(Advised you read the next part in a weak/just woke up voice)
Your vision is filled with vivid shades of purple and blue—sharp and vibrant. They weren't too powerful, thanks to the cloudy night sky... Now that you peek at it, you can't tell if the haze is from the clouds or your head Shaking off the concussion. You can hear a female's rough voice shout out demand and a male's hard but soothing voice grunting as he avoidsanother attack from that Bitch of a spider; their tones pierce through the still ringing in your ears, equal parts annoyance and raw determination. You can feel my sense of touch comeback, the cold burning of the the fucked up grass, the biting cold radiating from that bitch, and something clawing at you—gentle, frequent pats. You groan as you look up, It's your fluffy Eevee Companion. You can barely make out, their puffed out neck fur. Their whimpers sound cute… Almost making you think you'll want to do this again.
Fine, fine. I'll get up… Once that blaring stops, it probably won't anytime soon.
His patting slows to a halt as he looks you in the eyes, his worry dissipating into something else.
Mugh, my body feels so hot and heavy... Fuck! Did someone up the volume on the moon? It's so bright. too bright.
I feel like I should look up at the moon, It's so… beautiful. It doesn't just light the sky—it soothes.
Char's whimpering continues but its lower, more scared then worried.
Why are you backing awa-? Are those my eyes?They're so narrow. The fuzz in Ava's vision gives way to a sharp focus with a chilling edge. Ha, That's new… Come on Ava, for Mom, Melia, and Something else. Char whimpers, backing off as Ava slowly rises, her movements are a jagged attempt at being fluid, but deliberate. I feel... light now. Almost hollow.
Ava glances at Ren and Venam, both struggling to stand. Their Pokémon are battered, Deluxe and King breathing hard, bodies trembling as they hold their ground. "Hmm." Her voice cuts through the air, a combination of her usual confidence with a blunt and detached undertone. She gently rubs Char's head, and they relax, if only a little. "I'll finish this up."
With the outskirts of the forest now clear, I walk. I don't feel any purpose, I'm just walking on autopilot. I just want this to end, I want to sleep with cushion. I stopped. Why did I stop? Ava looks down to where a litter of Joltiks are gathered in a pit where Ren's -now quiet- Growlith stands guard. She kneels down and grabs one by the head making it produce a constant clicking sound that echoes through the ravine. She holds it in front of her face until the battle seemingly quiets down before holding it away from her hunched body.
Ren looks back to Ava, Venam stares back; both of the trainers are taken aback by the person behind them. Blood leaks heavily from their head, and yet their eyes unbothered with a subtle flame burning beneath them.
*Crack*
*Crunch*
*Crunch-splat*
Ava crushes the Joltik's head, its purple contents spill from her empty hand. It's so hot, this pulsing under my skin is searingly hot! What is this? Materna's leg twitches and her tail drips the brown sludge, but it's not moving fast enough. You're, Not faster than me. Ava bursts off going from zero to a hundred as her eyes become fully engulfed by the flame they withheld. This is so raw, so primal, so unrefined. My entire body feels like it's on fire! Ava's shoulder slams into Materna's massive leg causing a resounding crack that splits the air as the spider stumbles. One more. Ava launches herself towards another leg. "Deluxe! Psybeam-Now!"
Deluxe staggers to her feet, exhaustion written all over her, and her stick broke. But she hears Ava, evident by the cheerful chirp she responds with. Her eyes close for not a second before they snap back open, and the spiral of psychic energy she releases is brighter, sharper than any before.
Ava slides and makes Materna's back left leg lock. Deluxe's beam hits Materna's tail severing the bulbous tip from the rest of the tail and it lands on the head; the enormous spider screeches as it stumbles back, its body writhing. And then—silence. Materna collapses, her monstrous form going still under the pale light of the moon.
The trainers stand there for a moment, catching their breath, the wind howls loudly. Ren and Venam stare at Ava, wide-eyed and speechless. Deluxe limps toward Ava, her tail flickering weakly, and she kneels before her pokemon to place a hand on her head.
"Good job, girl," Ava whispers, her voice now soft "That bitch got the Ultra Deluxe Special". Deluxe continues to nuzzle into her trainer's hand. Back to feelin heavy huh? Swaws was putting on some prime numbers.
"I-is it over? Did we do it?" Ren questions with his wide eyes glued on Materna, searching for any movement.
"I think so…" Venam replies between deep breaths as the stench in the air begins to dissipate.
Ava stumbles to her feet and recalls Deluxe and King. The winds picking up meaning… "It's over. The winds picking up, also meaning-" The trainers get shifted out of the rift. "- we should be back." Ava's eyes dart around. Not a trace
"We did it…" Venam says almost not believing that they truly survived and defeated Materna. "We're back!"
"Zetta!" Ren looks to where they last saw Zetta, only to find not a single trace of him.
A silence echoes between the group. "We're too late… He escaped." Venam's enthusiasm shot; with defeat bleeding in.
A pink flash resonates from the cave behind the trio of trainers. "I wouldn't jump to conclusions so suddenly. Ava steps aside."
"… " Ava crouches down and in the next second, her elbow thrusts back, breaking something in Zetta's body as he flies in her direction. "That's for Melia"
Even now you don't listen. Crescent and her Gothitelle teleport onto the ledge facing the trio. "You three made it out of the Rift faster than I anticipated." Cresent's voice was akin to a disappointed parent.
Venam heaves in exhaustion. "Great.. Who is-"
Ava cuts Venam off "Crescent."
Crescent sighs. "To those who are unfortunate to cross paths with me."
Ren's eyes dart between the Gothitelle and Crescent. " Wait a min-... How did you know it was her back in the lab Ava?"
"She was on the same boat as me before I ended up here." Ava sits on the unconscious Zetta. These uniforms must get real stuffy.
"Seeing the three of you here is very disappointing." Crescent holds her head up with her fingertips. "It's irritating when ignorant people refuse to follow advice." The mysterious woman's voice grows more disgruntled as she speaks. "Especially when that advice was said to protect a certain individual." She looks at Ava, who looks away annoyed, she then looks to Zetta's unconscious body and sighs. "I told you two that this path would lead to nothing but despair. Yet you ignored these claims and continued on this pointless endeavour." Crescent shakes her head looking at the battered late adolescents.
Ren takes his eyes off of the peculiar Gothitelle and looks to its equally strange trainer. "We didn't ignore them. We knew very well what you said back then!" Ren's fist clenches "But we chose to do something about it!"
Crescent looks at Ren with cold contempt. " And what exactly did that bring?"
Ren looks away, knowing that their efforts were fruitless
The woman's eyes scour Ren's face. "Exactly. You've endangered yourself for a girl that was killed far before you even had a chance."
Venam turns away from the harbinger.
"You three were way in over your heads. You've set yourselves up for failure." Crescent's voice was detached and disappointed.
And just let Melia die alone? What the hell? Ava grunts with a scrunched face."So what?! You expected us to-"
A flash of hostility paints the Harbinger's face. "Silence! Just because you are willing to discard your life for others, doesn't make you a being of valor Ava! Some people truly cherish their lives."
Y-yes Lunia. The fight in Ava's body dissipates.
"All three of you. Go back to East Gearen city and stay there." Crescent turns her back to adolescents. "Involving yourselves in the affairs of things that do not pertain to you will result in nothing less than tragedy." Crescent's Gothitelle hums a soft cry. "These past few events have been proof of that. Proof that you are weak." Crescent and her Gothitelle teleport out of the cave, with nothing more than the wind to follow and the muffled sniffling of Venam's pain.
Ren slowly and silently distances himself from his friends.
Ava sighs. "Let's… start heading back."
"Yea." Ren replies, following Ava while keeping a close distance to Venam as the survivors make their leave from the cave.
Lightning cracks the sky introducing light into the dark black and purple theme of Venam's room. It makes sense right? I mean there was nothing but Joltiks in that cave, and the dex entry, so… Why does it feel so strange that I knew they were in the rift before we saw them? And what was with that moon situation? I'll get my answers at some point. Hopefully I can get some for them as well. Ava looks up from the floor, checking on her friends. Ren sits on the couch absorbed by his empty gloves, their faint wear and tear become more obvious as the rain pours and drowns Venams muffled cries from behind the couch. And why the fuck did I call Crescent, Lunia? Ava gets up and leaves the room as the thunder booms.