cw: grief, drowning, general trauma
He recoiled in shock. Writhing spectral tentacles rose up, wrapping around him. In a panic, Koa jerked back, but they tightened then yanked him into the depths. Endless nothing swallowed his vision. He writhed and fought, only to choke on whatever substance it was. His senses began to fade. Powehi’s song sounded so far away... His chest burned with the need for oxygen but he fought the urge to breathe again. Radiance, if he could just- He tried to reach for the light, but felt only emptiness. His body spasmed as he clamored for air and found none. He thrashed in one last pitiful attempt to escape. It meant nothing.
Was this it?
Tasteless fluid poured into his lungs, driving out the last motes of air. Then everything grew still.
He lurched back to consciousness choking and gasping, gulping for air. When he opened his eyes, it was to a starlit forest clearing. A cool breeze ruffled the dense trees and a full moon cast a soft glow, silhouetting the world around him. He rose, realizing distantly that he was standing on two legs again. No longer a Manectric. Was this a dream...?
A gust of icy wind cut through his jacket and he rubbed his arms as he scanned the area. It felt different than his other dreams here. Dense fog hung over everything. He could just make out the faint silhouettes of broken temple columns rising all around. Old memories crept up on him. He
knew this place. This was where the legends were defiled... He shivered under the assault of another gust of wind, then froze, his gaze catching upon a figure ahead.
It stood with its back to Koa, half-shrouded by mist. Koa stopped short as the mist parted enough to make out spiked hair and a familiar stance. Cyrus. His fists clenched and his body stiffened. He took a step forward, rage congealing in his chest.
The shadow spilling out from Cyrus in spite of the weak starlight brought him to halt. He realized with a start his fist was half raised to strike. A shiver ran through him. Unmistakably, the shadow wasn’t human but a Luxray. Odd... His father never had a Luxray.
It didn’t matter. He lunged and grabbed Cyrus. His father whirled around and for the first time in some six years, Koa got a good look at...
Himself.
A face like his own. Same amber eyes from his mother, blue hair (hers), spiked hair (his). A level, cold stare (his). He staggered back, chills buzzing through him. His own shadow stretched forth, unnatural and distorted, into a shape he recognized. Tufted hair, pointy ears and wings. One Luxray, one Crobat. This was like what Archie had described at the Comb. Was that... what he could have been? An array of dark emotions welled inside him at the sight of himself. He tensed, half expecting a fight, wanting a fight-
Without a word, Other Koa turned back around. He saw Himself drop to his knees, on the place where the world had been broken, shoulders shaking. A soft, strange noise carried through the ever thickening mist. One that took Koa a few seconds to recognize.
Weeping.
Grieving.
Uncomfortable recognition gripped Koa. A moment that never happened, but an emotion that had. His fingers dug into his palms as he clenched them. How
dare he. How dare He grieve that monster. Hate tightened his chest.
It wasn’t fair.
Dark trails of tears ran down Other Koa’s cheeks, dripping down and staining the cracked tiles of the temple black. The stain spread, slithering up Other Koa’s body and crawling outwards.
In seconds, his other self was drowned in shadow and swallowed entirely. Trembling, Koa took a step back. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and he gasped in a vain purchase for oxygen. The air grew even thicker and his chest tightened.
Red eyes flashed within the depths.
Slowly, inch by inch and then foot by foot, Something began to rise from the stain. Serpentine, sinuous, cloaked in darkness and flickers of crimson light.
Run! Flee! Koa felt his limbs trembling, but his legs didn’t move, his eyes still locked upon the figure. A low, terrible thrum began. Not so much a sound as a sensation, filling the air, rising through his feet, crawling through his bones and peeling his psyche.
Then fog parted with a violent shrieking Noise. Cold stone met Koa’s knees, he found himself kneeling, hands clamped over his ears and his own mouth opened in a scream drowned out a thousand times over.
Dread and terror pounded in him. Why had he come? Why had he tried, when he knew the truth? Knew what he was. He’d suffer the same fate as his father.
As he should.
They towered above him, ink-black wings blotting out the starry sky, swallowing the moon and all light as its soundless wail filled the night.
You do not belong here.
Suffocating weight pressed in on all sides, until he thought he might be crushed. He found himself drawing for breath but little oxygen met his lungs.
This wasn’t a dream. This was something more. Something real.
What legendary would accept you? You’ll never be good enough.
Giratina’s cry rang out again, a noise of endless hatred and infinite rage, raging at the unfairness, at the world and at creation - (
at you, at your failures)-
No, no its not I’m not-
No.
That wasn’t the call of destruction. It wasn’t judgement. Echoing under it he could hear the same call he’d heard from Powehi.
Pain. Grief, buried beneath that anger. Guilt, for the weight of past misdeeds. Mourning, for the world, for losses long forgotten.
With painstaking effort, Koa willed himself to look. The crimson glow shining from the bands around its serpentine frame caught on the myriad of Red Chains encircling its body. Chains upon chains, restraining it, enslaving it,
suffocating it.
Giratina cried again, but now it sounded of agony. Suffering. Koa lurched to his feet, fighting against the weight pressing in. He bounded forwards, hardly realizing that it was pawsteps and not footsteps now. Only thinking of the power he needed.
Never again. This wasn't right. He had to fix this.
He clenched his paw into a fist and drove it into one of the chains-
Koa's Mach Punch dealt 20 damage to Red Chain! It's not very effective...
Ice cut through his soul and a shock of crackling pain shot up his leg, followed by static buzzing through his brain. He staggered back, dizziness almost knocking him off his paws. One chain had cracked.
Too many more encircled Giratina.
Pathetic. Useless.
Swallowing the emotion down, Koa lunged forward with a feral snarl, body sparking. He struck again, breaking a link, only to stumble back, his whole body buzzing, his thoughts fracturing.
Koa's Thunder Punch dealt 32 damage to Red Chain!
You see? Spirit means nothing.
Get a grip. He swayed on his paws.
Fought down the surging shadow,
pushed down the rising tide of
emotion.
He had to do this, had to free Giratina, had to make it right. Control, he just needed to control it and be strong enough-
Giratina’s cry echoed his own as he attacked again, with everything he had, with all his desire. One more chain shattered, yet it made no difference. He could see the glistening red bonds, wrapped around its throat, around its wings. It was writhing in agony, thrashing uselessly.
You’ll never be free. Face the truth, you cannot hide from who you are.
Koa focused...
Koa's Critical Thunder Punch dealt 68 damage to Red Chain! It was somewhat effective...
Koa’s legs shook and his vision swayed.
Too weak. You’ll never make a difference Koamaru-
Wind howled, but he heard something else, cries. Howls and high-spirited shrieks and bellows and a roar. His team... he couldn’t see them but for a moment, he was sure he heard their spirits. Calling out to him.
Can't... give up... He struck again, a devastating flurry of blows alight with radiance and shadow.
Koamaru Averon's Ganbatte Blacklight Barrage dealt 113 Damage! It's Super Effective!
You’ll never be good enough, never be anything more Koamaru Averon-
L̴I̸A̴R̴
A voice roared through his thoughts. His vision evened out and his thoughts cleared as his memory and senses returned. He was standing on two legs again. No Manectric body, no light to call upon, no shadow. No power. Memories gave rise to burning frustration as he slammed his fist into the cold stone beneath.
You cannot hide from what you are. From who you are.
Rage surged through him, rage at Cyrus for the harm he caused, rage for the lives he’d cost, rage for the injustice. And rage at the unfairness. Rage at hiding and doubting and biting his tongue and a thousand excuses and lies. He was sick of it, sick of
pretending.
Overlapping echoes, a mix of memory and something Else, rippled through him.
FACE THE TRUTH
His fury peaked. The truth didn’t change because he hid from it. Covering it couldn’t alter it, hiding it had only ever made it harder, made him suffocate. He did grieve, for everything he'd wanted from Cyrus and couldn't have. And he did hate. Yet that alone wasn't what drove him. He
wouldn't he
couldn’t give up, not even if he had to pull apart each chain link by link. Not because he had to prove anything. Not to himself, or the world.
But because it was
right. Because
he wanted this.
He closed his eyes.
'let your anger fuel your fists, not your mind'
Then he cried out to the heavens and struck the Chains.
Koamaru Sonnewik used.... Rage Fist!
Koamaru Sonnewik's CRITICAL Galvanized Rage Fist dealt a catastrophic 487HP! KO!
The Red Chains exploded into shimmering crimson dust. Above, the starlight returned and the moon emerged from the blanket of shadow. All around, the pressure abated until Koa could breathe again and hear properly as Giratina’s scream faded. A chilly yet oddly pleasant breeze ruffled his hair and he looked up, swallowing a gasp.
Mere inches from his head, Giratina stood, gazing down at him. Koa forced himself to meet Its eyes, terrified of the disappointment he might see. Instead, he saw... pride. Relief and a kind of acceptance pressed upon him. Averon. The name he chose to carry, his own but not his own. Sonnewik... More a truth than a name. A truth he could bear.
Closing his eyes, Koa instinctively reached out. A force pressed against his palm, and a ghostly tingle ran down his spine, spreading over his whole body until it settled into his very soul and became
his.
T̶̠̀̎H̶̝̖̊͠A̴̢̓N̴̺͂Ḱ̴͉ ̷̤̅Y̵͕̱͌͊O̶͓̥̓U̶̼̓̇
Powehi AI:
