Chapter Thirty-Seven: A Scrap Of A Memory

Silence swept through the air for a brief few seconds—then, the once monochrome world burst into terrifying colour once again, brief standstill in time jolting to an agonising start.

Then, Ryou rushed forward, unable to just stand there while a thick stream of crimson ran down the girl's shirt and quickly forming a moist puddle on the obsidian-tiled pathways floating in the darkness. The injured girl was as quiet as a statue for a moment, absolutely no reaction running through each cell of her small body—

—then, a straggled cough left her throat, more blood sputtering out and staining both her lips and the floor beneath her. To call her haemorrhaging violent would be an understatement; her entire frame was doubled over, hands raised to her mouth and liquid streaming through her fingers in a futile attempt to contain the dark vermillion.

Her hands soon fell to her sides, however, as if her entire body had stopped functioning—and the previous emotions burning in her hazel eyes had been snuffed out, like a switch had gone off in her very heart and drained all life from her.

The figure then collapsed to the ground, her body not even putting in an attempt to break her fall—and the silver-haired boy only managed to reach a few seconds afterwards, examining the fallen form with panic in his tense posture.

Quinn was absolutely still, the usual rise and fall that would indicate any prescence of life—weak or strong didn't matter, he was grasping at any strings he could now—it proved that he was desperate, but there was no use hiding that now.

The trainer watched as her glassy eyes—glazed over with absolutely no feeling to them—slipped close, and his optics trailed down to the gaping hole in her chest, one that dripped blood in an ugly, haphazard fashion all over her clothes.

And, sharing the same bond and heart as her trainer—Celebi's blue eyes went dull—even cloudier than those of the original—and she fell next to her trainer, unmoving.

Ruby soon joined the paralysed boy, kneeling on one knee as he crouched over the corpse—it seemed that even Giratina had a heart, standing back to let them have their space. Sapphire didn't move—partly because she too was shocked by the incident that had passed, but partly because she knew not to overwhelm the boy.

"It's no use." Her partner may not have had much knowledge about the boy, but she had briefly informed him about Ryou—and that was sufficient. He watched with sadness as the teenager shook the younger child with panic lacing his frame. "I'm sorry, Ryou. She's dead."

It was unlike the trainer to show such emotions—the tears flowing down his cheeks felt out of place—but he felt his breaths fluctuate, eyes seeming to mirror a broken tap that couldn't ever be fixed—no matter how much he wanted it to.

"Quinn..." The name rolled off his tongue, slow and deliberate—it was almost as if he wanted the sound to linger as long as possible; he wanted to preserve the word so that he could fool himself just a little bit longer. "Why did you—"

Giratina looked down at him. "It is rare to see you in such a state," he sighed. "But I have already informed you of this. All of you standing here have been given a chance, and you refused a place in my new world. I will not have mercy to those who serve as threats."

"That is enough, Brother." Arceus' words were firm. "You are merely contradicting your own words now. If you want to create a world without pain...then why are you doing this? Why are you inflicting such pain on these humans?"

Raising an eyebrow, the creature returned his even gaze. "It was necessary," he replied. "Temporarily contradicting myself is fine—as much as it wounds me, I will still achieve this goal in the end. Here, people die all the time...this is but another small death."

"Still..." He tilted his head to glance at the trembling boy once again. "I apologise for going to such extreme measures. My condolences."

Dilated amethyst pupils shrunk even further, and Ryou looked up to shoot a petrified glare at his enemy. His fingers closed around a Pokeball with nearly enough force to crush it into oblivion. Flygon glanced at his master, worried—but the silver-haired boy waved it off. "I'll—I'll..."

Before he could even take a step forward, he was pinned in place, Arceus' psychic energy—one of his many abilities, he assumed—forming a cyan prison around him. The Legendary looked crestfallen at the sudden loss—that, and what his brother had just said—but maintained his logical side otherwise.

"Your mind is clouded," he warned. "If you are to charge into battle with this god now...you will surely die. Even if you do not think much about throwing away your own life, you are essential to defeating Giratina and saving countless other lives."

The boy looked disgruntled, but he did see the reasoning behind the wiser Pokemon's speech—and he chose to settle back down, stealing a shaky glance at the corpse beside him. He was still overcome with disbelief—disbelief that one of his friends had just been killed, and that it had all happened between the span of a mere few seconds.

Ruby—he hadn't met the well-known saviour before—gave him a short stare—one filled with pity. He hated that gaze—like he was a helpless piece of trash that could only depend on others. It was almost toxic, knowing that the trash part was right—he couldn't even save a friend from death.

"Arceus is right." The older man's voice was soft as he attempted to talk some sense into him. "You're our best bet against this. We have to make sure you stay safe."

Sapphire nodded, commanding Kyogre forth to attack—and it was then that he realised how well her deep blue eyes matched her name—yet, they burned with a ferocious intensity. "Hey, we've done this before," she quipped. "We know what to do. And if we die...well, saviours have to go into battle risking their life, right?"

"Defend the boy," Rayquaza uttered to his lord, serpentine body unravelling from his previously coiled position. "Only attack if you are absolutely sure—one more thing, my lord. It has been a pleasure serving after you for the last millennium."

A tense smile formed on the Legendary's face, and the godlike Pokemon shook his head in a form of childish exasperation. "To think my own creation would be ordering me around..." He paused for a moment, looking at the serpent with great reluctance. "That would be certainly unheard of. If you are to return from this alive, you will get a demotion from me."

"One more thing, you three." The Alpha Pokemon stepped forward. "Thank you for having served under me. It was a pleasure to have led such creatures."

• • •

"Kyogre, Blizzard." Sapphire's shoulders heaved as she shouted the command, her tired voice echoing into the lonely distance. "One more time—I know you're tired too, but please."

Nodding, the beast plunged forward, the intricate designs on his fins glowing as yet another storm of icy shards dashed towards their enemy—but their stamina was decreasing, and even his best attempts were turning lethargic and dull.

Beside her, the coordinator narrowed his eyebrows. "We're already tired, and Giratina's still at full power. Stay careful—if we do die here, the Legendaries will be recalled back to our world. There will be no one left to control the Red and Blue orbs—and Rayquaza will have to follow along."

"I don't plan on being killed that easily," she snapped back, yelling at her charge to fire another Origin Pulse. "You're wasting time by trying to give me a lecture—with every second that you spend, it's another step to victory for our opponent."

Around them, Ryou's team tried to help out—but that too was minimal. Even his Flygon was only able to deal the slightest scratch here and there—but Giratina wasn't focused on small fry like them. He knew that Ryou was the biggest thing that stood in his way—and he had to break through the defensive barriers in front of him right now.

Trying his luck, the creature aimed a bolt of darkness at the vulnerable child—but as predicted, Arceus was able to combat it with a shimmering shield—though it was fragile and barely able to stand on its own, it was sufficient, and that was enough.

"At least try to defeat us first, you—" Ruby stopped himself from cursing—he had always been demure—and he changed his angry tone to one more serious, urging the tired Groudon on and telling him to try for another Lava Plume.

Then, he happened to shift his head to the side—and saw their enemy readying an attack, idly playing with a huge orb of calamity between his hands before flinging the sphere straight at his partner—the very person he'd loved.

In a matter of seconds, all his words—his own words—of precaution and not being reckless fled his mind. He turned, leaving Groudon to fire his attack—and ran.

And the last image he saw was that of Sapphire's eyes, wide and shocked as the panic took over her mind—before his vision blurred out into black, the pain coming in pulsating fiery bursts and forming a thick haze over his mind—

—and then all thoughts seemed to evaporate, and he felt his world go still.

• • •

She looked at the boy at her feet, scarlet wetting the torn skin around his throat and flowing from a wound too big to survive.

There was no hope of survival—living in the wilderness had taught her such medical skills. He was as good as gone right now—the fact that he was still alive was a miracle. If the lack of oxygen from his damaged windpipe didn't kill him, the loss of blood soon would.

Groudon was still here—evidence that he wasn't quite dead yet—but it was only a matter of time until his willpower lost against pure science—pure logic. Then, the only strand of hope she would have left would be completely and utterly gone.

"R—Ruby..." That attack had been meant for her. It wasn't right—if anyone got hurt, it should have been her. If she hadn't stood there like an idiot—if she had jumped out of the way or commanded Kyogre to release a counterattack, he wouldn't have worried about her. He wouldn't have jumped in the way to take her place.

"I'll kill you." Her cerulean optics narrowed to deadly slits, and forgetting her safety—the one who had always been there to remind her about such issues was, after all, not here now. She stepped in front of her Pokemon—perhaps the humanoid appearance of her enemy had fooled her into thinking that Giratina was someone she could take on by herself. "I'll kill you!"

The Pokemon didn't resist the first onslaught—he let the veteran grab him by the throat, raining punch after punch against his host's body.

A hand crept its way to her head—and before she knew it, she had fallen right into his innocuous trap—a ring of shadow had trapped her in place, and Giratina's hand folded itself into the position of a finger gun—ready to pull the imaginary trigger at any moment.

"I have dirtied my hands again, it seems." Her opponent's voice was truly sorry—yet, she couldn't find any resolve in her to forgive the filthy creature. "I do apologise for having sinned so much—I do hope that I can repent by bringing this new reign."

Her breathing was heavy, and it was all she could do to glare the vile Pokemon in the eye. Crimson clashed against sapphire as the two ideals fought, but the Legendary let his prey speak. "You killed him," the trainer hissed. "Because of you—"

"Because of me, countless lives will be saved in the future." His smile was wide as he fidgeted with his free hand. "And emotions really are a nuisance—look, because of them, you walked into a place where I could kill you at any moment. Did you really have a death wish?"

She didn't get a chance to reply. Celeana—rather, the thing possessing her—fired, and she felt a numbing shot pierce through her skull as if it was mere jelly.

She also didn't get a chance to wonder if the shot had indeed come out through the other side—she felt her systems shut down one by one, thoughts going fuzzy and fading into nothingness as her the bullet destroyed any trace of lingering words left in her mind.

Her legs buckled, and Giratina grabbed her by the torn bandana wrapped round her head, choosing not to let her fall with at least her pride and flinging her a few metres out.

The Legendary seemed to have ambiguous intentions this time, however—not that she could register any of it. Her brain simply wasn't working, and all she knew at this point was that static filled her mind—that, and that she would die soon.

Her heart would still work for a while longer, however, and her emotions were still intact—her nerves locked onto a faint register of warm arms wrapping around her, cushioning her—and she felt her body land on someone else's.

"I'm sorry," Ruby muttered with the last of his energy, looking at the dull eyes that glanced back with no trace of recognition. He withdrew his bloodstained arms with caution, settling to instead hold the girl's hand—he would stay with her this time. "I couldn't save you in the end."

He expected no response—her neurological systems had been metaphorically shattered, after all—but, after a few moments, he felt clammy hands cup his face with all the gentleness of a passing feather. The brunette's lips moved in an attempt to speak.

"...Tears?" Her voice was as fragile as that of a young child, and her uncomprehending gaze landed on the moist droplets collecting on her palms. "Please don't...cry..."

And, as she curled up to his side to comfort him, eyes slipping close for what looked like the final time—he was finally able to be at peace. His half-closed eyes faced the sky—he had seen the faint glimmer in those cerulean optics he had come to love.

"I think I recognise you," they spoke. "I think I loved you."

• • •

//wELCOME TO MY WOMBBBBBBBBBBBBB 

^ Outer Science starts playing

oops? hehhe now you know the type of person i am.

The type who canonises ships and then kills them all off 5 seconds later. I like it. :33 

I did nothing wrong ok I am a smol pure cinnamon (sinammon?) roll child who has done absolutely no evil in her life. I see no evil. I hear no evil. I speak no evil. I taste no evil. I smell no evil. I write no evil. Ye.

"orz my brain is mush after writing 2K+ words in one go. I give up on finishing this before my birthday because frick life I don't care anymore.

Besides that, thank you SO MUCH for 9.9K reads and 1205 votes! That's about a 100+ increase in reads :o My next goal is 1220! (and interjection hOLY SHIT 32 MORE TO 10K READS WHAT IS THIS SORCERY)

Critiques are most certainly welcome, and don't forget to read, vote and give your thoughts in the comments! Please be 100% honest!

~ nyxia ☆