Forum Thread

Kim nodded. She understands.

"THEY DON'T CARE!" Willow screamed. Luna covered his ears. "They didn't love me..." She said suddenly.

Luna tried to calm her down. "Look, Willow... We can get this situated." He said calmly.

"They don't care..."

"They do care."

"Then where are they now?"

"..." Luna stayed quiet. Willow thought this was weird. "Answer me, Luna." She said. Luna looked up at Willow with an uncertainty. "You don't wanna know, Willow." He said. "Why don't you just let me go-"

Willow looked at him with sorrow eyes. "Promise me, promise me we'll live a happy life together? Live happily, not have to worry about anything?"

Luna sighed. "Willow, I can't make that promise. But if you'll come with me-"

---

Zane lost focus by the voice. "What the-?" He glanced around quickly.

---

Rosie froze as the voice boomed about them. Their eyes were round with panic, darting back and forth. "What's going on?!" they cried. "Who-? Who was arrested?!"

They met Kim's eyes and promptly jerked their own away. "Who did this?!"

---

Butterfly.

Shortly after Isla had hatched, an abandoned egg in a big world, then she had been taken to the Butterfly Circus. It was a funny name, she recalled thinking, as she gazed up at the enormous red tent that was to be her home.

Off to the side, was a sign, or rather a plank of wood tacked onto a stick jabbed into the earth. Written in a shaky scrawl were words which she would not understand for years to come. On her other was a pile of dirt, rough and beaten. That was odd in itself, but the horrible truth that lay hidden beneath the soil was worse.

She gave a few hopping steps... then bumped her horn against the door in rapid succinction.

And the door opened.

The egg had been caught. Scraped off the leaf, plucked by curious hands. Became the toy of a child. One who viewed the fragile insect as a tool for amusement. Or in this case, money.

From there the time passed. At night, sleeping in the red tent with the fellow performers insects. The fellow ones who had bowed their heads to people for too long, who's shoulders grew more slumped by the day. Those whom could only long for death to free them from the kind and gentle squeeze of humanity. The time when the last of their life would be sucked out, given to the service of a kind not their own.

And yet, as she grew older, Isla had only spread her wings further. She found talent in the tricks she could perform, in the people she could please, in the food she could earn. She never found friends, no, the people in the tents despised one another like humans. Or perhaps even more so for their service to the accursed circus. Only hatred brewed in the cocoon around Isla, entrapping her.

And so she fought. Butterflies never like to be caged.

She hatched, and began to seek out all the things she could fill her empty soul with. All the love she could earn from the people whom came to watch the circus Pokémon or from passersby, driven to pity by the strange small grass Pokémon as she pleaded at their feet.

They loved her. Every one of them. They'd throw money, hoot in their strange human language. One even tried to purchase her for their own personal circus. A better life was in sight for her. Everyone said so. Even those whom had lost the light in their eyes, who's shoulders remained slumped at the slightest move.

Everyone.

And yet, happiness never came to fill her. She never made enough.

And so she retracted, shuffling inside the cocoon, hiding, swearing to never emerge until she found the one person who might fill the emptiness she felt in her soul.

And like fate always does, that person came.#̷̧̡̡̡̻̣̺̑̊͛̾́͛͠#̸̡̖̠̯̂̇̂́̍͂̄̀̈̐͊̓͘͠#̵̣̰͔̥͎̿͌́̏̃͜#̷̼̘̬̔̍̏̔̎̏̉̚#̴̧̨̨͎̘̘͖̣̫͓͔̝͍̈́͑̿͝ͅͅ#̷̳̖͉̫̇͑̍̽̇̚ͅ came to the circus. Someone who had not been trapped in the net yet. Or at least, someone who dared to flap their wings against it.

They had chosen to fight back.

#̷̧̡̡̡̻̣̺̑̊͛̾́͛͠#̸̡̖̠̯̂̇̂́̍͂̄̀̈̐͊̓͘͠#̵̣̰͔̥͎̿͌́̏̃͜#̷̼̘̬̔̍̏̔̎̏̉̚#̴̧̨̨͎̘̘͖̣̫͓͔̝͍̈́͑̿͝ͅͅ#̷̳̖͉̫̇͑̍̽̇̚ͅ was cruel to Isla at first. And Isla found the first thing that filled the void. Hate. She learned to embrace it, to accept it. If it was the only thing that would fulfill the void... then it was what Isla needed. All she needed within her to hatch from the cocoon and survive.

But as they grew closer, then Isla found something else. Something warmer. And she realized that it too could sustain her. Sneers turned to frowns. Frowns turned to smiles. Smiles turned to kisses.

Isla had found love. She wanted to flee with #̷̧̡̡̡̻̣̺̑̊͛̾́͛͠#̸̡̖̠̯̂̇̂́̍͂̄̀̈̐͊̓͘͠#̵̣̰͔̥͎̿͌́̏̃͜#̷̼̘̬̔̍̏̔̎̏̉̚#̴̧̨̨͎̘̘͖̣̫͓͔̝͍̈́͑̿͝ͅͅ#̷̳̖͉̫̇͑̍̽̇̚ͅ. They would find a circus of their own. Make their own shows, create a world in which the two of them could be happy. They could be together.

But this sallow, drained place was not the kind of place to show every layer of its twisted encasement.

The mount of dirt was proof enough of that.

With #̷̧̡̡̡̻̣̺̑̊͛̾́͛͠#̸̡̖̠̯̂̇̂́̍͂̄̀̈̐͊̓͘͠#̵̣̰͔̥͎̿͌́̏̃͜#̷̼̘̬̔̍̏̔̎̏̉̚#̴̧̨̨͎̘̘͖̣̫͓͔̝͍̈́͑̿͝ͅͅ#̷̳̖͉̫̇͑̍̽̇̚ͅ, Isla had emerged from the cocoon. She could be a butterfly. She had emerged, she was ready to fly off, escape the net, the both of them together.

But alas, it was not to be.

And several months later, all that was left of the red tents, the sallow performers, the mound of dirt... was the sign.

Performers, Servitude Time: 15-20 years.

Everything was scorched to the ground.

The humans were dead. The sad, slumped Pokémon were ashes. #̷̧̡̡̡̻̣̺̑̊͛̾́͛͠#̸̡̖̠̯̂̇̂́̍͂̄̀̈̐͊̓͘͠#̵̣̰͔̥͎̿͌́̏̃͜#̷̼̘̬̔̍̏̔̎̏̉̚#̴̧̨̨͎̘̘͖̣̫͓͔̝͍̈́͑̿͝ͅͅ#̷̳̖͉̫̇͑̍̽̇̚ͅ lay under a mound of the aforementioned dirt next to several other corpses.

Only Isla remained.

The net was gone. Every one of them. Happy nets. Sad nets. Nets of pain. None remained.

And yet she remained trapped.

She had remained trapped.

Because one other thing had survived the fire.

And it would continue to haunt her until the day she died.

Butterfly, butterfly, can't fly away~ You're caught until you finally pay~

Pay for what, you might ask?

Well, that would be the crime of the mass-murder of everyone at the Butterfly Circus.

Isla had burned it to the ground.

---

Luna looked around. "Come with me." He said. "Your fantasy would be a short-lived one."

Willow shook her head. "No! They'll find us both- and kill us-" She said. A sob escaped her throat.

Luna smiled. "We'll go down." He said. "Together."

Willow took Luna's hand, repeating what he said. "Together."

---

Shaking his head, Zane glared at Isla. "I'm going. If you follow me, I'll make sure you regret it." With a growl, he started to run off again.

---

Kim looked blankly at Rosie, then raised three fingers. She pointed to herself, trying to signal the first letter.

---

"What, you scared?" Isla floated after him, a smirk passing over her face. "I've never met a Pokemon who looked as big and tough as you... and yet was so cowardly. You sure you aren't a hatchling, kitty?"

"Hey, where's everyone going?" The Lampent whined. "I don't like being alone!"

---

"YOU DIDD?!!!" Rosie was backing up. "Uhm..."

---

Without hesitation, Zane stopped, charging back towards Isla, a furious look in his eyes. "That does it..!" Electricity crackled in his paws again.

---

Kim shook her head violently. No no no no nonononono She thought.
She instead shrugged, deciding that it was easier to display her message.

---

"Ooh, there he is." Isla smirked, exposing her fangs. "I like that face... so angry. You want to kill me, kitten? Go ahead. Just try it. You're so scary and tough, right?" They floated downward slightly so they were at eyelevel with him. Their voice dropped an octave. "You know," she hissed lowly. "I really do hate your type. Would you like a demonstration of how much?"

The Lampet floated over to them. "Really," he complained. "It's so impolite to ignore me like that! I just wanted to talk for a minute, is that so hard to ask? I didn't mean to make fun of you guys-"

---

"Just- Shut up!" Furious, he blew a Plasma Fists at her. Zane didn't care about how much effect it had, he just wanted her away. No... He wanted all of them away.

---

The ground exploded around them.

White flashed before their eyes.

Isla disappeared.

BOOM

Finally, it rang out, piercing through the air a horrible booming sound, a ringing after, an explosion-

Dirt flew out everywhere-

Isla was slammed into a tree. She slid down several feet- Her yellow eyes closed.

And then they burst open. "How dare you?" she snarled.

---

"Now, do you know a way out of this place?" Luna asked Willow. Willow nodded, leading the way. "Where to?" She asked, happy. "The- uh- the gates..?" He said. "You know, uh, Kimika's cafe?" Willow, being wide eyed looked at Luna. "Oh my gosh I love that place!" She said. Luna- suddenly remembering- "Actually, to the Spectre domain."
Willow looked disappointed.

Kim turned red from embarrasment.

---

"How dare I?!" he snapped. "I wanted to be alone but YOU decided to bother me!" Zane charged up another Plasma Fists.

---

Rosie was glancing about themself frantically, looking for an escape-

---

Isla burst upwards, her mouth opened in a keening scream. A shadow ball began forming in front of her chest. She was shaking all over, her entire body bloating, a screech of rage of fury-

It shot off at Zane.

---

Zane knew speaking wouldn't work anymore. With a snarl, he tried countering with Plasma Fists. He winced, a bit of the Shadow Ball brushing against a slight part of his right arm that didn't have electricity before deciding to go for a Thunder.

---

Isla's eyes shot open. Curse..

The electricity jolted her horn and a shudder ran through her body. But she couldn't afford to bother now.

She concentrated her power and then-

Instantly, the energy leeched from her body. She struggled to remain afloat. Okay. Hold on. She narrowed her eyes at him, smirking confidentially. Her health was likely near zero . I just need to hold on until he faints. And then...

A thundering sound sounded above her. She looked up sharply-

And then the electricity hit her.

---

Panting, Zane lifted his head. He groaned softly, kneeling down. "Huh... Curse, huh? Risky..." He stared at his paws, suddenly having a genuine terrified look in his eyes. "What am I doing what am I-" Zane shook his head, looking back at her. Sighing, he had enough energy to carry Isla to a place to heal. "Hopefully not far since... Ack-" He felt a sharp pain from Curse. "That."

---

Isla lay unconscious, slumped in the roots of the tree. Even unconscious, her face was hardly peaceful, the features etched in some sort of twisted shape, eyes closed like curtains hiding the yellow storm which lay behind...

---

Luther silently died and no one noticed because he has no friends anymore. :( Someone help him.

---

Looking at the damaged form of Isla, Zane's expression softened. "I didn't mean..." As he walked on, the familiar words rang in his head. "Fight to become stronger. You shouldn't care about others." Zane shook his head quickly. "I don't care about what you said to me Kai. Not anymore."

Zane was someone who was a bit more... distant from others. The only one who even noticed was a Mienshao who called himself Kai. The two trained and trained, day and night, until Zane finally defeated him. The determination and eagerness to win drove him mad... Kai whispered those words again, pushing Zane to finish him. For others, they would have even the slightest hesitation but for him? Without thinking, he delivered the Plasma Fists... that killed Kai. Ever since then, Zane wanted nothing but to be stronger, fighting any powerful opponent in his way. Like before, that drove him mad. Until now, he just wanted to fight. But now, seeing what he had done to Isla, he didn't know.

---