Until the next morning—a mere day before she was scheduled to sing—Otomé had adamantly refused to emerge from her room at the very top of the powder blue house. Knowing the truth now, Jet gave her the space she seemed to want, but Omi was relentless in badgering the girl to stop hiding from the world. Hearing such callous words only strengthened his resolve to one day strangle the cat.
He was alone in the backyard of the large house, perched upon the same branch he had been the previous morning, when he heard the gentle squeal of a door and glanced down to spot a shy and unsure Otomé now standing on the back porch, clothed in a knee-length sundress of a pure white fabric as her wings sagged heavily at her sides. The new muscles were still much too weak to support such a mass of bone and feathers.
For a brief moment, the boy looked away from her, unsure of why he did so, but not daring to wonder. Then without being asked, he slipped down from his branch, landing like he always did before cautiously approaching the newly discovered Pokémorph. As he did so, he vaguely mused what she would be called… A Mewmorph? An Articunomorph? A Mewticunomorph?
"Ah, you… Look nice," He complimented from the foot of the three steps that led to the porch, telling himself that he only said such so she wouldn't be so self-conscious of her new appendages. Surely if she constantly fretted over how she looked, it would soon grate on his nerves and reignite his desire to kill her.
Meekly, the water trainer accepted her counterpart's unsure praise, softly adding as she examined her dress's hem, "It… Was the only thing I… I could wear with my… … My wings… Nothing else I own has… No back…"
Never been one to freely speak, Jet didn't bother constructing a reply and simply let the silence settle over them, both trainers looking everywhere but at each other. Now nervously wringing her sundress's hem with her slender hands, Otomé stared intently downwards, wishing fevorantly that her stomach would stop its nauseating flips.
"Um… T-Thank you for…" Though she trailed off, the dragon trainer glanced up when he was addressed. "… For saving me…"
Frowning, he shook his head and cast his ocean-colored eyes away. "I didn't do anything. It was all that dumb, tailed Rocket… If it hadn't been for her Hypno…"
"But you still came for me…"
It felt strange to be thanked. It had never happened before, so the silver-haired boy was unsure how to react. He felt anxious; like he had swallowed a block of freezing ice. There was a soft buzzing in his mind, one that he couldn't get to stop. Suddenly, he turned away from the girl and fixed his gaze on the expansive backyard, staring out at nothing without uttering a single word. This action puzzled the Blackthorn native, but before she could nervously inquire, he had turned back around and fluidly climbed the porch's steps, insisting that he had had no hand in her rescue as he disappeared inside.
Sadly frowning, the female teenager kept her bright eyes on the closed back door before sighing wearily and turning her own gaze to the yard. Why had he stopped? What had he been looking at? He'd probably never tell her, though. He seemed so secretive…
"'Otomé', was it?"
Pulled from her crestfallen thoughts, the water trainer was caught off-guard when she was suddenly addressed by seemingly nothing, the voice that had spoken masculine, but not deep or hoarse. Oddly, it reminded her of honey, sweet and sly, but it made her uneasy.
Cyan eyes darting about in an attempt to find the speaker, she nodded and confirmed with a nod, "Ah… Yes. 'Otomé'…"
The voice chuckled, sounding out her name again, but more slowly. "Oh… Toe… May… It has a nice ring to it… But I am not here to compliment you."
Sharply, she turned her head to the left. It had sounded as though the voice had suddenly started coming from a different direction. But as soon as she had changed the trajectory of her gaze, she froze, eyes suddenly widening. To her left stood a Raichu, grinning up at her in almost a false way. But it was no ordinary Raichu. Oh no, its fur was a pitch black, its markings a dark red rather than the normal yellow or brown. The color of its eyes reminded her of blood but as though the strange coloration was not enough, the electric mouse sported a single small, white wing and massive, pristinely ivory claws on one paw.
With instinctive fear, Otomé took a few steps back from the freak creature.
"What… What in the name of Suicune…?!"
"I can't have you ruining my plans, you know," The creature interrupted in a matter-of-fact tone as he closed his eyes. "I've worked too long, too hard to let you do that…" Reopening his eyes, the Raichu chuckled when he observed the girl's fearful look.
"Come now, I am no enemy," He insisted sweetly. "You may hold power, but even if you knew how to use it, you wouldn't last three seconds against me, I'm afraid…"
Power? What power? What in the hell was that thing talking about? Regardless, the water trainer did not like how the creature seemed to know so much about her. And boldly, she let him know her confusion, which caused the thing to chuckle again.
"You don't know a single thing, do you? Aw, poor girl. Maybe you should ask Jet… Or that Espeon of yours… They've talked about it…"
"Jet?" This got Otomé's attention as she warily studied the strange Raichu and frowned. "These plans of yours… Wouldn't happen to… Involve him, too… Would they?"
The creature's smirk widened. "You're sharp… But I cannot tell you much about them, I'm afraid, lest you go spilling them to that fiend… But I guess they include you, too, now, since you seem so be so actively destroying them…"
Not enjoying the road down which this conversation was going, the blue-haired teenager narrowed her eyes slightly at the Pikachu Evolute, awarding him a misgiving look. 'Fiend'? He was talking about Jet again, wasn't he?
"These plans better not including harm befalling them, I hope…"
Smiling wickedly, the creature rocked back and forth on his long feet. "How sweet you are, caring about the safety of your little boyfriend more than your own? It's at times like this in which I must wonder where the hatred for Pokémorphs stems from…" Standing still now, he added, "As for the harming… I'm not sure. I haven't really worked that part out yet…"
Dumbly, Otomé blinked. "'Care for his own safety before my own'? What…?" Frowning, she pursed her lips together and thought for a moment, before asking again, "Does… Does that mean if I'm not in danger already, then I will be?"
"Exactly! Glad you understand!" The Raichu chirped cheerfully.
Omi had found it strange to hear the back door shut and look up to see not Otomé, but a tired-looking Jet sulking towards her. With nothing more than a sigh, he flopped down into one of the plush armchairs slightly across from the chair the cat herself was in, and closed his eyes as he leaned his head back. But she said nothing and simply let the boy rest in silence, returning to her own napping.
But after a small while, she lifted her head again and glanced around, as though expecting something. Not finding whatever she had been looking for, the cat turned her gaze to the still resting dragon trainer and ask, "Where's Otomé?"
It took a moment for him to reply with a shrug, "I dunno. I left her on the back porch."
"Why hasn't she come inside yet, then? Nothing's in the back yard and I know she doesn't like to be alone…"
"Maybe she went into town," The boy suggested in an annoyed manner. But the Espeon dismissed this.
"Boy, she has giant wings. With all the hatred Pokémorphs get, would YOU want to go out into public if you were her?"
Opening a single eye and glaring at the feline, he had to admit she was right. He was surprised the girl had even dared venture out of her room at all. He wouldn't've. So as Omi jumped down from her hair, he stood from his own and followed her as she strolled down the hall to the back door.
"What could it be then?" He inquired with nonchalance. "Surely not the Rockets… They wouldn't dare to strike so soon again…" He reached out a hand to open the back door, but as soon as his fingers touched the knob, the boy immediately withdrew his hand as though he had been shocked.
"What is it?" The Sun Pokémon at his feet asked in a slightly worried voice.
"Not the Rockets," He growled, suddenly agitated. "Definitely not the Rockets." Grasping the knob again and flinging open the door with unnecessary force, Jet stalked onto the back porch, stopping beside a surprised Otomé and glaring over at the strange Raichu, as if he had known that the creature was there all along.
"What the hell are you doing here?" He muttered darkly, frowning. The electric mouse ignored how displeased the boy seemed and replied innocently.
"Just discussing some… Things with your friend here… Isn't that right?" He looked over to the girl with amused, yet cold eyes.
"If by 'discussing' you mean 'threatening', then yes," She replied dully with lidded eyes. Rolling his eyes, the Raichu spoke before Jet could.
"You're all so boring. How about we make a deal?" Met with nothing but silence, he continued. "How about joining me… In my plans… Nobody needs to be hurt… No secrets between you two as there are already… Why, we could become the most powerful beings in the world… I could teach you two to use your powers…"
The dragon trainer snarled, not lured by the creature's smoothly spoken promises. "You better shut your mouth, rat!"
Having gotten lost a few sentences back, Otomé simply blinked once or twice. "That… What? What, are you aiming to take over the world?" Sadly, she sounded completely earnest rather than sarcastic as one might expect. The Raichu shook his head.
"Take over the world? Oh no! Most certainly not. But I should've figured…" Smirking, he set his chilling eyes on the silver-haired boy. "Power won't tempt you… You gave up wanting it a long time ago… And she…" With a slight frown, the electric mouse examined the girl.
"… She is too pathetic to seek it…" As though this observation disappointed him, the Raichu ruffled his wing. "Oh well. But I have no more time to waste on the likes of you two…"
"Wait!" Trying to pretend she that wasn't angry at the creature's insult, the water trainer asked in a slightly hurt voice, "What are you?" This provoked another smirk from the ebony creature.
"Why… You may call me Shadowflare… I am the only perfection this world has… An Angel-Demon. But until we meet again!" And without warning, he vanished in the blink of an eye, obviously knowing the art of teleportation.
Once the strange Raichu had disappeared, Otomé had appealed to Omi to tell her what she really was. Why did she have wings? Why was Nightmare after her? Why? What was she hiding from her? Defeatedly, the Espeon sighed and began to walk away, bidding the Articunomorph to follow. Desperately, the girl looked to Jet as if he held an answer, but when he refused to meet her gaze, she dejectedly followed after the Sun Pokémon.
How long the two were gone, the boy did not know. The only thing worse than his sense of time was his social skills (or rather, lack thereof). But they had finally returned as the sun gleamed high over the mountains, the girl looking sorrowful and allowing her wings to drag pridelessly on the dusty ground.
"Now all that's left… Is your secret," Omi has mentioned to him softly as she strolled past and disappeared back into the house, leaving the two trainers alone now. Sighing, he glanced up to Otomé, examining her gentle yet ashamed face even though she would not look to him in return.
After a long pause, he commented, "I guess it's too obvious to hide now… But…" The dragon trainer faltered, reluctant to say anything more, but knowing he had to. "I… I'm not… Human, either… Fully human, I mean…"
When the water trainer said nothing, though finally set her gaze upon him, he continued.
"I'm… A halfling, too. Half human, half… … Half demon. There… Aren't any pureblooded demons left these days… Only… Halfbreeds like me, and even then nobody's really sure how many, because they all look like normal humans… Hell, I might even be the last… I didn't know what I was for the longest time…"
Expecting Otomé to have recoiled away from him in disgust, he was slightly amazed to look back to her and discover that not only did she remain rooted to her spot on the porch, but she… Seemed somewhat interested. Cautiously, he continued on.
"For some reason, Team Rocket knew, though… But it didn't really matter. While demons are powerful killing machines, the Rocket's genetic experiments usually turned out stronger… I mean, look at you… Omi told me about the power you have…"
Suddenly growing self-conscious, the female teenager averted her gaze away from her counterpart's, but still dared to look to him out of the corners of her eyes, just in case he took her action to mean disinterest.
"But then somehow they learned the immense power of Angel-Demons like Shadowflare… And realized just how precious my blood really was. They proposed giving me that power… To make me like Shadowflare… They thought that by giving me such power they could control me and make me their pawn…" Heavily, Jet sighed, suddenly finding the porch's wooden planks intriguing.
"Demons don't want power, though… They want blood. Their instincts were to be aggressive… To fight… To kill anything they sought… My instincts…"
As she listened intently, his ashamed look tugged at her heartstrings. But now she understood why he had tried to kill her, in the Illex Forest and just yesterday even… It wasn't anything personal against her… He just hadn't known any better, had he?
"I don't…"
He steeled himself for rejection again when Otomé began to speak.
"… I don't think any less of you, though… I still see good in you…"
Frowning and still refusing to look at her, the dragon trainer turned away from his peer and mumbled, "Then keep thinking that until the day you die… Which could very well be soon and by my own hands… There is no good in me… There never was and never will be."
A/N: Two chapters in one night. Oh stars. Cookies if you've gotten this far and aren't "WTFsux"-ing. I know it seems kinda that way (or maybe I'm just being paranoid?), but… Like I said, it's an RP. And there's no way in the seven hells I could've cut out Jet being a Halfling or that which is Shadowflare. Both are way too integral to the main storyline (hell, Shadowflare's STILL a main villain, even four years later).
But, I did accidentally start typing what will be the first paragraph of chapter nine before deciding to end this chapter where I did. :D