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Chapter 67
You Again
Zekra finished unpacking the last of the groceries she had purchased from the market not too long ago and set them upon the dining room table. As she released her hold on the item, Lyra took the empty crochet bag wound around Zekra's neck and hung it up on a hook near the front door.
"Thanks for going shopping for me," Lyra said with a pleasant smile. "You're getting it done a lot faster than I think anyone in our entire family ever has."
"Well you guys ask for the same stuff most of the time, so I start memorizing where everything is after a while," Zekra shrugged indifferently. "I think after like four trips I was able to make a little path for me to follow in the store that takes me to all of the stuff I need. That way, it's as fast and efficient as possible. And you know, being able to turn into something that has hands probably helps with that. I don't have to fumble around with everything with my paws."
"I suppose that's true," Lyra laughed. "Three months of market shopping might have ingrained that routine you made into your mind."
Zekra nodded silently as she peered out of the nearby window, feeling the afternoon sun beat down upon her through the glass as a Prinplup and Vigoroth wandered past her vision in the distance. She assumed that they were heading for the beach that wasn't too far from the house.
Admittedly, Zekra had a difficult time believing that she had been staying with Lyra and Frazil for three months now. She still felt as though she had just crashed into their front doorstep yesterday. But, she knew that the reason for this was because she had simply stopped caring about the days as time went on. After the night she had told that shadow to leave her alone, she had ceased to dwell in the memories of her old life and told herself that her new life was on Shirra with the two guardians Len had assigned her long ago. She was no longer a warrior battling against a monstrous force whilst fighting a monster within her own body; she was now a normal, innocent child shielded away from the horrors of Shiron.
And as a consequence of becoming that new, harmless Zekra, she no longer found any significance in her days. They were all the same to her. And thus, because nothing in each day was meaningful, they passed by her at an astonishing rate. Zekra almost didn't believe that Lyra said it had been three months. However, she then realized that there was no point in getting worked up over something such as that, for it meant nothing in the end. She would still be living on that island regardless of how much time had passed. She imagined she would only leave when she was quite a bit older, perhaps when she became a Zoroark. Whenever that would be.
"Hey, do you think that I can go exploring for a little while?" Zekra asked. "I wanted to go visit the beach for the rest of the day."
"Sure, go ahead," Lyra replied. "I just needed you to go to the market for me. I can put all of these things away myself. So yeah, go ahead! Just be back before dark."
"I will. Thanks."
Zekra then went out the front door and exited the house, leaving it behind as she headed toward the coastal area of the island. She silently walked along the sand, ignoring any Pokémon she happened to see until she was standing right by the shoreline. She watched the muddy waves roll in from the ocean before briefly touching the tips of her front paws before receding back from whence they came. It felt pleasant despite the coolness in the air thanks to the autumn breeze. Zekra smiled dryly as she sat down on the sand, taking extra care not to press her cloak down into the ground.
The Zorua stared out into the ocean and took in the peaceful sight. Despite it being the middle of the afternoon, there weren't very many Pokémon swimming out in the water. There were a few, such as the ones she had spotted earlier, but they only seemed to remain close to the shore. No one had bothered to go much further out where the wild water-types roamed for whatever reason Zekra couldn't understand. There weren't any predators in that particular area, as the Sharpedo were much, much farther out where the water was far deeper and murkier. It seemed like an ideal place to swim and visit the harmless wildlife. And a perfect place to get fresh meat.
Zekra had a sudden craving overcome her at the thought, striking into her powerfully. She could already feel salty-sweet blood filling her mouth and sliding down her throat.
Before she even knew it, she was in the water, changing into a Sharpedo and speeding out into the farther reaches of the sea. She considered turning back, as she wasn't particularly hungry and knew she could easily get some food back at the house, but then changed her mind. There was nothing wrong with hunting, even if it was completely superfluous thanks to her current lifestyle. There was a particular thrill in it that Zekra couldn't have anywhere else, no matter what she did.
As she swam through the ocean, she passed by many water-types she recognized. Magikarp, Luvdisc, Chinchou, Seadra, Seaking, and similar Pokémon drifted aimlessly through the water, heading in seemingly no particular direction. They were all very vulnerable and susceptible to an attack, but Zekra didn't bother with them. They were all too simple for her. She had slaughtered many of their kind already; killing them was completely mundane and outright boring. There was no resistance. So, she let them be as she searched out bigger and better prey.
After swimming out a few miles away from the coast, Zekra found what she wanted. There, swimming amongst a school of Remoraid, was a Mantine. It was a massive creature, its main body and wingspan measuring to the length of the house with its long, streamer-like tail drifting behind it lazily. Zekra knew that the Pokémon could easily swallow her whole with its massive mouth, or perhaps even with its gills if she ventured too close to its underbelly. And yet, despite its monstrous side, Zekra knew that it was quite docile. Mantine weren't known to be aggressive creatures, even in the wild. She had even heard that they were friendly and would offer rides to the shore to anyone it came across.
For a moment, Zekra only remained there in the water, contemplating whether she should actually kill the Mantine. It clearly wasn't bringing any harm and it seemed oddly endearing with the innocent smile upon its face. Then, she wondered why she even had to kill anything at that point. There was no reason for her to hunt; it was nothing but a craving. There was no practical reason to do so. But eventually, Zekra figured it out, and she scowled in disappointment at the epiphany.
Her plagued self was making her this way. Though it could no longer speak with her, it was still intertwined with her and subtly influencing her. One of the ways it could influence her was to make her get cravings for blood. Granted, she already was somewhat always bloodthirsty before she was plagued and would go on hunting sprees quite a bit, but they had increased in number as soon as she had the plague become a part of her. It seemed that even though she had her pin on, it couldn't stifle that one influence. Why it couldn't do that when it clearly could with her brother she didn't know. But in the end, it didn't matter.
Thankfully the craving wasn't all-consuming, so as soon as Zekra came to understand this, she turned around and swam back home. By the time she changed back into a Zorua and walked back up onto the sandy shore, the craving had passed, and she found herself feeling as empty and hollow as before.
Great, this again. Zekra thought distastefully. I thought I wasn't going to have problems like this anymore. To believe that I almost stated doing that all over again when I'm trying to get away from this plague stuff…
Zekra paused a moment. She felt something stir in her mind, like a slender tendril sliding across the top of her frontal lobe. However, that was as far as it went, for seconds after the sensation appeared, it was just as quick to disappear. Zekra frowned as she shook her head.
You can't talk to me anymore. Stop trying. You don't exist anymore. You don't belong here. I came here to get away from all of your kind, and just because you've got a part of me in you doesn't mean you're any different. If that's even true at all. But the point is that since I can't get rid of you any other way, this is how it's going to be. Unless you want to detach yourself from me and let me have my body to myself again.
Zekra didn't feel anything slither in her mind. Zekra scowled as she looked out toward the sea once more.
Course not. You're never going to leave me, even if you can't talk to me anymore. Just going to keep influencing me like you always do… you're stuck to me like a Golbat that wants my blood.
It was then that something caught Zekra's eye. Off the side, perhaps a miles away from where she stood, were many cliff formations overlooking the ocean. The sides of the cliffs were quite gray and very jagged, having been withstanding the force of waves crashing against them for what Zekra could imagine was hundreds if not thousands of years. She squinted her eyes at the sight and turned her whole body toward it.
Wait, I know those cliffs. Those are the cliffs that I jumped off of that one time.
Zekra shuddered at the memory. She could still vividly see herself leaping off the edge without a second thought with the unwavering intention to get herself killed. She could even feel the ocean breeze against her fur and salt water in her nose as the images swept over her. But she was able to quickly compose herself, for she was able to remember that it was literally impossible to die. If she sustained any critical injury, she knew that her plagued self would patch it right up and she'd be as good as new in no time. Even back then, despite not being as synchronized with her plague as she was at the moment, she was sure she would have lived. It just might have been incredibly painful for a few minutes and possibly leave her with a gaping hole in her body for about a day, maybe even less than that.
And then that's when it hit Zekra.
Gaping hole… if I hit those rocks at the bottom, they'll open up a giant hole in me…
What came to Zekra's mind immediately after that was perhaps the morbid thing she had ever thought of, but she decided that there was no reason to be squeamish about it. She had suffered much worse things than what was on her mind. Or at least, she could only hope that her idea would be less gruesome than anything she had ever done before.
So, without wasting a moment, she turned into a Skarmory and flew toward the cliffs. Within just a couple of minutes, she was able to reach the nearest peak and settled herself upon the rocky terrain. As she changed back into a Zorua, she carefully took off her Deception Amulet and looped it around a nearby rock. She didn't trust herself enough to wear it as she went along with her plan. She'd have to retrieve it after everything was over. She felt that she'd at least be able to conjure up her Skarmory illusion for a few seconds without it after her plan was finished and have enough energy to make it back up to the cliff's peak. She would have done the same with her cloak, but knew that she couldn't remove it from her. It was the only thing keeping her pin attached to her. She knew that she could easily hold the pin in her mouth, but she didn't want to risk swallowing it by accident, or worse, dropping it and sending it plummeting into the ocean where she could never find it.
Zekra took in a deep breath as she finished fastening the necklace to the rock before wandering over to the edge of the cliff. She looked down, and just as she had seen before on that day many months ago, there were many sharp rocks waiting there for her. They protruded out of the water, glistening in ocean water. Zekra gulped as she felt a nervous chill run up her spine.
Alright. No turning back. This is probably going to hurt… but it'll be worth it. And hey, maybe if I'm lucky, I'll just die instead. Maybe it'll hit the weak spot of my plagued self or their equivalent of a heart.
She took in another deep breath, slowly inhaling through her nose and then out through her mouth. She stood there a moment longer, rubbing her feet into the rough dirt beneath her as she slowly psyched herself. It was so much harder to do this a second time, especially when she was much more logically sound this time. She almost wished she was being overwhelmed by volatile, distressed emotions to make everything easier.
But eventually, Zekra finally gathered up all the courage she could find within her, and bounded right off the edge.
Zekra forced herself to keep her eyes open as the wind swept past her, slicing through her fur and running her eyes dry. She grit her teeth as she watched herself grow closer and closer to the rocks, their tips seemingly growing more and more jagged the closer she drew to them. Any second now she'd hit them.
The slithering in her mind came back as she fell, except this time, it was far more vigorous. She could feel her plagued self wrapping itself around her mind, attempting to find some sort of way to communicate with her, but to no avail. Zekra winced as the tendrils crawled through her brain, bringing with it a migraine that made it impossible for her to pay attention to what she was doing. She clutched her head with her paws as she shook it, trying to loosen her plagued self's grip from her mind. But no matter what she did, the tendrils refused to relent and the headache persisted.
"Leave me alone!" Zekra wailed. "I don't care what you have to say! I don't want you around anymore! Stop trying to-"
Zekra never finished, for a sickening cracking sound filled her ears. Then, not even a second later, an unbearable amount of agonizing pain shot through her body. She let out a loud, ear-piercing scream as she flailed her limbs about, but found that doing so did absolutely nothing. All she noted was that doing so allowed something to leak out of her mouth at an alarming rate. She opened her tear-filled eyes and was very quick to find what was bringing her the horrible pain.
She had succeeded in what she had wanted to do. She had one of the rocks' points impaled right through her, going through her chest, and then coming out about an inch out of her back. Blood trickled out of her body and rushed down the stone into the ocean, where it created a small pool of murk. As soon as she saw this, Zekra chuckled darkly, allowing even more of the blood in her mouth to leak out of her like drool. She couldn't believe she had actually done it. She thought she surely would have stopped herself short before she could hit the rocks.
The Zorua continued laughing as she pressed all of her paws against the shaft of the rock, and then with all her might, slid herself right up out of the point. She let out another loud scream as her body separated itself from the rock and she went tumbling down onto a flat rock nearby. She coughed up more blood, still feeling it in her lungs, and then looked down at her chest.
There was a massive hole taking up almost all of her underbelly. It took out a good chunk of her flesh and went straight through her, allowing a light to shine through her body. She could clearly see bits of chipped bone still embedded within her insides, scratching up against her damaged organs. And worse than that, the salt water from the ocean was getting inside of her, bringing with it a burning that was perhaps even worse than the pain from having herself impaled. But miraculously enough, none of the organs had been ripped out during her stunt. Many of them had deep puncture spots and suffered from heavy laceration, and some of the organs were even hanging out of her body and resting on the rock beside her, but they were all still attached to her.
But it wasn't her organs that Zekra was most in morbid awe at. It was what was inside of her that didn't belong to her; her plagued self. She had seen parts of it when Zeverous had his heart ripped out, but now she was finally able to see more of her plagued self in its true form. As she had seen with Zeverous, it appeared to look like a black substance that was sprawled out across her organs in complicated manners in the form of tentacles. They were fused in with every part of her body and seemed to pulse every so often, similar to her heart. Her own heart appeared to be exactly the same as Zeverous's with it streaming of wisps and no longer seemed organic, except hers was completely black. There wasn't a single speck of redness upon it.
In other words, her plague was far more synchronized with her than Zeverous's plague had been with him. Zekra wasn't even sure if the heart that still beat within her chest was even her heart anymore. For all she knew, the plague had removed her actual heart and morphed itself into a heart-shaped form to replace it. That way, the plague was the very source of her life and could end everything in an instant.
Zekra kept laughing as she spat out the last bits of blood from her lungs. She could already feel her plagued self repairing them and draining out all of the fluid Zekra hadn't hacked up already. The agonizing pain that had been filling her body only a moment ago was non-existent even. She looked down at the massive hole in her body as the tentacles connected to each of her organs sprawled out on the ground slowly pulled them back into her, dragging her blood along the rock's surface. As each organ retreated back inside her body, little black, worm-like appendages of her plague sprouted out of the organs near the lacerations and embedded themselves onto the other side of the hole like makeshift stitches. They slowly closed the wounds shut as the black worms became her new flesh, merging themselves into her organs and becoming one with them as her bones slowly grew back. After each of her organs was brought inside her and was slowly put back into their proper place, more tendrils protruded out of her flesh and began to seal her gaping wound shut.
She knew it was now or never if she wanted to finish her plan. Impaling herself on those rocks was not the final step.
So, with a deep breath, Zekra plunged a paw into her laceration and caught a particularly thick tentacle with her claws. Then, she ripped it out in one pull.
Zekra squirmed painfully as the tentacle was yanked right out of her body, feeling it tugging on a good amount of her flesh. But nonetheless, she refused to relent and continued to pull the plague right out of her insides. A high-pitched screeching noise emitted from somewhere inside her body as the tentacle resisted, retreating back inside of her body while her chest wound sealed itself up faster. Zekra snarled fiercely as she took her other paw and sank her claws into it, pulling with all of her might as she engaged in a grotesque tug-of-war with the parasite within.
"Get out of me!" Zekra cried. "Just get out!"
Zekra chomped her fangs down upon the tentacle and yanked back. This seemed to overpower the plague, for a network of about five smaller tendrils came flying out of her insides along with the original tendril she was holding. They instantly became inert the second that they touched the ground. Zekra smiled victoriously as she continued to pull, intending to rip out the rest of the plague.
But then, all of the tendrils she had just ripped out suddenly rose up and lashed out at her. The five smaller tendrils pushed themselves down her ears while the larger one pulled its body out of Zekra's maw and wound itself around her mouth, muzzling her. Zekra thrashed about as she struggled to open her mouth to blast her plague with a Dark Pulse. If she couldn't physically rip it out of her body, maybe she could destroy it through other means.
"Can you hear me?"
Zekra scowled as the familiar voice echoed through her ears. It seemed that her plague had figured out to communicate with her even with her pin on. The tendrils burrowing themselves in her ears must have been speaking to her directly instead of trying to send thoughts in her mind.
Get away from me. Zekra growled bitterly in her mind, unable to speak. I don't want to talk to you.
"Okay good, you can hear me. Didn't know if this was going to work," her plagued self sighed in relief, still able to hear her thoughts. "Listen, I can't stay here for too long, but there's something I need to tell you; you can't stay on this island anymore. You need to get out of here. Tear and Novus need you. The whole world needs you."
Nobody needs me. I left everybody for a reason and I'm not going back just because you say so. Now get out of my ears and just get back inside me. I don't want to put up with you. I'm done with trying to rip you out. It's clearly not working.
"I know that you left because you feel like you've got nothing left and because you want to keep Tear safe, but is staying here really doing any good? What exactly is staying here going to do for you?"
Shut up.
"Do you know how many lives you could have saved by now if you hadn't come here? Do you know how much progress you could have made if you were still back on the main land and looking for Reshiram and Zekrom?"
Shut. Up.
"I don't care if you don't want to talk to me anymore, but you can't stay here anymore. I'll even leave you alone for good if you just leave this island and go back to stopping the Primogenitor. But just leave! Get off this island. You're letting even more Pokémon die or become Plagued Ones. You're not any better than the actual Plagued Ones when you're on this island and wasting time!"
I SAID SHUT UP!
In her rage, Zekra took her paw and shoved it under the collar of her cloak. She awkwardly fumbled for the pin, then feebly grasped it in her drawn claws before ripping it out of the cloak and pressed it toward the tendrils in her ears. Just before it could in contact with them, the tendrils screeched as they hastily withdrew themselves away from the Zorua and retreated back inside her body. Zekra shot the remaining tendril a malicious glare as she rammed the pin into its mass, this time actually hitting her target. The second she did, black haze steamed out of the tendril as a sizzling sound filled the air. The plague tentacle shook violently as tiny little needle-like objects sprouted of its surface. The tentacle quickly unwound itself from Zekra's mouth as it too disappeared back inside her body, the part of its surface where the pin touched it having turned a crimson color.
Zekra only had to take in a single breath of air before the wound completely closed, putting up a fleshy barrier between her and her plagued self. There wasn't any sort of indication that there had been a hole there before. It was as though nothing had even happened. The only reason she knew that she had sliced herself open was because of a strange writhing sensation in her stomach, as if her plague was twitching in pain from coming in contact with the pin. But even then it wasn't very bothersome, only feeling like a light tickling. Zekra let out a snort as she got back up to her feet, not feeling the slightest bit of weariness or pain as she reattached her pin back to the inside of her cloak. Then, after focusing her efforts long enough, she transformed into a Skarmory and launched herself up to the very top of the cliff, where she quickly changed back into a Zorua. She didn't even have the least bit of lethargy as she retrieved her Deception Amulet still wound around a rock before heading back home.
When Zekra entered the house once more a few minutes later, she found Lyra sitting in the living room, curled up into a loose ball and slumbering. From what Zekra could understand, given the lingering scent of meats and fruits in the air, she had only recently finished unpacking everything from the store and was taking a short rest. But that rest was short lived, for the moment Zekra came inside, Lyra opened her eyes and looked over at the little Zorua.
"Oh hey, you're back," Lyra greeted. "I thought you weren't coming back until sunset."
"I was, but then I realized that I didn't really have anything I wanted to do," Zekra answered blankly. "So I came back."
"Oh, I see," Lyra said quietly.
Zekra nodded wordlessly as she opened up the pantry in the kitchen and dug through it, searching for these berry-filled pastries that she was told to buy at the store. She wasn't particularly hungry, but she still felt the need to cram something sweet in her mouth to rid herself of the lingering bitterness stirring within her heart. She knew that killing random ferals wasn't something she could do any more. Not that it had ever been acceptable in the first place to take out her stress by devouring the lives of others.
"Um Zekra. Is that… your blood all over you?"
The Zorua froze on the spot. For just a moment, she was unable to move, only remaining frozen with her head obscured away from Lyra thanks to it being hidden behind a pantry door. But eventually, the stupor passed and she quickly shot her gaze down to her body. She found that her entire lower half was covered in her own blood, for she had forgotten to clean herself up after she had fully regenerated. And not only that, but a good majority of her cloak had become stained with the crimson color. Even the floor was covered in her bloody foot-prints. Zekra immediately cursed herself for being so careless.
"No, it's just blood from the Pokémon I was hunting down in the ocean," Zekra answered in a dismissive tone. "I dragged them to shore and got their blood all over me, and I just happened to forget to clean myself up before coming back here. So, I'm sorry if I scared you. I'll get myself cleaned up and get rid of all of the blood I dragged into the house."
Without wasting another moment, Zekra closed the pantry door and went back outside. However, rather than bathe inside of the water tub outside, she went back toward the ocean and unflinchingly walked toward the rolling waves. She felt the cold water creep over her as she disappeared out into the ocean. Within a few moments, she was completely submerged in the water and idly standing on the murky surface of the ocean floor, even if she hadn't gone very far out and the surface was only a foot above her head. She stood there for a minute, watching the rest of her blood clinging to her fur slowly drift away into the soft currents. Then, when she saw that all of her blood was gone, she swam back up to the surface and returned to shore.
But when Zekra returned home, she found that Lyra was no longer there. The floor was cleaned of her blood though, which Zekra presumed the Sylveon must have done so when Zekra had gone out into the ocean. Zekra frowned as she went to the spot where she last Lyra. She found there was nothing there.
"Lyra?" Zekra called out, circling about the room. "You still here?"
There wasn't a response. However, Zekra didn't have a panic attack. She only assumed that Lyra had gone out and would be back much later. She had done this quite a few times in the past, so there was no reason to be panicked over something so trivial. Lyra wasn't kidnapped or anything of the sort. There was no danger on the island to be concerned about.
Zekra jumped onto a cushion in the room and settled herself into its comfortable mass. When she was satisfied, she relaxed her posture and stared blankly at a wall. She didn't know what else she wanted to do with the day. There was simply nothing for her to do other than explore, and she had decided that she was done with doing so for the day. Doing so only reminded her of her unsettling encounter with her plagued self.
Zekra closed her eyes, readying herself for a nap to pass the time.
The door abruptly slammed open, scaring Zekra right out of her seat and onto the floor. She growled bitterly as she picked herself up and shot a dark glare toward the source of the noise. There, standing there in the open doorway, was an Umbreon. It remained there for a moment, scanning the house with blank, crimson eyes. But as soon as those eyes landed on Zekra, the Umbreon broke out a gleeful, almost devious smile.
"Zekra!" she cried joyously. "It's you!"
The Umbreon leapt toward the Zorua, and in that instant, tackled her down to the ground once more. Zekra squirmed around as the Umbreon nuzzled the Zorua in the cheeks, laughing victoriously as she did so.
"Get off of me!" Zekra cried, feeling smothered. "Who are you even?!"
The Umbreon laughed some more as she got up off the Zorua and flashed her a knowing grin.
"Oh, how could you forget me?" the Umbreon asked in mock hurt. "After you stayed here on this island with me for like a month, I just don't get how you could possibly erase me out of your memories."
Something clicked in Zekra's mind. She shot the Umbreon a disbelieving stare as the truth dawned upon her. The Umbreon's grin only seemed to grow more and more with each passing second while her eyes gleamed.
"Crystelle...?" Zekra asked slowly.
"You got it!" Crystelle replied with a flick of her tail. "I'm back and better than ever!"
"Oh wow, you're back. Um… you've changed a lot since the last time I saw you," Zekra said reluctantly.
"Well of course! I'm an Umbreon now," Crystelle pointed out in the haughtiest voice Zekra had ever heard. "Lots of stuff happens when you change into an Umbreon. Like, you quit thinking that everything about being a dark-type is creepy and you suddenly feel like you can do anything. Oh yeah. It's awesome being this and being able to do all of the stuff I can do."
Crystelle awkwardly pushed her front paw against the door and once again slammed it open, prompting yet another jump out of Zekra.
"In fact, I'm gonna show you some of the awesome stuff I can do now," Crystelle then said. "You'll love it."
Then without even waiting for a response, she leapt outside, disappearing from Zekra's sight. Zekra only stood there in stunned silence, having no idea what had just transpired before her. Everything had happened so quickly that she almost didn't even think it happened. Then not only that, but Crystelle's new attitude came as a shock to her. She had been anticipating that Crystelle would remain as innocent and childish as she had been as an Eevee. She knew that evolving and having darkness within her would change some parts of the Umbreon, but she had never imagined it would be this drastic of a personality change. It was almost as though Crystelle was a completely different Pokémon.
Nonetheless, Zekra decided not to dwell too much in the subject. She wanted to go see what Crystelle was so eager to show off. She had nothing better to do anyway.
Zekra walked outside and gently closed the door behind her. She found Crystelle waiting for her a few feet away, staring at her with that smug smirk that never seemed to leave her face. When their eyes met, Crystelle chuckled under her breath as she wandered away. Zekra quickly followed after her and together, they headed toward the center of the island. Minutes later, a very familiar jungle came into their sights.
"Ah here we are," Crystelle announced as she stopped before its entrance. "Bloodshed Jungle, as I think you always called it. Remember when you tried to take me here as an Eevee and I wouldn't go because I was being a wimp?"
"Yeah, I remember," Zekra said quietly.
"Well, we're going to redo that."
Crystelle then bounded into the jungle, prompting Zekra to quickly bolted after her. Umbreon or not, Zekra didn't know how experienced Crystelle was with hunting. If she had no skill in being a predator, it wouldn't matter if she had a different, more powerful body. She'd still be killed by something much bigger than her in that jungle.
But the second Zekra entered that jungle, she was quick to find that Crystelle was nowhere in sight. Zekra snarled under her breath for Crystelle's rashness and swiftness.
"Crystelle, get back here!" she cried out. "This place is really dangerous!"
There wasn't a response, though Zekra didn't know if it was because Crystelle was ignoring her or genuinely didn't hear her. Zekra sighed as she turned into an Aipom and climbed up a nearby tree. She hopped onto one of the higher branches and wandered down it before stopping towards the very edge. She looked around, able to see almost all of the jungle from so high up. And yet, Crystelle was nowhere in sight.
Ugh, I think I liked you better when you were an Eevee. Zekra thought distastefully. You were still annoying, but at least you didn't pull stupid stunts like this. You're really, really weird now, Crystelle.
Zekra was about to leap onto another branch and continue her search from another section of the jungle, but then the fur on her neck stood up. Zekra immediately darted to the side as the sensation came over her, but she wasn't fast enough, for a Gliscor descended upon her and snapped on of its massive pincers around her body. It then lunged its head at her, its elongated fangs perfect for piercing deep into her organs.
Zekra didn't even bother to resist as it sank its fangs into her neck. She cringed as she felt the incisors pierce into her jugular and changed her back into a Zorua, but otherwise remained unaffected. Then, with the creature distracted with the thought that it had killed her, she opened her maw and shot out a Dark Pulse at it. The pillar struck one side of its wings, ripping the Gliscor right out of her as it released its grip on her and sent it crashing into a nearby tree. The Zorua scoffed as she felt the plague within her seal back up the wound, stopping the blood that was pouring down the side of her neck.
She bounded off the tree and fell upon the Gliscor, where she immediately turned into a Skarmory. She flapped her wings to increase her momentum, then shot forward as she aimed her break directly at the Gliscor's chest. Unfortunately, the Gliscor was too quick for her, for it leapt off the tree and flew toward another one. Zekra stopped herself short as she put her feet in front of her, sinking her talons into the tree bark as she brought herself to a halt. She was about to take off once more and once again puncture the defenseless Gliscor whilst it glided through the air, but then something else happened.
A black blur shot out of the branches above the Gliscor and landed on its back. The feral screeched as it plummeted toward the ground, its unknown assailant going with it. Zekra silently followed after the descending Pokémon before dropping onto a low branch and bringing her attention back to the scene.
She was quite astonished to find that the one who had tackled down the Gliscor was Crystelle. She was now on the ground a few feet away from the downed Gliscor, smiling evilly as she watched it feebly push itself back onto its tail. She didn't seem the least bit frightened of the giant creature before her, even as it towered above her. If anything, Zekra thought that she seemed bizarrely excited, somewhat how Zekra felt whenever she went hunting. But it was always a subdued sort of excitement with Zekra and it was interrupted whenever her life was in danger. Crystelle wasn't like that right now. She seemed insanely eager to fight this Gliscor.
"Alright, this is perfect!" Crystelle said, turning back to look over at Zekra. "Here, I'll show you right now what I learned while I was gone. Prepare to be amazed!"
The Gliscor lunged at Crystelle, and for a second, Zekra thought for sure that the Umbreon would fall prey to the massive Pokémon. But Crystelle only smiled wider as she darted out of the way, causing the Gliscor to crash into a tree right behind where Crystelle once stood. As the Gliscor pulled itself away from the trunk and shook itself free of a headache, Crystelle stopped a few feet away from the threat.
"You can do better than that!" Crystelle taunted. "Come on, show me your worst!"
Zekra wasn't sure if the Gliscor could actually understand Crystelle's words, but it did seem to become angered when it saw her again. It let out a low hissing sound as frost slowly formed around its two protruding fangs. They seemed to grow longer and even deadlier, giving it the appearance that it had two icicles in its mouth.
"Yessssssss, perfect," Crystelle purred.
Crystelle suddenly leapt toward the Gliscor and opened her mouth to reveal a large set of small incisors of her own. They weren't filled with any sort of power, causing Zekra to worry that attacking with nothing but sheer force would do nothing and only result in getting killed by the Gliscor's bite. But then, just as she closed in on the creature, the exact same frost that coated the Gliscor's fangs encased her own. The second she rammed into the Gliscor, she sank her icy fangs into its neck, biting down hard with all of her might.
The Gliscor was only able to let out one last, hoarse scream before it collapsed onto the ground, blood leaking out of the puncture wounds. Crystelle removed her fangs from the Gliscor as the ice filling her teeth melted away, allowing her to close her mouth.
"There, all done," Crystelle said in deep satisfaction as she turned back to Zekra. "What did you think?"
"How did you copy what that Gliscor was doing?" Zekra wondered cautiously as she jumped down onto the ground and turned back into a Zorua. "You're not a Zorua or Zoroark or anything and I'm pretty sure Umbreon can't do what you just did."
"Oh, well that's easy," Crystelle answered. "When I was with my trainer, he taught me all sorts of awesome stuff, like how to use the darkness in me and how to sneak around without anyone noticing. But one of the things he also taught me is a little move he called Mimic. Basically, you watch somebody do something like breathe out fire, and then after they do, you can do it too. But you only keep using that same power for about five minutes before you can't use it anymore. It's like you borrow the attack for a little bit."
"So it's like a short-term version of my illusion power," Zekra said thoughtfully. "Huh, interesting. I don't think I've ever heard of that power before til now."
"Well not too many Pokémon use it, so there's that," Crystelle shrugged off indifferently. "My teacher just thought I should learn it since he knew I could learn it and thought it'd be better than biting everything and blasting everybody with dark power. So yeah! That's the awesome thing I wanted to show you."
Zekra nodded slowly. She could admit that the ability was rather unique and interesting, not to mention very useful. While Zekra saw no need for the power herself, given that she had a much more powerful and effective version of it, she could see why Crystelle cherished it. It could easily be the trump card to any seemingly futile struggle with an enemy. However, she wasn't sure if leaping into a jungle filled with wild, ravenous creatures was such a great way to show off that power.
"Well since we're done, let's get out of here," Crystelle then announced. "And then when we get out, you can tell me all about how you got your mission or whatever you wanted done. I bet it'll be quite a story. I can't wait to hear about all of the awesome stuff you did."
"Um yeah, about that," Zekra said, frowning uncomfortably. "I uh… I actually didn't get to do what I wanted. I decided I had enough of it and came back here because I had nowhere else to go."
Crystelle's smug grin froze in place. She continued to stare down at the little Zorua for a few seconds longer, that smile still plastered to her face. And then, it abruptly changed to that of a disgusted scowl as she shot Zekra a spiteful glare. Zekra nearly cringed back at the sight.
"I thought you were going to do everything you could to do whatever you had in mind," Crystelle said venomously. "I mean, you were going to attack my parents just so you could go do it with your friends. I saw you and I know you really were going to hurt them. Maybe you were even going to kill them because you were so obsessed with whatever was on your mind. So are you telling me that you're just giving up after you did something as drastic as that?"
"Look Crystelle, it's a long story," Zekra sighed. "I can't keep going. Things happened, things I really don't want to talk about, and I can't ever go back after what happened. It doesn't matter how dedicated I was back then; I'm not the Zorua you knew before. She died."
"Don't give me that," Crystelle hissed, drawing closer to Zekra. "I saw you when you left. I saw that whatever you had to do meant the world to you and that you were going to stop at nothing to get it done. You're telling me that you're just going to forget that?"
"Things happened that made me change my mind," Zekra replied quietly. "A lot of horrible things that I really don't want to think about right now. Look Crystelle, I really don't like talking about this…"
"So you abandoned Terron and Novus because you weren't feeling up to whatever your plan is?" Crystelle went on, ignoring Zekra. "You ditched your friends and left them all alone while you came back here to do nothing but sit around? I can't believe you would actually do something like that… I thought you were better than that. The Zekra I knew would have stayed with her friends and kept going no matter what happened. She wouldn't have left them all behind and came here to hide away from everything like a coward."
"I told you, I'm not that Zorua anymore!" Zekra cried desperately. "She got killed and I'm all that's left! You have no idea what I went through, so don't talk like you know what actually happened. I'm done with what's back on Shiron and nothing you say is going to make me feel guilty about it!"
Crystelle kept her resentful gaze on the Zorua, her scowl so deep that Zekra could see a good majority of her sharp fangs. For just a brief second, Zekra thought she saw something vaguely malicious flicker behind Crystelle's eyes. But she was unable to get a closer look, for Crystelle instantly turned her back to the Zorua.
"You really did die, Zekra," she said in a seething voice. "The Zekra I knew wasn't a selfish weakling like you."
Then, she flicked her tail and strutted away, leaving Zekra alone in the jungle with the bitter sting of a vague heartbreak.