Story Notes:
This story isn't dead, but the chapter containing Ash and friends is. It is completely irrelevant to the plot, except for the last paragraph or so. However, I will leave it be.Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Submerged Reflection
Mirrors.
Mirrors... Everywhere, there are mirrors.
A loud smash suddenly echoed throughout the area. Glass shattered in a brilliant display of crystalline shards. Blood mixed with the glass fragments, creating a crimson hail that was just... marvelous.
No... I could not relax yet... there were still so many mirrors left for my prey to hide. I must destroy them all!
"ALASTER!", a voice screamed loudly, catching my attention. I turned to see a woman staring at me with her eyes wide open. She was shaking and her breathing was rather irregular. Her hair was kept rather unkempt, and her face could not hide how utterly scared she was at this moment. I looked at her in recognition and smiled at her presence.
"Why, hello mother", I spoke calmly. "I didn't hear you come in."
"Alaster...", she cried out fearfully. "What have you done?!"
I looked at her strangely. She seemed upset for some reason.
"I don't like the person in the mirror, mother", I responded. "I'm going to make sure he has no place to hide."
She gave me an incredulous look. "You... you... can't hurt the person in the mirror, Alaster. It's a reflection!"
I blinked. I had no idea what the word 'reflection' meant. But I knew what I was doing. "But I am hurting him, mother! Look!" I pointed in the direction of one the mirrors with my bleeding hand. "Each time I break one of these mirrors, the person in the mirror gets more and more bloody. Soon, he won't be able to bother me anymore", I said cheerfully.
She looked at me with tears in her eyes. "No, Alaster...", she spoke softly. "That person in the mirror is just a representation of yourself. It's you, Alaster... you're only hurting yourself."
I shook my head at her angrily. Why was she telling me these crazy lies? "That isn't me in there!!", I screamed at her and smashed my fist into another mirror, causing it to shatter loudly. She gasped and stifled another sob.
"I'm not inside a mirror, mother!", I stated. "I'm standing right here. If that person was me, I'd have to be in a mirror, too!"
I pointed at the surrounding glass shards on the floor. "But I'm not in a mirror, mother...", I repeated softly. "If I was, I'd have shattered after that punch and joined the pieces of glass that are on the floor."
She suddenly hugged me tightly, taking me by surprise. She continued sobbing heavily. "I'll get you help, Alaster. I'll get the best doctors that money can buy! I'll make sure that you get better!" She paused to look me straight in the eyes. "So please...", she pleaded. "Please stop breaking these mirrors!"
I looked at her angrily. "Why are you protecting him!?", I yelled, struggling against her grip, which only made her tighten her grip.
"Alaster! Please STOP!!", She screamed at me.
"LET GO!!", I screamed before swinging my fist towards her with all my strength.
SMASH!!
It was the sound of a fist connecting with an object, but the sound produced was not one of a fist connecting with flesh. No... it was the sound of glass shattering. I recoiled at the sound and looked at where my mother was. She was no longer there. In her place were fragments of different colored glass.
The light left my eyes as I gave a hollow stare. A mirror? My mother was really a mirror? People... could be mirrors? I spun around to look at a nearby mirror. The person inside the mirror looked at me in acknowledgment.
"You... you can hide in people, too?"
The person in the mirror just mouthed what I did, taunting me. I turned away from him, contemplating my newly discovered wisdom. "People... are mirrors."
I turned back to the person in the mirror. "I'll get rid of all of them! I won't give you a place to hide." I punched the last remaining mirror in the room, causing it to shatter like the others. I walked over to where the fragments of my mother were and angrily crunched the glass beneath my feet. I cried to myself, completely unaware that what I was stepping on was an intact, lifeless corpse of my mother.
***25 Years Later***
Nikolai looked up in the direction of the doorway. For a brief moment, reality entered his chamber of solitude. Officer Jenny said he had a visitor, but why should he care? He didn't want to see anyone... he didn't want to be anymore.
A man walked inside of the room. His hair was grayish in color, but was tinted olive-green in color. His face looked childlike in appearance, which masked his age from anyone who glanced at him. His eyes were sky blue, heightened in intensity from the light in the hallway. He nodded to Officer Jenny and she left the room. Nikolai looked at the man strangely. Nikolai didn't know how he should interpret such a face and settled the matter by looking back up at the ceiling.
"Nikolai, is it not?", the man's voice inquired peacefully, as if not caring about Nikolai's current mental state. "My name is Alaster, and it's an honor to finally meet you."
Nikolai didn't answer, opting instead to look straight up at the ceiling, as if trying to peer through it. The man put his hand on Nikolai's shoulder and started to rub it gently. "Poor child... did you forget your role amidst all of the chaos?"
Nikolai shrugged his shoulder in a vain attempt to release the man's hand from it. Being strapped down, he couldn't do much else. Realizing that he couldn't succeed in this action, he stopped. Nikolai looked at the man with lifeless eyes before speaking. "Am I going to be released?"
The man lifted his hand from Nikolai's shoulder. "The time limit for detaining a suspect has indeed expired. You will be released from custody very soon."
Nikolai turned his gaze back to the ceiling. "That's...nice..."
The man looked at Nikolai indifferently. "You don't care... do you?"
Nikolai continued looking at the ceiling. "I don't see why I should."
The man looked at Nikolai in disappointment. "An actor has every right to question his role in a particular scene. However, no actor should quit because they disagree with it."
Nikolai was getting tired of hearing this guy speak in theatric metaphors. What the hell was wrong with him?
"Two people I knew died that day", Nikolai spoke. "When I entered that lab, the smell of death was overwhelming. The corpses of the people that I had worked with formed the center of this grotesque collage of death. The nearby pokemon must have tried to do something to help them as the two of them laid there dying. A strain of pokerus had run rampant through the garden, originating from where my dead colleagues had fallen..."
Nikolai turned towards the man. "Every pokemon that tried to help them or clean them caught the virus. Over and OVER! and OVER!!!... each of them dying and forming a new ring of corpses, tainted orange by the virus. All I could do was watch... the pokemon had to have known what they were doing. They had to have known they were going to die! Even as I was standing there, pokemon were still making their pilgrimage to them... They wouldn't stop... they just kept going. Endlessly."
Nikolai closed his eyes. "I thought I knew the people that I worked with. I thought I understood their inner drives and their personality. I thought I knew how they had lived... and I thought I knew the direction they wanted their lives to go in. But when I saw those pokemon journeying towards them... I felt that I knew absolutely nothing at all. I felt separated from the world and the events that had transpired in that garden."
Nikolai opened his eyes again. "All I could do thereafter was trap myself in that moment. It just seemed to be the only thing that mattered. I've been replaying that moment over and over, watching pokemon after pokemon make that decision... and myself just standing there. Those pokemon obviously had a reason to do what they did. They understood something I didn't, and they were able to make that journey because of that. All I wish for now is for this scene to stop... but it won't. It won't ever stop for me. The universe whispered something profound in that garden... and the echo is long gone."
Nikolai stared at the man. "I can't be Nikolai ever again... just leave me here to die."
The man looked at Nikolai. "Stage fright", he spoke calmly.
Nikolai 's face grew darker. "What the HELL are you talking about!? You just keep babbling nonsense about theatrics as if this is some sort of play!? Two people are DEAD and pokemon were committing mass suicide! This isn't an act, it's real!!"
The man sighed. "You've lost touch with your role, Nikolai."
"Shut up!!", Nikolai screamed.
"The spotlight moved away from you for an instant. Your life, your achievements, and your goals... seem to disappear as the life of someone else is illuminated. You, like many others, are always following the spotlight. When it isn't on you, you feel unloved and worthless..."
"Officer Jenny!", Nikolai shouted desperately. "This man and I are done talking!" It was to no avail, as Officer Jenny had just stepped out for lunch.
"When the light is gone, people think that they don't have to act anymore", the man continued in a soothing voice. "When people think the spotlight can never shine on them again..." He paused and looked at Nikolai, eliciting a glare from him. "They dismiss the role they were given completely."
As much as the man pissed Nikolai off, there was some truth to what he was saying.
"Given time...", the man stopped talking and pulled out a newspaper. He rustled through it and showed an article to Nikolai. The article was about someone who had committed suicide late last night after losing his fortune in an insurance scam. "Some people may make the choice to give up acting altogether."
Nikolai looked sternly at the man before speaking. "What is it that you want from me? Why don't you follow the spotlight like everyone else and leave me alone?"
The man looked rather calm. "Because I don't need to follow the spotlight. All I need to do is to manipulate where it ends up. For me, that is enough."
He walked towards Nikolai with his hand outstretched. "Join me... and I can make you the star of this whole charade."
Nikolai looked at the man and reflected on his own life. Should he trust this man?
"Come now...", the man spoke again. "I'm giving you mankind's desire. I'm giving you MEANING. You cannot refuse this invitation, and deep down you know this."
Nikolai slowly grabbed the man's hand...Chapter End Notes:Finally! I'm so happy with the plot I thought of, and I think it should keep everyone entertained.
Comments are appreciated :
Mirrors... Everywhere, there are mirrors.
A loud smash suddenly echoed throughout the area. Glass shattered in a brilliant display of crystalline shards. Blood mixed with the glass fragments, creating a crimson hail that was just... marvelous.
No... I could not relax yet... there were still so many mirrors left for my prey to hide. I must destroy them all!
"ALASTER!", a voice screamed loudly, catching my attention. I turned to see a woman staring at me with her eyes wide open. She was shaking and her breathing was rather irregular. Her hair was kept rather unkempt, and her face could not hide how utterly scared she was at this moment. I looked at her in recognition and smiled at her presence.
"Why, hello mother", I spoke calmly. "I didn't hear you come in."
"Alaster...", she cried out fearfully. "What have you done?!"
I looked at her strangely. She seemed upset for some reason.
"I don't like the person in the mirror, mother", I responded. "I'm going to make sure he has no place to hide."
She gave me an incredulous look. "You... you... can't hurt the person in the mirror, Alaster. It's a reflection!"
I blinked. I had no idea what the word 'reflection' meant. But I knew what I was doing. "But I am hurting him, mother! Look!" I pointed in the direction of one the mirrors with my bleeding hand. "Each time I break one of these mirrors, the person in the mirror gets more and more bloody. Soon, he won't be able to bother me anymore", I said cheerfully.
She looked at me with tears in her eyes. "No, Alaster...", she spoke softly. "That person in the mirror is just a representation of yourself. It's you, Alaster... you're only hurting yourself."
I shook my head at her angrily. Why was she telling me these crazy lies? "That isn't me in there!!", I screamed at her and smashed my fist into another mirror, causing it to shatter loudly. She gasped and stifled another sob.
"I'm not inside a mirror, mother!", I stated. "I'm standing right here. If that person was me, I'd have to be in a mirror, too!"
I pointed at the surrounding glass shards on the floor. "But I'm not in a mirror, mother...", I repeated softly. "If I was, I'd have shattered after that punch and joined the pieces of glass that are on the floor."
She suddenly hugged me tightly, taking me by surprise. She continued sobbing heavily. "I'll get you help, Alaster. I'll get the best doctors that money can buy! I'll make sure that you get better!" She paused to look me straight in the eyes. "So please...", she pleaded. "Please stop breaking these mirrors!"
I looked at her angrily. "Why are you protecting him!?", I yelled, struggling against her grip, which only made her tighten her grip.
"Alaster! Please STOP!!", She screamed at me.
"LET GO!!", I screamed before swinging my fist towards her with all my strength.
SMASH!!
It was the sound of a fist connecting with an object, but the sound produced was not one of a fist connecting with flesh. No... it was the sound of glass shattering. I recoiled at the sound and looked at where my mother was. She was no longer there. In her place were fragments of different colored glass.
The light left my eyes as I gave a hollow stare. A mirror? My mother was really a mirror? People... could be mirrors? I spun around to look at a nearby mirror. The person inside the mirror looked at me in acknowledgment.
"You... you can hide in people, too?"
The person in the mirror just mouthed what I did, taunting me. I turned away from him, contemplating my newly discovered wisdom. "People... are mirrors."
I turned back to the person in the mirror. "I'll get rid of all of them! I won't give you a place to hide." I punched the last remaining mirror in the room, causing it to shatter like the others. I walked over to where the fragments of my mother were and angrily crunched the glass beneath my feet. I cried to myself, completely unaware that what I was stepping on was an intact, lifeless corpse of my mother.
***25 Years Later***
Nikolai looked up in the direction of the doorway. For a brief moment, reality entered his chamber of solitude. Officer Jenny said he had a visitor, but why should he care? He didn't want to see anyone... he didn't want to be anymore.
A man walked inside of the room. His hair was grayish in color, but was tinted olive-green in color. His face looked childlike in appearance, which masked his age from anyone who glanced at him. His eyes were sky blue, heightened in intensity from the light in the hallway. He nodded to Officer Jenny and she left the room. Nikolai looked at the man strangely. Nikolai didn't know how he should interpret such a face and settled the matter by looking back up at the ceiling.
"Nikolai, is it not?", the man's voice inquired peacefully, as if not caring about Nikolai's current mental state. "My name is Alaster, and it's an honor to finally meet you."
Nikolai didn't answer, opting instead to look straight up at the ceiling, as if trying to peer through it. The man put his hand on Nikolai's shoulder and started to rub it gently. "Poor child... did you forget your role amidst all of the chaos?"
Nikolai shrugged his shoulder in a vain attempt to release the man's hand from it. Being strapped down, he couldn't do much else. Realizing that he couldn't succeed in this action, he stopped. Nikolai looked at the man with lifeless eyes before speaking. "Am I going to be released?"
The man lifted his hand from Nikolai's shoulder. "The time limit for detaining a suspect has indeed expired. You will be released from custody very soon."
Nikolai turned his gaze back to the ceiling. "That's...nice..."
The man looked at Nikolai indifferently. "You don't care... do you?"
Nikolai continued looking at the ceiling. "I don't see why I should."
The man looked at Nikolai in disappointment. "An actor has every right to question his role in a particular scene. However, no actor should quit because they disagree with it."
Nikolai was getting tired of hearing this guy speak in theatric metaphors. What the hell was wrong with him?
"Two people I knew died that day", Nikolai spoke. "When I entered that lab, the smell of death was overwhelming. The corpses of the people that I had worked with formed the center of this grotesque collage of death. The nearby pokemon must have tried to do something to help them as the two of them laid there dying. A strain of pokerus had run rampant through the garden, originating from where my dead colleagues had fallen..."
Nikolai turned towards the man. "Every pokemon that tried to help them or clean them caught the virus. Over and OVER! and OVER!!!... each of them dying and forming a new ring of corpses, tainted orange by the virus. All I could do was watch... the pokemon had to have known what they were doing. They had to have known they were going to die! Even as I was standing there, pokemon were still making their pilgrimage to them... They wouldn't stop... they just kept going. Endlessly."
Nikolai closed his eyes. "I thought I knew the people that I worked with. I thought I understood their inner drives and their personality. I thought I knew how they had lived... and I thought I knew the direction they wanted their lives to go in. But when I saw those pokemon journeying towards them... I felt that I knew absolutely nothing at all. I felt separated from the world and the events that had transpired in that garden."
Nikolai opened his eyes again. "All I could do thereafter was trap myself in that moment. It just seemed to be the only thing that mattered. I've been replaying that moment over and over, watching pokemon after pokemon make that decision... and myself just standing there. Those pokemon obviously had a reason to do what they did. They understood something I didn't, and they were able to make that journey because of that. All I wish for now is for this scene to stop... but it won't. It won't ever stop for me. The universe whispered something profound in that garden... and the echo is long gone."
Nikolai stared at the man. "I can't be Nikolai ever again... just leave me here to die."
The man looked at Nikolai. "Stage fright", he spoke calmly.
Nikolai 's face grew darker. "What the HELL are you talking about!? You just keep babbling nonsense about theatrics as if this is some sort of play!? Two people are DEAD and pokemon were committing mass suicide! This isn't an act, it's real!!"
The man sighed. "You've lost touch with your role, Nikolai."
"Shut up!!", Nikolai screamed.
"The spotlight moved away from you for an instant. Your life, your achievements, and your goals... seem to disappear as the life of someone else is illuminated. You, like many others, are always following the spotlight. When it isn't on you, you feel unloved and worthless..."
"Officer Jenny!", Nikolai shouted desperately. "This man and I are done talking!" It was to no avail, as Officer Jenny had just stepped out for lunch.
"When the light is gone, people think that they don't have to act anymore", the man continued in a soothing voice. "When people think the spotlight can never shine on them again..." He paused and looked at Nikolai, eliciting a glare from him. "They dismiss the role they were given completely."
As much as the man pissed Nikolai off, there was some truth to what he was saying.
"Given time...", the man stopped talking and pulled out a newspaper. He rustled through it and showed an article to Nikolai. The article was about someone who had committed suicide late last night after losing his fortune in an insurance scam. "Some people may make the choice to give up acting altogether."
Nikolai looked sternly at the man before speaking. "What is it that you want from me? Why don't you follow the spotlight like everyone else and leave me alone?"
The man looked rather calm. "Because I don't need to follow the spotlight. All I need to do is to manipulate where it ends up. For me, that is enough."
He walked towards Nikolai with his hand outstretched. "Join me... and I can make you the star of this whole charade."
Nikolai looked at the man and reflected on his own life. Should he trust this man?
"Come now...", the man spoke again. "I'm giving you mankind's desire. I'm giving you MEANING. You cannot refuse this invitation, and deep down you know this."
Nikolai slowly grabbed the man's hand...Chapter End Notes:Finally! I'm so happy with the plot I thought of, and I think it should keep everyone entertained.
Comments are appreciated :