WOW, it's been ten years if it's been two months!
Where the hell have I been, huh? Well, I got a pretty time-consuming job alongside my studies because... life, and all that. To be 100% honest, I've been very creatively drowsy on all my writing gigs, so no, this isn't a case of priority issues. This chapter came so close to completion on numerous occasions but had to be rewritten, due to the theme at play being very hard to nail for me, especially during these times.
Anyway, enough with the other stuff. Enjoy the read; I really hope you do.
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"Lorito!" that dumb self called out in much earnest, making use of a nickname picked up from the younger days. This person carried himself with an eccentrical grace, his torso and dress-gown shifting around as to avoid the chairs and tables instead of walking around them normally or pushing them out of harm's way. He was like a fish, this way; swinging his entire self to and fro. His head dipped under the ceiling fan as he took the young lad into an embrace.
He was tall for a fish.
"Valenito!" the lord of lords—the father—replied in kind, abandoning for a moment his firm self to bid his son welcome.
"Señor!" Valentino chirped back in a coy and manly tone, grabbing his dad with open arms and giving his suited back a few firm pounds. Gwyn had to work himself around his firstborn's elaborate garbs, raised by the neck in peacock feathers as it was.
His old man chuckled. "Please, somos familia! Such formalities."
That wicked Gardevoir stood at her post with a sneaky little grin, hands clasped behind her back. "With how you educated him, you are surprised?"
Gwyn didn't cease to smile. "Sí, and I am most impressed with his adopted learnings. I have taught him well."
"And you, Spades? Are you impressed with mine and Héctor's work, from your emperor's tower?" Valentino asked, always sarcastic. The young Lorenzo turned around at a poke. It was the Zorua pup. Lorenzo's spine tingled with a chill as he remembered his newly found and secretive 'relationship' to her. When Leonie gestured him to follow and abandon this little reunion, it took a moment of looking up at his stiffly still and expressionless mother to be convinced.
Allowing the grown-ups to their convention, the boy and pup snuck out and ran for the grass fields that surrounded the manor; giggling, sniggering, laughing as they did. A wide expanse of evenly mowed green fitted with a labyrinth of hedges. Lorenzo avoided the maze, recalling an even younger version of himself getting lost out of childish curiosity, only to find himself a wailing mess in his lonesome. Then, she came to find him, humming that tune he would scarcely catch her singing. Ethereal. Blissful. One that emptied the mind of worries.
Don't think.
Venturing onward, past the green carpet and the bluestone pathways, the pair of younglings found themselves penetrating the tree line. Lorenzo watched his running pace lag behind Leonie's as he was made to push branch, shrub and thorn from his line of sight. Still, he giggled, his hands calloused to the pain. In four odd minutes, he reunited with the Zorua in a little clearing; a respite from the all-encompassing forest. The sky above was trapped by the taller oaks and pines. A blessing. The sun wouldn't cook those below.
The only thing in the clearing besides the empty space was a rope and a tire tied together and to a high and wide branch, suspending the rubber a few inches from the clear dirt floor.
"This place is a mess!" Lorenzo complained, helping the pup break boughs from surrounding woods that had grown, creeping inward to repossess the clearing.
"We won't even have space to swing!" Leonie chimed in, using her powerful jaws to crack through the brittle wood.
"Nu-uh, won't let that happen!" Lorenzo childishly proclaimed, "this here is our land! We shall take it!"
And so, they spent a good half hour clearing the area of invaders. An anthill, too, had been demolished with a small-scale Dig attack. A few nicks and bites, but no issue whatsoever. More than anything, the Zorua was sheepishly amused at Lorenzo's contrasting image — the son of a powerful nobleman, dressed to perfection, soiled with the handiwork of simple labours. His mother would scold him if she had even that authority to. The truth was, his mother was so devoid of individuality that she might as well be synthetic. A sad reality, Leonie thought. She wouldn't bring it up too much.
With their maintenance job succeeded, they sat upon the tire swing and reaped their reward, enjoying the soft, cool air of the passing wind as the tire swung forth and back. The Zorua sat by the rope atop the tire while Lorenzo drooped within and helped keep momentum with kicks of his feet. Besides that gentle wind, they too could enjoy the sounds of living, breathing nature; one unconcerned with the burdens of society. Money held no importance where the feathers bathed in the sky.
"I wish I had wings…" Lorenzo confessed, breathing in the freshest of air. "I think I'd always be happy."
"Do you think so?" Leonie asked, "are you certain you'd be happy? Or is that just what you want to think? I'm sure birds stress too."
"Yeah, well… About what? Being… eaten?"
"Of course."
"Makes sense…" Lorenzo nodded. "Oh, by the way, what's that language my dad speaks? Do you know?"
"It's Paldean."
"Paldean…"
"Your grandpa's from there."
The little boy looked up, seeing Leonie's fur tufts dance in the breeze. "Why do you know so much about me, Leo?"
The Zorua stopped talking for a moment, putting a paw to her lips. She giggled. "Because I love learning. Especially about you and your family. I also wanna understand the like… need? For things. For money. I want to know what it all means. I want to know where you're going, and how I can come with you."
"But… We're already this close, L-Leo! Don't you worry. You and I, we're gonna be together forever, no matter what Poppa says."
Leonie sighed contentedly, dropping her head against the itchy, worn rope. "I know."
Lorenzo nodded, defiant. Imagining himself defying his father's will had been a fantasy of his for as long as he had memories. Any time he did, he would get a ferocious yelling and a slap across the cheek so harsh it blistered.
Lorenzo's fists balled up, tension growing in his mind. He loved his father, but at the same time, he just hated him. Gwyn was a… productive man, indeed. He knew how to excite his sons without fail. He knew how to light a fire under their asses and get them to be passionate, but as rich as he was in money and spirit, his heart was deep in debt. Lorenzo felt a tear build up in his eye as he remembered the scarce, scarce moments Gwyn had shown his love for the boy. So few were his hugs. A handshake always made him sad. He was his son, for crying out loud.
Never mind. He would see love in success, sure. Hector and Valentino had their father's affection. It's not too late. His thoughts went blank again for a minute or two more, hearing nature and the screech of the rope. This moment of peace was perverted by some recent events that lingered in his dreams.
Lorenzo's cheeks flushed. "H-Hey, Leo."
"Yeahuh, Lolo?"
"When you kissed me, was that normal?"
Leonie's little cheeks pinkened too. "What'd you mean?"
"I mean… You know, are we… allowed?"
"Your dad does, with Caramel. You're the fruit of his tree. I would say you are."
"Yeah, but like… Is it okay? Will Arceus send me to the Distortion World?"
Leonie burst out in a bout of giggles and cackling, to the point she rolled off the tire swing with a thud. Despite her age, her being a Pokémon made it a non-concern.
"You're a blissful kid, Lorie."
Lorenzo stopped kicking his legs back and forth, letting the tire come to a slow stop. He giggled a bit, shaking his head at her comment. The sky above darkened some, he noticed. The clouds were building, covering that harsh sun away with a grim mantle. Not a drop of rain.
"Oh, no…" Lorenzo frowned.
"Hehe, it's fine. We'll go back in a bit—"
"Nah," Lorenzo cut, earning the pup's attention. "We'll stick for a while longer."
"Yes, sir~" she teased, getting an eye-roll from the lad.
"Very good, Leonie. Practising etiquette, I see," a third, intrusive voice cheered with a single clap.
The children turned to the source of the noise, withdrawing from the dense and sharp shrubbery and blocking off the only usable exit. Lorenzo and Leonie frowned. Neither of the two cared for the Gardevoir and her unabated, uncontested witchery.
The Zorua dash-hopped off the tire and sat like a dog by her master's foot, adopting a guard mutt's appearance as best she could. Whereas Lorenzo had the power to berate this witch, Leonie's fate would be much more concerning if she showed any type of defiance. The Gardevoir smiled her sweet little nightmare grin, arms folded behind her and a dress that danced in the splintered limelight bathed by the branch-chopped sun. The boy hesitated to get out the tire when his first attempt kept him stuck in place.
"So far you have ventured, just to be away from your father," Caramel cooed, "It's okay, I understand. He can be overwhelming at times."
"He's busy with Valentino anyway," Lorenzo defended himself.
"Of course, Valentino. Hector arrived too. Don't you want to see him? I know you love the guerrillas…"
"I can see him another time. I'm spending a while with Leonie."
"Leonie…?" the wistful Gardevoir hummed, placing a hand softly on her own cheek. "Your bitch."
"Excuse me? Don't call her…!" Lorenzo shot back faster than his lips could stop.
Caramel's eyes widened a bit. "Oh my. I don't care for that tone."
"S-So what?" he doubled down, "You're papa's bitch."
"I'm your mother."
"You're a… puta bruja!" Lorenzo shouted even louder, making the woman grimace.
"That's right, I forgot you cared for your mother. I'm the closest thing to one you have. Mind your language, little master."
"Well, stay your tongue then! Leonie is my friend, and I don't want you calling her mean things!"
Lorenzo felt a surge of adrenaline give into his veins. So warm. His face flushed pink with exuberance. Leonie looked up at him discreetly, fading and blending into her surroundings like a chameleon as the tension rose.
Caramel blinked a few, but went back to smiling. When she spoke again, there was a faint echo in her voice.
The atmosphere chilled after boil. Leonie felt it the most, and if she could sweat, she would. The lad couldn't even grasp the sheer levels of danger this creature wafted with her every gracious step.
"Lorenzo, this Zorua is your guard and toy," Caramel reiterated, repeating a point she'd made half a dozen times in his life. "She is there for your convenience. Don't treat her as an equal, you are far greater."
"Well, I don't care!" Lorenzo, ignorant to the danger, rebutted. "I care about her very much, and she's there for me when I'm sad or angry. When were you there for me, 'mom'?!"
"I've tucked you in before."
"Yeah, like, twice! In my life! I don't even know you, Caramel! You're just… You're just papa's punching bag!" Lorenzo raised his voice to a shriek.
Caramel's growing smile defied common sense. It finally put a dent in the boy's confidence as this beast of nature in the shape of a damsel giggled unhealthily to herself, saying, "That's exactly right, my dear Lorenzo!"
"W-What…?!"
Leonie, despite trembling, leapt before Lorenzo protectively, undoing her disguise to slowly morph into a beast much larger than itself. An Ursaring, standing fiercely to guard its owner. Caramel's height diminished in front of this bear, and yet she felt just as overshadowing regardless. The Zorua didn't even yap for she knew her voice would break.
"Ah, at least your puppy knows to do her chores. I'm so glad, my work has fractionalised."
Lorenzo's lips quivered. He'd never seen Caramel impose such an aggressive glow; in fact, he'd never seen anything remotely similar. Material that surrounded the Gardevoir lost shape in the gravity of her bounded wrath. The bassy reverb she exuded made his and surely the fox's ears ring painfully. Branches snapped off the trees and fell, hitting the Zorua child with a force more brutish than either had expected. It almost made the Zorua cry out, but she bit her tongue.
The Ursaring poser gnawed its teeth and turned back, catching Lorenzo's stare and squeezing of him the slightest modicum of bravery and pride. The young man found it within him to smile back at his partner. The love he shared with the Dark Type was still such a mess in his head, but his heart kept things simpler.
"Leonie!" Lorenzo shouted, "Night Daze!"
The Ursaring nodded, squatting down some; collecting vibrant energy from deep within the bowels of her very soul. Her eyes glowed with the darkness she was born from, and when she threw up those hulking arms, a deafening ring gave birth to a powerful ring of explosive force that nimbly faded on Lorenzo's end, forcing him on his knees at most, whereas the rest culminated against the Gardevoir's front. Dead trees that surrounded the encampment were forced at an angle, some of them ripping right off their roots and the more brittle of the lot snapped by their midsection.
The reverberating clash of energy bewildered both infants alike, as neither had any concept that Leonie was capable of such a feat. Perhaps the passion behind it played a part in the potency applied. As a cloud or risen dirt engulfed the witch, Lorenzo threw his hands high and cheered. The Ursaring gruffed, confused, but smiled at her victory.
Before she got too ahead of herself, the bear turned to her master. "Lorenzo, are you okay?! I got carried away, I'm sorry."
"No, no, no!" Lorenzo shook his head fervently, settling a smile back on her at the excitement he showed. "That was incredible! You're a natural!"
As odd as it looked, the Ursaring did her best to hide her tremendous blush. "Hey, I'm glad to hear it, because that was exhausting. Let's take her back to Gwyn and explain what happened. Maybe I can find a way to stop Hector from chopping our heads off—"
Lorenzo was nodding along to her words with the star-struck eyes of a boy who first spotted a tank, but the conversation ended all too abruptly when a vicious clap shook the last of the leaves off the canopies. The Ursaring stood still for a second, paralysed as her fake body tried in vain to respond to what had just happened. Soon, the Zorua's visage simply vanished, and the overpowered flopped to her side; jaw still hanging open.
The young lad's breath caught in his throat and his eyes turned to pinpricks. He watched as the witch that had surely been slain removed herself from the cloud — never mind her flesh, even her dress was unmarred. Her eyes shone a bewitching golden caramel, permeating the teen's conscious with each inch she flowed closer. The sounds of wind had vanished, and not a bird's cry remained. The beetles were silent. The smell of humid wood thinned to nothing. His senses were entirely overpowered by the presence of the Gardevoir, who hovered closer, her flowing gown captivating everything the lad could pay heed to.
Leonie ceased to exist in the mind of the boy for just a moment. A moment was long enough for this witch to give praise. The praise of perverse, inhuman morals. The praise of ill-minded platitude.
"Your father will be so pleased," she said.
Lorenzo's eyes teared up, but he didn't feel the rivers course down his cheeks. The Gardevoir stood an inch from him now. She bent down, wrapped her slender arms around his frame, and squeezed him tight against her. His body, limp like a doll, didn't resist her touch.
"And you won't disappoint him again, will you?"
Of course he wouldn't. He couldn't ever again.