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Chapter 54
Don't Need You
Not far from the place his companions slept, Yimtri stood upon the roof of an abandoned church and stared out into the star-filled horizon. He knew he needed rest; after all, once sunrise would strike, the journey to find Reshiram and Zekrom would begin, and there would be no guarantee he would ever have a chance to enjoy a full-night's rest again. But there was something the Sableye valued more than rest, and that was loneliness. His most precious time was always that which he spent by himself, examining his thoughts and piecing together his conclusions without the distractions of others. It was a luxury he knew he was quickly losing, especially now that he would be stuck with his companions for the foreseeable future as they would venture all across Shiron. So, after he knew the others had fallen asleep, he stole away to somewhere quiet – it was not a difficult task in such a ghost town – and found one last moment to be alone with his own mind.
Soon we leave to begin our journey. the Sableye thought to himself. Soon I will be forced to remain around those five as we search around Shiron, turning over every rock to find those supposed dragons Novus speaks of. And though he probably wants to give the impression that this journey isn't going to be perilous, I highly doubt that. The Fellowship and Primogenitor are searching for us, even more so than they did previously. They want to purge us from this world because we set Nyx free.
The Sableye grimaced as he felt something in his heart churn at the thought of the name. It reminded him of the fact that, for a very long time, he wasn't actually alone. There was always a Pokémon who accompanied him… and for some reason, he didn't mind.
I had managed to gain a sense of companionship with Chloe, Yimtri reflected. It never felt draining to talk to her or to be in her company like it does with this pack of misfits. Somehow, even after what happened to Draven and Zar, she could speak to me in a way I would listen. I know it's the same type of bond which keeps everyone else in this team close together. I can understand that, even though I am not able to share it with them.
But Chloe isn't here anymore. She has been replaced with someone else. She says she's the same Pokémon, but if that is the case, why don't I feel close to her anymore? She acts the same, and speaks the same, but my heart does not react the same way to her. To me, she is just another part of this bothersome group. An annoyance. Someone to keep out of my thoughts, someone to find solace from. The love I felt is gone, and it is once again replaced with the pain of loss and emptiness, just as it always is.
I don't understand. If she is truly the same creature she was before… I don't understand what changed. Perhaps nothing has changed. Perhaps I am only so dense and narrow-minded that I judge her based on what she looks like instead of who I know she is.
Yimtri pushed his hands into his face, feeling his knot of thoughts begin to bring him pain.
Tch. I know this is only going to get worse the more I keep thinking about it. It's a very good way to give myself a headache. If I'm going to survive on this journey, I can't afford to keep distracting myself–
"Oh, there you are. Thought I heard you get up."
Yimtri straightened himself at the sound of the familiar voice, quickly hiding away his bitterness and mental anguish from the eyes of onlookers. He lowered his hands and then turned to find Zekra standing at a distance, looking at him with a happy smile with the Deception Amulet strung around her neck. There wasn't a glimmer of fatigue in her eyes despite the fact that she had presumably just woken up. If anything, she seemed rather energetic.
"So it's you," Yimtri stated simply. "Surprised you even heard me. You were fast asleep."
"Actually, I wasn't really asleep," Zekra admitted nonchalantly. "I was just faking it. There's so much for me to think about now, my mind just won't settle down. So I just decided to give up and stay awake."
"So I see," Yimtri muttered. "I believe I can relate…"
Yimtri watched the Zorua, anticipating that she would leave his presence to find somewhere else to be alone with her thoughts. After all, she had no further use in talking to him. He was nobody to her, nothing but an acquaintance, the best friend to the half of his soul he didn't lament losing. There was simply nothing to say between them.
Yet, Zekra didn't leave. She remained where she stood, continuously staring at Yimtri with a strange, almost puzzled gaze. Immediately, Yimtri began to fear the worst, anticipating that she would say something awkward and uncomfortable that would bring pain to both of them. Or even worse, that she would tackle him again. But he did not so much as sigh, and kept himself collected as he confronted her.
"Is there any particular reason you aren't heading back to bed?" he asked her.
Zekra bashfully looked down, pawing at the ground. Yimtri scowled at the sight.
"Are you infatuated with me?" Yimtri asked curtly. "Is that why you're here?"
"Wait, what?!" Zekra suddenly cried, bringing her alarmed gaze back to the Sableye. "No! No, that's not it! Why would you say something like that?"
"The abrupt tackling from yesterday gave me that impression, as I don't know too many Pokémon that would do that voluntarily to Pokémon they aren't well acquainted with."
"What are you talking about? I tackle everybody!" Zekra replied indignantly. "That's just something I do. Maybe you'd understand if you didn't have hands."
"Then there's also the fact that you clearly aren't just here to be alone with your thoughts, as you claimed," Yimtri added further, still not convinced. "There isn't any other logical reason you'd follow me here. Of course, you're nothing but a fool if you're trying to pursue me. I can list the reasons–"
"Alright, alright, fine, you win," Zekra spat out angrily. "I came because I wanted to talk to you. But not because of that. It's because… I couldn't sleep tonight because I had a lot to think about. About Zev and Nyx and Tear and you. And I realized that… maybe I just want to get to know you better."
The Sableye stopped, finding his thoughts stumped. He looked at Zekra, studying her to see if he could find any sort of indication that she was toying with him. After all, she was a Zorua; her species was always known for playing around with others' feelings. But much to his surprise, Yimtri only saw the awkward solemnness in Zekra's eyes. She was completely serious in her remark.
"Why?" he asked, keeping the surprise out of his voice. "You hardly ever seemed to want to acquaint yourself with me in the past."
"Because… well, you're Tear in a way," Zekra explained, seemingly forcing herself to keep her eyes glued to the Sableye. "I mean, you're not really him since you're a Sableye and you've got a different personality and all, but you still have the same soul as him. So now that I know who you are… I just want to get to know you better. I kind of want to start over and just try to understand you better."
"So what you are saying is that you only want to understand me because I happen to have some part of Terron in me," Yimtri said flatly. "If you claim you're not infatuated with me, saying this does not help your case."
This time, Zekra seemed to ignore Yimtri's comment.
"Just listen, okay?" she said. "I guess there's something I just want to make up to you. Like, I feel really bad about everything that you went through, whether it was because of Tear and me causing you problems or having to deal with hiding everything from the Fellowship. I didn't know at the time because I thought you were just a really stubborn and messed up guy who was scared of dying or whatever. But now that I finally see you were just trying to do the right thing… well, I feel really bad about the way I thought about you, even if I probably didn't do that much to you when compared to everyone else. You just had a different way of going about everything, even if it really was extreme at times.
"That's all it is, I think. I just want to know who you really are, not the Pokémon I thought you were when you were causing me and Tear so much trouble."
The Sableye stared at her with a blank expression. In his memory, he couldn't remember Zekra ever doing anything that was considered hurtful to him. Sure, she sided with Terron whenever he got into his fights against the Sableye, but she never did anything beyond that. She had never attacked him out of a vengeful rage in an attempt to kill him or slaughtered him with a variety of choice words. She had only held a very low opinion of Yimtri was all, which was still apparently enough to make her feel guilty.
Yimtri almost didn't know how he wanted to respond to her. He had never had this sort of talk with anybody else. Not even Chloe had been like this when he first met her. All that Turtwig had said was that she wanted to help him, and then it had grown from there. Never had someone blatantly told him that they wanted to grow closer to him. It was a very odd predicament for the Sableye.
But eventually, his confused thoughts did settle and he found himself with a suitable answer.
"You want me to talk with you," he said. "But what if by talking to you, I only further disappoint you? What if I confirm your fears instead of dispelling them? What good will that do?"
Zekra shrugged.
"Well, at least then I'll know the truth," she said. "If I'm going to hate you, it's better that I'll hate you for the truth, and not for things I'm just assuming, right? Besides, I think you underestimate me. You'd have to try really hard to say something I won't accept. So go ahead, try me."
Yimtri didn't say anything in return and looked back at the night sky. In truth, he had wanted to tell the Zorua that she was wasting her time on someone like him and that he held nothing against her for thinking he was heartless before. But, something had stopped him from speaking those words. Something he didn't understand, no matter how much he pondered.
She doesn't need to know anything about me. I barely even know her and have no reason to form any sort of camaraderie with her. So why am I even bothering to give her this chance? Why do I want to be somewhat open with her when I would never even think of doing this with anybody else?
"Fine, then," Yimtri said after he finished contemplating, not even turning to look at her. "If you want to talk, let's talk."
Yimtri didn't even have to look to know that the Zorua felt quite proud of herself for getting this far. In a way, she had a right to; he knew it wasn't easy to get him to open up to other Pokémon. He only wondered if there would be a point to their conversation, or if it would just trail off into irrelevant, meaningless subjects that would be of use to nobody.
"So let's see… well why are you still up?" Zekra asked, cutting off Yimtri's stream of thoughts. "Aren't you tired?"
"Starting off this way, are we?" Yimtri asked facetiously. "Very well then, I suppose. No, I'm not tired. Ghost-types such as myself are special in that we don't require that much rest. We are not like you fleshy creatures where our bodies need to recharge after depleting so much energy from our daily activities. Our bodies are special because a good majority of our bodies are made of plasma, which has its energy constantly renewed thanks to us being so closely connected to the spiritual dimension that resides right alongside this current dimension of reality you live in. Sure, we do sleep and need to not exert ourselves too much, but not nearly much as you creatures who only connect with one dimension of reality."
"I guess I can understand," Zekra replied. "I guess it's like how dark-types are supposed to be more active during the night than in the day. It's in our instincts. So sometimes it feels weird when everyone else around me wants to sleep, but I feel just fine. But… what do you mean when you say that you're connected to the spiritual dimension? I kind of don't get that. Are you in two places at once?"
Yimtri refrained from making a snide comment about how he apparently was in two places at once, thanks to the existence of Terron. Instead, he focused on forming a coherent explanation to answer Zekra's question.
"Dimensions are different realities, if you want to call them that. They're like their own universes separate from ours, filled with their own little worlds or planets as some prefer to call them. They are universes that live right alongside us, yet most creatures don't even realize that they're there because there's a sort of veil that blocks you from sensing them. Haven't you ever wondered why actual ghosts, as in dead Pokémon's wandering spirits, are able to be on Shiron when they should supposedly be in another faraway place? You'd think that it would take them forever to travel to our dimension if the spirit dimension is so far away from Shiron. Well, it's actually because they keep wandering between the spirit and mortal dimensions because there are some tears in the veil that I speak of. They can disappear so quickly from our dimension because their true dimension is literally right in front of them, just on a different plane of existence. It just involves finding tears in that veil to go to and from the places with ease."
"So like… there are things that could be right in front of my face," Zekra said in consideration, "but I can't see them because I wasn't meant to see them. And if I want to see them I need to find these tears? So they're like doors, right? Except you don't need a door because you're already a ghost. But I would need to find a door if I wanted to see it. That's really weird to think about. I feel like I could go insane if I tried to think about it too much."
"Nothing was ever meant to sound sane, Zekra," the Sableye said simply. "Many things in life are surreal when you really think about it. For example, have you ever wondered how evolution works? Have you ever wondered how a creature could simply gain or lose elemental attributes from its own body? It's something Pokémon take for granted, because it's part of everyday life for you. But when I was a human, it was something I could barely even imagine… the ability to command an elemental attribute just as simply as I could move my arms or legs. It seemed insane. That is until, of course, I became a Pokémon myself. Now it is simply second nature. But that is the nature of life; you don't need to understand it; it merely works. For instance, as a dark type, why are you so incredibly melodramatic all the time, hmm? Why do you think you are always blowing your emotions all out of proportion?"
Yimtri watched the Zorua open her mouth to speak, but then saw how she paused. She looked at him for a moment, her mouth still hanging ajar in confusion, before she shut it and frowned.
"It is for fear," Yimtri said, answering his own question. "Fear is important in the wild. It gives your prey the instinct to flee from you, making it harder to catch them, so that the weaklings of your species will die out while only the strong will survive. Also, it protects you from those who would prey on you, and makes them think that instead you would prey on them, and so they stay away from you. Most other Pokémon have their ways of intimidating their enemies. Some Pokémon appear to be on fire. Some have sharp blades on their bodies, or large spikes dripping with poison, or huge gaping mouths filled with teeth. Dark-types have none of those. Instead, you intimidate your enemies by acting unpredictable. Nobody knows whether or not they can trust you. You are volatile and unstable. At any time, you might snap into a rage, or betray those who are close to you. At any time, you can show your evil side. It is because dark-types are the predators of the world. And your emotions have a special hold on you for this very reason, so that all the rest of the creatures in your company never forget how dangerous you really are, and you never appear weak."
He grinned and added, "Of course, it made more sense when everyone was just a wild animal, and instilling fear into your enemies would mean the difference between life and death. Civil Pokémon don't always need to listen to all of their instincts all the time. Some can be ignored, because they only apply to the wild, not to everyday life. But if you want to understand why you feel the way you do, that is the reason."
"Oh! You know, that actually does make a lot of sense," Zekra confessed. "Never really thought about that. Would really explain why I always get this urge to attack anybody when I'm really mad even though nobody else seems to be that violent. Huh."
Zekra seemed to think about these things for a moment.
"So… have you actually been to the spirit dimension, or what?" she then tried asking. "Are you already inside of it? Can you see it all the time?"
"No, I haven't. But like I just said, I'm connected to it. I can see the holes in the veil that separate this dimension and that dimension. I don't actually enter the tears since I have no reason to, but they're there. I've seen glimpses of that world even. Then also, I come from another dimension that isn't the spirit dimension. You probably know that dimension to be a world known as Kuron."
Zekra shot Yimtri a disbelieved stare. The Sableye remained unfazed by her surprise. He had honestly thought she would have figured out by now what he felt like was an obvious fact to him.
"You didn't ever wonder why Kuron and Shiron have the exact same landscape? Figured Terron would have told you since he undoubtedly would have noticed it," he said nonchalantly. "They are indeed just parallel dimensions. They're the same world, but they have different species living on them. I suspect they probably were even one dimension before something tore apart the world and turned it into two dimensions. Would explain why one year on Kuron is five years in Shiron. Parallel dimensions, I imagine, have different speeds of time. But that is simply my opinion."
"Well yeah, Tear did tell me once that Kuron and Shiron had the same number of continents and all, but I never thought of it like that," Zekra said in confusion. "I thought maybe Kuron was somewhere far away. Or maybe it was in space on a different planet. But you're saying it's right here, all around us? We just can't see it because there are no rips or doors that let us see it? That's really hard for me to think about. How can two places be the same place, but different at the same time?"
"If you don't want to think about difficult things, you don't have to ask any more questions," Yimtri said with a hint of irritation. "You understand that you were asking for trouble by talking to me. I am not a Pokémon who is easy to understand. I myself am nothing but a walking paradox. Fate was not kind to me in that regard. The fact that I'm half of a human, and part of my soul is something strange created by Nyx and the Primogenitor, is something I'm not even sure I understand completely. I've learned to stop questioning certain things. Perhaps you should do the same."
Yimtri wondered if Zekra would actually consider leaving. He was not exactly being polite to her, or perhaps even helpful. He knew that his forceful hints that he did not enjoy explaining himself were enough to chase away most rational Pokémon. But he admittedly didn't really care about keeping her company; if she would leave, he would lose nothing of importance.
The Sableye looked over at Zekra, and much to his surprise, found she was still with him. She hadn't even moved an inch and was staring at him with an almost pitiful expression.
"Nice try, but you're not getting rid of me that easily," Zekra replied. "Besides, I guess you could say the same about me. To a lot of Pokémon, I'm the weird one. Even to Tear. I constantly have a lot of weird thoughts that don't make sense to anybody else except for me. And sometimes they don't like it when I talk about what's on my mind. Like… I remember how I was once talking to this Eevee, and trying to tell her why I didn't think that killing stuff was so bad. But no matter how I tried to explain myself, she couldn't understand me. She thought I was crazy because she didn't follow anything I was saying. So I kind of understand what you mean. I guess I believe you. I mean, you're right. You don't have to understand something in order to believe it is true. So… maybe you're really not all that different from me and all of the weird stuff you talk about makes sense too. Maybe."
Yimtri didn't say anything at first. In a small way, Zekra was beginning to surprise him, at least in the way that she didn't immediately storm out of the room when the topics became confusing.
"You are open-minded," Yimtri finally said. "That's something I admittedly do not see in many Pokémon, especially those of your age. Either that, or you just don't back down from a challenge."
"Oh, please," Zekra replied with a smug smile. "My conversations with Tear have been more challenging than this. But you can keep trying! So… what was it like before you became a Fellowship leader? Like… what did you do when you first came to Shiron?"
"I admittedly didn't do much of anything for a time when I awoke in this strange dimension," Yimtri answered after a small pause, wondering whether or not he should say more and risk getting into the sensitive issues. "I understood what you strange creatures were and that I didn't belong to your world, but that was all I could fathom. So for about a year, I simply wandered about the world with no tangible aspirations in mind. I didn't know how to get back to Kuron and I certainly didn't understand how I had become a Sableye in the first place. So with nothing to help me get back to the world I belonged to, I spent that year trying to find a place that would give me a purpose."
"You didn't have anybody with you at all?"
"No, I didn't. No one knew who I was and nobody really wanted to be around me. After all, Sableye typically do not travel from what I've come to understand about this dimension. They prefer to live in caves in isolation and the few that I've seen in cities weren't too pleasant in the way they gazed at me and their mannerisms were incredibly bizarre and somewhat demented. If you think being in my presence is unsettling, then you do not know what real Sableye are truly like. I have always made a point of trying not to be too much like them."
"Oh, so you didn't have someone like Tear did when you woke up. You were all alone without any kind of support... that must have been awful."
Yimtri frowned. He reached underneath his cape's collar and pulled out the pin before reattaching it to the front, finding its cold metallic surface to suddenly be bothersome.
"Don't feel sorry for me," he stated dismissively. "It wasn't a terrible time in my life. I'd dare say it was one of the more happy times since I wasn't shackled to fulfilling certain responsibilities and I was still somewhat in my youthfully ignorant bliss. I visited many of Shiron's most magnificent cities, and I came to understand the culture of the Pokémon who lived here. I learned more about my new body and how to fight, something I was never good at when I was a human… that time of my life wasn't what I'd consider 'awful'."
"Well still. I'd hate to be all alone no matter what the circumstances are," Zekra insisted. "It always feels like there's something missing in your life when it's just you and your shadow wherever you go."
"After that fruitless year of aimless venturing, something eventually did change," Yimtri went on, pretending he didn't hear Zekra's remark. "I remember I was staying at a particular town for a few days. Wasn't there for any particular reason; was simply there because it happened to be along the way. But anyway, there were these rumors floating around that a nearby city had been completely gutted of its inhabitants. As in, every single Pokémon in the city was swept off the face of the planet in a single night, and nobody knew what happened to them. There were no traces of anybody there. And so, because I had absolutely nothing better to do in my time back then, I decided to go investigate this supposed ghost town and see if it really was true.
"So the next morning, I departed from the city I was visiting and made my way to the desolate town."
"And what did you find?" Zekra asked.
"I'm getting to that. Don't interrupt me."
"Well alright then..."
"As I was saying, I arrived at my destination to find that sure enough, not a single Pokémon was in sight. All of the buildings were empty, and it bore such an uncanny resemblance to the town we are residing in at this very moment. So I wandered around for a time, trying to see if I could find at least one Pokémon. I thought that there had to be at least someone still alive. And sure enough… I did find someone."
Yimtri scowled unpleasantly as the memories came back to him. He wandered away from the Zorua and jumped onto the ledge of the church, peering up at the crescent moon that cast its eerie light upon him.
"I saw this Kecleon wandering about, using her camouflage abilities in some attempt to stay hidden. But, I could still see that Kecleon since the stripe was still apparent and because I could sense her spirit. I tried to ask her why she was all alone, but she ran away from me. So I chased after her in some sort of vain attempt to gain answers. I chased her all throughout the city, never losing sight of that Pokémon as we ran through every street and every building. That was, until I finally cornered her in some alleyway. And then, I asked her again why she was all alone and where everyone else was. She wouldn't answer me, only keeping her appearance invisible. I asked her a few more times, and she would still not answer me. So finally, out of sheer irritation, I grabbed her and glared straight into her unseen eyes in an attempt to scare the answer out of her. And then… her camouflage faded away and I saw that I wasn't actually holding a Kecleon."
"Wait… was she a-"
"She was a Plagued One in the form of a Kecleon. That Plagued One, I imagine, was scouting out the city to make sure that there were no survivors left. It didn't want to get caught by anyone for some reason, so it used that invisibility as it did so. But when it revealed its true form to me… it promptly lashed out at me to do God knows what. I remember being filled with so much cowardice at the sight of that creature… so much cowardice. I couldn't fight or anything; so I fled from that monster. I fled from that monster thanks to my intangibility and ran away from that town. I remember I couldn't stop running for hours. I ran through so many fields, never once stopping until I could finally take it no more and collapsed near some lake of sorts."
The Sableye shuddered. He could still remember the eyes of that creature. He could remember how they burned with that unnatural light that seemed to burn away his very soul with one glance. That light that was exactly like that other light he once saw long before he encountered that Kecleon…
"Are you okay?" Zekra asked cautiously, slowly drawing nearer to the Sableye. "Your eyes are flickering a lot and you're shaking real bad…"
"I'm fine," Yimtri uttered hastily. "It's nothing."
"You sure?"
"Yes. I already said I was. Don't ask again."
Zekra flattened her ears against her head and backed away from the Sableye. Yimtri felt a twinge of regret upon seeing this, but kept his indifferent façade up.
"When I woke up again, I didn't know what to think for a while. I was in this sort of stupefied trance for a day or so, and I didn't do anything except reside near that lake. Because let me tell you, seeing that Plagued One was beyond horrifying to me at the time. I never thought I'd see something like that here in Shiron, and having myself nearly killed or turned into a monster myself was traumatizing on its own. I just never thought I'd see that thing on Shiron… I didn't understand how it existed… it was all so confusing to me.
"But eventually, I managed to gain some sense back and made my way into civilization again. Spent half a year wandering about like I did before, but this time, I was always on edge. I kept thinking I'd see that monster again. I kept wondering what it was, why it existed, and what it was doing here. I had so many questions, and nobody was able to offer any answers to me. Had so many restless nights where those questions would torment me, plaguing my sleep and giving me these nightmares… I remember I was always so tempted to end everything on some nights. Was always so tempted, but thankfully my emotions were very subdued, so they never drove me to that far extreme. I kept telling myself there were answers, and that I was going to find those answers. That's all I could do back then.
"And one day, I found out there was a place that had the answers I sought. There was this organization called the Special Tasks Fellowship that seemed perfectly innocent on the outside, but there were rumors that something much darker was happening on the inside. Something that no one could quite understand, but always felt there was because there was this strange vibe that the organization gave off. So because I was so desperate for my answers, I infiltrated the only base they had at the time, which was the Pledge Mountain one. I thought maybe I'd find answers hidden throughout the base.
"I wandered around for a time, and after for a while of finding absolutely nothing, I finally came across a rather interesting room. It was locked behind a series of complicated locks of sorts, something that I knew would take any normal Pokémon a long, long while to figure out, if they weren't caught by the time they were done. So because it looked so suspicious, I phased through that door to see what could have possibly been hidden. At first, there was nothing of note, being nothing but a very vacant room. It was a very ordinary room and I couldn't understand why they'd have such tight security around that room. And then that was when I saw something on one of the walls.
"It was an ominous painting of sorts. Or at least, that's what I thought it was, since the door abruptly opened just as I laid my eyes on it and I soon found myself in a room with the very leaders of the Fellowship, all of them seemingly ready to kill me. I don't know how they did it, but somehow they had found out that I had gotten into the room. I couldn't even give the painting a second glance as one of the leaders tossed me out of the room. All three of them cornered me, and at that moment, I really did think that I was going to die. But much to my surprise, one of the leaders said to me, 'We are very surprised with you, little imp. No one has ever managed to get into that room before. Not even ghost-types like yourself. You are the very first to evade the watchful eyes of this Fellowship and make it into that room for that long." Then, one of the other leaders spoke, saying. "We are very impressed with you because of that. You could be very useful to us. So, instead of kill you like we do to anyone who dares to try and enter that room, we offer you a choice, little imp. You can become a Special Tasks Fellowship member right now for the rest of your living days… or you can die right here, right now. What would you have happen to you?'
"You can probably guess what I chose to do. It wasn't a very difficult choice. From that point, they stuck me to a random team of two, which happened to contain a Gabite and Zangoose named Draven and Zar, and I was stuck in the Fellowship ever since then. It wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but I didn't mind too much since it still provided me access to the answers I thought the Fellowship had. Then also, it gave me a sense of purpose, which was something I came to realize I missed quite a bit. But I never did find out what was in that room after that. The leaders specifically told me that if I even looked in the direction of that room, they'd slaughter me on the spot. From what everyone explained to me, that room held the leaders' most precious belongings and were put under such tight security because there were valuables in there like orbs that could grant you a certain elemental immunity. Of course, I knew that wasn't really the truth and the leaders were obviously hiding something, but I never pressed the issue because I had no real intentions of getting myself killed. So alas, that room's contents forever are a mystery to me."
The Sableye paused for a moment.
"But I found the answers I truly wanted after working there for a few days. As in, everything about the Plagued Ones that the Fellowship knew at the time. I was told how they sweep across the land and ravage everything in sight, eliminating everything in their path. I was told of the orphans and the broken spirits they created with their destruction. I was told of how this had been going on for nearly twenty-seven years at the time and that no one was one step closer to stopping them. How no matter what the Fellowship did, everything was still so futile and that there were still thousands dying or becoming plagued every year. I was told everything. And… I just remember after finding all of that out… I just couldn't believe all of that was true. I couldn't believe that something so evil and monstrous could exist in this world. That something that could ruin so many lives and emotionally scar others for life was in this world. Something… something that…
"That something I saw could have…"
Yimtri pushed both of his claws into his face, his mind now swarming with the unfortunate memories. His voice was now raspy, barely even above a whisper. He could feel his legs trembling and felt that he would collapse to his knees at any second. He tried to subdue the weakness filling his body, but he could not. It was too strong for him to overpower.
And yet, despite how frail he felt, he found himself unable to stop talking.
"So when new leaders were to be called for the four new bases about three years later, I jumped at the chance. I dragged Draven and Zar into it, not even bothering to get their approval and requested to my superiors that we be the leaders of one of the bases. I didn't care about how strenuous and laborious it would be to run an entire Fellowship; I only wanted to find a way to stop the Plagued Ones the best I could. I had to stop the Plagued Ones. I had to stop all of the suffering they were bringing everyone here on Shiron. Even if this wasn't my world, I still… wanted to put a stop to it. Wait no, not wanted to; I had to. Like there wasn't any sort of choice. Like if I didn't do everything I could to eliminate the Plagued Ones, then I was better off being dead. And to me, being one of the leaders of one of the bases was the best way to fulfill that ambition. And so, after testing our proficiency, our superiors allowed Draven, Zar, and I to be Dusk Mines' new leaders.
"And then of course, Draven, Zar, and I made Dusk Mines with our followers, and then we discovered Erebus Woods. Then we all got plagued, and then brainwashed Nyx forced me to kill Zar and Draven sometime later. Then I ran away because I couldn't handle the stress and guilt that came from allowing my entire Fellowship to get plagued. Then Chloe brought me back after convincing me otherwise. Then I spent years trying to find a way to stop the one I thought was the true source of the Plagued Ones while preventing anybody from finding out the truth so they couldn't ruin everything. Then you and Terron came along with your little posse and gave me all of that massive trouble. Then… you know the rest.
"So many things I had to go through just so I could find a way to stop the Plagued Ones, and I still haven't succeeded. All those years… those years of so much effort… and the only thing that's happened is that I've broken Nyx out of the Primogenitor's grasp. And by doing so, I've received so many more questions I don't even know how to answer at the moment… It's so tiring. So very, very tiring…"
Yimtri let out a long sigh as he let his claws fall to his sides and hung his head. He felt the fatigue come over him, lulling him into a state of rest, but he refused to give in. He wouldn't let himself give into the weakness. He was stronger than that.
"Wow… that's… I didn't realize that you… wow," Zekra managed to say after so long.
The Sableye turned to find Zekra was still with him, staring at him in disbelief and horror. The second he noticed this, he forced his weary expression into a blank scowl.
"You wanted to understand me," he stated dryly. "Well there you go. Have I proven to be a challenge to you yet?"
"I had no idea you were forced to work for the Fellowship like that," Zekra said, her smug and optimistic grin long since replaced with a baffled stare of reverence. "Anyone could be driven insane having to go through that. I think… I'm starting to see why Len wanted Tear and me to be discharged from the Fellowship. Maybe he actually cared about us. He didn't want to see us end up like you."
"But you came back," Yimtri replied darkly, looking at his claws. "Because your heart told you that you had to come back. A simple and carefree life wasn't enough for you. Your heart tells you that you need to live the life of a hero and follow on a dramatic journey against all odds. Your heart tells you that you need to ignore what's safe and what's simple and to do the things that other people don't have to courage to do. That's an instinct that doesn't come from the wild. That's something only civil creatures seem to have, whether they are human or Pokémon. And most of the time it's useless. It makes Pokémon do things that are stupid and risky and ultimately makes everyone unhappy. But do you know why we still have that instinct?"
"Why?" Zekra asked.
"Because sometimes, it's absolutely correct," Yimtri said. "For instance, Novus could be correct in thinking that we are the last hope for destroying the Primogenitor and stopping all of this death. If we did not have this instinct, we could let the opportunity slip through our claws, and all would be lost. That is why we all want to be a hero. It is because there are times when the survival of everyone truly does rely on the valor of only a few. So perhaps you are correct after all; perhaps we have more in common than it seemed at first. Are you starting to understand?"
"I think I understand," Zekra said, nodding. "Yeah, I… I had you completely wrong. I had no idea you had been through so much. You joined the Fellowship against your will… and had to fight for such a long time, even though the Primogenitor was eating your mind alive… now that I know that, I think I respect you a lot more. And so I'm sorry for just assuming all this time you were a… well… that you were a bad guy."
"Maybe I am a bad guy," Yimtri said flippantly. "When you live for long enough, you will one day realize that there is no such thing as a perfect victory. We all need to hurt others in order to accomplish our goals. It's unavoidable. The bigger our goals, the more people we need to hurt. We just have to decide whether the goal is worth the losses."
"Well, I'm not sure about that," Zekra said oddly. "Maybe it's something else I'll understand over time."
"It's like the way you have to kill wild Pokémon in order to eat them and survive," Yimtri said. "Those Pokémon suffer and die so that you can live another day. But that's just something you don't even think about. That's something which happens naturally in the wild. In civilized society, something similar happens. We might not shed one another's blood directly, but if we want to survive sometimes we lie, or we betray one another and cause one another suffering. Sometimes we don't even realize it's happening. It's just what we need to do in order to survive in our harsh reality."
The Sableye fell back from the ledge and began to walk past Zekra, who was still staring at the moon and contemplating everything he had told her.
"Does that answer all of your questions, Zekra?" he said tersely, not stopping to wait for her answer.
Zekra did not respond. She only continued to stare at the giant white light in the sky, seemingly in deep contemplation over something.
Thinking that she was finally satisfied with him, the Sableye turned away from her.
"I think I might try to get some rest now, at last," Yimtri said as he returned to the stairwell which would lead back down into the church. "I suggest you do the same."
"Wait," Zekra said suddenly. "Wait, I'm… not done. I think I have one more question."
Yimtri sighed, turning around once more to face her. This time, she continued to stare into the starry sky, not turning to look him in the eyes.
"There's something about your story that I don't understand," Zekra said softly, shifting her tail. "I think… you're still hiding something."
The lethargy within him instantly vanished. He shook his head as he let out a low, guttural groan.
"I have already told you enough," Yimtri returned. "Every Pokémon is entitled to keep their secrets. I expect that you will respect that."
The Zorua turned her head to face him. Yimtri quickly shot her a deep and hateful glare, hoping to catch her off-guard, but she didn't back down.
"Not when keeping a secret is hurting the rest of us," she replied darkly.
She got up and started to walk towards him.
"I know what it's like to hate the Plagued Ones," she said, approaching him slowly and cautiously. "They took everything from me. My family and my friends are all dead. My home is empty. All that's left from my old life is Zev. And there's a Plagued One eating at my soul, too. Even if it's supposed to be docile, it's still this demonic thing growing more and more attached to me every day, filling all of my thoughts with its own words. And not just me, but all of my friends too. We're all becoming one with them… but you know what that feels like. So maybe we really are just the same, right?"
She paused close to him, staring him in the eye. She was shaking with fear, but her eyes sparkled with resolve in the blue moonlight.
"…Except, we're not the same," she finally said. "Because… that didn't happen to you. I mean… losing all your family didn't happen to you. You don't have a reason to have a vendetta against them like I do. You said that you just saw a plagued Kecleon one day."
Yimtri grimaced as an icy thorn struck deep into his chest. He wasn't liking what Zekra was trying to imply. Because if she was implying what he thought she was implying…
"Are you trying to say that I can't be just as committed to a cause as someone who has suffered a greater loss than myself?" he asked venomously, masking his true thoughts.
"But I didn't suffer a greater loss than you," she said, her eyes glowing with her power. "There just isn't a way that could be possible if you just saw a random Kecleon one day. Not after all the torture you went through, leading the Dusk Mines Fellowship and putting up with your plagued self. Not after all this time you've spent fighting just to stay sane. At first I thought it was because you were fighting in memory of your teammates. But now you're telling me everything that happened before that… You couldn't have gotten all that willpower just from seeing a single Plagued One after an attack on a random city. I know you suffered a greater loss than me. You're just not telling me what it is."
The Zorua looked at the Sableye right in the eyes.
"Why do you keep fighting even after everything that keeps happening to you?" she asked solemnly.
Yimtri's grimace deepened as the cold within his body grew, stiffening his posture.
"I don't want to talk about this anymore," he said quickly.
"Of course you don't," Zekra shot back. "You never want to talk to anyone about anything. But that's the problem. That's why you're here with us. Because you need to start talking to us about whatever you're keeping locked up inside your head."
"I thought I told you that we all have a right to keep our secrets," Yimtri returned with a scowl. "I don't have to tell you everything about my life. I don't have to tell you every little secret I have. Now drop this subject, Zekra."
"But I think you know something that the rest of us need to know!" Zekra shouted back. "You know something about the Plagued Ones. That's why you fight them! It's because there's something about them you know that you never want to tell anyone else! That's why you're here, isn't it?"
"I TOLD YOU TO STOP TALKING ABOUT THIS."
Zekra backpedaled at the sudden demonic edge in Yimtri's voice. It overpowered the strength and confidence she had been gathering in herself. Yimtri anticipated that she'd flee, knowing how fearsome and imposing he could be when he began speaking with that voice, but once again, Zekra surprised him. She strengthened her stance and gave the Sableye a firm stare, refusing to cower away. She only kept her eyes fixated on him, saying nothing and showing no fear.
"I… speak the truth," Yimtri said powerfully, growing wary of her tenacity. "That Kecleon was the first time on Shiron I saw a Plagued One. And I did not suffer a great loss, as you accuse of me. I am not lying to you. If you do not believe me, there's no reason I need to prove myself to you. "
And then, Zekra's eyes widened as something seemed to dawn upon her.
"That means… you saw them earlier than that," she said in a low, quiet voice. "You saw the Plagued Ones… when you were still a human."
Yimtri's icy persona nearly shattered at the remark. For just a moment, a deep, primal fear consumed him, turning his body very cold and nearly making him shiver. It took all of his willpower not to flinch. He quickly turned his head away and looked off the edge of the church. He needed to get away from Zekra. He couldn't be around her anymore.
"This discussion is over."
Just as the Sableye was to bound off the roof and hastily find a new place of seclusion, something grabbed him by the collar of his cape and yanked him back. He phased through the ceiling of the church, taking his assailant with him. They crashed right in front of an altar, a dull thud resonating throughout the empty church thanks to the impact.
Yimtri found himself pinned down by the claws of a Banette, it glaring at him with its red eyes that seemed all the more eerie in the darkness that surrounded the two of them. At least, it would have been, if it weren't for the fact that Yimtri could see through the black thanks to his night vision. And through that vision he could see a particular amulet strung around the Banette's neck.
"You know, I really shouldn't be surprised by this," Yimtri hissed. "Everyone else I've known has turned on me and tried to kill me at some point. I suppose it was only a matter of time before you'd do the same."
"Am I right with thinking that you know something?" Zekra snarled.
"Get off of me, Zekra."
"AM I?!"
"I said get off of me!"
There was a flash, and a black sphere fired out of Yimtri's palm. The attack hit Zekra directly in the face, blowing her off the Sableye as she skid along the carpet and slammed into a lengthy chair fastened to the ground. Her form fizzled out, and soon she was a Zorua once again. Yimtri scoffed as he sprang to his feet and scanned his surroundings.
The two of them were in a chapel as far as he could tell, with there being a single altar at the very front of the room and dozens of seats going down the room all the way to the entrance in two rows. A massive, glass chandelier hung high above him near the altar, and several smaller ones hung above the two rows. All of them held unlit candles, unsurprisingly none of them filled with the light of a fire. Several stained glass windows lined the sides of the building, each one depicting various legendary Pokémon in situations he knew were from Shiron's supposed past.
Yimtri recognized the meaning of many of the depictions, such as Kyogre and Groudon clawing and sinking their fangs into each other's flesh over a massive torrent of water, but chose not to stare at them too long lest he become distracted from what truly mattered.
Just like the churches back in Kuron. Hmph, Pokémon really did take ideas from humans and added their own twists to them. How amusing.
The Sableye brought his gaze back over to Zekra to find that she was no longer there. Yimtri scowled as he drew his claws and made his gemstones cease to give off their glow.
"You're such a typical child," Yimtri scoffed, scanning the room and posing to defend himself from further attacks. "You just don't know when to stop pushing your luck. You don't know that children are supposed to obey their superiors when we tell you to be quiet!"
Yimtri dove out of the way as a large pillar of ice struck where he once stood, forming a glacier. He snapped his gaze into the distance to find Zekra standing there as a Glaceon, glaring directly at him with cold eyes of hostility.
"I am not a child!" Zekra spat distastefully. "What are you hiding, Yimtri?! What aren't you telling me?!"
"Nothing you need to know," Yimtri seethed.
The Sableye abruptly leapt out of the way as the false Glaceon spat out a large whirlwind of snow, pelting the carpet and chairs with the cold. The Sableye landed onto one of the chairs just before it became encased in the white substance before bounding off of it and descending upon a wall. He sank both of his claws into the stone and after skidding down a few inches, came to a halt. He slowly shook his head in disapproval.
"Yimtri, tell me what's going on," Zekra stated in a firm, fierce voice. "I don't think that you're a bad guy anymore. But if you know something about them, you need to tell us. Tell us so that we can help you fight!"
"I'm getting really sick of this conversation. This is your final warning, Zekra. If you don't cease your ridiculous nonsense right now, I'm going to put an end to you. And don't you dare think I'm bluffing; just because you happen to be my other half's partner does not mean I will not hesitate in murdering you. Don't test me further."
Yimtri remained there on the wall, keeping his sharp gaze glued to the false Glaceon standing below him. He knew he could have easily slipped away at that moment thanks to his intangibility, but he didn't bother. If Zekra really was bent on arguing with him, then she would have chased after him and the effort would have been for naught. So instead, he kept an eye on her, waiting for her response. Perhaps she'd be reasonable and actually let the subject go. Perhaps there would be no need for violence between the two of them and they could be civil.
Zekra gazed at him for a silent moment, and then took a single step forward.
"No, I'm not backing down," she spoke vehemently. "We've all had enough of your secrets, Yimtri. You're going to tell me what's going on, even if I have to beat the answer out of you."
That was all it took for Yimtri to snap. A raging inferno ignited in his chest as his frustrations and wrath leaked out of his frozen heart, giving him all of the incentive he needed to fight. He tore his claws off of the wall as he pounced at the Glaceon, quick as lightning. He and Zekra tumbled back before crashing into one of the chairs, Zekra's head slamming into the hard wood. She morphed back into a Zorua as Yimtri held her against the chair by her jaw.
"You just couldn't let it go,"Yimtri hissed, his voice becoming warbled as his plagued self's influence seeped into his words. "You just couldn't."
He took his free claw and immediately thrust it at Zekra's throat. However, he hadn't moved fast enough, for a purple light came over the Zorua and she instantly shrank in size. By the time the light died, she was smaller than Yimtri's palm, now being a tiny Joltik. She let out a low hissing noise as she leapt at him, sinking her fangs into his shoulder. A powerful surge of electricity shot through Yimtri's body, frying his insides as he let out a loud scream. Through grit teeth, he clawed at the Joltik, only for her to narrowly avoid the sharp points and leap over him. She landed back on the ground as a Zorua, her teeth stained with a purple residue.
Then, she opened her mouth wide to show that a black sphere forming at the back of her throat. It shot out of her body as a massive pillar of darkness, greatly dwarfing her in size as it closed in on the Sableye. Yimtri dove out of the way as the beam crashed into a window far behind him, shattering the colored glass and littering the floor with its jagged shards.
Zekra scowled before she turned into a Chandelure and flung a volley of blue fireballs at the Sableye. Yimtri hurried out of the way, letting each fireball slam into chairs he ran past. Each piece of furniture was quick to catch fire and give off a thick, grey haze, but neither Yimtri nor Zekra cared about the damage. Zekra only continued to chase after the Sableye as he ran through the chapel, everything in his path burning ablaze as he formulated a plan in his mind.
"Just talk to me, Yimtri!" Zekra screamed in desperation. "Just tell me what you know! I swear, I'm not going to hate you or anything! Just tell me why you keep fighting so much!"
"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO KNOW!"
Yimtri threw himself into the ground just as a fireball was to impact him, bringing himself to the black world of the underground. The Sableye scowled as he looked up, knowing he wouldn't be safe for very long. That was the thing about dealing with illusionists; they were able to transform into any Pokémon they had seen before, complete with all of their abilities they had also seen. It was what always made them a massive pain to deal with when they went berserk on him. He could still remember the many annoying and agonizing tricks Zeverous pulled on him and Chloe when his plagued self completely consumed the Zoroark after Erebus had plagued him. It was somewhat of a miracle that he and Chloe had even lived through that fight, given that Zeverous had cycled through at least a dozen forms before they finally caught him off guard and dealt a harsh blow to his head.
She's just as troublesome as her brother. God, should have known she'd never back down. She's the same as Terron; always so stubborn to the end, even if she's more violent than that Cubone ever was. Still, I need to end this. She can't know the reason. But how when I don't have any assistance this time?
Yimtri was suddenly yanked upward to the surface by an unseen force, and then thrown at the altar. He crashed into it, his intangibility failing him, before collapsing along the ground. Because he didn't require oxygen, the wind wasn't knocked out of him, but he still felt the stabbing pain in his back from the assault. He grimaced as he looked up to find Zekra hovering over him, still in the form of a Chandelure. Crackling malicious in her ghostly appendages were eerie, blue flames. Yimtri's grimace deepened as he pushed himself backwards, finding that his options were becoming limited if he ever wanted to win this fight.
Then, something came to his mind. Something he was surprised he hadn't thought of earlier. It was risky, as he didn't know if it would work, but he was willing to try anything by this point.
His eyes filled with light once more, becoming brighter and brighter until they rivaled that of the sun. Then, there was a sudden flash, and a single tendril shot out of Yimtri's newly formed shadow. It snapped at Zekra, slapping her away from the Sableye and sending her careening into one of the fiery chairs. She let out a loud cry as she quickly leapt out of the flames as a Zorua, snuffing out the flames that had latched onto her fur by rolling along the ground. Yimtri's shadowy appendage came slithering back to him before it disappeared back into his actual shadow. He knew that he wouldn't be able to use that tactic again; without any sunlight or some artificial source of light, he couldn't conjure up that power as much as he would have liked. He could only rely upon the light of his eyes, and even then, that only provided for very limited use of his power since it sapped away so much of his energy just making his eyes give off the sufficient amount of light.
Even now, he felt sluggish, his vision becoming disoriented as he tried to focus all of his attention on Zekra. He was growing weak, and he knew that.
When all of the flames were gone from Zekra's body, she shot a glare at the Sableye before pouncing at him, ready to knock him out. However, just as she closed in on him and was to change forms into something that gave her easy access to elements that harmed the Sableye, it became apparent that something wasn't right.
She wasn't changing into anything; she was only flying through the air as a Zorua, her form stagnant. She frantically looked over herself as she flew through the air, attempting to fathom what was going wrong.
"Maybe it's because you don't have this anymore?"
Zekra brought her gaze back to the Sableye, and was instantly horrified by what she saw. Clutched in his right claw was her Deception Amulet, illuminating softly so that she could see better see the smug grin across the Sableye's face.
She quickly brought herself down before she could come in contact with the Sableye, landing within a couple feet of him.
"No… when did you…?" she muttered.
Yimtri's grin grew as he wound the necklace around his claw, making sure it didn't fall out of his grasp. He let out a mocking, knowing laugh as his eyes dimly flickered.
"When that shadow tendril smacked you, its purpose wasn't only to get you away from me," he explained. "It was to steal this away from you. Took me long enough to remember, but this is the source of your power, isn't it? You still can't make illusions of Pokémon that aren't with you on your own, can you?"
Zekra didn't answer, only choosing to shoot Yimtri a tense glare as she crouched low, still determined to fight despite her main power being stripped from her. However, Yimtri knew it was over. She was powerless without that amulet he had provided her when he first met her.
The Sableye ran toward her, ignoring the stinging in his legs as he closed the distance between them. Zekra filled her maw with the power of Dark Pulse once more, but it was too late. Yimtri tackled her down, shoving one claw against her head to keep it sideways.
"You should have left me alone," Yimtri said simply as the tips of his free claw gleamed. "You should have listened to me. But no, you just had to keep pestering me for an answer. Tch, well like I said, I don't exaggerate threats. Pity you didn't believe me. You were a good Pokémon."
Zekra, in her desperation, thrashed about and swiped at the Sableye. Yimtri moved out of the way, but she still managed to rip her claws through the collar of his cape, tearing three thick lines through it. Yimtri scowled as he dug his claws into her head, prompting a shriek out of her as she became still.
However, it seemed that she was far from giving up.
"Wait… wait," Zekra said weakly.
Yimtri shook his head. Something wasn't right.
He looked down at her to find that Zekra had transformed one more time. She had become a copy of him. It was the only form she could take without the amulet's power to assist her – a Pokémon she saw with her own eyes.
Yimtri hesitated at the sight of himself at his own mercy. The Sableye beneath him was weak, powerless, and resigned to its fate. It barely struggled, and didn't raise its claws. It only gazed back at him with the same blank stare of the gemstone eyes, waiting for his next inevitable move.
"I… think I understand now," the false Sableye said to him. "I… think I see what's wrong. There's… there's only one reason you'd want to keep a secret so badly and not tell anyone. If it were just a regular secret, you'd tell the Pokémon you know you can trust. But this secret is different. It's the reason you fight the Plagued Ones so hard. But you want to keep it so bad that you're willing to kill anyone who wants to find out. Even from Pokémon like me and Tear and Novus who could help you. And there's only one reason it could be that bad of a secret."
He glared at her, still holding his sharpened claws above her as though he could end her life at any time. Yet, he waited for her to finish speaking.
"It's because… it's something you feel guilty about, isn't it?" Zekra said weakly. "It's because something is your fault… that's the only reason you wouldn't want to let anyone else know."
"Are you still going to argue with me even when you're practically on your death bed?" Yimtri asked in disgust. "God, you really are persistent and stubborn."
"If you really are going to kill me right now… can you at least tell me why you fight the Plagued Ones so much? I mean, it's not like I'm going to be able to tell anyone."
"Oh, trying to get me to use that sort of logic, are you? That's cute. But no, I'm not telling you anything. It was a somewhat reasonable tactic, but sadly for you, I don't work that way. You're just going to have to die with no answers and a million regrets."
"Was I at least right that you know something about the Plagued Ones and why they're here on Shiron? Can you at least answer that for me?"
The Sableye scowled hard as he felt a flare of irritation within him.
"Have fun in the spirit dimension, Zekra. Maybe you'll actually believe it exists alongside us now."
The Sableye filled his free claws with a black energy, and pressed them into Zekra's neck, feeling her warm blood pool around his fingertips. Zekra didn't even scream as she was forced back into her Zorua form; she only laid there, eyes frozen wide in absolute terror.
You shouldn't be killing her, Sableye Dimitri.
Yimtri froze, his claws still in the Zorua's throat. A deep panic settled in his heart as the voice echoed in his mind. He withdrew the claws from within the Zorua's punctured neck and gripped his head as the rampant emotions broke out of his heart, overwhelming him.
"You… how are you here?!" Yimtri demanded.
Why don't you look to your right to find out?
Reluctantly, the Sableye turned and much to his horror, found his anti-plaguing pin laying on the floor a few feet away from him. Zekra had torn it off him when she swiped at him.
Yimtri shot his gaze back to the Zorua to find that she was shooting him a weary, but confused look. With haste, he slammed his blood claw down on her muzzle, forcing her to remain pinned down. As tempted as he was to abandon her temporarily to retrieve his pin, he knew there was the possibility that she'd recoil and strike him down while his back was turned. He couldn't afford to let that happen.
"Of all the times for you to be here…" Yimtri cursed under his breath.
"Yimtri, who are you talking to?" Zekra asked.
"No one!"
You shouldn't kill her. You might not be close to her, but she's still your companion. You care about her. You know you do. That's why you saved her back when she was rampaging under her Instinct Infestation rather than simply kill her, isn't it?
Quiet! Yimtri mentally shot back to his plagued self. Leave me alone! I don't care about Zekra! She can't know what's going on! I can't tell her! I can't tell anyone!
So you're going to kill her to make sure she doesn't know, which will give you even more to feel guilty over. You don't see the problem with this?
I don't care! Get out of my head! I don't need you here with me! Get out of my head, you parasitic monster!
You are only saying that because you don't want to feel anything anymore.
I don't need the emotions you give me! They're detrimental!
Because you want to pretend they don't exist.
They're useless! All of them! They always have and always will!
Because every time you feel them, you remember what you've done.
No… NO DON'T YOU DARE SAY IT. DON'T YOU DARE.
You remember what you did back as a human. You remember that what you did caused so much suffering to everyone on Shiron.
I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT! SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!
You can't run away from this, Sableye Dimitri. You can't keep pushing me out and denying that this ever happened. It doesn't work that way.
I don't have to admit to anything! YOU'RE the only one who keeps making me think I have to!
Because I AM you. You're refusing to listen to yourself.
You're not me! You're a monster! You're a part of the Primogenitor that's latched onto my soul and is trying to take over me! I don't care what Nyx says about you! You're evil! I know what you things really are!
So if I'm a monster for wanting to make you confess what you've done wrong, what does that make you? What does that make you, someone who's killed so many Pokémon and taken such extremes to quell your guilt? Someone who keeps telling himself that all of these horrible acts are justified? What exactly does that make you, Sableye Dimitri?
He was quiet for a long time.
He could see Zekra watching in terrified anticipation as he wrestled with the voice in his head. Somehow, Yimtri knew that she understood what was happening to him. Her eyes said it all.
Leave me alone, Yimtri said again. I… I need to think about this. I can't think about anything when you're constantly screaming at me and telling me what to do.
You truly want me to be silent, don't you? Well, then, perhaps we can strike a deal.
A deal?! What could you possibly have to offer me? I will not take blackmail from a monster such as you!
It is not blackmail. Perhaps you could call it a gesture of understanding. Something to prove to you that I have your best interests in mind. Spare Zekra's life, and I will fall silent. That is my offer. If all you wish to do is to block me out of your mind, then for once in your life, show some empathy for your fellow Pokémon. Don't make this mistake.
You are better than this, Sableye Dimitri. Do not give yourself one more thing to feel guilty about.
Yimtri shuddered for a moment. Something gleamed in his eyes.
And how long can I trust that you will leave me alone? He shot back. If I do as you say and I spare her life, how long will you be gone before I find you invading my thoughts and breaking my focus again?!
Forever. I will fall silent forever. Or at the very least, until you wish to speak to me again.
After hesitating for just another moment the rage-filled Sableye let go of his opponent, backing away from her. Zekra lay on the church floor, half-unconscious from weariness.
Very well. If silence and solitude is what you value most in this world, take it. It is yours.
I just hope that your thoughts are enough to give you all the answers you need.
After that, as promised, the voice went silent, leaving behind a pounding in his heart and a ringing in his head.
There was nothing but silence. The entire church became deathly quiet, save for the flames still eating away at the furniture scattered about. Yimtri curled his trembling claws into his palms, trying to stifle his wildly beating heart. His entire being was filled with an awful knowingness, bringing with it a bitter sting in his eyes. He wanted to cry, to release the tension from his heart, but he couldn't. His Sableye body made that impossible.
"I didn't know what the Primogenitor was when I first saw it on Kuron," he finally told the Zorua, staring away from her. "When I was a child, I was on a trip with my parents. We were visiting this cave that was part of a tourist attraction and sometime while we were exploring… I got lost and I wandered very far into that cave where no one was supposed to be because the ground was incredibly unstable. Sure enough, when I went in there and wandered around for a few seconds, the ground caved in beneath me and I fell into a very deep hole. At the very bottom of that hole… I found the Primogenitor locked in a deep sleep. I didn't know what it was or how it got there, but it fascinated me. I thought it was a Pokémon that I hadn't read about in the legends quite yet.
"I thought I could use it. I thought I could control it, make it obey me… let me have unimaginable power. Just like the humans who had Pokémon in the legends did.
"I didn't stop to consider the risks. I didn't think it through. Even though I knew deep down that creature was evil despite its seemingly harmless, oddly adorable appearance, I didn't care. I just… I acted in my own selfishness and nothing else.
"So… I woke it up. I didn't know what it was or how it corrupted anything it touched… All I knew was that I was going to make this creature bow to my whim and make my dreams come true.
"And for a while, that dream was quite the reality. It awoke, and it seemed eager to comply to my demands. It brought me out of that dark hole and into the light of the outside world. And then when everyone found me again… I showed them that creature. I showed them what I had found and told them that how powerful I was now that I had this monster on my side. Everyone was horrified by what I had found, but I didn't care. I was going to be just like one of the humans from the legends! I could do whatever I wanted with the Primogenitor on my side!
"And then… I decided to learn more about that creature. That creature and I left everyone behind as we went to some forest. I told it to show me what it was capable of. I wanted to know what kind of power I was capable of controlling. So… it attacked some animals and it… spread its influence into them. It made them its puppets and manipulated them into doing whatever it wanted. It turned them into premature Plagued Ones from what I can gather. I remember being so entranced at seeing that. I imagined all of the things I could do with that kind of power. All of the selfish things I could do with that monstrous power…
"But before I could make any childish decisions, the Primogenitor promptly absorbed their bodies into itself. And then… it promptly fled from me. I chased after it, unable to understand what was happening when everything was going so well. I didn't understand what could have gone wrong. But I was able to understand as soon as I caught up with that monster deeper in the forest…
"It was plaguing every single animal in sight and absorbing them into its body, nourishing itself so that it could grow stronger and stronger with each creature. It had apparently eaten so many animals that by the time I caught up with it… it had grown into a horrifying abomination that bear almost no resemblance to the creature I awoke not even an hour earlier. And at that moment… I understood what I had truly awoken. I understood that what I had woken up was never under my control; I was under its control. And then that creature finally saw me and attacked, but it didn't try to absorb me. I don't know what it did to me… but I do know that after it engrained its tendrils into me, I was filled with this horrible cold. This horrible, awful cold that never truly went away, even after years passed. And then, after it finished whatever it did to me… it fled.
"But the damage was done, Zekra. The Primogenitor might not have left wounds on me, and I never saw it again on Kuron, but I never did forget what I saw. I never forgot those eyes. Those eyes were forever burned into my mind. And then Nyx dragged me to Shiron five years later where the Primogenitor had been plaguing everyone there for twenty-five years thanks to that strange time speed difference and… I learned exactly what my terrible, terrible choice had brought upon everyone…"
Yimtri buried his hands into his face, a hoarse croak escaping his throat.
"So that's why you keep fighting the Plagued Ones," Zekra said, awestruck.
"Now do you see?" Yimtri said quietly. "Now are you starting to understand why I acted the way I did? How do you think you would act, if you looked all around yourself, and saw hundreds, thousands of good Pokémon dying and… knowing that every last one of those deaths was your fault? Now do you understand why I kept the secret?"
"Yeah…" Zekra replied. "Yeah, I… I get it."
He stared at the ground.
"I trust that you'll also understand why I need to leave you now?" he said.
"Wait…" Zekra said, climbing back to her feet but making no effort to follow him. "Wait, don't…"
"I thought it would be different," Yimtri growled. "I thought that being around all of you would be bearable. I thought that I'd at least find some satisfaction in helping you stop the Primogenitor. But no, I see it was pointless to think that. All of you will forever remain the constant thorn in my side that you've been since the very day I met you. You're always going to bring me trouble and fill with me pain whether you intend to or not. Nothing's ever going to change that. Not after what's happened between you and me. So, it's best for both of us to go our separate ways. Neither of us will ever be able to look at each other the same way again after what's happened tonight. Besides, who knows what else will happen if I continue to remain around the rest of your friends. I have no intentions of staying to find out. I don't need a repeat of what has happened between the two of us."
"But… what about Nyx?" Zekra replied. "You're going to leave her behind, too?"
Yimtri felt his heart sting at the mention of that name. He scowled irritably as he approached his pin and scooped it off the ground. He quickly fastened it to the inside of the collar that hadn't been torn. He didn't know what good it did, now that the Plagued One had agreed to leave him be, but he felt like he wanted to have it on him… just in case.
"I don't need Nyx. My feelings for her are utterly useless and best forgotten. They were unneeded when she was with me as Chloe and the same holds true now. Best to abandon and forget about her completely. I don't need someone like her holding me back."
The somber Sableye approached Zekra one last time, lowering down to her and tenderly returning the amulet back to its place around her neck.
"I can't stop you from telling them what you know," he said, standing back up. "But I can't promise I will spare your life again if I find out that you did. It's your decision, Zekra. It's the same decision Terron had when I told him what I knew. Now it is yours. I hope for both of our sakes that you make the correct one."
He turned to face the chapel wall.
"W-what are you going to do now?" Zekra called to him. "What are you going to do all alone?"
"I will put a stop to this. I will find a way to stop the Primogenitor to undo the mistake I made as a human. And nobody will stop me from finding that answer, even if I have to slaughter everyone who crosses my path to do so. Nothing is ever going to stop me from setting everything right again."
He began to walk into the wall, turning one last time to the bewildered Zorua.
"Thank you for the talk," he said plainly. "It… has helped me. I didn't realize how much I needed it until now."
And with that, the Sableye disappeared out of the chapel, never looking back as he wandered down the lonely road with his black cape trailing behind him in silence.
Special mention goes to ScytheRider for assisting me and writing out a majority of this chapter. The chapter would never have turned out as awesome as it is now without him.