fanfic Manifest Destiny - Into the Abyss - Page 20

---

The benefit about being in a car was that the outside world has hard pressed to touch us, but our vehicle was still metal, and thus vulnerable to heat. The four of us who were conscious were pressed up in the middle of the car, trying not to touch anything that would burn us while we rocketed through the burning forest. The rangers had long since left this dense part of the forest, so luckily there was no danger of plowing anyone over. Rolan strictly stuck to the path he must have memorized, because there was no seeing anything that was further than three inches away. Twigs and branches snapped and popped under the tires, sparks flying in a wake behind us. It was almost comforting that even though there was smoke everywhere. It was grey, and still very much a gas.
After a few more turns, we spun out from the haze. Pokémon Rangers in all colors of uniforms were commanding Water Pokémon, trying their hardest to hold the blaze where it was. For the first time, it really stuck me how long the fire had been burning. Many of the Rangers had dark circles under their eyes, and that slight yellowed tint to their skin of being around smoke for too long. Many had burns up and down their arms, or had pieces of their uniform burned away. The Ranger Base had been converted into a makeshift hospital for the Rangers themselves. They were seated around the base as the inside was presumably full, taking turns breathing clean air out of a machine. Every now and again, Rangers would come sprinting out the forest, carrying the husk of one of their own who’d reached their limit.
We continued on, following the path from Moran down to Rubika. The city was still covered in a mixture of smog and smoke. Nobody came out of their apartments. The city had probably been completely shut down for weeks. Many windows were covered in rotting wooden boards, and the doors were stuffed to prevent any smoke from coming in. Nothing seemed to be alive out here, not even any alley Pokemon. Without any opposition, we were in and out of the city in a few minutes, pushing the engine of this poor truck to its limits.
The path back to Windrush Valley was all but destroyed. The sea looked possessed, crashing against the cliff faces and pulling huge chunks of rock into the watery depths. Lightning forked across the sky, and the clouds split, releasing a torrential downpour. No matter how fast Rolan beat the windshield wipers, we shouldn't see anything. He was trying hard to stay on the ever narrowing path. In a horrifying crunch, the rock under the right side of the car crumbled away. Acting without thinking, we flung open the doors and leapt onto the slippery rock. Dustin was the last out, and he’d only just made it in time, bearing Laya over his shoulder. She still hadn't stirred, and after helping Dustin readjust his grip, I found her fingertips to be ice cold.
We had no other choice as we watched the truck fill with water, and sink below the thrashing waves, we would have to run. There was no doubt about it; the beacon was definitely coming from the Valley. Within seconds, we were all freezing, and soaked through to the bone. Thunder boomed, shaking the ground as lightning struck rock and trees alike, though thankfully missing us. Up ahead, we could see that the storm was the least of our worries. A plume of black smoke rose from the valley in the form of man. Had it already taken the valley? Was there anything left?
It seemed like our little houses had escaped its notice, or it just didn't really care. Its real prize had finally appeared. Instinctively, I ran the path Leslie and I had taken my last real day here, to the highest cliffs around Gyra-Rock River. What I saw down below was beyond words. The waters had rose, covering the beaches and half the path, but across the river on the cliffs facing the ocean stood three too-familiar figures. Two with dark robes, accented with pink and blue, and the third with robes to match the Walking Shadow itself, Ferven, Magenta and Aquanetta.

---

Some mixture of a roar and a caw broke above the raging storm. What I had at first taken for a bolt of lightning turned round in the air, spreading its great wings wide. Whatever it was, it let out another roar, and by a single beat of its wings, streaked through the air, electricity rolling off its body as the air in its wake crashed back together. I couldn’t stop myself from staring, I’d never seen a Pokémon like this before, or even heard of it. As it turned again, I could, for a moment, get a good look. The upper half reminded me of a bird, with great clawed feet and its angular head and dangerously sharp beak. It’s wingspan at to be twenty feet at least, with both covered in magnificent black and yellow plumage. Its rear and tail however looked more like a lion than anything else, with padded paws that no doubt concealed claws to rival its talons. With another great beat of its wings, it shot off like a bullet, right at the figure I’d been neglecting to keep track of.
It made contact in a matter of seconds, shooting straight through the congealed black smoke without leaving a single mark. The manlike figure continued its agonizing march, sucking life from trees and the beasties of the land. The agonizing cry of a caw chilled me to the bone. What could have happened to it? I didn’t’ have even a moment to consider for two more sounds had rang out from over the mountains. One was a squeal like a pig’s, but deeper and more drawn out. The other was high pitched like a horse. They broke over the peak that loomed over the village a moment later. A great boar with three sets of charcoal tusks up its face, and fire erupting from its hooves and sides as it charged down the mountain slope. Beside it was a magnificent unicorn, with fur of a gentle snow white, and a mane of a winter’s evening sky. Its horn and hooves looked like perfect ice crystals much like the formations that formed as its hooves touched the rock and grass. Much like the boar, it galloped down the mountain slope to charge the Walking Shadow.
It took no notice of them as they charged through each of its legs, but each emerged covered in the black sludge. From the footsteps that took life, all I could assume was that there were the three immortals, the Pokémon that could never die. The mythical trio, Cardere, Ningue and Fulgeo had returned to Kataya!


Rolan and Ruth caught up to me. I’d forgotten that they were less familiar with the area than I was. In truth, most people were, but I’d still grown up here. Without uttering a word to me, he loosed Rhyperior from its ball, and sent it straight at the three figures watching the Legendary Trio fighting. Ferven must have heard its cry, as he quickly ducked out of the way of Rhyperior’s horn. Aquanetta’s evident cat-like reflexes pulled her down to the ground to avoid its arm, but there was still a sickening crunch and a pitiful scream of pain as ribs cracked and shattered.
It was wrong. It was disgusting. It was so sickening that I felt like throwing up, and going off to hide somewhere safe. Pokémon weren’t meant to do things like this. Battles were between the creatures themselves. They never attacked humans. It was wrong.
Aquanetta’s Jellicent rushed forward to knock aside the Rhyperior before any harm could come to its mistress. She didn’t need to command the ghost, and took full advantage of the fact as she rushed to her sister who had collapsed. She was convulsing on the ground, clawing at the rock and her side, and gasping for air. Her face had gone completely pale as she scrambled, trying to get her feet underneath her. She looked around, head jerking left and right and eyes dilated. She was screaming, such a panicked and painful sound. Aquanetta put her hands on her Magenta’s shoulders, stopping her from getting up. She was trying to calm her down, tears rolling down both their faces.
“Meg,” she cried “Meg, it’s going to be ok! Stay with me, you’re going to be fine. Meg!”
It was getting worse. Her breaths which had sounded raspy and choked before were replaced by a violent coughing. Her chest convulsed each time, causing her to thrash around again. Seeing what was happening, Aquanetta quickly rolled Magenta over to her side as she spewed mouthfuls of blood. There was no way she could be getting any air, and now that she was on her side, I felt like it was a miracle she hadn’t died already. The entire right side of her torso had been smashed in. Aquanetta was howling now, clutching her sister’s hand. There was nothing that could be done. She was still desperate, coughing and retching, oblivious to the fact that if she didn’t drown like this, she would lose too much blood.
Their bodies were both trembling. Magenta couldn’t get enough air into what could be left of her lungs. Aquanetta was sobbing already, clutching her sister, and howling. Magenta’s grip on her sister’s hand could have shattered cement, but it was returned all the same. As her bloody coughs slowed, her eyes fluttered closed, and her fingers loosed their grip. Aquanetta clutched her, pressing her sister’s hand against her face, screaming the whole while. Her face looked distorted while she moaned, tears streaming out of the corners of her eyes. For her, there was nothing but her sister’s body, broken and still. She couldn’t let go, clutching her tightly, wiping blood off her face, now so peaceful, more like the little girl I’d seen in the memory than the woman who I’d met in a dark alley. It felt almost indecent to still be standing there, seeing her completely fall apart. It was something that should have been able to happen in private, in a bedroom or hospital, not a battlefield, but for a moment I’m sure that there was no battle, nothing else in the world except for the grieving sister, now alone in this world.

---

It was as if Ferven had vanished into thin air. He was nowhere to be found, but his disappearance was the least of our worries. While I was watching the fight between Rolan’s Rhyperior and Aquanetta’s Jellicent, she pulled herself away from the body of her sister, face distorted and crazed. With her teeth bared, eyes wide and very much not her own, she drew twin daggers from her belt. Each looked like it belonged in a different age. They had a second tip on one side, and both were made in sweeping curves. Shrieking as if someone was pressing a hot iron to her skin, she charged forward, leading a surge of Frillish.
I would never have thought that the little jellyfish could be terrifying. Driven by her grief and rage, they assaulted us mercilessly, and in such a swarm we could barely move for the force of water against us. It was all I could do to cup my hands around my face to preserve a small amount of precious oxygen. A hand closed around my arm like a vice, and a moment later I was hoisted into the air onto Ruth’s Togekiss. The sight below was unnerving. They were swarming in total disarray, but also circling Aquanetta and Rolan and their intricate dance. Her daggers flashed white against the dark sky as she furiously slashed, leaping from one foot to the other. Rolan fought back with no weapon but for his own strength, but it was just as effective. She didn’t want to get within reach of his arms, but her daggers only added about five inches to her reach.
“We’ve got to get him out of there!” I cried, turning to Ruth, “She’ll cut him to shreds!”
“Don’t be silly, that wretch is going to die just like her sister and then this will all be over.”
“How can you say that? It’s that beast that’s the problem here; it’s causing everything.”
“Those people have attacked and devastated our land. We have to fight back, whoever they are, wherever they are, and by any means necessary. Would you let them burn this land or bury it under a hundred years of snow? Joey, this is the only way.” It didn’t feel right, but to them, guilty was guilty, no matter the circumstances.
The battle below had begun to heat up, and Aquanetta wasn’t the only one who had landed her hits. His heavy fists swung through the air, missing more often than they landed, but a few landed all the same. Willed on by another force, she always managed to pull herself out of the mud to lunge at him again. Was it just me, or had the Frillish swarm started decreacing? No, there it was again; at least five of them had just vanished. There, as she was knocked away again, another twenty or so just sort of evaporated into thin air. With two quick slashes, she had gouged two deep red lines into his arms before being hit hard across the right shoulder. Regaining her feet quickly again, she lunged forward again; seemingly unaware that her swam was dwindling. As they continued, her movements seemed to slow, her body obviously protesting this abuse. To the best of her ability she resisted, pushing forward. Her moments on the ground stretched, and her breathing was getting heavier. Hesitations between attacks grew more frequent as her battle style seemed to shift from the all-out offensive to something more defensive. When at last her swarm had deteriorated to a single ring of Frillish circling the two, Rolan swung for his final blow. His fist made contact with a sickening thud at the side of her head, sending her sprawling into the mud. The last of the Frillish disappeared as Rolan advanced on the girl, curled up in the mud, clutching the side of her head. She’d dropped both her daggers on impact, and had made no movement to retrieve them. Instead, she turned to look around, her demeanor more like that of a lost kitten than a bloodthirsty lion, and upon seeing Rolan advancing on her with his muscles rippling in a cold fury, she let out a shriek of fear and pain.
It was that sound more than anything else that pushed me. Should I have thought before I acted? Yes, that would have been a good idea. Would things have turned out differently if I’d stood back? I’m certain of that, but no force in this land could have made me stand still. Off this cliff, just off shore was a small beach of an island, shaded by an outcropping of rock, and on that island lay the target of this region-wide onslaught. There laid our god and our hope, Luceatto, and the Shadow approaching it clearly had no need for earthly followers anymore. A scream like that could not have come from the Aquanetta who had once tried to drown Laya and me in the mountain.
Before Ruth could stop me, or even notice I was planning something, I’d jumped off the side of her Togekiss to the fray below. Rolan’s body was too solid when I landed on him, knocking him to the ground, but enough was enough. Clearly he did not see it the same way.
“Joey, what the hell are you doing!?” He spat at me.
“Enough is enough.” I said, looking at the thankful blue eyes of the girl I feel like I was seeing for the first time, though her face had marred my journey many times. “She’s free now. That beast is the only enemy left.”
“You were working with them the whole bloody time!”
“No I wasn’t. I-“but he cut me off.
“Traitor! Spy! You deserve the same fate!”
I couldn’t believe what he was saying, but now was not the time to stand and fight the point. He’d retrieved one of Aquanetta’s daggers from the ground and began to advance on me. Terror was not a strong enough word to describe the situation as the pit fell out of my stomach and my heart pounded at double speed. My feet stumbled back before I turned to flee. There was nowhere else to go as my feet had already crossed the edge of the cliff, but just before I passed into the water, a sharp and stinging pain surged between my shoulders. The salty sting of the sea only made it worse, and every time I shifted my arms to try and get Abby out of her ball, it felt as if something was digging deeper into me. Finally, I managed to free her, and just before I grabbed on and was hoisted to the surface, a very scary wisp of red water floated in front of my eyes.
Together we battled the waves which seemed to be growing in both strength and size. More often than not they were taller than I was, and every time they blasted us underwater. It was all little Abby could do to get us up for a breath of air before the next wave would come crashing our way. My mouth was bitter with salt, and my eyes stung through every second we spent fighting. Holding on was another challenge in itself as my hands grew slick with water and sweat, but losing my one and only lifeline in the abyss would be certain death, if I wasn’t there already. So we battled on, towards the only piece of land available to us, the one piece of land now in the spotlight of the entire region.
With the waves growing ever higher, I redoubled my grip, and took gasping breaths wherever and whenever I could. Each peak of water was at least ten feet tall. They would crash together, slam into us, but would never fade to nothing. It was alive in the same way the Moran Forest and Bethel Peak were alive, and responding to the call of its guardian. With Luceatto and the Walking Shadow both within its murky borders, such a storm was the defense of the land. It couldn’t see the difference between humans, friend or foe, but it would fight all the same. My fingers were numb, as well as most of my arms and legs. With the freezing, unrelenting sea and the horrid pain in my back I couldn’t do anything to readjust my grip, but fatigue had begun to set in. My muscles burned with the effort of just holding on. I couldn’t move my fingers; they were too tight, tense and cold. Maybe it was just the water or the storm, but it was harder to focus on anything. The crashing waves and the dark expanse below were churning, shifting blurs. Even the rock we were so close to was nothing more than a swirling brown mass. For the life of me I couldn’t keep my eyes open, the sting of the sea coupled with the energy seeping out of my body was just too much.
We rolled onto the rock with the final push of a feeble wave, as if in mercy instead of ferocity. Now that the danger of drowning had passed, I gingerly twisted my hand to the spot between my shoulders that was causing so much pain. Although I half expected it, the shock of the silver hilt of the dagger in my skin was no less terrifying. Jerking it out of the wound it had so lovingly carved into my flesh, I dropped it onto the rocky shore to be carried off to sea. It was only then I saw her, gazing at me there, lying on my side while blood stained the back of my shirt. Her big green eyes were as deep as the ocean I had just escaped, and I could tell she knew everything. There was no part of my story I could hide, no matter how tragic or terrifying, and like a mother trying to comfort her child; she extended her two front legs and held me there. I wouldn’t have fought it even if I’d had the energy. Her presence was soothing, and though there was little I could do or say while lying on her forearm, I was still grateful. Luceatto, the creator and guardian of Kataya, the magnificent dragon clad in white and gold had returned for her kingdom. Our home would be safe, and the land would come back to life. Maybe someday, I’d have the same luck, but until that day would come, I would be able to lie here with my Queen.