Metamorphosis (Pokémon Watties 2017)

10: The Capital

"Wha- how?" Kaden held his arm in front of him, staring in awe. "How did it heal so fast?"

"Surprise! I wasn't sure you'd believe me without some sort of proof, but yesterday in the caves I met Xerneas. It gave me some of its energy so now I can do minor healing spells like that. It's not the most power I've ever seen, but it's still about on par with one of the average Saints back in the village. I used a bit of the magic last night." Isa looked back at Kaden with a bit of an awkward yet eager smile on his face.

"Wait, you met Xerneas?" Kaden stared back for a moment in confusion.

"Yeah. There's a bit more of a story to it that I'll tell you when we get to Luminia. I'm pretty sure we'll get there by the end of today."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get going!"

---

Stars speckled throughout the sky as Kaden, Isa, and the Pokemon made their way through the now-empty streets of Luminia. "It's a lot more quiet than I thought." Isa watched the city with eager eyes, Kaden only shrugging in return.

"It's a nice city, just quiet at night. Surprising considering that this is the biggest one in Axiom. I remember coming here a few times from before I met you." Kaden gave a quick glance to where Houndoom and Sandslash were staring around just as eagerly as Isa. "Wait until you see it during the day."

"Sounds exciting. Is it loud?"

"I mean, how loud did the village ever get? Luminia is over five times the size of the village, if that'll help you get an idea. I guess you only ever get a real understanding on what it-"

"Halt!" Kaden was interrupted by a sharp woman's voice, immediately whipping his head around. The first thing he noticed was Isa jumping backwards, taking a few steps until he was behind Kaden. "State your names and business."

"Who are you?" Kaden spoke first, his hand darting backwards as if holding it out to defend Isa.

"I said state. Your. Names." The woman took a step closer to Kaden with a glare, a Lucario jumping to her side. She reached to her side, pulling up a dagger on Kaden.

"Yeesh, no need to bring out the weapons." Kaden returned a glare to the woman. "I'm Kaden, that's Isa, and the Pokemon are Houndoom and Sandslash. We just got to Luminia less than an hour ago so we're looking for someplace to spend the night."

The woman stiffened for a moment, but lowered her weapon without breaking eye contact. "I see. Then you must not have heard of Luminia's curfew."

"Is that why it's so quiet?" Isa finally spoke up, slowly pushing Kaden's hand aside to look at the woman. "It wasn't even this quiet where I came from, and we were nowhere close to this size."

"That would be it. If the two of you are looking for somewhere to stay, then come with me." The woman continued to look at Kaden as if analyzing him while she started walking.

"Hold it, you didn't answer my question yet. Who are you?"

"I am Aurora, a Patron of Zygarde and reader of Aura." After answering, Aurora finally stopped her glares at Kaden, instead turning to face Isa. "You say you came from a village? Where exactly are you from?"

"Well, we were from Effervescent Village, which is way on the outskirts of Axiom. But a bunch of Knights showed up about a week ago, so we left." Kaden couldn't help but notice how Isa spoke about the village, a bit more calm about it than he had been in the past with much less cracks in his voice.

Aurora simply shook her head. "Let me guess, the whole village was destroyed? It's happened in several other towns across Axiom as well. My sincerest apologies for not being there to protect your people, I've had duties elsewhere for the time being." She gave a sort-of bow to Isa with Lucario coping the action.

"It was out of your control." Isa gave her a sad sort of smile. "So are the other attacks why Luminia is on a curfew?"

"It was put into place by Valencia because of the attacks, yes. After the sun goes down, all citizens are to be in their homes for their own safety. Certain exceptions, for travelers such as the two of you in specific, are made and said exceptions are taken to inns and such."

Aurora did her best to explain Isa's many questions while Kaden walked behind them. She finally made a stop, leading the two into a quiet inn. "I hope you aren't too packed tonight, Even."

A man from behind a counter looked up and gave a warm laugh. "It's nice to see you again, Aurora! These two out after curfew?" He waved a hand in Isa and Kaden's general direction, causing for Isa to get a bit red.

"A couple of refugees from the attacks by the Dark Lands." Aurora approached Even, firmly shaking his hand. After they let go, she reached into a bag that hung around her waist, pulling out a handful of coins. "If you wouldn't mind taking them in for the night, I'll pay first night's stay."

"Consider it a favor for an old friend, these two can stay until they've got everything sorted out and they're back on their feet again." Even pushed the coins back to Aurora before turning to look at Isa and Kaden. "You two have plans for what you wanna do here? Or you just here since there's nowhere else to go? We've gotten a ton of refugees in the past few weeks, and many of them have no idea what they want to do. At this rate it's starting to become a burden on the original residents of Luminia."

"Umm, yes." Isa responded quickly. "We'd like to attend the Battle Academy here."

"Quite an ambition, ehh? And don't look too stiff about it, that's a dream you shouldn't be ashamed of, boy." Even tossed a key in Isa's direction. He fumbled to catch it for a moment before Kaden reached over and grabbed the key.

"Thank you for the hospitality, sir, and thank you for guiding us here, m'am. If you'll excuse us, we've been travelling for a while now and I'm sure I'm not the only one ready to finally sleep." Kaden forced a smile to Aurora.

"Up the stairs, fourth room on the left. There aren't many others here, but try to keep it down if you can. And Aurora, don't be a stranger. I'm sure some of the other's here wouldn't mind saying hello again."

"I'll keep it in mind if Valencia doesn't have too much more me to do. Best of luck to the two of you." Aurora began to exit the inn, but she was cut off by Kaden.

"Do you know if we could speak to Valencia in the near future?" Kaden near demanded when he spoke, the other three falling silent. "I have some questions for her about the attack on Isa's village and why no one was there to help us out."

Aurora stared at Kaden for a moment, her wide eyes narrowing to a glare before long. "Kaden, was it? I'm sure that Valencia would be open to seeing what you have to tell her." She said nothing more as she left the inn, letting the door slam behind her.

"What was that about?" Isa gave a small sort of glare to Kaden when they were finally in their room. "You can't just go around disrespecting people here, much less the Patrons!"

"May I remind you that those Patrons are the reason why you're here and not at home with your family?" Kaden rolled his eyes as he dropped onto one of the beds. "They should have been protecting their people, but instead now half the region's been invaded and probably not even a single village has been saved, and refugees are coming from all over the region. Don't you want to know why the protectors of the region are failing? Don't you want to meet the person who's ultimately responsible for her people, yet refusing to help them?" Kaden threw his arms into the air, eventually dropping them in pure exhaustion.

"It's not like I don't want to see her." Isa sat down on the other bed with a shrug. "But that's no reason to get so pushy about it. Aurora was a pretty nice person."

"I don't know, something just seems off. People who can read Aura have always put me off guard, but her especially. It might just be I'm tired, but who knows." Kaden smiled a bit when he felt Houndoom curl up next to his legs. "Maybe I'll feel stupid about thinking this in the morning, but I just can't trust Aurora."

"You're skeptical of everyone we meet, it's fine. Honestly, I'd be worried if you hadn't said anything." Both boys laughed a bit at Isa's comment. "So, you wanna go and find the Battle Academy tomorrow and see when they're accepting students?"

"Totally. See you tomorrow, Isa."

"Night."

(Word Count: 1539)