Lies of the Past
DISCLAIMER: All characters and properties are copyright their respective owners. All original characters, plot, and concept is copyright 2008-2010 Shen. The author is in no way associated or affiliated with any third-party. This original fiction was created with no intention of any copyright infringement against any third-party, and is purely for fan enjoyment. Do not redistribute.
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Darkness...absolutely no light, not even from the open doorway, offered its guidance through the thick darkness that permeated the interior of the Tower for the Larvitar now trying to find his way in. As soon as he had stepped in, he could feel the very dark power than emanated from deep within, a horrible feeling of intense evil and darkness. It chilled him to the bone, but nothing would deter Shen now. He would find Seth and make him pay for almost killing his friends.
With the supernatural darkness covering every bit of the tower interior, Shen had to rely on his other four senses...
Shen walked carefully through the first floor of the Tower, occasionally bumping into a pillar or table he was unable to avoid. Besides these small detours around these objects, the walk was smooth. He was glad that it was merely these that he bumped into, and not something less desirable...
It wasn't very long before Shen stumbled upon what he found to be stairs; just what he wanted. With a huff and furrowed brow, he began climbing the stairs, slowly. He was not to be deterred, but he still didn't want to rush into anything unpleasant. So, step by step, he penetrated further into the damned building...
At the top of the stairs, an oddly flighty sensation suddenly passed through Shen, like something familiar was near and his mind knew it, but Shen found nothing that would bring such feelings to him. Carefully alert, he looked around into the absolute darkness, but, of course, still could not see anything. So he branched out his search with his other senses. He heard...the soft splash of a small, distant waterfall, and the sound of wind rustling quietly through tree leaves. He felt...the cool wind against his rocky skin. He smelled...was that some kind of pie? And it smelled like it was bluk berry pie, his favorite...These things would've once brought Shen comfort, but now they made him more tense and wary of the Tower. He'd have to watch for anything and everything.
Shen took a single, agonizingly slow step forward...
Light exploded in front of Shen, causing a great amount of pain in his eyes. He slammed his eyes shut, rubbing them hard and groaning at the sudden pain inflicted upon him. Stars buzzed out of the darkness of Shen's eyelids as he rubbed them frantically. Then, all too soon, the light dimmed. Shen squinted out of his eyes to see what lay before him. When the Larvitar saw it, he gaped and opened his eyes wide in surprise.
He stood in a small, hilly meadow, the grass short, yet long enough to sway in the light wind. Close by, he saw a raised portion of the land, like a cliff but only about fifteen feet high, jutting upwards suddenly out of the ground; a waterfall cascaded softly down the rocks into a small pond. Near this pond, hidden in the shadow of a large tree, was a house, looking to be made for only about three people. From a window nearest Shen, there sat a cooling pie...the bluk berry pie he'd smelled earlier. These features in the landscape held a huge meaning for Shen...This was where his first trainer, his kind trainer, had lived; that pond was where the trainer had even trained Shen's resistance to water little by little. "This is where I grew up..."
"Shen, there you are," a voice spoke up from behind him, "Where have you been? It's almost lunchtime, hun."
The very sound of that voice made Shen's breath catch in his throat. It...It just can't be...Can it? he though. Slowly, very slowly, he turned around.
Standing before now were two Tyranitar, both smiling kindly down at him...His mother and father.
"Mom...dad..." he whispered in disbelief.
Shen's father cocked his eye in confusion at his son. "What's wrong, Shen? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Oh, dad!" Feelings of love and pain exploded within the little Larvitar, sending him running to his mother and father. Shen grabbed onto his mother's leg and cried into it. "You're here...you're really here..."
A look of puzzlement crossed between the two Tyranitar. The female Tyranitar looked back down to Shen and patted his head behind his horn. "Shen, what's up, sweetie? Of course we're here, it's not like we went anywhere. You only saw us five minutes ago, after all."
Shen's eyes blinked open in confusion. He looked up to his mother's face, tears still leaking from his eyes. "Five minutes ago...? But...I haven't seen you in so long...I saw you two die..."
The two Tyranitar adopted incredulous expressions. ""Die? What are you talking about? We're standing right here, after all," his father said, "You must've dozed off and had a nightmare, or something, son."
"But..." Shen backed up a little, slowly. There's only one way to prove that I'm right... he thought, reaching behind his back with his right hand slowly, feeling for one specific feature of his body...He grimaced as he felt the very tip of the scar on his back, the one thing that proved his nightmare to be real. "If it was just a dream...how did I get this?" Shen asked, turning around on the spot.
Shen's parents both gasped in unison. "Shen?! How did you get that horrible cut on your back?!" his mother cried.
Before Shen could even begin to answer...the scene shifted instantly before his eyes.
It was nighttime, and the area he stood in was lit by a large light source that came from behind him; Shen could smell wood burning, it must be a fire, and by the sound of it...a large one. Short, leafless trees were scattered about, maybe three within the light of the fire. There was little grass, all of which was stiff and dead-looking, while the rest of the place was filled with dirt. Shen turned slowly, memories surfacing with every vision before him. There was a wooden house with the roofed porch; the house was in disrepair, boards broken, sticking out, or right-out missing from the building. The porch was caving in on itself, sagging down low to the dirt. A tree was half-collapsed onto the roof of the house, its roots sticking up where they had been ripped from the ground.
Before Shen turned any more, there came the sound of a whip cracking, cutting through the partial silence of the night. Shen froze; something about that whip sounded...too familiar. He turned the rest of the way around quickly, facing the source of the noise, to see an awful sight.
There was the cruel man who had given him his scar...who had killed his parents...holding a whip tight in his right hand. He wore blue jeans with holes in the knees, a tannish shirt with a flimsy leather vest, and a floppy, wide-brimmed hat, and on his back was that shotgun he always carried. Before him, crouching over and bleeding from several extremely deep cuts...were his parents.
"W...what the hell?!" Shen screeched, "YOU!"
The man turned to him and growled, showing his yellow teeth. "Don't dare speak out against me, ya little runt!" He turned the whip to Shen, approached him, and raised it. Shen flinched slightly, but continued to glare at the man. The whip came down...
Only to stop in the grip of a large, green claw. The man yelled as the claw closed down hard on his hand, crushing the bones within. "Don't you dare touch my son!" Shen's mother growled loudly at him, livid. Shen's father, equally angry, came from behind and hit the man hard with a right hook to his side, causing him to be flung from the female Tyranitar's grip and slide hard against the dirt, a cloud of dust obscuring him momentarily. Roaring loudly, the two Tyranitar charged at him.
Then the smoke cleared, revealing him standing up and clutching his shotgun a little ungainly, because of his broken hand. His hat was still in the dirt, and his hair was mussed up, giving him a completely insane look when coupled with his wide eyes and his awful sneer. As the Tyranitar charged in a bloodthirsty rage, he took aim. "If you won't listen t'yer master, ya ain't worth keepin' alive!"
"NO!" Shen screamed...but it was too late.
The shotgun lit up as the man pulled the trigger, firing out its deadly load. Tyranitar have strong carapaces, able to withstand the hardest hits...save in their faces, where their armor is very susceptible to projectiles. Unfortunately for Shen's parents, that is exactly where the pellets hit them. They were thrown back as blood sprouted from their wounds, still barely standing. The man cocked the shotgun with his broken hand and fired once more, hitting them on the dot and blowing their heads apart.
The two Tyranitar collapsed, dead.
"No..." Shen moaned, crying again, "Not again..." He sobbed aloud as he clutched his head...
Suddenly, there was a flash, and Shen could tell that things were different. The specific sounds and smells had jolted silent, but the fire still burned. Slowly, Shen removed his paws from his head and opened his eyes...
As he suspected, he was still in the dirt-filled yard of that cruel man, but his parent's bodies were no longer before him. Shen blinked, confused, and glanced left and right. The scene was the same, save for the fact that there wasn't another living being around...
Suddenly, the crack of that whip cracked through the air, right behind Shen. He spun and set his eyes once more on the scene of the man whipping his parents mercilessly. But something was different, and it was strikingly obvious what it was...
Shen saw an exact duplicate of himself standing right next to the man.
It was something else, to see one's self apart from one's consciousness, Shen mused oddly. As he watched with curiosity on the scene, he noticed that his duplicate already had the changed eyes, and the scar on his back, which made Shen wonder what exactly was going on here; if those changes were already there, what were his parents doing alive and still being whipped. The old man seemed to tire of whipping soon enough, and looked down at the doppelganger Shen. "They ain't gonna listen, Shen; finish 'em off how ya please."
The other Shen grinned maliciously and stepped close up to his parents, looking them right in their faces. "Please, Shen..." his mother begged, "Don't do this...remember who we are, who you are..."
As Shen watched with horror and astonishment, the other Shen ignored her pleas and stomped the ground hard, suddenly, causing the ground to shake...and sharp stalagmites to suddenly stick up through the ground and impale the Tyranitar couple fatally. Shen screamed and stumbled back, absolutely appalled by the vision he'd just seen. What the hell?!
Then the scene changed, to one of a blinding white background. Shen looked around, but saw nothing, and no one; he was alone again.
"It was your fault..."
"What the-" Shen started, looking around. All that was in sight was the white scenery, nothing more.
"It was your fault..."
"Who's there?!"
"Your parents are dead because of you..." As the voice said this, the scene of the other Shen impaling his parents on stalagmites played through the room again, before going back to the white scene.
"No...No, i-it was that-"
"He did not attack them. It was you, with your anger and immeasurable power..." The same scene played again, burning into Shen's mind.
"You're wrong."
"Look deep inside yourself...you'll find I tell no lies..."
"You're wrong!" Shen cried defiantly. However, the scene played yet again, and it just began seeming so real to Shen...like it really was the truth...
"See? It was all because of you..."
"No..." Shen clapped his paws over his ears, determined to shut out the voice.
"You caused them to suffer..." The scene played again, yet froze indefinitely at the part of the other Shen actually committed the impaling.
"No!"
"And for that you must perish!"
"NOOOO!"
Instinctively, Shen struck out defensively, in the form of an Ancientpower attack, in an attempt to smash everything around him, as well as the aggressor. The ground at his feet cracked, the large fragments rising up and swirling around the Larvitar in a furious whirlwind, smashing into everything in sight. The image before Shen began to warp and twist hideously, becoming completely unrecognizable. Then, all became dark.
When the attack died down, Shen looked around at what he recognized as what must be the tower's second floor. It was actually lit enough for Shen to see, though barely...and then he saw it. There, on the ground in front of him, was a Shuppet, which Shen assumed was the one responsible for casting the illusions on him. It shook a little with a chuckle. "Such power...no wonder they were killed by such a pitiful creature..." It coughed up blood before continuing. "And all your friends will suffer at your hands..."
"Shut up!" Shen was about to strike out again, until the Shuppet disappeared and was replaced by a different dead body...one he recognized..."No...not her...not Aya!"
Indeed, laying where the Shuppet had been was the deceased form of Shen's new Bulbasaur friend, Aya.
"No..." Shen stared down on her before collapsing to his knees and crying. His wails of grief carried throughout the tower interior...
~*****~
Kilia groaned, feeling wet and tired. Her entire body was sore, and all she wanted to do was to go back to sleep. However, she soon heard words and voices, and realized there were others around. Giving a weak cry as she tried to pull herself away, the memories of what had taken place scant moments crashing down upon her as she fully came awake. Her eyes popped open and she saw the young Bulbasaur from earlier before her, herbs clasped in her vines as she worked on her injuries. Beside Kilia was Shinko, looking down on her form, tears leaking from her eyes in worry. The Absol glanced around and saw Nakkura on the ground, his shoulder and back coated in glossy ice.
Aya blinked as she saw Kilia's eyes open. "Ah, Kilia, you're awake," she said softly, "Don't worry, everything's going to be okay."
Kilia shook her head and stood up quickly, causing Shinko to start and fall back. "No!" she managed to choke out as she heaved herself up, staggering away from the others and shaking terribly. Kilia backed away, shaking her head as the scent of the battle assaulted her nose. "Stay away," she muttered, eyes wide with panic, "It's not safe, I'm not safe!" With that, she whirled and ran, using the bit of strength that had returned to her in her deep slumber to put as much space between herself and the rest of the group. Unbeknownst to her, because her eyes were closed as she bolted, she ran right through the open doors of the tower.
When she finally stopped, sides heaving as she gasped for air, she opened her eyes and glanced around. As she took in the sights, she was struck by the old musty smell of the place. Sneezing, gathered herself and took in her surroundings. She could barely see in the gloom, and she felt my fur prickle at the eeriness of the place. Still, the Absol pressed on after a moment, the memory of her slaying of the Ghosts playing again and again in her mind. She couldn't risk being around Nakkura and all the others, not after what she'd done. This is the only place a monster like me could live, away from others I could hurt.
As she walked, Kilia suddenly heard a huge crash coming from above her, on the second floor. She froze for a second, startled by the noise, and then some instinct drove her into a run. Urged by something she couldn't quite explain, Kilia ran until she came to a series of stairs. Legs pumping, chest and lungs burning, she practically flew up them, straining her muscles for every bit of speed she could muster. She HAD to reach the second floor, she NEEDED to see what had caused that explosion...
After reaching the second floor the Absol stopped, head cocking back and forth. The echo of the explosion soon faded away, and she was left wondering where the source had come from. However, she didn't need the echoes, as she soon heard the distinct sound of crying a second later. She followed it, until she came to a long, dark hallway. She padded closer, seeing a shape on the ground, and it took her a moment to realize who it was.
"Shen!" she gasped, surprised at his appearance. The little Larvitar was on his knees, sobbing terribly. Her first instinct was to go to him, find out what was wrong and try to comfort him. But the memory of how she had destroyed the Ghosts washed over her, and Kilia found myself torn between wanting to help Shen, and wanting to flee from him in order to not put him in danger.
As she stood, shaking and trying to decide what to do, she heard something very faintly. Kilia whirled, thinking someone was behind her, only to see a misty outline that looked vaguely familiar. She crouched, prepared to flee, as the foggy figure took on a more definite shape, until it looked like...
"Keiza!" she gasped, for standing there was the ghostly form of her oldest brother. The Absol smiled sadly at Kilia, and when he spoke his voiced sounded distant and hollow.
"Dear Sister, this place is not for you, nor any of your friends. You must leave this place before its madness claims you all."
"But...I can't return to the others...the Blood Rage..." she murmured, hanging her head in sadness and shame. Her brother sighed softly, and she was urged to look up. Slowly, Kilia lifted her head and met his eyes, so pale and white, just like Kilia's. Only, his were white in death, and hers in life.
"Whiteling, the Blood Rage is not to be feared. Respected, yes, and honored above all things, but never feared. To fear the Blood Rage is to fear yourself, and to fear yourself is to fall into darkness and despair. The Blood Rage is a part of all Absol, all Pokémon, and we must learn to embrace it along with the rest of us."
"But I almost attacked Nakkura!" she argued, feeling the shame and guilt hit her like a physical blow. Kilia dropped my head again, eyes closing as tears threatened to spill. But again, she felt her gaze being drawn up, her eyes opening as her brother began to turn misty and insubstantial once again.
"You will never touch claw or fang or horn to those you love, Kilia. Even the Blood Rage cannot turn you against them, for you are special. You are an Absol unlike any other before. Your oddity will be the salvation of your friends when the Blood Rage is upon you. When you leapt for your friend, it was in desire to defend, not to kill. Look deep inside yourself and you will find this is the truth." Keiza smiled again, this time full of softness and assurance. "All will be well, Whiteling. You just have to believe..." And with that, he was gone...
For a moment Kilia stood, stunned. Then, slowly, she turned back to face Shen. She could feel that Keiza was right, but was still afraid of the Blood Rage that now dwelled so close to the surface of her consciousness. Kilia knew she would always be a little scared of it, but she wouldn't let that fear conquer her. Instead, she would meld it, turn it into the respect and honor Keiza had spoken of. The first step to that transformation was trusting herself, and trusting Keiza.
"Shen, are you alright?" she asked as she walked over to him, hoping that the others would be able to trust her as she had to trust her...
Shen had barely registered her appearance, he was so wrapped up in his sadness. He could never have killed his parents...could he? No, no, he'd never be so heartless and cruel...would he...? Maybe...maybe the Shuppet was right...maybe he was a monster...then...Shen made up his mind; he had no choice...he'd have to leave his friends behind, for their own safety. "Please...stay away..." Shen groaned, barely audible to himself. "I...I don't want to harm you too..." In a fit of grief, he suddenly tore off across the floor, hoping that nobody would follow him. Tears streamed from his eyes as he left the only friends he had ever trusted...the only friends he ever had...
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Darkness...absolutely no light, not even from the open doorway, offered its guidance through the thick darkness that permeated the interior of the Tower for the Larvitar now trying to find his way in. As soon as he had stepped in, he could feel the very dark power than emanated from deep within, a horrible feeling of intense evil and darkness. It chilled him to the bone, but nothing would deter Shen now. He would find Seth and make him pay for almost killing his friends.
With the supernatural darkness covering every bit of the tower interior, Shen had to rely on his other four senses...
Shen walked carefully through the first floor of the Tower, occasionally bumping into a pillar or table he was unable to avoid. Besides these small detours around these objects, the walk was smooth. He was glad that it was merely these that he bumped into, and not something less desirable...
It wasn't very long before Shen stumbled upon what he found to be stairs; just what he wanted. With a huff and furrowed brow, he began climbing the stairs, slowly. He was not to be deterred, but he still didn't want to rush into anything unpleasant. So, step by step, he penetrated further into the damned building...
At the top of the stairs, an oddly flighty sensation suddenly passed through Shen, like something familiar was near and his mind knew it, but Shen found nothing that would bring such feelings to him. Carefully alert, he looked around into the absolute darkness, but, of course, still could not see anything. So he branched out his search with his other senses. He heard...the soft splash of a small, distant waterfall, and the sound of wind rustling quietly through tree leaves. He felt...the cool wind against his rocky skin. He smelled...was that some kind of pie? And it smelled like it was bluk berry pie, his favorite...These things would've once brought Shen comfort, but now they made him more tense and wary of the Tower. He'd have to watch for anything and everything.
Shen took a single, agonizingly slow step forward...
Light exploded in front of Shen, causing a great amount of pain in his eyes. He slammed his eyes shut, rubbing them hard and groaning at the sudden pain inflicted upon him. Stars buzzed out of the darkness of Shen's eyelids as he rubbed them frantically. Then, all too soon, the light dimmed. Shen squinted out of his eyes to see what lay before him. When the Larvitar saw it, he gaped and opened his eyes wide in surprise.
He stood in a small, hilly meadow, the grass short, yet long enough to sway in the light wind. Close by, he saw a raised portion of the land, like a cliff but only about fifteen feet high, jutting upwards suddenly out of the ground; a waterfall cascaded softly down the rocks into a small pond. Near this pond, hidden in the shadow of a large tree, was a house, looking to be made for only about three people. From a window nearest Shen, there sat a cooling pie...the bluk berry pie he'd smelled earlier. These features in the landscape held a huge meaning for Shen...This was where his first trainer, his kind trainer, had lived; that pond was where the trainer had even trained Shen's resistance to water little by little. "This is where I grew up..."
"Shen, there you are," a voice spoke up from behind him, "Where have you been? It's almost lunchtime, hun."
The very sound of that voice made Shen's breath catch in his throat. It...It just can't be...Can it? he though. Slowly, very slowly, he turned around.
Standing before now were two Tyranitar, both smiling kindly down at him...His mother and father.
"Mom...dad..." he whispered in disbelief.
Shen's father cocked his eye in confusion at his son. "What's wrong, Shen? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Oh, dad!" Feelings of love and pain exploded within the little Larvitar, sending him running to his mother and father. Shen grabbed onto his mother's leg and cried into it. "You're here...you're really here..."
A look of puzzlement crossed between the two Tyranitar. The female Tyranitar looked back down to Shen and patted his head behind his horn. "Shen, what's up, sweetie? Of course we're here, it's not like we went anywhere. You only saw us five minutes ago, after all."
Shen's eyes blinked open in confusion. He looked up to his mother's face, tears still leaking from his eyes. "Five minutes ago...? But...I haven't seen you in so long...I saw you two die..."
The two Tyranitar adopted incredulous expressions. ""Die? What are you talking about? We're standing right here, after all," his father said, "You must've dozed off and had a nightmare, or something, son."
"But..." Shen backed up a little, slowly. There's only one way to prove that I'm right... he thought, reaching behind his back with his right hand slowly, feeling for one specific feature of his body...He grimaced as he felt the very tip of the scar on his back, the one thing that proved his nightmare to be real. "If it was just a dream...how did I get this?" Shen asked, turning around on the spot.
Shen's parents both gasped in unison. "Shen?! How did you get that horrible cut on your back?!" his mother cried.
Before Shen could even begin to answer...the scene shifted instantly before his eyes.
It was nighttime, and the area he stood in was lit by a large light source that came from behind him; Shen could smell wood burning, it must be a fire, and by the sound of it...a large one. Short, leafless trees were scattered about, maybe three within the light of the fire. There was little grass, all of which was stiff and dead-looking, while the rest of the place was filled with dirt. Shen turned slowly, memories surfacing with every vision before him. There was a wooden house with the roofed porch; the house was in disrepair, boards broken, sticking out, or right-out missing from the building. The porch was caving in on itself, sagging down low to the dirt. A tree was half-collapsed onto the roof of the house, its roots sticking up where they had been ripped from the ground.
Before Shen turned any more, there came the sound of a whip cracking, cutting through the partial silence of the night. Shen froze; something about that whip sounded...too familiar. He turned the rest of the way around quickly, facing the source of the noise, to see an awful sight.
There was the cruel man who had given him his scar...who had killed his parents...holding a whip tight in his right hand. He wore blue jeans with holes in the knees, a tannish shirt with a flimsy leather vest, and a floppy, wide-brimmed hat, and on his back was that shotgun he always carried. Before him, crouching over and bleeding from several extremely deep cuts...were his parents.
"W...what the hell?!" Shen screeched, "YOU!"
The man turned to him and growled, showing his yellow teeth. "Don't dare speak out against me, ya little runt!" He turned the whip to Shen, approached him, and raised it. Shen flinched slightly, but continued to glare at the man. The whip came down...
Only to stop in the grip of a large, green claw. The man yelled as the claw closed down hard on his hand, crushing the bones within. "Don't you dare touch my son!" Shen's mother growled loudly at him, livid. Shen's father, equally angry, came from behind and hit the man hard with a right hook to his side, causing him to be flung from the female Tyranitar's grip and slide hard against the dirt, a cloud of dust obscuring him momentarily. Roaring loudly, the two Tyranitar charged at him.
Then the smoke cleared, revealing him standing up and clutching his shotgun a little ungainly, because of his broken hand. His hat was still in the dirt, and his hair was mussed up, giving him a completely insane look when coupled with his wide eyes and his awful sneer. As the Tyranitar charged in a bloodthirsty rage, he took aim. "If you won't listen t'yer master, ya ain't worth keepin' alive!"
"NO!" Shen screamed...but it was too late.
The shotgun lit up as the man pulled the trigger, firing out its deadly load. Tyranitar have strong carapaces, able to withstand the hardest hits...save in their faces, where their armor is very susceptible to projectiles. Unfortunately for Shen's parents, that is exactly where the pellets hit them. They were thrown back as blood sprouted from their wounds, still barely standing. The man cocked the shotgun with his broken hand and fired once more, hitting them on the dot and blowing their heads apart.
The two Tyranitar collapsed, dead.
"No..." Shen moaned, crying again, "Not again..." He sobbed aloud as he clutched his head...
Suddenly, there was a flash, and Shen could tell that things were different. The specific sounds and smells had jolted silent, but the fire still burned. Slowly, Shen removed his paws from his head and opened his eyes...
As he suspected, he was still in the dirt-filled yard of that cruel man, but his parent's bodies were no longer before him. Shen blinked, confused, and glanced left and right. The scene was the same, save for the fact that there wasn't another living being around...
Suddenly, the crack of that whip cracked through the air, right behind Shen. He spun and set his eyes once more on the scene of the man whipping his parents mercilessly. But something was different, and it was strikingly obvious what it was...
Shen saw an exact duplicate of himself standing right next to the man.
It was something else, to see one's self apart from one's consciousness, Shen mused oddly. As he watched with curiosity on the scene, he noticed that his duplicate already had the changed eyes, and the scar on his back, which made Shen wonder what exactly was going on here; if those changes were already there, what were his parents doing alive and still being whipped. The old man seemed to tire of whipping soon enough, and looked down at the doppelganger Shen. "They ain't gonna listen, Shen; finish 'em off how ya please."
The other Shen grinned maliciously and stepped close up to his parents, looking them right in their faces. "Please, Shen..." his mother begged, "Don't do this...remember who we are, who you are..."
As Shen watched with horror and astonishment, the other Shen ignored her pleas and stomped the ground hard, suddenly, causing the ground to shake...and sharp stalagmites to suddenly stick up through the ground and impale the Tyranitar couple fatally. Shen screamed and stumbled back, absolutely appalled by the vision he'd just seen. What the hell?!
Then the scene changed, to one of a blinding white background. Shen looked around, but saw nothing, and no one; he was alone again.
"It was your fault..."
"What the-" Shen started, looking around. All that was in sight was the white scenery, nothing more.
"It was your fault..."
"Who's there?!"
"Your parents are dead because of you..." As the voice said this, the scene of the other Shen impaling his parents on stalagmites played through the room again, before going back to the white scene.
"No...No, i-it was that-"
"He did not attack them. It was you, with your anger and immeasurable power..." The same scene played again, burning into Shen's mind.
"You're wrong."
"Look deep inside yourself...you'll find I tell no lies..."
"You're wrong!" Shen cried defiantly. However, the scene played yet again, and it just began seeming so real to Shen...like it really was the truth...
"See? It was all because of you..."
"No..." Shen clapped his paws over his ears, determined to shut out the voice.
"You caused them to suffer..." The scene played again, yet froze indefinitely at the part of the other Shen actually committed the impaling.
"No!"
"And for that you must perish!"
"NOOOO!"
Instinctively, Shen struck out defensively, in the form of an Ancientpower attack, in an attempt to smash everything around him, as well as the aggressor. The ground at his feet cracked, the large fragments rising up and swirling around the Larvitar in a furious whirlwind, smashing into everything in sight. The image before Shen began to warp and twist hideously, becoming completely unrecognizable. Then, all became dark.
When the attack died down, Shen looked around at what he recognized as what must be the tower's second floor. It was actually lit enough for Shen to see, though barely...and then he saw it. There, on the ground in front of him, was a Shuppet, which Shen assumed was the one responsible for casting the illusions on him. It shook a little with a chuckle. "Such power...no wonder they were killed by such a pitiful creature..." It coughed up blood before continuing. "And all your friends will suffer at your hands..."
"Shut up!" Shen was about to strike out again, until the Shuppet disappeared and was replaced by a different dead body...one he recognized..."No...not her...not Aya!"
Indeed, laying where the Shuppet had been was the deceased form of Shen's new Bulbasaur friend, Aya.
"No..." Shen stared down on her before collapsing to his knees and crying. His wails of grief carried throughout the tower interior...
~*****~
Kilia groaned, feeling wet and tired. Her entire body was sore, and all she wanted to do was to go back to sleep. However, she soon heard words and voices, and realized there were others around. Giving a weak cry as she tried to pull herself away, the memories of what had taken place scant moments crashing down upon her as she fully came awake. Her eyes popped open and she saw the young Bulbasaur from earlier before her, herbs clasped in her vines as she worked on her injuries. Beside Kilia was Shinko, looking down on her form, tears leaking from her eyes in worry. The Absol glanced around and saw Nakkura on the ground, his shoulder and back coated in glossy ice.
Aya blinked as she saw Kilia's eyes open. "Ah, Kilia, you're awake," she said softly, "Don't worry, everything's going to be okay."
Kilia shook her head and stood up quickly, causing Shinko to start and fall back. "No!" she managed to choke out as she heaved herself up, staggering away from the others and shaking terribly. Kilia backed away, shaking her head as the scent of the battle assaulted her nose. "Stay away," she muttered, eyes wide with panic, "It's not safe, I'm not safe!" With that, she whirled and ran, using the bit of strength that had returned to her in her deep slumber to put as much space between herself and the rest of the group. Unbeknownst to her, because her eyes were closed as she bolted, she ran right through the open doors of the tower.
When she finally stopped, sides heaving as she gasped for air, she opened her eyes and glanced around. As she took in the sights, she was struck by the old musty smell of the place. Sneezing, gathered herself and took in her surroundings. She could barely see in the gloom, and she felt my fur prickle at the eeriness of the place. Still, the Absol pressed on after a moment, the memory of her slaying of the Ghosts playing again and again in her mind. She couldn't risk being around Nakkura and all the others, not after what she'd done. This is the only place a monster like me could live, away from others I could hurt.
As she walked, Kilia suddenly heard a huge crash coming from above her, on the second floor. She froze for a second, startled by the noise, and then some instinct drove her into a run. Urged by something she couldn't quite explain, Kilia ran until she came to a series of stairs. Legs pumping, chest and lungs burning, she practically flew up them, straining her muscles for every bit of speed she could muster. She HAD to reach the second floor, she NEEDED to see what had caused that explosion...
After reaching the second floor the Absol stopped, head cocking back and forth. The echo of the explosion soon faded away, and she was left wondering where the source had come from. However, she didn't need the echoes, as she soon heard the distinct sound of crying a second later. She followed it, until she came to a long, dark hallway. She padded closer, seeing a shape on the ground, and it took her a moment to realize who it was.
"Shen!" she gasped, surprised at his appearance. The little Larvitar was on his knees, sobbing terribly. Her first instinct was to go to him, find out what was wrong and try to comfort him. But the memory of how she had destroyed the Ghosts washed over her, and Kilia found myself torn between wanting to help Shen, and wanting to flee from him in order to not put him in danger.
As she stood, shaking and trying to decide what to do, she heard something very faintly. Kilia whirled, thinking someone was behind her, only to see a misty outline that looked vaguely familiar. She crouched, prepared to flee, as the foggy figure took on a more definite shape, until it looked like...
"Keiza!" she gasped, for standing there was the ghostly form of her oldest brother. The Absol smiled sadly at Kilia, and when he spoke his voiced sounded distant and hollow.
"Dear Sister, this place is not for you, nor any of your friends. You must leave this place before its madness claims you all."
"But...I can't return to the others...the Blood Rage..." she murmured, hanging her head in sadness and shame. Her brother sighed softly, and she was urged to look up. Slowly, Kilia lifted her head and met his eyes, so pale and white, just like Kilia's. Only, his were white in death, and hers in life.
"Whiteling, the Blood Rage is not to be feared. Respected, yes, and honored above all things, but never feared. To fear the Blood Rage is to fear yourself, and to fear yourself is to fall into darkness and despair. The Blood Rage is a part of all Absol, all Pokémon, and we must learn to embrace it along with the rest of us."
"But I almost attacked Nakkura!" she argued, feeling the shame and guilt hit her like a physical blow. Kilia dropped my head again, eyes closing as tears threatened to spill. But again, she felt her gaze being drawn up, her eyes opening as her brother began to turn misty and insubstantial once again.
"You will never touch claw or fang or horn to those you love, Kilia. Even the Blood Rage cannot turn you against them, for you are special. You are an Absol unlike any other before. Your oddity will be the salvation of your friends when the Blood Rage is upon you. When you leapt for your friend, it was in desire to defend, not to kill. Look deep inside yourself and you will find this is the truth." Keiza smiled again, this time full of softness and assurance. "All will be well, Whiteling. You just have to believe..." And with that, he was gone...
For a moment Kilia stood, stunned. Then, slowly, she turned back to face Shen. She could feel that Keiza was right, but was still afraid of the Blood Rage that now dwelled so close to the surface of her consciousness. Kilia knew she would always be a little scared of it, but she wouldn't let that fear conquer her. Instead, she would meld it, turn it into the respect and honor Keiza had spoken of. The first step to that transformation was trusting herself, and trusting Keiza.
"Shen, are you alright?" she asked as she walked over to him, hoping that the others would be able to trust her as she had to trust her...
Shen had barely registered her appearance, he was so wrapped up in his sadness. He could never have killed his parents...could he? No, no, he'd never be so heartless and cruel...would he...? Maybe...maybe the Shuppet was right...maybe he was a monster...then...Shen made up his mind; he had no choice...he'd have to leave his friends behind, for their own safety. "Please...stay away..." Shen groaned, barely audible to himself. "I...I don't want to harm you too..." In a fit of grief, he suddenly tore off across the floor, hoping that nobody would follow him. Tears streamed from his eyes as he left the only friends he had ever trusted...the only friends he ever had...