I've been struggling a bit lately to maintain interest in this story, unfortunately. There are several problems I've found with it, including the fact that I had to scrap almost the entire plotline, and that it doesn't feel as though the protagonists are really in danger, because they have so many advantages. I took a break from writing this for a while to devote more effort to this round of The Challenge, hosted by @Athena in the Forum Games, which basically has us write a short story.
Well, now I'm back. I decided to pursue this till the end of summer, at which point, if I'm not finished, and I don't want to finish, then I don't finish. I'm projecting there to be somewhere between five and eight more chapters, which I figure I can finish before that point. If not, we'll see.
Without further ado, here's Chapter 25.
Well, now I'm back. I decided to pursue this till the end of summer, at which point, if I'm not finished, and I don't want to finish, then I don't finish. I'm projecting there to be somewhere between five and eight more chapters, which I figure I can finish before that point. If not, we'll see.
Without further ado, here's Chapter 25.
Ryan, Froakie in tow, ducked and weaved between the milling masses, trying to find his friends. He hadn’t seen them since the fight began, when they had been forced to split up to find their way back to Professor Sycamore.
A Team Flare Grunt barred Ryan’s way with his Houndour. He grinned and said something Ryan couldn’t make out over the din of the battle. Froakie felled the canine Pokémon with a well-placed Water Pulse, and the Grunt, grin fading, scrambled away.
There!
Through the chaos, Ryan saw Azoth, his white hair looking almost as wild as Professor Sycamore’s, battling a red-haired man Ryan didn’t recognize. Ryan tried to catch a glimpse of their Pokémon as he jostled his way through the crowd, but when Azoth’s arm flared with a violet aura and connected with the man’s crimson-glowing arm, he realized that they weren’t using any.
Azoth had been reluctant to explain things of this nature to Ryan, so he had gone to ask the professor instead, who had told him that people such as Azoth––people with a powerful connection to the World Tree––could harness their own auras for very specific purposes. Azoth, apparently, could use his to battle, almost like a Pokémon could.
Azoth flickered out of view. Ryan was forcibly reminded of Blake, with his mysterious jacket, but his thoughts were drawn back to the battle when Azoth reappeared behind the red-haired man. Azoth thrust his hand, swathed in purple mist, at his opponent.
Another body blocked Ryan’s view. A Team Flare Grunt––not the one he had defeated earlier––held an open Poké Ball, his teeth bared in a snarling rictus.
Order, Ryan thought. How many of these people have I fought already?
Reluctantly, Ryan gestured Froakie to attack the Grunt’s Croagunk. Froakie obliged, aura flaring, and fired off a quick Water Pulse.
The Croagunk rolled out of the way. Ryan commanded Froakie to attack it again. And again. And again. Each time, the small froglike Pokémon narrowly avoided the attack.
“Flame Charge!” came a familiar voice. Ryan turned just in time to see a shape wreathed in a violently red aura collide with Croagunk.
“Ani!” Ryan said.
“Ryan,” Ani said, sparing him a quick glance and a smile before she turned her attention back to the Croagunk, which had come barreling back toward Fennekin with a purple-hued arm.
“Fennekin, Psybeam!” Ani said sharply.
The Grunt seemed to decide he’d rather take his chances elsewhere than risk continuing this fight. He recalled Croagunk, who looked on the verge of collapsing, and dashed off.
“Have you seen Roc?” Ryan asked, looking at Ani.
“No,” she answered. “I was fighting them with Nika, but she got hurt. She told me to go find you and Roc, and then meet her back wherever Professor Sycamore is.”
She turned to run off again, obviously expecting Ryan to follow, but Ryan grabbed her arm.
“Ani, do you know what’s going on?” he asked seriously. “Everyone was saying the fight was supposed to happen at the Pokémon League. Why is Team Flare here?”
“I don’t know,” she said, biting her lip. Ryan realized she was terrified. “That’s Xerosic,” ––she indicated the man with the red hair–– “but Nika told me not to go anywhere near him. Apparently he was Lysandre’s right-hand man in the old days.”
“He’s the one Fylon and Arin were supposed to go check on?” Ryan asked, trying to calm Ani.
“Yeah,” she said. “They said he was still locked up, but he’s obviously not now.”
“So Lysandre must have sent a hundred or so Grunts to help Xerosic assault the Tree,” Ryan said, the pieces of the puzzle clicking into place.
“So it would seem,” Ani said grimly. “Come on, let’s go find Roc.”
*
Roc, as it turned out, had been assisting the professor in tending to the wounded. There were too many of them.
“Such destruction,” Ani murmured. Ryan privately agreed, feeling too sickened to say anything.
“We’ll make them pay,” Roc said tonelessly, as if he had already had to convince himself of this.
“It’s imperative that you three stay out of the fight,” Professor Sycamore said, striding over to them, wiping his hands on his lab coat.
Ryan nodded mutely. He wanted nothing more to strike back at Team Flare for what they had done, but now was not the time.
There was a soft whistling sound, followed mere instants later by a deafening crack. Ryan turned and saw a shower of sparks sent into the air by a burning tree branch. It seemed as though it had fallen from the tree overhead. But … how?
Ryan searched the horizon until he saw a pair of Team Flare Grunts. They held bows almost as tall as they were, and they fired flaming arrows at the tree. Most bounced off, falling harmlessly to the earth. A few stuck, however. And that was all that was needed.
The tree burst into a blazing bonfire, sending sparks and embers cascading down over the wounded with every crack of wood.
“Froakie, Water Pulse!” Ryan yelled, anger blazing almost as hot as the fire. Froakie’s aura flared, and it sent a jet of water at the burning tree.
It was only seconds before Ryan realized it would be no good. The blaze had already grown too big.
“Professor,” he shouted, “I’m going to find Azoth! We can’t put out the fire without him!”
“Ryan, no!” Professor Sycamore almost screamed. “I will not have you die!”
“I’m sorry, professor,” Ryan said. Then he turned and dashed off, back through the crowd, and did not look back.
*
When Ryan found Azoth, he was still grappling against Xerosic, each trying to get in a lucky blow with their aura-imbued arms. Ryan could have sworn he saw the flash of a glowing auric blade in there somewhere.
“My lord! Azoth!” he cried, trying to get the king’s attention without getting too close to the battle. Fortunately, Azoth seemed to hear him.
“What do you want, lad!” Azoth said, not looking at Ryan, but keeping his utmost attention on the fight.
“Sir, there’s a burning tree––it’s over the wounded––” Ryan began.
Without hesitation, Azoth turned from Xerosic, avoiding a swing, and grabbed Ryan’s arm. Ryan abruptly felt a lurching sensation.
Flicker.
He stumbled forward, opening eyes he hadn’t realized were closed. He was back with Professor Sycamore, Ani, and Roc, except now Azoth was there, too.
Was that … is that how it feels to Azoth when he disappears? Ryan thought.
It seemed that in the time he had been gone, the professor had managed to douse most of the blaze. Nika had found her way back, and now lay on the ground next to the wounded, breathing heavily, her arm in a cast.
The professor weaved through the many herbalists and doctors tending to the wounded, until he stood face-to-face with Ryan.
“Ryan,” he said, evidently struggling to keep his temper in check, “that was the most reckless thing I’ve ever seen. How dare you just run off like that! Do you have any idea what could have happened to you!”
They weren’t questions. Nevertheless, Ryan answered wordlessly by gesturing to the king.
“Azoth,” Professor Sycamore said, turning to the king and inclining his head slightly, “thank you for coming. I assure you, however, we had it all under control.”
“Of course, Augustine,” Azoth said, “but considering the wounded––”
Another crack sounded, even more thunderous than the first. Ryan looked up to see the upper half of the tree itself toppling, falling over and hurtling as if time had been slowed down toward the wounded.
Azoth raised a hand, palm facing the tree. His aura exploded into a fiery violet brilliance as he called the wind. It whipped around, streaked through with purple mist, and surrounded the falling tree. Eyes closed and brow furrowed in concentration, Azoth moved his hands as if in a trance. The tree slowly moved in midair, supported by the power of his aura.
Azoth maneuvered the tree away from the wounded, and then opened his eyes, extinguishing his aura and allowing the tree to crash to the ground a safe distance from the group.
“Go,” he said. “Continue tending to the wounded. We cannot afford casualties if we are to––”
Ryan had turned to leave, but he heard a sharp intake of breath from Azoth. Whirling around, he saw a glowing crimson blade piercing Azoth’s upper torso.
The king’s eyes glazed over, and he fell to his knees. “Order …” he whispered.
Ryan looked up from Azoth’s limp body to see Xerosic, holding the crimson blade in both hands. The red-haired man looked Ryan directly in the eyes and seemed about to attack, but then he abruptly turned and fled.
Ryan numbly heard a shriek from Ani, and a gasp from Professor Sycamore. They both rushed to Azoth’s side, but Ryan barely noticed. He watched Xerosic retreat amid many, many more burning trees, and felt a rage boil inside him. He wanted nothing more at that moment to fight Xerosic, to attack him and make him pay for all the destruction he had caused.
He started forward, as if to do just that. But he was caught from behind by a massive force. He struggled against his captor for a moment, before realizing it was Roc.
“Roc! Let me go!” he said.
“So you can go and get yourself killed?” Roc said flatly. “No.”
Ryan stopped struggling. “Roc,” he said, breathing heavily. “That man … he killed …”
“Yes, and he’ll kill you, too, if you give him the chance,” Roc said. “Don’t give him the chance, Ryan.”
Ryan hesitated, torn between trying to fight his way free of Roc and listening to his friend’s logic. He knew that he had no hope against Xerosic, but at the moment, he didn’t care.
But he also had to be there at the Pokémon League. If the Spectrum was incomplete … Ryan didn’t want to have to imagine that destruction across all of Kalos.
He sighed. “You’re right.”
Roc appeared very relieved, as if he had been afraid Ryan would try something irrational.
I almost did, Ryan realized. I wanted to avenge …
Azoth!
Ryan rushed to the king’s side. Azoth’s breathing had grown ragged, and he seemed to be in his final moments. Ryan saw the flash of recognition in Azoth’s eyes as he kneeled.
“My king,” Ryan began, his mouth dry. “I … I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have made you come back. It’s … it’s my fault, it’s all my fault …”
“Lad,” Azoth said, his voice still strong despite his weakness. “Ryan … What is the value of a life?”
Ryan was dumbfounded. “A life is priceless,” he whispered, eyes filling with tears.
“Yes,” Azoth said. “And today, you helped me exchange one life for those of everyone in this Tree.” He coughed, and then looked to Professor Sycamore. “Augustine … Xerosic will not be back. He thinks his work is done. Find the queen. Assist her in getting everyone out of the Tree. She will join you at the battle. She has no choice.
“Today, I die. Today, the World Tree dies with me. Tell Kharissan that the Talents are no more. You will have to fight this battle on your own.”
Professor Sycamore nodded, blinking. Ryan realized the professor was on the verge of tears as well.
“Ani …” Azoth began. A coughing spasm wracked his body. He cleared his throat painfully and continued, “History turns to you. I am the oldest living man in Kalos, but today, that will be no more. It will be up to you to record our history. Your history.”
“I will, my king,” Ani said, bowing her head and trying to conceal the fact that she, too, was crying.
“Roc … the world loses a masterful work of art today,” Azoth said. “Keep bringing art to the world. Order knows it needs it.”
Roc only nodded stonily, accepting Azoth’s words. Last, the king turned his head back to Ryan.
“Ryan, Team Flare is strong. It seems if they are this strong already, they have the forces of Life and Death on their side again. This does not bode well, but we have an advantage.”
Ryan looked at Azoth in shock. What could possibly constitute an advantage over the forces of Life and Death themselves?
“I understand you have met my son,” Azoth said. “For eighteen years, he has kept a three-thousand-year-old secret safely hidden.”
Ryan suddenly recalled the filthy prison cell in Team Flare’s laboratories.
“It is because Team Flare thinks I hold some great secret that I am imprisoned, a secret passed down to me from my father,” Zavier said, changing the subject.
“And do you have such a secret?” Ryan asked curiously.
“Yes.”
Azoth closed his eyes, breathing shallowly. Ryan began to fear that the last threads of life would leave the king at that moment. Finally, however, Azoth reopened his eyes.
“After my death,” Azoth said, “Zavier will be the last living person who knows how to summon the Breaker.”
“Order itself …” Professor Sycamore murmured, awestruck.
“Yes,” Azoth said. “I can do no more. I … I am sorry.” He smiled wearily, and Ryan realized they were the same words he himself had said to Azoth mere minutes before.
Azoth’s eyes closed for the final time, and life left him. Ryan knelt with Ani, Roc, and the professor for a moment in silence, in respect for the death of the oldest, most powerful man in Kalos. The king.
Eventually, they rose. “We have work to do,” the professor said briskly. “We will not allow Azoth to die in vain. Ani, help Roc evacuate the wounded. Ryan …” ––he looked searchingly at Ryan, and seemed to come to a conclusion, though what the conclusion was, Ryan couldn’t guess–– “Ryan, you’ll come with me to find the queen.”
“Yes, professor,” Ryan said. Ani and Roc snapped to work as he followed Professor Sycamore through frenzied crowds and burning trees, in search of the queen.
*
Team Flare seemed to have vanished without a trace. Ryan figured this made it much easier to find the queen, but in reality, the queen found them not five minutes after they set out.
“Augustine Sycamore!” she said. “Where have you been? Why has Team Flare retreated? Where is Azoth?”
Ryan drew in a sharp breath.
“My queen,” Professor Sycamore said, struggling for once to find the right words, before apparently realizing there was no easy way to say it. “Azoth … Azoth is dead.”
Queen Valerie stood, her mouth open in shock. Then she drew herself up to her fullest height and said, “If you think this is some sort of joke, Sycamore, I swear––”
“As much as I wish it were, it isn’t a joke, my queen,” the professor said. “With his last words, he told us to find you and tell you that you must help us evacuate the citizens of the Tree. There are wounded, and––”
“By Order,” the queen said softly. “You’re serious. Azoth is truly dead.”
Her face contorted, though whether in grieving or rage, Ryan could not tell. She ignited as much of her aura as she could, pure white mist flaring up around her more brightly than the sun.
She screamed. He aura exploded in dazzling white light. Ryan felt the same lurching he had felt earlier, when Azoth had grabbed his arm, and the world winked out.
Flicker.
Ryan opened his eyes, finding himself in the center of a massive group of people outside the burning World Tree. All the wounded were there, being tended to by Roc and Ani, and many other people Ryan didn’t recognize.
The queen stood before Ryan and the professor, her mouth still open in a soundless scream. Her aura gradually faded, and she closed her mouth.
Kharissan sauntered up to them, flanked on each side by Arin and Fylon. “Queen Valerie,” he said, executing a quick bow.
“Kharissan,” the queen said shortly. “It appears we must join Sycamore and his Spectrum at the Pokémon League. The king is dead. The world’s fate falls to us now.”
If Kharissan was surprised, he did not show it. He merely nodded.
“Kharissan, with his final words, the king told us to tell you something,” Professor Sycamore said. “He said that with his death, so too does the World Tree die. The Talents will be no more.”
Again, Kharissan gave no sign of surprise. “We are truly on our own, then.” He turned to the queen. “My lady, we must make for the Pokémon League with all haste. The Tree still has enough aura left for us to Travel one last time.”
The queen nodded. “I will act as a conduit. You have a Traveller?”
Kharissan gestured toward Fylon, whose face paled. “You mean …”
“Just do what you did before,” Kharissan said, “and the queen will channel your aura.”
Fylon gulped. Ryan had never seen him so nervous. Finally, however, he nodded and closed his eyes. At the same time, the queen’s aura flared to life. And for the third time that day …
Flicker.
A Team Flare Grunt barred Ryan’s way with his Houndour. He grinned and said something Ryan couldn’t make out over the din of the battle. Froakie felled the canine Pokémon with a well-placed Water Pulse, and the Grunt, grin fading, scrambled away.
There!
Through the chaos, Ryan saw Azoth, his white hair looking almost as wild as Professor Sycamore’s, battling a red-haired man Ryan didn’t recognize. Ryan tried to catch a glimpse of their Pokémon as he jostled his way through the crowd, but when Azoth’s arm flared with a violet aura and connected with the man’s crimson-glowing arm, he realized that they weren’t using any.
Azoth had been reluctant to explain things of this nature to Ryan, so he had gone to ask the professor instead, who had told him that people such as Azoth––people with a powerful connection to the World Tree––could harness their own auras for very specific purposes. Azoth, apparently, could use his to battle, almost like a Pokémon could.
Azoth flickered out of view. Ryan was forcibly reminded of Blake, with his mysterious jacket, but his thoughts were drawn back to the battle when Azoth reappeared behind the red-haired man. Azoth thrust his hand, swathed in purple mist, at his opponent.
Another body blocked Ryan’s view. A Team Flare Grunt––not the one he had defeated earlier––held an open Poké Ball, his teeth bared in a snarling rictus.
Order, Ryan thought. How many of these people have I fought already?
Reluctantly, Ryan gestured Froakie to attack the Grunt’s Croagunk. Froakie obliged, aura flaring, and fired off a quick Water Pulse.
The Croagunk rolled out of the way. Ryan commanded Froakie to attack it again. And again. And again. Each time, the small froglike Pokémon narrowly avoided the attack.
“Flame Charge!” came a familiar voice. Ryan turned just in time to see a shape wreathed in a violently red aura collide with Croagunk.
“Ani!” Ryan said.
“Ryan,” Ani said, sparing him a quick glance and a smile before she turned her attention back to the Croagunk, which had come barreling back toward Fennekin with a purple-hued arm.
“Fennekin, Psybeam!” Ani said sharply.
The Grunt seemed to decide he’d rather take his chances elsewhere than risk continuing this fight. He recalled Croagunk, who looked on the verge of collapsing, and dashed off.
“Have you seen Roc?” Ryan asked, looking at Ani.
“No,” she answered. “I was fighting them with Nika, but she got hurt. She told me to go find you and Roc, and then meet her back wherever Professor Sycamore is.”
She turned to run off again, obviously expecting Ryan to follow, but Ryan grabbed her arm.
“Ani, do you know what’s going on?” he asked seriously. “Everyone was saying the fight was supposed to happen at the Pokémon League. Why is Team Flare here?”
“I don’t know,” she said, biting her lip. Ryan realized she was terrified. “That’s Xerosic,” ––she indicated the man with the red hair–– “but Nika told me not to go anywhere near him. Apparently he was Lysandre’s right-hand man in the old days.”
“He’s the one Fylon and Arin were supposed to go check on?” Ryan asked, trying to calm Ani.
“Yeah,” she said. “They said he was still locked up, but he’s obviously not now.”
“So Lysandre must have sent a hundred or so Grunts to help Xerosic assault the Tree,” Ryan said, the pieces of the puzzle clicking into place.
“So it would seem,” Ani said grimly. “Come on, let’s go find Roc.”
*
Roc, as it turned out, had been assisting the professor in tending to the wounded. There were too many of them.
“Such destruction,” Ani murmured. Ryan privately agreed, feeling too sickened to say anything.
“We’ll make them pay,” Roc said tonelessly, as if he had already had to convince himself of this.
“It’s imperative that you three stay out of the fight,” Professor Sycamore said, striding over to them, wiping his hands on his lab coat.
Ryan nodded mutely. He wanted nothing more to strike back at Team Flare for what they had done, but now was not the time.
There was a soft whistling sound, followed mere instants later by a deafening crack. Ryan turned and saw a shower of sparks sent into the air by a burning tree branch. It seemed as though it had fallen from the tree overhead. But … how?
Ryan searched the horizon until he saw a pair of Team Flare Grunts. They held bows almost as tall as they were, and they fired flaming arrows at the tree. Most bounced off, falling harmlessly to the earth. A few stuck, however. And that was all that was needed.
The tree burst into a blazing bonfire, sending sparks and embers cascading down over the wounded with every crack of wood.
“Froakie, Water Pulse!” Ryan yelled, anger blazing almost as hot as the fire. Froakie’s aura flared, and it sent a jet of water at the burning tree.
It was only seconds before Ryan realized it would be no good. The blaze had already grown too big.
“Professor,” he shouted, “I’m going to find Azoth! We can’t put out the fire without him!”
“Ryan, no!” Professor Sycamore almost screamed. “I will not have you die!”
“I’m sorry, professor,” Ryan said. Then he turned and dashed off, back through the crowd, and did not look back.
*
When Ryan found Azoth, he was still grappling against Xerosic, each trying to get in a lucky blow with their aura-imbued arms. Ryan could have sworn he saw the flash of a glowing auric blade in there somewhere.
“My lord! Azoth!” he cried, trying to get the king’s attention without getting too close to the battle. Fortunately, Azoth seemed to hear him.
“What do you want, lad!” Azoth said, not looking at Ryan, but keeping his utmost attention on the fight.
“Sir, there’s a burning tree––it’s over the wounded––” Ryan began.
Without hesitation, Azoth turned from Xerosic, avoiding a swing, and grabbed Ryan’s arm. Ryan abruptly felt a lurching sensation.
Flicker.
He stumbled forward, opening eyes he hadn’t realized were closed. He was back with Professor Sycamore, Ani, and Roc, except now Azoth was there, too.
Was that … is that how it feels to Azoth when he disappears? Ryan thought.
It seemed that in the time he had been gone, the professor had managed to douse most of the blaze. Nika had found her way back, and now lay on the ground next to the wounded, breathing heavily, her arm in a cast.
The professor weaved through the many herbalists and doctors tending to the wounded, until he stood face-to-face with Ryan.
“Ryan,” he said, evidently struggling to keep his temper in check, “that was the most reckless thing I’ve ever seen. How dare you just run off like that! Do you have any idea what could have happened to you!”
They weren’t questions. Nevertheless, Ryan answered wordlessly by gesturing to the king.
“Azoth,” Professor Sycamore said, turning to the king and inclining his head slightly, “thank you for coming. I assure you, however, we had it all under control.”
“Of course, Augustine,” Azoth said, “but considering the wounded––”
Another crack sounded, even more thunderous than the first. Ryan looked up to see the upper half of the tree itself toppling, falling over and hurtling as if time had been slowed down toward the wounded.
Azoth raised a hand, palm facing the tree. His aura exploded into a fiery violet brilliance as he called the wind. It whipped around, streaked through with purple mist, and surrounded the falling tree. Eyes closed and brow furrowed in concentration, Azoth moved his hands as if in a trance. The tree slowly moved in midair, supported by the power of his aura.
Azoth maneuvered the tree away from the wounded, and then opened his eyes, extinguishing his aura and allowing the tree to crash to the ground a safe distance from the group.
“Go,” he said. “Continue tending to the wounded. We cannot afford casualties if we are to––”
Ryan had turned to leave, but he heard a sharp intake of breath from Azoth. Whirling around, he saw a glowing crimson blade piercing Azoth’s upper torso.
The king’s eyes glazed over, and he fell to his knees. “Order …” he whispered.
Ryan looked up from Azoth’s limp body to see Xerosic, holding the crimson blade in both hands. The red-haired man looked Ryan directly in the eyes and seemed about to attack, but then he abruptly turned and fled.
Ryan numbly heard a shriek from Ani, and a gasp from Professor Sycamore. They both rushed to Azoth’s side, but Ryan barely noticed. He watched Xerosic retreat amid many, many more burning trees, and felt a rage boil inside him. He wanted nothing more at that moment to fight Xerosic, to attack him and make him pay for all the destruction he had caused.
He started forward, as if to do just that. But he was caught from behind by a massive force. He struggled against his captor for a moment, before realizing it was Roc.
“Roc! Let me go!” he said.
“So you can go and get yourself killed?” Roc said flatly. “No.”
Ryan stopped struggling. “Roc,” he said, breathing heavily. “That man … he killed …”
“Yes, and he’ll kill you, too, if you give him the chance,” Roc said. “Don’t give him the chance, Ryan.”
Ryan hesitated, torn between trying to fight his way free of Roc and listening to his friend’s logic. He knew that he had no hope against Xerosic, but at the moment, he didn’t care.
But he also had to be there at the Pokémon League. If the Spectrum was incomplete … Ryan didn’t want to have to imagine that destruction across all of Kalos.
He sighed. “You’re right.”
Roc appeared very relieved, as if he had been afraid Ryan would try something irrational.
I almost did, Ryan realized. I wanted to avenge …
Azoth!
Ryan rushed to the king’s side. Azoth’s breathing had grown ragged, and he seemed to be in his final moments. Ryan saw the flash of recognition in Azoth’s eyes as he kneeled.
“My king,” Ryan began, his mouth dry. “I … I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have made you come back. It’s … it’s my fault, it’s all my fault …”
“Lad,” Azoth said, his voice still strong despite his weakness. “Ryan … What is the value of a life?”
Ryan was dumbfounded. “A life is priceless,” he whispered, eyes filling with tears.
“Yes,” Azoth said. “And today, you helped me exchange one life for those of everyone in this Tree.” He coughed, and then looked to Professor Sycamore. “Augustine … Xerosic will not be back. He thinks his work is done. Find the queen. Assist her in getting everyone out of the Tree. She will join you at the battle. She has no choice.
“Today, I die. Today, the World Tree dies with me. Tell Kharissan that the Talents are no more. You will have to fight this battle on your own.”
Professor Sycamore nodded, blinking. Ryan realized the professor was on the verge of tears as well.
“Ani …” Azoth began. A coughing spasm wracked his body. He cleared his throat painfully and continued, “History turns to you. I am the oldest living man in Kalos, but today, that will be no more. It will be up to you to record our history. Your history.”
“I will, my king,” Ani said, bowing her head and trying to conceal the fact that she, too, was crying.
“Roc … the world loses a masterful work of art today,” Azoth said. “Keep bringing art to the world. Order knows it needs it.”
Roc only nodded stonily, accepting Azoth’s words. Last, the king turned his head back to Ryan.
“Ryan, Team Flare is strong. It seems if they are this strong already, they have the forces of Life and Death on their side again. This does not bode well, but we have an advantage.”
Ryan looked at Azoth in shock. What could possibly constitute an advantage over the forces of Life and Death themselves?
“I understand you have met my son,” Azoth said. “For eighteen years, he has kept a three-thousand-year-old secret safely hidden.”
Ryan suddenly recalled the filthy prison cell in Team Flare’s laboratories.
“It is because Team Flare thinks I hold some great secret that I am imprisoned, a secret passed down to me from my father,” Zavier said, changing the subject.
“And do you have such a secret?” Ryan asked curiously.
“Yes.”
Azoth closed his eyes, breathing shallowly. Ryan began to fear that the last threads of life would leave the king at that moment. Finally, however, Azoth reopened his eyes.
“After my death,” Azoth said, “Zavier will be the last living person who knows how to summon the Breaker.”
“Order itself …” Professor Sycamore murmured, awestruck.
“Yes,” Azoth said. “I can do no more. I … I am sorry.” He smiled wearily, and Ryan realized they were the same words he himself had said to Azoth mere minutes before.
Azoth’s eyes closed for the final time, and life left him. Ryan knelt with Ani, Roc, and the professor for a moment in silence, in respect for the death of the oldest, most powerful man in Kalos. The king.
Eventually, they rose. “We have work to do,” the professor said briskly. “We will not allow Azoth to die in vain. Ani, help Roc evacuate the wounded. Ryan …” ––he looked searchingly at Ryan, and seemed to come to a conclusion, though what the conclusion was, Ryan couldn’t guess–– “Ryan, you’ll come with me to find the queen.”
“Yes, professor,” Ryan said. Ani and Roc snapped to work as he followed Professor Sycamore through frenzied crowds and burning trees, in search of the queen.
*
Team Flare seemed to have vanished without a trace. Ryan figured this made it much easier to find the queen, but in reality, the queen found them not five minutes after they set out.
“Augustine Sycamore!” she said. “Where have you been? Why has Team Flare retreated? Where is Azoth?”
Ryan drew in a sharp breath.
“My queen,” Professor Sycamore said, struggling for once to find the right words, before apparently realizing there was no easy way to say it. “Azoth … Azoth is dead.”
Queen Valerie stood, her mouth open in shock. Then she drew herself up to her fullest height and said, “If you think this is some sort of joke, Sycamore, I swear––”
“As much as I wish it were, it isn’t a joke, my queen,” the professor said. “With his last words, he told us to find you and tell you that you must help us evacuate the citizens of the Tree. There are wounded, and––”
“By Order,” the queen said softly. “You’re serious. Azoth is truly dead.”
Her face contorted, though whether in grieving or rage, Ryan could not tell. She ignited as much of her aura as she could, pure white mist flaring up around her more brightly than the sun.
She screamed. He aura exploded in dazzling white light. Ryan felt the same lurching he had felt earlier, when Azoth had grabbed his arm, and the world winked out.
Flicker.
Ryan opened his eyes, finding himself in the center of a massive group of people outside the burning World Tree. All the wounded were there, being tended to by Roc and Ani, and many other people Ryan didn’t recognize.
The queen stood before Ryan and the professor, her mouth still open in a soundless scream. Her aura gradually faded, and she closed her mouth.
Kharissan sauntered up to them, flanked on each side by Arin and Fylon. “Queen Valerie,” he said, executing a quick bow.
“Kharissan,” the queen said shortly. “It appears we must join Sycamore and his Spectrum at the Pokémon League. The king is dead. The world’s fate falls to us now.”
If Kharissan was surprised, he did not show it. He merely nodded.
“Kharissan, with his final words, the king told us to tell you something,” Professor Sycamore said. “He said that with his death, so too does the World Tree die. The Talents will be no more.”
Again, Kharissan gave no sign of surprise. “We are truly on our own, then.” He turned to the queen. “My lady, we must make for the Pokémon League with all haste. The Tree still has enough aura left for us to Travel one last time.”
The queen nodded. “I will act as a conduit. You have a Traveller?”
Kharissan gestured toward Fylon, whose face paled. “You mean …”
“Just do what you did before,” Kharissan said, “and the queen will channel your aura.”
Fylon gulped. Ryan had never seen him so nervous. Finally, however, he nodded and closed his eyes. At the same time, the queen’s aura flared to life. And for the third time that day …
Flicker.
So, how to fix the balancing problem?
Once, I read a foreword to a great book by a great author, and he said that there's one thing his editor always tells him. The fabric of the universe needs to be in peril.
The fabric of the universe isn't in peril here. Team Flare has Lysandre, the Scientists, Xerosic, and a few hundred Grunts (who are barely significant except for their numbers). Opposing them are Professor Sycamore, Azoth, Zavier, the Elite Four, and most of the Gym Leaders, not to mention an Elemental Spectrum. That's almost thirty significant characters on the "good guys'" side compared to the six (seven if you count Malva) on the "bad guys" side.
So, what to do?
Here's the thing. I hate to kill off characters. I almost killed off Serena early on, but ended up just letting her get captured instead, because I couldn't bring myself to kill her off.
But I had to kill off someone here. I don't know; maybe there was another way to imperil the fabric of the universe, but I felt like killing off Azoth and destroying the World Tree was one of the best ways I could have gone about it. And this was in my headcanon, if not my plotline, for a while now.
There isn't much else I can say here, except this. Pay attention to the flickers. They're important.
Once, I read a foreword to a great book by a great author, and he said that there's one thing his editor always tells him. The fabric of the universe needs to be in peril.
The fabric of the universe isn't in peril here. Team Flare has Lysandre, the Scientists, Xerosic, and a few hundred Grunts (who are barely significant except for their numbers). Opposing them are Professor Sycamore, Azoth, Zavier, the Elite Four, and most of the Gym Leaders, not to mention an Elemental Spectrum. That's almost thirty significant characters on the "good guys'" side compared to the six (seven if you count Malva) on the "bad guys" side.
So, what to do?
Here's the thing. I hate to kill off characters. I almost killed off Serena early on, but ended up just letting her get captured instead, because I couldn't bring myself to kill her off.
But I had to kill off someone here. I don't know; maybe there was another way to imperil the fabric of the universe, but I felt like killing off Azoth and destroying the World Tree was one of the best ways I could have gone about it. And this was in my headcanon, if not my plotline, for a while now.
There isn't much else I can say here, except this. Pay attention to the flickers. They're important.
