"Can you stop shoving please? We all want to get off you know."
Scarlett gaped at the irate woman in front of them who, admittedly, she had been ramming with her shoulder – but did this woman have no idea who they were? Where they came from?!
"Of course she has no idea," Ebony consoled her twin with a disdainful eye roll, "with a tone and a fashion sense like that I wouldn't be surprised if she'd crawled right out of a gutter."
The woman seemed to swell before their eyes, her face turning a blotchy red as she stared incredulously at the teenage girls.
"Well wherever you two have come from I see no reason for you to be so proud of it! Your parents clearly didn't teach you any manners!"
The passengers, who were all very bored and tired of standing around and waiting to get off the ferry, began to watch the spectacle with interest.
"Our parents are very well-respected, and have very powerful Pokémon –"
"Are you threatening me?!" the woman hissed, as the passengers in the vicinity began to mutter angrily on the woman's behalf. Many pairs of eyes were boring into Ebony and Scarlett, but they didn't seem perturbed. In fact, Scarlett had just opened her mouth to retort that yes, she was most definitely threatening the woman, when she felt a hand rest firmly on her shoulder from behind.
"Of course she's not threatening you - is there a problem here?" a cool voice asked.
Scarlett spun around to see Jasper smiling at the woman in front of them. His tone was questioning, but there was the undeniable authority in his voice that caused the woman to deflate slightly, and lower her eyes reproachfully.
"Yes, there most certainly is a problem," Ebony started. She didn't know whether to be angrier at her cousin or the woman. Who was he to come swooping into their business?!
"I wasn't asking you Ebony," he said lightly without looking at her.
Ebony's mouth fell open in indignant fury, but Jasper spoke again before she had the chance to interject.
"I apologise, Ma'am, for my cousins. I hope you have a lovely stay in Hoenn."
Jasper then began to steer Ebony and Scarlett forwards, one of his hands still resting on each of their shoulders. Something other than surprise prevented them throwing him off, but they managed to make their annoyance clear when they were finally off the ferry. It irked them to admit it, but they disembarked a lot faster than they would have had they been alone. Jasper was a good half-foot taller than they were and he parted the crowds more easily.
"What the hell was that?" Scarlett snapped when they had finally left the harbour.
Jasper only rolled his eyes.
"You have no idea how ridiculous the pair of you sounded with your empty threats – trust me, I did you a favour back there."
"How exactly?" Ebony demanded, her indigo eyes flashing.
"You sounded just like the pair of spoilt brats you are," he said casually as he hitched his rucksack more comfortably against his shoulders, "the looks you were getting from the other passengers were none too friendly."
"Who cares what looks we were getting?" Scarlett said with a short laugh, "they're underclassmen compared with us."
"You're not going to get very far on your travels if you treat everyone you meet like shit."
"I'm sure they're used to it," Ebony said as she raised her chin, "either that or they're as stupid as you and clearly can't see when neither their opinions, nor their company, are welcome."
"Suit yourself," Jasper said with a false smile. They had come to the first main street in Slateport City. Without saying a word, Jasper turned down the left road towards the Pokémon Centre, leaving his cousins standing indecisively on the street corner.
"What a twat," Scarlett sniffed as she turned away from her cousin's retreating back.
"I couldn't agree more," Ebony growled. She knew that they couldn't follow him or risk looking like they weren't up to going it alone - but they also wanted to go to the Pokémon Centre so that they could visit the Trainer's Lodge and get their bearings. It was the place where all of the necessary information about the city could be obtained; where basic food and supplies could be bought, and where they could potentially book a bunk for the night – in a private room of course.
"Come on," Scarlett finally said, "We'll just have to find another route there."
-o-
Autumn was fast approaching in Hoenn, and by five o'clock that evening it was already getting dark, the watered ink sky shot through with streaks of fiery gold. Jasper sat in the Trainer's Lodge with a bowl of rice and a coffee, one eye on the news report on Team Aqua and Magma, and one eye on the door. He wasn't sure why entirely, but he was waiting for Ebony and Scarlett to arrive. He supposed he wanted to gloat that he had made it here first. Silently, of course. He had no desire to speak with them. After a few seconds' contemplation Jasper rolled his eyes at himself. Did they really annoy him so much that he was finding himself becoming as petty as they were? Yes, apparently so.
Determined to put his cousins from his mind, he decided to get going. He didn't want to waste money staying indoors at night when he had his own tent and besides, he wasn't afraid of sleeping outside in the dark. As he left the Pokémon Centre however, he did find himself wondering, to his annoyance, where Scarlett and Ebony had wandered off to. Slateport City surely wasn't large enough for them to get lost in, and yet it was very difficult for Jasper to imagine that they were the kind of girls who would be happy to sleep outdoors in a tent – surely it was 'beneath' them.
Slateport City was very well lit at the harbour end, but as Jasper ventured further towards the edge of the city it became much darker. The number of people on the streets began to dwindle, and the few squares of light visible in the streets diminished as the occupants of the houses began drawing their curtains and lowering their blinds. Jasper was looking forward to finding some sheltered, soft ground. There must be a field or a wood or something nearby outside of the city. It was too early to think about sleeping yet, but he wanted to find a base for the evening, get an early night, and get up early and get going in the morning. According to the Pokémon Centre in Slateport City, the nearest Pokémon Gym was in Mauville City, a day or two north of where he currently was. Jasper sped up slightly as he saw a signpost for Route 110 – there was bound to be some decent camping ground there.
He stopped abruptly in the street. Call it a sixth sense, but he knew he ought not to be continuing down the main road towards Route 110, but instead tuning right down the next side street. Something within him was compelling him to take this path and so, without so much as thinking about it, he obeyed. Faster and faster his feet carried him, his rucksack bumping uncomfortably against his back and the straps chafing against his shoulders. He continued down the side street, the yellow light from the single street lamp reflecting upon the wet cobblestones of the pavement beneath him. Jasper hadn't even allowed himself time to process his thoughts, so intense was his determination to take this seemingly random path – and then he saw them. Two figures of equal height were at the far end of the street. Although it was impossible to tell in the colour-leaching light of dusk, Jasper knew that one of the capes was a deep emerald green, and the other dark purple. Scowling to himself, he made to turn back the way he came, but raised voices caught his attention. As he turned back again, he realised that there were now five figures at the far end of the street, and instinct told him that this wasn't a good sign. He began to sprint towards them, a thrill starting up in his chest. Perhaps this would be his first chance to demonstrate some heroics.
-o-
"Excuse me?" Ebony finally managed to choke – why did her voice sound so strange, and why couldn't she seem to gather her thoughts?
"Don't fuck around with me," the man growled, "just give me your Pokémon and I'll leave you both alone."
He took a step closer to them. Ebony and Scarlett could smell the sourness of his breath and see the glint in his dark eyes.
"Fine then, just give us your rucksacks," the young woman said, licking her lips as she glanced meaningfully at the man. They didn't want to cause a scene here – they just wanted to get their loot and get out again.
"Fuck that!" the other young woman said as she, like the man, began to advance towards the twins, "we'll take anything and everything they've got – Pokémon and money."
This was all Jasper's fault, Scarlett found herself thinking wildly. If he hadn't taken the straight road to the Pokémon Centre they could have gone that way…and they wouldn't have ended up getting lost…
"D-don't touch me," Ebony stammered as she took a hasty step backwards from the man's outstretched arm. She trod on Scarlett's foot and the pair of them stumbled slightly, causing the man to laugh.
"Come on girls for fuck's sake, just –"
He stopped talking abruptly at the sound of someone running in their direction. The three members of Team Aqua spun around to see a third teenager sprinting down the alleyway towards them.
"Eugh," the man groaned with a roll of his eyes, "just what we need."
"Let's smash up this little bastard and get out of here," the first young woman growled.
"Don't forget their Pokémon – we can't leave without Pokémon!" the second one hissed under her breath.
"We can take all of their Pokémon," the man grinned, "including this little hero's," he jerked his thumb in the boy's direction.
Scarlett gave a great shuddering gasp as the three thugs finally turned their attention away from her and her sister. But, now that Jasper was here, she gave in to her terror. Her knees buckled and she broke out in a cold sweat. It was as though she had only just realised exactly how terrified she was, and she clutched at Ebony, in order to keep herself upright; her twin's white face felt like an exact mirror of hers,.
Jasper did not look at his cousins as he stepped in front of them; he only had eyes for the three thieves.
"What's going on?" he asked as he regained his breath. His voice was calm, but his brown eyes were narrowed dangerously.
The man laughed loudly. Most of his face was obscured by the blue and white bandana that covered it, but for his eyes and mouth. It was tied at the back - like a pirate's.
The two young women released their Pokémon, a Carvanha and a Poochyena. The latter began to growl, its hackles raised, and Ebony and Scarlett gasped in fright.
"Come to save them have you? Little tarts," the man spat at the girls' feet.
The fact that neither Scarlett nor Ebony made a sound at this insult altered Jasper as to exactly how frightened they must be. True, he wasn't exactly on the best terms with them, but he'd be damned if he stood by and let them be mugged – what sort of person would that make him?
Suddenly, the sense within him that had driven him to this spot in the first place flared up once again, and he had an overwhelming thirst to do something – to punish this man.
"Indeed I have," he smiled coolly.
The man did not bother to release his Pokémon, instead he lunged forwards, his bare hand grasping for Jasper's throat. Ebony and Scarlett screamed afresh at this new attack, but before they could fully register what was happening, the man sprang back from Jasper with a bellow of pain. He stumbled over his own feet and fell heavily to the wet ground, clutching at his hand. Wide-eyed he stared at Jasper, whose face was still carefully blank; he didn't appear to have moved at all. The young women took a nervous step backwards, their Pokémon mirroring them. They were confused, and a little frightened. What was going on?
"What the fuck?!" the man bawled, "you little fucking psycho!"
He began to shuffle backwards from his new position on the wet pavement, his eyes never leaving Jasper. The fact that Jasper didn't move or respond seemed to unnerve him further.
"What's your problem?! You little freak!"
The young women were obviously frightened now; it would seem that the man was their group ringleader, and they had clearly never seen him behave in such a way.
"C-come on," the first young woman whispered as she licked nervously at her dry lips again, "let's get out of here."
Together they managed to lift the man to his feet, but his eyes never left the teenage boy.
"You're fucked – you're fucked up!" he spat, his teeth chattering and his eyes wild.
"Let's go," the second young woman insisted and, throwing nervous glances over their shoulders as they went, the three Team Aqua grunts rounded the corner and disappeared into the city.
-o-
Ebony and Scarlett's eyes met briefly as they made their way silently down the road that led to Route 110. Jasper, apart from checking that they were indeed unharmed, had not spoken a word to them since they had left the city. Even now, he was still five paces in front of them, and still seemed no closer to speaking – or explaining what had happened back there.
After a few more minutes of walking, he stopped abruptly behind a small thicket of trees. Kneeling to the ground, he tested the earth with his hands.
"This should do for the night," he said quietly, "do you two need help putting up your tent?"
Ebony and Scarlett merely stared at him, both of them still too shocked to speak. What happened in the alleyway had terrified them; not only their near mugging, but also the man's reaction to their cousin. What had that man seen that they had not? And why was Jasper acting so strangely now? Their agreement to start travelling together once again was unspoken. At first, the girls had been relieved at the prospect, but now with this new silent Jasper, they weren't sure where they stood.
Wordlessly, he took their bags from them and began to set up their tent. Coming to her senses, Ebony finally spoke. Her voice was cracked and dry after her ordeal.
"We can put up our own tent," she said shortly.
"I've almost done it now," Jasper replied with a small shrug, not a hint of anger in his voice.
"Th-thank you," Scarlett said quietly.
The brown eyes met the grey, and Jasper gave a brief nod before turning his attention to his own tent. Ebony and Scarlett disappeared inside theirs, and did not re-emerge.
Ten minutes later, Jasper was lying silently in his own tent, his brown eyes fixed on the canvas ceiling. He felt…odd, and he wasn't entirely sure what was wrong; he couldn't explain it to himself. There was an uncomfortable tightening in his stomach, and he felt slightly light-headed, like he had been running for too long…He supposed he must be in shock, for the spectacle in the alleyway was really very frightening. But was it? At no point had he felt frightened, but he couldn't understand why not. The Team Aqua grunts had all been significantly older than him, and the man significantly larger, but at no point had Jasper felt in danger.
He lay awake for over an hour, half expecting his fear to catch up with him. But it didn't. The hoots of Noctowl and the skittering of bug Pokémon outside his tent soothed him, and after a while he felt his eyes grow heavy with sleep.
From within her Pokéball, Wraitheon could sense sleep coming upon Jasper, and she let her breath go slowly in relief. It was okay – he was okay. The force within him had come to the surface for the first time in many years, yes, but it hadn't appeared to do any harm. Rather, Jasper had utilised this force for good. Wraitheon thought back to when Jasper had been a child, when she and Raichu had decided that he needed to be trained in order to have control over the force within him. Well perhaps, now, Jasper was finally in control. With this comforting thought, Wraitheon too found sleep.
-o-
I know I mentioned in my last entry that he wasn't worth writing about and so I wasn't going to bother - but I just have to write this down – maybe then I'll be able to make sense of it? Anyway to get to the point…Jasper is weird. Like, really weird. I don't understand it, but people seem to be scared of him. No, not scared just…I don't know really.
When Bonnie and I were arguing with that stupid woman on the ferry, she sort of just shut up when Jasper came along. So did we, thinking about it. And tonight, in that alleyway, if Jasper hadn't arrived when he did - well. I don't want to think about it. But something weird definitely happened – the man grabbed at him and then jumped away like he'd been scalded or something, but Jasper hadn't moved I don't think. It was all over so fast.
I know I'm just rambling here, it's been a long and stressful day. I just hope now that I've gotten all of that out of my system I can sleep.
We're going to call the police in the morning – there's no way those thugs should be allowed to get away with this, even though, thanks to Jasper, they didn't even really do anything to us…
-o-
The late August morning dawned bright and fresh. Tripp, however, was feeling far from it. Drake and Phoebe's words had been swimming around his head all night long, and he hadn't had a wink of sleep. His eyes felt scratchy and sore, and they roved over the numerous empty coffee cups that sat upon his desk – the desk he had sat at throughout the long, restless night. He rubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands in an attempt to clear them, but everything remained slightly blurred. He hadn't intended to stay awake all night – but he just couldn't stop thinking…
A soft knock sounded upon the mahogany doors of his study.
"Come in," Tripp croaked wearily.
As expected, Phoebe and Drake stepped inside. Both trainers raised their eyebrows upon seeing the state the Champion was in.
"I gather you've had plenty of time to reflect upon our conversation yesterday?" Drake asked.
"It looks as though he's done nothing but all night," Phoebe remarked with a ghost of a smile, "Tripp – did you even go to bed last night?!"
The Champion still had on the same red t-shirt that he had been wearing the previous day – although it now looked significantly rumpled.
"No, I didn't," he replied after a shuddering yawn, "lots to think about."
"I'll say," Drake said wryly, but there was a glint of amusement in his dark, cat-shaped eyes.
Coffee was made, and after this, and a banana, Tripp was feeling more awake.
"I know you've explained it all before Drake," he began, "but, well…if I'm honest –"
"I am aware that during that conversation back in spring you took no notice of me or my warnings…"
Tripp sighed, and opened his mouth to protest, but Drake didn't allow him to speak.
"But let that be a lesson to the both of us. Now I know that you're serious, and you know that I'm serious…shall we start again?"
Tripp gratefully shook the hand that Drake offered him – he was a cranky bastard, but he certainly knew what was going on in Hoenn, and Tripp was desperate for support.
"How much do you know about the legendary Pokémon of Hoenn, Tripp?" Phoebe asked as she stirred cream into her coffee.
"Truthfully – not much," he replied, his cheeks flushing pink, "I know their names – Groudon and Kyogre…and that's about it really."
"Have you heard of Rayquaza?" Drake asked, quirking a heavy white brow at the younger man.
"Er, no."
Phoebe's lips twitched. Drake hid a relieved smile at her reaction – it was the first time he had seen her show any kind of amusement since the murder of her grandparents.
"Okay…we'll start from the beginning," Phoebe said.
-o-
Tripp was really very tired, but he was trying desperately hard to understand this.
"So…so in summary," he began, his brow furrowed, "Groudon and Kyogre are controlled by the Red and Blue Orbs…they're sleeping right now…but because the Orbs have been taken, you're worried that Teams Aqua and Magma are going to try and awaken them?"
"Quite right," Phoebe confirmed, her eyes hard.
"And the legend," here Tripp turned to Drake, "the legend from the Cleopatra Island Dragon Tamers states that Rayquaza will be summoned by the Golden Demon to stop their fighting?"
"Almost," Drake told him, draining his fourth coffee of the morning, "those of Hoenn believe that Rayquaza will be summoned to stop Groudon and Kyogre from fighting…it's the Dragon Tamers of Cleopatra Island who believe that the Golden Demon will then use Rayquaza to destroy the earth."
"And the 'Golden Demon'…?"
"Is the Chaos Pokémon," Drake confirmed.
"So to prevent any of this happening," Tripp said, deep in thought, "we have to find the Orbs and reunite them?"
"Yes, indeed," Phoebe sighed.
"And you believe that either Team Aqua, or Team Magma have the Orbs?"
"Or both," Drake said grimly, "my guess is this: Team Aqua has taken the Red Orb, as they wish to control Kyogre – and Team Magma has the Blue Orb, to control Groudon."
"Then…we're too late?!" Tripp gaped.
"Yes and no," Drake replied, smoothing down his black cape and adjusting his hat, "for I have reason to believe that, although each team has an Orb, they do not know where the sleeping Pokémon lie."
"How do you know this?" Phoebe asked him with a frown.
"Because Hoenn is still intact," Drake laughed.
Tripp could only manage a grimace – he didn't see anything funny about this.
"Unless…unless we can find Rayquaza first?!" Tripp exclaimed excitedly, "then we could use it to subdue the other two?!"
"Pray tell how, assuming you could even locate the beast, you plan on controlling such a Pokémon?" Drake asked snidely, crossing his arms over his chest.
Tripp was rather stumped on this point.
"Um…I'm assuming there's no Green Orb?" he mumbled to his trainers.
"You assume correctly," Drake said with a roll of his eyes, "on with Plan A then…"
"Drake, how can the Chaos Pokémon control Rayquaza?" Phoebe asked.
"Very easily," the old sea captain replied, "through Draconis."
Draconis. The old language of the Dragon Tamers. It was no longer taught, as terrible things seemed to happen to those who spoke it. It was the language of Dragon Pokémon themselves.
"So the Chaos Pokémon is a Dragon type?" Phoebe continued with wide eyes.
"That has long been considered the case," Drake nodded in affirmation.
A shrill ringing caused the three to jump in alarm. Tripp leapt out of his chair in his haste to answer the phone.
"Hello, Tripp speaking…yes…yes…how many?...in Slateport City?...okay…okay…no, it's fine…I'm on my way, thank you." He hung up the phone.
"Who was that?" Phoebe asked curiously.
"The police," Tripp told her grimly, "a near-mugging in Slateport City occurred last night – three teenagers were involved, and from what they described it seems like the muggers were members of Team Aqua."
The three trainers exchanged knowing looks.
"Do you think it could help us track down the Orbs?" Phoebe gasped; she looked more animated than she had in days.
"I'm about to go and find out!" Tripp grinned – it felt good to be acting rather than sitting around and talking.
Drake nodded his assent.
-o-
Jasper awoke feeling groggy. Bright, hot sunlight was streaming in through the canvas roof of his tent. His head was pounding and his mouth felt horribly dry. Luckily, he'd topped up his supplies at the Trainer's Lodge, and he took a grateful glug of water from one of the fresh bottles in his rucksack. Catching sight of the time on his watch, Jasper groaned inwardly – half past nine in the morning. How had that happened? Jasper never slept in this late. Had he been at home, he would already have been for a run with his father, showered, and had breakfast. Shaking his head at himself, Jasper gave a great stretch, and began to scan the tent for his t-shirt. He froze as he heard a strange voice coming from near the outside of his tent.
"The police informed me that three teenagers had a run-in with Team Aqua – do you know anything about this?" the voice asked. Jasper guessed that it belonged to an adult male.
"Yes, it was us who called," one of the twins said – Ebony?
"And who was present yesterday evening?" The same male voice sounded again.
"Me, Bonnie, and Jasper," Scarlett supplied.
"Jasper?"
"That's our cousin, he's sleeping," Ebony said.
Jasper hurriedly pulled on his t-shirt, jeans, and socks and unzipped his tent. He had no idea what was going on. Who had the twins called? The police?!
"Ah, so this is Jasper?" the man said, barely glancing over at him.
The twins nodded.
"Please, tell me what happened," the man said, turning back to the girls. As Ebony began to explain, in a voice she was trying very hard to keep steady, Jasper took a good look at the stranger. He was a very tall man, in his mid-thirties. His short, dark brown hair was just starting to turn grey at the temples, and his eyes were a piercing blue. However, he wasn't wearing a police uniform of any kind, and Jasper frowned as he tried to figure out what was going on. But the man had turned to face him once again, and Jasper realised that Ebony had stopped speaking – she was unable to continue with her story; she was at a loss, unable to explain what had happened once Jasper had turned up.
"How did you manage to get rid of Team Aqua?" the man asked him, his blue eyes narrowed in confusion, "did you battle them?"
"No," Jasper said quietly, his face turned down towards his feet. If he was honest, he wasn't entirely sure what had happened the night before – his memory of the event seemed a little fuzzy now.
"Did they steal any Pokémon from any of you?"
"No," Jasper repeated, and the twins shook their heads.
The tall man huffed in apparent confusion.
"You guys are going to need to help me out a bit more – why do you think Team Aqua targeted you in the first place?"
Scarlett shrugged.
"I guess they recognised us? I mean, we were wearing our capes, they must have known what sort of Pokémon we have – no wonder they tried to steal them."
The dark haired man looked between the girls in confusion. "What do you mean? What sort of Pokémon do you have?" Jasper could hear the curiosity in his voice.
"We're Dragon Tamers, from Johto," Ebony supplied.
Jasper saw the man's eyes widen in realisation. It was true, without their floor length capes, which they had not yet donned that morning, Ebony and Scarlett could have passed for any normal girls.
"You're from Blackthorn City?" the man asked in shock.
"We are," Scarlett said snottily, "he's from Ecruteak," she said with an inclination of her head in Jasper's direction.
The man whipped around, turning to face Jasper, who was still standing beside his tent. He properly surveyed the teenage boy for the first time.
"Ecruteak?" he asked quietly, his blue eyes searching Jasper's face. Whatever he found there clearly struck a chord within him; his jaw tightened and the blue eyes narrowed significantly.
"Yes," Jasper replied warily. He didn't like the way this man was glaring at him – who the hell was he anyway? And why did everyone he met seem to have such a problem with his hometown? Jasper scowled to himself.
"Of course…" the man said coolly, "well, I never knew he had a younger brother…"
"Who?" Ebony asked, one eyebrow raised.
The man realised that he had spoken aloud and he cleared his throat in embarrassment, the tips of his ears turning pink.
"Just a trainer I was once…acquainted with," he told them shortly, turning his back on Jasper deliberately.
"But Jasper doesn't have an older brother…do you?" Scarlett asked in confusion.
"No, I'm an only child," Jasper said curtly, "who are you anyway?" he asked the dark haired man rudely, his upper lip curled in distaste – he didn't like the man's attitude towards him or Ecruteak City.
The man turned back to the teenage boy, and his features clearly showed the disgust he felt when he looked into Jasper's face, "I am the Champion of this region," he said stiffly. His blue eyes continued to rake over Jasper. It was making the teenager feel uncomfortable – what the hell was the man looking at?
"Can I help you with anything?" Jasper asked sarcastically.
"Humour me," the Champion said with a wry grin that did not reach his eyes, "you look very much like him…so if you're not Morty's younger brother, you must be…a nephew? Cousin?"
Ebony and Scarlett snorted, and Jasper raised his eyebrows incredulously.
"Morty's the Ecruteak trainer you knew?" Scarlett asked in disbelief.
"Briefly, yes," the Champion confirmed, his narrowed eyes still fixed on Jasper.
"He's my father."
The Champion continued to stare blankly at Jasper, clearly not taking in his words.
"I'm his son…Morty's my father," Jasper said slowly, one eyebrow raised. This man was strange.
It happened suddenly. The Champion's face blanched, turning the colour of dirty white laundry; he took an abrupt step closer to the teenage boy, and his blue eyes stopped roving over Jasper's face and settled instead on his bright brown, cat-shaped eyes.
"His son?" he whispered disbelievingly.
"Yes," Jasper said shortly, growing more irritated by the minute. What was the big deal?!
The Champion spoke not another word to the teenagers. His nostrils flaring, and his face an alarming shade of grey, he turned from their campsite and strode off back onto the road leading to Slateport City.
"What the hell was that?" Scarlett asked.
-o-
Rose. Rose. Rose. Rose. Rose. Rose.
Tripp's breath came hard and fast. He had refused to think her name for years, but now all of the barriers came crashing down. Morty's son. Her son. He had told himself he didn't care anymore. She was nothing to him. She had been a teenage fantasy – no more. They weren't even friends anymore – he had not spoken to her since that awful morning in Tarragon City nearly seventeen years ago. She had been frightening then, and desperate. The memory was still crystal clear in Tripp's mind, despite how it made him shudder, and despite how much it had killed him to see her like that.
It was only now he realised; he had clung to that memory. He clung to it because of her sheer desperation, because of her absolute misery. He had been happy that she was broken, elated in fact. She had been broken, and Morty – her husband – had realised too late. Tripp had unknowingly carried this knowledge within him like a burning talisman through the years. Deep down in the recesses of his mind he had been counting on this, counting on the fact that she had been miserable, and that Morty had failed her. He had been waiting, subconsciously, to meet her again, to explain himself and his feelings…to be together.
But they had had a child.