Chapter 6
Harsh Misery
For now, he was gone, but I knew that probably wouldn't be the last time I saw him. No doubt I could already feel my new enemy was even stronger than I had imagined. Like Zander and the rest of the Crimson Stars, they were already capable of mass destruction without mercy. All of the once thriving fields that had once belonged to the Silver Apex were covered in black and gray, with a dark red sky above. And here, I was surrounded with the presence of death, even my own as Blazewing and I stood among the ashen remnants of what had once been a memorial.
I slowly walked away from that charred gravesite, feeling the hard crust of the blackened ground below my feet. I knew there was danger everywhere accompanied with a constant pressure of lost hope. All I could think about was my purpose here. Was it even possible to bring up the already fallen Silver Apex up from a position even worse than before to fight an enemy so many times stronger? It seemed so unlikely, since at their current state, they had nothing to fight back with. No weapons, no manufacturing plants, and only a few surviving soldiers. I knew this would not be the same war as the one against the Crimson Stars. As bloody and as brutal as that was, we didn't even have that luxury.
We were alone in that barren land, lost like we were in a great black desert. The air around me changed from warm to cold in only a matter of seconds, while the wind continued to beat us. I knew there was no way I could fly on Blazewing's back like this, especially without riding gear. But as I walked and Blazewing, softly floated by my side, I could see for miles around, only there was nothing to looking at except for a sea of black shale around me, with a blazing sky above me that looked like blood and tar swirled together.
I struggled for another hour of walking, and still I found nothing and I didn't know where I was heading. My vision was blurring, my throat was dry, and I was exhausted, stumbling on my two feet just trying to get around. I few times, I looked to Blazewing, also looking horribly exhausted after trying to go against the fury of the wind that was blowing against us. After my foot had struck the shale awkwardly, I tripped and fell over, finding myself lying on my back, and looking directly up at the sky, immediately feeling sick and dizzy, looking up as if I was being hung upside down and being lowered into the fiery magma of a volcano. I then just shut my eyes, knowing that trying to see with them would only make things worse. I just tried to breathe, regardless of how rancid the air was. After some time, the howling sound had faded, and for a short moment, everything seemed to move so slow. I was too exhausted to move, so I let the silence pass over me as I closed my eyes…
* * *
When I finally came to my senses, I was looking down at a red carpet, with my arms being held up. I felt so weak and tired, and I could barely move. I just wanted to fall to the ground and rest, but something or somebody was holding me up. Somehow, it didn't feel like I was outside anymore, but more like I had been dragged to some indoor area.
I then grabbed the strength to look up, and I saw I was in a highly decorated throne room, with ordinate furniture made of cherry wood and a floor that was made shiny marble. On the left side were giant windows, with crystal clear glass and an ordinate gold frame. All around the throne room were soldiers, dressed in the familiar Black Onyx military uniform. I looked to my sides and realized the ones holding me up and dragging me along were a Combusken and a Charmeleon, also obviously from the Black Onyx. Then, when I looked in front of me, I came face to face with the very king of the Black Onyx Imperials, an Ampharos dressed in very ordinate silk clothing. Standing around him were the rest of the Elite Guard Commanders of the Golden Diadem, also in uniform. I saw a Medicham, a Raichu, a Sneasel, a Grumpig, and last but not least, Cythan the Azumarill, who I had only met a few hours ago. I couldn't help but look down in dismay. I hadn't even been back for more than an hour, and already I had stumbled my way into a miserable failure.
"Truly pathetic," Cythan remarked in a disgusted pompous tone. "I say we just execute him and get it over with."
"Not yet, don't be so hasty, my dear Cythan," The Ampharos responded with a similar pompous accent, "I want to have some fun with him first. Let's make an example of him."
I really didn't need this. After grabbing the sliver of courage I needed to look up at his face, I stared up at him for the longest time, and I hated the way he was looking at me like I was some lower life-form.
"Welcome to the Black Onyx Kingdom," He told me sarcastically. "My name is King Skepter, and these are my loyal commanders. But you can call me 'your highness' if that would suit your fancy."
He then arose from his throne and walked toward me, not at all afraid or even mindful of whom I was. He bent over and looked at me with a slight look of disgust, as if he was looking at a squashed bug. I had spent only a few minutes with King Skepter and already I despised him…
"Tell me, vagrant," He continued, speaking in a lower tone now that he was closer to me, "You really say you are the legendary Juno, who defeated Zander single-handedly? That's what my compatriot has told me, but I still refuse to believe it."
I was silent. I knew it would probably send them all on a roll of laughter if I told them the truth, and the last thing I wanted was for them to be happy and merry at a miserable time like this. I kept my silence, refusing to even give him the satisfaction of answering his questions.
"Tell me, dammit!" He shouted, growing angrier. "If you do not, I will be forced to kill you either way."
"He is." The Sneasel quickly confirmed, looking at me with crossed arms.
Immediately, all eyes had turned to him, and he was silent for a few moments. Skepter then turned toward the Sneasel, and looked at him with curiosity.
"Really?" Skepter asked, looking quite surprised, "How can you be so sure?"
"Because back when I was part of the Silver Rebellion, I worked with him face to face," The Sneasel had told him. "I saw what he was capable of back then. But now, he looks pretty damn pathetic. He looks the same, but the Juno I knew wouldn't let himself get so easily captured."
I then realized who that Sneasel actually was. I felt a very sick and hard feeling in my throat as I remembered Vice, who had helped me back at Macomb. I couldn't understand what he was doing here though. Why did he betray us…?
"Hmm…" Skepter replied, thinking about it as he turned back to me, "if that's true, how can he still be alive? Those Silver Apex fools were convinced he was dead, enough to build an entire garden for his burial place. Sickens me though. Not even my ancestors were given that much…"
I found it impossible to feel any bit of sympathy for him. At least I had fulfilled their expectations of him rather than sit on a chair all day making ridicule of people while my armies made a grizzly massacre of Kivistal.
"Just why did you come back?" Skepter asked, looking at me curiously. "Truly you saw the fields of Utopia with your own black eyes. Why leave paradise behind, only to come back to this miserable stinking place, only to find your people have been exterminated?"
"Because of you…" I told him, just barely able to speak. "I can't rest… while my people suffer…"
He laughed, and I suddenly became very annoyed at that moment, but there wasn't much I could do about it. For a moment, I almost wished I had kept silent like I did before to avoid giving him further satisfaction. All I could do was stand there, suspended and held upward like I was crucified. And I had no choice, it was either look at him or look at the floor.
"Well, welcome back, Juno," Skepter snickered with delight. "I'm glad you could join us. I'd hate to say it, but we've already won the war. You seem to have arrived a bit too late…"
I didn't want to believe that, but everything around me was telling me otherwise…
The hardest part of trying to tolerate everything about this was being aware of the fact that there was nothing I could have done to change this around, even though they thought I could have. They didn't know I was separated from what was really going on as I lived on as Jake Kossak, but I knew they would never believe me if I told them that and I truly didn't want to. Right now, I couldn't understand why I had returned home as the human I obviously no longer was. If only I had been able to watch from the skies of Utopia before all this had happened, I would have seen this happening before the situation got so helplessly beyond reclamation and I might have been able to do something about it.
"Fine, we're done now," Cythan replied impatiently. "He's a menace to us and he should be executed. He alone killed my command squad and I don't look upon that lightly at all."
"Not yet, my dear friend." Skepter replied to Cythan, looking at him from the corner of his eyes, "That would be too easy. Plus that would only make him look like a martyr again if the Silver Apex ever found what we did to him."
Everyone around him was looking at Skepter oddly, like it would only be normal for me to be executed on the spot. Even I was surprised that he didn't just shoot me there and then. But then, the unexpected happened.
"What do you suppose we do to him?" Vice asked him, looking at him with a strange expression. "We can't let him go free..."
"Get me Cadbury." Skepter requested gently as he returned to his throne. "I need him for a few moments."
"Yes, your highness." Cythan had acknowledged, leaving his position.
I really had no idea who Cadbury was, and I could tell from the look in Cythan's eyes that he had no explanation as to why Skepter even wanted this guy, whoever he was.
It was only then that I was finally let go from the Charmeleon and the Combusken that had been restraining me, and I was able to stand on my own two feet. I didn't feel as weary at the moment, but still, I was a bit dizzy and tired. While Cythan had left the room, I had looked at everything around me in dismay. I looked out the window with a much clearer view, and I was astounded at the size of the city that lay just outside the window. I couldn't believe my eyes, but as soon as I started to comprehend what was going on, I heard an odd uproar.
"Well hello, hello, hello, my highness!" a cheery call had voiced out. "What kind of trick would you want to see today?"
I suddenly turned around to where the voice came from to see a Mr. Mime standing only ten feet away behind me, dressed in a colorful jester's outfit and smiling cheerfully. Every time he moved just a little, the bells on the tips of his jester's cap jingled a bit. He looked at Skepter with a happy expression, ready to entertain his master. Yet, oddly enough, Skepter wasn't smiling…
"I want to see you dance." Skepter replied in a firm tone.
"That's all?" Cadbury asked, seeming a bit surprised, "Well, sure thing, my Excellency!"
And then, he started dancing back and forward merrily while the bells on his cap jingled even more. I watched him for ten seconds, thinking the entire performance was truly idiotic, but I didn't say anything. Why King Skepter had specifically requested this, I really had no idea.
Then, when I least suspected it, Skepter had pulled out a black pistol that was in a small cubby besides his throne and pointed it at him. I then held my breath, just before the handgun had blasted out and spat a bright burst of flame. When I turned to the Mr. Mime, I saw he was struck perfectly between the eyes with ridiculous marksmanship, leaving a large bleeding hole. Only seconds later, Cadbury completely collapsed to the red carpet I was standing on, totally still and lifeless as a growing blood stain gathered around his head. Everyone just stood silently and stared at his dead body…
"Well, that finishes off that miserable excuse for entertainment," Skepter had remarked bitterly, putting the black pistol back where it belonged. "Instead, I want Juno to be our new jester."
"You've got to be kidding me," Vice replied in disbelief. "Why do you still want him to live?"
"Simply enough," Skepter replied, looking off to the side with a small smile on his face as he fantasized, "I want him to entertain me. I want him to share all his wonderful adventures with me, about how he defeated Zander and what happened to him after that. But the main important part is… I want him to look like a complete fool while he does."
Now this was insane. All I could do was look at Cadbury's dead body, and just watch the blood seep out of his head and soak into the red carpet right under him. I couldn't imagine myself doing what he used to do…
"Plus, I think Juno would be a much more appealing jester than that hideously stupid Mr. Mine," Skepter stated as he looked at the dead Cadbury. "I never laughed once with Cadbury, but hearing what Juno has to say should send me falling off my seat screaming hysterically."
To say the least, it was an incredibly sick and horribly deranged thing to do. Rather than kill me, he wanted to send a dark message to the little that was left of the Silver Apex by stabbing my credibly, honor, and pride in the heart. I just looked down and shook my head. Not even Zander would have sunk to this level…
Not very long after, I was taken to a prison cell, and was told to stay there and keep quiet. I was happy at least they decided to feed me, even though it was just table scraps of what everybody else didn't want at the evening feast. To them, I was their dog and they were enjoying every minute of it. Meanwhile, I had no idea what they had done to Blazewing and frankly, I really didn't want to know.
Hours later, they came back with the jester's suit and cap I was supposed to wear. I hated the sight of it, being totally in bright rainbow colors. After they showed it to me, they then forced me out of the cell to go down the long network of hallways into one of the dressing rooms. Once they followed me into the room and handed the suit and cap to me, I really didn't feel like putting it on, but considering they put me at gunpoint, I wasn't about to argue. After I grabbed the courage and put everything on, they then put on the white face paint, and when they were finished I felt like a total idiot.
And then they decided to make it worse. As if doing this to me wasn't bad enough, they wanted to go even further than that…
"Go get his Latias," The Charmeleon demanded from the Combusken, still gripping his rifle.
"What the hell do you need her for?" I asked bitterly, figuring they were do something just as malicious to her as well.
"King Skepter wants to see you fly around the throne room with her." The Charmeleon continued as the Combusken left the room, "We need to put make-up on her as well."
This was totally sick and demented, but as angry as I was, there was nothing I could do about it. Sure I could kill him and his stupid Charmeleon friend, but there was no way I'd ever make it out of here alive, even if I knew the way out. And as far as I knew, I couldn't give up hope for the Silver Apex. I could only hope Blazewing would forgive me…
After waiting for a few moments, the Combusken came back while two of his compatriots, a Blastoise and an Alakazam, assisted him with bringing the Latias to their intended destination. Once they arrived, they threw her on the ground in chains, and only then did they take them off.
"What on earth is going on!?" She demanded, wondering why this was all happening. "Juno! What did they do to you!?"
"You and your friend Juno are prisoners of the Black Onyx Kingdom," The Combusken told her. "But instead of executing you, King Skepter has decided he wants the two of you to entertain him as his new jesters instead."
Without a doubt, she was shocked and disgusted at the same time. She looked at me, and her eyes went down sympathetically. Then she turned to the Combusken and the Charmeleon, and realized she was going to have to through the same thing. I knew she would hate being made a mockery of, but we had no choice if we wanted to buy enough time to find a way out of here. Trying to fight our way out would just be a completely reckless suicide.
"Why are you doing this!?" Blazewing demanded, looking down upon the Combusken. "Is this really necessary?"
"You should consider yourself very lucky," The Combusken corrected her. "Every one of the Elite Commanders of the Golden Diadem thought for sure you and Juno were going to be executed. I myself thought so as well."
For a moment, she was silent. I knew she didn't want to go through this, and neither did I, but at that moment, she looked like she had given up as well. But while this was going on, there was only one thing I could think about…
Was this really better than being executed…?