Chapter 36: Surprises

I hate pokemon center and hospital rules, I thought to myself, as I was forced to wait outside in a lonely waiting room as Jasmine and the Nurses did their best to stabilize the very sick Ampharos. I never understood the whole 'they're very tired and can only have a single family member present rule.' I'm sure there's some mumbo jumbo about how multiple people causes too much stress, but I still found it stupid. I just wanted to see if Amphy is doing alright and not have to wait forever to find out.

I couldn't believe how late it was getting too. I'm sure Gold was wondering why I'm taking so long, he probably expected me back several hours ago. I hope he's not worried about me; I'm even starting to miss him. At least I had plenty of company with me, even with Teeka and Ray being absent and working together to help run Olivine's light house. Even if some of them were a tad too worrisome.

"Oh I hope Amphy is okay. What if the medicine we got her isn't right?" said Marill, who was pacing around worriedly a few feet in front of the chair I was sitting in.

"Do you always have to worry so much?" Drake, my blue Yanma, commented from his perch on top of my hat.

"Yeah Marill you should relax, I promise you, Gold would've never given us medicine that wasn't right." I added.

"Alright... but... I'm still concerned. They've been in there for awhile." the water mouse replied as she came back to climb up the chair next to me and sit next to my Riolu, Dien.

"Marill, you've got nothing to worry about, I can feel Amphy's aura." Dien tried to assure the troubled water-type.

"Really, you can feel it?" I asked, looking to my small fighting-type.

"Yes, her aura feels happy." Dien replied cheerfully in her adorable voice.

"Oh really? That's wonderful." said Marill.

"Okay, seriously what is this aura thing? You keep talking about it, but I still don't get what it is." Drake asked in a persistent attitude.

"Yeah, that's been bugging me too." I agreed with my bug-type. "Is aura like mind reading or something? Cause Merlin can do that." I asked Dien.

"No silly, I can't read people's minds." Dien replied.

"But you said you can tell that Amphy is happy?"

Dien giggled as she twiddled with her paws in a cute way as she said, "It's her heart that I feel."

"Her heart?"

"It's the heart that gives everyone their aura, not their head. I can feel when people are sad, happy, angry, or anything in between."

"But you can't tell what they're thinking, right?" asked Marill.

"No, but I've been able to make pretty close guesses based on how they feel, so kinda." Dien replied

"That's pretty amazing, I can't believe how smart you are for only being three days old." I said cheerfully as I scratched my Riolu's ears.

Dien giggled as she replied, "I have to thank you, Gold, and that other guy for that, listening to all your auras while I was in the egg taught me a lot."

"Um, you're welcome, I guess." I said as I felt my heart flutter at the thought of me and Gold helping someone; but then I realized something odd in what Dien said, and asked, "Wait, the other guy?"

"Yeah, that other guy who you've been traveling with?"

"You mean like one of our pokemon?"

"No, I mean like another person, I thought you guys were traveling with someone else, or at least... he showed up every so often."

"I don't know what you're talking about Dien; it's always been me and Gold. We've never traveled with anyone else." I explained.

"Wait, are you talking about Crystal? She was with us that one time." Drake suggested.

"No, I remember her aura, she was strong willed and sweet, but a bit of a klutz. I'm talking about someone who showed up occasionally." Dien explained.

"Sorry, I have no idea who you're talking about. I'm telling you, it's just been me and Gold." I explained once again.

"Huh, that's weird." Dien wondered as she held her paw up to her chin and said, "You sure? Cause I remember sometimes when I was in the egg that I could feel Gold's aura being accompanied by another one whenever he fought."

"Another... aura… when he fought?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Marill, who was equally confused.

"Well, at least I think so. But, to tell you the truth, I didn't like how the other aura was like, it felt controlling and violent but at the same time it was tactical and methodic, while Gold's was much different. But then there were times when I couldn't tell the two apart, and I thought they were the same person."

"So wait, are they both Gold or not? I don't understand what you're saying Dien." I asked in a concerned tone.

"You know what, just forget what I said." Dien shrugged, "I must've been sensing something else, cause I was still an egg when I felt the other aura, and I wasn't that good at sensing it back then, so I may have made a mistake. Plus, auras get all mixed up and chaotic when people fight, so I guess I felt someone else's and mistook it for Gold once or twice."

"You know that's probably it," Drake agreed, "We've been fighting some pretty nasty people lately, like Silver and Team Rocket. You probably got confused and thought one of them was Gold or whoever else you thought it was by accident."

"Actually, now that I think about it, Silver's aura and the other guy's were very similar. I think you're right and I just made a mistake. I mean, I've gotten a lot better at sensing aura and I haven't felt the other aura since I hatched, I guess I was wrong. Sorry to bring that up, my bad." Dien apologized.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I replied, "Oh good, for a second there I was a little scared and thought that Gold was the host of some evil spirit or something."

After what I said, all of my pokemon looked to me with funny looks.

"What? Was it something I said?" I asked timidly as I looked at the confused pokemon's faces.

"Host for a spirit? Do you have any idea how silly that sounds?" Marill pointed out.

"That kinda sounds like something Gold would say." Dien joked.

"Oh my god, you're so right, he would say something like that." Marill laughed along with Drake.

"Oh no, Gold's nerdiness is infecting Lyra." proclaimed Drake, who was pretending to act like a doctor, "Quickly, nurse Marill, I'm going to need 20 cc's of anti-geek right now. We don't have much time."

"Oh come on, cut it out Drake." I giggled in response to my funny bug-type, "I can't help it, I actually like being nerdy. I think the things that Gold is into are way more interesting than sports and all those other things boring people talk about."

"Wait, you like being nerdy? But you always make fun of Gold for being a geek." Drake questioned.

"I'm more of a nerd than I let on. I just love poking fun at Gold, thats all. To be honest, being nerdy is the reason I started hanging out with him in the first place." I admitted.

"You know, I don't think you ever told us how you two met." Dien commented.

"Yeah, you never have. Can you tell us? I'd like to know." Drake agreed.

"Oh… well uh… it's…. it's a bit of a story, but we've got time to kill, so why not? Okay, before I met Gold I used to live in Cherry Grove city with my mom until I was ten, but while I was there I never had any friends, I was really lonely back then."

"Why's that?" asked Dien.

"Well, I uh… I was picked on." I explained

"Why?"

As I recalled my not so fond memories of Cherry Grove, I slumped a little bit and held my head low as I explained, "The other kids would always treat me like I was some kind of freak, because I used to read weird books, played with imaginary friends, dressed differently, and acted differently than everyone else. The girls especially were mean to me. At first it wasn't so bad, but the teasing and name calling, like pipsqueak and Lyra the creepy girl, got worse and worse. It got so bad that whenever they saw me they would chase me around and call me those names until I cried. When I was ten, my mom and I moved to New Bark, but even then I didn't make any friends. It was mostly because I was afraid that they'd make fun of me again for being different, that is, until I met Ethan."

The moment I said his name I felt my spirits rise before I continued my story, "The funny thing is, if it weren't for the fact that I avoided other kids, I would've never met him. It was during the summer, I think, and one day I was playing outside by myself, as usual. I was doing some reenactment of an anime I saw the other night, or something like that, basically I looked like a complete weirdo. It wasn't long before I saw some of the neighborhood kids coming over to where I was. I was scared they'd make fun of me too, so I tried to hide myself in an abandoned house that was nearby. That was when I bumped into Ethan who was all cooped up in the corner of the same house. At first we scared each other because we both thought we were alone, but that was when I saw that he had one of the books I used to read back at Cherry Grove. I was really shocked that someone else actually read the same kind of stuff I did, and for the first time, I felt like I wasn't afraid to talk to someone. It turned out that Ethan would avoid the other kids too, and read stories in that house when his mom forced him to try to make friends and kicked him out of the house. We started to talk about the book he was reading and how we wanted to hide from the other kids. One thing led to another and we became best friends."

As I finished my story I remembered one last detail and said, "But the one thing I'll never forget about that day was how I reacted when I saw the color of his eyes; they were unlike anyone else's. They were bright metallic yellow, almost like shining gold. So, that's what I called him, Gold. He didn't like it at first, but as you can guess, it kinda grew on him." I explained before I giggled saying, "Now 5 years later, and the only thing that changed between us was our height, considering he's practically a foot taller than me now. He claims I didn't grow at all, but he's wrong, I'm at least 4 inches taller."

"Awe that's such a cute story." Marill commented in a warm fuzzy voice.

"I can see why they called you pipsqueak," Drake snickered, "When you hang around Gold all the time you like a small fry compared to him."

"Please don't call me short, alright? I don't like it," I replied, feeling the sad memories that were attached to that word.

"Well all joking aside, I think it's great you and Gold are such great friends." Dien commented.

"Yeah, I'm really glad that I met him too, he makes me so happy. We've been through so much together I can't imagine not being with him. Because of him I feel like I can express myself and not have to be so afraid of other people." I replied with a warm feeling in my heart.

With fond memories of being with Gold replaying in my mind, Dien looked up at me for a moment and tilted her head out of intrigue. Almost as if she saw something interesting and was examining it closely.

Unsure as to why she was looking at me like that, I glanced down at my Riolu before I saw a smile on her face, as she stood up on the chair and said, "You love him, don't you?"

"What?!" I exclaimed, surprised by the sudden accusation. With an embarrassed look on my face, I looked away and muttered, "No I uh… I don't know what you're talking about… he's… he's just my friend."

"That not true, that's not what your heart says." Dien replied as she pointed to my heart with her paw.

"No… no you uh… you got it all wrong... it's just… just that… I uh…" I stuttered with my cheeks blushing as I looked to my Riolu, but the certainty in her cute eyes didn't go away and I eventually gave up trying to deny it, "Alright you win... I admit it… I… I… love him." I muttered gloomily as I curled up into a ball on my chair, burying my face into my legs.

"Wait, Lyra, what's wrong? Why are you sad all of a sudden? I thought you said Gold made you happy? Why are you upset about loving him?" Drake asked as he flew off my hat and hovered in front of me.

"Yeah what's the matter Lyra?" Marill asked worriedly.

"It's because I know he doesn't love me back, and he never will." I murmured into my legs.

"Whoa, you don't know that!" Dien interjected.

"Yes I do," I muttered trying not to cry, "Just look at me, I'm a small fry, my eyes are an ugly brown, my hair looks like mud, my skin is pale white, and I'm practically flat chested. Do I look like the kinda girl that guys go after? I look too much like a kid; Gold even calls me a ten year old sometimes."

"Don't say that, I'm sure Gold doesn't think that about you. I uh… I'm sure if you just asked him…. you know maybe he'd like you too?" Drake tried to assure me.

"No he won't. He'll just think I'm creepy, and he'll stop wanting to be my friend, just like everyone else." I uttered, doing my best not to cry.

"Wait, Lyra don't cry… I uh… I'm sure if you just told him he'd-" Marill tried to say before I interrupted.

"No, I can't, don't you get it! He'll think I'm a freak! I just want to be his friend, alright? I'm happy enough knowing that he likes me as a friend. Please let's just stop talking about it."

"Um alright, if you say so." said Marill.

"I'm… I'm sorry to make you so upset Lyra, I just thought that-" Dien tried to apologize.

"No, it's okay. I just don't want to think about what might happen if I made a mistake and I lost the only real friend I've ever had." I murmured gloomily.

There was a pause after what I said, it was then that I noticed that Drake was looking over at Marill and they were exchanging odd looks, like both of them were trying to coax the other into saying something.

It seemed like Drake was the one that gave in and he looked to me and said. "Well I uh… I wouldn't be so quick to say that. I'm uh… pretty sure Gold likes you."

"How could you know?" I muttered unenthusiastically.

"Well, I guess you can say, I've been noticing some things, and well, I think if you were to… I don't know... tell him how you felt, that he'd embrace it and he'd never treat you any differently."

"No he won't, he doesn't think of me like that. And he never will." I murmured in response as I looked down and curled back into my ball.

"Err... um... well... I uh." Drake stuttered as he buzzed around trying to think of something to say, before he returned and said, "Okay, you remember when we hung out at the hot spring and you forced Gold to take a bath?"

"So what?" I murmured once more with my face still buried in my legs.

"Well, what if I told you that Nile had more on his mind when he came to check on you?"

"Like what?"

"Well, let's just say, I overheard that a certain someone was really jealous after... you know… you showed some affection toward Nile. And I think that certain someone wasn't too far away." Drake said in sly manner.

I lifted my head a little and looked at my dragonfly and muttered, "Wait… are you saying that… that he?"

"Of course, what do I know?" Drake said dismissively, "I'm just a sneaky dragonfly who loves gossip and eavesdropping." the Yanma then grinned before he perched himself back on top of my hat.

I paused for a moment or two as I thought about what Drake just said.

Jealous? Was…. was Gold… jealous… over me?

Before I could ponder any further over the ramifications of what my Yanma just told me, I heard my pokegear's ringer going off. The ringtone came from within the bag that Gold let me borrow, which was sitting next to Dien and Marill. Being the polite little pokemon that she was, Dien dug through the bag and pulled out the device for me and opened it to see who was calling.

"Lyra, look it's Gold." Dien said as she looked to me.

"Gold?" I muttered in confusion as to why he'd be calling, but then I realized, "Oh no!" I exclaimed as I grabbed my pokegear from Dien and said, "He must be worried that I've been gone too long!"

Slightly distressed from earlier, I answered the call and frantically said, "Wait, I can explain, I'm sorry I haven't come back yet, I… I just got caught up and-" before Gold cut me off.

"Whoa, whoa, Lyra slow down." Gold said with his calming voice, "Jeez, relax a little, you sound like you're having a heart attack, I'm not worried about that, that's not why I called."

"Wait… really?" I replied, trying to hide the distress from my voice, but was failing.

"No, I uh… I wanted to tell you something… I uh… I was wondering if you could make sure you come back… you know, around 2 o'clock or something tomorrow."

"Um… uh sure… what for?" I muttered uneasily.

"Well… I uh… I um… I thought we could do something together… and well I… I… I uh… I um-"

"Oh my god he's stuttering! That's so adorable!" I heard Nile laugh hysterically somewhere in the background.

"Shut up Nile!" Gold barked at his pokemon as I heard him put down the phone to deal with his pokemon before he returned and said, "Sorry about that, uh, Nile's being an ass right now. Anyway… I uh… I just wanted to let you know that… I have a surprise for you… you know, for when you get back… so uh… yeah… could you meet me on the north end of the beach?"

"A… surprise?" I repeated, as I felt my emotions starting to shift.

"Yeah… I uh… found something that I thought you'd like… and well, we've been going through some stressful stuff lately… and uh… I thought you'd like to have some fun… so uh... just um... make sure, you know, that you come back around two okay?"

"Um sure I'll… I'll be there." I replied.

"Uh… great… I'll um… I'll see you then." Gold said as he hung up.

As I closed the pokegear and held it to my side I stopped to think about what Gold said.

A surprise, for me? But… but he never does stuff like this. And he was stuttering more than he usually does, and sounded like he was really embarrassed. Is he…?

"Sounds like your friend has something fun planned for the two of you." A friendly voice said.

I looked up and turned to see that Jasmine was standing off to my right.

"Oh, Jasmine, I'm sorry I didn't see you there." I apologized as I stood up.

"It's okay; I just walked in to let you know that Amphy is doing fine. I can't thank you and your friend enough for what you did."

"Um sure, but you don't really need to thank us. After what Silver did, I'm sure Gold would've helped you whether you liked it or not." I joked.

"But still, I can't thank you enough; here I want you to have this." said Jasmine as she grabbed something from the bag she was carrying.

What she pulled out was a strange, pale, dark green crystal. It had a lustrous shine like obsidian and was roughly the size of a water bottle. She then handed the strange rock to me.

I took the rock from her and asked, "Um, what is this?"

"It's a moon stone; I found it the other day back at the quarry. I was going to add it to my rock collection, but I think you should have it." Jasmine explained.

"Wow, thanks." I replied, as I grabbed Gold's bag and put the stone inside.

"Well, I'm sorry to say this, but I have say goodbye now." Jasmine apologized.

"Wait why?" I asked.

"I got a phone call recently, and I was told someone found a set of tracks embedded into the stone floor of one of the caves we've excavated. So I have to go check that out."

"Wait, you mean like a fossil footprint?" I exclaimed with my imaginative mind running wild.

"Well no, the strange thing was they weren't there a week ago." Jasmine explained

"Wait really? What could've made them?" I asked wondering what could leave footprints in solid stone.

'Well that's what I have to find out, if something is lurking in the caves here, it could practically travel anywhere in Johto if it wanted too. Some of the caves around here connect to cave systems that stretch over to Cianwood and the Whirl islands, and as far as even Mount Silver. But, don't worry, whatever is in there, it's nothing me and my Steelix can't handle."

"Steelix? I thought you had an Onix?" I asked, remembering what Gold told me about her.

"Well not anymore. Look, I'll tell you about it another time. Just make sure you get some rest. And thanks again." She then waved goodbye and left the waiting room.

"Well, I guess that means it's time for us to get going too, I wonder what surprise Gold has planned for you." said Dien as she hopped down from the chair she was on and walked over to me.

"Yeah, I wonder too." I replied with mixed emotions.

The next day had come, and the reservations for the Safari zone were all set. I just had to wait until Lyra came back from Olivine.

I was a little nervous about my plan to confess to Lyra…well ... actually that's a lie... I was terrified. I still don't know how my Feraligatr was able to convince me to do this, but somehow he did and there I was, biding my time, walking around the shore line of Cianwood. My mind was constantly going back and forth on my decision to go through with my confession. One moment I felt confident, and then in mere seconds, I felt like I wanted to just give up. The stress was starting to pile up on me and I was starting to fidget and scratch my neck out of anxiety. It didn't help that the beach was covered in beach goers as well. In hindsight I should've pick a place with less people to meet at. Nile may have gotten over his fear of other people and crowds, but I haven't.

I tried to take my mind off my stress and think about something else. So I thought about my experience up at the Safari Zone. The place kinda reminded me of amusement park with various stores and attractions just outside the main building. The guy in charge, Baoba was his name, almost flipped out with excitement when he met me. He treated me like a celebrity and I wasn't exactly comfortable with that. Apparently he saw me on TV when I fought against Silver at the Battle Tower. Thankfully it was just him and nobody else at the time, and he gave me no trouble when I asked for a reservation for some time in the safari.

Apparently at the time I showed up, there was some huge promotional campaign going on there. Baoba was telling me how all these extremely rare pokemon were going to be available for capture soon, everything from Machops to Torkoals and Solrocks, but he made a pretty big deal over a pokemon I've never heard of before. It was supposed to be the rarest thing they've ever had in the park, a Larvitar I think it was called. I tried to tell him that we weren't interested in capturing pokemon and just wanted to have a look around, but he was the typical salesman and kept bringing it up.

Regardless, I got the reservations and everything was set. I wanted to make sure that Lyra would have fun today. I wanted to make sure I could show her how much I appreciate her.

But as my mind returned to the subject of my confession, I began to feel my stress mount again. This time it came back with a vengeance. My mind started to shift between the idea of telling her how I feel and giving up faster than ever.

It was then that I felt like I needed to sit down and try to calm myself, so I looked for a spot on the beach where there were barely any people and found a bench on the sidewalk that ran down the edge of the sand. I ventured over to it and was able to relax a little bit, now that the comfort of being away from people was given to me.

But that didn't seem to help for very long, because my mind started to race again. Questions began to run through my head at a rather unhealthy pace.

Will this even work?

Does she love me back?

What if she doesn't like me?

Is it too soon to say this to her?

What if I'm too late to tell her?

What if she likes someone else? Like someone from New Bark?

If we do confess to each other, will she treat me differently?

Will we date for a week but then drift apart cause it can't work out?

What if things get awkward and she no longer wants to be my friend?!

What if I screw up and say something stupid?!

What if I creep her out and she never speaks to me again!?

What if she hates me for even trying!?

WHAT IF SHE FINDS OUT I KISSED KATE?!

My mind began to race uncontrollably as the events that transpired back at the Battle Tower replayed inside my mind. The guilt I felt when she kissed me and the ever agonizing fact that I could've stopped her loomed over me like a horrible shadow. I wanted to stop thinking about it, but I couldn't, it's like my mind couldn't stop thinking of the million things that could go wrong.

Then in the midst of my panic, something unexpected occurred.

A voice, oddly like my own but faded, exclaimed inside my mind, "You're pathetic Ethan."

Shocked by the sudden voice, I snapped out of my rampant thoughts and tried to get a hold of myself. I looked around for a moment trying to find whoever may have said what I just heard. But there was no one close enough to have been the culprit.

"W...what the hell?" I muttered to myself with a single bead of sweat rolling down the side of my face.

Did I just hear a voice again? Am…. am I going crazy?

I wasn't sure what to think, the voice sounded kinda faded, almost like it wasn't there, but at the same time I knew I heard it.

No, no this is just insane. How could I be hearing voices? I'm just stressed. I thought to myself, trying to be reasonable.

That's it, I'm just stressed; that has to be it. I just need to calm down, I'm only imagining things. Like those times when you hear something in the wind and you think you heard your name or when people talk around you and you think one of them sounded like a friend of yours but was just a coincidence.

Yeah that has to be it.

I need to stop worrying.

I need to get a hold of my stress. This can't be healthy.

I need to stay focused. I want to make Lyra happy and that's what I'm going to do. Today is just me and her, and I'm not going to let my fears stand in my way.

With that in mind I disregarded what I may have heard and pretended like it never happened. I then took a deep breath to try and calm myself and felt a little better. I then tried to think about the good that could come out of my confession. Thinking that if I could just stay focused on the good things, I could stay relaxed. That is, until I heard the familiar voice of a girl from behind me.

"Oh look who it is, I thought I saw you in the city. Funny seeing you here, Gold."

My eyes widened at the voice I just heard… I knew it all too well... it was Kate's voice!

Snapping my head around and standing up from the bench, I saw the blonde haired girl that has tormented me but a few mere feet behind me. She was wearing a rather revealing black bikini and was carrying a fancy bag with her beach stuff inside along with large fancy sunhat.

"Kate?! What the… what the heck are you doing here?!" I stuttered in astonishment.

"Well, I was thinking I could spend the prize money you and I won together and go to Cianwood and enjoy the beach for the weekend, and maybe run an errand for my brother. So far it's been fun, but I couldn't help but notice you on the streets when I was leaving my hotel this morning." Kate replied in that fake, innocent, playful voice that she has perfected to fool those around her.

"Back off, alright." I warned, but with a voice that lacked confidence, "I don't want anything to do with you, alright."

She giggled in response and replied, "I never really understood you; most guys would be going crazy if a beautiful girl, such as myself, was interested in them."

With stress mounting once more, I took a step back from Kate and stuttered, "Look, just leave me alone. I told you I'm not interested in you… I like Lyra... and there's nothing you can do to change that."

"That didn't stop you from letting me kiss you." Kate replied coyly as she took a step closer to me to close the distance I tried to make between us, and said, "If you feel obligated to your so called friend, we can keep this a secret from her. Just you and me, having some fun together, and you'd go back to your friend and she'd never know. What do you say? And what about the offer I gave you? It still stands you know; my dad's organization could use someone like you."

"The answer is no!" I tried to say with a stern tone, but was still shaky in my voice as I turned away from Kate not wanting to look at her and her skimpy bathing suit. "Please… just leave me alone. Find someone else for your stupid job. Please, I just want to left alone."

"Oh come on," Kate said in her manipulative, playful tone as I felt her walk up to me and wrap her arms around my torso from behind, pressing her lewd body against my back and said, "You'd make a lot of money if you joined us, and you'd get to be with me. I think you're pretty amazing, you know."

I wanted to get her off of me, I wanted to tell her to get lost, but I felt frozen like every other time Kate has tried this on me. I couldn't stand this, I forced my body to do something, but I couldn't.

"You like my swimsuit?" She asked coyly as I felt her fingers run freely across my chest, "I thought you'd like it, I was thinking of sending you some pictures, and maybe even a naughty one or two. But now that you're here, I guess I don't need to."

"Shut up." I muttered as my body refused to do what I told it.

"Come on, I have the penthouse back my hotel. Why don't you forget about your friend and spend the night with me. We can have some fun together, you and I."

I can't stand this! I have to stop her, or else I'll do something I'll regret!

My mind began to race again, thinking of all the horrible things she'll make me do if I don't do something. The stress began to mount, I felt like I was going to die!

"That little pipsqueak isn't around to hold you back. Come on, you know I want you." Kate said in that seductive voice of hers before she slide around to face me and place her arms around the back of my neck.

That's when I felt something shift drastically. My mind sped up in an instant, the same way I felt when I fought against Silver at the Battle Tower. Then suddenly it felt like someone else was in control, something snapped and I violently grabbed Kate by the throat.

Kate didn't know what hit her and she gagged as I unknowingly dug my fingers around her windpipe, before I felt myself utter hateful words that were not my own.

"Listen, and listen good you bitch. I'm not going to stand around and be seduced by some spoiled, rich whore who thinks they can have whatever they want and no one can tell them no! You hear me!" I growled.

Then suddenly, and without my own doing, I shoved her down into the sand, releasing my hold around her neck and once more said something that I didn't conceive.

"Now fuck off you little whore!"

Kate was in shock of what I just did, she crawled away from me fearfully before a scowl appeared on her face as she held the spot where I grabbed her. She then stood with hate in her eyes.

"Fine, if that's how it's going to be." She muttered angrily, "You're going to regret this you bastard, just you wait." before she turned around and stormed away and was eventually out of my sight.

As she walked away I felt a sudden fear run through my mind.

Did I just do that?

I… I didn't mean to hurt her… I just wanted to get her off of me… I didn't even mean to say those things either. But they just came out me like someone else was saying them.

Bewildered by my frightening action, I just stood there trying to analyze what I did. Maybe I did mean to do that? But I felt strange when I did it, it felt like the way I feel when I fight and how my mind seems to shift in pace. I wasn't sure if I intended to attack Kate or not, it just happened. But then again, I was so angry that it might have been an impulse or something?

Whatever I did though, intentional or not, it definitely worked.

I finally did it… I got rid of her.

I suddenly felt relief overtake me, almost as if my guilt was lifted, realizing that I finally told Kate to leave me alone. And it felt like this time it was for good.

If I could do that… then maybe… maybe I could... tell Lyra how I feel, too?

What seems like a victory for Gold may not be all it's cracked up to be. A sudden violent outburst isn't like him at all; and what's this about Dien sensing another aura? Something seems to be wrong with him. Don't cha think?