Chapter 26 – Snowed In
Jirachi glowed brightly as I watched, concerned and confused. The light became brighter gradually, and I had to turn away to keep from being blinded, until finally, after a few seconds, it stopped. I turned back quickly to see Jirachi collapse to the floor facedown.
I floated to him, concerned. "I'm sorry, I didn't know what would happen…" Coming to a stop next to him, I gently rolled him over onto his back, seeing that his eyes were closed, then checked to make sure he was breathing. The second part wasn't too hard, because he was gasping for breath as if he couldn't get enough.
After a moment, Jirachi's eyes opened, and he coughed, trying to sit up. But instead he simply fell back down. Startled, I moved away slightly tried to think of something to do. Jirachi looked around the room confusedly, like he had never been in it before.
"What's wrong?" I asked worriedly. "What happened?"
He turned his head toward me slightly. "So that's what he felt like…" he said weakly, before going limp. I realized what must have happened: Jirachi granted my wish by taking Kaden's illness himself. Glancing at Kaden, still asleep on his bed, I saw that he looked much better and was now sleeping peacefully.
At that moment, I looked up as the door on the far side of the room opened and Crystal reentered, carrying one small wooden bowl in each hand. She saw Jirachi on the floor and her eyes widened. "Not him too!"
I nodded sadly and moved back from Jirachi. She floated over to him, setting the bowls on the floor, which I saw were partially filled with a purple liquid. Inspecting him quickly, she then announced, "He has the same thing your other friend does."
I nodded wordlessly, still trying to think of how to explain it. Crystal picked up Jirachi carefully, then floated over to the nearest vacant bed and set him down in it. After this, she floated back to the wooden bowls and picked them up.
She then went to check on the Sneasel, and after putting one of the bowls next to its bed, she moved to Kaden. As soon as she saw him, she realized what I had. "He isn't sick anymore."
I froze as Crystal turned to me. "What happened here?"
"Well, that's a long story, too." I fidgeted, drawing on the floor with my tail.
Crystal continued to watch me and didn't move. "Please tell."
"Well, Jirachi has the power to grant wishes," I began, gesturing at the aforementioned Pokemon. "And he didn't want to wait, so, well, I wished for Kaden to be better." I gestured slightly at my other friend.
A few awkward moments passed, then Crystal nodded and turned, still holding the bowl of purple fluid. "I see. You should know what they say; be careful what you wish for."
I nodded gloomily. "I know. I didn't want…"
Glancing at me from the corner of her eye, Crystal then said, "At least something good came of it, your other friend is better." Then she turned toward the window, which was blocked up with snow, she added, "But it's snowing hard outside now, so you'll still be here for a day or two. At the least."
I vaguely wondered how she could tell when the windows were all covered with snow. But instead of dwelling on it, I sat on the floor and sighed. "So the only thing that I did was to make my other friend get sick, and it accomplished nothing."
Crystal shrugged, a great accomplishment for a Froslass. "There was no way you could have known what would happen." She then floated over to put the second bowl next to Jirachi. "But you should know that nothing comes free." With that incredibly uplifting statement, she crossed over to the door she had just come out of and went back in it. I was left to feel sorry for myself.
Kaden soon woke up, and over the course of the rest of the day, we generally stayed inside of the cabin. Jirachi or the Sneasel woke a few times, but never for long. I managed to learn that the Sneasel's name was Keane, and he had been found by Crystal a few days ago, alone and with a fever. Once, I tried to open the door leading outside, but it wouldn't move, making me realize that what Crystal said about the depth of the snow might be true.
Kaden simply spent the time trying to cheer me up, since I was still feeling bad about my wish. Eventually, after Crystal told me to brighten up before I made myself sick as well, I started making an effort to act more cheerful. But that still didn't change how I felt, though it made everyone else happier.
After a while, we all ate some food that Crystal kept inside the cabin, which was pretty much some berries and roots, and a few human foods as well. She didn't eat anything, though, explaining that the food was for the patients and occasional guest.
After the meal, which Kaden claimed was delicious but which I didn't really taste, we spent several more hours doing basically nothing. In other words, I worried over Jirachi while at the same time acting like I was happy, Kaden tried to talk to me, and Crystal, our host, simply appeared occasionally to tend to the patients.
Needless to say, it was a very long day.
.
"I have planted a tracker on the target, sir."
"Good. Where is it now?"
"The northern part of Route 217, sir, near Lake Acuity."
"So she didn't get very far after all… You are dismissed."
A figure stood in the shadows of the room, the only features that could be seen two red eyes. After a few moments, its voice echoed around the dark room. "Darkrai, come. What is your report?"
A shadowy apparition appeared in the room opposite the figure, one cold blue eye visible. "I was unable to find the target."
"That was expected. I now know the whereabouts of the target, though, so I have another job for you…"