Chapter 19: Annoyances
(Good news Guys! I got a new job! It starts on October 7th! To show how happy I am, I'm releasing this chapter a week sooner than I was initially going to. I hope you guys enjoy it and have a great wonderful weekend!)
{Rui's Point of View}
I stared at Minerva, thinking about the offer. There's not a chance in hell I'm saying yes to this, but her suggesting it to begin with... why? I decided to change the subject once I saw a candle on her desk. For a moment, I saw the flame change and reveal one of Sots's eyes. I think that's a hint she has the information I need to give him, "Can I ask you something?" She looked surprised, "Hm..." She leaned to my ear, "Your goddess is listening~" I felt a strange tingle in my spine, "I... I'm curious... What happened in the beginning that caused the war?" She pulled back, "One of our kind fell in love with a human named Artorias." I decided to press, "Why?" She started to say something, but instead looked away in a mix of anger and regret. For a moment I heard a whisper, "He's so handsome..." She jumped away from me, "Don't ask these questions!" I felt confused, "Are you okay?" She flared up, "I am an Ancestor. Your ancestor! You've..." She started visibly shaking with rage as a purple symbol started glowing on her forehead, her eyes menacing. Her door swung open as her guard charged into the room. "This wretch dared to ask something of me! ME! Beat him within an inch of his life Hybrid." What the fuck!? Everything was fine a moment ago! How did she get so pissed off so fast!?
I picked up my helmet and dodged a punched aimed for my head. I rolled away from him and looked at him only to feel a kick to my chest. I flew into the wall and after the initial bounce, he punched my stomach with a force I've never experienced before. It blasted me through the wall, falling from a fatal height towards the street below. I fully expected to die, only to see this mother fucker running down the building before jump tackling me, flipping us and landing onto the ground with me in his arms. The shock ended up being short lived as he gingerly tossed me up and force palmed me in my side. I ended up being flung several meters away, rolling uncontrollably as pain seared through my body. I could feel the effects of paralysis run through my body as I struggled to get up. He walked towards me, the light in his visor glowing menacingly. The other Pokémon watching as he cracked his neck. I shook off the feeling of paralysis and pulled out my knife, readying myself for the ensuing fight. I heard him scoff and charged at me, his speed a lot slower than it was prior. He tried to force palm me again, but released a sound of surprise as I sidestepped, and leg swept him. He rolled forward and twisted his body on one hand to low sweep me. I jumped over it and stomped on his ankle to the dirt. He gave a grunt of approval, kicking my ankle with his free foot and jumped to his feet. He spoke, "So, you have some fight in you." I kept my knife hand steady, waiting for an attack. The expectation was for some sort of frontal assault, instead he melded into the shadows. Remembering some of my training thanks to Zraak's resources I dropped to the ground. He flew over me, foot extended and looked down with annoyance from my dodge. I got up and tried to attack him only to meet an elbow to the head without him looking at me. He ducked under a swipe and uppercut me. I felt the blow hit my chin and my teeth felt on fire. Worse, I felt the helmet start to slide up and go off me. Without hesitation, he grabbed my helmet and forced it back down onto my head. He shoved me away from him and cracked his knuckles, "You need to do better." He whispered as he stared me down. I thought back to what I've learned since taking on this life and nodded. He used Shadow sneak attack, but this time I spun my knife in the air above me. He looked up at it mid attack, until his fist met the base of my arm. That's where my armor stops all kinetic energy, a gift from Cayden and quite the wonderful asset to have. He tried to kick me, but I jumped, planted my foot on his knee and jumped off it into the air. The momentum forced him to spin around with his back to me. As he turned his head to look up at me, I kicked my knife at him. He dodged just barely and turned, looking up at the air where I was. He must have thought I'd have another surprise for him like levitation or something. I may not, but the attack came from below where I uppercut him this time and watch as his helmet flew off him as he was flung back. I quickly picked my knife back up from where it stabbed the ground and examined my opponent.
As to be expected, he's a hybrid... but I never expected a Gallade Hybrid. I knew for certain his father is a Gallade. His skin almost a sickly white, his spiky black hair turned Dark green at the tips. His eyes are just a smaller version of a Gallade. He cracked his neck, his eyes glowing as his elbow bones started growing. He glanced at the building we fell from, looking at the hole. He must be speaking to the Ancestor telepathically. He refocused his attention on me, "Don't worry. I won't kill you. She asked that you live through this ordeal to be of use in the future." I decided to be an ass, "Oh, am I to grovel now or later? Is that how you lived? Gallades aren't typically allowed to breed. Were you a bastard child?" With a roar of rage, Hybrid rushed forward with reckless abandon. As he neared, I raised my scarred arm and released a burst of Fey Flames. He couldn't stop his momentum in time, taking the full brunt of the gust of purple flames. He struggled against it, trying to step forward only to make me strengthen it. Eventually, he couldn't withstand the force any longer and flew back into another building. He collapsed to his knees, panting as the fey fire continued to burn him. If I recall, that might hinder his physical strength. He looked at me, "So, you've been marked with Fey Fire. Must be hard knowing you can never escape your owner either." I didn't reply, but the statement did bother me internally. He stopped his aggressive stance and calmly walked over to his helmet. After putting it on, he said, "I'm done with this. You did good enough. Get out of here." I asked him, "What's your name?" He paused, "Just call me Hybrid. Everyone else does." I looked at the hole and could feel her gaze upon me. A slight squeeze on my heart, a warning. She's letting me live and she wants me to know that. I guess it's true, I do have her as an ancestor because of a hybrid in my lineage. Damn it. A part of me was hoping it was all Tauros Shit. As I felt my chest, my hand bumped on the wooden pendant. I held it in my hands, wishing Aura was here. Then again, she'd probably make things more... difficult. Especially with what Minerva suggested. If Aura was there, she might not be around anymore. I grimaced at the thought and despite everything... I'm still helpless against the rulers of this world. Bastards.
When I got back to the hotel room, I found Zraak talking to a Zoroark. "I already told you, I'm merely here for a vacation and to see if I can expand my business whether by proxy or by sale." The Zoroark wore Armored One armor along his arms and legs. He scratched his chin in wonder, "Hm... Alright. That does check out with the report Zraak. Sorry for having to check on you." As he left, he glanced at me, "Nice armor." He said in passing. I nodded before focusing my attention on Zraak. Zraak noticed how dirty my armor is and asked, "What happened?" I didn't want to tell him, but I knew it'd affect the mission, "Minerva knows who I am." Zraak flinched, "What!? How?" I hung my head, "She's my ancestor." Zraak flared up, "The fuck are you talking about!? You're..." He looked around and walked over to whisper, "You're human you idiot." I shook my head, "They bred their males with a couple female humans several generations ago. I'm... somewhat a Gardevian even in my very blood." Zraak stepped back disgusted, "You're one of them? Is that why you-" I cut him off, "No! Even now... I still... I still hate them. I hate their laughter. I hate their haughty attitudes. How they flaunt their hierarchy on others. I won't lie, Aura... she's made me realize there's more in me than just hate though. The children are adorable and kind. Helping them to play together and not afraid helped ease the disdain in my heart. At least... for a time. When I joined, I wanted to save our kind by getting them a place to be safe. I... I want to lie and say I never wanted to kill Pokémon but... I did. It was only afterwards I started having regrets." Zraak then asked, "After the fact or after you started fucking Aura?" I bit my lip and conceded, "A little bit... before we did that..." Zraak punched me, "You fucking idiot!" The armor absorbed the hit, but it shocked me nonetheless. I looked at him, getting serious, "You are lucky I need you alive or I'd beat the ever-living shit out of you." He scoffed, "L-Lucky!? I am NOT lucky! I'm stuck here with a fucking idiot. How can you still, after all that you've gone through, still find a fucking way to like those... beasts!" He clenched his fist, visibly shaking before growling, "Those fucking furry bastards... touching me... licking me... cutting me..." He clenched his teeth and screamed, "You know as well as I what it feels like to be a tool! Why can you still feel love for them!?" I wanted to scream at him but instead I stopped myself. He tried to punch me, and I gently grabbed his wrist, "Stop. You are no different." Zraak flinched, "What?" I reminded him, "There was a Zoroark you fell for too, did you not?" He gasped, looking through me before stumbling back and collapsing onto his back, "Fuck... you're right..." I sat near him, "It's okay Zraak. We want revenge but we should-" He cut me off, "No. They did something to us. Think about it, why else would we even feel that way? I didn't really love her... I loved that she was kind to me specifically." I scoffed, "What? That's..." I stopped for a moment, having a realization as my memories of me and Aura flooded into my mind, "That's... crazy." I started having doubts but shook my head as if to fight them off, "That doesn't mean we shouldn't still care for them." Zraak shook the shock off and got up, "No. We need to remember what the most important thing is. Revenge. Isn't that what Venge is supposed to be about? Revenge by succeeding in saving who we can?" I begrudgingly agreed, "Yeah..." I then followed up with, "Why are you like this? You know my story... well... you probably do, but I don't know why you are so motivated by this." Zraak looked down, sadness clouding his gaze, "I... I sacrificed others so I could live. I was the one that caused so many to die on the walk. I acted indifferent... I acted like the perfect pet. It was disgusting... but I smiled, I looked forward to seeing them in hopes each day my freedom may be just one day closer. It was my fault. I'm atoning for that but acting now when I couldn't before. I murdered the one who tormented me, unlike you. I killed her using circumstance and having the balls to go through with it." I replied, "There's no point in killing for revenge when they'll kill you in return. It just makes things worse. I would not have gotten away with killing Silvia. She's Margrev's daughter for Arceus's sake. They'd fucking destroy me. I took my enslavement on the chin and bared with it until I got my chance to escape as well. We aren't very different. How we look at it and why is what separates us." Zraak was about to respond but another knock on the door stopped us. A letter slipped underneath and appeared to be from Cayden. I looked at Zraak in confusion since mail shouldn't arrive so quickly, but I guess so in our case. He opened it and got the coordinates for where the information is stored. We glared at each other momentarily before we begrudgingly left.
Zraak decided it'd be best for us to go together. His illusions could be helpful due to the Gardevian Ancestor asserting her presence over me. He worries she'll be a nuisance and tip off the others about our, or in her eyes, my plan. The question is, what does she know? Did she have free reign over my memories or immunity to the blessing? What powers does she possess? Zraak asked these sparingly as we snuck through the city with the sun shining above. We wanted to eat, but I worried how things might go if someone accidentally stumbled upon me. No one seemed to be following us and Zraak acted his part perfectly. Just a rich asshole exploring the city with his guard. Zraak pointed at a place, "They serve food and have private rooms." I looked at the... 'entertainment' standing around outside, "Dude, that's a brothel. We'll get some sort of disease if we eat there." Zraak agreed, "Good point... maybe for some extra dough they'll let us bring in food from elsewhere." My stomach agreed to the plan, grumbling loudly in response. He shook his head and looked for somewhere we could order food from. Eating in a brothel was not something I expected to do while here, that's for sure. While there I noticed a blue haired Gardevian leaning against a wall, staring sadly at the ground. Zraak looked at me and then her before shrugging. He didn't care but I decided to talk to her, "Is something wrong?" She looked at me, "I don't want to work here anymore." I leaned against the wall, mirroring her, "Why?" She tilted her head in thought, "Why? Hm... Well... I was left her by my family about ten years ago. Without any money I couldn't get back home. Next thing I know, some asshole spilt some weird chemicals on me while I was unconscious in an alleyway." I raised a brow, "Alleyway? You had nowhere to sleep?" She shook her head, "Well, yeah. My family abandoned me here. Obviously, I wouldn't have any money. Anyways, the fucker got away as the chemical fucked up but coloring. Now I look like a freak. If it was lighter, I'd at least look shiny, but the dark blue is too... off-putting." I asked her, "What's your name?" She answered, "I changed it to Sapphire when I started working here." I nodded, "It's pretty. Keep your chin up, you'll get to see home again." Sapphire smiled at me, "Thanks. It's strange having an Armored One lift my spirits." I felt taken aback, "All in a day's work. Have a good one." I quickly left, thinking about how sure she was I'm an Armored One. It was strange. It only got weirder when some of the entertainment tried to infiltrate our room. Zraak said they could smell his money. I thought he was bullshitting until one literally sniffed his pocket where his wallet resided. We ended up having to beat them back with sticks and locked the door before barricading it. Not the most... leisure lunch of my life, but certainly interesting.
After sneaking out of there, we waited until the sun began to set before we made our way to the location. From what the note said, the information is hidden in an abandoned laboratory. There wasn't any information on what we were looking for. This struck both of us as odd. Zraak didn't even know. If neither of us know what we are looking for, then why the fuck are we here? Zraak is under the impression Cayden told me exactly what we were looking for. I have no fucking idea... but if there is an abandoned laboratory then maybe it'll be obvious? If it's not, then how can we find it? The location in question appeared to be a rundown orphanage. From what the dates said, it's been a little more than a century since kids last played here. Zraak grumbled to himself, "Great... I bet this will be really... interesting." I looked inside through the windows and saw broken toys, shattered glass, and more littered the floor, "How much you want to bet they experimented on the kids." Zraak shook his head, "They wouldn't... no... they would. Be ready. There's no telling what kind of fucked up experiments were left to rot down there." I used my knife to help break a lock on the window to pop it open. Zraak climbed in first, followed by me before using Illusion on the window. It'll keep any guards from checking the building. Once inside, we needed to find a secret entrance. The building itself is only two floors from appearance so there's no way there's a full lab on the second floor. No signs of blood anywhere too, that's a huge plus. Eventually we reached the caretakers' room. Three beds, desks and drawers filled the medium sized room one of which has a lamp in pristine condition. A dust indent of a book is evident on the desk. I showed Zraak and he agreed we should search for it. As the sky darkened, I found it difficult to see until I started using my fey fire to light the way. We couldn't find any books, but Zraak eventually found a numpad behind the orphanage's oven. I said, "It's interesting how they chose to put it behind this heavy ass stove." Zraak rolled his eyes, "It's an orphanage. If they had it out in the open or in a closet, that'd lead to the kids finding it. Behind such a heavy object is a brilliant idea to them." I looked at him, "To them?" Zraak nodded, "Yes. Kids are nosy. There has to have been at least a couple that saw them use this numpad during the dead of night. Let's look at the kids' rooms."
The kids' rooms were pretty nice. I expected them to be in a prison-like condition. None of them kept a diary or hid any papers in their rooms. Toys were hidden all over, but no scraps of papers. No scratches either. The lack of scratching struck me as odd. Kids are nowhere near clean, but these rooms look like they were perfect. That's not normal. In room number 3, I pulled a mattress off and noticed something strange on the bottom of the mattress. 883256. I called Zraak and showed him, earning a nod as we went back to the numpad. I didn't think power would still be on in this laboratory, but evidently there is. The wall opened up and inside are a couple splatters of blood. No sounds could be heard, but the blood unsettled us. We walked into the white hallway, waiting for an ambush only to find more drops of blood and eventually a large splatter. Zraak observed it and asked, "What do you think?" I looked at it, "Must have been either an attack or an execution. There's a cut into the wall here at neck to head level. No way to know why though. The bodies are gone too. No skeletons, no cloth. The place must have been cleaned up." We continued until we reached a central hub area with what looked like a receptionist desk. No equipment, but a book is on the floor. I picked it up and opened it to find notes. I groaned, "Oof. That's not cool." Zraak asked, "What?" I showed him the book, "They were feeding the kids to the feral Pokémon they kept here. The bastards even said their parents didn't want them anyways, that's why they're there." Zraak gripped the book tightly, "That's... I can admit that's awful. Fucking bastards are ruthless." I saw a map of the lab etched into the wall. I looked at it and saw one room name that caught my attention. The server room. It has to be where something was kept at the very least but with the equipment here all taken, there's likely nothing left. Still, it's our best lead. We walked along the path I memorized, now finding bones of several different types of Pokémon. One room smelled awful, we peered in and used my fire to light it up. There was nothing in there but shit stains, blood stains, bones and cages. From some of the bone placements, it looks as though they chained the kids up and fed them to the feral Pokémon alive. I just wonder, why? It really bothered me until we reached the server room only to find it empty except for one flash drive left in the middle of the room. When I picked it up, Zraak heard footsteps and used Illusion to hide himself as I stood there in annoyance. From the hallway appeared a taller Lopunny looking creature. Her ears alone are as tall as my body. Her cream fur a dark red instead, her eyes piercing and mischievous. She towered over me, literally. The only thing I could think of, is her being the Lopunny Ancestor. She's fucking ten feet tall. Accompanying her is a Armored One but the body didn't look like one. Must have been a human hybrid like the Gallade one from earlier. Why? They hate humans, but why have so many human hybrids as their personal guard? Is it some sick game to them? She spoke, her voice booming in the empty room, "Well, well, well. Look what we got here. A little traitor."
(With that, you guys have the Dommy Mommy Lopunny you all secretly wanted. Jokes aside, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and if you haven't already, please favorite, follow and/or review to show support and let me know how you feel about the direction or theories on the plot points we have developing.)