The Messanger of Time

Chapter 9: Peace To Chaos

"Are you certain they came here?"

"I am. The ship was routed to this region and they were still on it when it arrived."

"Then we should hurry... I expect he will be here as well."

- - - - -

After having driven two days through the Orre region, stopping at Agate Village for supplies and food, Vincent and the other three come to the canyon town of Pyrite for a break.

Entering the town, the four come to realize it to be a place home to many rogues, due to its low maintenance and apparent vandalism on several buildings. As they wander through the town, Larisa gets an uncomfortable feeling, remaining close to Vincent.

The Latias looks around cautiously. "You know... I don't like this place one bit."

Vincent strokes her neck softly to try and comfort her as he looks around the town as well. People in the alleys eye them as they pass by, a fair few of them catching his suspicions as he holds Larisa close to his side.

They soon come to a far point of the town where a chasm can be seen dividing the common area from a massive white dome can be seen looming over all the other buildings. Only a small bridge can be seen connecting the two sides of the chasm, one they are unwilling to cross.

However, to the right of the forbidding chasm appears to be a tall, white building next to the canyon's cliff. This place is seen to be less uninviting than the rest of the town, leading to the four to come to it with curiosity. The front of the building shows four large letters, ONBS, and in smaller text beneath them says, Orre News Broadcasting Station.

Outside the building is a rather large man who looks at them with caution as they approach, standing still in front of the door with his arms folded. As they come to him, he speaks in a deep and opposing tone, yet in a somewhat welcoming manner.

"What brings you guys to this place? Do you have an appointment?"

James looks at the man for a moment, before responding. "Actually, we're not from here. We're traveling the region, trying to find out what we can about two groups who may have been around here. Have you seen any suspicious activity?"

The man lowers a brow at his question as if he'd asked something completely obsurd. "Do you realize where you are? Pyrite Town is the motherload of scoundrels and other nutty people. Suspicious happens every day."

Vincent puts his hand on his face and sighs, then steps up. "That's... not exactly what he was saying. Let me put it to you this way. We believe there are other people from other countries in this region, who could potentially bring danger to the people here. We're asking if you or anyone else have noticed anything... out of the ordinary."

The man stares at them suspiciously, lowering his voice now. "Are you guys crazy? Do you know what a story like that's gonna cause with people like these around? Go take your nut-job plot somewhere else before you start a riot."

Another male's voice on a nearby speaker chimes in, sounding younger. "Is everything okay out there?"

They all look at the speaker, and Vincent soon realizes there is a camera above it that has been watching them. The large man goes over and pushes a button by the speaker. "We got these guys here telling some story about a bunch of people coming and terrorizing the region."

After a moment of silence, the other voice finally responds. "Bring them in, please."

"You sure, Nett? We never met these people."

"Yes, I want to talk to them."

The man turns back to them, staring at them for a bit, before stepping aside. "Go on in then."

They nod and walk into the building, taking immediate notice to the air conditioned interior in comparison to the desert climate outside. As they look around, they notice this place has been well-maintained, unlike the rest of the town. The floor is made of polished marble tiles, and the walls are clean and white, lined with lights that go to the back wall, which turns to a hallway to the right. There is a service desk in the middle of the room, where a teal-haired girl is seen alongside a Breloom.

As they walk to the desk, they are greeted by the girl. "Welcome to the Orre News Broadcasting Station. My name is Megg. How can I help you."

Vincent is about to speak, before the phone rings, and she blinks, motioning for them to wait, before picking it up. "Yes, Nett?"

James eyes her, then pulls out his phone and goes through some things on it.

After a moment, she looks at them. "Okay. I'll send them up."

She hangs up the phone and smiles to them. "Sorry for that. I understand the director is expecting you. If you take the hallway behind me to the end, there is an elevator that will take you to the top floor, where his office is."

Vincent slowly nods and looks at James, before walking around the desk. "Thank you."

They all go down the hallway and to a tubular elevator with a glass door, which opens as they approach it. As they go in, Vincent presses a button on the back wall, causing the elevator to lift up several floors before stopping. The door opens soon after, and they walk out, looking around.

They are now in an open room similar to the ground level, the difference being this one has windows viewing outside, and in the back is another door. As they come to it, Vincent knocks on it, soon hearing the young male voice respond. "Yes, come in!"

As they open the door to walk into the smaller room, they take notice to the brown carpet floor beneath them and dark brown walls, which are lined with shelves and tables. A large, wooden desk sits in the back, occupied by a young man with short, dark brown hair and wearing a red button-up shirt, bearing a tag labeled "ONBS" and the name "Nett" below it.

He looks towards them, appearing somewhat busy, but waving them over regardless as he stands from his chair. He holds his hand out to shake each of theirs, then looks at Larisa with a somewhat surprised look, making her look down in discomfort.

After a brief moment, he says, "Welcome to O.N.B.S. My name is Nett. And you are..?"

They each introduce themselves, and he smiles. "Nice to meet you. My apologies if this place isn't what you may have expected. It's been reconstructed a few times over the last couple years."

Vincent shrugs, taking no mind to this, and speaking up. "Hey, listen. We can't stay, so we wanted to just ask... What do you know-"

"About Chora and Nero?" Nett interrupts, before walking around his desk towards a table by the wall, where there are several papers scattered about around a laptop.

"Well for starters, I know that the two countries are on the same continent as this region, actually on either side of us. We at ONBS have been keeping our eyes and ears open to the happenings around Orre, and have come to realize things have become quite different lately."

Vincent takes a step forward. "How different, exactly..?"

"Since the defeat of a cyndicate that once caused chaos in this region, the people have believed that they could live in peace. After all, the experiments with these Shadow Pokemon have ceased."

Vincent nods slowly. "Yes, I've heard about Cipher... But what happened since then?"

Nett pulls up a program on the laptop and fidgets around with it, before motioning for them to come over.

"Chora is a country descending from the worshippers of Groudon, and Nero is descent to the worshippers of Kyogre. These two countries have been in disagreements since the early ages, so the history says. And Orre has seen its fair share of these disagreements. But only recently has it been directly involved with them."

Vincent looks over the map, showing various points of the region where there have been attacks from either country. There also appears to be a scaled map showing the country of Nero to the coastal northwest of the region and Chora to the east, in the mountains range.

"...So these have been reported to be points of interest with the two sides."

Nett nods. "That's right. There have been several explosions, people winding up attacked when trying to interfere with their affairs, and even some records of battles between smaller groups from both sides."

Vincent blinks. "And the public doesn't know what it is?"

"We haven't been given a substantial amount of evidence to bring to the public, proving that these activities are, in fact, from Chora and Nero. They only hear the rumors that have gone around, many of which have been dismissed. Which makes me curious as to how you know of this."

James shakes his head. "We can't really... explain how we know. There's still so much we don't know, which is why we need more information about them. There should be a way for this to be stopped. If one of the countries is to be victorious in this war, it could lead to catastrophic changes in the world."

"Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean catastrophic changes?"

Vincent looks back at Nett. "These people possess abilities that are beyond that of the normal individual. It's an ancient lore in their countries, and they've come to master them. The only thing keeping them from lashing out on the world... is each other. And if one of them is eliminated, who knows what could happen?"

Nett stares at him for what seems like forever, before turning to walk to his desk. "I think that's enough. The guard was right, you are telling crazy stories."

James growls. "We're not lying! Every word is the truth!"

Vincent nudges him. "Hey, calm down... There's no sense getting worked up about it."

James looks at him, then grunts. "I should've expected something like this in such a place." He storms out of the room, and Vincent looks back at Nett, who is watching them intently. He shakes his head, and walks out, Larisa and Lou following him.

As they leave the building and go back through the town, a group of people come out of a nearby alley and stop in front of them. The person in front, a muscular man in a rider's jacket and jeans, wearing a bandana on his head, smirks as he eyes the four.

"Woah woah, hey fellas. Where're you off to in such a rush? Got some plans?"

Larisa moves closer to Vincent, staring at the group and growing nervous. He puts his hand on her paw and stays in place. "...We don't want any trouble, okay?"

The leader chuckles and takes a step forward. "You gave me a look. You were askin' for trouble since you came here. You think we're just gonna let ya waltz out of here for nothin'? I might be up to makin' a deal... if you got something of value for us."

Vincent glares at him, then moves to try and pass him while holding onto Larisa. But the man smacks his hand down on his shoulder to stop him.

Immediately in response, a silvery glint flashes in Vincent's eyes, and he releases Larisa's paw, grabbing the man's hand and spinning around to forcibly slam him to the ground. Everyone in the group gasps in shock as their leader is apparently taken down with little effort. Vincent then jerks the man's arm behind his back and puts his foot on him, growling. "Stay down..."

The man struggles, being an unbelievable sight for his size in comparison to Vincent, and he grunts. "Alright, alright! You don't have to get all wild about it!"

James, Lou and Larisa just stare at Vincent in surprise to his unexpected lash to the person, and he looks around at the group of people, who back up slowly. But shortly, someone's voice is heard in the distance.

"Hey, hey! Is there a problem here?"

As everyone looks towards the voice, they see an older man, probably in his fifties, in a blue and red uniform and carrying a baton. Vincent lets go of the man and stands up, looking at the apparent person of authority. And one of the other people in the group speaks up. "No, Chief Sherles, nothin's going on. We were just leaving."

Sherles raises a brow, and they all immediately turn to walk off, the downed leader stumbling up and pushing Vincent away, before going off with them. Vincent glares at him as he leaves.

After they're out of sight, Sherles puts his baton away and walks over to the four. "I hope they didn't cause you too much trouble."

Vincent looks back at him, then slowly shakes his head. "No... We're fine."

He nods, appearing a little concerned. "This town has a history of outlaws, so much so that outsiders refuse to come here anymore. And I might suggest you do the same. It isn't safe for the faint of heart."

Vincent looks back at the others, who come over to him, and he sighs. "Let's go... Before things get worse."

James nods. "Right. I have suspicions that things are about to get a lot worse in a little bit..."

Vincent eyes him suspectingly, and he walks over to the motorcycle, which they left behind a small cliff to keep from being noticed by other people. He then looks back at Sherles, who nods to them.

"Farewell to you. And be careful."

He nods back to him and starts off, the other two following him. Sherles watches them as they get on the motorcycle, and soon drive away.

- - - - -

"Hey, Nett? Look at this..."

Nett goes over to the computer where one of the employees is and looks at the screen, before growling. "Those guys hacked us! Right under our noses!"

- - - - -

As night falls, James pulls off to a cliffside near the edge of the canyon. They've made a large bit of distance from Pyrite, and now feel safe enough to rest.

As the four stay the night, they discuss what they've learned about what has happened.

"So we know that Chora and Nero are already fighting," Vincent brings up. "But it really seems that they're just all over the place. How are we going to find out where they'll strike next?"

James leans back against the cliff. "That guy, Nett, showed us a map of where they've attacked."

"Yeah, but I didn't look at it enough to really make sense of anything..."

He pulls out his phone and goes through a few menus, before giving it to Vincent. On the screen is an exact copy of the map that was on the laptop.

"...Wait, did you..."

"Yep."

Vincent looks at James. "You're just as bad as your brother... When did you even do this?"

"When the girl up front was on the phone, I decided to do some work of my own. So I broke into ONBS' network and downloaded all the data I could find about the recent occurances."

"...That is so wrong. You know what'll happen if they manage to find us."

"They won't find us..."

"That's not the point, you should have some morals, James. You know, hacking into secure, official servers is something you shouldn't do."

James sighs and drops his head back against the cliffside. "You're worrying to much. It's really not like I'll be here for anything bad to happen. Once my task ends, I'll go back to the Spiritual World and everything'll be fine. I won't have to deal with this world."

Vincent stares at him, not believing what he had heard. "What did you just say..?"

Lou shifts a bit, knowing where this is going. And Larisa puts her paw on Vincent's shoulder. But James just looks at him with a serious look.

"We're Messangers, Vincent. We come here, we do our task, we leave. It's how it works. There's no sense in staying so attached to people here because you're just going to ditch them in the end."

"Is that what you think? Even when you grew so close to Jack, even when you had a connection to the family you grew up with here. Is that really what you see in it? Just a fake bond?"

James shrugs. "I care for Jack. But pretty soon, I'm just gonna have to let go. And you should too. If you keep going on, trying to fix what happened, lingering on about your parents, it's just gonna destroy you. You'd fail your task here just like you did your last one. Emotional sentiment..."

Vincent throws the phone at him and gets up, walking off, and Larisa hovers up, quickly following after him.

After being hit, James grunts and shakes his head, before looking back towards Vincent. It takes a bit before he realizes what he started. "...I'm sorry, Vincent! Really!"

But Vincent ignores him and walks around the canyon, out of sight. James sighs and closes his eyes. "What did I do to deserve all this..."

Lou eyes him for a moment. "Being in the Council is no easy thing... Ever since I joined, I've noticed just how much we all can be affected by what goes on. And it makes me wonder if I made a right choice..."

James shakes his head and looks at the ground. "Yeah, but... I wish it didn't have to always be like this."

Soon, he reaches over and picks up his phone, brushing off the screen and looking at it. After a moment, he looks closer, examining the map. He then taps the screen, and moves his finger to draw a line between all the places that were targeted in order, eventually forming an incomplete circle.

"...It isn't random. There's meaning behind it... And their next target..." He quickly stands up. "We need to find Vincent and Larisa. Now!" He runs off, and Lou blinks and gets up, running after him and calling out to him.

- - - - -

"Vincent, stop!"

Vincent comes to a stop and clenches his fist, staring ahead. "He shouldn't have said that..."

Larisa flies around in front of him and looks at him. "Maybe so, but this isn't going to make anything better."

Vincent growls and hits the cliffside with his hand. "It wasn't like him... He never says things like that. He may be a prick at times, but that was cruel."

The Latias sighs and moves closer to put her paws on his shoulders, and he leans back against the cliff, looking to the side and at the ground.

"...Did I ever tell you? About my last task?"

She slowly shakes her head. "No..."

Vincent is silent for a bit, then goes on. "During my last task... I was sent to a different realm to prevent an attack on a forest of innocent pokemon. It was meant to be a task of less urgency than most, but I went to take part in it."

Larisa listens as he continues to speak. "When the real task began, my family in that life was ambushed by a dark group... I lost someone I was close to, and driven out of the forest. And as I traveled, I searched for a way to try and bring peace back to the forest. But it wasn't enough..."

He closes his eyes and winces. "...When I finally returned to the forest, it was already too late. Everyone who lived there had been slaughtered in the attack, bringing about the failure to my task and crushing me. Once I returned to the Spiritual World, I felt I couldn't do it again. That this failure had made me too weak to continue being a Messanger. But many others helped me to realize I had more to strive for. That I could still come back and serve my role. And so I was chosen later on to come here. To serve this task, when no one else could."

Larisa looks into his eyes as he opens them again, and he shakes his head. "That's why I broke when James said what he did. But... that's not the person I know in him. Something must have driven him to it."

The Latias moves closer to hug him, being all she can do, and he lowers his head, returning the hug.

After a short time, the two hear James' voice call out to them as he and Lou run towards them. Vincent looks up towards him, staring in silence.

When they reach them, James looks at Vincent, appearing remorseful now. "Look, I'm sorry... I shouldn't have said that, I don't know what I was thinking."

Vincent sighs and shakes his head. "You crossed the line there, you know that?"

Larisa lets go of him as he steps towards James. "Why did you say it?"

"I..." James looks down. "I really don't know. After we left Pyrite, when we were driving off, something came over me. The reason I stopped was that I was actually feeling really angry. I knew if I kept going, I could wreck the motorcycle and hurt us. But when we were talking... I just don't know what happened. I let my negative feelings take over."

"And yet you brought up emotional sentiment."

James shakes his head. "...I think that was aimed more towards myself."

Vincent stares at him, before walking over and lightly smacking his arm. "Let's just let it go. It never happened."

James looks back at him for a bit, then nods slowly. "Right..."

Lou looks between them and then butts in. "Okay, we settled the whole thing. Now wasn't there something urgent we needed to bring up?"

James looks at him, quickly realizing what he came to say. "Crap! That's right." He looks back at the other two. "We gotta go. I checked out the map again, and they're coming here as we speak. Pyrite Canyon is their next target."

Vincent blinks, the news immediately registering to him. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, they'll be in the area any-"

Before he can finish, the four are split apart by a purple Flamethrower, and they quickly turn to the source.

Three people dressed in red cloaks are seen in the distance, along with a Lampent hovering above them. They take no time in directing another attack, the Lampent firing a Shadow Ball towards them. But they quickly dodge the attack and cast their swords, while Larisa gets into a stance.

One of the people calls something to the other two in another language, and they nod, all of them surrounding the four. Vincent looks around at them, holding onto his sword.

"So much for talking sense into them, if they can't understand us..."

The person shouts another order to the others, and immediately, the three slam their fists on the ground, creating a massive tremor as a hole breaks open below them. Vincent, quick to respond, immediately jumps out of the way, pushing James and Lou to the side. As they fall to the ground, he spins around with his sword, releasing a blade of energy in all directions and striking the three.

The tremors stop as they all fall backwards, and the Lampent charges another Flamethrower in response. But Larisa immediately releases a Mist Ball at it, creating an explosion of flames that takes it out.

As James and Lou stand back up again, the other three individuals are starting to stagger up from the attack. But as they hold their swords out to get ready, a ring of black energy bursts up around them. And the only thing they hear are the raspy yelps of the assailants, before the energy disperses, leaving nothing left in its place.

As they all look around, they begin to sense an even larger threat, soon coming to see the faint image another person standing atop the canyon cliff in the darkness, dressed in a black cloak with its hood up.

Lou squints his eyes to look at him, before slowly stepping back. "It's you... You're..."

The individual turns his gaze to him, before uttering in a quiet tone. "You've much outlived your usefulness." Immediately after, he disperses into darkness, and reappears behind Lou. He thrusts his hand out to hit his back, shouting, "Expello Phasmatis!" And not a second later, Lou flashes green and is launched off into the cliff with incredible force, before falling limply to the ground.

Vincent looks at him in shock and runs over to him. "Lou!"

James stares at Lou, not believing what just happened right in front of him. He then turns to the individual, grasping his sword. "Who are you!?"

Lou soon fades into silver particles as Vincent kneels down to him, and he growls, turning back to the attacker. He is barely seen smirking, as he brings his hands up to pull back his hood, revealing his face. He appears astonishingly similar to James in every way, other than his hair being much darker.

Vincent stands up and glares at him, and James' eyes grow larger as he steps back. "No way... How could you have survived?"

The individual chuckles quietly and stands there, taking delight in James' and Vincent's bafflement. "You never have learned. It's not surprising, really... I am but an embodiment of darkness. I do not die, nor do I live. But oh how I have taken much pleasure in tormenting you so very long ago... You remember, right? How I lived within you, and used you as a puppet, long before you were inducted into that Council of yours?"

"Shut up!" James runs over and takes a swipe at him, but he steps out of the way and grabs onto his arm, throwing him to the ground.

"Here's a lesson for you, James... You cannot protect against yourself. And no matter what you do, I will be here every step of the way. You created me. And I will forever be your living hell..."

He disperses into darkness again just as Vincent starts to run towards him, and soon after, James yells out as his body bursts with dark energy. Vincent gasps and stops for a second, then instinctively rushes over to James, the energy fading away to leave him lying motionless.

Vincent drops down to his side and puts his hand on him. "James! James, can you hear me?"

Larisa looks on at the scene in shock, not sure what to do now. As the sword in James' hand fades away, Vincent looks to see it being replaced by a jagged black one. And Vincent slowly stands up, hearing the faint laugh from him.

James staggers up to a kneeling position, holding onto the sword, and then comes to his feet. He stands still for several seconds, before turning his gaze towards Vincent, his eyes visibly glowing a pale green. "...It's good to be back at last."

Vincent steps back, staring at him with both shock and anger. "It's not possible..."

"Hard to believe, Vincent? That your best friend has been reclaimed by his inner darkness. How torturous must it be to lose one you care for right in front of your eyes, and you can do nothing about it? If I recall... it happened before, did it not?"

Vincent stops and glares at him after hearing this. "...That was you? You're the one who rode the Moltres? You're the one who killed my parents!?"

James smirks and turns to walk off a few feet. "You take forever to catch on. As always, you're just one step behind. You're so easy to manipulate. It makes me wonder just how everyone sees you as such a threat. If anything, you're more of a threat to the Spiritual Council."

Vincent growls and casts his sword. "I've heard enough..."

Larisa moves to come closer to Vincent, and he holds his sword out, making her stop where she is. "...Stay out of this, Larisa. I will deal with him..."

James turns back to face him. "It burns you so much, doesn't it? How a cruel fate could befall just one person, forced to bear witness to the destruction of everything around him. Hatred fills your heart, and you just want to lash back and erase it all. But I believe if you truly knew yourself, you wouldn't think in such a way, would you?"

Vincent steps forward, holding his sword in front of himself, and James grasps his own. "Gonna come after me now? Strike me down, I dare you. I'll release your friend the second that blade makes contact, and you'll get to watch him die, by your own hands."

Vincent slowly stops, and James smirks. "Heh... Can't do it?"

Larisa glares at him, wanting to intervine, but conflicted when she knows what could happen from it. And Vincent growls deeply, lowering his sword.

James brings his own sword down as well, and grins. "Emotional sentiment..." He rushes forward, and strikes Vincent across the chest with his sword, ripping apart his shirt and making a rather deep wound as the jagged blade tears through him. He stumbles back and Larisa screams out his name, before James thrusts his hand out, blasting him back with an enormous burst of dark energy.

Vincent hits the ground and rolls several yards, before coming to a stop on his stomach, bleeding profusely as he starts to lose consciousness. Larisa rushes after James, attempting to attack, before he throws his hand out and fires a green streak of energy. "Crux!"

On impact, she screams and falls to the ground, shaking violently for several seconds as immense pain rushes through her body. He then walks towards Vincent, holding his sword out and ready to attack. And just as he loses consciousness, he hears another person's voice call out to him.

The rest now plays in the hands of this unknown savior...