Hands of Fate-Chapter 15

A FerrisWheel Shipping Fanfiction

Chapter 15

Gray clouds hung low in the sky, giving Nacrene City a glum, dreary atmosphere that morning as Hawes, the museum's assistant director and husband of the city's Gym Leader, made his way toward the building to prepare for the day's work. When he arrived at the museum/gym, he was surprised to find a familiar face sitting on the ground just beside the building's entrance.

"Well, good morning Touko!" Hawes greeted the teen. "Long time no see! What brings you here, and why so early in the day, too?"

Touko didn't answer him for a moment, her weary eyes downcast. Soon, she turned her head to face the museum's assistant director and gave him a small smile. "Good morning, Hawes." She politely greeted him, rising to her feet. "Where's Lenora?"

"Do you need to talk to her about something?" Touko lightly nodded. "She'll be along soon enough. In the meantime, why don't you come inside and I'll give you something to perk you up? You look like you didn't sleep well last night. Do you prefer tea or coffee?"

"Tea would be nice. Thank you." Actually, she didn't sleep at all last night, trying to put off experiencing another strangely real dream for as long as she could in rebellion against the voice and everything else. At this point, she was so tired she didn't feel like sleeping at all, just really drained and lethargic. As she followed Hawes into a break room near the front of the building, she remembered something. "Do you mind if I use your phone real quick?"

"Not at all." He pointed to where the phone was as he started heating up some water for tea and coffee. As the water boiled, Touko called the Icirrus City Pokémon Center and left them a message to deliver to Alder if he came by that Touko White wants him to meet her at the Nacrene City Museum. "Alder's going to be joining us, too? I'd better prepare more..." Hawes commented after Touko hung up and sat at the room's table. He gave her a worried stare. "I don't mean to pry, but what happened to your arm?"

Touko looked down at her arm and sighed. It throbbed in a numb pain that was slowly and steadily ebbing from the medication she took earlier that day. The cast was worn out and soiled, the plaster cracked in places from when she punched the stone pillar. "Long story short: rescuing someone from a cave-in came at a cost."

"Oh, my condolences." He muttered apologetically, handing her a steaming mug as he sat across from her, drinking coffee out of his own. Touko tentatively sipped the hot herbal tea, not caring that the scalding liquid was burning her mouth and tongue. "At least you're still alive, right? So that's good."

"Yeah," She agreed, but sadly added under her breath, "Though, with all the crazy things that have been happening, sometimes I wonder if my survival was really worth it..."

Hawes noticed the deep, preoccupied frown Touko wore. "You know, it isn't healthy to keep things bottled up inside. If there's something you need to get off your chest, I'll be happy to listen and offer any advice I have, Touko. That is, unless it involves 'feminine' issues..." He nervously adjusted his glasses.

Touko's cheeks flushed pink. She quickly shook her head. "No, it's nothing like that." She assured the flustered man.

Hawes let out a sigh, relieved that they didn't have to delve into that subject. He smiled at the brunette. "So, if you don't mind me asking and you don't mind sharing, what's bothering you, Touko?"

Touko tapped her finger on the ceramic mug in her hand in a slow tempo, eyes staring at her reflection in the tea. With a big gulp of air, she told Hawes the abridged version of what was bothering her.

"Have you ever felt like you've had no control over your life?" Touko rhetorically asked, doing her best to keep a level head and voice so she could get everything out. "Like someone else has taken the reins from you and force you to go, unwillingly, down the road they chose? Well, that's how I feel my life is right now. Sometimes I even wonder if my life has meaning anymore. I feel like I'm a life-sized marionette, manipulated by an invisible puppeteer that enjoys putting me through undesirable situations and I have no say in the matter at all. It now feels like I'm carrying the weight of the entire world on my shoulders, and the amount of pressure it has put on me to obediently carry out this dictator's deeds feels like it's going to crush me at any given moment. I just don't know what to do anymore..."

She blinked away her tears before they had the chance to overflow, taking slow, even breaths to calm herself. But, even with her frayed nerves and swirling emotions, Touko couldn't help but to feel relieved; opening up to someone about her worries had made one of the many burdens weighing down her heart lift away. She looked up from her tea to read Hawes's expression.

"Hmm..." He mused, tapping his chin with his fingers. Eventually, he stopped his taps and met Touko's gaze. "I believe the best advice I can offer is that the hands of fate work in mysterious ways. The future is an ever changing factor; no one can know for sure what it will hold. However, the decisions you make and the lives you touch all play a factor in what your future will hold for you. They say the brightest of sunrises come right after the worst of nights. Things may seem difficult for you now, but you just need to remember that things will eventually get better and to never give up on life." He paused for a moment. "Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you, Touko?"

The brunette blinked a few times, processing the advice Hawes gave her. Slowly, her spirits began to rise. Her lips curved into a small, meek smile. "Yes. I understand perfectly. Thank you."

"And another thing," Both Hawes and Touko looked up in surprise to see Lenora, the Nacrene City Museum director and Gym Leader, standing in the doorway. Having overheard the conversation, the Gym Leader walked to Touko and placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her a wide smile. "You know what you should do when you feel like you have no control over your life anymore? You grab those reins back and tell that puppet master to take a hike, that's what! You are your own person. Your life belongs to you and you alone. No one else should have a say in that matter at all! Even though it may be difficult, you just gotta grit your teeth and take back what's rightfully yours!"

Becoming more and more uplifted with each word of encouragement Lenora gave her, Touko's smile widened and she nodded. "Right. Thanks, Lenora."

Grinning, Lenora patted the top of Touko's head. "By the way, what are you doing back in Nacrene City?"

"She said that she wanted to talk to you about something, dear." Hawes informed his wife, getting up to stand beside her.

"If that's the case," Lenora met Touko's gaze in curiosity. "What do you need to tell me, Touko?"

Her spirits higher than they'd been in a long time, she planned on making good use of the couple's advice. "You remember our old friends, Team Plasma, right?"

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"Lenora, explain the situation to the rest of Unova's Gym Leaders. That something big may be coming and that they should prepare for the worst. I'll take the Light Stone with me to Opelucid City. Once there, Alder and I will find Drayden and Iris and ask them about how to reawaken Reshiram. Let's do good and show Team Plasma we won't let them take over without giving them a good run for their money."

These were the last instructions Touko gave Alder and Lenora after spilling the beans about Team Plasma and Ghetsis and N's involvement with them. After discussing the matter and forming these plans, Alder took off on his Volcarona and Touko brought Lumiere out to teleport her to Icirrus City. From there, it was just a walk across the Tubeline Bridge and she would meet Alder in Opelucid, the home of the two people who may know enough about the twin legendary dragons to provide some insight on how to revive Reshiram.

-Don't go through Tubeline Bridge.- The voice commented after she appeared in the eastern outskirts of Icirrus.

"I'm not listening to yooouuu." She quietly hummed in a singsong voice after returning Lumiere to his ball. "You can't tell me what to dooooo."

It may have been due to her complete lack of sleep, but Touko was in a state of giddiness and splendor as she walked - correction, sauntered - down the path leading to the bridge's west entrance. She felt like she was finally on top of things, that she had done as Lenora said and snatched back control of her life.

To think that her original plan for this morning was to give Alder the Light Stone and completely wash her hands of it, also an act of rebellion against the voice and such. But, thanks to the advice she was given, she decided to forget her worries about the matter and trusted Alder with information about Team Plasma and their plans. Also, the moment she held the Light Stone in her hands, she felt it in her heart (not her mind) that she was meant to wake Reshiram from his slumber. Whether or not she was going to face N and Zekrom was still up to her. But one thing was for sure: she was not going to let her life be dictated by the voice, expectations, visions, or dreams. Not anymore.

-It's not safe.- The voice insisted. -Find another way to Opelucid. Don't go through the Tubeline Bridge.-

"Your constant nagging is really starting to bum me out, y'know." Touko quietly whined and rolled her eyes, just a stride away from stepping onto the bridge. "Didn't you hear me earlier? I'm no longer gonna let you decide what I should or shouldn't do. You're no longer welcome in my life so you can just go and-"

Thump-thump.

The moment the sole of her boot made contact with the bridge's platform, every muscle in Touko's body tensed up, silencing and freezing her right in her tracks. A flaming rage began boiling. Oh no, not again!

Touko experienced this situation last night at the Desert Resort. The moment she stepped up to just outside the entrance to the Relic Castle, a rage similar to this one began to overtake her. Acting on instinct, she threw sand and a rock in the air in front of her. The instant the unseen trap was triggered and the gun fired, visions came of Cheren lying in the sand, bleeding from a shot wound, slowly dying. This made her body start trembling and, when her rage reached its boiling point, that was when it happened. That was when someone else took over.

Her body acting on her own, Touko took a step backward. "N-no...!" She whispered tensely, her body beginning to tremble from trying to fight what was coming. The first vision came of Bianca lying on the bridge, unconscious and the back of her head bloodied. "I-I don't want to...!" Another vision: Sirius getting mauled by an unknown Hydreigon. Touko tightly shut her eyes and held her face in her hand, her trembles becoming more vigorous and her rage reaching a fever-pitch. "Y-you can't make me...!"

Then, joining the rage was a feeling: The feeling of her entire body being engulfed in flames, her flesh slowly being eaten away in a blazing inferno soon accompanied by the vision of a man with his hand clamped around her throat. The instant Touko saw the blood red eyes and recognized who they belonged to, she stopped fighting.

Someone else took control again.

Her shaking stopped. She relaxed her tense muscles. She lifted her eyelids off over her sharp, hardened eyes and slowly walked backwards, away from the monster undoubtedly waiting for her on the bridge. "You won't burn me this time, Harmonia."

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"What do you mean, she's not going through here?!"

"It is as we have told you, Lord Ghetsis. The girl is no longer traveling to Opelucid City via the Tubeline Bridge."

Ghetsis's teeth grinded together inside his mouth in fury. Less than an hour ago, the Shadow Triad had informed him that the hero of truth was going to be passing through the Tubeline Bridge on her way to Opelucid. And now, he had just wasted the time and effort it took to make sure the bridge was completely vacant so he could confront the bothersome girl without any witnesses only to find out she would not be going this way! He had never felt so humiliated, which made him hungry for revenge even more.

"Lord Ghetsis," One of the two present Triad members said. "We also have reason to believe that this 'someone else' she spoke of influenced her sudden change of heart."

The statement was meant to calm him, but it only made Ghetsis even more frustrated and desirous for revenge. Is there really nothing this girl is completely blind to? "If she travels the longer route to Opelucid, that will take her days!" He said to himself, trying to think of what her plans were. "Is she really going to waste that much time, or not go to Opelucid at all?"

The third member, and leader, of the Triad appeared. "Actually," He said, catching Ghetsis's attention. "She is still in the immediate area and is en route to Opelucid as I speak, my Lord."

Ghetsis arched an eyebrow. "Explain how she is accomplishing that without going through here."

The leader shared quick glances with his fellow members. He met Ghetsis's gaze and slowly raised one of his hands.

Pointing a single finger to the sky.

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"Alright, Lumiere. We're gonna take this nice and slow..."

The Chandelure silently toiled to carry his Trainer over the massive metal structure that was the Tubeline Bridge, not at all used to having someone hanging from his arms as he flew. Touko was having difficulties, too. The high altitude made the wind cold and fierce, making weariness settle even deeper in her mind and her grip on the Luring Pokémon's arms slacken. "So, tired..."

Lumiere could see her struggle and felt worried. 'Milady, you should not be pushing yourself in such a fashion. This form of traveling is very risque and-'

"Dreeeeii!!"

Halfway across, Touko and Lumiere heard the cry of a Pokémon in the distance behind them. Carefully, Touko looked over her shoulder and saw a black, blue, and purple blur near the bridge's west entrance, from where they just came from. Because of how fast it was flying, the blur steadily became more defined and Touko recognized what it was.

"Oh," Was all she had time to say before she and Lumiere just barely missed a powerful Dragon Pulse the rapidly approaching Hydreigon launched at them. Her eyes widened in fear. "Hurry!"

Lumiere started flying as fast as he possibly could, but the Hydreigon proved to be much swifter than the burdened Chandelure and was steadily closing the gap between them. It became apparent to Touko that they were not going to be able to out-fly the Brutal Pokémon, but maybe she could stall it. Quickly yet cautiously, she grabbed one of the PokéBalls attached to her belt with her left hand and cried, "Mien! Use Close Combat!!"

Touko's Mienshao landed on top of the bridge's grated roof, sprang up and began delivering quick, precise punches and kicks to Hydreigon. The attack successfully slowed the Brutal Pokémon down, giving Lumiere and Touko a chance to escape. "Now follow up with Focus Blast!"

In obedience, Mien kicked Hydreigon to launch herself away from him and launched the Focus Blast. The attack hit its target, and Touko returned the Martial Arts Pokémon mid-air. Thanks to her Mienshao's assistance, Lumiere had flown fast and long enough that they were very close to the end of the bridge. Grinning to herself, Touko returned Mien's ball to her belt and reached to take her Chandelure's arm again.

Not noticing that Hydreigon was attacking again until another Dragon Pulse hit her injured arm.

She cried out at the sudden impact that sent her and Lumiere off balance and spiraling down through the air. "Chaaaaa!?" Lumiere quickly corrected himself, but looked to see that his trainer was hurt. 'Milady!?'

"I-It's nothing," Touko assured her Pokémon in a strained voice. It was anything but nothing, actually. The Hydreigon's attack had hit her arm spot on and was powerful enough to completely bust her cast open. She tentatively shook her arm free of the smoldering bits of plaster, an act that racked her body with pain with each shake. Holding the aching limb to her chest, she urged her Chandelure on.

It's no good. We can't outrun or overpower him. This Hydreigon's just too fast and strong. If only there was a way for him to think he won so we can get away... Touko's eyes swept over the grassy area just beyond the bridge, looking for anything that could aid in their escape from the murderous Pokémon. Soon, she spotted a viable option for escape below them. That's it!

"Lumiere, listen very carefully," She whispered to her Chandelure, Hydreigon nearly at their heels now. "On my mark, I want you to turn around and attack with Inferno. Understand?" Lumiere nodded, though unsure of what she was planning. Touko glanced over her shoulder, staring at the very close Hydreigon as her hand reached for her belt again. "Wait for it..." She instructed, watching as flames filled Hydreigon's mouth, her hand hovering over another PokéBall. The instant the first of the flames escaped his mouth, she screamed, "NOW!"

With great speed, Lumiere spun around and unleashed Inferno as Hydreigon unleashed Flamethrower. The two fire attacks collided into each other and caused an explosion, surrounding the explosion site with a fog of black smoke. Amidst the confusion, Lumiere did not realize that Touko was no longer holding onto him until she returned him to his ball. The last sight he caught of his Trainer was of her momentarily suspended in the air.

Then she started falling.

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From within the safe, piney confines of the evergreen tree she landed in, Touko watched as the Hydreigon flew away after failing to see where she had hidden herself, not making a single sound or moving from the branch she hung from until the Brutal Pokémon was completely out of sight. She exhaled slowly and deeply, swinging her legs back and forth to get enough memento to get herself onto a nearby branch so she could start climbing down. With one final swing, she let go of the branch she was hanging from and launched.

An action she immediately regretted.

Her foot slipped. She began to tumble through the tree, grunting and yelping with each collision with one of its many branches. Just as she neared where the branches ended, her right foot got caught between two particularly strong and thick branches. The rest of her continued falling. A small shriek came from her as she felt something twist the wrong way and send new pain into her system. Soon, she was hanging upside down from her foot, unable to get loose.

Pain from both her arm and ankle racked her body. Blood rushed to her head, making the world around her become out of focus. The lack of a good night's rest had left her drained and weary. Her willpower to fight insomnia left her. Her body hung limply from the tree. A big splotch of purple was seen before everything faded away into the darkness of sleep.