Ghost of the Chateau
Chapter 6: Ghost of the Chateau
Meil felt sick as he lay on his bed, staring up into the dark sleeves of the coats and shirts. He could not believe what was going on. One day, he was quietly sulking in the dark alleys of Jubilife City, and now all kinds of horrible people were after him. He felt more afraid than he had ever felt in his life. Who was going to die like Lucifer had next? His family? His entire neighborhood? Even, Kyra?
How far would these people go to get the song? All this was to much for him. Why? Why did he have to know it? He wished he could just erase it from his mind forever, than there would be nobody after him. Nobody would die because of him.
But every time he thought of the song, he heard each notes as clearly as if they were being played directly in his ears. He remembered how Lucifer had played the song on his glass flute that cold rainy day at the Church of Arcues. And that terrifying man, who threatened to kill everyone he held dear.
He heard a knock at the door, and sat up, the images of his past fading away like smoke as Kyra stepped in. "Meil, are you all right?", she asked tentatively, closing the door, and sitting down beside him. Meil shook his head. "No.", he said honestly. Kyra put an arm around him, which made Meil look over at her.
She was smiling, despite Meil's feelings of doom-and-gloom. "Meil, you don't think I can protect you? You don't think I was right for the job?", she asked suddenly. Meil had not been expecting this, and he did not know what to say.
"What? Oh, well... I think you can, Kyra. I do. But think about it. We have three enemies all looking for us. And if the order can't do anything, than it would be just me and you against an army of people who want to kill us. Remember, these people probably have Pokemon too, and from what I hear about them, their Pokemon are probably just as bad as they are."
Kyra put her other arm around him in a close embrace. "Meil, you worry to much. You need to relax.", she said in a calming voice. She leaned in close, and Meil had only just realized how close their faces were.
She closed her eyes, and her lips were just inches away from his when the door suddenly swung open. "Meil, I need to tell something real quick. I- Oh, um... Am I intruding on something?" Tony was framed in the doorway as he looked with a slightly bemused expression as he watched Kyra and Meil on the bed. Both Meil and Kyra turned their heads to look at Tony, who look most embarrassed.
"Er, sorry to interrupt, Meil. But I need to have a word with you, and Kyra too. If you please." Kyra slowly slid off Meil's lap, her face burning crimson.
Meil looked around as he entered to computer room. "Where are Dorin and Alice?", he asked Tony, as he and Kyra sat in the same chairs opposite of Tony as the day before. "Still asleep I expect.", Tony said in a casual tone. "They were up late last night researching."
"Researching what?", Meil asked curiously. "I'm about to tell you.", Tony replied, leaning back in his chair. "Our next plan of action is simple. We plan on destroying the Heaven's Pipe altogether to put it simply. If we destroy it, there will be no point in our enemies chase. As for the song, I have another brilliant idea.", he opened a drawer in one of the desks, and took out the thick book entitled, "The Book of Physics".
"We can erase the song from your mind permanently if you wish." Meil beamed. "Really?!" Tony nodded. "It might not be easy, but if we are able to find the first of the legendary trio, Uxie, it could clear your mind of the song forever.
The only drawback is that it also may wipe out your memory completely. So we decided that did not matter anyhow, seeing as our enemies would not believe us even if we told them it had been wiped from your memory. So right now we must focus on getting the Heaven's Pipe itself." "How are we going to do that?", Meil asked, sounding slightly alarmed by this risky move.
"To our knowledge, the pipe is being held in an abandoned warehouse in Veilstone City. The warehouse was once a hideout for an organization called Team Galactic, but after they cleared out long ago, the military group convinced Coal to keep it under their watch in the warehouse. And it's really advance stuff. The security I mean. We couldn't even get in there!
But after a month of research, we've found the solution! There is a Pokemon known as Rotom. It is extremely rare, and many don't even know about it. But it was the ability to hack into electronics, and wreak havoc. And if we had one, we could easily get into the warehouse with much effort." "So, where can we find one of these?", Meil asked skeptically.
"We've actually heard sightings of a Rotom in the old chateau which is located deep within the Eterna Forest. It's said to appear from a TV in one of the rooms. That the TV sometimes turns itself on, even though the chateau doesn't have any electricity."
Meil raised an eyebrow. "So, I'm guessing that's our next mission?" Tony nodded. "Precisely. We're leaving tonight, around 1:00 in the morning. That's when it's said to be seen."
"1:00 in the morning!?"
"Yes, around that time. The real problem will be catching it though, so be prepared."
Kyra toppled onto the grass, groaning and clutching her stomach. "I don't think i'll ever get used to flying.", she sighed, as Meil helped her off the ground. "Doesn't matter. We're here!", Tony said, gesturing towards an enormous mansion beyond a steel fence.
Everything was surrounded by shadowy trees, with dark vines snaking around the fence and the house itself, giving it the impression of something ancient. It was almost completely dark except for the moon, which sent streams of bluish light through the branches of the trees. It was eerie though; strange calls of unknown creatures echoed in the night, and the shadows of the trees swallowed everything that ventured into them.
"Well, what are all of us standing around for? Let's get a move on!", Alice called, and all three flyers were returned to their Pokeballs as the five dark figures made their way through the gate, and towards the house.
Meil squinted at the growing silhouette of the house, and thought, for a second, he saw a faint glimmer of something through one of the windows, like a small flicker of light. This unnerved him, and he whispered, "Stay close to me.", to Kyra, who took his hand. Meil look over at her face, which had regained it's color after their flight.
What do you think?", he asked her. "This is neat! This old house, it's just so huge, and it looks like nobody has lived here for years!" Meil could not mirror her enthusiasm as accurately. "Yah, I suppose. But it's a bit spooky, isn't it?" Kyra smirked and squeezed his hand. "Why, are you scared?", she said in a teasing voice. "No.", Meil said, a little to quickly.
"Sure you aren't.", she snickered. Tony thankfully switched on a strong flashlight, making a large pool of light on the grass. Meil was now looking up at the old chateau. "Well, here we go.", Tony said bracingly. He pushed the door open, to a rectangle of absolute, pitch-black darkness.
Meil's stomach turned as he walked into the blackness. The inside of the house was much colder than it was outside it, which was very unusual. Tony moved the flashlight's beam across the room, and tiny creatures scattered at the sudden light.
"Where is this room?", Meil asked Tony, but to his surprise, Dorin, who hardly ever said anything, replied, "Go up the balcony and through the right door." Tony nodded, pointing the flashlight up the balcony toward said door. "Let's move."
This door led into a kitchen, which looked just as ancient and crumbling as the rest of the house. "Why is it so cold in here?", Alice shivered. "That'll be all the ghost Pokemon in here. They reduce the temputure in the general area.", Tony explained.
Another door led to a long hallway lined with doors. "We're close.", Dorin said in his flat, expressionless voice. "Everyone stay close. It's gotta be one of these rooms." After trying three different doors that revealed nothing, they opened a door to a large flickering screen coming from a TV in the back of the room.
"This is it!", Tony said in an excited whisper. The TV was flickering static, but between flickers, Meil thought he saw something, like pair of sinister eyes staring at him through screen. Everyone in the room was thrown into a ghostly, flickering light as they drew closer to the TV.
"So, how do we get it out of the TV?", Alice asked, inspecting the TV. Tony scratched his head. "I'm not sure to be perfectly honest. Hmm... Let's try this.", he pressed a few of the buttons on the TV, but nothing happened. "Shoot, what can we do?", me muttered. Alice walked up and banged the top of the TV with her fist. "Come on you damn thing! I didn't come out here for nothing!"
Tony grabbed her wrist. "Alice, don't do that, we need to- AH!" There was a sudden crack like lightning, and a rushing sound like a overloaded power line. The TV screen seemed to explode with light as a small, radiant something flew from the screen, flying straight through the wall.
"There it goes!", Tony yelled, pointing to the place on the wall in had flown through. He threw the door open to a small, red, glowing ball of light grinning maniacally down at them. "Rotom...", Dorin said. Tony nodded. "Exactly! Get em'!" Before Meil could give the command, Kyra was already after it. The Rotom swiveled this way and that as Kyra blasted Dark Pulses across the hall.
It loosed a jolt of electricity that collided with Kyra's Dark Pulse, exploding on impact, dust cascading in a blinding cloud as Kyra tried yet again in vain to even hit the ghost as it flickered in and out of sight. Sometimes in front of her, sometimes behind her. Teasing her; it's strange laughter sounded like radio static.
The Rotom sent a nasty jolt of electricity through Kyra, and she yelped in pain as she was blind-sighted by the attack. Kyra was becoming more and more angry as the Rotom continued to evade her attacks. Her Dark Pulses were being fired in fast succession now, exploding off walls and ceilings as she threw one after the other.
Kyra was panting hard as the Rotom disappeared yet again. Rotom reappeared, this time to her left. And to everyones astonishment, she threw an Aura Sphere, which the ghost hadn't seen coming. Rotom quickly disappeared, but the Aura Sphere simply followed it as it appeared behind her this time. The Rotom braced itself, closing it's eyes tightly as the Aura Sphere simply passed through it, being a fighting type attack, and it being a ghost type.
Kyra took this sudden opportunity to turn around on the spot, and blast it out of the air with a fully charged Dark Pulse. The Rotom was knocked to the floor, where it lay twitching weakly. Tony tossed an Ultra Ball, and it disappeared in a flash of red inside. The Pokeball shook weakly before remaining motionless.
"Thank you, Kyra.", Tony said appreciatively, picking up the Pokeball. "No problem.", Kyra panted, wiping sweat off her forehead, and smiling at Meil, giving him the thumbs up. "Man that was annoying.", she concluded, approaching Meil as they began walking back down the hallway, their new weapon in hand, and their next mission in mind.
Meil felt sick as he lay on his bed, staring up into the dark sleeves of the coats and shirts. He could not believe what was going on. One day, he was quietly sulking in the dark alleys of Jubilife City, and now all kinds of horrible people were after him. He felt more afraid than he had ever felt in his life. Who was going to die like Lucifer had next? His family? His entire neighborhood? Even, Kyra?
How far would these people go to get the song? All this was to much for him. Why? Why did he have to know it? He wished he could just erase it from his mind forever, than there would be nobody after him. Nobody would die because of him.
But every time he thought of the song, he heard each notes as clearly as if they were being played directly in his ears. He remembered how Lucifer had played the song on his glass flute that cold rainy day at the Church of Arcues. And that terrifying man, who threatened to kill everyone he held dear.
He heard a knock at the door, and sat up, the images of his past fading away like smoke as Kyra stepped in. "Meil, are you all right?", she asked tentatively, closing the door, and sitting down beside him. Meil shook his head. "No.", he said honestly. Kyra put an arm around him, which made Meil look over at her.
She was smiling, despite Meil's feelings of doom-and-gloom. "Meil, you don't think I can protect you? You don't think I was right for the job?", she asked suddenly. Meil had not been expecting this, and he did not know what to say.
"What? Oh, well... I think you can, Kyra. I do. But think about it. We have three enemies all looking for us. And if the order can't do anything, than it would be just me and you against an army of people who want to kill us. Remember, these people probably have Pokemon too, and from what I hear about them, their Pokemon are probably just as bad as they are."
Kyra put her other arm around him in a close embrace. "Meil, you worry to much. You need to relax.", she said in a calming voice. She leaned in close, and Meil had only just realized how close their faces were.
She closed her eyes, and her lips were just inches away from his when the door suddenly swung open. "Meil, I need to tell something real quick. I- Oh, um... Am I intruding on something?" Tony was framed in the doorway as he looked with a slightly bemused expression as he watched Kyra and Meil on the bed. Both Meil and Kyra turned their heads to look at Tony, who look most embarrassed.
"Er, sorry to interrupt, Meil. But I need to have a word with you, and Kyra too. If you please." Kyra slowly slid off Meil's lap, her face burning crimson.
Meil looked around as he entered to computer room. "Where are Dorin and Alice?", he asked Tony, as he and Kyra sat in the same chairs opposite of Tony as the day before. "Still asleep I expect.", Tony said in a casual tone. "They were up late last night researching."
"Researching what?", Meil asked curiously. "I'm about to tell you.", Tony replied, leaning back in his chair. "Our next plan of action is simple. We plan on destroying the Heaven's Pipe altogether to put it simply. If we destroy it, there will be no point in our enemies chase. As for the song, I have another brilliant idea.", he opened a drawer in one of the desks, and took out the thick book entitled, "The Book of Physics".
"We can erase the song from your mind permanently if you wish." Meil beamed. "Really?!" Tony nodded. "It might not be easy, but if we are able to find the first of the legendary trio, Uxie, it could clear your mind of the song forever.
The only drawback is that it also may wipe out your memory completely. So we decided that did not matter anyhow, seeing as our enemies would not believe us even if we told them it had been wiped from your memory. So right now we must focus on getting the Heaven's Pipe itself." "How are we going to do that?", Meil asked, sounding slightly alarmed by this risky move.
"To our knowledge, the pipe is being held in an abandoned warehouse in Veilstone City. The warehouse was once a hideout for an organization called Team Galactic, but after they cleared out long ago, the military group convinced Coal to keep it under their watch in the warehouse. And it's really advance stuff. The security I mean. We couldn't even get in there!
But after a month of research, we've found the solution! There is a Pokemon known as Rotom. It is extremely rare, and many don't even know about it. But it was the ability to hack into electronics, and wreak havoc. And if we had one, we could easily get into the warehouse with much effort." "So, where can we find one of these?", Meil asked skeptically.
"We've actually heard sightings of a Rotom in the old chateau which is located deep within the Eterna Forest. It's said to appear from a TV in one of the rooms. That the TV sometimes turns itself on, even though the chateau doesn't have any electricity."
Meil raised an eyebrow. "So, I'm guessing that's our next mission?" Tony nodded. "Precisely. We're leaving tonight, around 1:00 in the morning. That's when it's said to be seen."
"1:00 in the morning!?"
"Yes, around that time. The real problem will be catching it though, so be prepared."
Kyra toppled onto the grass, groaning and clutching her stomach. "I don't think i'll ever get used to flying.", she sighed, as Meil helped her off the ground. "Doesn't matter. We're here!", Tony said, gesturing towards an enormous mansion beyond a steel fence.
Everything was surrounded by shadowy trees, with dark vines snaking around the fence and the house itself, giving it the impression of something ancient. It was almost completely dark except for the moon, which sent streams of bluish light through the branches of the trees. It was eerie though; strange calls of unknown creatures echoed in the night, and the shadows of the trees swallowed everything that ventured into them.
"Well, what are all of us standing around for? Let's get a move on!", Alice called, and all three flyers were returned to their Pokeballs as the five dark figures made their way through the gate, and towards the house.
Meil squinted at the growing silhouette of the house, and thought, for a second, he saw a faint glimmer of something through one of the windows, like a small flicker of light. This unnerved him, and he whispered, "Stay close to me.", to Kyra, who took his hand. Meil look over at her face, which had regained it's color after their flight.
What do you think?", he asked her. "This is neat! This old house, it's just so huge, and it looks like nobody has lived here for years!" Meil could not mirror her enthusiasm as accurately. "Yah, I suppose. But it's a bit spooky, isn't it?" Kyra smirked and squeezed his hand. "Why, are you scared?", she said in a teasing voice. "No.", Meil said, a little to quickly.
"Sure you aren't.", she snickered. Tony thankfully switched on a strong flashlight, making a large pool of light on the grass. Meil was now looking up at the old chateau. "Well, here we go.", Tony said bracingly. He pushed the door open, to a rectangle of absolute, pitch-black darkness.
Meil's stomach turned as he walked into the blackness. The inside of the house was much colder than it was outside it, which was very unusual. Tony moved the flashlight's beam across the room, and tiny creatures scattered at the sudden light.
"Where is this room?", Meil asked Tony, but to his surprise, Dorin, who hardly ever said anything, replied, "Go up the balcony and through the right door." Tony nodded, pointing the flashlight up the balcony toward said door. "Let's move."
This door led into a kitchen, which looked just as ancient and crumbling as the rest of the house. "Why is it so cold in here?", Alice shivered. "That'll be all the ghost Pokemon in here. They reduce the temputure in the general area.", Tony explained.
Another door led to a long hallway lined with doors. "We're close.", Dorin said in his flat, expressionless voice. "Everyone stay close. It's gotta be one of these rooms." After trying three different doors that revealed nothing, they opened a door to a large flickering screen coming from a TV in the back of the room.
"This is it!", Tony said in an excited whisper. The TV was flickering static, but between flickers, Meil thought he saw something, like pair of sinister eyes staring at him through screen. Everyone in the room was thrown into a ghostly, flickering light as they drew closer to the TV.
"So, how do we get it out of the TV?", Alice asked, inspecting the TV. Tony scratched his head. "I'm not sure to be perfectly honest. Hmm... Let's try this.", he pressed a few of the buttons on the TV, but nothing happened. "Shoot, what can we do?", me muttered. Alice walked up and banged the top of the TV with her fist. "Come on you damn thing! I didn't come out here for nothing!"
Tony grabbed her wrist. "Alice, don't do that, we need to- AH!" There was a sudden crack like lightning, and a rushing sound like a overloaded power line. The TV screen seemed to explode with light as a small, radiant something flew from the screen, flying straight through the wall.
"There it goes!", Tony yelled, pointing to the place on the wall in had flown through. He threw the door open to a small, red, glowing ball of light grinning maniacally down at them. "Rotom...", Dorin said. Tony nodded. "Exactly! Get em'!" Before Meil could give the command, Kyra was already after it. The Rotom swiveled this way and that as Kyra blasted Dark Pulses across the hall.
It loosed a jolt of electricity that collided with Kyra's Dark Pulse, exploding on impact, dust cascading in a blinding cloud as Kyra tried yet again in vain to even hit the ghost as it flickered in and out of sight. Sometimes in front of her, sometimes behind her. Teasing her; it's strange laughter sounded like radio static.
The Rotom sent a nasty jolt of electricity through Kyra, and she yelped in pain as she was blind-sighted by the attack. Kyra was becoming more and more angry as the Rotom continued to evade her attacks. Her Dark Pulses were being fired in fast succession now, exploding off walls and ceilings as she threw one after the other.
Kyra was panting hard as the Rotom disappeared yet again. Rotom reappeared, this time to her left. And to everyones astonishment, she threw an Aura Sphere, which the ghost hadn't seen coming. Rotom quickly disappeared, but the Aura Sphere simply followed it as it appeared behind her this time. The Rotom braced itself, closing it's eyes tightly as the Aura Sphere simply passed through it, being a fighting type attack, and it being a ghost type.
Kyra took this sudden opportunity to turn around on the spot, and blast it out of the air with a fully charged Dark Pulse. The Rotom was knocked to the floor, where it lay twitching weakly. Tony tossed an Ultra Ball, and it disappeared in a flash of red inside. The Pokeball shook weakly before remaining motionless.
"Thank you, Kyra.", Tony said appreciatively, picking up the Pokeball. "No problem.", Kyra panted, wiping sweat off her forehead, and smiling at Meil, giving him the thumbs up. "Man that was annoying.", she concluded, approaching Meil as they began walking back down the hallway, their new weapon in hand, and their next mission in mind.