Chapter Twenty: The Metronome

Cle'fa'ery

Cle'fa'ery

Cle'fa'ery

Sapphire could hear the chanting pound against her soul - and with its pounding, she knew, she had a soul.

Still, there was no time to reconcile the feeling, the charge could not be stopped.

Al was sure they had found them, or that he had found them - Sapphire was sure they had found something. With no need for telepathy, Sapphire had been able to hear the arguing for what must have been more than a mile. Occasionally she had glanced to her right, and every time Oak had met her gaze, his eyes glazed over, his grin wide and effervescent, nodding, gesturing - with no need for telepathy, he had heard the arguing too.

But none of that mattered now. Now, the charge was upon them. Now Sapphire had a soul, and magic was in the air.

Oh, she had lived in Cerulean City long enough to hear a dozen rich-kid scholars, a hundred veteran drunks and a thousand self assured strangers, say what they had to say about Mt Moon. Oh, they all had something to say about that mountain, about the trenches and the quarries, the secrets and conspiracies, the monsters and myths that survived beneath the stone. Oh, even Hank had let these tales slip. Even her dreams had uttered the name Clefairy. Even she, unimportant as she was, knew of the metronome.

But none of them, none who had bragged or lectured or swore, none had actually known. None had seen the distant sparkle of starlight suddenly build to blinding flash. None had felt the heat spread and air push back, with such a pleasant scent, before a great explosion. None had found their sense of self to shift before a truth far older than they knew - before the truth of magic, silent as it should be.

Still silence was within her mind, or in her soul, but what were souls, and what was magic, when undeath and government had already proved themselves but things.

The pounding of her feet against the mud and leaves met with the pounding in her soul. And as the power of the metronome relented, she did not. Nor did the others.

Shouts and crashes returned in overwhelming chaos to overtake the fading of the fabled spell. Sapphire still struggled to make out much against the flickering blinding white and black. A gout of flame erupted to her right, huge and hot enough to crack the trees beside her. Gunshots began to go off. A surge of ethereal energy. Muffled cries, struggle, the ground exploding.

Sapphire continued to run, nearly crashing into a tree, her vision still clouded. Finally something distinct came into view, another gout of flame and several loud gunshots emerging from it, asserting its shape . Sapphire turned to face the form, an amber quadrapedal creature with some kind of mechanical rig attached to it. It was a Pokemon. Definitely. And not one on her side. She pushed her hands together and forced the dark energies her will controlled to weaponize. She fired a fresh and hungering void at the creature. Making contact, a still blurry distance erupted in shadow and pain.

Sapphire pumped her fist in celebration for whatever enemy she had devastated. Then the sound of cracking wood and yawning earth erupted next to her. Something hit her head. Darkness took her.

She did not dream.

She did not sleep.

But she could not wake.

In and out of silent, shadowy restraint she fought; she could feel her body being dragged, hear snippets of desperate conversation, sense the tense and uncertain pause in total war.

"Where is Crimson?!"

"I knew it."

"You gotta take us for real dumb to think you've got an agent of MOSO with you."

"Hide in the trees all you want. We saw you! We found you! I know we found you!"

"This is pointless, let's just kill them."

Sapphire finally felt the world stop spinning, the darkness totally receded, and her strength returned in full. Pulling herself up, her eyes met the violent consequences of the violent words she had just heard.

Professor Oak, gun raised and ready, stepped forward.

Within less than a second, Professor Oak was flung back, the dirt around where he was stood spraying out with impact.

As the old man hit the ground a dozen yards away, a voice punctuated "No."

A young man stood opposite, his arm held out, pointing towards Oak. "We can't just kill them."

Drex Dreagle entered the frame, "Jheez kid, will you…" his eyes met Sapphire's. "You're awake." Rushing over, he hesitated as he met her lying body, eventually helping her up. "You're awake. You're okay?"

Sapphire felt her parts, bones, organs, skin, come to terms with their pain as she pulled herself up. "Yeah, I'm alive."

Drex grinned, "One hell of a thing you've survived to see."

Sapphire took a deep breath and rubbed her eyes. "Is Al disguised as a kid in a sweater?"

Drex sighed before he was given reason.

A new voice sounded from the distance. "Al? And whats that short for? Alakazam? Just admit it before you kill us. Come out and show us we were right."

"You've got good ears," groaned Drex.

"I'm a Meowth, and an economist."

"Doing a lot of guess work for an economist."

"Economics is all guesswork!"

Drex began to step away and Sapphire followed him. The scene finally unfolded before her. They were stood in a quasi clearing of the woods, bullet holes and scorch marks making up the patch work of open space around them. A Meowth was tied to one of the nearby stumps. Oak was still struggling with the ground, one arm reaching for a bottle and the other for a gun. A young man, the one with powers she would have once not thought possible of a human, stood uncertain in the middle. Unconscious in a distant crater, an amber beast surrounded by shrapnel panted.

She was stood amongst the aftermath, and either Al was hiding, and Crimson too… or one of both had fallen… just as Brellia had.

Sapphire was glad Drex was still alive. She felt a near uncomfortable amount of comfort in his presence. How he had run to her. How he had helped her up. But he had not been there with her. He had to run over. Either he'd given up on her or he'd never cared. Or all this was bigger than both of them… none of it seemed very big right now. Not compared to the towers and lights of Cerulean City. This all seemed dirty and stupid and childish. Yet here she was… having followed the threads and promises and secrets to burnt out scrap of forest home to the insane.

"Just kill them," Oak grumbled from the dirt covered distance.

Before Drex could respond, Sapphire forced a surge of black magic to erupt from her hand. "Why aren't we just killing them? Who are they?"

The young man turned to face her. Drex hesitated, then he answered. "They think we're with the last Alakazam."

"These two?"

The young man stepped closer. "There were two others, A Pikachu from the Federal Advertising Commission, and a Parasect from MOSO."

Sapphire turned to Drex for a moment, who merely shrugged. She puffed her chest. "They're gone?"

"They're gone," the young man replied.

"And Crimson?" she looked over at Drex.

"He's gone," Drex replied.

For a moment Sapphire saw Brellia, she saw her flesh turning to black ooze and vaporising shadow. She saw her eyes; she saw the shape of her mouth as he spoke; she saw her saving her, and dying without regret for what she had sacrificed.

Sapphire felt her jaw clench. "I await allies… or annihilation…" she murmured.

Drex cocked an eyebrow, "What?"

Sapphire dug a foot into the mud. "Where is Al? He's here. He's hiding. He's told you not to kill these two but not how to deal with them."

The young man clenched his fists. "I'm not sure who you are but-"

The sound of a gun cocking echoed through the clearing. The gun fired. Wood splintered and rope split.

Oak stood, all that remained of the shot, a smoking barrel. The stump stood, all that remained of the Meowth, a blood stain and the distant patter of desperate paws.

She froze. They all froze. Other than the Meowth who continued to flee until his fleeing was past senses. Still no one said anything. Until the silence once echoes once sound settled in Sapphire's mind, as the darkness beyond the site where the Meowth had been yawned with all the devil's malevolence, as the reality of the idiocy infected the parody of the scene until all that remained was agony, forced her to scream.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Sapphire exclaimed in general. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" she demanded, turning to face Oak specifically. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" she repeated, glancing at the young man, opening up the floor.

Oak stammered but said nothing, checking his gun as if to imply all this was its fault.

The young man went rigid. "He's- He's drunk."

Sapphire felt her rage receive a promotion. "THAT'S NOT AN EXCUSE!"

The young man had no reply.

Oak spoke, still looking away from the confrontation. "We should probably go after him."

"Oh go fuck yourself!" spat Sapphire. "Al, come the fuck out Al, I don't know why you've decided to hide this whole time, but it's time to come out if you're not dead." She looked around her, but she did not find Alakazam; instead, she found another silent actor. Worse than that. Drex hadt'y just been silent, he was sitting down. "And you! YOU! WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU WHEN DRUNK UNCLE IDIOT AIMED AT OUR ONLY PRISONER?!"

Oak spluttered a response at the end of a drink. "There's also the unconscious Growlithe. Or maybe they're dead-"

"Shut up!" snapped Sapphire. "Oi! Get up!" she shouted, stomping towards Drex, who was still sat and unresponsive. "Drex!"

But Dex Dreagle was not being lazy or cowardly. He was slumped over, his eyes glazed, limbs twitching.

Horror filled her spirit and rushed its way into her stomach. She grabbed his shoulders, horror grabbed her intestines. She shook him, horror shook her, He did not respond, She did. "Drex! Drex wake up!"

The Farfetch'd garbled something through a swollen and foaming throat.

He was struggling to breathe. Sapphire cradled his head.

"Al, if you let Drex Finnius Dreagle die I will walk back to Cerulean City, show up to work, and tell Hank you are still alive. Or I'll go to the police. Or I'll…" she turned to the young man who was still rigid with anxiety. "...him, the psychic boy. I'll blow him up!"

Before she began to engage her powers, which she was very much about to do, a soft breeze saturated with aggressive calm blew from the canopy. Sapphire found herself at the while of the wind, her rage lessening, if not her reasons to rage. Finally, in the wake of the wind and then the confeti of leaves that followed, a form descended from the canopy. It was Alakazam.

Sapphire tried to force herself to scream at him, but with a glance the enchanted calm was reinforced and she sat upon the ground. Oak was also sat. They smiled at each other, minds muddied.

The young man seemed unaffected.

Alakazam glided to the ground. With a gesture he moved Sapphire away from Drex. All remained silent but for Drex Dreagles struggled breathing. Alakazam placed a hand on his head. He winced.

"He is infected," said Alakazam, eventually.

Feeling her body moved by invisible forces and her mind clouded by alien intentions, Sapphire's rage only built. Finally, as Alakazam spoke the word 'infected' her rage built strong enough to break her free from this daft psychic prison. "Infected from what?"

Alakazam looked over at her, one eye brow cocked. "You have impressive will."

"You have impressive shamelessness." Turning to look at the young man, Sapphire stood. "And you, why aren;t you saying anything?"

"This is all a lot," spat the young man.

"I saw you throw him like ten yards with your mind and from context know you survived with them for like two hours on pure wits."

"Well maybe I'm out of wits!"

Sapphire groaned loudly, black sparks crowning her flesh. "Infected with what?"

Alakazam seemed totally unaffected by the surrounding conflict. He was focused on Drex like a doctor, or a taxidermist. "He is infected by the parasite."

Sapphire stepped closer. "What parasite."

"The Parasite. I can suppress it, but I cannot remove it. This will kill him, if his lifestyle does not kill him first."

Sapphire felt her rage bludgeoned by fear. "What?"

The young man stepped forward. "Suppress it. We need to know what happened to Crimson."

Alakazam's eyes and hands began to glow. "They arrived… They planned to arrive by The Metronome. It must have sent Crimson elsewhere."

Drex's breathing began to clear.

Oak laughed loudly from his drunken perch.

Both Sapphire and the young man turned to face him.

"What?!" snapped the young man first.

Oak took a long swig. "Drex went to the mountain witch for help, and she helped… she helped get him to us just in time for him to get infected, and for the kid to get sacrificed."

Sapphire rushed towards Oak. "Sacrificed?!"

The young man rushed towards Alakazam. "What is he talking about?"

Drex erupted into consciousness with a loud and fathomless breath. Alakazam gave him some space. The scandal stopped for a moment as Drex returned to himself.

"First of all…" said Drex, still claiming victory over his body. "First of all… the term witch is old war propaganda… and hearing you say that only gives me more questions… I mean…" Drex tried to stand but was forced down by his condition. "I mean, me and you should really talk anyways. I've been itching like dry skin under perfume- like naked legs on a nature hike- like an opioid addict covered in jam coming clean on an ant hill after having an allergic reaction to something that makes 'em real itchy-"

"Enough, Dreagle," demanded Alakazam.

Sapphire wanted to rush over and hug the Farfetch'd, but she stopped herself.

"The truth remains you went to the Clefairy for help."

Drex dusted himself off and stood. "And where did Brellia go for help? Matter of fact where the fuck is Brellia?"

Oak spat a mouthful of whiskey onto the ground and turned away. Alakazam looked at each person and then looked away. The young man looked at Alakazam, then Sapphire, then back to Alakazam then back to Sapphire.

The young man broke the silence. "She was with you," he stated, his intention pointed at Sapphire. "She's scouting or scavenging, right?" He looked back at each person present. "She-" He took in the moment with quiet devastating grace. "She's dead, isn't she?"

No one had the courage to say anything, no until Sapphire saw her dying face in her mind and stepped towards him. "I was there…when it happened."

The young man took a deep breath, his face adding to the pile of trauma in his soul. "And Crimson, The Metronome sent him somewhere? Where else would it send him?"

Alakazam, who was inspecting the tree where the Meowth was once tied, spoke. "If his mind was fixed to something, and his will strong enough, he may have sent himself somewhere."

Oak finished his bottle and tossed it aside. "It was me. I did it."

"What?"

"My speeches," slurred Oak, rummaging in his pack for another bottle. "Johto Province, he's gone to Johto Province. The Pikachu too probably."

Sapphire drew closer, "What do you mean the Pikachu too?"

Oak pulled out a new bottle and pulled out the cork. "They're connected, I guess, now, whatever. He-" Oak pointed at Drex, "He messed with the witches, now we're all tangled up with magic, for the rest of it, that's it-" he took a swig, "We're tangled. They've gone to Johto. They've gone together, wherever they've gone."

Drex turned away, "Why is this guy even here?!"

The young man raised his arm at Oak threateningly, "Be quiet, or I'll make you be quiet."

Alakazam, a drop of blood drawn from the tree, falling from his finger, spoke. "He is right."

Sapphire rubbed her brow. "What?"

"We are a party of similar or singular intent, and one of us has employed the power of The Metronome to aid our goal. Our reality from here forward shall not be the same, not until the party, or its goal is ended, success or fail." Alakazam stared at the small pool the drop of blood had joined. "Or something akin to this. Drex knows."

Drex Dreagle scoffed, "I know that psychics are elitist about their ability to manipulate reality."

Alakazam turned to face them all. "No. I can influence your thoughts, manipulate matter with my mind. But powers such as The Metronome, they do not make manifest a single will, they wish, the call on something outside ourselves, they plead for power from powers we do not understand. And those powers once embraced… are loathed to relinquish that embrace."

Oak coughed through a laugh full of whiskey. "What he said."

Sapphire had little room to absorb this amongst her desperate need to create a plan. "As cute as it is to see the drunken revenant and the cowardly rarity riffing, how does this help us come up with a next step?"

Alakazam all but rolled his eyes. "We must consider going to Johto Province."

Drex called from the distance where he had tied up the unconscious Growlithe. "After we interrogate this one. And you talk to me about this infection."

Oak swallowed some whiskey and smiled, "Johto, we have to go to Johto, and to The Unknown."

Sapphire cocked an eyebrow, "What?"