PokeStones of the Dead – Chapter Fourteen
Temperance was only then aware of the metallic taste of blood in his mouth, transferred there on contact with the suspended bodies of Lorelei and Bruno. Spitting the dark red liquid on the ground, Temperance nevertheless could not avert his gaze away from the two bodies hanging from the ceiling, an expression of surprise on their faces. Despite this, they remained proud in death, stoic and unafraid. Temperance noticed the blood all over them – their bodies had been cut in multiple places, no doubt for the potion that had doomed Articuno to servitude under Lance. Unable to hide his disgust, Temperance recoiled, retched, and proceeded to throw up all over the floor, the vomit forming a horrible combination with the bloodstains.
Lillette was searching for the door, trying to find the secret room containing the keys to the whole puzzle, and the tools to break the three legendary birds free of the spell of Lance. A secret trapdoor or passageway, leading to the area she so desperately seeked. Lillette knew she had to hurry. Lance obviously had not counted on the transfer of power from the evil buried in the earth to take a long period of time, and hence had not bothered sending minions to guard Indigo against her search. However, Lance still had access to many thousands of Dead in Celadon and Fuchsia. Their speed was slow, but Lillette had no doubt that soon the attack would come crashing on the walls of damaged Indigo. And searching for a hidden room in this absurdly big mansion was like looking for a needle in a haystack. There would be a need for a back-up plan, and she had just the right one. Releasing Xatu from her Poke Ball, Lillette gave him some instructions and then resumed her search.
Temperance picked himself off the floor, the taste of blood still fresh in his mouth. Trying to avert his gaze from the two bodies in front of him, Poke Balls missing, Temperance considered whether to return to the Champion's quarters to assist Lillette in finding the secret passageway that would lead them to their goal, or to proceed past the two blockades, hoping to find Agatha… or her body. Temperance weighed the two choices for an instant, before deciding on the latter course. Agatha could be injured, on the verge of death, and it was the least Temperance could do to find her and how she was. Also, only 3 sources of blood were needed to form a potion, so all three Elite Four members could not have been killed, for then Lance would not have needed to contribute his own blood to the potion. On these thoughts, Temperance gingerly pushed aside Lorelei and Bruno, after saying a silent prayer for their souls, and proceeded back into the arena where Temperance and Lillette had been defeated earlier.
Lillette was already bored of her job, and she had only finished searching the library. The reason was simple – there was just too much ground to carry. She was a soldier, for heaven's sake. Not someone that had to search behind every bookshelf, every book, and every page for a switch or lever that would open a secret door somewhere in these rooms. The Champion's… house, if you could call it a house, was perfect in times of peace, where people could then quietly enjoy the luxury everywhere. It was a nuisance when people were looking for something that could be hidden anywhere, and had a limited time frame to do it. Like now. Sighing, Lillette finally searched through the last couch in the library and moved on to the dining room. Where is Temperance, anyway? Probably slacking off as usual…
Temperance ran on, the conflicting needs of haste and care hampering his search for Agatha. Eyes scanning the massive arena, Temperance was looking 180 degrees in front of him, vision moving in a slow semicircle. Slow enough to almost fall into one of the pools scattered throughout the arena, resulting in soaked socks and a curse that reverberated throughout the entire arena. Temperance was only then aware of the total silence in the place, the loud splash created from the misstep almost deafening. Temperance was about to continue, when he saw someone lying along the passageway linking the third and fourth arenas. Actually, it was the mirrors of the third passageway that allowed Temperance to see it. Agatha?
No luck. Lillette had searched through room after room of everything a human being could realistically want in his entire life. From the dining room, to the communication centre, to the main hall, everything was perfect. Yet Lillette was slowly getting frustrated at the lack of progress as well as a sense of irritation at herself, knowing that her search had become less and less stringent with every failure she had got. Now standing at the door of the entertainment room, Lillette stared at a LCD television, covering an entire wall, a billiard table as well as several game machines, both Pokemon-related and those that were not so. More searching. The sound of Xatu returning interrupted her inner moaning for some time – at least he had succeeded in his mission.
Indeed, Agatha was slumped against the mirrored walls of the third passageway, eyes blank and staring. Fearing the worst, despite the lack of blood, Temperance frantically searched for a pulse, and was relieved to find the steady beat pressing against his fingers. Just unconscious then. Shaking Agatha wildly, Temperance finally saw the brown return to her eyes. A short round of questioning revealed that the Elite Four HAD fought off the Dead, and were returning to report to Lance, when Hyper Beams hit them in the back, courtesy of Lance's Pokemon. Lorelei and Bruno, unconscious immediately, were brutally massacred, while Agatha, only having suffered a glancing blow, managed to escape as far as the third corridor after sending out her Pokemon to fend the chasing Lance off. Eventually, Lance must have decided that he had more important things to do. Like taking control of legendary birds. Temperance helped Agatha up, and told her of the secret room hidden in the Champion's quarters. Then, she asked a very strange question: "Boy, have you been surprised enough times today?"
Lillette gave up. Short off totally dismantling the LCD television, there was nothing more she could do to find the trigger to reveal the secret that Lance had been harbouring all this while. I need a break. Damn you, Temperance. Lillette, resolve lost, looked around the room and found the billiard table still in a middle of a game. Just the last two balls left – the cue white and the black. Promising to find Temperance once she finished the game, Lillette took aim briefly with the chalked cue and fired the black sweetly into the far pocket. Before Lillette could even turn away, the billiard table sunk into the ground – no, the ground itself was sinking on hidden hydraulic hinges. Lillette, shocked for a moment into immobility, made the decision to jump on the table alone after making some preparations. Temperance could no doubt take care of himself.
Temperance pondered the question. Without doubt, yes. There had been enough shocks to kill a Golem throughout these wacky series of events. Before he could even answer, Agatha continued. "Well, let me give you one more."
And suddenly the gleam of a knife was in her hand, the flick blade sharp and cutting towards Temperance's throat.
Temperance cried out in pain, the dark-red liquid flowing from his maimed arm. The knife, slick with Temperance's blood, was withdrawn, and then brought forward in another stab, this time at Temperance's stomach. Unarmed, all Temperance could do was endeavour to dodge the knife again, like he had did for the first attack. Raising his arm in a block, Temperance had managed to avoid the certainly fatal blow to his throat in exchange for a bloody arm and a lot of pain. The second stab was more centralised and thus harder to dodge. Throwing himself to the ground, Temperance rolled his way to one of the pools of water in the previous arena, almost expecting the white-hot blade to plunge into his shoulder blades any moment. But Temperance managed to get to a pool, and jumped in without hesitation.
His hands were on his Poke Balls the moment he entered the relative safety of the water. He certainly could not hope to match Agatha in human combat – his only weapon was lying splintered on Seafoam. Finding Gyarados and Dodrio, Temperance pressed the release catch and was about to release the Pokemon that would give him a chance against this madness, when a roar from the depths below caught his attention. Two Dragonair flanking a Gyarados. Lance! Or his Pokemon, anyway. Suddenly, Agatha above seemed a better choice than the three dragons below. His left hand changing targets, Temperance released Victreebel and Houndoom instead, as he dived back into the arena, and the knife-wielding maniac.
Right arm still in agony, Temperance pulled himself out of the water, where Victreebel and Houndoom were already using Vine Whip and Fire Spin to keep the waterholes closed, so he could focus on Agatha without being hit by a Hyper Beam from the back. Retreating from the advancing Agatha, Temperance was pleased to see the pools sealed up, the Dragonair and Gyarados unable to emerge. Agatha still hadn't released her Pokemon… surely she wasn't planning to use the knife to personally cut him to bits?
"A show of faith," Agatha said, throwing her Poke Balls to the corner of the arena. "Return your Pokemon, and we can… have a friendly chat."
Lillette finally got off the table, after it had carried her far underground. To her surprise, the place was lit with a musty light, dim but adequate. Looking around the room, Lillette saw all sorts of assorted materials. Pictures, videos, books… all too far away for her close examination. However, unmistakable in a place of prominence, were the five PokeStones Lance had collected in his sick quest to free the evil residing dormant for ages. Moving towards the trophy table, the sound of hydraulic movement rang in Lillette's ears, and she wheeled around only to see the table move back up to the entertainment room, the billiard balls already rearranging themselves to the exact same position. Guess I'm stuck here then. Let's hope Temperance can play billiards.
As Lillette moved around the nondescript room, the pictures, movies, and books could be seen to be all about the same topic the duo had researched earlier. Not to mention that there were movies of Lavender, Victory Road, and Seafoam. There would be time to examine the material here to see if there was anything they had missed, but for now, Lillette had to find the key, the main source of the controlling power, that was in this room. This would enable her to free Zapdos, Moltres, and Articuno from Lance's control and give her a chance against the power-imbued Lance. Unfortunately, she had no idea how to do just that. The PokeStones were just sitting there, and she was no necromancer – she obviously could not mutter a few cool-sounding incantations, and withdraw the power from the PokeStones. Then she spied a PC at the far end of the room, as well as a few pieces of paper on a table, loose. Lance's notes?
"Fool. You would tell me of your secret knowledge, totally giving up the one piece of information that made you useful? I was going to pretend to be your ally until you revealed the full extent of your plans, but I didn't expect it to be this soon. Honestly. You totally wasted Lance's Dragonite and Aerodactyl, who I commanded to circle Indigo. Never mind. I now see the complete and utter stupidity that has led you to take this course. Think, boy, think. Lance only collected five PokeStones, but two birds were controlled. Where did the sixth legendary artefact come from? My blood, maybe?"
"And so, now what? You're going to kill me with the Pokemon now temporarily trapped below the arena? Or simply cut me to pieces? What is this, punishment for my stupidity?"
"Correct."
The knife spun again, this time its wielder in a leaping slash that took her to Temperance. Sidestepping to his left, Temperance tried a reverse ankle-sweep that caught Agatha's leg and led her off-balance for a moment. Temperance considered making use of this to follow up, but as long as the knife was in her hand, hasty moves would be fatal. Temperance slowly unfastened a Poke Ball, and rolled it between one of the vines into the water. He had agreed not to use his own Pokemon to attack, but this would have a higher success rate, anyway.
Lillette read through Lance's notes, searching for any sign of how to reverse the spell binding the three birds. However, from what she could see, most of the writing was simply a summary of what she already knew. No luck there. Then, Lillette saw the fine print at the bottom. The power of the potions had to be tied to a base source of power close to the PokeStones – i.e. in this room. However, there was no guarantee that the objects had to be together, or in a certain form. Any inanimate object could be imbued with power from the necromancer and left in this room to fuel the potion's grip on Zapdos, Moltres and Articuno. Still having no idea where to look, Lillette decided to try the PC. Perhaps, there would be some indication of what the sources were, and how to destroy them.
Far away from Indigo, the Dead were slowly but surely moving towards the secret room.
Temperance couldn't keep avoiding the attacks for much longer. His legs were crying out in pain, and he was still not fully rested after the siege at Seafoam. The knife had missed by a smaller margin each time Agatha had stabbed or slashed with it, and Temperance knew he only had the energy for one or two more attempts before the knife found its target. He became aware could not just wait for his Pokemon to succeed. So, when Agatha performed a backhanded swing at Temperance's navel, Temperance made his move.
Diving at Agatha's legs, Temperance made use of the temporary loss of balanced caused from the attack, targeting below her centre of gravity. With a mighty pull, Agatha's balance gave, and she fell. Temperance went for the knife immediately, clawing at her hand in order to gain control of it. Stubborn fingers refused to let go, and the two were rolling in a tussle across the arena, both searching for the purchase on the only weapon that would end the fight permanently.
Finally, Temperance flicked the blade out of Agatha's hand. With his other hand, he tried to catch the flying knife… only for it to bounce off his fingertips, fly into one of the Fire Spins that Houndoom had made previously, and get instantly incinerated. Temperance almost lost his balance trying to change direction instead of following the knife to a fiery grave. In that crucial instant, Agatha picked herself off the ground, pushing Temperance towards the flaming tornado.