Smoke and Flame chapter 3: A HEARTLESS MONSTER

Smoke stared at the bloody mess before him, his eyes wide with horror and agony. Something had fought here, and it didn't go too well. And maybe it was not a something, but a someone. That someone being Amethyst. The thought wrenched inside his head, the thought that his only friend met her end that night. No… It can't be true… She's still out there. The harder he tried to pretend, the more apparent the truth became. The piles of ash where a forest once stood. The splattered streaks of blood, caused by a large blade. And the echoes of spirits, spirits of the dead. It had got her. N… no… why did it have to take her life… no… His hopes shattered, his resistance grinding to a halt, a dark acceptance of fate. Maybe he shouldn't have freed her, when the result would have been the same. A violent, bloody end. Smoke lay down in sorrow, no longer fighting, no longer trying to make this right. There's no point fighting when you have nothing left to fight for. He slowly laid a herb down, a shimmering leaf of luscious green. A mirror herb. A sign that she never will be forgotten. And yet, a sign that he will never see her again.

-*-

Not again. I tried… tried all I could. I was sure it wouldn't happen again. Why… did Arceus bring the same cruel fate upon her…

"Delta! Wake up! We need an aspear berry!"

Her eyes slowly lit up, and she let out a long yawn. "Uhh… Saber? Why are you up so… WHAT THE ACTUAL HECK JUST HAPPENED?!"

Laying before her was Amethyst. Or at least she thought it was her. There was too much blood to tell. "A… Amethyst… Saber…"

Both were severely wounded. Whatever had done this to Amethyst, it had not been good. She was just about to ask what happened, when Saber solemnly sighed "I couldn't help it."

"Did you…" she stifled, but she was interrupted by a slow, heavy breathing. Amethyst was alive. But it wouldn't stay that way for long. Delta rushed for an aspear berry, frantically running her claws through the berry pile and leaving the floor stained with juice. Eventually, a speck of yellow emerged from the heap. An aspear berry. Without hesitation, she grabbed the fruit, careful not to squash it, and jolted back to Amethyst. The berry rolled gently into Amethyst's bruised maw, and after a few seconds her breathing began to soften, and her frostbitten wounds began to recover. Delta let out a sigh of relief. She had saved her from the brink of death. If only it could have been that way before.

It had been a few hours, and Amethyst was already showing signs of recovery. She was still unconscious, but her wounds had almost entirely healed and all that was left was a few scars of dried blood. Delta had been silent the whole time, watching solemnly over Amethyst, making sure she was ok. Saber, meanwhile, had been recovering from his own wounds, his icy form slowly freezing back into shape. He had just walked in when a sudden movement caught him off guard. Slowly but surely, a flame began to flicker. She was waking up. "A… Amethyst?" Delta stuttered, as the figure before her opened its eyes.

"Who… who are you? Who… am I?"

"I'm Delta. And you're Amethyst."

"Wait… that… never mind. I… it's all coming back. No… The Sword of Ruin! S… Smoke!"

"Sword of Ruin? What? Smoke? Who the heck is that?"

"The Sword… it wants his blood… my friend…"

Delta wasn't listening. Because staring right at her were the eyes of a killer. It was him.

The Yveltal. The one who had torched her world in his fiery wrath, and strewn the blood of many across the ground. Among those many, were her and Amethyst. He was the reason that she became so… devoid of emotion. He was the reason that she had to watch her best friend suffer over and over, until there was nothing left but shattered hopes and dreams. And she despised him for that. Wanted to do the same to him as he did to her. Make him suffer. Those were the only thoughts that echoed in Delta's twisted mind. Make him suffer!

Something caught Amethyst's eye, and when she turned her head to see what it was, she exclaimed, "Smoke?! Is that you?!"

Delta snapped out of it instantly when she heard that. Amethyst and the Yveltal were friends?! What?! The very being who slaughtered her was now being greeted excitingly?!

"Amethyst, I thought you…"
"I'm okay, Smoke. She managed to save me in time."

"Save you from wh…"

A shimmering blade caught his eye. And at that moment, the blade thrust forward.

-*-

He didn't know what came over him, why it came over him, or even how. It was a dark urge brought on by ancient evil, an urge that demanded Smoke's death. But why? The urge did not care about that. It was a heartless killer. And maybe he was too. Sharp icicles crashed through the trees and beams of energy shot through stone. Saber kept dashing forward, not out of strategy, but out of pure savagery. Smoke reeled back at the repeated slashes, each one spreading a gory mess of red and feathers all around what was once a peaceful grove. Gradually, the fight tipped more and more in his favour, Smoke getting more and more worn out, and yet he was not feeling a thing. He saw Amethyst, wincing in pain, desperately trying to save her friend, but too weak to fight. Delta was trying to stop Amethyst from diving in, saying the only outcome would be swift death, saying that she didn't want to lose her.

"But I don't want to lose Smoke!"

Hearing those words, Delta sprung into Saber, pinning him to the ground. She hated Smoke, but her sympathy got the best of her and she couldn't watch Amethyst suffer just like her.

"Claws. Off. The. Yveltal. He's mine."

A claw of metal tore through Saber's chest, sending sparks rippling through his body. He wrenched back in agony, throbbing in pain. He barely had time to recover when a charge beam struck him on the leg, leaving him paralysed. When he raised his head, Delta's cold, heartless eyes stared back at him. She was not afraid to kill him. A ray of electricity, so hot that the ground around him turned black. He knew he couldn't take one of those for long. Fight back. She wants to kill you. But I'm not like that! SHE WAS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FIERY DEATH AND A CHANCE TO STOP… THIS!! He lashed forwards, legs tearing through the soil and swords pointing straight for her. A horrendous scrape of metal on metal resounded for a split second, and when his eyes cleared of smoke, he saw what he had done. A large cut spread across Delta's chest, fluid spilling from the sparking gash. Her eyes flickered in pain, her tail briefly flickering off. Then, the spark suddenly flared, power coursing through her body. After what he did, he wouldn't be given a second chance. "You'll. Pay. For. THAT!" Behind his heartless eyes, was true fear. The fear of a wild Lechonk about to get bloodily ripped until there's nothing left of it. But he had no blood to spill, no fur to taint, and no heart to rip.

-*-

A shadow cut right through her, sending blood flying everywhere. When she looked down at the wound, she saw no blood. Only a glowing blue fluid, spilling from her chest like a stream of poisoned water. For a brief moment, everything went dark. Then the same image, playing over and over again. A sharpened sword cutting straight through Amethyst's heart. Over and over. She begged for it to stop. It did. He tried to kill her. Power surged back through her limbs, and the moment she saw him there was only one thought. Destroy. Flash cannons that blinded even the sun, burning electro drifts so hot they set the ground on fire, claws sinking into his chest. Pinned, in agony, unable to do anything but wait to suffer. It never came. Claws as sharp as knives tore through her side, knocking her over. Those claws didn't belong to Saber. They belonged to something far more deadly. A jagged electrified blade then ripped into where her heart would be, immobilising her wounded form. A voice both silky and choked triumphantly said, "All in a day's work."

-*-

Smoke saw the whole situation unfold right before his eyes. One moment, pain surged through him as the Sword of Ruin murderously sliced at him, then the mysterious Pokemon leapt in to fight it, saying something about him being hers, whatever that meant. And then the shadow came, clawed through its heart, and then vanished as quick as it had appeared. Thoughts throbbed through his temples like the steady beating of a drum, and his mouth gasped for every last bit of air. Wounded, he stumbled into the den, glad that Amethyst was alive but shocked at the same time. A monster. That's what they called him. They hadn't witnessed what a monster truly was. He chose to suppress it, it chose to unleash it. That's the difference.

"Amethyst! You're alive!" he exclaimed.

"Barely". The response wasn't sarcastic, it was genuine fear.

At first, she seemed at least uninjured, but on closer inspection some large scars caught his eyes. The shape was undeniably caused by the Sword of Ruin.

"What the hell happened here? And what was that?"

I heard a noise, couldn't help following it, some distant memories. Right as I had a lead, it appeared. Cut me up like Tatsugiri. When I woke up, she was there, frantically gathering berries and herbs, before looking me in the eye. It was those eyes that made me realise. This is bigger than the two of us.

Smoke let those words hang about in his head, like a fog that would never clear. This is bigger than the two of us. What did she mean? What felt like minutes ago they were just trying to survive the wild like normal Pokemon, and now they were being hunted by a being that could finish them off in seconds if it wanted to. If it wanted to. His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden noise.

"Amethyst! Get away from him! It's not safe!"

He turned his head to find a limping figure, tattered with wounds and barely able to stand. Upon seeing him standing there, its eyes lit up with fear, then anger.

"Fire a single beam at her and I'll have you dead", she said in a threatening voice

"Hey, why the hell do you want to kill me?! I already have the incarnation of hatred and a madman out to kill me", he said with a wry laugh.

"You know why. You tried to kill her. And you killed me."

"Hey, you're getting me mixed up with another Yveltal. I would never hurt her. She's my friend."

It flashed in confusion, before stopping and scrutinizing Smoke's face.

"You are the same one. I couldn't forget those eyes after what you did."

"WHAT?! N… no, I never did that."

It let out a humorless laugh, before remarking "Petty excuses."

He knew that if the situation was any different, he would be lying on the ground with a claw up his throat. But the wounded creature in front of him was in no shape to fight. Regardless, it had the determination to. Does it not care about dying? He thought about pitying it, but that would put him in danger. He charged up a ray of energy, ready to blast it into oblivion.

"You're not getting your claws on me! FACE MY OBLIVION!"

It wouldn't be the one to kill him. Not after he had come this far.

"Smoke, STOP!"

Just as the ray struck it, Amethyst had sent a small flame whirling into him.

"Hey, what was that for?! Can't you see I'm trying to keep myself alive right now?"

"Don't do it! She saved me!"

The energy that had been roaring from his wings dissipated almost instantly, and he turned his head in confusion.

"What? I thought it was trying to kill me!"

"Maybe. But she seems to… how can I explain. Some kind of… connection. She knows who I am, Smoke."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

A cough came from the corner. Smoke looked around, and saw the Pokemon slowly regain its footing.

"I was trying to protect her from you."

"So… you did that for Amethyst?

He got no reply from it. Only the flickering out its pixelated eyes, and the scars dimming until only a void was left. He was a monster.