The Trial of Juno Saga [PG-13]

[Neo Emolga]

PART III – THE BLAZING SKIES

Chapter 34
A Hero's Vow

Recommended Listening: Mattia Cupelli - Love Lost

I didn't have the words for how I felt.

I was confused, lost, and thrown back at the beginning again where I felt out of place and without direction, only now it was worse. I didn't know who I was anymore and was beginning to wonder if it was impossible to just go back to the way things used to be.

Blazewing and I shared a cell while Blitz and Axzen shared another, but we couldn't even see or hear the Zorua and the Pachirisu. Our cell was made of reinforced metal with only one barred window and two rickety beds, very similar to what I had been presented with at the Black Bay prison, only it seemed smaller this time. Like some of the other jails I had seen, this had a single metal door with another barred window. Unlike human prisons, the little that I actually remembered about them, these had no way to look into the hallway. There were only metallic walls on all four sides of the cell. As for the window, when I used it to look outside, we only had a view of the outside wasteland, but at least we could see the sun. And while it was still red, dark, and eerie in the evening, it was a light.

We had to accept it as our new home.

We had been stripped out of our uniforms, as if everything that had happened before never really mattered. Maybe it was for the best, because I didn't feel like part of the Silver Rebellion anymore anyway.

It started off simple. To pass the time and get our minds off of thing, Blazewing and I did physical exercises. Conversations started off about how corrupted Kamax and Jamac were, but after a while, it was no longer about them. We made up stories. We tried to laugh, tried conversational games, and talked about whatever we could to prevent ourselves from slipping away into madness. I don't know how we did it, but we kept hope alive and kept our friendship close. Sometimes we tried acting, dancing, and there was enough room for Blazewing to float and pretend we were flying to faraway places far beyond the confines of that cold, metal cell.

I often wrote on the metal walls with a screw found from one of the cots. At first, the writing on the walls started off as simple graffiti, starting with my name. and as time when on, turned into poems and short stories, sketches, and then into full-blown art using only scratches, groves, and hashes on the metallic surfaces of the walls. All done with a single screw. It helped keep my mind off of waiting, thinking to myself, and drowning in the "what ifs." Blazewing often added her own personalization, and we tried our best to turn what should have been torture into play. It seemed childish, but then again, with both of us born of dreams, we were unlike anything else in existence.

"We can never go back, can we...?" I asked myself as I etched another scratched drawing of myself.

"Nah, you don't want to go there," Blazewing told me, trying to provide comfort. "Because then you'd have to do everything over again. We got this far, that's gotta count for something."

It was then that I realized that trying to dodge one life lesson forced you into another. Even so, I tried to remember the family I left behind, but now I couldn’t even remember their faces. Everything about mom, dad, and my sister Vicky had become a blur, to the point where they seemed so far away that it felt like I had only imagined them ages ago. Despite that, I wanted to go back to that place and forget that anything with "Juno" or "Kivistal" even happened. Still, even if that were possible, I would have difficulty in trying to adjust to what had happened. There were many times I wished I have never gotten myself in this mess. I couldn’t help but think of all the alternative choices I could have made prior to this and how they might have changed things. Questions of why I had even bothered Randy in the first place, and why I had decided to become Juno in his dream world kept bothering me as I hoped and begged for different outcomes. And what was this Divine Prophecy? Was it real?

I could have sworn a few months had passed, and I could only guess what had been happening during the time we had been locked up in here. I could have sworn someone... anyone... should have tried to help us. After having rescued so many Pokémon from prison, was there no one that could help us now? During one of those nights, when Blazewing had already fallen asleep, I had looked out the window and wondered if we really had been forgotten. I began to think Jamac and Kamax had destroyed everything that related to the Divine Prophecy and the two of us, trying to ensure no one ever spoke of it again.

We weren't sure how many days had passed. There were days when it felt like my last moments of sanity depended on Blazewing, and there were days when I felt like I was the last one in the world who could coax her and still keep her hopes alive. I had no idea what we would do without each other.

I wasn't even sure if we lived, aged, and died like normal Pokémon do. But the truth was even dreams can bleed and feel pain. Both physical... and emotional.

And then one day, we had gotten a hideous shock. We had been sitting there, half asleep, without words to say when suddenly we had heard an explosion, and then rounds and rounds of gunfire. I heard shouting and screaming from outside, yet still couldn’t see anything with the window facing the wrong direction. More shots were fired, blasting loudly all around us.

"What is... all that noise?" Blazewing asked as she was suddenly waking up.

Then, I had realized something…

"Symarix is... under attack," I muttered, not sure what to think of it.

And yet, there was absolutely nothing we could do but listen. While the two of us and Blitz and Axzen were probably safe in this prison, I wasn't sure about the others. There were many innocent Pokémon out there in the streets, and I could only imagine what was going on.

It went on for hours. Pounding machine gun fire, an explosion off in the distance, and then a rumble. There would be silence for a moment, and then it would happen again in different orders.

It took several days for the carnage to finally stop, but Blazewing and I often talked about it. We could only imagine and speculate what happened, but for now, things had gotten quiet. I figured that could be either a good thing or a bad thing, but as far as I could tell, we weren't close to the main fighting. If we had really been taken over, the whole prison would have been raided to release the captive Crimson Stars soldiers inside.

Even if Symarix happened to survive this time, I knew that eventually the city would fall. It would be attacked again and again until the Silver Rebellion was completely annihilated. I could just imagine seeing the door of my cell finally opening, only to reveal a Crimson Stars soldier that would gun us down seconds later. I didn't want to think about how much of a waste it would be.

Things had become almost too quiet. There were times when Blazewing tried to assure me things would be okay, but I wasn't so sure anymore.

And then one day, the impossible happened. I never thought in a million years that it would come to this, but it had. Things had seemed unusually quiet, but it wasn't far too out of the ordinary.

We had heard a metal clanging sound in our cell door, and with a click, the door was unlocked, and it was finally opened after all these many, many months. I wasn't sure if it was a guard or something worse like a Crimson Stars soldier. What appeared before us was definitely a much bigger surprise.

There before us, appearing in the doorway seemed to be a female Pikachu, wearing a white robe with yellow bands on the rims of the sleeves and the base. The robe seemed a little roughed-up and rugged. Only her yellow, red-cheeked face and her paws, feet, and notched thunderbolt-tail were visible. She was holding a book, one that had a leather cover and seemed a little battered. The hood of her robe seemed to hide her face a bit, but I see despite all that had happened, she still wore a small, smug grin, which brightened to a full on smile when she saw us.

"Yes!" She cheered, looking very happy and bright and she threw back the hood to get a better view. "Wow, you guys are still alive, thank goodness!"

"Who... might you be?" I asked her, wondering if she was here to help us.

"My name's Sita!" She smiled, proudly introducing herself. "Ah, it's an honor to finally meet you! I'm one of the White Oracles, the ones who foresaw you coming! The others..." she sighed, "that jerk Jamac doesn't believe in the Divine Prophecy anymore... so much so that he's been putting us White Oracles to death."

"Are you kidding!?" Blazewing gasped. "Boy, he's sure raking it in on my hatred high score."

Jamac had gone much too far. Still, Sita's presence intrigued me. How did she make it this far to unlock the door? It made me wonder what else these White Oracles were capable of.

"Listen," Sita told us, giving the book she held a light pat. "you're gonna want to check this out. I think I might be one of the last White Oracles left. And this might be one of the few copies of the Divine Prophecy left after they burned a ton of the others. They might have gotten the others, but I'm a fox when it comes to slipping through the cracks!"

We were both taken back. After years worth of time, were we finally going to get the chance to read it?

"Why are they trying to destroy the prophecy?" I asked her. "And why are they trying to kill you and your friends?"

"Jamac and Kamax had it all wrong," Sita told us, shaking her head. "Gosh, they're just psychos on a power trip. They expected you both to be immortal gods that can just end wars at the snap of a finger. Since they don't have a clue how these kinda things work, yeah, they just snapped and thought it was all fake."

Unbelievable. In that case, wouldn't it make sense for us to rule the Silver Rebellion? Even if that was the case, I highly doubted Jamac would just give up the throne to me instead.

"Anyway, Sinis felt it was time to turn the tables," Sita told us. "Me rescuing you guys is part of a bigger diversion. Sinis wants to put Jamac and Kamax out to pastures. Yeah, the hard way. And that includes all of Kamax's loyal Generals, the High Guard, and anyone else without a spine or a brain who still thinks Jamac and Kamax are respectable bosses. He's hoping you two might be interested in that."

Sinis? I wasn't expecting that, but I figured even as serious and as objective as he was, eventually a guy like him would have to snap and realize that out of self-preservation, after you factor everything in, something had to be done to put the problem away.

"When do we start?" I asked her, rubbing my paws in anticipation with a steadfast smile.

"You bet I'm in!" Blazewing grinned with a dark smile. "As long as we don't have to clean up the grizzly mess that's to come."

"Ah, awesome!" Sita cheered with a bright smile. "I was hoping you guys would say that! It's not going to be pretty, though. They've got guards posted everywhere. In fact... Sinis had to rely on careful timing and inside help to make sure he had all of Jamac and Kamax's Generals, High Guards, Subcommanders, and important goons all in one spot. Gotta clean up the whole mess in one bang, or at least give it the best try possible. Sinis is calling it Operation Apex. There's a lot of complicated stuff involved, but even I don't know all the gritty details."

I could already see how deep this had gone. I wasn't sure how much support this Operation Apex had, but I was hoping it was a lot, because from the way Sita made it sound, we were going to have to do a lot of damage to Jamac's highest regime... all in one, swift strike. It was the only way to give us a second chance.

"First things first," Sita told me with a smile. "Jamac and Kamax would burn me at the stake for showing you guys this, but... ah whatever, they'd try to kill me regardless."

Recommended Listening: Ryan Amon: City of the Fallen -Forgiven

She then handed the battered book to me, and found where she wanted me to start reading. It was a pretty big book and there wasn't time to read all of it, but I found the small, metallic marker she used to indicate where I should start reading. I looked at the words, and began to read aloud.

"There will be a time when all hope has faded. There will be a time when fire rushes from the sky and pain and desperation will be closer to your heart than ever. When it seems at the moment that everything is lost and destroyed at the hands of your enemies and your merciless oppressors, there will be one last source of hope that you can rely on.

He will be like the rest of you, a Pikachu no different in appearance from the ones in your ranks. He will fight with you, and risk his life for you to ensure your victory. And he will come at your most dire time of need. He will arrive on a bird as red as blood and as white as lightning. When the skies turn into fire and the land is burnt into ash, he will come. When you have endured the restless masses, the battles, and the nightmares, he will arrive. When the night seems endless and all hope has faded, he will come, and he will go by the name of Juno.

He will lead your people into their darkest battles, but you shall have no fear, for your victory is ensured by his presence. Never once will he betray you, and he will be by your side until you have established a new order.

You will fight on the harshest, twisted fields and with fire and storm thunder you will bring down the enemy. Though courage and determination you will prevail.

And to prove his loyalty to you, he will destroy the worst of your foes. He will fight until the bitter end. The battle will claim his life, but it shall be the same for the oppressors. And when the last of the enemy’s blood has been shed, a new light will be revealed."

“Claim my life?” I asked, still looking anxiously at the words as I couldn't help but let the book tremble in my hands.

Sita looked down, and despite her optimistic attitude, seemed to have a tough time talking about it. She then gave me a light nod, knowing it was a hard thing for me to accept and understand.

"You're sure about this?" Blazewing asked, looking a little distraught. "I mean, I know everyone's gotta go at some point, but..."

"I know..." Sita replied, trying hard to smile and be optimistic about it. "Yeah, it's one thing to go into a fight and try and dodge it, and something totally different when you know you're a goner going in. And now... you know why people weren't too crazy about showing it to you."

As hard as it was to digest, I had to admire Sita for her honesty and her passion to show me something deep that so many had tried to keep buried from me. I wasn't going to question the authenticity of these predictions. They knew who I was the moment we came into this world. And these White Oracles paid with their lives to protect it.

But so many thoughts came racing to me. How would it happen? And was there... was there something after death? I really didn't want to die, but... I could make myself ready.

"It..." I spoke, finding it a struggle to accept but decided to anyway, "it's... okay. We'll do it."

"Yeah," Blazewing nodded, trying to smile though I knew it was tugging hard at her too. "Nothing to lose, baby. We'll be on fire."

"Wow, you've... really got a lot of guts to say that," Sita told me with a smile and a gentle, friendly pat on the shoulder. "Juno and Blazewing, these Pokémon... they're gonna remember you forever if you do this. No joke."

Forever. I wasn't sure if that would be true, but... if I had to go one way, I'd rather be it like this. I'd rather have it happen doing something truly awesome and admirable. I could grow old and die in a deathbed, pass away forgotten and alone, or let it be like this.

This was how our names would live forever.

[Neo Emolga]

Chapter 35
Concealment and Deception

Sita's power was quite remarkable. She definitely had some kind of clairvoyance ability, hence how it managed to help her keep out of sight. It almost seemed like she was some kind of magician or wizard, casting divination and clairvoyance spells with her hands, creating soft, white glows in the process.

Rescuing Axzen and Blitz wasn't too difficult either. I wasn't even sure which prison cell was theirs, but after a little farseeing on Sita's behalf, she managed to find the exact cell. She even knew which of the keys on the ring was the exact one.

"Man, you're a handy one with those magic tricks," Blazewing smiled, impressed with Sita's White Oracle abilities.

"Yeah, I kind of abuse them," Sita giggled as she put the key in the lock. "Helps me figure out what happened to the other sock when only one comes out of the washing machine."

After unlocking the crude, metal cell door and swinging it open, I saw Blitz and Axzen for the first time in many, many months. They were totally shocked, but incredibly thankful.

"Oh my god, tell me you're here to finally bust us out of this craphole," Axzen gawked as the smoky-colored fox admired seeing the outside hall for the first time in a long time.

"Uh huh," Sita smiled. "Hey, the name's Sita by the way."

"Can I just call you 'lovely?'" Blitz asked with an admirable smile.

"Your friends are hilarious, Juno," Sita smiled, winking at me. "But we'd better scramble. Sinis has been plotting this thing out for a long time, and we really only have one shot at it."

As we headed out of the prison, Blitz couldn't help but want to know more.

"Sinis?" Blitz asked as we quietly and carefully headed down the metallic halls and started down a poorly-lit, metal stairwell. "The grumpy Zangoose?"

"He's a serious and stubborn guy, but he knows when things have gone rotten," Sita told him as we made our way down the rickety, metal stairs. "Long story short, today is Operation Apex day. Overthrown the corrupted Silver Rebellion government, or at least give it our best shot."

"You're an Oracle though," Blazewing told her as she floated overhead. "Can't you foresee if the operation is successful?"

"We can only see bits and pieces of the future," Sita told her as she descended down the stairs, wishing it was more than just that. "And an Oracle needs to be in a comatose state to get those kinds of visions. When we had the whole guild working at it, we were able to get enough pieces of the puzzle, hence how the Divine Prophecy was written. Now that it's pretty much just me who's left without a whole lot of time for vision naps, it's kind of limited. And I'm good at it, but... yeah, there were guys who were better at soothsaying and divination than me."

Without any trouble, we managed to get out of the prison with relative ease. Once we stepped outside, we were shocked.

Symarix had definitely been attacked. And from the looks of things, repairs were slow. Main of the metallic buildings now had blast marks, and a few of them had been completely blasted out and reduced to burnt, metallic husks. Somehow, the city had survived the attack, but from the looks of things, just barely. I had a bad feeling about it. If the Crimson Stars were able to pull off that kind of damage on the Silver Rebellion capital, they already had a good idea of how the city's defenses were like, and the next time around, they could be more prepared. If something wasn't done soon, the city would fall, and I didn't want to see what the Crimson Stars would do with an entire city of Pokémon to abuse.

I could help but wonder about Sinis's plan and who else was involved. I only had a slice of the details from what Sita told me, but from the sounds of it, it was a intricate undertaking that he had planned, and I was hoping it would work. For the time being, it was probably best to lie low and not appear openly in public. I was pretty sure if news got around that the two of us had been freed from prison, it would cause quite a bit of suspicion.

"Where should we hide?" I asked Sita, knowing we needed to take cover to allow Sinis carry out Apex. "I don't know all the steps that are involved in Sinis's plans, but I highly doubt us getting spotted by Jamac's cronies will help it along."

"We got you guys covered," Sita told us as she ushered us around a hidden alleyway not too far away from the prison. "Blaze, I know you're good with cloaking yourself, right?"

Blazewing nodded, and in only a few seconds, managed to turn herself almost completely invisible by reflecting her down so it wouldn't absorb light. It was almost impossible to see her, and only a very, very faint outline of her could be seen if she stayed still.

"I charge five hundred Poké an hour to haunt houses," Blazewing giggled.

"Sheesh, you sure ain't cheap!" Sita laughed.

Well, at least we had her covered well. I wasn't sure what I was going to do, though. Even though a Pikachu was a pretty common Pokémon, Jamac and Kamax would likely still recognize me. There were, after all, a few differences between Juno and an everyday Pikachu. Every time I looked in a mirror, I couldn't help but feel myself as Juno, born out of dreams, did seem noticeably more heroic and charismatic.

Before I got to think about it more, that was when we were approached by a Dragonite, dressed in a gray and white Silver Rebellion military uniform. He seemed a bit more steadfast for a Dragonite, as the orange and cream-colored dragon with the rounded belly and small bat wings definitely looked like he had seen some pretty grizzly things in his age. Besides the heavy Flamelance machine gun he also carried, he seemed to be carrying with him a black duffle bag of sorts.

"Ah, right on time," Sita smiled.

"Name's Vexcel," The Dragonite quickly introduced himself to the rest of us in a firm and determined voice. "I take it you've been briefed on Apex?"

"Bits and pieces," I told him. "I don't know all the details, but I know what the goal is."

"Good, because there's a lot going on at the moment behind the scenes, but I'll give you the rundown," Vexcel informed me. "For the last few months, the Apex operation has been seeking to overthrow Jamac and his cronies, as you know. Poor leadership, locking you up for no justifiable reason, political corruption, and military crimes are the core reasons behind this. Sinis, as the Chancellor, and two of Kamax's Generals, one being myself, the other being Tamant the Pangoro, has been double-agents, performing recon on everything Apex needs to know about Jamac, Kamax, and their operations. We've seen enough of their sick bureaucratic antics, even though we've been concealing our hatred of it for quite a while now. Today happens to be Honor Consignment Day. Kamax is getting yet another undeserved Serious Declaration of Honor Star and is naming two new Generals out of the High Guard. Everyone we need eliminated will be there at the ceremony."

The irony couldn't have been deeper, and the thought of Kamax giving himself awards was just stupid at the same time. Still, between horrible leadership, destroying the White Oracles, locking me up, and doing god-knows what else to these people, it had to end, or it was going to end up killing us all.

"So, he imprisons us for killing Vorox, and he's rewarding himself for killing innocent White Oracles," I muttered, casting a glance at Sita and wondering why they'd be after Pokémon like her that meant no harm.

"They've done way more than just that," Vexcel growled at the thought of it. "He's been sending Pokémon that don't agree with him on suicide missions and denying them evac or reinforcements. Defecting means facing treason charges, which include execution. He's also killed civilians recklessly and doesn't even listen to terms of surrender. And Jamac... he's lost his mind when it comes to the sheer, political and propaganda nightmare he's unleashed."

I nodded, not crazy at all to be hearing this, but I wasn't surprised either. In fact, I was beginning to think Blazewing and I had been lucky that they hadn't decided to just drag us out of prison to be executed for whatever stupid made up reason.

"We needed this crap ended months ago," I agreed with the Dragonite.

"Amen to that, but timing was the only thing holding us back," Vexcel agreed with a nod. "The entire chain of command that Jamac and Kamax have needs to be uprooted all at once. Kamax has far too much pride in himself to not show off to anyone with a name for themselves how great he thinks he is."

"I want in, but it's impossible," I told Vexcel, knowing I wanted to help but couldn't because I'd be recognized. "If anyone sees us out of prison, they'll suspect something's up and they'll likely be alerted. Blazewing can cloak herself, but I'm out of luck."

"You're going in disguise," Vexcel told me, sliding the black duffle bag to me. "At least until we're about to pull the trigger."

I nodded, figuring that was probably the best approach. I approached the duffle bag, separated the line of buttons, and then discovered it was seemingly stuffed with what looked to be a whole lot of beige-colored cotton. To say the least, I was pretty confused.

"The heck...?" I asked Vexcel, wondering what exactly this disguise entailed. "What kind of disguise is this?"

"They want you going as a Whimsicott," Vexcel me in the suspicious tone of voice that definitely make it clear this wasn't his idea. "It'll conceal your identity, and it allows us to hide the explosive charges."

"Explosives?" I asked, blinking twice.

What kind of crazy plan was this? Everyone else seemed a little surprised, save for Sita, who seemed like she had already been aware of this.

"Yeah, sounds crazy, doesn't it?" Sita told me, almost laughing. "Believe it or not, Sinis hates that place. He thinks it's gaudy and he believes political leaders shouldn't be plastered with ritzy crapola. Hey, I just like a good boom every now and then, you know?"

I saw where Sinis was going with this. It was in stark contrast to what Jamac and Kamax had done. Maybe it was extreme, but it was a vivid and very memorable approach that the public would admire him for humbling himself before them since of just taking the throne on for himself. Truthfully, the more I thought about it, the more I felt it was a good idea. Sometimes, when things got so bad, filthy, and corrupted, you had to gut it all out, clear it away, and just start over.

I decided to dig out everything in the bag. Seriously, there was a ridiculous amount of cotton fluff in there and it felt like there was no end to it, but it was convincingly close to a Whimsicott. Attached to it was a brown jumpsuit that served as the body while the green curled horns were simply made of some hard synthetic material. I shrugged and figured I'd try it out and strap it on. It wasn't too hard to get into and it effectively hid my Pikachu ears and tail very effectively. Still, the amount of cotton fluff behind me made it absolutely impossible to see what was going on to my rear and most of my sides.

"This... feels ridiculous," I sighed, trying to keep the cotton fluff on my chin from unintentionally going into my mouth. "Who's idea was this anyway?"

"It's only for a short while," Vexcel assured me. "We also need to you wear the uniform on top of that. We need Kamax to think we're just attending his ceremony."

I nodded, and figured they prepared for that too. I strapped on the extra uniform in the bag, and while it felt a little cumbersome and warmer than I would have liked, it did the job. As for the explosive charges, they were using three of them, each of them looking like black bricks. Vexcel managed to stuff them pretty deep inside the gigantic cotton ball that was strapped to my head and back, and after that, I figured we were all set.

"What about the rest of us?" Blitz asked Vexcel, wondering if he was going to have a part in this also.

"Depends," Vexcel told him. "Jamac and Kamax may recognize you if you appear in the throne room, which can compromise the situation. However, if you take a position on one of the rooftop buildings surrounding the spire, we can give you a sniper rifle to ensure none of them escape."

"Hell yes, we're doing that!" Axzen agreed, grinning at the thought of that. "The view of the explosion from there will be awesome!"

Well, I figured there was a good reason he became a Zorua.

"Now remember," Sita told me, almost giggling, "Almost every Whimsicott is mischievous, impish, and naughty. You've got to be like that too if you want people to believe it!"

I never was much for any serious level of acting, but I figured I could play along with this. I took a curious look at Sita, squirting for a moment, and tried to put on a look of concern.

"Hold on, is your mouth bleeding?" I asked her, looking worried at it.

Sita was a bit surprised, but she run her small yellow finger around the inside of her mouth, but it didn't come up with anything besides wet spit.

"Did I miss it?" She asked, wondering what I was seeing that she couldn't. "Where do you see it?"

"Here, let me take a closer look," I told her, stepping closer as she kept her mouth open as I pretended to be examining her tongue and teeth..

I then took a handful of the cotton fluff, and just stuffed it in her mouth and stepped back. I then tried to hold back laughing, but utterly failed. She looked absolutely comical and ridiculous with a big wad of fluff in her mouth like that. It didn't take her long at all to realize she had been completely fooled.

"Oh, you stinker!" Sita exclaimed, quickly spitting it out.

"Ah, that's golden," Blitz snickered. "Well played, sir, well played."

Everyone else couldn't help but chuckle either. Even Vexcel the overly serious Dragonite couldn't help but smirk and eventually snicker at it.

"Good, keep that kind of nonsense up," Vexcel told me. "They'll never suspect the real you. But don't even think of doing that kind of thing to me."

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it," I told him in a sweetly cynical voice.

He then gave me that evil eye look.