- Neojourney -
.:.19.:.
Just What Was I Thinking?
that we belong together
Never be ashamed, call my name
Tell me I'm the one you'll treasure."
--Forever-- by Mariah Carey
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Come back to us, you can't leave just yet...Those words...spoken so softly. Their pull was undeniable, yet so was the unquenchable desire to just let everything go, to be so fully free of...those things, those priorities that had been placed upon me.
What were they again? I really couldn't remember, my mind was suddenly so distorted that it hurt to think. Pain was thrumming through portions of my mind that I didn't know existed. The mother of all migraines was in town and it didn't look like it would leave anytime soon.
But the pain meant I was alive, right?
Not exactly.
Now I was confused as well as in pain. What did that voice mean? Whose voice was it? Or was I just imagining the whole thing?
No, you aren't imagining me, A kind chuckle. My Superior thought the pain would bring you back.
Great, my 'voice's' Superior had a sick sense of humor. How bizzare, how bizzare.
Yes, life can be very bizzare, A pause, Especially when you feel like it's been scripted out for you...Isn't that right, Cirrus?
How does it know my name? Where AM I?
Good questions, as always. I'm so glad to finally be able to meet you.
Meet me? How was a voice going to do that? Or was it too chicken to make a personal appearance?
Afraid? No, I'm not afraid. A Gary-like snicker. I'm afraid that doesn't run in my family. Just..hang on, I'll be right there.
Right, my 'voice' will show itself...whatever. This was just a bunch of blah, blah, blah...Wait, my headache has vanished and why am I suddenly seeing light...?
A sudden pinpoint of light had suddenly flared into existance directly in front of where I was. Imagine being in a room that had no windows and only one door. Step into that room, close the door and turn off the lights. Distorientation hits hard, you feel like you have no body, and you might even get a bit lightheaded. Now imagine that there is a keyhole in that door, just under the handle. That's what the pinpoint of light looked like. Then imagine that someone flings open the door, bright ceiling lights that are in the hall beyond suddenly floods the room, momentarily blinding you...That's what just happened to me.
I squinted, realizing I was in my body, and flung a hand up to ward off the sudden light. It flared once more, sun-bright in its intensity, then faded to an eye-managable level. A tall girl was walking towards me, her right arm held up and out, like a waitress balancing a tray...only the tray was a ball of lavendar-colored light the size of a basketball.
As she got closer, I could see that she had straight blond hair that fell a few inches above her shoulders, and she seemed to be around my age. She was wearing a white outfit that looked like a Greek Goddess costume, threads of gold and silver edged the dress, and sparkled in the light. Her mahogany-brown eyes had a lazy, half-lidded look that contrasted shaply with the intelligence that shone from them. Blond eye-brows arched in a half-moon shape and she smiled at me.
"I hope you don't mind the toga thing," Her voice was throaty and she sounded amused. "I wasn't expecting to see you so soon and everything else is at the cleaners."
"You know what they say," I shrugged, "Expect the unexpected."
She didn't answer for a second, then, "I suppose so, but then, no one expects Death."
That caught me off guard. "So I...I really am dead, huh?" I bit at my lower lip, "Darn it, I never got a chance to say goodbye..."
"Hold up," She shook her head, "I didn't say you were dead, just that Death can be unexpected. You aren't fully dead, not yet anyway. You are very much needed in life. You can do more good alive than dead."
"Just who are you?"
"Who do you want me to be?"
"Just answer the darned question!"
She laughed, a light sound that contrasted with her voice, "Oh, Mo...Cirrus! You are funny...All-right then...The truth is..." She paused, pursing her lips. "Do you remember when you asked Cell if he was the Big Guy?"
"...Yeah, why?"
"What if I told you the Big Guy was a Girl?"
"What the fudge??" I shook my head, "That is not what I was going to say!"
She smiled at me, "My Superior knew full well what you were going to say. Profanity isn't acceptable here."
"And where are we?" I looked around, seeing only inky black darkness beyond the reaches of her light. "We aren't anywhere, are we?"
"Oh, no...we're somewhere....but when I show you where we are, I want you to promise not to hyperventallate or anything. Normal rules of science and physics won't apply to you while you're around me." She cocked her head to the side, quirked her eyebrows, "Promise?"
I sighed, "I really can't believe this..."
"Pwetty pwease?" Her eyes glittered anime-style.
I really don't believe this is happening. I shook my head, "Fine, but only if you don't...look at me like that. It's really disturbing."
Instantaneous change. She grabbed my hand and squealed, "Oh yay!! Field trip!"
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This girl was so strange. I can now honestly say that I've met the strangest person I'd ever meet in life. Er, or maybe the afterlife.Okay, so what happened, right? Well, right after she said the words 'field trip,' all of the darkness that surrounded us became the inky blackness that I've only seen in the night sky. Which would be because it became the night sky!
Ever see the opening credits for a Star Trek show? I'm talking about the newer ones, not the ones that had Shatner in the lineup. That is what outer space really does look like! I should know. I'm currently going through it.
Keeping my death grip (no pun intended, honestly) on the girls' hand, I looked over at her. Though we were zipping through space, the hair on her head was as calm and stick straight as if we were standing still. I decided to ask quesions.
"Uh, what should I call you?" That caught her attention.
"What?"
"Well, I can't keep on calling you, 'Hey you,' or 'Uh..,' you know. So what's your name?"
"Oh," she looked ahead for a moment, thinking. "I really shouldn't be telling you my name, but it's Aria."
"Hey, that's a great name! You shouldn't be ashamed of telling it to me." I grinned when I saw her blushing. "It's really very pretty. It's from operas, right?"
"Yeah, my dad told me y...my mother loved operas." She shrugged, "I never really knew her."
"What happened?"
We stopped, right next to Jupiter. "Do you want to stay here, or take a rest on one of the moons?"
Her question caught me off guard. "I guess one of the moons. I'm virtually tired."
Aria smiled and led me down to a rocky grey moon that was currently whizzing below us. "You don't have to worry about anything happening to you." We touched down on the surface and Aria let go of my hand. Though I futiley held my breath, I released it when nothing happened. "See, nothing will happen to you as long as you don't go any further than twenty feet from me."
"What happens then?"
"Your soul will vanish." She looked somber, then quirked a grin at me. "Come on, lets talk."
And talk we did. It seems that Aria lived in the same Pokémon world as Gary and Ash and Co. Her father was a Pokémon Master and her mother bred prize-winning Umbreons and Espeons. When she was five, her mother left with her champion Umbreon pair for a show being held at Ecruteak and simply vanished on the way there. She was never heard from again.
Tears trickled down the side of Aria's face, her brown eyes golden from her sorrow. When the tears fell from her face, they vanished in mid-air, never hitting the surface of the moon. "The worst part is that I can't remember her...at all." She ducked her head, silky blond strands falling around her. "If it weren't for the message she left on the answering machine the morning she left, I would never have remembered what she looked or talked like. I would've forgotten her."
Though I was not a person to be moved by someone elses sorrow, the sounds of Aria's weeping hit something deep within me. Before I realized what I was doing, I had gotten off my moon-rock seat, and dropped to my knees to hold Aria in a tight hug. I was hugging someone I didn't know but for ten minutes (or so), but it felt like the most natural thing to do.
"Shh," I said, stroking her hair, "It'll be okay, don't worry." I started humming a tune I'd heard on X:WP and after a while, Aria's sobs stopped.
She hugged me back, and I started saying, "It's allright..." but I paused. I'd almost said, "It's allright, baby." Where had those words come from? I was very confused and unsure right about now.
We stood up and Aria wiped at her face with a Kleenex that suddenly appeared, then disappeared when she finished with it. "We should go now," she said, "It's about that time."
"Wait! What will happen to me when I go back? I'm assuming you're talking about me going back to my body, right?"
"What? Oh, yes! I almost forgot about that." She cleared her throat. "When you get back to your body, you will have a month until you and Brock's Vulpix switch places."
"Great. So, I stay with Brock-o and make sure he stays alive. How will I know when he will be okay permanently?"
"Team Rocket is behind Brock's death. They kill him after he tries to stop one of their nefarious schemes. You have to be sure that the scheme fails and that Brock stays alive. He will have died two weeks after you and Vulpix switch places." She shook her head. "I don't know where the death takes place, or how they do it. All I know is that it's messy and lots of lives are affected."
I bit at my lower lip. "Will there be anything that would make me not able to switch back?"
"No, well, just an evolution."
"Huh?"
"If Brock uses a Fire Stone to evolve Vulpix, but you're the one that's home, as it were, and not Vulpix herself, then you would be a Ninetales for life." She shrugged. "That's about it, though. I couldn't tell you for sure if Brock has a Fire Stone, but since he's a Gym Leader, I wouldn't put it past him to not have one. Just be carefull."
"What about the Dark Charizard?"
"The what?" Aria looked confused, then a flash of recognition lit her face. "Oh, right. Well, she gets to live, if she wants to. Brock's the one that caught her with the Master Ball, so he's her Trainer."
"Okay..." I paused. "What about Xanady? Will she remain a Cyndaquil forever?"
Aria shook her head, "No, eventually she'll evolve into a Quilava and then a Typhlosion..."
"That's not what I meant!" I snapped. "Will she become human again?"
"Oh that, uh, I suppose she could turn human when she wants to." She shrugged. "Maybe I can hook up a were-quil or something. I have connections with that Department, but it's something they'll have to discuss with her. Are you sure you want your old enemy with that kind of power?"
"Power?"
"Yeah, over her own fate. After all, she nearly destroyed the world for her own evil purposes."
"Did she?" I frowned, "Or did she really believe she was doing good for the world?"
"Only she knows that answer." Aria sighed and stretched. "Is that all?"
I nodded, "Okay, I guess I'm ready then."
The surface of the moon, and the huge imposing bulk of Jupiter that had been behind it, vanished to the blackness of that place I'd first seen Aria in.
I looked around, confused, "Was that real? Or did I imagine it all?"
"No, you didn't imagine it." She pointed at my shoes. "You've got moon dust on your sneakers."
Looking down, I missed the look on Aria's face. "What? Really? I'm gonna have to can that...I'd make a fortune!"
"It's time to say goodbye."
"Huh? Goodbye?" I looked up in time to see Aria waving at me.
"It was nice," Aria started to vanish, her voice was getting echoey, her form was fading. "...Nice to finally see you, Mother..."
"WHAT?!" But it was too late and suddenly, I didn't see or hear anything.
Then...
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"Unbelievable! She's waking up!" A male voice, the first to bring me back to consciousness.Faces hovered over me, fuzzy and then growing clear and then back to fuzzy. I thought I saw Gary's face before I passed out.
Teaser: Phew, looks like Cirrus made it back to life after all. Just who was that girl? Could Aria really be Cirrus' daughter? Then who's the father? Well, I ain't telling! The next chapter out will be the LAST chapter for Neojourney. Really, for real, totally real..The Last Chapter. Until next Friday (And I will post it then, too), I bid y'all, adieu. As long as it means what I think it means. Whatever that means. Aww heck, just review, okay? Tell me if I'm writing good! Or, uh, not good...