Pain.
A sign from the nerves warning the body that something is amiss, something is wrong. At times minor; a dull stab, a pounding headache or a paper cut, a scrape.
Normally. Then there's the other kind.
The excruciating kind. Even worse than after getting out of surgery, or getting an arrow pulled out of the calf. Something more akin to getting tortured than being in pain.
Riven's nerves cried out, firing out signals of damage in waves of electricity, bombarding his brain. He screamed as the bright light of the attack met with his skin, its rays like an injection of pure poison. Cells burst open and died as the energy washed over him, destroying him slowly. Was this what pokemon felt when they were hit by a move that exploited their weaknesses? Unrestrained attacks-
Hurts…
More pained gasping. Dying… The light blinded him, rendering his vision useless. He coughed up blood. The bed he was laying on became moist with it, the sheets stained dark.
Couldn't struggle. Couldn't fight.
Anger dulled the pain as he grit bloodied teeth together, screams turning into pained grunts and growls. Deep inside, something reached out.
Useless.
Worthless.
Pathetic.
Why don't you just die…?
Can't… Have to… fulfill… find purpose…
Do you want to live, Cerul?
I-I…
Do you? Or do you not?
Yes…
What would you do to live? How far would you go?
Do anything… can't die yet. Things to do.
You would do anything?Anything?
Just… make it stop. Don't care how.
That's the desperate little boy I know. Shh… just relax.
As the darkness of sleep crawled in, and his breaking body began to fail, he saw a sky of white among a sea of shadows; in the middle stood a figure that looked like himself, blending in with the ground, a shadow as black as night with a familiar wicked smile, flashing rows of pointed teeth. The glint in its eye a deep red, followed by deranged cackling.
I'll make it all go away.
Miles away, a pair of crimson blades stirred.
Nera and Isole winced, eyes blinded by the luminosity of the Gardevoir's attack. They had to shield their eyes from the sheer intensity. If only they could do the same to their ears and block out the blood curling screams. If only. Riven was in agony. Pure agony. Fairy attacks were extremely destructive to dark types, and every one of the cells in his body was susceptible; it probably felt like he was getting torn inside out. And judging by the light and the screams, Ieia was anything but gentle.
I don't want you to suffer, Nera lamented, listening to the sounds of pain. But this is the only way I can bring it out. You wouldn't believe me if I told you.
There's no way he would have, not with the contempt he still held for her. It wasn't just the fact that he was here against his will; no, it was something older. Hatred for what she was and what her people did. She could see it in those eyes of his, pure unbridled hostility. But for some reason he tried his best to hold it back. The feeling was probably irrational to him... Would be to anyone really, if they were feeling something that didn't quite seem like- well…them.
When another round of screaming broke out, Kai burst into the room, blade in hand and absolutely furious. Razor sharp steel sang through the air, stopping near the base of Nera's neck- close enough to end her with one swift strike. Nera didn't move a single muscle, in fact, she fully expected Kai to kill her. Whether he'd do it in front of Isole was something that remained to be seen.
"What. Are. You. Doing?" Kai snapped venomously. "Why are you torturing him?" The blade dug a little deeper into Nera's skin, drawing a tiny amount of blood. "Answer me!"
"I'm showing him what he is, or what he will be," she replied. "I told you about the dangers his kind presented and now that he's awakened those abilities, I have to make sure-"
"Make sure of what? That you can control him like you do everything else?" Kai hissed. "Stop lying through your teeth. Stop your pokemon before I do." He held out a pokeball, enlarging it with a tap. "He may not have pokemon to defend himself with, but you will find no such fault with me. I can assure you that mine are no weaklings."
Isole tried to move, but one soul piercing glare rooted her in place.
"Don't even think about it, Isole, stay where you are or I will kill her." He warned. "I'll say it one last time, stop your pokemon."
"I-I can't…" Nera shook her head. "He has to know."
"He's going to die! How can you ignore his screaming? He's in pain, every part of his body is being destroyed by your Gardevoir and you dare call this a lesson? That boy's suffered enough! Let him go!" Kai roared.
"Sorry," she whispered. "It has to be done."
Kai's rage boiled in silence, stronger than ever, his anger intoxicating, even invigorating. It was like he was drunk on it, amplified by god knows what. A voice slithered inside of his mind; old, bitter feelings constricted his rational judgement, wrapping around his heart like a vice, reopening wounds he'd ignored for all this time…
Do it. End her for all the times she's wronged you. She took her away, are you going to let that go?
Gritting his teeth, he pulled the blade away from her throat, gripped it with both hands, about to slash down-
Her Gardevoir flinched, and in that split second the screaming all but ceased, replaced by guttural growling. The air became heavy, twisting the atmosphere in the room to something truly nightmarish. Pure, raw emotion. Hatred. Anger. Sadness. Pain.
Light faded, and the room darkened.
Nera's eyes widened as hers met contact with Riven's. Tears of blood ran down his face as he stared back at her; his right eye a sinister red. A wicked smile stretched across his face, flashing bloody teeth.
She froze, paralyzed in fear. I can't move… Took a panicked glance at the others, who were in similar states of fear, even Kai, who held the blade up, not daring to move. Legs began to tremble, hair rising on the back of the neck.
Growling, then laughter.
Oh, shit. Gathering her strength, Nera screamed."Everyone, get down!"
Steel chains snapped and darkness surged forth, a wave of shadows engulfing part of the room. Ieia retreated backward, materializing a protective barrier as the darkness collided against it, robbing the room of natural light. The Gardevoir's protect held steady against the blast.
That is until she saw the glowing red eye in the dark. The dark's influence interfered with her concentration and the barrier weakened momentarily. Something slammed into it, the force of the blow startling for something usually so… fragile.
Claws of darkness clashed with the energy of the barrier, sending a shower of sparks and light, only for them to be uselessly absorbed by the absence of light around them. Ieia struggled to protect her master and the others as the claws latched onto the barrier, applying pressure she hadn't ever experienced from a human. No human should have possessed such strength. Nor could have. Humans weren't pokemon, they were weak… they shouldn't have this much power. Her master seemed- no, felt oddly similar to him, but she never saw anything quite like this from her.
Claws clenched inward, digging pointed tips into the sphere, pulling and tearing as cracks spreading throughout its entirety.
The defensive barrier screeched with sparks and sound as it was pulled apart at the seams. The Gardevoir focused hard, trying to reinforce the sphere where it faltered, but it was like fighting a tidal wave. Protect was taxing to keep up for long- for any pokemon, not just for psychics- and something kept interfering with her mind, the only thing stopping her from going insane being the fairy part of her that resisted the dark's influence.
She glanced back, and saw the petrified look in her master's face.
The protect shattered into pieces as a monstrous howl pierced the air, black claws ripping apart the barrier into shards of hardened green light, clattering uselessly to the floor. The Gardevoir stumbled back and was unable to react as a night slash cut across her chest, the pain causing her to flinch and lose focus. A hand gripped her throat and slammed her against the wall with enough power to crack and splinter, squeezing down on her windpipe. The Gardevoir twitched as the human turned beast prevented her from breathing with a strength that rivaled a Machamp. Tears welled up in her eyes from the pressure, vision blurring as the pokemon began to lose consciousness.
"Riven, stop!" Kai demanded, willing his limbs to move.
A blade swung down, slicing into the humanoid form of whatever it was Riven had turned into. Blood splattered onto the ground, but the dark figure hardly budged. Nera's Gardevoir slumped back to the ground unconsciously, spared of a horrible death and a jarring snap of the neck.
Kai's knees felt weak as he stood his ground, watching Riven turn his attention to him, the aura of the room interfering with his ability to think.
Breathe, don't let it affect you. Calm, the dark only plays with your insecurities and fear. Don't let it in. I almost did back there, I can't let it in again. Life of the world protect me…Wrapping himself in ki, his thoughts cleared. He grimaced. Dark aura. Why does he have a dark aura?
An ability only found in one other pokemon he'd ever heard about, an ability that supposedly only belonged to the most wicked of creatures- at least according to old Kalosian folk tales. It drove people mad, sending them into a frenzy, or paralyzing man and pokemon with bone chilling fear. And what it did to psychics… even more worrying. Given what he knew about what regular dark attacks did to psychics- not good. Not good at all. Multiply that by two and you had what a dark aura pokemon could do, with the added insanity of psychics going berserk.
And that was just a pokemon. Dark aura human with deep psychological trauma and severe distrust of others? You could all but hear the catastrophe.
Gripping the blade with both hands, Kai shakily faced Riven. He contemplated what to say, but nothing seemed to be particularly effective in any scenario he could come up with. Basics, first- calm him down. If I can. "Calm down, Riven. This isn't you."
The figure regarded him for a second, not bothering with anything but a guttural chuckle. It flexed a claw, then smiled, flashing sharp teeth.
Kai had only a second to react when Riven disappeared in a silhouette of shadows, appearing behind him. Spinning on his heel, the sword clashed with the claws, but did nothing to dissipate the force behind the hit. Kai was driven back towards the balcony, pushed a solid five feet back.
Attacked me from the back… just like a dark type would. Pursuit. He can do that already?
Riven advanced again.
No time, fight first.
Claws met with steel once again. Kai ducked low, evading a swipe, flipping the sword in his hands and slicing upwards, drawing blood once more. Riven didn't flinch, laughing as a kick collided with Kai's chest, knocking the air clear out of his lungs. He seemed to think about what do next, hunching shoulders as if shrugging.
Lunging forward to deliver the finishing blow, his hand was stopped by a pillar of ice, trapping his arm and left leg, spreading upwards across his torso.
"Kai, let out your pokemon!" Isole cried, throwing a pokeball outwards from her belt. Nodding weakly, Kai threw his own, two flashes of light illuminating the room behind Riven. He snapped out of the ice in time to block a bladed blue wing, his attacker staring back at him with regal disinterest. The Empoleon followed with another swing, wing glowing a frosty white, an icy shockwave cutting forth through the air.
The slash of freezing wind froze anything along its arc, forming crystals of ice along the walls and parts of the furniture, as well as locking part of Riven's body in place. A stream of explosive bubbles sent him crashing into a nearby drawer, smashing it to pieces. Snapping like a feral beast, he retaliated, slashing at the water type with viciously pointed claws, attempting to tear into its steel like hide.
The Empoleon fought back, icy shockwaves slowing its attacker just enough for it to miss the aura sphere that collided with its sternum.
Riven recoiled, grunting.
A Mienshao jumped out from behind the water type, using its fur like whips and legs to drive Riven back with low sweeps and drain punches. Covered in bits and pieces of blackened ice, Riven assumed a stance, fighting not like a pokemon, but like a human, exchanging blows with claws and feet- all practiced blocks and counterattacks.
Not sloppy, enraged, nor reckless like an enraged pokemon would be. Controlled.
So it still retains some of Riven's training… It knows what it's doing. A pokemon's abilities, and a human's tact. A mighty combination. Is this what Nera and the others can do as well? Kai observed, still recovering from the kick. Backing away next to Nera and Isole behind the doorway, they hid in the corridor outside of the room, hearing the clashing of claws, blades, and feet.
Kai flinched as he heard the large mirror in the room get utterly demolished by a bubble beam. The same ornate mirror he'd won in a battle against a Duke in the Battle Chateau a few years back. He didn't have to guess the extent of damage, the sound of the struggle was just enough to let him fill in the blanks. The room- his guest room- was absolutely trashed with icicles, broken furniture, blood, and claw marks.
I suppose it can't get any worse, he thought depressingly.
His Mienshao proved him wrong as it crashed through the bed, the metal supports of the frame caving in like toothpicks. Then it kicked off a dresser for momentum and broke that too.
He sighed.
Looked at Nera, hurting a little too much to be enraged at this point. "I hope you brought money, and a cover story for the police," he said flatly. "How else would you explain-" Gestured to the furniture graveyard in the room. "-this?"
Nera swallowed and nodded. "I'll, uh, think of something?"
Kai scowled. "I had a certain affinity for that bed. And the mirror. And that dresser. When this is over, you are leaving my house."
"Agreed," she said blankly as Isole's Empolean flew through the doorway, into the wall, shot back up and most likely-
Smash.
Froze another part of the room again.
"Just think about calming things… calming things," Kai repeated.
"How is she doing?" Isole asked, taking a quick peek inside the mayhem of the room before turning her attention back to the others, staring at the unconscious Gardevoir laying next to Nera. There was a gash along her torso from the night slash, not deep enough to be fatal thanks to the resistance being part fairy gave her, thankfully, but it was a nasty wound.
"She won't die at this rate but I can't tend her wounds here, especially not with that thing still loose. Can't return her either, pokeball is in there. What about your pokemon? They won't be able to hold him long without killing him, or he kills them. We need to do something-" She was cut off as a howling sound came from within, and a pit formed in her stomach.
All three of them peeked inward to see Riven holding up a single finger, a ball of wicked purple energy condensing at the tip, howling as energy collected into a point. Isole's Empoleon kneeled on the floor, cuts and claw wounds all over its hide.
Kai's Mienshao jumped in to protect it, forming a sphere of blue energy in its palm, a desperate attempt to minimize damage. Both pokemon were near the edge of the room, just a mere foot from the balcony. Behind them was a clear view of the outside, an apartment complex within sight. A hit from a dark pulse probably couldn't kill either of the two pokemon, considering their respective levels, but collateral damage was entirely possible. Which would lead to the question of why a human and not a pokemon caused this.
So basically, a PSCFEP.
Politico-scientific clusterfuck of epic proportions.
But Nera and the others could worry about that later, they had to focus on the two high powered attacks just about ready erase everything within twenty feet.
Every trainer knew what happened every time two attacks like that clashed. Pain, an almost endemic case of sudden onset of defecation within pants, and force. Lots of it. In stadiums, the field was open, and there wasn't anything to damage. Same with pokemon gyms. A guestroom? Just a tiny bit different. Tiny being the defining word.
Muscles flexed and the attacks roared forward.
The collision point produced a concussive explosion that decimated what little furniture was left in the room, shattering windows and cracking walls. The resulting energy wave surged. If that hit the rest of the house, then the ceiling would probably cave in…Which would probably give Kai depression, and then every department store in Kalos would find itself without green tea for weeks.
Nera winced. Well that's a terrible thought. A man drinking himself to death, on green tea. If that wasn't soul crushing, she didn't know what was.
Can't be helped.
She reached within herself, raising warmth as the fire within came to life, flowing inward and out, igniting the once cold air into a plume of fire. Hands shaped it, forming a sphere of it.
Protect me and mine.
The energy wave slammed into the fire shield, strong but unable to shatter it completely. Isole and Kai's pokemon weren't so fortunate though. The Mienshao was knocked into the Empoleon from the force of the explosion, tearing off the balcony's guard rail as the two pokemon plummeted to the street below. She was startled when the wall adjacent to them shattered into bits as Riven's shadow covered body smashed right through it and into the walls of the hallway.
He picked himself up sluggishly. Tattered remnants of clothes could be seen on him, frozen in some parts, and bloodied in others. Shadows waned, smaller than before. His body showed signs of cold burns, cuts, and bruises. It was amazing he was still standing.
"Rose…" He growled, shadows growing once again. Disappeared behind Nera, ready to take back revenge, to spill Rosan blood. Revel in the satisfaction, just like he should, something that should never be held back.
But instead of the terrified look of helplessness he expected, he was met with a ki laced sword. The blade seemed to cut into his face, not drawing blood but enough to break his attack.
"Pursuit is predictable, creature. That trick has run its course," Kai stated calmly. Two more slashes followed, one horizontally across the chest and the other a diagonal overhead swing that went from the left collarbone down to the right oblique muscles. The ki prevented the blade from cutting, but did not diminish the pain of feeling like he had been cut. "You're not Riven going berserk. You're intelligent. Who- what- are you?"
Riven's form staggered back, single red eye dully watching him. "Not my enemy…" he ground out. "Move." Stepping forward, he thrust a fist downward, a rising wave of darkness erupting out of the floor at Kai.
What!? That's not a pokemon move! Kai panicked, trying to block with his blade while forming a protective aura of ki around his body. The blade did little to stop the surge and the attack barreled into him, shattering the protection effortlessly. He was sent skidding along the floor into the living room, unconscious on the ground, a blackened wound on his chest.
Upon seeing this, Isole charged at Riven without a second thought. Trying to kick her away, she grabbed his foot, twisting with Riven's own momentum to knock him off balance and smash his body against the wall. Freezing part of his body to the wall, she reinforced her hands with knuckles of ice, hammering blistering cold strikes into his face and ribs.
Anger took over as she formed a spear of ice in her hand and impaled the wall where Riven's head had been, who'd broken the ice in time to avoid an… inconvenient stabbing. Launching more spears of ice, they fought in the narrowness of the corridor.
Her opponent was stronger than her. Dark types were amazing physical fighters, but fairly fragile when hit. Ice types were excellent offensively, but even worse defensively. But there was one thing she could do. Ice impedes movement, creates walls. Maybe I can't go toe to toe with you, but I can cut you off, make you predictable.
Riven bounced off the wall, claws coming down in a cross slash. Isole sidestepped, turned and ducked, coming behind him. An icy gale froze the sole of his foot to the ground. He spun around, right arm first, a night slash raking across the walls. Flipping over the attack, she froze hands and his other foot in a column of ice. Growing tired from the strain of using her abilities, Isole lowered the temperature of the room, the humidity and density of water molecules in the air aiding her. Freezing the air solid, she encased Riven in a cocoon of crystalline water.
"Nera, are you fine?" She asked, turning her back.
The redhead nodded. "I am, but you're wearing yourself out. Too much usage of your abilities and-"
"I know. But it's over now, he couldn't get out of that if he-"
Ice splintered and cracked. Isole slowly turned back around, dumbstruck.
"-Tried."
The cocoon shattered to pieces, revealing an extremely irritated Riven. His hair was frosted, cheeks pink from the cold, and he was trembling. But that single red eye remained.
Still not himself? "Fuck." Isole readied herself again.
She blocked another kick, backing away to regain her footing. The force of it was even greater than last time, power seeming to increase the more desperate he got. Isole tried to lock him in place again, but he'd learned from last time, evading instead of attacking, getting dangerously too close. She couldn't back away when he kicked her in the stomach and blasted her with a palm of dark energy. Slumping against the wall, blood and spit trickled out of her mouth, trying to breathe.
Riven jumped at her, about to claw into her skull until searing pain raced through his arm- the result of a barrage of embers blistering and burning his skin. Nera had joined in, driving him back, firing waves of flame into the narrow hallway. The attacks kept him at bay enough for Isole to recover somewhat. Nera looked at her, silently asking for the OK. The injured ice specialist nodded, breathing deep.
Fire and ice sang forward, opposing typings working in tandem to defeat a common enemy.
Pushed further and further back, the shadowed figure roared, a dark pulse charging in Riven's mouth.
"He can do that?!" Isole paled.
"Now you see what I mean?" Nera said. "And he's an inexperienced one. Imagine a stronger one than this."
"Sure, I'll do that once a dark pulse isn't aimed at us!" Isole replied shrewdly. "It's coming!"
Raising a wall of ice, Isole and Nera stood behind it, blown back once the attack shattered it uselessly. Cut by pieces of the icy shrapnel, the two women struggled to stand up. But he was still advancing, intent on killing Nera- or hell, even both of them- despite the multitude of wounds littering his body.
Trudging forward, he stood over Nera, stepping on her forearms to restrict her movement. And steadied, coldly charging another dark pulse down at her, finger mere inches away from his face. Point blank. A vicious grin crept onto his face.
Then something gripped his leg. Looking down, he saw a green hand holding onto his leg. A pair of exhausted red eyes looked back at him from below. The Gardevoir lay on the floor, holding a green palm outward, glowing a radiant pink.
Get away from my master, she whispered, as light gleamed.
When light faded, Riven lay motionless on the floor.
The two women let out a huge sigh of relief.
"My god… how is something like that even possible?" Isole asked breathlessly. She held a hand over her chest, heart still racing.
"We tried finding out for years," Nera replied, stumbling into the room, searching through the debris for Ieia's pokeball. "When we finally found out… well- it's not going to be easy breaking it to him."
"You want to tell him?" Isole sputtered. "After what you saw him do? I don't think that's even microscopically a good idea." Not to mention it was downright batshit insane. I'm still trembling. I've never felt that much fear in my life. And when Kai- "Kai!"
She rushed over to him, inspecting his wounds.
Nera rolled her eyes. "Now she remembers."
The door to the house opened, and Cormac stepped in.
"Hey, I just finished making sure nothing would explode while I'm gone. Everything is nice and peachy outside. Did I happen to miss any- Holy. Fuck. What in the devil's ass happened here?"
"Nothing interesting," Nera snorted, breaking into a fit of giggles. "Can you go back outside and look for an Empoleon and a Mienshao? I assume they're unconscious out on the street. They did get blasted off of a balcony. Their pokeballs are over there in the room."
Cormac surveyed the damages, then eyed her like a Beedrill. "I'll go clear out the nearest store of green tea while I'm at it," he deadpanned. "I'm starting to wonder if all this weird shit is worth the white hairs…"
Nera lay flat against the floor, giggling.
Riven groggily awoke on a couch, feeling four pairs of eyes on him. He tried to move when a green palm and a stern pair of red eyes held him down. The Gardevoir, Ieia, or something. I can at least remember her, everything else is fuzzy at best. Hard not to forget the face of something that nearly murdered him. So why is she healing me now?
"Awake yet?" Nera asked, red eyebrow raised.
"Feel like shit," Riven replied, blinking. "It's cold in here."
"You were partially frostbitten," Isole corrected. "Your body is still at a lower body temperature than normal, I did freeze you about five different times."
"Oh."
Isole waited.
"Wait, what?"
"You don't really remember anything do you?" Nera inquired, flashing a small light into his pupils.
"Too bright," he grunted, closing his eyes. "No- stop. Get it away."
"Hmmm… Increased sensitivity to light… amnesia…"
"What are you, a doctor?"
"No."
"Then what's the point of this?"
"Sympt- You know what, just be quiet and sit still."
Riven bit his cheek and peeked out from behind the Gardevoir to see the absolutely trashed hallway and strewn bits of debris scattered just about everywhere. The floor had been cracked and ripped up, and there was a hole in the wall near his room. Along with several, branching cracks along the walls. "What happened in here?"
"You did," Cormac said, helping Kai with his bandage. "Went on a bloody rampage and everything went to shit. Because of you, Kai's going to be living on a lifetime of green tea. He collapsed after seeing his house. Well… what's left of it. Hence the unconsciousness. I've heard of people getting PTSD during accidents but I think you broke this man's poor spirit."
Riven winced. "Green tea."
"Yes."
"Oh god, what have I done? Tell him I'm sorry. Wait, what am I saying?" Riven pointed a finger at Nera. "This is your fault."
"Pointing fingers is a little rude," she said flatly.
"So is nearly killing someone to prove something. And I don't even remember what that something is. Or was. Yet. What I do remember is what happened before that. You ever feel like someone cut, drowned, stabbed, strangled you, then flayed you alive? Because that's how it felt. I think I deserve, even if just for a little bit, the right to point fingers. And I will point fingers, enthusiastically so."
He now pointed two fingers.
"He's got a point," Cormac shrugged. "Get it?"
"Die," Riven deadpanned.
"Sorry, I had to do it."
Isole gave him a look.
"What? That bad?"
"Cormac?"
"Yes, my beautifully sculpted glacier?"
"Shut up."
He frowned.
"To be fair, you nearly killed us too," Nera reminded, shaking her head disapprovingly at Cormac's idiocy. "If Kai didn't study ki manipulation in Johto, that attack would have blown a hole through his chest. If Ieia hadn't knocked you out, you'd have killed both me and Isole. Not to mention you also injured both her and Kai's pokemon. Dark pulse'd them off a balcony."
"I fought against pokemon? Yours?" Riven asked, incredulous. "But how? I'm not covered in lacerations or anything. Think I'd be a little more roughed up than this. They weren't Skitty, right?"
"Look at your clothes," Nera pointed out, and waited. He was intelligent, he'd figure it out.
"What does that have anything to-" He noted the fabric and the colors. "This shirt is green. I hate green. I wasn't wearing these before this."
"No, you weren't. Your old clothes were so tattered, blood soaked, and frozen that we had to get rid of them all together. Your body healed itself remarkably fast. Your wallet though... might take some time."
Riven twitched.
"Heal pulse only helped it clear up the scars and reverse the frostbite. Ieia didn't want to heal you after you almost crushed her neck, so you should thank her. Otherwise you'd have lost your limbs."
The Gardevoir eyed him in stern expectation.
"Thanks…?" He said. She looked smugly pleased, in a way that reminded him all too much of a certain irritable Absol. "So it was just like in Petalburg. I got stabbed and somehow survived. Then my ribs and face healed within a day," he recalled. But how bad was it this time? My body aches all over, but there isn't much pain. I should ask. "How messed up?"
"Six I guess," Nera said simply.
Riven raised an eyebrow. "A little low. You would think dying gives me some more- I don't know, dying points? Not even an eight?"
"You didn't let me finish. By six I meant six feet below the earth, probably getting decomposed by bacteria, and on your way to the afterlife or whatever it is you believe in," she clarified. "I think you and I can both agree that translates to well beyond screwed."
"Point taken."
"Jokes aside, wounds like that would have killed a regular person a long time ago. But we're not regular people. And the state you were in, it's unlikely that anything short of a stab to the brain or a hyper beam to the face would kill you. Which Isole almost did, if you hadn't dodged."
"It's coming back to me slowly," he admitted, opening and closing a fist. "Same with what I was feeling at the time too."
"Did it feel alien?" Nera asked. "Like it wasn't you?"
"No- it didn't. And that's the frightening part. I was about to snap Ieia's neck and feel good about it. I guess part of it was just self defense after almost dying, but it was darker than that. More sinister."
"I expected as much," she said soberly. "Just like the others in the reports…"
"You've seen this before," Riven pounced. But where? And more importantly, how? There shouldn't be any others like me running around. Most of them were dead already.
"Prisoners of war," she answered simply. Riven stared back at her in steely silence. "I'm sor-"
"You don't have to apologize. It's meaningless," he said. "I'm not surprised you probably did your… experiments on them." On a human, that's a fancy way of saying torture. "After all, your kind couldn't get any more depraved if they wanted to. You did already kill innocent civilians, children too. While a truce was supposed to be underway. Your father doing shit like that… I'm not surprised at all. In fact, I fully expected it. But that's done with. What's left is what you learned. You didn't watch, did you?"
"No! Of course not! I read reports, books. I may be a little determined to get what I want, but I'm not sadistic or cruel." Even if sometimes you need to be.
Riven snorted.
"I didn't want to hear the screaming," she continued. "So I read about their findings. Years of reports, experiments, findings, notes. Luckily there were no pictures or gruesome details. It was kind of like reading a scientific paper from today, only far less… ethical."
"Fond of understatements too, I see. By any chance, did you happen to read the reports about the women you captured? A lot of them fought in the army. Some of them got caught."
Nera remained deathly silent. Isole paled.
"Oh shit," Cormac muttered under his breath.
Riven shoved silent fury back down into his mind. "Let me guess, there weren't any, were there?"
Nera swallowed, and shook her head. "There were talks of children of fire… tainted by dark blood. The torturers were… frustrated men. Who knows how many times those women…"
"Figures," Riven laughed, holding back a snarl. He breathed in deep, calming himself. "But who am I to talk about who's morally superior. We weren't particularly hospitable to our POWs either."
They all focused their eyes on him, intrigued.
"I did some things I shouldn't have. To some prisoners that were just kids like me, and I… We made sure they suffered. And you know the sick part? It felt fantastic. Seeing them cry out in anguish, then silencing them as they choked on their own blood. Couldn't wait to do it again, even if I knew it wasn't right. So maybe I'm not much better. But those bastards deserved it. At least that's what I thought at the time. Maybe it was an excuse, maybe it wasn't."
"So that's it then," Nera concluded.
"What is?"
"The source. The other's creation." Orange eyes fell into deep concentration. When it saw me, it focused all of its hatred and anger at me. Because I have the face of the enemy. "What it was born out of."
"Slow down, what?" The young man rubbed his head, confused. "Born out of?"
Isole and Cormac exchanged looks, intently listening in on the conversation. They didn't know much about Riven's people, considering what little Nera told them previously, only that they were extremely dangerous and not to be underestimated.
"Yes, what made it manifest. Usually it's a collection of extremely strong negative feelings that arise out of some sort of traumatic event, according to the notes I read. Hatred is the easiest to make the other manifest. Think of it like a mirror cracked in two halves, the event is the stone, and a mirror once whole is now split into two."
"Mirror analogy. Was that in the reports?"
"I could have used the rainbow colored Rapidash analogy if you wanted me to."
Riven thought about that and decided that it would be best if he didn't even try to understand that."Okay... Continue."
The redhead cleared her dry throat. "Depending on the nature of the event, the reason for the other's creation is varied. Considering who you are, I'm guessing you witnessed…?"
"Flames rising hundreds of feet into the air? The smell of burnt skin? Yeah, I did." He nodded slowly. "Walked among the ashes too. And the bodies. I wasn't just angry, I was furious. I couldn't do anything if I tried. Elite Rose troops narrowly missed me, ashes probably covered up my smell from the Arcanines. I got lucky. If you can consider that luck."
"Ieia," Nera called. The Gardevoir stopped healing him for a second and turned around. "Before you lost consciousness, what did you feel from the dark aura?"
She looked pensive for a moment, thinking of the words to describe it, wiggling her fingers. Telepathically, she spoke with her master. Bloodlust. It just wanted to hurt its enemies any way it could. It almost took me over, if I didn't resist it, I would have lost myself. I'm sorry I was unable to protect you, master.
"But you did, Ieia. I'd be dead without you." The Gardevoir smiled at the praise, going back to healing with a light humming. "Riven, she said that she felt an insatiable thirst for violence. Sound familiar?"
"Yeah, lately I'd been feeling that increasingly more often. In fights it's worse. It just… snaps and I can't help it. I try to think it's just a reaction, but it doesn't quite seem that way."
"Explains how overboard you've been on the past assignments," Isole added dryly. "And why you stabbed a guy five times after he punched you in the mouth." Guy still hasn't woken up from a coma.
"So, this thing in me, it was 'born' out of bloodlust?" Riven summarized. Certainly makes sense but-
Nera held up a finger. "Not quite."
Riven threw up his hands. "Oh, for fuck's sake."
"It was born of hatred and anger, but what it wants is blood. Revenge in a sense. Sound about right?" She reached out to touch him, but he growled. "Disgust. It's written all over you. You don't hate me because I'm keeping you here. You hate me because you can't let go."
"Is that a bad thing? Not easy to forget the past. Especially one like that, believe me I tried," he admitted solemnly. "And you were his daughter. The man responsible for all of that. I shouldn't hold someone for their father's mistakes, it's illogical. But I can't stop it, and I don't know why."
"Emotions are often irrational, and now that it's back, you don't know what to do with them. You've held them back for a long time now. That trauma split you in two. It's what made you effective killers, unemotional, unfeeling. Ruthless and cold. Driven by a single ideal, a single purpose," Nera remembered. "The epitome of the dark type. Discarding positive feelings for strength, shunning optimism. A dark and gritty reality. Why bother with dreams and aspirations when all life does is crush them? War is a perfect way to create that." Hope scares him. A healthy dark type isn't like this. Mischievous and practical, yes, but not like this.
"Don't think. Don't feel. Don't hate," Riven recited. "That's what they told us. What they trained us to do. Victory, revenge, retribution. Enemies don't deserve mercy, only death." He always thought it was strange, how they told them not to hate the Roses, despite everything they'd done. "All the child recruits had that hammered into them during training. My instructor beat me raw until I fought without getting angry, when I felt nothing but the adrenaline in my veins and the feel of the fight. Learned to enjoy it."
"Normally, that'd work." Useful PTSD. Break your own to make them better at killing, it's almost genius. My father would be proud. "The repressed side would never resurface. But something went wrong," Nera noted, gripping the bridge of her nose. Those fools. "When two halves split, they exist separate from each other. What happened to you that brought that emotional side flooding back in?"
"The battle of Nimva Plains," he answered gravely. He didn't need to say anymore after Nera flinched. She let out a string of curses, followed by a rise in the temperature of the room.
"That. That makes a lot of sense." She'd heard what had happened, overhearing bits and pieces of conversations and gossips from the commoners, and even some of the nobles. Nearly an entire division defeated by a sparse amount of Remnants numbering only in the lowly thousands. Despite the terrain advantage they were monstrous fighters, but even monsters die.
It was a pyrrhic victory for the Remnants, as over half or more were killed in the battle. It had been even worse for their side, as they'd suffered a humiliating wipe out. Even the commander had been killed and they'd been forced to retreat. True, the pyrolancers weren't present for the battle but it should have been an easy victory regardless. But if Riven was there… watching his own die again. It must have been devastating.
"How old were you?"
"Not much older than I am now. Sixteen, maybe? My CO died. I nearly lost it. They chained me to a tree so I could calm down after I killed all of the prisoners and left their bodies out on the plains so the Rosan sentries could watch the Mandibuzz eat them. Became a scout after that. I was good at it, away from the fighting, mostly. It helped." Blue and brown looked glassy, flashes of memory coming back to him.
"So they did know," she deduced. "They had to be extra careful with the young recruits… puberty certainly screwed with anything they tried to do. Teenagers are very emotional. If successful though, it turned you into perfect little killing machines."
"Maybe. But from what you're telling me, it wasn't enough. We didn't just fight like a crippled dog. We crippled ourselves. We could have used this power, I always thought we weren't blessed with abilities like the Roses or the Lirans. Turns out we just didn't know, and it was our own damn fault. Those higher ups knew. Fuck… so much for patriotism," Riven said darkly, staring at his palm. No dark wisps came out this time, unable to feel the energy. "I wouldn't have cared if it took me over then, as long as I could kill them for what they did. We were dead men and women fighting for a hopeless cause. But now… now I don't think I want it to."
I want to find a reason.
Nera remained silent for a minute, then brought Isole and Cormac to the kitchen. They stared blankly at each other. "God," Nera whispered.
Isole shook her head.
"I thought your world was already fucked up beyond all repair." Cormac blinked a few times, looking like his mind had just been blown to bits. "But holy shit. This place is a sugar bowl in comparison." He chuckled, thankful he'd been born now and not then, poke powers be fucking damned.
The Rose nodded, not even bothering to refute that. "Hell is what it was. I couldn't think of a more perfect way to create a nightmare, apart from torture."
"Nightmare?" Isole asked. "Is that what you called them?"
"That's what the reports called them. Many of them turned into that, tortured into that state. Many of them lost their minds, overcome by the other side, unable to nothing but their own twisted hatred for their torturers. Relentless killing machines. Once their targets were gone, they just… wasted away. It was incredibly sad. I want you to watch him further."
"No, Nera. I know you have a messed up as fuck way of showing you care, but no. Surveillance is just going to make it worse. Then you'll just piss off his not psychotic-y side," Cormac reminded. "He's pretty testy as is. I didn't catch the throwdown you all had in here, and thank god Styx didn't or else there'd be no apartment left, but I don't think I'd like to experience that myself. Neither of you have stopped shaking even now, I noticed."
"I agree with him for once," Isole nodded, crossing her arms. "That- that scared me, Nera. We got lucky Ieia was there to stop him, but we were walking on thin ice. If he gets stronger, and he will, there's no telling what he'd do. Or the havoc he'll cause. We're elemental, so we don't have the same problems unless we're near an extremely powerful energy source but psychics and darks… that's an entirely different story."
"And what if we don't?" Nera proposed. "Who's going to stop him? The police? Please, they couldn't stop a rampaging Gogoat. He's our responsibility. If we want to keep our existence a secret, then he needs to remain one too. For now, he's going to continue on jobs like normal. Keep him away from Parfum Palace, or any location even remotely related to Honedges or Doublades. Whatever it did to him, it could make it worse."
"What are you going to keep an eye on him with? A stalker? I'm sure that'll go over well." Cormac rolled his eyes, chuckling. "Guy's like a spooked pidgey. You put a guy to follow him and he's going to notice, lead him into a dark alley and shunk. Cue news."
"Unless you have a fountain of disposable PI's, then I don't think we'd be able to do that, Nera," Isole added. "Have Circuit slack off less maybe?"
"I'd sooner hire fifty PI's then try to push that slacker to work harder," the redhead huffed.
"You can offer him your body?" Cormac sneered. "You're thirty something yet those pokehuman genes keep all of you looking like you're still in your twenties. Guess you can call that quid pro quo-" The death glares he received from both women could both freeze and burn him alive. "Hey, it's just a suggestion, most guys think with their nether regions, believe it or not. Fucking mindblowing for you girls, I know. But-"
"Cormac," Nera bit out, twitching.
"Yep?"
"Shut. Up," Isole finished.
"Know what, I'm trying to be helpful, but no. You're both dicks. And you're girls. I'm going back with the dudes. Figure out what you're going to do matchstick, don't want to start a forest fire you can't control, right?" He said wryly, heading back towards the living room, where Riven was trying his hardest not to look Ieia in the eyes.
They returned some time later, Nera holding a small pink stone in her palm. Eyeing it curiously, something clicked in Riven's head. "That stone. That's May's. Why do you have it?" He remembered seeing it in the contest, but he couldn't fathom why these assholes had it. "What did you do to her?" He demanded.
"Nothing!" Nera answered quickly. "The princess is perfectly fine. The only thing we took is the stone."
"And so all is right with the world," Riven deadpanned. "She almost got killed for that. Why is it so important that someone valued it over her life, and then you had to go and steal it?"
"Some mercenaries are more heartless than others," Isole spoke up. "We did leave her family recompense for it. We needed to see if it-" She shut her mouth, about to say too much.
"Still leaving me in the dark? It's heartwarming to see you care, Isole." Riven hissed. "And I thought we were getting somewhere. I guess almost dying means nothing to you."
Isole looked away, sighing.
"If we told you what we were looking for, then you wouldn't need any reason to be here. We need you," Nera reasoned.
"No, you need to watch me in case I become a liability. The dirty work is just something to keep me occupied." Riven smiled viciously. "I may have been a grunt in the large scheme of things, but I'm no idiot. Fine, don't tell me." But don't be surprised if I find out myself. "What's the stone for then. I assume it wasn't what you were looking for."
"No, it's not what we were looking for. However, this stone can be of use to you. I thought about throwing it away, but something told me to keep it. It's curious though, how something like this ended up in Hoenn, so far from Kalos." Nera smiled, tracing a finger along the pink stone's smooth surface. "Coincidences and nature are remarkable."
"It's from Kalos?"
"Yep."
"But they said they found it in Mt. Chimney. How does that work?" Riven could have sworn he heard right. I can remember that, I wasn't that insane.
"Half correct." She held the stone up to the light, admiring the radiant glow of the diamond. "This, is a piece of Diancie, a native Kalosian pokemon. They're millions of years old, so this piece must have ended up in Hoenn when all the continents were one land mass, after the primal era."
"Hold on, piece of what?"
"Diancie, a legendary. Known as one of the loveliest pokemon you can ever set your eyes on. According to the legends, they can create diamonds out of pure air, and these diamonds hold her power, giving life to the surrounding area, inspiring growth and health. Want to see?" She tried giving the stone to Riven, but he swatted her hand away.
"Get it away from me. I don't want to touch it. It feels like her," he said, pointing to Ieia. She flicked a green finger at his forehead. He shot her a glare. "Whatever she did to me, that stone feels the same as that energy that nearly ripped me apart. It was terrible, no thanks."
"The fairy energy opposes the dark type. Naturally it would make you want to stay away from it as far as possible. But this might just save you."
"I don't follow. That's like saying poison's good for you. Believe it or not, it makes you die."
"It will suppress your abilities, prevent the nightmare from coming out and taking over. But that means you won't be able to use them in a fight, or you'll risk bringing it out. You'd be like a normal human in terms of combat ability."
"I see. Nothing new, I can use a sword just fine. I've fought like a regular human my entire life. Why stop now?" Riven took the stone in his hands, the energy coming from it stinging his skin and making him feel nauseous. Hmmmm. This or permanent crazy. I think I can handle a little dizziness. "Alright then, I'll keep it with me, but the migraines might make me want to kill myself. The longer I hold this thing, the worse I feel."
His head started to spin.
"Just make it into a necklace, and don't let it come into contact with your skin. Your hand is already reddening. Put it down."
He set it on the couch arm, rubbing his temples.
Nera sighed, and stood up. She exhaled deeply, watching Kai's sleeping form."Well, I'm off before sleeping tea lover here wakes up and reopens his wounds trying to hack my head off. Tell him I already left him a check to repay the costs. He should be happy we brought him enough tea to drown his sorrows in in the meantime. And Riven-"
"If you're expecting thanks, don't. If you're trying to guilt trip me, a noodle would do a better job," he said. "Don't expect me to think of this as a kindness."
"And I won't ask you to. But I gave you some answers, I'm still waiting on mine. If you get worse, I won't help you unless you help me. Should you lose yourself, I'll be forced to kill you."
"If you can, then I think I can live with that. Shoo."
Nera hmphed, returning Ieia.
"Cormac, Isole. Remember what we talked about," she said cryptically. Both of them reluctantly nodded. Waving one last time, Nera left, red hair flowing behind her.
Hours later, Riven put an ear to the wall of Isole's room, eavesdropping.
"-auction's in two days."
Looking down at his neck, where the Diancie stone dangled from a string necklace, he clenched his jaw. Nera, Isole, Cormac. If you don't want to give me the answers I want, I'll just have to find my own, then squeeze you until you give me more.
A door slid open, revealing an assistant with a tablet. He entered the Director's office with a calm stride."Director. Preparations are in order. The men will be ready soon."
"Good. How are our newly hired scientists progressing with the research on the blood sample?"
"It's not ready yet. Genetics is a very complicated field. It may not be ready for years, sir. Three at the least, with no complications."
"I see… I can wait. What about Tesla? Are his men ready?"
"He's excited, as usual. The rest aren't interested though. Call it lowly work. They are insolent hired guns, sir. Don't pay attention to them, they do not value the importance of our cause."
"And I will heed that advice. Despite their distasteful ways, I still require their services. Tesla will be enough. Get transport ready, it will be a long flight for him. Tell the men that they have the permission to do whatever they please. As long as they get me that key."
His assistant bowed.
"Together as one, sir."
"Together as one."
Footsteps announced the assistant's retreat, and the room darkened. The director watched as a holographic projection appeared in the center of the room, an object rotating in place.
A shaped piece of metal with glowing glyphs on its sides, shaped like a key.
"One step closer."
That probably took one hell of a while to come out. Little over three weeks. Sorry about that, but I've been catching up on shows and playing more games now that I got some degree of free time. Expect another update sooner. I'm also going to start reading and reviewing more fics now, since I haven't been doing that.
I'm going to use a baby Furfrou as a plot device next chapter. Then it'll turn into Kung Fu Jesus and fight Donald Trump's comb over. Should be fun.
As you can tell, the above statement is so full of shit I could grow crops with it. Enjoy the chapter.