A Light in the Dark

[Saryuu Evan]

{ Unmaking Quest: Fleeing Masses begin! }

While he was looking down upon the kingdom streets during the morning routine, Saryuu kept to his own as he was walking around and taking a peep of the surface thoughts of bypassers for any clues. Some of which thought he was from another planet while others thought otherwise and while these were surface thoughts on their own standards, he can't help to wonder about these other planets. After all, he did arrive in Erde Nona not too long ago though he can't help to be asked by what seems to be another voice.

'It's rude when you use your powers to see through people without seeing things out the normal way. Haven't you already broken enough promises, you selfish child?'

This did get his attention as he stopped and looked around for a bit, watching the heavy volume of movement in the city going on as pedestrians were walking along both sides, causing the small kitten to take alert of that was going on as its purple hues would look up to Saryuu with a tilt of its head, uncertain if not worried.

To the albino's dismay, did someone try to talk to him or is it his own thoughts teasing around? He wasn't sure but he did feel a hint of guilt as he did remember getting excited about his powers returning but Fei was scared and Tenma, well, he was surprised. The truth is that he desired it so much that he forgot that he was placing his own selfish mindset ahead of others, however he had that talk with Fei at the inn and everything was going to be fine in the end. Right? He's sure that if only they work together and get to the bottom of things since there is nothing there could be wrong.

On the other hand, there was a creeping sensation that crawled down his back with one in terms of breaking a promise however he didn't remember that..or did he?

Last he remembered, the powers came back on their own because a singular vaccine wasn't going to stop it dead in their tracks and even if it did, would it even last long in the end? In fact, would it even matter? There has to be an explanation on this strange abnormality in this realm somewhere before he would return to walking along the pavement. Not unless this had something to deal with holding onto his resentment towards Tenma or not addressing the betrayal with Fei but he said he would address it when the group eventually talks it out among each other.

Letting go of his pride is one thing but repairing the damaged relationships with his friends is another thing. Like he said to Fei, they will cross that bridge when they get there and the same for Tenma.

While Fei had an emotional meltdown out in public within the inn's hallways, the albino was calming, understanding and gentle when earlier, he wasn't that way. In fact, he was flat out exhausted after a long night that sometimes he would swear that he would wake up in the middle of the night and remain up late until the first ray of daylight from the eastern skies shone across the horizon.

Perhaps it was because of that strange pink creature having to do this, he wasn't sure, but it did offer its egg for him to hold and when he refused it, it may be the reason why he was so calm. After all, he did overhear that tidbit in the hotel that Pokemon went by the name of Blissey and if someone ate its egg, they became pleasant and caring.

Now that he thinks about it, actually, is that why he was gentle and hugged Fei even at the meltdown? In normal circumstances, he would end up snapping back in some format instead of what happened earlier and the two would have been arguing for a while.

Did it somehow prevent the worse outcome somehow? He wasn't sure but what's done is done and realizing it more, maybe that was for the better. It actually gave him a chance, an opportunity to reach out to the rest of the group on better terms and he didn't desire to fight anyone let alone argue because to be honest, he didn't like that sort of confrontation at all especially when he had caught Meia and Garo fighting back in a library full of his companions in one place.

He sighed as he briefly closed his eyes before reopening them and focusing on what’s more important currently since that was in the past. After all, he has work to do in order to progress despite what doubt was trying to do, especially counting that everything was literally at stake.

Sure, he feels tired but that was only a minor thing to worry about.

While keeping to himself, the amount of individuals from foreign worlds in the streets had increased and the chaos of what was going on almost reminded him of what people do when there is a disaster. In fact, several people looking for jobs, on the streets and otherwise, looking scared, afraid and uncertain and for momentarily, this caused him to tense up somewhat as he knew what he'd done; it was survivor’s guilt creeping down no doubt.

He had a feeling that this is what this fallen Arbiter desired after the dream ordeal: chaos, destruction and fear and that's why he had that urgent dream. He didn’t want to add onto it further putting everyone at risk as a repeat would not make anything better and this is why he chose action.

Additionally, there was no way this should get in his way of thinking, well, eventually, a villager bumped into him which caused him to jump slightly by causing him and the feline to act in unison.

"Oh, e-excuse me. I'm sorry." The woman, around her twenties, dressed in a old-fashioned green dress, black boots with flowing brunette hair and green eyes, spoke to him in a calm manner as he asked, "H-huh? What was that?"

“I was apologizing about bumping into you earlier.” The woman spoke up as the albino lowered his head. “Right, right..erm, it's okay. There's just a lot of people here in a panic and well, they're in a real bad scramble that they don't know what to do."

"I've noticed. They came from other worlds in the Crossroads and so everything is crazy around Arcadia." the female spoke calmly before she looked up to the creature who flew in front of Saryuu, almost defending him from the other. "Aww, what a cute Pokemon! Is it yours?"

Looking over to the feline creature for a brief moment and back to the woman, he replied, "Not really and actually, they found me. I didn't find a collar or anything on it. Why?"

"Well, as far as I know of Espurrs, they have incredible psychic powers but kinda have a hard time controlling it. Don't touch their ears though, that's where they get grouchy because the organ inside that emits those kinds of powers." she explained as he nodded. "I'll keep that in mind, thanks, but right now, I'm in a hurry. What do you know? Anything weird since this situation happened?"

The woman thought for a while, "Not really much, sorry, but I feel bad for what had been happening. They've been through so much and in so little time as well and the individuals from Govermorne and Cevanti especially. They will also need all the encouragement they can as well."

If disasters were one thing, they would have their fair share of stories to tell, that is, if they would tell him. They may be too distressed to tell their stories after what happened to them in general and in the case of the off-worlders, a tricky situation. A part of this felt familiar to him, not just with masses fleeing but the losses and other things.

It reminded him about the war and in a sense, he could understand. It was difficult to empathize because of his anger, sadness. loss, confusion and lastly betrayal.

He was once there and sighed, replying in a calm yet somber tone, "Yeah, they do and to Arcadia as well. I heard the news of what happened when I arrived here not too long ago."

The woman smiled. "Yeah, however, as they say in times of trial, that is when a person's true nature shows and judging by how you are by the look of your eyes, I believe that you have a good heart. Maybe that's why Espurr came to you."

Perhaps that's why. After all, he did pet it and allowed it to tag along with him before he nodded, "Yeah..maybe."

There was a softness in his tone and it would be long before the woman spoke up, "Anyways, maybe you should check around town for yourself, perhaps around a public place, though that's all I got. I need to get back to work here because as crazy as it is, I gotta do my part for Arcadia. Have a good day!"

She rushed off in a hurry and after a while, Saryuu still thought over what happened before he would go on with his investigation.

{ Words: 1,549 / Characters: 8, 357 }

 

[Saryuu Evan]

With a sigh, Saryuu recomposed his stance as he looked around for a while before he looked to the Espurr, however, the Pokemon noticed a lonely girl in the immediate distance crying, causing the albino to walk over to her in silence.

Did something happen? He wasn't sure but he did approach the female as Espurr was there as her clothes were tattered from the looks of it and before long, he asked, "What is wrong?"

Upon seeing the albino looming over her, the girl was surprised as she looked up as she stepped back out of nervousness as Saryuu's brows furrowed a bit. "Don't be scared. I'm not going to hurt you, but can you tell me?"

The girl was too upset to talk but Espurr looked to Saryuu and was confident to help out as it landed and looked about before it perked up. It had taken notice of a beautiful flower and went over to pick it for the child before it came back with it as it smiled. "Purr?"

Of course, seeing the flower for herself helped out somewhat as the girl noticed it but she was still upset. This might take awhile as the albino knelt down to the girl with a calming smile, "Doesn't that look pretty?"

"Yeah. It d-does." the girl spoke with a shy tone before she looked to the Pokemon with a smile. "Thank y-you."

"Purr." the feline mused before it decided to walk over towards her, sitting close to the girl who eventually pet the Pokemon.

Feeling the soft grey fur in between her fingers, she started to calm down afterwhile and sighed, however, Saryuu waited on the Pokemon as they were being petted before he asked, "Are you lost?"

The girl frowned as she replied, "I-I don't know.. who are you?"

"My name is Saryuu." he answered as the girl replied, "I'm Kaylee. Um...nice to meet you Saryuu."

She was trusting him a bit but she was still shy and this could be an issue but by the looks of things, she's scared, alone with no one to look out for her and the albino had to help her somehow.

"Alright Kaylee, can you wipe off those tears and tell me what’s wrong?" he requested calmly as the girl nodded before she sniffed.

Her poor face was red but it didn't matter as the girl looked over to Saryuu trying to explain her story to him but she was distraught to even speak about it. He can take notice of it more directly as he saw into the girl's memory to see her parents were fleeing, however, due to the mass crowds being attacked by robotic creatures and strange plants, she was separated from them.

She continued running in a panic but she did see another figure that grabbed her hand, an older boy that is.

“Cousin Anthony?”

“Hurry Kaylee!”

Several explosions were going off around them as they were running against the crowd. However, moments before they could progress, they were stopped by corrupted wildlife, namely a mix of a robotic animal and attacking plantlife blocking their way out.

“Oh no! We’re cornered! What are we going to do?”

“Find another way somehow, I’m trying to think here.”

These corrupted entities were drawing close to them and as they did, almost as a flash of lightning struck, a masked individual cut them down right where they stood. Who was that? Another person with powers? He wasn’t sure but this will have to be investigated some other time.

“Ooh!”

“What the-?”

“Get a move on you two. There isn’t much time!” the masked individual spoke with seriousness as they drew out their blade, looking onwards towards the danger before the children ran along.

It was hard to tell by this individual but Saryuu can tell that they had command over electricity as that wasn’t exactly a hard thing to miss. Thankfully at the end, the children were eventually found by another adult, namely their uncle, as they would get to the emergency evacuation transport.

Though, for one thing, what were those creatures? He hasn’t seen anything like that but this new information would be useful to inform Fei with. In fact, while he only looked at the surface thoughts, this was a time that he legitimately looked into someone’s memory to see what was going on and judging by the pure chaos and destruction, the city looked like it was turning into a warzone with all the explosions, fires and destruction abound and a sight that he was all too familiar with.

Other than the strange creatures, there were also demon-like creatures attacking people and other things. In fact, could this be a hint to what is going on? It made sense as the pieces are surely but slowly falling into place. Is this how a world falls? Governmorne looked like an unrecognizable mess in his dream with the Arbiter while on this planet inside the girl's memory, he did saw areas of corruption among other things with even some of the creatures turning hostile and he didn't want to think how dangerous that would be.

While remaining calm after what he had seen recently, he asked, ”So are you from Cevanti?”

“Y-yes but how did you know?” she asked before he replied, ”There’s been a lot of individuals from Cevanti and Governmorne that are around here so you aren’t the only one around.”

He didn’t want to reveal that he had powers to her as there was no way he was going to chance that at all since people did have a habit of looking down on those who had anything remotely extraordinary about them. Not after what happened to him, Fei and the others.

"Do you know where your relatives are?" he asked to check what was going on as Kaylee looked around her surroundings for a bit before she replied, "Um, I'm sure they're around s-somewhere."

Saryuu crossed his arms as he was looking around for himself, well, until a voice spoke up amongst the crowds, causing the group to look over for awhile.

“Kaylee!” exclaimed the voice causing the young one to perk up as she recognized the voice causing her eyes widened for a bit. "Kaylee? Where are you?"

The albino looked around before he spotted an older youth, notably a male with the same tattered clothes as seen inside the girl's memory, approached the group as Kaylee spoke, “C-cousin Anthony?”

After sometime of panting from running over to the group, the other eventually straightened up before he replied, “I’ve been looking all over for you. Uncle told us to stay together.”

Kaylee looked down towards the ground as she replied, ”I-I'm sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you or even uncle.”

Her cousin replied, ”Well, you did a scare. Come on, let’s get going.”

“But what about the person that helped me?” she asked as she pointed to the albino with a frown before her cousin countered, “Uncle says not to be talking with strangers!”

“He was trying to help me. Shouldn’t we say t-thank you?” she begged her cousin as she was concerned. “We shouldn’t be mean.”

Seeing that his cousin was begging him, the other sighed, ”Yeah, you do have a point there." Eventually, he looked to Saryuu as he continued in a calmer tone,"Thanks for helping me find my cousin and watching over her.”

The albino nodded, ”It’s not an issue but you really shouldn’t be alone around here.”

“I know, my uncle isn’t that far away because he’s at one of the local inns nearby.” the boy nodded before Saryuu asked, ”Are you going to be alright?”

The boy nodded as he grabbed Kaylee’s hand. “Yeah. Oh and hey, what’s your name?”

“Saryuu.” the albino answered as the boy replied, ”Saryuu, got it and well, sorry if this was a short meeting but we really have to go. Bye, bye!”

It wouldn’t be long before the duo of children with Kaylee waving farewell to Saryuu and the Espurr who found her a flower as they would leave as Saryuu can’t help but to feel something strange. However, though for now, he would have to contact Fei about this information.

Meanwhile at the inn, as Fei was inside the room, his communicator would pick up noises as it was laying down on the side table. Of course, it was a static noise but it became clear afterwhile as a voice came from the other side.

'Fei, if you are there, answer.'

The greenette picked the communicator up as he put it on his right ear. "Yeah? What's up Saryuu? What's going on out there?"

'I was checking in around town and came across some information about the additional company.'

Eventually, Fei's communicator would bring up holograms of what was the fate of Cevanti from Kaylee. Pictures of the devastation that happened within the city had the greenette's eyes widening in shock along with the robotic animals, demon-like creatures and strange plants, the place was a literal warzone.

"W-what? This was what happened?"

'Yes, I'm afraid. However, this can still be prevented if we group together. Currently, I'm out here to discuss with the people around and see if there's a way to help out. Though, this is only a symptom, not the root and if we don't want this world to fall, we have to find the root and get rid of it.'

Fei nodded though he did smile a bit at Saryuu's resolve to help out. "Right, well, when the time's right, you know what to do after all."

'Right, well, talk to you later.'

Fei eliminated the connection with Saryuu considering what information was shared to him as he sighed to himself for a bit before he would eventually take the moment to reflect for a bit on what was going on. Even while it is still morning outside, a lot of action has been happening so far and in a sense, he can't help but to feel a sense of dejavu especially with how bad it was.

He was already reminded of the past even though he didn't want to admit it.

"We got a lot to do." he spoke to himself moments before he heard a knocking on the front door of the room, causing him to turn his head and look over in silence.

How odd, however, it wouldn't be long before he would answer and notice a familiar blunette, causing him to perk up in surprise, almost stepping back from the front door and into the room. "Huh?! B-Beta?!"

"Hi, hi Fei!" Beta mused as she waved at the greenette before she giggled before she smirked. “Did you miss me?”

As far as Fei knew, missing Beta was a special sort of question but judging by El Dorado’s actions, they would send her whenever it involved something important but hopefully, she wouldn’t be as in his way as before with the entire time traveling ordeal.The most that he can do is be nice and thankfully enough, they were no longer enemies but he is concerned in terms of being discovered for his powers resurfacing.

“Nice to see you again Beta.” he spoke up with a smile though part of him is nervous.

What would Saryuu say once he gets back here? He really hopes that a fight doesn’t break out between the two but when it comes to Beta, she can be aggressive despite of her cutesy nature.

{Words: 1,935 / Characters: 10,602}
Total Word Count: 1,549 + 1,913 = 3,484 Words!
Unmaking - Fleeing Masses: Complete }