The Gap Between Time
Legend of the Crimson Lucario
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Only the idea and OC's.
Author Notes:
-- This will be used for scene breaks and for when the story switches to another character, but it does not mean that a new section of the story has started.
xXx This will identify where each paragraph breaks.
'Poketalk'
Disclaimer: Don't own Pokemon, never have, never will. Only the idea and OCs behind the story are mine
Beta reader: Catsithx
xXx
Chapter 2: The Gap Between Time
A small device starting beeping on Hellstorm's wrist in a constant set of three quick beeps followed by a pause. The device was a small blue wristwatch that Hellstorm had brought back with him though time and thankfully, most who saw it mistook it for a wizardry bracelet of some kind. It was the only reminder of his mother that he had left. He lay with his hands tied up along side of some sort of stone wall with his cloak laying a few feet from him. Hellstorm slowly opened his eyes. It was dark out, but there was some light. A large fire in the center of the room heated the area, but did not seem to give off much light. "I'm up." Hellstorm was still quite out of it. Hellstorm went to move his arms, but could not. "Huh?" Hellstorm looked around. His vision was blurred.
"My, my, you certainly woke up quickly. I've been forced to deal with many males like that before, but they normally took all night to wake up." A female voice sounded out.
"Where am I?" Hellstorm asked completely forgetting how he had gotten into this mess.
"She must have really hit you hard." The voice called out.
"That you ya old witch?" Hellstorm asked.
"Old witch?" The voice pouted playfully. "I'll have you know I'm still very young by demon standards."
"Just tell me where I am?" Hellstorm asked while yawning, his eyes slowly adjusting to the dark.
"You're in my little den." The voice called drawing closer. Hellstorm looked down seeing that his feet were chained up and his pants were missing revealing the dark fur that they hid along with the sheath that housed his sex organ, but he was still too out of it to realize what was going on. The device on his arm was still beeping. "And what is with that sound?" A dark figure slowly slithered forward. The Lamia showed herself in the dim light, her green tail scales seemingly giving off a minor glow of their own in the dim light. Tossing some sort of bottle onto the flames, the entire room lit up as the flames roared to life. The Lamia held The Whistling Blade in her left hand. Her long blonde hair sparkled in the light like it was a little wet. She slid the blade behind Hellstorm and removed the wristwatch. "Such a pretty bracelet, but why does it make noise?" She asked.
"That's how I keep track of time." Hellstorm was slowly gaining a hold on the real world. His vision no longer blurred; he took a good look around. He was is some sort of old stone room, something that had at one point been used by holy men as there were still some old remains of crosses embedded in the walls. On the wall to his left was a large doorway, more then big enough to allow the Lamia to enter and exit the room comfortably. On the wall to his right, Hellstorm saw a man chained to a wall. He was badly beaten, but not so far that he would die. Most of his robe had been shredded. This must have been the wizard that Ruby had sent out a few days ago. "That noise tells me when should start looking for someplace to rest, but seeing as how I already got some sleep, it's telling me to wake up."
"How do you shut it up." The Lamia asked as she poked it with the blade she had.
"Free my arms and I'll show you." Hellstorm replied.
"I have a better idea." The Lamia raised the wristwatch up and with one quick flick of her wrist, flung the device out of the room they were in. Hellstorm wasn't too worried, once he was free he could go retrieve his mother's gift. For now, he had to worry about the Lamia. "Do you know why female demons are so picky about our mates?" She asked slowly removing her shirt. Her large breasts bounced freely without the shirt to hold them.
"Tell me." Hellstorm stalled for time as he began to collect energy knowing that his demon arts were useless here. With those crosses still embedded in the walls of the room, his magic would also be compromised. No doubt they had been left up on purpose to help control prisoners of the demon before him.
"We female demons can only give birth to so many demonic children. That is why we choose our mates carefully. And you... you will be the father to my first child. I've always had a thing for canine Pokemon and demons. I don't know why, I just do. You should consider yourself lucky as my sister let me have you first." The Lamia explained setting the blade down as she slithered over to Hellstorm.
"I thought I told you I care nothing for mating or love. I have a mission that needs to be done." Hellstorm objected. Hellstorm was finally able to see the full length of the snake that had captured him. Her tail must have been at least twenty feet long and had a snake's head like that of a Arbok, its hood was folded up nicely.
"You really don't want me. Well, let me change your mind." She said rubbing her hand against his face. Hellstorm jerked his head away. Slowly, her other arm went for his sheath that carried her prize. She rubbed it gently hoping to get some sort of reaction out of Hellstorm. "Come on Hellstorm. You might as well enjoy this too." She slowly began to rub a bit harder trying to coax his member out of hiding. Hellstorm just smiled.
"You never get want you want from me. Like I said, I care nothing for such things, demon." Hellstorm laughed.
"My name is Akara, not demon. And I can change that." She said as she held Hellstorm's face with her free hand. She gently placed a kiss on his snout, a light blue mist coming from her breath. The mist was very sweet and for most, it was intoxicating giving a feeling of lust to those who inhaled it. However for Hellstorm, it was just a nuisance more then anything. It did mess with his head a bit, but he had cast off love long ago back when his pack was slain by demons.
Now he cared nothing for love, he was on a mission. A mission to collect the seventeen elemental orbs of power and correct the mistake he made in his time.
Try as she might, Akara could not get Hellstorm's member to come out.
"I just realized that your tail seems a bit short. Was there another with you back in the forest?" Hellstorm asked.
"Yes, my sister was there. She's most likely out hunting right now." Akara said. She grew tired of trying to coax Hellstorm into a state of arousal. "Every human and Pokemon I've met would have given in by now. How is that you can resist me for this long?" Akara asked.
"Because, I've been busy collecting energy." Hellstorm closed his eyes for a second and then reopened them. Instead of the bright silver eyes he had before, his eyes once again matched his spikes and gemstones. Laughing, he called out his next attack. "Blast Wave." His entire went red like the evening sun and began to glow. Akara slithered into the hallway just in time to avoid the explosive attack that shook the building. Smoke slowly exited the room.
When Akara entered, she found that Hellstorm was free. He was a bit shaky and leaded against the wall, but he was free. The chains and rope that had once bound him were nothing more then shreds of what they used to be. Hellstorm picked up his cloak and found his blue shorts lying down underneath the cloak. He put them back on and began to put on the cloak when he heard the sounds of cracking stone.
Looking up, he realized just how big a mistake he had made. "Shit." Hellstorm made a mad dash for the hall, but the entire structure he was in had been affected by his attack. The cracking stone ceiling was already starting to fall in some places. Hellstorm and the Akara where back to back as they were trapped by the falling debris.
Then there was a sudden flash of green light as the two figures vanished just before the ceiling had collapsed on them.
xXx
Hellstorm and Akara woke up slowly in a cold, empty place. There was a stone floor, but nothing else. The only light came for Hellstorm. His three crimson spikes and the two gemstones in his skin gave a blood red light, lighting up the area around the two figures. Hellstorm jumped to his feet. He only heard Akara in the area, but other then her, there was nothing. Just nothing. "Where did you take you us demon?" Hellstorm asked. His cloak was no where to be seen. "And where's my watch?" Hellstorm held out his hand as if she still had it. The seemingly impossible happened as Hellstorm's prized possession seemed to just fall from the sky right into his hand. It looked just like before, almost new. He quickly put it on so he wouldn't lose here, wherever here was.
"What are you talking about?" Akara used her arms to support herself. She seemed to be affected by the sudden displacement that the two had just suffered from. "You're the one who brought us here." She said weakly.
"This wasn't my doing. I may be powerful, but this is beyond my skill." Hellstorm countered. He seemed to have the upper hand here. She was weak, but he seemed to be in near perfect condition despite his blast wave attack.
All though Blast Wave was a self-destruct type of attack, it was no where near as powerful in terms of damage, but it's area of effect and violent affect on stone and metals made it just as good. The user often suffered from minor physical weakness and some minor injuries after the use of it, but Hellstorm seemed well enough. He knew better then to question times like these.
"I'm a demon of seduction and lesser magic. I can only teleport back to demon world." Akara slowly stood herself up. She had forgotten her shirt and wrapped her arms around herself. "And I can assure you this is not the demon world."
"Then where the hell are we?" Hellstorm demanded.
"I don't know, you brought us here." Akara shouted.
"Since it seems we have no idea where we are, I call a truce. Once we get out of here, then we can settle our differences." Hellstorm shouted.
"Fair enough." Akara began looking around. "There has to be some way out of here."
"Come on, let's start looking." Hellstorm started walking out is a random direction. I can't believe I have to work with this demon after the stunt she pulled. Hellstorm thought to himself.
Hellstorm walked on with Akara slithering right behind him. She held herself tightly trying to ignore the cold. Even Hellstorm had started to feel the effects of the cold. His walking pace and breathing slowed, and he body had started to go numb.
Unlike Lucario of this time, Hellstorm had developed a few new weakness and strengths from living in his time. Even though he was a steel-type, he had developed a considerable resistance to fire and acids. Many of the species of his time had developed this same resistance, but all of them also developed a similar weakness. He had a raised core temp compared to other Lucario of this time and thus, picked up a weakness to the cold. Two of the few things that could take him down easily were powerful ice-type attacks and extended exposure to the cold.
Hellstorm was slowly losing his advantage over the Lamia companion he had. She may be part reptilian, but she could still function well enough in the cold. Hellstorm knew that if he got too much colder, he would not be able fend Akara off if she attacked. He looked at his watch and took note of the fact that it had not changed since he put it back on. He took a closer look that it was still working, which really puzzled him.
"I can't tell what time it is. My watch is working properly." Hellstorm said as they walked.
"We need a way to warm ourselves up. I can see you shivering a bit over there, so don't tell me you're not cold." Akara said.
"I've nothing to burn and I'm sure you don't either. Let's keep moving." Hellstorm said as he kept walking. Akara slowly slithered behind him.
--
The two must have been walking for hours, at least that's what it felt like. Hellstorm had checked his watch a few times, but it still said that it was just a little after midnight.
"So, tell me about yourself." Akara asked finally breaking the silence.
"What does it matter?" Hellstorm replied, looking like he could fall over at anytime the way he was moving.
"I have this feeling that we'll be stuck here for a while. Not all demons are ravenous murderers. Some of are social creatures." Akara explained.
"I'm more concerned with finding a way out of here then anything else right now." Hellstorm was really starting to feel the cold get to him now. Even though he had only spent a few months in this time, he was starting to get the idea that this time was not going to be much better then his own. Some of the adaptations that had let him survive in his time could be called a handicap here. He had almost no feeling in his legs by now. "I need to find a fire soon." He said as he fell onto one knee, the light from his spikes and gemstones were slowly fading. There in the distance was a very small light, just barely visible.
"I see a light." Akara said. Hellstorm looked up; he could see it too.
"Let's go." Hellstorm forced himself back up and walked toward the light. As they got closer, they found a large fire. The fire was made of large logs and several tree limbs. The flames shot up high into the air dancing with light reds and some yellows, but the fire was mostly orange. Hellstorm did his best to get to the fire, but the cold had already taken its toll. He collapsed several yards away and well out of range of the warmth that the fire had promised. His body could no longer take the cold was slowly shutting down. Akara bent down and picked him up.
"What are you doing?" Hellstorm asked. He was too weak to fight back. Between the energy used to light up his spikes and gemstones and the cold he had forced to suffer from, he was out of energy.
"I'm carrying you. We have a better chance of finding a way out of here together." Akara explained. "Besides, I don't want to die here alone."
Akara slithered over to the fire with Hellstorm in her arms. His fur felt nice against her body. She gently set Hellstorm down as she looked around. The fire was more then warm enough. Akara soon found more then she could hope for. Not only was there a warm fire, but some one or some thing had left a large batch of meat roasting on the far side of the fire. She looked over the meat and found it completely cooked through. Being a demon, she didn't care who the meat belonged to, it was hers now.
"I found some meat." Akara said.
"For being the demon that attacked so many of the villages, you sure don't act like a demon." Hellstorm could already feel his body taking ion the warmth around him.
"I wasn't the demon that attacked those villages. That was my sister." Akara said. "When you showed up, I was just trying to scare you off mistaking you for a human. Unlike my sister, I really don't care much for humans as a meal. I just want to a live a nice quite life."
Hellstorm worked himself into a sitting position. "If you sister is the one that's been causing trouble, then she'll have to leave or die. My offer still stands though if you are in fact not the demon responsible for attacks. However, if you are lying, then I will kill you." Hellstorm explained.
"You seem to have a high level of trust for demons. Why is that?" Akara asked.
"Where I come from, I had a few demon friends. There was even a demon in the pack I used to be with." Hellstorm explained. Now that Hellstorm thought about it, Akara showed no signs of harm. She could be telling the truth that she was not attacking the villages.
"Why are you here and not with your pack?" Akara asked.
"My pack was slain by a bunch of ruthless demons. One by one, I saw them fall to the Demon Art known as the Reaper's Wraith." Hellstorm explained.
"That is the most powerful of all Demon Arts." Akara exclaimed. "The demon who uses it takes on the form of death itself. Only those who have defeated death can use it. How did you escape?"
"The Pokemon Gods or Deities, whatever they are, pulled me right out of my time. If I am to rewrite what happened that day, I must gather the seventeen elemental orbs and use them to defeat the demons in my time. That is my mission." Hellstorm explained.
"I can understand that. All right, I have another question. What made you cast off love?" Akara asked.
"You never know what you have until you lose it. Up until the day my pack was slain, I never understood why people said that." Hellstorm explained.
"You lost someone didn't you." Akara asked.
"Yes, I lost many family members that day and my one love. Now, I only seek to set things back to normal in my time. After that is done, I'm not sure what I'll do." Akara handed Hellstorm a piece of meat and Hellstorm slowly ate the meal he was given.
"Do you think we'll ever find a way out of here?" Akara asked.
"There has to be one. Whatever this place is, I don't think it's a natural place. There is almost nothing here." Hellstorm closed his eyes once he was done eating. Breathing slowly, he began to concentrate on the area around him looking for an exit. By using his aura view, Hellstorm was expands his range of sight by a several miles, seeing everything around him in that range in blue and black ghost like form. Luckily, Hellstorm quickly found something of interest. In his mind, he saw the ghostly outline of a pair of statues guarding what looked like a doorway. "I think I found something." Hellstorm said.
"Like what?" Akara asked.
"I have no idea. Get ready for anything." Hellstorm said walking toward the statues he saw with his aura view.
As the two figures walked, Hellstorm once again lit up the area. Having been so close to fire, his gemstones and spikes had absorbed the heat and turned some of it into usable energy.
At last, the statues came into view. One was of a large human, his arms gripping a long spear and it had the tip near the second statues throat. The second statue was of demon, which towered over the human. The demon held a blade to the human's heart. It looked like the two statues could spring to life any second and attempt to kill each other. Both statues had glowing blue eyes that appeared to be made of fire. Behind the statues was large arc. A large vortex of swirling energy filled this arc and a network of thorny rose vines made it impossible to enter the portal. There were several large white rose buds scattered among the vines.
"I assume this is the way out, but I have no idea how to open the portal." Hellstorm said.
"Where do you wish to go?" The dark voice rang out from the two statues.
"Who's there?" Hellstorm demanded.
"We are the keepers." The voice rang out again. "We control the gates of time."
"Then you can take me back to my time." Hellstorm shouted.
"We can, but not right now. You must first complete that which you were assigned to do before we may return you to your time." The voice rang out.
"Worthless. That's what you are. Worthless." Hellstorm shouted.
"What is this place?" Akara asked.
"This is the lair of the Riftwalker, a gap outside time where time does not pass. It is here that the Riftwalker may train and rest. Here the Riftwalker controls almost everything." The voice explained.
"What the hell is a Riftwalker?" Hellstorm asked.
"You are the Riftwalker." The voice called out. "This is your domain to command, however understand this. You do not control the gates of time nor do you control us."
"If I control this place, then why is it so empty." Hellstorm asked. "This is far from what I would I call my lair."
"This plane reflects your inner self. As you change, so will this land." The voice called. "You may also change it as you see fit, but every time you enter this place, it will reflect your inner self."
"Then I say do away with this empty land." Hellstorm threw his hand out. All at once, everything but portal, the statues, Akara, and himself vanished. Yet something still supported his weight and did not let him fall into the emptiness he had some how brought forth. Akara nearly had a heart attack from the fact that she was floating in mid air. Hellstorm just looked around half scared, half amazed by what had just happened. His breathing was hard because of the sudden shock that he had commanded this to happen. Akara rushed over to him, she was quite scared about what had just happened. "Bring it back, this is creeping me out." Just as fast as it had vanished, the empty stone ground had returned.
"What did you do?" Akara shouted, her arms still around Hellstorm.
"I don't know, but let's get out of here. Where can you take?" Hellstorm shouted up at the two statues.
"We can take you back to whence you came or return you to the last town you have been to." The voice replied.
"Then return me from whence I came. I still have business to take care of." Hellstorm shouted. The vines that had once blocked the passage to the portal wove themselves apart as they opened up revealing the way out. Hellstorm walked forward not knowing what to expect. Hellstorm touched the portal and his arm went cleanly through the vortex vanishing the deeper in it went. Hellstorm retracted his arm and inspected it. Everything seemed all right. Taking a deep breath, Hellstorm walked forward with Akara right behind him.
xXx
Hellstorm found himself standing outside the stone temple. He once again had his cloak on. Akara was right behind him. The sound of cracking stone was heard all throughout the area as the stone edifice slowly fell to the ground. Hellstorm placed his hand on some fallen branches and bright light came out of nowhere from the branch. "It's not much, but it will cover you up." Hellstorm said as he handed a brown and green shirt to Akara. "Now then, excuse me while I go deal with your sister." Hellstorm quickly got over the fact that he had been thrown out of time. Hellstorm would sooner forgot about that place since the keepers had refused to let him go home rather then deal with it. He was on a mission anyway; he had not time to worry about such things. Akara was still unsure about the whole ordeal.
A short distance away, Heather was under attack.
Hellstorm quickly picked up on the sounds of fighting and saw his target attacking Heather. "Come down here little birdy. I'm hungry." The large Lamia shouted in a somewhat teasing tone. Unlike Akara, this one had blue tail with a large snake head. She had short black hair and blood red eyes.
"Why don't you fight me?" Hellstorm shouted.
"Did my sister let you go? I guess you didn't please her enough." Akara watched from the sidelines. "Oh well, your mine now." The Lamia charge toward her target. She had longer tail then her sister and the snake's head was larger then Akara's as well.
Hellstorm looked on and stood still as his target charged in. "You make this too easy." Hellstorm said as he threw a fist into the bare chest of his target. Hellstorm did not stop there though. Using his free hand, he summoned an aura sphere and slammed it into the surprised Lamia's face. Slowly Akara slithered out of her hiding place.
"Sister, if you came to save your toy, its too late, he's mine." The Lamia shouted as she threw Hellstorm off of her. Hellstorm landed gently as he stood up again.
"I've not come to save to him." Akara shouted. "I've come to warn you."
"Warn me." The second Lamia took her eyes off of Hellstorm for a second, which Hellstorm did not waste. Hellstorm jumped back into the trees. "Warn me of... where did you go?" The Lamia shouted.
"Demon Art: Perfect Image." Hellstorm jumped into the sky and when he was directly above the Lamia, he split in two. Both images wore the same cloak as they fell down landing to the left and right of the Lamia. The Lamia eyed each one closely.
"Sister, please. Just return to demon world. He has more power then you could imagine. He is the Riftwalker." Akara shouted.
"This Pokemon is the next Riftwalker. Don't make me laugh. If he was, we never would have caught him like we did." The Lamia shouted.
She sent a blast of air at the one on her left and watched as the cloak on targets back flew back some. She quickly noticed that the second cloaked figure also had its cloak flowing backward in the same exact motion. She charged the figure on her left, the one she threw the wave of wind as and both figures charged her. She believed that she had found the real one as both figures were affected the same by her blast of wind.
Both of the cloaked figures jumped up and the Lamia used this time to strike her target. Her hand flew cleanly through her target as it faded away. The real Hellstorm landed a powerful double drop kick to the back of the Lamia's head sending her flying face first into a near by tree. Heather slowly came down.
"Thanks Hellstorm." The large bird bowed her head as she flapped her wings keeping her just a few feet off the ground. A heavy wind picked up as the second Lamia picked herself up.
The Lamia got up slowly shaking of the effects from the attack. "I should have taken you all for myself." She said as she regained her balance. "This might just be fun."
"I agree. However, I already told Ruby that this would be over by dawn." Hellstorm said.
"You were hired by the princess. I hope she's paying you well." The Lamia shot forward. Hellstorm ducked under her as she flew by. Her tail however, grabbed onto Hellstorm as it passed dragging him along for the ride.
"Ko mojo gi yen." Hellstorm quickly chanted his spell. Several large orbs of water appeared around Hellstorm and then launched themselves toward the Lamia. One by one, they hit her body with a surprising amount of force forcing her to let Hellstorm go. Hellstorm then ran out of the Lamia's range. Once he had enough room, he threw his right fist outward and began to collect dark energies in the spike on his arm.
"Black Palm." Hellstorm threw his fist and the thrust it forward releasing a small marble sized orb of dark energy, but the gasses that swirled around the make it looks much larger. Unlike the normal dark energies of Dark-type attacks, the Black Palm used the energies of darkness itself. Most were lucky to lucky to walk away from this powerful attack with nothing more then a scar of dark energy, but many have fallen beaten by this one attack.
The orb flew and hit the Lamia in the chest where it erupted like a small bomb. The Lamia was completely disoriented by the attack, she was not even sure which way was up. Her vision blurred and swirled while she did her best to regain herself.
"Hellstorm, be careful, she has the elemental orb of wind." Akara shouted knowing what was coming next.
"She what?!" Hellstorm was most surprised by the turn of events. When used properly, the elemental orb of wind also granted the user flight if they provided the energy needed for the wings. It was a hefty sum of energy, but she was demon. It would be easy for her to muster up that kind of energy if she knew how to use the orb.
Hellstorm took a defensive stance as the winds gathered around the second demon. "To think that a mere hunter could force me to use such a powerful artifact." She laughed. "You truly will make a wonderful mate even though you aren't really the Riftwalker."
"I'm so much more then a hunter." Hellstorm shouted over the gathering winds. He then got an idea. He reached into the depths of the cloak and pulled out a large bag. He threw the bag toward the demon who instantly tried to toss it way. Instead, she forced the bag open and a large sum of soot flew out. Hellstorm had intended to give the soot to a glassmaker in exchange for something, but given the circumstances, he thought it would be best to use it now.
The soot was quickly gathered up by the winds and Hellstorm found just much experience with the power of the wind she had. Unlike Hellstorm who could create a space of dead air around him when using his wind style Demon Arts, this demon had no such experience. The soot flew randomly around getting in her eyes and mouth breaking her concentration. The winds died down.
"This is you only chance to return to the demon world. Leave now or I'll take you life." Hellstorm shouted. The blinded Lamia threw a blast of energy toward Hellstorm, but he did not even need to move to avoid the attack. "Have it your way." Hellstorm jumped forward.
"Wait." Akara cried out. Although her sister was truly demonic, she was still Akara's sister.
"Demon Art: Windy Blade." Hellstorm gathered up the air around into an unseen blade. He used the air itself to cut the Lamia in two at the waistline separating the serpent half of the body and the human half. The only proof of was the wave of blood that followed after the unseen blade, before it just fell to ground.
The human half of the second Lamia landed next to Akara. "Sister, help me." The Lamia begged.
Akara just looked down at her sister. She could not believe what had happened. On the one hand, she was now free of her sister's control of her life and could freely choose her own life. On the other hand, she was now alone in the world. Very few trusted demons enough to even consider traveling with them.
"Sister, help me." The Lamia began to choke on her own blood.
"I can't." Akara began to cry. "I can't heal this."
"Take her soul. It's the only to put her out of the pain she feels. I failed to severe her soul from her body with my attack which would have given her a peaceful and painless death." Hellstorm said.
"Why, why'd you kill her?" Akara cried out.
"Demon like her aren't worth trying to convert. They'll never give up on their habits, not when their souls are tainted that badly." Hellstorm explained. "I've seen many tainted souls before, but hers was the worst. Some outside source corrupted her beyond saving." Akara just cried there with her dying sister in her hands. "The best thing for her to drain her soul. It will be quick and painless. These may seem like harsh words, but it's the fastest way to end her pain. I've not enough power left tonight to send her soul to the other side myself."
"It hurts." The Lamia cried out.
"Unlike humans, you can't just kill a demon by normal means. The only way to end her suffering at this point is to send her soul to the other side." Hellstorm explained.
"I'm sorry, sister." Akara slowly brought her mouth down to her sister's neck. She slowly drained her soul putting an end to the pain her sister felt. Hellstorm took the upper half of the body from Akara and set it next to the tail. Hellstorm set a hand on each of each half of the body and his spikes began to glow, even through the cloak he wore. With a sudden flash of light, the body lit up in a brilliant crimson flame before slowly going out.
"I've destroyed any remains of the corruption your sister suffered from." Hellstorm walked back over to Akara, who just broke crying.
"Let's go." Heather said cautiously landing on the ground. "I've had enough to do with demons today.
"Not yet." Hellstorm said. He took a seat on a fallen branch and just waited.
Akara continued crying for a while before she finally collected herself.
"I think this is yours." Akara held the orb out for Hellstorm to see wiping the last of her tears from her eyes. Hellstorm walked over to Akara.
"Hellstorm, what are you doing?!" Heather shouted seeing how Hellstorm seemed to be on friendly terms with a demon.
"Not all demons are evil. I should know. When I come from, it was common for demons to work hand in hand with Pokemon and humans." Hellstorm explained. "Now, what do you want in return for the orb?" Hellstorm asked.
"Don't you mean where?" Heather asked.
"I mean when. I'm from a different time." Hellstorm replied.
"I want to travel with you." Akara said. "I already know how to take human form and I can hold it for days on end."
"A reasonable request... as long as you don't make another attempt to mate me like before." Hellstorm said.
"Did I miss something?" Heather asked confused by Hellstorm's last sentence.
"You'll still be the father of my children someday, but I can wait." Akara giggled a bit. It had seemed that she was starting to understand the fact that what was done had to be done for a reason. More humans would have died and there was chance that she might have been killed herself if her sister was left unchecked.
"Just remember, any attempts like you made before and I'll cast you back to the demon world myself." Hellstorm reminded her with a kind, yet still stern tone of voice.
"Very well." Akara curled her tail around herself whilst chanting a simple spell. Her tail seemed to melt into her body. When she was done, her upper hadn't changed at all, but instead of a tail, she now had a pair of legs. A decent sized skirt covered them down to the knees as she stepped forward. "Can your friend carry us both?" Akara asked.
"I'm only here for Hellstorm." Heather said.
"I'll take care of her." Hellstorm assured Heather.
"If she causes any trouble, I'll drop her off mid flight. You got that demon." Heather shouted.
"Her name is Akara. She's not the one responsible for the attacks on the villages, so don't treat her like she was." Hellstorm said. "Now let's go." Heather sighed as she landed allowing both passengers to board before taking off.
xXx
It was another short ride over to the manor. Heather set down quietly besides the stables. The full moon lit the area just like it had lit the forest. Hellstorm noticed a single moving light in the manor. Akara stood beside him. The light slowly made its way to a door. The door it had stopped at opened and Ruby along with Victor, Ruby's bodyguard were both standing at the door.
"I assume you have cleared the lands of the demon that attacked the villages and rescued one as well." Ruby asked, the latter part of her question referring to Akara of course.
"This is Akara. The demon responsible for the attacks has been killed and her soul drained. There is no hope for the Lamia to come back." Hellstorm explained.
"How did you drain her soul?" Ruby asked.
"I'd like to explain things to you a bit in private. Perhaps we can answer several of the questions for each if we talk things over." Hellstorm requested.
"Very well." Ruby bowed her head. "Victor, take the Akara to the den and give her some tea."
"As you wish." Victor said holding the door open letting the four of them enter the manor while Heather returned to her nest in the stable.
"And before I forget. I see that you do not have my blade. I hope that it was put to good use before it was lost." Ruby looked toward Hellstorm.
"It was a grand weapon. I do hope that another can be made for me. It served its purpose well while I had it." Hellstorm replied.
Ruby led Hellstorm to her private study. There were several books on legends and myths, a few on Pokemon, and there was large book on ships as well. A single White Oak desk sat in the middle of the room with three white oak chairs to match. Ruby sat down in the one of the chairs, as did Hellstorm.
"What is you view on demons?" Hellstorm asked.
"I've had a few experiences with them. None of which ended well." Ruby replied.
"In my time, it was not uncommon for demons to work with Pokemon and humans. I hope you will share my view that not all demons are evil." Hellstorm explained.
"What brought this up?" Ruby asked.
"Akara drained her sister's soul and in return for the Orb of Wind," Hellstorm held up the clear glass orb for Ruby to see. "Akara now wishes to travel with me. I have no objections seeing as her demonic knowledge could prove valuable should I find that one of the orbs I seek lies in the demon world. What about you?"
"Akara is a demon? What kind of demon?" Ruby asked.
"Akara is a Lamia, although she has some strong magic. I'll keep an eye on her and if she should make any attacks on a human or Pokemon, I'll cast her back to the demon world myself." Hellstorm said.
"Very well. I'll give her a chance. Now, what else is there that you wish to ask me?" Ruby knew there was more to this.
"You claim to know a lot about Crimson Warriors. What other names do you know them by?" Hellstorm asked.
"Riftwalkers. I've sometimes heard them referred to as the Chosen Ones. In the Northern Kingdom of Retreka, they are called the Hunters of Time." Ruby explained.
"We'll go with the term Riftwalker. How much do you know of a place called the Lair of the Riftwalker?" Hellstorm asked.
"Legends tell of a place where time does not flow. A place that only the Riftwalkers and those around them can go. I've heard that the Lair is often a reflection of ones self. Why do ask? I've never heard anything to suggest that it does exist. Have you been there?" Ruby inquired.
"That I have. What else have you heard of that lair?" Hellstorm replied.
"I heard that the gates of time lay there. It is also the place where the Riftwalker stores the orbs and unlocks their power." Ruby walked over to the bookshelf and removed a large blue book. The title read Ancient Myths and Legends. Ruby opened the book to a unique page and shoed the picture to Hellstorm. "Long ago, it was said that a Riftwalker invited a human to his domain, this lair." The picture showed a single stone slab with nineteen round holes. There was a hole in the center and two rings around the center hole. The inner ring had six holes and the outer ring had twelve. "This is supposed to be the lock that seals away the true power of the elemental orbs." Ruby explained. "However, there are only seventeen elemental orbs and nineteen holes in the stone."
"This could mean that there are two additional orbs out there or that two of the holes are not meant to be filled." Hellstorm concluded.
"Correct. Now then, as promised." Ruby put the book back and walked back to her desk. "One Orb of Water. I've cast a spell on it so that should the demon that has been attack my villages returns, the orb will return to me." Ruby opened up the top drawer of the desk she had and pulled out the blue orb. The waters still raged forth in the orb. Ruby handed the orb to Hellstorm and the waters in the orb slowed and stopped leaving a calm deep blue orb in Hellstorm's hand. "It seems that you have made good on your word. Come, I'll show you to your room." Ruby led Hellstorm out of the study and back to the living area where Victor and Akara were waiting.
"Akara, please come with me. I'll show you to your room for the night." Akara stood and followed Hellstorm and Ruby down the halls. Like before, there were many pictures of the royal family in the halls as well as some more replica weapons. Victor was following close behind.
"This is your room Akara." Ruby held open a wooden door that separated a fairly large bedroom from the hallway. There was a large bed with several pillows in the center of the room. It was of a basic design, large wooden sides with soft silk cover. One the one side of the room stood a simple dresser and wardrobe. A large mirror on the door of the wardrobe would easily allow for one see their entire body that was facing the mirror. On the other side of the room was a set of chairs and a fireplace.
"This is one of my special guest rooms. Please do not ruin it." Ruby said as Akara entered the room.
"Thank you." Akara bowed as she entered the room and closed the door.
"Hellstorm, your room is this way." Ruby led Hellstorm done the hall a short ways. They stopped before a set of double doors. One the other side of the hall was a second set of double doors. Ruby opened the doors on the left side of the hallway. Inside was a room fit for a royalty. A large canopy bed occupied the center of the room with large silk curtains hung around it. The bed must have had at least twelve pillows on it and there were several silk blankets. On one side of the room was a grand Granite fireplace much like the one in the living area. Several chairs were spread out by the fireplace, all around a simple oak table meant to hold snacks and drinks. On the other side were a large bookshelf, two wardrobes, and door.
"That door leads to a private bathing area. The water is pumped in from the furnace, so it is always warm. My room is just across the hall if you need anything." Ruby told her guest.
"I'm not used to such things." Hellstorm turned to face Ruby. "I've always been used to small sleeping areas."
"While you are here, this will be your room. Please enjoy it. It's not everyday that I have a guest like you here." Ruby handed Hellstorm the key to the room.
"I'm not as special as you think I am." Hellstorm said.
"You're a Riftwalker. You're as unique as they come." Ruby countered. "Now please, we should all get some sleep as we'll have to start tracking down the other orbs in the morning." Ruby turned and opened the door to her room which was an almost mirror image of Hellstorm's room except for the paintings for her parents that were hung over around the room. "Good night." Ruby closed the door and left Hellstorm to his room.
"This is most definitely a change of pace." Hellstorm walked in and hung his cloak near the bed. He sat up against the headboard and began to think. Soon enough, his eyes were closed and his mind at peace, at least for now. He slept quietly for the rest of the night.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Only the idea and OC's.
Author Notes:
-- This will be used for scene breaks and for when the story switches to another character, but it does not mean that a new section of the story has started.
xXx This will identify where each paragraph breaks.
'Poketalk'
Disclaimer: Don't own Pokemon, never have, never will. Only the idea and OCs behind the story are mine
Beta reader: Catsithx
xXx
Chapter 2: The Gap Between Time
A small device starting beeping on Hellstorm's wrist in a constant set of three quick beeps followed by a pause. The device was a small blue wristwatch that Hellstorm had brought back with him though time and thankfully, most who saw it mistook it for a wizardry bracelet of some kind. It was the only reminder of his mother that he had left. He lay with his hands tied up along side of some sort of stone wall with his cloak laying a few feet from him. Hellstorm slowly opened his eyes. It was dark out, but there was some light. A large fire in the center of the room heated the area, but did not seem to give off much light. "I'm up." Hellstorm was still quite out of it. Hellstorm went to move his arms, but could not. "Huh?" Hellstorm looked around. His vision was blurred.
"My, my, you certainly woke up quickly. I've been forced to deal with many males like that before, but they normally took all night to wake up." A female voice sounded out.
"Where am I?" Hellstorm asked completely forgetting how he had gotten into this mess.
"She must have really hit you hard." The voice called out.
"That you ya old witch?" Hellstorm asked.
"Old witch?" The voice pouted playfully. "I'll have you know I'm still very young by demon standards."
"Just tell me where I am?" Hellstorm asked while yawning, his eyes slowly adjusting to the dark.
"You're in my little den." The voice called drawing closer. Hellstorm looked down seeing that his feet were chained up and his pants were missing revealing the dark fur that they hid along with the sheath that housed his sex organ, but he was still too out of it to realize what was going on. The device on his arm was still beeping. "And what is with that sound?" A dark figure slowly slithered forward. The Lamia showed herself in the dim light, her green tail scales seemingly giving off a minor glow of their own in the dim light. Tossing some sort of bottle onto the flames, the entire room lit up as the flames roared to life. The Lamia held The Whistling Blade in her left hand. Her long blonde hair sparkled in the light like it was a little wet. She slid the blade behind Hellstorm and removed the wristwatch. "Such a pretty bracelet, but why does it make noise?" She asked.
"That's how I keep track of time." Hellstorm was slowly gaining a hold on the real world. His vision no longer blurred; he took a good look around. He was is some sort of old stone room, something that had at one point been used by holy men as there were still some old remains of crosses embedded in the walls. On the wall to his left was a large doorway, more then big enough to allow the Lamia to enter and exit the room comfortably. On the wall to his right, Hellstorm saw a man chained to a wall. He was badly beaten, but not so far that he would die. Most of his robe had been shredded. This must have been the wizard that Ruby had sent out a few days ago. "That noise tells me when should start looking for someplace to rest, but seeing as how I already got some sleep, it's telling me to wake up."
"How do you shut it up." The Lamia asked as she poked it with the blade she had.
"Free my arms and I'll show you." Hellstorm replied.
"I have a better idea." The Lamia raised the wristwatch up and with one quick flick of her wrist, flung the device out of the room they were in. Hellstorm wasn't too worried, once he was free he could go retrieve his mother's gift. For now, he had to worry about the Lamia. "Do you know why female demons are so picky about our mates?" She asked slowly removing her shirt. Her large breasts bounced freely without the shirt to hold them.
"Tell me." Hellstorm stalled for time as he began to collect energy knowing that his demon arts were useless here. With those crosses still embedded in the walls of the room, his magic would also be compromised. No doubt they had been left up on purpose to help control prisoners of the demon before him.
"We female demons can only give birth to so many demonic children. That is why we choose our mates carefully. And you... you will be the father to my first child. I've always had a thing for canine Pokemon and demons. I don't know why, I just do. You should consider yourself lucky as my sister let me have you first." The Lamia explained setting the blade down as she slithered over to Hellstorm.
"I thought I told you I care nothing for mating or love. I have a mission that needs to be done." Hellstorm objected. Hellstorm was finally able to see the full length of the snake that had captured him. Her tail must have been at least twenty feet long and had a snake's head like that of a Arbok, its hood was folded up nicely.
"You really don't want me. Well, let me change your mind." She said rubbing her hand against his face. Hellstorm jerked his head away. Slowly, her other arm went for his sheath that carried her prize. She rubbed it gently hoping to get some sort of reaction out of Hellstorm. "Come on Hellstorm. You might as well enjoy this too." She slowly began to rub a bit harder trying to coax his member out of hiding. Hellstorm just smiled.
"You never get want you want from me. Like I said, I care nothing for such things, demon." Hellstorm laughed.
"My name is Akara, not demon. And I can change that." She said as she held Hellstorm's face with her free hand. She gently placed a kiss on his snout, a light blue mist coming from her breath. The mist was very sweet and for most, it was intoxicating giving a feeling of lust to those who inhaled it. However for Hellstorm, it was just a nuisance more then anything. It did mess with his head a bit, but he had cast off love long ago back when his pack was slain by demons.
Now he cared nothing for love, he was on a mission. A mission to collect the seventeen elemental orbs of power and correct the mistake he made in his time.
Try as she might, Akara could not get Hellstorm's member to come out.
"I just realized that your tail seems a bit short. Was there another with you back in the forest?" Hellstorm asked.
"Yes, my sister was there. She's most likely out hunting right now." Akara said. She grew tired of trying to coax Hellstorm into a state of arousal. "Every human and Pokemon I've met would have given in by now. How is that you can resist me for this long?" Akara asked.
"Because, I've been busy collecting energy." Hellstorm closed his eyes for a second and then reopened them. Instead of the bright silver eyes he had before, his eyes once again matched his spikes and gemstones. Laughing, he called out his next attack. "Blast Wave." His entire went red like the evening sun and began to glow. Akara slithered into the hallway just in time to avoid the explosive attack that shook the building. Smoke slowly exited the room.
When Akara entered, she found that Hellstorm was free. He was a bit shaky and leaded against the wall, but he was free. The chains and rope that had once bound him were nothing more then shreds of what they used to be. Hellstorm picked up his cloak and found his blue shorts lying down underneath the cloak. He put them back on and began to put on the cloak when he heard the sounds of cracking stone.
Looking up, he realized just how big a mistake he had made. "Shit." Hellstorm made a mad dash for the hall, but the entire structure he was in had been affected by his attack. The cracking stone ceiling was already starting to fall in some places. Hellstorm and the Akara where back to back as they were trapped by the falling debris.
Then there was a sudden flash of green light as the two figures vanished just before the ceiling had collapsed on them.
xXx
Hellstorm and Akara woke up slowly in a cold, empty place. There was a stone floor, but nothing else. The only light came for Hellstorm. His three crimson spikes and the two gemstones in his skin gave a blood red light, lighting up the area around the two figures. Hellstorm jumped to his feet. He only heard Akara in the area, but other then her, there was nothing. Just nothing. "Where did you take you us demon?" Hellstorm asked. His cloak was no where to be seen. "And where's my watch?" Hellstorm held out his hand as if she still had it. The seemingly impossible happened as Hellstorm's prized possession seemed to just fall from the sky right into his hand. It looked just like before, almost new. He quickly put it on so he wouldn't lose here, wherever here was.
"What are you talking about?" Akara used her arms to support herself. She seemed to be affected by the sudden displacement that the two had just suffered from. "You're the one who brought us here." She said weakly.
"This wasn't my doing. I may be powerful, but this is beyond my skill." Hellstorm countered. He seemed to have the upper hand here. She was weak, but he seemed to be in near perfect condition despite his blast wave attack.
All though Blast Wave was a self-destruct type of attack, it was no where near as powerful in terms of damage, but it's area of effect and violent affect on stone and metals made it just as good. The user often suffered from minor physical weakness and some minor injuries after the use of it, but Hellstorm seemed well enough. He knew better then to question times like these.
"I'm a demon of seduction and lesser magic. I can only teleport back to demon world." Akara slowly stood herself up. She had forgotten her shirt and wrapped her arms around herself. "And I can assure you this is not the demon world."
"Then where the hell are we?" Hellstorm demanded.
"I don't know, you brought us here." Akara shouted.
"Since it seems we have no idea where we are, I call a truce. Once we get out of here, then we can settle our differences." Hellstorm shouted.
"Fair enough." Akara began looking around. "There has to be some way out of here."
"Come on, let's start looking." Hellstorm started walking out is a random direction. I can't believe I have to work with this demon after the stunt she pulled. Hellstorm thought to himself.
Hellstorm walked on with Akara slithering right behind him. She held herself tightly trying to ignore the cold. Even Hellstorm had started to feel the effects of the cold. His walking pace and breathing slowed, and he body had started to go numb.
Unlike Lucario of this time, Hellstorm had developed a few new weakness and strengths from living in his time. Even though he was a steel-type, he had developed a considerable resistance to fire and acids. Many of the species of his time had developed this same resistance, but all of them also developed a similar weakness. He had a raised core temp compared to other Lucario of this time and thus, picked up a weakness to the cold. Two of the few things that could take him down easily were powerful ice-type attacks and extended exposure to the cold.
Hellstorm was slowly losing his advantage over the Lamia companion he had. She may be part reptilian, but she could still function well enough in the cold. Hellstorm knew that if he got too much colder, he would not be able fend Akara off if she attacked. He looked at his watch and took note of the fact that it had not changed since he put it back on. He took a closer look that it was still working, which really puzzled him.
"I can't tell what time it is. My watch is working properly." Hellstorm said as they walked.
"We need a way to warm ourselves up. I can see you shivering a bit over there, so don't tell me you're not cold." Akara said.
"I've nothing to burn and I'm sure you don't either. Let's keep moving." Hellstorm said as he kept walking. Akara slowly slithered behind him.
--
The two must have been walking for hours, at least that's what it felt like. Hellstorm had checked his watch a few times, but it still said that it was just a little after midnight.
"So, tell me about yourself." Akara asked finally breaking the silence.
"What does it matter?" Hellstorm replied, looking like he could fall over at anytime the way he was moving.
"I have this feeling that we'll be stuck here for a while. Not all demons are ravenous murderers. Some of are social creatures." Akara explained.
"I'm more concerned with finding a way out of here then anything else right now." Hellstorm was really starting to feel the cold get to him now. Even though he had only spent a few months in this time, he was starting to get the idea that this time was not going to be much better then his own. Some of the adaptations that had let him survive in his time could be called a handicap here. He had almost no feeling in his legs by now. "I need to find a fire soon." He said as he fell onto one knee, the light from his spikes and gemstones were slowly fading. There in the distance was a very small light, just barely visible.
"I see a light." Akara said. Hellstorm looked up; he could see it too.
"Let's go." Hellstorm forced himself back up and walked toward the light. As they got closer, they found a large fire. The fire was made of large logs and several tree limbs. The flames shot up high into the air dancing with light reds and some yellows, but the fire was mostly orange. Hellstorm did his best to get to the fire, but the cold had already taken its toll. He collapsed several yards away and well out of range of the warmth that the fire had promised. His body could no longer take the cold was slowly shutting down. Akara bent down and picked him up.
"What are you doing?" Hellstorm asked. He was too weak to fight back. Between the energy used to light up his spikes and gemstones and the cold he had forced to suffer from, he was out of energy.
"I'm carrying you. We have a better chance of finding a way out of here together." Akara explained. "Besides, I don't want to die here alone."
Akara slithered over to the fire with Hellstorm in her arms. His fur felt nice against her body. She gently set Hellstorm down as she looked around. The fire was more then warm enough. Akara soon found more then she could hope for. Not only was there a warm fire, but some one or some thing had left a large batch of meat roasting on the far side of the fire. She looked over the meat and found it completely cooked through. Being a demon, she didn't care who the meat belonged to, it was hers now.
"I found some meat." Akara said.
"For being the demon that attacked so many of the villages, you sure don't act like a demon." Hellstorm could already feel his body taking ion the warmth around him.
"I wasn't the demon that attacked those villages. That was my sister." Akara said. "When you showed up, I was just trying to scare you off mistaking you for a human. Unlike my sister, I really don't care much for humans as a meal. I just want to a live a nice quite life."
Hellstorm worked himself into a sitting position. "If you sister is the one that's been causing trouble, then she'll have to leave or die. My offer still stands though if you are in fact not the demon responsible for attacks. However, if you are lying, then I will kill you." Hellstorm explained.
"You seem to have a high level of trust for demons. Why is that?" Akara asked.
"Where I come from, I had a few demon friends. There was even a demon in the pack I used to be with." Hellstorm explained. Now that Hellstorm thought about it, Akara showed no signs of harm. She could be telling the truth that she was not attacking the villages.
"Why are you here and not with your pack?" Akara asked.
"My pack was slain by a bunch of ruthless demons. One by one, I saw them fall to the Demon Art known as the Reaper's Wraith." Hellstorm explained.
"That is the most powerful of all Demon Arts." Akara exclaimed. "The demon who uses it takes on the form of death itself. Only those who have defeated death can use it. How did you escape?"
"The Pokemon Gods or Deities, whatever they are, pulled me right out of my time. If I am to rewrite what happened that day, I must gather the seventeen elemental orbs and use them to defeat the demons in my time. That is my mission." Hellstorm explained.
"I can understand that. All right, I have another question. What made you cast off love?" Akara asked.
"You never know what you have until you lose it. Up until the day my pack was slain, I never understood why people said that." Hellstorm explained.
"You lost someone didn't you." Akara asked.
"Yes, I lost many family members that day and my one love. Now, I only seek to set things back to normal in my time. After that is done, I'm not sure what I'll do." Akara handed Hellstorm a piece of meat and Hellstorm slowly ate the meal he was given.
"Do you think we'll ever find a way out of here?" Akara asked.
"There has to be one. Whatever this place is, I don't think it's a natural place. There is almost nothing here." Hellstorm closed his eyes once he was done eating. Breathing slowly, he began to concentrate on the area around him looking for an exit. By using his aura view, Hellstorm was expands his range of sight by a several miles, seeing everything around him in that range in blue and black ghost like form. Luckily, Hellstorm quickly found something of interest. In his mind, he saw the ghostly outline of a pair of statues guarding what looked like a doorway. "I think I found something." Hellstorm said.
"Like what?" Akara asked.
"I have no idea. Get ready for anything." Hellstorm said walking toward the statues he saw with his aura view.
As the two figures walked, Hellstorm once again lit up the area. Having been so close to fire, his gemstones and spikes had absorbed the heat and turned some of it into usable energy.
At last, the statues came into view. One was of a large human, his arms gripping a long spear and it had the tip near the second statues throat. The second statue was of demon, which towered over the human. The demon held a blade to the human's heart. It looked like the two statues could spring to life any second and attempt to kill each other. Both statues had glowing blue eyes that appeared to be made of fire. Behind the statues was large arc. A large vortex of swirling energy filled this arc and a network of thorny rose vines made it impossible to enter the portal. There were several large white rose buds scattered among the vines.
"I assume this is the way out, but I have no idea how to open the portal." Hellstorm said.
"Where do you wish to go?" The dark voice rang out from the two statues.
"Who's there?" Hellstorm demanded.
"We are the keepers." The voice rang out again. "We control the gates of time."
"Then you can take me back to my time." Hellstorm shouted.
"We can, but not right now. You must first complete that which you were assigned to do before we may return you to your time." The voice rang out.
"Worthless. That's what you are. Worthless." Hellstorm shouted.
"What is this place?" Akara asked.
"This is the lair of the Riftwalker, a gap outside time where time does not pass. It is here that the Riftwalker may train and rest. Here the Riftwalker controls almost everything." The voice explained.
"What the hell is a Riftwalker?" Hellstorm asked.
"You are the Riftwalker." The voice called out. "This is your domain to command, however understand this. You do not control the gates of time nor do you control us."
"If I control this place, then why is it so empty." Hellstorm asked. "This is far from what I would I call my lair."
"This plane reflects your inner self. As you change, so will this land." The voice called. "You may also change it as you see fit, but every time you enter this place, it will reflect your inner self."
"Then I say do away with this empty land." Hellstorm threw his hand out. All at once, everything but portal, the statues, Akara, and himself vanished. Yet something still supported his weight and did not let him fall into the emptiness he had some how brought forth. Akara nearly had a heart attack from the fact that she was floating in mid air. Hellstorm just looked around half scared, half amazed by what had just happened. His breathing was hard because of the sudden shock that he had commanded this to happen. Akara rushed over to him, she was quite scared about what had just happened. "Bring it back, this is creeping me out." Just as fast as it had vanished, the empty stone ground had returned.
"What did you do?" Akara shouted, her arms still around Hellstorm.
"I don't know, but let's get out of here. Where can you take?" Hellstorm shouted up at the two statues.
"We can take you back to whence you came or return you to the last town you have been to." The voice replied.
"Then return me from whence I came. I still have business to take care of." Hellstorm shouted. The vines that had once blocked the passage to the portal wove themselves apart as they opened up revealing the way out. Hellstorm walked forward not knowing what to expect. Hellstorm touched the portal and his arm went cleanly through the vortex vanishing the deeper in it went. Hellstorm retracted his arm and inspected it. Everything seemed all right. Taking a deep breath, Hellstorm walked forward with Akara right behind him.
xXx
Hellstorm found himself standing outside the stone temple. He once again had his cloak on. Akara was right behind him. The sound of cracking stone was heard all throughout the area as the stone edifice slowly fell to the ground. Hellstorm placed his hand on some fallen branches and bright light came out of nowhere from the branch. "It's not much, but it will cover you up." Hellstorm said as he handed a brown and green shirt to Akara. "Now then, excuse me while I go deal with your sister." Hellstorm quickly got over the fact that he had been thrown out of time. Hellstorm would sooner forgot about that place since the keepers had refused to let him go home rather then deal with it. He was on a mission anyway; he had not time to worry about such things. Akara was still unsure about the whole ordeal.
A short distance away, Heather was under attack.
Hellstorm quickly picked up on the sounds of fighting and saw his target attacking Heather. "Come down here little birdy. I'm hungry." The large Lamia shouted in a somewhat teasing tone. Unlike Akara, this one had blue tail with a large snake head. She had short black hair and blood red eyes.
"Why don't you fight me?" Hellstorm shouted.
"Did my sister let you go? I guess you didn't please her enough." Akara watched from the sidelines. "Oh well, your mine now." The Lamia charge toward her target. She had longer tail then her sister and the snake's head was larger then Akara's as well.
Hellstorm looked on and stood still as his target charged in. "You make this too easy." Hellstorm said as he threw a fist into the bare chest of his target. Hellstorm did not stop there though. Using his free hand, he summoned an aura sphere and slammed it into the surprised Lamia's face. Slowly Akara slithered out of her hiding place.
"Sister, if you came to save your toy, its too late, he's mine." The Lamia shouted as she threw Hellstorm off of her. Hellstorm landed gently as he stood up again.
"I've not come to save to him." Akara shouted. "I've come to warn you."
"Warn me." The second Lamia took her eyes off of Hellstorm for a second, which Hellstorm did not waste. Hellstorm jumped back into the trees. "Warn me of... where did you go?" The Lamia shouted.
"Demon Art: Perfect Image." Hellstorm jumped into the sky and when he was directly above the Lamia, he split in two. Both images wore the same cloak as they fell down landing to the left and right of the Lamia. The Lamia eyed each one closely.
"Sister, please. Just return to demon world. He has more power then you could imagine. He is the Riftwalker." Akara shouted.
"This Pokemon is the next Riftwalker. Don't make me laugh. If he was, we never would have caught him like we did." The Lamia shouted.
She sent a blast of air at the one on her left and watched as the cloak on targets back flew back some. She quickly noticed that the second cloaked figure also had its cloak flowing backward in the same exact motion. She charged the figure on her left, the one she threw the wave of wind as and both figures charged her. She believed that she had found the real one as both figures were affected the same by her blast of wind.
Both of the cloaked figures jumped up and the Lamia used this time to strike her target. Her hand flew cleanly through her target as it faded away. The real Hellstorm landed a powerful double drop kick to the back of the Lamia's head sending her flying face first into a near by tree. Heather slowly came down.
"Thanks Hellstorm." The large bird bowed her head as she flapped her wings keeping her just a few feet off the ground. A heavy wind picked up as the second Lamia picked herself up.
The Lamia got up slowly shaking of the effects from the attack. "I should have taken you all for myself." She said as she regained her balance. "This might just be fun."
"I agree. However, I already told Ruby that this would be over by dawn." Hellstorm said.
"You were hired by the princess. I hope she's paying you well." The Lamia shot forward. Hellstorm ducked under her as she flew by. Her tail however, grabbed onto Hellstorm as it passed dragging him along for the ride.
"Ko mojo gi yen." Hellstorm quickly chanted his spell. Several large orbs of water appeared around Hellstorm and then launched themselves toward the Lamia. One by one, they hit her body with a surprising amount of force forcing her to let Hellstorm go. Hellstorm then ran out of the Lamia's range. Once he had enough room, he threw his right fist outward and began to collect dark energies in the spike on his arm.
"Black Palm." Hellstorm threw his fist and the thrust it forward releasing a small marble sized orb of dark energy, but the gasses that swirled around the make it looks much larger. Unlike the normal dark energies of Dark-type attacks, the Black Palm used the energies of darkness itself. Most were lucky to lucky to walk away from this powerful attack with nothing more then a scar of dark energy, but many have fallen beaten by this one attack.
The orb flew and hit the Lamia in the chest where it erupted like a small bomb. The Lamia was completely disoriented by the attack, she was not even sure which way was up. Her vision blurred and swirled while she did her best to regain herself.
"Hellstorm, be careful, she has the elemental orb of wind." Akara shouted knowing what was coming next.
"She what?!" Hellstorm was most surprised by the turn of events. When used properly, the elemental orb of wind also granted the user flight if they provided the energy needed for the wings. It was a hefty sum of energy, but she was demon. It would be easy for her to muster up that kind of energy if she knew how to use the orb.
Hellstorm took a defensive stance as the winds gathered around the second demon. "To think that a mere hunter could force me to use such a powerful artifact." She laughed. "You truly will make a wonderful mate even though you aren't really the Riftwalker."
"I'm so much more then a hunter." Hellstorm shouted over the gathering winds. He then got an idea. He reached into the depths of the cloak and pulled out a large bag. He threw the bag toward the demon who instantly tried to toss it way. Instead, she forced the bag open and a large sum of soot flew out. Hellstorm had intended to give the soot to a glassmaker in exchange for something, but given the circumstances, he thought it would be best to use it now.
The soot was quickly gathered up by the winds and Hellstorm found just much experience with the power of the wind she had. Unlike Hellstorm who could create a space of dead air around him when using his wind style Demon Arts, this demon had no such experience. The soot flew randomly around getting in her eyes and mouth breaking her concentration. The winds died down.
"This is you only chance to return to the demon world. Leave now or I'll take you life." Hellstorm shouted. The blinded Lamia threw a blast of energy toward Hellstorm, but he did not even need to move to avoid the attack. "Have it your way." Hellstorm jumped forward.
"Wait." Akara cried out. Although her sister was truly demonic, she was still Akara's sister.
"Demon Art: Windy Blade." Hellstorm gathered up the air around into an unseen blade. He used the air itself to cut the Lamia in two at the waistline separating the serpent half of the body and the human half. The only proof of was the wave of blood that followed after the unseen blade, before it just fell to ground.
The human half of the second Lamia landed next to Akara. "Sister, help me." The Lamia begged.
Akara just looked down at her sister. She could not believe what had happened. On the one hand, she was now free of her sister's control of her life and could freely choose her own life. On the other hand, she was now alone in the world. Very few trusted demons enough to even consider traveling with them.
"Sister, help me." The Lamia began to choke on her own blood.
"I can't." Akara began to cry. "I can't heal this."
"Take her soul. It's the only to put her out of the pain she feels. I failed to severe her soul from her body with my attack which would have given her a peaceful and painless death." Hellstorm said.
"Why, why'd you kill her?" Akara cried out.
"Demon like her aren't worth trying to convert. They'll never give up on their habits, not when their souls are tainted that badly." Hellstorm explained. "I've seen many tainted souls before, but hers was the worst. Some outside source corrupted her beyond saving." Akara just cried there with her dying sister in her hands. "The best thing for her to drain her soul. It will be quick and painless. These may seem like harsh words, but it's the fastest way to end her pain. I've not enough power left tonight to send her soul to the other side myself."
"It hurts." The Lamia cried out.
"Unlike humans, you can't just kill a demon by normal means. The only way to end her suffering at this point is to send her soul to the other side." Hellstorm explained.
"I'm sorry, sister." Akara slowly brought her mouth down to her sister's neck. She slowly drained her soul putting an end to the pain her sister felt. Hellstorm took the upper half of the body from Akara and set it next to the tail. Hellstorm set a hand on each of each half of the body and his spikes began to glow, even through the cloak he wore. With a sudden flash of light, the body lit up in a brilliant crimson flame before slowly going out.
"I've destroyed any remains of the corruption your sister suffered from." Hellstorm walked back over to Akara, who just broke crying.
"Let's go." Heather said cautiously landing on the ground. "I've had enough to do with demons today.
"Not yet." Hellstorm said. He took a seat on a fallen branch and just waited.
Akara continued crying for a while before she finally collected herself.
"I think this is yours." Akara held the orb out for Hellstorm to see wiping the last of her tears from her eyes. Hellstorm walked over to Akara.
"Hellstorm, what are you doing?!" Heather shouted seeing how Hellstorm seemed to be on friendly terms with a demon.
"Not all demons are evil. I should know. When I come from, it was common for demons to work hand in hand with Pokemon and humans." Hellstorm explained. "Now, what do you want in return for the orb?" Hellstorm asked.
"Don't you mean where?" Heather asked.
"I mean when. I'm from a different time." Hellstorm replied.
"I want to travel with you." Akara said. "I already know how to take human form and I can hold it for days on end."
"A reasonable request... as long as you don't make another attempt to mate me like before." Hellstorm said.
"Did I miss something?" Heather asked confused by Hellstorm's last sentence.
"You'll still be the father of my children someday, but I can wait." Akara giggled a bit. It had seemed that she was starting to understand the fact that what was done had to be done for a reason. More humans would have died and there was chance that she might have been killed herself if her sister was left unchecked.
"Just remember, any attempts like you made before and I'll cast you back to the demon world myself." Hellstorm reminded her with a kind, yet still stern tone of voice.
"Very well." Akara curled her tail around herself whilst chanting a simple spell. Her tail seemed to melt into her body. When she was done, her upper hadn't changed at all, but instead of a tail, she now had a pair of legs. A decent sized skirt covered them down to the knees as she stepped forward. "Can your friend carry us both?" Akara asked.
"I'm only here for Hellstorm." Heather said.
"I'll take care of her." Hellstorm assured Heather.
"If she causes any trouble, I'll drop her off mid flight. You got that demon." Heather shouted.
"Her name is Akara. She's not the one responsible for the attacks on the villages, so don't treat her like she was." Hellstorm said. "Now let's go." Heather sighed as she landed allowing both passengers to board before taking off.
xXx
It was another short ride over to the manor. Heather set down quietly besides the stables. The full moon lit the area just like it had lit the forest. Hellstorm noticed a single moving light in the manor. Akara stood beside him. The light slowly made its way to a door. The door it had stopped at opened and Ruby along with Victor, Ruby's bodyguard were both standing at the door.
"I assume you have cleared the lands of the demon that attacked the villages and rescued one as well." Ruby asked, the latter part of her question referring to Akara of course.
"This is Akara. The demon responsible for the attacks has been killed and her soul drained. There is no hope for the Lamia to come back." Hellstorm explained.
"How did you drain her soul?" Ruby asked.
"I'd like to explain things to you a bit in private. Perhaps we can answer several of the questions for each if we talk things over." Hellstorm requested.
"Very well." Ruby bowed her head. "Victor, take the Akara to the den and give her some tea."
"As you wish." Victor said holding the door open letting the four of them enter the manor while Heather returned to her nest in the stable.
"And before I forget. I see that you do not have my blade. I hope that it was put to good use before it was lost." Ruby looked toward Hellstorm.
"It was a grand weapon. I do hope that another can be made for me. It served its purpose well while I had it." Hellstorm replied.
Ruby led Hellstorm to her private study. There were several books on legends and myths, a few on Pokemon, and there was large book on ships as well. A single White Oak desk sat in the middle of the room with three white oak chairs to match. Ruby sat down in the one of the chairs, as did Hellstorm.
"What is you view on demons?" Hellstorm asked.
"I've had a few experiences with them. None of which ended well." Ruby replied.
"In my time, it was not uncommon for demons to work with Pokemon and humans. I hope you will share my view that not all demons are evil." Hellstorm explained.
"What brought this up?" Ruby asked.
"Akara drained her sister's soul and in return for the Orb of Wind," Hellstorm held up the clear glass orb for Ruby to see. "Akara now wishes to travel with me. I have no objections seeing as her demonic knowledge could prove valuable should I find that one of the orbs I seek lies in the demon world. What about you?"
"Akara is a demon? What kind of demon?" Ruby asked.
"Akara is a Lamia, although she has some strong magic. I'll keep an eye on her and if she should make any attacks on a human or Pokemon, I'll cast her back to the demon world myself." Hellstorm said.
"Very well. I'll give her a chance. Now, what else is there that you wish to ask me?" Ruby knew there was more to this.
"You claim to know a lot about Crimson Warriors. What other names do you know them by?" Hellstorm asked.
"Riftwalkers. I've sometimes heard them referred to as the Chosen Ones. In the Northern Kingdom of Retreka, they are called the Hunters of Time." Ruby explained.
"We'll go with the term Riftwalker. How much do you know of a place called the Lair of the Riftwalker?" Hellstorm asked.
"Legends tell of a place where time does not flow. A place that only the Riftwalkers and those around them can go. I've heard that the Lair is often a reflection of ones self. Why do ask? I've never heard anything to suggest that it does exist. Have you been there?" Ruby inquired.
"That I have. What else have you heard of that lair?" Hellstorm replied.
"I heard that the gates of time lay there. It is also the place where the Riftwalker stores the orbs and unlocks their power." Ruby walked over to the bookshelf and removed a large blue book. The title read Ancient Myths and Legends. Ruby opened the book to a unique page and shoed the picture to Hellstorm. "Long ago, it was said that a Riftwalker invited a human to his domain, this lair." The picture showed a single stone slab with nineteen round holes. There was a hole in the center and two rings around the center hole. The inner ring had six holes and the outer ring had twelve. "This is supposed to be the lock that seals away the true power of the elemental orbs." Ruby explained. "However, there are only seventeen elemental orbs and nineteen holes in the stone."
"This could mean that there are two additional orbs out there or that two of the holes are not meant to be filled." Hellstorm concluded.
"Correct. Now then, as promised." Ruby put the book back and walked back to her desk. "One Orb of Water. I've cast a spell on it so that should the demon that has been attack my villages returns, the orb will return to me." Ruby opened up the top drawer of the desk she had and pulled out the blue orb. The waters still raged forth in the orb. Ruby handed the orb to Hellstorm and the waters in the orb slowed and stopped leaving a calm deep blue orb in Hellstorm's hand. "It seems that you have made good on your word. Come, I'll show you to your room." Ruby led Hellstorm out of the study and back to the living area where Victor and Akara were waiting.
"Akara, please come with me. I'll show you to your room for the night." Akara stood and followed Hellstorm and Ruby down the halls. Like before, there were many pictures of the royal family in the halls as well as some more replica weapons. Victor was following close behind.
"This is your room Akara." Ruby held open a wooden door that separated a fairly large bedroom from the hallway. There was a large bed with several pillows in the center of the room. It was of a basic design, large wooden sides with soft silk cover. One the one side of the room stood a simple dresser and wardrobe. A large mirror on the door of the wardrobe would easily allow for one see their entire body that was facing the mirror. On the other side of the room was a set of chairs and a fireplace.
"This is one of my special guest rooms. Please do not ruin it." Ruby said as Akara entered the room.
"Thank you." Akara bowed as she entered the room and closed the door.
"Hellstorm, your room is this way." Ruby led Hellstorm done the hall a short ways. They stopped before a set of double doors. One the other side of the hall was a second set of double doors. Ruby opened the doors on the left side of the hallway. Inside was a room fit for a royalty. A large canopy bed occupied the center of the room with large silk curtains hung around it. The bed must have had at least twelve pillows on it and there were several silk blankets. On one side of the room was a grand Granite fireplace much like the one in the living area. Several chairs were spread out by the fireplace, all around a simple oak table meant to hold snacks and drinks. On the other side were a large bookshelf, two wardrobes, and door.
"That door leads to a private bathing area. The water is pumped in from the furnace, so it is always warm. My room is just across the hall if you need anything." Ruby told her guest.
"I'm not used to such things." Hellstorm turned to face Ruby. "I've always been used to small sleeping areas."
"While you are here, this will be your room. Please enjoy it. It's not everyday that I have a guest like you here." Ruby handed Hellstorm the key to the room.
"I'm not as special as you think I am." Hellstorm said.
"You're a Riftwalker. You're as unique as they come." Ruby countered. "Now please, we should all get some sleep as we'll have to start tracking down the other orbs in the morning." Ruby turned and opened the door to her room which was an almost mirror image of Hellstorm's room except for the paintings for her parents that were hung over around the room. "Good night." Ruby closed the door and left Hellstorm to his room.
"This is most definitely a change of pace." Hellstorm walked in and hung his cloak near the bed. He sat up against the headboard and began to think. Soon enough, his eyes were closed and his mind at peace, at least for now. He slept quietly for the rest of the night.