The pink Pokémon raised her curtain of spider web again, watching the scene unfold before her.
Technically, the feline-like Pokémon was an it, but her God-Given name was based from a female character. Thus, it took on the attitude, vocals, everything, of a feminine property. She had grown, as well, from the miniscule size of a grown man's forearm, to that of a large house cat. This was mostly for the reasoning that with more, larger Pokémon in existence, the more mass she would need to reproduce their body structures.
She'd been wandering over to Fullmoon Island, to visit Artemis, but then these blue-haired goons had spotted her, and attacked. So now here she was, cowering in a cave on Iron Island, without time to shift or a plan to escape.
The Team Galactic Grunts sprung upon the raven-haired boy, wrestling him to the ground, pinning his arms behind his back. The boy struggled, yelling angrily for them to release him. The Pokémon glanced to her side as someone moaned from the shaft, then flinched as she heard a hard thunk from the people in the cave, and the sound of the raven-haired boy yelping as blood oozed down his temple.
"So! So, so, so!" The red-haired woman, who the Pokémon knew as Mars, surfaced from the shaft, followed by two of the larger Grunts, dragging a whimpering blonde boy, whose purple shirt was stained with red.
"So!" Mars repeated again, looking at the raven-haired boy, "You must be the one your little friend here called for. Don't you know the island is off limits?"
"W-we forgot…" the smaller boy rasped. "We're sorry…we can j-just go…"
"Not a chance!" Mars snorted. "We're looking for a little Pokémon, one who will help us conquer the very world. When it hears you and your friend's screams of pain, it'll come…it won't let you die!"
Those monsters don't deserve a Pokémon they're willing to kill over, the Pokémon remembered the boy saying. I'll die first, I promise.
I can't let two innocent people die! the Pokémon thought. Even if it means giving up my freedom! I won't be a slave of these people, and I won't sacrifice these two for it!
"Let us go!" the raven-haired boy squeaked in horror. "P-please, please, let us g-go, we d-d-don't know…we--!" He choked off as Mars stepped forward and kneed him in the gut.
"Shut up!" Mars hissed. "You've stepped into the wrong territory, brat! Be thankful if you get out of this alive."
"What?!" the blonde cried, horrified. "Y-you…m-murd…murders!" He winced as his arm throbbed with sheer agony. He twisted his unwounded arm experimentally, but got a bone-shattering punch to the jaw in return. The pain as his jaw snapped was enough to choke off his scream.
"Damien!" the smaller boy screamed. "You bitch, l-let us go!" He was shaking, his feet barely keeping him up, a twin trickle of blood running down his head and chin. "W-we don't know anything!"
"Don't you?" Mars trilled shrilly. "Then why are you here?!"
"S-Sorën, don't…don't t-tell..her…a-any…th-thin'!" the boy called Damien muttered hoarsely, his face crumpled in pain and his jaw loose in his mouth. His arm continued to bleed, a pool of crimson gathering around his sandals.
The raven-haired boy, Sorën, bit his lip painfully, then, against his friend's advice: "We s-saw a p-plume of smoke…" he muttered. "W-we were just c-curious…w-we didn't…we just wanted…we just wanted to know what had happened!" He looked up pleadingly at Mars, begging her to let him and Damien go.
The Pokémon's jaw dropped slightly. He wasn't telling the woman anything about her presence. Just…a twisted truth? Her heart clenched as Mars considered, then roundhouse kicked Sorën in the face.
"Shut up, prisoner," Mars growled. "We don't talk to scum like you. What if you're working for that traitorous Rowan? His assistants always bury themselves into our missions, cause problems for themselves…"
"Who the hell is Rowan?" Sorën grunted, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the cave floor.
"Liar!" Mars turned away. "I don't have time for this! We have to get the Pokémon into our hands, or Saturn will have our guts!" She clenched her fists, and turned back around, narrow eyed. And then, she froze.
"What's that on your hand?" she demanded quietly. Sorën did not respond, and Mars walked up to him, before jerking back the sleeve of his right arm.
The Pokémon barely hid her gasp of shock. The large, intricate green and gold mark wound its way up the boy's hand, over his forearm, ending at his elbow. To many, it was a strange mark, but to her…she knew it. She'd seen it.
Mars, too, seemed stricken, and then a nasty, twisted grin spread across her tomato-painted lips. "Well, well…how…unusual. How did you come about this mark, child?" She grabbed Sorën's chin, forcing him to look at her. "How?"
"I d-don't know!" Sorën whimpered. "It's j-just a—" He paused to cough. "—a birthmark…"
Just a birthmark. The Pokémon shuttered slightly, fighting the urge to reveal herself, do something, anything, to help the two teenaged boys.
Mars considered that for a moment, then, "Keep this one alive," she ordered, looking to the silent Grunts in the cavern. "Tie and gag him, we'll take him to Saturn and get the truth about that mark. Humans don't carry designs like that normally! Let's move!"
Sorën didn't have time to protest before someone slipped a strip of fabric over his mouth, cutting off his voice, and jerked his arms behind his back, tying them in place. He thrashed weakly, digging his feet into the slick floor to push away.
"What about this one, Madame?" grunted one henchman to Mars, pointing at the blonde boy, slumped on the floor and held up by a hand on the back of his neck.
"Use him to bait the Pokémon," Mars replied with a bored tone. "The creature tends to respond to screams of agony." She pulled something off her belt, and tossed it to the man. It took the Pokémon to recognize the object as a pocketknife. "Knock yourself out, just GET THE POKÉMON."
Sorën screamed a rebuke, muffled by the gag, unable to do anything but yell as the Grunt unsheathed the knife, and turned to Damien.
"Alright, little kid," the man growled, smiling sickly. "Scream like a little piglet. The louder and more painful, the sooner it will end, I promise. Too bad you were too curious, now…die."
I'm done. Enough, Eos!
Artemis?
Eos! Do something, before those men kill those boys! Did you not see the black-haired boy's mark?
The small Pokémon did not question how her friend knew. Most likely, she was lurking in a corner of her mind, watching through the cat-like creature's big blue eyes.
Yes…
That's…that's his mark, Eos, hurry, before I come and kick your tiny little butt into action!
Not that Artemis could leave her home at this time of day, but Eos took the threat seriously. She closed her eyes, and summoned energy within her, feeling her power swell into something she could use.
The Grunt was almost to Damien, who had long since run out of energy, and could only watch with wide eyes as his life flashed before him.
The carpet of spider web appeared to explode, as Eos erupted into the air, twirling once in the air, her long tail swirling about her. Mars's jaw dropped, and her hesitation was all that was needed.
Eos let out a sound that seemed to be a cross between a chirp and rumble, glaring darkly at Mars. Her upper torso was angled backwards, to help balance her head and hips, her tail swinging dangerously, the flat tip flicking the ground.
Finally, Mars found her voice. "Aha…so here it is. The Pokémon." She reached for her belt. "At last. Saturn will be so pleased when we have you in our grips!" She went shrill, and pulled out something reminiscent of a gun.
The Pokémon launched herself forward, becoming nothing more than a pink blur as she darted past the necks of the grunts, knocking them unconscious with a blow from her tail as she went.
Mars screamed as she aimed, unable to keep up with the Pokémon. "Damn you!" she screamed, before looking at Sorën, who was kneeling on the ground, his captors laying on the ground, out cold, on either side of him. "Grr…I hate you!" She smashed the weapon across his head with enough force to crack his skull. He slumped backwards, stunned, his vision exploding with the eruption of pain.
Eos brushed past Mars, and turned to face her, stopping at last. She hovered over Sorën protectively, a growl tearing from her throat. The Team Galactic captain sneered in reply, aiming her gun. "You're a brave bugger. But you should know, it's too late for you!"
Mars fired the net-gun at the same time Eos lunged forward. The Pokémon twisted in midair, dodging the ball of wires, and punched the Team Galactic captain in the collar bone.
The red-haired woman gasped, and slumped, unconscious, falling to the ground with her men. Eos's chest heaved with sharp breaths. She was not used to fighting, and it exhausted her. And if she didn't tell Hades soon about their plans…or teach herself…
A whimper broke through Eos's thoughts, and she turned to see the blonde boy on the ground, cradling weakly his broken arm, sheet-white with blood loss. Shoot, the Pokémon thought, floating over, and coming to a rest on the half-awake child.
Heal him, she thought. Her pink skin shimmered, a rainbow of color, and her paws glowed as she rested them on Damien's chest. Stanch the pain, bring him back. Give him life.
Damien shuttered as his skin patched over, bones melted and re-knit, lost blood replenished itself. He glanced at Eos, then slipped into a deep, restoring slumber, giving up the fight to stay awake.
The danger wasn't past yet, though. The Pokémon relocated to the raven-haired boy, whose skull was cracked, and blood leaked across the cavern floor. He, too, was alive and conscious, but Eos could tell he was slipping out of her grasp. Sorën's green-yellow gaze met Eos's bright blue, and he pleaded silently, begging her to help, before he died.
Died.
The Pokémon rested her paws on Sorën as well. Heal! If this child's who I think he is…save his life! Don't fail me now! She process repeated itself for Sorën, and he withered, unwilling to slip out of awareness just yet.
But eventually, the urge to sleep overpowered him, and Sorën slumped, out cold.
Eos leaned back, pulling off the boy's gag and bonds, then leapt into the air, watching them. Now was the time to leave. She was supposed to meet with Artemis, she should not have had qualms about leaving two boys.
But that mark.
Eos's eyes slid shut, and memories flickered behind the lids.
*
"Orion!" Eos called, reaching out to the man. He was in his early twenties, a handsome lad with unruly black locks and green eyes, the pupils rimmed with yellow. He was pale but muscular, smart and witty, brave and loyal. The ideal man to wear the mark.
"Orion, stop!" Eos said as he walked away from her. "Orion! Please, don't do this!"
"I must, Eos, my friend," Orion replied. "My destiny is to stop corruption, to use this curse as a gift. Sinnoh is my homeland, but all the regions depend on me. Me, Eos. My life has so much importance…yet so little. Let me take His power and save this world."
Eos pulled her paws back to her chest, watching him with wide, dancing irises. "Please…"
"I'm sorry, Eos." He turned to look at her with those brilliant eyes, holding out his hand for her to sit in his palm. She had been a lot smaller back then. She settled into the offered seat, curling her tail around his wrist protectively. The gold and green mark sketched its way up his forearm, the edges of the design just barely visible from her position. "You've done so much for me. Eos, I… Remember Liancha? I…Eos, my bloodline's going to continue, guard it."
"Orion?" But the man let Eos go, and walked away. "No, Orion! Stop! Liancha's pregnant…? Don't leave her! ORION!"
The last thing she saw of the man was the symbol, shimmering on his arm, and he was gone.
*
She had failed him after around two centuries. She had lost track of the line, and never had anyone appeared with the mark. After so long, she'd stopped looking. Could she really have believed Orion's line had not preserved?
That had to be the only explanation. Why this black-haired boy had promised to protect her, almost instinctively. Why he had the same mark.
The same eyes.
She sat in thought until a bird's shrill call startled her back to reality. Nearly two hours had passed, and she leapt lightly into the air as Sorën stirred beneath her.
He sat up, rubbing his skull wearily. His eyes trailed around, confused, until memories came rushing back and he scrambled to his feet fearfully.
She raised her palms, waiting, watching as the terror and suspicion slowly slid off his face, leaving shock and confusion, his brain working to connect the gaps in his logic.
"You…you saved me," Sorën whispered, crossing his arms and huddling into himself. "Me and Damien…you…they were…you're…"
The Pokémon regarded him silently, raking her wise gaze across his lean form.
"Who are you?" Sorën asked in a mere whisper.
She straightened, and then a fluid voice filled the air. It sounded like wind chimes, beautiful, but deadly and strong. It came from the Pokémon, but her mouth did not move. She was vibrating the air, grinding molecules to make her voice heard.
"I'm Eos," she said. "But that's my God-Given name. To your kind, Heir of Orion, I am known as Mew."
Short, lazy chapter. It's 2:30 in the morning and my brain's focused on something completely different. Bleh. Sissy Pokémon games can die!
Platinum releases today. I am going out to buy it. And then I'll play it. And my story will get better. And I can't remember what Mars looks like. Oh well.
Please review.
-Muse.