Long time no see! (whoops lol)
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The world around her smelled of moss and mud. No longer able to see, Titania rested her cheek on the tunnel floor, trying to take in as much sensory stimuli as possible— cold, damp earth permeating through her clothes onto her skin; the weight of the Mightyena's paw digging into her spine; the Pokemon's low growl in her ear; the Aqua grunt's triumphant laugh reverberating in the cave.
Well shit, she really was going to die.
Titania comforted herself with the assurance that her Pokemon were out of harm's way. Torchic, undetected by the Aqua grunt and his Mightyena, had swiped her belt of Pokeballs the moment she hit the ground and made a run for it, following the protocol her family had put into place.
At least someone did.
As for the Devon Goods, the parcel was tucked under her body. If the Aqua grunt was going to get them—and given how things were going, he would—he would at least have to pry them from her dead body.
Yikes, dark.
She heard the Aqua grunt approach from behind. "Oh, look, Mightyena, a snack."
Titania's first thought was to assume that he was talking about her; however, the chill in the cave felt dissipated, replaced by the familiar warmth of Torchic's body pressed up against the side of her face. Very faintly—as her hearing was beginning to go, too—she heard Torchic urgently peeping, urging her to get up.
Why did it come back?
Titania met Torchic's peeping with her own grunting, willing the chick to save itself, only for it to respond with louder screeches and the intensifying of heat. It was clear: no matter what, Torchic would refuse to budge.
"T-torch…" Titania couldn't even string together letters anymore, and her vision had all but turned dark and hazy. She wouldn't be able to hold out for much longer.
The Aqua grunt's command reverberated in the cave."Finish her off, Mightyena!"
"Ru…n…"
And then she was suspended, consciousness oscillating between dark nothingness and flashes of orange, of intense heat and heavy smoke—
—And then, bright white.
The first thought that crossed Titania's mind was that she felt underdressed. (Sure enough, when she sat up, she found that she was wearing a thin cotton robe and little else.) The second—which was more of an epiphany—came after taking stock of her surroundings: the supernaturally white linoleum floors and walls; the beeping machines behind her; the tubing that spiraled out from bags filled with various liquids; the distinct iodoform smell that clung to her skin; the desk next to the bed with cards that read "Get Well Soon!"
She was in a hospital.
Titania inched forward, swinging her legs over one side of the bed to a more comfortable position. She inspected her arms, noting the IV drips attached to the back of her hands, and tried to piece together how she ended up in the hospital in the first place.
Slowly, it came back to her:
The man from Devon looking for help.
Chasing after the Aqua grunt.
The darkness of the cave.
The burn of poison.
Torchic.
"I'm…alive." Her hand went to her left shoulder, where the Mightyena had poisoned her. Feeling no trace of a scar, she pulled the cotton fabric down to inspect the area. As suspected, there was nothing but smooth, unblemished skin, as if the incident had never occurred.
"Miss…Titania?"
She had been so focused on herself that she hadn't noticed that another person—a young nurse in dark blue scrubs—had entered the room. Titania quickly pulled the robe back over her shoulders.
"Hello," she said, greeting the nurse with a wave. "I'm—"
"—awake," the nurse supplied. Large tears had pooled in her eyes, and she swiped at them. "Are you really awake?"
"I'm ninety-five percent confident." Titania flashed what she hoped was a smile, which the nurse responded to by flinging herself at Titania, sobbing loudly.
"There is a god up there!" the nurse exclaimed. "Let me get your vitals first—no, let me get the doctor—no, your parents—oh!" She let go, furiously wiping the tears that were falling from her eyes. "I'm so happy!"
"Uh… really?"
"Of course!" The nurse pulled away, then began checking on the IV drips attached to Titania's body. "We were all waiting for you to wake up from your coma—the medical staff, your family, the handsome trainer—every day for the past month!"
"I was out for that long?"
"Your condition was really bad," the nurse said. She rose and walked over to the computer mounted next to the bed and began to type something on her medical file. "Rustboro's hospital is known for being the most up-to-date equipment and techniques, but we almost lost you a couple of times."
The nurse, finished on the computer, patted Titania on the shoulder. "Right. So I'll be right back to take out your feeding tube—I'm sure you'd like to eat actual food now that you're awake. The doctor in charge of you will also be coming by to inspect you, so just sit tight."
Titania watched the nurse go; when the door closed, she turned to the small table with the cards on them. She picked up the one closest to her—it was a handmade card made with printer paper and bright markers, and had a drawing of two people on the front—a girl holding a tray of cookies and a boy with two glasses of milk.
The inside read, "Get well, Tae-tae! I miss you more than May. I want you to make me cookies again. You shouldn't sleep so much, I read somewhere that it's actually bad for you!- MAX"
A small smile stretched out on her face. She placed the card down on the able and picked up another one. This one had a bowl of ramen and a slice of cheesecake on the front, both with little happy faces drawn on them.
Inside: "I'll give You the last slice of cheesecake next time, I promise! Please wake up, I'm feeling sad…is it mY fault? I'm sorrY, big sister! Please wake up? Please? I promise I won't take Your stuff anYmore… - MaY
p.s. I obviouslY love You more"
Titania laughed, then set the card back where she got it. After a moment of deliberation, she grabbed a card with three sunflowers sketched on the front.
"If this is mom's…" she flipped the card on the back. "There, her signature." She peered at the large sunflower drawn on the back of the card, spying her mother's scrawl hidden in one of the petals.
Slowly, she opened the card. On the left side, it read: "Titania, sweetheart, you may have your father's stern mouth and hair color, but you have my beauty, my talent, and (apparently) my habits. There's so much I wish to tell you. Wake up soon, Titania. We all miss you, but nobody misses you more than me. -Mom"
On the right, far more concise: "I'm sorry. Wake up soon. - dad"
At this point the smile had left Titania's face, replaced by a somber expression weighed down by the heavy blanket of her actions. In the first place, she shouldn't have run away from home. Despite her own beliefs, she knew that her father meant the best for her. He was being protective, and she disrespected—no, dishonored—all of his sacrifices by running straight into danger.
It felt wrong that she ended up okay.
For a long while, Titania ruminated in that train of thought, quickly building up a wall of self-hatred. It was enough to render her deaf to the sounds of the door opening, the shoes tapping as they made their way across the room, of the gentle rustling of fabric and the creak of the bed as someone sat next to her.
It was only when someone grabbed her hands that Titania came back to reality. Expecting the nurse, she turned her gaze to the person's face.
She did not expect to find Hoenn's #1 bachelor, Steven fucking Stone, to be the face attached to the hand.
Steven grinned. "I take it my presence is unexpected?"
"You bet your pretty face it is," she murmured.
He laughed again, and the sound filled her chest with warm, fuzzy feelings, the same way hot cider melted away the cold of winter. Titania attempted to maintain aloof, ignoring the blush crawling up her neck—even as Steven cupped her face in his hands.
"Your hands are warm," Titania said, blurting out the first thing that came to mind. She immediately wished she had said something smarter.
"I came the moment I heard you had woken up." Steven's voice dropped to a low murmur. "My heart dropped when I found you in the Rusturf Tunnel, and I came here everyday, hoping that you'd wake up."
Titania peered up into Steven's eyes. "You…you did?"
He nodded, and his eyes glimmered with an emotion that Titania couldn't decipher. "Of course I did," he said. "I care about you."
This time, Titania couldn't fight the rush of heat that coursed through her. Heart thumping wildly in her throat, she put space between them, turning her eyes away. "You're exaggerating. We hardly know each other."
"I don't have to know you all that well to care about you," Steven said. When Titania remained silent, he leaned in. "Titania."
Despite her (relatively) cool demeanor, Titania's tolerance toward the Devon heir's gentle—and, dare she say it, intimate!—behavior was waning. She knew she was getting swept along, and that if she let things continue on this way she might end up doing something she would regret. Like kissing him.
"Titania, look at me."
She was overreacting, she concluded with a shake of her head. Titania had always admired Steven Stone as a trainer, so their close proximity was just her admiration on steroids. It had to be. There was no semblance of romance between them, and especially not when she just woke up from a month-long coma.
"Hey." His arms wrapped around her; when she looked up at him, she saw that his lips were turned up in a small smile. "Welcome back to the real world," he said.
Oh, curse that handsome man for making her feel things!
Titania formulated what to say to him—a snarky quip? Mild flirtatious teasing?—but found herself drawing a blank. So instead, she wrapped her arms around him and returned the embrace. (A moment of weakness; who wouldn't want to hug him?)
He didn't seem to mind, so they stayed that way, not speaking, just taking in the sensation of the other person. Titania wished the they could stay like this for—
"Shhhh! Kids, cover your eyes! Your big sister is doing something naughty, and I need to get a picture of it!"
There was a flash; the pair immediately pulled apart, turning towards the voice—there, they found Caroline, phone in hand, peeking from just beyond the door. Clinging to her legs, May and Max were staring, the former with wide, excited eyes, and the latter with disgust.
"Mom!" Titania's face burned. "How long—"
"—Not long enough to get a good picture," Caroline said, sighing sadly as she looked down at her phone screen. "But just enough to make your father a little woozy." She giggled. "You know how some fathers can be."
Titania looked around. "Where is he?"
"I'm here." Norman appeared in the doorway, standing behind Caroline. He looked pointedly at Steven. "I like you, Steven, but please…move."
The boy quickly obliged, moving towards the door. "Sorry, I got too excited." He waved at Titania, grinning sheepishly. "I'll give you all some space."
The door closed. When he was out of earshot, Titania spoke.
"We weren't doing anything," Titania assured them. "I was just…"
She trailed off, eventually falling silent. Her gaze went to the floor, where the card from her parents had fallen. The guilt and self-loathing that had disappeared with the appearance of the Devon heir returned when he left, hitting her with double the force.
"I really screwed things up this time, didn't I?" She gripped at the sheets on the bed. "I'm sorry that I made things hard for you again."
The silence that followed was heavy and, unable to stand its pressure, she continued to babble on.
"I don't know what I was thinking," she said. "You've given me everything. You've taken care of me, fed me, put a roof over my head—you uprooted the life and career you had set up in the Johto region because of me! I am a thorn in your side."
She heard her mother gasp. "Titania, you are not a burden."
"But I am!" Titania said. "I have been a pain in the ass since the moment I was conceived! I am the reason we have to lay low, that we have to rely on the League for protection. I know that," she said, her heart rate spiking and her shoulders heaving, "and I was still dumb enough to think that it was okay to run away!"
She could taste the tears as they streamed down her cheeks, salty and bitter all at once. "And to top it all off, I thought I could take on someone from the teams. Instead, I got poisoned, had bones broken, and almost died!"
A guttural sound escaped from Titania, and she held her head in her hands, weeping loudly. She cried in silence, her family clustered by the entrance of the hospital room, herself on the opposite side of the room.
"I should have died," she said, once her sobs quieted. "No…I wish I had died. It would have been better for everyone."
Small feet tapped against the floor; Titania turned her head towards the sound; through bleary eyes, she could make out May's small figure running towards her.
And then May slapped her.
"Don't ever say that!" Because the shock was greater than the pain, all Titania could do was stare at the small child that was chiding her. "No one wishes you were dead!"
"Uh, I wish I was dead," Titania responded, pointing to herself. "Am I no one?"
May let out a sound akin to that of steaming teapot. "No! You don't count as anyone in this situation because you're depressed!"
"You're being rude."
"I don't care!" May put her hand on her hips. "Even if you made mistakes, that doesn't mean we're going to throw you out like garbage!" Her bottom lip began to tremble; her voice, once strong and sturdy, began to shake and falter. "Big sister, don't you know that we love you? You're our family!"
Titania averted her eyes. "I know," she said softly.
"Then why don't you think we'd forgive you?" Fat tears began to fall from May's eyes. "We love you so much—we've missed you so much—why do you talk like you don't matter to us?"
"I'm sorry," she said immediately, wiping May's face. "I shouldn't talk like that about myself. Do you forgive me?"
May nodded, then wrapped her arms around Titania in a tight hug. "Of course, Big Sister! I'll always forgive you!"
Titania ran her hand through May's hair. Turning her attention to the rest of her family, she lowered her head in apology. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have run away."
"Oh, sweetheart." Caroline came running over, crushing both of her daughters under her body. "What's there to forgive?"
"Uh… a lot."
"Oh, forget the technicalities!" Caroline squeezed tighter. "I'm just so glad you're finally out of that coma!" Titania felt her mother's tears soaking into her cotton robe. "We knew that you'd be all right, but the anticipation of waiting…" She trailed off into soft whimpering, silencing whatever words were on Titania's tongue.
TItania's gaze turned from her mother's figure to Max and to her father, who were on the opposite side of the room. Max's face crumpled, and he immediately ran over to her, scrambling up on the bed and latching onto her arm.
Her father was hesitant, hands trembling faintly at his side. Eventually, instead of coming to where the rest of them were, he lowered his head.
"Dad?"
"I'm sorry, too." Norman straightened up, then walked over to them. "I was far stricter on you than I ever wanted to be."
"But that's because you wanted to keep me safe," Titania said.
He shook his head. "Even so, I was too authoritarian about it."
"What does that mean?" Titania heard May whisper to Max.
"I think it means 'acting like a dictator,'" came the response.
"What's a dictator?"
"A bad person."
"But dad's not a bad person!"
"He's not," Titania said in agreement. "Dad, you just did what you thought best. I was just acting out." She sighed. "I've decided—when I'm discharged, I will go back to the gym and start taking over responsibilities as the next gym leader."
Titania expected her father to be overjoyed—after all, that's what he wanted in the first place. His expression, however, held no shred of happiness; in fact, with his slight frown and furrowed brow, he looked more uncertain than anything.
"Dad?"
"No, I…" Norman sighed. "Let's not talk about that now. What's important is that you've finally woken up."
And then he joined the family group hug, leaving Titania no time to think about her father's odd reaction.
One interesting facet of the safe house Looker and his team had been stationed in was that the rooftop, once a plain and dusty attic, had been transformed into a magnificent observation deck—bulletproof glass walls, comfortable couches, two telescopes powerful enough to see individual blades of grass from the top of a ten-story building, all sorts of fancy gadgetry Looker had no idea how to work, and a fully-stocked kitchen. It was, of course, advertised as an observation deck for stargazing to innocent civilians, though its real purpose was to keep tabs on the area and any suspicious individuals in it.
Which, given that the safe house was in a remote part of the Hoenn region, was everyone.
Looker tiptoed up the stairwell leading to the observatory, trying not to awaken the others in the house. He had gotten into the habit of doing yoga at sunrise—an ethereal experience in his opinion, especially when done up on the observation deck. (The beauty of the sunrise without the biting morning chill.)
When he reached the top of the stairs he was surprised to see that someone was already there. Peering in, Looker recognized the form of Agent Hale, staring out into the horizon with a somber expression.
Feeling no need to tiptoe around the new recruit, Looker called out to him. "The sun comes up early here." He crossed the room and stood next to him, his yoga mat tucked under his arm. "It's one of the great things about the Hoenn region."
Hale nodded slowly, never turning his gaze away from the scene. "I've been told the sunrises are the most beautiful from Mt. Chimney."
"That they are, Agent Hale!" After a pause, Looker asked, "Have you been in here long?"
"Probably." Hale gave a nonchalant shrug. "I couldn't sleep, so I eventually gave up trying and decided to get some work done."
"Oh? And what have you found?"
Hale let out a long sigh. "Not much." He gestured over to the table, where his laptop lay open. "The most recent thing to date is a robbery from a little over a month ago, when a member of Team Aqua attempted to steal technology from the Devon Corporation—the Devon Goods."
"Ah, yes. From what we know, that technology was ordered by Captain Stern, who has a new project in the works. The guys downstairs think it's a submarine this time."
There was a pause; then Hale's eyes widened. "Of course—Captain Stern is an oceanographer. Team Aqua would be keeping tabs on someone like him, especially since they're so water-inclined." He ran to his laptop, then opened up a new document and began typing furiously. "I'll look into that."
"Good." Looker nodded. "Anything else?"
"I came across a document that hints that several Team Aqua and Team Magma members are former Devon Company employees," Hale said. "Is there any possibility that Devon is supplying the Teams with members?"
At this, Looker laughed. "That would give the current president a heart attack. I don't think that's what is happening—if anything, the choice to jump ship was probably a personal one. "
"So, rather than a willing supplier," Hale suggested, "Devon is a victim of circumstance."
"Comes along with being one of the best tech companies in the world," Looker said. "Rumor has it that there's plans of branching out into new territory for them." He looked around, then leaned in to whisper, "I heard they want to branch out into the entertainment industry."
"For some reason, I'm not surprised. They probably want to make use of the handsome face of the president's son."
"Perhaps, though I think that if they saw your face, they'd want to recruit you as well."
Hale laughed. "I'm no good with performing arts, sadly."
"Oh, but you could say the same about some of the idols and actors out there right now," Looker said. "But back to business—I would suggest broadening your search. Maybe look up former members? Given the history of the group, there must be quite a few of them who might know about the going-ons of the group."
Hale suddenly wanted to know who Looker was talking about in the entertainment industry; however, he decided not to press it. "Sure, but do you think I should keep the search to those who recently left? They would have the best idea of what's currently going on."
"If the teams are planning something, either together or separately, then it might be something that's been in the works for a long time," Looker said. "Gather intel from as many people as you can, even if they're members from almost twenty years ago. You'll find your link."
By this time, the sun had begun to peek over the treetops. They fell into silence, basking in the sun of the new day.
"You know, you could have answered me ten calls ago. Is this why you're single, Steven? Because you're so damn hard to contact?"
Steven sank into his chair with a sigh, deeply regretting that he chose to leave dinner to pick up Chad's call. He wouldn't have taken the call—the Maple family was lodging with them, and he wanted to be a good host—but after he spent thirty straight minutes with the PokeNav vibrating in his pocket he finally excused himself and retreated to his study.
"I was in the middle of dinner," he said, responding stiffly. "We have guests over, so I would appreciate it if you could be brief. Or, if you would prefer, I could call you back later."
"You wouldn't call me back even if I paid you to do it. But anyways, I'm due for a report from you—let daddy know all the juicy details."
"The only thing to note is that Titania was discharged from the hospital today, and that we'll be setting off for Dewford in a week or two." He frowned. "There is nothing 'juicy'. And, once, again, you are not my father."
"Boring! Well, whatever. Later, bitch—"
"—Chad." He waited for the call to end, expecting Chad to hang up, as he usually did. But he didn't (an extremely rare occurrence!), so he took the chance to speak. "I need more information on this mission. You can't expect me to operate blind."
"And if I am?"
"Then you're crazy." He rose from the chair and slowly began pacing back and forth. "I can't do this mission unless you give me some background."
"You don't have a choice in the matter, remember? I'm blackmailing you."
"Then could I at least get some detail on Titania?" Steven asked. "For example, who exactly Titania is? Why she's so special that she needs a body guard—me—at all times? Or maybe even what the IO is trying to pull this time around?"
His inquiry was met with laughter. "You think I'm going to divulge classified information to you? For fuck's sake, Steven, all you have to do is make sure she isn't dead when you deliver her to me. This isn't rocket science."
Steven grit his teeth, fighting the urge to hang up. "Look, Chad. I have every right to know. I may not be doing this mission willingly, but as a member of the Covert Special Teams, I think I have that privilege."
"Not after what you did two years ago." Steven froze mid-stride as Chad's tone turned icy. "After that shit, Steven, you're on a need-to-know basis—and I've decided that you don't need to know anything. I don't want to hear another peep from you. Am I clear?"
Chad didn't even bother to say his farewells, hanging up before Steven could formulate a response. Steven ran a hand through his hair and let out a long, heavy sigh.
He was no longer in the mood for dinner.
Titania found herself staring into the flames of the fireplace, slowly gathering the thoughts she wanted to voice. With May and Max asleep in one of the guest rooms, and Steven and Mr. Stone off doing some work-related thing, she had finally managed to get some private time with her parents.
She had been meaning to bring up the topic ever since she woke up from her coma, though she instinctively understood that she shouldn't talk about it in the hospital, or in front of her siblings. Talking about her early childhood had been a taboo subject, especially after May had been born; her appearance in the world signified a new start for the Maple family, meaning all traces of their life before her had been locked away.
But with the most recent events, Titania realized that not knowing the past might be far more dangerous.
She gathered that her parents knew what she wanted to talk about—when she stepped into their room, asking them to meet her in the lounge a couple of doors over, their expressions became somber, and they went without a word.
For a while, they didn't speak. Titania kept her back to them, eyes watching the fire; they sat together, watching her, and she could feel their gazes on her back.
She gathered her courage. "What did they do to me?"
Silence. When she turned to face her parents she noticed that they had stiffened, eyes opened so wide she thought that their eyes were going to fall out into their laps.
Right, maybe she shouldn't have lead with that.
"I was discharged from the hospital with a clean bill of health," Titania said, trying to backtrack. "I think that's great, especially considering the condition that I was in when I went in—but I'm having a hard time figuring out as to why that happened."
"Medical technology is rather advanced," her mother said. "Many people live longer, healthier lives thanks to the rapid improvement of—"
"—maybe," she said, interrupting, "but if I'm being honest I think there's something else."
"Something else?" Norman asked, feigning ignorance.
Titania shook her head. "I can't live in ignorance anymore," she said. "I need to know—What did Team Aqua and Team Magma do to me?"
Steven had seen the Maple family in the lounge and, freed from his work duties, considered joining in on their conversation. (If anything, he wanted to convene with Titania and work out a systematic plan for a tour of Hoenn—since he was to be her guide, he wanted to make sure that they got to go to all the places she wanted to leave her footprints in.)
He had been at the doorway, and was about to announce his presence, but stopped when Titania's question reached his ears.
"What did Team Aqua and Team Magma do to me?"
Immediately, he retreated into the hallway, where he listen, but not be seen.
He wanted to know the answer to that question, too.
... hi friends *sweats nervously*
Wow, I'm rusty. I really meant to update at least five more times in 2017, but life happens and I had to put graduating first. This is a passion project of mine, so I do believe I'll be updating this fic until it's complete.
But thank you for reading this chapter! Please let me know what you think!
Until next time,
Khryseis
