Knights To Remember
Hi there! I noticed a couple weeks after the server went back up that my fic was gone. Just…gone. So I’m reposting for my old readers and maybe some new readers. Just remember that you should read A Doolittle of Pokemon first. It’s in the archive. By the way, mr_pikachu, I’m almost done with my latest chapter.
Talon’s Warning
The face of the legendary dog of thunder stared at me, close enough for me to smell his breath. We have crossed paths several times, yet it was a mystery as to why he has taken such an interest in my safety.
“How do you know about the Aurora Knights? How do you know about me?”
“My past is your present,” he said.
“Excuse me?”
“My past is your present.”
I looked up. Storm clouds dotted the sky in my mind. I welcomed them with open arms, anticipating the lightning.
“My soul is your soul. My blood is your blood,” he continued.
I looked down at the Aurora Key. It was covered in blood! I tried to wipe it off, but it wouldn’t come clean.
“What’s happening?” I cried out to him. I scrubbed at the golden dragon that was wrapped around the Key. I saw its glowing eyes.
“You cannot control the dragon. Your desires must be the same as his.”
My eyes shot open. I had that dream ever since the Key had been awakened, and each time I had it, it felt more real. It was starting to turn into a real nightmare.
I was once more in Ryan’s bed. Every time I tried to give him back his bed, one of our mothers would interfere and insist that “I make myself at home”. But this wasn’t my home. Now both Mom and Ryan slept on the floor of the den. It would be weeks until my house was restored.
I looked outside the window at the cloudy night sky. There was something wrong with what I saw. I found the problem: it was snowing. Gentle snowflakes were falling slowly on the ground. It showed no signs of sticking, though.
I was about to wake up the Pokemon from their sleep when I heard tapping. A Sneasel was on the other end, tapping on the window with one of her long claws. It stopped tapping and put the claw to its lips, signaling for me to keep quiet.
“What are you doing here?” I mouthed.
The Sneasel lifted something to the glass for me to see: an Aurora Crystal. At least, I think it was. For one thing, it was a milky-white color with black swirls. It looked more like an opal.
“Are you a Knight?” I mouthed. The Sneasel nodded and gave a “come here” gesture. I held up my index finger as if saying “Give me a minute”. I put on my sneakers and slipped through the front door. It was waiting in the doorway, wearing a smile.
“Did Char or Feather send you here?” I asked the Sneasel. I noticed that it had stopped snowing.
“Yeah, in a way,” it told me in a feminine voice. “Call me Talon. Are you Shonta, the new holder of the Dragon Key?”
“Say what?”
She pointed to the Key. “That is what it’s called, right?”
“I don’t know. Everyone has just been calling it the Aurora Key.”
“News flash, sister: There are two Aurora Keys. You are holding the Light Dragon Key. There is also the Dark Phoenix Key, which is just as powerful.”
“It sounds evil.”
“It’s dangerous, but it’s certainly not evil. Think about the two Keys as Yin and Yang. One cannot exist without the other.”
Talon had my full attention. “Tell me more, Talon.”
She turned her back to me. “Walk with me, little Knight.” She started to walk around the house, toward the flower field near the edge of town. I hesitated for a minute then followed her. Char and Feather never told me these things. Why?
I caught up with Talon. “Where are Char and Feather? I haven’t seen them in days.”
She shrugged. “They may be gathering the new recruits, so they may come back to you soon.”
“Do the new recruits go to a school or something?”
“Yes, they are taught by experienced Aurora Knights. Weak recruits with strong Crystals need to be taught how to control them.” She sounded as if she didn’t want to talk about the subject.
“How was your life like before you joined the Aurora Knights?” I asked her.
Her tone became harsh and cold. “Crappy, like everyone else’s. It was like a roller coaster; first life was wonderful, then it was hell, now it’s a mixture of the two. Now let me ask you a question.”
“Shoot.”
“Did Char and Feather tell you this when they first met you?”
“No, but they didn’t have time to tell me these things.”
She gave a harsh chuckle. “A sorry excuse. They had plenty of time; they just wanted to keep you in the dark. Like those other pathetic excuses for Knights kept me in the dark.”
“Why are you talking about the Knights like that?”
She stopped. “Because they are as evil as the Umbra Demons!”
I took a step back. “You’re lying. They saved my life!”
“Yes, but they also take it away. They save everyone, and then demand the ultimate price: their life. Doesn’t that sound like the legend of the Umbra Demons?”
“You mean they kill?”
Tears streamed down her face. “No, but they do much worse. When they saved my life, they told me that I would be hunted because I was an Aurora Knight. They told me to accept my fate and join them. They told me to leave my home and the friends that I had left! Because of them my whole life went into oblivion!”
“But you made new friends and found a new home, right?”
“Why does everyone expect me to just throw away my past? Why can’t I go back to him and die?”
“Who are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about my mate! I had to leave him because he didn’t ‘make the cut’. He wasn’t strong enough for them, but I’m not strong at all without him!”
“Then just go back to him.”
“If I do, then he dies. Umbra Demons will hunt down your loved ones until you have nothing left. He is all that I have left and I will not let him die!”
Now I felt tears. “I’m sorry.”
“Not as sorry as you’re going to be. Pokemon may lose their life, but humans lose more than that.”
“What is that?”
“They lose their humanity. The moment a human receives their Crystal, they lose a part of their human selves literally. They become Pokemon.”
“They turn into Pokemon? I’m going to turn into a Pokemon?”
She nodded again. “It’s sad, but true. I’ve heard stories about humans that were unlucky to find a Crystal. Sometimes it does nothing because they weren’t chosen to wear one. They didn’t have the soul that the Crystal searches for.”
“Soul?”
“Those that are very close to Pokemon have souls that are appealing to them. They are almost like Pokemon themselves. Those are the ones that the Crystals want. But it’s not enough. To have the soul of a Pokemon, one must have the body to match it in order to wield the Crystals. A little bit of DNA alteration is all it takes, and that’s the first thing that the Crystals do to you. Not enough to completely change you, but enough to give you what you need. After all, humans aren’t physically capable of breathing fire or swimming up strong currents, right?”
I nodded, my eyes fixated on Talon.
“But aren’t you a lucky devil!” Talon continued. “You have the Dragon Key, and that takes more than a little change for you to wield it.” She looked up in the sky and quietly growled. “He finally sensed me. He’s slowly getting better.”
There was a loud thud behind me. I turned around and looked up at Char. He glared at Talon, fire in his eyes. Talon glared back.
Char pushed me behind his back. “What are you doing here, Talon? I thought I told you not to come near her and fill her head with your ideals.”
“The only thing I filled her head with is the truth. Why someone as virtuous as you didn’t want to tell her that is a mystery to me.”
“I didn’t have time.”
Without thinking, I punched Char’s back as hard as I could. “That’s the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard!” I cried out. I ran back in the house, hating for what I was about to become.
What is going on? Who are the good guys? Will I have to leave my life completely like Talon? These questions raced through my mind as I tiptoed through the rooms and back into the bed. But another question froze my heart in fear. If Talon was right about humans turning semi-Pokemon, and if the Dragon Key has been inside of me…
Am I already part Pokemon?
