You will find the playlist for this chapter in the comments, I recommend reading this chapter while listening to it.
CH. 8 THE TITANIC STRUGGLE CH. 1
Saturday 12 September, Evening/ Cloudy
A Waltz of Feasting
You stood there, surprised and perplexed not knowing what to do.
"You... you just talked?" you asked the blue Shadow in front of you again, while holding against him your sword.
"Why yes! I did. Please don't hurt meeee! Poliwhirl!" the Shadow plead, with a scared expression.
"Wh-why did you attack us then?" you asked him, not understanding his sudden change of attitude.
"I- I was forced to! I swear! Poliwhirl!" he cried answering you.
"Forced? By whom exactly?" you get closer with your sword, as a warning to the Shadow, to not give you an unsatisfying answer.
"I-I don't know, I only remember a strange force extracting me from the Slumbering Weald..." upon saying that the fearful expression of the Shadow changed, it was has he just remembered something important.
Never the less you continued the interrogation,
"Slumbering Weald? What is that?" you asked the Shadow not getting any answer this time around.
The blue Shadow suddenly gets up, forcing you to retreat a bit,
Aion yells at you to attack him,
"What are you waiting for Victor! Finish him!"
"W-wait... something is not right...", you countered Aion,
"I feel no more hostility coming from him..." you thought as you watched the Shadow in front of you.
"I suddenly remember everything, Poliwhirl... I don't belong here... I come from the lakes of the Slumbering Weald, Poliwhirl." the Shadow said calmly.
"... You are a special one, aren't you? Poliwhirl." said the Shadow looking at you.
"Let me lend you my help, from now on I will help you in your fights, Poliwhirl.", the Shadow's body starts lighting up.
"W-what's going on?" Hop yelled alarmed.
"I- I have no idea..." Aion said with astonishment.
"I am Poliwhir! Hypnotizer of swimmers, nice to meet you! Poliwhirl" and after saying that he turned into an orb of light, and he went straight into your backpack disappearing.
"What the heck?", you exclaimed surprised.
"The hell is going on..."
Your friends got closer to you, as you laid your bag to check inside it.
"Victor, are you alright?" Gloria asked you, worried.
"I'm fine.", you answered, as you were rummaging through your backpack, you noticed something illuminating at the bottom of your bag. It was the spherical object that you obtained in the Velvet Room, you took it out.
"Dude..., the hell is going on." Hop babbled confusedly.
"So much has happened, in such a short amount of time." Aion said, turning back to his Stoic facial expression.
"His- his he inside this ball?", you thought as the sphere stopped illuminating.
"What was that all about..." you say out loud so that your companion could hear you,
"He said that he attacked us on behalf of someone else, and this someone was keeping him against his will in this prison...", you added.
"Who or what may have done this, could it have been Shadow Gloria?" you started brainstorming.
"Wha- what did I do?" the girl, asked you abruptly.
"Ha, sorry I wasn't referring to you..."
"Calm down, he is not talking about you..." Hop told the girl.
"By Shadow, we are of course referring to the strange entity that took your appearance before.", you explain to her.
"Oh, right... I'm sorry..." Gloria apologized immediately, she had an upset and embarrassed expression on her face, it was as she just remembered that occurrence.
"Anyway staying here and stressing ourselves, is useless if not dangerous," said Aion.
"I still believe the answers, to our questions lie deep in this cave, so let's waste no more time and head down there already." claimed Aion.
"You are right.", you checked the sphere one last time before putting it back in the rucksack, even after agreeing with Aion claims and you resumed your trip, you had doubts and questions in your head, you continued asking yourself what that Shadow "Poliwhirl" meant back then,
"Slumbering Weald... what is the Slumbering Weald..."
Once again as you continue your exploration, you were stopped by Aion,
"I'm sensing another Shadow... get ready..." he warns, everyone minus Gloria, got ready to fight, as you were about to summon Lucario you noticed something strange,
"Wh-what, is this feeling...", you checked the round fruit that normally appeared in your hand, and this time around it was... more oval-like and with a lighter blue color to it.
"What the heck?" you said surprise.
Prison Labor
At the same time the Shadow announced by Aion appeared, he seemed different from the Shadow you encountered previously, this one seemed like a fusion between a fossil and a mantis, it even appeared way more aggressive than those previous ones.
"Toxtricity, use Volt." upon appearing, Aion Pokesoul, strike the Shadow with his usual attack, but this time around it seemed to have little to no effect on them.
"What." Aion flinched in surprise, while the Shadow growled and attacked him.
"KABUTOPS!"
The boy failed to avoid the slash in time, thus being thrown toward the ground painfully.
"Argh"
"AION! WHY YOU!" Hop furious summons his Pokesoul, Sceptile already in the position of attack assaults the offending Shadow with Lufta, but that attack too proves to be ineffective against the Shadow.
"What the..." Hop says with a fearful expression as the Shadow stares at him intensely.
Intimidate by the Shadow glare, Hop started backing off, only to fall on his back, at that moment the Shadow launched his attacks on the helpless Hop,
"HOP!" Gloria shouted in despair, the boy instead closed his eyes fearing the worse.
"POKESOUL!", you jumped in the way between Hop and the Shadows, summoning your Pokesoul, that's when a strange thing occurred... to materialize it wasn't Lucario, but the previously Shadow that you fought, Poliwhirl.
"The hell?" you and your friend exclaimed, surprise and dumbfounded.
Although fearing the worse which Poliwhirl appearance, Poliwhirl seemed to have no ill intention toward you, rather it seemed ready to fight off the far more aggressive Shadows in front of you.
"That's-"
"KABUTOPS", your thought was interrupted by the slash attack of the ferocious Shadow, however, you withstand his vicious attack thanks to your sword and pushed him back with it.
During all that turmoil Poliwhirl seemed to be waiting for you to order him to attack,
"..., let's see then."
"Poliwhirl, charge him with your elemental attack."
Poliwhirl punched the brown mantis-like Shadow, with what seemed like an ice attack, and unlike the previous Volt and Lufta attacks, this one was effective in knocking the Shadow down.
Upon seeing the Shadow on his knee you took the opportunity to finish him with your sword.
"NOW!", you kill the Shadow with a series of slashes.
"KA-Kabu-tops..." the Shadow cried before vanishing, upon witnessing it defeat your breath a sigh of relief and you begin to help your companions.
A Waltz of Feasting
"Hey, are you alright?", you got on your knee to help Aion,
"Yeah, am alright..." the alien replied, which a heavy breath.
"What a relieve, and you Hop?", you turned to ask him, as he was being helped by Gloria.
"I'm fine, damn that was wild..." he replied.
"Yeah..."
"Back then you... that Shadow... how did you do that..." Aion asked you.
"I... have no idea.", you replied.
"I think Poliwhirl, the Shadow from before he... somehow he took the place of Lucario..."
"How is that even possible?" Hop asked, has he and Gloria got closer to join in the conversation.
"Aion as something like that ever happened before?" Gloria asked the silver-haired boy.
"Never, but do you guys remember what I told you?" Aion said after drinking an energy drink to recover from his injuries.
"Pokesouls represents our dreams, ambitions, and will, assuming that it may not be that surprising that certain people might have more than one dream and ambition...", Aion looked straight into your eyes.
"And Victor is probably one of these people, according to the sociology books that I read, it's commonsense if not necessary for a human to possess a dream and an ambition, in this case, Victor is just somebody that has multiple dreams and ambitions, allowing him thus to maneuver more than just one Pokesoul."
"Multiple dreams and ambitious...", you thought.
"That's freaking awesome dude!" Hop exclaimed enthusiastically.
"You never cease to amaze us, huh?!" Gloria gently punched your shoulder, as a form of a joke.
"Ouch, that hurt you know.", you jokingly teased the girl.
"Well regardless, that's an amazing ability that will certainly come in need later on.", Aion remarked with a little smile.
That was the first time you saw him smiling. Hop and Gloria didn't seem to notice, but you did, and that alone was enough to make you stutter in surprise.
"Uhm, it's anything wrong Victor?" Aion asked perplexed, after noticing your surprise.
"Eh- nothing!", you replied panicking.
"... Anyway, as I was saying this ability of yours, does lighten the weight of this exploration. I will be counting on you" Aion declared again with a smile.
"Sure and I will be counting on you too.", you say offering him your fist, too with Aion answers bumping his fist with yours.
"Hey don't leave me out of this.", Hop said with a smile joining in the
fist-bumping,
"M-me too." Gloria joined in turn.
"Alright then, let keep moving."
"Ay Ay Captain.", Hop yelled sarcastically, before you resumed your trip.
15 Minute Later
A while later after a long walk, your group reached the end of the path. You were now inside a crypt with no way out, the place was mostly empty, except for the lake which was in the center of the crypt, there was nothing.
Above the lake, there was a huge hole that let in the rain that was pouring outside, in the lake, the hole let a bit of external light inside too, illuminating the crypt a little.
"Hey look theirs no way out!" you let the other notice,
"What now, Aion?"
"That can't be..." Aion had a confused expression on his face,
"How are we supposed to get to the other side?", said Hop.
"Is there no other way to get out of here?" Gloria asked worriedly.
"... I don't know..." Aion replied cynically.
"The only exit is that massive hole up there, but is unthinkable for has to get there.", you thought, while you were analyzing the area around you, the others seemed to be doing the same.
Desire
"Oh that is inconvenient, isn't." said an uncanny woman voice, out of nowhere.
"Who- who is there?" Gloria yelled as you all watched startled a woman appearing out of nowhere from a purple mist in front of you.
The woman appeared to be something around her late thirties.
She had long brown hairs that were collected in a side braid tied by a green scarf, she wore glasses on her face, and she was wearing a white lab coat atop a gray summer dress. She had the same eyes as Shadow Leon's, black sclera with yellow nightmarish pupil, thus confirming her nature as a Shadow.
"Mum..." you heard Gloria saying with absolute horror in the tone of her voice.
"What?", you said with a shocked expression, while turning toward both Hop and Gloria.
Gloria was upset and probably confused, Hop was pallid in the face after recognizing the person in front of him.
"Mum, Mum." Gloria was about to rush toward the eerie figure, only to be stopped by both you and Hop.
"Calm down Gloria.", you told the girl while she was struggling to free herself from yours and Hop hold.
"LEAVE ME I HAVE TO GO I HAVE TO GO TO HER!" she cried as she kept struggling.
"Calm down and watch her carefully, she is not your mother! She is different, that's not Auntie Veronica." Hop yelled at the girl trying to make her reason.
"She-she really isn't mum?" the girl started calming down to judge with her own eyes.
"But-but then who or what is she?" Gloria asked upset.
"She is a Shadow... a Shadow that was which high probability generated by you." Aion told her straightforward.
"Me... I create... that... I- KYAAAH!" the girl suddenly collapses on her knee holding her head tie.
"Gloria!" you and Hop quickly assisted the girl,
"My... my head, it hurts..."
"Shit, just like me back then with that fake Leon."
"Are you sure about this? Are you sure that is alright that your parents aren't here?" the voice of a middle-aged woman was being heard.
"Huh, this voice, Ms. Girasole?" Hop said hesitantly.
"Isn't sad? You know like to have a birthday without your parents?", this time a younger voice was heard, it probably belonged to a teenage girl.
"I- I..." Gloria looked desperate and sad.
"Man I envy you, you are probably free to do whatever you want right? After all your parents are never around.", said a male voice.
"I- I can't..." Gloria's body started trembling.
"Does your family considers you a bother or something like that?" the cruel voices continued.
"Damn they seriously don't value you at all if they don't even come to your graduation."
"Gloria, don't listen do them!" Hop tried to help his friend in vain, the voice just got even louder.
"Gloria..." this time a man's voice was heard, a voice that made Gloria stop crying instantly,
"D-dad..." the girls murmured.
"Mom and dad work is a really important one, mom and dads job is a work that if completed it can bring happiness to everybody in the world.
This is why mom and dad are always away, you do understand that right?"
After the man finished, Gloria's tears restarted flowing from the girl's eyes, as she could barely contain herself anymore.
"Oh my, what's the matter dear is the truth too much for you pure maiden heart..."
"You knew that mine and your father's work was an important one, but even so you could not accept the fact of us being away for too long, throwing tantrums at home while lying to others saying that you understand."
"..." Gloria kept crying, unable to reply to the Shadow,
"Our job if it had been completed, it will have made countless people could have attained happiness, but your egoism made it hard for us, exasperating us, causing your father's death.", the expression of the Shadow changed from an amused one to a more aggressive one.
"Your dad died without bringing his work to the end and all because of your egoism your brat, you should never have been born, you are a cursed child."
"I'm-I'm sorry..." Gloria continued sobbing while apologizing.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Hop said with a furious tone.
"I don't want to her anymore slander toward Gloria, you are not even Auntie Veronica, how dare you say things that you don't have any idea of." Hop threatened Shadow Veronica.
"Hop, Aion, Victor..." Gloria still in tears called to you.
"Don't worry we are here with you.", you replied.
"Yes." Aion answered as well.
"Yeah, and we are gonna rescue you by kicking this Shadow's fake ass." Hop said as you and Aion got in front of Gloria to shield her from her "Mum" and get ready for the incumbent battle.
"Oh my, it seems that you want to get in my way! You boys are so naughty! Hahahahahahahahaha" Shadow Veronica started laughing.
"SINCE YOU ARE SO NAGGING, PREPARE TO SINK!" as she finishes talking, her body turns completely black except for her abnormal yellow eyes, her body starts deforming, and she starts getting bigger and threatening.
"Guys, hope you are ready... because there is no turning back.", said Aion,
"I'm dead ready" Hop answered.
In the middle of the lake, the figure of a giant sea monster emerged, most of her body was blue. It had four fins and a very long neck.
The thing that stood out the most, however, was the gray shell on its back, Its shell resembles a cruise ship or even an ocarina according to Hop (they even reminded you of the cave formation) with had a red cumulonimbus on its top.
As with Shadow Leon, the only thing that remained from the "fake body" was the head of Shadow Veronica, with had an expression of rage on her face, her eyes color changed from yellow and black to white, yellow, and azure.
BATTLE STARTS
Nothing Is Promised
Shadow Veronica, shrieked a loud cry similar to one of a whale or a cetacean.
"I AM A SHADOW, THE EGOIST SELF, I'M ABOUT CRUSH YOU WITH MY UNFORGIVING WAVES!"
"We have to take Gloria in a more secure spot.", you said worrying that she might get hit by the Shadows attack,
"Leave it to me, you guys can start without me right?" Hop asked you, before leaving.
"Yes, she has Hydros as her element, therefore our Volt attacks are way effective, so don't worry about us.", Aion assured.
"Fine, then I will try to hurry up" with that said Hop took the still trembling Gloria to bring her to a safer place to hide.
"Come, Gloria, let's get away from here."
"..." the girl didn't respond to her friend's words, has she kept crying.
"THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO AGAINST ME JUST PERISH ALREADY"
"TITANIC WAVE" after emitting her whale-like cry, the Shadow causes a gush of water with her flippers, the jets of water start falling from up like meteors of water, you and Aion manage to avoid most of them, and the ones that were about to hit you were blown away from Lucario and Toxtricity.
"Aion, I'm gonna attack it with a Volt attack, do the same to" you warned the alien,
"Let's do it."
"Lucario use Volt"
"Toxtricity, take her down"
The double volt attack, landed successfully on the target, causing Shadow Veronica to cry in pain.
"GROAAAAAAA, HOW- HOW DARE YOU."
"Let's keep on going, Victor.", Aion shouted
"Yes"
As you were getting ready to perform another attack, Shadow Veronica, again with the use of her flippers, tried to attack you using the gigantic spray of water.
"TITANIC WAVE"
This attack was faster and stronger than the previous one, you and Aion got hit by at least two of the jets of water, but thanks to your Pokesoul elemental advantage and resistance, you didn't sustain any massive damage.
"Damn it, seems that her attack got powerful " Aion exclaimed in frustration.
"Let's try the attack one more time."
As you started heading toward the Shadow to attack it, a mist suddenly started covering the entire area.
"TITANIC MIST" Shadow Veronica cried, as her mist made it impossible for you to spot her.
"Wha- the hell," you stop charging toward the Shadows as you couldn't see what was in front of you,
"VICTOR, where are you?" you heard the voice of Aion from a distance calling for you.
"AION?"
You turned around only to find out that Aion wasn't with you, and even worst you couldn't tell where his voice was coming from.
"Goddamn it, AION DO YOU HEAR ME?" you kept shouting hoping to localize him, or him to localize you.
"Victor, I CAN'T SEE WHERE YOU ARE."
You and Aion kept shouting to each other, while you were trying to think of a way to get out of that situation, that's when the mist started dissipating allowing you to see again the environment around you,
You even see Aion again, but as everything returned to normal, you notice to be in an entirely different position from the before, as matter of fact both you and Aion somehow reached the opposite shore without even noticing it.
"Wait is this perhaps that Shadows doing..." you said.
"Wait... the Shadows!" as you and Aion's attention refocused on Shadow Veronica it was already too late,
"TITANIC SHIPWRECK" Shadow Veronica, planning already her attack as the mist disappeared, took you by surprise as after emitting her signature cry and widening her mouth, she spits a giant stream of high-pressure water toward you, both you and Aion were completely blown away from the attack, not even your Pokesouls could have diverted or even stopped the attack.
After the waters have subsided, the environment has drastically changed after Shadow Veronica's attack, the water level inside the cave has risen so much that now both your bodies are floating on top of the water.
"*Cough* *Cough*" after barely surviving the flood and drowning, you can hardly get up.
"That- that was horrifying..."
"And damn clever, *cough* *cough*" murmured Aion as he was struggling to get up,
"Hiding behind a fog curtain, and preparing a powerful blast while the disorientated victim tries to get away from the mist, very clever indeed."
"Victor..." in the meanwhile Aion has gotten back on his feet too.
"That was one devastating attack, Victor, we can't afford to take such an attack anymore..." Aion warned.
"I agree...", you replied, understanding his concern.
"We have to find a way to take her down quickly.", you had.
"Then let's not waste another second, come", both you and Aion start rushing toward the Shadow.
"COME LET'S FINISH THIS, LET'S FINISH THIS BEFORE SHE SUMMONS THAT MIST AGAIN."
"Toxtricity"
"Lucario" you both summoned your Pokesouls ready to attack.
"IT'S USELESS, I'M GONNA SINK YOU. SINK YOU WITH EVERY GRAIN OF HOPE THAT YOU STILL HAVE.", after saying that Shadow Veronica emits her cry,
"TITANIC MIST"
"DAMN IT NOT AGAIN, LUCARIO USE VOLT" but before your attack could reach the Shadow, the mist once again covered the entire place making it impossible to see, with that your attack is lost in thin air.
"Shit, HEY AION where are you?"
"VICTOR? VICTOR?" you heard the voice of Aion in the distance but again it is hard for you to localize him, and once more Shadow Veronica, was nowhere to be seen.
"What now, if that Shadow manages to hit us again with her attack-",
As you were trying to think of a plan to get out of that desperate situation you heard somebody screaming in the distance and you recognized the voice.
"SCEPTILE, USE LUFTA TO DEFOG THE AREA.", you felt a gale of wind chasing the mist in the area away, and of course as you expected it was Hop and Sceptile doing.
Now that the vision was again clear you could see both Aion and Shadow Veronica, your location was changed again, now you were on the right side of the lake,
"Hop, using your Sceptile wind attack to drive away the mist was a 1000 IQ move good job.", you complimented him.
"A little bit too early to celebrate, look that monster seems to be preparing something big!" Hop pointed out, Shadow Veronica preparing her second attack.
"Yeah, we now but thanks to you this time she ain't gonna make it.", Aion said.
"Victor!"
"Yes!" already understanding Aion's intention, you both summon your Pokesoul to strike Shadow Veronica.
"WHA-" Shadow Veronica finally notices you getting closer to her.
"VOLT!" both you and Aion shout striking the Shadow with a high voltage attack.
"GRAWHHHHH" Shadow Veronica cried in pain as she was about to collapse, stopping her blast of water.
"Ok, we almost defeated her guys, let's give her the final blow, Hop join us too which you Jungle Drive." Aion order.
"Yes now let's conclude by giving it everything we have, PUNK BANE"
"AURA BARRAGE!"
"JUNGLE DRIVE"
"YOU MISERABLES... TITANIC ICEBERG.", although the situation looked dire to her, Shadow Veronica recovered and emits another cry, but nothing seems to happen, until the three attacks that you and your mates have directed to her, were suddenly nullified.
"What?" Hop exclaimed in surprise.
"What happened to our attacks?" Aion asked incredulously.
"... they hit a barrier?" you say with a bit of doubt in your voice.
"Say what?" Hop asked.
"I only see it for a brief moment but... our attacks didn't just disappear, the way they went out, it was similar to the way thrown eggs splashes on the walls of a house they were thrown to...", you tried to explain.
"Our attack didn't vanish they were just stopped.", you concluded.
As you finish speaking you started to notice something around Shadow Veronica, a light blue ring of fine thin lines were moving around Shadow Veronica. You heard a strange sound around the ring.
"What the hell is that...", you asked yourself.
"Guys look!" Hop shouted pointing at the ring of Shadow Veronica, around the ring where the bizarre sound was coming from, you notice ice shard forming around Shadow Veronica,
"... I see, that explains it all." Aion pointed out.
"She stopped our attacks by using those chunks of ice!" added Hop.
"TITANIC ICEBERG, WITH THIS YOUR PESTY RATS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO TOUCH ME ANYMORE.", with that said, the chunks of ice around her, start getting larger.
"That's bad if they get any bigger than that..." said Aion.
"We will not be able to take her down anymore...", you concluded before rushing toward Shadow Veronica, with the others.
"Then let's end this!"
"YEAH!"
"Lucario use Volt"
"Sceptile use Lufta"
"Toxtricity use Volt"
The combined attack of your Pokesouls merge together toward Shadow Veronica, but nothing, your attacks were nullified once again by those large pieces of floating ice, that now seemed big as icebergs.
"This- this can't be-" Hop murmured as he was running out of stamina.
"Don't *pant* give up *pant* hope, let attack it once more..." said Aion mostly out of breath, nodding at Aion's word you summon you Pokesoul again.
"One-one more time, Lucario, Aura Barrage"
"Eugh, Punk Bane"
"Jungle Drive"
Your Pokesouls attacks were once again nullified, by the barrier.
Exhausted and demoralized by the continued negation of your attacks, you fell on your knees.
"That's... bullshit...", you said as you were struggling to stay on your feet.
"This can't end like this..." murmured Hop
"... eugh." lets out a tired Aion.
"THAT'S RIGHT SINK, SINK WITH WHATEVER HOPE REMAINED IN YOU!"
"NOW TO END, OUR LITTLE SQUABBLE LET ME SEND YOU OFF WITH A LITTLE PARTING GIFT OF MINE."
Shadow Veronica raised her frontal flippers, and she hit with them the water causing the sea level of the waters surrounding her to rise,
"TITANIC WAVE"
The first thing to hit you was the wave caused by Shadow Veronica, then come the giant drops of water accompanied by fragments of ice, the attack was devastating.
As your body was floating a single thought has gone through your mind.
"It- its this our end?"
In the meanwhile from a safe distant Gloria was watching in dismay as you were crashed by Shadow Veronica's powerful jets of water.
GLORIA POV
"No... no this- this can't be." the girl said with an upset voice as she was still in tears.
"GUYS, GUYS!" Gloria kept calling to her friends in vain,
"What should I do, how should I act... I-i have to save them but how?"
"YOU ARE SUCH A CRYBABY YOU KNOW!"
"ARE SURE THIS SITUATION DOESN'T BOTHER YOU"
"MUST BE SAD EH?"
"MUST BE NICE NOT HAVING PARENTS TO NAG YOU ALL DAY LONG!"
"STOP THROWING TANTRUMS YOUNG LADY, DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR JOB?"
"Ughh, these voices... again.."
"Aren't you tired of crying?" asked a mysterious voice, from behind the girl.
Gloria turned around to see who was speaking to her, to her surprise the person calling for her was her Shadow version that she met before,
"Yo- you again?"
"It seems that you like crying a lot no matter what... when your parents aren't there you cry, when your friends aren't there you cry and when you are all alone the only thing you do is crying, aren't you tired of crying?"
"...I'm tired, I am tired of crying, but what else can I do? I'm so pathetic I know it already *sob* I'm useless" Gloria told herself while sobbing.
"..." Shadow Gloria watched her other self apathetically.
"Wh-what should I do ple-please tell me, what should I do."
Gloria asked her doppelganger.
"You are really hopeless after all... here, listen.", after sighing Shadow Gloria invites her other self to listen to some other voices.
" Gloria you are not alone, we will always be best friends .", said the voice of a boy.
"That voice... Hop,"
"I know that it may not seem like it but your parents love you, they absolutely do.", said a voice elderly voice.
"... grandpa"
"I'm so proud of you Gloria, I know that we pass too much time away from you, but there isn't a single moment in which we don't think about you, and there isn't a single moment with you with we don't cherish.", said the voice of a man.
"..."
"Hahaha, that's wonderful Gloria, of course, dad and mum will love to work with you when you grow up, I'm so proud of our daughter honey, did you what she said? She wants to become a pharmacologist just like her dad and mum, is that wonderful?", laughed the man before adding those words.
"Dad..."
"It doesn't matter how far we will be from each other Gloria because I and your father will always cherish you.", concludes Gloria's mum.
"..." at that point, Gloria stopped crying and sobbing, she just stood there in silence to contemplate.
"So what now? Are you gonna still act like a damsel in distress waiting for her charming prince in her tow- ...no more like... are you gonna still act like a crying maiden waiting for her king to save her from the sinking cruise ship? Or..." Shadow Gloria took a moment before continuing her phrase.
"Or are you gonna catch the ball in time and finally lights that flame of yours to burn..."
"... the latter.", replied Gloria,
I'll Face Myself
"You are right, I can't wait anymore for people to hand me their help and pity... I'm gonna stand on both my feet and do my part this time around."
"THAT THIGH IS NOT MY MOTHER, AND SINCE I'M THE ONE THAT CREATED IT I'M GONNA BE THE ONE TO DESTROY IT." Gloria declared.
"Finally... do you know how much I have been waiting for you to grow a bit courageous?" sighed Shadow Gloria.
"I'm sorry, but you don't have to wait anymore now... I'm ready to stand and fight for myself."
"Then let's seal our agreement immediately..."
"This..." Gloria had in her hand a red-orange fruit,
"Bite it and you can attain my... our power..." Shadow Gloria commanded.
"I'm thou, thou art I, the passion blazing inside you should now become your weapon, it shall now become your fireball.", as she bites the fruit, Shadow Gloria disappeared, leaving behind her a blast of fire, that envelope Gloria, after which a white humanoid rabbit appeared behind her to disperse the flames around her.
"I heard you alright Cinderace, lets us blast away every obstacle in our way."
End of Chapter 8
Author's Note
Hola tios, coming back, I hope you had a nice time reading this chapter.
Like always, I invite you to leave your opinion or critic in the comment, you can find the Deviantart account and the playlist for this chapter in the comment section.
And with that said stay I'm gonna run off once again, stay safe, and until next time, farewell.