Child of Thorns - A Pokemon Sinnoh Reimagining

Inyssa's chest tightened at her sister's words, at the scene unfurling around them like a dusty, moldy carpet. Cold and stillness permeated the air. This was their house, but not the one she remembered fondly from time to time.

It was the other one. The house from her nightmares. The one where her steps echoed because there was no other sound to muffle them. And not because it was empty. There were people inside, but it was like the feeling of being in the same room as a sleeping patient. Every dark angle where the walls met, every shadow cast by the furniture, every inch of what she could see was sharp and unpleasant, as though there'd never been an ounce of love within these walls.

This was Shadi's creation, just as impassive and hard to read as the woman herself. And judging from the lack of sounds and people, full of hidden things too.

Inyssa closed her eyes and breathed out, tired. She was so tired. But she couldn't afford to lose time when they had so little of it to begin with.

"…So this is where your mind trapped you." she said, looking back at Shadi. "I don't blame you for trying to hide it."

Shadi scoffed derisively. "Don't give me your pity."

"It's not pity," countered Inyssa. "But I guess it would look like it in your eyes. Here. Let me…"

Inyssa raised her hand. It was a casual gesture, like waving at someone invisible. Her eyes flashed a bright gold. Veins of lightning arched off her fingers like tiny whips, slashing at the mass of darkness enveloping Shadi like a cocoon. A hiss like steam rising from a kettle resounded as the inky blackness shattered into a thousand pieces, bleeding out into the air like smoke. Shadi fell to the floor, landing on her knees with a pained grunt, her long ashen hair falling forward, covering her face.

She didn't attempt to get up, though she didn't collapse either. Just knelt there, breathing harshly, eyes hidden from view.

"Ha…haha." It was a laugh that finally broke the silence. Bitter, but weak. "Finally made Uxie's power your own? Congratulations. Now you can cut through any illusion you want… I guess you must think that makes you oh so wise and impartial, huh? I can… see it all over your face."

Inyssa pursed her lips. "You see on my face only what you want to see. I'm not any happier than you."

"Oh g-give me a break, it's so clear it hurts. You b-barged in here all… stoic and confident, all your little speeches and arguments ready to be used. You're so fucking eager too, it makes me wanna retch." With great effort, Shadi finally raised her head to look up at her, spite carved onto every crease of her expression. "Go on, then. Say what you wanna say. Tell me how I fucked up, recount all of my… s-sins and mistakes. Then drag me back home and throw me into a cell so I can rot there for the rest of my miserable life. Just… hurry up and get your fucking revenge already."

It was incredible, Inyssa thought. For how easily Shadi manipulated people, she really was terrible at reading them. It was almost enough to make her laugh. The idea that she was actually enjoying this, that she'd been looking forward to it. That she… wanted to hurt Shadi, as much as she'd hurt her…

To think it was so frighteningly easy to misunderstand someone so close to you. It made her shiver with disgust.

Slowly, Inyssa knelt down, putting herself at eye level with Shadi. Her sister recoiled a bit, but couldn't retreat much as she was holding herself up with her one and only hand. She did scrunch up her face though, probably waiting for sharp, hateful words to dig into her.

Instead, Inyssa reached toward her forehead and, softly, gently, parted the thick mess of hair falling over her face, hiding most of it. Shadi could only stare, eyes wide in confusion.

"It was hard, wasn't it?" Inyssa whispered.

"W…what?"

"It was hard without dad. And it was harder when mom relapsed. There was no one to cook for us. No one to speak in our behalf in parents' meetings, no one to come take photos and smile and congratulate us when we graduated or got into trainer school." Inyssa took a moment to breathe, sighing. "It was just the two of us… and it was hard. Was it not?"

Silence. Inyssa looked at Shadi again, and held her gaze there. Her sister had clearly not expected those words to come out of her mouth. She stared gormlessly, mouth slightly agape.

For the shortest moment, the briefest hints of pain and understanding crossed her face, but she erased them quickly, face going taut, forming a mask of pain and anger.

"D-don't patronize me!"

Shadi pushed herself up and harshly slapped her hand away. The sudden lack of balance threw her back, landing her on her butt, away from Inyssa.

"W-what is this!? What game are you trying to play!?"

Inyssa grabbed her hand. It didn't hurt, not in a physical way. She figured this place was like the mind-scape Uxie had pulled her into many times before, which meant their bodies here were only an illusion. An incorporeal representation of the real thing.

Even so, she still felt so tired…

"It's not a game. Can you really not see that I'm being honest?"

"F… fuck off…" Shadi swallowed, looking nervous. "You can… knock me out and bring me back whenever you want, there's nothing I can do to stop you. And you still want to humiliate me, even so? H-ha… I must've really done a number on you for you to be so bitter."

"I told you; you're only seeing what you want to see," said Inyssa. "I've always loved you, far beyond what was wise and healthy. And because I loved you so much, I made mirrors of my eyes so you would see yourself whenever you looked at me. And it worked for a time. But when you started to change, when this house robbed you of what little love you had, that reflection turned bitter. It became just a painful reminder. Of the things you did to me."

"L…love? Are you… s-seriously bringing love into this!?"

Shadi's face went taut with rage, and a sharp, unhinged laugh left her lips.

The unpleasant sound flew like an arrow through the air, and Inyssa was surprised when that metaphor became reality, and an actual thin bolt of venomous darkness slammed into her stomach. She winced, taking a step back. It wasn't a physical pain, but she could feel her soul crying out regardless.

Shadi had been the one to laugh, but Inyssa was the one who turned that sound into an arrow, only because the comparison had crossed her mind. And now that it'd happened once, it would happen again. In a world of illusions, even words could become fearsome weapons.

"W-what love!?" Shadi demanded, screaming. "There was never anything like that! Not for this house, not for you, not for mom! I just… I just had myself. I only ever loved myself, and you two hated it! Y-you hated it so much and were so full of… jealousy that you kept dragging me back to this shithole, again and again, wanting to keep me for yourselves! You ruined my dream just because you couldn't have what I had! How could I ever have love for parasites like you!? I hate you! I've always fucking hated you! Always…!"

As she spoke, her words took the shape of red-hot spears, running Inyssa through like she was made of paper. Incorporeal pain exploded throughout her body. Had she not been on her knees, she surely would've fallen just then. Even so, she took a deep breath, ignoring the long wedges piercing her, and looked up at Shadi, muttering a single phrase.

"You're lying."

Her voice boomed, imbued with power. It vibrated through the floor and walls, through the red spears stabbed onto her body, shattering them into a thousand little pieces. Shadi saw this and recoiled.

"H…how dare you say…?"

"You're somewhat right," Inyssa interrupted her. "If there's one thing I admire about you, even now, is that you never needed anyone else to be happy. And I think that's admirable. But that doesn't mean you… haven't been lying to yourself."

Slowly, one shaky hand pressed against the ground, Inyssa pushed herself to her feet, grunting and wobbling all the way. She was in pain. She was exhausted. But she rose to her feet nonetheless. Then, she raised a firm finger and pointed it straight at Shadi.

"I'm not the one you hate," she declared. "You had love before, for this house and for me, and even occasionally for mom. But even if all that love is gone now, that doesn't mean that you hate me. That is the truth I've reached after finally regaining all of my memories."

The harsh echo of her words boomed through the air, then vanished, leaving only a deeper, heavier silence in its place. Shadi could do little but stare for a few seconds. Eyes wide, looking like she was still processing what she'd heard.

Then she smiled. Her lips and stomach started to shake as a burst of laughter rose up her throat. A small chuckle came out first, and then she threw her head back and let out the rest; a sharp, strident sound like a volley of tiny glass shards being vomited from her mouth, shooting in all directions.

It was a cruel… but exaggerated sound. And just like with the red spears from before, it sought to hurt Inyssa. She raised her hand, the light from her eyes materializing into a golden barrier before her, blocking the worst of that volley.

"T…truth!? Was the first word that Shadi could force out, in between explosions of laughter. "W-who do you think you are, Reshiram's chosen one? No! You are Uxie's hero! Who the hell gave you the right to speak about truth like it belongs to you!?"

Shadi sounded genuinely unhinged now. Following her sister's actions, she pushed against the ground and pushed herself to her feet with much less difficulty. As she did so, the darkness around her returned. Those pulsing, inky veins of black bled in from the walls and ceiling, extending toward her like spider webs. Shadi's whole body started to look different. Her pale skin glowed like the moon. Her eyes shone with a deep, cruel azure hue. Her voice was deeper, more echoing, and her words became more elaborate and boastful, more unflinchingly arrogant.

More like the Shadi she wanted so badly to become. Inyssa held her head down and breathed out, exhausted.

"Memories aren't the same as truth! They're deceitful, and yours even more so after they were shattered and forgotten!" Shadi bellowed, and her words rained down upon Inyssa as a volley of deadly azure arrows. "What you see as the truth is nothing but your own delusion! After all this time, you're still trying to convince yourself of something that's not true! Nothing about you has changed! You're still that broken, pathetic girl that left Twinleaf all those months ago!"

One after the other, those illusory arrows struck the barrier Inyssa had raised, pelting it like rain. They weakened it to such an extent that a few of them got through. They whistled hatefully as they dug onto her shoulder and collarbone, earning hisses of pain from her.

Shadi laughed at that. Seeing how effective her approach was, she kept going. Grinning maniacally, she raised her open palm toward the skies and called onto the inky darkness, manipulating it like clay and making it coalesce into the form of a long, deadly spear. The hateful weapon hovered above her hand, rotating in place until it was pointing straight at Inyssa.

Then, with a tone full of manufactured malice and theatrics, she bellowed the words which sent the spear flying.

"The Shadi you believe in is nothing but a delusion you created to protect yourself!" she claimed, screaming at the top of her lungs. "The truth is that I never loved you, not once in my entire life! I've hated you from the bottom of my heart ever since you were born!"

Brimming with malice, the spear flew like a heat-seeking missile straight at Inyssa's heart. She couldn't block or dodge it. Just like she'd never been able to repel the hurt Shadi had inflicted on her before. As such, she didn't even try to move. She stared the spear down as it approached, head down, eyes hidden in shadow.

Then, she whispered something. It was quiet enough that Shadi couldn't hear it, but it seemed to awaken something in Inyssa. With speed her real body would have never been capable of, she took a sudden step forward and raised her arm as high as it would go, her burning golden eyes finally coming into view. Then, face twisted with an emotion even she couldn't identify, she repeated the words at the top of her lungs.

"YOU'RE LYING!"

The light behind her eyes exploded, flooding her body, flowing through the vine-like scars across her arm like liquid gold. It turned solid in her hands, materializing into a long, thin shape. A brittle blade, yet one that glowed like the sun itself. With a sharp bellow, she brought it down upon the ebon spear with every ounce of strength she had.

It cut through it like fire on paper. Her golden light of truth, of belief, burned the hateful weapon in an instant, and it kept going as she swung it through the air, bursting forth like a flood, falling upon Shadi herself.

Cleft in twain, the dark and monstrous Shadi fell apart like shards of glass. Her vicious smile, the hateful azure glue in her eyes, the shadows bleeding from her, it all shattered. It vanished like mist, leaving only the real Shadi behind, pale and weak and shamefully human.

"Aagh! N-no…!"

She flinched, taking quick steps back and raising her hand over her face, unable to even look at the burning gold enveloping her sister like a miniature sun. Inyssa threw her hand to the side. The shining blade vanished, but the radiance remained. It was so potent that for a short while it almost managed to hide the pain and exhaustion across her face.

"You're right… memories aren't very trustworthy on their own. But thanks to you, mine are fresh and deeply-carved into my mind, like they happened just yesterday."

Shadi took a step back, and Inyssa took a step forward, unflinching. Her face and body were impossible to make out, a black blur amidst the piercing glow surrounding her.

"I've met three of you throughout my life," she spoke again, words echoing. "There's the Shadi that was my hope. The one that I constructed within my mind to keep those awful memories safe for me. I killed her with my own hands that night atop Snowpoint's temple, by denying that you love me." Her voice grew deeper, more bitter. "Then there's the other Shadi… she was my fear. The one you've been trying so hard to become, to at least have an excuse for the things you've done. Your illusive slippery slope. I killed her with my own hands just now, by denying that you hate me. Which only leaves…"

She took another step forward, and the light finally reached Shadi, running her through like the glow of the moon to the bottom of a lake. She recoiled, but it was in vain. She couldn't escape from being seen, from being known.

"…this. The third Shadi, the real one."

Shadi angrily swatted at the air, as though that would cast a shadow big enough to swallow her whole.

"F…fuck off! W-what gives you the right to say who I am or am not!?" she bellowed, furious and terrified. "What gives you the right to stare into other people's hearts like they're yours to toy with!?"

"I'd say I've earned it, after everything you've done," said Inyssa. "It's only by comparing those three Shadi, by looking at my memories from those three points of view, that I can see the real you so clearly now."

"W…what…?"

"Guilt." That single word pierced into Shadi, making her flinch. "That's what you feel toward me. Not love, not hate, but guilt. And I'm the only one you feel that way toward. You are not a kind person. If you really hated me like you claim you do, you wouldn't feel an ounce of guilt or sympathy toward me, just like with all the others you've hurt and forgotten about."

"That's… agh! Not true!"

"Isn't it? Let me ask you, then. Why are you still hiding part of this place?"

Shadi froze in place. Her face couldn't be seen, still shielded by her raised palm, but Inyssa knew her eyes had shot wide open.

"I'm not…"

"There's still one more illusion here," Inyssa cut her off. "Did you think I wouldn't notice? There's a door missing from here that was in our house. The door to your room."

Unconsciously, Shadi looked toward the blank spot in the wall, and hated herself for it as Inyssa did the same a second later. The wall shook under her gaze.

"It seemed weird. If this really was your 'personal hell', then why would you be left like this? Stewing in your own thoughts wouldn't be any good. You enjoy being alone. And sooner or later, you would've wrapped yourself in rationalizations and burned that guilt away, like you've always done," Inyssa said, no malice yet no kindness in her voice. "So who else is here beside us that you don't want me to see?"

There was no more struggling, no more lying Shadi could do. Collapsed and huddled against the wall, she grit her teeth and realized she'd been beat. She was at Inyssa's mercy.

"You… you already fucking know. Why even ask?"

"Because I want you to look at me and say it. I want you to meet me halfway for once in your fucking life." A bit of that resentment slipped into Inyssa's voice, but she quickly held it back. No, this wasn't about anger. This wasn't about taking revenge. "I just… want to understand."

And as she said that, she raised her hand toward the far wall in between them, and the light burned through it in an instant, revealing a simple wooden door underneath. The door leading to what should have been Shadi's room.

The door shook a little bit, as though shy hands had grabbed at the handle from the other side. Then, slowly, fearfully, it opened. And someone slipped through with quick, shy steps, all shrunk into herself.

"I'm s-sorry, I couldn't get through… the door must've been locked or something, I'm sorry…"

A barely adolescent Inyssa stepped into the room, staring straight at Shadi who was lying against the opposite wall. She approached meekly. Each step was slow, and sometimes she stopped mid-way or had to take a step back for no apparent reason. She kept her hands close to her chest and her eyes pointed down at the floor, like a weaker Pokemon rolling on its back in front of a predator.

She didn't seem to notice the real Inyssa, who'd gone stiff at the mere sight of her. It was like she was invisible to her younger self.

"S… Shadi? Are you okay? Do you need, um… a-anything?"

Shadi recoiled at those words. It was a visible, venomous reaction, like bearing one's fangs, and the young Inyssa immediately realized her mistake. Mid-step, she froze with a jolt and shrank even further into herself, eyes falling shut.

"I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I…! I d-din't mean to upset you!"

It was a horrid display for both sisters, but while Shadi pursed her lips and looked away, Inyssa made sure not to avert her eyes.

"I don't need anything. Go away," Shadi spat out.

"I… p-please, I'm sorry!" The young Inyssa made her hands into fists against her own chest and begged desperately. "I-if I did anything wrong, tell me what I can do to make it better! I… I w-want to make you happy! Whatever it is, if y-you tell me…"

Shadi's lower lip shook.

"I'm okay. Everything's okay, so go away."

"That's no good! I did something, didn't I? B-because of me… agh, I'm s-such a failure! Please, tell me, if I can d-do something to make you feel better…! T-to make you smile again..!"

Shadi closed her eyes tight, looking like she wanted the ground to swallow her.

"I… I told you to go aw…"

"I-I'm here if you need me! If you want to… i-if you…" The young Inyssa struggled to get the words out, but eventually her devotion won out over her fear. "It it'll m-make you feel better to… to t-take it out on me, then...!"

A powerful slam echoed across the house, silencing the young Inyssa and making the whole house shake as though it'd been hit by a massive hammer. In actuality, it was nothing more than the side of Shadi's fist against the wall behind her. Cracks like spider webs spread out from the point of impact. A feat that would have been impossible, were this house not simply a creation of her own mind.

The young Inyssa jumped back and hid her face between her hands, shaking from head to toe, while the real one raised a single eyebrow, her expression otherwise impassive.

"I… I get it." Shadi opened her eyes slowly, teeth clenched in anger. "I get it, okay!? I get the point you're trying to make so enough already!"

"Hm?" Inyssa narrowed her eyes. "I thought you hated me with all your heart. And there I am, weak and feeble and ready to endure your worst punishment. It's the last chance you'll get, after all. There's no way someone as spiteful as you would pass it up if you really despised me as much as you claim."

As she said that, she started to walk toward the younger, cowering Inyssa, who still couldn't see her despite the bright light that enveloped her. With an expression that was neither of pity nor disgust, but not entirely unlike them either, she stopped behind her. Took one good look at her own frail, terrified younger self before looking over her, straight at Shadi.

"Come on. Hurt her. Or even worse, tell her to hurt herself." There was no cruelty or mockery in her voice. It was flat and curt. "She'd do it. You know she would. It wouldn't be the first time. She's… what, fifteen here? Yes, at that time I'd already started to–"

"SHUT UP!"

Shadi lurched forward and grabbed at the side of her head, as though in deep pain. Her face scrunched up, starting to go red.

"Shut up, just s-shut up! Go away! Leave me alone!"

Inyssa let out a tired sigh. Then, gently, she wrapped her arms around her younger self's waist, hugging her from behind. The sudden touch made her freeze. It was only then, so close, that she seemed to notice her presence.

"W-wha…?"

"It's okay." Inyssa planted a soft kiss on the back of the girl's head, whispering lovingly. "It wasn't your fault. It never was. I guarantee you that truth, before you go to rest."

In that moment, the light enveloping Inyssa extended to her younger self as well. It traveled through her like veins of lightning, covering every inch of her until there was nothing left but glowing gold. Then, with a simple touch, she made it come apart. The younger Inyssa shattered and vanished into a thousand golden motes, swaying through the air like butterflies of light.

And then, the two sisters were left alone again. Neither of them said anything for a while, until Inyssa could regain the composure of her voice.

"I wonder… when we last fought on top of Snowpoint's temple, when I showed you that vision of me trying to kill myself, you looked… guilty, yes, but not surprised. Did you know?"

Shadi's anger died on her face, being replaced by something else, cold and shaky. She couldn't reply. Couldn't look up at Inyssa's eyes.

"Had you been keeping an eye on us, if only occasionally? I wonder how you found out. Did you realize there was no one in our house or Barry's? Did you find us in the hospital? I wonder if you saw me laying in that hospital bed. If you really hated me that much, then that sight would've surely put a smile on your face. So… was there?" Her eyes narrowed, yet the light behind them didn't pierce through Shadi any less. "Was there a smile on your face, Shadi?"

"…Why are you doing this?" Her sister's voice sounded genuinely on the verge of breaking. She still couldn't force herself to open her eyes, to look up at her. "You can… drag me back whenever you want. I c-can't stop you… You can throw me out into the world again and n-never have to see me or worry about me again. Why do you… bother with this? With me?"

"...Because there's only one of you," Inyssa said sadly. "You're the only one besides me who knows what it was like."

Inyssa walked toward Shadi and, weakly, knelt down in front of her so she could see her face. This time, Shadi didn't push her away. But she didn't open her eyes either.

Her expression and her voice softened ever so slightly.

"I know you've had that anger, that bitterness inside you for a long time, just like I had. I want to understand it." She smiled weakly. "I want to know where this horrible cycle started, so I can break it once and for all. And for that…"

She reached with her hand gently, brushing a tuft of her sister's hair aside, then pressing the flat of her palm softly against her reddened cheek. As she did so, the gold in her eyes flashed, and the world around them changed.

"I need to understand you."