AN: right, down to a more manageable size! We've wrapped up Chapter 8 and it is straight into Chapter 9.
~~~~~~~(0)~~~~~~~
Chapter 9 – No Time Left To Lose!
An Unexpected Destination
~~~~~~~(I)~~~~~~~
Xen Initiative HQ
That such a large and well-staffed base could be so quiet and empty should not have come as a surprise to Ren. When the last mission went awry, the entire headquarters was in uproar. Madame X in the flesh, ready to deliver justice on a failed Executive. Neved, crippled and maimed, ready to accept his fate. The grunts had been whispering in the hallways for days.
It wasn't like that now. As far as Ren was aware, the place was deserted. Empty. Granted, Nastasia didn't let him wander the base freely so for all he knew the other grunts had a massive canteen they were all hanging around. Still, their usual spot in the lounge was so quiet that he could have heard a pin drop
"So," he said, speaking up if only to break that desolate silence. "That didn't go so well."
"We lost Zetta, Geara's been injured and Madelis is who the hell knows where," Nastasia sighed. "So…could have been worse, I suppose."
It sure could. Geara and Madelis could have gone the same way Neved went. Something told Ren that they wouldn't be extended the same mercy as the Madame had given to the big guy. Even if those idiots would have survived their encounter – which Ren doubted – Madame X would have likely executed them on the spot.
"Madame X is beyond furious," Nastasia continued. She sauntered up to the bar. "It's probably best if we stick to the lounge." He heard the sound of bottles clicking together as his handler began putting together a drink.
"Will, Melia and the others have gotten really strong, haven't they?" Ren said.
"Strong enough to push back, at least," Nastasia muttered.
Ren shot her a look. "I've seen the drone footage, you know. The before and after pictures of your blockade? I know they were fighting all of Terajuma's defenders at once, but still. We lost dozens of people in the engagement. What's the casualty count, including the wounded and the missing?"
"A few hundred," Nastasia calmly replied.
"A few hundred. They rallied Terajuma's defenders and destroyed a dozen of your biggest ships, wiping a few hundred men and women from the roster."
"That's including wounded, missing and captured," Nastasia said, putting a few slivers of ice into her glass.
"And how many of those will be left once Madame X is through with them?" Ren continued.
Nastasia sighed. "What's your point, Ren?"
That calling it "pushing back" was insanity. "My point is that I'm wasting away in this place doing nothing of importance."
"Nonsense. You've been hitting the training space daily."
Ren wondered what good the training space would do him in a real fight. The things Will, Melia and Venam went up against just got crazier and crazier. Taking out the base on Valor Mountain should have been impossible. Geara had been so sure of himself, heck, even Zetta had said that their plan was foolproof. They had said it time and time again; they could not lose.
Yet they lost.
And now they were gone.
"Going out and gaining experience as a trainer is more valuable," Ren argued. "You saw what they did. I know you saw more than you told me."
"They had the entirety of Terajuma's Ranger department on their side, as well as several powerful Gym Leaders and Legendary Pokemon," Nastasia argued.
"Well, it wasn't the rangers who penetrated Valor Mountain's defenses and kicked Zetta and Geara out, weren't they?"
Another sigh. "Perhaps. Still, you won't be complaining for long. The project I mentioned to you before will commence shortly."
Finally. "Took you long enough."
Nastasia set her drink on the counter. "I know you still resent us for what we did," she said evenly. "That is your right. You might even see us as enemies. That too is your right. I ask only that you trust me for this one. The project we're going to undergo will require our trust to be at its peak."
Glancing over at the purple-haired Xen Admin, Ren couldn't help but heave a sigh himself. "I understand."
He wondered when he'd meet his former friends again. He knew his duty. Knew what had to be done. But…it probably wouldn't end well. For any of them.
~~~~~~~(II)~~~~~~~
Teila Resort
Club STFU
Fighting Amber one on one nearly set the club on fire. But the hype, as Amber put it, was real. When her Toxtricity – an Aevium variant, as Venam's Tox' was an Electric-type and Amber's burned with green flames – faced off against Blaziken, the crowd went wild.
"Let's turn up the heat!" Amber shouted over the shrill tunes of the song.
Their Pokemon took that very, very literally. Amber was a hell of a trainer and it was obvious that her bond with her Pokemon was tight, much more so than with the majority of the Xen thugs he'd faced. She was smart and she thought on her feet, quickly adapting to his tactics as the battle progressed.
At Amber's home turf, emboldened by her music and the feverish shouts of the crowd, her Toxtricity's ability to inflict damage over range even surpassed that of Blaziken. Its mastery over fire was greater, too, and though Blaziken was highly resistant to heat, she wasn't exactly immune.
Nevertheless, Amber's Gym wasn't the widest space Will and Blaziken had ever fought, and when it came to opponents who outgunned them at range, they both knew exactly what to do.
Take one hit to deliver two.
In a way, Will supposed it was a way of fighting that he had picked up from Blaziken at one point. It was what he'd done to get rid of Geara; incur a bad injury to deliver a really terrible one in return.
Blaziken stormed through Toxtricity's signature attack, Fever Pitch, incurring great damage to get within close quarters. Pain was something she was accustomed to, and it activated her Blaze ability to boot. It happened too fast for both Will and Amber to follow, but when the flames dissipated and the shockwave finished rebounding off of the glass walls protecting the crowd, Toxtricity lay unconscious on the floor and Blaziken still stood.
The crowd went nuts.
Even Blaziken was satisfied enough with the way the fight had gone, since she didn't even protest when Will hugged her.
"Well well," Amber said. "You really gave that everything you had. I'm impressed!"
As the crowd kept cheering, Amber fumbled with something in her pocket and then approached him. "Here. You've more than earned this thing. This is the Flare Badge. Been a while since someone earned this sucker, so you better be grateful."
"Thank you," Will said. He reached out to take it, but Amber snatched his wrist, pried his fingers open herself and then smacked the badge into his palm.
"Can't say I care for your dancing, but you've made my evening regardless," she told him.
It was one of the rare times where Will felt like a grin was better than any verbal response. But, all good things had to come to an end. As much as he wanted to hang around with Amber and have fun with Venam and listen to Holly's stories and watch Rorim B continue to dominate the dance floor, he was simply too exhausted. He was still on painkillers and maybe combining that with a heavy party and his first alcohol beverage in Aevium - maybe even in his life, he didn't know - hadn't been the best idea…but damn if it hadn't been fun.
He could see why Venam and Amber lived their lives the way they did. Nevertheless, after another hour of partying, he decided that enough was enough. He needed to be…not there anymore. Someplace quiet would be good.
"Hey, wait!" Someone yelled after him. Upon turning around Will saw that it was Amber. "You leavin' already? Man, but things were only just getting good…there's so many other drinks we can try, now that mom's got her focus somewhere else!"
Will gave her a tired smile. "Sorry. I'm exhausted."
"Okay," Amber said. Will saw the thoughts spinning her head. "If you're gonna leave, then I'm coming with you! We can go back to my room and hang out!"
"Sure," Will agreed.
That was when Tesla exited the club behind Amber. Her expression was serene, but when she spoke, her voice was surprisingly stern. "Aha…not on my watch."
"What?" Amber said with a heavy scowl. "How come?"
"Amber Von Brandt, you are not going to bring someone up to your room when I'm not home!" Tesla chastised her.
Which was a bit odd, considering Will had hung out in Amber's room before when Tesla hadn't been home. Sure, that might have been out of necessity, seeing as he'd been delirious and particularly vulnerable on his own, but still. What gave?
"It's not someone," Amber said, angrily crossing her arms and giving her mother a leer. "It's Will!"
"And if you want to hang out with Will then it's gotta happen in the guest lobbies upstairs," Tesla insisted.
Exasperated, Amber threw her hands up. "Then just come home!"
"I wish! I have a lot of phone calls and emails to write about the Team Xen incident. It's gonna take a lot of work to make people willing to return to Terajuma after all of this."
Amber studied her mother's face. "You're being weird for no reason," she said with suspicion. "But fine. Will, let's hang out upstairs."
She all but dragged him along with her to the upper level above the atrium. "If either of you needs me, I'll be in my office!" Tesla yelled after them.
Will wasn't too sure he understood Tesla's motivation. What did she think they were going to do in Amber's room? Plot some sort of secret night excursion or something?
"What do you think that's about?" Will asked as he followed Amber to the first floor
Amber produced a large metal key and used it to unlock one of the vacant guest lobbies. "I have no idea what the hell that was about. It's totally lame, and I'm sorry about that."
She shoved the door open, revealing a large room with several soft-looking couches, a flatscreen tv, several large flowerbeds and a big painting of a Cloyster. The room had a beautiful view of the ocean, though since the sun had long since set, there wasn't much to see.
"Welp, anyway…" Amber kicked off her shoes and plopped down on the nearest couch. "Mind if I ask you a quick question?"
Will followed her example, but he kept his shoes on just in case. The couch was even softer than he'd anticipated, and he found himself sinking away in its warm embrace. "Hmm?"
"Now that you kicked Team Xen's ass, that means they won't try anything like that here again, right?"
She made it sound confident and indifferent, but Will thought he detected something like apprehension in her voice.
"They all died," he said flatly. Even if Xen amassed a force like that again, it would be a while. It was a moot point regardless; they'd shown they never had any intention of letting their hostages go. They'd ruined that particular "tactic", which meant that their whole plan of terrorizing and bullying Melia into submission had failed as well.
"GOOD," Amber boomed. "They deserved it for what they did to me. Now that they're all dead, I can kindly enjoy my time here at the resort."
Will shot her a hurt look.
"What's with those sad puppy eyes?" Amber scoffed. "Or eye, err…fuck. No, whatever! You know what I mean. You want me to feel bad for those murderous fucks? Newsflash; they're murderers. Evil terrorist asshole murderous fucks."
"I know that," Will said. He deflated a bit. "It's just...I've never killed anyone before that day. And now, I've got like…" he couldn't find the word. He held out his hands to convey the emotion – big – and it looked like Amber got it, but he couldn't be sure. "Amount of people in one day. And I hate it."
"You're not saying you regret doing that, are you?" Amber snapped. "Because if you are - !"
"No," Will quickly said. "If I had to do it again, I would. I just...hate that Team Xen made me into…" A killer. "That."
"Hmm…well, that fucking sucks," Amber sighed. "It's not like those assholes give you a choice, right? You wanted your friends back and they wanted to kill you. So it's like…self-defense."
Self-defense. Yeah. A small comfort to all the mothers and fathers and sons and daughters he turned into bodies. Maybe Amber didn't get that. Maybe she wouldn't get that. Maybe…this wasn't something people were supposed to get until they experienced it themselves.
"God, that just makes me hate those cocksuckers even more," Amber growled. "Can't even die without causing more bullshit emotional…stuff."
"Yeah," Will said. "Stuff."
"Well, fuck them. They're gone, we're here. And now that we are here how about we – "
A sudden clamoring noise erupted from her pocket and she jerked, nearly falling off the couch. She plucked her phone from her pants, stared at it and then said, "What the heck? My phone got a breaking news notification?" Her expression dropped. "Oh goddamnit, it better not be Team Xen again. Let's check the news!"
She reached for the remote and put the television on. A few buttons later, the spectacled face of Volta the news reporter filled the screen.
"Breaking news! We are getting reports of a gnarly green gas fuming along West Gearen City! Those who inhale this green monstrosity are prone to nausea, shortness of breath, and sudden unconsciousness! Those who are in West Gearen are urged to take shelter indoors at the Gearen News HQ! My team and I will be visiting West Gearen shortly to be investigating further. More Gearen News at eleven!"
The good news: unless Volta had taken a drastic career switch, this wasn't another Team Xen emergency. The bad news: Will was willing to bet his remaining eye that this was another Team Xen emergency.
"Well, when it rains, it pours," Amber sighed. "Trouble doesn't end with Team Xen. Anyways, you wanna get some food? I think – "
Without a warning, Venam flung the door open and barged inside.
Will felt Amber's groan reverberating within his chest. "For God's sake, what do you want, Venam?"
Their purple-haired companion shot Amber a fuming look. "I've been looking for you guys everywhere! Checked both your rooms and I couldn't find you!"
"You found us," Amber said through clenched teeth. "Now what?" A beat "Wait, you were in my room?! You didn't touch anything, right?!"
Venam arced an eyebrow. "…Yeah, sure. Anyway! Have you guys seen Melia? I went to check on her in Aquamarine, but she wasn't anywhere to be found!"
Will shot upright. He realized with sudden alarm that they might have just played into another one of Team Xen's traps. Their main forces were defeated, yes, but he wouldn't count on them staying gone. As long as Madame X lived, they were all in danger. Melia in particular was vulnerable, especially now that so many people had turned their attention inwards. If there was ever a moment for some sort of elite Death Wing unit to swoop down and attack her, it would be now.
They shouldn't have let her go on their own.
"Nope," Amber said without a hint of care.
Fidgeting somewhat nervously, Venam asked, "Could you guys help me go look for her?"
"Of course," Will said, swinging his legs over the couch and shoving himself upright. He felt his chest twinge with pain, but he could ignore that.
He heard Amber utter an explosive sigh. "Sure, whatever," she muttered. "I can't have one goddamn moment. I'll go check Kristiline Town. Will, you go look for Crawli. And Venam?"
"…Yeah?"
"Just do something. I dunno. Just don't cause trouble."
"I'll try my best!"
Will was halfway through the door when his brain finally registered just how down and disappointed Amber sounded. He turned back towards her and offered her an apologetic smile. "Sorry."
She stared for a moment, then looked away. "…It's fine. I knew this was too good to be true and you're…no, you and I are definitely gonna hang out one day, kay?"
"Definitely," Will promised.
"Good. I'm betting Crawli is back at Kakori by now, so yeah. Good luck."
She stood and walked out without saying another word. Venam quickly stepped aside to let Amber pass. "Uh – "
Amber didn't stop to listen. Within moments, she was gone.
Venam scoffed, then took her index finger and made a circle at the side of her head. When she saw Will give her a rebuking look, she relented. "Fine. It's scary how buddy-buddy you two got all of a sudden, you know?"
"She helped put me back together," Will replied. "Also, Amber is really cool."
"Yeah, well, it's hard to imagine freaking Amber Von Brandt taking care of anyone," Venam said. "Buuut…you pulling her ass out of that fucking mountain must have made a lasting impression on her."
"Yeah. Probably."
"Now come on! We're heading to Kakori, right? I'm flying!"
"You're flying?" Will asked. "On what Pokemon?"
"Uh…" Venam seemed oddly flustered at that question. "I'm…coming along with your Pidgeot! Yeah! You still got this big slash on your chest right? And don't you need depth perception to fly straight anyway?"
Why did people keep assuming he couldn't fly on his own?
Once outside, he wasted no time in sending out Pidgeot. The majestic bird of prey spread his wings, beat them once and then craned his head around to glance at his trainer. He spotted Venam standing right next to Will and his eyes narrowed.
Venam moved to climb on his back and Pidgeot really didn't take kindly to that. He flapped his wings angrily and brought his large, feathered head closer to hers, as if daring her to take another step. .
"Uhm…is it just me, or does your Pidgeot look really upset?" Venam asked, taking a little step back.
"You didn't ask permission," Will said. He tried to sling his leg over Pidgeot's spine, but he wasn't able to find purchase with his wounded hand, and Pidgeot refused to flatten himself against the ground like he always did. He kept glaring at Venam.
"Permission?!" Venam exclaimed. "Since when - ?"
"I don't make the rules."
With Pidgeot's steely gaze bearing down on her, Venam decided it was better to just relent. "Uh, right, sure, so…can I…ride along?"
Pidgeot didn't move. That, Will realized, could be a problem. Pidgeot was by far the proudest Pokemon in his team. If he decided that taking Venam wouldn't fly, then he wouldn't fly himself either.
"Will?"
"I dunno, it's you he has a problem with. Convince him or something."
When Venam groaned, she sounded almost identical to Amber. Both girls had a knack for just exuding annoyance and frustration like that. "Look, I really don't care if you dislike me, but your trainer has like, half a face and one hand. He's not flying on his own. So unless you want him to fall off halfway, how about you be a good bird and let me lend a hand?"
Pidgeot craned his neck around to look at Will.
"She's not wrong."
Somehow, Pidgeot managed to convey a roll of his head with the same grace as any dramatic teenage girl and he pressed himself down against the ground, allowing them to climb on.
"Thank you, Pidgeot," Will politely said, then began the arduous process of climbing atop his feathered comrade. Venam hopped onto Pidgeot's back as well, and she made it look easy.
But, through a combination of experience and sheer stubbornness, Will managed to pull his body over Pidgeot's neck and he nestled himself in his usual spot. He felt Venam's arms go around his waist. For a moment it felt like she was about to shove her hand straight into the cut in his chest and his heartbeat went from sixty to about six-hundred.
Thankfully she didn't, and when Pidgeot kicked off and began beating his wings, Teila Resort quickly disappeared beneath them.
A few minutes went by in silence before Venam suddenly asked, "Hey, so, about Valor Mountain…"
Will felt himself stiffen. "What?"
"Last I saw before Geara knocked me out was Giratina throwing you down into the heart of the volcano, right? You woke up me after. But…Melia swore you fell."
Of all the things, of all the possible things she wanted to talk about that? "Yeah?" He cautiously said.
"Yeah! Said she, like, knew you fell. So…what happened?"
Will caught himself already trying to make up excuses and searching for ways not to have this particular conversation. He was tired, Melia could be in danger again and he knew he didn't have it in him to explain it to Venam. Even if he did, even if he had all the energy and focus and the words he needed to explain, Venam wouldn't understand.
"No," he said.
Venam remained silent for a few moments. Then…"What, no?"
Something told Will that she wasn't used to hearing that word. "No. I'm not talking about this now."
"What do you mean, you're not - it's just a freaking question!" Venam demanded.
Back on the beach, they'd told him that it was okay to have boundaries. That it was okay to feel uncomfortable. "I can't answer it."
He heard her scoff. "Fine. Whatever."
Pidgeot was as fast and as diligent as always. They made it to Kakori Village with great speed. As they'd trained, Pidgeot circled around the location once, scanning the landing zone for any possible threats or ambushes. Once he was confident their landing would go unopposed, Pidgeot circled down in an ever-decreasing spiral, before finally touching down somewhere in front of the Kakori HQ.
There, Crawli was already waiting for them near the entrance. He took a couple of steps back when he saw the large bird of prey land, then glanced up at the two trainers riding him. "Hey guys! Will, are you good enough to fly already?"
"Yeah. We're looking for Melia?"
"She's not in the caves anymore! Did you see her?" Venam asked as well.
"Uh…no, I haven't seen Melia since the service. Ah, one moment." He reached into his pocket and fished out his own phone as well. He held up a finger to Venam and Will. "One sec…hello? Oh, hey Amber. Yeah, as a matter of fact I am! Ah…gotcha. Okay, talk to you later."
Will felt Venam reposition herself somewhat. She dropped her right hand to her hip.
"All's well, Will, Venam! It looks like Amber found Melia! She's at that abandoned church at the Isle of Angels."
Behind him, Venam went as rigid as a board.
"I wonder why Melia would go there of all places?" Crawli mused.
Will could think of a reason.
"Anyway! It sounds like you guys are off on another adventure again. So, if this is the end for now, then I wanna say thanks for everything to the both of you! Will, what you did for us, won't ever be forgotten! We'll continue to give Houndoom the best possible care we can. Even if he won't fully recover again, he'll be taken care of. I promise."
"Thank you, Crawli," Will quietly said.
"Terajuma will always be your home. Yours too, Venam! You two got that!"
"Y-Yeah," Venam stammered, sounding a bit surprised to hear her own name.
"And if you ever need my help, I'm just one call away! Good luck, you guys!"
Crawli and his rangers had been incredible. As allies, yes, but also as people. True, hard-working, honest people. If he ever needed it, he knew they would have his back. Even if it would cost them.
No. That line of thinking was too dangerous. Terajuma had suffered enough. Enough people had died already, suffering for a fight that had never been theirs.
It was time to move on.
Again, Pidgeot took off and the boom of wind nearly flung Crawli off his feet. Again, Venam clutched Will tightly as the ground plummeted away. "Fucking stupid…evil…church…" She murmured. "Damnit Melia…you always do this…"
Yeah…he felt that. Visiting Angie's little domain had been bad enough the first time around. He was pretty sure he'd be dealing with the aftermath of that for the rest of his life.
Angie had tried to ritually sacrifice Melia for…something. She had specifically singled Melia out for that, even when she had the likes of Crawli, Venam, Kreiss and even him at her disposal. She could have carved her little ritual into the heart of anyone she wanted to, yet she chose Melia.
This wasn't simply a case of Melia being fate's chewtoy; Angie had seen something in her, something that had compelled her to do…whatever it was she'd tried to do.
Madame X's obsession with Melia…Angie's reason for singling the poor girl out…what were the odds those reasons were the same?
If he could figure that out, so could Melia. So…Angie's creepy ice-church.
Patiently, Pidgeot flew them back to Kristiline Town. As they traveled, Venam remained angrily silent. Or…silently angry, Will didn't know. He didn't want Venam to be angry with him, but he had to walk a fine line between communicating with his friends and not losing increasingly-tenable grip on his sanity. The moment he started truly reflecting on the fact that he had died and somehow came back he would lose it, he knew he would. So he would continue merrily not reflecting on that.
Instead of plummeting headfirst into a storm of ice and snow, Pidgeot carried them through a pleasant evening breeze. The sun had long since set, but its warmth lingered. Looking at Kristiline Town from up high, it didn't look like a battlefield. It just looked like a pleasant little island city. If he looked closely, he could still see the path he'd forged during his first "visit". It looked like the people had gotten some major repairs done. That shell Saki had blown up, for instance, had already been replaced.
Pidgeot slowly glided down to the clearing in the woods right before the church. He circled around twice, scanning the location just in case, and then touched down when he was satisfied they wouldn't be jumped.
Venam leapt off the instant they made contact with the ground. Without bothering to wait for him, she hurried towards the church's entrance.
"I know," Will quietly said, caressing Pidgeot's mane as the great bird watched her go. "It's a long road."
Pidgeot nudged him with his head. Smiling, Will nudged back, before recalling the great flier and hurrying after Venam. This place had seen renovations as well; natives to Kristiline Town had taken the Isle of Angels back, and they were tending to its damaged surroundings. Now that the ice had melted and Angie's terrible influence had receded, it wasn't difficult to see the church's appeal.
Nevertheless, as he entered the Church of Theolia, he knew that this wasn't a place he would ever willingly return to. Angie's evil presence was gone, yes, but in a way, he could still feel it. His mind seemed set on simulating that same half-suffocating feeling. He wondered, with no small amount of annoyance at himself, if this was the new normal. If a single, bad experience could completely ruin the beauty and serenity of a place like this.
Was he just that weak? Venam didn't seem to have that problem. She didn't check her corners as she ran ahead. She didn't glance at the possible hiding spots. She didn't so much as glance at the dark hallways around them as she pressed on. The connection to Angie's domain was still there; at any moment, her cold, unfeeling maids could figure out how to use their fragment of the Earth Heart to free her and then she would be back.
Nevertheless, Will ran after her. He caught up to her just at the entrance to Angie's throne room. No Cera. No ambush. Just Amber sitting next to Melia on one of the benches, quietly talking to her.
"There you are!" Venam said, her voice echoing loudly through the quiet church. "We've been looking all over for you! You can't just disappear and not tell anyone where you're going!"
Melia didn't respond. He saw her cast her gaze to the ground, but she remained silent
"Melia?" Venam said,
"I didn't mean to come here," Melia said in a soft voice. "It just sort of happened."
"Why a church?" Amber questioned. "You religious or somethin'?"
Melia shrugged. "No, not really. To be honest, I'm not even sure a God exists out there. But I came here to pray to…I dunno, something. Praying and asking forgiveness for something evil that I've done. Praying…for a rite of passage for my father…wishing that wherever he is now, that he is no longer suffering…" She tore her gaze from the floor and looked at her friends, almost apologetically. "Stuff like that."
"Melia…" Venam started. She worked her jaw, but no words came out.
"I get where you're comin' from and all, but…" Amber started. "None of this was your vault, you know? You guys keep blaming yourself for things other people did. Team Xen is known as evil for a reason."
"Well…none of this matters now," Melia quietly replied. "The war on Terajuma is over. It's time for me to leave."
A cold pit dropped into Will's stomach. She said it was time to leave for her. Alone? Without them?
"Leave?" Venam exclaimed. "But why?"
Melia got back to her feet. Will noticed that she had wrapped Emma's cloak around herself. "It's like I said. The threat of Team Xen on Terajuma is over."
The war on Terajuma was over alright. It had taken them so much…he wasn't sure what was left. Not the motivation to save his mother. Not the journey together with Aelita, nor the future of providing Nim with a warm home and friendship. The bastards had taken everything from him.
Everything but his desire to protect Melia.
"But there's still a shit ton of work that needs doing!" Amber protested. "We haven't cleared all of Team Xen out of the island yet, there's still pockets of resistance around! And there are hurt people who need our help, and we still have so many missing people!"
"And Crawli will take care of all of that with his Rangers," Melia calmly replied. "My mission was to rescue Will from Blacksteeple Castle. That's all."
Will looked at her unhappily. He'd spent so much time thinking about how to keep Melia safe that he'd never considered what would come after. "Then…you're leaving us?" He asked. Of course she needed to build her own life. Of course she needed to forge her own future. He just…couldn't imagine she'd do that without them. What was he going to do without her? "Like this?"
She didn't look at them. "Me staying on Terajuma past that point was a violation on my part."
"What are you talking about?" Venam demanded.
Melia uttered a weary sigh. "It's all just so complicated. It's best to just forget about me."
Before Will could even start to think about the impossibility of abandoning Melia, she started walking off. As she brushed past the wooden bunch, a part of her cloak snagged on its edge. Melia stumbled and accidentally dropped a black disk of sorts.
"Wait, Melia!" Amber said. "You dropped something!" She hopped to her feet and picked up the black item, then sprang back with a surprised gasp when it began emitting a field of light. Something like a hologram sprang from its center, displaying the wavering image of…of Professor Jenner.
"It can't be…" Melia gasped.
"M-M-Melia, if you're seeing this, then I have either been captured or…well," the image of Jenner spoke. "It's currently 2:45 AM. I haven't gotten much sleep. I wanted to let you know that I truly am sorry. You being a part of my life and watching you grow up have been the best parts of my life. Truly, I wish the circumstances could have been different. "
As her dad spoke, Melia slowly brought her hands to her mouth. Her eyes softened, and something in her composure seemed to break.
"I know the days down here are not guaranteed. One day I'll be found and we'll be separated again - perhaps for good. I still don't know how you feel about me, but I hope you find peace." Jenner smiled softly. "I know you'll be okay. You have wonderful people around you. Don't give up on them. Let them into your life. By the way! Your birthday is coming up…just in case I don't get another chance…Happy Birthday, my love. Goodbye."
His final message delivered, the holographic display flickered off, and Jenner faded away.
Melia bowed her head.
"That Professor Jenner guy was cool," Amber remarked.
"Yeah," Melia said quietly. "He was." She looked back at Venam, then at Will. "You guys…wanna come back with me?"
"You mean the place you were leaving to?" Venam asked.
"Yeah…he's right." Despite the tears that welled up in the corners of her eyes, Melia smiled. "I should let you guys in. Pushing my friends away won't do any good. So you guys should come with me. I'd love to have you with me."
"Um, heck yes?" Venam shouted.
Melia nodded approvingly, then looked at Will. "Leaving you like this would be wrong, but if you - "
Knowing what she would ask, Will simply stepped closer. "Let's go together."
Her smile deepened. "Yes! Let's! Amber?"
"Thanks for the offer, but I got duties to attend to here on the island. I think Amanda will go nuts if two Gym Leaders abandon their posts too, so…"
"Amber…this isn't goodbye," Will said. He needed her to understand, he needed Amber to get that he wasn't abandoning her, that he would never abandon her. "I - "
She held up a hand to stop him. "Dude, I get it. I got it since I looked up and…I know where you belong. It's right by Melia's side." She smiled sadly. "Just make sure to visit sometime, kay? All three of you."
For a moment, it was if Amber wanted to say something else. After a moment's hesitation, she turned around and left.
Will watched her go. Those were the words he'd been looking for. Amber and Tesla were family, and they were home, but he just didn't belong there. Not yet. Maybe he would in the future.
"And then there were three…" Venam said. "Where to?"
Melia took a breath. "The Valor Cliffside. It's a long trek, but…if we did it once, we can do it again. Actually, this would be my fourth time."
"Huh?"
Melia chuckled quietly. "I'll explain later. Are you two ready?"
"Of course we are!" Venam cheered. "Bring out the happy guy! Let's go!"
Will saw no reason to disagree. They left the church together.
The journey to Valor Summit was a lot easier now that they didn't have to dodge enemy fire, evade their flying patrols and sink their troop transports. It would be months, if not years before Terajuma's defenders had restored the strait back to its former calmth and beauty. There would be navigation hazards and debris and wrecks in the shallows for a long time. The rangers hadn't even found all the bodies yet. As the three of them flew overhead, Will couldn't help but wonder just how many bodies still remained below.
Did the Xen members have family? Did they have people back home waiting for their return? It seemed pragmatico for Madame X to guarantee their loyalty by threatening their families if they ever acted up. Then again, if they had no family, they had nothing left to lose, and no reason not to give everything they had for their cause.
Whatever that cause was.
They entered Valor Mountain together again. This time, there was no visored creep to separate them. They stuck together as they headed back up to the cliffside, though why they had to trek through the mountain, Melia wouldn't tell.
For Venam, thirty seconds of silence was thirty seconds too long, so she regaled Melia with the story of her own experience in the mountain. How she set out on her own to try and find Amber, how they had gotten Amber and Tesla out unharmed and then about their confrontation with Eli and Sharon…and Crescent.
"It's so weird. They thought they would, like, die if they lost to us," Venam explained. "It's gotten them so scared that Sharon decided jumping off a cliff would be preferable. It's like a weird, obsessed cult or something."
"They die if Madame X decides so," Will said. That earned him a shocked look from his rocker friend.
"Well, we don't know that for sure - "
He really wished he had better news to share with them. "I've seen it happen. So has Adam. Once the call goes through, their body just…crumbles apart. Goes up like a candle and they burn away."
"Ah, shit, that sounds gnarly," Venam groaned.
Melia looked at him with surprise. "When did you see this?"
"The Garufan Sanctuary. And…and Amethyst Cave."
"Why'd you go back to Amethyst Cave?" Melia asked.
Will sighed. "To pursue a lead on…you know…Aelita's condition."
He didn't miss the two girls exchanging a look together.
"So you're saying that this Madame X person can just press a button and delete any Xen member she wants?" Venam said.
"A control-delete button…yeah, I think so," Will mused.
To his surprise, Venam snickered. "A control-delete button…okay, that's a good one."
"I don't think we should laugh about that…" Melia said with a serious expression.
Under normal circumstances, Will would definitely agree. It was a fucked-up thing to laugh about. But, as he had once told Aelita, even if he couldn't make the bad things disappear, he could sure laugh at them.
"They signed up for Team Xen, so they're getting what they deserve," Venam grumbled.
Melia didn't disagree there. They headed all the way back to the big Garufan door underneath the passage to the summit. Will expected Melia to take them higher, but she suddenly stopped in front of the door and…
"Wait, this door is different somehow!" Venam pointed out.
"That's because I've activated it now," Melia replied.
"Wait, so it's open now? But there isn't like a key hole, or somethin. You just touched it!"
Melia took a few steps back from the door, appraising her handiwork. "Guess you could say "I'm" the key. I've been given permission to use this door, so it opens when I need it to." She looked at Will and gave him a wink. "Any guesses to what's in here?"
He looked at the strange, golden cross on the door. He thought of Indriad's courtyard in the Gearen Sewers…the strange grove in Amethyst Cave, the starlit night with April…for reasons he wasn't entirely sure, he couldn't get the image of a forest out of his mind. Maybe that was because of the translucent ghost trees? His mind was probably conflating them with Indriad's courtyard. It tended to do that a lot these days.
Garufan nonsense. A stralit night. Forest.
"If it's trees, I'm going to be upset," Will mused. He was about to take a wild guess - a second, larger door sounded about right - when he noticed that Melia had gone deathly silent. She stared at him like a Deerling caught in the headlights, all wide eyes and shock.
"Hah! That was such a stupid guess that you stunned her!" Venam laughed. "Let's see what's actually in here!"
Without a care in the world. Venam shoved the massive set of doors open and slipped through the crack she'd created. Melia slowly backed away from him, still staring at him like he…well, he supposed that this was the expression she wore when he…when he went at it with Geara. But why?
Forest.
What a strange, intrusive thought…
Why was Melia staring at him like that?
"...Will…you?" She whispered. Without another word, she backed through the entrance and disappeared from view.
Somewhat disturbed by how shaken Melia had seemed, Will followed after her. He stepped through the massive doors -
- and ended up in what could have been the result of Indriad planting a forest within Nim's pocket dimension. Will stepped into a grove floating within an endless, star-streaked abyss. An island floating in a dark, boundless dimension, their path marked by cobblestone and large torches.
A forest.
…that couldn't be good.
"Okay, so Will clearly knew what they were talking about," Venam said, slowly spinning around as she took in her surroundings.
Melia kept staring. "...Yeah, Will, what the? That was a really good guess."
Venam completed her turn and began staring at him as well.
It started to become a bit uncomfortable. Clearly, he wasn't supposed to know about this. Clearly, something in his mind had disagreed with that notion. Was this just like the time he dreamt about his death at the hands of Angie?
It was the closest thing he could imagine that made more sense than a voice in my head told me. Since either possibility would oust him as a lunatic regardless, Will decided that deflecting was the way to go. "I guess I read about it somewhere," he said, before imitating Venam and taking a closer look at this forest as well.
Little specks of snow fluttered down from above, but the air didn't feel cold or chilly at all. Everything about this location just screamed "pocket dimension" but on a much grander, older scale than what he'd witnessed with Nim or April.
It freaked him a bit out.
"...Really?" He heard Melia say, her voice tight with suspicion. "What book?"
Which, yeah, he should have seen coming. But what was he supposed to say to her then? That it had been a lucky guess?
"Maybe it was a fairy tale or something like that?" Venam suggested.
Melia's scrutinizing look was too painful to bear. Finally, she tore her gaze off him and said, "Well, that aside, come on. We got a little ways to go."
They made their way through this strange forest, and Will started to realize that he'd seen the skyline of this place before. Right before their stolen battleship had mysteriously ended up in Terajuma Island, it had sailed through a sea of stars just like this one. Back then, he'd theorized that Melia somehow knew more than she'd let on. He'd been right on that front.
Her fake death…her apparent familiarity with Crescent…her claims about matters like "orders" and "tasks"...everything pointed to someone else pulling the strings.
It looked like they were about to find out.
Melia led them to a clearing all the way to the other side of the forest. They passed over a wooden draw-bridge, underneath ancient weathered oaks until finally, they stopped at the edge of another clearing.
In its center, an outcropping of shimmering, blue crystals rested atop a mound of dirt.
"Here we are," Melia said, something like awe in her voice. "Everyone, gather around."
They did as she said, and they crowded around the crystals. Will experienced an odd sense of vertigo, almost if the floor was tilting. There was something familiar and hauntingly beautiful about the crystal, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"This is the secret to how I came back here," Melia said reverently, smiling at the crystal as she crouched down in front of it. "Using this stone, I can return home."
"Return home?" Venam asked, tilting her head in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"Perhaps a demonstration is best," Melia replied. "You two may wanna brace yourselves. This can be quite disorienting."
Something told Will that he wasn't going to like this.
"Um, if you say so," Venam said hesitantly. "I'm sure I can - "
Melia reached out, took a hold of their wrists, and then brought their hands towards the crystal.
A flash of green light erupted across Will's eyes. The ground plummeted away as the sense of vertigo intensified a thousandfold. He felt something like a great wind washing over him, followed by the sensation of something like an invisible layer or film pressing against him. The light carried him onwards and the resistance shattered like a soap bubble. He felt his body snap back into existence as all of his senses suddenly began flooding his brain with input. His knees buckled and he staggered, falling with his back against something solid.
He felt disoriented, nauseous and confused. A quick look around revealed that they'd ended up in a storage room of sorts, surrounded by potted plants, dusty old chairs, a pair of bookshelves and an old, damaged table.
Venam lay at his feet, unmoving, and for one horrible moment Will thought something terrible had happened. As the nausea and shock intensified at the sight of his prone friend, he saw Melia standing opposite of him, looking far too relaxed and impatient. "Venam, get up. You and I both know that you're just fine."
"M-Man, that felt awful," Venam sputtered. "It feels like my insides are about to explode."
Will could relate. Teleporting was just the worst thing. Ever.
…so where were they then? They'd just been teleported a great distance. Were they still in Aevium?
Venam made a retching sound. "Oh God…"
Melia rolled her eyes and crossed her arms sternly. "Will and I aren't going to sit around and wait for you to stop exaggerating."
A second later Venam was back on her feet and suddenly Will took that very, very personally. "Alright, alright. So like…what was all of that? We were just in a forest, and now we're stuck in a stuffy room?"
"Heh, well, you'll see," Melia said. "Let's get out of this place first."
"Well, you heard the lady," Venam said, nudging Will with her elbow as if he was the slow one.
"Yes ma'am," Will simply said. Together, they filed out of the little shack.
Once outside, Will saw that his teleportation guess was correct. Somehow, that crystal had transported them from Valor Mountain all the way to some city. They stood on a hill of sorts overlooking an urban district, but one with enough trees and spots of green to ensure that the local Pokemon could live comfortably, from the looks of it.
"Uh…" Venam walked forwards until her hands found the rail that kept them from tumbling down. "Can someone explain what the heck is going on right now? Will, are you seeing this? I'm not crazy, right? There's an entire city inside of this mountain!"
It sounded like Venam hadn't been teleported against her will enough times if this surprised her.
"Wrong!" Melia cheerfully corrected her. "We're actually outside of Valor Mountain now. What actually happened was this…we've traveled nearly half a century back in time, more or less."
Time travel. Sure, why not. Add that to the list. He had already visited no less than two separate pocket dimensions as well as talked to the deceased spirit of a man who had torn his own soul and humanity away from his physical body. Not to mention, Maria and Indriad Theolia. Why not time travel too?
A choked, mewling sound came from Venam's throat.
"The time before Aevium was subjected to the calamity," Melia continued on, gazing out over the outskirts of the city with a hint of familiarity. "Welcome to Kugearen City. The place Gearen City used to be."
Venam sank through her knees. "How can you say something like that so casually?!"
"Well, that's neither here nor there. This is where I was taken to after the events at Amethyst Cave. I would spend the next three years of my life here in this place."
He knew it. Melia didn't just look more mature, she was more mature! That explained those odd little slip-ups. Three years? Three years since their picnic at Goldenleaf Forest?
In this city, without her friends? He couldn't imagine how lonely she must have been.
"Wait, hold up, I knew you looked a little different, but three years?! Melia, you're nineteen now?"
"Uh…" Melia looked away, suddenly not quite as comfortable anymore. "Yeah. But uh…when I say I spent three years here, I don't mean here in Kugearen. I spent my life in a little town called Amberette Town. We should make our way over there next! I'll explain everything there. But…uh, Will, you don't look surprised? Did you…uh, how much…?"
It was time.
Will presented Melia with his calmest expression, his very best poker face and said, with the utmost seriousness, "Eye could see this happening."
"But…but how!" Melia said, her voice torn between frustration and disbelief. "I know there were little signs and I really don't want to downplay your intelligence, but there is no…no way that…" Slowly, he saw the penny drop inside of her head. "You could…eye? Eye could see?" She blinked and suddenly, her face grew red and comically outraged. "Oh you are the worst! That is horrible!"
He quickly stepped back when Melia swiped at him, cracking a grin at having finally caught Melia off guard.
"I'm not sure what surprises me less, Will making stupid jokes at serious moments or Melia failing to catch the most obvious pun there," Venam muttered.
"I'm sorry," Will said without a shred of remorse. "But you've been hiding so many mysteries for so long now, I feel like I deserved that one."
Melia pouted for a moment, before finally relenting. "Well, yeah, I guess I do owe you more explanation than just…this," She said, gesturing at the cityscape. Looking bemused, she added, "And you've obviously been holding that one in for a while now."
Oh, Melia knew him so well. "Since leaving the Isle of Angels, yes."
She just couldn't help but smile at that one. "Tell you what, it's not too difficult to find. I'll gladly escort everyone there!"
Dragging an unsteady and very disoriented Venam along with them, the three of them started heading north, making their way to the nearest bus station. Not ten minutes later they were on their way to Amberette Town.
Staring out the window, Will started putting these last pieces of the puzzle in place. The mysterious people backing Melia's infiltration of Blacksteeple Castle…they regarded Team Xen as an enemy. That meant…that meant he would find allies in them. After everything that Team Xen had done, he would have the support he needed to take over and relieve them. All of their foul tactics - the assassinations, the ambushes, the hostage-taking and literal backstabs, the utter scale of their organization - he wouldn't have to take the brunt of their cruelty anymore.
He should have been ecstatic…so why wasn't he? Why wasn't he jumping with joy at the idea of finally getting the help he'd been craving for ever since Team Xen started their bloody crusade?
You're just being paranoid, he told himself. You just traveled back in time. Your mind is struggling to process this all
His mind had been struggling to process things ever since he first set foot in Aevium. That was nothing new. So why did -
Melia and Venam practically pulled him out of his seat. He looked up in alarm, only to see that the passengers had been waiting for him to disembark with his friends.
Belatedly, he realized that, if Melia and Venam hadn't been paying attention, the bus would have driven off with him still inside of it.
"I'm sorry," he muttered, his chest tightening with embarrassment. "I wasn't…I…"
"Hey, that's okay," Melia said, her silver eyes as warm and friendly as always. "I knew it would be a lot to take in, even for you."
Will couldn't bring himself to meet her smile, couldn't muster the courage to tell her that this was something else, something that he'd been struggling with for a few days now. Instead, he shifted his focus to Venam, who eagerly strode into the little town that Melia had called her home.
"Huh…this place looks small," she commented. "Like, really small."
It was. It was smaller than even the likes of Sheridan Village and Jynnobi Pass. It wasn't likely that the place had more than a few hundred inhabitants, if that.
"Welcome to Amberette Town!" Melia said. "Where lost souls are found."
They followed her towards the northern section of the town, towards a large, well-kept estate. Melia wandered in as if she owned the place, and Will found himself exchanging an uncertain look with Venam before they followed her inside.
Expecting something like the Theolia Estate, Will found himself walking into a plus-sized living room instead. The floor was equipped with light parquet wood, large rugs keeping the various pieces of furniture from scratching the floor and an almost casual style of decoration. Potted plants, some bookcases, a kitchen to the side and an old-fashioned, boxy television screen in the corner.
Venam whistled. "This place is so nice…is this where you stayed?"
"Yeah," Melia said chipperly. "It's a nice place, I guess. I wish I could've come here on my own accord, but…"
A voice came from the stairs on the other end of the room, cutting her off. "Hm? Is someone there?"
Which, to Will, seemed like an odd thing to say to a possible home intruder.
An older-looking male came walking down the stairs, clad in a labcoat much like Jenner had been back in East Gearen. His graying hair was starting to recede along the wrinkled shape of his forehead. "Sorry, I wasn't expecting guests. Welcome to - "
"Hello Irvin," Melia said casually. "No need to keep up the act. These guys are my friends from No Man's Land."
No Man's Land?
"H-Hello!" Venam said.
"Oh, I understand," Irvin said, his eyes narrowing a bit. "Well, welcome to the past, I suppose."
"Um, I'll explain stuff to you to, Irvin, but could you give us a few moments upstairs?"
"Of course," Irvin conceded with a nod. "I'll be waiting down here."
The man stepped aside and Melia wasted no time in taking Venam and Will upstairs. The first floor was shaped like an upside-down T-intersection, with two pairs of rooms spread evenly across the hallway.
"My room, and I guess by extension, your rooms, is the first one on the right!" Melia said, gesturing towards the closed door on the right.
"Oh! We're going to be having a sleepover!" Venam whooped.
"Eh, something like that? We'll figure it out."
Melia's bedroom was like a miniature version of the living room. Wooden floor, cozy pink blanket that contained two sofas, a table and a television of her own, as well as a single bed standing in the upper right corner.
Her room had a large array of books, too. It didn't look like her room in the Gearen laboratory at all. It was almost strange, since Melia was usually so neat. They seemed haphazardly scattered, the casings of movies and video games spread around in random directions.
"So this is your room, huh?" Venam said, scanning Melia's room with the practiced ease of judgment only a girl could muster.
"Yep! It's a pretty nice room!" Melia replied. "It's what I've called home for a bit."
Venam's expression slowly grew stern and questioning as she prowled around the room. "Not to be rude Melia…but this room is extremely messy."
Wincing, Melia looked away. "...I went through a lot. Books and video games kept me sane, I guess."
"Oh…"
"B-But I'm trying not to be a downer!" Melia was quick to say. "Let's just forget about that."
"Yeah," Venam said, faking an awkward cough. "Anyway, what's next?"
"Hm…well, there is that explanation I promised I'd give. That's still on the table, but truthfully…I feel pretty gross right now, don't you guys? Shouldn't we freshen up a bit?"
Venam and him did just have an epic party, and the Gym battle against Amber had been a …heated affair. He'd sweat up a storm, and then there were the multiple flights between to Kakori and back again…combined with the trek through Valor Mountain and the sudden teleportation back in time…
A shower wasn't a bad idea, no.
"Now that you mention it, I do feel kinda gross," Venam agreed. She glanced at Will, and her eyes went from his face, to his chest, to his hand. "We all look kinda rough, actually."
"That's just my face, Venam," Will blurted out.
Melia began laughing. "Don't sell yourself short, Will! You have a really cute face."
Trying and failing to keep from blushing, Will missed the remark that Venam slung at him in response, but he was sure it was something very nice and very much something he would have had a smart comeback for.
"Hold on, I got just the thing," Melia then said. "Be right back!"
Before either of her friends could respond, Melia darted out of the room, her golden hair billowing behind her as she disappeared around the corner.
"...we traveled through time," Venam said, shaking her head in apparent disbelief. "Through freaking time. Fifty years. I could meet my own grandma. My mom hasn't even been born yet. Professor Jenner hasn't freaking been born yet."
"Believe it or not, Venam, but you haven't been born yet either," Will pointed out as he sat down on the floor, putting his back to one of the bookcases.
"Tch. Smartass."
Venam threw a pillow at his head and he barely managed to turn his head sideways quick enough to present Venam with the cute part of his face. The improvised projectile smacked against his head with surprising force. A lance of pain shot through his left eye cavity and he reached up in a reflex.
"Uh, ah fuck," Venam hissed. "Shit, I didn't think - uh, are you okay?"
Will probed the bandages on his face. He didn't feel anything warm or wet soaking into the fabric, and when he felt around his eye cavity, his fingers remained dry.
"...we're good," he said.
"I didn't mean to…I kinda didn't think about that one," Venam quickly said, scurrying over towards him to check for herself.
"It's fine," Will said.
"That could have been bad - I could have hurt you, dude."
If he still had two intact eyes, he would have rolled them both. But he didn't, and he was trying really hard not to let that thought petrify him. "But you didn't. So it's fine."
Venam snorted. "Wouldn't want to hurt your cute face, right?"
He wanted to fire back at that one, tease Venam about jealousy being unbecoming of her, but suddenly he couldn't say a word. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He noticed that his hands were shaking. His chest started feeling tight.
The realization fell on him out of nowhere. A sleepover. Venam had said sleepover and Melia had said that this was to be their room now as well.
He…he couldn't sleep in the same room as them. He couldn't - apparently he did stupid and dangerous shit when he had bad dreams and he didn't want them to see how bad the scars were now. He had a big freaking cut running across the side of his face, not to mention the collection of ugly Y-shaped ropey scars that now marred his chest.
"...you do look a bit pale though. Guess this future stuff is sinking in now too, right? You sure you're okay?" Venam said.
Apparently, he wasn't, because he couldn't remember getting back to his feet yet suddenly he was standing in the middle of the room.
Slowly, he reached for his left eye again. I'm fine, he wanted to say, but that little lie suddenly felt impossible to push out. "...do you think we're really sleeping here?" He asked, forcing the words out to at least try and present a reasonable picture of sanity.
Venam cocked an eyebrow at him. "Why? Scared of sharing a room with two girls?" She said with a mocking grin.
Closer to the truth than he would have liked. "I - "
Before he could dig himself a deeper hole, Melia stumbled back into the room, carrying with her a large, yellow box. She threw it down on the floor with a hefty Thwump! and then stepped back, eyeing her handiwork with pride.
"Wow! It's a box!" Venam said. "Riveting."
"Obviously, it's what's inside the box that's important," Melia said, rolling her head up at the ceiling. "There's a bunch of clothes in here that we can choose from."
Venam's eyes lit up at that. "Oooh…new clothes. new clothes!" She said, hopping up and down like a child about to get her favorite candy.
"Love your excitement. I can't blame you; Irvin has a bunch of clothes that he lets any of us use. They're all fashionable, too, so it's really thoughtful of him."
"A bunch of women's clothing just lying around?" Will said, eager to grasp at something that he could direct his churning, tumbling thoughts towards. He was likely missing the context here, especially since Melia just said "any of us", indicating that there were more people to their organization, but with stress came paranoia. With paranoia came not dying when people inevitably tried to murder them.
"Dunno where he got these clothes from, but the way he chucked this box at me, it looks like he just wants them gone."
That didn't help Irvin's case at all.
Melia saw the look on his face and she must have guessed the rest. "Oh come on Will, it's not like that! Look, I'll tell you the details soon, but our people need to be able to disguise themselves. We have female members too, so having a bunch of clothes lying around is helpful!"
"Come on Will, stop being so difficult and pick some clothes for yourself!" Venam said, already shoulder-deep into the box of clothes. "Or are you going to play dress-up with old ranger stuff again?"
"Hey, that stuff was practical!" Will protested.
"Melia, I swear, if you're letting him walk around your new home in a freaking boonie hat like the gals told me, I'll have Seviper eat it."
Melia giggled, which would have been really cute, had it not been for what she said next. "I dunno. I was thinking of dressing him up myself."
Sounding a bit muffled now, Venam said, "What, for real? Can I watch? And take pictures? Future blackmail material and stuff?"
Will put up his heaviest, most intimidating scowl.
Like throwing oil into a fire, that only seemed to embolden Melia. "Don't be like that Will! It's going to be fun! I told you I'd take you shopping, didn't I?"
"Hah!" Venam went, nearly up to her waist in the box by then. "Found an awesome set of clothes for myself! It's going to be awesome!"
"Fine," Will relented. "I'll get in the box."
As he started searching for a combination of clothes that wouldn't make him stand out too much, he heard Melia say, "Hey Venam? How do you feel about removing that purple dye from your hair?"
Venam was out of the box and in the furthest corner of Melia's room in a heartbeat. "No."
"Aw c'mon!" Melia pleaded. "I know you love your purple hair, but I have an awesome outfit in mind that will compliment your natural color!"
Her…natural color?
…he knew that Venam's hair wasn't natural, but the shock of seeing Adam without his blue hair had nearly been too much for his heart. He wasn't sure he could handle seeing Venam without her purple hair.
"I REFUSE. THERE'S NO WAY. THE HAIR STAYS AS IS," Venam barked at Melia,
"Oh?" Melia said, her expression darkening. "Is that so? We'll see about that…"
"Melia!" Venam said, quivering in fear as her blond friend crept closer. "PLEASE!"
Speaking calmly and gently, like a trainer coaxing an angry Pokemon out of hiding, Melia said, "I promise on the stars above that this makeover is gonna look great!"
Venam tried to run but Melia got her hands around her arm and began tugging her back to her bathroom with surprising strength. Either that, or Venam was in serious need of a workout herself.
"NO! PLEASE! ANYTHING BUT THE HAIR! I BEG YOU!"
"You'll thank me when I'm done styling!" Melia said. "Just trust me a little!"
Venam cast one last wild, desperate look at Will. "CALL THE COPS! CALL BLAZIKEN! CALL FUCKING ANYONE! HELP! NOOOO!"
Melia kicked the door close behind her and just like that, Venam was gone.
Will wasn't sure what was worse; the thought that he would never be able to recognize Venam in a crowd again, or the thought that at any given day, he could be the next one.
Eh. He'd deal with that when the time came.
Ultimately he decided against switching up his clothes. He didn't stand out nearly as much as Venam used to with her purple locks and this Irvin didn't have any clothes that offered more practicality, like the ranger equipment had. More importantly, these were the clothes Tesla had bought for him. They were identical to the ones he'd woken up to in Kristiline Town, but…well, without all the blood and the damage from Giratina and Geara's knife.
It took the girls about half an hour to get everything in order. He heard the door to the bathroom open and close again, and Melia said, "Will, could you come here for a sec?"
He got up and made his way to the bathroom door…where a completely new Melia stood waiting for him. She'd cut her hair; her golden locks now reached to just above her shoulders, kept in place with a frilly headband. She'd ditched the cool black outfit for an absurdly cute black skirt held up by suspenders with gold buttons and a white blouse which accentuated the contours of her body. White leggings hugged the curves of her legs, ending in gray boots that wouldn't be out of place in a business office.
"So…" She said, doing a little twirl to show off her new outfit. "What do you think?"
Will thought of Melia. adrift on a freezing sea under an endless night, alone. Melia, who had won Neved's trust and risked the scorn of the entire prison's population just for a chance to get her friend out. Melia, who had lost her father and still possessed the strength to keep going without letting her pain compromise who she was. He had never seen anyone so brave, so beautiful, and so bold.
"I think you look beautiful," Will said, wishing he had the words to express his thoughts in a more elegant way.
The faintest blush colored her pale cheeks. "Aw, Will, thank you! That's so wonderful of you to say! I wanted to go with a bit more of a brighter look! Before, I was a bit depressed and all, so I stuck to darker clothing, but…I think it's time to move on from that, no?" She smiled, and then very gingerly reached for his face. "Mind if we take a peek?"
"Uh…" Will remained frozen in place as Melia's soft fingers brushed against his cheek, gently peeling away the wrappings around his eye. "I'm not…not sure if…"
Slowly, Melia tugged the bandages away, and then leaned in closer to peer at the wound. "Hmm…can you…open that eye?"
With quivering breath, Will tried blinking his ruined eye open. It felt like Angie's cold had frozen his eyelashes together again. He couldn't quite…manage…
Slowly, the nothingness on the left side of his face expanded into a white expanse of snow. He fought the urge to rub the blurriness out of his eye. The whiteness didn't lift.
Melia leaned in more, peering up with worried eyes. "What do you see?"
A weird sense of horror surged through him. He tried to stave it off. Focused on his sight. The left side of his vision wasn't nonexistent anymore. It was a blurry expanse of white. He slowly turned his head to the right, hoping that somehow, Melia's face would come into view, if only as a blurry shape, but she didn't. There was only snow. Little stars dotted across his vision, but nothing close to sight.
He was effectively blind in his left eye.
His head was abuzz with panic as he realized that he now had a literal blindspot, a massive blindspot that he couldn't cover on his own. He couldn't - he couldn't fight Team Xen like this, he couldn't -
"Will?"
"I…can't…" he stammered. He brought a trembling hand to his eye. "I can't have a blind spot."
Horror touched her expression as well. "A blind spot? Will - "
"This is going to get me killed," he breathed. "It's going to get others killed - I can't - "
"Will, hey, slow down. It's still healing - "
"It won't be in time," he argued, feeling his heart starting to hammer against his ribs. "We - "
"Will!" Suddenly her hands were on his shoulders and she dropped her forehead to his. The sudden contact and warmness shocked him, more than it should, and he felt it actually ground his thoughts somewhat. "We got you, okay?" She said in a steady, soothing voice. "Nobody is going to try and hurt us here! We're safe. You're safe. We got you."
He held on to those words with a desperate grip, held on to the way her forehead against his seemed to dissipate his scattered thoughts. Slowly, he wrenched them back under control. Slowly, he began putting them back where they belonged.
He took a deep, shaky breath. Forced his heartrate down. Another breath.
And slowly, he managed to gain control over his breathing again. The panicky buzz in his heart lifted and he was able to start putting her arguments into more context.
She'd been here for three years. No contact with the enemy. If she said they were safe, she meant it. No more Team Xen. No more ambushes. No more surprises.
"I'm sorry," he muttered, feeling tired and even more embarrassed than back on the bus. "I promise I'll do better."
Melia reeled back at his comment. "What? No, you shouldn't apologize for that! Look, we've all been through something harrowing. We're still healing. All of us."
Will couldn't meet her eyes. He didn't see her panicking over stupid shit like having to share a room. He didn't see Venam freaking out over everything, or anything.
God, why couldn't he just get a grip?
"Okay, okay, I think everything's put together," Venam's voice came from the closed bathroom door.
Melia gave him another reassuring smile, then turned her attention to her other friend. "Oooh, I'm curious to see the end result!"
"I'm curious too, and I'm the one being shown off…"
"Whenever you're ready!"
"Okay…"
Will started pulling the bandages back to cover his eye.
"One…two…three…and…"
She flung the door open and stepped out. Dear god, her natural hair color was brown. Not just Adam brown, but an even darker shade. She'd tied them in curly pigtails, with her bangs in the middle, revealing a pair of sharp, probing brown eyes. Instead of her rocker outfit, she'd gone with a red plaid vest and a black shirt with a cool pattern that reminded him a bit too much of Garufan glyphs. Her black boots looked more rugged, reaching halfway up to her shins. Instead of a skirt, she wore jeans that were either black or a very deep shade of gray, depending on the lighting.
"...well?" She asked impatiently. "How do I look?"
"You look great, duh!" Melia replied cheerily. "I told you that you would! Keeping the rugged look while keepin' it responsible!"
Venam nodded in quiet approval, then flicked an angry glare at Will, as if daring him to even think something to the contrary.
How could he? She looked absolutely badass. "Just when I thought you couldn't get any cooler…" he said.
Venam snorted at that, but she looked satisfied with his response. Happy, even. "Hm…well, I gotta say…I don't hate it. In fact, it feels a bit nice…can't say I look "responsible" though."
"Okay, now that that's settled, let's head back downstairs. I'm sure Irvin would like to get to know you guys. Don't worry! He's nice."
"I'll be the judge of that!" Venam replied. Together, the three of them headed downstairs again, where Irvin had already seated himself at one of the tables in anticipation of their arrival.
Melia sat down next to the old man, so Will pulled up a seat next to Venam and put his back to the corner. From there, he could keep an eye on the entrance as well as the stairs.
"Alright, time for introductions!" Melia said. "WIll, Venam, this is Irvin. Irvin, this is Will and Venam."
"A pleasure to meet you all," Irvin said politely.
"Heyyy," Venam greeted him back.
Will nodded at the man.
"Where shall we even begin?" Irvin said. "Is there anything you would like to know?"
Venam put her hands on the table. "I'm kinda confused with this whole situation…why are you all here?"
"I'm sure you're aware of the calamity that befell Aevium?" Irvin calmly asked.
"Which we will be referring to as "Storm-9", Melia quickly pointed out.
Irvin coughed into his fist. "Yes, Storm-9. This town was founded by Spacea and Tiempa. Two people who are aware of Storm-9's happenings and consequences. They are aware of the greatest catastrophe that happened in Aevium around this time period. Both believe that history is destined to repeat. So they are trying all they can to stop Storm-9 from happening again."
"Again?" Venam nearly shouted. "Storm-9 is going to occur twice? I assume in the present time?"
"That is their belief, yes," Irvin nodded. "In order to prevent this…Spacea and Tiempa have gathered people affected by the storm and brought them here. During their time here, they train to become stronger in order to defeat any threat. This cycle shall continue until Storm-9 happens in this time. Once this event begins, we shall return to the future and use our combined strength to stop this storm from happening ever again."
Storm-9…did that mean there had been a Storm-1 through Storm-8? Where did the 9 come from? And training to become "stronger" in order to defeat "any threat' were really vague terms. It was likely Irvin merely used that phrasing to compress a very complicated and lengthy story into something smaller and simpler to process, but…it was something he took note of.
"We've given ourselves the name "Storm Chasers". Fitting, right?" Melia said.
Leaning back in her seat, Venam said, "I don't really get how becoming strong will stop a natural disaster from happening."
Will felt relieved that he hadn't been the only one to pick up on that. He wasn;t paranoid if Venam noticed the same, right?
"That's the thing, we're sure people are trying to recreate what happened," Melia replied. "Our biggest suspect is Team Xen. Which is why we're creating our own team to counter theirs."
Venam looked back and forth between Melia and Irvin, frowning. "So you were recruited too then?"
She nodded. "Yeah. I was. It happened right before Zetta caught up to me. Out of panic, I took the wrong turn and went somewhere I wasn't supposed to. That's when I met them."
Melia painted them a picture of the Amethyst Depths, of a desperate, final attempt to flee her pursuers when she ran into a dead end. Then, just as Team Xen had been about to catch up to her and spirit her away, they had appeared.
A portal tearing through space and time. Two women of unimaginable power and unfathomable wisdom freezing the flow of time itself to introduce themselves to her.
Tiempa and Spacea.
Telling the young and terrified Melia that they'd been there to help her fulfill a destiny that she could not run away from, these two enigmatic women had given her a "choice"; stay and fend off Team Xen by her lonesome, or go with them to train and become stronger.
Will wondered what would have happened if Melia had chosen to stay. Would Ren, Venam and him been fast enough to catch up to her in time? Would they have boxed Zetta in before he could abduct Melia, or would Zetta have somehow found a way to teleport himself away the moment he'd laid his hands on her?
It hadn't been a choice at all. Of course Melia had accepted, under so much duress.
That was when Crescent had appeared. Somehow, she had followed the two women through the pathway, to make Melia's "adoption" into their fold into a strategic defeat for Team Xen. Faking Melia's death had been her doing, because of course it had been.
The blood, the bag, the Galvantula…all her work. Galvantula had been a sacrificial lamb, one that he had been all too eager to claim.
"All of that happened to you in Amethyst Cave?" Venam gasped. "I never would've imagined it. I'm sorry."
Looking mournful, Melia simply nodded. "And unfortunately, Crescent went rogue a few weeks after that point. It's scary because Crescent was one of the strongest trainers we've ever come across…so strong that Spacea and Tiempa were getting a bit worried."
Rogue…rogue?
That phrasing bothered him. It bothered him so much that the rest of Venam, Irvin and Melia's explanation turned into background noise.
Unbidden, Will's thoughts began tumbling around again. Rogue meant working in opposition, Rogue meant working against their organization. Melia'd said scary and yet Crescent had only ever acted to aid them. Time and time again Crescent had worked to save…well, save him, but still. More than that, her hatred of Team Xen had driven her to do more damage to the Initiative than even he could have done. And she'd done that all by herself.
Nobody else had come to their aid aside from Crescent. They'd been doing this alone for weeks, for months. People had died, people kept dying, and yet Team Xen went on and on…and they said Crescent was rogue. Rogue? Did that mean…did they mean to say that opposing Team Xen wasn't their goal, then?
He didn't buy that. Something about that just seemed off to him.
"What about Spacea and Tiempa? Can I meet them now?" Venam asked.
Will shot her a look. Why would she want to meet those two? They sounded like trouble.
"I'm afraid that's not possible at the moment," Irvin said.
Melia nodded. "They can only appear when both space and time link up together."
Venam looked like she didn't buy that. "Oookay? And that's when?"
"During an eclipse," Irvin said.
Will put his hands on the table and flicked his eyes down. Was that a lie? An excuse to keep Venam from meeting these two…women? They'd lost Melia during a normal day. Unless he'd been very blind back then, he hadn't seen a hint of an eclipse when they plucked Melia from her own time to press her into their group .
"I see…" Venam replied dejectedly.
"They can still watch over us, and they can use very small bits of their power…" Melia said. "But they cannot gain physical form."
It must have been a really awkward recruiting and application process for the space and time ladies, then.
He couldn't help it, but something was…off. Maybe he was being paranoid again, but his gut told him that he should remain skeptical.
"One last question," Venam said. "Were you here in this time forever, or did you visit the present?"
"A couple of times," Melia admitted. "Most of them dealing with Amethyst Cave."
Venam frowned. "What brought you there?"
It was Irvin who replied. "We were looking for something called the Soul Stone.
The Soul Stone. Amethyst Cave.
Keta.
Should he…keep that a secret? These Storm Chasers were allies, or at least they said they were. He wasn't sure about this Irvin guy, but he trusted Melia. He didn't want to keep any information or resources back…even if Spacea and Tiempa hadn't been that considerate themselves.
He dug into his backpack, found the mysterious gemstone and held it out.
"Hm? What is it, Will?" Melia said.
Irvin shot one look at the stone and nearly fell out of his chair. "That's…!"
"The Soul Stone!" Melia gasped. Her eyes flicked back and forth between his face and the gem, as if she thought that he was somehow pulling their leg. "Where did you get that?"
Before he could answer, Venam leaned closer to the apparent Soul Stone and said, "Looks like an ordinary stone to me. What's so special about this lump of rock?"
"The Soul Stone has the power to hold the souls of people who have passed," Irvin replied with an almost breathless awe. "Hm…" He too leaned closer to observe the gem. "But it looks empty now."
"Empty!" Melia exclaimed. "I don't see how that would be possible. Considering what we've been through and all the people that were lost in the present time…I would've thought some souls would have found their way into the stone…"
A reservoir for the dead?
Will glared at the purple rock, feeling the sudden urge to bash it to pieces against the nearest hard surface. A prison that kept human souls from going where they needed to go? Something like that shouldn't exist. It was cruel, and if Team Xen got their hands on it…
"Perhaps there were no souls to be absorbed," Irvin said, as if he were talking about the weather.
"What are the chances of three people consecutively not having a soul?" Melia asked him.
"Slim to none…"
"More than that," Will said. His voice came out angrier than he wanted it to. These were human souls they were talking about. Not some science project to dissect and analyze.
"I beg your pardon?" Irvin said.
Will clutched the Soul Stone tightly. "More people died than three. Far more."
"...perhaps there is a factor of distance involved? Perhaps - "
Venam shoved herself to her feet. "Well, okay, that's enough talking for now. I'm going to meet the rest!"
"The rest?" Melia asked, not following.
"Yeah! The other recruits!" Venam clarified.
Melia smiled. "There's only one other recruit present right now. The others have gone on their own to train."
Good plan. Put together a team to counter an aggressive and highly competent foe and then have them scatter to train on their own. No wonder these Storm Chasers hadn't been any help against Team Xen.
…no, that wasn't fair. For all he knew, the Storm Chasers had been combating the Xen Initiative for far longer than he had. They could have struck their enemy a dozen times over, thwarting more of their murderous plans than he would ever know. He shouldn't let his frustrations and paranoia turn into something ugly.
"All right," Venam pressed on. "Well, then where's the one?"
"Kanon?" Irvin said. "He's at my lab. But he's sort of a strange child. Try not to be too intimidating."
"Maximum intimidation," Venam said with a cruel grin. "Got it."
She was about to walk off, but Will called out to her. "Venam!"
Stopping mid-stride, his now-no-longer-purple-haired friend turned to look at him. "Sup?"
"...stop it, you're scaring me," Will said, flashing her a grin.
Venam scoffed, but he could see her eyes lit up with glee. "Yeah, you better be! I'm about to replace your ass with another dork if you don't come with me!"
"Be right there," Will said.
"Hmm…actually, it's been a while since I last spoke to Kanon," Melia mused. "Maybe I should visit him too."
"Actually," Irvin said, turning towards her. "I have a different assignment for you. As you can probably tell, owning an entire town is quite expensive…I'll need you to take a job at the restaurant in Kugearen City again for just a little while."
"What?" Melia said, looking aghast. "I just got back…but I suppose there's nothing to be done. I was hoping I'd never have to serve another table again…"
Melia? A waitress? Now that was something he would like to see.
Irvin held out a finger. "Time - "
"Yeah yeah," Melia scoffed. "Time stops for no one. I'll be back later. See ya, Irvin, Will!"
Melia turned to leave, and then the professor finally turned his attention to Will. "As for you…feel free to relax, but also know that we have rules here at the Amberette house," he sternly said. "The rules are posted next to the stairs. Don't forget to read them."
"Yes sir," Will said. He didn't wait around for Irvin to start asking him how he got the Soul Stone. He hurriedly shoved it back into his pocket and then exited the estate. Venam had waited for him at the door, and together, they headed to the smaller house to the east of the estate.
Irvin's lab.
The other Storm Chaser, this Kanon guy, was the only other person inside of the lab. His snow-white hair was about as long as Will's own, if a bit shorter, and his long, scholar-like robes went down to his shoes. White sashes hung from both of his shoulders, hanging down to just below his knees.
Not exactly the type of clothes Will would have picked had he been chasing storms. Or fighting Team Xen.
Maybe it was a uniform kind of thing? Training robes to be discarded the moment their people went into the field?
Venam, with all of her usual charm and charisma, swaggered up to the guy and said, "Wow, hey there Merlin, what's with the mage outfit?"
Looking up from his work, Kanon gave Venam and him a puzzled look. "Huh?"
"That wasn't an insult by the way," Venam cheerfully continued. "It's a cool look for you."
"Oh…" Kanon nodded to himself. "In that case, thanks. My name is Kanon." He offered Venam his hand and she shook it.
"I'm Venam! And this is Will. We're old friends of Melia."
"Melia!" Kanom gasped. "She's back?"
"Yeah, we just got back in. She's not with us right now, obviously. She had to go do something, I dunno. I wasn't really paying attention."
That. That right there was probably a big part of the reason why he'd nearly worked up a panic attack at the realization he was now half-blind. If she didn't pay attention now, when everything was serene and peaceful, how would she ever develop the instinct and awareness to stay alive on the battlefield?
"She's probably working at her job again in Kugearen," Kanon helpfully replied. "Irvin, I'm done with my studies. May you permit me to go see Melia?"
Irvin, who just entered the lab, nodded in approval. "As you wish, but don't take too long."
Kanon bowed to the man. "Thanks sir. I won't be too long."
With that, Kanon hurried along, leaving Venam to glare at his back as he left. "Tch, pushy…"
"Please excuse the boy," Irvin said. "He and Melia were very close friends. They relied on each other a lot to get themselves through a hard change in their life."
Venam crossed her arms and looked away,. "Hmph. Whatever."
"Aren't you happy she has other friends?" Will asked.
"What I am is hungry! You too? We should check out that restaurant in Kugearen too. Meal's on me, kay?"
"Sure, why not."
The local wild Pokemon had been acting up lately. Because of that, Irvin had hired a driver to ferry guests and his associates back and forth between Kugearen and Amberette. It made for an easier, if somewhat awkward ride back to the main city.
"So whatcha make of all this?" Venam asked the moment they disembarked. "This is some weird shit, huh?"
"Hm…honestly? I don't like it," Will replied, taking a gamble and being open about his thoughts. That was what he'd promised to Melia, wasn't it? To start talking about his thoughts and feelings more? "I feel like I'm missing the bigger picture."
"Oh yeah, I get that, I feel like that all the time," Venam grinned. "I don't let it bother me though! I just sorta go along with things, right?"
"Right. So, are you replacing me with Kanon?"
"Hah! Good one. As if anyone could ever replace you."
Will shot her a look. "Is that a compliment?"
Venam gave him a sickeningly-sweet smile. "You're just the perfect ball of dorkiness, unpredictability and lunacy, with a touch of natural disaster."
Will shot her a second look. "Is that a compliment?"
"...sure?"
Eventually they ended up in front of the…the "La Yum Cafe". Venam was happy to take the lead and she barged inside. "Table for two," she told the man behind the counter.
Said man hooked them up with a waitress - unfortunately it wasn't Melia - and they followed her to one of the tables in the back. On their way, they passed by Kanon, sat by himself. Will nodded at the guy, and Kanon looked up, looking a bit puzzled at the gesture. Somewhat hesitantly, he raised his hand to wave.
Kanon seemed like a nice guy. A bit awkward, but Will felt like he had zero authority on that subject.
The waitress politely gestured for them to sit, and Venam wasted no time in snatching up the menu.
"Welcome to La Yum Cafe! What can I get for you?"
Will picked up one of the menus himself. He'd gone straight from Amber's party in the evening to a big revelation in the afternoon, and the sense of temporal jetlag left him feeling famished.
"I'm gonna have the spicy curry. Extra cheese!" Venam said.
"Got it," the waitress said, penning down the order. "What will you have?"
"A pasta Carbonara, please," Will asked.
"Aaand a Carbonara. Anything to drink?"
With their orders placed, Venam and Will kicked back and just…enjoyed a simple and normal dinner. It was a welcome change of pace. They laughed. They talked. About dumb stuff, superficial stuff that bordered on small talk, but Will cherished every second of it. He felt like he'd been walking on a razor's edge for months now, with one horrible event after another slowly wearing him down. But laughing about, to borrow Amber's phrasing, dumb shit left him feeling lighter.
"Oh man, that freaking hit the spot!" Venam said once she finished her plate. "That frickin' hit the spot! DELICIOUS! PERFECT!"
Will calmly took a swig of his soda. "Man these people can cook."
"Right! What about you? Don't tell me my taste is just garbo, you enjoyed it too, right?"
"It was excellent, yeah."
"Right?" Venam said, all but beaming with joy. "Much better than those ranger rations amiright?"
"Now I'm not saying that."
"I forgot what you ordered, but my spicy curry was the best! The blend of spices was perfectly balanced! The water was perfectly mediocre, therefore staying in the range of perfect!"
Before Will could poke fun at her perfect phrasing there, Kanon turned around and said, "A weird conclusion to come to, as nothing can truly be "perfect"."
Sure, if one took the world's most coveted gemstone and put it under a big microscope, it wouldn't be that hard to find imperfections. Nothing was perfect, yeah, but that wasn't some groundbreaking revelation.
But Will couldn't help himself. "A perfect analysis there, Kanon."
Venam's big smile slowly faded. "Huh? Oh, it's just you, Kanon. I guess you did say you wanted to come down here."
"Yeah, I love the food here," Kanon replied, twisting around on his seat to better face Venam and Will.
"It's pretty good. Anyway, did you meet up with Melia?"
Kanon shook his head. "She's busy, unfortunately."
"Yeah. Wish that dork would've been the one to take my order," Venam joked.
Personally, Will just couldn't imagine Melia serving him. It just didn't seem right in his world.
Much to his surprise, a dark expression suddenly crossed Kanon's features. He leapt to his feet and…was he squaring off against Venam? "Dork? That's rich coming from you."
…did Kanon just steal his "no you" comeback? Sure, he wrapped it up in a package of sophistication, but still. Not cool.
Venam narrowed her eyes. Slowly, she eased herself off her seat and stood as well, tense and annoyed. "Damn…was that drag necessary? I was just kidding around," she said, frustration bleeding into her voice.
There wasn't a hint of amusement in Kanon's dark eyes. "I can tell just by the way you talk. You don't take anything seriously, do you?" He said accusingly.
Venam threw her hands in the air and turned around in exasperation. "The fuck is going on here" She snapped. "I said I was kidding around, asshole!"
Will watched the scene unfold, feeling a tension slip into the air that he didn't much care for.
"You guys don't belong here," Kanon said, annoyed. "You weren't chosen. You're out of place."
Something inside of him rebelled at Kanon's words. Chosen…chosen for what? Chosen for what? The only choice he ever got to make was choosing to stand up for a girl when the world was about to come falling down on her. Of course he didn't belong here! This wasn't about choice or anything like that! This was about Team Xen, it had always been about Team Xen!
"This isn't a game," Kanon continued. His eyes bore deep into Venam's. "People are suffering every day and you're here acting like this is just some fun vacation."
Venam's expression hardened into a defensive scowl. "Will, I'm gonna kick this little magician's ass if he doesn't stop talking shit!" She said through clenched teeth.
Kanon sighed, like Venam's words merely disappointed him. "Typical. You lean on violence for everything. Silly. But I've seen real violence - "
Venam's eyes darted towards Will for a second.
" - real fear. You're nothing compared to it."
"Oh really?" Venam hissed, her face burning red with anger. "Let me be so honored to show you what violence looks like again."
"Guys, come on," Will said, trying to choke down his outrage. They shouldn't be fighting against each other. This…it wasn't right.
"Again with the violence," Kanon said. "Fine, I'll indulge you."
His hand went to his pocket and Will moved as if jolted by lightning. Adrenaline spiked through his body as he put himself in-between his friend and this new threat. By the time Kanon sent out his Pokemon - a large, blue-skinned dragon with curving red wings, Will had already sent out his own Pokemon to counter him. His mind recognized the reptilian body and the thin wings as either a Dragon or Flying-type. A snapshot of a pair of frost-bitten Flygon crashing into the black depths of the Route Six strait came to mind.
Even as he backpedaled away from the Pokemon before it could snatch off one of his limbs, he heard Venam shout, "Come out!" And suddenly a dark-colored Charizard emerged from a Pokeball.
That's not Venam's, he thought through hazy thoughts before they snapped back together into a more coherent picture. Kanon and his dragon on one side. Venam and the confused-looking, frantic Charizard behind him. If he could engage and put pressure on this single Pokemon before Kanon could send out his others, he could control the flow of the fight. He could keep Venam safe.
Charizard dragged a burning, serpentine tail across the ground, knocking one of the tables through the air.
Will caught snapshots of the civilians around them. Screaming. Running. They evacuated the area. Good; now he could attack in every direction without having to concern himself about collateral damage.
"E-Easy Charizard! Calm down!" Venam called out.
"Having trouble controlling your Charizard?" Kanon sneered. "Pathetic." Instead of ordering his Pokemon to attack, instead of pulling out anything resembling a weapon of himself, Kanon then turned his attention to Will next. "Are you going to be a problem too? Fine. I can take both of you without any problems."
"Froslass, use Blizzard!"
"Salamance! Flamethrower!"
"Charizard, Heatwave that thing!"
The three elemental attacks that surged through the restaurant's interior blew out every window. Froslass barely had the chance to get a storm going before the Salamence opened its maw and unleashed a torrent of searing flames.
"Froslass, break off, now!"
Froslass released the corona of power she'd gathered and swiftly flung herself to the ground. Elemental attacks could still hurt Ghost-types when they turned incorporeal, so evasion was her only shot.
"Watch the ceiling Salamence!" Kanon ordered.
Salamence bit off his flamethrower attack before it could burn a hole clean through the restaurant's roof. The Charizard, meanwhile, began flapping its wings at the Salemence, creating a gust of superheated air that nearly set the floor on fire.
All of this heat made it hard for Froslass to bring her type-advantage to bear. He'd hoped Venam would have ordered Charizard to get in close and pin Salamence down. Had she never fought a Dragon-type before? Didn't she realize that using fire wouldn't work?
"Salamence, ignore the ghost! Use Dragon Claw on that Charizard!"
As Salamence rushed towards Charizard, draconic energy gathering around his front legs, Will took note of the strange way it attacked. Its actual claws gloweed a bright white, but when it lashed out at Charizard the image of a pair of larger, oversized claws appeared just over its limbs. Those strange, disembodied nails were the one that raked Charizard's chest and the resulting shockwave of energy flung entire tables across the restaurant's interior.
"Damnit! Charizard, get up! You're stronger than this punk!" Venam shouted.
Somehow, Salamence had forged physical weapons from his draconic energy. Will hadn't even thought something like that was possible. That was something he had to try with Fraxure.
"Froslass, circle around to its tail, hit it with Icy Wind!" Will ordered. "Use whatever water you have to!"
With its attention focused on Charizard, Salamence was wide open. Froslass flew underneath a pair of toppled over chairs, rolled around to the left to avoid Salamence snapping its jaws at her and then positioned herself behind it.
"Salamence! Turn around quick, use Flamethrower again!"
The restaurant was too cramped, too confined for two dragons to fight. They had to hold back their destructive power or risk bringing the entire place down on them while Froslass could endlessly zip around and pelt Salamence from afar.
Which she did. Froslass wasn't strong enough to create ice out of nothing like Angie had done. She either froze the existing water around her or she had to use her attacks to generate the ice she needed. Moves like Blizzard and Ice Beam allowed her to whip up a freezing hailstorm out of nowhere, but that cost her significantly more energy than simply using her authority of temperature and water to snap-freeze her own weapons into existence.
Behind her, Froslass exploded one of the fridges the staff used to store their drinks and turned them into a storm of frozen shards. Before Salamence could react, she battered him with the hail of frigid knives, and his blast of flames went wide. Next, Froslass breathed a cone of absolutely freezing air at the dragon. A layer of ice coated its wings, and it roared in frustration and fury.
"No! Use Flamethrower to thaw yourself!" Kanon ordered.
"Venam!" Will shouted. "Froslass, evasive maneuvers!"
"Nice thinking Will! Alright Charizard, use Slash!"
Charizard surged towards his foe, raking Salamence's head with his own glowing, razor-sharp claws. Froslass. Salamence's jaws parted and he bathed Charizard in flames. The resulting heat began undoing the frost that clung to its body.
"Froslass, hit him with a Blizzard!"
An invisible pulse of energy echoed through the building before Froslass froze the moisture in the ground and the air all around the restaurant. As Salamence and Charizard struggled together, Froslass called her blizzard forth through every single window their initial clash had shattered. A heavy surge of freezing air whipped through the restaurant, freezing spilled liquids, sweeping discarded food aside and nailing Salamence before it could try and counter with another Flamethrower. The dragon, riddled with frostbite and bleeding from several wounds, sank through his limbs.
"I-Impossible!" Kanon cried out. "Salamence can't be defeated!"
"Heh! Not bad, huh!" Venam said with a grin, a grin.
"Definitely not terrible," Kanon said, running his eyes over Venam and Will like he saw them both for the first time. "Your fighting indicates you all have been through actual turmoil. Furthermore, Will's rapid reflexes and response suggests a honed mind. I am impressed. However…that Charizard…"
With Froslass to keep an eye on Kanon and his Pokemon, Will dared a look over his shoulder. Charizard wasn't just antsy, he was freaking out. He craned his head from the left to the right in visible confusion, exhaling plumes of flames with every frantic breath. It stomped against the ground with its right leg and the tiles shattered. It swept its great tail across the floor and nearly threw Venam off her feet.
"Is truant," Kanon said matter-of-factly.
Of course it was. This wasn't Venam's Pokemon. It was the Charizard he'd faced in Amber's Trial of Dragons.
Tesla's Charizard.
Had Venam stolen a freaking Pokemon from Tesla? When? Why?
Before any of them could say anything else, a furious Melia hurried towards them. "What are you all doing?!" She shouted. "You can't have a Pokemon battle in here!" Her silver eyes, blazing with anger, settled on Charizard. "Venam…is that Tesla's Charizard?"
"N-NO!" Venam shouted. "Maybe. PERHAPS."
The look of disappointment on Melia's face wasn't even meant for him and it still felt like a jab to the stomach. "Did you seriously steal her Charizard after everything she's done for us?!"
Charizard was close to losing his marbles, now. He began roaring and then started hunching in on itself as if it was getting ready to take off, the restaurant's roof be damned.
"Control that thing!" A frantic Melia ordered.
Will and Kanon ordered their Pokemon to attack at roughly the same time. An inky ball of ghostly energy washed over Charizard's face, leaving him blinded and helpless to defend himself against the headlong tackle courtesy of Salamence that flung him to the ground.
A moment later, Venam recalled the Pokemon again. "Thanks."
Melia closed her eyes, took a deep breath and then, with a calmness that was more frightening than impressive, ordered them to leave.
"Leave?" Kanon sputtered. "But…"
"Yes, that includes you, Kanon," Melia snapped without giving him a second to explain himself. "You instigated the fight!"
"...I…"
"I need to maintain some kind of order around here," Melia said, and for a second, Will thought that she flung an almost apologetic look his way. "Let me do some damage control here. Out! All of you!"
"Come on Froslass, let's go," Will said.
Froslass, being the glass-half-full kind of gal she was, laughed her usual haunting, terrifying way and promptly floated towards the exit. She phased through the door, leaving Will to pull it open and let Kanon and Venam out. He followed suit,
Adrenaline was a wonderful thing that had probably saved his life multiple times already, but damn if the subsequent crash didn't leave him feeling shaky and sick later. Just the usual adrenaline dump, he told himself.
"Venam - " Will started, but she snarled in fury and promptly stormed off.
He'd…have to take care of that.
"I screwed up…" Kanon murmured. "I need to find a way to make this up to everyone…"
"Hey, Kanon?" Will said. "Word of advice?"
The snow-haired kid gave him a pained look. "Will, sorry, I shouldn't have instigated like that - "
Will pulled his shoulders up in a shrug. "Shit happens. Don't feel too bad about it."
"I won't let it happen again," Kanon swore.
That was good enough for him. With that taken care of, Will hurried after Venam who, thankfully, hadn't run off too far. She'd taken a seat on a nearby bench, seething in fury.
"Who the hell does that kid think he is!" Venam snapped when she saw him approaching. "Starting something like that! He's lucky Melia kicked us out. I would've kicked him right in the balls!"
"Right. Before or after Charizard burned her workplace to the ground?" Will asked.
Venam gave him an annoyed look. "He gave me a bad time, yeah, but I'm sure it was just confused. Poor thing."
"Yeah, probably because you stole him from his trainer," Will snapped. "What were you thinking?"
"Hey, are you going off at me too?" Venam bit back. "Fucking relax. It happens."
"No, seriously, what were you thinking?" Will continued. Kanon may have instigated that fight, but Venam kept doing this, kept running head-first into situations without ever giving it a single goddamn thought. "When we get back to our time, you're going to the resort and you're returning him!"
Venam leapt to her feet, a furious snarl on her face as she got all up in his face, her chest a mere inch away from his. Without her usual purple hair and her new clothes, she made for a very intimidating picture. "Look at you suddenly being a goody two-shoes now!" She growled. "I didn't fucking steal him, I borrowed him! The fuck do you care?"
"I care when my friends do bad shit to the people I love," Will said, lowering his voice to a hoarse whisper. He loved Venam too, but he wasn't going to take this kind of crap from her anymore, and he certainly wasn't intimidated by her.
He saw the emotions getting to Venam. Her cheeks turned red. Everything about her body just screamed rage at him, from the way her breathing became faster and more shallow, the way her body seemed to tense up and even how her hands clenched themselves into fists.
If she decided to freak out and take a swing at him, he wouldn't be able to defend himself properly. He could use his left hand in a pinch, but anything serious would put enough strain on his chest to pull his stitches open. He'd be bleeding on the floor in a minute. Vulnerable and exposed. He couldn't have that. That meant either landing a decisive hit the second Venam went for violence - he would rather bleed out on the floor here than ever hurt his friends - or backing away and calling upon his Pokemon to defend him. She would do the same, and it would become an all-out Pokemon battle.
If it came to thar, he knew he could handle Venam. He had handled her before, and he had dealt with Charizard before.
"Do you really think momma Tesla needs you protecting her, huh? Didn't it occur to you that I borrowed Charizard for a reason? Hmm?"
Will, feeling his hands shaking, clenched them into fists. "Look - "
A sudden scream pierced the staticky tension that had charged the air around them and both Will as Venam snapped out of it. They looked sharply to the east, where they'd both just heard the shrill cry of a woman.
"Whoah, did you hear that?" Venam snapped.
"Yeah."
"Then let's fucking go already!"
Their argument forgotten, the both of them began running towards the forest. Irvin's warning about the erratic and violent behavior of the normally calm wild Pokemon came to mind, but it could have been anything.
They hurried past a black and yellow police barricade preventing entrance into a southern section of the forest, but another high-pitched scream of terror drove them further towards the east.
"S-Someone! Please help!"
"Okay, that was loud!" Venam shouted. "They're close!"
Up ahead, Will spotted a blur of motion. "There! At your one o'clock!"
"My what?"
Will rolled his eyes and started running in the direction he'd seen a pair of shapes hurrying through the forest. Whoever they were after was boxed in, since they all stopped moving and instead began stalking closer.
"S-Someone! Please!" The woman cried out.
Will broke through the treeline and spotted them. A woman who could have been Melia's mother had been cornered by a quartet of bulky, white-maned Pokemon with large, wooden noses and pairs of leaves attached to their hands. Their white fur fell over their legs as they pressed closer towards the blond woman, who fell to her knees upon noticing that she was completely surrounded. Her long, wavy hair fell like a curtain around her as she pulled her arms in front of her face to protect herself from whatever violence the Pokemon had in mind for her.
It never came. Instead, Will and Venam positioned themselves in-between the woman and the belligerent Pokemon. Will faced the south and Venam quickly bounded towards the north, covering both angles of approach.
"Don't worry ma'am!" Venam told her. "We got these guys covered!"
They sure did. These Pokemon, these Shiftry as the Pokedex called them, seemed like Grass-types to him.
He had just the solution for that.
Will threw Blaziken's Pokeball in the air, before swiftly following her up with Fraxure. "Push them back, don't let them escape!"
As one, the two Shiftry began launching a barrage of Bullet Seed. High-velocity, rock-hard projectiles tore through the air.
"Blaziken, Fraxure, avoid their attack and return fire!" Will ordered.
Blaziken dove aside in a wide combat roll, easily covering seven feet in one roll. The Shiftry shifted its field of fire, spinning along to trace Blaziken. The Blaze-Pokemon pushed herself up with one hand and pivoted around on the floor, sending out arcs of blazing flames at the pair of Shiftry as she moved. Will would have called it breakdancing, but then Blaziken would likely smack him back to the future again. Aelita would have known what it was called.
Fraxure, meanwhile, wasn't limber or experienced enough to avoid incoming fire and retaliate fast enough. Instead. he tucked his head in-between his shoulders and jerked his elbows in front of his face. The rock-hard seeds flattened themselves against his armored hide.
Seeing that its attacks weren't doing much, the second Shiftry leapt up in the air and spread its arms. Energy bled into the air and whipped the wind up into a frenzy. A heavy gale blew through the trees and flung Fraxure off his feet.
The first Shiftry staggered back, covering its face with one arm as it thrust its other hand out at Blaziken.
"Blaziken, dodge to your left!" Will ordered.
An invisible battering ram of wind nearly clipped Blaziken as she side-stepped the incoming Whirlwind. It threw her shoulder backwards and she flinched back. Flames poured from her wrists and she swung wildly at her foe, throwing a burst of fire at its face.
Quickly, the Shiftry drew its furry mantle in front of its eyes to protect itself from the worst.
"Nail with him a Blaze Kick!" Will shouted. "Fraxure, focus up! Use Dragon Rage!"
Blaziken dashed forwards, moving in a weaving and dodging pattern as the second Shiftry attempted to blow her back with another gale of wind. Having seen that trick before, Blaziken didn't fall for it. With four large steps she covered the distance, moving with uncanny speed and reflexes until she was right up in the first Shiftry's face. Her leg came up and snapped against its side like a fiery comet.
The result was something like Amber kicking a can of soda through the air. One second Shiftry was there and the next he'd landed in a crumpled heap at the bottom of a tree, some ten meters away.
Blaziken maintained her position, with her leg outstretched and flames streaking down her limbs, for a second longer than was necessary. With exaggerated slowness, she pulled her leg inwards again and put it down on the floor.
Fraxure, meanwhile, didn't blast his foe with Dragon Rage as Will had hoped. He remained there, a bit curled up as Shiftry darted from tree to tree like a blurry shape of white, continuously battering Fraxure with a combination of Bullet Seed and Whirlwind. His dark eyes darted from the left to the right as his foe moved, tracking Shiftry as it leapt around.
Then, after another barrage of seeds pocketed his flank, he suddenly reared up and unleashed a solid sphere of draconic energy. The projectile slammed into a thick, heavy oak and blew it apart right when Shiftry had been about to leap off again. With a cry of surprise, the Shiftry plummeted to the ground .
A second Dragon Rage was enough to take care of that. It retreated, leaving its unconscious comrade behind. "Well done you two," Will said. "Fraxure that's exactly right. Keep studying your foes."
It took Venam a bit longer to finish up than he had, but she managed. Her Seviper struck a punishing blow at the last remaining Shiftry and it too decided to cut its losses and bolt.
"And don't bother this lady again!" Venam yelled after the retreating Shiftry on her end. "Or else!"
Will held his position for a few moments longer, waiting for any sign that a second battle was about to start. When he was satisfied that they'd actually won, he recalled his Pokemon again and turned to address their distressed damsel.
"You two were amazing!" The woman said, putting her hands together in an almost pleading gesture of gratitude. "Thank you ever so much! If I weren't lucky enough for you all to be here…I shudder to think about it."
"Just be more careful next time," Venam told her. "Especially since it seems like you don't have Pokemon to protect you."
"You're right. This has just never happened before," the woman emphatically replied. "Pokemon found in these woods are usually so peaceful. Ah, but where are my manners? My name is Anathea."
What a nice name.
"Sup! I'm Venam, and my friend here is Will."
"A pleasure to meet you both!" Anathea said, blinking at them with warm, friendly eyes. "Please, would you join me at my home? I wish to thank you properly for what you've done for me! Perhaps a wonderful cake? Or cupcakes? I am very skilled at baking."
"Uh, yes?" Venam replied without even thinking. "All you had to do was mention the word "food" and I'd be there!"
"Wonderful!" Anathea hummed ."My home is just north of here. Please, come!"
As the woman started heading back north, Venam shot Will a look that seemed to say, don't you dare say a word.
"Look, she seems nice, and we weren't able to order dessert because of Kanon having a temper tantrum," Venam said slowly, sounding like she was actually thinking over her words for once. "How about you and I sign a peace treaty for now? Act like good guests and shit, and we'll figure this shit out later."
Will sighed. "Yeah, sure..."
The pair of them followed the blond woman deeper into the forest, and a part of Will marveled at the sheer stupidity of following a strange woman into unknown territory for food of all things. It made him feel antsy and uneasy. His skin crawled with something, like he'd subconsciously spotted something that his brain hadn't processed yet.
Melia said this place is safe, he reminded himself. She said there's no danger. You're being paranoid.
She'd lived here for three years. If Melia said they were safe here, he had nothing to worry about.
They walked past a sign with three handprints made of paint printed below a text, but Will only caught one half of it as he walked past.
…Household.
And what a household it was. Anathea took them through a truly beautiful courtyard. Large fountains sparkling with clean water flanked a cobbled road on both sides as they headed towards what seemed to be an old-fashioned mansion.
…the paranoia didn't go away. In fact, it got worse. A chill ran down his spine and he glanced over his shoulder, feeling like someone or something was watching him. Slowly, he started to realize that something was off and that his body was screaming at him. Danger.. Why? What had he spotted?
He stared up at the mansion. It took him perhaps thirty seconds before he realized what was so off about it.
Will was already standing still when everything else inside of him came to a howling halt. A panicked disbelief clawed its way down his throat and into the pit of his stomach
"Hey…wait a minute…" He heard Venam say in a low, warning voice. She held out her arm.
No way. There was no way. He was dreaming.
"Isn't that - "
A dream. This couldn't be real.
" - the mansion we saw in the sewers?!"
It wasn't a dream. Venam saw it too. Her words just hammered it home.
This was the mansion.
His mansion.
~~~~~~~(III)~~~~~~~
AN Let the downwards spiral into madness begi - err, continue. Definitely continue.
I can't remember if I said this before, but I find conflict much more engaging and interesting to write than friends hitting it off at every angle. Will and Venam genuinely care about each other, but they each have their own issues and because neither side is all that great at communicating, things keep escalating between them. Here's to hoping they can put their disagreements behind them, because we've had our fluffy moments. Now it's time to head straight back into the nightmare :D
