Chapter 9: Recon Mission
...
...
"Hey! Jake, can you hear me?"
...
"It's you again"
"It is. How have you been doing until now?"
"Pretty good for this past few days, but I assume this is not a regular chat? Who are you?"
"I cannot tell you that, it would put you and your friends in danger. All you need to know for now is that I will answer whatever question I can answer"
"I think the first question is pretty obvious. What happened to me?"
"You got turned into a Pokémon because this world urgently needs your help"
"What does that mean?"
"You will know when the time is right"
"That doesn't answer my question at all! You said you would answer whatever I asked!"
"I cannot risk telling you information that will put you in danger. They already know about you, and they will not stop until they have you rotting in a prison cell"
"Who's they?"
"It is the guild that terrorized the region a few years ago. They are back, and want to try again at what they failed so long ago"
"And what's that?"
"To take over the world. This time, they are trying to use the power of an abomination to rule the world"
"..."
"And why do you think I am the right person to do this?"
"It was not easy, but we settled down on you to help. We were going to tell you, but she found you before we could even arrive"
"Do you mean...?"
"That girl was one of the Pokémon that wants you dead"
"Who... who is she?"
"I do not know. I know as much as you do about them"
"..."
"Heeeeelloooo there Jake! It has been quite a while since we last spoke!" Another voice suddenly rang inside my head. "How have you been doing since that tutoring at the dojo? I suppose everything's been going well?"
"What the-?! Me- I mean, you! Get out! You know the strain his body has to go through when two different psychic links are connected to his mind at once?"
"Aw, come on! Don't be so boring! You haven't let me speak with him yet! Just a few minutes?"
"Get. Out"
"Fineeee. A pleasure speaking to you, Jakey!"
The first voice sighed. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but due to his interruption, our time is almost up"
"What? What even happened?"
"That's not important. I cannot force your body any more. We will have to talk some other time"
"Wait! What do I do now?"
"I would ask you not to tell anyone about this. Not even your friends"
"But why?"
"They cannot know about this. At least, not for now. I am sure they will find out sooner than later"
"What does that mean?!"
"Be careful today, Jake. Not everyone is what they say they are..."
And everything went black.
I woke up covered in sweat, just like the night a few days ago. This time, however, it was much worse. I felt as if I hadn't slept at all, which I doubted had something to do with yesterday's exploration. My head was pounding, and almost made me faint from sheer pain.
Why can't I tell them? Is it really that bad? Why were two different voices?
What even was that dream?
I couldn't stop thinking about the warning that voice gave me, no matter how much I tried.
Not everyone is what they say they are... The mayor said that too... What could they mean?
"Jake! Are you alright? You look horrible!"
That was Ember. She left the plate of toast she was making on the table and came running towards me.
"Yeah. It was... just a nightmare"
"Don't lie to me! You look like you haven't slept at all! Look at those eyebags!"
"It's nothing, don't worry"
"Of course I would worry! You are my friend!"
"I'm fine, Ember. Might just be a side effect of being a human. Sometimes having nightmares and all that. Don't worry about me, please"
She sighed. "If you say so... But please, if you need anything, just tell me, okay?"
I smiled and nodded. "Always"
After having breakfast, and grabbing our things, we set out to the plaza, arriving at the same time as Kit, who also looked like he didn't sleep too well. He had been like this ever since we had come back from Treeshroud Hills, but he refused to tell us more about it.
"Rough night again?"
"Ye"
"You are lucky, this time I am with you"
"Well, you'll have to go with Kit to drink a tea with a bit of Energy Powder later, huh?" Joked Ember.
"I suppose that's gotta be the equivalent of coffe here? Because I could use some"
"No, we've got that too. It's just not as effective, but it definitely tastes better" Sentenced Kit.
"Let's go to the town hall then"
We didn't need to walk too far, but for me, it was painful. Every step was harder than the last one, and it only got worse the more we walked.
I swear I slept like a log last night, so why am I so tired? Maybe it has to do with those dreams. That voice said something about 'the strain my body has to go through', so maybe that's the problem. I should just think about something else.
The thing is, it had been about four days since we completed our first mission. I had so much fun doing this, exploring with both Kit and Ember... it was the best, to spend time with your friends. The town already knew our and our team's names, and they waved at us everytime they saw us, congratulating us and thanking us from time to time.
We had completed a few missions, mostly rescue missions, but we also helped with bringing stolen items back and even catching an outlaw!
Finally, the town hall came into view, taking me away from my thoughts. We walked to the bulletin board just as we had done before and took a look at it, examining the missions.
"What will it be this time? Rescuing someone? Or maybe fetching something back? Ooh! Maybe catching another outlaw?" Cheerfully asked Ember.
"Something that doesn't requiere too much fighting, please. I feel like I could faint at any moment"
"Same here"
She laughed, but didn't comment. Some silence later, she took a piece of paper and showed it to us.
"What do you think of this one? It's about rescuing an injured Pokémon that got lost in a dungeon! And it's in a small one too, so not too much fighting!"
"Why can't we just fetch something back? I'm sure that Beedrill was just a one time experience..."
"Because that's not what explorer teams should be focused on! And the dungeon is for kids! Come on you two, we have a mission to complete!"
I sighed. "Well, you definitely look happy, so I'll push myself just for you!"
She lost her fear completely now... I'm so happy for her.
"Hold it!"
That shout had come from Blaze. The Quilava was just exiting the building with a paper sticking out from his satchel and followed by Mismagious and a pair of Misdreavous.
The bigger ghost, to say the least, didn't look very happy to be where he was at the moment, but the moment he saw us he tried to cover it with a smile.
The warning that voice gave me resonated in my head again for some reason.
"Team Indigo! You don't need to pick a mission today! I have some news for you!"
"What news, Blaze?"
"The Expedition Society has called me a few minutes ago! They have reviewed your team file and they told me you are now an official exploration team!"
We bursted into cheering. Ember was of course the one that yelled the most. "Really? We are?"
"Yes! Now, you are officially allowed to go on tougher and longer expeditions tasked by none other than the E.S. itself! In fact..." He grabbed the paper that sticked out and showed it to us. They have taken a look at what you have been doing this past days and they wanted to congratulate you on all the work! And because of that, they are giving you a chance with a mission!"
"A special mission?" I asked.
"Yes! A team of explorers found a strange place near a dungeon a few days ago that has apparently been deserted for a long time. It also appears that no one has touched it at all either! Isn't that exciting?"
"Yeah! Exploring an ancient place, completely untouched by civilization? Can't wait to go!" Yelled Ember, with almost childish excitement.
"Who's acting like a kid now, huh?" Retorted Kit. Ember either didn't hear it, or didn't care.
"That's the spirit! I hadn't seen that excitement coming from a team in ages!"
Mismagious cleared his throat, catching our attention. "That's right, I almost forgot! Mismagious and his teammates got assigned to go with you and make sure everything goes smoothly"
Mismagious nodded. "Yes. We are team Shadow. I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, but we've already met, haven't we?"
"We did. Nice to see you again"
He took a look at Kit and me and then grinned. "You look like you haven't slept at all, not like your Braixen friend"
"How could you tell?" Groaned Kit.
"Anyway!" Interrupted Blaze, clapping his paws. "As far as we know, the place is empty, so equipment isn't really necessary. You should carry it anyway, just in case. Also, Jake, keep that Detect Band with you"
All of us nodded.
"Now, take a look" He opened his bag again and took out a small map and showed us the whole continent. He pointed to a small dot in the map marked with a red flag. "This is New Hope Town, where we are now"
He then pointed to a small mountainous area west of the town. "And here is where those ruins should be. The trip will probably not take long, but you should be prepared to set up a camp in case it takes longer than expected, and that's why you will be given three tents with space for two Pokémon. I'll go get them once I'm done with this explanation"
Kit and Mismagious looked at the map for some time, studying it carefully.
"Isn't that Windscorched Mountain?" They said at the same time.
"Yes. The team was setting a perimeter around the dungeon area when they came across that place. I see that you are already familiar with the dungeon?"
"Yep. Took a few trips there a few years ago. The scenary is amazing, you know? A pity we are not going inside..." Sighed Kit.
"You explored the dungeon a few years ago, but you've been in a team for less than a week?" Said Blaze, raising a brow.
Kit's face went pale. "I-... Uhh..."
The Quilava laughed loudly. "Don't worry, Kit. Snitches get stitches, don't they? I won't say a thing"
The Zoroark sighed in relief, while Ember and me tried to hold our laughter.
"So that's our mission, isn't it? Let's get those tents and go already. I'm... itching to go and see what that's about" Sentenced Mismagious.
"Aye" Replied his teammates, eerily at the same time.
"I'll do that right now! Jake, would you mind helping me?"
"Oh, sure!"
After grabbing a big camping bag that contained three tents, Blaze and I walked back to where everyone was waiting and so, the journey was about to begin.
"I trust you know where you have to go?"
"Yes, we do!"
"Very good then! Good luck, team Indigo and team Shadow!"
"Thanks, Blaze! We'll be right back with some answers!"
"I'm sure you'll do this perfectly!"
"So what's the plan?" The Lucario asked just as we left the village.
"We should head as fast as we can to our destination and set up a camp as soon as we arrive. That way, if anything happens and we have no time before nighttime or the weather changes, we will already have somewhere to rest"
"That sounds like a good plan to me!" Answered Kit.
We began our march to Windscorched Mountain. The trip was going to be a walk or well, a float in my case, where I could focus on my own things and not be bothered by anything at all.
"Hey, Mismagious"
Or it would be, if I didn't have to go with team Indigo. "What?"
"You and your team, for how long have you been together? Like, as an explorer team?"
"For one year, six months, two weeks, four days, three hours, fourteen minutes and eighteen seconds" Answered Kate.
"Nineteen seconds. Twenty seconds. Twenty one seconds..." Added Nate.
"Geez, that's creepy" Jake responded.
"Oh, if you think that's creepy, wait until you see them angry"
"I'd rather not"
"Good choice" They replied at the same time, with a toothy, yet eerie grin.
Team Indigo collectively shuddered.
A few hours passed since the trip had began. The sun was halfway through the sky, signaling that noon was near, and the two male members of team Indigo were progressively showing more and more signs of their sleep deprived nights.
"Can we stop now?" Whinned Kit.
"Please! The night is taking its toll on me! And I'm carrying the bag with the tents, so it's double tiring! And we didn't even get a coffe before we headed out!" Added Jake.
"Come on, you pair of Slakoth! You can't be that tired! We must be about halfway there, and we set out just three hours ago!"
"You are fine because you have slept through the whole night!"
"Yeah, show some empathy!"
These three were definitely a box full of surprises. "It's fine, we can stop. Floating everywhere is tiring too" I sighed.
"We agree" Said Kate.
"Some leisure time would be nice" Added Nate.
"It's settled then"
Both Kit and Jake dropped to the ground immediately.
"Finally!"
"Thank god!"
I couldn't help but let out a laugh, which I quickly drowned. Slowly floating downwards, I began thinking about team Indigo.
We don't even know for sure if this Lucario is who we are looking for. What if that Thievul lied to us? I don't find it too far fetched...
A few minutes of thinking later, Kit and Jake had both fallen asleep leaning on a tree near the path, while Kate and Nate were floating while sleeping. At least I thought they were sleeping. That only left me alone with the Braixen, Ember.
"You haven't fallen asleep yet. Are you excited?"
"Yeah! I always dreamt of being an explorer, and all of that stuff. It's thanks to him that I actually am doing this" She said. pointing to the sleeping Lucario, and smiling.
I better get a promotion for this...
"You are really attached to him, aren't you~?"
Her face went red as she looked at me with an angry face. "Not you too! I already have Kit to say those kind of things, which is enough!"
She looked back at Jake. "But it's true that he's a good friend. Never expected to meet such a strange 'mon, you know? But I wouldn't change him even a bit"
Oh boy. I don't need to be a psychic type to know that those two are gonna end up together.
"That's good, I guess. In which way is he strange?"
"Well... He is amnesiac. He says he fell from a cliff and lost his memories. The fact that he survived is already impressive. At first, I didn't believe his story, but now, I am happy that I did"
Seems like he didn't lie after all...
"Of course you wouldn't believe it. It's kind of a one in a thousand chance, so naturally it would be difficult to think that he was telling the truth"
"Yeah..."
A few moments of silence passed. "Do you really believe him?"
A humming sound came from the fire type. "If you asked me just after I met him? I probably would have said no. But now? Yeah. There is no other explanation. He isn't the type of 'mon that goes around lying to other Pokémon"
I looked at her with a teasing smile. "You really like him, huh?"
"Don't you dare!"
Both of us laughed. At least this expedition didn't look like it was going to be boring.
"Well, if you excuse me, I'm gonna try to catch some Z's, and I advice you do the same. We don't know what we'll find"
"Sure! Good night, or midday probably"
I hummed and closed my eyes, trying to rest for a bit.
Pretending to be nice is very exhausting.
I fell asleep on the grass shortly after.
I stirred and slowly opened my eyes, covering my eyes as to not get blinded by the sun.
I really needed this. I feel just as new! Maybe it was that nightmare's fault after all...
I stood on my feet, no longer feeling tired or with a pounding headache and saw that I was the first one awake. Kit was still asleep on one side, while Ember was now sleeping on the previously empty side. Looking around, I saw Mismagious asleep laying on the grass.
"Oh! You are awake at last" Said a voice behind me.
"And you don't seem to be on the verge of collapsing. Congratulations" Added a different voice, also from behind me.
I turned around as fast as I could, fearing for my life, but realized those voices came from the pair of Misdreavous that accompanied Mismagious.
"It's you" I said sighing. "Don't ever do that again"
"Did we scare you?"
"What a Torchick!"
Both of them giggled. I just rolled my eyes and decided it was best not to dwell on it too much.
"I never got to ask your names"
"I am Kate"
"And I am Nathan, but everyone just calls me Nate"
"Are you twins, or something?"
"What gave it away?" They responded at the same time, with a grin.
I rolled my eyes. "Just intuition"
The sound of stirring made me look back, and I saw Mismagious floating, slowly waking up.
"I see you met these two" He said.
"More like they scared me and we talked after"
He smiled, and then looked at my two teammates. "Looks like your Braixen friend went to sleep after all"
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you remember that she was the one that didn't want to stop? I had a bit of a talk with her just before going to sleep myself. I think she really values you as a friend~" That last sentence was accompanied by a small teasing smile.
"Oh, please, not two Kits! One is already enough for everyone!"
"That's the exact reaction your friend had"
A few seconds of silence passed. "Should I wake them up?" I finally asked.
Mismagious looked towards the sky. "I'd say that we've been asleep for at least an hour. Our destination is not very far away from here, but if we wanna explore the ruins before sunset and make a camp, we should set off now, so yeah, wake them up"
I walked towards the tree and poked one of Ember's ears. That always managed to wake up our family's Purrloin back when I was young, and even after she evolved into a Liepard, so there was no loss in trying it here. Sure enough, her ear twitched and she slowly fluttered her eyes open.
"It's time to wake up already?" She asked groggily.
"I thought you didn't want to rest?"
She laughed. "Shut it and help me up!" She said while extending one of her paws to me. I took it and pulling her to her feet.
"You are such a sleepyhead!" I smirked.
She giggled. "Just wake up Kit. We have to keep going!"
I nodded and walked to the other side of the tree. I tried the same thing I used with Ember and poked one of Kit's ears. Sure enough, it twitched too, but he didn't seem to wake up at all.
"Ugh, come on!"
I tried again, and got the same result. I began wondering if he was awake and he was just playing with me.
"Having trouble?" Ember asked from beside me.
I nodded. "Don't worry. I got something that always works with him"
She walked in front of me and cleared her throat. "Would you look at that! I think I have some Gummi shakes in here!"
Immediately, Kit's ears perked up, and he practically jumped up, looking around frantically. "Where?!" Was the only thing he said.
When he realized this was just a trick, he frowned at Ember. "I told you that's not funny"
"I disagree" Was all I managed to say while holding my laughter.
"Gotta admit it, it was funny" Commented Mismagious.
"Agreed" Added the twins.
"Oh, so everyone thinks it's funny, huh? Next time, you could actually have those shakes..."
"But then it wouldn't be that fun" Ember responded with a smile.
"Now that we are all awake, let's move. If anyone is hungry, I packed some apples I can give you"
"I'm down. That little prank made me hungry!"
"I can cope with it for now"
"Same here"
"We aren't hungry yet"
Mismagious pulled a pair of apples from his satchel, gave one to Kit, and munched the other one.
"Let's...move...guys" He said between bites.
Another hour passed, before we arrived at the foot of Windscorched Mountain. We stillthe whole afternoon left before nighttime, but Mismagious still urged us to make a camp as soon as possible, which took another half an hour. After that time, however, the three tents we had brought were built, and the previously heavy backpack was now empty and stored inside one of the tents.
"Was this really necessary?" I asked, brushing the sweat off my forehead.
"You'd be surprised. Once, we went on a mission and the moment we arrived there, rain started pouring. I then realized we should have made a camp first thing"
"Wouldn't the rain just phase through you?" Asked Kit, having finished anchoring the stakes that held the tent on the ground.
"That's not how it works. How would I get hit by any water attacks if that was the case?"
I could swear Mismagious had muttered something after, but I decided to let it slide.
"Can we begin with our exploration now? Please!" Ember suddenly interrupted.
"Alright little explorer, let's do this" I told her.
"The place should not be too far ahead. Let's go before it gets too late. If we miss something, we can just come back tomorrow"
"Sounds acceptable"
"Yeah, let's go"
And so, we began our first real recon mission, which was exploring an apparently unknown place. I hoped it wasn't too big and we could explore it in just one trip.
Well, the place in question wasn't too big. In fact, it was so small I could understand why it had gone under the radar for so long.
The twins had decided to look around the outside just in case there was something else, but I highly doubted that.
After removing all the rubble from the collapsed entrance, we found out that the misterious place was just a really small room hidden behind the wall of the mountain just before the dungeon.
"This is it?!" We all yelled at the same time.
"Surely this can't be everything! There must be some hidden entrance or something!" Tried reasoning Ember.
"Let's look around for now. There may be clues anywhere. Ember, if you may..."
Nodding, Ember lit the end of her stick-wand, creating a small torch for us to see. Immediately, we noticed a big machine that occupied one whole half of the whole small room.
"What is this?" I asked.
Mismagious floated closer and took a look. "I don't know. This is the first time I saw this type of technology. It also looks like it has been abandoned a very long time ago"
"And why is this thing in a room that isn't larger than a house back at the town?" Ember questioned.
"Because there is more than just this room! Look at what I found!" Yelled Kit while pointing to a map on a table in the other side of the room.
"What is it?" Mismagious asked while all of us stepped closer to see what he was talking about.
As it turns out, the map showed the room we were in and a whole lot of underground paths under where we were.
"There is a whole structure just below us! And apparently we enter from somewhere inside here" He added.
"But from where exactly?" Was the ghost's response.
I looked around, trying to find any clue of where the secret entrance could be. "Can't you use your aura sense to find it?" Mismagious asked.
"That would requiere a living being in herr, which I doubt there is"
I looked around the room a bit until my eyes landed on what looked like a very old and rusty machine against one of the walls.
"Someone help me out here"
With Kit's help, I pulled the machine while he pushed it, which revealed another small room adjacent to the one we were in with what looked like a rope hanging from a hook in the ceiling, falling onto a hole.
"You found it! Nice, Jake!"
This room was completely dark, with the only light being the one provided by the door we entered from. Ember stepped first, lighting the way, and allowing us to see that the hole had a small ladder to climb back up.
"Well, seems like we found the entrance. We'll have to go down one by one and use the ladder when we want to climb back. Everyone be extra careful, since as far as we know, either the rope, the hook or the ladder could break at any moment"
"I'll go get the twins"
"We are already here"
This time, even Mismagious jumped in shock. "You'll never stop surprising me" He sighed.
He then turned towards us. "We'll go first. We can float down and try to catch you if the rope breaks"
"Try to?"
"No promises!" He yelled while floating away.
I sighed. "So who goes first?"
"Me. You'll need light and I'm the only fire type here" She commented while walking to the rope and pulling down to test if everything was good.
The Braixen grabbed the rope with both paws and looked at us. "Wish me luck" She yelled, before jumping into the abyss.
After a few seconds of looking down, we heard a thud that signaled Ember had already hit the ground.
"It's safe! Come on down!" She shouted from below.
"Guess it's my turn now. Wish me luck!"
"Careful there, Kit"
"Don't worry! If I die and become a ghost, I'll be sure to haunt you for the rest of your days"
"Don't joke with that!"
He snickered and grabbed the rope. Just like Ember, he jumped down and hit the ground a few seconds later. "Come on, Jakey! We will be able to get up, don't worry!"
Gulping, I grabbed the rope, looked down and regretted it almost instantly. I had never been a fan of heights.
Closing my eyes, I decided that as long as I held the rope tight, I could just grab onto it with all my might and stop the fall. With that confidence boost, I jumped down.
...
I felt the floor suddenly appear beneath my feet as I lost my balance and fell to the ground.
"Nice landing you did there! Come on, we've got exploring to do"
Shaking my head, I grabbed Kit's claw as he helped me stand up and took a looked at our surroundings. We were in a long hallway that extended to both sides and looked like an old mineshaft.
"Mismagious is scouting the left side and the twins are scouting right side. They told us to wait here until they came back"
I nodded. Luckily we didn't have to wait too long, as the pair of Misdreavous came floating towards us shortly after, carrying their blank expressions just like they always did.
"Nothing on our side" Declared Kate.
"Just a dead end" Added Nate.
"Let's just wait until Mismagious comes back then"
Several minutes passed before rushed breathing could be heard coming from the left side of the mineshaft.
"Guys!" Mismagious yelled while coming into our view. "I found something! Quick, you gotta see it!"
All of us shared a quick look among us before we bolted to see what Mismagious was talking about.
The left hallway was extensive, and I almost tripped with a stone several times, but we finally managed to arrive at the end.
The room we entered was big, but we couldn't see exactly where we were. That is, until Ember found a switch and flipped it, making the lights work.
Once my eyes got used to the blinding brightness, I could finally make out the area we were in. Polished marble walls surrounded us, contrasting with the rocky and small mineshaft. This place was huge, and despite being abandoned for who knows how long, the only sign of that was dust all over the place.
"Woah!" I exclaimed, making my voice echo through the whole place.
"This place has working lightning?" Exclaimed Mismagious.
"I have a better question: What is this place?"
Looking around for some more time, I realized this looked like a lobby of sorts, with branching hallways that led to more rooms, even though half of them were collapsed.
"This looks like the main room of a bunker. It still surprises me how there is electrical power"
"There are three paths here, the rest of them are collapsed"
"Let's split then" Mismagious suggested.
"I'll go with Jakey"
"I'll go with Mismagious then" Ember added.
"We'll go together"
"Who would have guessed?"
Nodding, everyone set off for their respective hallways.
"Remember we still have the badges. If anyone finds problems, that way we'll know"
And so, everyone dissapeared, leaving me alone with Kit. We walked down the hallway which didn't ever seem to have an end, all the while, complete silence accompanied us, broken up only by our own footsteps.
"So much silence. It's almost... creepy" Kit suddenly said.
"Not used to being silent for this long, huh?"
"Maybe" He said giggling.
"But you are right, it's too silent for my liking"
That was an understatement. Not only was so silent that even the smallest of water drips could be heard, the worst part of it all was that everything we saw until now, that being the machines and the architecture, were too familiar to me.
"Look there!" Exclaimed Kit, taking me out my thoughts.
A door was present a few meters ahead. "Finally! I seriously was beggining to think that this hallway was endless!"
Kit looked at me. "I'll race you there!" He shouted while running away.
"Hey, that's not fair!" I yelled back running after him.
We bolted to the door, both of us eager to find out what exactly was hidden down here.
Great! So I was stuck alone with the Braixen, again! I guessed it could have been worse. I could have been stuck with... him.
"You think that we'll find something here?"
"Most likely. This structure seems too bizarre to just be formed naturally. It almost looks like..."
"...it isn't from this world..." She finished.
No more words were spoken until we arrived at crossroad between two paths. One lead to a wooden door and the other two to big and rusty metal doors, one of which had some sort of metal device with a slot in it.
"Which door do we go through?"
"I think the wooden one. It seems like it will be the easiest one to open"
The two of us made our way to the small door and gently pushed it, making it creak very loudly. The inside was just a small room with solid white walls that had a huge glass window showing an adjacent room below this one. Everything except our room was dark, so I couldn't see what was behind the glass.
"Mismagious, take a look at... this"
The Braixen's words took me out of my thoughts. She was looking to a table with... I couldn't even begin to know how to explain what was on that table.
It was some sort of plastic switches and buttons of all sorts of different shapes and colors twinkling and blinking without a stop, connected by an unnatural amount of wires, all of that added to even more differently colored buttons. Everything was also labeled with what I assumed was some sort of strange alphabet. Whatever it was, however, it looked strangely familiar to the Unown alphabet.
"What... is this?" She asked, looking at it.
"No idea... Can you read anything?"
Ember squinted her eyes at the small letter, but to no avail. "No. It looks like Unown, doesn't it?"
"That's what I was thinking too. Luckily, I can read it"
"You can? I always struggled to even learn the basics"
"It's not too hard once you get the hang of it" I replied, looking more closely.
Some of the switches said something about 'generators 1-20' and even one that had big letters saying 'DO NOT FLIP THESE SWITCHES UNLESS YOU ARE A MAINTENANCE WORKER!'
I looked around for some more time until my eyes landed on a switch that simple stated 'Power' and had two symbols: A I on top and a O below. The switch was flipped down, towards the O.
Taking a guess, I flipped the switch. The room in which we were in suddenly lit up even more brightly, followed by the room next to us doing the same with a loud sound, just before a constant buzzing sound started.
"What... What did you do?!"
"I flipped a switch that said 'Power'. Pretty self explanatory, right?"
The fire type then took a look down below. "We should go down there, don't you think?"
"Yeah, but how?"
"Maybe one of the doors? I'll go check"
After an unsuccesful push and pull, Ember walked back inside the room. "Nothing, they are locked. Maybe there's something in all that mumbo jumbo of switches and buttons?"
Another glance around the device revealed a pair of small buttons that stated 'Press to unlock the door to the generators. CAREFUL OF ELECTRICITY!'
I pressed the button, and a click was heard. "I think I unlocked it now. Let's go!"
We pushed the door once again and after a hard time trying to make the rusted metal door move, it finally budged and we were met with a staircase that headed down to the deeper parts of the other room.
"I think we are going to have a bad time looking through this whole room..."
"Sounds like a non ghost problem" I replied floating down the staircase and through one of the big machines.
It was a bad idea, as suddenly I felt as if a tenth of Zapdos had used their strongest attack on me. I flew backwards, crashing onto the staircase just beneath Ember.
"So a non ghost problem, huh?"
"Shut up" I groaned.
"You'll have to go just like us, corporeal beings, and walk around the walls"
With all my energy, I managed to levitate and follow the Braixen, a clear displeassure in my face. She approached one of the machines carefully and looked at it.
"What could all these things be?" She asked.
"The labels said something about generators"
"You mean that all of these things are generators?"
Taking a look around, I nodded. "Well, seeing how I got zapped when touching one, I would say so"
"But how? I don't see any electric type powering them, so how could they generate anything?"
"I don't know"
She looked at me. "I think there is a more important question, though"
"And that is...?"
"If all of these things are generators, what do they need this much electrical power for?"
"I won!"
"No fair! You started early!"
Kit stuck his tongue out. "They don't call us 'dark types' for no reason, bud"
"Weird way to say that you are a cheater, but okay"
Rolling his eyes, Kit tried pushing the door, but it didn't move an inch. Since pulling didn't work either, he decided that the best way to force the door open was by kicking it open.
"Thank god there are no enemies here, or else we would already be surrounded!"
"What else could we have done there exactly? Ask it to open by itself politely?"
"Touché "
"What?"
"It means fair enough"
"Why don't you say that then?"
"I did!"
Kit rolled his eyes. "These interdimensional travelers and their funny ways to speak..."
"Shut up! I'd like to see you try to learn my language!"
"Not gonna happen anytime soon"
"Let's just get in the room" I giggled while stepping inside the just opened door.
Smirking, Kit followed me close behind. The inside wasn't too big. What worried me was the contents of it. Some sort of big capsule was in the middle of the room, the glass that made its middle section completely broken down. Three thick pipes connected to the bottom of it, and the inside had signs of having been wet for a long time.
"What the hell?!"
"What is this thing?"
"It looks like... a life support capsule or something like that"
"And what even is that?"
Kit's voice was a mixture of amazement and stress as he carefully watched the big device. I couldn't blame him.
"Wait, you don't know what this is?"
"No! Nothing we've seen makes any sense to any of us!"
What?
"But..."
"How do you know about any of this? I dunno, Jake"
It couldn't be that this place was...
"Let's just... have a look around for now"
Most of the room was occupied by the capsule, but my eyes caught glimpse of a small table with a lot of moldy papers on and hung above it.
"Kit, take a look at those papers over there. I'm gonna check the capsule"
The Zoroark nodded, and got closer to the papers while I went to check the capsule. I had never seen a life support chamber outside of video games, so seeing one in real life looked surreal.
The glass was broken, as if whoever, or whatever was inside broke out by force. The inside had some sort of tubes that were hanging from the upper part of the capsule, probably used to give food and drink to the occupant.
On the right side, there was a small keyboard and a screen, both of them nonfunctional due to the high humidity of this place.
The keyboard was weird, and for some reason, it freaked me out. Most of the keys were either missing or damaged enough to not be able to read the letter that used to be written in it. The only one that was visible enough didn't have a bizarre simbol, or any of those weird letters I had seen during my time here, but the letter 'B'.
The human B.
Before I could even process what this meant, I heard Kit call my name, so I gave the keyboard a last awkward glance before walking towards him.
"Kit, you won't believe what I saw next to the capsule!"
"Tell me about it"
"There was a keyboard, probably to control the capsule, and it had the letter 'B' in one of the keys! The human one!"
"Keyboard? Like a piano keyboard? And what's a 'B'?"
"A human letter!"
"Huh. That may explain this, then"
He gave me one of the papers he was looking at before. It seemed like a report of sorts "Most of the papers have been destroyed by the water, but this is the only one that has any text. The point is that it's illegible"
The part was mostly moldy and humid, but there were some parts that were readable. I began reading the text.
"
Status report 96 on subject 000
Day 1_ of incubation:
The subject has started to develop a sh_
One of the lead researchers, Ja_ _ has stated his conc_ for it, however. The shape of the subject does not line up with what we have been loo_ for, he said. Its form has not_ to do with what we assume the Pokémon 'Me_' looks like.
Despite all these drawbacks, the researchers have stated that they do n_ plan on giving up anyt_ soon.
Below all of the medical details of the subject will be put.
"
I handed Kit the paper back. "The rest is blank"
Kit looked at me with a look of astonishment "Did you just..."
Realizing what he meant, I felt my face go pale. I checked the paper again to see if I didn't just make up everything I said, but sure enough, there it was. Plain and simple.
"I..."
I looked around, sweat dripping from my forehead. "This... this place has to be human. No way it isn't" A clear fear was audible on my voice.
"There has to be an explanation, right? Maybe... what if the 'mon working here learnt how to write like humans as a way to make anyone too curious think exactly as we did? Yeah, it has to be that!"
"What would be the point though? And Pokémon here can learn how to write English?"
"I have no idea what 'English' is, but a few schools around the continent teach Unown"
"Is that the equivalent of human language here?" I said rolling my eyes... which landed on a small black rectangle on another table.
Walking to it, I picked it up and realized it was lighter than I thought, and probably made out of plastic.
"Wait, is this... a laptop?"
"Great, another weird object?"
Placing the laptop back on the table, I opened it, and pressed the 'on' button. Unsurpisingly, it didn't work. It was either out of battery, or its insides were completely useless.
I hoped it was the former.
"What are you doing?"
"This is a laptop. A device used by humans to... do a lot of things. If this place is actually human, this thing can contain a lot of answers to what actually is this place. I am not gonna enter in the details, but we need electricity. Again"
Kit nodded and walked closer to me. "Listen, Jake. We can't tell anyone outside of our team about this, ya hear? Not team Shadow, not Blaze, not anyone" He whispered in a serious tone.
"What? Why?"
"If this is really a human facility, and we tell Blaze about it, the Expedition Society will waste no time in closing this down to inspect it. We need this place to be tagged as some useless and uninteresting ruins, got it? Only then we will be able to come again, more prepared to explore further"
"You are right. This place has to have answers. And this laptop..." I picked the object up. "Has to have something. We need to make it work"
"I'm happy that you agree"
"Pick anything that you cannot read and hide it somewhere in your bag. We can't let anyone find about the true nature of this place"
"But what about that... laptop?"
"I'll just make an excuse for it. Now let's go, there is nothing more to do here"
"Got it"
"In the name of Arceus, does this place ever end? It definitely looked a lot smaller from up there!"
I was beggining to grow desperate, having to go through every single one of these machines one by one, only to be met with nothing but nothingness was starting to annoy me. Apparently I was the only one that saw it that way.
"Oh come on, I'm sure there has to be something around here!"
And I really did hope so, because I was going to lose it otherwise. After what felt like (and probably had been) hours, we hit the room's end. All we had seen were just electrical generators,. Nothing else. Whatever they needed all of these for, had to be huge. Then again, almost all of the ways are blocked, so who knows what's behind them?
If it was just me and the twins, we could just phase through the rubble, but noooo, that Quilava had to send us with these guys!
"Huh. So there is actually nothing here"
"I'm going to blow this whole place up"
"Leave the genocidal intentions behind and let's go back. Maybe if we pick another way, we will actually find something?"
I sighed. "Whatever. Let's just get out of here and hope the others had more luck"
Before we began walking back, though, something caught my eye. It was a purple plastic card laying on the ground.
I picked it up and looked at it. "What's that?" Ember questioned.
The weird device near the third door came to my mind. Now that I thought about it, the slot it had seemed to be the same shape as the card. "We should head back. I think I know how to open the third door"
"Really?"
"Well, it's more like a theory, but it's still something"
"Let's go back then"
With a fast pace, we went up the metalic staircase as quick as possible. Then, we were met once again with the last unopened door and the weird device next to it.
"What is this thing?" Ember asked when she finally saw it.
Moving closer, the device looked like a scanner of sorts, but this technology was something I had never seen. Maybe it was from a far away continent?
Taking my mind off that, I looked at the slot, and just as I thought, the card I found earlier was a perfect fit.
I inserted the card in the slot, and swiped it in the direction of an arrow. A small beeping sound was heard, and the door began to lift with a loud sound.
It took a long time, but it finally opened just barely enough for us to enter, before stopping completely.
"Too old to open completely, huh?"
"I'm more concerned by how you opened the door"
"I don't know. I just saw this card and thought it was going to be useful on this weird device. Looks like I was right"
Nonetheless, I entered the room, and immediately noticed the big sign in the other end. It was written in Unown too and as far as I knew, it was written 'Armory'.
The contents of the room were... weird, just as this whole place. Weird metal... sticks were present hanging in all the walls, each of a different size and shape. On one of the tables, there was a box full of weird metal cilinders with a pin.
Picking one up, I looked at it, drawing Ember's attention. "Seriously? Of all the weird things in the room, you pick the most useless and normal looking thing?"
"I can assure you this is everything apart from normal" I said pulling the pin of the cilinder. At first, nothing happened, and I thought it was just a weird metal piece but suddenly, a big flash of light came from nowhere, and I got blinded. My ears were also filled with an endless ringing sound.
I felt myself fall to the ground out of shock, and just stood there, laying and unmoving, until my vision and hearing slowly came back.
That allowed me to ser Ember on the ground, practically in the same position as me.
"I-I told you it wasn't normal" I managed to say.
"How about next time you touch things you don't know what they are for? I can still feel my ears ringing... What even was that?!"
Shaking my head, I floated up again and checked the box again. A pair of those things were still in there.
"It looked like the move Flash, but if it were contained in a seed made out of metal?"
"How is that even possible?"
"I don't know, but let's not mess around with the rest of the room's content"
"Please"
This room, the 'Armory', was small, but packed of those weird metal sticks. There also seemed to be a helmet lying on the ground next to a thick vest that resembled some sort of armor.
The helmet didn't fit me, and probably any Pokémon that lived in this world, so I decided to leave it be and check what my Braixen partner was doing. She had picked one of the small metal sticks, though this one looked too small to even be considered a stick. Maybe a boomerang?
"You think we should take this? As a souvenir of sorts, I mean"
"As long as it doesn't flash us again..."
A few more minutes of looking around, and we decided that we were done here, so we headed out to see what the others had done. Ember carried the weird metal boomerang and I carried one of those cilinders in my bag.
These things may be useful in the future...
"Let's go back then. Kit and Jake might have finished already, and I don't want to get jumpscared by the twins in the hallway"
"Then let's move. Lead the way, Ember"
"They are taking too long..." Kit thought out loud.
Looking back, I was glad we bought our bags at Agatha's shop instead of anywhere else. When I compared them to a size of two laptops, I wasn't kidding. I had enough space to put the laptop on top of all the items I had inside. Luckily, since we weren't in a dungeon, no one couldn't see what I had in my bag.
"I don't know. We've waited for a long while. Shouldn't we tell them that we are done alr-"
Kit and I looked at each other, and facepalmed. "The badges" We sighed at the same time.
Just when we were about to pick them up, however, the sound of footsteps could be heard. Ember and Mismagious were back.
"Heeey! You guys found anything interesting?" The fire type waved, walking towards us.
"Nothing out of the ordinary. Just useless junk"
"Then you'll be happy to hear what we found!"
"Let's wait until we get outside. I can't stand this place anymore!" Added Mismagious.
"Same here. We just need to wait for the twins, and we should be able to go" Answered Kit.
"We are coming!"
"Yes, wait for us!"
All of us turned to the remaining hallway and saw the pair of ghosts flying towards us with some leftover food stuck around their mouths.
"We are here" Said Kate.
"Yeah, we didn't find anything too interesting" Added Nate.
"Then why do you look like you just ate a whole room worth of food?" Asked Mismagious.
"That's because we did" Said Nate, but Kate gave him a small headbutt, which I assumed was the equivalent of a nudge for Pokémon without arms.
"What my dear brother means, is that we found what looked like the canteen, and decided to check the quality of the food" Answered Kate.
"You had to see it! There was so much! And all of it was in either cans or in these weird plastic envelopes! We had a very hard time opening them"
Kate proceeded to give him another headbutt, this time a bit stronger. "We also brought some of it for us to eat, as we don't know how much food we brought nor how long it will last us" She added.
"And that's because I told you to! If I didn't, you would have just eaten everythi-" This time, Kate blasted her brother away with a Shadow Ball.
He did not add anything else.
"Shall we get out then?" She said, blushing.
"Sure?" I answered, still surprised by that sudden outburst. These twins were full of surprises.
"Let's head out then" Ember said, lighting her stick. "I'll lead the way back"
"How the hell is it dusk already?" I yelled, looking at the sky.
"Being underground makes you lose track of time pretty quickly" Kit told me.
We were arriving at the small camp we had built earlier. I thanked Mismagious for urging us to build earlier, as I couldn't bring myself to do it now. Not after what I had seen down there.
Questions flooded my mind, but I couldn't answer any of them. What was that place? Who was that capsule for? And most importantly, why did everything point to it being human? There were no humans in this world...
Were they?
"Hey, Jake. I noticed your bag seems a bit more... full than before" Suddenly said Mismagious.
"It's just junk. I brought it just because I wanted to see if I could make something out of it"
The ghost type raised a brow but didn't say anything else.
The camp was exactly as we left it. Thankfully, it seems we did everything right, as the tents hadn't fallen down and we could just eat and sleep, ready to head back to the town tomorrow.
"So where's the food? I'm starving" Ember said.
"Right here" Answered Kate, using some sort of psychic power to pick some small cans that they brought from their own exploration. Nate used the same energy to pick some food wrapped in plastic.
"This, and the food we already had should be enough"
I didn't bother looking at the cans, as what bothered me the most was the look of the food inside the bags. One of them contained long lost chocolate cereals. At least, that's what they looked like. They were moldy, and looked like them alone could give you food poisoning for at least a whole day, if they didn't outright kill you. The other bag contained a small salad, which needles to say, was completely rotten and moldy, just like the cereals.
"I think the food in the bags is moldy as hell"
"I was going to say that too, whatever that means"
"Yeah"
"Agreed"
"Moldy? It didn't taste like it"
"Wait, you two ate the food like this?"
"Yeah?"
I gagged. Since they were ghosts, the negative effects of the food probably didn't happen, a theory that was debunked the moment I saw Mismagious' face.
"I'll just take the apples out"
I grabbed one of the cans. The label was mostly gone, but it smelled like tomato soup.
"Kit, lend me your claws for a bit"
"What?"
"Just extend a finger"
I grabbed his hand, and used the sharp claws to cut through the cans as if they were butter. I checked the condition of the inside soup, but it all seemed perfect. I opened the other can too.
"Thanks"
"Seems like you did this already"
"Just eat the soup" I answered the Zoroark as I handed him the can.
Reluctantly, Kit took a small sip, and his eyes widened.
"This thing's awesome!" He exclaimed while handing the can to Ember. She too drank a bit and had a similar reaction, passing the can to Mismagious, and him to the twins.
All of them were delighted, and finished the can faster than Kit using Agility.
"It was awesome!" Said Ember.
"Awesome? Even better!" Commented Mismagious.
"We. Need. More!" Exclaimed the twins.
"Relax! There is just a can left, and I still haven't even tried it!"
I took a few sips, drinking a quarter of the content and handed them the rest. All of them looked at me as if I just spit in it.
"What?"
"No reaction at all?"
I shrugged. I never was a fan of tomatoes, much less tomato soup. It was the typical food you would have in a bunker just in case an apocalypse broke out.
What a coincidence.
"Whatever, more for me!" Yelled Kit.
"No way! You aren't drinking it!" Shouted Ember.
"Hey! What about me?"
"We were the ones that found it!"
All of them pushed and pulled the can as if their lives depended on it, until they dropped it and spilled the contents on the ground.
All of them were out of words. No one moved. It was comical, to say the least.
"It's just a bit of soup, don't be like kids. Just eat the apples!"
That just made them groan. I rolled my eyes. "Hey, if it makes you all feel better, I may know how to make it, but it probably won't be the same as the one in the can because the ingredients for it are... very hard to find here"
In the blink of an eye, I was surrounded by a bunch of hungry Pokémon, fire burning in their eyes.
"You do?"
"You'll be cooking this everyday from now on, new house rule!"
"Teach us!"
"Yeah!"
"O-Okay!"
They stepped back and I sighed from relief. Mismagious gave us some apples to eat and casual chat filled the area as we discussed our exploration.
"I almost forgot!" Suddenly exclaimed Mismagious. "The tents are two per 'mon, so we have to decide who sleeps with who"
"We'll go together"
The twins throwed the apple leftovers away and floated to one of the tents without anything else to add.
"Okay then, I guess that leaves us four. Any ideas or preferences?"
Kit's smile was growing wider by the second . "What about I go with you, Mismagious? Then we can leave some space to Ember and Jake. They must be soooo tired that the only thing they want is to be left alone together, am I right?"
Ember and me looked at Kit with a death stare. Mismagious looked between us and Kit, before finally sighing.
"Fine then, let's go to sleep. I'm so tired from this exploration..." He floated inside another tent, and disappeared from our view.
"Well, good night you two. And I wanna sleep, so don't kiss too loudly, okay?"
"Shut up!" We yelled at the same time.
Satisfied, Kit went to the same tent as Mismagious, leaving us alone to occupy the last one.
"I'm going to kill him" I said.
"Let's leave it be. For now, at least. Let's get inside our tent" She sighed.
The inside was bigger in the inside than I thought. It wasn't like the tents you could buy at the infamous Lilycove City Departament Store, but it would do for the night.
"We're gonna be a bit squeezed in here..." Ember said.
"I don't mind. It's not the first time I had to share a bed with someone. Though, it is the first time I share a bed with a Pokémon this large"
"Hey! What are you trying to say?" She giggled, nudging me.
Smiling, I laid down. I didn't know what I expected, but I felt a bit shocked when I felt the rough floor under me. Ember did the same, turning her back to me.
"You wouldn't believe what we found down there"
"What was it?"
"It was so bizzare! It was a weird room full of metal sticks of all shapes and sizes! I don't remember what Mismagious said it was though..."
"Metal sticks?"
"Yeah! I brought one if you want to check it out"
"Maybe tomorrow. I'm crushed, and we still need to walk all the way back!"
"True. Goodnight, Jake"
"Goodnight, Ember"
Everything was silent. Not even the sound of wind could be heard. It was peaceful. It took me back to when I went camping with my parents so long ago. A small tear fell from my eyes.
Who would think I'd end up like this? At least I am alive, which is enough already.
"Hey Ember. Just before you go to sleep, I wanted to tell you that I've had so much fun this past few days exploring with you. I can't thank you enough for coming with us. I couldn't imagine our team without you"
She softly laughed. "It's nothing. You guys are the ones that gave me a chance. I had fun exploring with you too. You are a good 'mon to have around as a teammate, Jake"
"Geez, thanks! You are also a good 'mon to have around"
"Come on, let's sleep now"
I yawned and decided to listen to Ember, letting myself slowly fall unconscious. At least it wasn't too cold, though Ember being a fire type and us being this cuddled together was probably the cause of that.
Nonetheless, it was very comfortable.
...
I woke up inside the tent, as good as new. It was just as if I never went exploring at all. I straightened myself and stretched.
"Good morning, Ember!"
...
No response.
"Ember?" I looked around and realized she was nowhere in sight.
"Pard? "
A small meow made me realize that who was next to me was not Ember, but Liepard.
"Wait, Liepard? What are you doing here?"
"Lie? " She said, before stirring and curling into a sleeping position again.
Alright, what's going on?
I exited the tent, and took notice of how it was a different color and shape.
I scanned my surroundings for a bit and I realized I was in a complete new location. Still in a forest, but a different one. It was a lot more thick than the one we were in, but it still was beautiful. I tried to walk, but I fell to the ground before I could move.
Did I just trip on myself? And why do my feet feel so different?
I examined myself, and found out that I had no longer the blue and black fur I had grown used to, but my regular, human skin. Of course, the reason I tripped was because my feet were back to being regular feet, and I wasn't used to it.
Alright, what's going on?
"Hey, honey! Looks like someone decided to finally wake up!"
"How did you sleep, buddy?"
I recognized those voices instantly. Standing up as fast as I could, I looked at their source and saw them. Those who had long been gone.
Mom and dad.
What...
Seeing my troubled expression, both of my parents frowned and got closer.
"What's wrong honey?"
"I-"
This is that time when we went camping last year, before they were called from work, isn't it? This-This has to be a dream, right?
Tears began to fall from my eyes. All the good times we had, everything we lived together. It was all coming back.
Without thinking, I ran towards them and hugged them as tight as I could, earning a pair of confused looks.
"Hey! What's wrong? You are pretty grown for doing this, you know?"
My mom punched my dad in the arm. "Shut up, James! Don't you see our boy needs a hug?"
My dad shrugged and joined in too. We spent what felt like hours hugging each other, something I couldn't do for a long time.
"I don't know what is going on with you, but just remember that whenever you need us, we'll be right with you"
I wanted to believe it. To just give up everything I had to spend just a day with them again. But as quick as they appeared, I felt my grip on them slowly fade.
"N-No! Don't leave me!"
Everything started melting and vanishing in front of my eyes. Then, I was alone in a black void, just as the dreams with that voice. Only my sobs could be heard.
"Please..."
Why? Why am I dreaming this? Is a normal night too much to ask?!
Footsteps. I looked in front of me and saw something slowly walk towards me from afar. It was a Lucario, but not just any Lucario. It was me. Those piercing crimson eyes looked at me with an expression of disgust, before walking away without saying a word.
"Hey! Wait!"
I got on my feet as fast as I could, and ran behind him, but he quickly vanished like everything else before.
"Are you content now?"
That voice. I whipped my head around and saw her. It was that girl.
"You wanted to remember things. Here you have them"
"Shut the fuck up! I didn't ask for any of this!"
"You didn't? Oh, that's right! You were too happy living your little second life with your friends that you forgot about your past!"
"I DIDN'T FORGET!"
I fell to my knees, panting. "D-Did I? I know I've been busy with all this exploring, but I didn't forget that I had to remember what I was doing there, right?"
The girl walked front of me with a smug grin. "You think that whatever happened to you made you forget, huh? If you really wanted to remember, you would have already done it"
"You-"
"Cut that out already! I'm not the one that pushed you!"
"What? Then who are you?"
"The form your brain chose to personify your little lost memories. And you are going to remember, whether you want to, or not"
"Of course I will!"
"Then quit bitching around and wake up! "
"Jake! Wake up!"
I slowly opened my eyes. Everything was blurry and dark and my eyes were wet, but I managed to identify the siluette of Ember shaking me awake.
"E-Ember?"
"Jake! Thank Arceus!"
"What happened?"
"You were shaking and crying while you were sleeping! You got me all worried!"
Everything I just went through rushed back to my mind. Was she right? Did I really not want to remember? Screw that. Why did I have to remember them all of a sudden?
I couldn't hold it any longer and began crying. Ember pulled me into a hug, which I happily accepted.
"What happened?"
"I-I had a dream. I saw my parents again. We were camping in Petalburg Woods, but-but then everything faded a-and the same girl that pushed me off told me that the reason I couldn't remember anything is because I didn't want to. And- And-"
"Hey, Jake! Calm down, alright? It was just a dream. It's over now. Don't worry, I'm here with you. Everything's fine. Just let it all out"
After some time of crying on Ember's shoulder, I broke the hug and sniffed. "Are you better now?" She asked.
"Yeah, a lot. T-Thanks. I will never be able to repay you for everything you've done for me. I- Just, thank you"
She smiled. "You are welcome, and you know I don't need, or even want anything. You being alright is all I need. Now how about we go back to sleep? You look like you need it"
I visibly tensed up at the thought of doing that. "I don't want to. I'm... scared of having that nightmare again. I'm such a coward..."
"Hey! You are not a coward! Everyone has nightmares bad enough to make them want to stay awake at night sometimes! All you need is to remember that if you need anything, I am literally less than an inch away from you"
I was still reluctant, and Ember knew it. She finally sighed. "Ugh, fine!" She yelled, before hugging me again and forcing me to lay down, still grabbing onto me.
"Not a word of this to Kit, understood?"
"O-Okay..." I stammered, my face all red.
I closed my eyes, wanting this day to finally end. Being hugged by Ember felt even warmer than sleeping next to her, but most importantly, it was comfortable.
"I think this was exactly what I needed"
"Shut up, please. Save the comments for when Kit can't hear us" Her face was also red.
I laughed.
I have been thinking about this since yesterday. Being around Ember is just everything I need to cheer up. It's literally the only thing that is going to let me sleep tonight. Could it really be? It... it has to be.
I think I love Ember.
Smiling, I fell asleep, feeling grateful for whatever God decided to give me a second chance at life.
END OF CHAPTER 9
I'm so proud of this chapter. It was originally going to have more, but I decided that this was enough and moved the rest to the next chapter.
Overall, I had a lot of fun writting this one. If someone noticed, some parts of this story were based on the COD MW2 mission 'Recon by fire'. You know, the lighthouse part? Yeah.
Anyway, if you liked or have any ideas or comments, don't forget to review, and see you on the next chapter, where I will have to search the recipe for tomato soup!
P.D.
Yes, Ember is now armed and dangerous.
: )
A.N. post rewrite
Another chapter done. This was so fun to remake, even if I didn't change a lot.
Also, exams are starting soon, so even slower progress.
See ya next time, and remember to leave a review. They make my day.