Author's Notes:
This is a novelization of the popular Pokémon fan game, Pokémon Rejuvenation. Rejuvenation is, in my opinion, the absolute pinnacle of what a fan game should achieve. It also happens to be my personal favorite Pokémon game out of all of them, fan game or official. If you're not familiar with the title, I highly recommend you go download and play it at your earliest convenience. It is simply that good, and that is part of the reason why I am committing to yet another long-term writing project.
A few things to get out of the way before we get into it. Rejuvenation is heavily story-driven and its content is more mature and serious than the main Pokémon games. It will contain scenes and subjects that some might consider disturbing or triggering.
Finally, as regulars to my stories might know, English is not my first language. If I make any mistakes when it comes to spelling, grammar or sentence structuring, do not hesitate to let me know and I will fix it.
That being said, let's get into the story.
~~~~~~~(I)~~~~~~~
"Can you tell me the story about the Zorua and the Pangoro again, Mommy?"
A smile. "Haha. All right. I will. There once was a lonely Zorua living deep in the darkest of forests. He was a mischievous one. Transforming into other Pokémon and beings that lived around. He would often use this ability to trick others into handing over their food, or to use their homes as his own. Because of this, he didn't have many friends. I'm sure you can piece together why?"
Even the first time she heard the story, she was shocked at how mean Zorua seemed to be.
"One day," Mom continued, "this changed when Zorua met a powerful Pokémon called "Pangoro". They were fighting over a rare and coveted golden apple. Even after many hours, when their fight came to an end, no victor was revealed. They knew they were evenly matched. One could not take out the other. With both staring at the other intensely, they knew that they were destined for friendship. So, the two became quick companions. They were two peas in a pod, if you will. They travelled the world together. Overcame hardships. Went on thrilling adventures…life was good for the two of them. Until, one day, Zorua went too far."
She hated this part.
"Zorua planned a devious prank on Pangoro. 'I shall transform into Pangoro's fallen mother. That would surely give him a spook!' Zorua said. 'It'll be my best prank yet!' Zorua said. So while Pangoro left to find food, Zorua put his malicious plan into action. When Pangoro returned home, he was greeted with the sight of his dead mother. Paralyzed with a mixture of extreme emotions, Pangoro dropped his collection of food onto the ground. In that collection of food was…"
"A golden apple!"
Mom laughed. "Yes, that's right. A golden apple. When Zorua saw this, he transformed back into his normal state, looked down at the food and said…'Hey! Where did you find this golden apple? It looks fresh and incredibly delicious!' Zorua raised his head again to see a face filled with fury and sadness, but most importantly, disappointment. He realized quickly that he hurt Pangoro very deeply and tried to apologize. But Pangoro wouldn't hear any of it and immediately ran away, back into the forest."
Quietly, she pulled her blanket up higher. Hearing this part always hurt the most.
"Shaken and worried, Zorua ran after him, but Pangoro was nowhere to be found. Zorua realized that he repelled his only friend with his own selfishness. And Zorua became lonely once more." With that, her mother bowed towards her and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Sleep tight," she whispered. "Maria."
Though it did not take long for sleep to claim her after that, her mother's story lingered in the back of her mind. Loneliness such as Zorua's…she could not imagine that. She did not want to imagine that. Somehow, it seemed unfair to her. As she drifted off, she wondered, not for the first time, if someone would not write a second part to that story…
When Maria woke up the next morming, she saw that the sun was already rising. Light flooded her room through a gap in the curtains. She struggled against the urge to pull her pillow over her head, slowly blinking the bleary sleep from her eyes.
She swung her legs from her bed, knowing that she had things to do that day. She got dressed, passed by mom's copy of the Tale of the Lonely Zorua on the table, and made her way downstairs.
"Mommy!" She called as she rounded the corner into the living room. "I'm up, I'm up!"
Her mother's warm voice came from the kitchen down to the left. "Ah, good morning Maria! Did you sleep well? I'm preparing breakfast right now. Do you mind fetching your father? He's working in his study. But don't take too long! I don't want his food to get cold."
Maria straightened her shoulders. That sounded like a task for her! "You can count on me mommy!" She called out.
The rest of the living room was to the right, overlooked by a huuuge picture of her, mommy and daddy. She liked to stare at it for a moment every time she passed by. She might have been much younger when it was taken, but she still remembered when they did it. If only daddy had remembered how to smile that day…
As Maria ran down the room towards daddy's study, she spared a glance at the other door at the far end of the living room. According to her parents, it led to the basement, but…daddy didn't want her down there. They said it was dangerous for her, or something like that.
The door had "Adventure!" written all over its surface, but that would have to wait until later. For now, daddy needed his breakfast.
Maria gently opened the door to the study and approached her father. He…seemed startled when she entered, even though she had been so calm about it.
"Ah, Marian - …Maria. How are you doing?"
"Mom said breakfast is ready so get your but out of this room and have good food!" Maria exclaimed with a big smile.
Her father's stern expression cracked a little bit. "I do love your mother's cooking. All right, I'll be out in a few moments. Go tell your mother that, y'hear?"
Maria pouted, but knew better than to argue. "Okay."
So…daddy would probably have to eat cold breakfast then.
But mommy didn't seem bothered when Maria reported back. "Did he say that now? Well, there's no use in rushing him, I guess," she said. "You should go upstairs and freshen up some more. I'll have your breakfast ready by then."
Maria nodded, then glanced at the door to the garden. "Okay, and then afterwards, we get to play outside, right?"
"Of course!" Her mother said with a reassuring smile. "Now go on Maria. I'll be waiting for you down here."
Oh, Maria didn't need to be told twice! She turned around and ran back all the way upstairs to her room, where -
The room shifted and changed. A dark, blue fog seemed to swallow up her stuff, making everything look that much darker and distant. The hairs in the back of her neck rose, and she suddenly felt very, very cold.
"…What was that?" Maria murmured.
A second later, the sound of dishes breaking broke her from her stupor, and she whirled around. "Mom?!"
Silence.
"Mommy?"
Still no response. Growing nervous now, Maria rushed downstairs again, calling her mother's name again and again. But when she reached the living room again, mommy was nowhere to be seen.
A strange person stood in her home instead. Her clothes were all weird; she wore a helmet that completely hid her face and her hair, and her suit looked like that of a movie character. All grey and black. Maybe she was one of those biker people? But then, why the red cape that billowed behind her? Bikers didn't wear capes on the road, did they?
"How many times?" The woman demanded, her voice somewhat muffled by the helmet.
"Wh-what?" Maria stammered.
"How many times are you going to make this little girl suffer?" The woman said, almost growled. As she spoke, her voice steadily rose in volume, until she was almost shouting. "How many times are you willing to put her through this chaos?!"
Trembling, Maria took a step back. "I…I'm…I don't know what you're talking about," she admitted,.
The woman glanced down at her, as if spotting her for the first time. "I'm not talking to you."
"O-Oh…well, do…you know where my parents are?" Maria replied, silently willing her body to move. Fear raced down her spine in waves, rooting her legs to the spot. Where were her mommy and daddy? What was going on?
The woman seemed to hesitate. " …downstairs."
Maria felt her heart skip a beat. "Oh…! Okay…well, I'm going to go to them now."
She tore her gaze from the weird person and started racing towards the basement, but she barely got to the family picture before a sharp voice rang out, stopping her in her tracks again.
"Maria."
That puzzled her even more than the cape. This woman knew her? "Y-Yes?"
The woman stared at her from behind that reflective visor. "No matter what happens," she said slowly, almost reassuringly. "Don't lose hope. Don't you dare lose hope. Don't lose who you are and don't you dare forget what's about to happen. You understand?"
No, she didn't. She didn't understand at all. But when she replied, it was almost instinctual, and she said, "Yes. I do understand."
Seemingly satisfied with her answer, the stranger nodded. "Good. Go to them now. They're waiting."
"O-Okay!" Maria stammered again. More confused than scared now, she ran downstairs, through the door her father had always forbidden her to go. Her mind spun, anxiety bore down on her like a smothering carpet. The sound of her shoes hitting the polished stone echoed in her ears as she ran down a hallway. Her fingers brushed against the door – it wasn't locked – and she flung it open, desperate to see her parents and tell them what was going on –
Her mother lay on the ground, unmoving. Still. Bleeding.
Bleeding…!
"Mommy!" Maria yelled. She ran towards her mother's side, pausing only to find her father standing opposite of her, with his back to them both.
With his back to mommy.
"What are you doing to mommy?! Mommy, wake up!" Maria cried. "Mommy wake up! Wake up!"
But her mother didn't wake up. The blood came from her mouth, rolling down the corners of her mouth like raindrops. It took Maria a moment to realize that mommy wasn't lying on the floor. It was a pedestal, raised about a foot from the ground. Why? What was happening
"Daddy, daddy move!" Maria yelled in desperation. Fear pulsated through her entire body now. They had to find help, they had to get mommy to a doctor! "Why won't you say anything? Why!"
"Marianette…your father wishes to see you now," a voice whispered in her ear.
Alarmed, Maria spun around, but there was nobody there.
"What…are you talking about?" She whispered.
"Marianette. Your father wishes to see you now," This time, the voice seemed to come from her father, who still hadn't turned around-!
"What are you doing!" Maria demanded.
"Marianette."
"Marianette."
"Marianette!"
A flash of light engulfed the basement. For several long moments, Maria couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't think.
Then as sudden as that happened, the light faded away, and Maria found herself standing in front of a giant mirror. It was even larger than an adult person, and its frame was a solid black. The bricks behind it weren't those of her basement anymore.
"What?!"
"Now, for the fifth time Marianette…" the voice from behind again, but this time really was someone there. It was a woman clad in an old-fashioned outfit Maria had only ever seen in picture books about kings and queens. The woman was a maid? What was she doing here? "Your father is waiting for you in the East Wing. You're making him wait longer than he has time for. So get to it."
"I…" something tugged at her mind, but she couldn't remember. It was important, she knew it was, but she couldn't…it wasn't…
The feeling faded away, and Marianette felt like she had lost something important to her. "Wh-what am I doing here again?" She asked the maid.
The maid's expression did not change one bit. "Marianette. I won't say it again. Just hurry along then."
"My…my name isn't Marianette…" Marianette protested. "It's Maria…"
The maid did not grace her with an answer. Instead, she turned on her heels and walked away with a brisk pace, leaving Maria all alone. Alone with a stuffed Zorua doll, a stuffed Pangoro doll and the giant mirror.
And more than forty burning candles arrayed along the corners of the hallway.
It was too much. Maria ran after the maid, afraid of what would happen if she were to stay there alone.
But the basement wasn't her basement. It was bigger, darker and lined with strange pillars adorned with weird scribbles. Chandeliers hung from the walls, burning eerily in the dark.
The maid…she was there too. And…and over there? And also down the hall, in front of another door.
Marianette counted three maids, all clad exactly the same, all looking exactly alike, and none of them paid her any heed.
"What are you going to do about…you know…that problem Indriad told us about," one of the maids whispered to another in hushed tones.
"We'll deal with it when the time comes," the other maid replied as Marianette wandered past them. "For now, someone should stop being an eavesdropper and get to their father."
A fourth maid stood at the end of the hallway, staring at Marianette with large, empty eyes.
"Can you feel it, Marianette?" She said, the corners of her mouth pulled upwards in a wide grin. "The end is near. All it takes is one more person. Just one more…"
Horror and despair mingled in her head, and she staggered back from the maid.
One more.
One more what for?
With the maids surrounding her, there really was one way to go.
The East Wing.
Your father is waiting for you.
Marianette pushed onwards, opening the last door that separated her from whatever was going on. When she did, she realized instantly that she was somewhere she really, really shouldn't be.
The room was large, far too large to be in her basement. It consisted of an elevated platform surrounded by water, dark and blue and cold.
Surrounding her from all directions were the maids. The maids, with identical faces. The maids, all lined up to surround her, and one of their own, standing atop a pedestal that seemed strangely familiar.
The door behind her opened again, and Marianette felt the harrowing presence of another one of those maids standing directly behind her. Slowly, the realization dawned on her.
She had nowhere else to go.
She was trapped.
"Where's my mom?" She demanded of them.
"Mommy is sleeping with our lord now, Marianette," someone whose voice she didn't know answered her. Maria stepped a couple of feet to her left, and saw that a man stood behind the pedestal. He…he looked wrong. She couldn't tell why or how, but he looked wrong.
Her emotions tumbled in her head, over and over.
Everything was wrong.
Mixed and melded with the horror came a sense of anger so fierce that it startled her. "Stop calling me Marianette!" She yelled, tears prickling in her eyes. "It's Maria!"
The man scoffed. His dark eyes smoldered with disdain as he glared at her from under his hood. "What is with this disrespect?" He spat. "Your name is no longer Maria. Now, as I was initially planning to do – "
"No need for the explanation sir," the maid on the pedestal spoke. "Demonstration may be the key to this girl's mind."
"Hmph. Very well."
With that, the man spread his arms and cast his head to the sky. He shouted, but the words that came from his mouth were completely foreign. It…didn't sound like gibberish. It sounded like it should have made sense, but that Maria's mind simply lacked the ability to make sense of it. Power crept into those words, a power that made the ground vibrate and Maria's teeth hum.
The maid gasped, her body went rigid –
And then her body crumbled apart and disappeared. Gone. Like snow in the sun.
Marianette gasped.
"She's gone now, Marianette. She is with the lord now. She won't need to suffer the calamity that soon befalls this earth." The man inhaled sharply. "Marianette. It's your turn now."
Marianette felt her eyes widen, and she took a trembling step back. "No, you can't make me do it…"
"Maids!" the man shouted. "Bring Marianette to the altar!"
They came for her, all of them at once. Pale hands clasped her arms and shoulders. Cold fabric rubbed against her skin as they pinned her between them.
"No!" Marianette screamed. "Let go of me! Let go of me!"
Her words came out desperate and pleading and fell on deaf ears.
"You said the same to my mommy!" Maria cried at the man, tears rolling down her cheeks as she fought against the vicelike grip of the monsters surrounding her. "She's gone because of you!"
"Enough, Marianette," the man spoke with an annoyed tone even as the maids shoved her to the pedestal. "Go with dignity."
"I don't want this! Just let me go!"
The man's cruel eyes closed as he spread his arms once more. Again he spoke in that strange language and again, the air crackled with power.
"I hate this! I hate you!" Maria cried, struggling with all her might. "Someone please! Don't let him do this to me!" The tears flowed freely now as fear and panic took over every fiber of her being. She didn't want to die. She didn't want to die! "Someone please help me! Anyone! Mommy! MOMMY!"
Her vision blurred, the room grew dark.
"Please…"
~~~~~~~(I)~~~~~~~