Poisoned Thorns (Haudion Fanfic)

Prologue

((Psst, spoilers below. If you haven't played all of Sun or Moon don't continue. If you've played it, or if you're a rebel, then keep on going))

Lusamine growled. "What do you mean you don't know where she is?!", she snapped at the employee in front of her, "My daughter is out there with a very important Pokemon and you don't know where she is?!"

The employee looked at her in fear, their mouth opening and closing in terror. They all knew not to toy with her anger, and this new information was not helping her temper at all. Lusamine turned away, pacing furiously. This wasn't going according to plan at all. It had been so simple in her head, but why wasn't it working?! She turned back to the Aether employee, watching them step back in surprise.

"Leave," she snapped, "And don't come back unless you've got good news! Understand?"

The employee raced out in fear and she groaned, sitting down with a huff. She was running out of time. She knew she had to act soon or else her plans weren't going to work. As she sat at her desk, there was another knock on her door and she growled, looking up.

"Who is it?" she barked out, not bothering to curb her temper.

The door opened and Faba and Wicke walked in. Faba had a smug look on his face, like always, and Wicke looked slightly nervous. Feeling her temper falter slightly, Lusamine smiled at them and sat up straighter.

"Ah," she said happily, "I hope you've come with good news regarding Cosmog's whereabouts."

"Actually no, we've come with a different idea," Faba said, not reacting when Lusamine gave him a harsh glare, "The direct approach we've been taking doesn't seem to be working. We need to be more creative with this."

Lusamine raised an eyebrow in curiosity. This was new, and she was interested to see what he had in mind. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Wicke glance away, but she didn't really take notice.

"Go on," she said calmly, folding her hands in her lap.

Faba grinned wider, then cleared his throat quickly, placing an envelope on her desk. Lusamine looked at him then looked at the envelope, opening it slowly.

"A direct approach isn't working," he repeated, "So why don't we do something that lures Lillie back here?"

Photos fell out of the envelope as she tipped it over. One of them showed her daughter, causing her to grimace, but something else in the photo caught her eye. Two other people were standing next to her. It was the boy and girl that had come to Aether, Hau and Moon. She frowned slightly, then looked up at Faba again.

"What do you have in mind?"

The grin widened further on Faba's face. "Well, why don't we borrow one of her friends? If they're in danger, I'm sure she'd come running, Cosmog in tow."

Lusamine nodded, letting the idea sink in. It seemed simple enough. She looked back at the pictures again.

"Which one?" she asked, looking up at Faba, "Who would we use for the bait?"

Faba walked up to her and pointed at the photo, his finger hovering over Hau. Lusamine looked at the photo of the smiling boy and blinked once.

"Why not the girl? Moon was her name, I believe."

"Well, we believe that the boy will be much easier to control," Faba stated. "The girl would be more trouble so we'd want the boy."

Lusamine blinked, then nodded. It seemed like a good plan, and as long as it worked, she didn't see an issue in it. Wicke stepped forward, a nervous look on her face.

"M-madame president, I must implore you to think this through," she said hurriedly, "Sure, the direct approach isn't working as well as we had hoped, but there's still time! We can always cause a diversion, then go in and get her!"

Lusamine opened her mouth to respond, but Faba beat her to it. He whipped around to face her, his face red with anger.

"And how do you propose we do that?!" He hissed, "We've been trying that for so long! We need a new approach!"

Lusamine held up her hand, causing them both to fall silent and look back at the ground. She leaned back, thinking about her options. On one hand they could continue to wait until Lillie was alone so that they could take Cosmog. But that clearly wasn't working. This seemed to be the only option they had, but she was fine with that. A grin stretched over her face and she looked up at Faba and Wicke.

"Why don't you go and invite him here," she purred, "I'm sure he's dying to spend more time here. Besides there's a certain experiment I've been dying to try. Maybe he can help with that..."

Faba chuckled and she noticed Wicke looked away with a wince. Blowing that off she calmly waved them off and they walked out of the room, closing the door behind them. She chuckled softly and looked at the pictures. Her son, Gladion, had run off before as well. Though she wasn't as eager to find him, she was slightly interested in that Type: Null he had taken. If she had Lillie then Gladion would certainly come running as well. Two Pidgey with one stone. A cold grin stretched across her face and she held the picture up.

"Let's see how much information you have for me," she purred softly, "Maybe you'll be more useful to me than I thought..."