A/N: Thanks for the review, Crestillia. Yes, I was thinking about the actual city when thinking of a name for Selena's capital and was reading about the Fourth Crusade, so then that happened.
A pair of red eyes glared at Selena from the darkness. A pair of red eyes that simply watched her, stared at her, and sent shivers down her spine.
The eyes vanished suddenly and a small path materialized out of the void that surrounded her. Selena looked around worriedly and reached for her trustworthy Pokemon only to find they weren't there. Her Badge was also gone.
It's just a dream- she told herself and tried to move her arms in real life or to wake up but she found herself instead walking along the lonely path.
Along the way she saw a group of Gastly dancing to a tune only they could hear, she heard the twisted sounds which came from Pokemon tormented by horrors, and the persistent lack of light made her trip and nearly fall every other five seconds over weeds that she was sure didn't even exist until she approached them.
Along the pathway she saw statues showing each of the Four Heavenly Kings as she remembered them in their last moments of struggle. The statues were made out of malachite of all things and the details were flawless, as if Medusa herself had frozen them like that. Tears flowed down Emily's eyes, while Ashley and Arthur seemed to accept their inevitable loss with stoic calmness.
It was Gregor, always the cleverest one, who was laughing and sneering at Selena, as if even in defeat, there was something that he knew and she didn't. It was what had kept her awake for so many nights as she pondered just what it was that made him say, even as all four of his Pokemon were knocked out, "I've already won, Selena. We are victorious."
Oh, the others thought she was crazy. All of them did, even Linnea. Truth be told she suspected it quite a lot many times herself- what if it was just a bluff? It was, in all likelihood, something he had said simply to unnerve her- after all, with his apprentice dead and allies currently either in the grave or scattered, what plans could he have possibly made that Selena wouldn't have detected already?
But then again, her mind always whirred and considered the possibility that there was something, something that she had inexplicably missed. It had started out as a tiny seed in her mind, and like all thoughts, had just grown larger and larger until it was now a deeply entrenched idea that she just couldn't get out of her head no matter how hard she tried.
She shook her head then and proceeded onward along the path. The thing was that she knew from experience that if she dwelt on a matter for too long it would run through her head in an endless loop until it nearly drove her insane. She had to try to take her mind off of it.
The path suddenly opened into a clearing table was lit by a dim camp fire. There was a table around which were seated Thomdolt, Marley, Freyja, Linnea, Wade, and Vanessa. All of them had vacant, blank expressions on their faces and seemed to be as lifeless as a swarm of Shuppets.
Marley turned his head towards her. "Are you ready?"
"Ready for what?" Selena asked.
Out of nowhere, lights suddenly turned on- the huge and infernally bright kind you would find in a stadium and they momentarily blinded her. Another member had joined the party- His Majesty who was dressed in a simple peasant's robe as he had done on that day so very long ago.
"We want to see a rematch," Wade said. His voice was oddly flat and emotionless.
"I do not have any Pokemon though," Selena protested. "My Pokemon are strong- they have been with me through the ages. I will not lose so long as they stand by my side."
"You cannot have them," Freyja replied.
"We have taken them away," Vanessa said.
Marley then motioned towards the table and Selena saw six Poke Balls kept there that hadn't been there before.
"Use these," Marley said.
The battle began, but before it did, Selena saw a glimpse of the same two red eyes she had seen earlier. And this time, she squinted and noticed that it wasn't just a pair of disembodied red eyes floating in the darkness, no, there was a body- just that it was blended with the darkness in such a way that all she could see was a dim outline. But the outline looked so familiar... She had seen that somewhere, she knew that it was familiar somehow and with a jolt she realized that it was important for her to recognize what it was , but the thought slipped from her as the eyes vanished completely.
The battle had begun, and Selena sent out her first Pokemon which was a Bidoof which was taken down with ease by His Majesty's Swampert.
His Majesty smiled. "Not so mighty now then are you?"
She heard laughter echo from the surroundings though she couldn't see anyone there. She bit her lip and sent out her next Pokemon- a Magikarp that was similarly taken down with ease by His Majesty.
Tears streamed down her face. It was the same dream all over again- a repetition of what had happened all those years ago. She was going to be defeated- and not because of a lack of skill, but because she didn't have her precious unbeatable Pokemon with her.
Her next Poke Ball revealed a Weedle, the one after that a Caterpie, followed by a Wurmple and finally a Feebas.
She hadn't made a dent to His Majesty's Swampert and she watched as that undeserving toad was crowned emperor. Out of the shadows came Vanessa and Freyja, both dressed in long blue gowns studded with emeralds who took out a golden crown studded with diamonds the size of eggs which they placed gently on His Majesty's head. As the crown touched his forehead, his rags disappeared and were replaced robes of the finest silk with the image of a Salamence on them.
Selena, however, was left to sink into the mud, wailing and calling out for her Pokemon to help her, to rescue her…
Selena finally managed to wake up then. She woke up in a room that was in itself as big as Ash's house back in Kanto and was furnished with shelves of books and all manners of gadgets- though any kind of camera was conspicuously absent from her bedroom. There were windows whose curtains were drawn but were diaphanous enough for her to tell that it wasn't light out. She would try to get some more sleep then, if possible.
"Is everything all right, mistress?" one of her maids asked. The lights had been turned on and they were irritatingly similar to the lights she had seen in her dream. Selena took a glance around the room, no, there was nothing out of the ordinary, just around six maids looking at her patiently and slightly fearfully.
Lately, with preparations for the siege on His Majesty's domain, Selena had found it increasingly more difficult to fall asleep. Not to mention that the feeling she had of being watched, of there being someone else with her in the room when there was no one had increased to the point where she couldn't sleep alone in a room anymore and demanded that her staff attend to her at every hour of the day and night.
She found it easier to live with the feeling of being watched so long as there were actual people watching her. She didn't even feel like going to the bathroom alone, and instead had a toilet installed much like a stall in a public restroom where she would do her business and would be reassured that there were her maids standing outside.
"Water," she croaked, her voice raspy as a glass of water was handed to her. She only drank half the glass and left the rest as she contemplated just how her life had led her to this moment.
She couldn't sleep, eat, or drink properly anymore. Her servants were asking something else, but she ignored them. The same thoughts intruded into her mind and began running repeatedly. She had to defeat His Majesty, she had to unite Galea, she had to find out what Gregor had been planning.
It was then that she remembered that she had seen something in her dream… something that she had felt at the time to be important, it was a fact that she had wanted to remember when she woke up. But the more she cast her mind back to what she had seen the more she found that she couldn't remember for the life of her.
She finally gave up and returned to sleep. The lights were dimmed, but a small night-light was still on as per her request as she fell asleep, this time, thankfully, without any dreams that she would remember when she woke up.
Selena felt marginally better later on after some rest when she went back to her command center, a room larger than her bedroom which was filled with people working on computers, jotting down numbers, or talking loudly on phones.
Selena watched all of this from a smaller office with glass windows that allowed her to see everything that happened outside, and at the same time provided a private space where she could confer with her more senior advisors. These usually included Lazar and Jenkins, but with Lazar having turned traitor and having been rightfully executed the position was now empty, a position that she would have to see to it that it would be filled before she went and formally declared war on His Majesty.
The glass was not completely soundproof as Selena wanted to hear a bit of the sounds meld into a large comfortable backdrop as she poured over all the information that was brought to her. She found it relaxing, kind of like the pitter-patter of the rain on the pavement.
Today though, her attention was drawn not to her reports but to an old, bald man who had come along with Jenkins into her office.
"Morning, Milady," Jenkins said and bowed, with whoever had come with him doing the same. Jenkins, like most of her employees, was wearing a crisp black-and-white business suit, but the other man had a white coat on, probably marking him out as a laboratory assistant of scientist of some sort. Both of them however appeared to be very nervous, there was sweat coating the old man's forehead even though the room was air-conditioned. "This is Dr. Jerry Argon. I have, well, ah, brought him to um, check up on you, Milady."
"I do not need a doctor," Selena said, raising an eyebrow. "In case you have somehow developed amnesia, the Badges prevent all kinds of illnesses."
Jenkins paused for a few seconds as if wondering if he should really say what he was about to say next. "Well, Dr. Argon here is a psychiatrist."
It was well known that when it came to physical ailments the Badges were hands-down nearly perfect unless one were to overload on their power, but their record on preventing mental illness were a bit more sketchy. Several prior Gym Leaders were known to display odd behavior- and by that it was meant far stranger behavior than what Freyja was prone to do- some of them were known to have become full-blown insane before they were deposed of. Among the various symptoms, excessive paranoia was an extremely common feature- though that probably originated form the Gym Leader's tenuous positions.
Of course, if you subscribed to the theory that all psychological illnesses ultimately had some sort of traceable physical cause, it would be odd that the Badges couldn't fix them.
"I do not need a therapist," Selena said pointedly. "I thank you for your concern for me, Jenkins-" her tone seemed to convey that she was considering having Jenkins skewered right now- "but I am perfectly fine."
Psychiatry had evolved quite a lot in Galea from its heyday, but it didn't mean that there wasn't still a stigma attached with it. Selena needed several things in her life, but having more people questioning her sanity was not one of them.
"With all due respect, if I can be so bold," Jenkins said nervously. "Mistress, I think the two of us can agree on one thing- recently your behavior has changed quite a lot. Especially your sleep patterns. I have noticed personally that your ah, efficiency had dropped. I made this rather bold step, and I apologize for doing so without informing you, but I simply believed that you would not have agreed to see a doctor."
Selena rubbed her forehead. She considered just vaporizing the two of them, but it was hard enough already to find a replacement for Lazar, and she couldn't pull off a campaign of this size on her lonesome.
"I admit that I have had… problem," Selena said. "But you do not need to be concerned regarding them. The root cause of them was my defeat to His Majesty long ago, and once I've defeated him, and once I've done so I'll be fine and this rot in my head will finally go away."
Jenkins and Dr. Argon said nothing for a while before Dr. Argon piped up, "Lady Selena, if you would just spare a moment of your time, perhaps I could help with regarding your insomnia."
"I do not want sleeping pills," Selena said. "I do not need something that I will only get addicted to later on."
"We can attempt other regimes, a Jigglypuff's singing, for example," Dr. Argon said. "But I have been told that you have suddenly began feeling a sensation that you are being watched, is that correct?"
"It is not a feeling," Selena said as she slammed a hand that used to be well manicured onto the table. "Oh, yes, it started off as a simple feeling well enough long ago. But I have become more and more certain- there is something that is watching me. I do not know how, but it does not leave any presence, and seems to be able to follow me everywhere. The only thing that I can tell regarding it is that it exists."
"You seem to be very sure," Dr. Argon said. "Just what makes you think that you know it is there?"
"Because I can feel it," Selena said. "I can feel it watching me, I can feel it observing my every move even when there is no one in the room- I scan the walls for cameras ever other day to find nothing, but I know that it hasn't stopped watching me, not for a single second."
Dr. Argon paused for a second and said, "You say the word 'it' all the time. Why?"
"How do you mean?"
"Many of my patients believe that there are several people watching them," Dr. Argon said. "That or they oscillate between using a singular and then plural. You say the words 'it' only, how are you so sure that only a single person is watching you."
Selena stared at her hands for several minutes. "I do not know…" she muttered before she added, " "Was it because of those single pair of red eyes…" but so softly that neither Dr. Argon nor Jenkins heard.
"Do you think you know why it watches you?" Dr. Argon asked. "Do you think it is a man or woman?"
"I do not know, and for that matter I don't care either," Selena said. "I have no idea if it is a man or women, or something else. But it doesn't matter. The only thing that I am concerned about is dethroning His Majesty. Why something is watching me is irrelevant to that goal, and so is irrelevant to me as well. It is simply… unnerving as a feeling that is all. It goes away whenever I am surrounded by people though, and I admit that my new arrangements may seem strange, I am comfortable with them and I am sure that no one has been duly bothered by it." She looked the two of them in the eyes and dared them to disagree with her. Neither of them took the bait.
"Ah," Dr. Argon said. "Have you ever heard voices when no one was there when you were alone and in broad daylight? Have you suffered from seizures? Have you-"
"No, and no to all of your questioning," Selena said. "I have said all that I wish to."
"I see," Dr. Argon said, treating Selena as if she was an Electrode about to burst. "Forgive me for my questioning then. If there is anything troubling you however, you can always add that."
Selena didn't say anything to answer Dr. Argon, but just said, "Please wait outside. I wish to talk to Jenkins here in private."
"Of course, of course," Dr. Argon said, who seemed to be very happy to have an excuse to leave the room.
Once he was outside, Selena said, "I do not want some of this nonsense again, do you understand?"
Jenkins nodded. "Yes ma'am."
"And never think that you are irreplaceable," Selena said. "You have been valuable to me, that may be true, but don't dare to think even for a second that you're so high up that you cannot be removed. I had not qualms about getting rid of Lazar, let alone you."
Jenkins nodded.
"Now get back to work," Selena said, her good mood from early now virtually gone. All of these were distractions, distractions from what was important- putting His Majesty back into his place. Jenkins made his leave to go gather all the new reports and tell his summary to Selena.
Jenkins was talking to Dr. Argon for a minute though, but Selena ignored them and considered if she had made a mistake. At one point, she had wanted to appoint Lazar as her right hand and not Jenkins, but if there was one thing that Selena couldn't stand it was subordinates who thought far too highly of themselves and Lazar had been letting power get to his head. Jenkins got the post despite Lazar's seniority. Given that Lazar had turned tail, this mean that Selena had probably been right, but at the same Selena wondered if Lazar might have turned on her partly because he had been stood up for the promotion.
A/N: Thanks for reading.
