Chapter Forty-four: Tree
The Next Step
My eyes narrowed. 'Changes?' What does this guy mean? I thought. My body tensed. Something crawled up my spine. The hairs on my neck stood up, and chills ran through my arms. For some odd reason, I got an awful feeling. If I thought it was hard to breathe before, I should have seen myself trying to suck air into my nostrils then.
Maroon cleared his throat. "Cynthia? You look pale." His mousy voice shook. He pushed his glasses, which were at the tip of his nose, back into their rightful place nervously.
I ignored him. "Changes?" My brows furrowed. "What kind of changes?"
"You won't be battling Champion Lea today. He had some very important business to attend to…He sends his apologies."
"What business?" I asked. Although, if I really thought I was going to get a real answer, I was a lunatic.
He gulped. "I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to say."
I dropped my bag and started on the field. "Not at liberty to say?!" I yelled. "Tell me what in Sinnoh is going on here!" I approached him. He was so short that I towered over him. I could see the sweat forming on his face.
"Champion Lea had to make an emergency trip from the League…I'm very sorry, but I do believe you should be leaving." He cleared his throat again.
"Leaving?! I don't care, I came here for a battle, I went through a pink hell for this battle, and I'm simply not getting one? What was so important?" I was a bit frazzled…To say the least.
"Yes, you're simply not getting one. It's time for you to go now."
"I'll tell you when it's time for me to go!" I yelled. And then when a hand was laid on my shoulder, and it was a huge guard, I stopped yelling. The guard gave me my bag and escorted me towards the back wall, where part of the wall opened into a door. "Why don't you just kidnap me, Maroon? Wouldn't Lea like that better?" I hissed.
"Then people would come looking for you. Wouldn't want that, now would we?" His mousy voice was less intimidated. Right. Let all these guards do your dirty work and talk big. That seems right. The guard took me down a winding hallway.
"Where are we going?" The guard had a firm grip on my arm and was leading me down a small, endless hallway…I was curious.
"The back way, if you must know." He rolled his eyes. We made a turn, and I saw the door. The guard opened it and led me out. "You're expected to leave League property right now, and to stay away until you're given notice to return."
"Wait, what?" I frowned. "That's not right!"
"You're trespassing, at the moment. Leave, or you'll be sued or thrown into jail. Your choice, ma'am."
"For your information, my Flying Type is unusable. I just battled the Elite Four." I crossed my arms over my chest. "I can't leave."
He frowned and grunted. "You like to be difficult, don't you?" I smirked. He grabbed a radio type thing and held it up to his mouth. "I need a revival for Cynthia's Pokémon." A minute later, another guard came to the door and handed me a Revive. The other guard nodded. "Now you'll be off. Your notice will be sent to you in a few weeks."
"A few weeks?! That's insane!" I yelled. "I can't wait that—" The door shut. I noticed that the door closed and blended into the League's walls. I wondered how many doors were hidden in this wall. No time to worry about that. I need to get to Sunyshore and figure out where in Sinnoh Lea is. I released Thumper and healed him. Then, we started for good old Sunyshore.
It was dark when I reached the small beach nestled behind Sunyshore. I landed and returned my Pokémon. Even though it was nearing bedtime, the city was very much awake. I wandered into the town and tried to program my mind to remember how to get to the gym. I wasn't worried about the Center. A thought occurred: What if people see me? I'm supposed to be beating the League. I was glad it was dark.
I rushed to the second story of the town and found the gym. I busted through the door. Of course no one was there at the field. I looked at the back wall, there was another door. I jogged to it and knocked. I became suddenly impatient and just opened it. It was a small room with a circling staircase going to the second story; Volkner's home. "Volkner!" I yelled. Please, dear goodness, be home! "Volkner! It's Cynthia!"
A head popped out of the doorway at the top of the stairs. I never thought I would be that happy to see his messy blond hair before. "Miss Cynthia?" I started sprinting up the stairs and blew past him. He gave me a weird look. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh Volkner, something's happening." I was shaking. I had gut-wrenching awful feelings.
He came to me. "What? What's happening?" He looked concerned.
"Lea wasn't at the League." He gave me a look of disbelief. I told him everything that happened. He didn't say much. But I knew that he was as worried as I was, especially when he turned pale.
"This isn't good." He scratched the back of his head. I nodded. He reached for the remote. "Nightly news might be on by now." He clicked the television on. A commercial played and ended, then the news logo spun around. The words "Attacks Again" appeared, then the news anchor came on. "We have investigators in Celestic now."
Celestic, of course. I felt my stomach curl. I placed a hand on my stomach and clenched my jaw.
"Uh, please don't throw up." Volkner said. He placed a hand on my shoulder and quickly pulled it away.
I sighed. "This is just what he'd do." I muttered through my teeth.
"I know." He spoke carefully.
"I've got to get home." I stood up from the couch, so did Volkner.
"I should go with you. It's dangerous flying at nighttime." He had a point. I wasn't even thinking straight at that time, I was just trying to hold back my tears. I nodded my head and my throat ran dry. I swallowed, and it hurt. We ran out to the front of the gym and I released Thumper. Volkner got on first, and I sat behind him. I'm glad he took over to fly, because as soon as we got into the air I started to cry. Volkner acted like he didn't notice, and I acted like there wasn't a few gallons of salt water flooding out of my eyelids; that worked perfectly.
By morning we arrived at Celestic Town. We were both deathly tired, but as soon as we landed, it was like I had a full night's sleep. We landed on the side closest to Cornet, because the other side, and where the ruins was located, a bunch of news-related people stood around. And the last thing I needed was to be seen by an interviewer.
We rushed to my house, unseen, and opened the door quickly. Grandmother, along with about the whole population of Celestic, was in my living room. I shut the door, and I got multiple weird looks…And so did Volkner. Jamie jumped up and ran over to me. She was crying, and tears started to well up in my eyes. "Did you hear?" I nodded. "A whole wall fell down in the ruins due to some explosive!" She sniffed.
Grandmother came to my side. She looked tired and distressed. "Everyone, please excuse me while I have a word with my granddaughter." We walked into Grandfather's study. His scent was still in the air, along with a bunch of dusts specs. Grandmother moved behind the desk, trailing her fingers on it, leaving lines in the dust. Behind the desk was a window, she opened the thick curtains, causing dust to fly up into the sunlight beaming in. She looked back down at the desk. "An attack on us…It finally happened. I assume I should have expected it sooner or later." She looked back at me.
I nodded. "Was anyone hurt or effected?"
"No. It happened when we were all home last evening. They knocked down a wall completely, revealing a picture etched on one. No one could possibly know about it." She shook her head.
"Grandmother, it was Lea, I know it." I said. "I was supposed to be at the League yesterday, remember? I was there, I fought the Elites, and when I got to Lea, they said he was away on business and I couldn't battle him."
She closed her eyes. "Goodness, I am so glad you weren't near that man."
Me too. "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do—"
"Absolutely nothing, that's what." She cut me off; her voice stern. "You are not getting involved."
"Grandmother, if I became the champion I would be involved with everything. I think I should start getting involved now. I need to…To…Talk with someone and hunt down Lea. And I'll…" I drew a blank.
"Cynthia, why don't you go to bed? I'll send everyone off, and we can both get some sleep." She put her arm around my shoulder and walked me to my room. "I'll make up the sofa for the boy, too." I nodded and crawled into bed. My bed was so comfortable. It was mine. Like that house. Like that town. Mine.
Slowly, I drifted away into oblivion.
I woke up at lunchtime. Grandmother had made up salads. Volkner was still asleep on the sofa. "Sleep well, dear?" Grandmother asked. We sat at the table.
"Yeah, like a baby." She smiled. "Is Jubilife still here?" I asked.
She shook her head. "No, they left not too long ago. They didn't like it here."
"Of course they didn't. Good thing we like it." We laughed.
Volkner walked over to the table. He had to sleep in his clothes, since he didn't bring anything. "Good morning, ladies." He sat down and rubbed his eyes. He poked his fork at the salad.
"More like good afternoon." I corrected. He smirked at me, and I smirked back. I finished my salad. "I'm going to head out to the ruins and see the damage." Volkner nodded and stuffed more lettuce in his mouth.
"Be safe." Grandmother said.
"Of course." I walked out of the house. The fog hadn't lifted much, and the cold hit my sleeveless arm. I rubbed my hands on my arms as I walked to the ruins.
I stepped into the cave-like ruins. Where the back of the ruins used to be, a pile of rubble laid there. There was rubble everywhere; it was actually in ruins. I pushed through the rough and to the newly revealed part. There was, in fact, an etch in the middle of the wall. I studied it. It was a triangle, it had a circle 'light' in the center, and three diamond shapes around it. There was Unknown Writing everywhere, but I only knew bits and pieces of the language anyway, trying to decipher it was useless. I looked back at the picture. It was so odd. Lea knew this was here…That means it's important, but, what does it mean? How did he find it? I heard footsteps. I assumed it was Volkner, but when I turned around, it was someone else.
"Perplexing, isn't it?" Grandmother asked. She stepped over all the rubble and came to my side. She touched the picture. "How did this get here, and why was it hidden?" She moved her hand to the left of the painting and over some Unknown Writing. "This is so old, it's practically unreadable."
"What does some of it say?" I wondered.
She squinted. "A roar is just…A rend is more…One who is able to change forms…Together they will overtake…" She focused. "That's all I can get out of it. It's written very oddly." She looked at the next set of writing. "This one is short. Whispers in the wind…Spots in the sand…The Decree has saved us from Worlds End. That's odd, don't you think?" She looked at me, but I wasn't saying anything. Whispers in the wind, spots in the sand; the poem from the statues. The one that haunted me. The one that brought my presence around. Lea had something to do with the ghost who haunted me. I felt like I could vomit on a whole town right then. I was so sick. "Cynthia? What is it?"
I tried to pull myself together. "Nothing. I think I need to…Lie down." I started back to the house. I started to jog back. I needed to get to Volkner before Grandmother got there. I busted through the door. He jumped on the couch. "Volkner, I have a clue."
"A clue? What—"
"No time! We need to get to Eterna so I can talk to Oliver about something really important. Long story short, it's about this presence that's been haunting me and giving me those insane nightmares—you remember those, right? Anyway, I think Lea knows something about it and I need to figure out what he knows before the world ends!" I spit all the words out a quickly as I could. I took deep breaths then sat down next to him. He was trying to process it all.
"Wait, what?" He gave me a weird look. Grandmother came through the door.
"Cynthia, don't take off like that! You had me so worried."
"Sorry, Grandmother, I thought I needed to vomit." I put a hand on my stomach. I still felt like I needed to vomit.
She made a face. "Don't say that word." She rubbed my shoulder. "Go lay down, dear. I'll make warm tea."
"No, thanks. In fact, I think we need to be leaving soon." I looked at Volkner. He still looked confused, but he nodded.
"Leaving? Where?" She gave me a look.
"Well, we're actually going to go to Eterna."
"Eterna City? Why on Earth would you want to go there?" I looked at Volkner for some help.
"…Because it's great this time of year." He smiled and nodded.
She frowned. "I told you not to get involved, Cynthia."
"It's a bit late for that, ma'am." Volkner commented. Her frown grew.
I stood up. "Volkner's right, Grandmother. And besides, I know what I'm doing. Trust me. But before we go…Tell me everything you know about that picture in the ruins."
She crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't know anything, I apologize. But we've only known about it for few hours, we'll start studying as soon as possible. But Cynthia, I am saying no."
"Grandmother, I'm saying trust me. Please." Before she could answer, I walked back to my room and grabbed my bag. I walked out to the living room and hugged her. It took her a moment, but she hugged back.
"She's your granddaughter, Winnie." She muttered in my ear. I smiled, that was exactly right.
A few hours later we arrived in Eterna. The flight wasn't as long, but it was difficult flying around Mt. Cornet. We landed in the back of Eterna City. We lingered in the woods, studying a map. "The Center is here." I pointed to the orange dot marking the Pokécenter of Eterna. "I think he lives somewhere over here."
"We can't just waltz through the whole area, Miss Cynthia. The 'where is the trainer' thing has probably already started. You'd be mobbed." He had a good point. It wasn't like I could disguise myself.
"I know, I know. But I don't even…" I trailed off. "I bet I know where Oliver is."
A few minutes later, we were walking through a trail in Eterna Forest. I was walking fast. I knew where I was going, I had a pull to the statues. We got to a clearing. The old shack was off to the side, and I looked around for the statues. Piles of rubble stood off to the side, and I walked into the woods. I found the other clearing and the rubble where the large statue once stood. Oliver was sitting on the rubble, writing in a notebook. He looked up. His eyes widened. "Hey, Cynthia!"
"Hey, Oliver."
He stood up and hugged me. "And Volkner, nice to see you again." They shook hands.
"Where's Ember?" I asked. I saw Volkner tense up at his name. I wanted to roll my eyes.
"He's in town working. What are you doing here?"
I laughed. "It's sort of a long story." I sighed. "Lea is somewhere and I couldn't battle him. He went and bombed Celestic ruins. He made walls crumble to the ground, revealing a back portion that was hidden. There was a picture there, it was of three light spheres. But Unknown Writing around it had a weird whispers in the wind, spots in the sand poem of sorts. So, that made me think of the three statues, bringing me here."
He thought for a second. "So Lea knows that the statues mean something."
"He must. If not, he's going to find out. We need to learn what he knows. He's doing something pretty important." I got supernatural chills. I looked around, I couldn't feel my presence. It must be the ghostly and supernatural air.
Oliver ran a hand through his green-tinted hair. "We should talk to Annie. C'mon."
Volkner and I stood there. "Oliver, people think I'm supposed to be the champion, I can't walk around town. Bring her here."
"Oh, duh. You guys can go over to Looney McWeirdo's house and wait. I'll only be a second." He took off into the woods.
"Loony what?" Volkner looked at me.
"Don't worry about it, come on." We walked across the clearing and into the shack. The smell of rotting wood hit my nose hard.
"This place smells." Volkner complained. The floor was covered in mud, broken bottles and old pieces of paper. I didn't know where to stand. He made a face and looked at me. "Miss Cynthia…Tell me exactly what we're doing here. What about the presence who's haunting you and giving you nightmares?"
I gulped. "I'll explain once they get back, but…Trust me."
He cocked his head then smirked. "Me? Trust you? No deal, too hard." I frowned. He chuckled. "Get it? Deal? Like the deal we made." His smirk grew.
I blushed. "Yeah, I remember that one." Relief hit me once Annie and Oliver walked through the door. "Thank goodness, you're here."
"Cynthia? What's going on?" Worry crossed Annie's face.
I took a deep breath and told them everything without leaving out one detail. The dreams, visions, correspondence, even when I tried to rid the presence. They listened intently and hung on to my every word. Annie seemed really worried at some times, and almost relieved at others.
When I finished, she spoke up. "You should have told us a long time ago. This is serious."
"I couldn't tell you all. What if Lea found out? What if he already found out? What if he's listening now? Oh Sinnoh." I grabbed my forehead and leaned against the wall. I felt a migraine coming on.
Annie came to me and patted my shoulder. "He doesn't know. Now we just have to figure this out…" She stepped away and started rolling thoughts around; I could tell.
Oliver, who sat on the table, looked at me. "You're a few leaves short of a tree, aren't you?"
I couldn't help but laugh. Everything was too insane…Maybe I was a few leaves short of a tree.
"Don't you mean a few waves short of a beach?" Volkner asked.
"Dude, that's Sunyshore, us cool Eterna people say a few leaves short of a tree. No waves or beaches in the mix."
They both looked at me, expecting me to pipe in. "We Celestic people say that you're a few fog bunches short of a…Lot of fog." They busted out laughing. "What? We don't say things like that!"
Annie was lost in thought. She was taking the matter very seriously, and so did we after that. We sat around thinking for a while. Oliver started to shuffle through some papers. "Cyn, remember when we were in here? We learned about the statues."
"Tell me what you learned, again?" Annie asked.
Oliver thought for a moment. "The loon who built it was practically possessed. He said things like they 'revealed' themselves and that's how he built the statues. They made him feel really good, apparently. Then once they left, he missed the feeling so much, he turned to this." He picked up an old bottle and swished the content around inside.
"That's intriguing." She studied me. We were thinking the same thing.
Oliver looked at the papers, then at me, then back at the papers, then at me. "Hey! That's like you!" He exclaimed.
"No duh, Professor Smart." Volkner rolled his eyes. Oliver frowned at him.
"What? I'm not a loon." I was slightly offended.
"Ignore him." Annie stepped closer. "The similarities…Do you think the Pokémon who bothered this man is the same who bothered you?"
"I guess it could be…But the Pokémon doesn't exist. He didn't know who they were, no one who saw the statues knew who they were, it's not likely."
Annie smiled. "I think I just figured it out."
"What?!" We all jumped up.
"When the statue was bombed, the gem that was in its forehead was too hot to touch, correct? There was energy…Pulsing through it, like a heartbeat." I was putting the pieces together in my head. "Once the statues were built, the Pokémon left the man alone, right? But why did they want the statues built if no one knew of them? They're obviously valuable, because they somehow locked their spirits into the statues so they couldn't be caught, and then when they were bombed, their spirits were unleashed, and they started possessing—or, bothering, Cynthia." She grinned.
The three of us looked at each other. "That still leaves a lot of blanks." Oliver said.
"Yeah, what does that have to do with the poems, Lea, and everything else?" I asked. I started to feel that headache. "This is hopeless! We don't even know if you're right."
She sighed and grabbed her temples. "It's getting late. You two should check into the Center and get some sleep, and then we can tackle this in the morning. I'll come to your room and bring my reports and findings on the gem and statues. Oliver, will you do the same?" He nodded. "Great." We walked out of the house. We had to light a lantern a while ago when the sun went down. Annie was leading the way back to town; lantern bright and showing the way.
The town was asleep when we got to the Center. There was no one at the front desk. "She's probably in the back. I'll get our rooms." Volkner said. I nodded and walked into the hallway. Volkner gave me my key and we went to our separate rooms.
I moaned and slammed into the bed. "What a rough few days." I muttered into my pillow. Then, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and chills run down my arms. I felt my presence appear.
I raised my head. There was a black shadow at the foot of my bed. My possessor was here, and it wanted to talk.
Author's Note: Dun, dun, dun! Even though there has been a twist, we're still nearing the end, folks. That being said, things are becoming quite difficult to write...So, I'm asking you all to not be afraid to say "Hey, this was worded really weird and it confused me." and such, because there will probably be some of those times coming up...It'll be a little confusing. All for the best, I suppose.
Anyhow. The poll on my profile has changed, it is now a tie-breaker! Go vote between Champion Lea and Oliver for a short story written about them. That poll will be open until the end of this story.
Thanks for reading