*Risk's POV*
*Dreary Depths, B28F*
How... Much... Farther...? I can't keep going much longer!
My body ached, each step more painful than the last. My feet were already cut up from the jagged stones strewn around the interior of this place, and the rest of me wasn't faring much better.
Painstakingly, I lowered the Leafeon off of my back and collapsed, just enough strength to left to move my arm under my head before it hit the ground. I wanted to continue- to move on- but my body simply refused to cooperate.
Cedric, now slightly revitalized from the journey aboard my shoulders, nuzzled me slightly,
"Come on, Risk! We've got to keep pressing onwards!"
The Leafeon grabbed a small stick off the ground, and bit off the end to create a makeshift walking stick. He offered me his creation, concern in his eyes,
"Risk, use this! Together, we can make it!"
I wrapped my arm around Cedric's soft back, and we began to walk- the world's bloodiest three-legged race- for what seemed like a few hours, until a dark shadow began to creep along the wall in front of us.
Instinctively, I spread my arms between the shadow and Cedric- even in my greatly weakened state, I was not about to let the Leafeon bite the dust before I did.
Then, part of the shadow moved into view, and I saw a black horn stick out of the darkness. It was only enough to vaguely make it out, but simply the appearance of the object the made me wonder,
Haven't I seen that kind of horn before? No... It can't be!
Not sure whether to be overjoyed or befuddled, I told Cedric to follow the direction that the horn had taken. The Leafeon led me multiple small tunnels and turns, never letting the horn out of his sight. However, just when I thought our hobbling had caught up to the Pokemon it was attached to, the horn disappeared into the darkness again. Perplexed, we walked a little farther, and a little farther, and a little farther...
Slowly, but surely, the horn came back into view, but, this time, the entire Pokemon appeared, as well. I gasped,
It's an... An Absol!... Wait... I took a closer look at the scarf wrapped around the Pokemon's leg,
This can't be real... That's Blade's scarf! But... He died! How is he... Here?
"Blade?" I asked the figure, tentatively.
"This place..." the Pokemon cursed under its breath,
"It isn't here! Where is that little... Hmm?" the Pokemon looked up, upon hearing that name. The Absol blinked a few times, as if its eyes were playing tricks, then said, calmly,
"Risk, what are you doing here?! Why are you...' My face lit up, when the Absol addressed me by name,
"Blade, it really is you!" Abandoning my crutch, I ran to the Absol, hugging him tightly.
I don't want to believe this is a dream... But, at the same time, I need to know...
"How? I watched you die, Blade! How did you...?"
Blade's stone-cold gaze stopped me mid-sentence, his low tones evident in his speech.
Even death could not fix his voice, it seems,
"How did I survive?... I didn't," the Absol said.
"I won't try to hide that fact- I feel, dead, Risk. It doesn't feel like I belong here. Even down here, in this inhospitable area, I feel fine. Why would that be? It's because I'm dead. I shouldn't be here... Some force dragged me back into the world. Obviously, whoever did this needs something out of me, so I hid myself down here, secluded from everyone and everything else. That way, the perpetrator couldn't get what he wanted out of me, and those who know me as dead can keep it that way."
"Blade..." I tried to talk coherently, but I couldn't even manage a single sentence.
"It's OK. I'm sure that anyone who spoke to their dead comrade would have the same reaction. I understand... But, I must know, how was my team in my absence?"
"I... I don't know how to respond... Tania is dead, and the rest of us have been separated from each other..."
"Then let me help you," Blade said, dryly,
"I may be dead, but that won't diminish my duty to the Crusaders in the slightest! Here, I can lead us out of this maze- the dead seem to have an unnatural sense of direction..." he added, starting to walk away slowly. I picked up my crutch, and Cedric and I followed him to the stairs.
...
"Light- there is light at the end of the tunnel!" Cedric said, hopefully. I squinted, trying to see the other side, when a strong flash of light temporarily blinded me, and our pace quickened. However, when we reached the other side of the tunnel several minutes later, Blade turned around to us,
"What you're about to see is something that I wish no Pokemon had the misfortune of seeing. The room ahead is the laboratory of the Necromancer. If I am correct, I, too, am a product of his work. If you succeed in killing it here, I will fall with the Pokemon, as I am bound by its magic.
"No, Blade..." Tears welled up in my eyes, and I shifted my balance against my Leafeon "escort,"
"I've only seen you again for a few minutes. Please, don't leave me so soon!"
"Risk, you know perfectly well that there is no alternative to stopping him. Being technically dead has its advantages of knowledge and direction, but if I were to tell what would happen, should you fail to end the Necromancer's life, you would be killed by the pain of it, quite literally. Now, venture onwards, Crusader. Your destiny awaits!"
Nervously, Cedric and I glanced at one another before heading into the new room. Blade disappeared back into the darkness of the cave, but he had mentally prepared me for the task at hand. However, I was not ready for what I saw: dead bodies lined the walls of the massive room, and I soon realized where we actually were,
That room that Gengar and the Necromancer imprisoned Riku and I inside cages... This is that very same room! Then the two must be here somewhere!
However, we didn't get very far, because another bright flash of light overwhelmed me, and I was flung away from Cedric toward the wall. The only idea that I had was to use my wooden crutch as a buffer against smashing into bits.
My plan worked, albeit, only slightly- upon impact, the entire length of the object was shredded, but it at least cushioned my impact slightly. Thus, when my body hit the wall, I didn't quite pass out from trauma, but based on what happens next, I wonder if unconsciousness would have been better after all.
The Necromancer materialized out of the darkness, eerily greeting me,
"Well done, Risk! You actually made it here! But, at the same time, you should really thank me- you found me because I led you here! Isn't necromancy so fun,
- especially when you can bring literally anyone back from the dead to do whatever you need them to do for you!..." My gaze narrowed, and I tried to cup my hands together for an Aura Sphere, but my body wouldn't respond.
"Tsk... Tsk... Modern heroes- always so eager to throw their lives away... Well, could you at least wait until I finish talking to you... Oh, yes, that's right, you can't wait, can you..." Suddenly, a huge hole opened in the ground behind the Necromancer, and, immediately, I felt the static electricity in the air, and, through my fur standing on end, I could tell,
Photon is down that hole... However far down it goes, we need to descend and help him!
"You can't wait because you have a friend to rescue! Well, why don't I help you with that?!" the Necromancer mused, before a force began to push us closer and closer to the hole. I grabbed at the ground, trying to slow our journey to the massive chasm, but any attempts proved fruitless- we were definitely going to be pushed into that dark abyss.
The Necromancer laughed louder and louder the closer we drew to the hole, until it finished with a solemn,
"Nice knowing you two! Hope my spiders aren't too rough on you! And remember, die painfully!"
As we were shoved into the hole, I turned and grabbed the side, while Cedric barely held onto my leg. I knew that I probably would not have the strength to pull us up, but the slight feeling of security was comfort for now- that is, until the Necromancer walked straight up to me, the glare of its beady red eyes boring straight into me,
"Now we can't have you doing that, can we?" it said, producing a dagger out of thin air and jamming it into the palm of my left paw.
Augh!... Ngh...
Blood dripped from the wound and landed on my face, practically obscuring my vision. Nevertheless, I held on, knowing that my grip was the only thing keeping both me and Cedric from an untimely death.
"Oh, pff... You're not fun at all, are you? You want to be the hero, but you won't die like one! We can't have the best of both worlds, can we, Risk?" With those parting words, the Necromancer thrust the dagger through my other hand. Through sheer willpower, I managed to remain attached to the edge of the chasm for almost a minute, until one more dagger wound from the angry marionette forced the muscles in my paw to retract, and I lost my grip.
No! It can't end here! was my only thought, as the two of us tumbled down the pit.
It seemed like an eternity till we hit the ground, except we didn't actually "hit" the ground- we stuck to it, instead. My blood ran cold- this floor was not a floor at all- it was a spider web, and by the numbing effect the string had on the parts of my body that touched it, I could only assume this had been made by an Ariados.
"Risk? Is that you?" said a weak voice from behind me.
I turned around, as much as the sticky web would let me, to see Photon, sporting a few puncture wounds, but still slightly alive.
Guess the spider wasn't hungry for us- it already had its fill when Photon was dropped into here...
A shrill screech in the distance and the appearance of a massive spider body quickly silenced that thought.
Or I guess not...
"What do you suppose we do?" Cedric asked me, urgently,
"We have nothing left to..." He was cut off by Photon's excited cry,
"We do have a way out of this!" he said, pulling a small red sphere from his pack.
"Everyone hold onto me, tightly!" the Ampharos instructed us, finishing with,
"Hurry!" as the Ariados that inhabited this web drew nearer and nearer to us. A few more seconds, and we would definitely be dead.
"Ready?" Photon asked. We hastily nodded, and he threw the orb at the wall. The ball shattered and released a mysterious energy. I watched as the mist enveloped us, and I quickly lost consciousness among the chaos and strain already on my body.
...
When I came to, I heard the rest of the Crusaders talking amongst themselves, but I couldn't really see any of them.
Where am I? What happened? Why is it so... Tight in here?
Then, Beta began to talk to me,
"What happened? You, Photon, the rest of us, and that Leafeon all just reappeared at the entrance of the Guild. I was the first one awake, so I figured I'd give you and your new friend a warm welcome, quite literally. So, that's why you feel a bit constricted right now- I tried to fit you both in my horn-jaw. If you want me to let you guys out, I can..." she added, meekly.
"I think I'll be fine, but Cedric will probably flip out when he wakes up...
"Risk?"
The Leafeon had obviously awoken, but, luckily, had not overheard my conversation with Beta.
"Risk, where are we?" Cedric asked me,
"It's so hot and fleshy in here... Wait a minute..." He began hitting his head against the sides of Beta's maw,
"Let me out of here! I'm not your food!..." Cedric was obviously paranoid about being eaten and digested after our encounter with that three-headed dragon.
"Relax! I'm not going to hurt you..." Beta said from outside, and the Leafeon went quiet.
"Risk, is whoever just said that... Are they telling the truth?"
"Don't worry, Cedric, we'll be fine here. You just relax, like Beta said, and let her maw do the work," I tried to reassure him.
"Well... If you say so- I'll trust you!... Hmm?"
Her maw began to fill with liquid, inciting another wave of panic from Cedric,
"Risk...!"
"Cedric, please, just relax. You'll feel better when you do, and Beta will appreciate it, too..."
Finally, after about a minute of trying to calm down Cedric, he gave in and stopped moving. The fluid inside coated him thoroughly, and he purred as the liquid rejuvenated him. I could feel her maw's healing properties closing up my own wounds, but I was trying too hard to conceal laughter, listening to Cedric purr like that, to pay too much attention to myself.
About five minutes later, Beta spat us out, one at a time, on the floor of our team's quarters, and Cedric turned to her,
"How did you...?"
"I'll explain later," Beta replied, with a wink.
"For now, we have some other matters to discuss," she said, turning back to the discussion circle the team had formed in the room.
Alpha spoke up,
"So the exploration to the Lightning Field was a failure, Alakazam has disappeared, and we still don't know where Riku went... Any ideas? Oh, and one more thing, who is that Leafeon, and why is he here?"
Photon immediately went on the defensive,
"Cedric is another Pokemon of my Trainer's. He was my childhood friend, and we went through a lot together. To be frank, I don't know how I would have gotten over the grief of Sophia's death if it wasn't for him. So, please, at least for the time being, let him stay."
"I agree," I started, wiping the remaining saliva from my chest,
"He saved me from death in the stomach of a three-headed dragon..."
Photon gasped,
"You got swallowed by a Hydreigon? I wish I would have been there to help..."
"Anyway, Cedric has something that he believes could help us, concerning our pursuit of the Necromancer. Show them the note, Cedric- go on..." I told him, and he slowly pulled the piece of paper out of his pack before handing it to Alpha.
"Spectre..." he read.
"Spectre? How does that help us?!..."
"Did you say, 'Spectre'?" cackled an invisible voice to my right. I turned to the sound, Alpha ready to plunge his horn-jaw into the source of the sound.
"Wait," I silently mouthed to him,
"Let her finish what she came to say."
"I assume you don't know about Von Spectre, do you? Hehehe, I wouldn't expect it anyway," The Three ghastly Sisters, themselves, finally materialized in the middle of our circle. Misdreavus chimed in,
"Von Spectre is the author of the Dark Arts, the spellbook that Gengar tricked us into mastering. I must say that many of his spells do cause quite a commotion! One of my favorites is his spell for raising the dead. I didn't need it, myself, being a Ghost, but the pictures were fun to look at. Well, we have an outlaw to take down. Ciao!" The three Ghosts started to disappear.
"Wait!" I asked,
"An outlaw? You three are a rescue team, too?" My eyes grew wide in disbelief.
"Yes," Mismagius seemed to take offense to the question,
"We're Team Rascal, and we use our powers of ghostly trickery to haunt out targets until they're too tired to resist. Then, we capture them and take 'em to Officer Magnezone! Well, we best get going! A proper haunting waits for no Ghost!" she said, and the Three Sisters disappeared once again. Alpha sat up in disbelief,
"So those three are Team Rascal... I think I know what we need to do next..."