Jay Wolfe
My skull was hammering in my head as I leaned against Soren, though I could barely even register he was there. Everything was in a fog as I tried to clear my head and stay awake... why was there so much anger racing through me? Why did it feel like there was wind whipping past me, chilling me to the bone, at high speed? I shuddered and pressed closer to Soren in an attempt to steal his body heat. I faintly hoped he wouldn't wake up and see me like this, weak, pained, in his bed!
Finally the pressure started to fade and I could feel myself managing to drift off again... until Soren decided to try crushing me. I yelped in surprise, jolting fully awake, and pushed him back onto his side. He blinked into consciousness as well, staring at the ceiling in confusion at being woken up, before turning and see me. His eyes immediately widened as I sat up, still getting over the awkward situation.
"Uh... d-did we? Um..." He trailed off as I glared at him.
"No." I growled, trying to hide my embarrassment.
Soren nodded before moving closer, concern and guilt taking over his expression. "Jay, did I hurt you? Your nose is bleeding."
I got up and checked to see what he meant, revealing blood running down my nose, though it was drying. "I don't think so. You weren't moving much in your sleep and I was awake enough to hurt you back if you did anything."
"I see." He walked over to me. "So you were watching me sleep?"
"No, I-I just thought you looked cold so I was trying to warm you up." I grabbed a tissue from the bedside table. "Worst lie ever."
"You don't say... I could do much better. But that isn't the point. Come outside now!"
I jumped and looked back at Soren. "What?"
He frowned. "I didn't say anything."
It hadn't sounded like him, or a verbal sound but... what else could it have been. I scowled. "You said something."
"No I didn't."
"Yeah, you did."
"Jay..." He slowly walked closer, worry and fear crossing his face, until he had his arms on my shoulders. "Are you okay?"
I pulled out of his reach. "I'm fine!"
Pain flared in my head again. "Come outside before I tear this place down you stupid human!"
He gave me a hurt look before turning towards the door. "I'm getting the nurse, you aren't okay."
I staggered behind him an in attempt to prevent him from leaving, which partially worked if I counted making him catch me so I didn't face plant a success. I hated the fact I was just getting more and more embarrassed, though didn't protest this time as he made me lay down. My head felt weird, my skull clouded and like there was something inside I couldn't get out... Was I going crazy? I had heard a voice in there. I didn't think insanity happened so quickly though.
"Babe, your eyes..." Soren tilted my head so he could look me eye to eye. "T-they're red again."
Great... so this was Valhalla's fault. Should've known. I started to complain but was cut off by a rush of wind that shattered the room's windows before a sound could even come out. Soren moved protectively in front of me and we watched as the wall was slammed into by an invisible force while the sky outside darkens as a shadow passed overhead. We both reached for our pokéballs, my hand shaking as I grabbed Curse's, but neither of us threw called anyone out as a white and blue pokémon materialized in front of us-its eyes a glowing red as it watched us.
"Latios..." Soren looked at it in amazement as it moved closer.
"Ios!" Its cry was frustrated and it shoved by him to stare down at me. "I warned you!"
I gave a shout of pain as the legendary nudged me, not because the nudge hurt but because the pain in my skull flared up until I was sure it was going to tear itself apart. I could faintly make out Soren yelling something followed by a crashing noise before falling unconscious and losing any sense of what was happening.
I woke up feeling cold and my clothes felt slightly damp, though there was something warm wrapped around me. I finally forced my eyes open and took a moment to focus on the new situation to see damp dark grey rock beneath me while the sound of waves behind me along with the slight tang of salt in the air told me I was near the ocean. There was movement to my side and Soren moved into my field of vision as he fixed his blue jacket that he'd put over me, pulling me against him to sit up slightly as he saw I was waking up.
"J-Jay..." I felt his grip around me tighten. "I was so worried about you. A-are you feeling better?"
I didn't respond, taking my time to get my bearings as I looked around at the apparent island we were located on... my gaze finally landing on the tall menacing building where the Elite Four resided. "How did we get here?"
My voice sounded shaky in my ears and I hoped he hadn't been able to detect it, though judging by the spite in his voice he was focusing more on the answer. "That stupid latios broke in, you remember that right? After threw me across the room with psychic I saw... Well it didn't look normal. After coming into contact with you it evolved."
"Mega evolution?" I asked, wondering if he had been injured hard enough to forget what that was.
"No. Like... it's eyes glowed red like yours and it became more dangerous looking... He's still around, unfortunately, you'll see it." He glared in the direction of the building. "His wings look like they could cut something in half if he didn't shred you with his claws."
"Wh-y did it bring us here? H-have you seen Valhalla?" I tripped over my words as I started to stand up, using Soren to help me.
"Dark Messiah, the uh, the yveltal from when we were experimented on, flew me around. He grabbed me after Latios flew off with you but... as far as I can tell they aren't helping Valhalla. I think they're using us to help stop them, from what I saw there are Valhalla grunts roaming around this place."
"What about the other three... um, the ones who were also in charge..." Their names were escaping me at the moment before I remember that Arceus forsaken man who killed my pokémon. "Hero and the other two, are they here?"
"Not that I saw."
I stayed silent as he got up to stand beside me, staring at the building as I processed what he said. If those three weren't here- they were probably keeping the Elite Four busy at Tarot's request- then we wouldn't have too much of a problem at reaching Tarot. While our pokémon weren't strong enough to face him just yet I was sure with the two legendaries that had brought us here- even if it was painfully and against our will- we could beat him.
"Come on, let's go then before they show up!" I started walking, stumbling a few paces before my head finished clearing up enough for me to move faster.
"Jay, no, wait!" He pulled me back quickly, slowing my progress as I half dragged him behind me. "Stop, we can't fight him yet. He's the champion... For Arceus' sake, he'd kill us!"
I turned to look at him. "He'll kill us anyway once he's in charge. We know what he did, he'll manipulate the people in Drucan we were behind Valhalla or something and hunt us down like common criminals. At least this way we have a chance, it isn't like we can just leave now, not without a pokémon to fly us off."
"I am not going to let you die, Jay!" He glared down at me in frustration, not letting go of my arm.
Well, I wasn't going to win a stubbornness contest with him, maybe I could win another way... I turned to face him, twisting the arm he held around his waist while wrapping the other one around his shoulders, tightly holding us together. "Alright... I get it. But like I said, how are we going to leave? Siren and Finn can't swim us all the way to Zery, and that's the easy path. They would never make it through Narrow Sea Passage to get to Razor Rock."
Soren was still tense but he had released my arm to embrace me, which wasn't the best for making a run towards the building but I was planning as I went... I could think of something. "We could wait until Dark Messiah and Aether are done destroying Tarot. We could wait here, I doubt anyone would find us. Besides, if they did I would defeat them easily."
"If you say so..." I moved back slightly and sat back down on the rocks while pulling him down beside me, leaning closer to his face with a mischievous smirk. "Well, if we're waiting here... what should we do?"
His breathing seemed to stutter for a moment and he pulled me in for a kiss. I couldn't tell if I was happy if it was working or if I was feeling guilty for merely tricking him. Still, I didn't stop until I felt his hands go to my waist, which made me pull away as the final piece of the plan fell into place.
"Close your eyes." I told him, staring down at him as he laid on the rocks beneath me. "Just for a few seconds okay? I'll give you a surprise..."
"Oh really?" He started to sit up but I pushed back down on his shoulders. "Care to give me a hint?"
I shook my head, still smirking. "You have to close your eyes, otherwise you won't get anything... I won't even play with your hair."
"...I see." His expression became hesitant and I wondered if he was doubting what I was going to do... well I could always slow him down with a swift kick to the balls, which he would probably never forgive me for. I gave him a kiss on the throat along with a pleading look. "A-alright... can I at least keep holding you like this?"
"Of course." I responded, getting nervous as I got closer to reaching the goal... his hands were loose enough to slip out of, all I had to do was run faster. "Just don't panic if I have to stand up for a moment okay?"
"Interesting." Soren stared at me a moment longer before sighing and closing his eyes. "Okay."
I shifted slightly to the side in a test to make sure I could really run before removing his hands from my side, though I held onto one to make sure he didn't notice I was getting ready to leave. After I was sure I wouldn't be caught right when I released him I moved off of him and let go of his hand before running towards the building, knowing he probably already knew what I had done from the sound of loose rocks being kicked as I had gotten up. A glance behind me let me know I had been right, though he hadn't caught up just yet... he was still gaining faster than I would've preferred.
"Jay, get back here! What the Hell?" He called out in frustration and probably betrayal considering how I manipulated him.
I almost wanted to listen. I didn't want to lose his trust, I loved him after all! But we needed to help the legendaries, it was why we were brought here, and I doubted we would make it off alive no matter what we tried... At least we would die together though. I reached the door and released Curse from her ball before going inside to face our enemies and from the noise behind me before the door shut; Soren was preparing for a pokémon battle as well.
Not that there was one to fight at the moment. Looking around, all I saw in the room was the spiral case leading to the floors above where the Elite Four would normally be awaiting challengers. I didn't doubt that most of the Valhalla grunts were on the upper levels to fight in larger groups rather than smaller spread out bands. It wouldn't matter... we could beat them. We had to beat them.
"Seriously! What the Hell, Jay?" I flinched slightly at Soren's outburst as he entered as well, his decidueye, Hoodini, standing at his side as Soren slowed to a stop. "What if this was a trap? You could've been dead the instant you came in here!"
"They're on the higher floors, come on, we can take them." I ignored his comments and started for the stairs. "It's Tarot we have to be careful with."
I didn't look back to check if he was following me; I knew he would be. Soren might not like what I did but he wouldn't leave me to fight alone. The first room we entered was pretty plain with only a few punching bags but at least it was well lit to expose anyone who could be trying to hide. I slowed down as two people in white cloaks stepped out onto the battlefield from where they had been waiting near the next flight of stairs. They didn't look as bored or disinterested as some of the other grunts we had seen... they looked ready to kill Orida when she returned to this room or anyone else who got in the way.
"Pyroar, fire fang!" The closest one threw out her pokémon, which hurled itself right towards Hoodini.
"Curse, block its path and use confuse ray!" I ordered forgetting about the second woman until I saw Hoodini glide past and shoot off a razor leaf at the alolan raticate.
Soren gave me a look as he walked to my side before pulling out another pokéball. "Good work Hoodini, Foxy, finish them off with aura sphere!"
His lucario moved quickly to follow Soren's orders and the obese raticate slammed into its trainer. I looked back at the pyroar and her trainer to see it the woman on the ground with burn marks on her skull and throat while the pyroar stumbled around lashing out at itself in its confusion. I turned away, I hadn't intended on killing anyone here even if they planned to kill us... it wasn't my fault though. The trainer obviously didn't have the skills to deal with a confused pokémon. I picked up Curse, though she was perfectly capable to keep running herself, and went up the stairs with Soren to the next room.
The rooms were all themed after whatever member of the Elite Four used in battle and as much as Orida's room had helped us... the other three were more challenging to find enemies hiding in them. Nomena's room had floating blocks, which wasn't too bad other than how dark it was, and Louise's room was like a meadow with trees and sunlight from large windows. It would've looked nice if we weren't being attacked by increasing numbers of grunts and if we couldn't see Dark Messiah and my latios, Aether, flying by outside locked in a battle with Tarot's rayquaza, the building's walls were starting to shake occasionally as they got too close though their fighting was pretty muted considering how heavily fortified this place was against pokémon attacks hitting anything other than the target pokémon.
Morose's room was the hardest to see in though and I made sure to stick by Soren's side so we wouldn't lose each other in the darkness with the trees covering the rim of the room. Our only light source was Curse's blue glowing rings and the black lights above. I didn't even hear anything other than our own footsteps and breathing, which made me faintly hope Tarot was the only one left to fight... That was, until several watchog and pyroar jumped out in front of us while a mix of furret and mightyena flanked us from behind.
"Don't leave my side." Soren immediately said as he pressed his back against me to face the pokémon behind us. "Foxy, aura sphere, Hoodini, razor leaf, Drago, dragon rage!"
"Curse, feint attack, Hati team up with Sköll and use rock tomb." I pulled out Scourge's ball. "Scourge, let's finish this up quickly okay?"
"Doom!" He snarled and crouched in front of me as he mega evolved before giving a louder growl as he lunged forward into the fighting.
"Smog!" I commanded before dodging to the side as some of the enemy pokémon got past mine.
The battle wasn't near finished despite Foxy's super effective attacks and our more diverse teams but Scourge had managed to start clearing a path to the final spiral staircase. I could feel Aether's rage and pain surge through me, making me stagger to my knees for a moment before dizzily rising again, and finish walking up the stairs. My pokémon joined me momentarily as they fought their way out of the brawl below and I waited for them to catch up- and because between Aether's active presence in my mind and the fighting I was exhausted- before moving towards the doorway a few feet in front of me. I wasn't sure what to do. We would die in a battle against Tarot but... killing him would make us equally bad.
"Do it. He deserves it." Aether practically roared, my head echoing with his demand. "You still have the knife... End it now! Free Rayquaza from this man! You'll save lives and my time!"
I had almost forgotten about the knife. I slide it out from where had been stored in my bag; it was just like it had been when we had started, clean, the feather designed metal glinting in the artificial lighting... To think. This had been from when this mess had all started. Our journey would've been so much different if we hadn't gone into that gym that day... my family and my pokémon would still be alive and we probably still would be traveling with Ivan, possibly Zekiel, to finish getting our last badge and maybe leaving to see other regions. Of course at some point we still would have run into this situation but if we hadn't been captured by Valhalla earlier in our journey we would've beaten the dragon type trio and probably left with Ivan and Zekiel to another region... or gone home. We wouldn't have known Tarot was behind all of this.
"Tarot is the reason everything I've cared for is being killed." I rose to my feet with the knife in my hand and walked to the doorway, peeking around the corner to check on Tarot's location.
He wasn't hard to miss in the empty room with a white cloak patterned with symbols off a deck of cards, he probably didn't expect anyone to show up here. I moved forward, silently commanding my pokémon to stay back as I snuck up on him. If I could kill him before a battle started this could all be over. Despite checking around the room for anyone to call me out as I moved in for the attack- my rage and Aether's blocking out my better moral judgement- I forgot to check for anything that could give me away, namely the screen used to display the challenger's and champion's along the far wall he was staring at.
I jabbed the knife forward, intending the strike him in the diaphragm below the ribs but instead lost my grip on the knife as Tarot spun around and slappy my arm away, almost casually sliding a knife out from within his cloak and slashing it at my head before kicking me to the ground. At first I thought he'd cut my eye and blinded me but after regaining some of my composure I shakily wiped the blood away, getting it out of my eye to see once more... Not that what I saw was any good. Tarot's normally cheerful and heroic look was warped with impatience and distaste as he stalked forward once again with the knife.
"You should've stayed out of this." Tarot hissed.
"Houn!" Scourge jumped over me in an attempt to defend me from any further harm but Tarot didn't even seem fazed by the furious houndoom.
"This will be a waste." He sighed as if filled with pity before taking out a gun and firing as Scourge rushed at him.
"No!" I shouted, pain and rage flooding through me as I watched Scourge yelp and collapse on the floor. I got up and despite reasonable logic of what would happen, tried to unbalance Tarot and take his spade shaped knife to stab him.
I had been reasonable enough to keep his gun from pointing at me at least but I hadn't thought through the fact Tarot was not only taller than me, but also stronger. My grip weakened on the knife as the pain and blood started distracting me... I couldn't even comprehend the moment the knife went into my chest. All I could process was the warmth spreading through my shirt and the darkening ceiling above.