Forgotten Paths - Chapter 6 - Late Introductions

[derrick_mace]

Chapter Six: Late Introductions



I never felt this way before. To wander in your own mind was a bliss, a wondrous feeling. I witnessed all my memories, each stored away behind doors. To my displeasure, I found that I didn’t enjoy all of them.

“Remind me to thank Saif for this,” I said.

“Of course,” my impression said, walking behind me.

I stopped by the head of a large staircase, looking down onto the hallway of my mind. I turned my eyes skyward, and heavy clouds gathered.

“What is this?” I murmured. I turned to Saif’s impression, but couldn’t find him. “Hey-Saif?”

I felt a heavy hand on my waist. I gasped, before feeling as if I was torn apa---

“Gah!”

I couldn’t see anything. I noticed first the searing pain, but then a hand over wherever it came from. A warm, open palm pressed gently, and the pain slowly subsided. Then I could see with my eyes.

It was the girl. Spiritomb.

“Get away from me!” I shouted, scrambling away, before a horrible ache knocked me down. It was dark-she died!

“Calm down, Diane,” I heard Saif say. Then I realized I didn’t see the girl; it was Saif. It was very dark and my eyes were sore. I covered my swirling head.

“Are you ok? I’ve been worried that I kept you asleep too long,” Saif said.

“I…Yes. Did you-The girl! Your friend! Spiritomb!”

“You mean Catalina?” He asked.

“Yes! Spiritomb possessed her-he tore-ugh,” I stopped, feeling a sickness. It wasn’t so dark anymore. I could vaguely understand-ugh.

“She’s alive,” the other girl said. The first was spread on a bed, covered in clean sheets, and by her foot was an Absol, glaring at me. “That bastard caught us off guard."

“Oh, and by the way, for future reference; my name is Mina Alex. This durable girl here is Catalina,” she said, petting the other one. A low growl came from under the sheets. “Oh, and Saif, Mark told me he’s left to the Pokémon League so to gather info.”

“That man can’t gather weeds in a square foot garden without making a fool of himself,” Saif said quietly, pulling me against a wall, picking up my arm and whistling lightly. “This is a little bigger than mine.”

“I don’t want to look at it,” I said, as he compared his hand’s scar to my own.

“It’s not your fault,” he said, covering my scar. “Spiritomb didn’t find you out of failing of your own.”

“What?” I asked.

His eyes turned to my own, as he said, “I spoke to Azelf early today.”

“W-what?! Why?!” I exclaimed.

“Out of curiosity,” he replied, letting go of my hand and sitting opposite to me. “I disguised myself with a few techniques I learned off Lucian. What matters is this; Azelf knew Spiritomb would come at you. He helped Spiritomb find you.”

“You’re kidding!” I shouted.

“I don’t know how. A nasty plot, no doubt,” he said, turning to Catalina’s quiet body. “Spiritomb initially wanted to use me to get to you, and that’s why he summoned me to meet you.”

“He summoned you to Lake Valor.”

“I think he wanted me to find you there, and slip his consciousness to control you. I’m not sure. What matters is that my psyche was too…focused for his plot.”

“What? Why?”

A small smile rode across his mouth. “A psychic can lose a lot when they discover their powers. They can shift in and out of their regular character. That could be abused a lot. I trained Ielas and myself to a certain personality when difficult times come so to assume a firm mental stand. This ‘alternate personality’ this time was a flirty playboy with not many regards.”

“So with me you wore a mask.”

“I have so many masks...so much that I forgot what my face looks like,” he said quietly, standing up.

“Then Spiritomb must’ve been spying on us all along. Maybe his ‘invitation’ was an attempt to get you nervous and make you abandon your plan.”

“I think realized this, and so he had three choices; Catalina; Mina and Mark."

"But...didn't you say your first plan was to keep an eye on me? Spiritomb got to you already."

"I can improvise. Regardless, Mark was too rash and focused, Mina spent a very long time around ghost-like Pokémon, and her knowledge and expertise proved troublesome. She could sense Spiritomb, but Catalina can’t. She’s the kind of person to stay quiet all day in a half-warm bathtub, or reading a graphic novel and flip the pages looking for nice drawings. She’s not a very focused type. Spiritomb almost killed her, and Absol couldn’t see it. That’s why she’s so…growly.”

“What matters is what you’ll do, Diane. Azelf of Lake Valor plotted for you to be disabled, and that was done through abusing my friend’s power,” Saif added. I felt a chill in my blood. “What will you do?”

“What do you want to do?”

“Our choices are already set, Diane. We’ve all been put in danger, including you, for the long-dead of a 500-year war. Since you’re the one Spiritomb wants, I reckon you should tell us your plan first.”

“You’ll stand by me?” I asked, amazed.

“It depends,” Saif said.

I didn’t speak.

Saif said with a even tone, “I really came to like you, Diane, but you should decide what to do with yourself, and I hope that our plans would walk parallel.”

I didn’t know what to do.

“I need to recover from Spiritomb’s attack first,” I said, eyes on Saif.

“Then I shall tend to you,” he said. “Since Spiritomb is the one who attacked you, an ancient and powerful dark Pokémon, I think it would be expected for the Dark Pulse to hurt more. I have dulled your senses, Diane, but you will need time to heal. I’d say that it’ll take two weeks before you can walk, let alone fight.

“Hey boss,” Ielas said. His voice was muffled and distant. “I cleaned the room.”

“How did Spiritomb get to Catalina?”

“He disguised himself as James,” Ielas said, pointing at the bathroom. “He contacted her through a sound in the water, telling her to dip her ring to bring him. You know her ring.”

“I do,” Saif said slowly. “And then Spiritomb channeled its conscious through her finger and possessed her? She didn’t move away from the bathroom, did she?”

“No, but…well…parts of her did,” Mina answered, revealing her own hand, wrapped. “When I came in the bathroom, I saw the bathwater pinkish, and saw a blackish gash on her side. That’s when…well…”

“I’m sorry,” I said. Mina turned to me. “I’ve been the cause of this. She almost bled to death, and I think you gave away some of your own blood to her.”

“It wasn’t me,” Mina said. “Saif is O positive. Catalina is A positive. I’m a B positive.”

“I see,” I said. Sighing, I tried to relax. Everything in me hurt, and it hurt me in a deep and intense way.

“You shouldn’t move,” Mina said. “Hey, since we’re sharing the room for the weeks to come, we might as well introduce properly.”

“We already did that, but not completely,” Ielas said. Saif was sitting in a corner, on an armchair, crossing his arms and looking out the window. “Boss, why don’t you start?”

Saif smirked. “I already did that over five times.”

“But never with this character.”

“I guess you’re right,” he said, turning to me. “Hello Diane, my name is -as you guessed it- Saif Nobel. I used to be a psychic Pokémon Master, which means I used to be under the direct authority of Psychic Master Lucian of the Elite Four. It’s been almost a week since Mina, Catalina and I have been stripped bare of our statues, and the reason I can still sleep on a bed is that I have several bank accounts, only two are known to the League. Is that enough to answer any questions?”

“Not yet…why do you propose to help me?”

“I didn't, yet," he said. "We’re waiting until you’re fit enough to make an informed decision and for Catalina to heal. For all I know, we could be working against each other, in that case it won’t be beneficial for me to protect you from Spiritomb.”

A shiver went down my spine.

Now I’m in the custody and protection of accused and prosecuted people. People whose interests are hidden from me, and who can toy with my immobile and useless body and mind as much as they desire.

“I will wait, then,” I said. I then stopped for a while, and said, “You were better with the other personality.”

“Everyone says that,” he said, gazing away. “Since you share my interests in the extrasensory, I think you could do with some training. Your body cannot do anything but breathe and eat now, so it’s good to work with the only thing in practical.”

I didn’t know if I should feel insulted.

“Well, thank you," I said. “Mina?”

“Huh?”

“Err…you wanted to introduce yourself?”

She jerked herself. “Oh, yeah. That.”

She scratched her hair and said, “Well…My name is Mina. I did give you my name before, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, Mina Alex.”

“Surname. Always forget. Mina Alex Holmwood. I met Saif while competing for the elite four’s favor.”

“Favor?” Saif asked.

“Well, you would remember I tried to get the psychic post.”

Saif leaned back, turning his armchair to the window, saying, “You wanted to get everything all in one, idiot. If you could challenge the elite four to get all their positions, you would.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” she said, brushing her hair away. “Turns out I’m best at assisting the Elite four; I took the ghost Pokémon post. I’ll tell you a secret power I have.”

“She can sense ghost Pokémon. Woohoo... badass...," Saif said.

“Damn it, Saif! It was supposed to be a Plot-Changing Revelation!”

“What plot?”

“We plot a lot,” Saif said.

“Yeah, I guess we do,” Mina said slowly, keeping a thin eye on Saif.

“We’re all so rad in Camelot.”

“We eat ham and jam and spam a lot!” Ielas sang.

“I hate it when you guys do that!” Mina said. “Anyway. That’s one of my secret powers. Another is that I can banish ghosts. More effectively than Saif and Catalina combined.”

“A Shadowball can disagree with that,” Saif said. Ielas grinned.

“Saif loves big explosions and visual effects. That’s why he gets bored when I dismiss ghosts, no special effects, just Cold. Hard. Results.” she said. “Oh, and lastly, it’s much easier for me to befriend and train ghost Pokémon.”

That was something different; ghost Pokémon didn’t like being trained or approached at all, and more often than not, they would turn on their trainers early and often.

“So that leaves Catalina,” Ielas said. I yawned a bit; opening my mouth too wide would hurt-

A huge red eye appeared under Mina’s bed.

“YAAAH!!-Ow!!”

THE PAIN!

“What’s wrong, Diane?” Saif asked, getting off his chair. “Man, you should keep your mouth closed a bit; it would hurt to exercise any muscles now.”

“Jun, you jerk,” Ielas cried. The eye closed and a shaky laugh rumbled in the room. “Bad Jun! Bad!

“What was that?” I whispered very quietly, holding my jaw.

“Damn it, Jun! Stop that! Halloween was over a long time ago!” Mina exclaimed, punching her bed. “It’s just Jun. Ignore her. She feels so insecure ‘cause she couldn’t scare anything this year.”

“Seriously, what is with the kids this year?” Ielas said. “I mean, I was supposed to be Jun’s head, since she was the horseman, but the kids were like, ‘I know you’re acting’. What do we need to do to scare them?”

Jun murmured as the eye bobbed up and down.

“It’s because of those slasher movies, guys,” Saif said. “When they get loaded with blood and gore all year, the only scare they could get is either an allowance cut or a scare with mysterious nature.”

“Yeah, I tried that once on Catalina’s younger sister, Emiko, and Catalina’s Absol almost shredded me.”

“Catalina’s sister’s name is Emiko?” I asked. That didn’t seem consistent.

“Well, her other name is Ania,” Ielas said. He turned slowly to Catalina’s bed, but she made no sound.

“Enough talking about Catalina, Ielas,” Saif said.

“Ok. But it does take time and effort to really confuse a kid to wetting their pants,” Ielas said. “Most of the time kids are just confused enough to sleep while trying to scare them. It works on teenagers better, especially those with long hair and black clothes. They always seem to be obsessed with self-orientation enough that it scares the droppings out of them. It’s funny listening to their thoughts, too. ‘Am I going to die?’ 'Is this heaven?' 'Will I be dead forever?'”

“Ielas, you’re such a monster,” Mina said.

“Thanks!”

“If it’s not such a bother, can I ask why Catalina’s sister has two names that are distinctly unalike?” I asked.

Ielas turned to Saif, who turned to the window. I glanced at Mina, who was brushing through her hair with her fingers. Even Jun hid her eye from me by disappearing into the mattress. Catalina’s Absol, on the other hand, relaxed a bit and gazed a bit at me.

“So it’s private?”

“Tell them,” Catalina said quietly.

“What?” Mina asked.

“Tell her. Too tired,” She breathed.

“Ok, sure,” Mina said. “Well, it’s sort of complicated, Diane. I can call you Diane, right?”

“Yeah,” I said.

“Well, Catalina’s family has this thing, ok? Know what I mean?”

I lifted a curious eyebrow.

“I…guess?”

“Good. So her sister and she have two names. The end.”

“Your explanations are terrible, Mina,” Saif said. “Her mother’s family don’t like her father’s family and vice versa. Her official name is her father’s family name set, which is Catalina Garcia, and that’s why we call her by that. Her mom’s family call her sister Satake Emiko and she Satake Asami. Her mother’s family are a little…nicer to us, but they’re a little xenophobic, so Ielas isn’t really welcome.”

“It’s cool. I like the weather when it rains. And they have a really old traditional house,” Ielas said. "It's fancy."

“Yeah, I bet you liked it when it rained for two nights and got a cold, didn’t you?” Saif asked sharply. "You didn't stop coughing for three days. Your forehead could fry an egg."

“It’s fine, Saif.”

“They didn’t like Pokéballs, either. I would have kept you inside some way or another,” Saif said. “Luckily for Absol and Jun, they could both enter the estate, since they conformed to the Satake household preference. Ielas, being a psychic wasn’t very welcome. I was, strangely enough. Maybe they just don't like his kind.”

“Enough Saif,” Mina said. “Catalina will get bothered.”

“I like bashing my mom’s family,” Catalina said from under the covers.

“She doesn’t really mean it, by the way,” Mina said. “She just sometimes finds difficulty to live with one. She has both their blood, after all.”

“Can I sleep peacefully now?” She asked.

“No, it’s your turn for proper introductions,” Ielas said.

“I think we went off a tangent on my introduction,” Mina objected. “Where was I? Oh, so I’m the official leader of the group.”

“Yep, that’s right, Mina,” Ielas said. “You planned all this, from escaping the league's grounds to hunting Spiritomb and executed it all. By tomorrow you'll be president, too.”

“Shut up.”

“Are you done yet, then? You can't take up all the time.”

“Almost.”

“By Ghastly’s poisonous fart…”

“So, last comments. I’m a ghost Pokémon master.”

“You said that already,” I said.

“But did I say that I have a special proficiency with ghost Pokémon?” She asked with a grin, shaking a finger.

“Mina, you also mentioned that you have a horrible memory,” Saif said.

“Are you sure? I don’t remember…”

“She’s so easy to tease,” Ielas said, leaning on Catalina’s bed frame, before jumping away at Absol’s bark.

“Ok, Catalina, it’s your turn!” Ielas exclaimed.

“Tired.”

“Ok, who would do the introductions for her?” Ielas asked.

Absol barked.

“You can’t speak, stupid,” Ielas said.

She growled.

“Yeah, that’s very scary. My attack is going down,” Ielas said, rolling his eyes. “You know that I can blast you into outer space with a mere thought, don't you?”

"Can there ever be something called a 'mere thought' with a psychic?" I asked myself.

She barked again.

“Absol wants to speak through me,” Ielas said with a sullen expression. He turned to Absol for a leer. “Ok.”

Ielas’s body drifted to the floor, and then Catalina’s voice, distinguishably Ielas-ified, echoed.

“What do you want to know?”

“Err…your name?”

“Catalina Garcia. Satake Asami. Precious. Absol Trainer. Dog-Wolf Thing Trainer Girl. Dark Pokémon Mistress. What else?” Ielas said in a monotone.

“Dog-Wolf Thing Trainer Girl is what Ielas calls her,” Saif said, twisting the armchair to see. I sustained a grin.

“Err…nothing else. You can go back to sleep if you want to.”

“That’s it? I think I’m beginning to like you,” Catalina said, as Ielas rose up and she turned to sleep.

“Aww, come on, Diane. It’s not every day we get to wake her up and let her talk for more than five seconds,” Ielas said.

“She looks pretty tired,” I said, before yawning. “Woah…so am I.”

“Let’s put you to bed,” Saif said, getting up. Ielas grinned widely.

“No, thanks!” I said. “I can find myself a mattress or something.”

“I have a couple of futon mattresses in my room,” Saif said. “Ielas, go fetch them.”

“Sure thing, boss,” he said, before disappearing, then reappearing instantly, hands holding a rolled up cushion.

“Show-off. You don’t need to teleport and telegrab,” Saif said, taking the cushions and spreading one on the floor. “Ielas, spread the futon and I'll tuck her in.”

“I can crawl in myself!” I said.

“And tear another muscle?” Ielas asked. "Being a human Ditto isn't that fun."

"Ok, Ielas, you do it. Confusion," Saif said.

“Mina can help!” I cried.

“Argh…why did you remind them of me?” Mina groaned.

“She’s right, Mina. Come on,” Saif said. “Help her in.”

“Thank you!” I whispered deep inside.

“It’s eight PM right now,” Saif said, taking a glance at his pocket. “I’ll come by at six to pick up Diane, Mina.”

“What for?” Mina asked, but her tone was dull. It was as if she asked that question for me.

“Mental exercises. Since any serious psychic activity would alert Lucian, I can let her see my lessons in the League,” Saif said, mainly at me.

“Oh, how interesting! I hope she learns a lot of things that could help her in the practical future!” she exclaimed.

“I get the message, damn it. I’m not stupid,” I murmured, as Mina dragged me into the futon.

“Good night then, girls.”

“G’night,” Mina said.

“Hey, Saif, can I get that hypnosis again?” I asked, hopeful.

“No,” he said, opening the door for Ielas.

“Fine, go already,” I said.

Catalina murmured something under her sheets, before Saif closed the door on us, leaving us in the dark.

A little muffled, I heard his voice in the next room.

“What do you mean, it doesn’t make sense? It’s ok for girls to sleep in the same room as other girls!” Saif said.

“I still don’t get it,” Ielas said. “I mean, our room is bigger, and I don’t need to sleep on a bed.”

“What don't you get in it? Seriously, don't you Gardevoir have any concept of privacy?"

"What's privacy?"

"Damn it, Ielas."

"Just joking. But she can sleep on my bed if she wants to defy a strange human social regulation for some odd reason like...say...safety?"

"You deserve a bed, ok? If I can’t put you in a Pokéball, you’ll sleep like normal people.”

“Jeez. I’m not a person, Saif.”

“You’re sure as annoying as one, Ielas.”

Mina giggled. I found myself smiling. This might not be so bad after all.