Where there's Light, there's also Darkness creeping up behind...fight it...

The Tale of Twin Hearts

(Chapter 3) The Truth

[Page 2]

Yep, it's official. I want to be a Froslass now.

Gliding over the region on the back of Elizabeth's Knight, May the Skarmory was surreal. It reminded me so much of when I was younger. My mother would pick me up and we would glide over the icy waters around Blizzard Island, running our fingers through the icy waters as the glimmering ice water reflected the cool sunshine. There were even times we would sit out on the frozen beaches and sit in the sand while it snowed. I loved it. We would do that for hours and, I have to say, those were the happiest moments of my life. Sometimes I wish I could go back.
After that Pokemon visited us years ago, my mother was always...angry. Although she never really took that anger out on me, it was always so hard to see her that way, especially since she was always happy before they showed up. I always wanted to know what that Pokemon said to her. Like, why was it such a secret? Regardless, I would do anything to have those special moments again with my mother. Maybe after we fix this time and space problem and I evolve, we can both go gliding across the waters around the island and enjoy the peace.

Man, I can't wait to be a Froslass...

As the sun slowly disappeared, revealing the gorgeous moonlight above, the Pokemon of the night began making themselves known in the forest below us. continuing to our destination, Pumpkin, Miya, and Lave began nodding off while I looked around, just as alert as I was before.

Glancing back, May looked at me and smiled. "You're still up, I see. Is something the matter?"

"No, not exactly. I actually don't sleep very much, probably only once every 2-3 days."

"Wow!" she said, as she glided through the air. Her wings were flattened out in the shape of a scyther's claw, making absolutely no sound as her sharp feathers sliced through the air. "I've never seen a Buneary that rarely sleeps. Are you a special breed?"

"What? No, I'm not a buneary. I'm a Snorunt."

On a dime, May stopped flying and turned her head to look at me again, frowning at my answer. "A Snorunt? I'm sorry dear, but you're clearly a Buneary. Who told you that you were a Snorunt?"

"My mother did and I never question what she says."

"Hmm...if you don't mind me asking, where did you live?"

"Blizzard Island, my hometown."

"...Is your mother's name 'Wave', by any chance?"

"Yeah! Wait, how did you know that?"

"Well, when you said you were a Snorunt and you lived on Blizzard Island, well, let's just say I put two and two together since there are no Snorunts on that side of the Isle," May said, continuing the flight. "We also used to be acquaintances back in the day. I just never knew she had a son. It's quite nice to meet another Royal Member outside of Miya."

At first, I smiled at the kind words, but after taking a moment to let her words sink in, I blinked and yelled "Wait! What do you mean 'Royal mem-" before a loud *BOOM!* ripped through the air, followed by a flash of light that left as quickly as it appeared. Before I knew it, May was unconscious with one of her wings up in flames and we were all falling towards the forest below. As the others realized what happened, we all screamed our lungs out and flailed around in the air, hoping to grab onto something that would even give us the slightest bit of hope of surviving the fall. No dice. As we approached the trees, I braced myself for the inevitable, knowing this was our final moment.

Thud.

...

...

Or was it?

Stirring around, attempting to gain some kind of barring, I heard a faint voice.

"Sir, Sir! Are you alright!? Sir!"

Coming to, I lifted up my head and slowly opened my eyes. For a moment I thought I was dead (Mom would have been happy about that), but to my surprise, I wasn't. Blurry-eyed, I tried to get a sense of my surroundings. All I saw was light from the moon shining through the dense forest as the trees held the darkness in, almost embracing it. It had looked like we were in a clearing of some sort, but after looking at the numerous branches scattered around, we probably made our own clearing. As my vision slowly restored, I realized May was in front of me, still frantically calling my name as I continued looking around, bewildered.

"Sir! You're alive! Are you alright!? Let me help you up."

Before I could respond, May nudged my back with her wing, followed by her dusting me off with her talons. Suddenly, a smell of burning metal filled my nostrils as she carefully checked me for injuries. That's when it hit me...

"May! Your wing! I-I remember it was on fire! Are you ok!?"

"I'm alright, dear," She said, not paying any attention to my worries. "It was just a small injury."

"I don't think that was small," I said, trying to get a look. Before I could, the sound of groaning behind me caught my attention.

"Ugh, what happened..."

"OH!, He's finally awake! May said as she finished tending to me before rushing over to Pumpkin. Next to him was Miya and Lave slowly came to, trying their best to shake off the daze they were in.

"What? how are we alive..." Lave groaned, holding his head.

"I'm...I'm not sure. I could have sworn we were just falling out of the air," Miya said, shaking herself off before May could get to her. It didn't stop her from trying to help. She was acting more like a maid than a Knight. "Did you save us, May?"

May frowned. The way she looked was that of guilt as she continued tending to Miya. "I'm sorry, but, I didn't. I couldn't. I was unconscious until I woke up not too long ago."

"Then...how did we survive that fall?"

"I wish I knew. I assumed your friend there might've had a hand in it since he's Psychic," May said, looking at Lave. As soon as he noticed she was talking about him, he looked around awkwardly before shaking his head profusely.

"Woah! No, no, I don't know any Psychic moves. That wasn't me."

"Then If that wasn't you-"

"I-It doesn't matter. What matters is that we're all safe and sound," Miya said, reassuringly.

"You're right. I can't Imagine what would've happened if you all didn't make that fall. I doubt I would've been able to live with that on my conscious..." May said, her face turning grim at the thought of it.

"It's alright, we're alive and safe in this...dense...dark...forest. Where the heck are we?"

"Haze Woods," May said flatly, "The most dangerous woods in the region."

"Oh." Miya looked around nervously. Slowly we all huddled close to each other as faint cries of large Pokemon echoed through the woods. From Arboks to Ursarings, the sound of them grew louder. It was only a matter of time before they found our location. Some sounded angry, some sounded hungry. We need to find somewhere safe and fast!

"Haze Woods is a dungeon. There are no safe areas here. Our only option would be to fight our way out," May said, pointing to a clearing. "Interestingly, there's only 1 floor, but many rooms. We should be fine if we stay close."

"But what If we run into a problem?" Pumpkin said, shaking as the cries grew more and more. "We don't have our bag with all our stuff in it."

"You mean this bag?" May said holding up our team bag with one of her wings. Stunned, we all look at her as Miya takes the bag and puts it around her shoulder.

"How did you get this!?"

"It was hanging on a tree branch next to you when I woke up. I assumed it belonged to one of you all."

"Strange, but anyways, now that we have it again I can...w-wait..." Miya paused before looking around frantically. Quickly she ran around the clearing, checking bushes and behind trees before halting, breathing heavily as she scanned the area. "It's gone."

"What's gone?" Lave said, trying to get a clue as to what she was looking for.

"The Orb! The Orb is gone!"

"Oh, do you mean this orb?"

Behind us, a crafty, yet playful voice broke through the air followed by maniacal laughter. As we turned to look, there was no one there. Around us, a cold chill followed by a strange zapping sensation my skin made itself present. Before we knew it, the sounds of the large Pokemon approaching us turned into laughter as well, following suit, as eyes of hungry predators. emitted from the distance.

Unable to take another moment of this, Pumpkin mouthed the words "Run!" and turned towards the clearing. Before any of us could get anywhere, May extended her wing, stopping us from leaving. Although it surprised us, what was enough more shocking was her wing; it was her damaged one. I knew it was made of metal, but the way it looked...it looked like someone straight-up shattered it, like a Hitmonlee punching out a glass window. Small bits of metal hung off in the place where her large feathers rested, with only one red feather left, partially melted. Slowly, she moved her feather to her beak and quickly said "Shhh" before slowly reaching for her sword. After a moment of silence, a small *snap* sound was heard near us. In the blink of an eye, May swung her sword at lightning speeds in the direction of the sound. Before we knew it a Pokemon jumped out of the bushes and landed in front of us with a cut on their arm. It was a Gardevoir holding an orb; the Spacial Orb.

"What a cheap shot," The Gardevoir said, her tone more snobby than Lave could ever sound...but...something was wrong with this "Gardevoir". Her upper body seemed pretty normal, but her lower body? What should have been long dress-like frills was replaced with a shorter version, like the skirt of a Kirlia, but two long frills tied to the front of her waist. What was even more strange was the fact her legs were black, like a shiny, but again, her upper body wasn't? There can be only one reason for this. A Failed Evolution. Something I hope I never turn into.

"What's cheap are these illusions you're creating, Satchel" May said, holding her sword in a readied stance. "I knew this place was dangers, but there was no way the entire woods was hunting us down."

"Oh please, you loved them, you always did! Besides, that was no way of greeting an old friend. Let me return the warm gratitude."

Pointing towards May, the Gardevoir shot out a small lightning bolt from her finger. With quick reflexes, May dodged out of the way causing the lightning to hit the tree behind us. Before we knew it, the tree toppled over, revealing that it was cut cleanly from its stump.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. So that swing of your sword wasn't just for show?" The Gardevoir said in a teasing manner.

"Of course not. I figured it was you who blasted me out of the air earlier after I heard that laugh. Only you would do such a thing," May said, keeping guard. "What do you want from us? I thought your 'Mistress' banished you for your destructive behavior. Did you really come all the way here to steal that orb?"

"Steal? This thing? Ha, as if. I'm here for those four," The Gardevoir said, pointing to us. "Let's just say your mistress had her True Sight on and I was summoned back for a job. We know everything, and they must be eliminated."

"E-Eliminated!?" Pumpkin said in a shaky voice. "May who is this Pokemon and why are they trying to kill us!?"

"Her name is Sachel, The Royal Court Mage...or was and I have a feeling someone put her up to this. Regardless, I was ordered to protect you all and that's what I intend to do."

Stepping in between us and the Gardevoir, May spins her sword in her hands and stabs the ground. In a flash of light the metal that once gave the Skarmory her form unraveled in a burst. In her place was a large ball of intense light with metal plates revolving around it. Slowly, the light itself took the shape of something I've only heard my mother mention once. As I watched the figure transform, the metal quickly pinned itself to the figure, sticking each piece, one by one with a *Clang*. Finished, the metal figure turned to us. Pumpkin, trying to speak, pointed at her in awe, only making out the shaky words "Y-Y-You're a-a-a-a-, You're a-a-a h-hu-huuu-" before winking at him.

"Satchel, I don't know who sent you to kill them, but one thing's for sure: You're not getting through me!