Dark-Slashers: Next Generation (Critique Wanted)

[ShadowStream-chan]

Quote:

In the Year 2050, an apocalypse entered the world that had destroyed half of the human population. Two creatures had fought each other for 3 days and 3 nights. One creature who was known for his shape-shifting [Deoxys] decided to break down into millions of pieces, affecting half of the animal population. That animal population the mutated to forms no one understood and had the intelligence of all humans and had the ability to communicate to any creature. These creatures were called Pokemon.

50 years later, the spirit of Deoxys tries to gain revenge by destroying land and have them engulfed by darkness. However, he was stopped by six deities and the descendant of the goddess: Mother Amaterasu. The six Deities were Love, Justice, Loyalty, Wisdom, Leadership, and Courage. All worked together to defeat the evil; once it was done, they went back to normal lives and had families.


200 years after that triumph, and everything seemed to be at peace. But a threat of imperialism is circling around the globe claiming land, slaves, and even weapons that may destroy civilization. The legendary pokemon have no choice but to assign the two demi-gods: Frankie and Yume to find the descendants.


Zak, our main hero, is a medium that can sense spirits and talk to them. He takes advantage of his gift by investigating haunted areas with his friends: Nick and Aaron. When their trip to China was going to be their best experience, only turned out to be a nightmare. Kidnapped by the Chinese army, the three will soon see the horrors of animal imperialism, and will have to fight for the good. But the secrets that have been kept for a long time can not only threaten their friendship, but also the trust of their new comrades....

This is Book 1 of the DSNG Trilogy. With a third person view of Zak, Nick, and Aaron: Along with Yume's and Frankie's adventures as well until they come together to make a group.

 

[ShadowStream-chan]

Prologue

Day and Night passed by like a droplet of water disappearing into the deep watery abyss, cherry blossoms flickered in the solemn light provided by the moon, and the stars beamed from the dark night sky as the land prospered and danced along with the wind. Japan had stayed as the great goddess’ land: protecting nature for 200 years. No sign of Human threat ever came during those years, and it made all animals and Pokémon alike feel secure and at peace. As the moon reached to its tallest height, a bird as muscular and beautiful as an eagle soared through the view of the moon. It passed by the trees filled with serenity and the hills filled with many memories, which remained untold. Its brilliant blue wings guided the great bird to the magnificent mountains of Mt. Fugi.

Designed for speed, the Swellow uses its sharply-shaped wings and red-tipped tail feathers to get him to its destination quickly. When the bird reached the caves of Mt. Fugi, it soon realizes that its red face & breast-feathers shined in the darkness as it seemed to light up a dim fire as it walked. The strong red feet, armed with talons grips on the slippery ground as it was a heavy prey that could slip through any moment. “Great, she will go at me when I get there.” The bird spoke with a softened sigh as he rubs the underside of its belly. Decked in a beautiful coloration of white, the wings were mostly hidden by the vertical blue stripes. It even looked down onto its red-colored chest that extended to that blue stripe, which it held onto a pendant that the bird had around the neck. Smiling with its sharp beak, the bird continued to walk down toward the darkened path until its destination was clear.

The protected caves of old depicted statues of the once-great heroes that have overthrown the terrible king of Darnvia and not only defeated the Emperor of Eternal Darkness, but got Nippon [or Japan] back to its former glory. “It’s been so long….” The bird, with the solemn look turned toward one the statues, which beautifully displayed a Swellow that had faced the greatest challenge of all. “Oh Father, how you doing up in Tamagahara?” Then the bird eyed the other statues: “Hidehara, Otonashi, Kaminari, Kana, Thea, Blake, and Benji: Father…..how you all defeated the great villains of old.”

"That took forever. What took you so long?"A rough voice in the distance approached the cave, eyeing the friend like a mental-disabled person. The bird shrugs: “Sorry Yume, I didn't know time flies.” Yume flicked the tail to the side: “I know you miss your father Frankie, and so do I. But we cannot slack off." She dragged her tired paws to stand beside her friend. Yume was a breath-taking Black Wolf: Eyes as purple as a pure crystal, and her black fur showed no sign of weakness. The muscles she had grown for 200 years have taken a toll on her as it soon ached. Sitting, she stared down at the middle of the stone statues which shows an old symbol that the Japanese people had used before the apocalypse of 2050. She could remember her Father, Blake telling her how the apocalypse between two aliens created 'Pokemon' like Frankie, and how many people died during the 5-day fight between the two: Deoxys and Rayquaza. Besides destroying many lives, it destroyed the living conditions in Japan. People in Japan had no choice but to move away to different countries while Japan was abandoned and taken over by nature. Ever since, Pokemon and Animals alike have taken over 'Nippon' and made it their home.

"Hey...Yume." Frankie flies to her , now standing beside her. "I know I haven't been born when you and your father took that adventure with the other deities, but I do wanna ask on how they were able to keep the humans out of this land...even if the people say their ancestors were born here?"

Yume stared down at him for the longest time, trying to go through the memory banks. "Pokemon....simple. They have powers so they kept the humans away. Japan has even been considered a 'protected land' now by those Animal groups so no human can try to take over. But now...the lands have gone to ruin." With that Yume walked to the center where the statues surround her.

“It’s been 200 years since My Father and the others have joined the Tamagahara beings up in the skies.” Yume breathed the words like it was the worst thing she can ever say in her life. Frankie nodded, crossing his wings together in front of his body: “Indeed, they and the great Amaterasu trusted us with this mission.” Frankie then got to the middle slowly with Yume, like he was expecting a trap, before his pendant glowed. When the pendant responded, Frankie poked it which the pendant beamed a bright light, forming an item that started to appear in a round shape. Once it ended, Frankie held up a black crystal ball holding it delicately before gently rolling to a hole in the middle. Once the ball reunited with the hole, it started to pulsate like a human heart radiating a white glow on each statue. Yume saw that as an opportunity to step forward and speak to the crystal as of it was a messenger: “Magic Stone: It has been 200 years since the great battle between the six deities & half-god against Drago and the Emperor of Darkness. It is now time to find the descendants of the great heroes; Deity of Love, Deity of Courage, Deity of Justice, Deity of Leadership, Deity of Wisdom, and Deity of Loyalty. And bring them forth from hiding: they will continue what their ancestors have done and bring light to the darkened lands.” Yume took a deep breath, trying to find more words in her tongue: “Find them, give them the power, have the ancestors talk to them, and bring forth their destiny.”

Quick as lightning, six balls of light in a variety of colors shot upward to the sky and descended from Mt.Fugi. The balls of light went its separate ways, disguising themselves within the meteor shower, dancing on the skies like a ribbon. When they disappeared, Frankie first spoke: “You said that the lights should find the Deities, but what about the Descendant of Hidehara? Don’t we need him/her too?”

Yume was in the trail of thought as Frankie talked about the great Hidehara. Hidehara: The 2nd greatest man of heart, behind her father Blake. She could remember his gentleness and the naïve spirit that knew the world as good; and the bad were the great demons in disguise. Hideo triumphed through every challenge and heart-wrenching decisions that shaped his life the way it was. Despite the bad reputations of a Mightyena, he kept his head high and his self-esteem strong as steel. Yume knew she will never be like that in life, but she was going to try her best. She let her eyes follow the mood, which was now a bright yellow like Hidehara’s eyes when happiness filled his heart. Yume, undeterred knew she made the right decision: “Why have the gods find the descendant when we can do it ourselves? Why have them find such an easy and simple man? When there can only be one person whose heart is full of gold and sweet innocence, it is no challenge. The great spirit of Hidehara will lead me the way to its descendant, and this true animal will then shine brightly like the great sun of Celestial Gods and Lugia. Like he said: ‘The descendant’s heart burns with a fiery passion, with strength like a mountain.’ ”

With that Yume turned towards Frankie and looked down at the bird’s bright pink eyes before her head lifted to see the cave. “We, entities and representatives of the 13 gods, cannot waste time answering questions of whenever we should have them look for a simple heart. We will find them ourselves…when the final day of winter comes and passes.”

With that, Yume sprinted back into the darkness of the cave. Leaving Frankie alone, the bird turned his body to look at the statues of the great heroes and prayed: “Please, help us find the descendant of the goddess, the person is our final hope for peace. Guide the heart to us and have the being understand the destiny you provided for ‘em.” The bird bows and leaves the caves of old, by itself with no company but the moon. But as soon as Frankie’s shadow faded, the moon moves away from the hole, making the room dim. When the light was fading, a dog with grey fur and a black Mohawk going down it’s lower neck and body made its presence in the darkness as it seemed to talk to himself: “Do not worry: Frankie…Yume. The great Houndoom will light your way.”

For that, he disappeared in the darkness.

(Edited on Jan. 30th 2013)  

[ShadowStream-chan]

Chapter 1

“WAKE UP YOU LAZY BUM! WE ARE GOING TO BE LATE FOR OUR CRUISE TO CHINA! WAKE UP!” A purple monkey by the name of Aaron, shouted on the top of his lungs to wake up his best friend, Zak. Aaron was an Aipom; a purple monkey with a beige color on his face, ear insides, belly, feet and tail. He was mostly known for his three-fingered hand at the end of the tail which he uses quite often, but it was no excuse to not use his tiny purple arms. He shakes his friend rapidly that the greyhound-like dog’s body vibrated like he was in a 9.0 earthquake. “I’M UP! I’M UP! AARON, GET OFF!” The dog snarled as it kicked the monkey off the bed. Zak, a Houndoom, obviously was not a morning person due to his hot-headed temper in the morning. But he soon calms down and just lets out a yawn before speaking: “Sorry, Sorry. I’ll be out soon.” He then gets up and cleans off his black fur, careful to not hit the two white bands on his ankles and the three bands on his back. His skinny tail then gets a towel and wipes his tan-ish belly and snout as the arrow at the end made sure it got a good grip as he tried to wake himself up for the long journey to China. His blue eyes showed that he was exhausted and his skull-like pendant on his neck obviously needed cleaning from their last job. He sighs as he then calls out to his friend: “NICK! HELP ME OUT WITH MY HORNS!”

“Don’t get yourself all hyped-up.” Nick came into the bathroom with him as he knew that the horns on top of Zak’s head were very hard to each for the poor Houndoom. Nick was a Lunapine; a rare Pokémon to be seen in America. He was a small black dog, only as big as a female wolf which wasn’t enough to get to Zak’s 4 foot height. He had grey eyes with white irises, which reminded some people of the moon. He even had a thin tail like Zak’s tail, but not an arrow like Zak. Instead, Nick had a yellow crescent-moon on the end of his tail like he was the Moon’s Messenger. “What the hell did you do to Zak?” Zak can only shrug: “That frickin’ Aipom jumped up and down on me like a freakin’ bounce house!”

“CAUSE YOU WOULDN’T WAKE UP!” Aaron hollered back in response to Zak’s complaints. Nick rolled his eyes as he helped Zak clean off the horns that were filled with dark patches. “You need to be careful dude. Besides your weird earth powers and fire attacks, your horns are the back-up weapons.” Nick expressed some worry about the horns since they were starting to get dull and a bit bumpy on the horns. Zak didn’t retort that since he knew that it was starting to rust away pretty quickly. By the fact he was only 4 yrs. old in Dog years didn’t do any more good either. Nick finished and nodded to himself: “Alright, we’re ready!” Nick then started to scamper off, with Zak following after him to get their baggage and equipment for the journey. “Isn’t this exciting!? China wants us to do our show in their country! We are hella popular over there! We’re gonna smoke them until their socks are knocked off!” Zak stared at Aaron in annoyance as he didn’t like the words he used very much. “Stop talking like that: I rather you finish the words you say.” Zak and Nick knew that Aaron came from Japan, but they didn’t like the idea that Aaron is trying to be American by not even finishing a word in the sentence like ‘Hella’. Even Zak and Nick refused to use those words since they weren’t originally from America as well.

Zak was from Hawaii as he was used to being somewhat formal in situations. He is not always formal, but he at least finished the words in a sentence. Meanwhile, Nick came from Taiwan which was strange, considering his first human language was American English. Nick told them that he had to learn that first because he was desperate to move out of Taiwan, due to the Hunters destroying his home. Zak never learned the American Language: English first. He knew Ukrainian, Italian, Hawaiian [which came in many different languages like Polynesian and Korean], Japanese, and Chinese. Which is why he wasn’t worried about China, since he knew the language well enough. Aaron unfortunately, knew nothing. Only Japanese and Animalion: Animalion is the universal language for all animals. Animalion was an unknown language to humans, as it was only taught by animals in case none learned the human languages of English, Spanish, Asian, or even Japanese. There is no written language of Animalion unfortunately, which was a big problem with the language. Some had paws, come had claws [like birds], and some even have hands. So it was a very complicated language to figure out.

“Yeah Aaron, you don’t have to go crazy.” Nick added to the conversation. “We don’t even do that either, besides…China is not going to understand what you mean.” Zak shrugs his shoulders as he gets his baggage and proceeds to go to the Lobby downstairs. All three descended together to go down to the lobby from the elevator as they were ready to check out. When Zak came out, there were sounds of swoon and sighs within the lobby. Zak apparently was supposed to be the ‘sexy’ Pokémon this year, which never made sense to him. Yeah sure, he has a good build. Even the soft look, strength and heart: But it still never made sense. “I kinda-…kind of hate the fact that female animals and Pokémon look at me like dessert.” He whispers along his friends as he never really wanted the reward in the first place. “Relax Zak, you did tell off the Paparazzi by using an excuse like an earthquake. It was flipping hilarious from our end!” Zak muttered a few curse words in Ukrainian before continuing his walk to the desk. Yes, he did use the earthquake excuse and not only that, ‘made’ an earthquake to get everyone afraid…but he did that because his last girlfriend broke up with him that day and he was NOT in the mood. He still didn’t understand why it happened, he and the girl were happy…so what happened? Besides that fact she was some sort of gold-digger. Aaron felt that aura coming from Zak and decided to speak up: “Dude, she isn’t worth it man. Let it go. She was always a b***h from the very beginning anyway.” Nick then smacks Aaron on the cheek in response. “Dude! Do you even understand anything?!” Aaron glared: “Apparently not.” Zak had enough and just talked to the lady at the counter and told her they’re checking out.





After the whole shenanigans, they finally got into their limbo and drove off through New York City to get to their ship. Zak sighs as he could only remember the days when he had a girlfriend. But Aaron was right: She ain’t worth crying for. After what she did, he should be more angry than sad. “I sense something.” The two males then turned to Zak: “What? Is it that same spirit again?”

“Yes it is.”
Aaron was the first to ask: “She just can’t let it go, can she? It must be tough to be a medium.” Zak ponders it for a moment but only grinned: “Hey, I enjoy my gift.” Nothing negative came out of his tone after that. Yes, not only was Zak a star…but he was a medium. A medium that went to haunted houses with Nick & Aaron to either put souls to rest or fight demons that plagued the hearts of the good. They are the ‘Ghost Adventure’ Crew…ironically the newer version from 2000’s….they are the 2347 version of Ghost Adventures. Not to mention they have the same names as the older ones: Zak, Nick, and Aaron. Nick also laughed at how ironic it was and maybe they are them reincarnated. “It is just too much to be coincidental.” He used to say as they talked about their show and how it was the same. There was one, or a few difference between them. One, they are not human. Two, the Older Zak was no medium. And Three, the older people had no powers nor have they ever been to China. The three then synchronically laughed at those thoughts as they reached the harbor. The harbor consisted of many people in different shapes, sizes, and colors. Some had families…some had girl/boyfriend, and some were the rich people who want to go to china just to show their riches. Even celebrities were there too: Like Zak, Nick, and Aaron. “Why do I feel like we’re the only animals on this cruise anyway?” Aaron pestered Nick even more with stupid questions as they we’re both in their little world. Nick grumbled: “I don’t know, maybe it’s because we’re CELEBRITIES!” Zak then turns toward them in a fit of embarrassment. “YOU BOTH ARE BEING STUPID!” he lectured as he was not going to make himself and the two guys make themselves the stupidest animals on the face of his earth. “Besides, I don’t think we’re the only ones in this ship anyway. I bet there are ‘pets’ that are owned by celebrities here we can talk to. They’ll only be locked up unfortunately.”

“And that is why humans will never understand that animals are smarter than them.” Aaron crosses his arms and nodded because he had seen so many times how humans are stupid and pathetic. The two let him go because it was understandable that he says such things, especially since he came from Japan. And Japan had no human population whatsoever. “Anyway, we better get in line.” Nick pointed to a line that was forming. “So we can enter the ship and enjoy a full few weeks before setting foot on China.” And that was that.




With many goodbyes and tears of joy, the “S.S Golden Dragon” had sailed off from the harbor to the distant ocean, letting the wind lead its way to different lands, even a different climate. The farther the ship went, the more distant land became before it became a small black dot until it disappeared into the horizon.

With both his friends leaving to go see the ship, Zak stayed in the bunkers where they are settling down for a few weeks. The room consisted of a single queen bed and a couch. The couch would most likely be Aaron’s sleeping spot, with the bed being Nick and then himself. Zak mutters a bit as he wonders why he got stuck with two nincompoops that seem to explore and escape work like kids. “Well. We are still kids.” He judged that statement he previously made before just setting the baggage down and opened them up a bit to see the equipment and a few cleaning products. He lets out a smug, knowing that the three wouldn’t have to worry about clothes [only accessories though], and of course….women crap. “God…women.” He muttered in disgust as he closed the lid and indicated that it was his time to leave. Amid his leave, came to the conclusion that this ship was no ordinary cruise. He explored the hallways, main hall, dining area, and of course outside. Outside contained two pools; one seemed to be for children due to a spiral slide, and the other was for adults with the hot tub and all. Shaking his head, Zak decided it was best to sit aside the railing of the ship and watch everyone having fun. Despite his experience in the field, he never got used to humans. His eyes wandered around to spot few people lying down on those beach chairs, letting the sun change their skin tone. “I don’t get why humans want different skin tones.”

“I never did either; it seems to be they hate the way it looks.”
“Yeah, isn’t that fun-?” Blinking, Zak just realizes he was NOT talking to Nick…or Aaron. He immediately spun his head to the right to see a strange cat from the distance. Lying down on the table, its fur was dark-blue; complimenting the ice-blue eyes. The cat stayed on the shade with his tail lingering on a glass of water as it seemed to cool its body down. “Do I scare you?”

“Why should I be? I was just surprised.” Zak raises a brow at the cat as it seemed a bit strange to him that someone random was talking to him. And also by the fact the cat was speaking in Animalion. “Well then, sit down on this beach chair then so we can continue the conversation.” The cat raises his paw and starts pointing at the chair. With no reason to protest, Zak slowly climbs up on the chair and lies down on his belly. “Not bad, eh? I even got a nice shady area as well. The sun just bothers me so…especially in this kind of weather.” The cat licked his paw as he then gave out a perplexed look. “So, you’re going to China as well?”
“Yes I am. It’s for business though. We are called over there to do an investigation.”

“OH! I never knew American cops do so.” Zak refused to tell him the truth after that. “Well then Mr. Cop, I wish you luck. But I do have a question-.” Before the cat could say anything, someone had shown up to ask if Zak wanted to order anything. It would seem strange at first for a human to ask a Pokémon for anything. “I’ll just have a fruit salad.”

The cat was astounded that this animal would speak the human language, and curiously watched the progress of ordering food. When the human left, the cat then spoke: “You know the human language?” Zak had a smug: “I am a cop after all.” In response to that remark, the cat chuckles. “Oh right, right. I have clearly forgotten.” He then sat up to take a small drink of water. Zak now knew it was time to get some answers. “So….Who are you?”
“Oh right, I apologize for my rudeness. I am Taro the II.” Zak could only leave his mouth open. “I know, it’s weird to be ‘the II’. Humans clearly don’t know how to move on. It is a shocker they survived this long.”
“Tell me about it….” Zak muttered before everything around them became silent. Taro had his eyes directed to the ocean as he seemed to have an idea. “Young lad, do you know the legend about the ‘Deities’?” Zak was a bit surprised. “Deities?” Taro nodded: “Yes: ‘Deities’. It’s a very know legend…dating back to 200 years ago. It has been passed down from generation to generation.” Taro then flashed his shiny white teeth: “China knows of this legend very well, they even honor the Deities. So it’s best if you know as well, follow me.” The cat leaped out of the table to land on the bumpy floor with his paws before speeding off into the lobby. Zak immediately followed him to the best of his ability as both cat & dog were moving in different directions to find a nice place to chat. They both ended up in a storage unit where they kept cleaning supplies and machines that were obviously for a party the cruise people have planned. “Why are we here Taro?”
“I thought it will be a nice place to talk privately without someone snooping on someone’s conversation. And also, this is where I hide a ‘book’ from my owner.” Taro bounced from a wooden cargo box to another before reaching the vent where he hid an item. With his claw, he slipped a metallic plate out of the vent and dragged a book out of there, letting it fall to the floor in front of the Houndoom. It looked old: torn from travel and ready to fall apart any day. “Tell me this Zak…you know how to read the English Language?” The dog slowly approaches the book and starts flipping the cover and title pages before reaching what seemed to be the first chapter. “I can….but I thought you would know this ‘legend’?” Taro cracked a small laugh. “Oh ho, I am not reading it. But you will. You should keep it. It will be useful someday.” The cat then jumped back down to the ground before shaking his paws from the ‘bad’ landing. “Oh….I am too old for this.” He allows his paws to heal before speaking again: “Anyway it is time for me to answer the question you seek.
‘I never had any questions; you’re the one that brought this up’: Zak’s thoughts countered the old cat’s introduction but he decides it was best to follow along. Taro coughed a little, signaling a long story:
“You must realize that this is based off true events. You remember the apocalypse of 2050 no? It was a deadly catastrophe when the monsters: Rayquaza and Deoxys fought and ended up destroying land, and lives. And you probably know about how Deoxys broke into millions of pieces and transformed half the animal population to Pokémon?” Zak nodded: “It is basic stuff to know about what happened then.” Satisfied, Taro decided to tell the real story. “Yes, it is. Now for the real story: There were six deities: Courage, Leadership, Love, Justice, Courage, and Loyalty. Both of them have special purposes and a power great enough to kill even the darkest of shadows. It was rumored there was the 7th deity: Deity of Innocence. I don’t know if it is true or not, but nobody has proven that theory yet. These six, along with the descendant of the Goddess of Amaterasu-“

“Amaterasu?” Zak bellowed out in a surprised tone. “Who’s that supposed to be?” Taro sighs: “It’s a goddess in Japan; I don’t really want to talk about that much. In fact, the book will answer your questions. Anyway, moving on.”
“The six, along with the descendant of Amaterasu, fought the evil that resided in Japan. That evil planned to take advantage of the wonderful nature and harness it as raw power: Almost like European Imperialism. The seven had to fight together through thick and thin in order to defeat the evil and maintain the peace. The descendant of the Goddess was known as Hidehara Wolff, a Mightyena that happened to have Wolf DNA. It was rare for a Pokémon to have part of its animal DNA still intact, especially since it may have prevented him from evolving or even having powers. But he had the power to bring forth the light and power of the Earth itself. It was rumored that his descendants have the power of the Earth.”

‘Power… of the Earth?’ Zak couldn’t help but wonder about it. Earth Powers? That almost sounded like…”What you mean about Power of the Earth?”
“I don’t know myself, but I can guess that this power can shape the lands however they want. Almost like Kyogre that build these lands so long ago.” Taro’s words made Zak feel a bit anxious about this power of the earth. “What about the others? Do you know their names?”
“Of Course I do! There was Otonashi Wolff whom was Leadership, Kaminari Wolff with Wisdom, Thea with Courage, Kana with Love, Benji with Loyalty, and Blake with Justice. After the fight, they both went back to their lives…all of them had children and gave the powers to their descendants.

Unfortunately, no one knows the location of these children. It means that they don’t want the children to have to deal with the public eye and live normal lives.” Zak’s couldn’t help but feel a bit intrigued by this: Deities….Evil….almost like Power Rangers. Ok, maybe not Power Rangers, but it is pretty darn close. Zak’s eyes gleamed before sitting up again, picking up the book with his mouth. Taro closed his eyes with a relaxed face. “I am glad I get to see someone who was willing to remember this odd tale. I did not have anyone to pass it too….not even little ones to remember.” Zak was confused on why he says such things. He tossed the book on his back: “Why are you saying such things?”

“I am getting old my boy, I have very little life within me and I cannot let the tale fade off like a cloud. No new generation is willing to even be aware of what happened before them. I see people forget history and deem it as ‘unimportant’. That is why I want to share this with you; you seem like the type of individual who is more aware of what is happening then everyone else. I have lived a very long life, long enough to realize how the world is killing itself day by day. Mr. Cop boy, I may not have known you for even a day, I trust you to keep this story alive.” With that Taro left, leaving Zak in the dark. That was the last day of Taro’s life.


It was early morning when some sort of funeral was going on by the deck. Someone died and must have wanted their ashes to float onto the blue sea. Nobody really cared about it, with the only responses being weird glances. Zak was the only one who understood what it was for. “You obviously wanted to pass on the tale before dying, right Taro?” Zak’s mind then went back after that strange meeting, finding his friends at some game section for kids. The houndoom refused to speak to them about the ‘tale’ between him and the cat, knowing his friends would deem him ‘crazy’. As the funeral ended, Aaron & Nick were able to find their friend apparently watching the ceremony. “A funeral? Why are you watching the ceremony? Someone you know?” Nick presses his paw against Zak, trying to get his attention.

With one glance, Zak takes a deep breath and waits until the ashes floated down to the surface of the ocean to speak: “It isn’t someone I know. But it is someone that will somehow help me in the future?”
“How can that be? Was it a fortuneteller?” Aaron raises an eyebrow with a frown on his face.
Zak’s eyes gleamed at the sun, knowing that whatever it is….it just begun. “I don’t know…I just don’t know.”  

[ShadowStream-chan]

Chapter 2

Sunrise was fast approaching the lands of Japan so swiftly that none had taken notice. The winds blew gently onto the grassy plains, with the warmth of the sun approaching easily. The two friends, Yume and Frankie, had finished their first part of the mission. After trusting the spirits of finding the descendants, they had taken refuge inside a beaten-up shrine. It provided them a roof to block the rain’s path from getting into their vulnerable bodies. Yume, as usual, did not trust the spirits to find the descendant of Hidehara as she thought it will be easier to find him herself. Frankie was still skeptical with her decisions and had shown it plenty of times to her, which pissed her off sometimes. With their minds all boggled up from the journey, they reached Shinshu Plains. But the plains felt like a ghost town to them, nothing but the eerie wind and abandoned buildings.

It used to be their home: The home where the Deities lived and grew up. Somehow though, after 200 years, it slowly became quieter until there was nothing left. For the two, it felt like a plaque had come and swallowed all who were living, only to disappear to the darkness. Frankie was the first to come out of the cave before looking up ahead to their home. He remembers the cave that was ahead of them by 2/3 miles. That cave leads to Hanasaki Valley; it was where Hidehara, Otonashi, and Kaminari lived. That valley had a small lake, which nurtured the beautiful Cherry blossom tree inside. The walls around them had many imprints of different Pokémon and Animals that lived in these lands for as long as the two could remember. The cave had more than the small room with the cherry blossom and imprinted walls, they would remember turning to the right to see another pathway. That pathway lead to a meeting room, and a jail which to keep enemies in. Those memories were almost like yesterday to them, yet it was so long ago that it as a lively place.

With that in mind, Yume came out from the cave to check Shinshu Fields. It still had that same Japanese Dojo that sat between streams that surrounded the building; it was used to educate Pokémon & animals together. The education consisted of learning the Japanese language, Fighting [not to forget self-defense], History, etc. But now the building would be lucky to even be used enough to where it won’t die. The black wolf then looks at the two pathways that lead to two different places: Kamiki Village and Akebi village. Kamiki Village consisted of Farming, while Akebi was mostly Building & Medicine. Akebi was more like a tree house village than Kamiki which was more like a Farm. Both though had each Cherry Blossom to protect themselves from evil spirits…it was always at the end of the village; just like Hanasaki Valley. Yume never moved anywhere until she saw Frankie gliding back to her with his wings guiding him to her.

“Yume, I don’t understand. Why don’t you walk around a little? Ever since what happened ‘back then’… you are nothing but conservative now. What happened to the lit-?” Yume stopped him by his tracks, getting at his face and growling. “I WILL NOT be taunted in that way FRANKIE!”

“Who says I was taunting you?! I was just saying that you used be so carefree, and now you’re acting like some sort of tough-end queen! Am I comparing you to how you acted as a child? YES! Maybe I am. But I am not taunting you!” Frankie got back at her again, with a menacing look in his eyes. Both fell silent, staring at each other for a minute before facing the opposite direction from the other. ‘It has always been like this…nothing has changed at all,’ Frankie thought to himself as it seemed like her stubbornness and persistence to be a tough ‘goddess’ was all in her head. He kind of figured out why though: it started the day her ‘mate’ died. Since she was immortal, everyone around her [except Frankie] started dying all around her. Yume was devastated and ran away; trying to get the family she had to believe that she died like their father. She then swore to herself, and Frankie she will never fall for some mortal again. ‘Amaterasu did the same with Kaminari, but she didn’t mind outliving him… although she gave up her powers to be mortal.’ Frankie remember awfully well that when Amaterasu, or Amy, decided to live with the Deity of Wisdom, she decided to give up the power. That power was supposed to end up with Hidehara, but it never got that way.

Instead, two kids by the names of Frankie & Yume went inside to see the shrine that kept that power. And when a bunch of evil creatures tried to take the power, the both had no choice to obtain that power, making the both of them Demi-Gods…and immortal. Blake was pissed off that happened, but everyone else understood it was for the best. It was a freak accident, and it was better to be inside the kids than the evil that tried taking it. Yume took it a lot harder than Frankie did in that situation, and that destroyed her personality & innocence completely. Now the poor Swellow had to deal with a melancholy wolf who only knows fear and anger. Somehow it reminded the bird of Otonashi when he got angry, it was the scariest moments of his life. But now the only scary thing was by the fact Yume may never have that grin she used to show ever again.

Out of the distant sky, Frankie started to notice a small green orb floating toward them in such a rush that it seemed to be in some sort of panic. And in that orb came a green fairy-like creature with round toe-less feet, three-fingered hands, and clear wings on its 2”00 foot back. Its round head consisted of round, big baby-blue eyes with thick black rings around them. With a pair of green antennae that were tipped blue, Frankie knew who he was seeing: “Celebi?! What’re you doing here!?” Yume jerked her body around to face Celebi as well, only knowing that her presence can foretell a big problem. Celebi, injured on her arm, panted as she tried to speak: “The….the group.” She then falls down on the ground with a thump, trying to get the strength to get up. Panicked, Yume comes to her aid and gets Celebi on her back. With Celebi riding on Yume, the legendary Pokémon relaxes and tries to talk again: “I…I saw a….group of Pokémon…they’re going to….”

“Going to what Celebi?! What are they going to do!?” Before an answer could be heard, an evil roar erupted from a distance grabbing the attention of both Frankie and Yume. Together, they expressed a look of shock as the noise was approaching them in a fast speed. “WE BETTER RUN! NOW!” Yume screams out as they both, along with Celebi within them, sprinted out to get out of danger. They could both hear evil laughs and nature being destroyed behind them. Both of them then heard something heavy falling down, making a big crash sound as it signaled its untimely death. Their hearts shattered when they soon figured out that the great Cherry Blossom had fallen, but they had to get Celebi out of harm’s way. They reached to Harami Lake which faced the west hemisphere, knowing they will have to leave: “FRANKIE! I want you to run with Celebi toward Europe in hoping you’ll find a safer haven until you find help. I will distract them!” Frankie would’ve protested then but when he saw a menacing figure that appeared as a Dog from Hell. Yume yelled once more: “GO NOW! RUN!” He immediately did not hesitate to fly off with Celebi on his back after her plea to get him to run. He hated the fact he had to leave Yume behind, even with a group of creatures that did not seem ‘normal’. But he knew he had to get Celebi to safety, so he soared through the skies until Japan became a single dot in the horizon.

With nothing following them, he started slowing down to a speed where Celebi can start relaxing now, and maybe tell him the situation. “Celebi? Are you well enough to tell me what’s going on?” Celebi took a few moments to think before nodding: “Yes, I’ll try to be specific as I can…” Celebi pulled herself up so her head was close to the side of his face, so she wouldn’t have to speak louder than she should. “That….Those Pokémon you saw….they are evil.” Frankie blinked a bit: “Evil?” Celebi nodded: “That Houndoom you saw….it must be the reincarnation of Drago. I have no doubt in my mind.” Frankie almost gasps in shock as he heard those words: “Drago?! How can that be?! The gods cannot reincarnate evil!”

“But his eyes…I saw his eyes! I have no doubt. That dog is Drago.” Celebi whimpered as she didn’t want to believe this herself. “Celebi, just tell me what happened.” Frankie tried calming her down so he can hear her story. Celebi sniffles a bit before being able to take a breath, and then exhale. “Ok…Ok. I’ll start at the beginning.”

* * * * * * * *

In Kusa Village, it used to be for villagers in the Feudal Era that worshipped the God of Wind, disguised as a beautiful white stallion that held up a small flag on its back. But now, the village belonged to the Legendary Pokémon. When Humans were starting to get ‘too’ interested in them, some of the legendary Pokémon decided to move to Japan when they heard that humans were forbidden to enter that land. Of course, they had trouble with the 13 celestial gods when they came to this land, but with the help of Amaterasu, Hidehara, and Blake; they were able to negotiate and be willing to work together in peace.

In order to celebrate this peace, Celebi decided to travel to Hitoshio Springs in Agata Forest to try to make Sake. However, her knowledge of the drink was inadequate and would have to get help. She now just tries to make sure the water is pure before returning it to the village. She also had to make sure she doesn’t bring too much since she would have to fly upward on the hills to reach the village. Hitoshio Springs was a small lake that had a waterfall created by the roots of a single, enormous tree. These enormous roots made Celebi feel ‘very’ tiny, but she loved how long it lasted; especially 200 years. She was told by her friend, Mesprit to show up here for the best source of water. Celebi wanted to wait for her to come, but she knew there was no time to wait for her. So instead, she just gathered the water to put inside a huge bucket that had a Japanese sign for ‘Purity’.

During her work, she suddenly gets pushed from her back and falls down to the water in front of her; making a splash. She ascends from the water to only hear a chuckle from Mesprit. Mesprit is a small, grey-like Pokémon [almost like Celebi], with two tails that each have a red jewel encrusted in them. With a magenta face and four, long drooping appendages along with the red gem encrusted in her forehead; Mesprit was the legendary emotion Pokémon. “Oh Celebi, you’ve should have known I would do this sort of thing.” Mesprit laughs, showing her true mischievous personality. Agitated, Celebi splashes water at Mesprit for her immature actions: “You know that a festival is coming tomorrow! And I only got today to even get the water uphill to Kusa! I am not going to fool around!” The green fairy puffed with her angry words before floating on top of the water to go check on the 5 foot bucket. “Looks like its good to go. Mesprit, I am going to need your help to get this up.”

“Oh? So you yell at me, and then you need my help?! Think before you decided on these things!” Mesprit rolled her eyes as her yellow eyes glowed a blue tint before the bucket mysteriously floated above the ground, remaining balanced while the two floated away to go home. They went through Taka Pass which was known for its Sasa Sanctuary which was a spa and the house that used to inhabitant by the deadly Mrs. And Mr. Cutter. Both shivered when they pass the infamous house but soon relaxed when they passed the waterfall that lead to the hill for Kusa. With a smile on their faces, Celebi and Mesprit were ready to help make the Sake.
Kusa was not a very large place; it consisted of a few buildings: An Inn, three houses, and a big shrine home that belonged to Princess Fume long ago. With a small garden and a windmill near the entrance, it intrigued the legendary Pokémon deeply with the watch tower and how high the altitude was for them. With the Gale Shrine’s power emitting the place, it made them feel superior. Celebi loved this place because the sun always hits them which made the trees and plants grow and she could roam around free from human eyes. She smiles at the pleasure she now has as Mesprit lets the bucket land near the Inn which was lead by a few stair-steps with many flowers surrounding it. “Alright Celebi, you know how to do this.” Celebi nods as she then ordered Mesprit to place the rice on the steamer so that it can be tender and translucent. Mesprit nods and goes off to deal with the rice, while Celebi was going to get the *moto to go through the *moromi fermentation. She had been working on this for at least 50 minutes before Mesprit came back with the ready-to go rice. “Here you go Celebi.” Celebi mimicked a ‘thank you’ with her mouth as she added the rice to the cold *koji and water mixture. As she was stirring, Mesprit couldn’t help but sigh: “I can’t believe Sake takes this long to make. I feel sorry you have to work for weeks.”

“Meh, I am not worried about it Mesprit. I love doing this; sometimes I wonder how I will be entertained if I don’t do any sake-making. I still have some reserved.”

“Really?! How much?!”

“Well…I got my Thunder Brew sake, Sake of Valor, Vista of the Gods, and that 8 Purification Sake that was used to kill Orochi. I knew this would be hard, so I am not worried. After all, it is only rice wine. So they will be nice in about 9-12 months, so making these things for my friends is what makes me feel energetic.” Mesprit chuckles at the thought as Celebi continued the brewing. After a few hours of chatting and helping each other brew on the Moromi, they suddenly felt a sensation that something was wrong, VERY wrong. Celebi’s antennae’s twitch as her senses told her that she should go to Gale shrine. “Mesprit…there’s something wrong.” Mesprit, feeling the same way, responded: “Let’s go over there then. The rice would need many hours to soak in anyway.” She held Celebi’s short arm as they both went through the sheltered bridge that was between the village and Princess Fume’s home. The bridge was held up by many strong bamboos and wood from previously dead Cherry Blossom trees.

With fear in their minds, Mesprit and Celebi raced through the ¼ mile bridge to go through the door of the house to see some of their legendary friends. All had a look of worry: Uxie, Manaphy, Shaymin, everyone. Darkrai was the one in front…and he seemed to be arguing with Cresselia about something:
“You knew this would happen! And you didn’t do anything to stop it!”

“Hold on a second Darkrai! We had no idea that anyone would dare reincarnate the evil man from long ago! We had that spirit secured and protected! Whoever it was, it must’ve been one of the legendaries like us. But this one does not belong in this village or the great Celestials.”
“But you should’ve been able to stop them! Him…Her…Something from having their hands on the sprit of Drago!”

“Drago?!” Mesprit immediately rushed over between the two Pokémon that were arguing. “That can’t be! Drago was in the highest security in the entire world! The only one that would’ve been able to unseal him was either the six deities or one of us! If what your saying is true…there is another legendary that neither us nor anyone knows about!” Celebi expressed her worry by hiding behind the big legendary Pokémon with Uxie and Azelf that were afraid to take part of the debate. Cresselia sighs: “We will not get anywhere arguing. Far as we all know, this happened many years ago which means this reincarnation is alive and ready to take part in the destruction of the world. And whoever released him must be in the shadows waiting for it to screw up or be victorious, then kill it to take power.” The swan-like Pokémon moves toward the window, to see a dark cloud hovering above them. It was a sign: an ominous sign. “Someone needs to alert Yume and Frankie and get them going on a double.”

“But they’re not even ready to take part-!”

“They have been alive for 200 years of experience and know the danger by following the original six deities. They are more than ready Mesprit.” Mesprit mouth went shut after that, leaving Celebi with a decisive look. After a good minute when the cloud was growing larger, Celebi spoke: “I…I can find them.”

“You know where they reside?” Cresselia questioned Celebi’s decision to go out there in the danger zone. Celebi’s face turned to a determined look: “They always stay in Shinshu Plains, rethinking of the old times of its glory before it turned to a ghost town. Trust me: And if I am in danger: I can easily time travel to escape injury.” Celebi starts remembering when Shinshu Plains was crowded with Pokémon that wanted a second chance in life, only to abandon it because of a corrupted leader. “Trust me in this…” Celebi begged, “I will get to them before the reincarnated ‘Drago’ can get to them. So please Cresselia let me do this.” The green fairy had her two arms in front of her, in a praying position trying to convince them that she can do this. Her mind was boggled with many scenarios on how this situation can turn out and her methods of escape. Cresselia stared down at the little green fairy, trying to figure out if it was a good idea to bring her down there or not. Silence filled the air as most of the legendary Pokémon waited for an answer from the Lunar Pokémon, that its judgment can determine the fate of this land. Cresselia stood there for a long time, agitating one of the Pokémon: “Hey! Just send her down there! She is very hard to spot, and like she said: She can easily escape if the danger is too high of a risk. We cannot afford to waste any more time!” The voice belonged to the Phoenix Bird Pokémon, mostly known as ‘Moltres'. It stood up on six feet and seven inches weight at least 133 pounds. Its wings and elaborate head crest are covered with flames. Its straight, pointed brown beak matched the color of his small feet and legs. His red eyes narrowed to Cresselia: “Just send her down there so we can get rid of this enemy quickly!”

“You’re going nuts!” Mesprit gasps: “We need to know what the enemy is!” As she finished talking, the ground beneath their feet started to vibrate until it got stronger and stronger. Many of them panicked and Cresselia knew she had to say something now: “We cannot waste time trying to figure this out! Celebi, go down there and warn the two!” Finally getting accepted, Celebi flew out of the shrine to immediately try to reach Shinshu Fields in time. During her mileage though, she thought she heard Mesprit yelling for her in a very desperate manner. But Celebi couldn’t afford to stop, and decided to ignore the bellowed screams that not started to fade from view.

With very little time left, Celebi zoomed past many trees and was now in Agata Forest trying to pass through the massive forest. The lake was of pure crystal water which the residents of the 13 celestial gods were often at to praise the great people who never belittled them. But now 200 years have passed, no hint of their presence had ever been found since. Celebi shakes her head, full of guilty thoughts as she skimmed through the lake to get aerial speed. She then felt an ominous aura surrounding her, that same feeling she and the other legendary Pokémon had felt when they soon realize the great dangers ahead. Celebi immediately sped up as fast as she could when the same aura grew closer and closer. Then she could suddenly feel a force push her toward the ground, and a burn emitted from her back as she plummeted hard to the solid, dirt ground. Whimpering, Celebi tried to regain her composure so she turns around to see a creature too hard for her to describe.

The Houndoom grinned wickedly as he had marked his kill. The scar going through his eye and his ice-blue eyes depicted his experience in battle. Some of the darkened figures surrounded him, awaiting the orders from the Lord. “Aralt, what do you want us to do?” A voice from the background chanted out their Lord’s name, leaving Celebi to back up away in pure panic. Her eyes widened as the eyes of this Houndoom reminded her right away of Drago: The one that Hidehara had to kill to save Japan and Humankind. The Houndoom right away snickered as his shiny white teeth glared through the darkness, leaving anyone to be deeply afraid. “We are here to find the damn squirt, and the little one probably knows its whereabouts: So capture her.” He dictated them as all of them sprang forward to the green fairy.

Celebi automatically bounced from the ground to dodge their attempts of getting the prey, slamming her arm to the trees with full force. Unable to think straight, she fled from them as fast as she could to reach Frankie and Yume, knowing they have to stop this monster someway, somehow. Her last remaining strength took her to the skies to reach the Plains….

* * * * * * *

“So your saying that this Pokémon is searching for someone?!” Frankie gasps, in so much shock that there was a Pokémon out there that would do this. It seemed to be like an invasion like how America invaded Germany to find Hitler.
“I…I am not sure.” Celebi breathed out as she wasn’t sure to even believe herself. “I just remembered that he said those words to the figures surrounding him. It seems to be like he was the leader somehow and decided he wanted revenge. And it seems to be his name is Aralt, as one of them called him that.”

Frankie soon sees that now would be too much to ask her any more questions… although he wanted to be assured that the other legendaries will be ok. But their powers are not to be estimated, so they will probably find their way out of this… ‘Aralt’s’ grasp. So he tried shrugging it off as they flied through the skies, with nothing but the ocean below them. The Swellow had no choice but to find what would be the closest shelter they can find, so Celebi can rest up and heal while Frankie would try to figure out what to do in this situation. The skies were already turning dim and dark as they were now out of Japan’s sight, with the clouds covering up the skies impairing Frankie’s vision of the sky. He had to fly downward until he was out of the clouds to continue their journey. With much worry for Yume, both Frankie and Celebi have disappeared to the sunset.  

[ShadowStream-chan]

Chapter 3

The winds of yellow floated alongside the bright, red skies, dancing to their left with the soft music the wind was making. The many grains of sand moved alongside the scorching grounds that would burn at the slightest touch. Over at the horizon, there was a small village that consisted of many buildings, made of pure hard adobe. These buildings were no bigger than 3 stories, only having three windows with one on each level. Echoes of laughter rang in the village, signaling their happiness and peace within the community. Then in the middle of it all was a market; a market with many carts selling their produce, accessories, and then luxury items. All were filled with cheerful demeanors and children running through the pathway to play tag. It seemed like none of them knew the harsh realities like murder, or any sign of danger that could threaten their lives.

“What is this?” Zak whispered very quietly to himself as he was not sure how he got here. He only remembered going to bed in the cruise ship, tired of thinking about what Taro had told him about these ‘six deities’ and the prophecy that the descendants will come from the shadows to reign supreme. He then happened to look to his right to see a small grassy area where many little kids; Pokémon and animal playing with a rock. They were trying to get the rock to the other side to win, almost like- “Soccer?” He asks himself as he couldn’t help but keep staring at these small children who were having a ‘ball’ “No Pun intended” he laughs. Then he suddenly looked to his left to witness many other Pokémon; but they looked to be anything but good. “Soldiers? Maybe they do know the harsh reality?” He soon realizes that he asked a wrong question, for he sees that they were attacking the walls. “WHAT THE FU-? A RAID?!” He moves his body to quickly jump down from the platform he had been standing on, that looked over the village. A growl emitted from Zak’s throat, ready to jump on the soldiers and prevent them from doing any damage. But then his vision soon became impaired, too quickly in fact to figure out where he was. But his ears could not hide the screams of children and adults, as the sounds of crackling from a fire took over the voices. His body had then grown weak and his muscles have stopped working, he tried very hard to figure out what was going on but nothing was working. Then he suddenly spots what seemed to be a strange, cat-like quadrupled creature that was covered in reddish-orange fur. This one had a large, bushy tail, fluffy collar, and a tuft of fur on its head; all of which were yellow. With ears as large as a rabbit, it ran off quickly like it was holding onto dear life. It did resemble another creature alongside it but it was smaller and brown. In fact, the brown mammalian creature with the brown fur, a bushy tail with a cream-colored tip, and large furry collar with that same cream-color was an Eevee. Zak assumed it was a parent and child running for their lives.

That Eevee was running alongside three others; two mice and a human-like creature. One of the mice was a Pikachu with its known red circle cheeks that produced electricity with brown stripes on its back. Pikachus were known to have tails that resembled lightning. It was following alongside what seemed to be a Raichu, a larger yellow-brownish mouse with yellow circles on its cheek. But both resembled each other fairly. Zak could only watch them run as he now examined the humanoid creature carrying what seemed to be a basket. He couldn’t tell what it was because he never seen a creature like it before. Above its head was a beautiful blue flower with white spotted petals upon her head, with blue hair gently bouncing side to side as she ran alongside the others who seem to be trying to escape the raid. Her face seemed to be very lit-blue, almost like the human skin color. Her arms reminded him of Aaron’s arms, which he used to tease about it all the time, calling them ‘flimsy’. Then he starts seeing a golden sepal under her neck, and on her white dress, outlined by the color of dark-blue, looked like mythical leaves as it moved back and forth alongside the wind. He then sees that she seemed to wear sky-blue leaves that were shaped like slippers on her feet as she ran with the basket, escaping from the raided town to a river he couldn’t really see, but then a voice spoke up: “This is imperialism that you see, go on forth and stop it if you are strong enough to handle it.” Zak turns his head around as he was shocked to what almost looked like his doppelganger, but his face was shapelier and his eyes glowed like the ocean unlike Zak whose eyes were just blue. “Handle this?! How am I supposed to stop this?” Zak yells at the top of his lungs as everything around him was starting to vanish, it was as if darkness was consuming him. “You will see in the future…” The Houndoom answered him before Zak was completely in the darkness.

**********

“Zak? Zak! C’mon man, wake up! You’re freaking us out!” Nick’s voice song rang through the houndoom’s ears as he opened his eyes and gasps for air. “s**t! Don’t do that! What was that about?!” Aaron soon spoke up as he and Nick looked down upon their friend who laid there on the bed. “What?” Zak muttered, a little tired and obviously spoke in a pained voice.

“Are you ok? You don’t look good.” Nick whispers as he didn’t want to disturb the others. “Nightmare?”

“I guess you could say that.” Zak breathed as he stands up and jumps off the bed with ease, a little dizzy but it was over within 5 seconds. “Yeah, you were starting to mutter something and then before you woke up you started shouting, but I couldn’t understand what you were saying.” Aaron told him before jumping down, walking toward Zak before making a leap to his back. Aaron usually liked to jump on his back as a sign of comfort or when his feet were hurting and he needed a piggyback ride. “It seems like you were speaking another language.”

“Really? I guess some sort of spirit visited me.”

“Spirit?” Nick expressed a surprise. “This is the first.”

“Yeah, but he showed me what seemed to be a village… a village in the desert. There were happy people over there; animals and Pokémon. But then a raid came in, killing and kidnapping. Then they would burn the buildings which would have people in there; dead or alive. I was frightened by this image…but then this….I don’t even know if it was my doppelganger or not, but he did look ‘different’. This Houndoom told me that it was Imperialism and that if I don’t like it, I should change it.”

“That is deep.” Aaron hummed sadly as he understands that it was very hard to see those images like that. “Especially when the spirits tell you that you need to change something.”

Nick then bit his lip with his sharp teeth as he realized something: “Y’know, I just remembered: When you started talking and shouting…we were passing Egypt.”

“Egypt?”

“Yeah.” Nick reacted to Zak’s response. “And now I see since you woke up, Egypt is out of sight. Maybe a spirit from Egypt was attracted to you and showed how he died. I am just guessing.”

“Oh alright the- HEY Wait a minute.” Zak spoke in such shock. “What we doing on the red sea?! This doesn’t lead us to China!” Aaron then taps Zak to get his attention: “There was a bad storm last night and it was a threatening one, so they had to go to Red Sea to be safe.” Zak raises a brow: “Then where the hell are we staying at?!’’

As if answering Zak’s question, the speaker in the room turned on and the captain’s voice came through it:

“Good Morning everyone. Unfortunately, bad circumstances have delayed our destination which is China. The storm occurring at the North Atlantic Ocean is too risky to take, but luckily Italy is willing to let the ship stop here and help you reach China. But the preparation will take a few days so they provided a few days stay at their hotel until the cars are ready. So in a few minutes we should be arriving at the port of Terre so please make sure your luggage is with you safely and secured when boarding off our ship….”
The rest were all blah blahs to the three as it finally shut off. It was silence before the three cheered in joy. “ITALY BABY!” Zak seemed more stoked than the rest. “Well, it certainly worked out for him.” Nick laughs as he knew that Zak’s dream was to go to Italy and probably see its enchanted history. Aaron chuckles alongside Nick since Zak’s reaction was pretty funny. “Alright then, we better get our equipment and get out of here.”

With that, Zak, Nick and Aaron were able to get out with their luggage intact as they followed the crowd to a hotel which was no ‘hotel’, but a resort. It made the three’s mouth drop wide open as they see a golden resort that resembled Atlantis’ fantasy castle they would see in Disney’s Little Mermaid. “HALLELUJAH! WE’RE IN PARADISE!” Aaron shout did attract a crowd, which Zak had to slam down for his stupidity but they weren’t too angry since it seemed like they got so lucky. Keeping their mind intact, all three entered the premise of the lobby. Zak was the first to come to the check-in desk. The lady raised an eyebrow, not expecting creatures. “Uhhh…may I help you?”

“Yes, I’m Zak. And this is Nick and Aaron.” He points his tail to each of the two to introduce them to the lady. “We came from the S.S. Dragon, and they told us that we can stay here for a few days until the buses can take us to China.” The lady responded in such a way that Zak could not help but find it so rude. “Oh Yes.” She says as she checks the roster list she was given by the Staff of that S.S. Dragon. “I see your names are in here.” Aaron automatically leaped up to Zak’s back and processed to get the three keys that the lady puts down; she had a face that showed that she was curious to how they would open the door. When the three went on their way to the elevator, Zak spoke: “What was up with her?! Doesn’t she realize that Pokémon are not like Aliens?” Nick hushed him up. “Remember, we’re only known in the U.S., Not Italy. So of course she’s gonna look at us funny.” Then Aaron spurted out: “OH! And you give me crap for not finishing a word!”
“Shut up Aaron!” Nick snarled almost like a pit-bull with a chain around its neck. Aaron yipped and hid on Zak’s back. “We are not going to get anywhere if we act like this.” Zak muttered irritably as they finally got to the elevator to reach their room. Their room was on the 2nd floor, with great view of the harbor nearby. They only had to walk a couple of feet (or paws) before they reached to their room number: 228. Aaron uses his tail to lift himself up and put the key in, pushing the door so they can all enter. Zak was pretty astounded with the room; the floor was a white carpet and they had a good-size kitchen: All carved in pure granite. The kitchen has the necessities: Black refrigerator, stove, microwave, teapot, sink, dishwasher, and trash can which was below the sink. The floor for the kitchen was tiled, and rough as stone. Nick runs off to leap onto one of the couches which were decked in pure white, stretching for about 5 feet in length and 2 feet wide. “Holy mackerel! This is my bed!” Nick laughs as he already liked the couch better than the bed from the cruise. “Alright then, that’s you bed for a few days.” Zak muttered as he and Aaron proceeded to check the rest. They were dead-on happy when they see both bathrooms had bathtubs, which was perfect for them all. “Finally, I hated those showers.” Zak sighs in relief before checking the bedrooms. Aaron remained still, as he tried to figure out what he should do.

Zak, done checking the bedrooms, was thoroughly impressed and decided to pick up a white-fabric binder and see its events. “Oh Nick look! It looks like there is an ad wanting paranormal experts at a certain residential area. Someone is probably desperate.” Nick stopped dead in his movements trying to show the love to the couch, before sitting up. “Cool! And maybe we can be known here too! It’s killing two birds with one stone.” Nick jumps down, strolling toward Zak. “So are we going to call them?”

“I’ll start now in case, there are probably some here in Italy too.” Zak then calls out to Aaron. “YO AARON! I NEED YOUR HELP!” Zak calls out, but when no response came he tried again. “Aaron?! Oh Aaaaaron-!” Then a splash could be heard from one of the bathrooms. Immediately, Zak and Nick sprinted over to the bathroom. “Aaron? Aa- WHAT THE HELL YOU DOING?!”
“What?” Aaron had decided to take a bath and do a facial. “I need a break from being me sometimes.” The bath was obviously around 80-90 degrees since there was some steam coming out of the water. “A break from being you?!” Zak bellows out. “You’re too unpredictable to find out what the hell you are.” Zak then suddenly gets hit by a small bottle of shampoo, resulting in Nick laughing at both of them: “You two are too much. Anyway Aaron, we want to call someone. Can you dial the numbers? You’re the only one with arms.” Nick held out the phone to Aaron, holding onto the screen. Aaron dried one arm with a towel laying on the edge of the tub leaning over to press the numbers: “What is the number?”

“0187-995-0023” Zak muttered through the cold floor as he was trying very hard to not go berserk on Aaron’s hide. The monkey then dialed the number then puts it on speaker so the two dogs didn’t have to put their ear so close to the phone. “Tell me if we are accepted and if we are, what time?” Aaron then went back to his relaxation Zen, leaving both Nick and Zak to deal with the call themselves. “Do you know Italian?” Nick gulped as he knew this was a resident. “Relax Nick, how else would I be able to read that ad?” Zak chimes as they waited for the call to come in, they waited 3 minutes before someone picked up. “Ciao?”

“Ciao. Posso parlare con la signora o il signor Kuvosky per favore?” Zak talks casually, leaving Nick in shock as Zak talkedlike it was his first language. “Chi è questo?” The woman behind the phone asked. Zak answers: “OH! Sono Zak, io sono un esperto di paranormale noto, o un supporto se si sente un po 'meglio di questo. Non ho potuto fare a meno di vedere un annuncio di questa famiglia che sta cercando aiuto per gli esperti in questo campo?”

“What the hell is he saying?!” Aaron shouted from the bathroom, thinking that some spirit possessed Zak again. “Quiet Aaron, Zak is talking to someone in Italian! He is trying to land a job!” Zak sighs as he tries to ignore him. Then suddenly the same woman on the phone tone changed for the better. “Oh grazie! Sono stato in attesa di una chiamata da voi ragazzi. Vedete, i miei figli sono stati comporta in modo strano dicendo che visto l 'uomo insanguinato' e sta cominciando a fare loro visita nel sonno, non lasciare riposare per la notte in modo che alla fine stanca. Ho anche vedere un cambiamento nel mio marito.” Zak face turned to Aaron, giving him the signal that this was not a good spirit. Aaron immediately washed his face off with a towel and drained the tub. “I’ll get my exorcism stuff.” Aaron bolted to the other room to go through his luggage. Zak then responded to the lady on the phone: “Questo cambiamento nel vostro marito capita di essere violenti? E ha cercato di sbarazzarsi di prima?” Zak asks, wondering if the spirit was violent. The lady remained silent before answering: “Mio marito ... sembra che potrebbe uccidere. E i miei figli hanno avuto paura. Uno di loro è stato anche graffiato.” Zak stood up and yelled at Aaron. “Aaron! We got a demon! Bring the holy water!” Nick jumps up and knew immediately this was going to be dangerous. Zak responded: “Questa è ovviamente una signora spirito pericoloso. Saremo lì subito per aiutarti, e per la sicurezza dei bambini: farli fuori. Se questo spirito ha fatto zero il bambino, allora è potenzialmente in grado di fare più male .. forse uccidere. Ci venire e fare un esorcismo. Ci vediamo lì.” Zak hangs up by flipping the phone and then going to Nick. “What happened man?” Nick freaked when Zak told Aaron to get the holy water. “What you think?!” Zak growls. “We got a demon trying to get its kill! We need to hurry!”

**********

Since the place wasn’t far, they decided to come over to the house by foot. All three knew this was trouble in a child has been scratched like that. Aaron, holding a camera with the big hand on the taill along with the holy water and exorcism slips knew this meant trouble but something bugged him. It was not the people they were helping, but something seemed wrong...like he should turn around. “Hey guys wait..” Aaron stopped during mid-run to talk to them. “What?!” Zak was starting to get impatient. “I....” Aaron then took a breath: “Imma get some more holy water, we might need a lot than this bottle.” Zak shakes his head: “Fine, give me the one you have and get some more. And maybe try to see if there any myths of demons Italy has.” Zak tried to calm down, since there is no reason to yell. He is trying his best, Aaron thought as he gave the slips of paper to Nick before taking off, not looking back. Aaron then decided to put the truth into that lie but going to a ‘ghost; store to get a book about Italy’s demons and some holy water, so his friends will only be mad at him for taking long. Walking out, he soon feels like something was calling out to him at the beach, where the sun was setting out there at the horizon. Shivering, Aaron descended down the stairs to check out the beach. Once he was down there, there was nothing unusual and it seemed fine. However, a peep emitted which lead Aaron to turn to his ‘left’, his face lit up in horror.

**********

In plain sight, a two-story brick home can be seen with a small garden in the front and a stone pathway that lead to the door and its porch. It seemed nice, but until the two got closer it became more eerie. Zak couldn’t help but shiver when he felt an evil presence lurk beside him as if stalking him. With that in mind, Zak turns to Nick. “We better put the camera away in a safe area.”

“What?! Why?” Nick was merely shocked since it would be perfect for their international experience if they record it on video. “The lady…feels unsure about them being on TV…” Zak muttered, a little senile about this whole situation. Nick shakes his head as he decides to put them down. “When Aaron gets back, we can put them in the Necklace Unit Aaron has with him. If only he gave that to us.” Nick sighs heavily, hoping Aaron came back soon. Zak nods, understanding the frustration. “Here, wait for Aaron with the stuff and I’ll go talk with them.” He then takes his leave and rings the doorbell before greeting himself to them. Nick narrowed his eyes as Zak entered the home, kind of feeling left out by having to stand here to wait for the monkey while Zak had the fun of interviewing. The Lunapine took the time to check his surroundings, not really sure if this was a ‘legitimate’ case. “If the woman’s children are getting scratched…why did she wait till now or at least move out to keep them safe?”

Before that question could be answered, Aaron returned. With that return, came the same old feeling of insecurity and remorse. Aaron raised a brow: “Why aren’t you inside?”

“Zak says it might ‘invade’ their privacy so I gotta watch the cameras and all that crap.”

“That’s not like him.” Aaron responded, not really liking the fact that Zak decided to go there by himself. He then taps on a necklace which appeared as a jade necklace, facing the camera before a ray of light hit on the cameras, making them vanish in a second. “Geez, he’s been antsy since the nightmare huh?”

“Really?” Nick questions Aaron’s concern. “He seemed just fine.” Nick then starts heading to the front door, kind of ignoring the fact maybe Zak was a little…paranoid. He then sits on the welcome mat, taking a deep breath before he jumps up on his two back legs to put his paw on the door. Before he could open it, Aaron shouted: “Wait!”

“What?!” Nick spoke in an impatient tone.

“Geez, you too? Everyone is paranoid.” Aaron jumped up on one of the rails to the steps as he points to something with his head. “What?” Nick breathed out, already not in the mood. “Don’t you think it’s weird?-“Aaron then jumps down and whispers it to him: “The woman we are ‘helping’ never even got the children out when they were scratched? If what Zak says is true…then this woman is not doing a good job at parenting.”

“I thought I was the only one who thought like that.” Nick now realizes his suspicions might be correct, and also that someone shared the same suspicion too. “But yeah, it doesn’t look so good. Zak probably has the fame all around his head he is not thinking about this.” Nick then steps down and nods: “let’s check around the house.” He starts walking away to go check the side of the house, with Aaron following behind him. They passed some of the shrubs that were planted on a section of dirt, bordered by bricks already giving them a smell of lavender. “Lavender has been used for cooking, so I guess these people are cooks.”

“Let’s not distract ourselves with lavender.” Nick contemplated as he then sees a fence that blocked their path. “Hey Aaron, Imma need your pick-locket skills.” Aaron galloped to him as he yet again distracted himself with the lavender plant. Aaron uses Nick’s back as a trampoline to get to the top before using his tail to go through the lock and try to pick at it. “We better do this quick before Zak comes back.” Nick urged Aaron to be quick as he did not want to make any trouble.

“Hold on man ok? I’m doing the best I can.” Aaron growls as he was already getting frustrated with Nick’s anxiety. After a good minute, he was able to get it unlocked and the gate swung open slowly. “Got it.”
“Alright, let’s go.” Nick doesn’t hesitate to go through the gate as he sees the backyard which was…...not clean. “My God! It stinks!” Nick gagged as his sense of smell was reacting horribly. Aaron had the same opinion: “It smells like ten skunks had a frat party.” Aaron covers his mouth to prevent his face from going green. He then takes slow breathes before getting his head together: “Let’s find out where the source of this smell is.”

“And maybe some masks.” Nick added as he refused to breathe in this air. Both eyed each other before running through the disgusting backyard. They could see it was unkept and certainly told time. The grass grew to the size of a toddler with flowers and bugs already making the grass its home. Aaron tried to figure out how someone wouldn’t work on their yard. “How did we not smell this before?! The front looks nice but back here….my god! It’s hell!”
“I wish I knew. Maybe they’re just lazy asses.”

“But children are here I thought.” Aaron spoke through his arms as the smell was getting to him. This was now getting VERY suspicious and maybe even dangerous. Aaron’s eyes wandered around until he saw what seemed to be the sliding door to enter the house; with curtains closed. “Go figure, they don’t want people seeing the disgusting backyard.” He frowned as he jumped over to the small step to check the door: ‘Yep completely covered.”
“So Zak wouldn’t be able to see the backyard.” Nick was belittled on everything he was seeing so far and knew that things were probably going to get worse than this. “I don’t like this place at all.”

“Well…uhhh…Nick.” Aaron uttered toward him, “I got something which will throw everything down the toilet.” Nick raises a brow before walking over there to where Aaron was. “Why’re you in the middle of the grass? Something may jump out.”

“Oh don’t be a big baby.” Aaron’s voice emitted from the tall grass. “Just look at this.” Nick popped out of the grass to see his friend at some big dirt spot which nothing was growing, almost like it was circling around something or someone. “Well ain’t that creepy?” Nick descended from the tall grass as he spots a hole in which Aaron was in front of. “Well, what do you want me to look at?” Nick then puts his head down on the hole, narrowing his eyes to find out what he was observing. “Well I see nothing but b- EGAD! WHAT THE ********?!” Nick jumps up and backs off in sheer panic. “WHAT THE HELL?! Was that what I think it is?!”

“Indeed.” Aaron, somehow, remained calm despite Nick’s freak episode. “I knew something was wrong with this place. I didn’t say anything because Zak was speaking in Italian and only told us a summary.” Aaron then picked up a round white stick from the hole. “And so far, I now conclude what the hell is wrong with this house.” He then puts the stick down on the hole, which makes a clang like a mechanical toy would. “What is the Italian number for 911?”

************

“NICK?! AARON?!” Zak called out to the team, as he went through the front door to see his two friends, hanging out by the brick wall. “I was able to figure out a few things wrong with this place. Apparently it is a demonic entity that is trying to ruin as many people as possible; by fear or death. We better settle this case quickly.” As Zak looked to them in the eyes, he couldn’t help but feel unsettled by their stares, like they found out about something they were not happy about. “Is something wrong?

“No…it’s nothing. We were just impatient.” Aaron rubbed his temple as he then came up the steps. “So we got the whole night in this house?”
“Of course.” Zak chanted like it was a beautiful song to sing to. “We just got to set up the cameras and equipment.” He then looks on over to Nick. “You don’t look ok though.” Zak spoke in a worried tone, with Nick responding with eyes widening and shaking his head rapidly. “I-I’m ok.” He then comes up there too with the rest. “Maybe I am a bit anxious or something.”
Aaron then gives off a glare to Nick, knowing too well that he can easily show what has been happening a lot better than Zak and Aaron can with their expression. Nick gulped and cleared his throat: “Yeah, let’s just set up for the night.” Nick and Aaron entered the home with Zak, already feeling edgy and paranoid reminding them of the evidence they found: “Do you sense spirits Zak?”

“Spirits?”

“Yes.” Aaron looks up at the blue-wall, which had many pictures laminated to the frames. The frames somehow were clean but it made the Aipom shiver even more. “Well…uhhh…not now.” Zak uttered, a little embarrassed about it. Nick turned to Aaron, almost as if he was turning from a skeptic to a believer. Aaron coughs and remained silent before being able to speak: “That is all I wanted to know.”  

[Angstbucket Edgelord]

ShadowStream-chan

First up, just let me tell you how impressed I am with your dedication to this thread and your story. All this text looks very solid, and frankly, more than a little daunting to read. Great job on your persistence!

So, I read the Prologue post without reading any of the introductory post, in the knowledge that you probably will not include that first post in the book. If that is true, then the prologue could use a little more context and explanation in the way of characters and differences in their world and ours. There were also some grammatical and mechanical errors, but the piece has a nice flow and holds together quite well. Also try to distribute the description throughout the whole piece, instead of focusing specifically of descriptions in certain parts.

xPoppi  

[ShadowStream-chan]

Chapter 4

Above on the horizon, the moon appeared on the dark skies, gleaming its white light to the world as if putting people on a deep trance, its signal reflects the people’s need to either party, or just go to sleep to get ready for the sun’s return. But three will not be sleeping nor partying: While Zak went through the house to turn off & unplug every electrical thing that may cause disturbance; Aaron was able to get the whole equipment together in the Living room. The living room was equipped with a small table and two leather couch-chairs which was facing the wall and leaning against the window, absorbing whatever light comes at them. The floor was a wood, sustaining the color of light brown. Nick stayed behind with Aaron in case he needed help with anything; but deep down he wanted to know what they were going to do: “Aaron, I don’t even think this place is safe. What we found already justifies how bad it is.”

“We are not going to say anything until maybe after the investigation. Or maybe during cause there is NOTHING here!” Aaron then starts typing away with his big hand-shaped tail to starts setting up the four cameras they had planted on each room. “Unless he gets the spirits of those people about how ‘BAD’ this house is, otherwise there is probably no demon.”

“But should we tell him that instead of hiding it from him?!” Between the three when it comes to secrets; Zak was pretty neutral while Aaron was the secretive one, and Nick was the honest one. Nick hated hiding things from others, especially if that secret could probably save their life. “It just seems inadequate.”

“Nick, do you even think he’ll believe us?!” Aaron shot him a harsh question, staring at him until Nick looked down on the ground, pawing the white rug, in silence. “We will tell him, just not now. Or until he asks us what we’re hiding.” He then enters the last key to turn the four cameras on, looking at four different areas: One was a kid’s bedroom with a small bed and a ‘rocket-theme’ wall, another was the master bedroom with a modern setting, and the rest were the kitchen and family room. While the family room sustained a bright purple-wall room with a nice TV and an expensive brown couch, the kitchen seemed fairly small, only having one stove, refrigerator, and a sink. “This kitchen might as well be called a ‘kitchenette’ because of the size; all white and dull.” He grumbled as he then twitches his ears, hearing a growl. “Sorry ‘bout that Nick, I’ll remember the granola bars next time.” He then eyes at Nick, whose eyes widened and his black fur went from jet-black to grey. “That…..That wasn’t me.”

Aaron immediately phoned Zak: “Hey Zak, did I hear your stomach growling?”

“No? It can’t be: I just ate.”

Aaron’s eyes widened, not even knowing how to speak. “Imma’ search around.” He then clicks the walkie-talkie off as he then jumps down and gets a small, rectangular metal piece. “Alright, Nick and I are doing an EVP on May 18th, 2347. Is there anyone with the room around us?”

Silence. “Alright then, how about your name?” Silence. “Are you male or female?” Silence. After for what seemed to be 20 minutes, Aaron shakes his head.

“I swear Nick; I think it was your stomach.” He dropped out there during recording. “No it wasn’t!” Nick debated. “I ate like 30 minutes ago!”

“Shush!” Aaron hisses as he then turns his head to see a mirror. The mirror was in a shape of a black heart and on top was a tiny knife as if trying to stab the heart. Aaron slowly walked over to the mirror and uses his tail to elevate himself to inspect it. “Aaron, what you doing? I think we’re supposed to ask the Spirit questions.”

“Alright then Nick, then I’ll ask this question to them: Any Spirit strong enough to make their presence known, show your form onto this mirror.” Aaron then taps the mirror softly as if trying to point it out. “Aside from all that, you’re a big chicken if all you can do is growl at me.”

“Are you serious?! You’re taunting them?!”

“Ok then, what am I supposed to say?” Aaron glared at him before turning back to the mirror, but then something was seen from the corner of his eye. He saw sudden movement, as if a black shadow darted from the table to the next which was where their equipment was. In an instant, the wires around it started to move quickly as if a snake was being grabbed by a human hand. After the wire’s intriguing dance, it dropped to the floor. With the wires now frozen in place, Aaron grinned despite all that: “Alright, that isn’t bad. But Imma need more than that.”

“Need more than what?” Zak entered the Living room casually, with a confused look on his face. “Did you get something?” Aaron turns around to face him: “Kind of, you missed a shadow figure.”

“Well damn.” Zak muttered, looking over at Nick: “What did it do?”

Nick was on the couch, with his fur standing up in response to the shadow figure that came out of nowhere. He was next to the table until the ‘thing’ arrived; now he was far from the others on the couch. “If I am right, he came out from under the table toward the equipment and maybe…tried to ‘unplug’ the computers and cameras.” Zak then has a small grin on: “Oooh, so he wants no witnesses eh?” He then starts checking out everything: “So? You tried to unplug the computers, I dare you to try again and succeed.”

“You all are nuts.” Nick muttered. Aaron shot him a ‘funny’ look. “Hey, you’re the one who started the paranormal team.” Aaron chuckled.

“But I was hoping for someone who will not taunt demons until all three of us go to the Veterinarian.”

Besides the whole bickering, Zak remained still as if in a small trance. His head drooped down and his eyes closed; taking deep breaths as he was trying to focus. With his breathing came to the end of Nick and Aaron’s tension. Nick was the first to ask: “Zak? You sense anything?”

“Yeah…” He then looks behind him which is a hallway between the living room and the kitchen. “Let’s check out that area.” He then starts walking to the other room, with Aaron and Nick following behind with the EVP recorder and small camera. During their walk, Nick couldn’t help but feel….scared. “Aaron.”

“What?” Aaron stops walking to see what Nick had in mind: “Something wrong?”

“There’s someone following us.” Nick turned his head back toward the living room where they just were and got a strange sensation something was wrong. “Like their watching us.”

“Well yeah, we’re going to be watched. But I bet you right now the ones watching are the victims.”

“Victims?” Zak turned back as well, as he knew something was wrong with the two. “Victims of what?” Zak tipped his head as if he was curious. Nick starts tapping Aaron, really thinking it was time. “Alright alright already,” Aaron shoos Nick off as he then sighs. “We uhh….looked into the history of this place a little and well, let’s just say there are some people who were ‘murdered’.”

Then noises from upstairs started to emit, making Nick shake really bad. Aaron tried to continue: “And well, let’s just say we found the bodies in the backyard since that is where most of them were buried.”

“Are you saying you disrupted their resting place?!” Zak was in mere shock, almost not expected them to do such a thing. “WHAT?! NO!” Aaron shouts, making the noise from upstairs come to silence. The three blinked a bit as they now sense something very wrong. Nick huddled close to the two as he knew this was no ‘ordinary’ ghost. “But what I am thinking is that the ‘people’ who lived here dug it up since when we got there they were everywhere.”

“So they were the ones who caused this?” Zak pestered Aaron, not really knowing whenever to believe the two or not. “Zak, why would we lie?! This is the honest truth.” Aaron threw it out there so sudden that Zak had to back off. “Trust me, do we really act that stupid?!” Then a screech trumpeted the house, shaking up the first floor and the pictures hanging on the wall. One even fell from the pick and almost crashed onto Nick by an inch. Zak was now terrified. “This must be the work of a demon.”

“If only you knew…” Aaron mumbled, bringing up the bones that he and Nick saw…they were so brand new there was no way they died hundreds of years ago. But taking no chance, Aaron uses his Necklace Unit around his neck to open up his Buddhist talisman: “I’ll check upstairs.” With the talisman carried by his ‘third’ hand, Aaron jumped up onto the rail and slowly ascended his way up until he got to the tippy-top where he clearly sees a hallway leading up to four rooms: He could already guess one of them was a bathroom and the rest were personal bedrooms.

With one deft movement, Aaron jumped down from the rail quietly to go look down to the two: “It’s clear; come up.” That signal gave the two a sigh of relief as they trudged up the stairways to meet Aaron. “Well?” Nick asks.
“So far, it’s quiet but according to the noise it came from the right.” Aaron points to his right where the master bedroom was; door closed. “And by my judgment, that room made that noise.” Zak nodded in response as he slowly made his way over to the door, his ear pressed against the door. Everything was still; and the tension started to grow around them, leaving the three finding out that they were short of breath: “Is…Is it me or is it hard to breathe here?” Nick wipes his nose with his paw as the air was really heavy. “No…It isn’t you.” Zak responded as he then decides it was time to open the door. With his mountain goat-like horns shining from the moonlight, he charges at the door with full force only to bounce backward and land next to Aaron.

“That was a terrible mountain-goat mating re-enactment.”

“Shut up Aaron.” Zak groaned in response to the pain as he sits up, shaking his head to get himself back together. “Well now I know it is locked.”

“How? You didn’t even go look at the door handle.” Aaron casually walks over and lifts himself up with his tail before getting both of his hands on the door handle, pushing it down until a ‘click’ was heard. Aaron then eyes Zak in a taunting way before pushing the door. “THIS is how you open the ******** You.” Zak growls as he enters with Aaron, with Nick following behind. They then started exploring the master bedroom to see if there was any natural cause that could possibly be debunked. “How would that noise…be able to shake the first floor along with pictures falling off the wall? I would say earthquake but then everything would shake up.” Aaron asks himself as he starts to see the bed which he assumed was a queen-size. The air now started to thicken which made the three realize they are not alone: “Aaron.” Nick muttered, “You might want to start an EVP here.”

“Gotcha.” Aaron picks up the digital recorder to turn it off, and then turns it on again. “OK, this is the Master Bedroom on May 18th, 2347. Is there anyone in the room with us?” Aaron starts waving the recorder around him, letting himself also check what was around him. “How about telling us your name?” Aaron asks to the thick air as he then feels his body shiver. “Zak, I got a cold spot here.”

“What? Really?” Zak comes forward to put his head, applying pressure on the bed sheets as he soon feels that rush of cold air. “Whoa! Dead-on cold spot.” Zak, standing up on his fours, shakes his head. He then had a toothy grin spread on his face as he then nods: “Imma channel the spirits for the moment. Give me a minute.” Zak then steps away from the two and gets next to a lamp stand, his body suddenly droops down and his head looks down as if concentrating. His eyes were closed and his tail twitched in response to the frozen position. Nick tips his head, waiting for Zak to tell them what he senses.

Zak takes deep breaths: expanding his chest out and then back in as the air started to form around him, letting him see the transparent figures surrounding him. Their presence lingered alongside Zak, with part of the air separating to make an empty circle before they dispersed. Zak eyes widen as he realizes the ‘apparitions’ were going downstairs. “MOVE MOVE MOVE!” The Houndoom immediately yelled at the two and started rushing down the stairs. Aaron and Nick jumped up and got out of the running dog’s way before they followed behind. “Man! We just got here!” Nick complained as he was trying to make sure he did not trip on the stairs just trying to catch up.

“We can’t really stop him when he sees spirits.” Aaron slides down the rail like he was snowboarding before jumping up and landing on his feet with his arms up. “10 POINTS!”

“Not now!” Nick yells back at Aaron as he got to Zak whom was trying to open the basement door. Aaron grumbled and turns off the recorder before trudging to them. “Look. Before we get too into chasing after the spirits, let’s see what we got in the EVPs.” Zak proposed to them as he lifted his paw to get the door to open. “While we go down to this basement.”

“Should’ve brought a flashlight then.” Aaron spat out before getting his fingers to listen to the recorder. He then had a recorder and listened to it quietly as the others went down there by themselves. By himself, Aaron went through the digital recorder in silence until it reached the part where he was telling Nick that the owner was suspicious:

“We are not going to say anything until maybe after the investigation. Or maybe during cause there is NOTHING here!”

“Alright we are in that part.” Aaron mumbled, as he continued listening to the conversation. He then sees they were at the part where he was taunting the ghosts, looming over the mirror. All of the sudden, Aaron heard a breathy tone which was picked up during the ‘wire’s’ dance. “Whoa whoa whoa.” Aaron re-winded it to that part again so he could hear it again.

“Ok then, what am I supposed to say?”
……………………………………………………..
………………………………………diiiiiiiiiiiiee.

“Die?” he questioned himself before continuing to listen to the recording again. He had to stay still until it got to where he made fun of Zak.

“That was a terrible mountain-goat mating re-enactment.”
“Shut up Aaron.”………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………..Diiiiieeee vermin

“Jesus.” He then made a religious symbol on his chest which formed in a Japanese symbol as he then puts the recorder back to the beginning to hear it again. Listening to the recording he clearly now could hear a ghostly whisper, of a female, whisper ‘die’.

“...Wait a moment.” He then drops the recorder and then goes to the hidden camera where he embodied it on Zak’s necklace [in secret] to catch the woman’s voice. He clearly heard the conversation between the two in an interview inside the house. “That voice…..” He then got the recorder to play while the woman was telling Zak on the ghost said to her children. It then played together:

morire parassitiiiiiiii
Diiiiiiie vermin…….

Aaron couldn’t take it: “ZAK! NICK! GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!” Aaron hopped up out of pure fear as the two sounded exactly the same. With the screams ringing through the place, Zak and Nick automatically came back. “What?! What happened?!” Zak spoke up first out of pure concern, knowing Aaron was not the one to be scared easily.

“Listen to the damn two players right now. I got a ghost saying ‘Die’ and ‘Die Vermin’. Listen to that frickin’ precious customer of yours!” Aaron then started playing the two recorders next to each other again:

morire parassitiiiiiiii
Diiiiiiie vermin…….

“You recorded a private conversation?!” Zak roared out in anger.
“That is not the point!” Nick calmed him down. “During your private conversation, Aaron and I went out in the backyard to investigate when we suddenly see it was so unkept that it stunk like corpses. Not to mention that there were bones at the backyard! But these are recent! THESE PEOPLE ARE SADISTIC MONSTERS!”

“What?!” Before Zak could get any answers from them, the whole house roared and started shaking like it did last time but this time it was massively strong enough to where shelves were tilting until it could no longer support its weight. “LOOK OUT!” Nick shouts as the shelf was about to land onto the three. With one deft movement, the three jumps out of their spot to a safe area before the shelf tumbled onto the ground, breaking into 10 pieces. “What the hell is going on here?!” Zak could barely muster those words as many things were starting to fall and the lights were fading away.

“Let’s just get out of the basement now!” Aaron started pulling the two to where the stairs were, but the movement of the ground made them wobbly. All three could barely stand still; it was as if the pressure of an unknown force was keeping them down. But with remaining strength, they sprinted up the stairs with their remaining strength before they all got through the door and close it tightly. “This…..this is nuts.” Zak breathed out, trying to regain some of his cool. “Let’s just get out of here before anything-” Before he could finish, the front door made a ‘clicking’ sound which meant it was now locked from the outside. The other doors upstairs were forced open, slamming onto the walls with different sounds of screeching emitted through the house. “-HAPPENS!” Aaron finally finished his sentence, now seeing the walls were molding up losing their texture and color. “I don’t think that Ad was real.”

“I agree.” Nick gulped as the three stayed with each other; all facing a different direction. “Let’s just fight this thing and get out of here!” Zak snarls as he knew there was no way out unless they fight this monster right here and now.

“Are you nuts?! This is a demon!” Nick whimpered as the screeching stopped and now the only thing heard was the stairs squeaking. “Whoever it is, it is coming down the stairs.” Zak warns them, following it up with: “But we are not powerless: I will be able to sense the spirit to see where they are, and Aaron can exterminate the evil thing.”

“Oh?! And what do I do?!” Nick yelled at him, already knowing the answer to that question.

“Uuuuh….well…I would say…just try to be cute?” Zak squeaked out, eyeing Nick’s annoyed glare. Then the steps stopped squeaking, which got all three to remain still as they stared at those steps. “Here it comes.” Aaron lets out his talisman from his necklace as he kept his eyes on those steps for any surprise attacks.

A form started to appear, but it was invisible to the naked eye…except Zak. The Houndoom started to see a roundish body appearing from the wall. The body was in a purplish color as then two circles started to create hands, disembodied from the main body. The hands then grew three claws, with the hands starting to match the body’s color. Zak was horrified to see that the body now was starting to form spike-like protrusions on each side of the face. Then what seemed to be a tuft of messy fur was hanging on the bottom acting like the tail. With the body now finished, a face started to appear: Triangular white eyes with tiny black pupils, and a mouth with several, purple teeth.

“GUYS WATCH OUT!” Right when he said that, the ghost immediately opened its mouth and expanded his body to come at them as if it was a predator to its prey. “MOVE!” Zak immediately grabbed the two by the back of their muzzle with his mouth as he jumped out of the way. A centimeter apart, the ghost barely missed the target it sought out for. The three landed on the ground where the living room was, making a ‘big thump’ as their bodies touched the wooden floor. A groan emitted from Aaron as he got up: “Ow, my back…” The Aipom then stood up and then taps the other two with his foot: “Get up!” But before they could, Aaron could already feel someone coming so in one quick motion he picks up the talisman and then chucks it at the hallway in front of it.

Right away the slip of paper reacted to the ghost coming toward it, letting out an electric spark which immediately damaged its power, enough to where he was now visible. “A Haunter! I should’ve known it would be you!” Once he said its name, the ghost knew it could no longer hide itself in the darkness.

Zak and Nick immediately got up once they soon realized the enemy can be seen. Nick, with a hint of courage spoke up. “We got you right here and now! You might as well give up!” But his words only brought laughter to the creature. “Me? Oh what a laugh! I heard that many times from the previous people that came to cleanse me. You are certainly smart though to realize the woman was only an illusion.” It then shows its sharp purple teeth, making Nick cringe at how sharp it was. “Oh really?!” Zak responded: “I want to know though on how the hell you put that ad up?!”

“Does it matter? Even if I told you, it would be a waste of time.” This time, his words made the house shrink and absorb the colors around them until it all turned black & purple. “Because after all, you will be my next meal and it will not be the last.” His laugh rang through the walls as if it made itself bigger than the house. Its body expanded and his mouth roared a sound of laughter, making the three prepare for what is about to come.

“If I die, I just want to say that I love you guys." Zak breathed out, realizing now that this battle is now going to judge on whomever will live…and who will die.

PoppiHollaPuddlez

(OOC: Thank you Poppi for critiquing my work, and I really appreciate your compliments about the dedication I put onto the story. I do realize the introduction and I have edited it to hopefully put it to your liking and I know I have a few grammatical error (I am terrible with grammar) since I write the story however I like it, and then probably edit for later.

Thankies for critique~)