Hello! Well, today's a wonderful day because the roads are too hazardous to go to school. So… SNOW DAY! (Well, actually a sleety ice day). Woot. I've been catching up on my sleep and playing FFX. I'm stuck at another

boss battle.

Lots of angst in here… it can't be avoided. Sorry.

Price for Freedom

Chapter 27

Disobedience

I awoke in the suit's living room to the poke of a small paw in my side. From a small glance to the clock, I saw that it was 5:45 pm. I looked up and saw Tai, who was wearing a sour face. "He's here to see you," he stated softly. I blinked for a moment and tried to figure out whom he meant.

"What are you talking about?" I asked sleepily, to which he growled in annoyance.

"That Armpit dude." At my blank stare, he growled again. "That absol you met in the airlock before the opening ceremony!"

"You mean Arden?" I replied, to which he nodded irritably. I jumped happily to my feet. "Where is he?" Tai nodded his head unenthusiastically to the door, to which I began to trot over. He stopped me by biting gently onto my tail.

"I don't like him," he said softly after he let my webbed tail go. "He smells funny. You shouldn't go out alone with him."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't make your inferiority complex his problem," I replied scathingly. "You don't like any Dark. You didn't like Kaiyou when you first met him."

He growled. "That's different! He was acting like an ass and he looked like an umbreon! Now he's okay, but that's not the point!" He took a deep breath and then continued in a hushed voice, "This Garden dude is big trouble, Xena. And it's not my 'inferiority problem' or whatever. Kazu and Amburna agree with me."

I glared. "How dare you bring the rest of them into this!" I turned completely around and pushed my face within inches of his. He shrank back a bit, but I didn't care. "This is none of their concern! What happens between me and him is OUR business. In fact, I don't recall asking for your narrow-minded opinion about him, so why don't you just piss off?" His chocolate brown eyes flinched and faltered a bit. I knew I had hurt him, but the pent-up rage grew and I had to hurt him more. "And while you're at it, learn to remember people's name's for Godssake! It's NOT that complicated a name!"

He stared at me for a moment, then turned for Shayla's room. "Fine! Go! You don't seem to need any common sense, so go ahead!See if I care!" He retreated into his trainer's room, and then I noticed Kaiyou leaning against his doorframe, a disapproving grimace etched into his pale face.

"That was rather rude of you," he stated softly. I growled at him. What was it with everyone and Arden? He wasn't a bad guy! And why was I getting punished for merely talking with him?

I glared. "It was rude of him to simply assume Arden's a bad guy from the five minutes he listened to us!" Kaiyou cocked an eyebrow.

"And it's stupid of you to simply assume he's a good guy from the five minutes you talked to him." Since I couldn't come up with an appropriate reply, he continued. "Tai's just trying to look out for you. His nose IS better than yours is, so you need to listen to him. And just because Arden's an absol does not mean he won't try to hurt you. You don't know his motives."

"And niether do you! Why aren't you putting faith into him? He's a Dark! One of our own!"

His gaze narrowed and I could feel anger and irritation seeping from him. "Now every Darkling is a good pokemon, Ayako. You should know that by now. You, me and a few others are rarities of the Dark race; most Darks are loners, cold, and sometimes even malicious. He could be using you for all you know."

I put a foot forward. "And for all you know, he could just want to be my friend!"

His shoulders sagged and his upper lip drew up in a slight snarl. His hand reached up to his brow, and he began rubbing. My Lord took in some deep breaths for a moment, then glared back at me. "Fine. Go ahead. I could just tell you not to go, but you seem so damn certain. So go. Disregard your Lord and your comrade." He then pointed a finger at me accusingly. "But I warned you. And when you're in trouble, don't call to me for help." He then turned and slammed the door to his room.

Suddenly, a feeling, a presence, fell away from my mind. The emptiness that was now inside me almost made me collapse. It hurt, but then it didn't hurt at all. It was strange, like a knife in my chest, but when I looked down, there was nothing. Then as I looked around for the source of the pain, I realized that I was alone. Utterly. Usually, I could feel my Lord's presence, but there was nothing. (My Lord?) I asked.

Nothing.

I snarled and then turned back to the door and opened it with my paw. There sat Arden, looking up at the ceiling. When he noticed me, he smiled slowly and asked tentatively, "…So your teammates don't approve of me, huh?"

I frowned and replied, "Don't mind them. They don't know what they're talking about." I started for the stairs, him following at my side. I was about to ask him why he didn't seem to feel Kaiyou's presence, but he began the conversation first.

"So who are your comrades?" he asked politely. "I would love to know who works with such a beautiful lady."

I giggled. How could a wonderful person be bad? "Well," I began as I chuckled, "there's Amburna, a dragonair. I know she's way beyond the level that she can evolve, but she doesn't seem to want to. But even though she hasn't evolved, she's really strong. I saw her take down the two pokemon at the Mossdeep gym with one surf."

His brow went up. "Amazing. Your trainer must be very talented."

I nodded. "She is. Then there's Kiya, an aggron. I haven't really seen her battle because she was only recently transferred to us. The one that had her spot… well…" I tried to put Saji's death into the right words. "He… he died…"

Arden stopped in his tracks, shock and sorrow in his crimson eyes. "I'm so sorry… Were you two… close?"

I nodded my head slightly. "I knew him. He was a good friend and a good fighter. He died in Sootopolis… battling…" I didn't want to say Anubo's name, "…that pokemon that was rampaging around -you heard of it didn't you?"

He nodded. "You… you battled him?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Yeah, a bit. But the ones who battled the most were Kaiyou and Yasille."

At this, his mouth opened in shock. "You… you mean Kaiyou, the Dark Legendary? You know him personally?"

I smiled. "Yup. He's even on our team right now. He promised Shayla -that's my trainer- that he would help her out in the League because of Saji -that's the scizor that… died." Arden then began walking again, and I told him about Kazu and Tai. But he didn't really seem too interested in them and kept asking about Kaiyou. Of course, I figured that would happen. When you live your life thinking your don't have a god to pray to, it's an amazing epiphany in the realization that you do.

I told him everything I knew about Kaiyou, leaving Kuvai and the details about Yasille out, as we made our way to the bottom of the stairs. He was very intrigued about him, but of course, who wouldn't be? I told him of training with our Lord, and how Kaiyou had won our first match with ease.

We exited the hotel and made our way to the small pond that was a little out to the east of the hotel. The moon sparkled over the blue pond, and the first stars, which were slowly being lit one by one, watched over us. Out over the crags of Victory Road, I could see the faint lights of Mossdeep and Sootopolis. I sighed at the beauty of it all.

"So Ayako," Arden began after a calm silence, "this Kaiyou… I saw his match earlier. How did he disappear like that? After the hitmonlee tried to kick him, he simply vanished."

My smile grew into a mischievous grin. "Why, he used the Void. Have you never gone into it?" I took his blank stare for a no. "It's really easy," I assured as I went to a shadowed tree. He followed me uncertainly. "All you have to do is want to go into the Void, jump into a shadow, and then you're there!"

He looked at the tree uneasily, then back to me. "Are you sure I can do it?"

I scoffed and said, "A newborn houndour could do it, given proper instruction. Any Dark can go into it; it's our gift and our sanctuary." I then demonstrated by walking calmly into the tree's shadow, then turned and came halfway back out. Arden was completely overwhelmed. He stood there; mouth agape and I began laughing. This must have been how Eclipse felt when he taught me. "Come on, it's not going to hurt you."

He came slowly towards me, and I retreated entirely into the Void. Through the veil, I could see him pause, then he jumped in beside me. His feet faltered, probably because he expected to crash into the tree, and he glanced around. When his eyes found me, he said, "This… this is your Void?"

I nodded. "Yup. You can do all sorts of things here. You can go anywhere you want. In a battle, you can come up right under your opponent and take him completely by surprise!" He smiled and began running around in the swirling purple and black space.

"Amazing! Simply amazing! I knew there was something special about you, Ayako, and I found one of the things that makes you so unique." He came back to me and nuzzled my cheek. "What else is there you can teach me? I feel so ignorant now that I've seen this wonderful place."

I smiled and returned his nuzzle, which took him a little by surprise. "Well… why don't we spar? You should learn to use the Void correctly before you go into battle."

His toothy grin spread across his white and black face. "I would love nothing more."

………………

We battled in the field that Kaiyou and I had used until first light warmed the clouded sky. Arden was awkward at using the Void at first, sometimes appearing thirty feet away from me when he was supposed to be right beside me. But he eventually grew better and we began to battle in and out of the Void. After we were tired, we went back to the hotel, bidding farewell at the third floor of the stairwell. He thanked me many times for acquainting him to the Void, and wanted me to introduce him to Kaiyou, but I told him that would have to wait. I didn't want to think of the meeting between them just yet.

I used the Void again to get into our suite to see Tai, Kazu, Kaiyou -in his human form- and the others eating breakfast. The jolteon glared at me coldly, while Kazu glanced worriedly at his brother. Kaiyou didn't look at me at all and continued eating his cereal. I flinched at the lack of a greeting from my Lord, but then Shayla came over to me with my bowl of food. "You shouldn't run off like that, girl," she admonished softly. "I was worried."

I muttered a "sorry" and began to eat. Shayla grabbed her purse, which had been hidden away in her backpack, and announced, "I have to go down to the lobby and see when our battle is. I'll be back in a little while." The rest of my comrades said a collective goodbye, and when the door shut, Tai looked up from his now finished bowl of food.

"So what did you do last night -or should I say this morning- that lasted so long?" the jolteon asked, his voice dripping with venom. I looked up from my own bowl, glaring at him. What was his problem?

"What do you care? I told you last night: what goes on between him and me is OUR business. So why don't you take your nose out of it?"

Kazu glanced between the two of us, fear plain on his face. I almost felt sorry for him, but my sympathy was overruled by my anger. Tai stepped over his bowl towards me. "Because you're my teammate, and what stupid, irrational stunts you pull affect us all! We have a match today, Ayako! Are you even strong enough to fight?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Most of the pokemon here are weaklings; you've said so yourself! And besides, Kaiyou's here. He can take my place."

Kaiyou glared down at me, and for a moment, I was scared of him. "Don't you drag me into this," he warned softly. He then turned back to his cereal and began reading the Candide book again. I recoiled a step; his cold reply physically hurt. Tai turned back to me again and said, "He's different, Xena. He's not one of Shayla's permanent pokemon. He comes and goes as he pleases. What if he decided to leave today and all we had for a Dark pokemon was you? What could we do then? You let us down, absol."

Though it did sting that he used my species name, something he hadn't done since we first met, I wasn't daunted. He was jealous. Just jealous. I was about to reply when Kazu jumped in between us.

"Would you two stop?" he almost yelled. "I hate it when teammates fight! Especially when it involves my brother and one of my best friends! Please, would you two talk like civilized pokemon and try to work this out?"

I snarled. "If he CAN talk like a civilized pokemon." Tai snapped at me over his brother's shoulder. Kazu held him back with a psychic, and me with his forked tail. Amburna slithered to me and wrapped loosely around my legs and middle. Though she was relaxed now, I knew that if I tried to get away, her gentle hold would become suffocating.

"This is what I'm talking about!" Kazu shouted. "You're acting like children! Tai, Ayako, I agree with both of you. She had no right to go out like that without permission, especially with a battle today. But she also has the right to be friends with whomever she wants. So how are we going to settle this?"

Tai growled under his younger brother's hold. "Let me go, Kazu. THEN we'll be able to settle things."

Amburna squeezed a little harder when I tried to get out. "Fighting will do nothing except wear you out," she said in an almost motherly tone, "and that's not something we need right now. Shayla needs all of us to be healthy and fit. After today, then you settle your petty squabbles. But NOT NOW."

Kazu nodded and turned to his older brother. "Tai, please be reasonable. Settle down and think this through."

I scoffed from my position in Amburna's coil. "That's a lark. Him, thinking?"

Tai snarled again as sparks began to dance around his psychic bubble. "I do it more than you if you go out to rendezvous with some two-faced bastard." I snapped at him and Amburna's hold on me tightened. He was cocky now; he had a button to push.

"I really thought you were better than that, absol." The last word was saturated with disdain. "But I guess you're just like the other Darks I've met; save for your Lord. You're all two-timing, back-stabbing bastards! Why don't you go back to that damn Void of yours and stay there? It would help us all out!"

I struggled to get out of my captor's hold again, but the dragonair wouldn't relent. "How DARE you! Back-stabber? How in Hell am I a back-stabber? What wrong have I done, save for seeing Arden? You should know what you're accusing before your mouth spews it, jolteon."

He was about to reply, but his anger suddenly left him. His shoulders sagged and Kazu's psychic vanished. Momentarily, I was worried. What had happened to him? "I just…" His voice was fragile, a mere whisper. "I just wanted…"

Then, for the first time since the fight had started, Kaiyou stirred. He stood stoically and placed a placating hand on Tai's spiky head. For some reason, jealousy for the electric dog swelled within me. Why did my Lord go to him? Tai wasn't even our element! He was in the wrong! I was the victim! How could my Lord side with the gluttonous jerk? Kaiyou picked up Tai, and then, in an almost silent murmur, he stated, "Now you know how he feels." My Lord then went into his room, Tai in his arms, and shut the door.

Amburna let me go as soon as Tai was out of sight. I didn't stir from my spot on the floor; I was too shocked to move. Kazu slowly came up to me and asked, "Are you okay?"

I turned my eyes to his, and felt terrible. I had just put him in a horrible position, one that he wasn't made to handle. I sighed and plopped down onto my butt. "I don't know," I muttered. The absence of Tai's happiness and Kaiyou's mere presence put my mental state into shambles. I couldn't think straight. I became annoyed at the tinniest little things. Was Arden's friendship worth this? Was my pride worth it?

Amburna, in all her wisdom, seemed to know what my mind had come to. "You should tell the other absol what you've decided. Then, you can apologize to Tai and Kaiyou."

Pride overtook my logic. "Apologize? But-"

She wormed her way in front of my face and said sternly, "Ayako, listen. You WILL apologize. You have hurt them more than you know. Tai especially. And if you do not know why, then you truly are a simpleton. For all of us, please, just end it. Sacrifice a little to save the unity of this team."

I sighed. She was right. For whatever reason, Arden had torn Tai and I apart, I had to mend it. Though it would be hard; I wasn't one to give up so easily. From Amburna's sturdy stare, I made my way to the door, about to find the room where he lived. I needed to find Arden.

……………

Finally! She gets some sense in her. And why does Tai freak out about Arden? Duh… it's so obvious…

Sorry about the huge amount of angst. It's inevitable. And I think it's written really bad, so I apologize about that too.

Ja!