Day 12: Doesn't Make Sense
Alain woke the next morning on a bench in the training room. What am I doing here? he wondered.
Charizard leaned into his line of vision and nudged him. "Char," it growled.
The events of last night flooded back into his mind. That's right, I came down here to train. I guess I fell asleep at some point.
"Char!" Charizard growled louder than before.
"What?" Alain asked his Pokemon.
Charizard raised it's head and looked pointedly at the analog clock over the training room door. It read seven fifty-eight.
Seven fifty-eight. He had two minutes to be out in the courtyard!
Jumping up from the bench, he recalled Charizard and raced out the door and out into the courtyard, running a hand through his hair in an attempt to make it look like he hadn't just woken up. Astrid, Gordon, Carl, and Jacklyn were already assembled outside, but the Elite Four were no where to be seen. Neither was Steven. Neither was Zara.
"What's going on?" he asked Gordon as he approached the group.
"Where have you been?" Gordon asked him, surprise evident on his face.
Alain grunted irritably and turned to Carl. "What's going on?" he repeated.
"What happened to you? We thought you were missing too!" Carl said, confused.
"Too?" Alain echoed, completely baffled. "Will someone please explain what is going on?" he demanded.
"The Champion and the Elite Four are looking for Zara," Astrid said. "Steven Stone came outside this morning and told the Elite Four something about she was missing."
"And good riddance!" Jacklyn added spitefully.
Alain could only stare at Astrid, dumbfounded. "Where is she now?" he forced out, his voice not wanting to cooperate with him. Shock resonated through him.
"I don't know," Astrid answered. "I'm only repeating what I heard them saying. Steven did have something in his hand when he came out, but I have no idea what it was. Might have been something of hers he found."
"They've been searching for her for almost an hour," Carl commented as he looked at his watch. "Get the feeling that means they aren't having any luck."
"Hope she's alright," Gordon mumbled.
"Why aren't you looking for her too?" Alain asked, still having to force the words out.
"Sidney said to stay here. He said he would be back in a few minutes to start the battles, but clearly he didn't mean it," Jacklyn said irritatedly.
"Oh, be quiet Jacklyn," Astrid said. "That isn't helping anyone."
Alain couldn't believe it. What had happened to Zara?
I swore I would protect her...
Don't go jumping to conclusions, his mind told him, you have no idea why or where she's gone. She could have just fallen asleep somewhere other than her room, and hasn't woken up yet.
And Steven can't find her? This place isn't that big.
She might be hiding.
Why? Wait, she was attacked by a Pokemon yesterday...
You don't know that. There was no sign of a fight in that training room.
Well, what else would she be hiding from?
...Jacklyn?
I have to find out what happened to her, who's been attacking her.
...Please let her be okay.
Just then, Lysander walked into the courtyard.
"Good morning," he greeted the students. No one replied, and everyone had a solemn face. "Why the long faces?" he asked.
"Zara's missing," Carl answered. "And we thought Alain was too, but he's here now."
"Where were you, anyway?" Astrid asked.
Alain dragged himself back to reality. "I fell asleep in one of the training rooms last night."
"Why were you in there?" Gordon asked.
"Couldn't sleep."
"I hear you," Carl said. "I think we all had a rough night, worrying about the competition."
That wasn't what I meant, Alain thought. His dream from last night came back to him and he shuddered inwardly.
"Do any of you know where she went?" Lysander asked.
"Not a clue," Astrid answered. "We didn't even know she was gone untill about an hour ago."
"Good riddance, I say," Jacklyn said spitefully again.
Alain clenched his hands into fists, then reached out and grabbed Jacklyn's arm. He pulled her to where she was facing him, then growled, "Stop saying that, Jacklyn, or I will wring your neck." Every ounce of anger he felt at himself he poured into his words and expression. In response, Jacklyn recoiled and tried to twist her way out of his grip. Alain tightened his hold untill Jacklyn whimpered in pain. "Got it?" he growled.
Jacklyn nodded, her eyes wide.
Alain released her arm, and threw it away from himself. Jacklyn stumbled and fell, clutching her arm to her chest. She glared at Alain, but he refused to look up at her. Instead he kept his eyes on his boots.
"Alain," Astrid said carefully, "what was that for?"
Alain took a deep breath and backed up till he was standing next to Lysander. "It's none of your business." To be honest, he wasn't sure. He really did feel like wringing Jacklyn's neck for what she had done to Zara yesterday, but he wanted to protect Zara too. And that included protecting her from insults.
Astrid glanced at Carl, who shrugged back at her. Silence fell over the courtyard.
Lysander finally broke the silence with, "No one has seen her since yesterday?"
"No," Gordon answered.
"She was in her room all of yesterday afternoon," Carl added.
"The Champion has not found her yet?" Lysander pressed on.
"Not that we know of. We've all been out here, waiting for them to get back," Astrid answered.
"Which doesn't look like it's going to be any time soon," Jacklyn mummbled.
Suddenly, Sidney came through the back door of the courtyard. He was shaking his head anxiously.
"Did you find her?" Astrid asked.
Sidney fixed her with a stare so full of sadness, Alain knew what the answer was. "None of you has any idea where she could have gone, do you?"
"What do you mean, 'where she could have gone,'?" Alain asked firmly. Beside him, Lysander shifted closer to him, but he ignored it.
Sidney hestitated, then face-palmed and sighed defeatedly. "Me and my big mouth. You might as well know. Zara left the school last night."
"She what!" Carl exclaimed.
"Why?" Astrid questioned.
"Where did she go?" Gordon asked.
Sidney held up his hand to quiet them. "I don't know. I was hoping one of you might be able to answer that last question for me. You see, she left us this note," and he held up a crumpled sticky note, "that tells us she was leaving. We've watched all the security footage we have of the entire place, and we can't find any footage that shows her leaving. We have no idea where to even start looking. Of course, Zara knew where all the cameras were installed, so it is possible she slipped our without being recorded. However, that doesn't help us in trying to find her. I came out here to ask all of you to read the note and see if it reminds you of anything she said, absolutely anything, that might give us a hint where to go."
"Okay," Astrid said, and Gordon and Carl nodded. The three of them stepped closer to Sidney, and Carl took the note from him.
Alain took a step toward Sidney, intent on reading the note, but a hand reached out and stopped him. Lysander drew him back and whispered to him, "You shouldn't need to read the note."
"Sir? Why not? What if I can help them find her?" Alain whispered back.
"You shouldn't know about anything she has said recently at all. Unless, you haven't been obeying my orders about staying away from her."
Alain hesitated for a long moment, then answered, "Sir." Guilt burned inside him, but Lysander was right. He wouldn't know anything that could help because he'd been trying to stay away from her. Follow orders, and then Mairin will smile again.
Lysander nodded his approval, and smiled ever so slightly.
The side door of the courtyard swung open just then, and the rest of the students came strolling outside from the cafeteria.
"That doesn't look like battling to me!" Tracy shouted across the field. "What's up?"
"Zara's gone, and we're trying to help find her," Gordon called back to her.
Suddenly, a high-pitched "What!" ripped through the calm, and Wally ran out of the crowd and up to Sidney. "Where's Zara? Where did she go? What happened?" he demanded.
"I don't know, kid," Sidney answered quietly. He tried to lay a hand on Wally's shoulder, but Wally brushed it off.
"You're an Elite Four member, it can't be that hard for you to find her. So where is she?" he demanded again. Tears were starting to sparkle in the corners of his eyes, but he blinked hard to get rid of them.
"We're trying, Wally, believe me we are," Sidney answered. He sounded close to tears himself. "Maybe you can help. Here," and he held out the note to Wally, "Read this and see if it tells you anything."
The green haired trainer took the note. "Anything about Zara?"
"Anything about where she might have gone," Astrid corrected gently.
Wally stared at the note for a long time before he handed it back. "No, it doesn't," he said quietly.
"It doesn't for me either," Carl added.
"Me either," Gordon said.
"Me either," Astrid finished.
Wally sniffed and a tear ran down his cheek. He quickly swipped it away.
"Why would she just leave in the middle of the night?" Tracy asked.
Alain listened harder. That was exactly the question he was wondering.
"So no one would see her leave," Sidney answered.
"Well, yeah, but why wouldn't you want anyone to see you leave?" Tracy went on.
"So you wouldn't be stopped," Carl answered. "I don't understand why she would leave in the first place. She was doing so well in the competition."
"Maybe she had an emergency to attend to," Alex offered.
"And she wouldn't tell the Champion about it first?" Sidney asked sceptically.
"Maybe she thought she'd be back by now," Alex continued.
"The note says she wasn't planning on coming back," Astrid said.
Silence fell. Alain racked his brain for any reason Zara would leave, but nothing occured to him. They're all right, Zara would never leave without telling anyone why unless she had a very good reason.
Just forget about it. You can't help them look for her anyway. You have orders to carry out, and Mairin to worry about. Forget about Zara and leave it up to the Elite Four and the Champion. They'll be able to find her...
...But I promised I would keep her safe!. Ugh, why can't I help them look and complete my mission for Lysander too?
"Well," Sidney said, "I didn't come out here to get all of you upset. I came out to start today's battles. Does anyone want to go first?"
"I do," Alain answered immediately. Anything to distract me.
"I will too," Gordon said.
"Okay, head to your trainer's boxes," Sidney instructed. Both trainers headed onto the field and stood in a box. Sidney came up to the side of the field and began to state the rules. "Are you both ready?" he finished.
"Ready," both trainers replied.
"Then battle begin!" Sidney shouted, throwing his hand down.
"Charizard, let's go!" Alain cried, throwing Charizard's pokeball. The Flame Pokemon burst onto the field in a vibrant flash of white light. Charizard turned to look back at him, its eyes sad. It growled meaningfully at him, and Alain wasn't sure what to say to it. "What?" he finally asked, his tone gruff. Charizard just looked away.
"Glalie, let's put up a fight!" Gordon shouted, and threw his own pokeball. Glaile burst out and hovered over the field, its expression impassible.
Alain took a deep breath and pushed every troubled thought to the back of his mind, forcing himself to focus on the battle ahead. "Keystone, respond to my heart. Charizard, Mega Evolve!" He touched his keystone, and it reacted with Charizard's Mega Stone. Charizard roared as it Mega Evolved.
"Glaile, show them your power! Mega Evolve!" Gordon cried. Glalie's Mega Stone reacted with Gordon's keystone, and the Face Pokemon Mega Evolved.
"Charizard, use Dragon Claw!" Alain ordered. Charizard took to the air and charged Glalie.
"Use Crunch!" Gordon commanded. Glalie zipped forward its teeth glowing with energy. ChaeiArd swipped at it with its Dragon Claw, but missed, and Glalie bit down on the Dragon Claw with its Crunch. An explosion sounded, and both Pokemon fell back.
"Now use Flamethrower!" Alain shouted.
"Dodge it!" Gordon shouted.
Glalie floated out of the Flamethrower's path and off to Charizard's side.
"Now get above them and use Blizzard!" Gordon shouted.
Glalie zoomed above Charizard, and charged a Blizzard attack. Charizard tried to turn and follow it, but wings just can't manuver you through the air the way levitation can. The Blizzard slammed down at Charizard from above it.
"Dodge it!" Alain shouted.
Charizard quickly barrel rolled to the right and avoided the Blizzard.
"Now Dragon Claw!" Alain ordered.
Charizard surged upward at Glalie, it's claws glowing green.
"Intercept with Blizzard!" Gordon commanded.
Glalie began charging the attack, but I wasn't fast enough, and Charizard raked it's claws down Glalie's face. The Ice type gave an angry roar, faltered mid-air, but didn't fall. Seconds after it had taken the attack, it recovered and zipped up above Charizard. With a roar, it released its Blizzard attack.
"Intercept with Flamethrower!" Alain ordered.
Charizard blasted a hole through the middle of the Blizzard, searing Glalie with its flames. However, the rest of the Ice type attack struck its wings and tail, causing bits of ice to form there. Charizard's wings buckled under the extra weight of the ice, and it plumeted out of the sky. When it struck the ground, it kicked up a huge cloud of dust.
"Quick Glalie, use Earthquake!" Gordon shouted.
Glalie levetated downward untill it hovered just above the ground, then slammed its body against the dirt. Shock waves spread out from around it, and the ground started to shake. When the waves reached Charizard, it roared in pain.
"Charizard, get into the air!" Alain cried.
When the tremors stopped, Charizard flared its wings and launched itself into the air. It was breathing hard, but otherwise showed no signs of injury.
"Use Flamethrower!" Alain ordered.
"Get out of its way, Glalie!" Gordon countered.
Charizard charged Glalie, a torrent a fire leaving its mouth, but Glalie only zipped away from it. Every time Charizard closed, Glalie would make a sharp and unexpected turn, and leave Charizard behind. Finally, Charizard gave up and landed in front of Alain. Glalie followed suit, coming to float in front of Gordon.
"Use Earthquake!" Gordon commanded.
"Fly up, Charizard!" Alain ordered.
Charizard launched itself off the ground again, as Glalie slammed its body against the ground. The Flame Pokemon avoided the Ground type move entirely, and it was poised to strike Glalie.
"Use Dragon Claw!" Alain ordered.
Tucking its wings in, Charizard went into a dive. It struck Glalie across the face once again with its Dragon Claw, and the Face Pokemon cried out angrily.
"Use Crunch!" Gordon commanded.
As Charizard swept past Glalie after it struck it, Glalie lurched forward and Crunched down on Charizard's tail. Now it was Charizard's turn to roar in pain, but instead of bitting and immediatly letting go, Glalie held on to Charizard's tail.
"Good job, Glalie, now sling it!" Gordon shouted.
Glalie gave on hard tug on Charizard's tail, then began to zip around in a tight circle. It began to spin Charizard around and around by its tail, then let go. Charizaid went flying head first toward the back wall. It flailed a bit, and manage to get its arms and legs out in front of it to protect itself before it crashed. Dust flew up around it when it hit the wall.
Alain watched Charizard crash with dull eyes. This is too easy...it isn't distracting me at all. "Use Dragon Claw!"
The dust settled in seconds, revealing Charizard standing and its claws flashing from finishing a Dragon Claw. Deep gashes marked the wall where it had crashed.
"What?" Gordon exclaimed. "It blocked itself from the crash?"
Charizard lifted off the ground and flew over Alain's head. It landed on the field directly in front of its trainer.
"Use Blast Burn!" Alain said.
"Intercept with Sheer Cold!" Gordon countered.
Charizard punched the ground, it's body surrounded by a flaming aura. The ground around it began to break up into chunks with intense heat pouring from between them. Glalie lowered itself to the ground and surrounded itself with a pale blue aura. The ground around it began to freeze, steadly becoming covered with a thick layer of ice. Both moves collided and struggled to overpower the other. It didn't take long for Charizard's Blast Burn to win out. The Fire type move swept over the ice covered field and straight up to Glaile, exploding underneath it.
A wave of smoke washed over Alain, and he struggled to see through it. When it cleared, Glaile lay on the ground with swirls in its eyes. It flashed and reverted to its normal form.
"Glaile is unable to battle, so Charizard wins. Therefore the victory goes to Alain!" Sidney announced.
Alain recalled Charizard and left the field without a word to Gordon. Zara's gone. I have to make sure she's alright. But Mairin's waiting for Chespie to get better back in Kalos. I have to finish my mission. I have to keep gathering Mega Evolution energy. These thoughts struggled inside him untill he felt ready to scream.
"Do you want to battle next, or do you want Gordon to?" Sidney asked him. The question only barely registered in Alain's mind.
"Gordon," he answered distractedly. He glanced around the field, searching for anything to get his mind off its troubled train of thought. But Lysander had already left, and there was no one else Alain felt like talking to. I feel like talking to Zara, he thought, but quickly buried the thought. It hurt too much to think about.
He wandered out of the courtyard and into the hallways, only partially aware of his surroundings. In truth, nothing around him mattered to him.
I swore I would protect her. I swore it! Now she's gone. I have no idea where she is or if she's safe. I will never see her again. I'll never be able to ask her why she was so angry at me. Never be able to tell her I didn't lie to her.
Wherever she is, I hope she's safe and happy.
What made her leave? Why would she leave Steven and the Elite Four? Why would she leave Wally?
...Why would she leave me?
Alain clenched his fists and leaned heavily against the wall on his right. He pounded the wall angrily, and screwed his eyes shut. He wanted Zara back, he missed her, he cared about her. Possibly even...loved her. She was pretty, and smart, and talented, and funny. At least when she wasn't angry. She never seemed to be angry, or anything other than happy. Unless...
"Hold it right there," a voice said next to him.
Alain jumped slightly and jerked to face whoever had spoken. It was Wally. The young trainer had a very determined and slightly aggressive facial expression.
"What did you do to Zara?" Wally demanded.
"What?" Alain asked, confused.
"I said, what did you do to Zara?"
"Nothing. Leave me alone." Alain turned to walk away, but Wally quickly blocked his path.
"You may be stronger than me, but you don't scare me," Wally said firmly. "Zara said you lied to her about something. Tell me what it was and why she isn't here."
Alain had to admit, Wally was brave to make such an accusation. "I didn't lie to her about anything," he replied flatly.
"Then why did Zara say you did?" Wally pressed.
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I am not."
"Yes you are! Zara wouldn't lie to me, ever!" Wally shouted. He threw himself at Alain and began to pummel him with his fists. "Why did she leave?!" he shouted over and over. Every shout hurt Alain a lot more than all the punches combined. He didn't move, simply let Wally hit him. It reflected his mood perfectly.
When Wally grew tried, he pulled away from Alain and said coldly, "I know you did this. I'm going to find her, whether you tell me why she left or not!" And shooting Alain a final glare, he ran down the hall and around a corner.
I never lied to her about anything...I wouldn't. Why did she leave?
I wish I knew.
X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X
Zara cracked her eyes open groggily. Bright light filled her vision, but not the natural kind. The kind of light that comes from industrial strength light bulbs. Her head pounded like mad at the intrusion on her vision, and Zara screwed her eyes shut again.
"She's awake."
Those two words were more than enough to wake Zara up the rest of the way. She opened her eyes wide and looked up at the speaker. The woman with purple hair.
"We wondered if you would ever wake up, Sleeping Beauty," the woman taunted.
Every sense now fully alert, Zara tried to remember how she had gotten here. They must have grabbed me in the hall last night. I should have left sooner. I could have gotten away. I could have been safe.
"Not talking, are we?"
Zara's eyes darted around the room taking in her situation. She was sitting in a crude, heavy, wooden chair, her feet tied to the legs of said chair, her arms bound behind her. Judging by how much of the room she could see, she guessed she was up against the left wall of this room. The green haired woman stood off to to back of the room, behind several tables covered in glass vials, both full and empty, and various scientific instuments. She fiddled with her goggles every now and then, as if adjusting them in some way. Other than the tables that held the vials and such, and the chair she was tied to, the room was bare. No furniture, no wall decorations, no carpet, no windows even. Nothing but white walls and red clad people.
"What's the matter, girl? Litleo got your tongue?" Zara drew her attention back to the woman in front of her to see her reaching out a hand toward her face. Zara flinched away from her, turning her head to try and stay out of her reach, but the woman grasped her chin firmly and forced Zara to face her. "Say something," the woman demanded, "or are you mute? If your don't talk, there are other ways to find out." She slid her hand into her pocket and pulled out a pokeball, letting Zara watch it as it expanded in her hand.
"No, no, I can talk," Zara said in a very hurried and small voice. Whatever these other ways were, she didn't want to find out.
"That's better," the woman said. She put the pokeball back in her pocket and knelt down so that she was eye level with Zara. "You know, I don't believe we've met. My name is Celosia. What's yours?"
Zara wanted to shout at her that they had met, that she had murrdered her parents in cold blood, but all she could get out was a shaky, "Z-Zara."
"Zara," Celosia repeated slowly. "How old are you, Zara?"
"Seventeen, almost eighteen. What do you want with me?"
"I'll ask the questions. Now, do you know where your parents are?"
"Why?" Zara dared to ask.
Celosia looked ready to give a biting retort, but restrained herself. "It's a rather interesting story really. Perhaps you'd like to here it?"
Zara didn't really, but she figured it didn't matter what she wanted, so she nodded.
Celosia stood up and took a step backward. "You may not have realized this, Zara, when you heard us talking to your parents-"
So Alain told them my story too, Zara thought.
"-but we are a scientific organization that conducts research to improve the world. We came to your parents eight years ago with a business proposal. They had been conducting research on a certain mineral that, in its raw state, is completely harmless, but if altered in the right ways, could grant unlimited power to any Pokemon. They had found an entire deposit of this mineral. We came to them wanting to buy this mineral from them, and reached an agreement where they mined the mineral and gave it to us, for a handsome amount of money." The green haired woman bumped a vial on the table, and Celosia snapped at her, "Careful Bryony!"
Bryony only glared back at her and continued to adjust her goggles.
Celosia turned back to Zara. "Your parents helped us for several months. They supplied us with as much mineral as we asked for and we payed them well. Both sides were happy with the deal. Untill your parents started to ask questions. Too many questions. And they didn't seem to like the answers they received. At first all they did was ask, but steadily they began to offer us less and less mineral. They claimed their deposit was running dry. Eventually they stopped giving us any mineral whatsoever."
"And so you killed them," Zara finished for her.
"Unfortunately," Celosia said with a shrug, as if killing someone were no more important than throwing a pokeball. "They were stopping science and progress. But before we took care of them, we couldn't get them to tell us where the deposit was. We still need the mineral. Which is where you come in. Being related to them as you are, it naturally follows that you would know where the deposit is. We want to know."
Zara stared back at her, pale as a sheet. "I don't know," she forced out.
"Come now, that can't be true. You told Alain your parents conducted their research in your house. Surely they talked to you about it now and then."
I should never have told Alain anything, Zara thought. "No, they didn't," she forced out.
"You must know something about it," Celosia pressed. "Perhaps they had a map somewhere that marked its location, or something like that."
Zara closed her eyes and pretended to think very hard. "No, I don't think so," she finally said quietly.
"Well, think harder then!" Celosia snapped. She raised her hand to strike Zara, and Zara cowered away from her. " When you think of where the deposit is," Celosia said, lowering her hand, "be sure you tell us. It will shorten your stay here considerably." And without another word she joined Bryony at the tables and began talking to her in hushed whispers.
I have no idea where that mineral deposit is, Zara thought hopelessly, so I guess my stay here will last a long time.
Then another thought occurred to her. Where is here? Where am I?
Nothjng in the room offered her any clues. A bare room with white walls was something you could find pretty much anywhere. For all Zara knew, she could be tied up in Lysander Labs in the Kalos region. She had no idea how long she'd been out, so it was perfectly logical that she had been out long enough to make the entire flight to Kalos. If only there was a window in here! Then she could at least take an educated guess at the time and her location.
There was knock at the door, and Celosia and Bryony both looked up from their conversation. "Come in," Bryony said.
The door opened slowly, and Lysander stepped into the room. "Ah, so she is awake."
"She only just woke up, sir," Bryony stated.
Lysander stepped toward Zara, stopping about halfway between her and the door. "Have you explained what it is we want from her?" he asked Celosia.
"Yes, sir."
"And where is the deposit?"
"She refuses to say, sir," Celosia answered.
Lysander turned his cold gaze on Zara for a moment, studying her, then turned back to Bryony. "Have you finished your experiments?"
"Yes, sir. All of our remaining samples have been gathered and refined as far as possible. We cannot continue the refining process untill we have a larger piece of mineral, something for the smaller pieces to bind to. And we don't have one."
"Have you searched her?"
"Not yet. I only recently finished my call to Xerosic, so I've been trying to follow his instructions for the settings on these," and she tapped the rim of her goggles
"Do so now."
Bryony nodded and walked up to Zara. She stopped an arm's length away, and leaned in closer, tapping tye side of her goggles lightly. Zara heard a couple of soft beeps, thus she guessed Bryony was pushing some kind of buttons. She wished her legs weren't tied; Bryony was close enough she could have kicked her. Not that kicking her would have done Zara any good.
"Ah ha," Bryony said softly. She reached a hand out toward Zara, and Zara pulled away from her. "Now, now," Bryony said in a silky voice, "I'm not going to hurt you. Just hold still."
Zara still pulled away from her as much as her bonds would allow, but Bryony kept extending her arm untill she reached Zara's pocket. She slipped her hand inside and Zara felt her rumaging through the contents. Change, bottle caps, safety pins, and-Zara froze, remembering just what her pockts held, just as Bryony drew her hand out. In between her pointer finger and thumb she grasped Zara's mother's silver ring.
"No!" Zara snapped. "Give that back!"
"Here we are. A perfect sample," Bryony said. She tossed the ring to Celosia, who caught it in one hand and pried out the stone with a knife she held in her other hand. The stone clattered onto the table noisly, only to be snatched up by Bryony with a pair of tweezers. The two women set to work with their various scientific instruments, dunking the stone in first one solution, then another. In the commotion they made, neither of them noticed the stoneless ring fall to the floor.
Zara could only stare dumbly at the ring as it fell to the floor. My mother's ring... Suddenly rage boiled up inside her, and she lunged forward in her chair, straining against her bonds. The bonds didn't budge. She tried again, and nearly tipped the chair over.
"Be still over there!" Celosia commanded without looking up from her work.
Zara ignored her and continued her struggle to get free.
"You had best do as she says," Lysander told her. "Celosia is not a patient woman."
Zara paid him no mind. When she did finally succeed in tipping over the heavy chair, Celosia banged something metal she was holding down on the table and stormed over to Zara. She righted the chair and leaned down untill she was looking Zara in the eye. "I said, be still!" she hissed.
Zara didn't answer her, but she stared back defiantly, rage making her bolder.
Celosia studied her face for a moment before adding, "And if you don't, I'll make sure you never see these again." Out of her pocket she drew a belt with six pokeballs on it. Zara recognized them immediately. They were her Pokemon. Her eyes widened, and she quickly relinquished her defiant stare. "Good girl," Celosia said mockingly before placing the pokeballs on the nearest table, just out of Zara reach.
"How long will it take you to finish refining this?" Lysander asked.
"About ten hours," Bryony replied.
"Good. Keep working, and let me know as soon as you finish." And with that Lysander turned back toward the door. He turned the knob and opened it wide. As he stepped out, Zara leaned forward in her chair as far as she could and peered out the door.
What she saw shocked her.
Outside was a hallway with tile floors and clean white walls. But that wasn't the part that shocked Zara. What shocked her was the symbol painted above the door across the hall. The symbol of a Mega Stone and keystone. The symbol of the Mega Evolution Academy.
They never took me out of the School, Zara thought. I can escape! I could get out of here and get Steven! Wait, Steven! Maybe he can hear me from here! The door's wide open; why not?
Zara threw her head back and yelled as loud as she could, "Steven Stone! Help me!"
All three of the team members turned to stare at her, but none of them moved to quiet her. After the third yell, Zara stopped and started at them. She'd expected all of them to rush at her and try to cover the mouth or threaten her to make her be quiet. But doing nothing was the last thing she had expected.
Then it occurred to her, they had never gagged her to begin with. Surely they would have thought to do that... unless...they had some other way to keep sound from getting outside.
Celosia and Bryony looked at each other and smiled. Celosia walked slowly over toward the door, but when she reached the place where Lysander had been standing, she put out her hand and tapped against something. Suddenly the air around her hand seemed to distort a bit. "Soundproof force field," she said smugly. "No sound comes in, and no sound goes out, unless we allow it." And Bryony held up a small remote control.
Zara slumped in her chair and looked away from the women, trying to hide her face as tears formed in her eyes. That must be why Drake didn't hear her screaming yesterday. Meaning no one could possibly hear her now. She was powerless against them. They had her trapped, and there was no escape.
Why didn't I leave when I still could?
I'm trapped at my enemies mercy. No one knows where I am. No one can hear me calling for help. No one can hear me screaming from fear.
This is my worst nightmare...except I'm not dreaming.
"Now," Celosia said in a smooth voice, "I want you to tell me everything you know about the mineral deposit. It doesn't matter how long the story takes. We have plenty of time."
X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X
The day passed very slowly for Alain. Gordon had lost his second battle, against Astrid, thus Sidney had decided that a third battle was unnecessary. He had gone back to helping Steven search for Zara, and several of the students had started their own searches.
Unfortunatly for Alain, that meant he didn't have another battle left to distract him.
Ever since lunchtime, he'd been sitting in his room, thinking about Mairin and Zara. Protecting them both was his goal, but why did they have to conflict like this?
He wished that he had one of the girls here. They would probably help lighten his mood, with their carefree attitudes. Both always smiling.
Well, at least they were untill he told Mairin to leave him alone, which led to Chespie getting knocked out. And untill Zara told him he'd been lying to her about something, right after Celosia and Bryony arrived. What could she have been talking about?
He shoved the thoughts out of his mind and left his room. Nothing made sense anymore. Nothing except he knew he missed the people he loved.
Alain walked down the hall, going to the only place he thought he could find a decent distraction. Namely, the training rooms. However, he was so caught up in his own thoughts that when he rounded the corner to get to the stairs, he ran smack into Brittney.
"Whoa!" Brittney exclaimed, and staggered backward from the blow of colliding with Alain. "Careful there, please!"
"Sorry," Alain said absentmindedly.
Gordon ran up behind Brittney and grabbed her to keep her from falling. "You okay, Britt?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Though I think if I'd struck him any harder, I'd have a bruise bigger than the one Zara had," Brittney answered.
Alain's attention snapped to Brittney's face at the mention of Zara's name. "What did you say?"
"I said, I think if I struck you any harder, I'd have a bruise bigger than the one Zara had," Brittney repeated.
"Zara had a bruise?"
"Yeah, across her chest, like this," and Brittney ran her hand across the upper part of her chest, just below her shoulder blades. "It looked like someone hit her with a baseball bat."
"Where did she get it?" Alain asked urgently.
"I don't know," Brittney answered, "she kept spacing out and never told me."
"Why didn't she say anything about it to anyone else?"
"From the way she was staring at it, looked like she didn't know it was there till I pointed it out."
She was attacked by something! Alain thought. She wasn't making all up any stories at all. Which means there must be something in that training room that I missed.
Without another word, he raced past Brittney and Gordon, down the stairs, and into the training room he and Zara had been in yesterday.
"Charizard, let's go!" he cried, throwing Charizard's pokeball. The Flame Pokemon burst out and glanced around the room. After a moment, it walked up to a punching bag and swiped at it powerfully.
"We're not going to train this time, Charizard," Alain told it. "I need you to help me look for something, anything that would indicate there was a fight in here."
Charizard stared at him for a moment, and Alain was almost sure that it smiled, if only for a moment. Then it turned to the side of the room where Zara had been training with her Lairon and began searching. Alain joined it and began by looking at the punching bag Zara had been using.
The two searched for over an hour with no luck. Nothing in the enitre room had a single scratch on it, absolutely nothing. When Charizard started snorting smoke in frustration, Alain knew it was time to give up.
"Come on, Charizard," he said reluctantly, "Let's do some training."
Chairzard nodded at him and lumbered over to the other side of the room. Alain followed, letting his feet drag on the floor. His boots tapped out a steady rhythm on the floor.
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.
Then squeak.
Alain froze. Had he imagined it?
He sild his boot back over the spot he'd just stepped on.
Squeak.
Dropping to his knees, he inspected the spot on the floor carefully. Nothing looked out of the ordinary about it; it looked exactly like all the other tiles in the room, so it was no wonder no one had noticed it. But when he ran his hand over it, he could feel and area the size of your average desk top that was smoother than the rest of the the floor. Like someone had put and extra coat of finish on this one area.
But why would you do that...unless you were trying to cover up something else that was already there.
He scratched the spot with his thumbnail, but he didn't leave a single mark behind. There has to be something here, he thought desperately. Someone put this clear stuff here for a reason. If I can get it off the floor, I can find out why it was here in the first place.
He looked around for something he could us try and scratch the spot that would work better than his thumbnail. Then he remembered Charizard, and called his Pokemon over. "Charizard, use Dragon Claw on this spot," he commanded, tapping the place on the floor.
Charizard raised its claw, and when it turned green, sliced it across the floor. But, to Alain's surprise, even Charizard's claws didn't leave a scratch.
Alain stared at the spot for a minute, then growled in frustration and banged his fist against the floor. Charizard looked at the unscathed floor, then at its trainer, smacked its tail against the ground angrily, and blasted the floor with a Flamethrower. Alain had to jerk back to avoid getting singed.
"What was that for?" he asked his Pokemon.
Charizard stopped its Flamethrower and turned to look at him. "Char," it growled apologetically.
"Its fine. But next time..." Alain trailed off as his mind registered the floor in front of him. The place that had been glossy now lay blackened and smoking in front of him. Charizard's claws might not have affected the polish on the floor, but its fire certianly had. The polish had melted under its heat, leaving the floor beneath it completely visible, save for a few black blobs of melted goop. "...next time, do that again," Alain finished. He smiled a small smile, and Charizard growled happily.
Now that the polish was gone, Alain could see clearly what it had been put there to cover up. Scratches. Lots and lots of scratches. Some were as long as his arm other as long as a pencil, but the whole area that had been covered in polish was covered in scratches.
She was definately attacked, Alain thought decisively. Now I have to figure out by what or who?
There wasn't a soul Alain could think of that would want to hurt Zara. For that matter, even if there was someone who wanted to hurt her, Alain couldn't think of anyone who Zara would run away from if threatened by. Except...
His face hardened as the answer came to him. Team Magma.
Someone from that Team must have been sent here to try and capture her! Clearly their attempt had failed, but Zara must have been scare out of her wits. Alain had seen how she acted when she was only talking about the possibility of being attacked; if that was any indicator, she must have been terrified when she actually started being attacked. No wonder she ran away, he thought.
This answered the "by what or who" question, but it didn't tell him where she'd gone. Or if she was alright. Please let her have gotten somewhere safe and not have been captured be Team Magma or Courtney.
What am I thinking? Zara knows how to take care of herself. Wherever she went, she's propbably fine.
But you don't know that for sure...
He shook his head irritably. Even if she was fine, he'd never fine out if he didn't know where she went. And the easiest thing he could do to figure that out was read the note she left for Steven. Zara probably hadn't left any specific details as to where she had been headed, but the note might at least give him an idea of where to start. And it might also confirm or refute his concusion that it was Team Magma she was running from.
He stood up, recalled Charizard, and marched, determined, out of the training room. Purpose filled him, the same kind of purpose he'd felt when he'd left Lysander Labs on his mission for Mega Evolution energy. A surge of energy and passion raced through him as he reached the stairs, and he tore up them two at a time, blind to the many stares he received.
He cleared the top step and was tearing down the third story hall, when he heard a voice calling his name.
"Alain!" It was unquestionably Lysander.
Alain reluctantly stopped and turned to face the tall red head. "Sir?"
"Where are you going in such a hurry, Alain?" Lysander asked.
"To find Steven. I found traces of a fight in the training room Zara was in yesterday, and I think I know what happened to her, but I need to read the note she left him to be sure," Alain answered, shifting anxiously from one foot to the other. He expected Lysander to let him go find Steven right away.
It truly surprised him, then, when Lysander said, "No."
Alain stared at him in confusion. "But Sir, I think-"
"I don't care what you think," Lysander said with an unusually cold voice, "you are not to read that note."
"But Sir-"
"No but's, Alain. Do not read that note. That is an order."
Alain closed his mouth helplessly.
"I hope I make myself clear, Alain." Lysander said firmly. Without another word, he strode back down the hall, where Alain noticed Celosia and Bryony were waiting for him. When Lysander reached them, Alain saw them exchange a few words and then Celosia turned and went downstairs.
Now what am I supposed to do? Alain thought as he watched them go. He kept his head down, staring at the floor in anger and confusion, his fists clenched at his sides. I have to find Zara. I have to make sure she's alright. But I have to follow Lysander's orders, or Mairin might never smile again.
What do I do? I don't want to lose either of them.
He raised his head and squared his jaw. I tell Steven what I've found.
Wait, I can't. If I tell him that I think she's running from Team Magma, I'll have to explain why I think that. So I'll have to tell him Zara's story. And I promised I wouldn't.
Isn't this a worthy exception? his mind thought.
Alain weighed his options, but as he did, the thought of Zara's devistated face at hearing he'd told Lysander her story surfaced in his head. No, he thought decisively, I can't tell. If she is fine, wherever she is, and I tell Steven, and she finds out, she'll never have anything to do with me again. I already broke my promise to her once; I won't do it again.
Well, even if I can't read the note, I can still find Steven and see if he's found anything that might tell me where she went.
Walking to Steven's room, he knocked, but when he didn't recieve an answer, headed back downstairs and continued searching. He finally found him just as the whistle was blowing for supper. The Hoenn Champion was staring at a wall full of computer monitors, searching though hours of recordings.
When Steven didn't notice Alain walk in, he cleared his throat. Steven's head shot up at the sound, and he turned quickly toward the doorway. As soon as his full face was visible, more guilt washed over Alain. Steven's eyes were bloodshot, and had dark circles underneath them. His jaw was squared, his mouth set in a worried frown. He looked completely exhausted, but clearly was to worried and determined to stop searching.
"Oh, hello, Alain. Can I help you?" Steven said as soon as he noticed him. His voice sounded hoarse.
"I just wondered if you'd found her yet," Alain asked.
Steven sighed. "Not yet, I'm afraid." He turned back to the monitors. "I've been looking though the security footage from last night all day, and I haven't found a trace of her leaving. It's like she turned herself invisible to avoid being seen."
Alain nodded, but said nothing.
"You don't have any idea where she could have gone, do you?" Steven asked him.
Alain shook his head. It's true, I don't have any idea where she's gone. And by that, I'm guessing neither does Steven.
Steven sighed again. "Well, thank you anyway."
Alain silently turned and left the room. He plodded into the cafeteria and sat alone. He managed to eat somthing, but he wasn't sure what it was. Everything tasted the same, and it all stuck in his throat.
When he reached his bedroom, Gordon was already there, asleep and snoring louder than an Exploud shouts. Alain showered and lay down on his bed. He threw a pillow over his head to keep out the noise, but he knew it would be a long time before he fell asleep. And not beause of the snoring.
Feelings and thoughts swirled around in his mind like a hurricane, threatening to spill over into any of a dozen emotions.
Protect Mairin. You would give anything for Mairin. Heal Chespie. See her smile again. Fix your mistake. Don't lose her. She's not that irritating. She makes you happy.
Protect Zara. Find her. She can handle herself. Explain you didn't lie. She already hates you. Don't lose her. You would give anything up for Zara. She makes you smile. She doesn't want you around. Read her note. You know you can't live without knowing she's safe. She's gone forever.
Forever. Alain felt like crying at that. He never cried. No, no!
Please someone help me figure this out.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Well guys, I hope I'm stil doing a good job with this story. I keep getting the feeling that I'm not keeping Alain in character properly, but perhaps I'm just overthinking it. Is there anything else I need to improve on? Zara's character? Clarity in the story line? Wordiness?
Please review and let me know!
