woods, found a small lake with a pier on it and stood at the edge. Going in ice cold water seemed like a quick way, but taking that one step was the real hard part, but I submitted and allowed myself to take that one brave step."
"That's terrible, but what I don't get is if you did that then how are you still here?"
"I forgot it for the longest time, until I was reminded in that graveyard when Vincent told me the truth. It was that greninja who pulled me out. I don't know how they brought me back, but they did, and when I awoke a different persona took over, one that didn't recognize the truth." I gave a small smirk at the snivy, feeling a great relief off my chest. Who would have known admitting such a horrible thing would have felt so right when it was to the right pokemon. "Well, there you have it, the life and story of Aiden up until we met. A pitifully story of why I have nothing left to gain in life."
"I don't know what to say about all of that," Lucy admitted. With both her hands she grabbed one of my own gently held it. She looked me in the eyes with genuine care, and from Lucy of all pokemon. "But, you can't just keep telling yourself you have nothing left in life, that's not true unless you keep saying it." Lucy's eyes beamed into me, "You have everything to gain, Aiden, and I promise you things will get better, because I'll help you."
"You don't have to do anything, Lucy. Listening was more than enough for me." I smiled at the snivy, but when she lunged forward at me I flinched back with my eyes clenching shut. Where I had grown used to her violent attacks I found myself embraced in a warm hug. With my back pinned up against the tree I had nowhere to run, but why would I? Not even worrying about caution with her, I returned her embrace with my own affection as my hand held her cheek and I kissed her.
The snivy didn't react for a second, until her mind properly registered my action and she pulled back. Her eyes appeared lost as if she was hit by a confuse ray. "W-why?" Were the only words she could form in her astonished state of mind.
"I can't believe I did that without getting strangled," I said with a snicker. "But umm, I just, you know-"
"You're impulsive as always," Lucy smiled.
"Well, we might die, so I'm just betting all of my chips here. Besides, you said I had everything to gain, right?"
Lucy couldn't fight off a smirk. "Alright, I mean it wasn't the worst experience I had." the snivy shrugged. "But I never would have saw that one coming when we first met… at least not without murder being the culmination of you kissing me."
"Heh, you know we have a really weird relationship. What two pokemon do you know almost kill each other and then kiss?"
"I dunno, but normal is boring, so who cares."
Suddenly, a clap echoed through the night and I stumbled up onto my feet. When I looked to the darkness I found a pokemon clapping his hands.
"It really is the one's you least expect that are the most miserable." The zoroark gave one final clap of his hands before giving it a rest. A shudder ran through me as the pokemon stared us down.
Lucy walked past me. "Rhys, is that you?"
"Did you think I was going to be far?" The zoroark bitterly replied. "All these years I spent raising you as if you were my family, and this is how you repay me? I couldn't be more disappointed if I wanted to be."
"Disappointed? You're trying to kill my friend!" Lucy shouted, "I'm not going to turn against him, but that doesn't mean we can't talk this out."
"You would really still side with him, a self-deluded charmeleon that is okay with holding secrets, and almost killed you?"
"I can't blame him for what's happening, he can't help it," Lucy scowled. "He can't help these things. And why would he want to tell me something so horrible that's been causing him pain?"
Rhys shook his head at her. "You're going to sit there and justify your feelings for him, and how far will this go? What's next, are you going to try and kill me to be with him?"
"I don't want to fight you," Lucy's voice became quiet as her eyes narrowed in on the zoroark, "Even if I wanted to, I would have no way of succeeding."
"Good, you haven't completely deceived yourself," Rhys said as he extended his arm out. "I am Rhys, a master of deception, ranked SSS on the Genesis combat scores, and in this world of illusions I am your god. Lucy, I hereby declare you a traitor." The zoroark clenched his fist as he finished.
I stepped in front of Lucy to protect here, "Like hell if I care what your ranking is on a stupid test." Fumes came from my nostrils as I breathed out. "Your ass is grass, got that?" I punched my fist in my palm as I sneered at him.
"Aiden, stop, we can't win against him in a straight up fight!" Lucy pleaded.
"I don't care, enough bullshit, no more games," I growled at the zoroark as I got into an offensive position.
"Agreed, I'm growing quite bored of you." A nasty smile curled up on Rhys face as he snapped his fingers and disappeared in a flash of purple.
Lucy and I both turned back and forth, trying to locate where he disappeared to. My head turned right, left then back right and met with two menacing eyes inches from my own.
"I'm over here," The zoroark smirked before his hand shot out at me and grabbed me by the neck and raised me up. My hands scratched at his hand, but it was as hard as a tank.
"Hurting me in this world is not possible, you would have better luck running. After all, you are just mere insects scurrying along the tapestry of reality I weave, but no matter how far you run, I will always be there to cut you two down."
Both of Lucy's vines found Rhys and coiled around his arm. They clenched down tightly, but he didn't so much as flinch from a force that should have crushed his arm. "You want him, then you can have him." Effortlessly the zoroark cocked his arm back and threw me at the snivy as if I was a ball. I yelled as the world moved in a quick blur and my skull met with Lucy's. My head rang as I tumbled to the ground.
She wasn't wrong, I thought as my claws dug into the dirt. This wasn't even a question of who would win, but instead when he would stop toying with us and end it. I never imagined a fight could be this one sided. My mind raced for ideas, but there wasn't a thing I could do against a literal god.
"I don't know what to do," I uttered out, glancing over at Lucy to see she was stirring back to consciousness.
"There is nothing you can do," Rhys said. The zoroark crouched down over me, "Do you really think you have what it takes to kill someone like me? Let's stop even talking about power, it's undeniable there, but my ambitions. My entire life is leading up to one bloody battle with Genesis, do you really think some weak charmander could unfold all of that?" Rhys reached out and grabbed me by my arm and lifted me up, so our eyes were level.
When I kicked out at him I realized my hands and feet wouldn't reach him, but a fire breath would. I inhaled a quick breath and unleashed a flamethrower as fast as I could. The result was weaker due to the speed it was produced. At that close there shouldn't have been anything left of his face, but when the smoke cleared I found my target unharmed and staring at me boringly. I tried to claw and kick at him again, anything to get him to release me, but I was at his mercy I realized. There was no way of winning like this.
"Are you finished?" The zoroark asked. When I couldn't produce another attack, he sneered.
"Let him go," Lucy's vine lashed out at Rhys, but in a quick blur the zoroark moved with me in his grasp. When he slowed down enough for me to see what was going on I felt a wet warmth over my face. My fingers brushed over it and I moved my hand into view to see blood.
"Lucy?" I said in a panic as my eyes spotted her on the ground. As she laid on her side her hands gripped at the side of her neck, desperately attempting to hold a deep gash closed. Cut up along the ground next to her were her vines, both severed from her main body.
"Now who has the checkmate?"
His grip tightened around my neck with a crushing force that felt like a clamp. I struggled in his hands, trying desperately to pull his fingers apart, but when he spun me through the air and threw me down to the ground I lost consciousness for a second. My consciousness returned to find the zoroark's foot pressed against my stomach.
"Well, if anything this ought to send a message to your friends when I deliver your body piece by piece. Oh, but that's right, they never really valued you, you were just in this for yourself, weren't you?"
I let out a weak groan as he bent down to one knee, putting all his body weight on my chest. My heart raced, knowing this was it, he had me. His foot pressed harder on my gut.
"Don't move, or this will be messy," Rhys pressed his claw over my chest, pricking the area over my beating heart. A sting came as his claws dug into my chest. The pain that followed left me inaudible, just my mouth open, screaming silently as I clenched my eyes, wanting it all to be over.
'I'm going to die,' was the only thing I could think about. My thoughts wouldn't drift back to David, nor Ivy or past regrets, simply the fact that it was all going to end here in such an awful way. I started to hyperventilate as he slowly worked his way in, but with a strong push his hand snapped every bone that dared guard my heart.
Blood went everywhere as my body went limp. The edge of my vision started to go black as my head fell over to my side. The blur flower petals that had surrounded me were stained in my blood. But the red of Lucy's eyes stuck out over the blood. She looked over at me, trembling as she tried to get up. Through the narrow view of vision I had left I looked up at my killer. His hand fished around in my chest for only a moment before finding its prize.
Cold fingers wrapped around my beating heart. It was a damn shame that things had to end just when I finally got a kiss from Lucy, I had hoped to see if life really could have been better with her. Guess I won't know.
One final cold stare between the two of us, and his grip around my life tightened with a force so strong I hadn't even a chance to cry.
In a bloody mess it ended.
Chapter End
Author Note: Loooong wait for this one, but I'd say the length of the chapter should make up for that haha.