Waking up in a strange place is unusual enough when you have full memory of how you got there, the simple yet strange sights which meet your eyes as you wake can send the mind spiralling into memories of where you are and who exactly you came to be there. What would be more strange and startling was waking to a sight unfamiliar to you, and your mind at a complete blank on how you got there. Most would panic, even if it was only a little. As you would not understand what had happened and your mind may jump to the worse possible conclusions.
So when Sapphire woke, sprawled across a four-poster bed in a stunning room of elegance and grace, she immediately tried to string together what events had led to her being in this room. However, her mind was a blank. The last thing she remembered was… what exactly? It came back to her sluggishly, she had been travelling on her own, sunset was drawing close and she feared inwardly about not reaching the next town in time. She was heading to… Rustboro City for a job interview. So where was she now?
She rose from the bed, noting her childish pink pyjamas she had no recollection of owning. Sapphire walked across to the window to see a stunning city sprawled out below her. It lay before her, revealing all its sights and the faint scent of the sea beyond the glistening picturesque beaches. Lilycove City was breathtaking no matter how many times one lay eyes on it.
"It's so amazing this place! I went to the Department Store and found loads of plush toys and cool stuff for my room!" Sapphire wheeled back, staring around wide-eyed at the empty room. Who had spoken to her? Who was in here?
A cold sweat broke across her body as she crept through the room, it had sounded like a young girl. Sapphire found no sign of any child in the room, the door was locked and the walls seemed soundproof enough to keep out such a clear voice.
"You were idiotic! Prancing around the city dressed like a child! You can't simply assume the world will accept you like that kid!" A harsher voice barked, Sapphire put her hands over her ears as the childish voice bickered with this second voice and started crying loudly.
Sapphire let out a long, high scream as the voices continued. Her knees gave beneath her and she fell to the ground her hands still clutched across her ears. "I'm not crazy this is a dream, just a dream. Don't worry you'll wake up soon, please wake up Sapphire." Her words caught in her throat as her knees throbbed where they'd impacted the carpeted ground.
"Oh, she's finally awake huh. Just great, this head was crowded enough with just the two of us." The harsher voice tutted scornfully.
"Wake up, come on Sapphire!"
"Hey, hello!" The childish voice chirped merrily, "My name's May! I'm ten years old! This place is great isn't it? I hope we can be great friends Sapphire!"
"Wake… wake up." Sobs tore apart Sapphire's sentence. "Where's your phone? What time is it? Please be a dream, please…"
"Get a goddamn grip! The child tossed your phone onto the sofa after taking the battery out of it."
"It wouldn't stop beeping! It got annoying!"
"She's spent about two-thousand bucks over the past three days, because no one should let a ten year old loose with that amount of money."
"Sofa?" Sapphire looked over to the vast, comfy sofa and spotted the phone tossed onto the cushion, sure enough the battery lay next to it. "What?"
"This is going to take a lot of therapy…" The harsh voice sounded as though whoever was speaking was storming off, the voice growing quieter and quieter as the sentence moved along. "She'd going through denial."
Sapphire hummed loudly to keep herself from losing what sanity she had left. She placed the battery in the phone and turned it on. Immediately she was greeted by hundreds of messages from various people.
She scanned them quickly before spotting the date. It was a whole week after the last she remembered. She scrolled through the messages and found what she was looking for. She pushed the 'call' button and held the phone to her ear.
"Oh no!" The harsh voice returned to her head loud and clear. "You are not telling anyone about us!"
"Please, I'm in Lily-" Sapphire shouted into the phone when she heard the voice answer with an urgent concern tone.
Something grasped Sapphire, sending her spiralling into blackness once again.
"Sapphire? Sapphire where did you go?" Steven yelled into his phone, he'd answered it as quickly as he was capable of yet something seemed wrong. She'd yelled something half-incomprehensible before the line died. He'd tried ringing her back but no one answered.
Lily, had she said lily? He pondered it for a mere moment before heading to his front door, it wouldn't take him long to get to Lilycove City. He'd been spending the best part of this last week trying to find her, he wasn't going to sit around and let her slip away again. She could be in major trouble!
Sapphire woke once more, she was down at the base of Mount Pyre, how had she gotten here? Her clothes were soaked and stuck to her frame, they'd changed since last she recalled. Having changed from bright pink pyjamas to a set of dark black clothes, red highlights here and there, her hair was haggy, tied back in a messy ponytail.
"What the hell is going on?" She howled at the sky, no one was around in the early morning hush. Sapphire looked around, seeing the sunrise gracing the tops of the gentle waves mere feet from her. She didn't have a phone on her; these clothes didn't have any pockets. A feeling of foreboding crept through her, grasping at her insides and twisting them with a sadistic glee.
Sapphire turned to the north; she dived back into the water, pushing her exhausted body beyond its capabilities in order to return to Lilycove City. She heard an angry voice shouting and screaming in her head, but she turned a deaf ear to it and pushed onward.
She reached the main route and crawled out of the water, her limbs shook viciously as she tried to stand. With a teetering gait, she rushed off to the east, to look for the silver-haired man she needed to see. He was the only one she could talk to who wouldn't send her straight to Mirage Island.
Steven set foot in the city, now where would he start looking? He turned around and held his hand to his chin in deep thought, where could she be? The only thing which would drag him out of this thought was the sound of clattering footsteps.
"Mr Stone!" Someone launched themselves at his back, grabbing him in a tight hug from behind. The sharp whack he received when the person's arms tightened around his own was far more than enough to shock him into reality.
He looked over his shoulder, seeing a damp brunette head. The girl looked up and laughed childishly. He stared, more confused now than any other time this week. It was Sapphire, but really, really not Sapphire. "Um, Sapphire?"
"No silly! Oh, we haven't met! I know you though! She really likes you! My name is May, I am ten years old and I just love the Contests they throw in this city! And the big store is amazing!" Sapphire's voice was higher than usual, more childlike and this girl tripped over some of her words as she blurted out these sentences at him.
"I'm sorry, so you're not Sapphire?"
"Shush, Haruka wants to get out. I'm not letting her! She'll do something not fun like before!" The girl broke away from him and twirled in the street. "She ran off and nearly got us all drowned!"
"Who is Haruka?" Steven's mind was aching as he tried to figure out this puzzle. What had happened to his good friend?
"Haruka is the bad part of us. Haruka… Haruka is…" The girl's voice trailed off and her face wiped of the happy smile it had held a moment before.
"Steven!" Sapphire spoke, her voice was strange to his ears, strange in its familiarity. She collapsed onto the road, clutching at her head, her face pained. "Please… help … help me…" She hissed through her gritted teeth.
He crouched down besides her, observing how her limbs shook, her eyes were screwed shut as if she was trying to block something painful out. "Sapphire, what's happening?" He touched her shoulder gently; the thin shirt she wore was sopping wet and clung to her like a second skin. "Where have you been for the past week? Are you hurt? And who is May, and Haruka for that matter?"
"I-I don't know where I've been… I remember walking to Rustboro a week ago, then…nothing…" She peeked up at him. "They won't shut up! They won't leave me alone!" Her face wiped smooth suddenly.
"Get your hand off of me!" The girl snarled, pushing him away from her as she rose to her feet. Her limbs no longer shook, her eyes were narrowed and she held herself with more confidence than Sapphire had.
"Sapphire?" Steven stood, staring at the sudden transformation.
"No you fool. Didn't that stupid kid give you enough of a hint? Or would you like me to spell it out for you? My name is Haruka. Now if you'll excuse me, I should be on my way." Haruka turned on her heel, marching a few strides away from him before halting again.
"No!" The harsh voice of Haruka was replaced by the squeaky childish voice of May. "I want to stay with Mr Stone for a little longer! Running around on my own gets so boring!" The childish girl pirouetted on the spot, almost dancing back to Steven's side.
"May?" He believed he had gotten a grip with what was happening, but he felt his heart sink and hoped he was mistaken. "Please, you have to come with me to Sootopolis, there's a good hospital there."
"But I'm not ill." May looked up at him with wide eyes, her face revealing the shadow of fear. He couldn't quite describe why he felt so protective over the girl May, he was close friends with Sapphire and wanted her to get better, but this silly girl was quite endearing.
"You're soaking wet," He lied smoothly, "You might have caught a cold."
The girl pouted, but followed him nonetheless.
"I'm afraid what you've described to me is indeed Dissociative Identity Disorder." The doctor looked at the girl sitting beside Steven. She'd changed right in front of his eyes, when she'd entered she had the mentality of a ten year old child, but now she'd sobered up and switched back to the host.
"But I've known Sapphire for years, what could have caused it so suddenly?" Steven asked the questions as Sapphire seemed too shocked to speak for her; he took her hand gently as he addressed the doctor.
"It will not have just suddenly snapped into being. Dissociative Identity Disorder is usually caused by the sufferer being exposed to trauma. It could have been caused by physical or sexual abuse during earlier life. According to Freud's theory of repression - one of several defence mechanisms the mind unconsciously enlists to protect the mind from trauma - the abuse could have caused a split in this young lady's mind. As the mind would have used an alter - these being the alternate personalities - to handle the trauma for the host."
Steven blinked at Sapphire; he was appalled that something of that magnitude had happened to his longstanding friend.
"Now, this young lady seems to have a rather aggressive alter, this may make it hard for her to live amongst other people safely. I can only suggest that she seeks treatment - a course of one-on-one therapy sessions aimed to integrate the various alters into one personality once again - at a secure safe location where she can be monitored around-the-clock."
"You're talking about Mirage Island? Where the asylum is?" The doctor nodded sadly. Steven looked over at the girl sat at his side; her face was hidden from him by her messy hair, a single tear splashed onto his hand which still clutched hers. He looked back to the doctor, observing the man quickly. "Please answer me something. If your wife was diagnosed with this like Sapphire, would you want to see her sent off to Mirage Island?"
"If there was no other way for her to get better, I'd have no choice." The older man's voice was grave, almost the tone heard often in movies or on TV, the tone Steven labelled as the 'funeral voice'. It sounded as if the doctor was telling Steven Sapphire had died.
"No." Steven's voice was so sharp even Sapphire looked up, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I can't let Sapphire go there, I'm sure the care is adequate, but I think the shock of being in a place like that may make her condition worse. I will take care of her, would it be possible for her to have this therapy outside of Mirage? If so it's settled."
"Steven," Sapphire whispered, having fully assumed she'd be carted off to Mirage Island forever more, they say it was rare for someone to leave that place.
"We can set up therapy sessions at your home or another location, but are you prepared to take responsibility for this girl? This means, if her alter takes over and harms someone, you both will be held responsible for her actions."
"Yes, that is fine with me, as long as Sapphire doesn't mind living with me until she can live by herself again."
She blinked, ignoring Haruka's screaming protests, her mind was made - she wouldn't go to Mirage Island!
A month had passed; Sapphire showed signs of getting a firm grip on her condition. The switches weren't quite as sporadic as they had been at the beginning. But still it was often for the girl to wake up as either May or Haruka.
"Good morning Mr Stone!" May bounced into the kitchen, wearing a bright orange t-shirt and green shorts. She often wore bright clashing colours; it seemed to be her style. She darted around the kitchen, hunting down something to eat for breakfast.
"May, please leave the fridge alone, I'm making toast for breakfast, and please don't call me Mr Stone, I've told you - you can call me Steven." He caught the toast as it popped up from the toaster and set it on a waiting plate.
The girl let the fridge door slowly shut, she peered through the crack of the closing door to watch the light turn off. She sat at the table, swinging her legs energetically as she waited.
"Have you washed your hands?" He asked as he buttered the toast.
"Yes Mr Stone." She chirped, bouncing in her seat. "What are we doing today? Can we visit Uncle Wallace?" Her face lit up in pleading hope.
"You're busy today remember? You have that meeting with Liza." Steven set the plate in front of the girl, returning to the toaster to prepare his own breakfast.
"Thank you! But those meetings are so boring." She dragged out the 'o' sound in 'so' remarkably. "Haruka always gets edgy after those sessions. It makes Sapphire concerned." She picked up a slice of toast and started eating it messily, the butter and strawberry jam smearing across her face.
"Is that so?" Steven hummed, Sapphire hadn't told him that little detail, but Haruka had been a little bit of a problem from day one. She'd hurt Sapphire a few times, the faded scars on Sapphire's arms were evidence of that. But the alter refused to open up, not even in the therapy sessions. She had only appeared during those through hypnotherapy.
He set his plate opposite May, starting his own breakfast. It seemed today he'd be spending most of his time with May instead of Sapphire.
May dumped her plate in the sink and made to bounce out of the kitchen. "One second." Steven called to her. She turned around to face him, he held out a tissue, "You've got jam all over your face May." She took the tissue and dabbed at her face, succeeding only in smudging it further around her features. Steven sighed, standing and taking the tissue, carefully wiping away the remnants of her breakfast from her face. "Now you can go." He ruffled her hair before she bounded from the room.
The day had passed as normally as any other. Steven hadn't seen either Sapphire or Haruka the whole time. But it was quite refreshing handling May, she was always so optimistic and cheerful all the time. Liza had spoken to him, she was concerned as Haruka still refused to open up to her - May was very open and cheerful. Sapphire had taken some coaxing to come out of her shell, but now was fine speaking with Liza.
"We can only start working out the trauma and how to deal with it once both the alters and the host have a trusting relationship with me." She had told him, but he had no idea how to reach Haruka, he also had failed to build up a proper relationship with the alter.
He lay in bed, mulling over the situation as he so often did before sleeping. It was one of the only times when it was quiet enough for him to listen to his own thoughts.
That is until a knock came at his door. "Who is it?" He called to the girl.
The door cracked open. "Mr Stone," May's shaky voice was clear in the silence of the night.
Steven flicked on the bedside lamp, sitting up and looking to the scared girl. "What's wrong May?" He gestured to her to come and sit on the bed.
"There are scary noises in my room and Haruka says it's a monster coming to get me." The girl was visibly shaken. "Can I stay here with you tonight?"
"Come on then, but you know Haruka lies." He shuffled over, letting the girl get into bed beside him. He flicked off the light once she was snuggled under the covers.
"I know, but she scares me when she says things like that. Could you tell me a bedtime story?" Her hand found his, taking it softly.
Steven gave into the request of May, letting his imagination flow freely. He spun her a tale of a beautiful young princess who was strong and brave. She ran away from her home when her parents commanded that she sound marry a prince. She wandered into a large forest and lived amongst the animals that lived there for years. Upon a chance meeting, she fell in love with a handsome stranger who she found caring for a young deer. She eventually married him and returned home to rule her kingdom with the man she loved.
It was a silly story, but Steven had learned from the many stories he'd twisted together for May, that she liked the silly ones like this, where a princess achieve her happy ending on her own terms.
When he finished, he found the girl had fallen asleep, her gentle breathing sounding through the darkness.
"Goodnight May."
Steven woke slowly, only half-conscious of the pressure on his chest. Once his eyes flicked open he deduced what was going on immediately.
Haruka was glaring down at him, one of her hands pushed into the centre of his chest. It was never a particularly good morning when Haruka woke up, but something told Steven that today was going to be that little bit worse.
"What the hell were you doing last night?" She hissed, anger coating her every word. "I wake up trapped by your arms! You thought you'd just take your opening when May was scared huh?"
"Of course I didn't Haruka, and you know I wouldn't." He made a thorough effort to keep his voice calm when the anger of her accusation flicked through his mind. "She was scared by you telling her there was a monster in her room and couldn't sleep there. Ask her yourself, it's too early for you to be so angry."
Haruka's nails bit into the nape of his neck slightly as she removed it from him, she sat back on her haunches and glared out of the window, where the morning sun's rays peeked through the small gap in the curtains. "It's never too early or too late for me to be angry." She shuffled, making her way to the edge of the bed to leave the room.
Steven grasped her hand, halting her before she left. "Why are you always so angry? Why do you do the things you do, like this?" He traced one of the scars on her arm.
Haruka avoided looking at him, he watched her other hand ball up, the nails digging into her palm harshly. Steven sat up, moving and tapping her other hand, removing her nails from the soft skin of her palm. This was the closest he'd managed to get to Haruka, and he wasn't about to waste this opportunity to gain her trust.
Her nails bit into his hand, but he didn't let her go. "Please, you can tell me anything." He tried to catch her eye, but the sapphire ones were cast down to the corner of the room.
"It's easier…" She whispered.
"What is?" He asked, ignoring the growing pains in his hands.
"Dealing with physical pain…" Her eyes met his; he could see deep into them, he saw fear and pain swirling around in them. He had never seen Haruka so vulnerable; her defensive wall had finally cracked! "I want it to end, the emotional pain is impossible to deal with! I'm the one who has to deal with it and I can't! I can't face the past, it's too painful!"
"Talking about it can help you Haruka. You just need to let us in." He whispered to her. "I don't want to see you hurt yourself anymore. There are ways for you to handle the pain you feel."
"You have no idea of the pain I'm feeling, the constant pain I can't handle." She hissed, releasing his hands. Her face wiped blank, Steven sighed at the sudden switch; he'd nearly gotten close to her.
"Steven, um…" Sapphire's cheeks flushed, she looked down at her hands only to see the droplets of blood on her fingertips. "Oh no!" She spotted the little crests deeply indented into his palms and before Steven could stop her, she bolted out of the room.
"Sapphire? Steven knocked on the locked door of the bathroom. "Sapphire please let me in." He could hear her sobs through the door. "Sapphire please."
He waited outside of the door for almost an hour, sitting with his back against the wall constantly talking to Sapphire. Slowly her sobs steadied, eventually the gentle click of the lock sounded. Steven rose to his feet, opening the door slowly.
"I'm sorry for hurting you after everything you've done for me." Her head was bowed, her voice hoarse from the sobs which had torn through it for the past fifty minutes.
He touched her chin softly; he'd wiped the splodges of blood from his hands with a tissue. He gently lifted her chin so she looked up at him."Sapphire, you have nothing to apologise for. You didn't do anything."
Sapphire blinked away the last of the tears and smiled half-heatedly at him.
"Come on, we need to get ready, Wallace wants to meet us today." He smiled at Sapphire, hoping she'd stick around for a long time today; he really wanted to spend more time with her.
About a year had passed. Sapphire and her alters were getting along quite smoothly, Haruka had continued to open up to Steven even if she was still rather reluctant to speak with Liza. Sapphire's all-round mental state was growing much more positive as each day passed.
Sapphire opened her eyes in the early hours of the morning. May had clearly crept into Steven's bed again - the little girl seemed to revolve around him like a daughter to a father - it was quite cute Sapphire thought. She was resting her head on Steven's chest, listening to the steady sound of his breathing as she allowed her mind to wander around the events of the past year.
She'd managed to grow used to the constant voices in her head; she wondered whether she really wanted integration now. It'd seem so quiet in her mind with only the one of her in there. Plus May was such a bundle of joy she'd be empty without her chirpy voice.
Sapphire looked up at Steven, her gaze falling on his sleeping face. He seemed so calm, even in sleep. He had bee there every step of the way for her. Without him she would have gone crazy a long time ago. Sapphire couldn't resist wrapping her arms around his neck, in a close hug.
His eyes fluttered open, looking straight at her. "Good morning Sapphire." He smiled. She was taken aback slightly that he knew instantly that it was her, but she found herself beaming as his arms wrapped around her waist.
"It really is a good morning," She whispered, burrowing her face in the t-shirt he wore. Here with him, Sapphire felt that her past didn't matter - whatever trauma had caused her mind to split she didn't care about it anymore. The pain was manageable so long as he would stay by her side.
A/N: Voila! My best attempt at something good and bad! Whoops and cheers like a crazy person WE MADE IT TO FIFTY! WE DID IT! Thank you all for sticking by me this long! SPECIAL THANKS goes out to all those who have left me a review! I have a question to ask you all! Which has been your favourite chapter/chapters? Mine has to be 'The One I Love' but I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and the fantasy ones -t the angel one, the vampire ones and the mermaid ones! - This whole series of stories has been so much fun writing, I hope those of your who've made it this far have had just as much fun reading as I have had writing! Until next time bows -Iris
SelasVictoria: Haha, I was wondering who the Guest was until I read your second review for Ch.49! I do agree a short good chapter is better than a drawn out chapter of less quality. I did study Psychology, my teacher was crazy and so were the rest of us! I didn't do too well in the exam but I had so much fun learning all the stuff in the course! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I've been ignoring the time while finishing it off, it's now like nearly 2am and I have to get up at 7am tomorrow, oops xD Well, I have no regrets, I loved writing it! Thanks for your lovely comments and constant support of my stories! -Iris
