Chapter Zero: In The Dark

Night sky stood like a proud soldier at attention, an inky canopy of darkness providing a scathing curtain to the gloomy details of the world. A blanket of stars graced the pitch darkness with a fleeting glow, and the crescent moon hung still, its ethereal lumimescence threading through each nook and cranny of murky shadows that it met.

The nearby lake glistened, mirroring the dazzling assemblage of glittering stars, shining and twinkling in all their glorious luminescence. The grassy scenery was tranquil, eerily silent—

—until the sound of a single ripple pierced the rapt quiet, shattering the picture-perfect image of the hushed landscape, hypnotising circles carved out on the water's glassy surface.

It was a tiny splash, but a dizzying, terrifying crack in the dim ebony.

It was a voice, a bad seed planted at the back of one's mind, something insignificant that could spiral into neverending insanity, etched in their wretched memory and never going away.

A whisper in the dark.

• • •

The Pokemon's legs may have been small and stubby, but she moved with such captivating grace— it seemed like water that had taken a physical form, moving in a mesmerising, balletic fashion with limbs that glided over the ground's smooth surface.

She cast an amber gaze on the shadowed figures that fidgeted before her in such a restless manner, pale ruby irises waning but intense, milky coat seeming candescent against the enigmatic swirl of dull colours.

The catlike scowl on her face morphed into a portentous smirk, so wide and unnatural that it might have had been called an insane, unhinged grin.

Of course, today is absolutely crucial. The thought floated into her mind like a swaying flower in a dying breeze. It's about time my plan is carried out.

She felt the shifting of the frightened children around her— pawns that she had raised for years, no younger than seven, no older than ten. I have had so many subjects, and it has taken me far too long to find a perfect candidate to be shaped. They are all too weak, too easy too manipulate— too devoid of emotions for my liking.

I will show the world what true happiness is. The feline creature shifted, performing a half pirouette in her unconscious state of mind and facing the flock of livestock once again. That an ideal world is one without any emotions or dreams, a world where nobody gets hurt from malicious issues.

Yes, the only way to be truly happy is if we are all equal.

Holding that thought, she sought the fluctuating aura of a young girl— specifically, the shivering one that was eyeing her from a corner with understandable suspicion. She had felt that human's gaze burning into her when her back was turned— something she was able to achieve with an inbuilt gift of psychic intuition.

Emotions are quite a dangerous weapon, she told the girl in front of her. Yet, despite how much I despise them, I have to admit that they are useful.

She let a wave of psychic energy rip past the meagre container of her mind and into the open, slicing through the air like a razor-sharp sword, her psychotic smile replaced with an unamused sneer.

Why haven't you succumbed? The Meowstic tilted her head back, looking down on the crumpled mess that trembled by her feet, clutching her head in blithe agony as her paranormal abilities caused her pure torture. The others are all perfectly under my control. So, tell me. Why are you different?

"S—Stop," the girl cried out in garbled words, pale eyes looking like they wanted to speak more; but she lacked even the most basic of language skills to do so.

Let me tell you something, the Pokemon commented, her voice flat. I'll let you go.

"L—let..." The human struggled to comprehend the simple statement, and the Meowstic felt a tinge of disdain coursing through her. "Go?"

It is not your choice, the Meowstic repeated in a firmer tone. You will go. Run, just try to run away from me. You'll just be guided right back into our plan.

The girl didn't understand her captor's stiff, elaborate of speaking, but she had managed to understand the four simple words that mattered the most: I'll let you go.

And with that, she was running, stumbling as her twig-like legs threatened to give up on her every second, disconnected from all reality— with the exception of her pounding heart that rang violently in her ears. 

Locks of dark ultramarine brushed the skin that hung off her skeletal frame, the wind causing her hair to blow in her eyes. Yet, she brushed away the discomfort and clawed for a desperate taste of freedom with the blindness and wildness of a barbarian.

It was only when she had noticed the shift in her surroundings that she allowed herself to slow to a stop, taking in huge gasps of fresh night air. That distorted hellhole was nowhere to be seen, replaced with the scenic view that was so timeless; so perfect, she couldn't begin to find the words to describe it.

She felt her consciousness ebbing away, and her thoughts, as clear and concise as they were mere moments ago, was coming to an end.

The girl felt her eyelids grow heavy, and incoherence and dizziness hit her like a ten-ton truck that had smashed into her.

Still, she told herself to continue, that she was sure something better would come— eventually.

Her birdlike frame complained, and her spindly legs had long fallen into a state where it felt like they didn't belong to her, and each state was more of a painful negotiation than a command.

Yet, she found herself pressing on, stumbling through the grassy, mountainous plains that she found herself surrounded by.

• • •

She looked up when her bare feet struck rough concrete.

A dim screen lit up at the back of her despairing mind— something like a distant memory playing, a mumbled speech that linked this hard pathway to a warm, tingling sense of normalcy and safeness.

Large splotches of creamy light splashed against the warm, honey-stained ceramic, shining from the tall, thin posts that decorated the town's scarce exterior.

But the girl didn't care about any of that— all she cared about was getting to a place of safety, and she prayed that it wasn't much further until she could find someone.

"Hey, where did that girl come from?"

"She came from the mountains, didn't she?"

"Isn't that where the Meowstic is said to live?"

A small crowd of curious bystanders had begun to form, staring at the position she was crouched in, amber eyes wide and dilated as she inspected the throng of beings that gazed back at her with an inquisitiveness that matched hers. She wanted to tell them to just help, but she couldn't find the words to articulate her forlorn plea.

"Everyone, calm down." Booming voices broke through the rabble of people that had started to overwhelm her with their cacophony of chatter. "Can't you see that you're scaring her?"

As the blether reluctantly died down to a thin wave of resounding murmurs, she inspected the group of men that neared her. They gave off an intimidating aura, with their height and stark white lab coats, but not in a bad way— she felt like she could trust them. If they were in charge, she wouldn't mind.

Her emaciated form shivered as she finally collapsed, landing in the unknown arms of a man that had lunged forward to catch her.

"Help," she finally managed to croak out, finding the word stored in a tight, locked space in the depths of her memory.

"It's OK," the man reassured, before shouting something to all the others in what seemed like a familiar, yet foreign tongue.

The next few minutes passed in a blur. Shaking with cold, fear and anticipation, she let herself be scooped off the ground, the dizzying sensation of weightlessness sparking a chord of hysteria in her subconscious. As the floating, helpless feeling overwhelmed her, she had begun to wonder why exactly she trusted them, where they would take her.

She was gently placed down on a warm leather seat, and as blood rushed away from her head, bursts of cold wind buffeted her fragile body. She whimpered, not knowing what was going on, but it wasn't like she could fight back.

"This has never happened before," one of the men snapped. "The Meowstic never releases her victims. We've never been able to even find her location."

There was a tense, brittle silence before someone shouted back a hurried reply. "Never mind about that now. Getting the child to a hospital is our top priority."

There was a disgruntled sound, but the man in front revved up the engine. "The nearest hospital is at Cyllage City. Keep her calm until we reach."

There was an eerie silence after that, but the girl had no time to react before the sharp tip of a syringe was plunged deep into her tender skin, eliciting a pained yelp as sharp agony whizzed through her nerves for nothing longer than a split-second.

And then, a drugged, exhausted feeling overcame her, and she felt the frighteningly familiar feeling of being utterly vulnerable as her mind floated in and out of her body, threatening to lull her to the empty, infinitely big void of unconsciousness.

She attempted to struggle, but her feeble endeavour was useless— whatever they had put in her was working, and her eyelids felt like lead, fluttering and straining to close.

"Sleep," the man next to her instructed, but his voice had started to distort, and the features of his face had started to blur together; the tone of his voice indistinct.

And, almost like his words had contained magic, she gave in to the temptation, letting the sweet void of sleep take her.

• • •

Oh, my. The Meowstic performed a delicate tilt of her head, feeling the oscillating jumps of the girl's prescence slow to a steady beat. It looks like she's arrived at a town.

She smiled, a chilling leer that was so sickeningly sweet. She could feel the psychic aura of a young boy right at her feet, trembling with fear and confusion and tumultuous ferment.

He was one of the newest members she had found— aged eight, emotions raw and out of control just like the rest of the children. He opened his mouth in a wide gape, and struggled to shape a coherent sentence. "Y— you let—go—"

False pity and disgust flowed through her, and she spun around, pinning the child down with a simple command of her mind. You're asking why I let her go and not you?

The boy first agreed, his aura emanating a yes, but then changed to a hesitant no, and it wasn't long until she realised that he couldn't understand her speech.

Celeana Asthansia. The Pokemon dragged out each syllable with poison-tipped venom. What an interesting child. You can defend yourself from my whispers, yet your emotions are so heightened. Your soul is a shining star amongst others— it's almost repulsive.

The boy simply looked up at her with wide, terrified eyes.

A world where dreams are never taken away from anyone, she pronounced, her voice rising in pitch and bordering on neurosis. A world where dreams don't need to exist at all. Isn't that just ideal?

"C—Crazy," the boy gasped out, curled up in absolute torment.

Insane? Her sharp eyes seemed to glint in the fading colours of her home. Who knows? Maybe I am. Still, it's not my fault.

If one had walked into the distorted cavity she called an abode, they might have felt sorry, seeing the lone figure of the Pokemon against the shadowed figures of the gaunt humans, walking around like she was performing to a soundless beat, breathing a sense of life— one that was taunting, yet repelling—into the large void.

Don't worry, she revealed in a saccharine sweet, dangerously soft voice. I'll still hold you here. You may not be as special, but you are, after all essential to my plan as my children. She smiled gently, a smile that both misled and struck fear into the hearts of people.

And the girl whom I let go... Her arm shot out, razor-sharp claws extending and slicing a neat rip in the realm.

An important pawn, after all...

...is still just a pawn.

• • •

「Cover in media by AllHailRempire! Thank you so much for making this perfect cover, it's honestly bae and I'm so sorry that I'm changing it ;-; 」

Well, I hope you all liked the first chapter! It's kind of ironic that I'm publishing another Adventure book after the anniversary of my first book that was in the Adventure category, but oh well. I have spent months planning this, and I've been writing the first chapter for three days straight. I'm quite proud of how it turned out, and I'm grateful that my "descriptive" writing style is back. This will most likely be entered in the Adventure category of the Watty Awards, so I'd appreciate any support! This book will have forty chapters, so it's going to be my longest book so far. Critiques are most certainly welcome, and don't forget to read, vote and give your thoughts in the comments! Please be 100% honest!

- nyxia ☆