Prologue
1 year ago
"I'm sorry to disturb you M' Lady, but there are some gentlemen at the door waiting for you." A brunette maid with hair screwed into a tight bun interrupted the girl's reading. "They have requested to speak to you."
The dark haired girl looked up from her page, eyes unblinking and carefully placed in the bookmark that was previously resting on her lap. She was a quiet bookworm, having read books on just about any subject you could think of despite her age.
The maid wiped her clammy hands on her apron. The girl closed the hard covered book shut and placed it on the wooden coffee table across from her. She stood up from where she sat on the expensive leather loveseat and spoke to the maid.
"It's quite all right Coral. I was just reading this book for only my enjoyment since there appears to be nothing for me to do in this household." The maid nodded in an agreement.
"O-of course. Um, right this way." The maid bustled off towards the front door, expecting the young lady to follow her, but the girl politely refused.
"I know where the door is Coral. I can go there myself and you should go and take a short break. Thank you."
Coral bowed her head and left the room. The young lady turned around, her raven hair spilling neatly over her shoulders and started walking towards the entrance. She hoped she looked presentable enough since she had been lounging on the couch, her nose in her book for a while. She adjusted her hair clips and brushed her hand through her hair. It was quite a peaceful afternoon in the Berlitz residence, the house giving off a faint radiant glow from the polished and dusted furniture.
She gripped the cool handle, not expecting anyone other than the usual advertising commoners. Her father usual just waves them off, unless they had some interesting product that could be made of use.
Turning the handle, she was nearly knocked back by surprise by the two boys standing on the steps.
"Hiya Miss! It's been a while!" A boy around her age with somewhat spikey blonde hair practically jumped and exclaimed, despite being only a couple feet away. Next to him was another boy with dark hair wearing a cherry red beret. He gave a small wave and smiled.
"Did you miss us, Little Miss?" The beret boy asked and his smile widened. The blonde elbowed him in the ribs.
"Now's not the time for puns Dia." He scolded Dia and threw his hands in the air. "Nope! This is definitely not the time since that was a stupid pun."
Dia lowered his head, clearly taken aback by his friend's harsh words and holding one hand over the place where he was elbowed.
"Sorry Pearl." He muttered.
Pearl's face shown that he instantly regretted what he said. He patted Diamond's back in an awkward manner.
"I didn't mean it...like that. I'm sorry. Just forget about it." He glanced at Little Miss, forgetting that she was standing and watching them the entire time and subconsciously ran his fingers through his hair.
"So, we uh, just wanted to say hi and see how you were doing Missy. We both missed you as it is…" Pearl said.
Miss acknowledged both of them and said quietly, "You know, you two don't need to call me that anymore. You know very well you can just call me Platina."
"Hmm. Well if you say so." Pearl shrugged. "Platina." He said her name slowly, testing it out on his tongue. Her heart skipped a beat.
She looked at the two, knowing that something was missing, something that was nagging her at the back of her brain. Her eyes rested on Dia's hands, finding there was nothing in them. A light bulb lit up.
"Why don't you two come in? I mean, if you don't have any important events to attend to." Platina offered, opening the door wider and motioned for the boys to come in.
Diamond nodded and Pearl said, "Sure." And the boys stepped foot inside.
"Would you like some tea and crumpets?"
"Do I?!" Diamond exclaimed, his mouth starting to drool at the mention of food. Pearl rolled his eyes and Platina giggled. It was the Diamond they both knew and loved. He had a bottomless pit for a stomach and a passion for food.
And that was what was missing. Diamond was usually snacking on something, no matter what time of day it was, which seemed quite unusual.
She started to lead the two boys towards the dining hall, chattering about the weather and such. They both gawked at the interior of the mansion, the ceiling hanging high above their heads. Pearl's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he stared at the almost never ending spiral staircase ascending to the stories above.
"Wow, I wonder what it'll be like to slide down those railings." Pearl wondered aloud, running a finger over the polished brass.
"That's actually a bit hazardous considering the heights. But, you can always keep dreaming." She commented.
"Yeah, guess I can."
"This place is so shiny!" Diamond started to twirl around the vast hall. Platina gasped as he almost knocked over a valuable vase containing sparse lilies.
"Careful!" Her hand flew to her mouth. Pearl smacked his face and let out a groan. She flew over to Dia, placing her hands on his shoulders to stop him from doing any further damage.
He brushed himself, a bit flustered and began to apologize profusely. Platina continued on with a tight lip, with Pearl trailing behind, keeping a close eye on Diamond. The trio finally arrived in the dining hall, a long glass table with a patterned tablecloth on top stretching before them. On the end closer to them, the table was already set for three, steaming tea cups sitting on their plates. Silverware sat on the cloth napkins and in the center of the three chairs was a large platter holding assorted cupcakes and freshly toasted crumpets.
The three pulled out their chairs, Pearl taking a seat next to Diamond with Platina across from them. Diamond immediately started to scarf down on whatever was on the large platter in front of him before Pearl even had a chance to put one on his plate.
"This is Oran Berry cupcake is… mmmf… really delicious!" Dia said between chews. He paused to look at the lady. "Did you make this Little M- I mean, Platina?" he quickly recovered.
"No, I mustn't take credit for this. It was my chefs who made this most scrumptious creation." She gestured to the chefs standing near the entrance of the hall, who were watching nervously as the boy continued to eat.
She held the small plate under the teacup in her hands and took a sip. Pearl silently poked at the crumpet on his plate.
"Is something the matter?" she asked him. He promptly shook his head.
"No, I'm just not that hungry." He averted his eyes to look at Diamond, and then at the platter which only held the two cupcakes. She noticed the mischievous smile that crossed his lips.
He quickly snatched the remaining cupcake and hid it under the tablecloth just before Diamond started to reach out.
"Hey, I swore I just saw that lemon cupcake sitting there." He pointed at the platter, and then looked to his friends. "Do you guys know what happened to it?" She shook her head, trying to hide a guilty smile from him.
"Hate to break it to ya, but… I ate it." Pearl said, pretending to be glum. Dia's eyes grew to the size of saucers, his lip quivering.
Pearl grinned and playfully punched Dia in the arm. "I'm just kidding. It's right here!" He pulled his hand from under the tablecloth and shoved it in Diamond's face, mushing the cake and frosting all over. He pulled back, taking a look at his work and his friend blinked, frosting dribbling down his chin.
Dia licked his lips and gave a satisfied sound. "Mmm, it's still edible." Platina started giggling and clapped her hands.
"That was a very humorous act you've done!" Pearl turned his head in surprise.
"B-but, that wasn't meant to be one. I just-" he stammered. Diamond grabbed the cupcake off of her plate and pressed it into Pearl's face.
He crossed his arms over his chest and declared, "There, now we're even." She tried to stifle another round of giggles and grabbed her cloth napkin. She started to dab at Dia's face.
"I think that's enough fun for you two. I don't want this to turn into one of those insolent 'food fights'." She tapped Diamond's nose. After his face was spotless, she started to clean Pearl's face. He tried to glance down at his wrist.
"Stay still. It's hard to wipe your face when you're looking down." she said softly, placing a hand on his cheek. He snapped his head towards her, staring into her silvery-blue eyes. She tried not to squirm under his gaze. She quickly finished up and looked away, well aware that he was still staring.
Pearl finally cleared his throat. "Dia, I think we should be going now. My dad wants me to get some groceries. I'm gonna need your help again." He tapped the screen of his Poketch. His eyes had a distant look, like he was thinking about something.
He tried to usher Diamond towards the door, who wanted to stay to see the kitchen. "Another time," was all he said. They both waved goodbye and quickly left, leaving Platina behind, staring at the two taking off and waving even though she knew that they wouldn't turn around to look. But Pearl did.
He caught her eyes and gave one last wide smile before catching up to his friend.
And at that moment, her mind, the mind so in touch with the real world, told her that she only thought of him as a very good friend. But it was her heart that denied it.