Enjoy!
Chapter 32
TheUmbreon
We caught up with Austin and Wylie ten minutes later. They were standing at an entrance to a small cave, both staring into its depths.
"Is he in there?" Carry demanded, panting. "Can we kill the bastard yet?"
"Yeah, he's in there alright," Austin said, tilting his head. He was focusing hard on the cave, his eyes narrowed to slits in concentration
"Why don't we go and kill him, then?" Carry demanded, setting her jaw in anticipating anger.
"Because there's something strange right here, like a shift in time," Austin explained, not taking his eyes off the entrance.
"Screw it! Let's go!" Carry said, digging her claws into the earth, frustration in her voice.
Austin and Wylie met nervous gazes, but eventually Austin walked through the cave's entrance... and collapsed onto the ground.
"Austin!" Wylie gasped, and raced in after him. Wylie crossed the barrier and fainted, too.
"What the hell?" I asked, my eyes widening.
"Come on, let's go. It could just be a trick," Carry said tentatively, trying not to sound scared.
"...Okay," I said, and we walked forward.
A strange blackness hit us both immediately upon entering and we fell onto the ground beside our friends.
TheGlameow
AFewHoursLater
I had ran back to the Guild once out of the village. I told everyone what I had seen and the guildmaster and Chatot agreed to help me help our friends. But when we reached the summit, only Jared was there alive. Next to him was the dead body of Heather.
Jared told us the story and we brought the poor kid and Heather's body back to the guild. We told her parents and they arranged a funeral.
I kept thinking about Wylie, how in the few days I'd known him I learned so much about him and he about me. I thought about how much I'd miss him. So, so much...
He could be gone forever. The thought made me hurt.
But something had been nagging at me for a long, long time. Something I knew I had to do, no matter what I felt about Wylie. No matter what wishes I had for... us.
I stood in front of the guild master, Chatot, and Celebi.
"I want to donate my body so that Azelf will live on," I told the three, sitting up tall with my chin high.
Celebi slapped a small paw to her mouth. "You know what that will mean, correct?" she whispered.
I took a deep breath and nodded. There was no going back now.
Celebi smiled bittersweetly, dropping her paw to her side. "You are making a huge sacrifice, my child. The world thanks you."
"The child," I began tentatively, looking up at the green fairy. "Will she be evil like the Azelf that lived before?"
"No," Celebi said, shaking her head. "She will most likely reincarnate into a boy, therefore erasing all memories besides those regarding how to use his powers. I trust you will rear him to be good and gracious and strong." Celebi winked. "And maybe a certain buizel will help you. You know, once Azelf is born, Wylie needs a mother for Uxie, and you need a father for Palkia."
My cheeks went redder than the sun. "I-I-I..."
Celebi laughed. "Ah, child, I was merely joking with you." She flew past my ear as she left, whispering, "Or maybe I'm not."
The thought of Wylie made me ache once more with sadness, the thought that he might be gone forever again echoing through my mind.
TheUmbreon
I woke up lying on a straw bed. I sighed, thinking I was at the guild. We must have failed. Darkrai was still probably out there, maybe even in that cave.
I blinked open my eyes and lifted my head to look around at everyone.
Carry, Wylie, and Austin were in straw beds around me. That was strange considering Austin and Wylie had their own room and Jared and He- Heather was dead, so not her, but Jared was usually in our room and he wasn't now.
"You're awake," A soft voice said. It was in the tenor ranges.
Austin jumped to his feet in the bed and whipped around to face the voice. "Who are you?" he demanded, eyes narrowed to slits.
"Who are you?" the voice countered calmly.
I forced myself into a sitting position and looked around.
It was a grovyle with crossed arms who was trading words with Austin. He leaned against gray walls and his feet touched a grassy floor. It was kind of like the guild, but without other pokemon or colors or happiness.
"Where are we?" I wondered quietly. I looked back to the green pokemon for an answer, but he was too busy meeting Austin's accusing glare with calm eyes.
I heard a groan and knew Carry had woken up.
"Gosh... damnit," she muttered, picking herself up off the bed. She arched her back in a stretch before sitting up and looking around. "Where the hell are we?" Carry noticed the grovyle leaning against the wall and our friend's glare. "Hey, Austin, who's your new friend?"
Austin didn't answer, just continued with his stare down with the grovyle.
A small yawn came from behind me. Wylie stood up easily and turn his head around, taking the scene in. He turn to face the green pokemon and said with a smile, "Hello."
"Hello," the grovyle said, not taking his eyes off of Austin's.
Wylie sighed. "Austin, heel."
"I'm not a dog," he muttered.
Wylie sighed yet again. "Fine, Mister Blue Aura Wolf. Heel."
Austin finally dragged his gaze away from the grovyle. He looked to Wylie, annoyed, and demanded, "What?"
Wylie crossed his arms. "What did he do to you, exactly?"
Austin put his head down and mumbled like a child in trouble with his mother, "Nothing."
"And did it occur to you that he probably was helping us?" Wylie asked next, a bit sternly.
"No," Austin admitted. He straightened and said, "But one of us needs to be a little aggressive, and it sure as hell isn't going to be you."
"Why do we need someone aggressive?" Wylie asked, raising his eyebrows at his friend, arms still crossed.
"Because he could be evil for all we know," Austin said, motioning towards the grovyle.
"And if I'm not?" the grovyle asked from his spot on the wall, calmness radiant in his voice still.
Austin looked to him with a joking smile. "Then I massively screwed up."
Wylie gave an enormous sigh and hung his head. He put his paw up on Austin's shoulder and said, "There's nobody like you, Austin," with a stress on the 'no' of nobody.
Austin beamed. "Thanks, Wylie!"
"Did you say his name was Wylie?" the grovyle wondered suddenly.
Wylie stood up and dropped his arms to his sides and looked at Austin, whose joyful eyes faded to suspicious ones. Austin looked back to the green pokemon and asked, "What of it?"
Abruptly, a very familiar voice asked, "Grovyle? Can I come in?"
"Celebi?" Austin asked, frowning and furrowing his brows in confusion.
"Sure, Celebi. There's some visitors, here, though," Grovyle told the voice. He looked to Austin, squinting his eyes in wonder at him. He asked, "How do you know her...?"
Celebi entered calmly, saw Austin, gasped and yelled, "Austin! You're alive!?" She then flung herself into his arms.
Austin hugged her back but just looked more confused. "When was I dead?"
Celebi got off him. She looked up at him curiously and said, "For a long, long time." Then she noticed Carry, Wylie, and I. She pressed her back against the wall, taking us four in in one look. She frowned and said, "I don't know who you are, Umbreon, but Carry and Wylie, you both look so much younger. What happened to you guys?"
Wylie closed his eyes for a moment, thinking. He quietly asked the green fairy pokemon, "Celebi, where are we?"
"In the remnants of the guild," she responded, tilting her head. "You were the one who suggested this place. How do you not remember it?"
Wylie opened his eyes and met my, Carry, and Austin's gazes. "We're in the future, guys. A future where you never existed, Dark."
"What?" Austin asked in a small voice, looking crestfallen. He walked slowly over to the wall and pressed his paw against it. He closed his eyes and appeared to extend his senses to the outside world. He suddenly gasped in pain, "Wylie!"
Wylie ran over to him and touched his shoulder. Austin, looking wide-eyed and afraid, took his friend's wrist and clutched it.
"Austin? Are you alright?" I demanded, Carry and I jumping to our feet.
Austin shook his head slightly, eyes widening into dinner plates. His eyes abruptly rolled back into his head and he keeled over. Wylie caught him and laid him gently on the ground.
With a glance at us all, he walked to the door and opened it. He gasped, a giant sound.
Author's Note:
I forgot I killed Austin and Dark didn't exist in this scene xD Hope you enjoyed!