Twisted Paths, Forgotten Pasts
Chapter 24
As the sun rose, the Firsts broke out of their transforming trance. The mists that had surrounded them faded and withdrew back into their stones that had changed shapes. With an eerie slowness, they opened their eyes and lifted their heads to look around, taking a little time for their surroundings to register.
Their Guides rounded them up, led them out of the hotels that had accommodated them last night, and then out of the of the town and to the cave. No fighting was allowed until they reached the inside of the cave, yet to be safe, the legendary birds made sure that their respective groups stayed far away from each other.
From within their rooms, humans and pokemon watched, awed, as the procession of Firsts marched and flew through the town. The dragons definitely drew the most gasps out of anyone, with their thick, whip like tails, and massive jaws that could snap through a tree in the blink of an eye. The dragons walked at the front of their groups, their leathery wings folded against their bodies, and their long necks held high while they regarded the world with a complete aura of royalty.
Joy's group reached the end of the underground tunnel first, and they filed in, restless and ready to fight. Their thoughts did not completely belong to only them anymore, for in their normal states of consciousness, they would be reluctant to go through with this again.
Sorrows group followed in next, regarding Joy's group with un-hidden animosity. The Peace and Patience Group came last, the only group that showed no battle spirit, but rather crowded together around their Guides, whom they felt were the weakest of their group.
The legendaries had waited at the mouth of the tunnel until the sun was fully up, and as soon as they could see it high in the sky, they flew off, no longer the ones keeping the world in balance. The fate of the world now depended on what went on inside the cave.
The underground room had been designed purposely for fighting. At a hundred and fifty feet wide, and a hundred feet tall, there was plenty of space for a full scale battle. They had never taken the time to decorate it, so the walls were of rough stone, and the floor of unevenly smoothed down dirt. Balls of energy light sat on random places of the wall and ceiling, so the room was filled with bright lights, and being a sort of dome, the room held no corners to hide in.
Sorrow, Joy, and Josh appeared into the battle-room at the same time, their three auras of various blues signaling their entrance. Floating above their groups, they spoke the words that would release their children from the trances they were under.
As if the on button for their battle-modes had been switched on, the Firsts suddenly burst with energy, and the first move was made by Akira and Calisin, who flew into the air and rammed shoulder to shoulder, then tried to snap at the soft parts of each others' necks. Following the two that had been their sort of pseudo leaders in the past, the others started to search for someone to attack, and then attacked.
Cries of pain echoed through the huge room along with whispers of spells. Although the occasional roar from an attack could be heard from the dragons, it meant nothing, for the attacks merely stunned them. It would be nearly a while before anyone actually got hurt, for right now they simply tested each other, trying to find weakness and strengths.
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Michi looked out of her window, noting the position of the sun. By now the battle had surely started, and it was time for her and Takith to separate.
Her partner walked up to her. Defeat shone through his ebony eyes as he kneeled before her and stared straight into her strange purple eyes. He wanted her to know how he felt, he wanted to show her that he did not want to do this, yet that his will to fight had been broken, and he could no longer struggle against the unseen hand pushing him to walk down this path. Lowering his head, he put his life, and his destiny in her hands.
Michi reached out and stroked his black, silky hair with one hand. Such a beautiful soul, wasted on teaching her how to deal with her true role. She bit her lip, trying to bite back the tears. Takith did not deserve to die, as his aura said he would. Two tears escaped from her eyes and ran down her cheeks.
"Do not cry for me." Takith said, even though he could not see that she was crying. "I was given a life only because of you. Maybe it has been a short life, but it has been a life. I enjoyed being your other half."
Michi nodded, then placed her hand on his head, whispering the words that she knew would break their bond. A part of them would die from this, but it had to happen. Takith gasped in pain as the bond shattered, and he clenched his jaw together, his eyes shut tightly. Michi could not help herself, and she hugged him one last time. "It is time for you to go."
He nodded, that same look of defeat still in his eyes. A sword appeared before him, floating in the air and waiting for him to take it. He eyed to curiously, noting the designs on the hilt. The symbols of love, and of sacrifice. He snorted softly, noting the irony of giving him a sword with those markings on it for him to fight to his death with.
Without saying goodbye to anyone, he ran out of the house, then flew into the air, his white wings bouncing rays of sunlight off of them.
Mewtwo watched him go, then looked at Michi. /He's going to die, isn't he...?/
Michi did not respond, only lowered her eyes to the ground.
Mewtwo seemed to frown a little, and he gathered energy to teleport. Yet before he had even half the power he needed, Mew stopped him. /If you teleport, then you will not have enough energy left to fight with should incase you need to attack anyone, or defend your own life. We must fly./
/We?/ Mewtwo asked. Had he had an eyebrow to raise, he would have raised it.
/Yes, we. And we have lost enough time as is, he flies fast, he must be there by now./ Mew floated up to the door, then looked over her shoulder at Mewtwo. /Well?/
/I'm coming./ He replied, following her out of the door.
Watching them all go, Michi idly wondered how Jessie, James, and Persian were doing. She knew nothing of where they had headed to, for she felt that it was time for her to release her hold on them, and let them live their lives as they wished.
The purple-eyed girl tried to smooth out any wrinkles in her white dress that she could find. She could only hope that Jessie, James and Persian would have a world to have lives in after this... Looking at her watch, she noted that she had half an hour before it would be time for her to head to the cave.
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Arika looked at the twenty-five other Children, all of whom felt as worried as her. With their parents finally in possession of the stones, they could now return to the shapes that they had first been born in, their human bodies. Rika turned her head to regard the navy blue dragon wings that sprouted from her back. At least, their more human bodies.
Sazet, the son of Sian, and the first Seel, looked at Rika, running a nervous hand through his ghost blue hair. "I... I think that if we join together, and reach out to our parents, then maybe, well, just maybe, we can stop them."
Tikki, the first Raichu, frowned slightly. "But won't that take a long time? We might just end up wasting energy with no results."
Siari and Sijia rolled their red-brown eyes at the same time, looking at the little blonde lightning-type. "Well we might as well do something other than just standing around here worrying about our parents and the world." Sijia said.
"The sooner we try reaching out to our parents, the sooner we stand a chance of stopping them. I highly doubt any of you guys have any other suggestions, so let's cut the crap and link our fucking minds!" Siari concluded for his sister.
All the other Children looked at the two red and gold haired 'humans', and at the pissed off fires within their eyes. Immediately, everyone let down their mental shields and reached out to each other.
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Takith single-handedly fought against Ivena, holding off against the powerful psychic as well as he could. Was this how he was to die? Fighting against a Psychic First? He could only think of that as he fought against her, as he slowly weakened after each attack of hers that he managed to dodge, or had to erect a barrier to protect himself.
For a moment, Takith felt that he had been exhausted beyond relief, and he collapsed onto the dirt floor. Yes, this had to be how he would die.
Yet the Gods must have had a sadistic streak, for they would not let Takith die just yet, no, Mewtwo and Mew arrived, distracting the psychic's attention to themselves, and allowing Takith to pull himself to his feet, and lean against a wall, trying to regain his strength.
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They say that when something drastic happens, a near death experience for instance, time appears to slows down.
Jay could certainly vouch for that. From the moment the red eyed, silver haired androgynous being known as Catalyst had appeared in the battle cave, everything happened with painful slowness, and the memory of the following sequences of events would forever be burned into Jay's mind, and Jyp's.
Catalyst entered with a light the same color as freshly spilled blood. Eyes glinting with an sinister, almost psychotic light, he looked around the room, searching for someone to target.
His eyes rested on Takith.
Jay saw, and dropped his sword, dodging an attack from Chiata, and trying to run over to the strange human-pokemon that he had never met, but that he knew had to live. Yet it was not Jay that took the killing blow that had been aimed at Takith.
Mew flew over to him, pushing Takith away with her exhausted mind, but not having enough strength to move herself anymore.
At the moment the blood red bolt collided with Mew's pink body, Mewtwo tilted his head back and screamed in anguish, a roar that anyone with a shred of psychic ability could hear.
Jay could only watch, horrified, as Mewtwo floated down to cradle her mangled body in his arms, as Takith knelt beside them, and wept. Yet he saw her little chest rise with struggling breaths, and he saw her bright blue eyes still shining with life, and pain, as she looked up at Takith and Mewtwo.
Catalyst frowned, for the little psychic pokemon had not been the one he wanted to kill. Again, he aimed readied an attack to shoot at Takith, but then something distracted him, and he turned his attentions elsewhere.
Jay followed the being's gaze, his eyes widening when he realized it had fallen on Akira and Calisin. /No.../ Despite the fact that he ran as fast as he could, Jay felt that he was going much too slowly. He yelled to warn Akira, the girl he had been created to Guide along with her group, the girl he had loved, though it had not been meant to be, the girl that had cried herself to sleep in his arms many times, the girl that laughed and giggled at his jokes.
And then everything went black for Jay as a mental scream that his and Jyp's minds could not handle reverberated through his skill.
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Calisin cried.
Hot dragon tears burned their way down his cheeks as he cradled Akira in his arms. The salty tears turned the whites of his golden eyes red, and an almost insane quality could be detected in his facial expression. Sometimes it takes something drastic before things right themselves, and it took a fatal attack from Catalyst directed at Akira's chest to break the hold the chaotic being had over the Father of All Dragon Types. Now, both their human forms, they were together again; Calisin kneeling down in the dirt, covered in sweat, tears, and blood, and Akira laying limp in his arms.
He just... He couldnt stop crying.
The First Children lay collapsed on the ground outside the entrance of the cave, exhausted from their effort to link to each other and then reach out to their parents. Though they had failed to pull their parents out of the mindless fighting rage they had been in, they had succeeded in preventing Catalyst from attacking any of the other Firsts after he had attacked Akira. They bound Catalyst, paralyzed him with the one unplanned force he could not control: Love.
It hurt so much. Why had this happened? Calisin didnt understand.
Chiata sat with her back against one of the rock walls, cuddling Chisa in her arms. Through her hard green eyes, she looked around at the destruction and mayhem that she had been created to lead her group to, and she felt sick. Chiata felt as if her whole life had been a waste, and all she wanted to do was curl up and die. Yet Chisa would not let her, the little vulpix refused to let her partner break her hold onto this world and drag both of them into the dark depths of death. Nuzzling her partners cheek, Chisa whispered softly to her stunned partner, for once forgetting her pessimistic outlook on life, and trying to shake her partner into some sort of sane state. Yet how did one bring someone back into 'reality', back to 'sanity', when it was the realization of reality that made then snap in the first place?
Was this really happening? Why couldnt it just be a dream?
Jizo and Rezia knelt by Jay, trying to bring the other Guide to his senses. So Jay had never quite supported them, but if they did not do anything to help him, he would die. Akira had somehow been linked to Jay, and when she had been hit, her pain had echoed through to him, and so had Calisin's. In all truth, the twins were amazed that Jay still lived. Maybe Jyp had helped him somehow. Reika and Janyin padded over to where Jay lay, and informed their human partners that the ex-gym leader would live, but they could not sense Jyp... They assumed he had absorbed the most of the impact to save Jay.
He loved her. She couldnt be... No. They never even got to say hello...
Taie sobbed quietly into Kevin's chest, one of the many Firsts dangling on an edge and at a point where shocked could not even describe the state he or she was in. Gone was the playful young woman many had known, and now all that could be seen of her was a shadow of the powerful winged being that had been fighting just a few minutes ago.
Calisin couldnt wrap his mind over what had just happened. It was too much.
Mewtwo held Mew's mangled body in his arms, as gently as one would hold a newborn baby, maybe even more carefully. Together, he and Takith tried to heal the little pink pokemon, but she was too far gone... Nothing short of a miracle could save her, and it didn't seem to be their lucky day. Breathing short, raggedy breaths, Mew reached out to touch Takith's face, and then Mewtwo's. A gentle, motherly smile rested on her face as she spoke her last words, "No thing as too much fun". Even as she closed her baby blue eyes, the smile did not fade, and it was frozen there. Even in her death, Mew managed to keep that precious smile of hers.
The tears just wouldnt stop. The sobs kept coming. Calisin tried, he really did...
Michi appeared, running through the entrance to the cave, shocked to find that the destination of the path had changed so much from what she had seen it to be that morning. Looking up, she found Catalyst trying to break out of the fragile barrier that the First Children still held around him, and with one calculated movement of her right hand, she sent a light purple attack that shattered the barrier, then wound around Catalyst like a live rope. Floating up so that she was on level with him, she stared at him, an almost motherly look of disappointment on her face. "So you're my new partner," was all she said before bonding with him, before forming the link between order and chaos that would help right the world. Leaving him right there, wrapped up like some sort of twisted present, she started to make her way over to the two dragon types.
Was it his fault? Could he have done something more to prevent this?
Ash tried to break free from Gary's strong hold, franticly trying to make it to Akira. Pikachu, Sorrow, and Gary's Eevee all had their teeth clamped firmly into the fabric of his jeans, putting in a rather touching effort to assist Gary in holding back Ash. The Guardian could not quite be blamed for his desperate want to try and assist the one he was sworn to protect, and the one he had thought he loved. However, it was not his place to be by Akira's side. It never really was.
Calisin didnt feel just a physical type of pain. It was a deep down rip your soul out type of pain.
Michi knelt by the other side of Akira, touching the gaping would in the Mother of All Dragon Type's stomach and shuddering at the feeling of so little life in her body. Shaking her head sadly, she confirmed Calisin's fears that there was no hope for Akira. Nothing could describe the pain and sense of loss that shot through his mind and body, how hurt and utterly lost he felt. He looked into Akira's eyes, trying to hold back his sobs and smile at her as she coughed.
"I'm a goner, aren't I?"
He nodded, not wanting to speak. His Akira... His Akira was dying.
"I love you."
Pause. Choked back sob. "I love you too, my beautiful Akira."
"Take care of Silac and Rika."
"I will..."
"And Ash too, I know you don't like him, but he guarded me."
"As you wish."
"Oh, and watch Jay. He's like a brother to me."
Another nod. His throat was too tight to speak anymore.
"The pain is all gone... That means I'll be gone soon."
Calisin felt his heart breaking into tiny little pieces of nothing as Akira managed to smile, taking her death proudly, just as Mew had.
"Goodbye, my love." She closed her navy blue eyes, and exhaled, never again to inhale.
And Calisin cried some more.
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