PARAGON
Remnants of the Great War Arc [3]
Chapter 12 : Revival
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When Ash opened his eyes, he thought he was burning. Pain, sharp and throbbing, lanced through his veins like magma, and he sucked in a breath to keep from screaming. As his eyes came into focus, he tried sitting up, but a deluge of vertigo dusted that idea instantly. A film of sweat covered his skin, and he resigned himself to taking deep breaths while his body recalibrated itself.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
As the world swam into view around him, he realized he was back at Paragon Island. This was the huge medical bay Sylvester had patched Sceptile up in, once upon a time. He was laying in bed, curtains strung up around him on all sides but in front of him.
As his vision steadied and oxygen continued to filter through his body, the pain began to subside. This time, he didn’t try his luck, and simply lay in place, arms splayed at his sides while the agony slowly bled away.
The ceiling far above twisted and Ash felt his stomach turn weightless. He closed his eyes and prayed for sleep to take him again, but the pounding in his muscles refused to let him back under. Soon, the physical pain abated almost entirely, but he was left with tortuous nausea and a cold sweat that left him shivering in his hospital gown.
After what felt like hours later, he heard someone enter the room, and the shot of adrenaline that coursed through his veins at their arrival gave him just enough strength to prop himself up against the bedrest to greet them.
“Ash!”
Ash exhaled as his visitor strode past the curtains into view. Zinnia was breathless, and she wore an expression Ash had never seen on her before: worry. Without another word, she surged toward him and fell onto him. She smelled like soil and ember, and it was a welcome change from the invasive odor of chemicals that infused this room.
Ash groaned and pushed her off, her weight threatening to force whatever was left in his stomach out, though he found himself far weaker than he initially thought. She quickly scrambled off of him and put herself in a swivel chair beside his bed.
“Sorry,” she mumbled.
Ash took several more deep breaths. “How…?”
“Oh, hang on a second,” Zinnia said, and she got up and walked away. A minute later she came back with a glass of water. Taking her seat again, she pulled herself closer and opened her other hand. “Here, take these. Sylvester said to give them to you when you woke up.”
Ash stared at the pills in Zinnia’s palm before grabbing them carefully and shoving them in his mouth. He licked his lips and took a swig of water. Its coolness was refreshing, and he sighed in relief, before finishing the rest of the glass slowly.
Zinnia watched him the whole time silently. This was quite the character change for her. During the times they’d found themselves on Paragon Island at the same time during his two year training, Ash had grown accustomed to her wanton belligerence. She demanded battles from him ad nauseam, and though she was an excellent opponent, it’d gotten so bad that Ash had to start calling Sylvester ahead of time to check if she was around, and if she was, he’d go to great lengths to land on a part of the island where she wouldn’t notice him. But she was wily, and eventually she’d realized what he was up to. Then it was her turn to ambush him whenever he arrived.
In other words, a silent Zinnia could hardly be called Zinnia at all.
After Ash finished his water, and handed his glass back to Zinnia and she put it on the ground. Then she looked back at him meekly, burying her hands between her thighs.
Despite his condition, Ash cracked a smile. “What’s going on with you?”
Zinnia half-glared, half-frowned at him. “Welcome back,” she murmured.
Back. Right. He’d been in Mount Coronet with N. They’d found the Plate. Then they run into a man named Zagreus, who fought them for the Plate. And then…
“What happened?” Ash asked, his brows furrowed as he continued to comb through his memories.
“You died, that’s what happened,” Zinnia said in a hollow voice. “When N came back and dumped your body on the floor, your heart wasn’t beating. Sylvester tried everything he could, but you were gone. If it wasn’t for… if it wasn’t for Sabrina, we’d be burying you right now.”
“Sabrina…?”
“She did something. I don’t know what. But she did something, and then your heart was beating again. Barely, but it was beating. Sylvester said it was so weak it could’ve stopped again, and you would’ve died again. Lucky for you, it got stronger. Every day, a little stronger. Until today.”
Ash put his hand on his chest. His heartbeat felt no different than usual, but his throat ran dry at the thought that it had actually stopped, for an extended period of time. The life of a trainer was perilous to be sure, and even among trainers, the number of brushes Ash had had with death was downright embarrassing. But each and every one of those past times, his body had moved before he could even think about it. This time, though, he’d stared death in the face as it bore down on him. There was a world of difference between Ash’s own reckless actions getting himself into danger, and sitting passively as it came to devour him, unable to do anything about it.
“N… how did he…? There was water…”
“Don’t underestimate Reshiram. A bit of water is nothing to a dragon,” she scoffed. “You have a lot to thank him for. He saved all your pokémon too.”
“A-And the Plate?”
Now Zinnia glared at him. “Who cares about the Plate? You almost died.”
“And Zagreus—”
“Who cares about that?! You almost died!” Zinnia gripped her knees in fury.
Ash almost frowned at her outburst, but stopped himself. Anger carved lines into her face, and he looked away instinctively.
“You almost died,” Zinnia repeated. “What were you thinking?”
Ah. That was wishful thinking.
He’d had no intentions of failing his first mission, but if he did, he’d expected a storm of mockery from Zinnia.
Not a scolding, like she was currently delivering. Despite appearances, and her juvenile personality, this was a veteran scolding a rookie, and Ash had nothing to say in his defense.
“Sorry. I messed up.”
Zinnia sighed and crossed her legs, then her arms. Then she slumped forward into her lap. “I guess it’s not really your fault. There wasn’t supposed to be anyone else there.” Her voice was muffled and quiet.
“There’s gotta be other people who know about the Plates, no?”
“Of course. But knowledge of its location should’ve been exclusive. I’m guessing Cynthia got the intel from the highest levels of the International Police. Maybe even higher than the highest level.” She propped her head up on her hands. “And you and N aren’t weak. Something like this shouldn’t have happened.”
Ash stewed in his shame. Mockery would’ve been preferable to this. All that grandstanding, from quitting the League, to his two year training, to his victory against Cynthia… all of it should’ve prepared him and then some for the world of Paragon, but on his very first assignment, he’d fallen flat on his face.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Pokémon Master seemed just as far away as it’d been when he was a child, watching League battles on their grainy TV back at Pallet. Of course, that was an illusion. But the road before him certainly seemed steeper than ever before. There were monsters in this world he still wasn’t ready for.
Ash frowned and perked up, finally finding a fleck of gold as he panned through his memories. “What did N tell you about Zagreus?”
Zinnia sat up, recognizing his sudden shift in demeanor. “Everything he knew, which wasn’t much. He has a Kingambit and a Poliwrath. And he was gone by the time N recovered you. Possibly with the Plate.”
“I doubt it. He was injured.”
“Then the Plate is gone. Consumed by the mountain.” Zinnia shrugged. “That seems pretty normal as far as the Plates go, according to Cynthia. They appear and disappear at random.”
Ash nodded, then shook his head. “Anyway, he must’ve told you that we were separated,” and Zinnia nodded. “I saw something he didn’t. Zagreus is a Guardian.”
Zinnia frowned and tilted her head. “Guardian?”
“An Aura Guardian. From Rota. They’re humans blessed with the ability to manipulate Aura.”
“Wait, are those the guys with the Lucarios?”
“Yeah! That’s them. A friend of mine is a Guardian. My Lucario is actually his Lucario’s little brother.”
“So what does this mean? A Guardian attacked you and N for the Plate? I thought they were supposed to be all zen or something.”
Ash smiled at her brusqueness, thankful that serious Zinnia seemed to be gone. That had been a little creepy, to be honest. “I know what I saw. He coated his hands in Aura and tried to pull the Plate out of the ground, and when he… anyway, he’s a Guardian! He was clearly trained in how to use Aura. I spent a bit of time at Rota when I was on my journey and learned how to manipulate Aura too. I know what it looks like.”
Zinnia pinched the bridge of her nose. “This is all really great information, but I don’t know where Rota is, and it’s Cynthia who should be hearing all this.”
Right. Zinnia was relatively one note. Anything that didn’t pertain to her quest for the ‘Great Dragon’, or whatever mission she’d been assigned to at the moment found little room in her headspace.
“Oh yeah, I guess you don’t know what’s been going on since you left. A lot has happened this past month.”
“A month?! I was out for a month?!”
“Huh?” Zinnia blinked. “Oh, yeah. Yeah, you’ve been asleep in here for a month.”
Ash slid back in his bed. A month… No wonder Zinnia had been so distraught. Maybe open with that next time…
“So what’s been going on?”
“Huuuge breakout from the World Prison. Some guy who’s like a billion years old or something. Anabel and Sabrina are there now, Cynthia’s been at Indigo Plateau with the rest of the League ever since it happened, and even Sylvester went out with N to talk to some breeder in Hoenn who contracts with Interpol. Shit’s been a mess, honestly. I don’t know how Cynthia will take it if you tell her you want to go and investigate this Zagreus right now.”
Damn. She noticed.
“I have to go to Rota. If there’s a rogue Guardian out there, they need to know.”
“You’re not going anywhere until Sylvester gets back and gives you the okay,” Zinnia snapped. “The only reason I’m here is because I happened to be busy when everything went down. But there’s no way I’m taking responsibility if you croak because you went off somewhere before your body was ready. You stay in bed!”
Ash rolled his eyes but obliged. “So where are you off to now? Going after the guy?”
“Nope. Back to Johto to follow up on a lead,” she grinned, standing up. “Hey, did you know that the people of Blackthorn City used to worship a giant Kingdra like a god? Apparently it was so massive it could change the weather just by moving! Something like that’s gotta be related to the Great Dragon!”
“I thought we were super busy right now,” Ash deadpanned.
“I’m not. Not until Cynthia gives me a call.”
She was nothing if not dedicated. Somehow, she eclipsed even his own depthless drive toward his dream.
As she walked away, she stopped in front of his bed and turned back toward him. “Don’t disappoint me again. Dingus.” She pulled down the skin under her eye and stuck her tongue out.
Ash smirked and suppressed the urge to flip her off. Some ego she had, when his win/loss rate against her was nearly two to one.
Then again, he was the one incapacitated in a hospital bed right now.
Wait till Sylvester gets back. Yeah, right.
At the very least, he’d be getting up for some damn food and a shower.
A month… What the hell happened to me?
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Kalos Region, Route 14
The wet sand between his toes. The seawater as it dripped off his body. The cold wind against his skin, and the earthy scent of bog and oak.
AZ drank up everything and more like nectar. As he walked, he brushed his hand up against a seaweed-covered rock, and allowed its rough surface to scratch him. These tactile sensations offered an indescribable euphoria. It was almost like sensory overload. A smile cut across his rugged face and he fell back onto the beach.
He was naked. What little had remained of his clothes had come off in the ocean, and the swim had cleaned millennia of grime from his body. Now he was free, in body and mind. As the moist sand sunk under his weight, he laughed. What cruel irony, that that man should spur him toward such bliss.
When he’d had his fill of the beach, he got up and lumbered over a ridge of bright gray basalt and into a valley of sprawling, windswept grass the color of emerald. The grass tickled him as he walked, and he ran his fingers through it like hair. Swampy soil squelched under his feet, and the sound was music.
So long he’d been bound in that dungeon. They’d meant to kill him, but they couldn’t, so he suffered an even worse fate. At first, it was stubbornness and pure pride that kept him there. He knew they couldn’t hold him, even as they continued to add more and more defenses to his cell as the years went on. But they had killed him, in a certain sense. His life had become nothing more than breathing. Everything he ever had, everything he ever was, disintegrated in that cell.
If they couldn’t condemn him to hell, he would burn in this life. So be it. He deserved it. His crimes were incalculable. He doubted there was a worse man to ever live, even after all this time.
But they hadn’t killed him. Damn them. All this time later, and he was still alive. What weaklings. And for what? To be cursed with one last insult from the one man who deserved to burn more than he did?
It was a joke. A divine joke. But the man had miscalculated. In his mercy, he’d let AZ live. Or maybe he’d just forgotten about him. It wouldn’t have been surprising. Either way, he would get what was coming for him. His world would burn. And from its ashes, AZ would rise even higher than before.
Yes. You kept me alive, and the war with me. You didn’t want to finish it, so I’ll begin it anew. But I won’t be as merciful as you. I will destroy everything you’ve built. Everything you are. I’ll take your treasures and make them my own. I’ll steal your power and use it against you. I’ll wrest your world from its foundations and shatter the peace you so carefully constructed over my living corpse.
As the mountains around him leveled out, AZ stalked through a dark forest. The forest spoke to him in a thousand languages he had never learned. Yet he perceived them all, and they listened to him in turn. His rage kept all away. He was the only source of sound in the forest. Even the shallow brook that ran beside him seemed to stifle its babbling.
He had nothing now, not even garb to clothe himself. But he knew how to be patient. Power would come, in time. He would make it so. And soon, he would be king once again.
A stirring in the forest far ahead piqued his attention.
Have they found me already? Are they so desperate to spill more blood?
AZ grit his teeth and grinned. His hands curled into fists.
War! Beautiful war! Come to me! Let me bathe in your fear!
He flattened himself against a tree and let his presence melt into the forest.
Once upon a time, he had dignity enough to face his foes like a man. His tenure in the World Prison had turned him into a beast. Now, he reveled in the hunt, hiding from his prey and tearing apart their bodies with tooth and nail alike.
Come. Come! He couldn’t have contained his bloodlust even if he tried.
“Hello there?”
AZ froze.
“Is someone there?”
A woman.
“If you’re hurt, please call out so I know where you are.”
How was this possible? The only thing this woman should have sensed was bloodlust. His physical body was undetectable! As confusion washed over him, his bloodlust ebbed away.
He demanded answers from the forest, and it provided.
He scowled and slid down the tree silently. As he stretched his legs out before him, he felt around the mossen floor until his fingers closed around a rock. He closed his eyes and dragged the rock across his thigh. Blood blossomed on his skin and slithered down his leg. For good measure, he grabbed an armful of dead leaves and tossed them over his nethers.
“Over here. Please help me,” he called.
A tiny woman rounded the tree, her arms crossed behind her like she was on a casual stroll. Dark crevices sliced down her face, and her white hair was tied in a tight bun.
“Is your leg hurt, dear?” the wrinkled woman asked without turning to face him. “Can you walk?”
AZ squinted at the woman. Her eyes were glassy, her pupils, milky gray. “I can walk,” he responded.
“Good. My house is close by. I can guide you there.”
AZ stood, blood dripping down his leg, and he towered over her, nearly three times her height.
“My name is Flora,” the blind woman said, and AZ followed her wordlessly.
Next — Chapter 13 : New Game
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