Chapter 9 - the prisoner in waking sleep

Aqua did not wake for many days. Tormented by dreams, he tossed and turned ceaselessly. Unfortunately for Aqua, they weren’t dreams, but a world of dreams that was just as deadly as the real world. Aqua escaped death by a hairsbreadth a hundred times over during his time there. Finally, towards the end of the sleep, he encountered a strange soul hidden away in the corners of the dream world. “Who are you?” he thought. Sensing him, the soul turned, and he was looking at himself. "What the hell?! You’re me!" Aqua yelped. "Hardly" the soul laughed and started transforming. Eventually she took on the appearance of a pokemorph. A deep purple in her eyes and ocean blue hair, combined with what looked like the ears of a Dragonair, gave him an impression of beauty. Yet somehow, there was an undertone of despair and malice mixed. "Who are you?" Aqua thought again. "I am a Dragonair of ages past, when man and Pokémon were still indistinguishable from each other if they chose to be. I have been imprisoned all of these millennia by a madman; a madman who created a crossbreed of human and Pokémon that could never change." "Oh my god, these things were created millennia ago?" Aqua said, shocked. "Yes, and you have always been there to stop them." "So everyone tells me..." he mused. The Ancient continued "Something strange has happened this time. There are many good pokemorphs, yet only one completely twisted one. This one must be stopped at any cost." "One problem with that. I already tried, and failed." "I will help you to train, if you can manage to release me from my prison that is." "Which is?" "The heart of the glacier, in the Lightbane Ridge." "Consider it done, my friend." "Your presence here continues to grow stronger, how long have you been?" "Haven’t a clue. Last thing I remember clearly was hitting the ground after the battle with Galefor." "Then you must wake up. Otherwise, whether or not you are killed by anything here, your body will die anyway." With that, the dream world slid into the darkness of a dreamless sleep.[br]
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Aqua woke a few hours later. From the view coming into the cave, he surmised that it was just about daybreak. He got up and trod softly out of the cave, and stood and watched the day break in soft pastels of color. Sometime later, he was joined by Silver. “Good sleep?” he asked “Not really, but we have to free someone. How long was I out for by the way?” Aqua asked “Nearly three months.” was the reply. “Oh shoot, three months? This can’t be good. Bring me up to speed and I’ll tell you what I’ve learned while sleeping.”[br]
“Well aside from the obvious in keeping our butts alive. The darkness arrows were captured and half of their power unleashed. There have been reports of a shadowy region in the Shadowbane Ridge and of strange deaths. They all died sleeping, and there were strange rents all over their bodies.” “Okay, I know now what those were about. Galefor tried repeatedly to kill me while I was sleeping, and a lot of people were killed.” “Okay that’s one mystery down then. What did you find out?” “I fond that this struggle has been going on for millennia and that there was an ancient frozen into a prison of sorts.” “Where at?” Silver asked coolly “Well, you’re not going to like this one bit; it’s in the heat of the Lightbane Ridge Glacier.” “Oh damn, not good. That place is crawling with shadow souls and demons.” “Like it or not, I need that training. You gonna come with, bud?” “You think any of us wouldn’t come with you?” Bugsy asked, walking out into the dawn air. “Cause I know damn well your not leaving me behind.” said Kitsune, joining him. “Can’t leave me behind either.” said Serena, following close on her sisters heels. “Guess that settles who’s coming then.” Aqua said “Come on then, we have a friend to free. Onwards, to the Lightbane Ridge, and let us strike a blow to the heart of malice.”[br]
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