FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 7

Waking up the next day was refreshing to Rook, he felt more calm and relaxed. With Enzlo around him things felt...just better, was the only way he could describe it. He wasn't sure if it was because of what the Abra had done with him the night before or something else, but not having the psychic type around him was harrowing; left alone with just his thoughts which continued to return to Oscar and how destructive his powers were wasn't where he wanted to be mentally, so he ended up following Enzlo around halfway through the day.

The Abra didn't seem to mind, knowing where the Lycanroc's state of mind was. He needed things to distract himself, specifically things that didn't involve anyone asking him to use his powers. Unfortunately, that left the only other thing being Rook listening in on Enzlo talking to the Eeveelutions about their plans and the situation.

Rook was leaning against the wall of a leafy hut in the Leafeon Tower camp, watching the other Leafeon go about their business while listening to the conversation that Enzlo was having with Espa and the Leafeon Elder Chora.

They were currently discussing Riley's plan in using the satellite to try and pinpoint the location of the Mirrors. As Enzlo voiced his concern about the device's sensitivity to motion, Epa voiced her thoughts.

"I sense that Riley wanted Rook to lift the satellite." Epa stated. "Why isn't Rook willing to do the task?"

Rook grimaced and tensed a bit outside the doorway, but Enzlo sent him a calming nudge to his mind while responding. "Rook's powers are currently worn, he needs time to recuperate his energy to be able to use them to that extent, and for obvious reasons, we don't have the kind of time to wait."

Despite the Abra's defense diminishing his annoyance, Rook felt a pang of remorse at Enzlo's explanation. He realized he was letting down a lot of pokémon. His power could do exactly what was needed in just a few minutes, whereas the plan Riley was coming up with now was going to take days to accomplish. Those few days spent could mean the difference between beating Jack to the Mirrors and getting there too late.

He folded his ears back as he sighed. It couldn't be helped though. There was no way he was going to ever use that power again, from now on he'd rely on just his physical strengths and never on his connection to the earth around him.

Rook was pulled out from his remorseful thoughts by Chora as she emerged from the den, leaving Epa and Enzlo to their meeting as they discussed further plans telepathically instead now.

"You are Rook." She half asked as she sat down in front of him, her brown eyes soft and friendly as she gave a slight smile.

He nodded slightly, giving a little shrug of his shoulders while his arms were crossed. "Yes, I am."

"I am Chora, Elder of the Leafeons here." She dipped her head for a moment, lifting it back up and tilting her head. "Enzlo says that your powers are currently exhausted?"

Rook stared at the Elder for more than a dozen seconds of silence as he questioned to himself what she might be meaning by the question. It wasn't until Chora seemed to sense his tense thoughts and she continued. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to question your abilities, I just thought that I may offer my assistance in your recovery."

The Lycanroc sighed, closing his eyes and gathering his thoughts. "No, it's okay."

He opened his eyes again and offered a small smile to her. "Sorry...in a way, yes, my powers are currently not available."

Chora picked up on those words, but she didn't press the issue and instead offered her assistance again. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to try and help you."

Rook again took just a few seconds to consider his options. He could deny her, but his denial in accepting assistance in his "recovery" would probably only raise further questions in the grass type's mind, which Enzlo would then have to try and rebuke.

He didn't want to cause Enzlo any further inconvenience, so perhaps it was better for him to accept the assistance, even if he knew it would be completely fruitless.

"All right, I'll take any assistance I can get I suppose." He said while standing up from where he had been leaning against the walls of the den.

Rook felt the brush of Enzlo against his mind, but he gave the psychic type his assurances while Chora turned and led him away from the campgrounds.

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Rook followed Chora through the forest, along a well worn pathway that led away from the tower and Leafeon camp. At one point, they passed a trickling stream that caused Rook to stop following and watch the serene area. In the sunlight peeking through the top of the trees, the water sparkled and shone while the grass and reeds shifted and flowed in the soft breeze in the air.

Rook had spent ten years on his island, and while there was a forest on it and wilderness of the mountain in which he had made his home, the island was nothing like what was around and in front of him right now.

He was so transfixed by the pure force of nature in front of him that Chora had to double back after realizing he had stopped following him, and finding him staring at the stream she giggled softly. "It's very pretty, isn't it?"

"Yes...it really is." Rook said, looking over at the Leafeon as she smiled at him.

"You were on the islands when they appeared here, yes?" she asked and Rook nodded again. "These untouched lands must feel very exotic to you."

Chora walked off the path and approached the stream of water. She dipped her paw in and caused the flow to break slightly. Rook watched her and then carefully made his way forward through the bushes to stand slightly behind her, keeping his distance from the stream. As pretty as the area was, water was still something that was harmful to him, as a rock type.

"What was your world like?" Chora asked, and Rook grimaced behind her.

"I don't know. Most of my life was spent in the laboratories and the island I later spent till now was never quite as..." He tried to find a word to describe the difference.

"Pure?" Chora provided and looked over her shoulder, giggling again at the look of agreement Rook gave. "This world is untouched by technology. A pure world born from Arceus. A world without humans."

"Not so much anymore." Rook pointed out, and Chora nodded.

"Yes..."

A brief silence hung between them, and Rook finally saw a chance to ask some questions that had pecked at the back of his mind since meeting the residents of this world.

"Why does Ruli keep your trust? He is human too."

The Leafeon's ears flicked. "How do you-" She stopped herself and shook her head. "Well I suppose it doesn't matter how you know, it's common knowledge for everyone around this area that he was once human."

She looked up at the sky for a moment and continued. "Not too long ago we prosecuted Ruli and nearly put him to death, but from his efforts and the protests from those pokémon that had come to know him, we were forced to take a second look at our judgement."

She looked back down then to watch the water. "We decided to trust Ruli, and it is a good thing we did. At the end of it all, he was the one who stopped the other humans that had been invading. It's this trust that has us now harbouring the other humans that have become pokémon instead of out right trying to kill them."

"Humans are despicable creatures." Rook growled out instantly in reaction. "They only do something nice when it also benefits themselves!"

Chora turned sadly to him. "You speak from experience...from your time back in your world before you came here. But you would surely not blame the innocents? We once would feel the same way towards all humans, no matter how good they appeared."

For some reason, Rook's words just tumbled from him. "I spent years under Jack's thumb! Experimented on and turned into a creature made purely for destruction!" As he continued to shout, the ground under himself and the Leafeon began to shake.

The recent memories of Oscar came flooding back to him, as his eyes glowed and Rook snarled and bared his teeth at the Elder in front of him. "This power that I have...it's not natural, borne into me by science and their greed. They forced me to develop it into power too great for me, and...and it killed someone!"

Despite his rage, Chora only stared at him sadly. She didn't even react as the ground shook under them, the peaceful stream disrupted and the water spilling out over the surrounding grass. Rook growled and huffed for several seconds, but as he saw that his anger wasn't phazing the Leafeon in the slightest he began to calm himself, the ground around them ceased shaking and then stopped entirely as she spoke softly.

"You haven't lost your power have you? It's that you refuse to use it anymore."

Rook felt his ears fall back against his head, but he didn't confirm or deny her statement. For another moment, there was silence between them before Chora spoke softly. "Who was it?"

The Lycanroc didn't really understand the question, until she pressed further. "Who was it you had killed?"

Rook whined, his paws clenching up and he closed his eyes as he sighed loudly and forced himself to keep speaking, to just let it out. "He was...someone very important to me. Someone I once felt betrayed by...but...in the end he only wanted the best for me. And I was forced to kill him..."

"Because of Jack?" Chora followed up and Rook's growling response was enough of an answer for her.

"You can't blame yourself if you were forced to defend yourself and others." Chora tried to say, but Rook shook his head rapidly.

He refused to speak as silence hung heavily once more, just the sounds of nature around them. The wind and the sound of several flying type pokémon in the woods nearby as they chirped and chattered. Eventually, Chora glanced at the reeds extending up from the stream and she closed her eyes, the leaves that extended from her body pushing up as she activated her own abilities.

Rook remained with his eyes closed the entire time, until he heard the rustling of the grass and he opened his eyes and looked to where Chora had her body turned. The reeds rustled and shook, as they slowly grew and extended higher from the ground. The Leafeon's control over the natural grass around her was impressive, as she grew the reeds to several times their original length.

"Anyone's power can be used for destruction." She said while she opened her eyes and admired the tall stack of reeds she had grown. "Just as it can be used to grow and heal."

Chora smiled over at Rook, but the Lycanroc scowled and, accessing just the normal energies he had as a rock type, lifted his paw. A Rock Tomb sprang up from the ground. Three slabs of earthen rock surrounded the pillar of reeds, the peaceful stream now having to split apart by one of them.

"There's only one thing that the power I have can do..." Rook growled as he then clenched his paw. The three slabs of rock pressed forward and slammed against one another, crumbling apart into many pieces that littered and scattered along the ground, and formed a pile of rocks that covered the reeds completely, and the stream was now vanishing underneath the pile. Chora stepped back away from the crumbling pillars as it all settled into a mound of rubble.

Rook lowered his arm, staring solemnly at the pile of rocks that now covered the once beautiful stream and the reeds Chora had grown. Again, a heavy silence hung between them, before Rook turned and began to walk away.

Chora remained where she was, watching sadly as Rook began to walk back towards the Leafeon camp. As she lost sight of the Lycanroc among the trees and bushes the sudden rustling of the rock pile in front of her brought her attention back to it.

She watched wide eyed as the rocks shifted and moved, coalescing and rearranging themselves. The reeds that had managed to stay in one piece sprang up from the rocks, which slowly continued to arrange themselves in such a way that eventually several of the reeds were now able to spring up into the air. The bottom of the mound shifted as well, opening up a small mouth and a tunnel which allowed the stream of water to pour into the mound, and another opening on the other end allowed the stream to flow through it. It formed a perfect protective barrier for the reeds, looking as if the plants had always sprang forth from the large pile.

"Oh Rook...Any power can be used to protect and heal..." Chora sighed sadly to herself as the rocks finished reforming themselves like this. "Even if you don't see it...your protective nature carries on through your power..."

__________________________

Rook was seething as he quickly made his way back to the Leafeon camp, but in his anger, he completely missed the turn that would take him back and instead, was walking quickly along the pathway which connected the Leafeon Tower to the coast town.

The thought that he was walking for far too long didn't even occur to him, as he was too absorbed in his annoyance. He had gone into that knowing it would be fruitless, but he had expected some physical healing. Instead after finding out his issue, Chora tried to feed him some philosophical nonsense. He didn't need that from anyone else but Enlzo right now.

Suddenly the bushes next to the Lycanroc shuffled and a Timburr launched himself from the brush while yelling out, his eyes darkly colored with red irises.

"YEARGH!"

Rook spun on instinct to the ambush and without even realizing at the time, used his power to coalesce his fur together on his right arm and swung it through the air. It struck the Timburr across his side and launched him back into the bushes, this was followed by several surprised shouts.

"Great Arceus!"

"Timburr! Litwick!"

Rook growled and he stomped through the bushes, parting them and he started to snarl. "Who else is-"

He paused as he took in the sight in front of him. The Timburr, now laid between a Machop and two Hitmontops, eyes closed and knocked out from the force of the landing. The other young pokémon stared at the Lycanroc in fear due to how easily he had slapped the Timburr out of the air. Rook's eyes grew wide as a rush of guilt replaced his anger.

He'd done it again, called upon his power...and he'd injured someone...

Just before he could fall into the fit of sadness that was creeping up on him, the Timburr began to stir and groan, holding his head as he sat up.

"Dude...what the heck just happened?"

The Machop turned towards his friend, giving a weary glance at Rook. "Litwick decided to jump out at the wrong kind of person..."

Rook tried to understand. Litwick? Who was that?

The Timburr opened his eyes again, this time they were white instead of black and with blue irises instead of red ones. He suddenly understood. The Timburr was sharing his body with a ghost type. Rook had had to learn the special relationships ghosts could hold between those of the living, more for the fact that the scientists had put him through hundreds of tests where he had to resist the mind control of psychics and ghosts alike.

A ghost type and a living pokémon could make a pact of sorts, in which the living let the ghost inside their body to feel their emotions and live their life alongside them. When the pokémon would die, the ghost type would absorb the experiences gained, growing in size and possibly evolving into their next stage. The host meanwhile, would become a ghost type themselves. Sometimes, a pokémon or human with a strong will or had spent extended periods around ghost types could become a ghost on their own, like Riley had.

But still...the realization returned, he'd done it again. If he hadn't been so angry and self absorbed, he wouldn't have stuck out so viciously.

"I'm sorry about that..." He said softly, and lowered his ears.

"No, no." The Timburr said, slowly rising up to sit and he looked up to Rook, giving a soft smile. "I'm sorry. Litwick likes to try and scare folks, since he's a ghost type, so we hide out here and jump out if anyone comes by. Just a little jump scare is all, we don't try to hurt anyone. Course though, you appear to be way too powerful to even think of being scared." The Timburr chuckled softly while rubbing at his side, which had started to bruise horribly. As a pokémon, he'd fully heal in a matter of hours, but that didn't stop Rook from feeling terrible.

Rook shook his head slightly. "No...I shouldn't have hit you. I told myself I wouldn't hurt anyone else like that again..."

One of the Hitmontops tilted their head. He was slightly shorter than the other brother next to him. "Never hurt anyone? Not even in defense of yourself?"

"It was in defense of myself that I killed someone I never would have wished to." Rook said, frowning. "I've sworn never to use my power again..."

The Machop scoffed, folding his arms. "Heh, sounds like you're afraid of yourself."

Rook paused. "Afraid of myself? No, I'm afraid of my power."

The young fighting type only scoffed again, rolling his eyes. "Your power is a part of you, just as mine is a part of me. Even if you're more powerful than many others, it's still you. Trying not to use your power is just kidding yourself." He waved his hand at Timburr a bit.

"I mean, you clobbered him out of the air without even really thinking about it didn't ya?" The Machop folded his arms again. "You can't just stop yourself from using what's always been a part of you."

Rook looked at the Machop for several seconds, thinking deeply. Could he really deny something that was naturally a part of himself? His power was just the normal power of a Lycanroc, just empowered several times by the unlocked power of his own life energy. He was on par with those holding the power of Mega, and perhaps even those of the mythical legendary pokémon back in his home world.

But no. That extra power might be a part of him, but he didn't need to tap into his inner life force to use just typical rock type attacks. His spires of rock or floating spears was something no normal rock pokémon could normally do or even hope to do, not without living through the same kind of breeding, conditioning, experimental drugs and procedures Rook had already gone through.

The Lycanroc turned his head away and closed his eyes. "Sorry I hurt your friend..." He said, ending the conversation and he began to turn to walk away. The four friends watched the stranger walk away, vanishing down the path beyond their vision.

Machop grunted and he turned his head up while folding his arms. "That dude's a coward."

Timburr rose up onto his feet, one of his eyes turning dark with a red iris, and his voice was laced with an echoing quality as he spoke. "No. His soul...it's very powerful...he's afraid of his power. He's afraid for others around him."

Suddenly, the young pokémon turned deeper into the trees, surprising his three friends. "H-hey!" One of the Hitmontop brothers stuttered "Where are you going?"

"I need to see Mistress Chandelure about this." The ghost type inhabiting Timburr responded. "His mind is bound by fear, and he needs help before it consumes his soul..."

___________________

Rook quickly realized that he had completely missed the turn to the Leafeon camp shortly after his run in with the children, but he had no intention of turning back around and passing them again. His thoughts were clouded and he walked with his eyes cast over, staring at the ground a few feet in front of himself.

Instead his legs carried him to the coastal town and to Ruli's home, where he ducked inside to hide from the world and sat down, hugging his legs to his chest and looking down at the ground between them. Rook closed his eyes and took a deep breath, reached into himself with his mind like he used to do within the lab, and fell into a form of trance, his only movement being his breathing.

He didn't know how long he sat there like that, meditating, just, letting time pass. It was only the soft touch against his leg from a yellow, small paw and the gentle brush against his tired mind that finally got him to focus. Rook lifted his head, his eyes clouded and showing that tiredness to the worried Abra beside him.

"Hey..." Enzlo said softly. "Are you doing all right?"

Rook's eyes cleared slightly at the sound of the Abra's voice, but he only sighed and lowered his head again. "I'm...not sure. Each moment that passes it feels like...I'm being crushed."

Enzlo remained quiet a moment longer before sitting down next to his companion and leaning against him. "You weren't outside when I got done speaking to Epa..."

"Chora pulled me away. She heard that my powers weren't working and thought she could try to help heal me. I didn't want to decline because I knew if I did they'd question why I didn't help Riley...but she found me out and then tried to give me some speil over my emotional stability."

"Well, she isn't wrong you know." Enzlo chuckled lightly.

Rook grumbled. "Yeah but I don't need to hear it from everyone...nothing they say to me will help me."

"Then perhaps I can do something instead."

That voice came from outside, and the entrance to Ruli's home was lifted up by a single arm, belonging to the young Timburr boy Rook had crossed in the forest earlier that day, one of his eyes still dark with red irises. However, that voice was not his, it was soft, whispery and distinctly female.

With the entrance lifted, in floated the long, metal like arm of a Chandelure, followed by the main body and the other arm. Its flames caressed the top of the small den, and her yellow eyes shone brightly upon the rounded body as she stopped in front of Rook and Enzlo, the Timburr shifting up beside her, now holding a large piece of rectangular wood and leaning against it.

Rook narrowed his eyes at the ghost. "Who are you?"

The Timburr growled and for a moment, both of his eyes turned dark but a brief wave of Chandelure's arm calmed him, and one went white again as the young pokémon instead chuckled. "This is Mistress Chandelure. She's like...a mother to the ghost types in this region, for lack of a better explanation, or like...a leader of them."

"Ghost types have an ability to sense one's fears, and my child tells me that you have a terrible fear gripping your heart." Mistress Chandelure said while she floated in front of Rook.

Rook's hackles raised slightly and his paws clenched. "What is it with everyone and thinking I need help?"

"Because you do. Fear is a vicious thing, and when it is left to fester and feed on one's emotions, it will eventually come to rule you." The Timburr turned and then ushered in someone else who walked in under the Chandelure. One of the many Litwicks she had around her earlier? Rook guessed.

"Behold, the last flames of a soul..." The Flitwik said, bowing and as the lit candle atop of his head dipped a piece of wax fell from it's wick, a small, red flame appeared on the ground where it landed. Flickering, the five pokemon there now just stood and watched the flame for a few seconds before Enzlo rumbled, rubbing his chin.

"You deem this wise?" He asked softly, his slanted eyes looking at the Mistress floating in front of him and Rook, who continued to stare at the flame in slight confusion, but odd fascination.

The Mistress looked at Enzlo, "I was not aware any Abra knew of this."

"I know, and yet here you are, about to reveal it to Rook and I." Enzlo chuckled, a grin on his face. "I'm not from this world either though, I know many different things."

She just hummed and her eyes made an amused expression before she waved her hand down towards the red flame, and fed it some of her own blue flame. "Behold, the last strength of a soul...died before their time or after it, lost to limbo while remembered."

"Let the soul feed upon life, so that it may burn anew." Enzlo added up lightly, and he watched the flame intently.

It suddenly welled up and filled the small house, and Rook jumped back a bit as he wondered what the hell was happening? Remnants of a soul? What?

"What is going on?" He asked to Enzlo then, and the Abra's tail flicked up to tap him on the snout.

"Pay attention, you're witnessing the birth of the first new ghost this world has ever seen." The Abra told him, "now shush."

They sat, watching the flame intently, but after nearly forty five minutes of silence except for the hustle and noise just outside the house, Rook couldn't take it anymore, leaning over to Enzlo. "So...is something supposed to happen?"

"I think this may take quite some time." The Mistress gave a soft sigh, picking up herself on the lengthy time it was taking, despite being ageless. "The actual time frame legends tell us can't be reliable anymore after twenty thousand years."

"True, this world is different. He was a Slaking when it happened..." Enzlo observed. "He could take more time than what is normally said."

Rook's eyes went wide at this, and he snapped them onto Enzlo, but before he could start screaming anything he felt psychic energy wrap around and clamp his muzzle tight, followed by the Abra's voice in his head. "Silence is necessary for a ghost to be born. I will explain what has happened later."

The Mistress's arm wrapped around the big red flame and then pulled it close to herself as if the ball of fire was actually solid. "We will care for him when he wakes and inform you."

"Thank you." Rook felt the words just fly out of his muzzle suddenly, before he even knew what he was really thanking them for. All he knew now was that this was Oscar's soul.

This made the Mistress chuckle softly, "Don't thank us yet hon, you may wish you hadn't..." She stared at Enzlo and nodded softly, the Abra nodded back after a moment, and with that, she and the other two pokemon she'd brought with her both left the house, and left Enzlo and Rook alone again.

"Are you happy...?" Enzlo asked Rook, and the Lycanroc's tail wagged just a little as he nodded.

"Yeah...Oscar can have a different life, but I'll be happy to see him again." Rook rumbled as he smiled at Enzlo.

"I'm glad..." Enzlo said lightly, and this made Rook tilt his head.

However, Enzlo wouldn't answer Rook about what seemed to actually have happened there or why the psychic still seemed perturbed, but his mood was considerably lightened, and they spent the rest of that day training together within Enzlo's mental world.

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When morning came, after the deep of the night and the sky was just starting to light up on the horizon with the sun, did Rook receive news of Oscar again. Mistress Chandelure brought with her a new Litwick soon after, the infusion of her energy while he had still been a red flame would give Oscar's soul the form of a Litwick, for now. Rook was told by Enzlo to wait in the house, out of sight, until he was called. And so Enzlo greeted the Mistress and two Haunters that had accompanied her, with her was a new Litwick, the small flame atop it's wick was red. Riley was there as well, a somber look upon his face. Rook was hunkered down by the doorway where he could still listen but remain out of sight.

"Hello Oscar." Enzlo said down to him lightly, and the Litwick looked up at him.

"You knew my name?" His voice, despite the size of the pokemon, was deep in quality, with a bit of an echo to it.

"Yes, I knew you when you were alive..." From his hiding place, Rook's eyes narrowed. "You were an important man. I have someone you need to meet too. You could have called him your son, in a way."

From the mental nudge Rook felt, he knew that was his signal, and he stepped out from the house he'd been hiding in and into Oscar's field of view. Rook was already smiling widely, but he froze up in the middle of his second as suddenly, the Litwick stared practically slamming it's head to the ground.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please...it hurts! I'm sorry!"

"Oscar!" Rook shouted, "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry! it hurts please!" The Litwick just shouted out, and suddenly he was wrapped up into a ball of darkness, the two Haunters hands glowing while they mimed through the air to lift Oscar off the ground within the darkness, and his shouts became drowned out within the ball.

"So..." Enzlo said lightly, "That confirms that."

Rook, still very much stunned, just asked, "Confirms what? What just happened?"

Mistress Chandelure looked at Rook and she bowed softly. "I'm sorry...this was all I could think of doing to try and help you recover, but I was afraid of this." She floated in front of them. There was no one else there with them currently, as everyone was still sleeping. "What I am about to tell you is told in strictest secrecy for ghost types, almost legends of our own."

"When first coming to this world and realizing the rules of it differed from those of our past, those ghosts who came before us learned the methods of giving birth to a new ghost type through the spirit of another pokemon, thus did the possessing pacts come to be and our continued understanding in existence alongside the living."

"It was told however, that there were two other known methods by which new ghost type pokemon were created in the human world; in those humans whose desires and aspirations kept their soul tethered to the world. This was very rare and usually, that aspiration or dedication bordered on insanity, and that insanity often transferred to the mind of the new ghost. Such as what seemed to happen to Ruli's Uncle, Vane, when he came to this world and was forcibly changed into a Sablye."

"Others, like myself here, also come from this method." Riley pointed at his chest, "We're just too stubborn in our goal to let death stand in the way. We come out the other side far more in control of ourselves." He didn't smile although he seemed to be bragging. v

"And the last method...is when a pokemon kills a human." Rook's eyes widened. "Depending on the power between them and what's happening, the infusion of life energy sparks the human's soul at the moment of death, bringing them back unto undeath." The Haunter's began to move away with the ball of darkness floating between them. "As you know, as you raged, your life energy filled the air. His soul was, of course, touched by it."

Mistress Chandelure stopped Rook from trying to follow with one of her arms, and the Lycanroc paused, looking at her as she continued to talk then, "A ghost type brought into being by this method...knows nothing of their former life, and the sight of their killer sends them into a panic."

Rook felt his heart skip a beat. His eyes glowed and widened at the ghost type Mistress while he processed this. "You mean...I can't ever see him..."

"Not if you don't wish to torment him every time. Hearing your voice, that is fine...but the sight of you will do nothing but make him relive the moment of his death. What you just saw was his emotion at the time of his death, those intense "sorries" he says to you is him telling you he is sorry for what he put you through. Even as you killed him, even as it hurt, that's all he felt."

Rook looked at the Mistress wide eyed still, the glow of his eyes fading out as they wavered. He eventually nodded, and he pointed to the door while turning to it. "I see...then...if I stay in the house, I can talk to him?"

"I would prefer that you let me acclimate him to his new life first." The Mistress said lightly, through her eyes curved slightly to convey her understanding of his desire. "Letting him see you right after his birth was honestly risky, but we wanted to confirm if the method held true. Once I help him recover from this and then coach him a little as a ghost, I will return with him, it may only take a few days."

"But Rook." Riley stepped closer to him and into his line of sight the Lycanroc looked down at the slightly smaller ghost. "We need that satellite, up, in the air."

"Tracking down Jack will be the best route to ensuring that Oscar will remain safe as well. And bring you closer to claiming vengeance for him." Enzlo added.

Rook listened, but he didn't really seem to be mentally responding to the words being spoken. He just kind of looked around with wide eyes, then back to the hard shadow ball the Haunter were carrying, "Can he hear me right now?"

"He can." The Mistress said lightly, just confirming the question to Rook.

Rook sighed and he clenched his paws a bit, "I accept the apology Oscar, and I'm sorry too..." and with that, Rook just turned quickly, clenching his eyes shut, and he growled. "Fine, let's get that satellite up and going." He lifted up his paws as they glowed yellow and clenched them too.