"Earliest memory?" Meilin asked, appearing spooked by the girl's words.
"This… I was practically still in diapers, yet somehow the memory of this place stayed with me the entire time," the sorcerous explained softly. "Then again, after what happened here, I'm not entirely surprised."
They could hear it in her voice, showing how uncomfortable she was being here.
"This used to be a hotel, or was going to become one eleven years ago," Tori started softly.
He placed his hands on his sister's shoulders, an attempt to calm her down as her body trembled.
"Going to be?" Ruby asked warily, concern showing in her features as she looked the place over.
"Somehow an electrical fire broke out, almost like something or someone cut the wires and left them as is so it would be active still," the teenager explained, his grip on his sister's shoulders tightening slightly. "A lot of people were there to watch the opening ceremony. Our parents took us there to watch it since there was word of games and activities for children, so knew it wouldn't be completely boring."
"Only we ended up watching it fall into a burning blaze," the younger sibling stated almost coldly at the memory. "Five people died trying to put the blaze out, but nothing could stop it… Nothing but a freak storm did…"
"Freak storm?"
"We were just dealing with a drought, then suddenly, as if nature wanted to help, a rainstorm appeared. What the firefighters couldn't do, the storm did in finally putting the flames out."
"I remember reading about it in the papers," Yelan muttered when recalling the incident. "It was one of the strangest fires in recorded history because of how it happened followed by the chance of such a rainstorm happening. It couldn't have been a coincidence, no matter what any expert may say. Gods-dammit! I should have realized it that day."
"What do you mean?" Madison asked, arms wrapped around herself as she trembled at the memory, clearly recalling it.
"That date is exactly the same as when Meilin-chan's house mysteriously burned to the ground, forcing her family to move closer to my estate."
"What?" the others gasped as they looked at the younger girl, seeing her look away, recalling that memory.
"It was also the same day I almost lost my son," the woman stated, her voice cracking only slightly.
However, just as soon as it happened, she pulled herself together, more so as the boy froze, as if he now recalled the memory.
"Li-kun?" Sakura asked as she looked at her boyfriend, seeing his whole body shake in absolute terror.
"I…I remember… I thought I pushed it out. I didn't want to deal with the nightmares anymore," the boy stuttered, falling to his knees, his body shaking harder and harder as more came back.
He felt tears stinging his eyes as he grabbed at his hair, trembling so visibly, as if he might be close to passing out.
"Li-kun!" the girl cried out, breaking out of her brother's grip, rushing to is side, fearing for his safety as she wrapped an arm around him.
"I…I was really little. Okāsan… She and my sisters were going out of town, but couldn't take me with them nor leave me with the servants. They left me at a private daycare until they got back, believing I'd be safer. But hours before they were due to come home… That's when it happened."
"What happened?" Eli asked, his earlier fear dissipating.
Instead, he was looking quite alarmed over the boy's actions.
He has seen the boy look scared, but never this badly, let alone for himself.
"Men on their way to execution escaped their prison bus and held themselves up in the daycare Li was in. They murdered all the adults and several older children who tried to escape. The rest were held hostage by means to negotiate an escape," the boy's mother explained, closing her eyes, disturbed by the memory.
The others could only stare in horror at what they heard, looking between the two, finding no signs of either lying about it.
"They…they killed kids around me, killing one every hour if the police didn't react. A single bullet in each head or chest," the boy stated, leaning against his girlfriend's shoulders.
Squeezing his eyes shut, his body shook harder, taking shaky breaths, the memory raw in his mind even after all these years.
"The police aren't sure what happened, but a strange electrical discharge occurred in there. It had somehow struck the men only, sparing Li and the surviving children," the woman explained, kneeling next to the two.
Her once stoic face was replaced with agonizing fear and sorrow, obviously upset over what happened years ago.
"That…that isn't the whole story," the boy stated softly.
His voice slowly regained its strength as he pulled away from Sakura's embrace, looking ashamed of what he was saying.
"What are you saying?" the boy's mother asked. "What else could have happened in there? What did you hide from me?"
"It wasn't just some electrical discharge, I know what caused it!" the boy cried out, looking at his parent with such fear. "I…I knew no one would believe me if I told the police. I was just a little kid; they would just chalk it up as trauma or something and try to have me put onto pills if I tried to say otherwise."
"Then what caused the discharge if it hadn't been accidental?" Eli asked, concern showing for the other's well-being.
"I don't know what it was, but it looked like some strange cat or tiger with huge fangs. It was mostly yellow and white. I think it also had a purple mane or something along the back…and that's about as much as I can remember. Moment it showed up outside the rear window, the lights went crazy. It was as if that thing forced the electricity out, saving us."
"So a saber-toothed tiger saved your life?" Tori asked in near disbelief.
"It's the truth!" the boy shrieked, unable to keep himself in check as he glared at the older male, tears showing at the edge of his eyes. "Even then, I found I had some weird power, only showing when I was truly, truly scared…"
Having him admit it, his head hung low, tear droplets falling as his shoulders shook heavily, the others jumping when small sparks of electricity danced off his body.
"Why didn't you tell me? You could've hurt yourself or others even!" the boy's mother scolded before Meilin interrupted.
"I don't blame him… I wasn't entirely truthful about how the house burned down. You see, I saw a cat like beast too, but more lion like or maybe even a little dog, I don't really remember. When it showed up, the oven burst into flames, burning our home to the ground just like that."
"Meilin-chan…" Li whimpered softly, unable to stop himself as he stared at his cousin, somehow knowing what she was going to say next.
"After that…I know you guys say I'm short tempered, but…but I found when I'm angry. Not childish anger like you've seen, but true anger, I somehow can create fire practically out of nothing. I discovered it when I heard some kids picking on you once, picking on your family. I got so mad… I'm just lucky no one saw."
Upon saying this, she held out her hand after picking up a completely soaked piece of wood.
In mere seconds, the lumber instantly burst into flames, as if it made direct contact with magma.
"Shit!" Tori cursed as he jumped in fright, looking between the two.
"I don't know how or why, but something, like a voice in the back of my head said no one should see. It told me that no one would understand, magical or not. It guided me on how I can control this strange power, to keep myself from burning things accidentally. But I also had to control it where I could still get burned if I was near fire or something just as hot."
Glancing at the boy, they could see him agreeing, clearly showing he too had some voice giving him the same commands.
"Sakura-chan, did…did something like that happen with you?" Julian asked towards the girl, seeing her look away in shame.
"I don't really remember what I saw, but I believe it was some sort of blue and purple wolf with a crown or something on its head."
"So the three of us saw something then?"
"Hai."
"What about any mysterious powers?"
"It was sometime after the fire ended, when things were starting to get back to normal," Sakura began before pausing, as if afraid to continue. "There were some kids trying to bully me and Tori-O nīchan. He was walking me home from preschool; it was sometime after Okāsan had died."
"What'd they do?"
"I remember part of it," the older sibling spoke up. "They started harassing us; they were quite a few grades older than us, middle school, maybe just starting high school. Sakura started crying, thinking she saw a ghost and they teased her for it. I told them to leave her alone and they started pounding on me."
As he explained, he rubbed his arm, obviously showing they must've broken it, the memory making him uncomfortable.
"Hai… After they broke your arm and you passed out from the pain…" the younger sibling added solemnly.
Hearing her like that, it unnerved the group, even Eli, having never recalled anything in Clow Reed's memories. There was no signs of such a horrible encounter with her, if there was, he was sure his ancestor would've done something to help.
He partly wondered if this had to do with the pure magic, whatever is attacking them, it having somehow blocked that out to avoid her getting help.
The thought alone sent a terrible tremor through him, that feeling of helplessness threatening to consume him.
He nearly leapt out of his skin the young sorcerous began speaking again, his attention drawn to her every word.
"I don't know how…but I managed to make the puddles that were around us from a recent storm react. It scared most of the bullies off, seeing the water take on their forms, scaring them. The others that weren't scared off, they tried to fight them off until…"
"Until what?"
"Until I did this…" she answered, lifting her arm up. "It was enough to scare them off finally, to leave us alone."
They watched in twisted awe as the limb slowly bubbled before melting without dropping to the ground.
Soon enough, the flesh, bone, tissue, everything up to her elbow became liquefied, becoming clear and pure; it was like looking into a pristine lake.
They couldn't believe she was able to do something like this, not even Li and Meilin capable of that when asked.
"I remember you telling me that. I wasn't sure if you were telling the truth until you showed me," Tori sighed as he hugged his sister when the limb returned to normal, obviously not disturbed.
"I just wanted to protect you, seeing how you were hurt, not just from those bullies, but losing Okāsan too. I don't know why, but it was like I had to protect you, it somehow helped me control water."
"I know, I know," he soothed, rubbing her back as she softly cried into him.
"Sakura-chan, if she's able to control water…does that mean she's not affected by any form of water then?" Meilin asked, the others staring at her. "Is she like Li-kun and I, unaffected by that very element?"
"Hai…" he answered for his sister. "I don't know if Sakura had a voice telling her that what she did wasn't considered normal or not, but I knew it wasn't. I was scared of losing her, so I helped her control that power until it was like it was never there to begin with. She was able to act normal, not having to worry about people seeing her like some freak of nature."
"Hai," the smaller girl hiccupped, face still buried into her brother's arms. "I heard a voice agreeing with you, that I had to force myself to control this strange ability. I almost forgot until the Watery Card attacked. Even then, I still had to pretend like it could hurt me, hearing it again not to show what I can do."
"It's okay Sakura-chan, you were scared, all three of you. And at those ages, you were just lucky that something or someone contacted you," Spinner spoke up, comforting the girl as well as the other two.
Eli nodded, listening to the siblings' story, yet something didn't feel right as they talked about how the younger one discovered her power.
He could not only see in their eyes, but their actions as well.
Up until she mentioned she chased the bullies off, it was all truthful; he could see that much. Afterwards though, it felt like a lie, a well-trained one between them, but he couldn't figure what it could be.
Even with the knowledge over his sister's ability, fact he didn't flinch or feel worried about her, it showed he knew a lot more.
The very thought frustrated and terrified the reincarnation, wanting to call them out, but afraid of the repercussions if he did.
Would they lash out, Tori mostly?
Would they continue to deny, continue to defend their lie, possibly believe it?
"What about Rita-chan? She was present when the fire started…" Madison began before the other responded.
"To be honest, nothing like that has ever happened like it had with Sakura-chan, Li-kun, and Meilin-chan. I mean in getting some weird power… But I did see something, not that blue cat Sakura-chan saw, I'm sure of it."
"Then what did you see?" Julian questioned, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, seeing her starting to tremble.
"It was dark, hiding within the burning building. It…it had these horrible, menacing eyes, as if it was piercing straight through my soul. I had nightmares after that, happening every night for months. It felt as if those eyes were following me, whispering words of betrayal constantly in my ears. I was close to going insane, that is until I met Sakura-chan, then later…later meeting Terada-sensei and…"
"Falling in love with him?" the sorcerous asked, causing the other to blush and look away, hugging herself.
"H-hai…"
"So each of you encountered some sort of beast. Yet, only three of them appeared to have helped each of you, while one might've been a possible threat," Yelan repeated softly as she thought about what she heard, trying to find some connection.
"So you think that what Rita-chan saw might be what's after us?"
"Possibly, and the other beasts, at least Meilin-chan and Sakura-chan's likely were the cause to bring you slowly together. As for Li's, I cannot say what it might've been thinking, if it was merely saving him, or had some other ulterior motive."
"I wouldn't be all that surprised if the voices you heard were also these strange beasts you saw. It's of no coincidence you all had someone or something telling you to control your newfound powers, hiding it from your loved ones and each other," Spinner added, crossing his small paws.
"I think I might have an idea on what's happening. Yelan-san, have you heard about the old tale regarding the Elements?" the reincarnation spoke up after thinking some more, brows furrowed.
"Hai, it was an old fairytale my otōsan would read me when I was a small girl."
"But I don't think it's so much a fairytale anymore. I think it was an actual piece of history turned into a fairytale, to retell what happened, possibly in hopes of preventing a repeat of the disaster that happened."
"What are you talking about?" Tori asked, grabbing the boy's shoulder, forcing him to turn and face him.
"From what I could remember, not just my own memories, but Clow Reed's, there had been an old fairytale going around. It spoke about an island, isolated from all the main lands and major islands such as here."
"What's so special about this island?"
"From what I remember, it was told to have been made and supported by raw elements both physical and mystical. Living on the island were mysterious creatures and people bonded with them. The rest of the inhabitants had similar creatures, only much weaker if not completely different from this selected group. They lived on the island for generations, living in harmony, passing down their knowledge and power to new students, man and beast alike."
"So they were like priests or something?"
"No, kings and queens to be precise, each ruling an element," Eli interjected as he gave the teenager a stern look.
"Okay, but what does it have to do with…" Tori started before the other interrupted him abruptly.
"The elements these kings and queens ruled were aqueous, blaze, voltaic, flora, loam, rime, current, prowess, essence, vitality, and mortality."
"They were regarded as elements?" Kero asked in near disbelief when he flew over, landing on Tori's shoulder.
"On that island they were," the smaller boy answered before the older woman spoke up suddenly.
"One day on the island, the king of prowess had grown weary of his position, that he only ruled raw strength. He had no control over other elements much like the others, yet completely vulnerable to all of them. He couldn't convince the other kings and queens also vulnerable to join him, possibly thinking of making coup d'état."
"He betrayed them?"
"Hai, not simply betray, one by one, he murdered the kings and queens, sealing their beasts and stealing their power somehow. He was unable to use it, so to make himself stronger so he could beat the remaining elements; he used dark arts to transform his own beast into something monstrous."
"That's horrible," Rita whimpered, feeling her lips quiver and eyes growing moist at the very thought. "What happened to the king's beast?"
"He grew mad with his newfound power, killing his master and swallowing the stolen power, utilizing it somehow."
"And the remaining elements?" Li asked warily.
"The kings and queen of Blaze, Voltaic, and Aqueous entered a war against this monster, attempting to stop him. The longer they fought, the more the planet grew in chaos, death and destruction everywhere they went. Eventually they stopped it, putting it down on a new land, taking the stolen power back."
"What happened then?"
"I'm afraid I don't remember much after that," Yelan sighed sadly.
"We were able to seal him and take back the Elements his former master stole, allowing them to scatter and find new hosts. Yet our masters, with how far and how long they fought, they too died shortly after. Their Elements also scattering to new hosts, new masters to tame them, for us to obey and guide," a powerful voice spoke up suddenly.
The group jumped, some ready to fight when three blurs flashed before their eyes, landing before them, matching the description of the children.
"You're the beasts from the story then?"
"Instead of calling us beasts, refer to us as Pokémon," a second voice spoke up, the tiger jerking his head, an annoyed snarl curling at his lips.
"Did you…did you say, Pokémon?" Eli asked, shock written all over his face as he stared at the towering beasts.
"Hmm? You have heard of our kind?" the tiger questioned, stepping forward to emphasize it.
"To be honest, I know little of your kind, just the name of your species and what I've been raising. Anything else, I would have to be lucky in guessing or I'm remembering correctly," he explained, his voice shaking, showing nervousness.
Slowly, he put his hand into his pocket, pulling a red and white sphere, the item almost smaller than his and Sakura's sealed staffs.
Pressing a button on it, everyone watched as it grew, now the size matching closer to a baseball.
Clicking the button again, the ball suddenly opened up, a burst of light erupting from it, his friends jumping in surprise, the beasts staring with curiosity.
"You claim that you know little, yet you seem to know how to operate that device quite well. Have you not traveled beyond this country, possibly beyond this very realm?"
"No, she had been given to me as a gift from a friend many years ago," Eli answered just as a small fox like creature manifested itself from the light.
"Zor?" it yipped, glancing around before spotting its friend, hopping onto the shoulder happily, the others hearing him laugh at the attention.
"You managed to acquire a Zorua? If I recall, they are known for trickery and highly protected by their mothers. The fact you managed to get one is astounding, even if she hadbeen owned previously," a woman's voice spoke softly, the blue wolf stepping forward. "If I may ask, what is your name, child?"
"Eli, Moon Eli," he answered, a little surprised that this creature knows what his old friend is. "I wish I knew more about Zo-chan or she could speak as you three are capable of doing."
"Not all Pokémon are born capable of using telepathy, and even so, it would take many years to accomplish such goals," the wolf chuckled lightly, pressing her muzzle against the small fox's. "But I am sure she must've been quite a handful to raise with her abilities."
"What do you mean?" Madison asked before yelping when the fox hopped off Eli's shoulder, glowing brightly.
Before the others knew it, there stood two of them, one wearing a mischievous grin and snickering away, dressed in the girls' school uniform.
Eli's entire face burned bright red as he chased after the giggling fox, "Zo-chan!"
"And one of the reasons why he never brought her out," Spinner sighed, shaking his head at the fox's immaturity, even his master's own showing.
He watched as the fox ran about some more, making its tail visible when running past some of the others.
When she was caught, changing back, still giggling away, tail wagging as the boy buried his face into her fur, his face still burning.
"Why, Zo-chan?" he groaned, the fox licking his blushing face. A small smile formed on his face as he let out a small sigh, hugging the fox. "Gomen'nasai, Zo-chan is far better behaved than this."
"Why didn't you tell us about her?" Sakura asked, barely stopping the giggles from seeing the normally calm boy look so flustered.
It was nice than seeing him either acting or is knowing things or as before, afraid and unsure of himself. The way he acted just now, it almost seemed normal for him, appropriate even, especially for his age, appearance wise that is.
"I guess you could say I was afraid of how people may react. There is almost nothing about Pokémon when I did research. I hadn't even known there were others until now. I honestly believed Zo-chan might've been the only one left, having come from wherever she lived prior."
"So you were afraid of losing her?"
"Hai…"
"It's understandable, if I had such a cute fox as my friend, I'd be afraid of losing her too," Madison comforted, the boy giving a reassuring smile.
"Arigatō."
"That and if she transforms like that, it can get pretty embarrassing," Tori joked.
He could barely hide the smirk when the boy started blushing again, muttering something into the fox's fur while the Madison and the fox tried comforting him.
The teenager let out a small yelp when an elbow jabbed him in the ribs, looking down to seeing his pouting sister.
"If you are done, we should get to the main point," the tiger grumbled, clearly impatient by how his tail twitched in annoyance.
"Calm yourself, Raikou. After what the children endured, I'm sure she merely did this to ease everyone," the lion like beast chuckled. "She acts young, but you can tell she has seen many years and shall see many more to come."
"Whatever," the tiger growled, turning his head away in annoyance.
Realizing why these creatures might've shown themselves, Rita coughed loud enough to gain everyone's attention.
"Umm…" she started, a little nervous now, but swallowed, gathering the courage to speak fully. "You came here, led us here for a reason, is that right?"
"That is correct, my dear," the wolf spoke softly as she walked to her, nuzzling against the girl gently as she had done with the fox.
"Three of you are now our masters," the lion spoke up, "though while all four of you are in danger, I'm afraid that youare in the most danger."
"Me?" the timid brunette whimpered, pointing to herself nervously.
"I'm afraid so," he sighed, looking upset about it as his voice sounded. "The power that you inherited is the Element of Prowess."
"Then that means…that means I'm connected to the king who betrayed you and your friends?" she gasped, feeling tears forming.
The lion simply nodded, feeling his heart breaking as the girl began to break down, hugging the wolf's muzzle, letting her tears soak into the thin fur.
"If that's so, then the creature that she saw in the fire, is that the one the king used when he betrayed everyone?" Sakura asked, stepping forward, half glaring at the three.
"That is true, he used to be one of us," the wolf spoke softly as the darker brunette began to calm herself.
"Then what can we do to protect her? To protect ourselves?" the sorcerous asked, practically begged.
"Crying won't help us for starters," the tiger growled, snarling when the lion smacked him with a strong paw.
"Enough, Raikou! I don't like bringing the children into this anymore than you do," the wolf spat, snapping her jaws at him. "Sadly we must deal with what we have and help them survive this for their sake as well as the world."
"It would be best that to help them would be to explain more about what you three are exactly. It may give them as well as the rest of us some idea how to combat our enemy if he is, at least had been the same as you," Yelan suggested.
"While it may be difficult to explain everything, it would not hurt to at least try," the wolf muttered, closing her eyes as she went into deep thought.
"Why not bake some biscuits and serve that bastard all our heads on a silver platter while we're at it?" the tiger growled before letting loose a roar when the lion swatted him once more.
"As of now, he's still weak, so we have time. As the boy's mother suggested, they need knowledge about our species. They deserve to know our strengths and weaknesses. Who knows, they may be able to figure a way to stop him where we couldn't," the lion scolded with a fierce glare.
"I apologize for his behavior," the wolf apologized, "out of the three of us, he is the youngest. So he must feel to make up for his age with a fierce temper."
"I could only guess he had to have been young for such childish behavior," Yelan chuckled softly, earning herself a glare from the tiger.
"Fuck off, both of you!" the tiger snarled.
With a chuckle, the blue wolf began to walk towards the decrepit building, pausing while the other two made their way as well.
Turning to face them, she gave what they assumed to be a comforting smile before speaking.
"Follow us, while the place appears inhabitable, it is merely an illusion we set up to ward off foolish humans," she explained kindly. "But do watch your step; some parts are unstable, but safer than what we made it appear."
With that, they watched as the other two walked right into the building, clearly showing she was speaking the truth.
Still unsure, the group looked amongst one another before the fox, suddenly chased after them.
Immediately, Eli and Spinner panicked, taking chase after her with worried shouts, trying to bring her back.
Like that, as they ran in, either too worried for the fox to care for their own safety, or forgot the possible danger.
Hearing no screams of terror or agony coming from inside, they hesitantly went towards the building, walking through the illusion.
Note:
I know originally I had Eli with a Celebi, but though as cool as it would be and who knows, he could end up with one still in the future, thought it'd be cooler with him having a Zorua. Plus, it would add a bit of relief when she pulls pranks since she only does it to cheer up, even if at the cost of her trainer's humility.
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