Note: Hey guys... I'm sorry, but I will be leaving for Taiwan on some trip forced unto me. To compensate for that... Here's a chapter before I leave... Sadly, I leave tomorrow at 3 am... I will be gone until May 11... Unless my frickin' hotel has internet.
Rose's POV:
"Ugh..." I moaned, "Why is your back quite spiky?"
After my small group had made it to the beach, a Lapras stood waiting for us. Apparently, she said that Miles had contacted her and that she was waiting for us. Right then, we were currently on our way to Temporal Tower.
"Oh quit complaining," she snapped, "Your weight probably hurts more on me than my spikes to your bottom."
I decided to keep silent.
Apparently, not all four of us can fit onto Lapras, so only Claire and I decided to ride on Lapras's back... Sandra, having wings, decided to just follow us on the wind, allowing Celsus to ride on her back. However, I never accounted for Lapras's spiky back... For the first time, I felt envious to see Celsus carelessly lying down on top of Sandra.
"Rose?" Claire spoke up, "Cipher's the cause of this whole mess... Right?"
"Probably," I returned, "They created the weapon, so I guess that probably makes them the culprit behind everything..."
Claire remained silent.
"Claire?" I called out to her, "Are you okay? You seem... different ever since you discovered Cipher being the cause for this..."
"It's just that..." Claire sighed, "Those... freaks... They were... horrible! I cannot fathom how much pain they put me through! Now they created this! I cannot imagine this weapon to be none other than a Pokémon with a pure heart... before it was touched by those black hands of theirs... Because of this... The innocent will die!"
I fell silent. Claire's motives seemed much more like a hero's motives... But mine... I was in it only for Blade. I honestly began to wonder if I had changed enough to be worthy enough for Blade...
What am I saying! I have already decided! I will fight, because it is right! As long as nobody knows, I guess I'll be fine... I just gotta lie low...
"Don't worry, Claire..." I soothed her, "We'll put an end to this..."
Claire just silently nodded, closing her eyes as darkness began to creep.
"It's almost dusk," Lapras warned, "Maybe you should tell your friends that they should find somewhere to sleep..."
I looked sideways to see Sandra panting as she flew, of course she would be tired.
"Lapras... Is there somewhere we can rest and spend the night?" I asked her.
"Well, I do know of an island... It's near the entrance to the sea of time... Are you sure your friend can keep herself airborne for a few more minutes?" Lapras returned.
"I'm fine... Don't worry..." Sandra nodded.
A few minutes later, we arrived at a small rocky island. It was devoid of anything... No plants grew, no grass grew. It was just an empty piece of land isolated by the sea around it.
"Ahh... I'm bushed," Sandra panted as she lay down on the rocky ground.
"I just wanna sit on something less spiky," I muttered, dumping my body onto the rocky ground.
Lapras came onto the rocky island too. She carefully slid down a sleeping Claire to the piece of ground beside me.
"So..." Celsus muttered, "How far is this Sea of Time you speak of?"
"It's merely a few more minutes of swimming from here," Lapras replied, "By the way, Rose... I have a question for you..."
I opened my eyes and looked up at Lapras.
"After you put an end to this crisis... What do you intend to do?" Lapras asked, "Will you continue your old ways... or is there something else?"
"I... I..." I carefully cocked my head sideways, "I still don't know..."
"I see... Thank you for answering," Lapras returned, lowering her head as she slept.
Seeing that everyone else was already asleep, I carefully lowered my body to the rocky cold ground and closed my eyes.
"Boo! Missed me, did you?" a familiar voice greeted me.
I opened my eyes.
"What now?" I cursed, "I just want to get a good night's rest, Cresselia! Can't you give me even one night?"
"I hate to break your bubble, but I'm not exactly Cresselia, am I?" the voice chuckled.
Soon enough, a flash of light appeared and began to take shape. When the flashing was over, I saw Jirachi, still smiling that annoying grin of his.
"Yo! Long time no see, Rose!" he greeted, "I surmise that you are doing well?"
"Oh..." I snarled, "Doing well? Seriously? I'm stuck into fighting of some weapon of destruction! You knew about this from the start, did you?"
Jirachi nervously scratched his head.
"Err... Yeah... Sort of..." he sheepishly replied.
I snorted.
"Well, I just came to warn you... About Claire," Jirachi continued, "I've been sensing some disturbance within her.. She seems... agitated..."
"Well, she has been acting oddly lately..." I continued.
"Either way, I just hope that she doesn't go unstable..." Jirachi warned, "If I were you, I'd take extra care of her... She might not be able to take the pressure of the influence of being a shadow again..."
"Fine..." I nodded, fully aware of the pain she felt, "By the way, you still haven't explained my wish..."
"Er... You STILL haven't found out?" Jirachi scratched his head, but this time he seemed disappointed.
"No... The last time you tried to tell me, you were interrupted," I pressed.
"Right, so what do you want now?" he bluntly said.
"Obvious? Just explain to me my wish..." I continued.
"Are you really that oblivious?" Jirachi scowled, "I cannot tell you that! You are so close to taking it, if I continue any further, I might mess things up for you!"
"Well, you promised.. I specifically wished that I wanted to KNOW what I really wanted... You only gave me a small glimpse," I snarled.
"Fine... I owe you one more wish, so long as you pry no longer into this matter..." Jirachi stated.
"If so, then grant this right now. I wish the crisis was over! Get rid of the XD002 thing and all," I sneered.
Jirachi turned pale.
"Uh... Rose..." he returned, with an embarrassed tone, "Uh... I'm not saying that I can't grant this... But... uh... This... matter... of XD002 is... well, it's power is legendary... I uh... I can't just grant this in one day... Maybe... Maybe if you wait a thousand years... or more..."
"You can't grant that wish, can you..." I sighed.
"N-no..." Jirachi hung down his head, "Sorry, Rose... This is embarrassing..."
"Ah well... If that's the case... Allow me to save this wish for later..." I smirked.
"What's with the malicious smirk..?" Jirachi shuddered, "Fine then... I'll be waiting here then... Now... If I were you... I'd concentrate on the matter at hand... Seeya!"
And with a flash, he was gone.
I opened my eyes. The orange sun was beginning to break the boundaries between sky and sea. I slowly shuffled over to the edge of the island and sat on the shore, allowing my legs to brush with small waves of warm water.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" a soft voice whispered behind me.
I knew it was Sandra... I motionlessly sat, still staring at the sun as it emerges from the depths of the horizon.
"Yeah..." I gently replied to her question.
She slowly sat beside me, staring at the sun.
"Wow... I can't believe it..." she mutters, "I was just an ordinary Flygon... I never knew that I was going to have to take part in this... Rose... You're really nervous with all this, are you?"
"... Yeah... Sort of," I silently replied, "I just can't believe that Blade isn't with us this time..."
"Blade? Rose... Before you even met Blade... You led us... You didn't need him... Until I heard he broke you out... Are you sure you aren't just feeling... affection?" she continued.
"Maybe... Maybe not," I calmly replied, "I'm just worried about him... I mean... Ruse and her thugs... They might try to pull something under his nose..."
"Or..." Sandra continued, "you could just be jealous..."
"Me? Jealous?" I scoffed, "Why would I possibly be jealous?"
"Oh, I don't know..." Sandra smiled, "Maybe... Because she's stealing away the perfect guy for you?"
"I-impossible..." I smirked, "Blade wouldn't fall for a sick idiot like her... And he isn't the perfect guy for me... I work alone."
"Oh, really..." Sandra continued, "Then why is it that you seem to be more defensive about Blade when he was speaking to Ruse or Violet?"
"Listen, I don't want them doing anything funny with him, that's all... Blade is a bit too righteous... But he's innocent when it comes to stuff like these... And there is nothing more weak than innocence," I explained.
"Hmm..." Sandra giggled, "Or it could just be competitiveness... It's obvious that you feel someone else going for your Blade... So I think it's really jealousy... if it is... it's kinda cute on you..."
I narrowed my eyes on her...
"You have no idea..." I muttered, "Besides, why would a do-gooder like him want a thief like me?"
"Isn't it obvious, Rose?" Sandra smiled, "You've changed... Let's face it... You were inconsiderate before... but ever since I've seen you with Blade... You seem to have toned down a but... Rose... Believe it or not, he's the right one for you..."
"R-really?" I dryly asked, feeling my throat burn.
She nodded at me.
"Well, that is... If you act fast... I mean, Ruse seems to be getting there too, y'know..." she winked, "And you know how gullible men can be sometimes..."
"Oh shut up! I shouldn't be thinking about this yet!" I changed the topic, "We still have a duty to do."
"If you say so..." Sandra merely shrugs.
Once everyone was awake, we took off for the Sea of Time.
"Woah..." Celsus muttered, "It looks like... Lapras is flying..."
"I hope not," I cursed, hugging Lapras tightly.
Soon enough, we arrived at a floating island which housed a tower of some sort at the far end.
"Here you go, guys... This is the Hidden Land... You must traverse through it in order to reach Temporal Tower..." Lapras explained.
I got off her, heavily drenched with sweat.
"Are you okay, Rose?" Sandra raised an eyebrow.
"Y-yes," I muttered.
"Wait," Celsus muttered, "So you're saying that we have to go through this Hidden Land before we can get to Temporal Tower?"
Lapras nods in reply.
"Wait... Can't you just bring us around the whole place and drop us off in front of Temporal Tower?" Celsus innocently asked.
"I could," Lapras smirked, "But the time frequencies are crazy around the tower... If we were to approach it using the Sea of Time, we could come across some violent turbulences... I'm sure Rose can take it any-"
"We go by foot!" I gasped.
Lapras merely broke into laughter.
"Scared of flying?" she teased, "Either way, I expect that it would be easier to get there through the Hidden Land... Things have changed since before though... Less Pokémon live here so I guess breezing past it is possible... But the landscape is now a bit icy so I'd watch your step if I were you... Watch out for traps, they are the top-priority threats now... I wish you luck then."
I nodded to everyone else and we began to go through the forest. True to what Lapras said, the forest was icy. Holes stuck out leading to an endless sky below. I shuddered to find out what would happen if any of us fell in.
"This cold... it's quite... familiar," Claire muttered.
"Want me to Rain Dance it away?" Celsus responded, to which Claire shook her head.
"I don't like this cold," Sandra shyly mutters, "I feel kinda weak..."
"You have nothing to worry about, dear," Celsus grinned at her as he began to use Rain Dance.
"DON'T-" Claire tried to warn, but Celsus had already used Rain Dance. Much to our disdain, the cold temparature brought us Hail instead of Rain.
"S-sorry... Sandra!" Celsus began to flutter around his partner in fear, "I-I'll fix this... somehow..."
"D-don't worry... Celsus, let's just make it to the other side..." Sandra cracked a smile, ignoring Celsus's mistake.
I began to wonder to myself. Sandra seems to care a lot about Celsus... She would ignore his mistakes even if it pained her. If she was like that... Maybe... Maybe Blade has been ignoring my mistakes too... Maybe he cared for me...
The hailstorm began to grow rough. Soon enough, we weren't walking through a forest anymore... We were walking on frozen sheets of ice. Sandra began sneezing uncontrollably, much to Celsus's worried self.
"Are you okay, dear?" he asked, concerned of her condition.
She sneezed in reply, causing Celsus to frantically worry about her. I ignored the consequences and led everyone to push forward. A little more and I knew that we would make it.
Crack!
I shuddered. That sounded a lot like cracking ice.
Crash!
I began to wonder where the sounds were coming from. Then, it hit me. Yes... I was pelted by some huge hailstone. I noticed that the storm was growing wilder and saw that the wind was causing the hailstones to shear through the frozen sheets of ice we were standing on. My eyes grew wide when I saw that they were growing brittle with each crack.
I tried to warn everyone, "Everybody, hurry-"
Kerrraghhh!
The sheet of ice began to crash down, joining the hailstones that we're crashing down to the endless sky.
I screamed as I fell down, thinking that it couldn't end like that. The sky looked endless... I would be falling into nothingness...
I closed my eyes until something smooth hit me. I opened my eyes to see Claire riding on top of Sandra. Sandra had swooped down in time to carry me.
Sandra didn't look too well though... Celsus was frantically fluttering around us as we tried to fly to safety. The hailstones continued to hinder our attempts to get to safety, but Sandra still continued, despite all the hailstones pushing her back.
After much persistence, Sandra dropped me into dry land. I honestly felt like throwing up, but I ignored my condition to check on Sandra, who was lying down on the ground, panting heavily.
"Sandra! Hey! Speak to me!" Celsus nervously screamed as he was perched beside her, "Here... Have this Oran Berry! I... Get up!"
Sandra coughed a bit, the hail having gone away. She looked up at the sky and smiled.
"I'm... fine... Don't worry," she comforted Celsus, "It's all over now..."
Celsus burst into tears.
"It's all my fault! I'm sorry Sandra!" Celsus sobbed.
"Hey... Everyone makes mistakes," Sandra comforted him, "Now pull yourself up... Don't embarrass yourself like this, I mean... Celsus, c'mon! Rose is right here y'know... And she can see you... crying."
Celsus immediately straightened himself out.
"Oh..." he blushed, "I was just... weary from... the hail... Pick yourself up, Sandra... We've got a long way to go..."
With that, he hesitantly fluttered away.
Sandra smiled at me as she stood up.
"He may seem cold and snobbish," she muttered, "But he has a heart of gold... Kinda like you... Rose... Am I right?"
I merely turned my head in surprise at her.
"Er... Maybe..." I stuttered, "We have to hurry to Temporal Tower then..."
"Well, I guess you're in luck then..." Sandra grinned as she pointed forward, "Look up."
I turned around to see a huge metallic tower erected on the island that we had landed on. There it was... The Temporal Tower... Just standing in front of us. Sheets of ice held it together as the entrance ominously welcomed us.
Turning around, I saw the rest of my friends staring eagerly back at me. Seeing them all here in one piece, I smiled.
With a smile, I called out to them, "Well, shall we proceed?"
Note: Hmm... Rose? Are you okay? I guess she's slowly falling for the oblivious Blade... Oh well, good for Blade... Either way, I hope I get to upload chappies even while I'm out... Please leave a review... It really helps... Every opinion counts... Oh well, till next time...