Love in the Time of Trepidation

Chapter 18: A Spirit

Why, yes, Akari does go underwater again this chapter. I might have a problem. Chapter 18, go!

Chapter 18

A Spirit

Akari's body flung through the air, her mouth not even able to get a scream out. The air was growing so cold, the blizzard like little chunks of ice being tossed around and cutting at what was exposed of her skin. None of it stopped the frigid temperatures from seeping into her bones, or the white-hot pain that the explosive beam had caused to race through her body. Flying back, towards the angry waters of Lake Acuity, Akari wondered if her body would give out first or she'd hit the waters. Either seemed a likely option; if she hit the water, her adrenaline was running so low, she was certain she'd sink anyway.

The winds howled in her ears, an endless torrent matched by a mighty cry. This one was deep and guttural, the sound of a mountain, accompanied by the endless shift of the earth. Akari couldn't know what it was, or where her brother and Volo had been flung to, or anything about the situation. All that mattered was her body breaking into Lake Acuity and slipping underneath.

Help... Someone! Rei! Volo! Akari's hands, feeling like they were freezing up as she tried to move her limbs, clinked against the Poké Ball on her belt. He could help her. She could trust him. She had to trust him. But her fingers couldn't reach the latch, slipping off the surface and dangling in the frozen waters. She tried to lift again, towards something dark beneath the surface, starting to glow red. Uxie. Uxie is here.

"Dew dewa!" Light burgeoned at Akari's side, tiny hands grabbing hold of her and lifting her for the surface. A cracking noise was heard that echoed over the Icelands, the surface they raced towards becoming translucent. Dewott sped up, holding fast to Akari's form as his Aqua Jet splashed to life, sending them for the surface. They broke through, and with an arch, tumbled into the tiny island, covered in snowy grass, set in the middle of Lake Acuity.

Akari's hands splayed at her side as a pained breath left her. There was another shine, and Quilava appeared. He nudged her face, his warmth pooling inside her cheeks, beginning to drip into her stomach. The action caused her fingers to twitch, and her body to eventually move. She was soaked and icing over, but Quilava came closer, flaring his flames so as to heat her faster. When she had enough ability to, Akari sat up, and took in all before her.

Lake Acuity was freezing over, becoming a solid slab of ice as the blizzard that heralded Avalugg's arrival swept over them. The trees left standing from the earlier blast whipped and cracked in the wind, some falling, while others weathered the storm around them. A great pounding disturbed the unfrozen parts of the lake, each movement making Akari's body jump without warning, and Akari looked to where it was coming from. She could see nothing but the whiteout that was coming for them and the golden lightning that crackled on the air like a malevolent announcement of what was to come.

"I can't..." she breathed. Her body suddenly doubled over, pain arching through her stomach. All of the abuse her body had suffered the last many days and weeks was catching up with her, and looking to Dewott and Quilava, she could see it was the same with them. Dewott was scorched in places, hiding the fact his breath was a pant. Quilava, meanwhile, shivered as he hid the pain his tiny body had felt. She couldn't ask more of them, not against these creatures who would wipe them out. "Rei...?"

Her voice was so small, searching the snowy plains of ripped trees and splintered pine. It was on fire, no different from the Pearl Settlement or that night. And in a horrible moment, she wondered if she had lost her brother the same way. It took Quilava crawling up, tapping to her cheek to tell her Rei wasn't gone. He knew it, and she knew the same. Holding in that hope, she squinted afar, noticing the autumnal colors of Decidueye helping someone up, while separated even from that looked to be Volo. They were okay. They could still fight. She wouldn't have to face the threats alone!