Love in the Time of Trepidation

Chapter 15: An Erasure

Into the thicket of the Highlands. What awaits our characters there? Will Akari turn from her path? Will she get answers? Or is she to end up yet more damned? Let's find out. Chapter 15!

Chapter 15

An Erasure

"Akari, what's wrong?"

A crackle of flame near a trickling river popped in the space of Rei's question, and Akari looked up. Oshawott and Cyndaquil were huddled against her, while the full-grown Decidueye was perched atop a tree, looking off in the distance. It was just them. They were the only two left. "I'm cold."

Rei bent down to her level, and with concern in his eyes, took her hands, warming them as best he could. The embers of the fire were beginning to die down, fading to naught but ash. To Akari, it inflamed her memories, yet burned across her head. She didn't want to remember. It hurt too much. Eventually, Rei took her into a hug. "It'll be okay, sis. It'll be okay..."

"But mom and dad..." she said, trembling. A free hand tried to reach for the fires, like she could snuff them out, but she failed to, the limb falling limply at her side. "What'll happen to us?"

"We'll keep walking. Find other people. Start over."

"But what if it comes back?! What if it-"

"Akari," Rei said. It was simple, but effective enough to silence her. He reached up and patted her on the cheek with a smile. "If it does, we'll deal with it then. All that matters is right now. You and I, we're alive. So, we can keep walking. You don't need to worry, and you don't need to bear this alone.

"We'll walk together."

Together, huh? Akari thought, stumbling to the side and wondering why that memory was coming to her now. She nearly fell over, but a hand caught her, and in the dim light of Quilava's fire, it wasn't exactly hard to spot who had done so. "Rei..."

"You're looking a little woozy there, sis. I told you that you should have rested," he said, patting the top of her head. The longer she watched him, the more she felt everything softening. Her legs gave out beneath her and she collapsed for a moment, choosing to take that rest he advocated for. It wasn't entirely of her own volition, but with the way her head was pounding, she knew she'd be more likely to tumble down a hole to her death than make any meaningful progress. Rei sat next to her, feeling her head. "No fever, so that's good."

"I'm not you, Rei. I didn't get cut up by Kleavor," she chuckled out, waving his hand away, attempting to smile. It didn't come to her easily, same as the breaths inside her. Feeling the bruises on her arms and chest, she had to figure her body hadn't quite recovered from nearly drowning two or three times.

"Hey, no talking back to your older brother that way," Rei said, poking at her cheek and causing her to almost fall over. He laughed, and somewhere inside, that gave her strength. Knowing he was back on his feet again, that they could fight side by side, it granted her relief and determination. "But seriously, Akari, what's on your mind? You look exhausted still, and the way you've been talking... Is it the nightmares again?"

"I told you, Rei, they're not nightmares," Akari said, pushing to stand. She spun a bit, trying to take in her surroundings, only to see the blocked passageway. There was no chance of linking up with the rest of their party. She sighed; the only road open to them was forward. Rei, however, wasn't taking that for an answer. "It's a memory, one I blocked out, but it's coming back to me. And I can feel it. Those flames on my face. The shadow cloaked in the fire. That Noble, glowing, attacking and tearing villagers apart."

"Akari, that wasn't-"

"I can feel it on my face, though. Its presence. Like I could just reach out and grab it, make it face me. Answer me." Akari's hand reached forward, clutching at the air before she clasped her fist. Having caught nothing, it still inspired her to walk forward, towards Quilava, who was sniffing his way through the cave. Decidueye nodded to them all, keeping close and shooting glares at the hanging Golbat or other cave Pokémon.