Chapter LIII- The Phoenix Rises
We wandered around the town a little more just to waste some time. We stocked
up at the pokemart, and healed our pokemon, then went on a tour of sprout tower, and it
was still only 5:00. We decided to have an early dinner and an early turn in time, because
we had to get up early again to get to Azalea Town by 12:00. Erika had setup her sleeping
bag on the couch near the television, and me and Jarod shared a large one on the rug
infront of the other couch that was perpedicular to the one Erika was sleeping on. I rolled
over a few times trying to find a comfortable spot, but even with Jarod there, there really
wasn't any really relaxing spot to lay in. I was probably just worried about Noki.
I'm in a big black room again. It's dark, so dark I can't even see my hands infront of
my face. Threre is a noise like the crashing of waves, and I turn, suddenly I'm on a cliff.
There is a statue at the edge of this cliff. I walk closer and notice that someone in a short
dress is standing infront of the statue and sticking a note to it...I see them now...hundreds
of notes...wishes? I keep walking closer, I'm so close I can feel the light sea spray on my
cheeks. I stop as the person turns around, but I can't see their face, its' shrouded in the
shadows of the slowly darkening sunset. They move their hand up to their face and move
their long hair out of the way, then turn back to the statue...and stick another note to
it...then...blackness. The cliff is gone, the person is gone, the sound, nothingness...absolute
and utter silence. Suddenly I'm falling, falling where? And then I stop, someone is tapping
my shoulder, I try and turn around...
"M...mm...what?" I mummble still half asleep, I turn over and open my eyes. "HU! N-"
Noki abrubtly puts her hand over my mouth and makes a 'shhh' motion with her finger to
her mouth. I shake my head and she makes a motion with her other hand to follow her. I
carefully get up, and crawl out of the sleeping bag, making sure not to wake Jarod. We
quietly tip toe to the ladies bathroom and slip in, making sure the door is closed behind us.
"Noki! What are you doing here? Where did you go?...Hey...what time is it?" I ask in a
quiet voice, and look out a window, realizing it is oddly light but still dark outside.
"First...I told you I would come back...second I went to the future...and third..." She looks
at her watch, "12:02."
"Ugh..." I said and then rubbed my eyes.
"What's wrong? The dream?" I looked at her so suddenly she actually jumped back
slightly.
"Yes...as a matter of fact...I had a very odd dream. Though I don't really know how you
know that." I said as I looked around, turned on a faucet and washed my face a little.
"I know that because mom told me. Though...you really weren't supposed to have that
dream for another..." She counts on her fingers, "10 years I think..." I looked at her again,
this time very confused, and she could obvisouly tell. "Ugh....there's no easy way to
explain this...you may wanna sit down on that counter there..." So I sat down on it after I
had dried my face off. "Ok...let me explain. I didn't want to come with you guys
today...because I knew that girl would want to do a tarot card reading on me. And you
see...well...uh...it might have changed the future if you figured out something now that
you were supposed to know later..." She said and I must have still looked confused
because she continued a little slower this time. "Ok...um...you haven't figured it out have
you?"
"Obviously not..." I remarked.
"Ok...well...maybe we should just leave it at that then." She said and made a beeline for
the door.
"Wait a minute." I said and grabbed her arm. "You said I should have had it later right?
Well did I understand it when I had it then?"
"Ugh...yea I think she said she did."
"Then I may not get another chance to understand it because it's already happened, so I
need you to tell me what it means. It may alter the future somewhat a little somewhere
down the line, but I don't think it'll have an immediate impact on the next 4 years do you?"
"Well...no I don't think so...I mean...with the exception of being 10 minutes late to your
match with Falkner I'd say this is going almost exactly how it was supposed to..." She said
and I let go of her arm. Not that I really could have stopped her from escaping, being in
the position I was in. "Uh...ok." She seemed a little nervous for some reason, but I'm sure
that if she told me the truth I would figure out why soon enough. "Well...you know how
in the dream there was a cliff...and a statue?"
"Yea?" I agreed.
"Well...that statue you couldn't really see it too well...but do you think you know what it is
based on what you learned today?" She asked.
"Yea...It's Jirachi..right?"
"Right...and there was a girl there...and she stuck a note to it..."
"Ya.."
"And then she stuck another one..."
"....yep...?"
"Ok...now think. Who did it look like to you? The long hair...the flowly dress...?"
"...." I was stunned. It was Lexa again. "But she said that..."
"She did say that...but this wasn't a dream about the present. This was a memory from the
past. You were there when she stuck those notes on Jirachi."
"Ok...but the notes...? So what? Everyone is allowed to wish."
"Lexa cared for you more then anything in the world, and she wanted you to be protected.
This gets confusing so bear with me...ok?"
"I'll try...."
"Ok....the first note was a wish that when she died...she would be reborn, or at least some
of her memories, into a person close to you. The second note that she put up later, when
you found out you were leaving across the sea, was that if you ever died, Lugia or
Ho-oh would come to help you. Follow?"
"So far."
"Now...Records show that the people who watch this statue now, witnessed Jirachi's first
awakening in 100 years. Do you know when it was?"
"When we were in Mahogany....?" I said compleatly dumbfounded. "But then...if that wish
was granted, then so was the first one..."
"Right. And guess who destiny chose?"
"The....fire phoenix pendant...the phoenix wings...the red hair...the red eyes..." It was all
starting to make a scary kind of sense. Noki was the imbodiment of Lexa...all Lexa wanted
was to be cared for, and as my future daughter of course she would be well taken care
of..."So then...that's why your card was Jirachi...because that wish was so important to
Lexa that it lived through you."
"That's right."
"But I mean...you wouldn't think of me as...." I began and she stopped me.
"No; GOD no....you're my mom. I'm me. Not Lexa." She said affirmativly.
"But then...I mean...Lexa's spirit is inside of Erika's Haunter though...and as far as I know
I am deffiently not pregnant...there's no way I could be."
"No I know. See when the wish was granted, Lexa's spirit was marked for a specific
reincarnation, so when Erika's Haunter dies, the sprit becomes a wandering one until it's
new host is...well in this case born."
"Oh....okay...wow...this is really nuts." I said and began to feel sleepy again.
"Go...you go back to sleep and I'll zip outta here and arrive back in the morning. Just
pretend you didn't see me before tommorrow, and please...don't tell dad or Erika..."
"Of course not. Go. I'll cya tommorrow." I said and made my way back to the warm
sleeping bag and fell almost immediatly asleep.
The next morning I woke up earlier then I had expected. It grabbed the clock that
Erika had set on the table and moved it close to my face so it was a little easier to see. It
read 7:00. Not too bad...I'll just go take a shower quick and wake them up when I get
out...I carefully moved Jarods hand off me, careful not to wake him, and put a pillow
where I was sleeping. Raichu who had been at the foot of the bed yawned quietly and
pulled on my pj pant leg.
"Hm?" I said quietly to him. "You want a shower too?" I asked him and he shook his
head. "Ok...but I can't pick you up baby..." I said indicating my left arm.
"Raichu chu^_^" *That's ok!* I opened the door to the ladies bath and held it open for
him, then once he was in, closed it quietly behind me.
We took our bath and then I quickly dried my hair by now which had become at
least an inch longer. I brushed it out and tried to dry it so it looked normal, but it just
wasn't cooperating. Then I had an idea. I took the brush and flipped it up so that it looked
like BlackRoses hair from the .hack// games. It actually to my suprise looked quite cute.
One spot right in the back though the hair was a little longer then the top layer, and it
kinda stuck out. I thought it was a little odd, but found a ponytail holder in my pocket,
and put it into a short cute pony tail. I walked back out at about 8:00 to see the pokemon
center was now open, and Erika and Jarod were just waking up. I quickly began to pack
my stuff and hopped over the couch carefully, landing just behind Erika's knees, putting
my legs over hers.
"Morning...are you guys gonna get moving? We've got a long way to Azalea Town..." I
said and she slowly rolled off the couch landing on the floor. "OOPS! Are you ok?" I said
and looked over the side of it.
"Yea...I'm good...but why the hell are you up so--" She stopped as she turned to look at
my hair. "your hair..."
"Ugh...do you like it? It's too long...I have to get it cut..." I said and fluffed it a bit.
"I think it looks cute angel, I kinda like it that way." Jarod said as he sat up and pat the
pillow where I had been. "Thought you could escape eh?" He laughed and got up,
grabbing a towel and heading to the mens room.
"Yea....guess I better go take a shower too..." Erika said and grabbed a towel too, heading
off in the other direction.
"Well...that's different..." All of a sudden I heard someone and turned around.
"NOKI!" I said and gave her a hug after I had jumped off the couch.
"Hey!.....your hair....." She said and stared at it. "Wow...that's weird."
"Hey! If you don't like it all you have to say is 'it's cool', you don't have to insult it!" I said.
"No I don't mean your hair is weird. Well...Marushi used to have hair just like that...I've
seen paintings of her and Lexa in our gallery. It's kinda frightening actually." She said and
took off her backback, rummaging for something. "Luckily for you my mom is very good
at cutting hair, and taught me how." She said and pulled out a pair of silver scissors. I sat
down at a chair, and she took a towel, putting it on my shoulders, then began to cut. After
she was all done she took off the towel and threw it into the exchange pile, then pulled out
a small mirror for me. She had done a fantastic job, it looked just like it did before, just a
little shorter and she had left the ponytail. "I think it gives you a little character." She
stated and I gave the mirror back to her gratefully.
We wandered around the town a little more just to waste some time. We stocked
up at the pokemart, and healed our pokemon, then went on a tour of sprout tower, and it
was still only 5:00. We decided to have an early dinner and an early turn in time, because
we had to get up early again to get to Azalea Town by 12:00. Erika had setup her sleeping
bag on the couch near the television, and me and Jarod shared a large one on the rug
infront of the other couch that was perpedicular to the one Erika was sleeping on. I rolled
over a few times trying to find a comfortable spot, but even with Jarod there, there really
wasn't any really relaxing spot to lay in. I was probably just worried about Noki.
I'm in a big black room again. It's dark, so dark I can't even see my hands infront of
my face. Threre is a noise like the crashing of waves, and I turn, suddenly I'm on a cliff.
There is a statue at the edge of this cliff. I walk closer and notice that someone in a short
dress is standing infront of the statue and sticking a note to it...I see them now...hundreds
of notes...wishes? I keep walking closer, I'm so close I can feel the light sea spray on my
cheeks. I stop as the person turns around, but I can't see their face, its' shrouded in the
shadows of the slowly darkening sunset. They move their hand up to their face and move
their long hair out of the way, then turn back to the statue...and stick another note to
it...then...blackness. The cliff is gone, the person is gone, the sound, nothingness...absolute
and utter silence. Suddenly I'm falling, falling where? And then I stop, someone is tapping
my shoulder, I try and turn around...
"M...mm...what?" I mummble still half asleep, I turn over and open my eyes. "HU! N-"
Noki abrubtly puts her hand over my mouth and makes a 'shhh' motion with her finger to
her mouth. I shake my head and she makes a motion with her other hand to follow her. I
carefully get up, and crawl out of the sleeping bag, making sure not to wake Jarod. We
quietly tip toe to the ladies bathroom and slip in, making sure the door is closed behind us.
"Noki! What are you doing here? Where did you go?...Hey...what time is it?" I ask in a
quiet voice, and look out a window, realizing it is oddly light but still dark outside.
"First...I told you I would come back...second I went to the future...and third..." She looks
at her watch, "12:02."
"Ugh..." I said and then rubbed my eyes.
"What's wrong? The dream?" I looked at her so suddenly she actually jumped back
slightly.
"Yes...as a matter of fact...I had a very odd dream. Though I don't really know how you
know that." I said as I looked around, turned on a faucet and washed my face a little.
"I know that because mom told me. Though...you really weren't supposed to have that
dream for another..." She counts on her fingers, "10 years I think..." I looked at her again,
this time very confused, and she could obvisouly tell. "Ugh....there's no easy way to
explain this...you may wanna sit down on that counter there..." So I sat down on it after I
had dried my face off. "Ok...let me explain. I didn't want to come with you guys
today...because I knew that girl would want to do a tarot card reading on me. And you
see...well...uh...it might have changed the future if you figured out something now that
you were supposed to know later..." She said and I must have still looked confused
because she continued a little slower this time. "Ok...um...you haven't figured it out have
you?"
"Obviously not..." I remarked.
"Ok...well...maybe we should just leave it at that then." She said and made a beeline for
the door.
"Wait a minute." I said and grabbed her arm. "You said I should have had it later right?
Well did I understand it when I had it then?"
"Ugh...yea I think she said she did."
"Then I may not get another chance to understand it because it's already happened, so I
need you to tell me what it means. It may alter the future somewhat a little somewhere
down the line, but I don't think it'll have an immediate impact on the next 4 years do you?"
"Well...no I don't think so...I mean...with the exception of being 10 minutes late to your
match with Falkner I'd say this is going almost exactly how it was supposed to..." She said
and I let go of her arm. Not that I really could have stopped her from escaping, being in
the position I was in. "Uh...ok." She seemed a little nervous for some reason, but I'm sure
that if she told me the truth I would figure out why soon enough. "Well...you know how
in the dream there was a cliff...and a statue?"
"Yea?" I agreed.
"Well...that statue you couldn't really see it too well...but do you think you know what it is
based on what you learned today?" She asked.
"Yea...It's Jirachi..right?"
"Right...and there was a girl there...and she stuck a note to it..."
"Ya.."
"And then she stuck another one..."
"....yep...?"
"Ok...now think. Who did it look like to you? The long hair...the flowly dress...?"
"...." I was stunned. It was Lexa again. "But she said that..."
"She did say that...but this wasn't a dream about the present. This was a memory from the
past. You were there when she stuck those notes on Jirachi."
"Ok...but the notes...? So what? Everyone is allowed to wish."
"Lexa cared for you more then anything in the world, and she wanted you to be protected.
This gets confusing so bear with me...ok?"
"I'll try...."
"Ok....the first note was a wish that when she died...she would be reborn, or at least some
of her memories, into a person close to you. The second note that she put up later, when
you found out you were leaving across the sea, was that if you ever died, Lugia or
Ho-oh would come to help you. Follow?"
"So far."
"Now...Records show that the people who watch this statue now, witnessed Jirachi's first
awakening in 100 years. Do you know when it was?"
"When we were in Mahogany....?" I said compleatly dumbfounded. "But then...if that wish
was granted, then so was the first one..."
"Right. And guess who destiny chose?"
"The....fire phoenix pendant...the phoenix wings...the red hair...the red eyes..." It was all
starting to make a scary kind of sense. Noki was the imbodiment of Lexa...all Lexa wanted
was to be cared for, and as my future daughter of course she would be well taken care
of..."So then...that's why your card was Jirachi...because that wish was so important to
Lexa that it lived through you."
"That's right."
"But I mean...you wouldn't think of me as...." I began and she stopped me.
"No; GOD no....you're my mom. I'm me. Not Lexa." She said affirmativly.
"But then...I mean...Lexa's spirit is inside of Erika's Haunter though...and as far as I know
I am deffiently not pregnant...there's no way I could be."
"No I know. See when the wish was granted, Lexa's spirit was marked for a specific
reincarnation, so when Erika's Haunter dies, the sprit becomes a wandering one until it's
new host is...well in this case born."
"Oh....okay...wow...this is really nuts." I said and began to feel sleepy again.
"Go...you go back to sleep and I'll zip outta here and arrive back in the morning. Just
pretend you didn't see me before tommorrow, and please...don't tell dad or Erika..."
"Of course not. Go. I'll cya tommorrow." I said and made my way back to the warm
sleeping bag and fell almost immediatly asleep.
The next morning I woke up earlier then I had expected. It grabbed the clock that
Erika had set on the table and moved it close to my face so it was a little easier to see. It
read 7:00. Not too bad...I'll just go take a shower quick and wake them up when I get
out...I carefully moved Jarods hand off me, careful not to wake him, and put a pillow
where I was sleeping. Raichu who had been at the foot of the bed yawned quietly and
pulled on my pj pant leg.
"Hm?" I said quietly to him. "You want a shower too?" I asked him and he shook his
head. "Ok...but I can't pick you up baby..." I said indicating my left arm.
"Raichu chu^_^" *That's ok!* I opened the door to the ladies bath and held it open for
him, then once he was in, closed it quietly behind me.
We took our bath and then I quickly dried my hair by now which had become at
least an inch longer. I brushed it out and tried to dry it so it looked normal, but it just
wasn't cooperating. Then I had an idea. I took the brush and flipped it up so that it looked
like BlackRoses hair from the .hack// games. It actually to my suprise looked quite cute.
One spot right in the back though the hair was a little longer then the top layer, and it
kinda stuck out. I thought it was a little odd, but found a ponytail holder in my pocket,
and put it into a short cute pony tail. I walked back out at about 8:00 to see the pokemon
center was now open, and Erika and Jarod were just waking up. I quickly began to pack
my stuff and hopped over the couch carefully, landing just behind Erika's knees, putting
my legs over hers.
"Morning...are you guys gonna get moving? We've got a long way to Azalea Town..." I
said and she slowly rolled off the couch landing on the floor. "OOPS! Are you ok?" I said
and looked over the side of it.
"Yea...I'm good...but why the hell are you up so--" She stopped as she turned to look at
my hair. "your hair..."
"Ugh...do you like it? It's too long...I have to get it cut..." I said and fluffed it a bit.
"I think it looks cute angel, I kinda like it that way." Jarod said as he sat up and pat the
pillow where I had been. "Thought you could escape eh?" He laughed and got up,
grabbing a towel and heading to the mens room.
"Yea....guess I better go take a shower too..." Erika said and grabbed a towel too, heading
off in the other direction.
"Well...that's different..." All of a sudden I heard someone and turned around.
"NOKI!" I said and gave her a hug after I had jumped off the couch.
"Hey!.....your hair....." She said and stared at it. "Wow...that's weird."
"Hey! If you don't like it all you have to say is 'it's cool', you don't have to insult it!" I said.
"No I don't mean your hair is weird. Well...Marushi used to have hair just like that...I've
seen paintings of her and Lexa in our gallery. It's kinda frightening actually." She said and
took off her backback, rummaging for something. "Luckily for you my mom is very good
at cutting hair, and taught me how." She said and pulled out a pair of silver scissors. I sat
down at a chair, and she took a towel, putting it on my shoulders, then began to cut. After
she was all done she took off the towel and threw it into the exchange pile, then pulled out
a small mirror for me. She had done a fantastic job, it looked just like it did before, just a
little shorter and she had left the ponytail. "I think it gives you a little character." She
stated and I gave the mirror back to her gratefully.