"Well you're not acting very friendly!"

"No one expects you to do this by yourself."

Protector of Silence

Chapter Thirty-Three - The Betwixt and Between

Kellyn let out a happy sigh as he felt the sun fall on his pale face. The breeze made the slight tail of his cloak flap against his jeans as he stepped outside the courtyard, the long grass reaching past his ankles. The world smelt fresh. Winter was gone, Spring was here.

Kellyn was outside. Why? Two reasons:

One: It was a nice day and after recovering from his poisoning he wanted some time to himself before the school came back that evening.

Two: He'd come downstairs after Rhythmi had delivered him some toast for breakfast to see how everyone was. He'd come down the stairs, turned the corner and ended up smack in the middle of World War Three. 'Nuff said.

It wasn't until he was near the middle of the field he realised something was up. There were no Pokémon in sight, no birds chirping, no wind beyond a gentle breeze rolling along the ground. The whole air was eerily quiet.

'Too quiet' Kellyn curled his fingers into fists 'Something bad is going to happen. I know it.'

Kellyn had no idea how right he was.

He froze as he heard something behind him. It sounded like storm clouds - electricity crackling in a confined space. Then, just as he was about to turn around, the pressure was released in a loud bang. The bang scared Kellyn out of his wits and he jumped to face where it was coming from. He almost had a heart attack when he saw Hunter J standing there, a Banette floating near her shoulder. Behind them, a dark purple cloud folded in on itself before dissipating.

'W-What?!' Kellyn took a step back in shock. Then he slapped his hands over his mouth. 'H-How?!What's happening?!' He hadn't spoken, yet somehow his thoughts were projected into the air. He didn't recognise the voice that spoke them - it was that was a small child, not someone his age.

"Hello Kellyn" J smirked. Kellyn took another half-step back in surprise. "That's right. I know your name. Is that such a surprise?"

'What's happening?' As Kellyn thought those words, the small child's voice spoke again. The voice rang through the tense air, shaking and scared.

J's smirked widened as she ever so slightly turned her head towards the Banette at her shoulder. "Banette can distort space in minor ways. For instance, it opened the corridor that brought me here." She turned her head back to Kellyn again. "Right now, it's taking the thoughts from your head and projecting them as sound into the air. It's not the only Pokémon that can do such things, but it's a personal favourite of mine."

'I don't sound like that' Kellyn narrowed his eyes 'I know I don't.'

"I have no control over that" J shrugged "That's the voice Banette chose for you." Kellyn was sure that was an insult.

"Maybe it is."

'Cryptic.'

J glared at him.

'...ah...stupid Banette.'

The Banette glared at him. It growled too.

'...I'm already starting to dislike this.'

Having had enough of the lack of being able to think without his thoughts being shared for the whole world to hear if it wished so, Kellyn tried to make a break for the school building. He'd barely moved a step when he found himself on the wrong end of a gauntlet. At the sound of clicking from the device, Kellyn abruptly froze. He'd taken his chances with that thing once and he didn't feel like doing so again.

'Why didn't I bring Luna with me?' he gritted his teeth 'Why didn't I just wait for the others? Why?'

"Luna" J raised a fine eyebrow "Is that the name of that girl you're always with?" Kellyn's very core froze. "Watching the sunset together with that strange boy. How so very poetic." Kellyn was so horrified he didn't know what to do. J had been spying on him? She'd been spying on him and Starlight and Kate?!

"Kate. Why, what a pretty name that is."

Dah! He'd mentioned Kate's name! Who knows what this maniac could do with that?!

"If you don't offend me, I won't offend you."

'...still a maniac.'

J gave a sigh that plainly said 'this isn't working'. The question was what wasn't working?

"As delightful as this is, I didn't come here to trade insults" she explained "I came here with a proposition. You come with me, and your little friends remain unharmed." Kellyn gritted his teeth and immediately shook his head. "Come on. I promise it won't hurt." She extended a hand towards him. "Well, that much." Kellyn took a half-step backwards, debating whether he should run or pray he didn't think anything to make J fire her gauntlet.

Just as he was about to bolt, something made him freeze. The sound of one of Banette's corridors opening. But J wasn't escaping: this corridor was opening behind him. Making sure to keep one eye on J, he looked over his shoulder. Sure enough, a corridor was open a few metres behind him. This corridor wasn't black though. This one was a sparkling gold vortex - like a doorway to light.

"This way! Quickly!" The voice was that was a young female - probably in her mid-teens. She was whispering hurriedly, as if beckoning him. "Believe in yourself! Come on! Hurry!"

Kellyn swayed on the spot, unsure of what to do. If he ran, he could make it to the doorway and pray J wouldn't follow him. But who knows where that thing led. J, as if she realised her prisoner was on the verge of escaping, quickly stepped up her game:

"You and I are both searching for something. I believe I can help you find it. We don't have to be enemies. We could be friends."

Something about that made Kellyn snap. The thought of being compared to J made something in his heart burn with anger. In a split second, he made his choice.

'Well you're not acting very friendly!' He put as much power into that thought as possible, making sure J understand exactly how he felt. Turning on his heels, he sprinted forward and felt a relaxing warmth come over him as he dashed through the portal.

J was about to run after him when the sparkles crunched in on themselves and faded in a puff of gold smoke. She growled, balling her leather-gloved fists.

"You!" she yelled at nothing in particular "You'll pay for this, Owari!"

Travelling through the portal wasn't the most comforting of situations for Kellyn. The walls (could they be called walls?) seemed to made of pulsating sparkles like golden tinfoil, whilst little gold sparkles flew as sharp as knives towards him, only to veer and miss him at the last second.

Feeling a sense of weightlessness, Kellyn drew his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, eyes squeezing shut as tight as possible, hoping the ride would be over soon. Suddenly, the warmth was gone as well as the weightlessness. He didn't even have a second to prepare himself before the right side of his body impacted with the ground.

'Ow.' Kellyn pressed one hand to his aching head, eyes still shut, as he tried to sit up. All his limbs had gone numb and he could tell standing would be near impossible for a while.

"This is it? I knew Lunick was always a little illogical, but he certainly damaged his brain before choosing this."

At the sound of the rather offending voice, Kellyn head snapped up. Standing a few metres away from him was a man. A man in his early forties with eye-catching red-ginger hair and brown eyes that could rip one's soul to pieces just by looking at you.

'W-Who are you?' Kellyn tried to get to his feet, but slumped down again when he found his whole body had turned to jello. 'Did you bring me here?'

"I am Jethro Fawkes, former Leader of Ringtown Ranger Base" the man huffed, apparently either angry or exasperated about something. "And no, I was simply informed you would be arriving here. Your little babysitter Owari is responsible for bringing you here, with help from that traitor to council who calls herself your father's best friend. Yes, the two of them have created so many imbalances in the time-space continuum I'm surprised Owari's not tearing what little hair he has out. You yourself disrupt time and space in such a way I'm even more surprised you haven't been disposed of yet." He looked to his left, over the expanse of nothingness. "That apprentice of mine... Always thought he was more than he really was. Attempting to go up against Dialga..." He shook his head in disbelief. In this time, Kellyn had shakily clambered to his feet, his knees knocking as they tried to support his weight.

'What do you mean?' he asked 'Your apprentice? Who's that? What do they have to with this?'

Jethro looked dead hard at him. "One of your species does not have the need nor the right to know."

'Hey!' Kellyn fired back, his hands balling into fists 'You can't say that!'

Almost immediately, Kellyn wished he hadn't said that. He wasn't aware how much control Jethro had as a fallen ranger over the betwixt and between. As Jethro's eyes narrowed into a glare, a harsh wind blew through the space, swooping up the fog as it moved. It smashed right into Kellyn's stomach, knocking the small boy off his feet and sending him skidding across the floor. His head smashed against the glass floor hard and he hissed in pain, clutching the spot where he was sure there was a bruise on his scalp.

"Huh" Jethro snorted as he walked away "Feckless neophyte. Why were we afraid of you? Your powers are nothing, worthless." Kellyn gritted his teeth, eyes squeezed shut again.

'My powers are NOT worthless!' he growled inwardly, letting the space project his anger. 'What gives you the right to say that?!' Scrambling to his feet, he sprinted towards Jethro as fast as his legs would take him. He had no weapon, but he would jolly well give that guy a good right-hook to the face! Unfortunately, Jethro seemed to anticipate this. As Kellyn swung his right fist (rather pathetically to add to his frustration and embarrassment), Jethro ducked to avoid it and delivered a much harder blow to Kellyn's stomach. The force of the blow threw Kellyn into the air before he thudded painfully to the ground again.

"You have courage, I'll give you that" Jethro snorted "Too bad you have nothing to put behind it." Kellyn was barely listening. He was winded and trying to force air into his lungs. He shifted slightly and he heard the glass beneath him made a cracking sound, but he had stopped caring. All his emotions had been piled into one thought: teaching Jethro he was NOT WORTHLESS!

"If that's what you are so determined to believe." Ah. He'd forgotten about Jethro being able to hear what he's thinking. "Why can you not be anything like your father?"

The words only registered in Kellyn's brain for a second, but as he rolled onto his side to try and face Jethro, all thoughts about the words that had just been said flew out if his mind.

As his centre of gravity shifted, the floor finally gave way. The fog rolled over him, and then he was falling.

"Here he is!"

"..."

"Psst! Kellyn! Wake up!"

"..."

"Wake up! Come on!"

"...Just leave him. He'll be fine."

"Stop talking nonsense! If you're going to be here, make yourself useful! Help me here!"

"Relax. He's not gonna get decapitated. Owari will stop him from being lost in nothingness forever."

"Owari's busy rescuing Reo from a Russian Prisoner-Of-War camp!"

"...Do I want to know?"

"Probably not. Now help me get him into the next district!"

"..."

"Now!"

"Oh fine! Five minutes! No more!"

Kellyn had been quite happy asleep. His dreams were calm, no nightmares, and he was rather content. That was until he felt someone grip the back of his head and pulled extremely hard on his short hair.

'Yow!' his thoughts yelped as he flinched, unable to pull away or face more pain 'Let go, let go, let go!'

"Lind stop it!"

"What? He's waking up isn't he?"

"He is not Freddie! He does not have long hair! You can't wake him up like this! Now let go before you rip his brain out!"

"His father had long hair."

"He is not his father! And he didn't always have long hair. Now let go of the poor boy or I'll kick ya!"

"Oh. I am so scared. I am trembling in my boots."

"LIND!"

"Oh fine! Whatever!"

Finally whoever had been gripping Kellyn's hair let go, making the boy gasp with relief. As he cautiously opened his eyes, he saw he was lying on the floor of a limbo identical to last one. However, Jethro was not in this one. Instead, two even stranger people were.

The first Kellyn saw was obviously the one who had pulled his hair. He was moving to sit on a log that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. At first Kellyn thought the boy was Owari, but he quickly realised it wasn't. This boy was significantly bigger than Owari, and he had icier blue eyes. Plus the boy was wearing a Fall City ranger uniform.

The girl standing up was the boy's exact opposite. She was about 15 with long slightly-curly brown hair and the warmest of chocolate-button eyes. She wasn't wearing a ranger uniform - instead her whole outfit from her frilly shirt to her long skirt seemed to consist of pink - but she had a ranger's badge at her hip.

'Who are you?' Kellyn furrowed his brow, looking back and forth between the girl and the boy. The girl smiled and took a few steps towards you.

"Hello Kellyn!" she smiled. Kellyn didn't question why she knew his name. It seems everybody who was somebody knew his name these days. "My name is Lark. That," she gestured her arm in the direction of the boy "is Lind. Don't mind him, he's a jerk." Lind grunted, folding his arms and legs. "Don't be afraid, we came to help you!"

"She means she came to help you" Lind grunted, taking a sip from a coffee mug which had seemingly appeared from thin air like the log. Don't ask me what he was drinking or where he got it from, I don't think I want to know.

"Oh really" Lark took a very different stance as she spun round to face her companion "So what did you come here for? Revenge on Jethro?"

"Oh please" Lind rolled his eyes "Revenge is so overrated!" Rolling her own eyes, Lark turned back to Kellyn. But just as she opened her mouth to speak, Lind shot one last remark. "Besides, I have much better things to do than babysit a mute and a pink princess, so you should be grateful."

Kellyn guessed that was the last straw.

"Begone, you have no power here!" was the dramatic comeback. Lark whirled around again and pointed one pink-painted nail in Lind's face. The boy's pupils dilated as they stared at the offending object inches away from his nose.

"Okay okay! I get the point!" he yelped, moving Lark's nail away from his face with his finger.

Kellyn stared at them both strangely, not quite sure of what do.

'These guys are stranger than Keith and Liam' he frowned.

"I resent that!" Lind barked, pointing an accusing finger at him. Kellyn suddenly realised something.

'It's you!' his eyes widened 'You're that voice! The one that stopped me from getting into Keith's mind! It was you!' Lind leant back, folding his arms behind his head (how his drink didn't spill is another mystery that shall never be solved in the vast expanses of the universe).

"Yeah" he grunted.

Silence.

Well, it appears that's all Lind has to say on the matter. As Kellyn thought more, he realised something else, and could only pray he didn't get as short a response for this one as he had for Lind's question.

'Were you the voice that guided me here?' this question was directed towards Lark. The girl with the pleasant smile nodded.

"Owari regrets he can't be here - he has to sort out a serious imbalance in the Cretaceous period" she explained "But he has allowed us use of this sector of the betwixt and between, and has given you the power of thought-projection whilst you remain here." Kellyn twisted so his legs were folded beneath him, turning his head to look around the white limbo. It really was a void of nothingness, just white fog as far as the eye could see.

'So, this is the betwixt and between?' he asked. Lark nodded in confirmation. 'But, what is it?'

"Hmmm" Lark tapped her chin with her finger in thought "Well, it's nothing and nowhere, really. It's a realm of boundaries and gateways. It's owned by Arceus, like most worlds, but the betwixt and between is often considered to be under the rule of his messenger: Owari."

'Owari?' Kellyn raised an eyebrow 'Arceus' messenger?'

"Yes" Lark continued to smile with a nod "All the legendary Pokémon such as Arceus and Dialga have messengers. All of them a child who has lost their life in a way that has forbidden them to pass on to the next life or to Giratina's realm. Owari is Arceus'." She looked around, as if surveying their rather dull surroundings. "This is a place for Owari to call home. A sanctuary. He often allows other messengers or members of the council to pass through here though. As well as psychic beings."

'Why psychic beings?' Kellyn questioned after a moment's pause 'Why are we special?'

Lark bent down so she could look Kellyn in the eye. "Every psychic being has a piece of the betwixt and between in them. You included. In every case, this small piece tries to find a way to manifest itself. It's what stains your pupils white." She straightened again, arms folded behind her back, gaze towards the endless horizon. "When psychic beings call their powers forth, the white spreads into their irises, as the piece requires more manifestation to boot up, if you will. This is why your eyes dim in colour - they are trying to return to the colour of the betwixt and between that their power came from."

"In short, you're all alien freaks who have a piece of absolute nothingness embedded in their head." Guesses who that was.

As if the moment had been spoilt (more like crippled), the serene look on Lark's face faded into a cross between extreme frustration and anger. She whirled around to face Lind, towering over him as he sat on the log apparently made of nothingness. (How was he sitting on it then? Again, Lind has refused to answer questioning on how he manages to defy the laws of physics other than: "I'm dead. This conversation alone defies the laws of physics.")

"Lind, button your mouth, please!" she ground out, though she was clearly more frustrated than her voice was betraying her to be.

Lind shrugged, taking another sip of...something. "Fine. If you shut your trap, I will too, Miss Know-It-All."

"Ooooh!" Lark tightened her fists, vibrating out of sheer frustration and anger. Then, with no warning at all, she snapped: "Stuff it Lind!"

Lind was apparently surprised by the comeback, but not so surprised he couldn't come up with his own: "Well how about you stuff it!"

"Don't you talk to me like that, young man!"

"What?! You're not my mother! You're only, like, twelve years older than me!"

"Well they're twelve very important years! Now stop yapping and shut up!"

Kellyn blinked, looking back and forth between the two, wondering if they were ever going stop arguing.

"Well why don't you shut up, will ya!"

"I will when you stop yelling!"

"You're the one that's yelling!"

"STOP BEING A BRAT!"

"See, you are yelling!"

"NO I'M NOT, LIND!"

...apparently not.

"See, this is why I don't go on these little trips with you" Lind reached into his mug and pulled out a sugar cube that somehow hadn't dissolved in his drink (and once again Lind chooses to defy the laws of psychics and instead kick them out the window into next Thursday). He crushed the sugar cube between his thumb and finger and let the little granules fall into the beverage (it appeared it wasn't alcoholic at least).

"Hey, you're the one who falls for it every time" Lark snipped back "Maybe you are as much as a sap as Lunick says you are." Lind growled, clenching the handle of his mug so hard it almost cracked off.

"I will kill you with this mug" he warned "Seriously, you're first on my list."

'You know Lunick?' At this projected thought, the two arguing turned their heads to look at their rather confused visitor. Lark shot Lind one last glare before deciding to ignore him and walking back over to Kellyn.

"Useless" Lark muttered with a shake of her head, before putting on a friendly smile as she dragged Kellyn to his feet. "Of course, Lunick is a part of the council. Just as we are."

"When he bothers to turn up" Lind muttered. Lark sighed but didn't retaliate. She brought Kellyn over to the log and sat in between her and Lind. Kellyn unconsciously sighed in contentment. He could feel the light radiating off these two people. Whoever they were, they were certainly very special.

"Lunick's like a brother to us" Lark explained "After joining the council, we three agreed to stand by each other no matter what. We don't have it in our hearts to lay a finger on you. It would be like killing family - psychic or not." Kellyn looked down towards his feet.

'It doesn't seem like everyone's so accepting' he stated. Lark sighed, looping an arm around his shoulders and letting him lean into her.

"We're truly sorry about Jethro" she apologised "He reached out and dragged you away from us. You were never supposed to meet him. I'm so sorry." Kellyn let his eyes fall shut, feeling sleepy.

"I agree with you, he's a total jerk" Lind smirked, throwing the mug of stuff over his shoulder, a shattering sound coming from the area behind him.

Kellyn startled awake again. 'How'd you know I thought...?'

Lind tapped his temple. Kellyn groaned.

'At least other kids get to pretend they have privacy' he thought 'I don't even get given that reserve.'

"I can still hear you, ya know."

'...And that just proves my point.'

Lind chuckled. "You're some kid. The council have great fear of you."

"That's right, Kellyn" Lark turned her head to look him in the eyes as much as possible "You have control over powers that they do not. They're scared of you. All of them. Jethro included." She moved the hand on his shoulder to grip his arm, thin enough to be a twig in her hand. "You're special. And perhaps the answer to everything."

'No I'm not' Kellyn ducked his head, refusing to meet either of their gazes 'I'm weak, and useless. I can't fight my own battles, let alone other people's. I'm just a freak of a mute who...' He clenched his jaw, screwing his eyes shut to prevent the tears from leaking out. '...who was never supposed to exist. I can't be the answer to everything - because that would mean there was never supposed to be an answer.'

Silence followed this. Lark and Lind didn't say anything, which Kellyn took to mean they agreed with him. A tear escaped his eye as he tried to make himself as small as possible, trying to get the world to stop noticing him. So he was no longer odd, special, now just some face on the street.

A thumb rubbed his cheek, wiping his tear away. He felt someone (he presumed it was Lark) wrap their arms around him and hold him close to them. His fingers felt fabric and they curled around it, gripping it in a death-grip as a hand ran through his hair. Suddenly, it was like the tears wouldn't stop, the same hand rubbing circles on his back as he broke down into chokes and sobs.

"No one expects you to do this by yourself" he heard Lark whisper close to his ear "You're just a child. You're too fragile now. But you'll understand in time. You're more special than you can ever realise. But remember, you're not going to go through this alone."

Lark said no more. Lind never spoke. They never got the chance.

Kellyn bolted upright with fear as a sound began to rip through the betwixt and between. He knew that sound, and was paralysed with fear as a familiar black shadow began to form in front of him.

Lind jumped to his feet. "What's she doing here?! How dare she?!" He ran forward towards the portal, only for Hunter J to emerge and knock him aside like a rag doll.

"There you are" J clucked her tongue, looking right at Kellyn. The broken tears on his face turned to tears of pure fear. Lark immediately let go of him and leapt to her feet.

"Leave him alone!" she barked. She might have said more, if J's Banette hadn't emerged from the portal then. All the colour in Lark's face drained as she was forced away from Kellyn, backing up as much as possible to get away from the ghost Pokémon.

"Spirits" J shook her head with something akin to disapproval, walking towards the psychic being. Kellyn felt the log beneath him start to dissipate now Lind and Lark weren't on it and he jumped to his feet, raising his arms up to his head to shield himself. However, he felt J grip his wrist and pull him forwards, nearly tripping him in the process.

'Let go of me!' he mentally yelped, struggling as much as possible. He didn't want to go with her. He didn't want to go into that portal.

"Shut up!" J hissed, her evil eyes glaring daggers into him. Kellyn tried to blow her backwards or create some kind of illusion in order to get away, but his mind had gone blank with fear. The fear doubled as he felt a harsh sting on his cheek and his head was forced to to the right by a slap so hard it would've knocked him down if J wasn't holding onto his wrist. He lost the ability to cry as he was pulled into the cold and darkness, complete opposite to the warmth and comfort of Owari's portal. None the less, he kept struggling, and would've screamed if he could.

Screwing his eyes shut, Kellyn did the only thing he could. He bit J's wrist - hard. The hunter hissed with a mixture of what appeared to be pain and surprise, letting go of Kellyn's own wrist.

It was as if a spell had been broken. Automatically Kellyn was in free fall. His hands scrabbled for something to hold onto, not even daring to open his eyes.

'I'm going to die.' The thought coiled around his brain like a snake, numbing him to everything but the fear.

"KELLYN!"

"LUXRAY!"

Suddenly, Kellyn's fall was broken as he landed front-first on the back of what appeared to be a running Pokémon. His heart still raced at an impossible speed, making movement unthinkable. He was just able to open his eyes.

What he saw stayed with him from the rest of his life. He saw a figure walking away from him towards the light, leaving the darkness. He couldn't see much, but his mind screamed one name that chilled him to his core.

'C-Can it be?'

He didn't have time to look back and double check, because at that moment, his saviour carried him out of the darkness into the light.

Kellyn hated landing. Because these days, all he ever landed on was his face.

"Whoa! Kel! What was all that about?!" Oh great! Kellyn looked up from his face-full of grass and found, to his utter disappointment, Keith was standing there, staring down at him with wide eyes.

'Just help me up moron!' Kellyn groaned. Keith didn't react, just continued to stare at him. Kellyn's frustration faded away slightly. 'Okay, the thought translator thing's gone.' He held out his arm, and Keith helped him to his feet, still staring at him.

"Did you do that?" Keith was practically gaping at him. Kellyn blinked, not quite understanding. "Don't look at me like that?! You know what I mean!" Keith began flapping his arms around in the air to make his point. "It was shining, then it was shimmering, and then WHOOOSH! It disappeared and you were there! You know what I mean, right?!"

'He means the portal I guess' Kellyn assimilated. He looked over his shoulder, but sure enough the portal was gone. The only thing there was a Luxray getting to it's feet - the same Luxray that had saved him. But Kellyn barely noticed this. He swallowed, remembering the retreating figure he had seen before the portal closed.

'Was that really you?

...Lunick?'

Elsewhere, Hunter J stepped out of another one of Banette's corridors into a bare white room. The only thing that wasn't white was the golden statue in front of her.

"Lunick" she tested the name on her tongue for the first time in a long time. Then she smirked. "We'll see." She locked eyes with the statue. Though the golden surface didn't move, J could feel the eyes behind it glare. "Then you'll get the chance to see your little friend fall."