Sorry for the delay. Writer's block reared it's ugly head again.
Chapter 12:Troubled Pasts
"Err, Ken? Are you sure it's safe now?"Anubis asked me cautiously. He and the rest of the team had just got done speaking with Arceus, and had just come into the room. They were reasonably apprehensive about Serenity, who had a very saddened expression on her face. We were both sitting on the bed while they were standing a few feet away.
"I'm...I'm so sorry for attacking you,"she said, trembling slightly. I wrapped my arm around her to comfort her."It was that horrible darkness that forced me to do it against my will. Please forgive me."She looked down and away from them shamefully. I noticed the team looking amongst themselves with very stunned expressions, obviously not expecting this behavior from her.
Psyche shrugged."The simple fact that you're not glaring at us is rather assuring,"he said."I think that's enough reason to trust you."
"And your aura isn't black anymore,"Anubis said, eyes closed. He opened his eyes and smiled."That's good enough for me."
"If the boss says we can trust you, then that's all there is to it,"Zaps said, arms crossed."He's never led us wrong before."He paused."Well, almost never."I rolled my eyes.
"The evil within your heart is gone,"Wrath said."We completely forgive you."
"Same here,"Fang said, raising a claw. I looked back at Serenity, who was now smiling with a few tears in her eyes.
"Logically, I do not think we are capable of forgiving you,"COREM said calmly. We all frowned at them.
"Why not?"I asked, feeling angry at them.
"She didn't do anything,"Zephyr said, sounding confused."It was the icky, bad stuff in her that made her do it."
"Exactly,"COREM said with a nod."She has done nothing wrong of her own volition, and thusly, there is no reason to forgive her."We all smiled at that, then I heard Serenity sniffling.
"Th-thank you..."she stuttered, smiling widely as happy tears fell from her eyes.
"Awww, someone needs a huuuug!"Zephyr said, flying forward and glomping her. Serenity laughed happily, hugging him back. The rest of us smiled at them.
"Alright, that's enough, Zephyr,"I said calmly, prying him off."We don't need you to suffocate her."I turned to Serenity."So, if it doesn't bother you too much, can you tell us what happened to you?"She frowned at my question, looking away.
"I..."she hesitated."I don't know."
"If you don't want to tell us, that's perfectly fine,"I said. She sighed sadly, looking back at us.
"I don't mean to offend you,"she said."But I'd rather tell just Ken, if you don't mind."We blinked, then looked amongst ourselves, though Zaps looked rather annoyed.
"What's wrong with tel--OOF!"he grunted as Anubis elbowed him in the side. They gave each other annoyed looks.
"If that's what you want,"Psyche said loudly, gaining their attention."Come along now, everyone. Let's get something to eat, shall we?"He turned around and walked out, the others following without arguement, though Zaps was grumbling something under his breath.
"OOH! CAN WE GET CUPCAKES, PLEEEEEAAAASEEE!?!?!"Zephyr squealed excitedly as he flew after them.
"How many times do we...?"Anubis started, but he was out of earshot before he finished. I rolled my eyes at them, chuckling in amusement. I looked back at Serenity, who had a sad smile on her face. She then looked back up at me, frowning.
"Why is it you only want to tell me?"I asked, sitting on the bed cross-legged. She blushed slightly, looking away again.
"Well,"she mumbled."It's just...being near you."I tilted my head.
"Care to elaborate?"
"I don't know what it is, really,"she said, looking back at me."But...just being near you makes me feel safe for some reason. I know it sounds silly, but I don't know how to explain it better than that. I just feel really safe near you."We stared at each other after that.
"...I see,"I said after a long moment."Can I tell you something?"She blinked once, then nodded."When I first saw you, or rather, your soul, I had this feeling."I looked away for a moment, resting my chin on my hand."The feeling that I'm supposed to protect you. I just felt like you were the one thing that mattered above everything else."We looked at each other again.
"What do you think that means?"she asked. I just shrugged.
"Who knows?"I asked."Maybe we were destined to meet each other for some reason or another."
"Huh,"I heard her mumble. Another moment of silence passed.
"...So,"I said."What happened?"She sighed again.
"It was a while back, when I was still a Ralts,"she started."I was just playing with my parents. It was such a beautiful day, and we were having so much fun together. Then..."She bit her lip."Then he showed up. He just came out of nowhere and had his pokemon attack us. My father tried to fight them off while me and mother ran away."She covered her face with her hands, and I frowned deeply as her voice cracked."Neither of them survived..."I let out a long sigh, wrapping my arms around her."Then...then he captured me. He had his other pokemon beat me all the time. If I didn't win a battle, he would do it himself. He did horrible things to me. Eventually...it was just too much, and he turned me into that...thing."Tears were freely falling from her eyes. I hugged her tightly, trying to comfort the best I could as she cried."It hurt so much..."It was heartbreaking to see her so sad.
"...I know how it feels,"I said, my voice barely above whisper. She sniffed a bit, looking back up at me."For 18 years, people have treated me like less than garbage. They insulted me, threw things at me, pushed me around, and did everything else to make me feel worthless, all because I could understand pokemon. The entire. Damn. Town."I closed my eyes."All of them hated me, dozens of people always attacked me, verbally and sometimes even physically. I'm pretty sure the only I didn't go insane from all of it is because of the wild pokemon around town. I always talked to them after escaping from any of the bastards who wanted take out their frustrations on me. I had Anubis and my Mom, sure, but..."I shook my head, my own voice cracking."It wasn't enough sometimes..."I shook as I tried to hold back any tears. But despite all this sadness I felt, I couldn't help but think. Why would I tell all of this to her? I had never even talked about it to Mom, so why would I tell someone I'm really just meeting for the first time? Was it because we had so much in common? At the moment, I didn't know and I didn't care.
I felt Serenity hug me tightly, and I opened my eyes. She looked up at me and we stared into each other's tear-filled eyes. She rested her head on my chest and I rested my chin on her head. We stayed this way for a while.
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"Daaang,"Groudon muttered as Arceus closed the veiwing portal. Both Ken's team, the Legendaries, and even Mystica were in the meeting tower, having just watched the entire scene.
"I...I've never seen that side of him before..."Cresselia said softly.
"Who knew the kid had it so rough?"Dialga grumbled. Mewtwo shook his head in disgust.
"Humans..."he growled."What vile creatures."
"Why are humans afraid of what they can't understand?"Mew asked sadly."It doesn't make any sense..."
"I honestly don't blame him for hating his own species,"Psyche remarked with a depressed tone.
"Jeez, the boss is the toughest guy I know,"Zaps muttered."To see him like that..."He sighed. Zephyr said nothing since he was in the middle of a crying fit. Neither Wrath, Fang nor Mystica said anything.
"Maybe now they can start to heal each other,"Celebi said, wiping some tears from her eyes.
"Only time will tell, I suppose,"Deoxys said quietly.
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"You feelin' any better?"I asked softly.
"Mm-hmm,"she mumbled, her voice muffled by my chest.
"Yeah, me too,"I said. She pulled away from me, wiping some tears from her eyes. We smiled at each other."What do you say we grab a bite? I'm starved."She nodded eagerly.
"So am I,"she said. We both stood up and walked out of the room, feeling better than we had in a long time.
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End of Chapter
Lots of character development this chapter. The action will start back up next time.
