Ray's POV

"Well, here we are, our destination." I looked over at Emerald, a sour expression on my face, not that she could see it, she didn't have the light pointed anywhere near me. The light was pointing ahead, always ahead.

"This is not our destination. Our destination…" She trailed off, I could hear a frown on her face. She did not have a plan for this, did she? Hm, well, that was why we ended up here, in the middle of a weird cave labyrinth where you could easily die and nobody would ever find the bodies.

I… needed a minute, myself, to process what had happened. I was knocked around by a Rattatta. That hurt a lot, not just my body, but my pride. I was a chosen one, a legend in this world. There were a million Rattatta in the world, and none of them were supposed to be that powerful. Then again, maybe it wasn't that incredibly strong? It was stronger than the norm, but I was weaker than my norm, is what I meant. If we had been back in my world, if I hadn't been connected with this magic efficient child, there was no way I was going to go down so easy.

"Is home, but that isn't happening for you, is it?" I asked. She shushed me. What, was she afraid of me telling her the truth?! I would not be silenced! "What, afraid?" I asked.

"Yes. Are you not?" Emerald sounded like she was holding her breath, along with a lot of tension in her body. "That was… what was that? What just happened to us, couldn't be real, could it be? My family was chasing us? It's like a nightmare, it doesn't feel the least bit real." She spoke in a somewhat creepy monotone, like she wasn't herself, like she was recounting some horror.

"A little, I suppose." I said, there was a small buzzing inside me that could have been fear, but it also might have been hunger. "We should find a way out, before making any other decisions. You know going back to the castle is not an option, no?" I asked.

"I know."

"Your plans for when we get out?" I asked.

"I don't know." She said, somewhat hollow, resembling her mother's tone from earlier. It creeped me out a little, how similar the two of them sounded. Hollow…this crater, hollow. I was comfortable inside, but I did not want to spend any more time in this oppressive cave than I had to.

"Your plans to get out in the first place?" I asked.

"I don't know." She repeated, just as hollow in her speaking. Why did she suddenly sound like this? Was she about to do something weird? Or was this just what distress sounded like for her, or shock, maybe distress was not the right word.

Welp, seemed I was more or less on my own here. That was fine, all I had to do was survive and drag her along, whether she had the energy to go and survive, or not. Now, was there any way, any way to actually tell where we were? I was pretty sure there was not. The rocks were damp, but that didn't necessarily mean a thing, especially in terms of directions.

I… how did I get myself wrapped up in this. I could have been with Mel, enjoying our life together by now, but no, Emerald decided it was a good time to call me from my world and then immediately have to hide in a cave from her own parents. I was supposed to be king, training to be king, but no, instead I was here, stuck in a cave.

"Well, that's helpful. I'll think of one myself. Let's keep moving, at least. There can come no good of sitting here, except maybe some conserved energy, though that will also be burned just sitting here, might as well keep moving." Maybe we would find something. Something, anything. I waited for her snarky comeback, or something from her, but there was nothing. She was really shaken, huh? She was really quite shaken.

Well, that was understandable. This was her family we were talking about, that would be like if Meliae or Mewtwo were suddenly evil and wanted me dead because… well, because I knew their secret? Not that they had a secret, this was just an example. I wasn't sure there was enough Emerald did to justify attempted murder like that? And why were they trying to hide, anyways? They were already in power, but they needed to stay in power? Were they afraid someone like Emerald was going to take the power away from them, the power to carry on with whatever it was they were planning, with making people disappear? So they could carry on with seriously strong magic, magic like I couldn't even begin to process. They needed to be in power so they wouldn't be found, so they wouldn't be questioned. Everything seemed so peaceful on the surface, then again, that was how it went, wasn't it? A secret shadow court needed a peaceful, nice court to cover it up, to distract the people from what was really going on.

"My family… my own family." I could hear her say it over and over, mumble it under her breath, like a secret prayer. A wish that it wasn't true. I had the feeling, though, that her prayers would go unanswered. Nobody was coming out and telling us we had been pranked.

What if I dug a tunnel, just straight up? I knew that might disrupt the caves people lived in and such, but now was not the time to mince words or actions. Did I even have power like that to clear away the rock walls? I was pretty sure I could, but who knew how much my power took a hit from being with her? I did not know yet, I hadn't had the chance to test out the new limitations of my power. I did not think that would affect the strength of my claws, would it? Did the bond affect physical strength as well as magical strength? I had never had to worry about something like that before, because I had been pretty strong in both. I reeled back and clawed at the rock. Nothing. It figured.

"What are you doing?" Emerald asked. That was surprising, I didn't think she would be in the mood to talk, what with her mumbling about her family and being sad.

"Seeing if I can break through the walls." I said, trying to dig my nails into the rock. The rock gave, a little. This was not enough to actually do anything. I pushed harder, but it didn't give any more.

"Could you do that before?" She asked. The hollow tone had faded from her voice, at least for now. I wished I could say yes, and had a cool story about me decimating stone with my bare claws, but there was no such story, and I wasn't about to lie for no good reason.

"No idea." But it was worth a shot, wasn't it? Sure, it was worth a shot. I tried a few more times, putting all the strength and leverage I could muster in this small space. It did not work.

"What happened to keep moving?" She asked, a bit of her snark coming out. She did have a point, though. This wasn't working, I could have seen that from the second or third time this wasn't working and moved on. I had never encountered this sort of situation before, I never explored a cave. I heard noises, and I wasn't sure if they were regular cave noises or something I had to be worried about. Emerald didn't look very worried, but she didn't look very… anything. Her reaction to things was not going to be a good indication of anything right now.

We stayed in there longer and longer, and as we grew hungry, we grew irritable, as one does. We wandered through caves aimlessly. Wasn't she supposed to be this great cave explorer? She was doing absolutely nothing to help, right now, only really moving along because I was making her.

"Why'd you have to drag me into this?" I snapped under my breath.

"What was that?" Emerald asked.

"I waited for you for years, and I gave up and started to have a life there… and then, THEN you decide, whoa, it's time to suddenly have some magic and rip Ray from his life! I know you know the way to cut the tether and send me back, too. I know you do, I saw it in your eyes, you liar." I said, my voice suddenly very cold. I was even a little surprised it came out like that, but I didn't back down, either. She stared at me for a long time, shocked, it seemed, by just how serious I was about this. Of course I was serious about this. This was my life I was talking about, and I did not need or want my life to revolve around her. Finally, after a few moments, Emerald spoke.

"So what if I do?" She said sweetly, her tone almost mocking. No, not almost mocking, she was mocking me, even if, at this exact moment, she wasn't mocking me with those words… this whole situation. She was mocking me.

"What?" I spat.

"So what if I do." She repeated, more definitively now. She stood her ground. "I'm not going to do it, regardless of what you do, or say. I will not send you back." Emerald said. Even though the cave was black, I could swear I saw red. However, I was willing to give her a chance. Fine, I would hear her out. Nothing good could come from me losing my temper.

"Why not?" I asked, keeping my voice as even tempered as I could.

"Does it matter?" Emerald asked in return. I swear, I almost lost it, but I held back, reigned in.

"Yes." I said through grit teeth. "What reason could you possibly have to justify taking me away from my wife on the day of our wedding?!" I could hear my voice get louder as the sentence progressed. This was not ok, this was not ok, I was not ok. This would never be ok. Somewhere out there, Mel was waiting for me, but I was stuck with Emerald in this cave instead. What would Mel say if she saw me now? There was no honor to be found in this life, babysitting a magically inept princess. Plus… if what we saw was the truth… then this whole thing was corrupted. We weren't supposed to be doing some weird dark magic thing, we were supposed to help hold up the pillars of reality, to make sure the world was safe and livable for the citizens.

Did the others, the other chosen ones… have a choice in the matter? I saw them there in the circle. They didn't look me in the eye, back there. They didn't seem to be very active participants. My friends that I had made. I guessed I would never have the chance to catch up, now. What did they think about all this? Or, did they just go along with what the princesses did? That was more or less what we were trained to do, back at the palace. I sort of deviated from my training once I thought I wasn't going to use it anymore, and I sure as heck was not about to just go along with whatever she did without a fight, without compromise. I could think for myself, I had my own ideas of what was right and wrong. The question was, did the others?

"I'm a princess. We are nothing, literally nothing without our familiars. I worked hard to summon you, and I'm not giving up everything just to get you back." She crossed her arms. That was her final answer.

I lunged at her, I was beyond solace, beyond comprehension. I just wanted to get back, I just wanted to eat. I wanted to sleep, I wanted my love. That wasn't too much to ask, was it? Things back the way they were? She was perfectly willing to sacrifice my life on the altar of her own, but refused to give up anything so that I could get back mine. And there was nothing I could do about it, nothing. It was unbelievably frustrating. And so I did the only thing I felt I had any control over, I lunged at her, and she fell back, dodging my blow by an inch or two.

"You too, huh?" She frowned as she fell back, and started to run. Of course, that was useless, because as soon as she started running, she just dragged me along with her. I was attached to her by a metaphysical bond, a metaphysical tether, and so she could not run away from me… and I could not run away from her, unless she was willing to set me free, and she was not. I was a prisoner in this world. Great, that was exactly what I needed.

And so I was dragged through tunnel after tunnel, except this time, I wanted to follow her, because when I caught her, I would hurt her. Was it taking out my anger on something? Yes. She was the one causing the anger, though. I was justified. I would say the law was on my side, but the law was the one chasing us right now, the one who had tried to kill us.

Well, maybe I would finish the job for them. No, I couldn't kill Emerald. If I killed her, she wouldn't be able to send me back. Chosen ones never returned once they left, even though their life span was longer than humans. My lifespan was certainly longer than a human's. So, that raised an interesting question. What happened to the Pokemon guardians one their charge died? It was a question I had never really considered before. I had always been so occupied with actually getting a charge in the first place. I could almost laugh bitterly, if I wasn't flying around, trying to catch Emerald.

"Send me back. I don't want to be here. I had a life." I caught her by to collar and threw her down on the ground, and after a second, found myself there as well. Oh right, I had made a bit of a mistake… I learned this. I knew, tugging at the back of my mind, there was a really good reason not to hurt your charge, to make sure they were protected. Pain was equally shared, although it was not physical pain. Well, it was, what I meant was, it didn't damage my body or anything. That didn't make it any less painful, though.

Emerald screamed, being hit, and it echoed through the halls. That wasn't good. If I was found, if we were found, that was it. That Rattatta, I didn't know what was up with it, but if kicked my butt. If they were all that powerful, which they had to be. I meant, that was a Rattatta. Our chances of being able to hide was low, and we needed to keep it as high as possible. That meant not doing stupid things like making her scream or something. We needed to get out of here as soon as possible, if we were to survive. Even if I wanted to hurt her, to back her into a corner, to force her to let me leave, I could not. It was as if nature itself were forcing me to take control of my temper and deal with things as they were. It was just… I was so frustrated. Why couldn't she just have left me be. I was sure she had something before me. She didn't literally need me for her life to begin, it was just some weird social convention. Social conventions were a difficult thing to break, but if anyone was able to do it, she was the one to do it successfully. But she had chosen not to. She wouldn't send me back, she knew how, but she wouldn't do it. I would have to think of a way. For now, though… I was on the ground, and suddenly, nothing in the world was as comfortable as the ground. I was so tired, so tired. I drifted to sleep.

Or, at least, I tried to. What amount of time passed, exactly, I simply could not say. Emerald was pushing me back and forth, trying to wake me up. I did not want to wake up. If I woke up, if I got up, I would have to face this reality again. That was not ok. I knew I shouldn't just dodge away from reality like that, but it was incredibly tempting.

"Leave me be." I moaned on the floor. If she would just let me escape for a while, if only in my mind, back to the palace, back to Mel and her warm embrace, her gentle leaves, the flower she kept on her head, so pretty and sweet smelling.

"Ray, I smell the ocean! Get up, I can smell the ocean!" That managed to stir me. I sniffed the air, I did smell the light scent of salt. That was the ocean, that meant we were almost there! I managed to get myself up and floating again. Emerald seemed to be a bit more animated than that, even though she just got thrown in the floor.

Was she that excited to get out? I could understand, of course, I wanted to get out, too, but there was something else fueling her, and I wasn't sure what it was. We followed tunnel after tunnel until we saw light. Light! That meant the end of this. We could finally… we could… we could regroup, at least. Get some food. That was the best I was hoping for, right now.

Hope you enjoyed! Have a lovely day!