Fandom PMD - The Disappearing Law (Riolux & Runesage)

[Runesage]

Miles and Trill both stared at the young Zorua. Trill nodded. "We'll begin in the morning then. I hope you get a good night's sleep, because it's going to be rough tomorrow." And with that, Trill turned and left the room. The Captain whistled. "I haven't seen him that serious in a long time." He looked at Luca sternly. "I hope that you realize that no matter what he puts you through over the next couple of days, Trill, at least, still cares about your well being, as do I." He shook his head. "I think Zander is a sadist though, so he might enjoy what you're going to go through..."

"That's encouraging." Lyle said. "And what will I be doing during this time?" he asked.

"That's up to you. Although, if you're interested, I have a project that requires some passage travel. It's almost time for you two to know the truth about what happened 7 and 13 years ago." Miles said.

"Why not now?" Lyle asked.

"I don't want Luca distracted over the next few weeks. He's going to need all the focus he can get to keep himself alive." Miles said, and with that, he walked off.

"That's... encouraging..." Lyle said. "I guess that's the signal for bed though."

Riolux

 

[Riolux]

"Yep. Looks like I've got a long couple of weeks ahead. Best I get rest whenever I'm given the chance." he said as he gestured to the door behind them, making his way to the room. While he tried to keep his cool for Lyle's sake, he couldn't help but fear what he was in for with Zander behind the wheel. The Captain didn't seem to be too thrilled and it sounded like Luca's life was truly in danger if he decided to go through with it. Still, he was doing this to help others, so he had to steel himself and keep going forwards. With these thoughts in his mind, he climbed into his bed.

Runesage

 

[Runesage]

A good 4-5 hours passed, enough for the night to truly be going. The moon had just crossed the peak of it's path in the sky, and almost the entirety of the Guild hall was still. The only moving thing was a shadow slipping into Lyle and Luca's room. Zander crept over to Luca, and shook him awake. "It's time to begin. Night is the best for practice. We are dark types after all." He made a small motion, and a previously concealed door just outside the pair's room became visible. "In here. Most of the crew doesn't know that this exists, and I'd like to keep it that way, but it's the best place we can practice without worrying about being interrupted." Zander moved, clearly hating to be still, and left the room, expecting the still groggy Luca to follow.

Riolux

 

[Riolux]

Luca groaned as he stood up and hopped off his bed. "Geez. Trill wasn't kidding when you said you'd drag me out of bed so soon. It's not even morning yet, Zander." Luca mumbled as he moved to follow the Zoroark. Glancing back at Lyle to make sure he was still asleep, he closed the door as quietly as he could before looking back to Zander. "Okay so I'm up. Half-asleep and still sore from a week's worth of travel and the stress of a world that could collide with my own at any given moment, but up." Luca said dryly as he looked to the previously concealed door. "So what's in there?"

Runesage

 

[Runesage]

"A room where we can bend reality without it getting too out of hand and making any pokemon that happens to wander into a normal training room fear for their sanity." Zander replied, before he opened the door into a rather nice room. It looked as though it was Zander/Trill's secret hideout within the base, and based on the smile on Zander's face, he was quite proud of it. The floor had a nice carpet in it, and there was a small table with some dishes and food on it. There was a tapestry on the wall depicting a dragon colored red, black, and gold. There was a fireplace, but no fire. In fact, it was hard to tell exactly how the room was lit. The light seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. "Now, to begin knowing how to fool others, you need to be able to tell when you're being fooled. As a Zorua, you should have a natural sense when there's an illusion around. You may not have consciously noticed it, but it's probably why you were always so irritable around me. Now, I need you to try as best as you can to keep watch on the room, memorizing as much as you can. At some point, I will make something in this room appear to vanish, and you're going to need to tell me when, and, if you can, what it was. Now, begin." Zander watched the young Zorua before him, admiring his determination. About 2 minutes into Luca's vigil, while Luca was looking somewhere else, Zander made one of the unlit logs in the fireplace disappear, waiting for a reaction, but betraying nothing in his expression.

Riolux

 

[Riolux]

Seeing as he knew that Zander was a sly one, Luca, instead of fixating on the large, eye-drawing decor and food, he focused on the small details. Like a very complex Spot-The-Differences game. While it still took him about 5-6 minutes, a look of frustration crossing his face as he did so, he pointed at the fireplace. "There's a log missing."

Runesage

 

[Runesage]

"Good." Zander said as the log reappeared in the fireplace. "Now, we're going to work on building illusions, but there will be times where I will create a small illusion without telling you. Your job is to notify me as soon as you notice that sensation you felt earlier, and then we'll wait for you to sense out where it is. Spotting the differences is all well and good, but eventually there will come a point where you will be able to sense not only that there is an illusion, but also be able to know exactly where it is and possibly dispel the illusion." Zander said, holding a piece of fruit. After taking a bite of it and swallowing, he began a new lesson topic. "Now, the important thing about making an illusion is discovering the energy source. You can't build illusions if you have nothing to build it with." He took another bite, pulled a fruit out of the bowl and tossed it at Luca. "You know where your elemental energy is located, right?" As he said this, he was watching Luca keenly. The fruit he'd tossed at Luca was entirely an illusion, and he was wondering how long it would take Luca to figure out where the sense of wrongness was coming from.

Riolux

 

[Riolux]

Luca caught it in his mouth and took a bite. After chewing a couple of times, he frowned as he felt like something was off. Blinking a few times, he looked around the rooms before speaking up. "Hey, uh, I...think I'm getting that sensation you mentioned, Zander." He said, speaking up as he set the apple down.

Miles away, Ryan stood restlessly as he stared skywards, his arms folded in front of his chest as he remained there, lost in thought. Having gotten up early, Ryan's mind wandered to the past and a frown formed on his face as he looked towards the ground. 'Wonder how the others are doing back there.' he thought to himself.

Runesage

 

[Runesage]

Zander nodded. "Good. You picked up on it fairly quickly. Now, while I'm talking, I want you to keep that sensation in the back of your mind. As you do, a general sense of direction should end up revealing itself." He explained to his pupil. "As I was saying earlier, the energy source of the illusions is very similar to the energy source you use for your elemental attacks. Except, instead of being a pool of negative energy, there should be a pool of... well... the best way that I can describe it is a pool of imagination." Zander chuckled. "It's not a very good description, but there's not really a better one. Just a pool of energy that seems to change the more you look at it." He continued watching Luca curiously.

Mina's sleep was restless, as it had been ever since she'd become a Shadow Pokemon. Visions of her tormented past plagued her, causing her to toss and turn throughout most of the night, before she woke up with a gasp. Panting heavily, she rose from where she was sleeping and began to look around for Lyle, only to remember the previous days events. That's right... we split up again... Mina thought to herself as she made her way over to where she saw a figure resting on the ground. She walked over to where she saw Ryan sitting down and sat down next to him. "Before I left, Luca told me he was human." She paused for a second, and then continued. "I don't know what to do now. I said all of those things in front of him..." Mina said, feeling like she should cry, but there were no tears coming.

Riolux

 

[Riolux]

Luca nodded. "So, Zander...I was curious about something. It's been bugging me a bit for awhile now and I was hoping it was something worth talking about. It's just that...I don't know anything about you OR the captain." He said as he let some of his focus drift outwards to search for the energy Zander had mentioned. Slowly, but surely, he began to get a feel for it as he awaited the older Illusion Fox's response. As he did so, Luca began to get a general sense of where it was coming from before looking down and narrowing his eyes as he took his paw off the apple.

"I only spent a couple of days with him, but if anything, he probably feels bad for you leaving. Lyle is his friend and he knows you two are close. So he likely blames himself for you leaving. If anything, you deserve worse. I've never seen someone speak with such prejudice in spite of being clearly shown both sides of a coin and still claiming they're all one and the same side." Ryan replied, shooting a scowl at the Minun. "I mean you said so yourself. A human saved you from other humans. Which means there's obviously other humans that don't do that stuff. Or else that human wouldn't have known what the bad humans were doing was wrong. He'd have been taught to think otherwise. It's the same as with Pokemon." Ryan explained, though there was a harsh edge to his tone. While Ryan was trying to get a point across, he was neither rested enough nor friendly enough to mince his words today.

Runesage

 

[Runesage]

Zander shrugged. "I don't know enough about my history myself to tell you that much about me, but I can tell you about Miles." He followed the young Zorua's gaze and smiled as he let the illusion vanish. "Miles grew up in a nice family who trained him daily. When he evolved into a Dewott, he set off on a training journey, although it was mostly him being a reckless impulsive idiot, where he saved my life. We traveled for a while, and then we parted ways for him to go back home. When he got back, he found his entire family dead, except his youngest sister, who was so traumatized by the experience she couldn't recognize him. Eventually, the pain of staying with her was too much for him, so he set her up to be taken care of by a nice family and left. He traveled a lot, never staying in one place for long, and started protecting those who couldn't protect themselves. We met up, but the next bit is a little bit hazy..." Zander trailed off for a second. "All I remember is that there was a lot going on. Eventually, we wound up here I guess. The rest is a blank on my part. I still have these blasted holes in my memory." Zander shook his head. "Oh, and I used to be human. A long time ago. Just like you." Zander chuckled. "Weird how we both ended up the same Pokemon line."

At Ryan's words, Mina's feeling of sorrow grew. She felt like she should be sobbing right now. She knew any other pokemon would have let out a wail of agony at what she should have been feeling, but the emotions didn't come. "I do deserve worse... I'm a terrible Pokemon..." Mina sat down, hugging herself tight, making herself as small as possible. "There's so much more to it than what you know. I can't ever bring myself to face him again." She sat there for a second before looking at Ryan with eyes the color of onyx, the lifeless gaze betraying the lack of emotions that she should have been feeling. "Luca was the name of the one who saved me the first time. He was my only friend, the only good human I'd ever met, and I told him that he was evil." She looked away again, and drew herself inward even more, shadows playing around her form. "I don't know if I ever want to be purified. At least this way I don't feel the sorrow. The pain. He won't either because he doesn't know. It's probably for the best..." Mina trailed off into silence, just looking at the ground in front of her.

Riolux

 

[Riolux]

Luca listened with keen interest as he tried to focus on the energy beneath him, but as soon as he was about to pinpoint it, he heard what Zander said and looked like he'd basically been decked in the face. "Wait, you were human too?!" Luca said, his eyes wide with shock as his jaw dropped. "I...I mean I could never tell. I mean sure Ryan surprised me, but he has this look in his eyes that explains it. He seems...lost. Uncomfortable with himself. But you...you seem to handle it so naturally." Luca stated, not even sure why Zander would keep such a secret from Luca. He certainly would've appreciated knowing sooner.

Ryan's eyes narrowed as he slapped the Minun upside the head. "I don't want you to ever say or even think that ever again around me nor anyone else. Take it from the King of the lying, self-centered introverts. Being emotionless, whether through force of will or against it, is the worst sensation. There's the sense of detachment, of never belonging anywhere. Not even with the ones that trust you so explicitly. I spent so long with my friends not truly caring for anyone, but myself. Even as I started to care about some and...really care about others, I, for far too long, attempted to convince myself that I didn't care and...well...I was a good liar. But it stunk. You want to be purified. You want to be able to feel again. Because you'll regret never feeling happy again. Feeling alone for the rest of your life. Not able to talk to those who care about you nor the ones you grew to care for." Ryan ranted, his eyes blazing with a mix of subdued anger and, surprisingly regret and hurt. He wasn't only yelling at her. Panting after his scolding, he folded his arms and turned to face away from her. "Besides. Luca's a good kid. I doubt he'll hold a grudge against you. He just wants you and Lyle to be happy. If you apologize, he's almost guaranteed to accept."

Runesage

 

[Rcticwolf]

(Oh I love a good mystery dungeon story, but clearly I wouldn't be allowed in, so Tata)

 

[Riolux]

Rcticwolf (Rune's plot is amazing so far, but sadly it is a 1x1. I'm running another one with his help, though if you want that's a form of prequel to this if you're interested in that.)

 

[Rcticwolf]

Rcticwolf (Rune's plot is amazing so far, but sadly it is a 1x1. I'm running another one with his help, though if you want that's a form of prequel to this if you're interested in that.)

(*shrug*)

 

[Runesage]

Zander sighed. "I guess I've gotten used to it? I know it's weird to say it like that because Ryan's been a Pokemon longer than I have, but... I guess it's the number of masks I've put on over the years. Trill is such a disguise, he's a whole different personality. Who knows, maybe this is just another mask over myself. Maybe I've buried myself in so many illusions I've lost track of where I am, and that's what the blank spots in my memory are. I still don't even remember my real name. Maybe once I become myself fully again, I'll look more... 'uncomfortable with myself' as you say, but I can't even imagine that." Zander sighed, giving Luca a hard look. "I know it sounds weird to say this, but don't go looking for my level of mastery over illusions. Once you can fool yourself... you may not be able to stop doing so. You may end up like me, doomed to be whatever mask I'm wearing at the time, completely and utterly." A melancholy look crossed over his face as he said this and pondered for a second. The second dragged on to a minute, as he thought, and then suddenly he snapped back to himself. "Enough about me. Let's get back to work. Have you found your pool yet?"

Mina's expressionless face didn't change as the slap laid her flat on her back. She could feel her aura twisting around her, solidifying into this shell surrounding her, and she wanted nothing more than to bury herself in it and lose her emotions entirely. Ryan's words sailed through her mind, not really registering themselves as meaning anything. They were just words. Words to try to get her to feel again. Feel the pain she knew was waiting for her. The shadows picked up around her swirling, getting closer to sinking into her, until a single word in Ryan's last statement caught her attention. Lyle. The pain she knew was waiting for her hit her like a dagger to the heart, smashing through the shell that was being constructed around her. Tears flowed freely from her eyes, yet not a sound passed her lips. The tears still streaking down her face, she looked over at Ryan and said with a surprisingly steady voice the word that was bringing her this agony. "Lyle. He helps the pain go away so it doesn't come back later. I don't deserve a friend like him, but he doesn't care." The tears had stopped flowing at this point. "Help me. No. Please, help me. I need to be strong enough to face Lyle and Luca again. I need to be strong enough to tell Luca about this." There still was no emotion in her eyes, yet somehow they were no longer the dull eyes of those with no hope. "I need help putting the pieces of myself back together. Sir." She stood up and bowed to Ryan.

Riolux

 

[Riolux]

Luca seemed sincerely chilled by the risk of truly losing himself behind a wall of lies, but nodded as Zander shifted the topic back to the lesson. It was obvious that Luca hadn't expected their chat to shift into such a shocking, depressing topic, but he managed to refocus his attention on the pool of strange energy. After a few more moments, he burst out laughing. "Geez, Zander! You really got me with this one! I didn't realize it for a second! The apple was the illusion?!" he said, unable to contain his laughter at the trick. He knew said illusions were supposed to seem real, but he'd figured that something would've felt off initially. He'd been completely duped up until now.

Ryan sat there, contemplating the request for a few moments. He honestly wasn't sure how he'd be able to make her stronger. He wasn't a teacher. He'd been a loner for most of his life. Even when he wasn't, he'd been untrustworthy and distrusting of those around him save a select few. 'I let down a lot of people before. Betrayed people even if it was to help them. The fact that I'm here to hate myself for it only goes to show how fruitless said betrayal was. What if I mess this up somehow? What if I cause her progress towards purification to reverse? There's still Olin as well. I just don't trust that bug. He works for Rin after all and Rin's our enemy.' he thought to himself, frowning slightly. 'I could very well just be adding one more regret to the pile here. Could I really live with myself if I somehow ruin Mina's attempt at saving herself from this curse? On top of every other screw up to my name?'

With those thoughts, Ryan rose to his feet. Regardless of how he felt, he knew that if he didn't give it a shot, Mina could very well just deteriorate on her own and he doubted that Olin's presence would help in anything but controlling said ailment. Not remedying it. "I'll help you, Mina. But you have to know that it won't be easy. I'm no teacher. I'm a fighter. I may not be used to Shadow Pokemon, but I know my way around a brawl and there's a method I want to try seeing as you are starting to regain moves you knew before turning into a Shadow Pokemon." *he said, dusting off his cloak then his arms before looking back to the Minun.

Runesage

 

[Runesage]

Zander chuckled. "That's another thing. You don't have to solely rely on your illusion talents to make your illusions seem more real. A lot of times a passable illusion bolstered by a few psychological tricks is more efficient than an extremely elaborate illusion. Zander sighed. "It's getting about time for the rest of the guild to get up. Let's get out of here. If you want, you can do a mission, but Lyle can't really be going with you for the next few days. He's leaving around noon to go and get something that we need to prepare for the assault on Rin's base." Zander said. "As for why I'm not getting it, well... you can only enter that dungeon once in your life. I've already been there. Same with the Captain. Catch up with him, it'll likely be a while before you see him again."



Mina nodded to Ryan. "Thank you, sir." She bowed respectfully to Ryan. She looked around as the sun was beginning to creep over the horizon. "Guess we spent the night awake." Mina said to herself. She looked around again and spotted Olin, resting peacefully in a tree, beginning to stir.

The Lurantis looked up. "Ah, is it that time already?" Olin said. He looked at the pair of them and chuckled to himself. "Already up I see."

Mina shrugged. "Thieves habits die hard, I guess. Gotta be awake when others aren't."

Olin chuckled again. "Well, I guess this lets us start early." He turned to Ryan. "What's the first order of business?"

Riolux

 

[Riolux]

'Great. Lyle's leaving again. Why is it that we're supposed to be partners, but we're always getting separated. I understand that Zander was concerned about me getting distracted, but this is just ridiculous.' Luca thought bitterly to himself, but tried to keep his expression neutral. "So where is he going and how long will he be gone?" he asked, feeling like he at least deserved to know what his partner was going off to. "Is it dangerous? Is the road to it dangerous?" he added, sounding concerned for Lyle's safety. He definitely didn't want Lyle going off on his own to some rarely explored area, but he knew he had to keep training with Zander and he felt conflicted on whether or not to toss his words of wanting to improve out the window or stick to it and hope Lyle would be alright without him. 'Do I just say 'screw it' and go with Lyle or stay and finish what I'm starting?'


"One. Don't call me sir. I'm Ryan. Unlike Zander and Miles, I don't play boss to a bunch of young doe-eyed kids or 'honorable thieves'. I generally stick to myself. Second, I'm not a morning person. So I'm going to sit and...meditate for a bit until the sun's not just getting ready to rise." Ryan stated in an annoyed tone before walking a small distance and sitting cross-legged in the grass, looking at the horizon as his expression shifted into a wistful one before closing his eyes, stretching his aura senses as far as he could, even after he started to feel strained from doing so.

Runesage

 

[Runesage]

"He's going to a place called Meteor Ravine. At the bottom of that dungeon is a set of stones called Wish Stones. As for it's danger, well... It's a very peculiar place. Strange laws govern that mystery dungeon. Only one Pokemon can enter at a time, and they can only enter it once in their life. If they fail, well... it's too bad for them. We were going to send you until you expressed a desire to train." Zander caught the glimmer of concern in Luca's voice and said, "Don't worry. He'll be fine. It's not like you could go with him anyway." He chuckled to himself. "I found that out the hard way when I tried to follow the Captain in." Zander rubbed his shoulder as if recalling a pain from an injury long past. "Lyle's a tough kid. Clever too, and he'd never do anything to let you down." He turned to Luca. "He's doing this for you, you know. When he heard that you were going to train, he wanted to do something to help prepare in his own way. Mina's off training with Ryan, and you're training with me, so he's going to be doing this to try to help the both of you out. If he succeeds, well, the fight against Rin is going to be much easier." Zander said.

At this point Lyle had come out of his room. "Luca! There you are!" He ran over and gave him a hug. "Was the training hard? Are you learning." His eyes shone with excitement. "Did you hear what I'm doing? Better start thinking of a wish now, 'cause when I get back, we'll make it come true!"


"Yes Ryan." Mina said, watching him curiously. She noticed his -what are those things, ears?- quiver slightly as she could tell he was extending his aura senses. She watched him for a second, thinking about what had already been said that day, before sitting herself down, trying to copy his position as best as she could. She knew she couldn't sens auras, but maybe meditation would help her keep her shadows in check. She sat there, trying to let her thoughts flow, not focusing on any in particular. Her breathing steadied, and she could feel the shadows swirling around her slow slightly. Surprisingly, she could also feel a pool of shadow behind her, which she clearly recognized to be Olin. Nothing from the Riolu, however. Maybe she could only sense Shadow pokemon, or maybe he had his aura too under control for her to sense.

As these thoughts crossed her mind, she lost focus on the meditation, and the swirling shadows picked up again, clouding her sense of the world. She tried for a few more minutes to reach that meditative state, but nothing came of it. Shaking her head slightly, she stood up, and spotted Olin a little bit farther back than she remembered, probably trying to give the two of them some peace, practicing.

Riolux