Enya & Cedric's Story
Fire and Ice
"Tomorrow is the only thing that comes to you even if you don't do anything. Everything else in life has to be fought for, so go out and get what you want!" - Non-Playable Character, Pokémon X & Y
Enya POV
Someone's coming. I'm woken up by their footsteps. It's so normal in the Aquarium at first I don't even open my eyes. I reach a hand down to make sure the water on the floor hasn't reached too far up the stone slab I sleep on, then try to drift off again.
My eyes snap open and my heart leaps to the sound of the door unlocking. I expect to see a guardsmon standing there, halberd in one hand, maybe a spray bottle in the other. I see nothing. Then a Poliwrath flies across the hall.
Out of habit I poke my nose through the cold bars of my jail cell. I pull my snout back just in time to dodge a throwing axe flying across the room. All the prisoners are pouring out. The guardsmon are yelling to one another, trying to organise, but there's just too many of them. Of US, I should say.
Footsteps splash through the water and metal clangs against the stone walls. A Kingdra guard is jumped by three Pokémon at once, all fire-type. A thin layer of steam has formed in the corridors. Hardly believing it, I push my jail door open. The hinges screech; it must be a nightmare stopping them rusting in these wet conditions. Moltres, Cedric, you're really rubbing off on me. (Not that I mind that.)
My neighbours have realised what's happening the same time as me. To my left an Onix flinches as she makes contact with the cold wet floor; I know from listening to the guardsmon's taunts she's in for helping her daughter, a Varia soldier, escape. To my right a Sandaconda slinks away; that one's in for murder.
A Buizel guardsmon appears at the end of the corridor, pointing and yelling. I know him, that's Agatha's brother. Sorry, little guy. I use my Dragon Tail to fling the Sandaconda at him and get running, saluting the Onix on my way out.
I used to be a Dame of the Skarsgards, but I'd never been inside the prisoners until my husband and I were arrested for defecting to the Varias. But what choice did we have? Our son was with them. Poor Cedric isn't even as soldier, he's a prosthetist. He made Markus' fucking arm.
A shallow stream runs down the corridor. The walls are wet and incessantly dripping. Sprinklers threaten us from above. There are even floodgates that can be opened to drown the place. A design of pure terror, especially for a Charizard. One wrong step and I'm a corpse. I pass by an armoured Poliwhirl facing off against a very eager-looking Excadrill. I shimmy past them as they leapt at each other.
Around the next corner, just a few feet from the door, a Golduck is picking up a Dusk Lycanroc and slamming her into the wall. The criminal slides unconscious to the floor. The guardsmon looks up at me and I recognise her, Alex and her kid Wiggles used to play with each other when they were toddlers, right after he first came to us. She was your typical doting cheesy-quote-on-a-corkboard-loving mom, until you pissed her off. Then she became a lethal force of nature.
"Hello Waddles," I say.
"Get back in your pen," Waddles replies, readying a Water Pulse between her hands.
I cross my wings together and the ball bursts. It runs down my wing's ridges and drips onto the floor.
"That wasn't very Live Laugh Love of you," I say.
She takes a step back as I come running. I'm ready to grab her, to toss her into the wall like she did that Lycanroc, who ironically was in the pen aggravated assault. Great banter, though.
Waddles' eyes flash blue-green; Disable, the tricky duck. Suddenly I've forgotten how my arms work. I grab her by the shoulders and try to lift her but it's like trying to shift rock. Her gem glows bright pink and she rams her head into my chest. I try to grab the wall for purchase but there's some kind of slimy film coating it. The water beneath my feet is being sucked away and it's foaming white underneath the Golduck's feet. A wave rises up so high her (I want to say hair?) brushes the ceiling.
I duck my head and meet it head-on. At first I feel the smack of the wave against my face and water stinging my skin and eyes. Waddles skids to a halt behind me, my Dragon Tail fades, and my flame burns bright as ever. Waddles takes a Mega Kick to the back. She splashes onto the floor and as she tries to pick herself back up I reach down and ever-so-gently take the back of her neck in my mouth. Then I set my fangs on fire and lift her and toss her around like a ragdoll. Keys drop from her belt. I jerk her to the right and she slams against the wall. She's limp in my mouth. I give my head a little flick as I drop her to the wet floor. I take the keys, but it turns out there's no need. The door to the Den is open too.
Inside is chaos. Guardsmon drop like stones in water. Pokémon made rabid from years in captivity start firing at the walls out of sheer frenzy. A gaunt-looking Dreepy is chewing hungrily on one of the giant rib-bones built into the floor. (Real ribs, by the way. Grim.)
I continue to the next prison but the Furnace is even worse: Voices screaming, water steaming, metal ringing and the doors of empty jails left hanging open. It even looks like one of the guardsmon's own has turned on them, although the Charizard slamming the Talonflame's head into the coals isn't dressed in any Skarsgard clothes.
I should be horrified to see this but I'm too set on finding Cedric to care. The Skarsgards got themselves into this mess somehow, they can get themselves out. Moltres, I'm starting to sound like Dreigo of all people. Running down the corridor comes a Sableye, part of a band of renegades I once fought on the battlefield. I brace myself for a fight, but instead he looks at me with desperate eyes and says:
"Have you seen my son?"
I remember the son, he was part of their group too. They wouldn't have put him in the Aquarium, it would only be a type he was weak too. But they had to put this one here I guess. They always separated their captives.
"He should be in the Hovel," I say, "keep going in that direction, it'll be seven prisons on."
"Thank you," says the renegade, already running past, "bless you."
I get to the door and see a Paras scratching at it. He looks at me and covers his face and whimpers.
"Please don't! I just want to find my sister! They put her in the Roost!"
"Step aside."
I yanked the doors open. An Unfezant comes flying through screaming bloody murder. I pull my head back and catch her tail in my flaming jaws and slam her back and forth agains the walls until she stops moving.
The Roost was built with high ceilings and dug-in floors; the corridor you could walk along was 20 feet off the ground. That meant most of the criminals were meant to be stuck down there, but now they're slowly making their way up. A Meganium and a Torterra slam their feet on the ground and a dozen Frenzy Plant roots snake their way through the walls. Ariados and Galvantula fire columns of sticky webs. A Throh and a Sawk punch holes in the walls to use them as footholds to climb. A Conkeldurr is actually digging her fingers into the walls! I love Pokémon.
There are ledges by both exit doors, and metallic ladders that are now drawn in. Guardsmon sit up in their straw-and-feather roosts 25 (I'm guessing) feet up, lobbing far-range attacks at the Pokémon below.
"How do I…?" say the Paras.
"I'm sorry," I say as I spread my wings, "but I've got a family too."
I expect an easy flight, but I hear shouts from below me, and catch the hum of energy just in time to dodge some kind of blue ball of light whizzing past me. Someone calls: "Charizard!" before a Hyper Beam attack roars from below. It misses me by inches. I keep flying until I reach the next prison.
I pass through 3 more Dungeons searching for my husband: the Lightningrod and the Forge and the Dojo. When I finally find him he hasn't even made it out of the Quarry. I see him in the corridor and call his name but the Bearded Golem's Discharge drowns me out. Cedric gasps and stumbles and black marks cover his skin. But he grits his teeth and lets out an angry screech and spins around to slam the guardsmon under her chin with Iron Tail. He lands facing me, and lights up like a bonfire.
"Enya!"
He doesn't hear the hammer-wielding Tyranitar looming behind him until it's too late to dodge—
I pick up the Sudowoodo next to me and toss him in their direction. Cedric ducks and the guard lands on top of the other's face; he steps aside as I came running to grab the Tyranitar by the wrist and Seismic Toss her into the rocky wall.
"You found me!" my husband cries, pulling me into a tight hug.
I kiss him on the cheek then grab his hand and we run. Cedric's eyes roam around the Quarry and then the Dojo, at the empty jail cells and knocked-out guards and revelling criminal Pokémon.
"What's going on?" he asks.
"All the criminals have been set free."
"In EVERY prison?!"
"Every one from the Quarry to the Aquarium at least. But if I had to guess, yeah, all of them."
Cedric slows as if his legs have gone heavy. He puts a hand over his mouth and I can see fear begin to wilt him. I grab him by the shoulders and look him in the eyes.
"Cedric. Listen to me. We have just been granted an INCREDIBLE gift. I don't know which God it was, but I'll be praying to them for the rest of my life. We're never going to get a chance like this again, do you hear me? We're going to escape. We're going to GET OUR SON BACK."
His blue-green eyes fill with tears and he nods. "We're going to get him back."
We take off down the corridor. We run through a puddle of blood that stains our feet red.
Most of the criminals are still inside the Roost but they're working together now. At the door we came through, a Carnivine is using Vine Whip to reach out to the others, slowing down their own escape to help them. Sewaddle and Charjabug are weaving Sticky Webs onto people's hands. A Machamp lets several small Pokémon climb onto her back. A Maractus and an Eldegoss are using Cotton Guard to create cushioning in case anyone falls.
Some of them call up to us asking for rides. We ignore them, obviously. Cedric grinds his teeth; I know he's resenting these outlaws for seeing us as part of them, even though, painful though it may be, we are.
The two guardsmon blocking the door to the Furnace certainly think so. A Hawlucha, one I remember from Strength & Conditioning. To her right is a Toucannon with a prosthetic beak. You can see the bolts attaching the hinges, but it has a nice metallic sheen to make it visually pleasing. She'd lost her entire beak somehow, so a black-and-white mask fits her face. Cedric bragged to me about this technology (as he should!) It's made of light but hard alloy, and uses the heat in the air to power-up attacks, making them bigger, faster, and stronger. It's unfortunate that she's now using it to try and kill us.
"Libre," I say.
"Lottie!" Cedric says at the same time.
The two birds spread their wings and screech. Lottie's Beak Blast comes first; Cedric's prosthetic lit up yellow, amber, orange and red, just like the real thing. There was a bright flash as the blue ball of light fired. I put myself in front of Cedric and swatted it with Dragon Tail. Even so the blast was so powerful we were thrown backwards and the corridor was shrouded in smoke. That's my husband's prosthetics for you!
Libre comes soaring spread-Hawlucha (oh THAT'S where that expression comes from) out of the smog, torso muscles bulging and wind ruffling her feathers. Flying Press whacks me hard in the stomach and I felt a twinge in my ab muscles. I put a hand to my side.
"Not what you used to be, eh?" Libre sneers as she pulls back out of the danger zone.
"Let's see what your abs are like once YOU'VE had a child."
"You… You didn't give birth to the human, Enya."
I've distracted her. I snap at her with Fire Fang but she ducks just in time. I snap again, but she swerves to the left, I lunge for her but she ducks, flips backwards and kicks me under the chin. I bite down again but she grabs me by the horn and vaults over my head.
Behind me I hear Cedric shriek as Beak Blast whizzes past him. Libre quickly scales one of the roosts for the high-ground then comes swooping down. I see the deadly sharpness in her eyes before she's even jumped; Aerial Ace, I'm not going to dodge. I cross my wings across my face and her beak tears at my skin. That was a risky move, I can't have them tearing. But I've already taken a couple of clean hits, and I wasn't exactly in the best condition to begin with. That drop actually does seem quiet far now.
Libre swoops back around, muscles flexing. Kinda hot, but even more terrifying. I let glowing feathers grow along my tail and swing it at her; it misses, but I've forced her to dive, and now she has to swoop around to meet me again. Cedric yelps again, backing away. Lottie chases after him and her beak (that he made!) is glowing again. Libre's coming back up between me and my husband.
"Duck!" I call.
Lottie's beak fires and Cedric ducks his head and the blue ball hits Libre in the back. She flaps her wings, trying to right herself. I flip in the air and slam Dragon Tail down on top of her; she drops like a boulder and hits the ground far below. Oof.
Lottie's beak hangs slightly open. Cedric takes the chance to clock her in the cheek with Mega Punch. The Toucannon croaks and starts jabbing at him furiously with his own creation. I rush in to save him but she opens her beak wide and shows off an addition that Cedric DIDN'T mention.
The sound that comes out is a Screech, but it's like another voice is joining with Metal Sound. It rings in my ears and rattles my bones and makes my head throb and my heart hammer. Here's what it sounded like: eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeennnnmmmmmmm. Hope that was illuminating.
I clamp my hands over my ears; I try to force my body on but it refuses to get closer the sound is so unbearable. But Cedric's an engineer, he knows how to handle noise. Before Lottie even knows what's happening he's driving his Thunder Punch into her stomach. Lottie sputters and coughs. Cedric throws his fists in the air and whoops. Then Lottie jumps on him and tried to peck his eyes out. I grab her by the ankles and carry her down to the ground where the Machamp's gathering another troupe on her back. I hand the Toucannon over.
"Here, take," I say to the confused criminal, "just take her."
She reluctantly takes her beak, chest and feet in her hands while her wings flap wildly. I spread my own to take off again when a Meditite calls:
"Can't you take us with you?"
I look at them all with real remorse.
"I'm sorry. But I have to find my son."
I take to the air.
We return to the Furnace and strip a couple of unconscious Skarsgard Charizard guards (try saying that three times fast) to dress ourselves in their uniforms. We pick the most un-damaged pieces we can, but we end up with miss-matched shades, loosely-fitting gauntlets, chainmail, and helmets, and a tunic someone had drawn a, ahem, lude illustration on the back of. It's Cedric's and he doesn't notice. I think it would be kinder not to tell him.
There'd be no point disguising ourselves if we use to the exit tunnel, and we have no idea if they were being monitored for escapees, so we brace ourselves to take the stairs. We pass several guardsmon running past us, clicking their tongues in annoyance as we take up space. In the corridor of the living quarters the Leader of the Guards stomps over to us, boots thudding on the ground. He does that on purpose, you know.
"What the hell are you both doing here?!" he demands.
"We were instructed to send for backup," Cedric says calmly.
"We've ALREADY sent for back up," Lennon says between grit teeth.
"It's not enough," my husband says quickly, "we're going to need the use of the reserve soldiers."
Quick thinking, sweetie.
He narrows his eyes at us. "By who?!"
"By Colt," I replies, "you can go down and ask if you'd like."
Haha, no you can't, he's dead.
Lennon lets out a breath and a little bit of smoke. "Right. Sorry. On your way."
He waves us off. We take the back door and plan to make for the redwoods, hide, and figure it out from there. The criminals (that weren't smart enough to try and escape) are already spreading across the city. Civilians cry out in fear; houses are being vandalised and market stalls are being tipped over. Sounds of a scuffle are coming from the mailroom.
An Impidimp, Spearow, and Bonsly are tearing at the letters, kicking over sacks, pouring ink pots everywhere. A Flareon is cowering in a corner, covered in bruises. Ah, fuck, I should know her name. Scarlet? Sangria?
"Maroon!" Cedric cries. Thanks honey.
The criminals look up at me, smug grins on their faces. I set my fangs on fire and roar: "GET THE FUCK OUT!"
Letters lift off the ground and smack the Impidimp in the face. I grab him by the arm and pick up the Bonsly by the ball and chuck them out the door. The Spearow Leers at my husband, who holds up an electric fist. The Spearow lets Cedric pick him up and carry him out.
Cedric goes to Maroon, picking his way to avoid stepping on the letters, and helps her to her feet.
"Don't worry," he says softly, "they're gone now."
A sack with a gold flame sown into it's been dipped over. The entire contents have been chewed up, I see the names on the envelopes: Amber, Asa, Atlas, Avalon.
"What's going on?" Maroon asks in a trembling voice.
"Some of the criminals in the prisons have escaped somehow," Cedric says. "Get somewhere safe. Don't worry about the letters, okay? Your life is more important."
We turn to leave.
"Cedric?"
We freeze.
"It's you, isn't it?"
We share a look. Cedric swallows. I see electricity crackling in his hand.
"I have something for you."
She turns a key in a lock and opens up a wooden chest. She pulls out a brown paper package tied to together with string. It looks a little water-damaged. I take it from her so Cedric doesn't fry it. I read the address on the front:
Alex Albion
Grande Castle
Grande City
The Crownlands
"I was instructed not to give it to him," she says, "they told me I'd be fired if I did."
I frown. "Why?"
"I think 'cause it's from one of the Varias."
"What's in it?"
"Letters," she says. "I didn't read them."
"Thank you, Maroon," Cedric says.
"Don't mention it. Seriously, actually, don't."
Cedric POV
We take shelter under the redwood trees. (Not red red, just like, normal redwoods.) Fire lilies dot the grass around us. All planted artificially during Queen Carnelian and King Rayler's era, but pretty all the same. There's no one else here but two Cherrim dancing through the sunny grass ahead of us. We gather kindling and I use Ember to light the campfire. Everyone (other Charizard especially) has always teased me for having Ember as my only fire move, but it's the perfect one for my job, and lighting romantic campfires for your wife. And lighting fugitives-on-the-run-trying-not-to-alert-the-authorities campfires for your wife.
We gather fruit and berries and eat fresh food for the first time in a year. I sit next to Enya, leaning my head on her strong, muscular shoulder. With hands that shake slightly she unwraps the package addressed to Alex. There's around 100 pages in there, not all written in the same handwriting. We read it back-to-front in about 3 hours. We finally reach the end, and I read the final sentence, my stomach twisting in my gut.
Enya lets out a puff of air. "That was a lot of backstory."
"That's—"
"That part where they escaped the mine was pretty confusing."
"Honey—"
"Did you find the Empoleon or the Feraligatr irritating too?"
"It sounds like those people are in trouble."
The campfire is nothing more than glowing sparks. Enya rubs her eyes.
"I just don't know what to make of it all, Ced. A Legendary Pokémon. Could this all be a joke?"
I look north through a gap in the trees. I can see the Polar Region from here. I frown. Now that I think about it, it does look… bigger than before.
"No," I say, "I don't think it is."
Enya's silent, and it's a quiet I recognise. She's thinking of something and it's going to be something reckless.
"We need to go find them."
I'm touched by her sense of charity. "Wow, En, I—"
"Then Alex will have to talk to us!"
Never mind.
"It's perfect! We save his friends' lives, bring them back to him, and they'll tell him all about it! We'll be his heroes again…"
She thinks she's good at hiding it, but I can see the emotion welling up inside her. I understand how she feels. Moltres, I miss my son. I was told, and I'm sure she was too, that he declined to speak to us. But now I'm questioning that, too. When one of the guardsmon told me he'd turned into a Charmander, I laughed in his face. But about a dozen more came by saying the same thing, and after the Battle of the Dragons, a lot of the new additions to the Quarry said the same thing. They said he took down Dreigo himself. I desperately want to see him. I want to tell my boy how proud I am of him.
It's the Zubat's hour, but Enya's already packing her bag (okay, not her bag, the bag we stole from Mr. Billing on Oriane Street. But in our defense he never gave us that cooking pot back!)
"You realise we're hoping to use his friends' lives are leverage," I say.
"No no no," Enya says, holding up a finger, "it's a highly practical decision. His friends might be able to tell us where he is. We both know he's not back there. Alex would never stay in Grande City if he had a choice."
North-East Itori is pure white as far as the eye can see. A ghostly wind moves over fields of virgin snow. From our vantage point just below the clouds we can see the white blanket spreading. The metallic buildings built by the steel-types of the Glacier Region have become blocks of ice. The mountain ranges are angry white peaks with no traces of their stunning rusty hues. The River Misora in the northern Taiga Region has frozen over, and the fields in the ranges are going to Groudon, as my friend in the Desert Region would say. The tip edge of Glory Hills is frosting over.
A wide bridge of ice now connects to the Polar Region to the Mountain Range, making Itori a Pangea for the first time in 50 years. A few moments later we see an icy arrow-head moving slowly like a dagger through the heart of the continent; behind it, an army of Pokémon. But it's remarkably small. Surely this can't be all of them.
Leading the charge is a Pokémon I've never seen before. They're huge, and they look like a big hunk of ice from this distance. It looks like another Pokémon is riding the spikes on their back - either a Hooked Sandslash or a giant blue Pincurchin. Probably the first one.
"That's them," I call to my wife.
She nods. "Let's move into the clouds - we want to stay out their line of sight."
We've traded sheer white of the ground for the sheer white of the sky. But up in the clouds it feels purer, freer; it's a soft whisper over your skin, a calm silence that blocks out the chaos of the world below, a breath of air that bites and refreshes you at the same time. I close my eyes and let myself glide on my wings, and the wind murmurs gently at either side of me. This is what I imagine swimming feels like.
We duck down every few minutes to trace the of path the small ice army, and finally, find ourselves in a small fishing village.
It's the Sentret's hour on the day we finally arrive. I praise Enya for how quickly she was able to find the place, a sprawling of about 40 igloos (not exactly the easiest thing to find in a winter wasteland.) She reminds me she used to a Skarsgard soldier. I shut my stupid mouth after that.
A hundred eyes look up to watch as we land by the signpost reading: "Igloo Borough." We're standing at the edge of the village waiting to be allowed in. Naturally, the locals look frightened. A Snowmon Darmanitan starts waving a spear at us telling us to "leave this land and never return."
"We should have taken off the Skarsgard uniforms, shouldn't we?" I say.
"Yeah, we really should have."
We hear a crack in the ground. Suddenly we're standing on a small ice floe floating away from the island. The heads of about a dozen water-types break the surface of the water.
"They realise we can fly, don't they?" says Enya.
A Gyarados rears up behind us, water dripping from their whiskers, red eyes glaring down at us. Enya's gone stiff, ready to defend us both. I hold up my hands, a peace gesture.
"We didn't mean to startle you," I say softly, "we've come to help."
"We don't need any," comes the Gyarados' grumbling voice.
A Barboach starts tugging hard on Enya's bag. She grabs her by the whiskers and yanks off then tosses her back into the water, where she goes down with a squeal and a wiggle. This, apparently, was seen as an act of aggression, as six water-types then climb up onto the floe to point their spears at our throats.
Now a Frosmoth is floating towards us, an Arctozolt and a Dracovish standing guard behind him.
"Sven, I assume?" says Enya. "You're the sheriff 'round these parts?"
"What business do the Skarsgards have here?" he says.
My wife takes off her helmet and tucks it under her arm. "We're not Skarsgards, this is all stolen. We're escaped criminals."
A couple of spears wavered; the village Pokémon actually seemed to relax a little. They'd rather be dealing with criminals than Skarsgards. Sven looks up and down at our mismatched armour.
"Yes, I wouldn't have assumed they would send— Barbara, please."
The Barboach is biting at the bag again. Enya bats her away then pulls out the package. Sven sees it, and his eyebrows arch.
He takes us to one of the igloos on the west end of the village. The Dracovish knocks on the door with their head, and we hear footsteps. A Ruby Blaziken opens the door. I feel a small thrill, like I've just met the local hero from yesterday's news bulletin. (He's not bad on the eyes, either.)
"These two are criminals," says Sven. "They say they have business with you."
Then he and his protectors turn and leave us. The Blaziken frowns at us. The interior behind him is sparse; four Beartic furs blankets (that's a lot of shedding), a kettle and cups of tea being sipped around fire, some playing cards. None of them seem too perturbed by our presence.
The Empoleon places a 4 of Koko on the ground. "Go fish."
"We're playing poker," says the Feraligatr.
"… Then what are we using as chips?" says the Drapion. (Yeah, I know Pokémorse code, not a big deal.)
"Can we help you?" the Blaziken says to us.
"We believe this belongs to you," Enya says, holding up the package.
The Empoleon jumps to her feet.
"Where did you get that?!" she cries.
"The mailroom in Grande City. The Skarsgards were holding onto it. Evidently, it never reached Alex or his friends at all."
"We found it after the mailroom was ransacked," I told them, "we read it and decided to help. We've come to take you home."
An inner fire danced in the Blaziken's eyes.
"Bring them inside, Fortis," said the Empoleon, "you're letting in the cold."