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Wave: Epidemic (27 - Period Zero)

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Part 5: The Circle
Chapter 27: The End of The Beginning


Edge


...Start... thought...

There was NOTHING before him was NOTHING before him being NOTHING in him as before once said as he was before NOTHING.

Not... my thought...

“Edge?! Edge!” a feminine voice called. The blue feline to whom she had been speaking was dazed, his bell no longer around his neck, but glistening in both of his paws.

“I heard what Laza said. Edge, you're... you're Drew. Vince is your brother.” said the shaymin.

“Vince is my brother... But, Topher,” Edge hesitated, closing his eyes. “Who, then... who's Celebi?”

“Celebi is Vince. I remember holding Vince when I was still human, trying to hide him,” Topher said, lifting his nose to Edge. “Edge, is Vince dead? Laza said that he, or I guess Celebi, was undone.”

“I don't know. I remember her eyes. She told me to stop letting that bad person hurt me, and then she went away. I'm that bad person's puppet. That person... is Laza.” Edge sobbed, letting the bell drop from his paws, arms swinging to his sides. The round object struck the ground with a feeble chime, rolling a little, before finding its resting place in the grass, sinking into baptism of green and gold.

From where did this bell meet birth?

...

I took the bell from my body and I let it drop to the ground.

But, why? Why did I have to do that? Was I upset with myself? Was I upset with who I once was? I was Drew one time. Now, they all called me Edge.

Some time before this, I was loved by a boy named Vince, who was my brother. Vince stopped loving me because I stopped being his brother. When I stopped being his brother, I became Edge, and Vince became Celebi. When Celebi saved me, she died. When Celebi died, Vince died.

I killed them.

I killed them because they scared me.

I killed them because I was told to.

When I took the bell from my body and let it drop to the ground, I became something else, someone else, looking over me, pulling my limbs in the directions they were destined to go.

I did this. Time stopped, and I with it, the metamorphosed world like green and blue ice, altogether, all at once, no noise. Topher was beside me, saying nothing, because he couldn't speak, but there was still a voice coming from him. It didn't come from his mouth. It came, instead, from his eyes, telling me things I couldn't understand.

I... didn't listen to that voice, but I made it a personal goal to remember it, that I would soon listen to it. In its stead, there was a different voice which I beseeched. It ticked to a different metronome, sang to an old set of lyrics, and rang to a different bell than that which I had come to be identified as: Azabell. It was cold and sickening, making my stomach churn, the contents of my body turned rock hard to its shape, like petrification, upturn, discharge of mind.

In this moment, I felt free again. I felt as though I could express my thought without the fear of losing it to the hands that were so keen on dragging it underneath my body, pulling on my tail on the way down, pulling out my spine and my soul. My neck felt free, like I was no longer being strangled alive. I could exhale the air that I inhaled and have it leave unchanged. And, in doing so, I could remember. I remembered, but I still knew nothing, and that was all there was to the boy named Edge I had become.

I looked around me. No one was moving.

Wait.

There was one. I saw a shape, blurs following its form. Its eyes were non-static, shifting around its misshapen head, the head of an espeon, vibrations. There was a third eye, the signature gem of such a psychic-type, which saw me more than the eyes did. There was no mouth present, simply a black surface, skinless, furless. Only maintaining these features, the espeon's form, the body of a black cloud, jumped and swerved through and around Pokémon stalled in time, avoiding contact with the statues, gaseous and sinister.

A familiar feeling.

An old dread.

But none of it belonged to me.

I was waiting alone, paws as fists, shaking, until the amorphous espeon shade fogged in front of me, its body rooting its smoky contents into the soil, upright, yet hunched over, head tilted, though twitching like the eyes. I couldn't find anywhere to run to, because I knew this shadow would catch up to me. I wanted to face it. The weight of its presence behind me was more than a standoff ever could have been. I wanted to defeat it.

Its body was dripping with black. The black became invisible air before it touched the ground, evaporating into poison. The limbless vapor blob owning the head of a espeon made a noise, a whisper with a bass and a treble, a nightmare sound, like screeching, underwater melody, a chorus out of tune, raising and lowering in pitch.

“This isssssssss what Iiiii waaaaantedtttedttteeeeeed.” it sang, with no mouth to show, the voice leaving its gas body instead, evident in the puffs of distortion. The voice was a story, an endless loop of death, of many cries and pleads 'no, no, no, never again'.

“Don't hurt me. I don't want to be here.” I said, feeble, lips quivering.

“Youuuuuu are innnnnnsssnnnnnsnside you, Dreeeew.”

“Wh-what? I can't understand you at all! What're you-”

“IIISSSSssss this not wwwhaaaaat youuuu wanted, toooo?”

“What I... wanted? What did I want? I didn't want...”

“Youuu wanttted meeeee. You wanted MEEEEEeee. You NEEEEEEded meee.”

“I don't understand anything...”

“The beeellllllllll. The BELLLLLL. AZABELLLLLhhhhhssssssssss.”

“Azabell? I know. I'm an Azabell. I made this Pokémon up. I don't understand it though.”

My head drifted low. I found the bell in the grass.

“Youuuuu are minnnne, AzzzzazzzzazzzabelllLLLL!”

“Liar,” I cried, the creature only offering me a groan. I bit my teeth together, feeling a pair of fangs against my lips. “You LIAR! You said you were GOOD for me! You said you were GOOD for everyone! You're just a monster. You're nothing but a liar...”

“Haaaaaate hatred hatreddddeeead... Liiiiiar I ammmm? I thinkiiii I think Iiiii am nottttaaaaa lieeeee. Hon...est... I thiiiinkhkhkahahaha I am honnnest.”

“What makes you think that?! How can you even have the guts to say you're HONEST?! YOU KILLED MY BROTHER!”

“Brotherrrvvvvvvv... I...'vvvve myself... my ownnnn tooo compare tooooooo Edge. Edge is liiiie. Liar.”

“I'm not a liar. You... you're the liar.” I revoked, sniffing, feeling heavy, throat tickling.

“Incccinccinccinccorectttt, youuuu are Drew.”

“I'm Edge, too. My brother called me Edge. I'm the same person...”

“Your brother isssss deeeeeead. My brotherrrr is dead. Youuu'vvvffffe lost the right tooo EDGE.”

“Shut up... don't... talk to me anymore. Shut up, Laza. Shut up forever.”

“Lazaaaaa? LazaaaalazalazalazaLAZAAHAHAHAHA! LAZA!? LAAZZZAA?! AAAHAHAHAHA!”

With laughter came a quake, the breaths of his manic craze piercing the drums of my ears, my vision failing, the world covered in some sort of hazy filter growing louder, like static. I covered my ears and searched for the bell. Tossing myself to risk, I lurched for the golden sphere and picked it up. The screaming, mocking laughter became distant, echoing, deeper in its pitch until it was too low to be heard. I kept my eyes closed anyway at the thought that I would open them seeing this monster ever again. I squeezed the bell. I couldn't hear its reassuring ring, but I squeezed it nonetheless. I heard chatter around me. It was natural. I... started to... think... started... thought... start thought...

This was the MONSTER inside of me. The one who commanded me. The one who reached me. The one who envoided me, made me nothing, nothing to make everything nothing again, everything made out of nothing made everything nothing.

Stop... stop... stop!

NO MORE!

E-everything... felt like a LIE!

Please, end thought. Please, end it all. Please, put an end to me.

...

Do you know who I am?

Do you know who I was?

I was the liberator,

the savior of my world.

..

When the false prophet cries,

I will open my eyes.

I will deliver all

From the Paradox.

.

Every lie carries truth.


-PERIOD-ZERO

Bryan


Thunder.

A roar in the sky; ubiquity.

I was back where I started, but there was rain, and I introduced to myself to it, but the second time, where I stood on my two tired legs and had my tired head high, so that my muzzle could capture more raindrops, slide them down into the fur on my face, down my neck, the deflated yellow ring around it, back, spine, dual-tail, feet, grass. That order and none else. I found bliss, the boom of the thunder loud, but a massage of noise against my skeleton, bones rattling, skin moist beneath the coating of dripping fur.

There was a flash larger than life. Before then, everything around me was black, lights of orange and yellow in the distance behind me. This flash had a shape, lost in many fragments of split-seconds. The shape was jagged, with branches creating a tear in the clouds, in the sky. It had a scent, electrons, protons, supercharged air, hot backdrop against cool raindrops. It didn't have a sound yet. The sound came later.

It came only seconds after my name. I let my eyes open, not before putting my head down, away from the oncoming droplets. I turned—thunder—and I saw a round shape against the light of the campus behind me. I saw there, next to that locker room, facing the walls of the gym that were no more. In favor of such a gym was a plain of grass as open and beautiful as the Grove itself, like a dream, a field of perfect child wonder, the same that was presented to me in the form of a marill.

“What are you doing way out here this late?” Travis whined, his shape coming closer. I smiled at the concern. It made my chest warm.

“Nothing. I couldn't sleep, so I started thinking about things. One thing led to the next, and I came out here.” I concluded, shrugging, taking a deep breath.

“Feels good, doesn't it?” he added.

“Hm? The rain? It does. Feels like we haven't had it in a while.”

“Do you think it's because of Laza?”

I looked at him for long enough to feel the warmth of lightning present itself behind me. I blinked.

“Laza? What'dyou mean?”

“He transformed this whole chunk of land into something kind of like the Grove, right? Is his infection affecting even the weather?”

I smirked. Travis always had a way of sounding too cute for his own good. He was more of a kid than Atti was with the way he spoke, ending his question too high for a teenager, like he really, honestly cared about it, and by extension the rest of his curiosity.

“Speaking of that,” I began, unintentionally avoiding the last question. “What do you think about the Stand?”

“Uh? The Stand? They're okay, I guess.”

“Think so? I don't know. Something about 'em rubs me the wrong way. I think they're under the wrong impression about Laza,” I thought aloud—maybe I thought too much. Laura. She wasn't the same Laura, and not just because of her appearance, or maybe it was because of that. She seemed too comfortable with it. Derrick and Ericka, too. Danithan looked like he was the least comfortable. They'd only just changed recently since we got to Metedia, but... something was off. “I need to get them out of here—at least Dan. He's a good guy. He doesn't deserve to be locked in these walls.”

“Walls?”

Everyone asked me about those walls. Even though I already changed, they still laughed at me and saw me the wrong way. They still scolded me, so I thought they did the same to everyone else.

“Never mind, uh,” I cleared my throat and walked away from the spot in the grass, moving by Travis, returning my paw pads to soaked gravel, the unnatural world, where I had lunch every day. “I remember a few days back where Dan actually came by and told me I should probably join the Stand if I didn't want to have any trouble with the infection. I think I should return the favor. I'll look for him tomorrow, maybe ask if he'd be cool with comin' back to the Grove.”

“When are we going back?” Travis asked, his voice as his body, following me to the spot, the first time he enjoyed it with me.

“Dunno. It's up to Edge, I guess,” I said, putting my back against the wall of the locker room, familiar crevices against the unfamiliar body, still getting the raindrops, albeit less, as it was falling at an angle, and the building shadowed me. “Trav. What did that guy mean about the Wave in your body?”

“Guy? What guy—oh,” he sputtered, standing in front of me, a frown lacing his face. “Chevron, huh? He... Bryan...”

I made a questioning noise, lips closed. Travis didn't speak for a moment, but the way he presented my name to me felt chilling, raindrops hitting the ground colder after exploring my fur, as cold as I became. I didn't suspect much of Travis. There wasn't a thing to suspect about him, and if he was genuinely hiding a thing from me—a big thing, like something that I needed to know from the start—he was masterful.

“Can I ask you something kind of corny?” he settled, looking away from me. I couldn't see if he was blushing, but I wanted to believe he was. He always said stuff like this. He was so sensitive. Normally, I would've done the thing most high school dudes do and peck at him for it. But, he was Travis, and... I couldn't.

Couldn't ever figure out why he just wasn't a normal high school dude either.

“Yeah, go for it.”

“Would you still be my buddy if I told you that I was...”

...Was...?

A flash. A boom. He waited until the sky-roar closed to a stratospheric purr.

“Uhm, no. It's nothing. I'm being dramatic, I think. Chevron's just trying to scare us. The place he comes from is top secret, and by us knowing anything about it, they're going to be after us.”

Somehow, I felt disappointed by that, not because it was false, but it wasn't the truth that I wanted to hear, and I saw it. I saw something behind Travis that I couldn't see formerly, now that he showed me his deepest fear in the space of silence. It wasn't that. It wasn't the place Chevron was from. It was something about him—about Travis. It didn't take much to figure that out after all of the crap that I've gone through to get to this point, after all the crap I've seen other people go through to get here. Maybe I was the one thinking too dramatically now. My hardships were nothing compared to others in the Wave, those hot zones and all. My hardships were limited to the walls.

“That doesn't mean I'll, like, leave you. There's some safety in numbers, and I don't think the authorities want to mess with us after what happened yesterday.” I said, fumbling for the last few words, battling my own recollection of the events in the once-gym.

“Mmhm, I can thank Laza for one thing.” Travis consented.

“He saved our hides. Ended up infecting everybody, but we're still here and doing our thing. Whatever that is. What is our thing, anyway?”

“Figuring stuff out, maybe? Like... Atti was obsessed with Edge yesterday?”

“Oh, that's because Edge is Drew, and Drew was Atti's friend. I'm not sure how well he took it—both of them, I mean.” I said. That was yesterday's big revelation. We all thought the kid was still in a coma. Turned out he was by our sides this whole time. I wasn't sure about it. Edge gave off a different vibe than a ten-year-old kid. I knew enough about that to make the claim, I mean, what was all that formal crap about with Danithan? He acted way too much like an adult. Part of me thought Atti was going to grump out over it.

“Hehe, they'll get over it. Who would've thought that Drew was Edge this whole time?” he asked, the question following a giggle, a noise I never got tired of.

“Feels like I should've figured that one out, but hey, I dipped out when this infection started. I don't keep track of current events.”

“It's getting harder and harder to. Hey, wanna head back inside?”

“You sleepy?”

“Mm.” he nodded.

“Why'd you wake up to begin with then?” I chuckled.

“Ahhm, I...” he blushed—that time, I saw it for sure. “I don't like sleeping alone.”

“Good Christ, bro,” I laughed, nudging the marill on the head, right between his round ears, with a paw. The nudge became a gentle back and forth rub. “Hey, no one's around.”

“Mm?” he cooed, looking up at me—well, facing up to me; his eyes were closed 'cause I was still rubbing. It looked like he liked it. I knew he did.

I leaned down and pushed my muzzle into the spot I had been rubbing. I moved it left, right, left, and right, nuzzling into his wet fur, catching the freshwater scent of his skin. I smiled all the while.

“Bryyyyy,” he purred, reaching out to try and hug those stubby arms around me. I stood up tall and got a bit closer to him, his body's width pushing me back a little. I felt his arms at my sides. “You should do that more.”

“Shhhh—Don't... be so loud,” I grinned, raising my arms as he hugged me—it must've looked like I was trying to break free. “Let's go.”

He let go. We went back to our building, separate from all the others, so that we could enjoy the rest of our sleep together, all soggy from the water. I was okay with that. It was part of who I had become.







Al


Gray skies again, promises of downpour, puddles, booms and echoes...

Metedia was hanging on hinges, a door that could open or close to ideals that invited themselves into our world. I wasn't the one to let them change the way I lived. I had seen enough in my time, my role in this Wave. I knew what needed to be done and who needed to be blamed, get theirs, get lost and never show their faces again. To each their own—it was still too early to point the metaphorical finger. I knew what I needed to do, but while I was in this body, doing it was a whole hell of a lot harder, and not just because it was tiny and kiddish, but because I was famous among the human brigade that called itself the authorities—had the audacity for something like that, even. My authority was limited to me and the people I cared for.

Strange how that worked. I found my father in that mess. Worse, I found it difficult to blame him for the stuff I'd seen, the people I'd used broken, the place I once lived tread on by bloody tires, scorch marks, all the black and the brown, all the screams of the armored cars. No. Today was a different day. It was the day that I felt human again. I felt I could come to terms with them, even after being shoved into dirt over and over, my nose bleeding, but still I was kicked, slammed down, beaten by people with arms and hands, legs and feet, hominid fury. It meant nothing, my past life here. Autumnridge was dead, and there was no heaven for it, so I just ran free in a mock purgatory and made it as good as any afterlife could've been. Wasn't that bad, actually. I lost friends and made some back again, found a home, led a resistance, lost a home, found a new home, led another resistance. I was on my way.

Today was a different day. I lost track of my way, because they—those humans—told us the words we wanted to hear in a voice that sounded like betrayal, but begged for forgiveness, and, with sighs in tow, I had to provide. Dad did this. Dad made me lose my distrust of humans, because he still had that skin. He still had his face. I hated that, and I hated it more that he softened me to the cause of the authorities. Fancy that, really, that those weren't the people after us. I got that they were scared. I could understand that without a second question—if you were scared, you could do whatever the hell mad you feel better. There was something else up there, not scared, smirking, pushing big buttons and saying big words, tossing pawns around: helicopters, vehicles, soldiers. Dad was scared of 'em, so he did whatever he wanted that could make him feel good. He came to us, the Pokémon, and told us a story about neighborly love, and how it all got flushed with the onset of a menace called Wave, a little someone called Laza.

Al. My name was still Al. Drew's was Edge now. Vince's was Celebi. I brushed my whiskers against the Wave and I still had my soul. Laza could never take that from me, nor could he remove me from the path I've chosen.

But Edge...

Edge had that in him.

We were all present, some of us more so in the past and others in the future. We called them the Stand. I knew them, or used to know them, forward and back. They were my people, and I was of theirs. Today, they were Laza's people. I had to shun them for it.

A convoy of authorities came through moments earlier, warning us of a federal-level threat to mask the infection. For some reason, I couldn't buy it. Too cliché. I wanted to believe it, considering it came from the mouth of a tormented man called Sanders. What a coincidence. We shared a surname. Too bad he didn't want much to do with a shinx. He was still looking for a lost human son. Good luck, man.

So, like Zatch, Cruce, and Emelina, Dad was all gone for all I knew. Wasn't sure if I was ever going to see them again. Edge told me I'd see Cruce. Topher cried for both of them. Everyone wanted someone to come back to them in one way or another.

I was here, bemused with broken thoughts, not participating for the first time in a few days. I got complacent at the Grove and stopped calling the shots until we started getting shot ourselves. That was yesterday now, and tomorrow it was going to be two days ago, and then three, then so on, and then another month would pass, and I'd eat more trash, and I'd lose a home, find a new one... I was so tired of it all. I just wanted to apologize. I just wanted to be apologized to. I wanted to go back, and I wanted... Dad, I wanted you and Mom and Pres to find me—really find me—and... just start over...

“Al,” she—he murmured. My ears flicked. I turned and found some grass here, some grass there, on the guy I was looking at. “You were all gloomy and... you okay?”

“I'm cool.” I gave, just out of instinct.

Words meant nothing there. When I glanced at Topher, I looked away not a second after. He couldn't see the face I had. I needed my rags back. I thought I was okay, but it was getting harder to keep myself calm. Too much electricity. I put my eyes to the ground again, because that soaked up all the electricity I had, even though the grass was wet from the storm, with more to come, leaving me in the wake of overcharge.

“You sure? That didn't sound very convincing.” he pursued. He wanted me to be happy, so that he could be happy. Cute.

“If I say 'no', what'll happen?” I asked.

“Mmmm I'll get grumpy with you. You and Edge and Bryan are all I have left, you know.”

“Don't say that. Sounds bad,” I threw, grimacing at the—what was it—shaymin. He was one of the only Pokémon shorter than me, so it felt a little nice to look down at him. “You still got your aunt and uncle, right? Heard anything from 'em?”

“No. I wanna go and check on them. Y-you're right, you know,” he sniffed. “I've lost a lot of friends, so I gotta make sure I still have those two.”

“Why didn't they ever come with Edge?”

“They did what Zatch's parents did. I think they partially thought it was all a big child's game and that they were too adult to partake.”

“What kind of stupid-ass... Sorry, no, they're not stupid, it's just that...”

“Don't worry, I know what you mean. It is stupid. I haven't been able to talk them out of it, ever since Halloween. But, they're important to me, so I have to see them again.”

“Don't go alone,” I pitched. “You're starting to sound like the people from the Grove. You know who I'm talking about.”

“I'm going to go with Edge. It's okay, Al. I won't ever end up like that. Those people made mistakes.”

Well, we'd all made mistakes...

I breathed through my mouth, probably audible. Hopefully audible. I wanted to show him that relief. A good many Pokémon converts found themselves swallowed by their despair after they came to the Grove. It was too safe. They wanted to bring their whole family to safety out of worry that they were in danger, captured by authorities, put through the grinder or something wicked like that. People got too uncomfortable with the comforts. It was too good. We recovered too well for it to be realistic, but you had to realize something about realism: it was dead.

“You... you be careful around Edge, a'ight?” I placed, not only as a warning, but as a feeling for him to interpret.

He was better with feelings than I was anyway. I guess a boy as girly as he had to be. Edge though. The kid—was he a kid? Acted too much like an adult—was really weird. He was an okay leader, maybe, but then he had this look to him like he was puttin' grief where we couldn't see it. He was fluffy and friendly at times, but all that fluff must've hid away a secret or six. Couldn't ever goddamn tell. Too much diplomacy for me to decide. He was always talking good to us, making sure we didn't ever think twice about his judgments and think that Laza was ever right about one thing. I didn't like Laza and I did like Edge, but...

“Huh? Why? Because of the thing with Drew?”

“Not that. I guess that. I don't know,” I sighed, facing the street where the convoy met us. “Maybe I'm trippin'. I had this thought last night. If Drew is Edge, do you think that Cruce might be somewhere closer to us than we think?”

“Yes, I do, as a matter of fact,” he beamed, the action strangely followed by a frown. “But, it almost doesn't make any sense. The last time I saw Cruce, he was human. I also haven't been to the hospital in a while.”

“Normally, that's a good thing.”

“It's too dangerous there. I get a bad feeling whenever I think about it, like something's waiting there for me. For all of us.”

“Ah, you're probably just trippin', too. Maybe Edge is scaring you too much. We were there a few days ago, weren't we? Nothing to worry about, other than the authorities stepping in.”

“Some authorities are worse than others. Like, now we have to deal with... I heard he calls himself Chevron now. I can't believe he's here.” sulked the shaymin, placing a growl on the name.

I didn't know anything about this dude. He was a man with a cloak. Shady. That was all. If I found him, I'd run him through with lightning, but not without reason. I needed someone with me to give him justice. I didn't pick fights with strangers anymore.

“Who is he?”

“He's... no one. He's a bad guy. I guess that's all he always was and all he'll ever be.”

“What's he want with us? He didn't come off as the same as all those other authorities,” I gulped, looking into the street, following the direction of the convoy. “Not them, I mean—the ones with Dad. They're just humans,” I looked back to Topher. “Chevron was with some guys that didn't get changed into Pokémon when they set down onto the Grove. That doesn't normally happen. You saw Bryan's transformation. The second he came in, he was a Pokémon. Those dudes? What's that all about? Something's not right here.”

“It's... it's another Wave.”

“What?”

He didn't say anything after that. I wanted to hear something to clear the fog. Another Wave? What was the Wave? Well, for all I knew, it was just an easy way of saying 'infection'. It was the thing that was spreading and turning people into something other than a human, right? Did Topher just say there was another Wave? What was 'another Wave'? How was there room for something like that? Maybe I was over-thinking it. There was Laza and that was it. What, though? What did he mean? Why wasn't he saying anything?

“It's got to do with Cruce. I'm not sure if Edge sees it.”

Cruce...

What's it got to do with him? He's asleep still. They wanted to wake him up to stop Laza. So, then, what?

“Cruce? Hm,” I pondered. Cruce was integral, wasn't he? Popular guy. Maybe I needed to pay him another visit. We had a new opportunity for some good headway. “Want me to go check on him? It's been long since the last time we did.”

“Are you sure? You don't mind?”

“Nah, 'course not. Don't go worrying about me either. I've got the know-how. I'll get the job done. Been needing some action, y'know? I can't sit around like this anymore.”

“Thank ya, Al, you's such a snookums.” he said, baby-voicing me. I didn't know how to feel about it. Uh, it was... flattering, I guess. He really didn't need to do it in public. I-I didn't play for the other team, really.

“Uh-huh, yeah, I... thanks,” I muttered, looking away. “I could come with you to your house, but it's quickest if I cut through the woods.”

“You're more than welcome to. I don't know how long we'll be.”

“I'll think about it. I want to get back to Metedia before night. I gotta know when we're going back to the Grove.”

“Yep, we'll let'cha know, okay?”

“Yeah,” I said, facing the little fellow, his tone supple once again. It made me grin. “You're sounding a lot better. You feel alright?”

“I do. I feel like Zatch and Cruce are going to be okay. When I see those boys again, I'm gonna smack them.”

“Tough love there!”

“I'm not all about hugs and cuddles~.”

“No, huh? Kinda thought the news about Katalyn would get you down again.”

“Mm-mm, no. Katalyn wouldn't do that sort of thing. She's hard and cold on the outside, but I've seen her fuzzy side. It's nice. Cruce likes it.” he recalled, speckling his words with giggles.

“Wow,” I smirked. “She's not my favorite person. Kicked my ass, remember?”

“You were both, like, crazy though.”

“Aw, I was just off my game. I need a rematch. I'll get her back. Wait and see.”

Topher sighed, but not without another giggle in tow. The guy was looking a lot better. I couldn't describe it enough—he was bright again. I didn't have a clue what brought him back to that. Times were the direst they'd ever been, and he was totally chill. My own head was fine, but even with all the nonsense that I hopped around, I wasn't without a little bit of trauma. Topher made me feel alright, but that in itself made me feel worried. He was too comfy. I disliked it for the same reason I liked it.

So. Cruce. I was going to see him again, this time alone. I never went to Ridge Hospital alone. It wasn't because of the authorities—well, not solely. They were a constant threat on the streets. But this was somethin' different. The hospital gave me a different kind of chill. It didn't give me the bad vibe Laza put down on the table for us. It was some other kind of frig'd up I couldn't understand. It made my skin crawl and burned my nose. Edge once told me that it might have been my sensitivity to Gamma. Other than that, he hadn't an idea. Maybe I knew more than him. Maybe it was just guilt. I messed up at the start of this whole shitstorm when I bit at the Circle and ran away. It didn't bother me anymore. I thought I'd made up for it. Maybe it had to do with Cruce. Too much room for questions.

I didn't go anywhere yet. My little talk with Topher found a spot to lay in my head, but I was more impressed with Dad's gall to show up in front of us. He didn't know anything about that attack on the woods. Dad wasn't a liar. Rodriguez—whatever that dude's name was—was tellin' us that the assault on the gym was a nonlethal effort, separate from the woodland one. So, if that was true, there were... other authorities. The ones who didn't turn into Pokémon. The ones who... made my skin crawl and my nose burn. The ones with Chevron.

Noted.







Edge


START THOUGHT!

Brother PROBLEM. I have found a CHAMPION has found ME.

I tried to empty my mind of shadows...

I held myself firm, staying in place, tail, ears, body frozen. My jaw was hanging open. I was stricken with denial, back against a wall which that Circle had once called a spot for merriment—a simple walk, food for thought, took me to a place I had no desire to be in. It led me astray and gave me tribulation which I could had never expected of Laza, devious as usual.

I swallowed spit, facing the field of Gamma's creation.

“Well, look who it is.” mocked the Champion of leaves, starry aura pulsing from his veins of Gamma, of blue vigor. He stepped closer. I lifted my head, chin high, a growl needing escape from me, a hiss starting, but never finishing. There was a floette by the Champion—I had forgotten her name, but she was a companion of his, now an enemy of mine, her flowery umbrella held tightly.

“How...? What do you want, Rinavay?!” I shouted, my urges of flight decreasing, fight increasing, outweighing my nerves, on behalf of my name.

“That's not my name. It's Nirva. Get it right,” he asserted, smug. “I could end all our worries right here. Laza wouldn't have to jump around you. The bell wouldn't be a problem.”

“No, Nirva,” said the floette, hovering by his cheek. “That's a bad call. We don't want to stir trouble.”

“Trouble? Laura, this thing standing in front of us is the biggest long-term problem this world has right now. Forget that meowstic lady. I'm taking him on.” the new Champion claimed—Nirva, for reasons unknown. He began to splay his legs apart, moving into a predatory stance.

“Fine! Arcane prowess taught you nothing. I will stand my ground!” I spurred, heart thumping, the spirit of my arcane capabilities becoming fluid within me, racing throughout my veins, arms and legs, top of the skull, tip of the tail.

“Let's go, Azabell. We're finishing this right here!” he roared.

I snarled, putting an arm forward, arcane hexes flashing in the flow of its motion, shining forth. A fight, then, with a long-expired foe. I had no time to question his motives. I had no desire to know his identity as being anyone other than the miscreant Rinavay, Champion of a ghost of a leader.

You were MINE, Rinavay! COME BACK TO ME.

Come back to the Bell.
|PREVIOUS|||NEXT'|


Characters in this arc so far: Edge, Drew, Bryan, Al,, Travis, Topher, Shadow Laza(?), Nirva, Laura

Character Web: Edge (Azabell) - What does this bell mean?
Drew (Azabell) - And why do I have to wear it?
Bryan (Buizel) - Travis, buddy, I'll never leave your side, no matter what happens. We're a team, you and I.
Al (Shinx) - Dad... You did some crappy things to your own kid, but man, I miss you so much... For now, I'm going to go look for Cruce. Keep this place safe, Topher.
Topher (Shaymin) - 'Course! Good luck, Al. Don't you dare go alone. Take a friend! I'll be cheering you on.
Travis (Marill) - Thank you Bryan... Y-you really wouldn't leave? Even if I told you that I was... ...Never mind... Let's get some sleep.
Nirva (Gamma Leafeon) - Hahahaha, check it out! Score! Now I get to wreck this pipsqueak and get all the hard stuff out of the way early! C'mon, eyes ahead, Azabell! Let's end this!
Laura (Floette) - Nirva! Behave yourself! This isn't how you're supposed to act in public! I didn't think you were this immature...
Shadow Laza (???) - Liiiiiar... 

DISCLAIMER! I don't own Pokémon! All characters belong to me and stuff, but any Pokémon involved are of their respective owners.
© 2015 - 2024 C-Mnesia
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teriax's avatar
Well I'm already depressed for the heartache that might soon follow. This chapter did good at setting the suspense up. As far as the characters are concerned I might have to do a psychiatric evaluation of a few of them by the end of this arc, Edge included, especially Edge (sinceheisseeingblackshadowespeonsthatmightbethepuppetmaster)^-^