Ch.90
Imported from SF2 with no description.
Maria - Maggie's Primarina
It was a lot. The past few weeks had been a lot. Emotionally. To be practicing. To be back on that stage. To sit by Maggie's side as she worked on scripts, and rehearsals. To accompany her to the salons and make arrangements for wardrobes and accessories. To be back in the deep end of the world I used to know so well. I had forgotten how much was actually involved in it. Even as our practices lightened up, our days only seemed to get longer.
It was a lot, and I loved every moment of it. I loved watching Maggie smile, as some wistful little idea hit her, her hands frantically fumbling with her notebook, writing down her thoughts before she lost them. I loved watching her sketch and draw and plan. Every detail, from the angle and color of the lights, to what props and fixtures she wanted in the water for us to interact with and move around. I forgot how good she was at designing costumes, how much she loved doing it. How many she'd go through before she settled on the ones she wanted.
I had begun to spend time with the Lycanroc, too. Tempest. Her voice had grown so much since we'd first started practicing. There was something about it that was intimately compelling. Alcyon had a crisp elegance, every note so perfect and pure. The way my voice was, before. But neither she nor I could ever have managed the kind of raw, passionate urgency in Tempest's song. This wasn't a stage performance for her. This was something deeper, and everyone knew it.
She refused to practice around her trainer now. Would always give him a playful shove away when it was time for vocal work. She wanted to give him a show as much as anyone in the audience. Wanted to surprise him. Wanted to sing for him. I didn't know if Maggie understood it and ignored it, or was oblivious to it. But the longer I watched them interact the more I realized what they were to one another. The more I understood, the more I wanted this show to be perfect _ for her _. He was a good man, and her love for him was something I understood in a way that made my own heart ache for the beauty of it.
But that didn't help the loneliness that had been bubbling up to the surface lately.
It was a bittersweet feeling, and I found myself leaning into those emotions. It would help my performance, too.
Sharon - Trainer's gloomy friend
We'd done everything we could, before letting our plan out to the world. Once we booked the stage, that was all going to change. The real fight was only just beginning. There was no way to do it without attaching our names to it. No point to it. But that meant everyone was about to start crawling out of the woodwork to ask questions. Get interviews. Try and be the one with their finger on the pulse.
That also meant my family was about to find out. My sister. My father. Arceus, but I was terrified of facing them after all these years. I had tried, a long time ago. Tried to get through to Cassandra. To pull her out from under Da's influence, but ... she liked being there. Being the one he praised. The one he approved of. I hated her at the time, but even back then I also knew if it was me in her place, I'd have felt the same.
It wasn't going to take too long before they figured out where we were staying. I wondered if they'd show up in person, or find some other way to stir things up. It would be impossible to say for sure. Only that they wouldn't be idle. Either way, all I could do was wait and see. Maggie and I had begun to make arrangements for props and equipment, we were still fleshing out the script, and she was already making calls for back up dancers and singers.
It was hard to believe that we were really doing this. That I was about to take on my own family this way.
I was terrified. Exhilarated. Mostly terrified, and I wasn't even the one who would be on stage. It was a mercy. As the reality of it all hit home, I realized how frightening it all was. I felt ill, and all I could do was keep pushing forward, try to ignore the way my stomach was in knots over the stress and anxiety of it.
Even Shizuka seemed a little more solemn and tense than usual.
Somehow that made me feel better, not being the only one.
Wendy - Trainer's friend
It had been a long flight. Long enough I'd drifted off to sleep until someone jostled me trying to look out the window. Alola was beautiful from above, the clouds beneath us, still several miles out, it was a breathtaking sight. And somewhere on those islands, an even more beautiful one was waiting for me. I wondered if he'd managed to get a tan. Sage had stayed with me on the flight, and when I slept had arranged herself to help support me, the sweet little darling. Her eyes were locked on the scenery of the islands as we approached them. I wished I could have shown Stacky. I did sneak Sprinter and Rein out of the confines of their pokeballs for a few minutes when nobody was looking. I wasn't the only one who had. It was something maybe we'd never get to see that way again, after all.
I had expected it to be hot. It was more pleasant than I had anticipated. Humid, sticky, but the actual heat wasn't too terrible. A little like being inside the barn in the middle of the day. The wind we were getting wasn't doing us too much good, and I knew I wouldn't want to do anything too strenuous in what I was wearing. Stacky didn't seem to mind a bit though, carrying me along the road at a leisurely pace. Sprinter walked alongside us, until, with a brief bit of conversation, he got up on Stacky's back with me.
So it was that we walked the roads for a while, taking in the sights, doing a little bit of shopping before messaging our friends, to figure out where we needed to go to meet up.
I was looking forward to seeing him again. To introducing my friends to him and his. To seeing what kind of trouble he'd been getting up to lately. He'd been quiet, seemed really tired in the messages he'd sent. Not unhappy, but clearly run ragged. I wanted to help, however I could. Or just be there for him to lean on. Like he had been for me. As busy as he seemed to be, I knew an extra set of hands wouldn't go astray.
Or maybe they would... but I bet he wouldn't mind that.
Penance
WENDY! I could have swatted master for not telling me she was coming. But seeing her walk up as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world, all I could do was bound across the sand to her, all but tackling her into it with nuzzles and affection as she held me close and laughed.
"Miss me?" She asked. Of course I did! I missed her voice, her smile, her laugh, her hands through my fur, just knowing she was near. I missed her like crazy and I was so glad she finally made it back to us! I couldn't answer her in words, even if master had been right there to say them for me. I didn't have them. All I had was this urgent, frustrated whine as I nuzzled near to her and rested my head against her. Hearing her heartbeat again made me feel like a growlithe all over again.
Staccato didn't complain, but I could tell he didn't know quite what to do with himself when I insisted Wendy got up on my shoulders, carrying her back to the cabin. Master was there, reciting his lines from rote memory, for what felt like the thousandth time. He was practicing his steps, his posture, his expression. Meticulous, driven. Maggie hadn't asked him to do this. He did it himself, every day now. Several times a day at that. Any time he had a spare moment. It was cute, and he was getting better at it every time.
Wendy watched in rapt, silent attention as he moved the length of the cabin, oblivious to our presence.
"And what would you have me do? I can no more ignore my heart than the moon cease to dance upon the waves!" A pause, a pivot, a grand sweep of his arm toward some unseen horizon. "And she awaits me, even still. Arceus only knows the turmoil in her heart, that I am so late in coming! Cease your protestations. It is unbecoming of you." He scolded, a dismissive wave of his hand before he pivoted and paused. A moment of hesitation, and then a confident stride to one end of the room.
He pivoted at the end of the room, and flashed me a wink. He hadn't been oblivious after all.
Wendy couldn't scramble over to him fast enough, pouncing into his arms. He surprised her both by catching her, and by lifting her above his head before setting her back down. He whispered something in her ear too soft for me to hear, but her blush spoke volumes, as did the way she embraced him afterward. "It's good to be home." She said in reply, gazing up into his eyes.
She'd grown stronger in the time she was away. I hadn't noticed it at first, but seeing her there with him, she wasn't overwhelmed in his presence anymore. She stood proudly, held herself straight, looked directly into his eyes. She'd grown. A lot.
Sage - Wendy's Dratini
It was a lot. The noise. The crowd. I wasn't used to it. I didn't know if I loved it, or hated it. It was a change, and not every change was one I liked. So when given the opportunity to slip away, I didn't hesitate. I found myself swimming in a bigger water than I had ever known before. There beside me was a lapras, vibrant and cheerful. Showing me around, and teaching me where the fish hid. We both decided to break away for a while. She was quiet company. I liked that. Things would calm down, everyone had some catching up to do. Things would calm down and I'd be back when they did.
The ocean. It moved differently, and tasted differently than anything I'd ever experienced. A push, and a pull, the closer we got to the shore. A subtle flow deeper and further out. As if I could have drifted off and woken up in a new world. It was almost frightening. I was glad to not be alone. So we swam, and we ate, and when we returned it was quieter. A little, at least. The conversation flowed and Wendy welcomed me back, excited on my behalf, curious as to what I'd seen, what it felt like to me.
I was surprised when her friend was able to tell her all the words I had for it. My surprise brought a ripple of laughter from the group, and for a moment I felt a little embarrassed, and frustrated to have been the last, it seemed, to know this about him. Once the embarrassment had passed, I had found the words I wanted. "It was salty, and didn't move right. I like rivers better." I admitted, as I wrapped myself up around Wendy. "But it was also very big and very beautiful. I'd like to explore it, even if it doesn't feel the way I'm used to." I added, as I looked to her friend.
There was a lot I'd need to learn, new people, new pokemon, new place. For now I kept quiet, let them talk around me, took it all in. It was nice in its own way. To be able to relax and just watch. Just listen. He had a gentle voice. He was excited about what he was doing. His pokemon were all very close to him. Very warm.
Everything here was warm, and I found myself lulled by it.
Alola was a nice place. I was glad for it.
Trainer
We'd already talked about the bad stuff before. The whys of it all. There was no need to rehash that. So instead I focused on what we were doing. What I was looking forward to. We'd set the stage, had a date, were working on revisions to the script, costuming, all of it. A flurry of activity. It was intense, and overwhelming and I was glad that my part was so small. I mean. All I had to do was get up on stage and perform. Remember my lines, not freeze up. Focus on the pokemon I'd be acting with.
Okay. Maybe not so small. I began to mentally rehearse my lines again, the motions, the dances, the water...
Wendy laughed at my distraction, and nudged my shoulder. "You're gonna be great. Look at you. One foot on the island and just like that you're an actor? Is there anything you can't do?" She asked teasingly, running a hand through her hair, gazing at me in something between admiration and envy.
"Sleep at night." I admitted, scratching my cheek. "I'm nervous. Claire keeps having to put me under so I can get something close to rest. I'm honestly anxious." I said with a sigh, as I looked to Tempest, who nodded in agreement. "We've never done anything like this before. We're having to trust people who have, their reassurances, their guidance, their training."
"I'm a little kid in a white belt all over again." I mused, with a disdainful shake of my head. "So I'm letting them decide everything, I'm so afraid of screwing this up."
"Maggie said it's normal, even she gets nervous sometimes. The only remedy for it is practice. Again and again, until I can do it in my sleep. Just like martial arts, really. So that's what I'm doing." For a moment Wendy was quiet, almost brooding. "It's not all bad though. Look at my girls, they're gorgeous, right? I have so many things to introduce you to. Soaps and conditioners for fur, some really great brushes that I'd definitely recommend! It's about time I get my darlings cleaned up, why don't you join me tonight? We'll give Stacky a good wash. How long's it been since you last really washed him?"
"Too long..." Wendy admitted, as she held the pokeball in her hand, turning her gaze to Staccato who was racing back and forth across the sand, with Penance, challenging her to a series of energetic sprints. "Yeah, that sounds good. And when your friends get back, we'll be all clean and fresh to make introductions. I like the sound of it. Come on!"
Maggie
I wasn't surprised we had visitors. I was surprised they had nothing to do with our current woes. She was as rough around the edges as her friend had been when I first met him. But her pokemon were in good condition. It was obvious she hadn't been keeping them properly tended, but they'd made the effort today. It was nice to know he'd help someone else put their best foot forward. I'm sure it was a lot of extra work. Taking care of his own dominated his time. He rarely had so much as an hour truly to himself these days. And even with an extra set of hands, without the practical knowledge I'd given him, she'd have to learn from scratch, which meant he had to take the time to teach her.
I was proud of him. He'd truly taken the things I taught him to heart. I wasn't wasting my time, and knowing that was a fine reward for all the work I'd had to put in today, managing calls and scheduling interviews. It had taken all day to get ahead of this thing, to make sure everything that happened had an appropriate time and place. For all the work I put in on the front lines, knowing he was truly holding his own behind the scenes made it feel worthwhile. I'd seen him rehearsing, more than once held off on taking his attention, as I watched him work. He poured his soul into it, and he was getting better, every day. He had met my every demand, and then went even further than that, on his own.
I had to admit, Sharon was either lucky or brilliant. He was going to shine, when the lights were on him.
With our venue secured, our props and backdrops being handled, and the music prepared, there was only one thing left for me to worry about.
That venomous seviper I knew would be lurking close, looking for a way to unmake this. She wouldn't come after me. She'd either go after her sister, whom she believed weaker and smaller and more fragile... or risk the unknown quantity in our lead actor and his team. She'd do what she could to make trouble for us, but I'd been making arrangements for a while, subtle things that would make it a little more difficult to cause any real problems for us.
There was a lot she could do, and one big, ugly 'what if' I didn't want to think about too deeply.
It was a question of whether there was anything approaching family loyalty left in her heart. It was a question I couldn't answer. But for the sake of our plans, I hoped there was. I wanted to hang her with it. I wished I could have warned him, let him know what we had intended. But he needed to be utterly convincing. She needed to believe she had him in the palm of her hand. Nothing less would do.
Cassandra - Sharon's Sister
That little bitch. First she steals my pokemon, then she steals my stage? I should have dealt with her years ago. I wish I'd had the nerve back then. But no. I had to believe I still loved her, still cared. She made her choice. She wasn't ever worthy to stand on the stage with me, but she could have lived a quiet life basking in all the rewards of my success. She just had to go and bite the hands that fed her.
Da was right. She was useless to us. Not even worth the family name. But now here she was, a little splinter in my side, and a snag in the tapestry I'd spun with my own two hands. I had to deal with her. Her and that useless lapras, too. Seeing their picture together on the television was beyond irritating. I was incensed. I was livid.
All it would take is one good scandal, and nobody would listen to anything she had to say. I knew that better than anyone. One good scandal and I could unmake her. Better than dead. So I started digging. A few calls to a few ... friends. They'd find out where her little boy toy was staying, and I'd find a way to destroy her with him. In the mean time I had to think about damage control. There was nothing I could do about the venue being booked. But I could always set up a competing event. Draw eyes away from her little fiasco. Maybe disrupt the timing of things, make it harder for them to get the supplies they needed.
Sorry honey, but you're not ready to take me on. It's not my fault you're about to be embarrassed in front of the whole world! Contests are big business and you're not even small time. You have no idea the hell you've just opened up. You should have kept your fat ass out of my business. It would have been better for both of us.
Helena - Trainer's Absol
It wasn't often I felt a malice like this. A wave of nausea hitting me all at once, a sort of creeping dread, a want to go to ground. Or to bite. Something was looming on the horizon. Something I couldn't describe. A presence like death. Inescapable, lurking in every shadow and whispered on every wind.
A malice, and somewhere in it, a black-hearted joy. A triumph. A vicious satisfaction. I instinctively moved closer to master, turning my gaze up to him as he laughed and joked with his friends and their friends, oblivious to it all. I wanted to tell him. I needed to tell him. But I couldn't. I couldn't bring myself to do it. I knew how much was already on his shoulders. How much pressure he'd been under this whole time. How afraid he was, more than he even admitted. He'd practiced the steps until he had to bandage his feet. Strained his way through exercises that were more grueling than anything I'd ever seen a human do. Recited line after line until his voice was hoarse.
He didn't realize it, but every night when he was asleep, Belle exhausted herself trying to take care of him. To put him back together. She didn't want him to know. Didn't want him to feel indebted. But she was bearing the brunt of it, and having to hide the strain. I was doing double duty, looking after him, and being there for her. But if I was doing double duty, she was doing triple. I don't know where she got the strength.
As things were, how could I bring myself to add to the weight on his shoulders? No. I couldn't tell him. I wouldn't.
But Belle picked up on my mood immediately, and then Mira to hers. For a moment I wanted to laugh. I wanted to cry. I was terrified of what was coming.
But I wasn't alone.
Whatever it was, it would be a cold day in hell before we let it hurt our master. He didn't need to know about it. It was enough that we did. We'd keep him safe, so he could do the things he needed to. That's the promise we made to each other, and that's the promise we'd keep.
Whatever that malice was, it was in for a big, nasty surprise. We'd make sure of it.
I just wished that telling myself that would let me believe it.
Sybil - Trainer's Weavile
I'd never seen Helena with her hackles up before. She was ready for a fight. Itching for one. Her claws leaving divots in the ground with every step as we rallied that night, outside the cabin while our master slept oblivious within. Claire agreed to keep him under, she'd participate through Tempest. Nothing slipped past those two, and I was glad they were on the same page as the rest of us. This was our duty to him. To keep him safe this time.
We couldn't hover. We needed to be close, but not so close as to scare off whatever was coming. If we wanted to deal with this it had to be in a way that didn't give them a way out of it. Not this time. We knew Sharon's sister was a schemer. Someone dangerous. Someone not afraid to kill to get what she wanted. So we had to treat it like the threat it was. We had to be cautious. Sharon's father was an unknown quantity. So we pulled her pokemon into our little meeting.
They didn't have much to say. He was apparently some kind of business magnate. The kind of person to rub elbows with politicians, and rich executives. They didn't know what his business was, only that he didn't spare much time for his children, and expected them to behave a certain way. Achieve certain things. When Sharon failed to achieve those things, he didn't berate her, didn't belittle her. He simply ceased to acknowledge her existence. He was cold, and ruthless, and he always got his way. One way or another.
He wouldn't bother with this trifle. That was their take on it. It was Cassandra's mess, and therefore it was Cassandra's problem to deal with. That at least, was something of a relief. For now. It wouldn't be something he cared about unless it impacted him. She could drown for all he really cared. Both his daughters could. That was just the kind of man he was, in their eyes.
They didn't have any ideas as to what she might attempt. She was good at evading expecations. And at using people against each other. Making sweet promises, only to reveal the cost when it was far too late to back out. A web of lies and deceptions to ensnare the unwary and make them dance on her strings.
It was going to be fun to sever them. One by one.
But if that wasn't an option, I wasn't above just severing her. I wasn't about to let anyone destroy my family. Not after everything they'd done for me.
I'd keep my claws honed. Just in case. I knew I wasn't the only one willing to do it. Even if I was the only one willing to admit that about myself.
Belle
I was glad to see Wendy again. To be able to talk to her, hear her laugh, and see the way her presence began to soothe the rough edges out of Master's feelings. He expressed his anxieties to her. They talked about them, and he felt free to truly unburden himself to her. He needed that. It was something he felt like he couldn't do with us. Like he had to be the strong one, or at least, 'strong enough'. Humans had that problem. They were all a little guilty of it, feeling like they were the center of the things happening around them. Especially with pokemon, even as much as he tried to just be one of us, he still always felt like he was in charge. I doubted he was even aware of it, himself. Humans were just that way.
He might not have treated us like subordinates in any other way, but in the most important ways of all, he set himself apart from us. I loved him, and I understood him, and I hated to admit we were the same. We kept Helena's secret, kept it apart from him, because we felt like we were the center of things. Like we had to be the strong ones. To protect him. To protect his heart and the rest of him, besides. He was our human, and we kept a lot of little things to ourselves.
The others agreed they didn't want to add to his burdens, that he was under enough pressure. I understood where they were coming from. He was running himself haggard trying to do all of these things. To be who Tempest needed him to be right now. To be someone she could rely on, and entrust her dreams to. But in a way, what we were really saying is... we didn't put our full faith in him. We could say what we want about trying to make things easier for him, but at the end of the day what we were really saying was that we didn't think he could take anything else right now.
I didn't agree with that. I knew the man. I knew who he was. I fell in love with who he was. He'd have taken it on the chin, and stepped back into the arena with a swagger. He was the kind of person who... even when he broke, did so with a sharp edge. The day he thought he was going to lose all of us, his response wasn't to cut and run. It was to fight to the death.
That man hauled a Lapras up a mountain, danced until he bled, sang until he couldn't speak, took care of each of us every day, and despite every exhaustion, and every ache I couldn't soothe, he did it with a smile. He did it without ever once feeling like it was a bother. Our Master wasn't a man who folded when things got difficult. He was a man who only seemed to grow more resolved the harder the climb was.
That was the man I fell in love with.
Not putting our full faith in him ate at me. It was maddening. I hated it.
I was glad it was Wendy who joined our little group. She wouldn't have any complaints when I fell asleep in his arms, too tired to continue, even as anxious as I was. She held him from behind, and he held me, and somehow it made it all okay. Somehow, as frustrated as I was, I knew it would be okay.
I hadn't slept so well since she left. I hoped she would never leave again, for his sake. He was the calmest I'd felt him in weeks. His calm became my calm, and that was that.
Maybe the others were right. His calm was our calm. We had to protect it. Even if it meant setting ourselves apart from him sometimes.