M-a-r-i-o-n-e-t-t-e

Summary: The battle ended in a tie. N told her to become his princess. She gave him the finger and told him to get lost. After going home, she came to a realization: Her every move was being controlled by N. She was his puppet, and he was her master. Who will win? N's desire? Or her heart?

~String 13~

There's a loud crash, and I'm the one responsible. My door is almost thrown off its hinges as I tear down the hallway, my heart hammering as I run blindly, not caring where I go, but as long as I keep moving I should be fine.

I'm apparently not paying attention to my surroundings, because once I'm on one of the lower levels of the compound, I slam into someone.

"Princess…" a voice says dully, and I blink, looking up to see Ghetsis' blank eyes staring down at me as he holds me in place so that I don't fall.

Stepping back, I run a hand through my messy hair, tousling it even more than it already was. "S-sorry…" I mutter, and am about to take off again when he snags my wrist.

"What is it?" he asks, his eyes narrowing.

I suddenly realize that I'm shaking, all over in fact. I fall into Ghetsis, my palms against his chest as I simply lean against my former enemy, eyes wide as I try to understand why I'm trembling.

The letter slips from my fingers, and I freeze, before looking down and watching it slowly flutter to the floor, and skids across the smooth marble.

Ghetsis leaves one hand on my shoulder before bending over and scooping it up. He turns it over in his hands, and is about to scan it when I slap it from his grasp.

"D-don't look at that!" I stutter again, my entire body still vibrating. "It's...nothing…"

Ghetsis simply looks at me, "Then why are you so desperate for me not to see it?" he inquires quietly, his eyes boring into me as I stare at the ground, not wanting to answer him.

"I'm fine," I say, hugging my arms tightly against my chest, trying to control myself so that I'll be still. "It's nothing, really." I pick up the letter where it landed by Ghetsis' booted foot, and straighten before squaring my shoulders and walking away.

"If you say so," Ghetsis murmurs after me, and I stop. "If you ever need to talk, I'll listen. And I might have a few things to say myself…"

I listen as he leaves, and run what he said through my head again. There are no underlying notions in his tone. He's dead serious, and I shiver. That scares me the most. If he was the Ghetsis I used to know, then I'd know how to deal with him. I just don't understand this shell of the man he once was that I'm seeing now.

Blinking, I remember the crumpled letter in my hand as I squeeze it tightly. I loosen my grip, and let out a breath, eyes slipping shut, before I look ahead, and stride towards the stairs.

Once I'm on my floor again, I head immediately for the greenhouse. I don't think that a panic attack is what I need. First, I should just go and calm down with Brave before thinking the letter over.

The one from my father…

Shaking my head, I walk a bit faster towards the room I'm heading towards, and push the sleek, wooden door open with my sweaty palm.

My father…

The man who hasn't been in contact with my mother and I for ages. One day he just up and disappeared. He left a letter...I think… Mom told me he did, but she said it had been nothing and never let me read it. Who knows where it could be now. Where she is now.

Brave must've noticed me, because she swerves down and lands to my left, before nudging me so that I know she's there.

Blinking, I turn and pat her head and the flying type immediately realizes something is wrong.

"Braaaav," she whines quietly, and ruffles her soft, downy feathers as I head towards the garden table at the center of the temperate greenhouse.

I take a seat after pulling the chair out unconsciously, and stare at the worried pokemon in front of me...yet not really focusing on her form.

What should I do about my father's letter? Is he right? Was it really from him? Can I trust its sources?

Sighing, I shake my head. I have to trust it. That Pidgeot was my father's. I haven't seen it in years, but I am almost positive it's his. It may be a little older and perhaps a bit more powerful, but it's still that same flying type who I used to take rides on when I was a young tike.

Brave flaps over to me and squats down by the chair; my hand moves over to brush her head robotically as I have done many times until I blink and look down at her.

"Sorry Brave," I say wearily, "I'm a little...distracted now...actually...a lot."

My pokemon just looks up at me with her large black orbs; I run a hand through my hair and allow it to flop down on the table after doing so; luckily the table doesn't have any sharp edges.

I feel my eyebrows knit together as I glare at the floor between my shoes for a long moment. "Oh Brave…" I murmur softly, closing my eyes slowly. "What should I do?"

Rubbing my forehead with a limp hand, I try to keep myself from crying simply because of stress. I should stop being whiny…that's definitely not going to help. It never has in the past, and it didn't help me become the Hero of Unova.

"Brave…" I say, noticing that my pokemon has moved away from my hand, and turn my head to see...she's not there. What? Where'd she-?

"Brave…?"

Standing up, I look around, and frown. Where had she gone? I would've known if she'd flew away. It was as if...she'd vanished altogether…

Stuffing my father's letter into the pocket of my jean shorts, I push myself to my feet with my fingertips, my chair skidding back as I look around for my missing pokemon.

Suddenly, out of the blue, I feel as if someone were hugging me carefully from behind and placing a loving hand on my forehead to relax me. My body goes limp, and I sag against them...which shouldn't be possible since there's no one here; there's no way anyone could be supporting my weight..yet it's still happening. I must be hallucinating...but...

What's happening? Why am...I...just so…?

My eyes begin to flutter closed as I try to stay awake. It doesn't work, and I am gently placed in the chair as a warm feeling pulls me under, and into the realm of dreams.

~Misty/Ms. Ketchum