True Magic
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.
Chapter Five
With a loud thud, Dawn tripped. Sprawling into the floor, she quickly recovered and rubbed her head.
"What's wrong? Can't you see in the fog?" asked Lucas.
"I don't know," replied Dawn. "It felt like I tripped on… wire!"
"Watch out!" shouted Cynthia, pointing above them. A ceiling pane had opened, revealing a gap through which copious amounts of fire began to spew from.
"Everyone, keep moving! Dawn, watch out for more traps," yelled Lucas as he blocked the flames with Light Screen.
Grunts were soon advancing on the groups, throwing attacks randomly and making the Double Team clones poof out of existence in flashes of light.
"Those clones aren't going to last long at this rate," said Lucas grimly as they ran through the building. "I already saw at least three groups get annihilated."
"Don't worry, I can make more," said Cynthia. "We need to focus on finding those wizards. Dawn, lead on."
"Right!"
They made frantic turns at every corner, hoping to randomly find the captured wizards. Dawn's eyes were focused mainly on any sort of possible trap while Cynthia and Lucas looked for a basement or secret room. Dawn's eyes widened as the mist she was still creating outlined a maze of thin wires.
"Stop!" screamed Dawn. The group halted just before the first line of wire. "We need to be careful here. There're a ton of wires everywhere."
"Right," replied Cynthia. "Good job. I'll make more distraction clones as we get through here."
They began to slowly follow Dawn into the treacherous maze of metal, with a copy of one of them splitting away and running off every now and then. The wires proved extremely sensitive and almost impossible to navigate, proved by the fact that Lucas accidentally brushed a line of wire and caused the wall to open and send a deluge of water at them.
"No need to worry about the traps now!" shouted Dawn. "Just run! I'll stop the water!"
Lucas and Cynthia ran ahead blindly, tripping and getting entangled in threads even as they broke free of ones they already charged through. Dawn had taken control of the water with her aura and was forcing it back into the hole, freezing a good part of it to act as the wall it flooded through. The trio was soon up and running and they soon stumbled down a flight of stairs. At the end of the hallway they were in stood a solid, iron door.
"That must be it," said Cynthia, pointing to the door.
"Alright, let's go," said Lucas. Lucas quickly yanked the handle and entered the room. Cynthia quickly addressed the wizards and informed them of the situation. Dawn was just about to follow the two when strange symbols on the outer face of the door caught her attention.
"What are these?" whispered Dawn, looking over the intricate patterns. She extended a hand to touch a symbol and received a shock of magic power in response. "A spell! Lucas, Cynthia, get out of that room right now!"
Cynthia heard the warning and quickly alerted Lucas. Promising the wizards that they would return to save them soon, they heeded Dawn's warning.
The door chose that moment to shut and seal itself tightly.
"No!" cried Lucas, slamming his fists into the metal. "We need to get out!"
He quickly tried to form an intense flame, but his aura refused to respond. "What?"
"They've set up a Disable Spell on this basement," sighed a woman with orange hair tiredly, coming over to Cynthia and Lucas. "We can't use magic."
"Gardenia!" exclaimed Cynthia.
"Hi, Cynthia," said Gardenia, smiling slightly. "At least we can talk now."
"You're Gardenia, the local master of Eterna City?" asked Lucas. "Cool!"
"Thanks, but I don't really deserve the title," sighed the woman. "I couldn't even save my own people from that wretched Team Galactic."
"It wasn't your fault," consoled Cynthia. "You wanted to keep everyone safe, so you didn't attack for fear of them hurting the wizards they already took. It's not your fault."
Even as the wizards inside the chamber bustled about at the new arrivals, Jupiter was gliding down the hallway. When a Grunt had brought her the news of the intruders being sealed into the wizard holding chamber, she had choked with glee, and now, she would finish them off.
Unfortunately, a girl was barring her access to the room.
"Eh? Did you want something?" asked Jupiter sardonically. "How silly of me to even ask. You want to free the wizards. Fine! I, Jupiter, will deal with you!"
"I don't think so," retorted Dawn. "You're the one that's going to be dealt with!"
Dawn unsheathed her wand and quickly shot a stream of water at Jupiter, who crossed her arms as a shield to block the attack.
"How insolent," sneered Jupiter. "Take a bite of this, child!"
A white ring of energy formed above Dawn's head and a boulder dropped through it. Dawn created a thick shield of ice above her head and continued her spell, forming a slide that led straight into the hallway.
Jupiter hissed as the Rock Slide Spell she used was easily repulsed and used against her by the brat. She quickly flattened herself against a wall as the huge boulder rolled past. After that ordeal, the Commander retaliated with a powerful spell, sending a red beam of energy at Dawn.
Dawn attempted to shield herself with her arms, but she fell right into the spell. It quickly outlined Dawn's entire figure and sapped away some of her aura, bringing half of what it took back to Jupiter.
Dawn collapsed on the floor, panting heavily through the sting of the spell.
"That's a very convenient spell," remarked Jupiter, examining her nails. "It's called Giga Drain; it sucks away some of your opponent's energy, or aura, and replenishes your own with theirs. Quite useful."
"You evil woman," muttered Dawn as she unsteadily got back on her feet. "I won't let you win!"
"Oh? You still have some fight left in you. Well, good. I like a challenge."
And with those words, Jupiter exhaled a thick, black smokescreen. Dawn quickly backed up as much as she could and suddenly realized, as the smoke overtook the air, that her Mist Spell had been destroyed.
"You can't see now," came the voice of the Commander through the sight-obscuring smoke. "And you're completely vulnerable because your aura levels are dropping."
Dawn felt a force punching directly into her stomach. She choked from the force and spat out saliva as she was rammed into the door by a purple fist.
"That was my Poison Jab. Like it?"
I'm going to faint soon, thought Dawn. I've got to end this. But without aura, I can't do a thing!
"Here's the last move," rang Jupiter's voice. "Even if you aren't ready, here it comes!"
I need aura!
"Hah!" screamed Jupiter, launching two crescent blades of blue energy at Dawn.
Jupiter's SmokeScreen Spell was blown away by the force of impact as the blades of energy made contact. A thick smoke from the collision quickly accumulated and replaced Jupiter's earlier spell.
"And game over," said Jupiter, straightening and placing a hand on her hip. "That was too easy."
Jupiter advanced into the smoke and prepared to assault those inside the holding chamber. She was ready to let loose and have some fun.
She took a step forward and unlocked the door with her aura. She took one more step and was about to grab the handle of the door. Before she could place her foot down, she was frozen to the spot.
"What?" gasped Jupiter as her lower body was encased in ice. "How?"
Dawn emerged from the smoke and grinned triumphantly.
"You underestimated me."
"How did you escape?" snarled Jupiter.
"I've got a backup supply of aura," said Dawn, silently fingering the enchanted hairclips that Lucas gave to her earlier. "I replenished myself with the supply and blocked your earlier spell before stopping you right here."
"Losing to some child… Being careless cost me too much," growled Jupiter.
"It did," smirked Dawn.
"Well, aren't you tough," sneered Jupiter. "It's okay though. Mars has collected the energy from Valley Windworks and we don't even need these wizards anymore, so we're pretty much finished here. I'll let you in on one thing. Our boss is researching the myths of legendary creatures. With the power of those ancient powers, he will become the ruler of Sinnoh… I suggest you keep out of Team Galactic's affairs from now on. This is your last warning!"
"Oh, shut up," said Dawn, using her air magic to lift Jupiter off the floor and throw her back up the stairs. "And leave, now," finished Dawn as she rather harshly smashed Jupiter to the floor, shattering her ice shell. The Commander scrambled away angrily.
Dawn turned back to the door and used her Razor Shell to create a deep slash in the symbols, destroying the spell. She quickly opened the door and was greeted by the wizards inside.
"What happened?" asked a confused Lucas. "What were you doing?"
Dawn shrugged and answered, "I just blasted away another one of Team Galactic's Commanders."
"Good job," said Cynthia, ushering the wizards out of the dank basement. "You did well."
"Seriously!" cheered Gardenia.
"Who're you?" asked Dawn, staring at the newcomer inquisitively. She gasped. "Are you…"
"Yep!" answered Gardenina triumphantly.
"Oh my goodness!" squealed Dawn. "You really are the baker from Veilstone? Can I have a muffin? Please?"
Gardenia twitched slightly before punching Dawn out of the building.
"I'M ETERNA CITY'S LOCAL MASTER, YOU FOOL!" screamed Gardenia.
"I think that was a bit excessive," said Lucas as he stared at the Dawn-shaped hole in the ceiling.
"Well, thank you all for removing Team Galactic from this city," said Gardenia, ignoring Lucas's comment. "It was very kind of you to do so."
"Of course, Gardenia. Well, I'll be seeing you all!" replied Cynthia cheerily as she disappeared.
"Where'd she go?" asked Lucas.
"Probably to the middle of the ocean or something like that," said Gardenia, shrugging. "She does that every few weeks to make sure water still exists."
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Um… sure…"
"Yeah. See you later!"
The master wizard ran up the stairs and out of the building, leaving Lucas to his thoughts. He mused slowly about the existence of water before realizing that Dawn probably needed help, wherever Gardenia had punched her to.
He found her two hours later happily sitting in the wizard rest center and drinking tea.
"I LOOKED EVERYWHERE FOR YOU!" roared Lucas the moment she was within hearing range. "AND YOU'RE SITTING RIGHT HERE? DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS?"
Dawn was clearly surprised and quickly tried to calm down Lucas, who was currently pouting childishly and refusing to talk to her.
"I'm sorry," said Dawn, rolling her eyes. "Sheesh, I just wanted a break after almost getting my bones broken by that lady."
"Humph."
"Were you really that worried?" asked Dawn shyly.
The question seemed to catch Lucas off guard; he started and averted his eyes embarrassedly.
"Aw, that's cute of you," said Dawn, grinning wickedly. She was never going to let him forget about this. "Oh," she said, remembering something else, "I still need to thank you for getting me these hairclips. They saved my life when I was fighting Jupiter."
"…"
"Are you sulking?"
Dawn sighed when she received no answer and continued to slowly sip her tea, ignoring the dark aura of a sulking Lucas coming from the corner of the center. She wondered how long he would last before relenting.
By the time the sun had set and the moon was twinkling merrily in the sky with the stars, Dawn was the sulking one. Lucas had successfully managed to avoid conversation, eye contact, anything for the past hours, leaving Dawn to stew in fury and sip her tea.
"How did this happen?" muttered Dawn, watching as Lucas cheerfully made reservations for the night. "He was supposed to be the annoyed one! Humph!"
Lucas ambled over to her and grinned childishly, taking the opportunity to seek revenge for her earlier taunts against him.
"Are you done sulking?"
"You were the one sulking in the afternoon," retorted Dawn. "Now give me my room pass so I can go to sleep!"
"Oh," said Lucas, putting on a thoughtful expression, "I forgot to get you a room. You see, I didn't think you'd talk to me or accept any offer of sincerity so I didn't even bother… Oops." Lucas shrugged noncommittally.
Dawn flared in rage and began to storm off before Lucas quickly caught her shoulder.
"Hey, I was just joking," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. "Please don't get mad."
Dawn crossed her arms and glared at him.
"Enough with the child's play, Lucas," said Dawn severely. "You're nineteen. I didn't even know you had a personality like someone who was three."
"You were the one sulking for at least two hours," pointed out Lucas. "I don't think you're in any position to talk."
"Are you going to give me my room pass or not?"
Sensing that if he prolonged the fun any longer, he would get his head frozen into an ice cube, Lucas quickly presented the pass to Dawn.
"Thank you," said Dawn, snatching the card. "Now, good night!"
A few minutes later, Dawn was safely hidden in her room.
"He's so infuriating," she mumbled, banging her head against the wall.
"Now, now, that can't be good for your brain."
Dawn jumped and turned to see Lucas entering the room.
"What are you doing in here?" shrieked Dawn. "And how did you get in?"
"Well, this is my room."
"No, this is my room!"
"Well, it's mine too."
"GET YOUR OWN ROOM, PERVERT!"