Chapter Ten: I Don't Mind Not Living, But

He could barely resist a shudder when the door clicked again.

It was bad enough to be chained to the bed and have nothing to do but wait for inevitable doom. It was, however, even more unnerving to have his captor come into the room—he was certain that Takeo was up to no good.

"I brought you food," the man muttered, setting down a tray on the table, and Avis' expression darkened just the tiniest bit as he realised that he wasn't going to leave. "As stubborn as you are, you're not supposed to die before thirty days are up, so you should eat."

His eyes narrowed at that; he hated the smugness that crawled its way into Takeo's tone, but he was right. He had to eat at some point.

As he swallowed down some soupy concoction that he'd been brought, a reluctant gaze aimed at the bowl he was holding, his former captain started talking once more.

"You're not going to be so stubborn when I'm done fixing you." A shudder ran through his shoulders as he said that, as if there was something wrong with his very existence, and Avis hated the way all his insecurities were being dug out.

Takeo spoke in a manner far too condescending for his ears. He wanted to leave, but the handcuffs around his wrists told him he couldn't. His mind couldn't form any crafty way out—for the skill he had in observing people, he was painfully average when it came to everything else.

"Why are you so obsessed with my brother?" he uttered, feeling pain lance through his right arm once again as he fiddled with his restraints. "If you're so concerned, why not let his brother go? I'm sure that would make him happy."

"You're dying, not deaf," the man retorted. "You'd be in danger. Besides, your brother is dead until April is over."

That caused him to flinch. He hadn't expected such a low blow.

"If you think you're going to be able to resist or something..." A low chuckle escaped Takeo's throat, and he couldn't tell whether it was one of dry humour or mockery. "When I wasn't a spy, I specialised in looking over the occasional prisoners of war we had. I'm not as good as the outside help Damien calls in sometimes, but I'm experienced."

With that, he clicked the button of the stone orb in his hands, letting out a Hypno with practiced ease and watching as he curled into himself even more.

"I'm sure you know that Hypno can hypnotise people, right?" Avis avoided eye contact with both the soldier and his Pokemon. "If you keep making yourself out to not give a single shit about anything else, Aiden, let's see if you can keep your calm through this."

§

It felt like a tonne of something had crashed down on his mind—but then again, he couldn't think through whatever sheet of agony that had been flung over his head, and he could feel hot tears pricking at the back of his eyes at the pain.

While he refused to show any signs of weaknesses, he would admit that Takeo's Hypno was strong. Strong enough to reduce his thoughts to smithereens, at least.

"Have you given up yet, Aiden?" He let out a quiet snarl at that, trying to lift his hands on instinct so that he could cover his ears, but the metal clinked against his hands and he felt the hollow sound echo all the way in his broken shoulder.

He let out a slow breath at that. "Stop calling me that."

"Why? Haven't others been calling you by the same name for a while now?" Takeo chose to sit down, but his posture was still tense, as if he was ready to spring any moment. "Why does it bother you if I do the same?"

"Shut up," he replied. He couldn't quite get any words past that through; not when it felt like his mind was being forced through a wringer.

Hypno continued to stare at him, eyes burning into him as he ducked his head downwards. The lack of eye contact, however, was not enough to prevent the effects from flooding through nooks and crannies of his mind, and the silent battle continued to rage on.

"Sometimes, I wonder how you manage to keep on living." Takeo's voice caused his back to tense, as if someone had jammed a metal rod down his shirt. "I mean, you don't have any talents, and you're rude to most people you know. Everyone distances themselves from you. So, tell me, Aiden, what makes you live on?"

"I—" He braced himself for the pain that would follow, and his words were jammed by the pounding in his head. "—I'm not Aiden!"

His enemy glanced down at him with an amused expression.

"Really? Because so many people think otherwise." A dry laugh escaped his throat. "And, to be honest, I don't know why you're bothering to struggle so much. Wouldn't you be better off if you were more like your brother?"

"You don't know anything," Avis spat, pressing his eyes close and feeling another wave of torment ricochet through his brain for his insolence. "Stop acting like you know how I feel."

The man didn't reply to that. Instead, he heard him whisper a hushed command to his Pokemon—in a voice too low for him to make out, of course, and it was all he could do to bite his tongue and prevent a whimper from escaping his lips.

His head was yanked up by a rough hand, causing him to blink in surprise. Takeo was forcing him to look into his Hypno's beady eyes, whether he liked it or not. The grip on his face was hard enough to bruise.

"Hypno may not be able to control minds, but he can kill. Easily." Avis settled for a hiss as his eyes flew open, and some part of him noted that the blasted Pokemon was forcing his eyelids to lift. "All it takes is a slight change and you'll be dead from the brain damage. Why don't you get out of your deprecating mindset and appreciate the fact that I'm keeping you alive?"

He refused to speak, gritting his teeth as the agony increased tenfold, and Takeo seemed to get the hint that he wasn't going to submit.

"...Fine then." The boy's breath hitched for a moment when the Hoenn soldier reappeared at his side. He let out a hiss of protest as he felt one of Aiden's Pokeballs being snatched from his belt. "I'll have to do this by force, won't I?"

A mixture of confusion and rare panic flooded him as the man placed a finger on the sphere's round panel, causing his brother's Heliolisk to appear in front of them, and the creature swayed her head, glancing at her new master as if looking for answers.

"Knowing you, you're not going to respond to threats." Takeo shook his head, his free hand curling around the weapon at the bed's foot—he had no idea who the sword belonged to. "That's why I have to do this."

Avis could barely process what happened next.

He wanted to close his eyes at the gruesome sight, he really did, but the Hypno kept them open and unblinking until he could feel them start to burn with overuse.

"When you're part of Hoenn's army, killing Pokemon is like second nature to you." The man didn't even flinch as blood shot from one of the creature's arteries and landed on his face. "Though, I don't have the time to behead a Pokemon most of the time."

With the last of his willpower, he made a sudden duck, enough for the Pokemon playing him like a puppet to let go of him in surprise, and he turned his gaze to the ground, anxious for somewhere safe to look because—

There's so much blood, his mind screamed. Hot tears sprang to his eyes once again, but this time, he didn't have the strength to stop them from flowing.

"Finally got you to cry, huh?" There wasn't an ounce of pity in his voice; instead, it was filled with masked sympathy that was so falsely saccharine it made him want to vomit. "You and Aiden are more alike than I thought. All I needed to do was crack you open a little."

Avis felt the edges of his vision start to crumble, like paper drooping inwards after being wet, and no matter how deep he breathed, his lungs seemed to be doing nothing past the bare minimum. No amount of air was enough to satiate him.

"Why?" The question came out harsher than he intended it to. "You're crazy—"

"In case you haven't noticed, no one in the military isn't at least a little out of it. My boss is a complete sociopath. His daughter has the same one-track mind as him, and his son flipped out some years back and ran off." Takeo shrugged. "That's how it is."

His gaze flickered back to the bloodied corpse behind him, as if just noticing the mess of broken cartilage and how the Heliolisk's limp head lolled next to her body.

"Back to the point." The man took a few steps forward, blocking part of the dead creature with his frame, but Avis couldn't find it in him to be grateful. "Are you going to at least try to be better, Aiden, or do I need to kill your Klefki to get something past your thick skull?"

The teenager was still too panicked to respond; his pupils stared down at the sheets, wandering and dilated and wild, and his knuckles turned a pale white as he gripped at his cloak.

"Don't be scared of me, Aiden." Takeo's gentle voice was back again. It was that tone that he feared the most. "I trained you, after all. I looked after you, remember?"

"Stop," he tried to choke out—what the hell was the man trying to achieve with this twisted role-play?—but his lips were cracked and his throat burned, whatever miserable remains of food in his stomach churning. He remembered Heliolisk's terrified expression as the sword had drawn near, how she'd glanced at him for instructions, how she'd been too shocked to even move—

He was met with a smile—a big one that reminded him of Fabio's expressions when he'd described assassinations to him—when he conceded defeat, slumping his shoulders and leaning back so that his back touched the bed's stiff headboard.

"That's better," the soldier grinned. "I knew you'd give in sometime."

§

"Lillian? What are you doing here?"

She froze at the sound of her father's voice, and her first thought was to panic and dive behind the nearest table, but she realised that Damien wasn't stupid. He'd already found her; there wasn't much she could do to hide that fact.

If she played along with his games for too long, she'd end up on a plane to Sinnoh before she knew it. It was better to confront him now.

"I need to ask you something," she said at last, ignoring his question with ease and squaring her shoulders. "Why is Hoenn still dragging this war on if you have these records of Zygarde? All you're doing is harming people."

Damien's voice was cold. "You read these reports?" When she didn't reply, he glared at her for a moment longer before answering. "The military isn't unreasonable, Lillian. The theories about Zygarde have only just been proven as something possibly more than an old wives' tale."

"Bullshit," she snorted. "Hoenn's always been pretty headstrong and reckless, but you can't even confirm if the attacks were from Kalos."

"And we have the duty to protect our people." Her father didn't blink once at her accusation. "A lot of people have lost their lives because of these attacks, you know. Most of the region is angry. The military has also been hurt."

She paused for a while, because damn, she'd remembered halfway through her argument who she'd gotten her intelligence and plotting from.

"I get that we've been hurt." It was hard not to let her voice shake. "But you're hurting Kalos too. Hell, you're hurting us. Fighting them won't get to the bottom of this issue."

Damien glanced at her with pity. She knew what he was thinking—he was thinking that she'd gone soft in her years away from the army. The man was a lot of things; she would admit that he had his uses, but understanding wasn't one of them.

And it wasn't like she blamed him. He'd seen far more horrific things than she did. Twisted people normally couldn't see the fault in their logic.

"Fine," she breathed. "Then let's make a deal. As your subordinate, I'll fight you. One Pokemon each. If you win, I'll go to Sinnoh like you asked and follow your orders again. If I win, you'll give me information and let me go."

Her father considered it for a moment. "Don't be cocky just because you're a lieutenant," he replied. "I have more experience and a stronger partner. It's a losing battle right from the start."

"Did you forget what you told me once?" Her hand was already reaching for a stone Pokeball. "You told me that I should never have the need to know what failure means."

She took a deep breath at that, the words echoing in her mind in a silent reminder of her years-long mantra.

Her plans were always right.

§

sorry for the delayed update! i took a hiatus for a week, so yeah :^) i've also been feeling a bit under the weather lately, so apologies if there's any slips in grammar or anything-- feel free to point them out!

at this point i should mention that takeo is my personal least favourite character in the story and i literally like damien more than him. yes. damien.

also, rip heliolisk ahaha

Thank you guys so much for 4.5K reads and 708 votes!! :0 You have no idea how much this means to me <3

As always, votes, comments and critiques are very appreciated °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

~ nyxia/miya