CHAPTER 7. The Order of the Maiden.
With anger and deception that clouded his mind and made him to commit novice mistakes, Clint tried to run on the communication console more than once before the program finally run and allowed him to call his contacts.
When he made it at last and the words On Line appeared in the black screen, he decided to not waste more time and let out the first thing that came to his frustrated mind.
"I'm the stupidest human in all the god damn planet!"
"Gee, it's good to say hi too, Clint", said the voice of a woman behind the console.
"Would you like to explain yourself better?" Asked a male voice. "And omit what we already know, like your obvious stupidity".
Clint breathed heavily, pretending to vent the anger that hindered him to think clearly. A useless effort, he thought, since the mistake he made could cost him years of research, along the most important clue he had discovered through all this time.
"This guy…" he began, trying to find the right words that would not make him look like a failure. "… he was a nobody. All his fortune is almost over".
"Brain waves?"
"Everything normal. He was not under the influence of the parasite".
"The information that the foreman gave you was fake, then?" Asked the male voice again.
"What about the act of gluttony that our supposed suspect committed?" Asked the young woman, more consternated than inquisitive to know what had happened.
"Oh, that's the best part. You'll love it", responded Clint sarcastically. "According to our now discarded suspect, two guys with extravagant hair style along a talking Meowth devoured his banquet while he was all tied up".
"I wish I said that I've head worse… but this is undoubtedly the worst of all". Said the woman, infected with her friend's discouragement.
"And I wish to say that dressing up as an androgynous in that event was the worst part…", sighed Clint again. "Three years thrown in the trash because of a hunch… is the only thing you need to screw up the work of a lifetime".
"Come on, Clint", said the supportive voice of his friend, trying to cheer him up. "What about that woman you met in the event?"
"¿Meryl Streep?"
"Very funny, Clint. Bebe's report says she is a producer and former Kalos queen. She matches the profile".
"Yeah, even if the idea of contacting her again is just unpleasant to me ", Clint said. "However…"
"You hate to leave things unfinished". Interrupted the woman.
"You know me, Ellie". Clint looked for the case where he kept his equipment in order to keep the EEG mobile device. "I doubt that those guys could be relevant for the research, but if I don't find anything of value, at least we can make the world a huge favor by getting rid of them once and for all".
"Wait. Do we know them?" Asked the man, surprised with Clint's statement.
"We've ignored it for a long time, Surge", answered Clint. "We hear reports about their hot-air balloon all the time".
"Understood…", Ellie interrupted. "The last report according to Bebe places them towards Snowbelle City", she assured.
"It won't take me too long to find them. Subtleness and stealth are a joke for them". Clint pulled out a strange tool for that age. A memento from more violent times in which human beings settled up conflicts not with Pokemon, but with powder weapons that could decimate anyone if they were handled appropriately. "And once that I find them, they'll wish to have chosen a less absurd conveyance".
. . . .
The knuckles of a delicate and feminine hand knocked the oak door that allowed the entrance to Palermo's private office. A place even more restricted to visitors than the Stairway to Heaven, a site where the leader of the Order carried out her management responsibilities under the strictest silence and peace that demanded busy schedule of a busy woman.
"Come in". Said the voice of a mature woman from inside the room.
Aria turned the knob of the door, and she immediately felt the atmosphere of anger and disappointment that radiated from her teacher.
"Writing apology letters or you just wanted to be able to distract yourself for a moment?" Asked the red-haired girl without ease.
"It's not the best moment to provoke me, my girl", responded Palermo with a serious tone and a fake smile that concealed a deep anger.
"I told you that she was not ready yet", she said. "No wonder that everything turned out to be so bad".
"Bad, you said…", Palermo said again, raising her voice volume. "If the wine had been stolen, that would have been bad. If an earthquake had shaken the tower until it collapsed and smashed us all, that would have been a tragedy…"
"Here we go…", interrupted Aria, infuriated of her teacher's attitude. She did a sign with her hand in order to shut her off and continued with her speech.
"If a Slaking had just appeared out of nowhere and knocked me out with its fist while he danced a conga over my bloody head, that would have been hilarious. But what happened…", Palermo stopped in order to take a huge breath, "… was a god damn disaster".
The woman concluded and threw her pen to her desk with fury. Aria, used to see her teacher always in control of her emotions, was surprised to witness the spectacle of frustration that now possessed Palermo.
"She is okay, by the way. Thanks for asking". Replied Aria, reprimanding her and ignoring the woman's frame of mind.
"Is she still sleeping?" She asked, pretending to show interest on that girl who, according to her, had ruined the night and put in danger the future of the order.
"She hasn't come out of her room. And I don't blame her".
Palermo, tired of the reprimands and attitude of her student, abandoned her seat in order to face her with cold words. "That sympathy of yours towards her is starting me to irritate me".
"And your inquisitive attitude against her is just disgusting to me".
"ARIA! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?!" Yelled Palermo, letting her go with the anger that was consuming her since last night. "NEVER BEFORE IN HISTORY SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAD HAPPENED! NOW I'VE GOT DOZENS OF MEMBERS DEMANDING AN EXPLANATION, AND SOME OF THEM START TO DOUBT ABOUT MY LEADERSHIP! I WON'T LET THAT CENSTURIES OF TRADITION JUST VANISH BECAUSE I HAD THE DISGRACE OF GIVING THE CROWN TO HER!"
Silence ruled again the room. Aria was left engrossed after hearing her teacher's confession, especially that last part. With a shaken voice, she interrogated the choleric woman.
"Giving her the crown? What do you mean?"
"Please, my child. People in those exhibitions are stupid, but they've got their limits". Palermo replied and headed to the small table in the left of her desk where a crystal jar with liquor was standing. Sometimes, this friend of hers help her to focusing after a long time of work. "I fixed the results of her performance in a way that she could tie with you and both were forced to battle each other".
"… And in that way you would convince the members to accept her", said Aria with a sick feeling and a lump in the throat after realizing that she was now accomplice of her lie, "just to throw her to them as if she was a piece of meat.
"Your battle was real, if that helps you". Plaermo filled her glass and emptied it in less than a second. "I've always made sure to give the order the most beautiful objects I could find…".
Palermo rested her arms in her chair's back, exhausted of her speech that had left from her mouth. "And this girl didn't even reach the song's climax before passing out".
Aria opened her weepy eyes and repeated Palermo's last statement, intrigued of the simple explanation that her teacher used to describe the strange white shining that was expelled from Serena's body just before she collapsed.
"Pass out? Is that all?"
"Excuse me?" Palermo asked, who then looked at her protégé.
"You didn't see it?"
"See what? Explain yourself, girl".
Aria did not know what to say. Apparently, she was the only witness of the light that dispelled the darkness in the initiation ceremony. Such secret had been told to her teacher immediately until very recently, but her betrayal and manipulation of an event that Aria respected very deeply, motivated her to keep her words until they could prove to be useful in another time. After all, if Palermo seemed to dishonor the principles of the Order whenever she wished to, there was no reason for Aria to not do the same".
"The despair of a girl terrified of dying". Aria finally said without managing to wake up even the slightest sympathy in her teacher towards Serena, who laid on her room disturbed because of last night's macabre experience.
"Fortunately, we can still benefit from her", she said, ignoring Aria's words and using a quieter voice after letting go her anger. She headed to her desk in order to pull out a file that was given to her protégé. "More specifically, to those who accompany her".
Aria opened the file folder and gave a quick look before being left in shock after discovering her teacher's next move that followed the order's mysterious agenda.
"Why him?" She asked, unsettled.
"Frequent encounters with legendary creatures, a vigor that seemed unbreakable even in desperate situations and a passion that burns like just a few can stand". Concluded Palermo, suggesting a broad smile filled with satisfaction after seeing her student's expression. "It was only a matter of time before we set our eyes on him".
"Where is Madam de Valois?" Asked Aria, fearing Palermo's answer before her curiosity to find the whereabouts of she who, as the order well knew, was the bearer of the parasite of pleasure. Breaker of wills and destroyer of minds.
Palermo gave her a sinister smile full of satisfaction before focusing again on her business. "She was so anxious of giving our gift to that boy that right now is almost impossible to stop her".
Aria was paralyzed for few seconds before she turned around and left the place. A conflict was being held in her mind where her friend's loyalty and the order that she now dedicated her life were fighting without struggle. She shook her head from side to side in order to clarify her ideas and headed to Serena's room where she expected to find the answers of what she had to do now.
She remembered the boy and his yellow partner's picture that was included in the file, and pity shook her body. "Sorry, kid. It's too late for you", she said to herself and went back on track towards the Queen's Room.
. . . .
The fancy bedroom worthy of the royalty, little could do in order to give back the happiness and security to its only occupant who, in an effort to feel the warm and comfort of a familiar bed, she allowed to share her space with the only creatures that she could count with in the entire palace in that moment of melancholy.
Sylveon tried to cheer her up by caressing her face with its long feelers, but the only thing she could achieve was a week smile that quickly vanished like a little fire in the middle of a blizzard. Braixen, meanwhile, remained embraced to her and Pancham pretended to sleep at her trainer's feet. In the moments of glory as those of sadness, the three Pokémon were the only loyal guardians of the queen, ready to defend her from any harm.
"Serena, are you awake?" Asked a familiar voice from behind the giant door.
"… Come in", answered Serena without feeling the slightest relieve after hearing the voice of she who used to consider her best friend in the entire palace.
Aria entered to the room, holding a silver tray with the breakfast on it while she smiled in such a daily and radiant way that, instead of comfort her, made the sadness that she felt to isolated her from the rest of the world.
"We are a bit depressing this morning, huh?" She assured with a more sympathetic tone after witnessing the young queen's sadness. "Don't worry, honey. It was not your fault".
"My fault?" She asked intrigued. ¿Why?"
"You know…" responded Aria, trying to find the correct words to explain herself in the friendliest way. "After passing out in the middle of the ceremony".
Serena's fragile psyche suffered another rupture after listening to those words. Perhaps was everything an illusion created by her premature mind? She wished to believe in that with all her might, but those were not enough to explain the terrible experience that was forced to by those she considered friends or trusty ones.
"Aria…", began Serena seriously. Using the little serenity that still remained with her, she decided to give Aria a chance to be honest with her. "What really happened?
The smile suggested by the red-haired girl vanished, adapting to the seriousness of the situation. El sighed as if tension had defeated her and decided to tell the tale of her people.
"Have you ever heard about the Order of the Maiden?" She asked her. Serena denied by shaking her head. "In certain region that had been under conflict by decades, a new era of peace motivated nobles, vassals and artists to commemorate a new golden age with the purest and most radiant symbol they could make. The kings summoned a contest between the most talented artists, musicians and poets that could give life to that ideal that gave many sleepless nights to those who resolved to create it in their works…"
The smooth tone of her friend made Serena's mind to feel the relief that she had not experienced since the last night. Her imagination took her to a simpler and picturesque age, portraying every detail with her previous experience while Aria continued her tale.
"… But even with the most exclusive and precious materials in the entire region, none artist seemed to be satisfied with their work. The quest to find that ghost caused them so sink in misfortune or even death after realizing that they could nor create a symbol that could represent the beauty, hope, purity, goodness and justice that they pretended to build as the cornerstone of a new age…"
"What happened?" She asked impatiently not because of the tale's ending but the meaning of all this with the horror she had experienced".
"… One day, the beautiful daughter of a little county' monarch got seriously ill. Note even the most renowned doctors of the age could find a cure or explanation of such disease. The monarch, who loved her daughter with the purest fervor and accepting her fate, decided to say good bay not with tears of sadness but with the greatest celebration of art that had been carried out in his little kingdom. Commemorating the joy and innocence of her little one who used to fill him happiness…"
The three Pokemon gathered there approached to hear Aria's story that at least had taken Serena out of her lethargy.
"… Touched by the monarch's act of love, many artists traveled to his kingdom in order to pay their respect and cheer up a bit the last moments of the little maiden. At first there were just a few, but as soon as the news spread, dozens arrived in order to join to the symphony of tenderness that had reached the nearest kingdoms. Painters, musicians, poets, sculptors… all of them now joined to create a single work that comprehended the effort and values that many years ago they had committed themselves to capture and commemorate the new golden age, but that now served to a sincerer and pure purpose".
Aria concluded her tale with a smile that Serena found very difficult to return, still skeptic of what she pretended to tell with her story.
"That's how the Order of the Maiden was born. Small circles of intellectuals and artists pay tribute to that story and what it represents in the modern world".
"I doubt that applied to yours, Aria", interrupted Serena with a defiant look. Aria did not seem to be offended, and instead she showed herself more sympathetic towards the disturbed girl who was still looking for answers.
"Our Order is a variant that has adopted many traditions throughout the years. And Serena…". She made a pause. "I'm so sorry that what happened had been so unpleasant for you, but I swear we meant no harm".
Serena tried to be more comprehensive with her friend's apologies, but the fact that she still seemed reluctant to tell her what really happened just seemed to confirm even more that Aria was not trustworthy. For the las time, she decided to give her a chance to be completely sincere with her.
"Yesterday at the ceremony…", she began, swallowing saliva in order to regain some strength for what she was going to ask. "Did I just pass out?"
Aria made a pause, but did not show any gesture that could mean doubt or nervousness. Using her smooth voice, she repeated what she had already said. "I'm truly sorry that you had been scared. If I could just tell you before the ceremony, but our traditions prohibit it".
Serena felt sympathy, but no sincerity. Reaching the conclusion that she was no longer safe in that place, she finished with those last words. "I… think that it's time to go back with my friends".
"Of course. That was our deal". Responded Are without flustering. "The limo is waiting for you. Just finish your breakfast and arrange your thing, ok?" She said with a smile that was not answered.
Aria reached the rooms entrance, but before she retired, she asked her a last request.
"I'll be in Snowbelle City in a couple of days. Could we see each other again and talk a bit more?" Serena took a moment to answer, but at the end, nodding her head was the only thing she came out with to accept the invitation. Perhaps, she thought, that would help her to clear her mind and discover the truth behind all of this.
Once she was put, Aria took a break in one of the elegant walls of the palace. Exhausted and about to cry because of her almost flawless act by trying to hide the truth to the girl she felt the most appreciation in the entire world.
Just as I taught you.
"Shut up", she responded in her head. "There is no honor in this".
She will come back to us. I'll handle it myself.
"Of Madam de Valois dares to lay a single finger on her…"
With any method.
Aria let herself collapse because of the frustration she felt. After years of being a devote member of the order, the first seeds of betrayal had been sown in her mind.
TO BE CONTINUED…