Chapter 5: Imprisoned
Blacksteeple Castle
~~~~~~~(I)~~~~~~~
"Hm? Who's that in there? Rustling around in their sleep? Looks like I have a new neighbor! Sick."
Will opened his eyes. Either he'd suffered another concussion back in Akuwa Town or someone was talking to him through the wall. "Uh…hello?" He replied
"Come closer to the wall, silly! We can hear each other better!"
Will slowly shifted himself to his side, trying his best to ignore the lances of pain that shot through his abdomen. Carefully, he swung his legs over the bed's edge, then pushed himself up to a sitting position. Simply getting up was an agonizing struggle and it took him a minute, but then he was on his feet.
The room spun around and he nearly fell against the wall. He grit his teeth, bracing himself against the cold stone. Every breath he took sent little shivers of pain through his ribs.
"Like this?" He said, leaning against the wall.
"There ya go!" The girl's voice came from the other side of the wall. His neighbor, he supposed. "I can hear you much clearer now, teehee. So how'd you get stuck here in this dump?"
"Ah…you know how it goes…" Will said, not too eager to get into details with a stranger.
"Man, I feel that bro! I was just minding my own damn business and then I'm up and abducted! What the hell! Hey, you sound cool, I like you. Let me introduce myself. My name is Saki! Saki Blakeory!"
"Saki?" Will repeated. "I know you…I mean, I was looking for you."
"Huh…? You know who I am? I mean, I do stream online with my friend Erick. So I'm not that surprised! Plus, my name is quite famous. Watcha looking for me for?"
"I uh…needed you to fix a machine."
"Fix a machine huh? Well I'm your gal! I can fix anything!"
"Do you know – "
The intercom buzzed. "Morning has come. Everyone up and at it."
A horn blared for a second and then Will's door swung open on heavy, steel hinges. Metallic creaking sounded throughout the entire hall. Will guessed that the guards could remotely open and close their doors, then.
"Hot. Let's get the frick out of here."
Walking hurt too, but it was much easier to handle than getting up. Will headed into the hallway, finally meeting face to face with the person he'd been looking for since Sheridan Village.
However, when he laid eyes on the black-haired girl, he realized that he knew her. "You?".
"Heyyy…you're the person I ran over with my trolley at the Chrisola Hotel!" Saki exclaimed. "Good times! But holy smoke I can't remember leaving you that mangled. What happened to your…everything?"
"I uh, I tripped," Will replied. "Look, did you see a girl with purple hair? Her name's Aelita, they took her to a different room, something…a special cell or something like that."
Saki nodded with understanding. "Yeah, that can be deadly. My uncle tripped once. He was never the same after that. But hey! Since we've met before, that means we're already friends! Now, Aelita…the guards said they had a special cell for her? Hm…that's not good. Let's not worry about that for now. I'm sure you're very confused, ye? You look like you hit your head a couple of times as well. Lemme take it slow."
He followed her through the hallway, walking past row after row of cells. Old-fashioned lanterns hung from the wall, casting dancing shadows across the red carpet. Without any windows, the whole place seemed bleak and dark.
Up the stairs they went. Saki took him past what could have been a living room tucked away between two sets of stairs, had it not been occupied by ragged-looking people. They lay slumped in the chairs or draped across the couches. Half of them were asleep. The other half was engaged in hushed, quiet conversations.
"Okay, so, this is the main floor of Blacksteeple Castle," Saki said as she walked up a smaller set of stairs leading to the large, central hall. "To the north, you can find the Throne Room. If you take a left, you'll reach the garden…and if you take a right, you can find the dining hall, and eventually the Warden's room."
Warden.
Neved.
Will sucked in a breath as cold fury washed over him. What was to stop him from going in there with Blaziken and twisting his head off?
The same thing's stopping the others, he realized a moment later. The people here had access to their Pokemon. There had to be some mechanic in place to keep them from rising up and rioting.
"Follow me!" Saki said, and Will walked after her. "If we go a bit south, you can see the exit. That'll bring you to the front courtyard! To the right, all the way down that hall, you'll find the Battleground! It's a little too early, so the room's not open. But that is where my friend Valarie likes to hang around. For now let's exit the building and head east to the Quarry! That's where my friends are now, I think."
Will looked around as Saki led him through the halls. Everywhere he looked he saw pale faces, dour expressions and exhausted civilians just…living here. They were clothed. They looked clean. They didn't seem malnourished or wounded.
They'd fashioned Blacksteeple Castle like any other Xen base. All black tiles and dark hallways and large pillars. Will spotted a dozen bookshelves placed throughout the area, each one completely stacked with books. At least he wouldn't be dying of boredom here…
A pair of armed guards eyed them with emotionless expressions as Saki took him through the front door and into the courtyard.
When she did, a burst of frigid air assaulted Will's face. The air was even colder than in Akuwa Town and it was snowing to boot.
The courtyard was, if possible, even larger than Maria's had been. Saki and him walked past large pine trees, around well-crafted fountains and past various other people just hanging around. Solid black walls surrounded the courtyard, with a guard stationed every dozen or so meters.
"Where'd they take you?" Saki asked.
"Akuwa Town…"
"Yeah, figures. We've got peeps from all around. Taken from towns, from cruise ships, from beaches…"
Cruise ships…so Geara hadn't been lying when he mentioned Blacksteeple Castle before.
That should have meant something to him, but Will was too tired to care. He couldn't muster the passion to think things through. Exhausted, his body hurting with every step and every breath he took, he just focused on keeping himself upright and following Saki.
Slowly, the snow-covered courtyard transitioned into an excavation. They'd broken the ground open in search for something, and various digging machines and tools lined the area.
People were mining and digging, sorting through stones or maintaining equipment. Others built scaffoldings or maintained the tunnels they'd already excavated.
Physical labor.
Saki took him deeper into the main entrance of the quarry. There, Will spotted many other people hacking away at large, purple crystals, hauling rocks and gems, or busting down walls. The air was cold and damp. It wasn't hard to imagine the more vulnerable people getting respitory diseases down there.
What happened to the old and the very young? He didn't see any of them down here. Did Xen keep them busy in another way? Or did they simply dispose of those who couldn't work?
Will nearly stumbled when his left foot bumped against something solid. Saki grabbed his waist and hauled him upright. "Watch your step. Them railway tracks mean business!"
Railway tracks, just like Amethyst Cave, lined the floor. One of them ended at a tunnel that wasn't yet big enough to walk through. Mounted atop that wall was the strangest device he'd ever seen. It reminded him most of a floating sword, with its blade and pommel disconnected and several other metallic blades floating around its central frame.
It hummed, vibrating gently as it just floated above a black, metal mound.
"Ayo Adam!" Saki yelled.
Up ahead, that large, blue-haired man was so engrossed in his work that he didn't seem to register her. He slammed a pickaxe against the wall with enough force to split it wide open. Rocks crumbled and fell.
"What a waste of time," Adam sighed. "There wasn't even any ore inside."
"Adam I made a new friend!" Saki exclaimed. "This one's for real this time."
"A new friend?" Adam said without looking around. "I'm sure this one will last. Just like Susie."
"Ye, he's only slightly used!"
"Susie?" Will asked.
Adam heard him. "Saki tested out one of her inventions on her and it went badly. Now Susie avoids her."
"Oh…"
"Who cares anyway," Saki said. "I don't need fake friends. Anyway, Adam, this is my new BFF, Will! Will, this is Adam!"
That got Adam's attention. He turned around, putting down his pickaxe as he peered at Will. "Will? Why are you down here?"
"Don't mind Adam Will, he's what the cool kids call an introvert. A man of few words, but those words…so special!"
"We met," Will said. "Adam helped patch me up."
"Seems futile, considering you're here now," Adam remarked.
"Hey Adam, I thought Valarie was supposed to be here with you? She dipped?"
Adam grunted. "She's off trying to win a night at that Prestige Room again." He reached for his pickaxe again. "I'm doing her work in case she loses and hasn't filled her quota." He brought it over his head and began hewing away at the wall again. "Leave it to Val to do something so unreasonable and irresponsible…"
"The quota?" Will asked.
"Yeah. Not filling your quota means no dinner. No thank you."
"True dat," Saki agreed.
…they had to earn their right to food, then. What happened to a person who went hungry and couldn't keep working? They wouldn't have the right to eat, so they wouldn't have the energy to work A vicious cycle until…did people die here?
"I…why are people putting up with this?" Will asked.
"Ah, yeah, I was gonna let Val do the splaining, but fineeeee. So, Will, every day we're assigned tasks to do and we HAVE to meet the quota, otherwise they don't feed us. But there's a way around it! if you compete at the Battlegrounds competition and win, you don't have to do jack shit for the day! That also includes sleeping in a super luxurious places called the Prestige Room!"
"Why?" Will asked.
"Nobody knows," Adam grumbled.
"Oops," Saki said, smiling. "But it's not that bad! It's like a forced summer vacation! Except it's winter."
So those who were strong enough to win didn't have to work? While those who were too weak to win were forced to pick up extra work to compensate?
Will couldn't bring himself to dig deeper into that. "I have a quota too," he said.
"Yeah, better start mining that shit," Saki said.
"No, Will can barely walk on his own," Adam pointed out. "How did you not notice that? When Team Xen hauled him in, he was half dead. They obviously beat him half to death before throwing him into his cell. Or did you think they pulled me away for the fun of it?"
Saki gasped. "You said you tripped!"
Ignoring her, Will continued, "So you have to work for…Valarie…yourself…and me?"
"Ayup."
"What about the others?"
"People don't tend to become homies easily here," Saki said. "We got a hundred little cliques around and you just happened to join the best one!"
"Yeah."
Will clenched his jaw. It was his fault that Aelita and him were stuck in this place. He wasn't about to be a dead weight to these people. They didn't ask to get burdened with him.
"What's the work?" He asked.
"Here? Mining. Hauling. Look around. Warden counts in distance mined and weight of crystals found."
Wordlessly, Will shuffled to the side and grabbed one of the pickaxes lying around.
"Yo, Will, I thought Adam said you can't do that," Saki protested.
"Yeah," Will said, growling with exertion as he lifted the pickaxe over his head. It wasn't even that heavy, but the mere act of lifting it had his body screaming in protest. "But…" He brought it down against the wall and the head bounced off of the rock, leaving just a scratch. "I fucked it up." He raised the pickaxe again, struggling to ignore the creaking in his arms and the fire in his chest. "Not you."
"Nobody fucked anything up," Adam protested. He put down his own axe and clasped Will's pickax with a large hand. "Stop that."
"You have a quota, right?" Will said. "Can't do that…for three people."
"Uh, did you see Adam? He's built like a monstertruck on steroids," Saki said. "That also eats steroids."
"Okay. Enough. We're going to find Valarie. Three of us can do the work for four of us."
"Aw hell yeah, I'm going with ya! She's at the Battleground, ye?"
"Yes."
"Okay," Will said. "Fine. Where is that?"
"Yeah, just follow me, imma get us there," Saki proudly declared.
And so Will followed the two of them back to the main hall again. At least the constant sights and influx of new information kept him distracted.
Hunger gnawed at his stomach as Saki flung open the door to the castle and marched inside. She seemed to have forgotten that he wasn't able to keep up a solid pace, and soon a gap began to fall between them.
"Over there," Adam said, pointing at the door at the far end of the hallway. "Sounds like Valarie's already fighting."
By the time they made it to the Battleground, Saki had already mingled with the audience. She glanced over her shoulder when she heard the door open, then darted towards them. "You made it just in time! Valarie's on a roll! C'mon!"
She grabbed Adam's arm and…well, Will could imagine Saki thought she was pulling him along, and it was the thought that counted.
The battle was over by the time the three of them got a front row seat.
"The battle has ended!" One of the guards declared. "Valarie is the winner!"
"Woooo!" Valaria shouted. "That's all she wrote folks! Thank you all for coming!"
Valarie was an attractive young woman with long, dark blue hair. A pair of curly sidebangs peeked out from underneath her blue bandanna. Her clothes were…pretty chilly for the season, Will presumed, consisting of a blue short-sleeved, cropped T-shirt and a pair of blue shorts that showed off her long, shapely legs.
"Guess I did her work for nothing," Adam said with a sigh.
"Nah, I'll just use what work you did! Yay, day off! Sorta. Gotta share it with Will. Oh, hey look, it's the Warden!"
She pointed and Will saw what she was pointing at. There, one tier above the battlefield and overlooking both the combatants as the crowd, sat Neved of Team Xen. He beckoned for one of the guards and murmured something at him, to which the guard nodded.
Will's blood began to boil. Somewhere in this castle, these bastards had locked Aelita away and that asshole knew where.
He didn't take his eyes off of Neved, even as the audience began to dissipate and the two combatants left the stage. Eventually, Neved took his leave as well, and only a small group of guards stayed behind.
"Huh…still no sight of your friend…" Saki eventually summed up what Will had realized. "That's so…odd."
"Hey guys!" Valarie said, casually sauntering up to the three up of them. "I see you made it just in time to see my victory."
"VALARIE!" Saki yelled, throwing herself at the woman and pulling her into a hug that would have probably snapped Will's spine in half had she tried that on him.
"Good day to you too Saki," Valarie said. Her icy blue eyes found Will and widened. "Oh god, who's the new kid and what happened to him?"
Valarie approached him, running her eyes over his body, lingering on his exposed neck and his face.
"That's Will, they're a new friend of ours!" Saki said. "He tripped. Over the guards. When they were beating him up."
"Saki!" Adam chastised her.
"Oof, that looks bad. Your face looks like it's part Gengar now."
"Charmer," Will said. "Valarie, I presume?"
"Heh, yeah. Nice to meet you, Will. I'm Valarie Kersey. Gym Leader of Akuwa Town, owner of Akuwa Town Aquarium, and Water-Show Performer!"
Will stared at her. She was Akuwa Town's leader? In a different life, where Team Xen hadn't abducted his mother and murdered Melia, he would have lived in the same town as this woman? Watched her shows, visited her gym?
It was an idea that he hadn't even stopped to think about; what kind of life he would have lived with his mother had none of this happened. It…should have been fun to consider. He should have been happy to finally meet someone he would have definitely met if everything had just gone normally.
Instead, he just felt hollow and bitter, and Valaria probably saw that, as she frowned and said, "You're doing okay there buddy? You've been staring for, like, half a minute now."
"He's probably overwhelmed," Saki casually interjected. "All these Gym Leaders around him. It's true Will. I'm the Steel-type Leader of West Gearen City and Adam is the Rock-type Leader of the uh…"
"The desert," Adam dryly said. "I came from the desert."
"Teehee, yeah, that."
"I didn't see you yesterday," Valarie said. She was still looking at him with a mixture of concern and…well, concern, but the other one.
"Yeah, Adam had to patch him up yesterday," Saki explained, leaning back against the wall with her hands in her pockets. "I think they'll have to bring in clearers to get that blood out of the carpet. There's a trail leading all the way to his cell – it's right next to mine! We're neighbors."
"Oh my god," Valarie said. "How – why did they do that?"
"The Warden and I have history together," Will said. "I didn't come alone. I – " His throat did something funny, and his voice turned into a painful coughing fit.
"Yeah, we're looking for his friend. Her name is Aelita or somethin'"
"Aelita…" Valarie said thoughtfully. "Don't think I've heard about her, let alone seen her. That's weird. Usually everyone has free reign to roam the castle at their leisure."
"Newcomers usually aren't allowed in the Garden right away, so maybe we should head back to the mines for info?" Saki suggested. "Maybe someone's seen her, or, I dunno."
"Seems like the best we can do. Alright gang, let's head back to the mines!" Valarie said.
Back in the mines, they wasted no time splitting up. Will asked everybody he saw there if they'd seen or heard of a girl like Aelita, but the answers all boiled down to the same.
"Have I seen or heard of a girl named Aelita? I don't think I have, sorry."
"Aelita? I haven't interacted with anyone with that name, sorry. Maybe someone else has? Really hope you find your friend…"
"Aelita? I've been down here for a while and I haven't seen anyone like that. Not that I've necessarily talked to anyone but myself, so…" "
"No I haven't heard of Aelita! Please leave me alone now!"
Valari, Saki and Adam didn't have much luck either.
"Nothing from the people here," Valarie sighed. "I don't think we're getting anywhere…"
"Makes sense," Adam replied. "The people down here don't see much. Don't know how much we're gonna dig up."
Saki and Valarie turned to stare at him.
"…pun not intended."
Will grew more and more frustrated and impatient with every person he spoke to, with every negative assertion, with every conversation that made him realize how utterly hopeless these people seemed. They didn't know anything. Didn't seem to want to know anything.
His frustrations threatened to boil over and he took a moment to step away from it all, get his thoughts back in order. He couldn't break here. Not in a place like this. Not if he hadn't ensured his friends were safe.
That was when he passed by a tunnel that was usually guarded by a burly guy with angry eyes, and noticed that A: the guy was gone and B: people deeper down the shaft were talking in a hush-hush tone suggesting they really didn't want anyone to overhear them.
Will crept closer.
"…brought her to this place…I can't really say where…"
That got his attention. He advanced deeper into the tunnel, which turned into another excavation room after a corner. A group of people was gathered there, hurriedly discussing something among themselves. The second Will stepped around the corner though, that same blond guy he'd seen before stepped up and snarled, "Lost? If not, you should get it. Lost."
"I'm looking for an Aelita," Will said, "Young woman, newcomer – "
"And purple hair?" A redheaded girl finished his sentence. "Ohh, yeah, I know who you're talking about."
"Where is she?" Will demanded.
The group squared off, taking up a threatening posture.
"That's none of your business," the girl continued.
Wrong answer
Will was through asking nicely. He withdrew Blaziken's Poke Ball –
"Actually, it is our business," Valarie's voice echoed through the cave. She, together with Saki and Adam, had found the entrance as well and they quickly hurried to Will's side.
That…took him by surprise. These people hardly knew him. Hell, Valarie had known him for all of an hour. What were they doing, getting themselves into trouble for him?
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what's all this then?" That same redhead yelled. "Who the hell do you guys think you are? I don't have to tell you all anything!"
"Actually, you do," Valarie said, and despite being twice as thin as Adam and only an inch taller than Will, her voice carried an authority with it that was far more intimidating than either of them. "That girl you mentioned is a friend of ours. We just wanna know where she is, and that's all."
"Information don't come free," the redhead said, and Will didn't like her voice at all. "You want it so badly? Then you'll have to fight for it."
"Target sighted!" Saki exclaimed. "Let's take 'em down!"
But Will had lost his patience. He sent out Blaziken and the other girl sent out a Machoke. Machoke raised his fists, but Blaziken went on the offensive immediately. Flames sprouted from her wrists as she threw several blazing punches at her foe.
Machoke blocked her blows with his forearms, but the intense heat that washed over him left him scorched and blackened.
Using her fire to augment her attacks, Blaziken ruthlessly, giving it no time to shore its defense and go on the offensive itself. One particularly savage swing left the Machoke rearing back, averting its face as to dodge the flames that came from her fists.
Lightning fast, Blaziken stepped closer and landed a stone-crushing Fire Punch directly on Machoke's chin. The force of the attack sent it flying into the rock wall.
"What!" The girl exclaimed. "Fine! Machoke, come back! Graveller, bury these fools!"
The Rock-type Pokemon stomped on the ground, emitting a heavy quake that shook the entire quarry, but Will had Blaziken leap away to avoid the attack. She braced herself against the ceiling, then pushed herself off when Graveler began blasting her with rocks. She deftly intercepted the stone blasts with a couple of well-placed kicks, then closed the distance.
Graveler attempted another Bulldoze attack but Blaziken was far too fast. She landed a sweeping kick against the side of Graveler's head, pivoted and then landed a roundhouse kick straight in its face.
The strength her kicks packed was incredible. The girl had to recall her Graveler from a crater in the wall, and her friends all took a few steps back.
"You guys are strong…" she hesitantly said. "I didn't expect that."
"About our friend?" Valarie said expectantly.
"Alright, fine, but don't tell the guards I told you this. I stay up past curfew and last night was no different, right? While everyone's downstairs sleeping, I'm roaming the castle for secrets. And as I was heading back before I got caught, I saw her – with my peripheral. She was being dragged by the Warden. By the hair and all."
Fury and anguish in Will's soul threatened to mix into something very, very volatile, just waiting for a spark to set if off.
I got your number, he thought, and he vowed then and there that he was going to tear this whole castle apart stone by stone if that meant getting Aelita out.
Oblivious to what her words had caused, the girl carried on. "No idea why, that's just what I saw. Haven't seen her since."
"So if anything, she might still be in the Warden's room?" Valarie asked. "But why? What makes her special?"
Keta, keta, keta –
Back then, he hadn't realized. He knew Sheridan. He knew Keta. Whatever his problems with Keta were, Neved believed he could just direct at Aelita.
The thought of that man harming Aelita made him violently ill. Will spun on his heels and marched away. Cold, rational anger made him form ideas, tactics and attacks that he would use to unmake that man. He'd lost Melia, he'd lost Maria and he'd even lost Mightyena, but he sure as fuck was going to avenge them.
Someone hurried after him and clutched his arm.
Furious, Will spun around and tore his arm free. Doing so set off every damaged muscle in his body and the sheer wave of agony that coursed through his body cleared the anger from his thoughts long enough for him to hear what Valarie said.
"You can't! You're strong Will, but they have countermeasures!"
"Let go," Will said. His voice came out like nothing more than a whisper. His legs trembled, and his breathing was rough and labored. At that moment, he genuinely did not know if that was because of his emotions, or because his body was starting to fail him again.
"With the sigils in place, your Pokemon can't attack," Valarie continued. "They act like mind control beacons. If they attack anything bearing their marks, they will freeze up. They physically can't attack afterwards."
"I…what?" Will said.
"It's true," Saki said, running up behind Valarie. "Some of our peeps have tried escaping via the river, or flying, or even by sea. But after a certain point, they just stop moving. They refuse to leave. They can even take control over your Pokemon if the guards want to."
Will shook his head. "No way."
"Some kid with a Jolteon tried something cheeky and attacked a guard," Valarie continued. "The result wasn't pretty."
"Basically," Adam joined in behind them. "We're screwed."
All that anger and fury and bottled-up rage…and where had that left him? Beaten half to death and no way for his Pokemon to help.
Will clenched his fists. He bit back a ragged scream of frustration, resisted the urge to break his knuckles against the wall and...and he forced himself to abandon his plan of busting Aelita out.
"So what do we do?" He whispered, hating how vulnerable and weak his voice sounded.
"We need a plan to escape," Valarie said. "To do that, we're going to need our Pokemon to listen to our commands all the time."
"We got one of those sigil things right over here in the cave," Saki said, hooking her thumb in the direction of the main quarry. "How about we take a looksee, see what makes them tick?"
"Careful that you don't get spotted," Adam warned her. "They'll take your Pokemon privileges."
"Nah man, I'm real sneaky like. C'mon, watch."
Will followed the trio deeper into the quarry again. Saki led them straight up a manmade flight of steps in the face of the wall, where that same floating sword-thing resided.
That was thing was the crux of this prison, then?
"I've never gotten this close to one before," Valarie said. "It feels weird."
"I have, and it's nothing special," Adam replied. "It just looks like a floating sword."
Saki knelt in front of the pedestal and began taking notes in a little worn scrapbook. "By taking a quick look, the stand beneath it is flushing out some kinda force, keeping it airborne. The glowing white particles you see here must be the main "cause" of the phenomenon with our Pokemon freezing up. If there were some way toe describe it, it seems like it's "hacking" into our Pokemon's brains. It sends commands to them whenever the Sigil sense any sort of violence towards it or whatever it's protecting." Saki got back up again. "Freaky sci-fi shiet, but that's what I've gathered anyway."
"Any idea on how to deal with this?" Valarie asked.
"Hm…let's try a few things, boop!"
Suddenly the Sigil shimmered with a bright, blue light, and the force it emanated grew much stronger.
"Saki what did you do?" Valarie demanded.
"I just tried touching it! It wasn't me! I promise!"
Adam took a closer look. "It looks like it's some sort of code pad…it's looking for a keycode."
"What are the chances this is something the guards use to disable these things?" Valarie suggested.
"Pretty high!" Saki exclaimed. "What do you think it could be? I read a book in the library the other day about some warrior and his queen. There was a number on the back of the book that was…ehm, 80891. Let's try it!"
"Wait, that's – "
Too late. Saki's fingers blurred for a second and suddenly, a mechanical voice droned, "INCORRECT CODE. CALLING NEARBY GUARD FOR ASSISTANCE."
And then the freaking thing began blaring like an airhorn, flashing emergency lights and all.
"AW SHIT!" Saki yelled. "NAH, I'M NOT GOING BACK TO JAIL. SCATTER!"
On her call, the three got the hell out of dodge. Adam kicked off a rock and scampered up to the tier above them. Saki literally threw herself off the stone outcropping and disappeared and Valarie sprinted for her life down the steps.
Will watched them go, unsure who to follow. He wasn't strong enough to go after Adam and following Saki would certainly kill him. Valarie then!
But as he turned towards the stone steps again, he already saw a pair of guards storming his way. They'd seen him, and even if he outran them and hid, they would know he was their guy.
"Turn around! Back away from the Sigil!" One of them yelled. "Show me your hands!"
"Tch…not even here for a day and already causing trouble. I'm afraid I'm going to have to bring you to the Warden's quarters. You only have yourself to blame."
Well. Crap.
~~~~~~~(II)~~~~~~~
Neved stared at the little flames that flickered in his fireplace, lost in thoughts. The door to his quarters opened and one of his guards said, "Warden? We have brought you William."
"Send him in," Neved said, turning to face the battered looking man who came walking into his office. Washed and patched up again, William did not look like death worn over anymore. The bruises on his skin were ugly, dark and purple splotches. On the left of his face - Neved's right - they were so thickly scattered that he couldn't identify where one ended and where the other began. They would hurt him long after they faded.
The Death Wing detachment had broken him in many physical ways. It had taken the medical wing a full hour to identify all the broken bones and internal bleeding and remedy them. Afterwards, the Audino had required a full day's worth of rest. Even then, his body remained broken and torn. Even walking around must have been agony for him.
But when Neved looked into William's eyes…he did not see the gaze of a broken man. When Neved met his gaze, he saw fury glittering in his eyes like chips of ice.
"You may leave us," Neved told the guard, who respectfully nodded and then closed the door behind him.
Neved watched carefully as young William stood there, unmoving.
William was a teenage boy who hadn't even reached his twenties yet. If the Xen Initiative had files on his life before his arrival on the S.S. Oceana, they hadn't seen fit to share them with him yet. As it was, what the Admins knew about the boy had been entirely gathered in the field. A beginning trainer who had taken up the misguided mantle of Melia's protector, thwarting Zetta's attempt to retrieve her in Goldenleaf Forest and hounding him all the way to Amethyst Caves. From there, William had found his way to that disgusting, accursed little Sheridan Village and teamed up with that despicable wretch of a Keta. They had laid waste to Madelis' lab and destroyed not only the Rift Pokemon there, but also annihilated the entire Shadow Pokemon laboratory.
And worst of all, William seemed to have garnered the attention of Crescent. For what purpose, not even Nastasia seemed to know, and Neved had begun to doubt the dynamic of their appearances. Was it Crescent who kept appearing where William was, or did something inexplicably draw William to Crescent?
Time would tell. Neved knew for certain that William would not.
"At ease," Neved told him. He gestured at his couch, showing the courtesy a warrior like William deserved. For one so young, he had endured great hardships and accomplished many things. When his enemy had broken his body, he had gotten right back up. An unbreakable soul.
Yes, Neved could see himself in the boy.
But that would not stop him from doing what needed to be done. He had, after all, learned to harden his heart.
Will gave no indication that he'd heard him. He just glared at him, putting so much venom into his gaze, so much tired scorn. Neved liked what he saw in his eyes.
Neved exhaled a quiet sigh. "You do not strike me as one to talk much. I can respect that. You know, we have met each other twice before. Once, I explained already. The other…I doubt you remember. It was when the S.S. Oceana was capsizing. For you to appear here at my castle is…well, it's almost like it was fate, don't you agree?"
His body seemed to quiver somewhat. That, or it was a little twitch. A shiver, perhaps. William's eyes didn't move a fraction however. Neved wondered if it was pain, or something more emotional.
"The people that brought you here…Death Wings, we call them. They are among the highest ranking members of Team Xen. I'm sure you're wondering why they've – we've been abducting people left and right? The reason is because of you."
Neved observed his reaction. William seemed to have learned to control his emotions decently enough, but upon hearing that last part, another twitch coursed through his body – another strange little shiver.
"Your recent meddling has caused our leader, Madame X, to become extremely on edge. She planned on hunting you down personally, but in the end she decided against it. If she got rid of you, she was sure another "hero" would pop up eventually. So as for right now, containment is the right answer." Neved sighed again. All that lost potential…"You know, if you hadn't been so annoying, our plans would've been completed as of now. That whole debacle with that girl, Melia – "
Another twitch.
An emotional tell, then.
" – Being a member of Team Xen was terrifying when Madame X found out that Melia had died. I rarely, truly, feel fear, but that day…"
"Where is Aelita?" William asked, his voice barely more than a dry whisper.
"Your concern is touching, it is. Don't worry, she's safe. She's just been…experiencing some punishment that was owed." Neved observed his face, studying his response. "Nothing that's any fault of her own, but…just a little act of revenge towards an old "friend" of mine."
There it was. Neved saw it. The look in the eyes of a man who was not only willing, but capable of killing. He knew the look very well.
"Anyway, we are done here. I think you've served your bit of detention already," Neved continued. "If I see you again for any kind of offense, I'll take away your Pokemon privileges. And then you'll truly be powerless."
William did not verbally react. But Neved knew that, as he was right now, William was possibly the most vulnerable person in this entire facility. Without his Pokemon, he would be the lowest of the low, and the easiest to harm. The prospect of being separated from his team would be particularly harrowing.
Indeed, Neved was quite certain that young William would not be causing him any trouble until he was well and truly ready. Whatever would happen afterwards…he did not know.
But the thought excited him.
~~~~~~~(III)~~~~~~~
Will limped out of Neved's office. All in all, he'd gotten what he'd expected – the dreaded threat of taking his friends away from him – but he'd also gotten something more.
Who could have guessed that Neved was a talker? Will sure hadn't. But he had learned two important things inside of that office.
Number one: Aelita was alive. Neved wasn't going to kill her, and he would have the time he needed to come up with a crazy plan to bust her out.
Number two: Neved was a petty, spiteful, grudge-holding little bastard. Judging people by the sins of their fathers? Neved was scum. He was scum, and he would never ever let anyone escape this island alive if it came down to him. Will knew with the same clarity he'd felt with Indriad Theolia. Neved would hunt him down to the end of the world if he had to.
Well, he could get in line.
Carefully, tightly clutching the guardrail of the stairs, Will began making his way down again. If Neved was under that same Sigil protection, any single attack against him would be immediately interrupted. But what if it happened too fast to stop? How fast could those machines assume control, anyway? What was their range? Could a sufficiently powerful blow end him before the Sigils assumed direct control?
Blaziken could do it. He was sure she could. But then…what would happen afterwards? Obviously they'd take her away. They'd take all his friends away. They'd lock him in solitary confinement. Maybe even kill him. They would replace Neved with another Admin.
Possibly Madelis.
He couldn't imagine Madelis being much more merciful to Aelita.
No, no, that wasn't an option. He'd –
"Psssht! Will! Hey!"
Will looked up. At the bottom of the stairs, Saki had poked her head around the corner. She waved him over.
"This way!"
Saki headed towards the Throne Room.
Will wasn't sure what else to do. These people were the closest thing he had to friends in this place and he wouldn't be able to escape without them. So, he limped after her.
"So did the Warden whoop your ass? Did you whoop his? What happened?" Saki asked.
"Slow down," Will urged her. "Where are we going?"
"Yeah, a moment." Saki flung the door to the throne open and revealed…a peculiar sight.
Yes, the Throne Room was large and had a lot of sights and stuff, but Will's eyes were immediately drawn to the far end of the room, where the titular throne resided.
Valarie lay draped across the throne, all languid and casual. Her posture was relaxed, but it nevertheless did interesting things to way her clothes clung to her body. She was ah, a very attractive woman.
"Uh, hey," Valarie said. "You don't look so good. Was the Warden rough on you?"
"Should I…call you queen now?" Will said, gesturing at the throne.
Valarie rolled with her eyes. "Hey, this thing just happens to sit real comfortable. Nobody's been strong enough to kick me off, so here I am."
"That didn't answer my question."
Valaria chuckled. "If that makes you feel happy, be my guest."
"Fair enough," Will replied. He spotted Adam lying to the side of the throne, leaning against a support pillar with his eyes closed. He was snoring.
"You know, when someone says "scatter" it means you're supposed to run in different directions!" Saki said, plopping down on the other side of the throne. She pulled a sheet of paper from her scrapbook, lay down flat on her stomach and began doodling. "Can't just stand around and wait to get thrown in jail, yo."
Will just gave her a look, not sure what to say to that.
Valarie placed her hand against her forehead. "Saki, you've seen Will, right? He can barely walk, let alone run. And none of this would have happened if you just thought about what you were doing!"
"I admit it, it was a bit hasty of me," Saki said with a shrug. "Oh well. Sorry Will, my bad."
"Yeah, s'okay," Will murmured. He walked up to the throne and slid down against it, a couple of feet away from Valarie's outstretched legs. "It was for the best. Imagine they caught you guys there too."
"Still…" Valarie protested. "That didn't make it right to leave you there. Saki what are you doing anyway?"
"Working on my next invention! Not sure of the name yet, but "Rose" sounds like a good name."
"And could this invention help us out in some way?"
Saki chuckled. "Oh definitely not. There's no way I could build something like this on this island."
"That's disappointing…so, Will, what happened up there with the Warden anyway? Care to share?"
"Aelita's alive. He's keeping her separated so he can hurt her. Something her father did."
Saki stopped drawing. "Eh…suddenly I don't feel so well."
Will thought back to the "conversation". Something about their leader, Madame X, being cause for fear among the Admins…"No, that was it. Next time they catch me for an offense, they'll…take my Pokemon privileges."
Valaria rested her head on her hand. "A shame. We'll have to be real careful then/"
"Yeah…"
They remained there for an hour, just…relaxing. Adam continued snoring, Saki continued happily drawing away occasionally lifting her legs up and down as she filled the paper with all manner of complicated figures and Valarie sat there, overseeing her throne room.
Will still hurt like hell, but lying there, with these people…it didn't feel that bad. It made it easier for Will to sort out his thoughts, put his the raging torrent of emotions into little boxes and then tossing those boxes into the mental equivalent of a lake. He knew that every moment he spent sitting around was another moment Neved could hurt Aelita. The fact of the matter was any short-term actions would only end up hurting her more.
He'd come for Aelita. He'd burn down everything in his way to get her out. But until that day came, he had to stay out of sight, keep a low profile and bide his time.
"Hey, you guys hungry?" Saki then said, lifting Will from his thoughts. "I could use some grub."
"Yeah, me too," Valarie said. "Adam?"
Adam continued snoring.
Will reached around and gave his leg a shove.
"Huh? What?" He snapped, waking with a start.
"Wanna join us for dinner?" Valarie asked.
"Ah, yeah, sure. We fixed our quota anyway…"
Saki rolled to her feet and offered Will her hand. He took it, and she helped him get on his feet. His discomfort must have showed, as she said, "That must be some mad beef you got with the Warden."
"His people, more," Will said, his legs screaming in protest as Saki pulled him up. He hadn't even taken the time to inspect the rest of his body yet. A part of him was scared of what he might find. Right now, he could at least pretend that nothing was damaged or torn, that it was simply the pain stopping him from moving around like he used to. He didn't want to see how bad it was.
The dining hall was easily as massive as the main hall. It was basically one enormous rectangular room, with eight wooden tables that spanned from one end of the room all the way to the other. Each table was long enough to comfortably seat a hundred prisoners.
Well, comfortably…the chairs were made of hard plastic and sat so uncomfortable that the guards might as well not have bothered with them in the first place.
He didn't expect anything special for dinner and he still felt underwhelmed. When it was finally his turn, Will got himself a bowl of cold soup, sloppy mashed potatoes and a sausage they might have cooked in the heart of a volcano. Still, he was famished, and he could barely wait for the rest of the group to sit down before digging in.
Hey, he had to replenish the blood he lost somehow.
Very few people talked during the dinner. Will guessed there wasn't much to talk about. Most of these man and women had never seen each other before. They'd been ripped from their families and loved ones and tossed in a freezing hole in the ground.
All of them prisoners with no parole.
"Man, I'm pooped," Saki said, shoving her plate away. "What's next on the schedule?"
"Free time, then more work," Adam said. "Same as always."
"I'll try to think of something tomorrow," Valarie said with a sigh. "It's going to be an early night today. We're expecting a blizzard. Get yourself warm and comfortable Will, it'll be a cold night. Do you have enough linen and blankets?"
"Don't know. We'll see."
"Will, it's a blizzard and you sleep in a stone cell," Valarie sternly said. "If you want any chance at a good night's rest, you'll make sure you're warm."
"You won't be much help to anyone if you start losing toes to frostbite," Adam calmly said.
Will frowned. That…was a good point. "I have a fire Pokemon. He'll keep me warm," he said.
That seemed to satisfy Valarie. "Good. Well, break's over. Curfew starts earlier tonight, round 19:00 hours. Make sure you're all set when you return to your cell."
"Got it. Anything else to consider?"
"Dunno. I'll be spending the night in the Prestige Room," Valaria said with a smirk.
"Come on Will, let's start pilfering." Saki jumped to her feet. "I wanna see if I can gather some scrap to put a concept together for Rose."
Will didn't see a reason to disagree. "Sure."
~~~~~~~(IV)~~~~~~~
The blizzard hit the island just as their forecasts had predicted. Still, that didn't mean everything was quiet and calm. On the contrary; the guards picked up something on their radars, and they ran back and forth to get ready for whatever it was to come floating to their piers.
Neved watched them work. He saw the flotsam drift closer and closer, until the two guardsmen could fish it out of the water.
And Neved narrowed his eyes when he saw just what had come to his island. It was a person floating on top of a Wailmer.
At this time? During a blizzard? Surely they must have been mad!
The guards followed their protocol to the letter and they brought the hooded girl straight to his office. Neved wasted no time in getting her situated by his fireplace and making her some warm tea. Then, when he was certain that she would not be dying of hypothermia, he began speaking.
"You doing well? You've been out cold, literally, for a couple of hours.
The girl stared at him.
"Alright, let's start here. What is your name?"
"It's…Emma," she weakly said
"Okay, Emma. I'll just cut straight to the chase. What are you doing here?"
"I would like to answer that question, but I don't really know where "here" is. "
Neved calmly observed her for a moment. He didn't see any dishonesty in her eyes. "You're at Blacksteeple Castle. Does that ring a bell?"
"I've heard of the place before. An old abandoned castle off the shores of the Artrica Region, namely Neverwinter. Which is why I was out tonight. My grandmother called for me, so I came all this way to visit her. But then I was caught in the blizzard and lost consciousness due to the cold."
Neved nodded. A likely story. "Well, this blizzard has ruined you in more ways than one," he said, getting up from the sofa and walking to his fireplace. "Unfortunately, you've stumbled upon something you weren't meant to." He jabbed at the firewood, then glanced over at Emma again. "And because of this, I must subject you to the same fate everyone else has been bound to. Guards, take Emma away and put her in one of the cells like the rest."
On his order, a pair of guards quickly entered the room and marched up towards Emma.
"W-Wait, hear me out," Emma quickly said. "I have something to say."
Neved raised a hand to the guards, who nodded and stepped aside again. "What is it then?"
"Don't just throw me in a cell like everyone else," Emma said, meeting his gaze without flinching. "Allow me to help you with whatever it is you're doing here."
Neved snorted. "You must be joking, girl. Laughable. Why should I entertain this idea?"
"While I was being carried into the castle, I was still conscious. I could hear the guards complain about there being one more mouth to feed, one more person to look after. Based on their tone of voice, I could tell that things are becoming even more difficult to maintain here. I worked with people before, I know how to handle them. Not only that, but I'm strong. I can hold my own."
Neved crossed his arms over his chest. "Those are bold words. But that's just what they are, words."
"Allow me to prove myself then?" Emma suggested. "Is there such a way to?"
"Hmph…there may just be a suitable test." He sighed, deciding to risk it. "Alright, succeed at this task I bestow upon you and I'll…consider your offer."
"Deal."
~~~~~~~(V)~~~~~~~
When he opened his eyes, he expected to see Saki or Adam again. What he didn't expect was to see Maria standing on the snowy ground, her large eyes boring into his. He hadn't seen her like this before – devoid of empathy and curiosity and the enthusiastic joy of youth. Instead, her gray eyes were like those of the dead as she stepped out of the shadows.
She dragged Mightyena with her. She clutched him by his neck, and his breathing was ragged and irregular.
"Maria, what are you doing?" Will yelled in dismay. He twisted and pulled furiously, but the faceless Xen Death Wings wouldn't let go. They kept him kneeling on the ground – kneeling before Maria – and Mightyena's head meekly raised to look up at him when he heard his voice. Blood dripped from his nose, from his ears, from his mouth. He looked so weak, so hurt…
"I'm going to get you out of here," Will said. He wanted to kick and rage and break someone's knee cap – but he couldn't. His legs hung limply beneath his body. He couldn't feel them. He was paralyzed from the waist down and the only reason he hadn't slumped uselessly to the ground was because the Death Wings kept him pinned by his arms.
The Death Wings laughed and laughed and their voices filled the air.
And Maria showed a large ritual knife in her other hand. Her eyes burned with a golden hue as she stared down at him without mercy. Without emotions. Without anything.
"Maria!" Will howled. panic and dread digging their ice cold nails deep into his spine. "Please, wait wait wait, please!"
Mightyena's dark eyes widened in confusion as Maria slowly pressed the knife against his neck.
"Maria, please!" Will begged. His eyes began brimming with tears. "Don't do this! Please, stop! Maria!"
"She warned you."
Maria slit Mightyena's neck open.
Will gasped and jolted awake, his heart beating so fast that he thought for a moment it would rip its way out of his chest. His eyes shot across the room, searching the dark corners for any sign of movement. His breathing was fast and shallow and panicked.
When he blinked, the image of Mightyena's bleeding, gaping throat flashed before his eyes, seared into his mind.
He covered his mouth with shaky hands, physically stifling the guttural scream that threatened to tears itself from his throat.
Houndoom's head snapped up, whipping around in search of the threat. When he didn't see anything he settled his gaze on Will and got to his feet. He shoved his hairy muzzle against Will's cheek. A boiling-hot tongue flicked from between his teeth, lapping up the tears that streamed from his cheeks.
Will instinctively bolted upright and then spent the next minute gasping in pain as his body shrieked. The slightest movements made the room turn.
"I'm sorry," Will whispered. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry…"
Useless. He was so fucking useless. What kind of trainer couldn't protect their own Pokemon? Mightyena had saved him time and time again, but when he needed help, Will hadn't been able to do anything.
Useless.
Morning came. The guards yelled through the speakers. Will's door shot open again.
Houndoom stood up, stretched, then looked at him expectantly.
"Morning my dude!" Saki yelled, excitedly barging into his room and then skidding to a sudden halt when she came face to face with Houndoom. "Uh, hello puppy."
Houndoom stared at her, then promptly put himself in-between his trainer and this odd little visitor.
"It's okay," Will murmured. He rolled onto his back. "Saki."
"Looks like you didn't freeze to death, so there's that. Still got all your tootsies? How'd you sleep?"
"Peachy," Will grumbled. Saki and Houndoom watched him struggle like a decrepit old man to get out of bed. He fumbled for his Poke Ball and recalled Houndoom again.
"Right, so, a new person showed up overnight, but this is different! She showed up here by mistake. She wasn't abducted."
Poor girl. To end up here of all places…she might have been better off just freezing to death.
"People are crowding around her upstairs! C'mon!"
"Why?"
"Because she's new and interesting! And 'cause you're new and interesting!"
"No, why should we join them? We have a quota to fill."
"Heh, cause our friends are doing the crowding too! Don't you at least want to know what she looks like?"
Will wasn't sure he did. Then again, there were worse people for the new girl to team up with. The least he could do was go up with Saki and…well, do what Saki had done for him. Talk her through this mess, help her find her feet.
He followed Saki back up again through the long hallway. He'd hoped a couple of hours and some semi-warm food would have made him feel better, but no such luck there. Every joint and muscle in his body groaned in protest when he went up those stairs. He had to clutch the rail like a drowning man would clutch their lifeline.
He couldn't get the fucking image from his mind.
"Come on. Hurry!" Saki urged him on.
Will didn't bother responding.
Upstairs, a small group of people seemed to have the new girl cornered against one of the pillars. She'd placed her back against the smooth stone. A crimson cloak covered most of her body, including the upper half of her face.
If she'd come here wearing only that, who knew how cold she felt.
"Hey, so where'd you come from?" One of the prisoners asked.
"I, uh…"
"What's your name?" Another asked.
"I-It's Emmalie – but just call me Emma."
Then, Adam's voice cut through the noise, and the big man waded into the people. "Alright guys, break it up. She got here through the blizzard. Give her some space."
"No, it's okay," Emma meekly said.
Adam was a sight to behold. The crowd began to dissipate somewhat, though Valarie's crew remained.
Will joined the gang, watching as Valarie eyed the girl with suspicion. "Why are you wearing that hood?"
"It was to block my face from the storm, but…now I'm too uncomfortable to take it off."
Despite his foul mood and bad nights, Will felt a pang of sympathy. The poor girl had just walked into a hell of a situation. Maybe Saki'd been right to bring him up. The least he could do was keep an eye on her, make sure she didn't run into the wrong kind of people.
"Well, fair I guess. I'm Valarie, that's Saki and Adam and – "
The hooded girl saw Will approach. He caught a glimpse of her eyes widening, her lips parting in shock upon seeing his face.
Which, yeah, he could imagine.
"Will!" She gasped. "What did they do to you - !"
She wanted to take a step towards him, but Valarie got in her way. "Hey, easy there Emma. Will's gotten pretty banged up very recently. Let's give him some space. Speaking of...where'd you learn his name?"
Emma stared at Will for a second longer before breaking her gaze off. "I…Sorry, I have to go now. There's something I have to prepare for."
She stepped away, out of Valarie's reach, and then departed with quick, hasty steps, hurrying up the stairs and then disappearing deeper into the hall.
"Way to deflect the question," Adam grumbled.
"Something I did?" Will asked.
"Yeah dude, have you seen your face? You're freaking terrifying!"
"Saki!" Valarie hissed.
"Dunno. Nobody gave me a mirror," Will replied flatly. With the way things were right now, if he didn't find something to laugh at, he probably wouldn't bother getting up anymore in the morning any more.
"It's not that bad," Valarie said, giving Saki a shove. "It's not swollen, it's just discolored. Nothing some makeup can't fix."
"Eh, whatever. Emma's got the right idea though! We've got work to do as well! My day off was nice, but now I'm hungry af! Got to get to choppin' weeds in the kitchen."
Valaria flicked her hair back over her shoulder. "My day off was great, too. The Prestige Room really is nice. So nice I'm going to try and win another night again."
"Hmph…maybe I wanted to win a night," Adam said.
"O-Oh, if you want to take a crack at it, by all means, do so!" Valarie verbally backpedaled.
"It's fine, that was a joke. Good luck!"
"Heh, thanks. We should meet up at the Dining Hall later tonight to discuss our plan. "
"Revolution plans over dinner? Heck yeah!" Saki exclaimed. She and Valarie went on their way, leaving Adam and Will alone.
"Wanna head into the mines with me today?" Adam suggested. "You're still not allowed in the Garden and you do have that quota to fill. Something tells me you're not going to listen to me anyway, so you might as well know how to do this proper."
"Very likely," Will agreed. "I appreciate it, Adam."
"Don't sweat it."
Emma…something about her didn't sit right with Will. She knew his name. Not the name the guards called him by, but his name.
How? Who had she spoken to? It wasn't Valarie, she'd been confused as well. Couldn't have been Saki, she'd been down there with him.
Maybe one of the people he'd beaten in the quarry then? Plenty of witnesses there knew that he'd been looking for Aelita. He hadn't exactly been subtle about that. Maybe they thought Emma was Aelita, and wanted to ask her if she knew someone was looking for her?
In the quarry, Adam took his time to teach Will how to swing a pickaxe properly. The man himself grabbed a sledgehammer instead.
With an entire day to burn through, Will began swinging away.
It didn't take him very long to realize that he wouldn't have been cut out for this work regardless of his physical state. Mining was exhaustive work. Soon, sweat dripped down his shirt and forehead and his body began screaming for him to stop.
Aelita would have probably said this was good exercise. She wouldn't have been wrong either; After an hour of work, Will felt the muscles in his chest and arms burn, and he had to take the occasional pause just to catch his breath. Salty sweat dripped down into the various cuts and scrapes on his face.
It kept him busy. It kept him moving. It kept him fed. All of that was probably more than he deserved.
Adam came to check in on him occasionally to share water and tips. He didn't pester Will with questions or pull him from his work with meaningless dialogue.
Adam struck him like a good man, which made it doubly unfair that Team Xen had kidnapped him to this hopeless place.
"How do you know so much?" Will asked when Adam taught him how to set up a small demolition charge to blow up a particular composite of stone in the tunnel.
"I guess it just comes naturally," Adam said, mixing some blasting powder into a plastic shell, before fitting it with a blasting cap and some cord. "Back where I'm from, there's a cave called Sand Stream Cave. There was a rock slide there once, trapping some kids on the lower floors. I had to become an expert if it meant saving their lives."
"I can relate," Will sighed.
"Yeah, cord's fixed. Step back."
Adam and he took cover. Once the big guy had ensured nobody was around, he triggered the detonation cord and a blast of thunder rolled through the cave.
"Let's see what we got."
The blasting charge had blasted an irregular hole in the rock. Behind that, Will could see a smoother, darker type of stone, the same kind of rock the others had been slaving away at with their pickaxes.
He also saw a shiny object protruding from the side. It didn't look natural. "Hey, what's that?"
"Hmm?" Adam took a closer look. "Huh. Looks like a Dawn Stone. It's an evolutionary item. Makes some type of Pokemon evolve."
"Does it add to our quota?"
"No," Adam sighed. "Not the right gems. You can take it if you want. Might do you more good than us."
While Adam leveled his sledgehammer and began hammering away again, Will set about carefully dislodging the Dawn Stone from the wall with the head of his pickaxe. He took care not to damage the stone itself, and carefully hewed away at the rock around it.
Almost got it…nearly there…
"That's not my fault!" Someone in the cave shouted.
"Yes it is! You're always so goddamn useless!"
Adam uttered an exasperated sigh and put his hammer down again. "It's never peaceful around here," he grumbled, before walking off to see what the issue was.
Will quickly pulled the Dawn Stone from the wall, gently slid it into his pocket and then hurried after him.
A fight had broken out back at an earlier intersection. One of the women there seemed to have snapped, and violently shoved a young-looking guy to the ground. That was when Adam emerged and demanded to know what the issue was with his booming voice.
"Oh, good, people who understand," the woman said. "The issue is that we both got a mining kit to extract these gems, but guess what? His mining kit is defective! Can you believe that!"
"I can, what's the issue?" Adam said, pulling his massive shoulders up in a shrug. "Just replace it at the castle."
"That's not the point!" The woman snapped. "He's useless!"
Will watched the thing unfold. Was this really about some mining kit? It seemed like such a small thing to squabble about.
"I fail to see the connection," Adam said. "Just go replace it and get back to work."
"Thank you," The other guy weakly muttered.
"Leave it to simple-minded people to come to simple-minded conclusions," the woman spat. "All three of you are just completely useless!"
Wil stared at her incredulously. His man Adam was out there filling a quota for three people and teaching a fourth one how to mine and he did that without a single complaint.
"Calm down," he told her. "It's – "
"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!" She screeched.
"No, calm down," Adam reiterated.
"What did I just say you moron?" She snapped.
"You need to seriously chill," even the other guy urged her. "Why are you acting like this?"
"I can't take this anymore!" The woman shrieked. "Fine, you want to annoy me? I can be annoying too!"
She sent out her Pokemon, and things officially became Will's business. "Get some distance," he advised Adam, before sending out Nidoking and Houndoom together against her Lopunny and Dugtrio.
A part of him understood what was going on. Being cooped up in a prison with unknown people could break down anyone's mood. Being forced to perform back-breaking labor with people you didn't even like was enough to drive anyone mad.
But that was no reason to cause a scene and take it out on other people.
Houndoom enveloped her Dugtrio in an inferno of flames while Lopunny attempted to land a Jump Kick on Nidoking. Nidoking took her kick on his solid steel chin, grabbed Lopunny's leg and began sweeping the floor with it.
It didn't take the woman long to realize that something wasn't going according to her plan and she quickly recalled her Pokemon before they could get too hurt.
Will kept Houndoom on standby, just in case.
Breathing heavily now, the woman said, "Hah…I needed that. Had to work out some frustrations. Being stuck in this hole…I'm sure you understand."
"Actually, it's for that reason that I don't understand," Adam said, never raising his voice as he glared at her. "We're prisoners. The last people we should be fighting is ourselves. So the next time you want to have a hissy fit over something this idiotic, think about that."
The woman bit her lip. She glanced at the guy she'd attacked, then snorted and walked off in silence.
"…sorry about her. She's just been having a rough time." Will saw his gaze flicker to his face for a moment, and the man looked down. "It's not an excuse. Others have it worse, but…it's a reason."
"Yeah, whatever. Just put your foot down next time or something."
"Yeah, got it. Thanks, you guys."
With those words, the man got back to his feet and hurried after the woman.
"Thanks for the assist," Adam said, watching him go.
"No problem."
"People get so antsy for no reason. But that's to be expected."
Will sighed, sitting down on one of nearby rocks. "How long have you been stuck here for?"
"Couple of weeks. A month or two. Time goes by quick if you got a solid schedule."
A month or two. Adam had been stuck in this place for up to two months, mediating between people losing their minds to stress and cabin fever, and he was still this solid? Still this tough? "How do you do it man?" Will whispered.
"Hmm?"
"You work for three people…keep others from bashing each other's heads in…you take care of everyone and you're still rock solid like this." Will shook his head. "How?"
Adam raised his eyebrows, looking contemplative for a moment. "Guess it's simple for me. If I'm not at my best, people end up worse. I'm physically strong. I like to think I'm mentally strong too. If it keeps others from falling apart, I can be solid for them too." He gave a little shrug as if things were just that easy. "Doesn't work out every time, but it works for me."
Will thought about that. Back then, when he'd officially gotten involved, he'd done so because he couldn't stand the thought of someone taking Melia against her will. It had been so utterly wrong, that he couldn't help but resist it. It had come as natural to him as breathing. That it had been Team Xen just made things that much simpler.
But it had been personal for him. The same people who had taken his mother were about to take someone else. Someone he'd been in the position to help. A mixture of two simple reasons; not them, not her.
Adam didn't have those personal motivations. He just woke up one day, decided that he was strong enough to carry others, and promptly did so.
No wonder why the Warden had thought him the unofficial leader of Valarie's group.
"Come on Will," Adam said, offering him a hand. "Wanna see Valarie kick some ass?"
"Sure." He took Adam's hand. "Lead the way."
~~~~~~~(VI)~~~~~~~
Aaaand the crowd went wild!
"Nice, that's another win under my belt!" Valarie said, happily waving at the sizeable crowd that had ocne again shown up to see her kick ass. "Thank you all for your support! I couldn't have done it without you!"
She turned towards her opponent – this kid Billy who had just attempted his very first challenge.
"You fought hard man! Better luck next time!" She said.
"D'oh! This was my last chance to get out of working for the day…guess I'll starve! Thanks!"
Valarie cocked an eyebrow. "Oh…I-I'm sorry?"
"Oh yes, I bet you are. Thanks, bye!"
The kid stormed off, and the guard yelled, "Next challenger!"
Valarie put little Billy out of her thoughts. There was always someone who would have to go hungry here. She didn't make up the rules, she just used them to her advantage. "Alright, who's my final opponent" She exclaimed.
As the crowd began cheering again, Valarie heard a timid, yet assertive voice answer her even above the shouts and the whistles.
"That would be me."
And freaking Emma came walking out of the crowd, calmly walking past Valarie to take up her position at the other end of the battleground.
"Emma…?" she
"Let's have a good fight Valarie," Emma said. "I won't hold back."
Valarie stared at the girl, unsure about her angle. Still, she wasn't one to back down from a challenge. "Heh, alright, if that's how it is! I won't hold back either!"
~~~~~~~(VII)~~~~~~~
Will and Adam trekked back to the castle. The weather had gotten worse since the blizzard last night. Fresh snow crisped underneath their shoes as they climbed the stairs to the main entrance. Adam paused as Will pulled himself up the final stretch.
"You good?"
"Yeah," Will lied, hiding his mouth with his sleeve so that Adam wouldn't see him panting. "Valarie's still fighting?"
"Should be. Come on, we might catch her final battle."
With some effort, Will made his way to the Battleground without, where Adam held the door open for him and then made a path through the crowd.
That was when one of the guards announced, "That's it, the battle is over. Emma is the winner!"
What?
Will hurried past Adam's large frame and pushed his way to the front of the crowd. There, on the other end of the battlefield, Emma lowered her hood. She...was a very pretty young woman, with long, dark-blond hair that cascaded down her back. Will didn't catch more than a glimpse of her face before she turned to look up at Neved who, as usual, had been watching. "There, was that enough for you, Neved?" She demanded.
Neved leaned forwards in his little throne, looking at Emma intently.
"Emma, you…?" Valarie muttered.
But Emma didn't respond.
The guards dispersed the crowd again. Valaria angrily stomped off the arena, visibly shaken by what Will assumed to be her first loss in the castle.
And Emma, ignoring the remaining people that began interrogating her about her cryptic statement, skulked off again, heading straight towards the entrance. She halted when she saw Will standing there. Her sharp, gray eyes found his, and Will could have sworn he saw an emotion flicker across her face again. Something like pity, perhaps.
"P-Please excuse me," she murmured, before hurrying along.
"…Emma…" Will whispered. Just who was this girl?
"Looks like Valarie finally lost a match," Adam said. "That means no Prestige Room for her."
"No Prestige Room, no food for tonight, and an uncomfortable bed," Valarie spat as she approached. "A cold night with nothing but suffering and sadness."
That sounded very familiar to Will's average night these days.
"So basically what everyone else deals with on the daily?" Adam said. "Yep."
"I know, I know," Valarie sighed.
"Fortunately for you, every time you compete at these things, I do double the work just in case," Adam then said. "So you won't be without food tonight."
"ADAAAM!" Valarie exclaimed, all but squealing with delight. "Did I ever tell you that you're literally a lifesaver?
Adam turned away, and Will could have sworn he saw the big guy blush a bit. "Yeah yeah...just thank Saki for giving me the standard of picking up over my lazy friends. '
"That's…completely fair and reasonable," Valarie laughed.
"Yeah, it is. Val, this is the first time you lost here. What happened?"
She sighed. "That Emma girl was very strong. I think I got too comfortable with my status. But something about her is…off. Why was she talking to the Warden like they had some sort of deal?"
"Dunno, but I'm hungry."
"Say no more! You're already speaking my language! Let's make our way to the dining hall! What about you guys? Anything interesting happen today?"
"Apart from Will cleaning someone's clock again…"
"Oh? Will, are you secretly a badass?"
Adam sighed. "Well, you see…"
~~~~~~~(VIII)~~~~~~~
Blacksteeple Prestige Room
Emma - she had practiced for so long to use that name, she had to keep thinking of herself as Emma to make it work - sat down in one of the black, leather chairs, taking in the sights that the Warden only wanted the strongest to see.
The Prestige Room was large and stuffed with amenities. A large television hung from the chalk-white wall. Bookshelves with row upon row of books lined the wall. Beautiful, hand-sculpted lanterns bathed the room in a pleasant, orange hue. A large dinner table stood in the center of the room, perfectly decorated with a luxurious tablecloth and silver dinnerware. A bronze candlestick in the center of the table. The food there came from an actual menu, offering a choice between fish, steak or pasta.
In the corner, a crystal door led to a private shower room complete with a pristine white bathtub and more scented candles, bath chips and other stuff than a girl could possibly have a use for.
"How are you enjoying the room?" Neved asked.
Emma saw no reason to be dishonest. "It's fancy, but no matter how fancy it is, it's still a prison."
"Well, that's just what comes with the territory," Neved replied. "Just because you're my assistant doesn't mean you're any different."
Ah. That part had worked, then? "So you've taken up my offer?" Emma said, taking care not to sound too enthusiastic. "A good choice, I promise."
"We'll see,' Neved said, placing his hands on the table and leaning towards her. "As I said before, you're still a prisoner, so there are rules. You must adhere to the curfew, and you must sleep in the cells below." He pushed himself upright again. "That is, unless you keep winning the night in this luxurious room. But as my assistant, you do not have to mine the gems daily, or tend to the castle's garden."
"A fair proposal. I accept these terms."
Neved nodded. "Good. Get a good night's rest. I will have your first assignment ready for you tomorrow."
"I understand, but before you go, can I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"Why are you keeping all these people here?"
Neved eyed her, his expression difficult to assess. "Because it was a job placed under my responsibility by my superiors."
"Your superiors?"
"Namely my boss, Madame X."
Madame X…"But why? Is containment the only reason? To strip them of power? If that were the case, you'd have confiscated everyone's Pokemon instead of putting those Sigils in place."
"Battling is a necessity," Neved said. "It's a long-term project. That's all I say. Good night, Emma."
And the man was off, having said his piece - or perhaps even a bit too much.
"Goodnight," Emma replied. She sighed. Now that he was gone, she could finally get to work.
She turned towards the bookshelf. This legendary Prestige Room had a bit of a secret to it. Due to a little bit of intel, she had learned something interesting. If that intel was correct…this room should be connected to another room.
Emma began pulling books out and stacking them up. it should be…right about…there…
Huh? Why was that last book so hard to get out?
"Come out, you pesky thing," she said, tugging harder.
With a metallic noise, the inner wall of the bookshelf slid away, revealing a secret room.
"Nice!" She said. Of course, she couldn't just leave. If Neved came back and saw that she was gone, ths whole plan would be over. "Hey, I need your help!"
Her friend came out of his Poke Ball in the shape of a Weepinbell of all things.
For a moment, Emma just stared at him. "So, why do you look like that right now? I told you to stay as a Wailmer."
"Weepinbell" flopped around helplessly.
I know you can't actually swim and carrying me was uncomfortable, but we have to keep up appearances.
The Weepinbell uttered a snarly little cry, then turned back into his true form as a Zoroark. He gave her a pouty look.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, but it'll work out, I promise," Emma said soothingly. "Listen I need you to transform into me and lay down in that bed over there. Here, you can even have the rest of my dinner. I didn't finish it."
"Zroaa!"
And then, Zoroark's form blurred and changed into that of her. Well, her as she was right now, disguise and all.
"Nice! When Neved comes in, just pretend to be asleep. And if you're eating…just…keep eating?"
Zoroark blinked. then uttered a happy and decidedly inhuman cry.
Emma winced. "Please behave!"
Hoping that Zoroark would keep the masquerade up long enough, Emma turned and headed into the secret entrance. The second she passed through, she must have tripped some hidden mechanic, as the door suddenly slid right back into place again.
She had nearly blown her cover right away, seeing how badly these people had hurt Will. Suddenly coming face to face with him like that, seeing him bruised and in pain, lost and vulnerable, had made her feel sick to her stomach. The anger hadn't been far away.
How dare they. How dared they do that to him!
"I won't let them hurt you anymore Will," she vowed. "I'm going to get you out!"
~~~~~~~(IX)~~~~~~~
AN: and there goes chapter 15. We've officially passed the 3000 views! For what is essentially a fan work of another fan work, I think that's pretty impressive.
I'm glad to see the reception to last chapter was so positive. I was a bit hesitant if people would like the tone I wanted to set for the story going forwards, but the response was overwhelmingly positive!
Lunar Cryptic: I think this chapter answered the finer details regarding Snorunt. I don't have a release schedule for the week, I'm afraid. I've got a few weeks of summer vacation right now, and the updates will depend entirely on my free time and inspiration. About Type Null; it's a bit story related. I have the feeling that Type Null is a very unique entity and that creating a second one and using it doesn't fit with the way I've written the Interceptor.
Anyway, let's keep the ball rolling! Let me know your thoughts or feedback in the review section and I will see you all with the next update!