The Messanger of Time

Chapter 22: Shadowy Imprisonment

Be careful, Vincent... okay? And whatever you do, you're not alone.

I'll see you soon.

- - - - -

It's been several hours since Vincent left Christina, Melissa, Raven and Umbros in Slateport. He'd found them at last, and confirmed of their safety. But he knows that for what he must do next, they cannot come... Not just yet. He needs to travel to the deserts of Orre to find out what truly became of James. But he knows not what he would come across. He just hopes whatever it is doesn't turn out to be something more than he can handle.

As he and Eriah finally reach land, they gaze upon the familiar sight of a port... One which Vincent had previously come to with Larisa, James and Lou, when they traveled here to take on the Peace Task. But they're not stopping just yet. They continue on past Gateon Port and into the desert which lies beyond. This time, rather than going north to Agate, they're cutting across the river and going directly south, towards the town of Pyrite and the canyon which surrounds it.

It's been about a month since he's been here, and the memories of traveling these lands with James are still vivid in his mind. He remembers coming to the rogue town of Pyrite to retrieve information on the countries of Chora and Nero. And then, things went straight downhill from there. When both countries invaded and attacked, it was then that James turned.

Once they come over the canyon, Vincent has Eriah stop and land. She remembers this distinctively to be the place where she found them before, and so she lowers to the ground. Vincent jumps off her just before she lands, and staggers a bit to regain his balance, before running over to the side of a cliff. He looks around, as if seeing traces of what happened before, even though nothing could be distinctively recognized of the event which unfolded here.

We're Messangers, Vincent. It's how it works. If you keep going on, it's going to destroy you.

He remains silent, examining the area, before running a ways off, Eriah keeping a close watch on him from where she is.

After we left Pyrite, something came over me. The reason I stopped was that I was actually feeling really angry.

"And yet you brought up emotional sentiment..."

Eriah motions a bit as he suddenly speaks in a low tone. She continues to watch him as he places his hand on the cliffside. He can very vaguely see a mark in the rock where Lou had impacted the cliff after James' killing curse. The green flash can still be seen, playing over and over again in his mind. For some reason, this in particular comes to his attention.

"It can't be just a coincidence... There's always some connection..."

You remember, right? How I lived within you, and used you as a puppet, long before you were inducted into that Council of yours?

He turns back from the wall, watching on as the memory plays as though it were happening again, right in front of him.

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...

A flash of black crosses Vincent's eyes, and he remembers this to be James' turning point.

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.

He growls lightly, but tries to remain calm. Much of what happened here before caused him so much pain. The words that came from James after he was taken over... And it tortures him to admit every bit of it to be true. But furthermore, he realizes what comes next to be a key point...

Heh... Can't do it?

After a short pause, he finally utters again, as if speaking for James, "Emotional sentiment..."

Eriah moves towards him slowly, and he looks up at her, a somewhat distant expression is evident on his face as she stares down at him.

He takes a quiet breath and leans back against the cliff. "James once told me a bit about his past... It was while we were in the Spiritual World, sometime after we met. I remember we became friends some time before I set out on my last task. He was there when I didn't know any better... For some reason, I just can't remember much of anything before that point. Everything was just... cut off. But he was there to comfort me, to be my friend when few others were."

The black dragon motions down to him as he continues.

"What he told me, was that he lived much of his life before as a fugitive... I'm not sure, exactly, what happened. But something caused him to break, back then. He was never really himself. And because of it, he had unintentionally developed another side of himself... a dark side, you could say. One which he feared but could never get away from. It drove him to commit numerous atrocities... Murder, theft... But then when he'd come to his senses, he'd wished none of it had ever happened. And so, to cast off this darkness within himself and end it all..."

He falls silent, but Eriah understands what was to come. "...He took his own life... didn't he?"

He slowly nods. "Out of regret... It was after that, that the Spiritual Council came to him. They gave him a chance to fix it all. And it was a chance he couldn't turn down."

Eriah makes a small snort in response. "But this dark side survived."

Vincent sighs quietly. "It seems it was powerful enough to hold on even after James had passed... James spoke of it as some kind of emotional sentiment. That's what he always referred to it as, but I didn't quite understand why. I suppose it has something to do with his past."

He takes a few steps, looking down in thought. "But... what I don't understand is, why has it developed in such a way to come back like this? It's as if it had its own physical form. And a green light..."

Eriah stares at him as he shakes his head.

"Magic tainted by Chaos... But there is only a handful of people in existence which have that quality... They've opposed the Spiritual Council for some time, but we've never had much to go on as a means to stop them."

"You believe James' darkness could have been found by them?"

Vincent nods slowly. "It's possible... I don't see much of an explanation otherwise..."

After a moment, he looks back up at the dragon. "What became of Chora and Nero? It was Lucas who stopped them, right?"

She nods in response. "Lucas was able to talk sense into them. I hear he has knowledge on these things involving them and the lore they hold."

Vincent makes a small chuckle at this and shakes his head. "He was always a bookworm in the Council... Every day, when he wasn't busy, he was sitting in the library or at the chapel with a book in his hands... reading as if his very soul depended on it. I sort of envy him. He showed more discipline than many of us ever could."

Eriah smiles faintly and moves down to nudge him with her snout. "You'll find him, eventually."

He nods a bit and pats her. "He was sent out on the Spacial Task... while mine was the Temporal Task. They're connected in many ways because of that. So I know I'll have to find him sometime. I just wish he wasn't always wandering around like I am. Maybe then I could actually come across him and talk to him."

After a while of looking around the area, Vincent finally goes back to Eriah. "...I think we should go. There isn't much else here that'll help us."

She nods and lowers down so that he can climb up onto her back. She then spreads her wings and takes off into the sky again, flying towards the northeast across the desert region.

After a while of flying, Vincent begins to hear a faint sound... almost as if someone were crying. He blinks and looks at Eriah, who appears to be flying normally like nothing's happening. He looks ahead for a moment, getting a glimpse of a large, pyramid-shaped structure standing in the distance... a great, metallic building standing above a platform over a lake of tainted water.

Soon, he catches the sight of a few figures running from the building. As he gazes down to get a better view, what he sees immediately sets his nerves on end. He taps Eriah, who is also looking over the scene, and she immediately flies down towards them, letting out a roar to alert three black-cloaked individuals of their presence.

Vincent jumps down from the dragon's back, landing in-between the three and what appears to be a white Ninetales who was running from them. The pokemon seems to be very weak, and staggers when he cuts her assailants off.

At the sight of him, the three stop in their tracks, staring at him with hoods covering their heads. They then cast black swords at the ready, and in response he summons his own sword to fight them off.

After a moment, the three run in to attack in a gang assault. And Vincent holds his sword in front of himself, before slashing it out and releasing a blade of energy to stop them. He then draws back, then in a silvery burst of energy he seems almost to disappear as he rushes to one of them, striking him in the side, and then turning around to slash the one next to him. Doing a fair bit of damage, the two stagger. But the third manages to catch Vincent off guard and slash at him, the attack barely being parried by his sword. But it causes him to fall backwards quickly afterwards, the person running over for another attack.

He is stopped, however, by a blast of blue flame seeming to have come out of nowhere. They all look back to see the Ninetales they were chasing standing in a fighting stance, appearing to be very angry. But something doesn't seem right about the fox pokemon... It's as if something is troubling her from within, causing her to struggle for control over her own body.

The three cloaked people soon decide to draw back, and begin to fade into black clouds. But they are unexpectedly halted when several strands of dark purple energy are flung from the Ninetales, wrapping around them in a tight bind and keeping them from escaping. Immediately afterwards, the pokemon opens her mouth and fires off another powerful blast of brilliant, blue fire, combined with the distinct dark purple energy. Vincent quickly jumps out of the way before the inferno engulfs the three, causing them to release shrill shouts before the hold on them fades away. A black cloud can be seen before the flames disperse, and the three are gone.

The Ninetales isn't finished yet, and with a loud cry of anger, her tails spread out and she releases several waves of uncontrolled energy from her body. Almost as if on instinct, Vincent rushes over to the pokemon, shouting for her to stop and grabbing her around her torso.

As though responding to his call, the fox pokemon appears to quickly calm down and her tails drop, before she falls into his hold weakly. After the tension seems to die down, he looks down at the Ninetales covered in a beautiful coat of soft, white fur, who makes a small whimper, now showing no strength to stand and is lying limp in his grasp. Each of her nine tails appear to have a blue tint at their tips, as they lie on the ground behind her.

He soon sighs and strokes her neck as Eriah flies down and lands next to them, looking down at the Ninetales.

Vincent soon looks back up at the black dragon. "...She was showing clear signs of being influenced by Shadow. I thought this facility was shut down when Cipher was eliminated, but apparently it's still around..."

She shakes her head and looks back at the building, seeing two people standing outside it but looking as though they're in some sort of trance. A Salamence is lying on the ground in front of them, seeming to have been attacked by the three who were chasing the Ninetales. But it appears to regain its consciousness soon enough and looks around with a light growl.

"...Perhaps it wasn't Cipher who imprisoned her, but these people instead."

Vincent looks back down at the Ninetales and continues to pet her, before hearing the shouts of the two people guarding the entrance, apparently having broken from their trance finally but then being stopped by the Salamence, who growls at them defensively. He looks at the dragon pokemon for a moment, before turning his gaze back to Eriah.

"We need to go... I don't know what happened here, but if we don't do something soon, she'll lose herself to Shadow. We must take her to Agate... There's a relic there that can be used to help her."

Eriah turns back to him, and then nods in agreement and lowers down to him. "Be careful with her..."

He nods slowly and then lifts the fox pokemon up onto her back, before climbing up himself. The pokemon, having passed out now, lies motionlessly on Eriah's back and Vincent holds onto her gently to keep her from falling off. He then looks back at the Salamence standing in front of the guards, who are glaring at them, not daring to make a move out of fear of being attacked. He then pats Eriah lightly and they take off into the sky again, now flying towards the west.

As they cross the desert and approach the forest area in the northwestern part of the region, Vincent keeps his watch on the Ninetales, intent on helping her any way he can... And once they reach the Relic Forest of Agate, he hopes to be able to do so...