11: A Lesson in Sickness

Akari was not sure what had awoken her. She only knew that she was not rested at all, and that her sleep had come in short and troubled bursts. But at least she had slept, even if it had only been minutes at a time. She hadn't expected that she would. She ached all over, and longed for the comfort of a real bed like never before. Her throat itched and burned, and her chest rattled whenever she breathed, but she didn't dare to cough, or make any sound at all.

She thought she could hear muttering. She wondered if that was what had awoken her, but it was too low and quiet, impossible to make out any words. Unless Melli had returned during the night and was hovering nearby, Akari had to assume that it was Volo. Is he talking to himself, or...? The thought that he might have finally given his Pokémon some fresh air, and that he might be feeling better, cheered Akari just a little.

When she'd finished retying her shoes and adjusting her headscarf, she went outside to see. The sky was white and featureless. The sun must have been up, but Akari could not see it. It was snowing again, more heavily than it had been the previous night. This made it difficult for her to see very far, and in vain she tried to bat the snow away from her face.

She paused for a moment, trying to find the direction of the muttering she thought she'd heard, but all was silent now. Her sigh created a cloud of vapour that was quickly lost in the air.

Wondering if Volo was awake yet, Akari looked to his tent. It was wide open, revealing a state of disarray which seemed uncharacteristic of the merchant. Of course, it was none of her business how Volo kept his personal spaces - as long as they left the camps in good order. The fact that Volo's tent was slowly filling up with snow was worrying, but Akari was more shocked to see his Ginkgo Guild uniform lying discarded upon the bedroll, almost as if Volo had simply vanished out of it, in his sleep. When Akari got close enough to touch it, she found that its fur collar was already stiff with frost. Peering further into the tent, she saw Volo's boots standing in the back corner. At least his cloak was gone, but he couldn't have gone out just wearing that.

What was he thinking!? Was he thinking,,,?

What if he's sick?

Akari's heart began to thump against her ribs as she walked away from the tent. In doing so, she almost tripped and fell into the firepit. Some of the wood from last night was still unburned; the fire must have blown out quickly, after she'd pretended to retire for the night.

She accidentally kicked over Volo's ugly Pokeshi doll, now just a half-blackened lump of wood. The carved-out hollows of its eyes hadn't burned to the same extent as the rest of its face, and they seemed to stare up at her.

It was hardly urgent right now, but Akari also noticed that she couldn't hear the flags; they would usually crackle and snap in the wind. When she looked, the camp's flagpoles were bare. Hadn't the flags been up, when they'd arrived last night She'd been so tired that she could have been imagining it, but she always looked for those flags. They were her symbol of hope. They showed her how far it was until she could take a rest. She was sure she would have looked for them last night, too, and that she would have noticed if they were missing.

But why would anyone steal flags? It could only have been a joke, or someone trying to make a point. Melli?

Akari's sandals skidded upon the snow as she broke into a run. She first ran towards Moonview Arena, hoping that the muttering she'd heard might have been Melli, and perhaps Volo, engaged in their first meeting. She was sure that, for all the complaining she'd done, Volo would still treat the man with courtesy if they met. Like he treats everyone. Like a potential customer.

But, when she got there, the arena was just as it had been last night, empty and silent. As its name suggested, it looked best in the light of the full moon, but she hadn't been in the right frame of mind to appreciate it last night. She had not even looked up, to see if she could glimpse the moon shining down into the rotunda. Now it just looked like a collection of old columns. Akari waited for a moment, trying to listen out for the voice she'd heard, but there was nothing.

She left the arena and went in the other direction, past the camp, following the line of columns where they had walked last night. The further she went, the less she could see. Even the pillars guiding her way became ghosts. Perhaps the snow was getting heavier, or a mist was settling in.

I have to find Volo.

But she also had to stop running, eventually. The other end of the plaza was a steep drop down, and with this level of visibility, it would have been so easy to run straight off the edge.

Once again, she heard a voice on the air. She couldn't tell where it was coming from. Akari turned around, then turned again, her snow-coated hair lashing at her face, until she began to fear that she'd lost her bearings. But in the distance, she thought she could see a shadow. It could have been a part of the ruins; the snow made it difficult to tell whether or not something was moving, or whether it was just an illusion. Mirages didn't only happen in the heat of the desert. There was a reason why the Icelands had so many ghost stories.

As Akari squinted through the snow, trying to shade her eyes with both hands, the shadow seemed to lurch towards her. She almost screamed.

"Akari…?" Volo did not yell her name this time. His voice was small and tentative, like he was afraid it might not really be her.

"Volo, is that you?"

When they reached each other, the poor visibility and their clumsy steps in the deep snow meant that they almost collided.

Volo's head had been covered by his cloak's hood, but now it fell back onto his shoulders. His hair was untied, leaving loose strands of icy gold to whip and swirl in the wind.

Standing this close, and being as tall as he was, Akari could not see him properly. As she stepped back to look at him, her first realisation was that his cloak wasn't fastened. It hung open, showing what appeared - to her eyes - as an undergarment. Or nightwear, maybe. Whatever it was, it was off-white, thin, with a low neckline that looked as though it had been ripped, rather than cut and hemmed. The material clung to patches of sweat on his chest. Akari wouldn't have guessed that anyone would sweat up here, wearing that. She only knew it because she could feel the heat radiating from his body.

"What…are you…?"

Just as she was asking the question, Akari realised that she recognised what he was wearing - not as a piece of clothing, but what it had been before. The flags…? Where his cloak ended at his shoulder, she could see a dulled golden pin, holding folds of fabric in place.

Whatever this was, he'd intended it. He…made this…? Sometime between last night and now?

As Akari stared in utter confusion, wondering if this was a fever dream, Volo grabbed her by the arms. Besides his bizarre outfit, he was wearing a wide grin. She'd wanted to see him smile again today, but...no, not like that.

"Akari! You have to come and see!"

"What are you doing?" Akari looked down, but thanks to the snow, she could not see what was on Volo's feet. She could only see that his legs were bare below his knees, and she already knew that his boots were still in his tent. "And what are you wearing...? Are you out here in bare feet? You're gonna get frostbite! Do you know what that means!? You're gonna lose your - "

Volo lowered himself to Akari's level so that he could stare into her face, and she saw that his pupils were unchanged from last night. The only difference was an extra layer of shadow beneath his eyes. Did he even sleep?

"It's Giratina," Volo interrupted, his voice low and excited. "It's here."

Akari tried to pull herself free, but Volo's fingernails dug into her arms. "What do you mean?"

"Come see!"

Just as she'd been terrified that Volo was about to drag her somewhere, he abruptly let go, and went running off into the snow. Akari hesitated, rubbing at the sore spots on her arms. But then she ran after him, too scared of losing him in the fog again.

When she caught up with him, he was standing in front of the same statue that had caught his attention last night. It should have been half-buried in snow, Akari realised, like everything else. But it only had a light dusting. Where the snow was a bit thicker, she could see streaked handprints, like someone had painstakingly swept it clean, again and again.

Volo was not looking at the statue's broken base this time. He was looking up, to the empty space above it, where the statue might have once been, and even higher than that. He had his feet apart, arms spread wide, like he was awed by something Akari could not see.

The girl felt her heart drop into her stomach. Slowly, she approached, like she might a dangerous animal, speaking in a soft voice.

"Volo…?" This was beyond her Survey Corps job description now. Way beyond even the 'hero' title that she had never wanted. He doesn't need a hero; he needs a doctor. What am I supposed to do here? "I think you should come back to the camp. Put your warmer clothes back on. We'll light a fire and take a rest until the snow stops."

"Don't you see it!?" Whatever it was, Volo seemed to be entranced. "Don't you see…Mighty Giratina…?"

Do I pretend to see it or not?

"I don't…know! Because…" Because...? Akari's mind was racing. "I don't know what Giratina looks like! Do you wanna tell me?"

She hoped that her words would be a good enough distraction as she crept closer.

"The third child! Banished, Akari, just as you were! Sent away, unwanted, just as I was! But now it seeks revenge…it comes to confront its Creator…to hold it to account…for its cruelty, you see…" Volo dropped to his knees, arms outstretched, clinging to what little was left of the statue's feet. He bowed his head. From the shaking of his torso, Akari could not tell whether he was laughing or crying. His voice had notes of both. "It told me it would come! And now it's here! I've been waiting…so long…but not as long as you, Mighty Giratina…I understand…"

Though Akari didn't want to touch Volo, the sight of his bare legs in the snow was too startling for her to just walk away. If she didn't help him, at the very least, he might end up with some life-changing injuries. She crouched beside him, placing a hand lightly on his back and trying to see his face. But his loose hair was like a cascading curtain, and she didn't want to brush it away. In her attempt to make him look at her, she tried to engage with this strange conversation that he was having - though she suspected that he wasn't just talking to her.

"So, Giratina is here to confront Arceus? Uh…that sounds…" It sounds like him. It was just what Volo had said, back at the Mountain Camp. It seemed an odd coincidence. Is Giratina even real? But she could work that out later, when he was safe again. "That sounds like something humans probably shouldn't mess with, Volo."

Am I a hypocrite for saying that, after everything I did? Akari thought it was a solid 'maybe', but she wouldn't get hung up on it. She was struggling for words here. A bit of hypocrisy wasn't the end of the world.

The next sound that came from Volo was definitely a laugh. Like a tiny tremor, it shook him. "No. It speaks to me. It…chose me."

Of course. His dream that wasn't a dream.

"Well, then…" Akari sighed. She looked around at the falling snow, and at the featureless sky, trying to pluck a response out of the air. Then she realised that it didn't matter: whatever she said, she only had to remain focused on getting Volo to do what she wanted. For his own good. "I don't think Giratina would want you to freeze to death, right? And that's what'll happen, if we don't get you in front of a fire."

But a fire at the camp might be difficult to start, and it might not last long.

Akari decided that she had to get Volo to Moonview Arena, where there would be more shelter from the wind. There were some trees there, where the Voltorb would sometimes hide; they would just have to allow her some spare wood.

We'll deal with that when we get there. Even if I have to fight Lord Electrode again.

She placed her other hand under Volo's arm, trying to lift him up, hoping she wouldn't have to prise his hand off the pedestal and drag him away. He was too heavy, and she wasn't strong enough. If he wasn't going to come with her willingly, there wasn't much else she could do, short of persuading her Pokémon to subdue him somehow.

And what if I have to do that? A light touch of Draining Kiss from Clefable, maybe…?

She'd never had to make a decision like that before - whether to resort to force, to save someone's life, to do what was in their best interests even if they resisted - and she didn't particularly want to.

Akari was glad when Volo stood up in response to the pressure she was putting under his arm. He leaned on her, with his hand upon her shoulder, like he was struggling to stand unaided. She didn't like it, but at least he was doing as he was told.

Before they started walking, Volo reached out to scrape another lump of snow from the pedestal. Akari thought this was just another attempt at cleaning the statue, until he crammed the snow into his mouth.

"Oh!" Akari shook him lightly. "No, don't do that! Come on, you're the outdoorsy guy! You know not to eat snow!"

It was Rei who had told her that, as it happened, before her first trip to the Icelands. 'No matter how thirsty you get,' he'd said. She had assumed it was something about the snow being dirty, but Professor Laventon had said it was more about the energy your body had to spend on melting it. The benefit ratio was off, or something like that; ultimately, it would only leave you more dehydrated than before. Akari had to confess that she'd tried it, once, and she'd decided that they were right. But once it was melted - and preferably boiled, though Volo seemed much less picky about the purity of his drinking water than Akari was - it would be fine.

"But I'm thirsty."

"I know. We can melt some over the fire."

Akari was about to say that he could add a drop of his alcohol, too, just to encourage him to walk faster. But if he was sick, or dehydrated, that might not have been a good idea. She decided not to mention it.

As they walked, Volo began to squeeze Akari's shoulder, crumpling the fabric of her uniform between his fingers. He might have been trying to hold on for safety - and his feet are probably icy stumps by now, just like the statue's, Akari thought - but he was pinching her skin, and it hurt. When she tried to move, his grip tightened.

"You're hurting me now. Stop."

This was not just his sickness, or whatever was going on with him. It was not the first time he'd had no problem with grabbing her. Whether this was nineteenth-century chauvinism or something else, Akari was no longer in the mood to excuse him.

She tried to shrug his hand away again. This time, it moved to her neck.

Akari froze. Her scarf separated her skin from his, and she could still breathe just fine. This was not an attempt to strangle her, but she feared that might come next. She looked into his eyes for an answer, but she couldn't find one.

What colour were his eyes before? Blue? Grey? They can't have been black like that.

"Volo…? What are you doing? Let go right now."

"I'm sorry." And he truly looked sorry, Akari thought. His eyes were deep pits of sadness. But that only made her more afraid. Is he already regretting something he's about to do? "It's not right. It's not…me."

"No!" Akari seized upon those words like they were her lifeline. "No, this isn't you."

"But it would be so much easier."

Something told Akari that she had to move. She'd been afraid to struggle, in case it made him angry, and in case that anger made his fingers close tight around her throat, whether he consciously meant it or not. But she figured it was better to die fighting, if that was going to happen.

She put her hands on top of his. To her relief, Volo let her pull his hand away with little resistance. His only act of protest was to bury his fingers in the folds of Akari's scarf. As she pulled herself free, it stayed in Volo's grasp.

Akari stumbled backwards, putting herself out of the man's reach, as quickly as she could move in the snow.

Volo's hand stayed frozen like that, as if he thought he still had hold of her, and not just her scarf.

"But I have to do whatever it takes, don't I?" he asked, directing his question to the snow.

Akari thought she could call upon one of the Noble Pokémon to hurry, to carry her away. But if that decision made Volo lose his temper, they might not reach her in time. He would get to her first. She needed more distance.

If things had been different, she would have released one of her Pokémon by now. But, although Hisui had taught her that she could do lots of things, using her Pokémon against someone who seemed to be sick was not one of them. Compared to her, with her team, Volo was unarmed. With the way he was dressed, she could be fairly sure of that. There was no place to hide that axe of his. He could have the knife in his pocket, though. She could only hope that wasn't the case; she hadn't checked, before leaving the camp, whether it was still jammed into the ground, where Volo had left it the previous night. If it was, it would be buried in the snow by now.

He just grabbed you by the throat. Wake up. Do something.

Akari shook her head as she continued to back away. She couldn't understand it. Couldn't believe it.

"What were you doing...?" she whispered, breathless. "What were you...?"

"Akari..." Volo held out her scarf towards her, but she would have to come closer to take it from him. His other hand, too, was held out towards her, like he was trying to pacify her. "I don't...want to hurt you..."

Akari glanced at the scarf and silently bid it farewell. It seemed it had been its destiny to save her, more than once.

But he looks so sad. And he just said -

No.

At the heart of it, she knew, she was making pathetic excuses. Because she wanted to believe that Volo was still her friend, and that something had just seized his mind right now. Something temporary. Something that she could fix. Something that she could save him from. That was what she did, wasn't it?

Akari told herself that she would not let him put his hands on her again. If he even tried, she would defend herself. But violence had to be a last resort. There had to be something else.

So, she ran. Not only to get away, but in the hope it might show Volo that she was truly afraid. When does Akari ever run from anything?

She didn't know where she was going, or when she was going to stop. She didn't know whether or not she was being chased. The snow dulled every sound, even her own breathing. She could have stopped to listen. Stopped and turned around. But it never felt safe, so she kept running. At some point, she realised, the fear had become very real.

Akari began to trip and stumble in the snow, even more than before. This was uphill, she realised. The journey back to the camp should have been flat, and she should have been there by now. But she could not turn around. She could not stop. She kept running.

A huge shadow loomed upon the snow ahead, and the pit of dread in Akari's stomach deepened as she remembered the Alpha Electivire that lived somewhere on this hill. Not another Alpha. Not again. If only she'd had more time, she would have been able to prepare herself, but…!

She almost fell as she tried to fight against her momentum, trying to stop before she got too close, before the Electivire would hear her. She felt paralysed by both fear and indecision. The creature had not seen her yet, or else it would have been charging already - charging at her, or charging up a vicious attack - but it was only a matter of time. Seconds, maybe? There was nowhere for her to hide. She was a streak of dark blue against the mountain's white.

Behind her, she could hear Volo's ragged breathing, so heavy it sounded like he was growling. He must have been able to see the Electivire's eyes by now, and yet he did not stop. The fact that he wasn't even slowing down was, to Akari, only further proof that he wasn't thinking straight. She imagined that he was still holding her scarf. The Electivire would see it, too, waving like a red flag.

Then I have to protect him, don't I? I have no choice.

Akari faced the Electivire and squared her feet where she stood, sinking deeper into the snow as she prepared to release - who? Who do I choose? Why can't I think?

"Akari, stop!"

Volo's words tore through the air. A cry on the wind, an inhuman scream that sounded nothing like him. Just like yesterday morning, in the woods.

The Electivire turned around, its red glare burning through the mist in search of that sound. But it would find Akari first.

She seized one of the Poké Balls from her bag, but before she could cast it, she realised that there was another choice, if she was willing to put herself first. Cloudcap Pass. The tunnel that led up to the summit, to the Temple of Sinnoh. Its entrance was within reach, too short and narrow for an Alpha Electivire to pass through.

But what about Volo?

She could still feel his hand around her neck.

Akari turned sharply and ran towards the tunnel, her first few steps lost to the snow as she skidded in place, trying to regain all of the momentum she'd lost by stopping. The space between here and there could only be measured in heartbeats, and it was far too many. Behind her, she could hear the Electivire closing in. There were a few trees near the cave entrance; Akari could hear branches cracking as the creature ripped them out of its way in pursuit of its prey.

As soon as she was close enough, Akari threw herself into the cavern. She heard her uniform tearing against the rock. Her foot caught on something, and her shoulder slammed against the ground as she fell into the narrow passageway.

But she wasn't in the clear yet. What little light she had was gone as the Electivire blocked the entrance, its hefty body cutting off the daylight as it tried to force its way through, head first, then shoulder first. Akari quickly pulled her legs out of its reach, as one of its arms came frighteningly close. Once the Electivire had realised there was no way of getting through with its body, its fur began to bristle with electric rage.

Its hands can't get me, but its lightning can.

Using the narrow walls as her leverage, Akari dragged herself up with both hands and continued to run through the darkness. Her chest heaved and her eyes stung, but she made no effort to hold back her panting breaths. She hoped that the sound might drown out everything else, including the thoughts in her head.

I hope Volo comes to his senses and finds a place to hide.

When she was about halfway up, the tunnel widened out. Here, Akari stopped and looked back, hoping that she would not find the Electivire had given up on her already. Alphas did not tend to do that. If it had, that probably meant it had settled upon an easier target.

The entrance was still blocked, with a glowing red eye peering into the crevice. It growled loudly as Akari turned to face it.

"Yeah, that's right. Stay here. Keep looking at me." She waved her arms and hoped that Electivire could see in the dark. "Can't get me now, huh? Bet you wish you could."

Her thoughts returned to whether she could draw it into a battle, but she couldn't work out the logistics in such a small space. Torterra had the type advantage, but he wouldn't fit through the entrance, and his heavy attacks might risk collapsing the cave. Samurott was probably the lithest member of her team, but he'd be in trouble against an Alpha Electivire. She didn't have anything in her bag that she could throw at it, and in a dark and narrow cave, she doubted her aim would be precise enough.

While Akari was thinking through her options, the Electivire was charging up an attack. She'd already guessed as much, but she'd assumed she was safe here. Then she felt the wispy hairs at the back of her neck lifting. The air around her began to crackle.

Oh, no.

Akari turned around and ran again. At any moment, she expected to feel her skin tingling, the precursor to that single bolt of electricity that would be her end. Or she expected to hear the tunnel caving in behind her. Whatever was about to happen, she didn't want to find out. She kept going, focusing on the sliver of daylight at the other end.

I left Volo back there. He's sick and I left him.