united_one | 007 ♖ [Action]

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007 ♖ [Action]

[This dream starts with a light-- a dim one that illuminates a long hallway. Black marble floors lead along walls adorned with banners of a certain crest. The hallway ends at a door, from beneath which a brighter electric light emanates.

Should you choose to open it or not, it seems to ease open automatically, revealing what lies inside. It's a child's room by all appearances, decorated with bright colors, with all sorts of toys strewn about. In the center sits N, idly pushing a toy train along a track and watching emotionlessly as it takes off on its own, moving along the track before returning to him. There are four Pokemon crowded around him-- a Zorua, a Darmanitan, and two Woobats-- all of which watch the train with some level of curiosity...

At least, until they realize someone has opened the door. The Zorua snarls in warning, and the other Pokemon quickly back off, fleeing as far away from the door as they can get. N himself looks up, startled--

And he's suddenly gone. In his place sits a much smaller young boy with the same pale green hair, and the same void cube hanging from a chain around his neck. He looks intrigued at first, his expression a fearful sort of hopeful.]

Fa-- Ghetsis--? [But that doesn't look like Ghetsis walking into his room. He hurriedly gets to his feet and backs away, ready to bolt... even if it's apparent he doesn't have many places here to run to. The boy clutches the toy train in his hands and watches with wide, wary eyes.]

((OoC: What am I doing skdjflsdjfkds.... Even if this is just a dream, N has regressed back into a child state. He's old enough here that he should be able to talk, but due to his lack of interaction with other humans, his speech is limited. Any comments will be replied to by

lowercaseking ! ;u;))

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"Then perhaps you were 'King' then." It's an honest statement...

A rather strange one though.

And again Golett sighs, before taking a seat and pulling something out from her armor- a die. "Perhaps your world is different... But it was not within my power or his to make things better... He would pretend to smile. And pretend to be happy- but he was not. ...And then, one day, Otogi 'vanished'..." she continued. "And no one could find where he had gone. And none of the humans could remember who he was. It was as though he 'never existed'..."

"...When I came here though... He spoke in the same way you speak now- Otogi... Was not human anymore. But... ...Perhaps as a cost... He could not remember his human life. I suppose I do hurt now- but..." The light in her eyes brightens, and she looks to N. "So long as he can smile for real, I do not mind. There are good trainers- and there are bad trainers- but Otogi was not bad."

N seems to understand for just a moment, giving a look much like his older self would give... but then it's gone. He narrows his eyes and bares his teeth.

"You're wrong! All trainers are bad!" His brow is knit in concentration and uncertainty. Did he just... yell at a Pokemon? What a despicable thing to do! With effort, he lowers his voice. "It's a lie. You think they're good, but then they betray you."

In what seems like an instant, his Pokemon are crowded around him again.

"They abandon you," says one of the Woobats. "Say you're not good enough!"

"Make you fight until everything hurts," Darmanitan grumbles.

"Beat you and call you names!" pipes up the Zorua.

The only one that doesn't speak is the second Woobat, who observes Golett with an uncertain frown. N nods. "If your trainer really turned into a Pokemon--" Which is apparently a source of jealousy for him... "-- maybe then he'll know the pain humans make them feel!" The Pokemon around him voice their approval, save for, again, the second Woobat.

"...Again... Perhaps it is different here. But... It sounds like these are the things that Otogi's father did to him, rather than what Otogi did to me."

The Golett goes on. "Otogi was forced to move often when he was young- he found me while he was in a country far from his own, and brought me with him. Hoever, unlike most who saw 'Golett' as automatons and 'machines', he did not treat me as such. And that is something that has not changed about him."

Golett doesn't miss the silence of the second Woobat. And she turns, despite addressing everyone- "...I do not expect you to agree with my ways. But... I will not change my opinion either."

N frowns, in disbelief and at a loss of how to argue further.

"You fight for him, don't you?" the Darmanitan eventually asks, baring her fangs in a bitter grin. "Maybe you're not a machine now, but you're a warrior that'll be tossed aside and forgotten when you can't fight anymore!"

The Zorua copies the grin. "Just like we were."

N nods and adds, "All humans in this world become cruel. That's why Ghetsis keeps me here! To keep us safe! I'll be king when I get older, and then I'll change the world and make it better!"

Golett turns back. "... No." Eh..?

"Otogi does not fight pokemon battles often- when he did, he made certain that I wished it first... He was always careful. Even now, with his illusion locked into place and abilities as pokemon lost, he fights in my stead when he feels the match is unfair. ... ...N." Golett looks to the boy, eyes dimming. "You are human yourself, are you not..? Ghetsis as well is human, is he not..? If that is so...

Then how can you say 'all humans become cruel', without applying your words to yourself."

N just scowls at first, turning a deaf ear to Golett's reasoning about Otogi. The Pokemon, except the one Woobat, growl in disagreement.

The second part, however, N answers. "I'm not really human. I've always been different. Can't you tell?" He smiles sadly. "Even so... you're right. I will divide the world in two-- make it black and white! Humans and Pokemon separated. That's my goal and will be my punishment. I'll never talk to my friends again, so there will never be the risk that I'll hurt them."

Even if that's the goal he's being conditioned into being passionate about, talking about it seems to upset and exhaust him. Abruptly, he sits down on the floor, turning the train over in his hands. "Ghetsis knows how cruel the world is, and he shows me sometimes so I may know the pain the Pokemon feel. He rises above the cruelty!"

And that seems to be the last straw for the second Woobat-- the female of the pair. "It's a bunch of lies, if you ask me!" she says in a huff. N looks up at her, startled and offended. "He hurts you just like our trainers hurt us!"

"Exactly!" N retorts.

"He's using you, N! Golett is right, you should listen to her--"

N drops the train to clamp his hands over his ears. "No! You're wrong-- You're both wrong!"

Oh..?

Golett looks to the second woobat this time, blinking. "Using 'N'... Then... 'Ghetsis' is like Otogi's father..?" She looks back to N, eyes 'narrowing' as she things back on the boy's words. To show someone pain...

"...It is never appropriate... For a parent to harm a child... I could never convince my trainer of this- that his father's desire for revenge was nothing to worry for... However, that does not make it right. Friends should not be sacrificed for the ideals of a cruel man- that is something true in all worlds."

"I guess so," the Woobat answers. "He acts like he's trying to help us, takes us here-- But he hits N when he gets mad, and acts like it's a normal lesson!" She looks at her fellow Pokemon, who all are starting to look uncertain. "I dunno about you guys, but I don't want him to get hurt just because we were. And not all humans are mean-- I met some nice ones, outside, back home!"

"N's supposed to help Pokemon like us, though!" the other Woobat, a male, interjects. "If he knows what it feels like, he knows he has to fix it! And Ghetsis can't be evil-- He saved us, remember?"

Unsure of what to do, N just stares at the floor and clings to his train.

She looks to the other Woobat. "These are words too similar to my trainer's protests... 'He's my father'... 'Once I defeat Yuugi, he'll be happy'... 'He doesn't know what he's doing'... And... 'I should not have spoken'... He always said these things, even though Yuugi did no wrong- even though it was an argument instigated by Otogi's father against Yuugi's grandfather...

And in the end, their entire home went up in flames as a result... Yuugi almost died, and many others as well... If 'Ghetsis' saved you... Then please... If I may ask... Why he has not treated your wounds beyond minor care..."

The Pokemon fall silent, glancing at each other uncertainly. There is no quick answer, it seems, but Zorua retorts, "Ghetsis didn't treat us himself. It's the servants that do that!"

"That's right!" adds the male Woobat. But the Pokemon still look uncertain. That excuse was a weak attempt at dodging the question.

"Ghetsis loves me," N mumbles. His voice abruptly rises to a shout, though it's not really directed at Golett. "And he cares about the Pokemon just as much as I do!" Dropping the train in his lap, he throws his hands up in a wild gesture to the Pokemon. "They arrive to me in pain-- sometimes near death-- Ghetsis does all he can! And so do the servants! You don't understand!"

A head tilt. And Golett looks to the others.

"Perhaps... Technology here is different as well... We do not have 'pokemon centers' in my world- so treatment is slow, and requires constant care. When Otogi and I first arrived at the center in Accumula, we were amazed- that a device which could heal and restore pokemon almost instantaneously could possibly exist..." Just what is Golett getting at..?

"Ghetsis tells the servants what to do, does he not..? If Ghetsis realized you were not being treated properly... Should he not have rectified that..?"

N looks confused. "Pokemon Center...?"

The Pokemon, however, seem to know exactly what that is, and promptly look away nervously.

"I guess he does it for the same reason he hurts N," the female Woobat offers disdainfully. "To show our pain--"

"Stop it!" N abruptly shouts, bringing his hands up to clutch his head. "Y-you don't know him! He's good!"

He looks at the Golett, in distress. "Why are you doing this? You're trying to ruin everything!"

"Trainers take pokemon to pokemon centers to be healed- I have seen it before. The nurses do not charge anything, and they take care of the pokemon's needs. ...N.

I am not trying to 'ruin' anything. However..." The Golett stands. "As someone who has seen this happen before, I cannot beat to watch history repeat itself..."

"Stop it! Stop it! You're lying! N continues, hands clutching at his hair. It's futile; Pokemon don't lie. But he just can't allow himself to believe what Golett says.

Abruptly, he tosses the toy train aside and gets to his feet. In a moment, he's gone, sprinting to the back of the room.

"N!" the female Woobat calls, fluttering after the boy. He's out of sight now, apparently hiding behind the halfpipe that takes up most of the room. "N, come on, just listen..."

"No!" his voice shouts, nearing hysterics. "I won't believe it! I won't! I... I can't! I can't!"

At the last syllable and without warning, Woobat convulses in midair and plummets, landing lifelessly on the halfpipe. There is a short, stunned silence before N shrieks in horror.

For a moment, Golett merely watches, staring as the other pokemon fruitlessly try and convince N of something other than his thoughts.

And then Woobat falls. "...! Woobat...!" And instantly, the Golett rushes over to the fallen pokemon, a hand hovering overtop. "...Woobat..?" Just...

Just what happened..?

The Woobat is absolutely still, lying on her side with one wing tucked awkwardly beneath her. N, who has himself pressed against the furthest corner of them room he could get to, screams again in anguish.

"Woobat is dead," a new voice states smoothly. The owner of the voice stands a distance across from N, looking down on the child with a grim, disapproving frown and one red eye. "Do you understand what that means?"

"B-but why?" N chokes out, fingers clutching at his hair.

"A death at human hands," Ghetsis answers, glancing at the Woobat with a hint of disdain. "Murder."

"No... No, no, no...!" N sobs and curls in on himself, hiding his face in his hands and rocking himself back and forth. As he sobs out words, a few develop a deeper edge-- the voice of an older N. The boy's image flickers back and forth between the child and the adult. "Stop it, stop it-- Bring her back-- I'm sorry, I'll... I-I'm sorry..."

Ghetsis smiles cruelly, approving of the reaction.

Golett watches with wide and more or less confused eyes. Is this a vision of the past? Or a vision of the present? All she can do is stare at the woobat- this wasn't a delayed response. It was a current one. A recent one.

A...

She looks to Ghetsis, eyes narrowing. "...If it is death at human hands... ...Then those hands are his..."

Slowly, Ghetsis' gaze moves from N to Golett.

"Me?" he says in a falsely affronted tone. As a figment of N's subconscious, he seems able to understand the Pokemon's language without any trouble. "You wound me. Have I not saved the others from certain demise?" The other Pokemon shrink back a little, uncertain. Ghetsis gestures to the fallen Woobat with a sweep of his hand. "This one escaped my view. It seems it found its way out of the castle and into the hands of a merciless trainer." He smiles sharply. "Perhaps that child let it out. Let it be killed." N flinches. "He always said the creature talked about the outside so often... If it is anyone's fault, it is his."

"I-I didn't... I didn't mean to!" N cries, his voice a combination of the two tones-- adult and child.

"Silence and cease your stammering. Now, N, what will you do to remedy this?"

"I-I'll... I'll fix it." The adult qualities fade, leaving only the child and only his voice. He stills and looks up. Tears leave streaks down his face, but his expression is stoic and his eyes dark. "I'll... avenge her."

"Good."

But Golett has not backed down yet- she refuses to.

"...Then Woobat would have died before coming here... Not in a sudden fit of seizure." Now where did Golett learn about seizures...

"N. This man lies- if you wish to avenge Woobat... Do not do so with the idea of battle and separation. ...It will only end in despair."

N tilts his head as he is addressed, but only smiles sickly in response. "I'll break the world in two. Even if it hurts."

As for the Woobat...

"Oh, but it did," Ghetsis states. He glances pointedly at N. "Or is my lord getting the story wrong again?" N looks up at the man, still as dark-expressioned as before, but his eyes widen as Ghetsis makes a move toward the fallen Woobat. He bends almost gracefully and reaches for the corpse, taking a rough hold of its fur. "It seems his dreams are just as warped as he is. A seizure? Look upon it. The case of death is apparent."

He holds out the dangling Woobat toward N, but before the boy can see its face, he screams in protest. "No!" Suddenly, he's an adult again, albeit still cowering like a frightened child. He reaches out, grasping the only object within his reach: a dart. He throws it with surprising precision, and it pierces Ghetsis' figure, only to go through him and lodge itself in the floor. Ghetsis grins mockingly before disappearing into thin air. The Woobat's body falls again to the halfpipe with a dull sound.

The older N's hand stays outstretched in the air for a moment before he withdraws it, covering his face with his hands and breathing raggedly as he tries to stop crying.

Golett...

Is beginning to visibly shake with anger. "Show some respect for the dead... ...Monster...!" It appears the little golem pokemon is prepared to do something now- anything really but before she can Ghetsis is gone.

And looking back to N, she shuffles over in an attempt to comfort him. "...N. ..." She glances at the body, eyes dimming. "...I am sorry..."

"N-no," N manages after a moment, forcing himself to take a few calming breaths. He peers at Golett from between his fingers briefly before dropping them into his lap. His eyes are puffy and rimmed red from crying, but they're wide and his expression doesn't match, as if he's surprised by the sheer amount of tears. He looks almost confused-- lost-- then exhausted (ironically, considering he's actually asleep right now). He sighs shakily and rubs at his eyes. "I... I should be the one apologizing..."

He looks at the Woobat's body, then past it to the other Pokemon, who keep their distance. In fact, they don't seem to be moving at all, standing unnervingly still where they are, as if someone's forgotten to animate them. N shakes his head, breathing in sharply to stop a sudden urge to sob.

"I didn't... I didn't mean to make you see that, friend. I don't know what I was saying-- or doing...! I..." A dream. The same nightmare. He hangs his head in shame, squinting his eyes as childish tears fill them again. "I'm a fool."

Golett merely stares. "Why do you say this?" She blinks, voice calm. "If it is in the past, then learning from it is important, is it not. Besides," she continues. "I am just as much if not more a fool than you are, by that logic."

He smiles bitterly. "That is exactly why..."

With effort, he gets to his feet, looking in the direction of Woobat's corpse. "No matter how many times I dream this nightmare, I don't seem to learn anything."

He walks over to the Woobat and crouches beside it, pulling the nearby dart from the floor. "She... died when I was young. It confused me. Every time I see it, the circumstances change." He was traumatized. And, after hearing Ghetsis' explanation of the death, his convictions of liberation were set in stone.

He looks over his shoulder at Golett. "You... Your appearance here, however, is something new."

"Is that true? Really? That you learn nothing from it? ...If that is so, then wouldn't you pay it no mind? When you learn from something such as this, regret is expected. If anything, it is mandatory- it is what causes the memory to become something you 'never want again'."

She pauses, tilting his head. "...I am not surprised of that N- if this is a dream, then it seems I have somehow wandered into it. We meet again, it would seem. ...Unless of course, you still have yet to recall Otogi."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

007 ♖ [Action]

Okayyyyy~ :D (Also ahhhh my MP3 is betraying me with sad songs again-)

story of my life omg

;n;

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golettwhatareyousayingnooooooo-

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Golett, stop using logic. :I

But N loves logic! Even if this version of him is more illogical oops

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Too bad Golett, it does. :U

/sobs

ohgod noooooo-

/cries because wow this is darker than i thought it would be??!!

Aaaaauuuuuu- ;;;n;;;

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all of my tears. aaaaaahhhh all of my tears... ;;A;;

YOU CAN'T SPELL "ANGST" WITHOUT "N"

SAME WITH HAPPINESS THOUGH RIGHT? RIGHT? ;;A;;

NO IT'S ALREADY BEEN ESTABLISHED N CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS

THAT IS HORRIBLE and somehow expected BUT STILL