ALEXANDER

He woke to find himself in a cold, dark place. The air was damp and earthy. Alex heard a muffled breathing next to him. Ironic, he thought. I disobeyed orders, and still did something right. Well, if doing something right was being knocked unconscious and kidnapped by Burningtree. True, if Leo had gone dancing with Elli like he was supposed to have done, he would have been captured instead. He shivered. If only he had listened to Banette sooner.

Banette! Alex' throat caught a lump in it. Where was Banette? Had it wandered off? It was too dark in the cool yet muggy room he found himself in, but he surely did not feel his Spirit Pokémon's presence. He heard the breathing sound again, but it wasn't the ghost Pokemon. When he realized who it was, he felt a pang of guilt.

Alex nudged Elli's leg, or arm it could have been. It was too dark to tell. The ground was soft beneath him, and he heard the crunching of what he assumed to be leaves. There was no response, only the sound of slow, steady breathing. He nudged her a little bit harder.

Finally, she stirred. She let out a little squeal that seemed to echo in the darkness.

"SHHH!" Alex instructed her. At least his mouth hadn't been covered. It was hard to tell, he felt so dirty. How long had they been out and asleep in this place? What place was this? "Are you alright, m'lady?" he whispered.

"I...," her voice was the only thing in the darkness. It was too black to see her. "I'm fine," she whispered back. "Where are we?"

Alex racked his brain, trying to remember the events leading up to their kidnapping. The Pool of Memories had become hot, the water steamy, and Elli had passed out. Alex Specter shuddered again as he remembered the shadowy figure that had approached and hit him. He remembered how he had dropped a golden coin inscribed with that of a flaming tree on the ground.

Burningtree, he dare not utter that name out loud, not in front of Elli. He remembered the story of her friend that had died at the assassin's hand as a little girl. Was he dead already? Was this hell?

Elli began to sob. This was the last thing that Alex wanted. He tried to keep her calm, and quiet, but she began crying anyway. I have to stay strong for her, he thought. That was when he saw the light.

It started small at first, and then the sound of crunching leaves approached even closer. Alex laid down again, and pretended to sleep. He gave Elli a sharp nudge to do the same.

"...did you find the Banette?" a male voice asked.

"No," came a deeper voice of another man. "I'll give the Specters this much, their Pokemon are crafty an elusive. I almost admire them." The footsteps stopped and he heard the hinge of a door, and even with his eyes shut, Alex could feel the heat and the light of the torch illuminating the room.

"So it's true then," came the first voice. "You missed your hit? Got the wrong one?"

"Unfortunately, yes," the deep voice didn't sound disappointed. Rather, he seemed amused. Elli let out a sob again, and Alex's heart sank.

The first voice spoke again. "The client isn't going to like this. You were supposed to get the younger one. The real heir. Everyone knows Lord Specter values him, and Gods know what his mother is willing to pay for the ransom. This ones no good to us, or the client. Burningtree, the Empress has been tracking us like a hungry Mightyena, we can't afford a slip up like this." At the mention of the assassin's name, Elli sobbed louder than Alex would have liked. "Awake at last?" the first voice asked, matter-of-factly.

Burningtree spoke again. "No, the client won't be satisfied," he said. His voice got louder. He must have been crouching down. He heard Elli shriek. "I'm sorry dear, but I couldn't resist bringing you as well. I can assure you this was not the plan, but when two fruit fall from the same tree, well, you know what they say... Leave us, Joseph." Alex heard the footsteps of the underling leaving the room, and the door closing behind him. The light and heat of the torch remained.

Alex felt an intense blow to his stomach. He bent his body and wretched. "Wake up, boy, do you take me for a fool?"

Alex opened his eyes and spit the last of his vomit on the cold earth. He saw Elli in the light, there was dirt on her face, and his eyes met her blue jewels, wet with tears.

"You were raised a little lord," came Burningtree's deep voice again. "Look a man in the eye when he speaks to you, don't forget your courtesies."

Reluctantly, Alex turned his head and lifted himself to his knees. There he was: Burningtree. He was face to face with the great Assassin of the Draconids himself. He looked different than Alex would have thought, but he was intimidating all the same. In spite of the torch's heat, he felt cold inside. He began to shudder.

Burningtree had dark skin, speckled with dirt, and short dark hair, with designs shaved into them. In both ears, he wore solid gold hoop earrings. The assassin was wearing a traveler's cloak with the hood down, yet inside the cloak, Alex could see tattoos covering what little of his chest was exposed. He was a large man, and intimidating in stature. He was everything and more he expected a terrorist to be.

"You need not be frightened boy, I'm not going to kill you," he let out a deep chuckle. "If I was, you'd already be dead, and from what I gather, no one would cry over your corpse. No, but the client would not be happy."

Elli began to sob again. Be strong for her, Alex thought. Don't give in to your fear. Banette... Banette why did you leave me? It was no use. Alex sniffled in fear, a single tear rolling down his dirty cheek. At the sound of that, Elli began to cry even more.

"It's alright girl," Burningtree looked down at her before standing up. "You're only hostages. Well, you are, girl, I still haven't decided about the boy... Yes that's it, I've got just the thing. The client is undoubtedly not happy, but we can make amends, can't we?" Alex looked down, he didn't want to show this murderer his face, his sorrow, his cowardice. "Look at me boy."

Alex looked up, he didn't care anymore, and he began to cry as well. His life began to flash before his eyes. Leo, if only he could see his little brother one last time, to apologize to him.

"I plucked the wrong Specter, and plucking the wrong fruit is bad for my trade. You know who I am by now, I'm sure? Answer me." Alex nodded. "Good. But be happy. This is not the day you die. Or the day that she dies"

"The Client is not happy with me or the Draconids at the moment," Burningtree said, looking straight in Alex' eye. "But I know what my contact wants, and I am going to deliver above and beyond the Client's wildest expectations." He looked around the room.

"By now, a search party is heading this way, you may take consolation in knowing that your little Ghost Pokemon followed us here. Ghosts are very tricky to track, or notice, and I'm very impressed. I'm going to take the girl, and my men and I are leaving. I'm going to ask you to do something Alex Specter, an offer you can't refuse."

Silence. Alex tears were done coming, the wells had dried out. "I specialize in turning missed opportunities into greater opportunities, and I've just been presented with the golden chance to solidify support with one of the Lords of Hoenn in resistance to the Empress."

"I'll never join you," Alex said, his words wavering in his mouth. He knew what these men were: murderers, thieves, cowards who would even kill children and little girls to achieve their ends.

"I'm not asking you to join us," Burningtree laughed, his deep voice echoed in the chamber. "I'm not even sure I'd want that, you're just a little boy in my eyes. No, you're going to accomplish one, simple, task to make my client happy again." Burningtree took Alex's hand and placed a cold, gold coin in it. It felt heavy, but what came next weighed on the young man's mind even heavier.

"I don't care how you do it, but it must be done in one weeks' time. You are going to kill Lord Specter, your own father."

It hurt more than the kick to the gut he had sustained earlier. Alex collapsed and almost vomited again. He didn't know what inner strength took hold of him as he looked into Burningree's dark face again. "I refuse."

The look of slightest disappointment crossed Burningtree's face. "I told you, you can't refuse." There was another kick in the stomach, and once more in Alex's back as he collapsed to the dirt again, he felt out of breath."

A force hit his face, and the young Lord's son flipped over on his back, he gasped in pain. Burningtree spoke again. "You won't refuse, because in one weeks' time, if you haven't accomplished your task, the girl gets twice the beating you're going to receive, and more."

Elli began to whimper and sob even louder. Burningtree took the coin Alex still clutched in his hand and placed it in a little pouch in the boys' belt. "What I'm trying to say here, boy, is that if you don't do your job, we will make her wish she was dead, and then when she begs for it to be over, I'll kill her personally."

Alex felt blood in his mouth. His body raised up eye level with the Assassin once again, the big man was holding him by the tunic collar. "You won't... have time," Alex panted. His right eye started to feel puffy. "I'll tell them, which way you've run off."

"HA!" Burningtree's laugh was sickly genuine. "That's cute. When they find you there, laying in the woods with nothing to eat but dirt, and that eye of yours swollen shut, you won't even remember."

What came next was strangely unexpected, Alex couldn't ever remember being hit so hard.