//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: Absolution // by ed2481 //------------------------------// I crouched there in the darkness of the bushes, watching my prey as it scurried about the bottom of the tree. They were fat pink creatures, adorable to a fault. However, I was hungry so there was no helping it; one of them would have to die or else it would surely be me. So, uttering a quick prayer to Father Arceus, both for myself and for the soul of the one who I hunted, I struck. The world around me blurred as I sprung out of the shadows, my sharp teeth finding purchase on the Clefairy's neck. The pitiful creature let out a scream of pain but my teeth snapped down tightly, breaking its spine in a single motion. The other Clefairy turned to stare at me, their eyes wide with surprise and fear, then they backed away into the dense underbrush. Good. I would not have to worry about fighting them for my kill. I dropped the body onto the ground and closed my eyes. Father Arceus, I thank you once more for the gift of food you have bestowed upon me and I wish this Clefairy’s soul safe travel into your embrace. I take life not for sport but because I have no alternative, amen, I silently prayed. Then I opened my eyes and sank my blue muzzle down to it’s pink flesh, inhaling the appetizing smell. Then without further pause, I began to eat. As I licked the last of the Clefairy's blood from my lips my mind began to wander as it oft does to why I was here on Mt. Coronet. So many months of searching for it, over two years of my life, and finally here I was. I had come here seeking Father Arceus in the belief that maybe, just maybe, he would have a solution to that which troubled my mind. With a small sigh I rose from the remnants of the Clefairy, leaving it for whatever scavengers wished to devour the last morsels. Then, as was my habit, I began to tread through the underbrush silent as a shadow, walking towards the nearby stream. The trees overhead allowed soft sunlight to flit across my white fur and my red eyes watched the surrounding area for any sort of threat. Thankfully, for I am not a fighter by nature, I arrived at the stream without conflict. I dipped my muzzle down and immersed it in the clean clear water, savoring the taste as it played across my tongue. When I lifted my head away I stopped to look over myself, while I am not a vain creature I have found that it is always best to look as best I can. I was pleased by what I found looking back at me. A pair of sharp red eyes surrounded by my handsome dark blue face further covered by my flowing white ruff. The moonlike blade which extended from the side of my head gleamed slightly in the sunlight which poured down from above and the black oval, my ‘third eye’ stared back at me. My gaze lingered on it for a moment longer then anything else, as it always did, before moving onto the faint outlines of the scar that ran across my right cheek. I turned away from my reflection and began to pad back through the trees, on my way to the place where I had spent the last year. Maybe today Father Arceus would grant my wish, and if not then I would return the next day, and the day after that. My wish was simple I wished for one thing, and one thing only. Absolution. And yes, I realize that as an Absol, that is inherently funny. Forgive me if I do not find it so. The ground beneath my paws became slopped and were it not for the year I had spent climbing the slope I would have tired long before I reached the halfway point. Thankfully, I had long since conquered that particular issue. I bounded up the stony walls of rock with the grace of a Gogoat, leaping from one boulder to another, finding anchor on the least navigable places. Suddenly, a familiar voice rang through the air. “Cres!” The sound of my name made me freeze in stride and I would have dashed my brain to bits on the rocks below if not for long tempered practice. Instead, I landed badly on a boulder and nearly slid off, my claws scouring deep holes into it while I fought for purchase. “Cres, oh my gosh, are you alright?” the melodious voice asked, I looked down from my perch on the boulder and found myself looking into the most beautiful pair of eyes I have ever seen on an Absol, or anyone else for that matter. They were a light blue and beneath it lay a forever deep pool of empathy. The gleaming orbs were framed by a face of dark crimsone skin and her white ruff was currently raised with worry. “I... I’m fine,” I said with a shake of my head as I recovered from my near mishap. “Belle... what are you doing here?” I asked slowly. “Why, looking for you of course,” Belle answered simply. “My trainer, Roxanne, brought me here after I finally managed to make her understand where I wanted to go.” “I see,” I replied tersely. “Well. You should get back to her. I’m sure this ‘Roxanne’ must be worried about you.” I turned my back on her and prepared to continue on my way, eager to put Belle and the memories she stirred with me to rest. “No,” she said defiantly, and with a single bound she was standing in front of me with those beautiful eyes. “Cres... you can’t keep running from me.” “I am not running from you,” I replied flatly, attempting to slip by her left only to be stopped by her chest. “Yes you are,” she stated. “And you’ve been running for the last two years.” “I have not been running from you!” I growled. “I am seeking absolution from Father Arceus. Leave me to it!” “No, it’s unhealthy; you’re going to get yourself killed up here!” Belle snapped back at me. “There’s no reason for this. Arceus has surely heard your prayers by now and if he hasn’t chosen to grant you your wish yet then he’s never going to!” I flinched back under her words, they were a truth that cut me to the core. I had been praying for Father Arceus for a year and a day, and he had not given me so much as an ethereal breeze of his attention. Still; what I needed only he could provide. Belle saw my flinch, and her voice softened. “Cres please, just come back to me. We can be together with Roxanne and we can finally be happy,” she said quietly, her face pleading with me to accept her offer. It physically hurt me to see her look like that, so I did all that I could do. I looked away. “Belle... please... just... just leave me,” I said haltingly. “Please... I just wish to speak with Father Arceus and do as he bids.” “No,” she said, taking a step towards me. “I’m not letting you do that Cres. I swore it when I started out on this journey. I would come back with you, or I wouldn’t come back at all.” I stared at her for a moment before I acted. With a single precise movement I brought my blade slashing down at her exposed throat. As I expected, she parried it easily, but by then I was already moving. “CRES!” she shouted behind me, but I didn’t care. All that mattered to me was the rocks in front of me and putting those lovely empathetic eyes as far behind me as I could. Belle however had other ideas. I had made it maybe fifteen feet farther up the cliff face when she caught up to me and I was knocked to my side as her pusit slammed into me. As I fell, the air forced from my lungs, I managed to align myself so that I could land on my paws and did so, scrabbling at the gravelly ground. Belle alighted beside me, looking at me worriedly. “Are you alright Cres? I just didn’t want you running away like that,” she said, her eyes soft. “I’m fine,” I said with a snarl as I caught my breath “Thank goodness,” she said. “Now, will you come with me?” “I... fine,” I said with a heavy sigh. Belle’s eyes widened in surprise and her lips broke into a smile. “Really?” she asked me, her voice so overcome with happiness that it nearly made my fur stand on end. “Yes... really,” I said, nodding slowly as I walked up to her. She smiled and gave me a nuzzle. “Thank goodness... I really thought that I’d have to-” As much as it hurt me to do it, I cut her off, physically. My paw shot up and I sucker punched her in the forehead, knocking her unconscious. She let out a pained grunt as she fell to the ground and I bounded away. It was not until I reached the peak of Mt. Coronet that I allowed the first tears to fall. I... had thought that I had left her behind long ago. That I had imparted onto her the fact that I would not rest until I had completed my quest. That I would not ‘settle down’ with her and her trainer. And yet... she had come thousands of miles looking for me I was undeserving of such affection. No matter how much my body and soul wished for it. I do not know how long I sat there, pouring out my grief, but it was long enough for the sun to begin sinking from the sky and the stars to begin to peek their heads out from the cover of day. I shivered as the night’s breeze whispered through my ruff and I sighed. I had wasted the day caught up in my grief and now I would have to spend the night on the peak. So, without further ado, I began to pray. “Father Arceus,” I intoned softly. “I have come to you once again to beg you for that which I seek the most. My name is Cres and I have given up everything so that I might come to this most sacred of sacred places in order to pray to you. Please... it has been a year and a day since I began this vigil... and I begin to think you do not care for me,” I continued, my voice becoming rougher... more resentful than I intended. I fear that my encounter with Belle may have affected me deeply. “I know... that I am only a single Absol among hundreds of thousands... and I do not place myself above them, nor above any other Pokemon... but I... I was forced to turn away a good friend today in order to be here...” I trailed off, images of Belle’s still form filled my mind. “I... I pray that she returned down the mountain safely and was reunited with her trainer... this ‘Roxanne’.” I fell silent as a sat there. Once again I had failed to garner any form of response. “Please Father... I beg of you, just... please come to me!” I shouted as tears began to run down my face anew. “I just want a moment of your time! No more, no less! I have been here for so many days, so many night spent upon this stony peak, the least you could do is give me the time of day!” Anger ripped through my voice now as the injustice of the situation raced through my mind. “By now Belle and I could have been happy together! I-I could be a father and instead I have been here! All I want is a word from you! Just... LISTEN TO ME!” I roared. “I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME FATHER! PLEASE! JUST-” “Cres... he’s not listening to you,” Belle’s voice said from behind me. I spun, my sickle-shaped tail slashing through the air, almost slitting her throat open but she didn’t flinch. She stood there, a mixture of pity and grief filling her eyes. “Belle... you followed me up here?” I asked, my voice catching in my throat. “Of course I did Cres, you idiot,” she said softly with a shake of her head. “You thought I would come this far and give up that easy?” “I... are you alright?” I asked, looking over her. “I... I’m sorry I just couldn’t...” “It’s alright,” she told me as she walked up to me and gave me a gentle nuzzle, making me flinch away from the contact. “You... you shouldn’t just forgive me like that!” I exclaimed as I backpedaled away from her. “I... I knocked you unconscious for Arceus’s sake!” Belle’s muzzle turned into a frown and she nodded a little. “That’s true, and you’ll have to make it up to me somehow... but in all honesty I should have expected it,” she replied. “I know you better than to think you’d change your mind that quickly,” she let out a quiet laugh. “I mean, you’ve trecked your way here of all places because you got it into that thick skull of yours that it would help.” I sighed and looked away. “Belle... please... I’m not crazy... I know that he’s out there... and I know that he can help me,” I said quietly. She walked up to me, ignoring my flighty movements and slowly lowered her forehead to touch mine. I froze as the two ‘eyes’ met and looked up to stare at her. “One more night,” she said quietly. “Please... for me... only stay up here one more night. It’s been two years... and Arceus only knows how many days you’ve spent up here-” “A year and a day,” I intoned quietly. “-you’ve been up here for a year and a day... if he doesn’t come tonight, promise me that you’ll come down tomorrow morning?” she asked, looking up at me with those soft eyes I adored so. I stared into her eyes for a long time, it could have been hours, but when I came out of my trance I found that she was still begging me. "I... alright,” I said softly. “If Father Arceus does not appear to me tonight... then I will give up my quest and join you.” Belle smiled, and a radiant smile it was. Then she leaned forward and softly pressed her lips to mine. We stayed locked like that for a long moment before she broke the kiss and took a step away from me. "Thank you Cres,” she said simply. “I will see you tomorrow morning.” She turned and walked back down the path, leaving me to stare at her retreating form. I remained standing frozen there until I realized that my mouth was still half open, her name on my lips. With a small sigh I dropped down on my rear and turned my gaze skyward once more. “Father Arceus I...”