Naru

Our scenery over time hasn't really changed at all, still the same green fields as normal around this area, which I didn't mind at all, it was just a constant pattern that was easily notable. Charm and Shiro were walking in front of me, wrapped up in their own little conversation, which brought a smile to my face. Shiro wasn't even stuttering, she was actually comfortable around him, which was really nice to see. As much as I loved watching over her, it was rather important that she had interaction with some other pokemon as well, interaction that she wasn't terrified of. Charm, being as polite as he was, made a good friend for for her, and made it so she wasn't scared to open her mouth around him. It was good to see her happily interacting with a friend, I loved just staring at the two while we made our way to the Nest, which was very close at this point.

I felt a gust of wind gently blow by all of us, and let my smile slowly fade as I explored the depths of my own mind. Kuro had been forced away from us for a different mission, and though I really shouldn't have any doubt in my mind that it will all work out and he'll come back perfectly okay as normal, I had this… horrible drop in my stomach right after he left. I don't know what it was, but I didn't like it, not one bit. I hated how it made me feel, it was as if I was nervous, or like I was dreading something from happening. I didn't know what I was dreading though, there wasn't anything that I should be.

I took a breath and shook my head a bunch, getting all of my random thoughts of what could go wrong away from me. Negativity wasn't good for the brain, if anyone knew how to stay positive through it all, it was me! So… why did I feel like this? I never, ever had a hard time keeping positive, so why suddenly couldn't I get all of the negative crap out of my head? I was supposed to be the one who's always happy! Not deal with whatever this is! But… why?

Ignoring the rest of my very, very confusing emotional lapse, the two children and I successfully made it to the outskirts of the Nest, which was in the process of integrating a new system to keep certain pokemon out, other than a barrier that seemed to not work very well. It was a simple system, nobody without either a Raven symbol or special permission was allowed passed the newly placed guards, who were also trained leaders. Along with them, a very small bracelet, one that was made of a flimsy glass and could be easily shattered against one's arm or leg. Once that glass shatters, the entirety of the Nest will be notified as soon as possible, and we now have various escape protocols for the north, south, east, and west ends of the Nest. It was safe to say that, assuming the Nest has another security breach, we'll have a good chance of making it out okay. All of us. So there was no need to overly worry about unwanted pokemon coming in and attempting to murder all of us in our sleep. Especially no scary gallade who had tried to kill both Shiro and I now… Thank Arceus…

Once we finally made it back to the Nest, and I explained the situation with Charm being here to the pidgeot guard on duty, and with Core's approval, the three of us got into the Nest without issue. As soon as we did, Charm's face lit up, taking note of the gargantuan place that was the Nest. His eyes shot all over the place, and I followed his gaze with amusement, letting my mouth curve into a smile. He looked absolutely enamoured, which got a chuckle from both Shiro and myself. Luckily, the small Vulpix knew her way around the Nest for the most part now, so she was confident enough to offer to show Charm around. I would have happily joined them, but I was called elsewhere via mental communication device thingy. Core was calling me to his office in the Nest, and by his office, I mean Myra's. They share one, which is interesting I suppose, but wasn't really on my mind much.

I let Shiro and Charm know about my presence being needed elsewhere and made my way over to the room to which I was summoned. The brief walk was relaxing, as was nearly all of my time within the Nest. Something about being in a gigantic place you know is safe… well… for the most part. Kai and Aven aside. More Aven then Kai, but the two of them both frightened me regardless, though not enough to keep me awake at night. In fact, the only time I was kept awake was a few nights after I had that really weird dream about Kuro a while back, but that didn't have anything to do with the two Void members within. There was no feasible way that was possible, so I took it as an odd occurrence that would most likely never be repeated in the future. Hopefully it doesn't at least.

Once my short trip was completed, I tapped my special pattern of knocks on Myra's door, and moments later, it opened, Core standing before me. He gestured me into the room wordlessly, to which I nodded and walked inside to the somewhat familiar office. Myra was absent from her usual spot behind her desk, probably off on business elsewhere, likely of the Nest's leader. No idea what she did whenever she left,but she did it quite often, and always came back the day after with a package of some kind. I had no idea what was in any of the parcels that she brought back, nor was it my place to meddle, so I just didn't ever question it. I didn't expect Core to tell me had I asked him, so I didn't try it in the first place. Probably just various supplies for all of the Ravens.

That wasn't important right now though. I mean, I just got called into Core's/Myra's office, that didn't happen often at all. Only after something big happened, like Kuro and I barely surviving against a high ranking Void admin. We were obviously going to be approached about something of that caliber, for informational purposes, and also just to verify our safety after dealing with someone like Grace. The latter was especially necessary, considering that Kuro had been injected with… something. Whatever Grace had within her. It very well could have been lethal after all. We were lucky to figure out that it wasn't, but better safe than sorry, regardless of what Grace herself said. Not taking the chance of something happening to Kuro.

I placed myself upright, right in front of the desk that Core was now behind, also standing, which I thought was odd. No other time did I ever see Myra or Core stand behind their desk as such, they always sat calmly, a mellow demeanor, but Core looked overly serious, or stern. I felt the uneasinessiness that was ever so present in my body rise up, traveling from my stomach to an uncomfortable spot in my chest, almost bad enough to the point where I wanted to place one of my paws on it. It felt almost like pressure, something building up more and more as time went on, slow at first, but ever so steadily aggressing more and more. I tapped one of my front paws on the ground subtly, not wanting to seem disrespectful to Core, and not wanting to make it seem like I was in a rush. I couldn't deny how nervous I was though, and I further couldn't describe the pressure stil slowly traversing through my body, engulfing every single part of it, making it a little hard to breathe even.

More of my body began to tremble, extending from a single front paw to three of my legs, I was barely able to hide it. Core looked as if he was ready to speak, and I gulped a little, trying to calm down. I had to keep a cool head, and a clean mind, everything was going to be okay, there was no need to be so anxious. No… No need at all…

"We lost contact with Kuro."

Kuro

All I could see was a dark space. I couldn't hear anything, nor could I smell anything. I could certainly feel my body scream at me though. Everything burned, from the bottom of my paw pads to the tips of my ears. Despite the evident sensation, my mind told me that attempting to move would be a good idea. I need to stop trusting the thoughts that come through to my head. Any attempt at working my muscles made the burning multiply in its severity, telling me that I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Though, in my attempts to move, I did notice a very tight, but dull pressure around each of my legs. I couldn't tell what was causing it though, nor did it matter to me at the moment. There were only two things I could think about at the moment. What happened, and where am I..?

I recalled my latest memories, despite how unpleasant they were. I was given a choice by a member of the Void, one I didn't foresee coming before it took place. I was given the choice to either sacrifice a pokemon so I could save myself a lot of pain, or take that pain myself. The option I chose was the only real option to me, and I don't regret it, even if I had much doubt in my mind whether I was okay at the moment or not. Regardless though, I was sure that I made the correct decision, given the rather sensitive situation. I was shockingly calm at the moment, which was both a good thing, and scared me at the same time. LIke… I should have been terrified, but I wasn't. As odd as that was to me, I decided that it was more of a positive than a negative and stopped thinking about it.

I wished that my eyes could pick something up and give me some kind of rough idea as to where exactly I was. I couldn't investigate very easily due to my body's current condition, preventing me from moving well, assuming I was trying to at all. Another factor I noticed was the lack of my scarf and bag, which made sense. I didn't even have my bag before I took an attack that made me mentally cringe, and said attack most definitely burnt my scarf to bits. The accessory was fireproof, yes, but everything has a limit, and I'm fairly certain that the heat I was hit with far exceeded said limit of a piece of fabric. Part of me was ever so slightly saddened at the loss of the scarf, even if it wasn't anything super special, it marked the day I finally walked out of my rut, so it was special to me in some small way. I wouldn't lose sleep over it, but it was on my mind, along with thinking about where I could be.

I felt an uncomfortable feeling in my throat, and then let out a large cough, releasing an intense burning sensation from the top of my chest, up throughout my upper body. The pain made me wince and grit my teeth. Part of me wanted to try talking, saying something to possibly attract some kind of attention, but the violent reaction in my throat from a cough made me think otherwise just as soon as I considered the option in the first place. Talking was probably not going to be easy in the slightest, let alone yelling to alert anyone of my consciousness, but I needed to make sure that I wasn't just being paranoid about it all. I took in a small breath, which also sent a wave of uncomfortable heat inside of my mouth, but I shook it off. I slowly separated my teeth, and tried to get my vocal cords to work.

"I-"

I couldn't even get through a letter, before I felt the heat from before return with a vengeance. Not only that, but it stimulated a coughing fit, each one intensifying the extreme burning sensation that was ever so present before. I tried to dig my claws into the surface I was connected to, and found it rather easy, as whatever my paws were set on, it was soft, despite having firm stability at the same time. I felt very small particles of something settle themselves in the fur at the bottom of my legs, and the sensation was cold, which I very much welcomed, given the rest of my body's heat intake. After my coughing settled, and I took a second to recover from the scalding, I fidgeted with my digits a little bit, feeling whatever I had dug my claw into. I had felt it many, many times before. It wasn't hard to determine what it was, and I welcomed the comfort that came with this familiar sensation. I had many questions that continued to raise after I was done basking in the opposite of heat that was provided to me from the dirt below me. The biggest one still remained though. Where am I..? Where could I possibly be..? Was I taken here..? Or am I still in the same area..? Or…

Quit asking yourself so many questions. It's not hard to figure out if you focus.

A voice rang through my head, one that took me just a second to place. Not only was the voice recognizable, but there was only one pokemon I've met that could mentally communicate with me without the usage of the device in my bag. Why… Why are you talking to me? I waited a second for a response.

As I said, it's not hard to figure out. You think I put you on the brink of death and just left you laying there? Nonsense. Though, that would make for an interesting experiment, seeing if you would manage to survive in the company of many pokemon who wouldn't be opposed to the thought of you biting the dust right in front of them. The tone of her voice in my head had an inquisitive attitude.

Where am I..? I mentally asked, desperate for an answer. As soon as I was contacted by this pokemon though, I had more of an idea, and I didn't like it.

Oh come on now, how can you not know? There's only one place you would be taken after the events that occured recently. I tried to gulp, but all I managed to do was burn my throat that much more. You're in possession of the Void.

Part of my mind knew that had to be the case, but I didn't focus on that part, afraid of it being true. Sadly, running away from what you fear never seems to work. Never has, and doesn't look like it ever will. Not that I didn't expect that. Something didn't really add up here though. That would be the pitch black darkness that surrounded me in this room. I had been in the presence of the Void before, and as far as I know, most of their rooms had some visibility present, thanks to me being a dark type and all. Here though, I actually couldn't see a thing, as if there was not a shred of light, not a crack for me to feed off of and get something within my vision. There was no way I was in the same place as before, so what did that mean?

I'm surprised you're not mentally panicking right now, yet another thing that makes you quite interesting. I wonder what else you may do if tested? I wish I could hear a tone in her thoughts, so I knew if she was ever being sarcastic or not.

I'm not in the Void's airship, am I? I placed the thought in my head, waiting for it to be read, and not fully expecting an answer. It was a bit of a revealing one to adhere to on the side of the Void, but then again, they never really cared much for their security.

Keen eye. You're not, however, we still have full control over you. We are expanding, from one flying vehicle to a grounded area for our higher ups to assemble. That's where you're located right now. I processed what she communicated to me.

Only the higher ups?

Not exclusively, but the majority located here. I once more, thought about her mental words.

Which would mean… you're a higher up?

Correct. Fairly high up on the food chain here, but not quite at the top. Four others outrank me as of now, but as for the rest, I have full command over them. She was outranked by four others… that's it. To think, at the time, I thought I could do something to stop her back at that small civilization. If Grace was any example, there was no way I was able to do a thing to anyone in the higher divisions of the Void. Arceus, I could barely scratch Kai in a battle, and he hasn't ever been mentioned as a Void member in high command.

What's the point of having more than one location like this? What's the point of splitting your numbers like that? I couldn't help myself from prodding for more information.

I barely know. It was the boss' idea, not mine. She doesn't always think straight. I think it's much more efficient for us to all keep our original moving location that always held our presence, but whatever. Doesn't affect me or my research at all. Figures that Luna is the one making pointless decisions, based on what I know, she has very little reason behind anything she does.

You keep mentioning your studies and research, are you a scientist of sorts?

I'm a very curious soul who likes to learn new things. The best way to accomplish this is through researching things I know nothing about, and learn about each and every one of them. For instance, learning about an umbreon who decided that it would be better idea to take a clearly deadly attack instead of simply walking out of the way. Or about you Ravens as a whole, you all intrigue me in some way shape or form, so I want to study you. I wasn't expecting the lengthy answer, but I didn't complain.

Why am I here..?

No clue. Someone else needs you, that being the boss. For what, I have no idea, she hasn't shared that with anyone besides her second to my knowledge. They're going to use you for whatever they need to. I painfully gulped.

I couldn't really think of anything else to ask, nothing that had a chance of being answered. Plus, after she told me I was to be used for something, I couldn't help but submit to the fear within my mind multiplying over and over. I had minor flashbacks to a day long ago, where I was "used," and above all else, I didn't want that to happen again. You could call that my biggest fear, and it was one I hated to acknowledge, yet still evident in my head.

Before they get to you, a visitor from the Void wants to have a meeting with you. One that seems to have some kind of vendetta against you for whatever reason. I imagined that I had some kind of confused look on my face, despite not knowing for sure.

Who has a vendetta against me..? I unconsciously wondered.

Instead of receiving another mental response, I heard the harsh sound of metal clanking against more metal, accompanied by scratches and various ear-piercing sounds. It made my ears fold, which subsequently caused the burning sensation on my body to spread around my head area, prompting a small wince.

Not long after, an extremely bright line of white appeared to my left, which made my head jerk away from it, and caused my eyes to close instantaneously. The light burned my eyes, as if I needed anything else to burn right now. The burning soon transformed into a dull ache, which I knew wasn't going to go away unless I made an effort to remove it. Blink by blink, I opened and closed my eyes over and over, keeping them open for a fraction of a second longer every time, ever so slowly adjusting my eyes from watering. My vision soon morphed into a blurry mess, but it was better than the pitch blackness that was portrayed beforehand. The warped vision very slowly changed once more, this time into a dull room, with a dirt ground, traced with small amounts of grass throughout the whole thing. I brought my eyes higher, finding the walls of this area to be made of a hard-looking stone, giving me a few familiar vibes. The simple movement of my head caused more sparks of heat to burn my body, but I was more or less getting used to them.

I wanted to breathe heavily, to get more oxygen in my system, but I didn't want to further damage my throat, so I kept my breathing even as best as I could. I wanted to observe more of my surroundings, namely the influence of the light, but that mass slowly retained back into a thin line. It made it easier on my eyes, but prevented me from seeing anything outside of these rocky walls and the dirt ground, which still felt admittedly pleasant to my paws. What was that about..? It didn't take long for my thoughts to be answered.

I heard a chuckle, a small laugh, come from just out of my sight. I had heard what was nearly the exact same noise before, and it took me a second to place it. It was difficult for two reasons, one being that I had only heard this on two occasions, and another being that it didn't make sense for that pokemon to be here of all places. None whatsoever. Not within the Void, and less in a place that was mainly for their higher tiers. Still curious though, I slowly turned my head to the left, every small movement accompanied by the feeling of being scalded.

To my side, I wasn't expecting to see a hitmonchan. Never had I seen one in the Void, and the only one I had seen was nowhere near having a place here. I thought back to a previous mental reception though, and a possibility rose in my mind, once I thought back to one thought that was passed. Someone who has a vendetta against me..? There's no way that guy straight up joined the Void because he was humiliated, right?

"Lookie, lookie here." He put on a disgusting smirk, and I recognized the voice all too well. It was the same one, the same hitmonchan as before. The same one that bullied Naru when she was younger, the same one who tried to fight me and embarrassed himself completely and utterly. "There's something so satisfying about seeing you helpless and alone right in front of me, chained up and stuck, useless." Chained up and stuck..?

I slowly and painfully looked down at my paws, back to where I felt a light pressure of sorts, and I soon discovered the source. There were a few white-colored cylindrical shapes tightly grasping the lower parts of my legs, connecting to a blue chain that was dug into the ground thoroughly, allowing me a bit of leeway to move, but it wasn't like I could use it. My muscles were still out of the question for usage, not unless I wanted to make it even harder for me to move later on.

One of my least favorite pokemon on the planet walked in front of me, and crouched to be at my eye-level. He still had the same insulting expression on his face, which made me want to growl at him. He looked just as I saw him last, bringing up more memories I would rather not look back on. I couldn't think of him without accompanying it with Naru feeling miserable, so needless to say, I tried to keep him as far away from my head as possible. "Still think I can't do anything to you? Still think you're above me?" His smile grew creepily, but I still wasn't intimidated. He's… actually with the Void now? He's more of an idiot than I thought…

I really wanted to say something to him, but I couldn't, not without looking even more lowly than I already did at the moment. I wanted to push myself off of the ground, but at the same time, didn't want to risk failing, and give this guy the satisfaction of seeing me in that kind of state. I had many questions for him that I wanted answered, but it didn't look like I was going to get the chance to ask, uness that delphox came back to translate my thoughts. "Do you still think I'm someone to be tossed aside, to be ignored?" Yes, I do. "The pokemon here have given me something very special, something I want to use on you!"

Without warning, the hitmonchan plunged his fist into my head, which made my ears ring, and wildly slid me back, causing the chains to roughly tug on my body, combining my burning from earlier with an extreme ache in my head. I bit my lip hard, adding to my pain even more, but it was better than letting him see me scream, which I was very tempted to do after the impact. I instinctively curled up a bit, refusing to make a sound of any kind. Why did that… hurt so much coming from him..?

I slowly turned my head up, every movement worsening my now evident headache, only to see the same guy, laughing in hysterics. "This is great! You're helpless!" He calmed his laughing down a little. "You can't even speak, can you? You can't do anything at all! You're useless!" I wanted to get up and talk back to him, I really did, but I was still unable to. I couldn't make a noise, I couldn't really move, I really was useless.

"This is priceless! I want to hurt you more, but I was ordered not to, it's so hard to hold back!" He was ordered not to..? Why..? I was only able to glare at him as he had a field day, watching me in pain. As humiliating as it was, so long as I didn't give him the satisfaction of seeing me lose it, I didn't care. My mind was solely on the topic of thinking of a method to get away. I would need to heal at least a little, but if pokemon like him continued to come in and perform acts like this, that would be difficult.

"Your name is Kuro, right? That's what I heard the pathetic glaceon call you." He spoke through his amusement, and through my angered glare. "As soon as you can talk, I want to hear you tell me how you feel, how it feels to be useless, to not be able to do a thing, to dread what's to come while you're stuck here, knowing there's others like me who are ready to bring you pain, I want to know all of it!" Like I would ever tell you.

"Hey, why don't I give you even more to think about?" He leaned closer to me, right in my face, putting his hand over my head. "You know where I'm going right after this? Right to your home, in order to have fun with your partner." In one sentence, he managed to make my blood boil twice as much as before. I swear…

"I can't wait to wrap my hands around her throat until she can't take it anymore, I'll make sure she suffers as much as possible before she dies." My rings swiftly lit up. "And who knows? Maybe I'll even take her back here and let you watch! I've never killed anyone before, It'll be amazing for her to be my first kill! And to work on torturing you as well!" I started to put pressure on my paws, and let myself growl. "I saw before that you and her were a lot stronger than me, but that's not the case anymore thanks to my gifts! I'll have no problem cracking her spine! And less so ebbing her life away! I can't wa-"

I lunged forward and harshly latched my jaw onto his arm, biting into it as much as I Could, getting a screech in response from him. I tasted his blood flow into my mouth, and I honestly couldn't care about the iron-like taste, or the fact that the sudden movement on my part made my body double in scalding heat. I felt my fangs contact his bone, and I kept increasing my force, more and more, slowly breaking through his flesh, listening to his screaming. I was struck in the head once more, which caused me to fly back again, but I didn't detach myself, I took a large chunk of his flesh with me.

After I slid across the dirt ground again, feeling my pain intensify, I spit out the portion of his arm that I ripped off, and also released the blood I had in my mouth into a small puddle right beside me. I took a few heavy breaths, still listening to the painful grunts and groans coming from the hitmonchan, which I didn't hate hearing. I felt my throat burn up immensely, but I could care less at this point. I took one more breath, and locked my eyes on him again, grasping his arm, which was quickly pouring crimson liquid.

"I-I swear... " My voice was barely decipherable, it was scratchy, hoarse, and quiet. "I-If you even… t-touch her… I-I'll make… s-sure you regret it…" I felt my body slump down again, and I closed my eyes.

The movements I made drained me, due to their swift and sudden nature. The pain in my body flooded me, and I slowly lost consciousness.

Hello Readers!

I hope all of you are well! Another rather slow update, but the chapter is out regardless, so that's good! I'll try my best to keep up with some consistency in the future! I promise!

Also, to the person who left a review saying I need to see a therapist, I totally agree! My mind is so far gone it's scary! But that's who I am!

I also want to suggest something that a lot of other writers do, but hey, I've never been the most creative. :p If anyone wants to send in some questions, via review or PM, about any of the characters or myself, I'll put it somewhere in the chapter that goes up! Probably in the author's note, or at the very beginning, either way, I'll put them in! (You may remain anonymous if you so desire)

Thanks you to everyone who sends me a message or leaves a review, they all mean a ton to me and I love reading them! Even ones saying I need to see a therapist! Thank you to my beta reader for cleaning up my chapters so they're not so typo heavy! (8-BitUmbreon)

See You Next Chapter!