The Crystal in a Spring
"You do understand that this is a very special customer, right?"
The young woman inside the counter rolled her eyes.
"Even though he's rich, famous, and smart, he's just like anyone else, except he's probably a lot snotti-
"Ember, you better not call him that to his face!"
"It's okay! I'm not that dumb…I don't call you controlling right in front of your face, do I? Not that I ever would, I mean…"
The older woman shoved an egg into Ember's hands.
"Make sure this isn't broken! Bill'll have my head if this isn't delivered correctly. It holds the rare water pokemon…"
"Yes, yes, Laparas. You've already told me this at least 5 times. I won't be able to reach the cape in time if you keep giving me information that I already have. And anyways, you know that with me, the egg will be in utmost care."
The woman's expression softened.
"Okay, well be careful Ember."
"Don't worry, we'll be fine."
The young woman hopped on her charizard, clucking to fly off in the late afternoon sun. In the air Ember started thinking. First of time she would get there, and once she confirmed with herself that it would be early nighttime, she started wondering about doing some fire-dancing. She might as well earn a few extra dollars while she's at the cape anyway.
"So, Topaz, want to help me with a show tonight? Who knows, maybe we'll bring together some new couples, heaven knows it's not going to happen to me."
Ember scoffed while the charizard nodded its head furiously and chuckled a bit.
"Hey, whatever happened to moral support?" Ember shifted position and sighed. "I guess I wasn't exactly joking myself anyway."
Her golden eyes lit up again as she tried to change the subject, but nothing came to her, so she stared at Cerulean City down below. Lights were ablaze everywhere, and street performers were already out on the square. Laughter wafted up through the breeze and reached Ember's ears in a light, carefree jingle.
Soon the air got darker and quieter, the scent of water dancing in the wind. A goldenrod colored bridge came into view, but it soon passed and checkerboards of trainers waiting to battle dotted the landscape. Finally, only after all of those things had gone by, did she see a mansion and two small ponds. A gazebo sat in between the two of them and soft words floated up from lovers' mouths. A lone figure sitting in a tree came into view as Topaz landed gracefully on the field. The man dropped a notepad and a pencil before hopping down himself, three pokemon following him.
"Good evening, you haven't happened to see any person with an egg, right? I'm afraid they're a bit late."
Deducting that she was in for a long lecture, she kneeled into a deep bow before answering.
"I have the egg right here, a laparas, correct?"
You must admit that any person would look strange just standing there. Especially this girl who was clad in a brown leotard with a fiery skirt pulled over it standing next to a guy in a semi-fancy suit. Bill's flareon crept over, sensing that this woman had some ties to his element. Apparently the flareon also decided that he would get a better scent if he jumped up on her head, resulting in her falling face-flat on the grass.
He walked over to her and put two of his fingers lightly on her chin. He cocked his head to one side, slightly confused as she pulled her head back and slowly got up. Ember slightly blushed at seeing him confused, and the shade just got deeper as she got up, flustered at his touch. A little voice, actually it resembled more of a scream, started pounding in her head.
'Oh god, he saw you blush. By the way, what is that thing that just ran away, oh yes, that happened to be your pride! Your sisters would eat you alive if they saw you right now.'
'Great, this is what it's like to have a conscious, heaven knows I need it now.'
'Ember, he's a snotty moron, just give him the egg and walk away.'
"Yes, um, thank you."
Reality returned to its slightly normal state, although in this awkward moment, slightly normal wasn't exactly best.
'Maybe he's the one…'
"You know yourself that he's not, anyway, it's not like he would lo-…"
Her face paled and suddenly gained color at an alarming rate, as she saw Bill's face do the same. She turned her face away and went over to her fiery companion who was waiting for her.
'Oh god, that time I said it out loud, didn't I? Why me…why now? And why him, wasn't he supposed to be an idiot or something of the sort? But why am I blushing? That is the ultimate sign of weakness, yes, that's exactly what Marine said a year ago when I saw her!'
She gingerly got out the egg, marveling at its beauty. The light azure color was decorated with faint grey marks, it was clearly ancient. And yet it still held a tiny laparas inside its hard shell, one of the last left of all of them in the Sevii Islands, its brothers, sisters, and parents probably already gone.
'Ah, sisters, I know what they would say. Sparks would look at the egg for hours, and base its origin on some small detail, or a specific color. And Marine, yes, Marine would just sit in the corner and think about it, and when I asked her about it she would respond in a cryptic way. And the more I thought about her message, the wiser it became, and the more I learned. She was always special in a way, both were.'
Ember sighed and her eyes turned mournful. Her sisters always held a special place in her heart that was never filled by a friend. But at this time the spot was empty. Marine failed to show any emotion at all anymore, except for increasing pride and rage at her own stupidity and foolishness. All of her strength was put into stopping the activities of the Magma, Aqua, and Rocket teams with her father. Sparks spent her time with Team Aqua, betraying her sister and father.
She jumped a bit as she felt a hand on her shoulder, making her heartbeat increase ten-fold. But she smiled all the same as the man's flareon brushed against her shoulder.
As she set the egg down on the grass, it shook a bit before cracking open. Bill and Ember stared at it, their eyes lighting up, but all was soon dulled as a limp figure emerged from the egg. A tear fell from Ember's eye. The baby was dead, looking as if it was singed until the bitter end.
"This isn't right, something must have happened with the laparas that we don't know about. And it had to do with Team Magma."
Ember clenched her fist, but her body became softened as Bill pulled her close. She broke into a quiet sob. Thinking that he was making her uncomfortable, he started to go away, but a warm wrist touched his.
"Please...please stay."
And there they sat for the rest of the night, mourning the loss of another soul. But Ember was starting to see what her sisters babbled about in every observance. It was more special than she had originally taken it to be, although it didn't stand out at all. It was the sunset at the end of the day, the full moon at the end of the lunar cycle, it was love in a pit of other feelings of close sisters, a pit that included the worst monsters in the world. And somehow, Ember could survive it. Somehow, she was different from her sisters. She didn't hate, she loved. And love was and is truly the crystal in a spring.
Author's Note: This would be my first oneshot, the beginning of a trilogy that I'm starting. The second edition, Distrust, is Marine's side of this story, and will be a multi-chapter story. I have three chapters already written, and it should be about two weeks until the first few chapters go up. Well, good dreams everyone! I hope that this piece touched you in the way that intended it to.