Reader discretion advised. Implications of serious physical and psychological abuse further into this chapter. Things get quite heavy in this chapter.
Lumi was well aware she was in trouble.
As a Liaison Officer for a team in training, it was her duty to serve as a mentor and guild to them. She was young, but she was also experienced. Having been an Explorer since age 15, she knew her way around handling tough situations and even tougher Pokemon. She should have been prepared for all of this, to whip the six of them into shape and get them ready for what lay beyond the borders of their safe little town. She should have been able to put her paw down and apply the necessary pressure to the unruly ones to get them out of their combative dispositions.
So how could she have failed so miserably?
The girl groaned in frustration, slamming her paws into the desk she lay face down upon. Leaning back in her chair, she stared off into space. How could she have let this happen? She'd let a rift form between two of the team that had only grown wider and more craggy with each passing day. Her resentment towards Teravolt's nonstop flirting, coupled with her affections for the one the Luxray somehow felt inferior to had formed a dangerous concoction within the Tera's mind.
All that resentment and rage and jealousy had boiled and stewed for weeks. And today, that pot had overflowed. Because she hadn't been clear with the man about her desire to have him stop hounding her and harassing his teammates, and had instead just belittled him again, he'd stormed out of the Guildhall in a rage in an attempt to prove himself. Not only was this unprecedented, no other teams had been available at the time to go and bring him back.
Leading to three more of her trainee's taking it upon themselves to dive into danger to rescue him.
Another groan of despair escaped the Vulpix's muzzle as she covered her face with her paws.
She was in so much trouble.
"Lumi? Is everything alright?" The kindly voice of Eduardo brought the vixen out of her moping, glacing towards the door where he and Melody had just re-entered the room.
'Mew, bless these two. They've been trying so hard to help all day and all I can do is mope around like a child about to punished...'
Lumi gave them a weak smile as they placed the steaming hot drink on the desk before her, coupled with a few glazed donuts. She regarded them oddly at the extra items. She'd only asked for a drink.
Melody offered a bright smile. "Oh, this sweet little thing stopped us in the road. She asked if we were heading to the Guildhall, and when we said yes, she asked to drop these off for you. A 'special treat for a good friend!' Oh, and she had this adorable little Eevee with her who was such an excitable little bundle of energy. That Leafeon was awfully young looking to be a mother... she can't be that much older than me!"
The elderly Goodra smiled. "Kaguya spoke about her to me and Elias on occasion, Juniper, I believe he said her name was?" The vixen nodded, dunking one of the sweet treats into her coffee before biting into the delicious pastry. "And Melody, that Eevee isn't Juniper's. That was Kaguya's daughter." The Skarmory gave a surprised squawk, losing her balance slightly before rearing on the startled Goodra.
"THAT'S THEIR DAUGHTER!? WHOA, WHOA, WAIT A SECOND! KAGUYA'S GOT A MATE!? WHY DID NOBODY TELL ME!? WAIT A SEC, THEN IF THEY'RE MATES, WHY DID LUMI GIVE KAGUYA A BIG OL' SMOOCH EARLIER ON?!" Lumi gritted her teeth at that word. 'Mate'. She scowled slightly. 'Why the hell am I getting so upset over that? It's not even true!'
She was startled when her own mind seemingly answered her back. 'You know exactly why. And you're not very good at hiding it~'
Eduardo burst out laughing at the Skarmory's outburst, patting her gently upon the head as he tried to calm the startled bird. "Easy, easy. I said the Eevee wasn't Juniper's. They're not a couple, Melody. Kaguya is a single father, and his daughter can't be here with him while he's training. So Juniper kindly offered to look after his kit while he did."
The steel bird blinked once. Twice. A third time, and then a drawn out "Oooooohhhhh..." passed through her beak. "Yeah, I guess that does make sense. Lumi doesn't seem like she'd be the homewrecker type. Um, sorry for assuming...?" The vixen rolled her eyes.
"It's fine, don't worry about it. Sunshine would probably adore you, by the way. Both of you." The two Pokemon tilted their heads at the Vulpix's remark.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Sunshine? Whozzat?"
"Sunshine is Kaguya's daughter. That's her name. He named her after her love of the warmth of the sun, and also because she was, in his words, 'the first ray of sunshine I'd seen after a very long time in the dark'." The Vulpix still shuddered at that description. What on Earth had he meant by that? She didn't like the implication of it at all.
The group were startled when the door to the room slammed open, a flustered and frightened looking Raichu standing in the doorway. "Lumi! They're back, you need to get to the lobby immediately, it's an emergency!"
The Vulpix's heart began to hammer in her chest as she stood, flying out from behind her desk and towards the open doorway.
She was in SO MUCH TROUBLE.
And she couldn't find room in her mind to care.
The scene the trio witnessed as they entered the main foyer was equal parts terrifying, heart-breaking and humorous. The first thing she took note of was the sheer amount of Pokemon that she'd never seen before in within the hall. She recognised some of them. She'd seen the posters and fliers, emblazoned with the huge MISSING headline. The Pokemon that'd vanished out on the trails without a trace. They had to have been somewhere in Shale Depths, and her team had freed them, had saved them all. She allowed herself to feel pride, seeing friends and families reunited, for just moment before her attention was caught by yelling and screaming.
"You! We don't care who ye are or what ye do! Arrest us, hurl us in jail, throw away the damn key! We don't care, just don't ever let that THING near us again! Please, we're beggin' ye!" A Gabite had hurled himself to his knees in front of Artemis, the Mienshao who oversaw security within the Guild hall. Lumi was absolutely baffled by the display. An outlaw, a hardened criminal that had terrorised the town for months was on his knees BEGGING to be thrown into jail. The vixen shivered softly at the idea of it. What had they faced to make them act like this?
"What the hell are you lot babblin' about? You're surrendering? Hardened criminals like yourselves, begging on paws and knees to be arrested and have the key thrown away? What on Earth happened to make you wanna stoop to such a thing?" Artemis gestured for other guards to come and help her in detaining the shaken bandits, who willingly allowed themselves to be handcuffed.
"We don't care anymore, we ain't stupid enough to run the risk of you lettin' that ANIMAL loose on us again! We'd take jail time over certain death any day of the week, month or even year! Now get us outta here before that THING wakes back up! Please!" The Gabite wildly jabbed it's claw towards something, and Lumi followed it's pointing.
Her heart shattered upon what she saw.
A bruised and badly damaged Primarina stood in the centre of a large crowd of Pokemon, supporting a battered and ragged looking Luxray. Beside them both was a Riolu, wearing a makeshift sling and covered in bruises and cuts, his eyes staring off vacantly into the distance as though he was miles away.
And atop the Luxray's back, the object of the bandits unbridled terror, was an unconscious Glaceon.
The only reason Lumi could tell it was Kaguya at all was by the pawguards and cloak he always wore. It was quite hard to discern what Pokemon it was given that his fur was all but stained red. There was only one thing that could have been.
'Arceus above, I failed them. I failed him...'
Beside the wounded Pokemon was a hysterical Leafeon and a bawling Eevee, desperately trying to find out what had happened. Lumi's throat tightened as she heard the Eevee wailing in grief.
"PAPA! PLEASE, WAKE UP PAPA!"
Steeling herself, Lumi stepped forward. "Make way, everybody! Out of the way, we need to get them to the Infirmary Wing! So MOVE IT! This isn't a show! Eduardo, go help Cass with Tera, Melody, you take Kaguya off Tera's shoulders. I'll get Elias." Taking command of the situation, the three moved to their appointed tasks.
"Gods above, Cass... what happened to you?" The Goodra wrapped one of his old friends flipper-like arms around his shoulders, hoisting her up as he let the weakened Luxray lean against him for support, being more stable as he was.
"We'll explain when it's a little more private, Ed... this ain't nothin' for gawkers to hear. Not here, not now..." Her voice sounded tired. Very tired, but also afraid? Not for herself, though... it was something else she was afraid for. Or of.
"He was holding back... all this time, and he was holding back... what the hell was all that...? What is he?" The Luxray's voice was shaken as he babbled to himself softly, clearly still shocked by... whatever had happened.
"NO! NO, NO, NO! YOU CAN'T TAKE PAPA! HE NEEDS TO WAKE UP!" The wailing Eevee cried and screamed as the Skarmory hoisted the unconscious ice type up onto her back. Trying in vain to slap and hit the steel type to make her drop her father. The Skarmory leaned down, gently pressing her forehead against the near inconsolable kit.
"Sweetheart, listen to me. Ok? I need you to listen. I'm a friend of your fathers. One of his teammates, you see? I'm not going to hurt him, I'm trying to help him. I know you're scared, believe me, I do. I'm also scared. I've seen how strong your dad is, and to see him like this frightens me too. But we've got to be brave now, ok? Can you do that for me? You can come with me, sweetheart. You don't have to let your dad out of your sight. I promise, ok?" The Eevee sniffled and whimpered softly, but her shivering slowed.
"I- B-but I-" The Skarmory cooed and hummed softly the the grieving child.
"Shhhh... there, there baby... just relax... come on, follow me. We'll get your dad the help he needs, alright? I promise..." The Eevee nodded her head softly, falling behind the Skarmory as she moved to help Eduardo with the others.
"Elias? Can you hear me?" Lumi gently probed at the young Riolu, who's vacant eyes slowly turned towards her.
"Ms. Lumi...? Is that you?" His voice was weak, he looked so shaken. Like he'd seen true evil. The icy fox felt another stab of guilt in her chest. He was so young, and she'd sent him out against bandits. Even with help, of course he'd be shaken. She was such a failure.
Chasing away those dark thoughts, the Vulpix nodded, speaking softly to the young boy. "Yes, it's me. Can you walk? Do you need help?" The vixen was trying to asses his state before the infirmary staff arrived, offering aid to the injured Pokemon as they began to usher them towards away from the crowd.
"It wasn't him... it couldn't have been him... there's no way he'd have..." The Riolu mumbled softly as an Audino gently took his good paw, leading him away towards the Infirmary Ward.
"Lumi! Please, you need to tell me what's going on here! Sunshine's in a state, and I've got no answers for her. Please, what's happening here? What happened to them!?" The hysterical Leafeon begged for any scrap of information she could gather, pleading with her eyes to learn what had happened to Kaguya.
"Come with me, Juniper. It's... it's been a very long day. I'll explain on the way, we're going with them."
"What in Mew's name were you thinking?!" The Luxray flinched when he heard the angry voice of the vixen approaching.
"Look, Lumi I-"
"Oh, no. No excuses! You'd better have a DAMN good reason for all this, considering how hurt everybody is thanks to you! Honestly, what possessed you to do something so stupid!?" The electic type growled, glancing at the Leafeon beside the girl briefly before letting out a sigh.
"...I was jealous, alright?" The whole team stopped what they were doing, turning to stare at the man before them.
"I beg your pardon?" Lumi's voice practically oozed with anger at the statement.
"I was jealous! Alright!? I did everything I could think of to show to both the others on the team and you that I was responsible, strong and capable! And what did it earn me? Disdain and lectures! And then there's that damn Glaceon you're oh-so fond of. What the hell does he have that I don't? What's so special about him?!
"What he has is patience. And kindness. And respect. And the ability to go 15 seconds without trying to flirt with me. I like him because he treats me as a person, not a conquest. As an equal, not a trophy to be won. I mean, surely you can't be this stupid, right? He put himself and his team in danger to come after you. He risked all of that to come find you. He doesn't hate you, he came to save you. Because though you have your differences, he still cares for your safety! Something you clearly don't!" The vixen took a deep breath, trying her best to calm her nerves.
"Look, I'm going to lay this out for you. And I hope you will finally take the him. I am not into older men. I never have been, and I never will be. I'm sorry if that hurts your feelings, but it grates on mine when you hound me. I will treat you nicer if you'd just stop flirting all the time. I'm not interested. Ok?" Silence fell over the room as the nurses tended to the wounded. Lumi let out a deep sigh, turning her gaze from the downtrodden Luxray. "Right, now that that's out in the open. Cass, Elias what happened down there? How did you get so badly hurt?"
There was visible tension upon the two's faces. As though trying to come to terms with what had happened themselves. Cassandra broke the silence first. "Listen, darlin'? No matter what we say, know we don't hold no anger towards nobody, alright? We just gotta get that out there..." Elias nodded, looking down at the new sling holding his arm steady.
"I-I'm not angry either... it wasn't him... it couldn't have been him at the time..." The Audino that had been seeing to Elias perked up her ears slightly.
"Excuse me, but... I would like to listen to this as well, if I may? I might be able to provide some sort of idea to what happened to... whoever it is you mean, alright?" A nod from the Vulpix who led them gave the nurse all she needed as she sat down beside the young Riolu who took a deep breath before beginning.
"...It started around the 14th floor of the dungeon. Up until that point, we'd been facing ferals. And while they were tough, we were able to hold our own quite easily. But on the 14th floor, when we got down there, we heard... nothing. There wasn't any distant roars, or clumsy footsteps, or echoes of territorial squabbles. Just... nothing. Mr. Kaguya was already on full alert, and warned us about it. And then... he just kinda... stopped?" The Riolu tilted his head slightly, as though confused.
Cassandra continued from there. "What the little fella means ta say is that Kaguya got this far-off look in his eyes, like he wasn't really there with us anymore, y'know? Darlin' was off in his own little world somewhere, and then all of a sudden he just hissed in pain and reached for his head like something thumped him real hard. We checked if he was alright, but he just kept insistin' is was nothin' but a headache. Elias and I were skeptical, but... what could we really do?"
"It only got worse when we made it to the bottom... We were looking around, trying to see if there was any sign of Mr. Tera. And Mr. Kaguya was moving through the area when he just froze in front of these two tables. One was covered in tools and knives and stuff... but the other, it was really weird. It was long, like, really long. And it had straps on each of its 4 corners, and then two across the middle of it too? And Mr. Kaguya just... froze and stared at it for a long time... and then her grabbed his head and yelled in pain, we tried to help, but nothing seemed to work, he just yelled and cried out and we couldn't-!" The Primarina reached over, rubbing the Riolu's back comfortingly as she took over for the panicking boy.
Lumi's heart sank at the young boys description of the table Kaguya had studied so hard. 'Arceus above, a torture rack...? Please, no...'
"In the middle of all that, those bandit's surrounded us. Their leader, some uppity Weavile started talkin' some real garbage towards Kaguya. Darlin' was still halfway between here and wherever his mind had taken him, so it looked like he was barely registerin' what she had to say. Except... when she said she'd keep him as a pet... after that there was a few moments of silence and then he just... snapped. I've never seen anythin' like it before in my entire life. One minute he's barely even with us and the next, his lips are peeled back in a feral snarl and he's lungin' for the Weavile's throat. ...He killed 5 of 'em without even flinching. All that blood on him? It ain't his... they were all too terrified to even consider fighting back..."
Teravolt spoke up this time, shuddering as he remembered. "Killed? No, that's not the right word for it. He mutilated them. He wasn't content with just killing them, he made them suffer before they went. The others were petrified, ran behind Elias and Cass for protection, begging to be saved. I ain't never been afraid of no Pokemon before. But what I saw down there, in his eyes at that time? Surrounded by whipping winds and hail and snow of his own making, a wailing blizzard all around that pit? That wasn't the Kaguya we all know. That was someone else, something else. A monster." The Luxray trembled at his onw description, grimacing at the memory.
"All it knew was rage and pain and misery, and it wanted the whole world to know what it feels like. Kaguya, the thing wearing Kaguya, marched forwards toward the rest of the bandits, undeterred by the carnage it left behind. And even when Cass and Elias had barred his path, telling him he'd gone too far and had to stop... it just attacked them, too. The only thing that stopped it was when Elias cried out in pain as his arm broke beneath the pressure that thing put on it. All at once, his eyes seemed to snap wide open, he uttered out a small "Elias...?" And then he just crumpled to the ground. Like the weight of everything he'd just done hit him all at once..."
A whimper from the tiny kit in Juniper's lap roused everyone's attention. "Papa's demonds took over again..."
Juniper tilted her head, staring down at the little Eevee. "Papa's... demons? What do you mean, sweetie?"
"Whenever Papa gets angry... really, really angry. He changes... he's not Papa anymore... it's the demonds taking over... they make him hurt people... they make him do terrible things and it scares me. But it's not Papa's fault! It's not him, it's not!" The Eevee wailed, tears running down her cheeks once again as the Leafeon hugged her close.
"Shhhh, shhh... it's alright honey... there, there..."
The Audino, who'd been scribbling down notes from what the group had recalled grimly nodded, biting her lower lip. "I see..." She muttered darkly, before raising her head to face them all. "This is only a guess, I'm not suitable to diagnose mental disorders, I'm a nurse. Not a psychologist. But from the sounds of things, Kaguya suffered a psychotic breakdown. Some deep underlying trauma he's long since tried to bury in the back of his mind was forcibly dragged back to the surface, by a mixture of stimuli. The dead silence of the bandit ridden portions of the cave, the torture rack, and the word 'pet'. All of these things broke his psyche, and dragged him back to some dark memory. Someplace he didn't want to be. Somewhere he had no friends, no allies. Only enemies. Only people out to hurt him."
The Audino's face lowered as she continued grimly. "All those factors combined into a full blown breakdown, where he wasn't in a fight against bandits anymore. He was somewhere else, far away from people that could help him. And the only thing standing between him, and whatever dark nightmare he was trapped in was fang and claw. In his mind, all he could see as an out was to fight. It didn't matter who he was fighting, he just had to fight. Because if he didn't fight, he wouldn't survive."
"Ms. Snowdrop?" The Vulpix was broken from her wallowing at the news by a Klinklang, who gestured back the way he'd just come. "The doctor needs you, he says it's urgent." Lumi took a deep breath, turning towards the others.
"Alright. You guys stay here. You need to rest, I'll go see what's up. Hopefully, it's not bad news..."
"Ah, Ms. Snowdrop. Thank you for coming. I'm sorry for calling you away from your team, they're probably all very shaken right now." The Gallade smiled softly at the tired looking Vulpix, who offered a weak smile in return. Her eyes then locked upon the Glaceon on the bed before her.
He'd been cleaned up, she couldn't see any of the stains from the blood that'd dyed his fur red just an hour ago. And curled up beneath that blanket as he was, she'd never have known he'd killed 5 Pokemon without being told. He looked so weak, so frail, so scared.
She never wanted anything more than to curl up beside him and hold him close, telling him it'd all be ok.
"As you can see, we've thoroughly cleaned him up. He was in an awful mess when he arrived, however, frighteningly-" The vixen cut him off.
"The blood wasn't his, right? His teammates told me." The Gallade nodded grimly.
"For there to have been that much blood, Ms. Snowdrop..."
"I know..."
With a shake of his head, the doctor cleared his throat. "Well, that's neither here nor there right now. What I brought you here for was to ask were you aware of any previous injuries Kaguya may have sustained?"
Lumi tilted her head, confused by the question. "No? Should I be?" The Gallade's face visibly darkened.
"Then you may wish to take a seat, Ms. Snowdrop. What you're about to see might shock you..." The Gallade nodded to his aide, a Kirlia who moved beside him, using her psychic powers to ever so gently roll the slumbering Glaceon onto his stomach. Lumi was baffled by the display until the doctor removed the blanket from over the ice type.
Any shred of composure left shattered, and the vixen began to weep freely.
Beneath the cover that had protected him from sight was the horribly scarred form of a Glaceon. Littering his back and sides were innumerable cuts of differing width and depth and length. There was no rhyme or reason to any of them, they simply were.
"The scarring on these all indicate they have been there for years. Moreover..." The Gallade reached for one of the Glaceon's paws, pulling it free from beneath him. A strangled sob escaped the Vulpix as she beheld his paw. Where soft, teal coloured fur ought to have been was instead blistered, raw skin. The remnants of untreated burn wounds.
"They're all like this. All four of them. Those items of clothing he wears aren't just for show, it would seem. He's deeply ashamed of these scars left to him. They bring him great distress, and he would sooner hide them away than ever see them again..."
Suddenly it all made sense. The dead silence of the cave, the torture rack, the word 'pet'. It all meshed perfectly together into one horrifying truth.
'Oh, Gods... Kaguya, you can't have been...'
"And needless to say, with abuse of this calibre and type, it's not much of a push to suggest-"
"STOP." The vixen managed to choke out as she collapsed to the ground, her tears flowing freely. "J-just stop... I know what you're suggesting, and I d-don't want to hear it... I don't want that image in my mind... I don't need that in my head knowing I can never fix this..."
"Of course... I apologise, Ms. Snowdrop. I just thought you'd need to know, given your affiliation with him. The Guildmaster will be informed later. It might lessen the punishment for... well, what happened to those bandits." The Gallade offered up his condolences, replacing the blanket over the young man.
The vixen picked herself off the floor, trying to stem the flow of tears as she left the room. She failed, miserably. Collapsing into a seat just outside as she wept openly into her own paws.
'I can never fix this... I can't do anything for him... Oh, Gods... Why him...?'