January 12th is now a day to mourn, for it is the day that my red beta Sheik died. I'm sorta used to it by now, since my fish die about every other month. Though, unlike my other fish, I have no idea how he died. He didn't break his neck, catch ick or tail rot disease… The morning of his death, he didn't eat much, but he was still lively. About at ten that night, his stomach (or what I assume to be his stomach) was gigantic. I had never seen it that big. And he was pale. Very, very pale. It was as if he were turning white or something. Instead of red, he was pink.

And then, when I got him in the net, he started having convulsions. I decided to get him out of water and let him die. He looked like he was in pain while still in the water. So… yeah. I want to know what killed him so I can take measures to make sure Rain doesn't suffer the same fate.

Anyway, sorry you have to endure that. Oh well. I have a huge headache right now, and the klacking of the keys really isn't helping, but I suddenly got inspiration to write out of nowhere, so here I am, writing even though it's killing me.

You had better be grateful.

Price for Freedom

Chapter 14

Interrogations

I assumed I had fallen asleep and was now dreaming, because I stood on a barren mountainside in the dark. My feet didn't seem to obey my orders, so I let them take me where they wanted. My eyes were soon greeted by a friendly glow from a fire, and not too far away I noticed that there was a large statue with spindly spires in the distance. My feet decided to go near it instead of the fire, to which I objected. The statue didn't feel right.

However, my feet didn't cooperate and kept on pushing me to the statue. As I was going, I heard gruff, male human voices in the direction of the fire.

"That beast has got to go- it's evil," one voice said.

"Yes, it will unleash the evil within the tomb while we sleep at night!" another, younger one said.

"Quiet!" another said in a harsh whisper. "The beast will hear you. Now, here is what we must do…"

Unfortunately, I didn't hear what they had to do, because my feet had taken me too far away to hear. Instead of the shushed, gruff men's voices, I heard lofty, feminine, telepathic laughter and… a familiar voice.

My feet had taken me atop a large boulder, where I now could see the statue almost clearly. It was unnerving, and I suddenly had the instinct to run. But my feet remained planted, so I stood and watched what went on before me.-Kaiyou!- the feminine voice chirped. -Elder brother, where are you?-

Kaiyou? I thought. Then, a sleek, manila-colored, dog-like pokemon rushed out from behind the statue. Her figure looked insanely like Kaiyou's, except less bulky and her legs were longer. Her feet and tip of her tail were dark brown, and the scruff of her neck was as black as Kaiyou's pelt at her forehead, but then gradually turned into the creamy color of her body at her shoulder blades. The tips of her ears were also the same color as her feet and tail. She was magnificent.

Then, Kaiyou in his true form -looking much younger than I remembered him at the moment- jumped out from the shadows and pinned the other dog-like creature down on the ground. (Ha! Got ya, Yasille! You really suck at this game, don't ya?)

She giggled and pushed him lightly, which made him retreat. -I suppose,- she said in a light-hearted manner. -But I'll beat you one day, elder brother!- She began to laugh again, when suddenly, she stopped.

Kaiyou's ears raised. (What is it? What's wrong?) he asked. The cream-colored creature, Yasille, turned her head in the direction of the fire and men.

-They're coming…- she said with fear in her telepathic voice, -They're coming with murder in the minds! Kaiyou, they want to kill you!-

Kaiyou growled. (Pah. The ignorant humans… Let them come! Tonight, I shall make them pay for their insolence!) He began to go down the trail that I had come up, but Yasille blocked his path.

-NO!- She cried. -You can't! I… I can't see what will happen! Kaiyou, I think they'll kill you if you fight them! You can't go down there!-

Kaiyou shook his head. (And if I don't, then they may unlock Kuvai. You know I can't allow that. Kuvai can't be awoken. Yasille, you need to go. I don't want you getting hurt.)

Yasille shook her head violently. -NEVER! I can't abandon you to these humans!-

Kaiyou growled and then snapped at her. (Leave! Or must I fight you, too?)

Yasille sighed and then began to run the other way. -Be careful, brother.- Then, in a flash of brilliant light, she disappeared. My eyes turned back to Kaiyou, who was standing in front of the strange statue. The humans had now gathered around him in a semi-circle, keeping him in one spot with their primitive-looking spears and knives.

Kaiyou growled. (Why do you come? Must you endanger yourselves and others by coming to this place?!)

The first man who had talked at the fire spat on the ground. "To kill you, creature of Hell! We know you'll kill us the first opportunity you get with the fiend within the Tomb! You're the one that's endangering our lives!"

The Dark Legendary looked shocked. (How foolish can you be? I'm PROTECTING you from what lives in here! It can't be disturbed!)

They began to argue more, but then, my eyes went to the top of the statue, where I saw a silhouette creeping along the roof. I gasped. That was a human! I looked down and saw Kaiyou, who was engrossed in his argument. I looked back to the human and saw his weapon -a grossly wicked scythe. I could smell the poison it was steeped in.

I tried to call out to Kaiyou, but my voice wouldn't come. I stood there, frozen in fear and watching with some morbid fascination as the human crept and crept until he could dive onto Kaiyou and stab at the Dark Legendary's long and vulnerable neck.

The human on the ground arguing with Kaiyou then let out a shrieking howl, which seemed to be a signal of attack since the human on the roof dived down and stabbed Kaiyou in the back of his neck.

The pain was immense. It burned its way all across my body, and if I had been able to yell, my cry would have been smothered by the shriek Kaiyou made. I looked up and saw that he was down on the ground, the scythe securely in his neck. Yet, he was still alive, for he tried to bite the humans nearby. However, they jumped back and began to stab him with their spears.

I felt pain again and again. It was if they were stabbing me instead of Kaiyou ten feet away. I began to thrash, and I tried to run away. Then, darkness engulfed me, and I felt suffocated. I couldn't breathe. Panic ran through my body, and I tried to get air. I tried to find the surface of the murky ocean I was trapped in, but I couldn't. My claws found nothing but the same darkness, nothing to let me breathe.

tome do kuvai… seshu tesh na reckal… ameba to nil rods…

It was at that moment I heard something strange, a chanting of some foreign language I had never heard before. It was soft at first, but then it grew louder and louder until my ears began ringing as loud as the chanting. My head throbbed. My lungs burned. And I knew that I had to be dying.

Then, horribly sharp claws clamped onto the sides of my body and pulled me down. I tried to scream, but I was out of air. I felt some of the claws move from my chest and then tightened onto my neck. I opened my eyes and saw bright, malicious, crimson eyes. My heart sputtered in horror. The eyes shone so brightly in front of me, I saw the thing's teeth illuminated near my neck.

Then, it spoke.

I AM KUVAI, THE DARK SHADOW POKEMON, CREATOR OF THE DUSKULL AND DUSCLOPS, CONSUMER OF HUMAN SOULS. IN LIFE, I WAS BUGANTI, A MIGHTY GROUND TYPE LEGENDARY. BUT THAT WAS 10,000 YEARS AGO, WHEN HUMANS BEGAN ARRIVING. IN DEATH, I AM A MERE SHADOW OF MY FORMER SELF, CAPABLE OF ANYTHING, EVEN DESTROYING THIS PITIFUL PLANET. AWAKEN ME, AND THE HUMAN RACE SHALL PAY.

I saw the teeth move closer to my neck, and I screamed.

I started in my bunk, and realized that I had actually been dreaming. I was panting, sweating, and my voice was hoarse. I looked frantically around the room and saw Shayla, Tai, and everyone else looking at me with worry. "Demi, what happened?" Shayla asked worriedly. I didn't answer her, and then Tai jumped onto my bunk and poked me with his paw.

"Demi, you're shaking. Are you alright?" he asked. At his remark, I looked down and saw my legs trembling. I tried to make them stop, but they wouldn't. I shook myself and then jumped down from my bunk.

"I…" I said shakily, "I'm fine. Really. D-don't worry about me. I'll… I'll be fine." I walked to the door of our room and looked to my left and saw Kaiyou sitting on the bottom bunk, looking pale. At a closer look I saw his arms shaking as much as my own legs had. I narrowed my eyes and looked into his pale face. His eyes met mine, and he seemed to say a silent apology.

So… had I just dreamed one of his dreams?

He looked away from me and walked to the window. I set a frown on my face and swore to myself to find out who and what this "Kuvai" thing was. By the look in Kaiyou's face, I was certain that he knew.

------

The first time I tried to pry the information out of him was that morning, after we had eaten and set out for the next city. He was in his human form, walking slowly and calmly ahead of the main bulk of the group. Tai came up to my side with a worried expression on his face.

"Hey, Demi, are you sure you're okay?" At my puzzled expression, he explained. "It seemed like you were having a hell of a nightmare last night." He leaned closer to me. "What was it about?"

I had no intention of telling him what it was about. After all, I didn't understand most of it myself, and I felt compelled to keep it a secret until I could make sense out of it. I knew I had to talk to Kaiyou before I could tell anyone. So, I made something else up.

"Well, Tai…" I began, "It was about… machamp."

He blinked. "What?"

I nodded. "Oh yeah. There was a whole army of them, and they were moving to attack me. That's pretty much all of it."

His eyebrow went up. "I seriously doubt that even an army of machamp could make you scream the way you did."

My face flushed. "I… screamed?"

He nodded. "Yeah. It was really creepy -because that's what woke me up. And it was coming from you… and it sounded… strange… like you were terrified of something." He shuddered. "Damn, that was a blood-curdling scream…"

I looked at his face, and then down at my feet as I walked. He… really sounded concerned about me. I seriously considered telling him what my dream was about, until…

"I think I know what you're dream was about…" he said coyly. My head snapped to his direction, and the evil smirk he wore grew.

"Oh yes," he continued. "I know what it was about."

My heart went faster. I didn't really know why I was afraid if he knew, but that was how I felt. I dreaded what his next words might be.

He closed his eyes and lifted his head. "You dreamt of a life without my presence, didn't you?" he asked. I nearly stumbled in my walking. "I can see it, Demi," he continued. "You can't stand to be without me. Really, I'm flattered, but seriously, I'm not going anywhere. You have nothing to fear."

I growled and shoved him into a murky stream nearby. "Thanks for the reassurance," I mumbled. I ignored Tai's calls as I walked on and then cursed whatever deity was responsible for ever thinking of testosterone.

------

It was a little later in the morning, and I was walking silently beside Kaiyou. Then Shayla told us she had to "do her business" and would be gone for a while. So, Kaiyou climbed up a tree (without much grace, I should add) and I sat down at the base of the trunk.

"Who is Kuvai?" I asked quietly. He looked down at me, and I saw in his eyes there was something that was troubling him. Something that he wanted to tell me. But in an instant that look was replaced by feigned ignorance.

"Kuvai?" he asked. "Never heard of him." Then, he added a little louder, "Is he your boyfriend?"

Tai was there in an instant, almost as if Kaiyou had proclaimed that he had conjured food. Tai looked at me eagerly. "You have a boyfriend?! Sweet! Who is he?"

My mouth flustered for a moment, and before I could proclaim my innocence of the charge, Kaiyou supplied, "This dude named Kuvai," he supplied and then Tai began asking me question after question. Unfortunately, this made me incapable of asking Kaiyou about Kuvai, and he knew it, too. During Tai's interrogation, I looked up at Kaiyou angrily, and he smiled and leaned back on the tree branch he was sitting on.

------

My second attempt was during lunch. I had gotten my food, as had everyone else. They were all eating hungrily, and then a plan formed in my head. I deserted my own bowl and snatched Kaiyou's sandwich and ran off with it.

"Ayako!" he cried, "Give me back my sandwich!" He got up and began to run after me, but I was faster and quickly escaped him. When we were deep in the brush, I said softly, "I'll give you your sandwich back if you tell me who Kuvai is."

Panting, he shook his head. "No. I have a better idea…" He walked out of the brush, and then called to the camp, "Tai! Demi says she doesn't want her food and that you can have it!"

I heard a "sweet!" in the distance and I cried, "NO!" I abandoned the sandwich and ran to my bowl of food to try and salvage whatever I could. However, Tai had already eaten it when I got there. I cursed and then turned and saw Kaiyou with his sandwich in his hands, carefully brushing it off. He smiled and bit into his sandwich, and then I stormed off into the brush and hoped I could find something edible.

I hate men.

-----

By this time, I was desperate. I wanted to know who Kuvai was, why he was trying to eat me in my dream, and what the strange statue was. I was fresh out of ideas, and so I decided to drop even lower and beg Kaiyou for information.

Shayla had eaten some bad berries and was now dealing with them in the underbrush with Amburna trying to settle her stomach down. From the gagging noises I heard, there wasn't much success. So, with my mind set, I stormed up to Kaiyou (who was happily sitting in a tree) and stared up at him with determination etched on my face.

He looked down and asked pleasantly, "May I help you?"

My face changed from determined to pleading. I bowed and asked, "Oh, your Mighty Worship, please, PLEASE divulge your infinite knowledge to this lowly, undeserving servant of yours!"

When I looked up, he was smiling. "You want to know who 'Kuvai' is, don't you?"

My face broke into a smile. "Yes!" I exclaimed, and then his own smile broadened.

He sighed and then said, "Ah, my humble servant, bring me some fresh spring water and then I will contemplate your request." My smile and heart fell.

"What?" I asked, and he looked down at me, the smile still on his face.

"Yes, you see, your Master of Infinite Knowledge, Wisdom and Power is thirsty, but doesn't want to get out of his tree, so could you, humble, humble servant, fetch him some?" His face was still in the same smile as before. He was serious. "While you are away, I shall think upon your question and if I should answer it or not."

I left with no intention of "fetching him fresh spring water." I grumbled under my breath as I left, and paid no heed to the requests for ice with his fresh spring water.

I walked back into camp and saw Shayla lying on a rock, groaning with Amburna beside her, who was stroking the human's stomach gently. A bucket that reeked of vomit lay beside the dragonair. And, at that moment, I discovered where to find my "Master of Knowledge, Wisdom and Power" some fresh water.

I happily trotted over to the icebox, retrieved some ice cubes, dumped them into the vomit bucket, and then picked said bucket up via my teeth and the bucket's handle. I then added some water to dullen the stench, and squirted some freshener that Shayla kept onto the mouth of the bucket. It now smelt like flowery vomit instead of just plain vomit. I then grabbed a cloth and placed it over the top of the bucket to top it off. I smiled. My creation was complete. Amburna looked at me strangely.

"Are you so hungry as to eat THAT?" she asked incredulously. I put the bucket down lightly on the ground. "You do know what that is, don't you?" the dragonair asked. I nodded.

"Oh, I know exactly what it is," I replied. "It isn't for me, but for my 'Master of Knowledge, Wisdom and Power'." I then picked the bucket back up and left the dragonair completely befuddled.

I reached Kaiyou's tree and he looked down at me in surprise. I guessed he hadn't expected me to return. I looked up at him pleasantly, and scooted the bucket towards him. "I have retrieved your fresh spring water, oh Master," I reported pleasantly. Kaiyou blinked, then smiled and then jumped down from his perch on the tree. He picked up the bucket and said, "Thank you, humble servant. You have done your Master proud." He then lifted the cloth, and then nearly gagged.

I saw my chance and then headbutted the bucket, sending Shayla's rotten berries and breakfast all over him. I laughed triumphantly and ran off, leaving my angry Master behind. I was laughing so hard, I didn't hear his curses as I ran out of the brush.

Even though I hadn't gotten any information out of him, I had a lot of fun. My plan for revenge had wonderfully succeeded. Tai looked at me strangely as I reentered camp, laughing the way I was. Kaiyou showed up a minute earlier with Shayla's tossed cookies all over his shirt, angrier than I had ever seen him. At seeing his face, I laughed again, and he threw a stick at me, but missed. Shayla saw him and then began to vomit again, to which Amburna sighed and asked for another bucket.

-------

Kaiyou had bathed for about two hours when Shayla was feeling good enough to walk again. He had saved his pants, but his shirt was completely gone. He decided against walking around in his true form because we were about to come up on a little town, and he feared that the public might try to capture him. He also didn't want to go inside his ultra ball -to which we all understood why- so he borrowed one of Shayla's denim over-shirts as we went through the town. For the whole time we were walking through town, he refused to talk to me.

After about an hour in the town, I asked meekly, "Heh, um… sorry about your shirt."

"I liked that shirt," he said tersely.

I laughed nervously. "Yeah… um…"

"What?" he asked a little harshly. "I'm not about to tell you about Kuvai. No. I told you before, you're perfectly fine with not knowing of his existence. And I'm not going to reveal his identity in this public place, out where anyone can hear me."

I blinked. "So Kuvai… is he the thing that you visited last night? The thing that has to be monitored?"

He didn't say anything for a moment. "Don't worry about it right now. Just…" He sighed and put his head in his hand. "Please… don't bombard me with questions right now. I'm not in the mood the answer them."

He walked off and I stood there in the middle of the street, confused. Was this Kuvai person really so terrible to talk about? My face went to determination and I vowed to interrogate him that night, and I swore to myself that I would know everything Kaiyou knew about Kuvai.

------

I decided to confront him on the matter when it became dusk of that night. We had already eaten supper and I had beaten Tai into the ground about twenty times because he wouldn't stop making fun of me because I had a nightmare (about him leaving me, apparently.) Kaiyou was in human form, (in his new white, button-down, collared shirt that Shayla had bought him) lounging in a tree overlooking a high cliff. There was a waterfall nearby, so the air was cool and sweet. There were flowers blooming around my feet, and there was a full moon tonight. It was truly beautiful.

I shook that thought out of my head and placed my front paws on the tree and began to talk a bit forcefully. "Kaiyou, I know there's something you're not telling me, and I know that I had the same dream you had last night." He looked at me, but said nothing. "WHO is Kuvai?!" I demanded.

He looked down at his hands for a moment, then back to the cliff. " 'I am Kuvai, the Shadow Pokemon, Creator of the duskull and dusclops, Consumer of human souls.' " My heart skipped a beat. That was what the thing in my dream said! " 'In Life, I was Buganti, a mighty ground Legendary. But that was 10,000 years ago, when humans began arriving. In Death, I am a mere shadow of my former self, capable of anything, even destroying this pitiful planet. Awaken me, and the human race shall pay.' " He looked back to me. " 'Tome do kuvai… seshu tesh na reckal… ameba to nil rods…' "

My lower jaw shook as I began my sentence. "H-how… How do you know that?! Are… Are YOU Kuvai?!" The possibility that he was the thing in my dream with those merciless red eyes… it truly terrified me.

To my relief, he shook his head. "No, Ayako. I haven't lied to you about my name -I am Kaiyou. I am Kaiyou, Guardian of the Black Tomb. What you heard in your dream was an inscription upon the door of the Tomb."

"Black Tomb?" I asked, to which he nodded. "That was the statue you saw- with the spires?" My mind flashed the image of the blood red eyes and the teeth inching near to my neck. "And Kuvai… is he in the Tomb?"

Kaiyou nodded. "He is what I'm supposed to be protecting. He was what I was protecting when those humans killed me. You saw them. The bastards…" Hate filled his voice when he said the last word, but his face remained calm. He didn't say anything more, so I pressed him on.

"And… that weird language… What does it say?" Kaiyou sighed and turned back to the waterfall.

" 'We serve Kuvai… servants to the Dark one… we assist him eating you alive…' It's an ancient script of old ghost pokemon and evil spirits, who worshipped Kuvai. I suppose they've long died out since I was murdered." He jumped off of the tree and walked to its side and leaned on it. He faced away from me, and faced the sight overlooking the cliff. "When I went to the Tomb last, I couldn't smell anything remotely alive around it. I guess the humans gave up on trying to unlock it."

I blinked. So that's where he disappeared off to…I thought. I sat down on the soft grass and then asked him, "Why is Kuvai so evil? What made him turn into Kuvai when he was Buganti? It doesn't make sense!"

I heard Kaiyou heave another heavy sigh. I supposed he didn't like spilling his guts about something he had to keep so secret. He answered the question in my mind before I could speak it.

"I feel that I owe you something since you… shared my dream. I hate saying all that I know about Kuvai… If he were awoken, I wouldn't know what to do, but I can't leave you to share my horrors every night like I do. So, hopefully, I can give you some peace about him." He looked over his shoulder to look at me. "Kuvai… Or Buganti, since he was still alive at this time, ruled over an underground city. It's very near the Tomb, and I doubt if it's being lived in right now. The humans living there loved Buganti until a rogue came and told them that if they didn't kill Buganti soon, he would devour their children and bury them in the rubble of an earthquake. They believed the rogue and then killed Buganti in his sleep.

"I knew him then, and I feel that we were friends then. I had been away when the treachery happened, so I couldn't do anything about it. When I came back, I found him dead in his lair, freshly killed. I was furious. I killed the traitors, but still, I felt I needed to do more. I called upon Ho-Oh and told him what had happened. Ho-Oh then revived Buganti, but he was so possessed by hate, he couldn't return to his former form. So, he became Kuvai, a shadow of his former self.

"Kuvai seemed to recognize me at first, but then he tried to attack the town as soon as he saw it. Ho-Oh and I put him in a deep sleep and sealed him in his lair -the Black Tomb. We both placed lock after lock on it, and then I assigned myself to guard it, to make sure his wrath wouldn't be placed upon the innocent. I doubt if even his or my legends even exist. The scene you saw in your dream happened roughly 3500 years ago. When I went back there yesterday, three of the four locks had been undone. Without Ho-Oh's help, I can't redo them, except for a little makeshift lock."

I was stunned. I didn't really know what to think, what to say. However, my mouth was quicker than my mind. "Why couldn't you call on Ho-Oh again?"

Kaiyou laughed bitterly. "The Legendary Birds are not all what you think, Ayako. They are pompous, self-centered bastards, save for Lugia. The others all care about power and showing off that power. No, unless I had a crowd of humans and pokemon around me, he wouldn't help me again. He only did what he did 10,000 years ago so that he could get more worshippers."

"So… there's nothing you can do to make more locks?" I asked meekly. Kaiyou shook his head. I looked down to my feet, feeling a bit scared. There were only two more locks to break, and then the Black Tomb would unlock and then Kuvai himself would reek destruction upon the Hoenn region. I looked up to Kaiyou's back and asked, "So… you two were friends?"

He paused a while before answering. "I like to think that. He was my friend, but I doubt I was his. He liked to be alone, and usually couldn't stand me being around him because he told me time and time again I was annoying." I heard a light chuckle. Then, in a deeper voice, he bellowed, " 'Kaiyou, you stupid mongrel! Get away from me! No, don't you dare throw those pastries at me! Kaiyou! I'm gonna kill you!!' "

I guessed that that was Kaiyou's impersonation of Buganti, so I said, "He didn't sound like he liked you at all." Kaiyou's chuckle grew louder.

"I'm sure it does sound that way," he replied. "But of course, you never saw him after he said stuff like that. He would grumble and then I would follow behind him and then he'd look over his shoulder, see me there, and then smile a little." He paused. "But then he would whack me with his two tails."

I chuckled. I guessed, after stretching the word "friends" they were. Kaiyou turned to me and smiled. "Now, you had better get some rest. I have a feeling that we're going to be traveling quite a lot tomorrow." He walked up to me and patted me on the head. "Good night, loyal one," he said softly.

I looked up and then bowed slightly. "Good night, my Lord," I replied. I got up and walked back to camp and sat down on the soft grass underneath me. I was beside Amburna and Shoko, with the others across the way. The fire was in front of me, and I remember before falling asleep seeing two great red eyes through that fire.

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Woot! All done with this one! I wrote it all in one day- aren't you proud of me? ::smiles:: So you now know who "he" is. Mwahahaha, more things to come!

See ya!