Chapter 14: White Noise
Eve was curled around the snow white Ralts and watched her as she peacefully slept. It was pretty early in the night since the sun just set, but babies need more sleep than adults after all.
She smiled at her and would occasionally nuzzle Ralts on the forehead when it looked like she was starting to have a nightmare. Eve continued to watch over her though, perfectly content.
Only a few days had gone by, and she could already sense that her psychic powers were beginning to grow. This began to concern her a little bit.
Gardevoirs were very powerful Psychic types, able to bend reality around them itself if they concentrated enough. Though Raltses weren't nearly as powerful, they did begin to show great strides in their abilities when they were young, as did most Psychic-Type Pokémon.
While she was happy that Ralts was already becoming powerful, she was troubled about this. Neither she nor Haunter were Psychic-Types and though she knew a few psychic tricks from her mother she was in no position to train Ralts how to control her powers.
Sure, she could teach her a few techniques she picked up and could very carefully show her the way, but what if Ralts learned too fast? What if her powers matured quicker than her lessons? If Ralts couldn't control herself she could accidentally destroy a lot of things.
Eve frowned.
Bah, she was worrying too much. There's nothing that says that will actually happen, so why should she just focus on the negative side?
She shook her head a little.
I really do wish I was a Psychic-Type like my mother sometimes.
The Dark Pokémon looked outside the open trunk of the tree and considered leaving to get some food for the baby, but stopped when Ralts snapped her eyes open abruptly and jerked into a sitting position.
Eve was about to inquire what was wrong when she felt a familiar chill in the air.
She no longer was curious who it was as Haunter fazed through the tree trunk and appeared before them.
Ralts became happy and reached for him. It had been a few days since she had seen her 'father' and was ecstatic he was there. She must have sensed him before Umbreon had, even in sleep.
Haunter replied to her actions by gently patting her on the head, but he kept his eyes on Eve and looked quite worried and anxious.
Umbreon tilted her head at him in concern, "What's wrong Haunter? You look upset."
He gulped a little and quietly muttered, "That's because I am. Eve, you have to come with me to the Cemetery right away. Something's wrong with the Bell of Death. I think we're in a lot of trouble."
Eve was suddenly very confused. The Bell of Death? There was something wrong with it? What could be wrong with it? Surely, if it rung she would have heard it or something like that. Though she wasn't sure what he meant, if Haunter was honestly worried about this then it must hold some weight.
She nodded slowly and said, "Alright, let's go. It's not like I'm going to get Ralts to fall back asleep anytime soon with you here."
He chuckled a little bit and picked the baby Pokémon up as Umbreon stood. She shook herself a few times before following Haunter out of the tree and through the forest towards Zoryn Cemetery.
The whole way she couldn't help but think:
What could be wrong with a magical bell of the dead?
They both just stared at the Bell of Death, perplexed.
The carvings of the bell were pulsing and dimly glowing a dark purple color, as if it was alive and self aware. Each time it pulsed, a little –thu-thump- noise could be heard, like a deep heartbeat that caused Eve's chest to resonate with its baritone hum.
She looked at her side to Haunter and knew he must have felt the thumping like her because he would occasionally quiver at the beat.
After a few moments of watching it for any change, she mumbled, "How long has it been like this?"
Without turning, Haunter quietly responded, "About two hours, around when the sun set. I have no idea why. Of all the years I've lived here, it's never glowed like this before. At least not to my knowledge. I don't know what could have caused it."
Umbreon shrugged and watched Ralts crawl around. A few minutes ago she had gotten tired of sitting in Haunter's hand and began to wiggle free, so he let her roam around the tower until they figured out what was going on with the bell. She seemed to be oblivious to it.
Twitching her nose, Eve suggested, "Maybe someone rung it? Or didn't ring it but made it move slightly?"
Haunter shook side to side, "Nah, I've been in the tower the whole time and I would have sensed if someone, living or not, was here with me. Wind has never been able to move it on its own because that bell is made out of…what was it…pure silver I believe. No spirit that means harm by releasing the trapped demon would dare touch it anyway."
Eve had to look at him for that, "Uh, I'm sorry I don't know about this. What's wrong with silver? Why can't a spirit that means harm touch it?"
Haunter crossed his arms before finally taking his eyes off the bell to look at her, "Silver is a precious metal and like Iron is known to ward off malevolent spirits. Originally the spirit within the bell wasn't evil, and the silver of the bell was there to protect it from malicious spirits that meant it harm. However, when it turned bad the silver of the bell itself was used to keep it trapped forever. I can touch silver because I'm pure, sort of, but trust me when I say no evil spirit would dare try it. Silver and iron can permanently scar a ghost, and that's saying a lot when we're not supposed to have flesh in the first place."
Umbreon nodded in understanding when a movement of white caught the corner of her eye. She turned slightly to see Ralts crawling towards it, having taking interest in the bell suddenly.
She placed her hands on the bell's base and Eve was going to object when Haunter interrupted, "Don't worry, it takes a lot of strength to push it, and it's not midnight yet so it's harmle-"
He stopped talking when the bell suddenly glowed a brighter purple under the baby's touch and caused Ralts to yank her hands away in a hurry, as if she had been bitten by a Seviper.
She then put her hands to her chest and began to quietly sob. They rushed to her immediately and began to try calming her down.
Haunter managed to pry her hands away from her chest enough to look at her palms, and gasped. They both appeared to be red where she touched the metal of the bell, as if she had burned herself with boiling water.
Concerned, he began to rub her palms with his fingers as gingerly as he could, trying to sooth the mysterious burns.
Umbreon saw the burns and became bewildered before twisting to the bell, "How-"
She reached out and touched the base of the bell without thinking. It once again began to glow and caused her to yank away in a similar fashion, but she managed to do it a little sooner than Ralts, "Ow!" she yelled, "It's hot like the sun's inside it!"
Haunter kept rubbing Ralts palms while suddenly looking at Eve, worry in his features, "Are you alright? Do you need me to take a look?"
Eve shook her paw a bit, "No, I'm fine. I think my fur protected me from most of the heat."
He hissed and glared at the bell like it was a criminal, "It's like it doesn't even want the living touching it! This thing is far worse than I thought."
Umbreon gave it the same glare for hurting Ralts, "What should we do with it then?"
Haunter sighed and this time gripped Ralts's palms in his hands, hoping his cold skin would dull her pain a little, "There's nothing much we can do. I've talked to the other spirits around the graveyard, but none of them seem to have any ideas."
"Do you want to stay at the burrow with Ralts and I?"
"No, I don't think it's a good idea to leave it by itself. Besides, I'm feeling a little sluggish. I wasn't able to sleep well today. Probably because I'm a little anxious for Halloween night."
Umbreon nodded, feeling tired herself from taking care of Ralts all day. She may stay up most of the night, but Ralts wasn't a nocturnal Pokémon like her and needed to move in the daytime. This had her tired during the night.
Seeing no choice, she sighed and told him, "Well, I'd rather not leave you alone with it either, so Ralts and I will stay with you for now until we can figure this out. Is that okay?"
Haunter seemed hesitant on letting them stay after the Bell of Death had just harmed Ralts, but as long as they kept her away from it she should be fine. Besides, it was better to have two watch over the bell instead of just one, right?
Reluctantly agreeing, he nodded his body up and down, "I suppose that would be best."
Umbreon was just as hesitant as he was, but it was for his safety after all. She didn't want him to get hurt in case this thing decided to become possessed or something and start attacking everything.
Going towards her usual spot, Umbreon lied down while Haunter brought Ralts over and rested her against the Eeveelution's flank. By now Ralts had stopped crying, but still gave out little whimpers of pain.
Haunter rested himself behind them like he had a while before with his back against the wall and his disembodied claws on either side of them.
It took a little while for the baby to finally snuggle into Umbreon's fur and fall asleep. Both adult Pokémon hoped the pain from the burn would fade by morning. They were still confused how it happened, but for now all they had to worry about was getting rest themselves. The next day was sure to be a long one after all.
The night went on with the Zoryn Cemetery quietly bustling with roaming ghosts.
Umbreon, Haunter, and Ralts were the only things that were asleep there.
Well, at least until Ralts woke with a jump.
She looked to the stairs of the tower, sensing a familiar presence. One she's been feeling for a while now.
Eager, she crawled away from Umbreon and Haunter without waking them towards the stairs. It took a moment for her to make it down, but she managed to crawl all the way down the steps and exit the stone tower.
Feeling the presence not too far off, she moved around the tower into the backyard, where no spirits were present at the time.
Yet the Psychic Pokémon could see something no one else could see unless they were a Psychic-type too. She crawled and stopped suddenly, smiling up at the seemingly invisible figure as if it were her best friend and waved at it like she had the day before.
There was silence for a moment, only the sound of the baby's cooing being heard in the empty lot of the Graveyard.
Finally, a voice full of static noise and pauses said out of nowhere, "YoU cAN sEe -sshzzt- mE, Can'T YOu? –bssss- "
The baby seemed to understand it and nodded happily, clapping her hands a few times.
The invisible creature let out a gurgled noise that was the closest thing it could do to a sigh and suddenly appeared in a flash of moving light.
Beforehand, the baby could simply sense its bizarre presence and knew it was there, but didn't know what to think of the figure before her.
The best way to describe the form is it looked like a mass of moving pixels in the shape of a backwards L. The cluster of pixels were various shades of white, black, orange, grey, and purple that seemed to be constantly moving, pulsing, swirling, and occasionally fading. The space around the figure inverted and shifted occasionally, as if reality itself couldn't handle the thing in the same dimension. Even the grass it brushed over was beginning to disintegrate and fade away into green pixels.
It was constantly making a loud static noise that sounded like a broken TV and began to hurt the baby Pokémon's ears, but she didn't seem to mind that much and continued to stare in awe at the strange creature.
Ever since she hatched, Ralts thought she could sense an unknown presence but had no idea what it was. It didn't feel like a living thing, but at the same time didn't feel like a spirit or a Pokémon for that matter, yet it was there.
Now, any other Pokémon would have either run away in fear or attacked the strange anomaly, but for some reason she knew it wasn't hostile. If it wanted to hurt her or her 'parents' it would have already, but it didn't. Even at her young age she knew that.
Still, now that she was actually looking at this stranger before her she did begin to feel a little uneasy and began to back away.
It seemed to know her thoughts and emotions and responded in a robotic tone with no distinguishable gender, "-zzzr- DoN'T Be aFRAid, ChILD, I –zzrttt- wILL nOT HARm –shhh- yOU."
For some reason that unemotional voice was enough to convince her and she stayed put. Still, she continued to stare in wide eyed awe and suspicion.
Making a humming noise, the figure then said, "PErHaPS tHis WiLl –zhh- COnvIncE YOu."
A sphere of light formed in front of Ralts and manifested into a purple Pecha Berry that promptly dropped to the ground.
Excited to see the familiar berry, the baby quickly picked it up and began to devour it, no longer distrusting the anomaly.
It floated forward slightly and stated, "I WaS HOpIng YOu WOulDN'T –shhrt- nOtiCe Me uNTIl yOu – zssss- wERE OLDeR, BUt iT sEEms I UnDERESTImatED –kllrk- A PSYchiC-TyPE."
Ralts was too young to really comprehend what it meant and continued to eat the gift. Still, her red eyes remained on it the whole time.
When she finally finished, she crawled forwards and reached out to touch the mysterious mass, fascinated by the colorful swirling pixels.
It suddenly made a screeching noise and reared back away from her to avoid her hand, "NO! YOu –shhsss- muSTn't tOucH Me wHILe I'M iN –zshh- THIs fORm!"
Surprised by its outburst, the baby obeyed and pulled her hand back, frowning at the cluster.
Realizing it had upset her, that wasn't what it wanted. Given its orders, its Master would be angry if it failed before her purpose was fulfilled.
Slowly, it said, "MAyBE tHiS wOUlD bE –kkrrr- BeTTER."
The colors of the space around it turned grey and then negative as it began to glow and change into another figure.
In a flash of pixilated white light, it changed into what looked to be a holographic Dusknoir. Occasionally its body would flicker or shift, but the space around it didn't seem affected now that it actually had a physical form. The static sound its body made was a lot quieter and it seemed to be more stable.
It looked down at her with its red eye and calmly said in a distinct male voice, "It is safe –shht- for us to interact now that we are in the same space and dimension as one another."
There were far less pauses and white noise in its words now, "This body is not my –rrrsss- own, I am merely copying a male Dusknoir I scanned earlier. I have chosen the form of a Pokémon because I believe having a –kkkliick- face to talk to is easier than just a mass of pixels."
Though this new form was pretty scary, it wasn't nearly as bad as the cluster of color now that it actually represented something familiar like a Pokémon.
Understanding it wasn't dangerous to touch the figure anymore, Ralts once again reached out and this time the faux Dusknoir allowed her to touch one of its large hands.
At first it seemed to pull slightly away again, but resisted from fully retreating. If she was going to trust it in the future, she would have to begin trusting it now.
Still, it seemed slightly uncomfortable.
Ralts could sense its emotions, as vague and foreign as they were, with her horns and looked up to it.
The abnormal Dusknoir looked back and was a bit stunned at first. The baby looked very concerned with it for a moment, as if she was actually worried about how it felt. This was unusual for the anomaly since no one that knew of its existence felt any kind of sympathy for it. Its very own Creator had called it a mistake, which was true.
Still, this situation was understandable. Ralts was too young and naive to even know what it was or how much potential danger she's in just being around it.
If only you knew, you'd be like all the others.
It thought to itself before turning it's hand over so her paws were resting in its palm.
Then it said, "I saw what happened to you -sskk- earlier with the bell. I wish I was able to -rrrree- warn you all, but I'm bound by certain...rules." It gently closed its fingers around her hands, "Still, I don't think -rrrssk- there's any harm in doing this."
A tingling sensation crawled up Ralts's arm as a light formed between it's fingers. It opened his hand again and Ralts looked at her palms to see that the burns from the bell were completely gone. Somehow it had healed her.
She looked back up at the entity gratefully and it simply shrugged back, "You can do alot of things -kkss- when you exist on a different spacial plane."
Ralts didn't understand what that meant at all, but she was happy that it had healed her and decided that it was her new friend.
It pulled away from her slightly and stated in as serious a tone as it could, "Ralts, listen to –shrrk- me. Though I have shown myself, you mustn't try –zzzrt- to warn your parents. I have already broken several rules showing myself –ssssk- to you, much less speaking. I only appeared to tell you to keep my existence a secret –hhrrsss- from them, for now."
Ralts tilted her head at it. Though she didn't understand a whole lot of what it was telling her, she was able to pick up it didn't want her mom and dad to know about it yet.
It picked up on her suspicion and added, "Do not worry; though I will continue watching I will not harm any of you. I only mean to protect you until your day of reckoning, and to do that I have to be kept a secret from Umbreon and Haunter until my Creator says otherwise. It's not time for us to meet just yet, and if they find out about me too early because of my interference it may very well ruin your fate. You must trust me on this."
She couldn't really comprehend what it meant by her 'fate' or his 'interference', but she couldn't sense and deception from it so it must be honest.
Slowly, the baby nodded to it, promising she would keep it a secret from her parents until it was ready to reveal itself to them.
Knowing she understood, it became a sphere of light and changed back into its pixilated form again, "I wON't Be FaR –ssshhh- ChILd, bUT REmEmBEr tO nOT –llsss- AcKNoWleDGE mE Like yOu Did YEsTeRDAy aT tHe BErrY TrEe. –krrkt-" The mass of pixels began to disappear and Ralts reached out, sad her new friend was leaving.
It paused on its fading for a moment to say, "DoN't bE uPSet, wE wILL –zzzrk- sPEaK AGaIN."
Then it finally faded away into nothing, the only trace of its existence being the cluster of missing grass blades where it was floating. She no longer could feel its presence. Perhaps it went back to its dimension for now or something.
Ralts waited for a few minutes, but once she realized he wasn't coming back tonight she turned around and began to crawl back to the tower in a solemn manner.
It was the first friend she had made, and she wasn't allowed to even attempt telling her parents about it yet.
Oddly, why was that? Why was it so concerned about ruining her so called 'fate', whatever that was?
For anyone that's played the games, you should already know who this anomaly is…
PS: Quick shout out to The Hidden Umbreon. Happy sweet 16!
UPDATE! THIS STORY IS NOT DEAD! Far from it. You see, I was about to finish another chapter like weeks ago, but my old laptop finally died on me and all my documents, including the story, had to be recovered. I have the files, but they're useless until I get word installed on my new laptop. Hopefully the wait won't be too much longer. Sorry for the delay, but know I will finish it AND it's sequel!