Shattered Truths, Chapter 31

Shattered Truths, Chapter 31
          Connections Illuminated

   "Luna?" Rustfur called into the suffocating darkness. "Gemini? Where are you?" His eyes slowly adjusted, eventually letting him catch a dim yellow glow emanating from a source very close to him.

   "No! Don't take her!"

   Luna's terrified voice sounded out, right next to Rustfur's ear, making him jump a second time. "Luna? What's happening?"

   "Let her go right now!" An angry hiss came from Luna's other side.

   "Mom! Dad! Help!" A tiny squeal echoed loudly around the small area that Rustfur was apparently enclosed in. The dim glow coming from Luna did little to show the Espeon what was really happening, so he turned to the psychic echolocation he'd learned all that time ago. As he released the wave of psychic force, a massive lightning bolt ripped through his mind, shredding his concentration with an explosion of pain. "Aggh!" He stumbled forward, his head pounding horribly. What...happened? It's always worked before... I'm certainly not trying that again, at least not now... Though that means I won't be able to tell what's happening... he thought, as another desperate plea assailed his ears. I wish I knew what was going on...

   Suddenly, a harsh blue light lit up the entire room, being generated by a tall machine that was producing a long jagged bolt of electricity. Rustfur now saw that he was in a glass-doored cage along with two other Pokemon, Gemini and Luna, just as he'd thought. Also present were several humans, obviously Team Galactic members; they had the glass door cracked open and were trying to seize a small Eevee. However, as could be expected, Gemini and Luna weren't making it easy.

   "Leave her alone!" Luna snapped.

   Rustfur wondered why Gemini wasn't employing any of his psychic abilities, but not for long; finally irritated enough, one of the humans lost its temper and lashed out at Luna, their tightly clenched fist thudding into the Umbreon's slender midsection. The punch forced Luna backwards into the cell's cold metal wall.

   "Luna!" Now enraged at seeing his mate attacked, Gemini leapt forward and assaulted the offending hand. He sank his teeth into the human's hand. He was quickly shaken off, but not before he drew blood from his target. To prevent the Espeon attacking again, the hand quickly grabbed him around his neck and held him tightly.

   "That's enough from you." came a human's voice. "Like it or not, you're going to give your daughter up."

  Daughter...That must be Aurora; Sapphire was born under a blue moon, and Luna is still alive here... Yes, that Eevee is most definitely Aurora. Rustfur had no idea how wrong he was.

   From the rear of the cage came Luna's exhausted plea. "Please...don't take Saffron..."

   All other thought occupying Rustfur's mind vanished. One image flashed in front of his eyes; his headstrong Jolteon daughter. S-Saffron? Th-that would explain why Sapphire thought that name familiar... What's the connection between this Saffron and my Saffron? This is the second time I've seen this instance of two Pokemon sharing names; this is in no way a coincidence... The Ash and Saffron I know love one another; the other Ash was my brother; and the other Saffron, Sapphire's sister... Sapphire and I fell in love with one another, perhaps that has something to do with Saffron's near instant liking to Ash... What does this mean!? This next-to-impossible conundrum was making Rustfur's already throbbing head ache even more, so he gave up thinking about it for the time being; the scene before him was too interesting, anyway.

   "Mom, get up! Please!" the Eevee wailed desperately, as a set of hands finally pulled her from the cage, latching the glass door shut, after Gemini was roughly tossed against the back wall, coming to rest, half-stunned, next to his mate.

   The bright blue hue that illuminated the room clearly showed what was happening to the terrified Eevee. One of the humans stuck small, flexible discs to several pre-determined spots on the Pokemon's shaking brown head; one to the back of her head, just above her neck, one under each of her ears, and, finally, one to her forehead. An unexplainable shiver ran down Rustfur's spine; the fourth and final disc had been attached in the exact place where the red gem that all Espeons possessed would be. Snaking out from these discs were long, sinuous wires that ran into a transparent dome just underneath the tube that housed the angrily dancing bolt of blue lightning. The frightened Pokemon was unceremoniously tossed into the dome, and it hissed shut around her.

   Luna had recovered enough to stand and race to her cage door. Hopelessly, she pressed her forepaws against the unyielding glass door, calling out uselessly to her daughter. "Saffron! No! No! I don't want to lose you too! Please, no!" The blue light glinted brightly off the tears of despair running through Luna's  night-black fur. "Let her go! Take me instead!" she pleaded, as the humans began pressing various button and switches. The blue bolt responded to this activity by doubling in thickness and vigor. The little Eevee eyed the bolt warily for a moment, then met her mother's scarlet eyes; she placed her paws against the wall of the dome and gave a wordless, unheard cry of help.

   Behind Rustfur, Gemini's eyes had fluttered open. He now caught sight of what was about to happen. He sprinted to the door and took everything in at a glance. "Saffron! No!"

   Rustfur noticed Gemini close his eyes, and instantly knew what he was doing; readying himself for the use of his mental powers. The younger Espeon knew this because he and Gemini were the only two Espeon to focus on their targets with their eyes closed. Normally, most Espeons weren't able to do this; the only thing that allowed Rustfur and Gemini to do such a thing was the extraordinarily high level of psychic power they both possessed. Rustfur had exceeded Swiftclaw on that front just after evolution. Over a year and a half of practice had only strengthened his mental prowess. The young Espeon now wielded three times the power that Swiftclaw did. However, this did nothing to explain what happened to Gemini.

   He cried out in intense pain and nearly collapsed, much like Rustfur had done. Gemini too? So it wasn't just me... What caused it then?

   "Commence input of psychic energy." Rustfur heard, the voice muffled by the glass panel.

   "Right away, sir. Stimulated Evolution test subject, classification number six-five-five-three-six dash SFE; test commencing." a human seated at a wide array of controls promptly responded, twisting one of the many dials. "Energy input level; Level One."

   Stimulated evolution!? That's a new low, even for these idiots! Rustfur thought, disgusted. He couldn't help placing his paws against the glass wall, as if merely doing so would allow him to comfort the scared little Pokemon, who was now cowering in one corner of the dome, her eyes screwed shut. While Rustfur was prevented from actually using his psychic skills, he was still able to perceive any latent psychic energy around him; namely Gemini and Luna. However, he could barely sense them over the glaring bolt of energy irradiating his consciousness with its amazing level of power. The Espeon detected this strength slowly siphoning into the captive Saffron, causing her to squirm and wriggle in mild discomfort. This is so wrong... Rustfur thought, almost sharing the Eevee's hurt.

   "Subject is holding steady, sir. However, no signs of evolution are present. Proceed to Level Two?"

   "Proceed."

   Another click of the dial; the energy began funneling into their test subject at twice its previous rate. The small Pokemon sank to the old metal floor of the dome, pain now obvious on her face.

   "Stop it! Don't do that to her!" Luna cried, in unison with her mate. "Turn it off!"

   "Test subject six-five-five-three-six dash SFE is still resisting evolution, sir. Open to next level?"

   "Open to Level Four!" the voice barked angrily.

   "Yes, sir."

   Another two clicks of the dial; the power now pouring into the Eevee nearly forced Rustfur to the ground, as intense as it was.

   "Ahh-hahh! Mom! Dad! Help!" Saffron's cry was now heard, over the violent buzzing of the machine she was trapped under. "Please! It hurts! So...mu...ch... Please...help..." Her voice trailed off, as she finally slipped to the floor, her small body having been completely overloaded by raw energy.

   "NO!! Saffron!!" Luna began furiously slamming her head against the glass door, in an attempt to free herself and unleash her murderous rage upon the group of humans that had mercilessly slain her helpless daughter. "You killed her! If I get out of here, nothing in the world will save you!"

   An intricate pattern of hairline cracks were spreading across the pane, originating from the spot where Luna was focusing all of the strength generated by her madly burning mother's instincct. Unfortunately, the Umbreon's body couldn't handle such extreme physical punishment; her forehead bleeding from where she had been repeatedly bashing it into the glass, Luna finally slipped to the gleaming metal floor of her cage. Her head fell in the small pool of sticky scarlet liquid now at her paws. "Saf...fron... I'm...sor...ry... I'll...never...for...get you..."

   "Team Galactic!" Rustfur's temper finally snapped. He threw his shoulder against the already cracked glass, expecting it to resist his first charge. Instead of the pane halting him, he fell right through it; shaking his head, he picked himself off the floor, and looked around. One of the humans had risen and was tinkering with another chamber. Rustfur went for them like an arrow from a bow.

   Before he'd descended upon them, the chamber door hissed open, steam escaping from the top, along with the finally dissipating heat inside it. A Pokemon moderately taller than Rustfur stepped out. The Espeon skidded to a stop as the Pokemon passed him. The mere appearance of this Pokemon was evil. As it looked in Rustfur's direction, he swore it could see him. The look it seemed to give him sent a shiver down his back; a long, hideous scar had permanently closed the Espeon's left eye. Numerous other scars were traced over the rest of the Psychic-type's face and muzzle. The Pokemon's muscular body also bore the same ugly claw and teeth marks. Finally, the older Espeon turned away and Rustfur let his breath out. "W...wow... That look in his eye... That was the coldest thing I've ever seen; there was no emotion there... It was emptier than the night sky..." The look he'd received had seemed to probe the deepest reaches of his mind with its chilling intensity. "This Espeon is very different from Cinder; I can tell, just by the way he looked at me. I seriously doubt that this Espeon has, or ever will, have a mate; forget his having a kit; that's impossible..."

   "The power source is showing no negative signs from the sustained energy production, sir."

   "I never expected him to; we trained him. He could defeat three Gyarados at the same time. This is nothing for him. Put him back in the siphon unit and get out subject zero-nine-three-six-two dash SME for testing."

   "Yes, sir, right away." The human led the battle-scarred Espeon back into the chamber and the machine's door slid shut once more. The human then went over to another cage and opened its door, then reached in.

   "Don't you dare touch him!" A young voice shouted, accompanied by the dull, repeated noise of a small body slamming into the glass. An Eevee was repeatedly throwing its body against the door of its cage. "Leave him alone!"

   In answer to this voice, another, terrified, voice came from the open cage. "N-no! Don't t-touch me! St-stay away!"

   "Hey! I'm talking to you, you two-legged freak! Lay one finger on him and you'll regret it! I swear it!"

   Rustfur flinched at the aggressiveness of this small Pokemon. Wow, he seems a lot like Sapphire, at least before she met me...

   "No! Ze, help me! Do something!"

   The human had succeeded in pulling an Eevee from the cage. This Eevee was different from the one furiously trying to escape its cage; the one now squirming in the gunt's arms was a gray, ashen color. Rustfur had only heard of one other Eevee like this. His mother's brother, Cinder, was born with an unusual smoky-gray coat.

   "Vesa! Put him down, you filthy human!" the captive Eevee, obviously named Ze, shouted.

   The human, of course, disregarded Ze's angry demands and carried the gray Eevee, apparently Vesa, over to the unit that Saffron had been placed in, from which her body was now being removed. Vesa received the same treatment; the four small discs were placed on his head, in the same arrangement as before, and he was placed inside the dome, Ze's protests still audible.

   Rustfur soon joined the Eevee in his angry shouting. "Let him go!" Forgetting that no one here, human or Pokemon, could see him, he sprang for the human.

   Sapphire was jostled awake by her mate's tossing and turning. "Rusty? Are you all right?" she asked sleepily, blinking against the sun seeping into the nursery.

   The only response she got was a low growl.

   "He must be dreaming again..." the blue-eyed Leafeon murmured. "It must not be a good dream either..." she added to herself, looking at the slight snarl on the Espeon's mouth. "Oh, Rusty, what can I do for you? You haven't been the same since Aurora's story... I still love you, but you don't have that sensitive, caring personality I fell in love with..." Sapphire lightly touched her nose to his cheek. "I miss you, Rusty..."

   The Leafeon turned and exited the nursery, her eyes facing the ground. What can I do for him?

   "Where are you going, Sapphire?"

   "H-huh? What?" Sapphire looked around at the voice that had interrupted her thoughts. She peered around the side of the nursery. Frostpelt and Aurora lay, back to back, up against the nursery's outer wall.

   "You're up quite early, Sapphire. Why?" Aurora inquired.

   "I could ask you the same thing, Aurora." Despite her depressed mood, Sapphire still forced a laugh. "Why are you sleeping out here? I'd think it would be much warmer in the nursery or closer to the Daycare."

   "I'm not one to be overly comfortable around other Pokemon. Or humans, for that matter..."

   "Aurora, you don't need to be afraid of Eric, there's no way he'd hurt any Pokemon."

   "I know that; Frosty has already told me that a dozen times. However, I've been living in fear of humans for too long, Sapphire. It's not that easy for me to change my view towards humans..."

   Sapphire giggled to herself. "Frosty? I take it that that's your nickname for him?"

   "Y-yes, it is..." Aurora stammered, her blushing clearly showing from under her blue coat. "I really do love him..."

   "I know you do, Aurora; I can see it whenever you look at him. I still look at Rusty that way, even after all this time." the Leafeon said knowingly.

   "Where is Rustfur?" Aurora asked. "Usually he's right next to you."

   "He's still sleeping." Sapphire responded simply, not wanting to tell Aurora what she was thinking, at least, not yet.

   "All right. Where were you going, Sapphire?"

   "To get something for him to eat. Would you want to come? I might also have a way to help ease your fears about Eric, too."

   "Really? What is it?" Aurora stood up and moved towards her sister. She hadn't taken three steps before a drowsy question stopped her.

   "Snowy? Where are you going?"

   Aurora turned to the half-awake male Glaceon behind her. "Sapphire says that she has a way to make me feel more comfortable around Eric." she explained.

   Frostpelt yawned before answering. "That Soothe Bell, Sapphire?"

   "Mmhmm." Sapphire nodded.

   "The same one that Rosalyn played with as a kit?" Frostpelt inquired.

   Sapphire nodded once more. "Right again...Frosty..." she added, giggling.

   Frostpelt glanced at Aurora, then at Sapphire. "She told you, then?"

   "Should I have?" the older female Glaceon asked worriedly. "I'm sorry... It just slipped out..." Aurora lowered her head and began uneasily fidgeting with her drapes. "I-I-"

   "Listen, Snowy, I don't mind that you told her; it's something that we came up with, because we love one another. Sapphire uses 'Rusty' all the time, without caring who hears it. He doesn't mind, and neither do I. Tell whoever you want to."

   "You shouldn't be shy about that, Aurora." Sapphire rested her muscular tail on her sister's shoulder. "You love him, that's what counts. Now then, come with me and we'll get you the Soothe Bell."

   "What is a 'Soothe Bell'?"

   "As its name might suggest, Snowy, it's a bell that usually worn around a Pokemon's neck. The sound it make is incredibly soft and gentle. It's hard to accurately describe it; you'll have to hear it for yourself."

   "You've heard it before, Frosty?"

   "Heard it before?" he laughed. "A month ago, it was all I heard. After Rosalyn found it, she wore it for a month straight. You wouldn't have been able to get it off her if she had been sound asleep."

   "I hope this works, Frosty; these last few days with you have been indescribable. I don't want to go back to living without you..."

   "Why would you have to do that?" he asked, giving her a sidelong glance.

   "If I don't warm up to Eric, I don't know if I could stay..."

   "If you leave, I'd follow you."

   "But what about your family? You'd leave them just like that? Frosty, no, I don't want you to give up your whole life..."

   "That's what I'd be doing if I didn't follow you; you're my whole life, Snowy." Secretly, Frostpelt was hoping that he could really do such a thing if the situation arose.