"You won't even smile?"
"No."
"Not even a little?"
"No."
"Not even for your Mama?"
"No." Aini crossed her arms. "I'm not gonna like it."
"Yes you will."
"No I won't."
Celina sighed.
"Just start the next part of the story, Mama."
V shook her head and smiled, opening the storybook and flipping to the page she desired.
"Two years after her Uncle Wilton's death, Yellow still put up with her evil aunt. Even though Yellow lived with an abusive family, she still had friends. Not normal friends, mind you, but fairy frie-"
"Mom," Aini said sourly. "Aren't they supposed to be rattata?"
"In this story they're fairies." she paused. "But not like Platinum in The Monster and the Thief. These fairies are small and can perform small magic, not curses."
"Why?"
"Because I said so." V said with a nod.
"That's stupid." Aini pouted.
"I think it's great!" Celina exclaimed. "I love fairies!"
"But why?" Ainie stressed.
"You'll see why in as I continue the story." V blinked, looking over the page again. "Now where was I...?"
o.0.o.0.o
Cinder-Yellow, Part Two
"She was a nice girl!" Soul exclaimed, pale pink wings fluttering as she did a backflip. Silver crossed his arms, his own charcoal gray wings glimmering as he followed his fellow fairy throughout the house. "I liked her!"
"Yes, she was nice." Silver sighed. "We need to go back to the grove before someone sees us."
"No one's going to notice!" Soul insisted with a grin. "Let's keep looking! I've never had an up close look at humans before!"
Silver hadn't either, and he didn't want to have an up close look. He was never one to play it safe, but he was also knew that he shouldn't run headstrong into danger like a moron. Unfortunately, Soul was either a thrill-seeker or a complete idiot, as she just flew into random situations with no thought of the future.
Perhaps she was to curious for her own good.
"Soul, seriously." he said, voice much firmer as he reached out and gripped her arm. "We need to go."
"Oh, Silver, we'll be fine."
Silver opened his mouth to retort, only to suddenly be flying through the air, not out of his own vocation. He slammed into the wall as he heard Soul's startled cry. She darted to get to him, only for him to open his eyes and see some silver-haired girl around fifteen slam a rolled up newspaper onto Soul. He widened his eyes in horror as the girl smirked.
"Annoying flabébé, always sneaking in from the gardens." she muttered, lifting the paper to look at her prey. Silver let out a sigh of relief as he saw Souls still glowing wings, meaning she was still alive. The girl widened her eyes as she bent over to get a closer look at what, exactly, she managed to get. "Oh my gosh..." she murmured, suddenly snatching an unconscious Soul into her hand. Silver nearly had a heart attack at her grip. Please don't let Soul be crushed...!
He flitted after her, ignoring the pain in his arm and back as he tried to follow her. No doubt that impact broke something, but he was thankful that his wings were intact.
He watched as the girl dumped Soul into a glass jar, securing some cloth over it with a piece of twine, then stabbing holes in it with a fork.
"Wait till I show Mother!" the silver-haired girl exclaimed, clapping her hands as she ran out of the room. Silver watched as she left, then quickly went to the top of the jar, trying to get the twine off, though was quickly halted as a searing pain went up his arm. Yeah, that was broken.
"Soul!" he exclaimed, pounding on the jar with his good fist, trying to wake her up. "Soul!"
No response. She must be out cold.
"What is so drastic, Karen, that you found it necessary to interrupt my music lesson?" she heard another young voice say. This was followed by the irritated huff of an older woman.
"A way to become famous, that's how!" Karen exclaimed. Silver whipped back to Soul.
"I'll be back." he promised, flying out a cracked window as Lorelie and Agatha came into the room.
o.0.o.0.o
"Are you sure this is the smartest thing to do?" Crystal asked, skeptically glancing at Gold as his amber-colored wings glowed furiously with his rage. "I mean, as the eldest fairies of the grove, don't you think we could come up with an better plan?"
"It's a fine plan!" Gold insisted, watching carefully as Agatha took Soul into her into her room, Silver, despite his injuries, sneaking in to keep watch over her. "We'll get that girl to pay up the debt she owe's us, then we'll get Soul and Silver healed up and go back to the grove!"
"I don't know if we should drag humans into this..." Crystal murmured.
"Doesn't matter." Gold shook his head. "If we get to be known throughout the town, we'll need to move the grove again. I like where we are now."
"You're just to lazy to move." Crystal sighed.
"There she is!" Gold suddenly exclaimed, his blond target acquired, carrying a bucket filled with dirty water. "Let's go!" he suddenly divebombed, much to Crystal's horror.
"Gold!" she exclaimed before folding her own wings back in a divebomb. She watched in amusement as Gold tugged at her hair, though she seemed to hardly feel it. She simply swatted him away like he was a bug-type or something. She crossed her arms as Gold popped up in her face. There was a moment of silence as the fourteen-year-old stared at him. He stared back.
"O-Oh my A-A-Arceus!" she exclaimed, scrambling back as she pointed at him, dropping the pail of water, causing to clatter around her feet, soaking her worn shoes. "Y-Y-You! From two years ago! Chuchu told me...!"
"Shh!" Crystal exclaimed, pressing her smaller hands against her lips. "You need to be quiet!"
"It's time for you to pay up." Gold stated with a grin. Yellow lowered her voice.
"P-Pay up?" she asked.
"We just need a favor." Crystal said in a gentler tone. "We need you to help rescue our friend."
"What happened?"
"One of your cousins managed to capture one of our friends. Your aunt took her into her room and we need you to get her back." Gold stated quickly. Yellow gasped.
"Y-Y-You want me... to sneak into...?!"
"Please." Crystal begged. "Our whole grove will be extremely thankful. Please help us."
Yellow seemed thoughtful for a moment.
"Wait in my room, please. I'll bring her back."
o.0.o.0.o
Gold and Crystal patiently waited for Yellow to come back. Well, Crystal did. Gold was nervously flitting to and from the room, a nervous wreck for the childhood friend he grew up knowing as a sister.
Suddenly, the door creaked open, and they saw a faint silver glow flit in.
"Silver!" Crystal sighed in relief. Slowly, Yellow tip-toed in, wearing her nightgown and her socks, nervously gripping the jar with Soul in it, a bright pink glow coming from her wings as she flitted around excitedly. "Oh, Soul, this is what your reckless curiosity gets you! Thank your lucky stars that Yellow was here!"
"Is there something wrong with you?" Yellow suddenly asked, turning her attention to Silver. His arm was in a sling now, not completely healed.
"Karen whacked him good!" Soul exclaimed, pressing her hands against the glass. "He broke his arm!"
"I see..." Yellow mused. She held out her hand."Come here." Silver glanced at her skeptically, but landed on her outstretched hand. The three remaining fairies watched in awe as her hand glowed an amber yellow, engulfing Silver. As soon as it faded, Silver flew away from her as fast as he could, startled by the unknown magic. "You should feel a little bit better now."
Silver blinked, shifting his arm in his sling, then pulling it out, moving the limb in surprise. It was healed!
"How'd you do that?!" exclaimed Soul.
"It's just some silly spells my Mama taught me before she passed." Yellow said. "I still try to practice when I can."
"So you're a sage?" Gold asked.
"In training, but yeah." Yellow smiled.
"Are you going to let Soul out?" Silver asked, taking the sling from around his neck and throwing it aside. Yellow blinked.
"I'm sorry!" she suddenly exclaimed, bringing up the jar to look at Soul. "I almost forgot! Now let's see..." Her hand went to the twine, when the door suddenly slammed open, revealing Agatha, Lorelie, and Karen on the other side.
"Amarillo, you drop that jar this instant!" Agatha shrieked shrilly. Surprised by their sudden entrance, the jar slipped from Yellow's fingers, shattering as soon as it came into contact with the ground.
The four humans fell silent as Soul flitted out and around the shards of glass.
"I-I-I-I-" Yellow stuttered, unsure if she should apologize or not. She glanced up and already saw the four fairies flying out the window. Slowly, Agatha turned back to Yellow, the anger clearly visible on her face.
"My fame!" wailed Karen.
"The fortune!" Lorelie exclaimed, looking horrified. "We could have made millions off that and she ruined it!"
"You little thief!" Karen suddenly shrieked, striking her.
As the two girl began hitting Yellow, Agatha stood by the doorway and watched.
o.0.o.0.o
"Oh..." Soul quietly gasped as she stared in through the window.
"Those *bleep*ed *bleep*." Topaz, another fairy glowing a bright orange as she stared through the window, enraged. Today, Crystal and Gold, the leaders of their grove, told them they would be moving in with the servant girl to keep watch over her, and as they all fluttered outside the window, they knew they made the right choice.
Yellow was laying motionless on the floor, eyes closed and cuts on her face and hands, most likely from the glass from the jar laying around her.
"What did they do?" Onyx exclaimed, horrified.
"It almost looks like they pressed her face into the glass..." Onyx muttered.
"It doesn't matter." Crystal said, now determined to help the girl. "Pearl and Sapphire, fetch some water. Jade, Platinum, and I will pull any glass out of the cuts. Gold and Silver, go stand guard. Topaz, Opal, Onyx, and Carnelian, get rid of the glass."
"What can I do?" Soul asked.
"Help me fix this rag up." Ruby said distastefully, staring at her work dress, hanging neatly on the hanger. "Look at it! It's riddled with holes, it's about to fall apart at the seams!"
"R-Right!" Soul nodded. The group of fairies flew around, performing their assigned tasks. As the glass was cleared away, Crystal, Platinum, and Jade got to work at clearing the cuts of any small shards. Pearl and Sapphire came in carrying a huge leaf filled with water, setting it aside The clock from the town chimed loudly, indicating the early hour.
Yellow stirred, groaning slightly as her fingers twitched.
"She's waking up!" Soul exclaimed excitedly. Everyone paused for a moment as Yellow's eyes twitched, then slowly opened, blinking away her tiredness.
"Yellow?" Crystal asked gently, her motherly instincts coming out. Yellow blinked, then let out a startled gasp.
"Y-You!" she exclaimed, pointing at her. "Why are you here? You might get caught!"
"We're moving in to help you out!" Sapphire stated, grinning.
"Are you crazy?" Yellow exclaimed. "If they find you, they might...!"
"Pfft, those *bleep*ing *bleeps*?" Topaz rolled her eyes. "Fairies are experts at hiding. Don't get all freaked out over nothing."
"I... I dunno..."
"We'll be fine." Crystal reassured.
Yellow sniffled as happy tears threatened to spill over. Finally she put on a bright grin.
"Thank you. All of you," she wiped her nose with her hand. "Thank you."
o.0.o.0.o
Four years later...
"Another day, another dollar!" Onyx exclaimed as he stretched his arms above his head. Jade grunted something, rubbing her eyes. She stood, stretching her wings out. "Opal!" Onyx grinned, shaking his sister awake. "C'mon! It's morning!" he glanced around. "Where's that useless Carnelian?"
"Right here." the white-haired fairy was leaning against the opening in the wall where the four had chose as there space.
"You're up early." Opal yawned, stretching.
"Of course I am." Carnelian said arrogantly, draping his arms around his sleepy girlfriend and resting his chin on her head. "Someone has to do morning call."
Onyx forced out a chuckle.
"You keep touching my little sister, you won't wake up at all." Onyx forced out with a grin.
"You know you can't keep up that threat." Carnelian grinned. "'Thou shall not kill another in thine grove' is almost as important a rule as 'Thou shall not have cake on Mondays'!"
One could practically see the electricity crackling between them.
"Stop arguing." Jade sighed. "We need to get the others up."
Onyx glared at Carnelian and Carnelian grinned back at him, purposefully keeping his arm around Opal just to make him mad.
Flying over to the window, Onyx and Jade got to pulling the tattered curtains back, hooking them on some nails, allowing the sunlight to come shining through the window. Ruby was already working on fixing another tear in Yellow's dress, the cheapest thing that Agatha could find in the store, only buying one when the former got much to small for Yellow. Chuchu the pikachu was licking her face while Gold was tugging on a strand of Yellow's hair, trying to wake her up as Crystal gently poked her face. Yellow simply rolled over, bringing her pillow over her face.
"She's not waking up." Crystal sighed, crawling under a gap her hand and the pillow. Chuchu shrugged her shoulders, poking at the pillow. "Come on, Yellow! Wake up!"
A soft laugh like the sound of bells rang out, muffled from the pillow as she pulled it tighter, forcing Crystal to flee for fear of being squished by the pillow.
"HEY YELLOW!" Gold hollered, leaning over the pillow. "WAKEY, WAKEY!"
The other fairies watched humorously as Yellows fingers moved across the pillow, then gently flicked Gold in the back, startling him. He yelped in surprise, flying away and hiding behind Crystal. Slowly, his startled expression turned into a glare as he looked at Crystal.
"Why didn't you warn me?" he asked. Crystal shrugged.
"I thought it would be funny."
"And it was!" Soul exclaimed. The eighteen year old laughed again, sitting up in bed.
"Serves you right, Gold, for ruining peoples dreams."
"It's a lovely morning, Yellow." Crystal stated, fluttering in front of her face.
"I know that." Yellow responded, glancing out the window, before settling back into her pillow. "But it was a lovely dream, too."
"No use cryin' over spilled milk." Sapphire stated gruffly.
"What'd you dream about?" Opal asked, cocking her head as he settled on her knee.
"Can't tell you." Yellow said, shaking her head. "Dreams are like wishes. If you tell them, they never come true."
"Heh, that makes sense." Carnelian said. "I, one particular night, had a dream that Opal and I-"
"One more word and I tear your wings off." Onyx growled. Carnelian cast a long glance and smirk to Onyx.
"It hasn't come true yet."
"And I'll make sure it doesn't." Onyx growled out, wings glowing as his rage increased.
"Shall we reenact it?" Carnelian taunted, darting towards Opal.
"Like *bleep*!" Onyx practically roared, flying after him. "There may be rules against killing you, but mauling is perfectly applicable!"
"Oh, don't start fighting!" Yellow exclaimed, kicking the covers off as she got up to separate the two. Quickly, but gently, she gripped Onyx by his wings. "Honestly. One of these days, you truly will kill each other..."
"Not on my watch." Jade stated, crossing her legs and arms mid air. "Honestly, Onyx. He does it to get a rise out of you and you fall for it every time."
"He's talking about my little sister like that!" Onyx justified, stretching his wings as Yellow dropped him onto her outstretched hand. The clock suddenly rang out from the town, as it did every morning. Yellow sighed, watching as Onyx flew back into the air.
"Time to get going." she murmured, taking the dress from the hanger and admiring Ruby's handiwork. "Thank you, Ruby."
"All right, all of you, get out!" Jade ordered, pointing towards the window. No one said a word in protest, after all, no one dared to cross Jade. Yellow smiled appreciatively towards her, and quickly ducked behind a curtain to change from her nightgown to her dress. She changed quickly, stepping from behind the curtain tying a white apron around her waist. She smiled again as White and Opal held out her ribbon, tying her hair into her signature ponytail.
"Yellow!" she blinked as Pearl suddenly flew through a hole in the ground, Topaz zooming behind him. "Yellow!"
"What is it?" she asked, cocking her head.
"There's a fairy in the house!" Pearl exclaimed.
"Someone new. Either a visitor, a new recruit, or a *bleep*ing freeloader." Topaz stated. "Platinum's down there, sweet talking 'em."
"We were supposed to be greeting someone new to the grove." Crystal said, staring out the window in confusion with a hand over her mouth. "But they were due to arrive almost three days ago!"
"We assumed that he or she couldn't make it through the town." Soul said, smiling. "But I suppose they're alright!"
"Well, that's great!" Yellow beamed, pulling open the drawer on her vanity and opening a small lid, plucking out a dress she had Ruby make beforehand. "She'll need a dress and some shoes..." she trailed off as Pearl and Topaz burst out laughing, both hunched over from the pain in their sides. "What is it?"
"He's got a *bleep*." Topaz stated simply through snickers. Yellow opened her mouth at her brass language, then placed the dress back and pulled out a shirt and some pants without saying a word.
"So where is he?" she asked quietly. Both blinked.
"Well, *bleep*." Topaz stated, glancing at Pearl. "We probably should have mentioned that first."
"Mentioned what?" Yellow questioned.
"He got caught in a mouse trap." Pearl stated.
"A-A trap?!" exclaimed Yellow as she shoved her stool back and hurrying towards the door. "Why didn't you say so?!"
She quickly opened the door to her attic room, running down a few flights of stairs until she saw the faint lavender glow of Platinum's wings. She was calmly kneeling beside a rat trap, talking to a male fairy with dark, short hair and glowing, light blue wings.
"He's terrified." Platinum stated as Yellow gently picked up the trap and opened the door.
"Pearl." she waved over to him. "Maybe you could explain things to him."
"Got it, Yellow." Pearl nodded, walking into the trap. The fairy glanced at him hesitantly. "Heya. So I'm Pearl. That one above me with the yellow wings is Topaz, and you've already met Platinum. That girl is Yellow."
"She's a human." he murmured, glancing warily at her.
"She's nice." Pearl said. "Not like other humans. Really, really kind. Know's about our whole grove, in fact! You're the new recruit, right?"
He nodded.
"My old grove up and moved. They forgot about me." he looked down dejectedly. "So they told me the closest grove was here..."
"Did you live far away? Is that why it took you so long to get here?" Platinum asked curiously. He shook his head.
"I'm just slow." he laughed. They all sweatdropped.
"You can trust us. Yellow here's take care of ya." Topaz reassured. Slowly, he nodded, cautiously following Pearl out of the cage. Yellow smiled, passing the extra clothes she had grabbed.
"Here's some extra clothes, little guy." she smiled. "Do you have a name?"
"Diamond." he responded. "But it's just Dia for short."
"That's a wonderful name." Yellow complimented as she stood up. "Platinum, Pearl, and Topaz, show him around and introduce him to the others. I have to get going, okay?" she paused after a few steps. "And don't forget to warn him about the purugly."
"Okay, Yellow!" Pearl said, watching as she hurried down the stairs. The blond turned back to the new recruit, who stood, thoughtfully looking at the new clothes Yellow gave him.
"So Diamond," Topaz grinned. "Have you ever seen a creature that does nothing but stalk you with hopes of you becoming it's next meal?"
"Topaz, don't scare him!" Platinum chastised.
"Well, it's true." Pearl said. "There are essentially five pokémon who live in the house. Two of them are good. Chuchu the pikachu is Yellow's closest pokémon and Dody, Yellow's Doduo. They're good pokémon, like Yellow. But then there's three pokémon that aren't so nice. Karen's Umbreon, Eon. She's fast, but she's usually always with Karen. Lorelie's Dewgong, Dewy. He's super slow, but his moves pack a punch. And finally, Lucifer, Agatha's purugly. He's not fast or anything, and he's easy to trick-"
"But *bleep*, he's persistent." Topaz rolled her eyes. Platinum's eyes flashed.
"Topaz, language." she chastised. Topaz narrowed her eyes.
"*Bleep* you."
"Anyways," Pearl said, quickly interrupting the brewing fight. "Got it, Dia?"
"Dodo and Chuchu are good, Eon and Dewy are ignorant, and Lucifer is super persistent so it's best to not get in his line of sight." Dia said, randomly munching on some candy that none of the three could figure out where he had it hidden. "Right?"
"Right!" Pearl grinned, slapping him on the back. "Now let's introduce ya to the rest of the grove!"
o.0.o.0.o
Yellow gently walked by her cousins room and towards Agatha's room, careful to not wake them up. She opened the curtains as she walked by them, letting the sunlight filter through the dirty glass. She sighed. She'd have to clean these, no doubt.
Upon getting to Agatha's room, she reached towards the door, and slowly turned the knob, allowing the light to shine on Lucifers face. He blinked, meowing slightly in irritation.
"Here kitty, kitty, kitty." she whispered quietly. Lucifer yawned. "Come here kitty. Come on." Lucifer shot her a pointed glance, then turned his back to her, preparing to sleep again. Yellow sighed. "Lucifer!" she whispered harshly. "Come here!" He suddenly jolted awake, glaring at her, then got down off his bed and walked across the room, slowly and defined like some sort of royalty.
Once he got to the doorway, he yawned, scratching against the floor as he stretched. Yellow waited patiently, allowing him to stretch. When he was finished, he glared at her. Yellow simply smiled.
"I'm sorry if you oppose to an early breakfast." Yellow said, shutting the door and walking towards the stairs. "It's certainly not my decision." she turned to make sure he was following. "It's orders. Come on now."
"So ya see that fat *bleep*?" Topaz smirked to Diamond, now wearing the clothes that Yellow provided, with a cheshire grin, all three of them with satchels over their shoulder. "That's Lucifer."
"Topaz, language." Platinum chastised.
"*Bleep* you." Topaz responded as if routine.
"Anyways," Pearl stated in irritation. "It's our turn to gather food for the grove. We always go four at a time." Diamond nodded in understanding, suddenly grinning for his love of food.
"Lets go!" he exclaimed excitedly.
o.0.o.0.o
Yellow walked into the kitchen, only to hear the wining chirps of her doduo, Dody. She smiled as his legs moved back and forth, as if chasing something. Lucifer hissed at him, not liking the obviously taller and quicker bird that seemed to take great joy in chasing him around.
"Dody." she said as his chirps seemed to increase. "Dody!" she drew out his name as he suddenly snapped awake, raising his heads as he glanced around. He seemed to smile as he turned to Yellow, folding his legs under him. "Dreaming again." she chuckled, petting his heads. "Chasing Lucifer?"
Dody grinned proudly, nodding his heads.
"Catch him this time?"
Again, Dody nodded.
"That's bad!" Yellow scolded, standing up. Dody looked shocked, then snapped his heads to Lucifer, who snickered at him. "Suppose they heard you upstairs." she said, turning to the fireplace and placing wood in it. She began working at lighting the flame. "You know the orders." she said as the flame burst to life, eagerly eating up the wood. She moved across the room and began preparing their morning tea. "So unless you wanna loose a meal and a nice, warm bed, you better get rid of those dreams."
Dody bowed his heads as Yellow turned back to him.
"Wanna know how?" she asked, smiling as she began preparing the trays. Dody looked up at her hopefully. "Just learn to like Lucifer."
Dody winced behind her back, obviously not fond of the idea. Unbeknownst to Yellow, Lucifer walked across room, rubbing his tail mockingly under Dody's beaks, knowing he wouldn't do a thing if Yellow was standing there.
"I mean it." Yellow stated, as if sensing his reaction. "Lucifer has his good points to. For one thing, he..." she trailed off, widening her eyes as she struggled to think of something good about the purugly. "Well, sometimes, he..." she paused again.
Dody glared at Lucifer, scooching away from him. Lucifer smirked, glancing at Yellow, arrogantly awaiting the onslaughts of compliments that he was clearly used to.
"Huh." Yellow murmured. "There must be something good about him."
Lucifer blinked in surprise, the scowled at her. Dody let out a squawk of laughter, continuing to laugh. Lucifer glared at him for a moment, then a devious look going across his face. Slowly, he snuck underneath Dody while his head was turned, still laughing, and raised a clawed hand. He then ran his hand across Dody's face, causing him to hiss threateningly at him. Lucifer, in response, let out a convincing cry of alarm.
"Dody!" Yellow exclaimed, turning with a bowl of milk in one hand, causing the bird to shrink back. "Oh, Dody." Yellow sighed, gently leading him to the door, unaware of the glare he was giving the purugly. "I know it isn't easy." she said gently as Dody walked outside. "But at least we should try to get along with each other."
Lucifer grinned victoriously as Yellow shut the door, then turned to him, setting down the milk with a little more force than necessary.
"And that includes you." she stated, tying a bandana around her head and grabbing the meal for the other pokémon. Lucifer glared at her, stirring the milk with his paws.
o.0.o.0.o
"Breakfast!" Pearl heard Yellow exclaim, no doubt already waking up the other pokémon. "Breakfast time! Everybody up!"
"All-*bleep*ing-right!" Topaz exclaimed, flitting through the small holes hidden behind the walls to get to the kitchen. "I'm starved!"
Diamond was humming happily as he rounded the corner, following his new friends, only to bump into Platinum's back, who bumped into Topaz, who bumped into Pearl, who abruptly stopped.
"It's Lucifer." he huffed out in annoyance, darting back into the hole with the other three following. Diamond blinked. What was so worrisome about the purugly? Couldn't they just fly over him? He felt someone grab his shirt, yanking him back.
"Why can't we just fly over him?" Diamond asked.
"Because he'll jump up at us." Platinum explained.
"He may be a fat*bleep*, but he can *bleep*ing jump." Topaz huffed, crossing her arms in annoyance.
"We almost lost Sapphire that one time." Pearl explained. "If it weren't for Ruby making him sneeze, she would have been swallowed for sure."
Diamond paled.
"Oh."
"Anyways, I have an idea." Pearl said, turning to them. "One of us distracts Lucifer, and leads him to the corner. Keep him there, and the rest of us will gather up food."
"Sounds a-o-*bleep*ing-kay to me." Topaz grinned.
"But who's going to do it?" Platinum mused. Everyone was silent at that. No one wanted to face the horror of being a side dish for Lucifers breakfast.
"Well, let's do a spark choosing." Topaz muttered, summoning a small orb of light the same color as her name. The others followed suite, Diamond a few seconds behind.
"Aaaaand go." Pearl said, whipping around and throwing it over his shoulder, the others doing the same. "I'll choose."
An eerie silences as Pearl covered his eyes with one hand, turned, and poked one of the orbs. Immediately, the other orbs disappeared. Slowly, they turned around, seeing a glowing pink orb sitting on his palm. No one said a word. Pearl hadn't opened his eyes yet, running his hand down his face.
"Well, I feel bad for the poor sucker who has to do this." he said.
"Open your eyes, wise*bleep*." Topaz said, crossing her arms. Her voice dropped to a quieter tone, worry briefly flashing across her face as she looked at the ground. "It's you."
"We'll always remember you." Platinum said. Pearl gulped as he stared at the orb in his hand, then closed his fist around it.
"Here." Pearl passed his satchel to Opal. "Take this and gather as much food as you can. Make sure you show Dia the rest of the ropes."
"*Bleep* you, Pearl!" Topaz suddenly exclaimed, grabbing the bag and smacking him upside the head with it. Before he could recover from the assault, she grabbed the front of his shirt. "That's Arceus-*bleep*ed quitters talk and the Pearl I know ain't no quitter!" she jabbed her finger into his chest. "Now grow a *bleep*ing pair, get the *bleep* out there, and *bleep*ing join us for breakfast, *bleep*it!"
A moment of silence.
"Heh, you're right." Pearl said, pulling her wrist free of his shirt. Inhaling deeply, he boldly stomped out into the open. Quietly, he fluttered towards Lucifer, hiding behind the paw propping up his head. He glanced at this, a devious idea coming into play.
"Oh, that smart *bleep*ing bastard." Topaz chuckled, almost as if catching onto his ploy. Pearl, true to her prediction, reared his leg back and kicked Lucifer's arm out from under him.
The purugly landed face first into his milk, shaking his head back and forth to see what was going on. Pearl, in response, flew up and kicked him in the nose. Lucifer glared menacingly at him, then chased after him as he darted around the table and chairs. Pearl continued to fly, leading the pokémon to the corner and leaping into a convenient hole in the pantry. Lucifer began clawing at the hole, trying to get his prey.
"Let's go, *bleep*it, nows out chance!" Topaz exclaimed, tugging on Diamonds shirt as Platinum darted out of the hole. The three flew outside, where Yellow stood in the center of a crowd of working pokémon living on the property.
"Miss Yellow!" Platinum exclaimed.
"Yellow! Yellow, down here, *bleep*it!" Topaz shouted. Yellow blinked, looking down at them.
"I was wondering where you were." she smiled, cocking her head. "But isn't there usually four?"
"He's busy." Topaz said. "C'mon, give us the grub, give us the grub!"
"At least be a little polite about it, Topaz." Platinum stated.
"*Bleep* you." Topaz said back. Yellow shook her head at their silly argument, a seemingly ongoing thing.
"All right." Yellow smiled, scooping up a handful of breadcrumbs. "Breakfast is served."
As soon as it hit the ground, Platinum and Topaz swooped down and began working to fill their pouches. Diamond, quickly catching on and began trying to scoop up pieces as well.
Accept for the fact that Topaz and Platinum suddenly disappeared, and he was suddenly surrounded by much bigger pokémon, snatching up every piece he tried to get. Eventually, he managed to snatch up a piece, only to have the same piece get grabbed in the beak of a bird pokémon.
"Hey, let go, let go!" he exclaimed, trying to get it free, only to get flung around like crazy until he fell to the ground.
"Oh, shoo, shoo!" Yellow exclaimed, getting the pokémon away. They quickly scattered, Diamond covering his head as they pounded past him. He glanced up at her, wings folded down dejectedly as he realized that they made off with the food. "Aw, poor little Dia." she smiled, pulling out another handful and laying it down in front of him. "Here, help yourself."
Diamond grinned brightly. A whole entire pile! Knowing that it was for the rest of the grove, he suppressed the urge to dig in, and began shoving as many pieces as he could into his bag. Somehow, he managed to shove nearly every piece in, two more tucked under his arms.
Grinning, he made his way back to the kitchen, a bit slower under the weight of the bag.
"There you are." Platinum said, waiting in the doorway for him. "Topaz already stored her food." Diamond glanced around, seeing the dirty blond fairy overhead, looking ready to divebomb if Lucifer managed to get Pearl.
"I got extra." he stated somewhat lamely with a bright grin. Platinum blinked at him.
"How nice." Platinum smiled politely. Dia almost felt the need to smack himself for such a moronic response in front of the pretty fairy. Regardless, he continued grinning. "Pearl is still distracting Lucifer. Let's get back before he realizes we're here."
"Yep!" Diamond nodded, fluttering across the kitchen. Neither dared to say a word when, suddenly...
"ARCEUS *BLEEP*IT!"
And then Diamond felt himself flying through the air. Dazed, he glanced up and saw his bag on the floor, half spilled out, while Lucifer had Platinum in his sights. He realized all to quickly what had happened. Lucifer smacked him aside with his paw, hoping to disorient him before moving in on his prey. He had half a mind to go over and kick him in the nose like Pearl had done earlier, only to hear Topaz shout above him.
"Hold your ponyta's, Dia! Pearl, I've got it!" he heard Topaz shout. He glanced up and saw Topaz pushing on the top of a broom while Pearl got the bottom. Suddenly, the broom fell, smacking Lucifer in the head. Diamond didn't take a chance to dally, but rather, scooped up his food while the purugly was down and out, and rushed back into the hole.
"Arceus, I thought you were goners." Pearl sighed in relief.
"*Bleep*." Topaz muttered, looking around. "Where's Miss Prissy Pants?"
Diamond looked around.
"She must have got away." Pearl stated with a shrug. Diamond could feel his worry overflowing.
"Aren't you worried?" he asked as Pearl slung a Diamonds bag over his shoulder.
"She's a smart girl." he said. "Plus Lucifer wouldn't try anything to drastic with Yellow about to come in."
"I... I don't know." Diamond said, glancing back at the opening to the kitchen.
"Don't get your pantaloons in a twist." Topaz said gruffly. Diamond nodded mutely, watching as the two walked away. He glanced back out, then moved outside.
They wouldn't notice his absence, right?
He glanced out into the kitchen, and saw Lucifer leering over the table, paws held firmly over a teacup. Diamond had a sickening feeling what he had trapped under there.
Just as he was about to run out there to help her, a sharp jingle of a bell rung through the air, along with a shrill scream.
"Cinders! Cinder-Yellow!"
o.0.o.0.o
Yellow sighed as she came back inside, hanging up her apron as the shrill cries of her cousins rang out.
"Cinder-Yelloooooow!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming..." she murmured, quickly setting the plates and cups out. She turned back to the stove and began pouring their oatmeal into bowls, going into the cold storage. "Lorelie likes blueberries, Karen likes raspberries, only five..."
"Amarillo!"
She sighed at her aunt's shrill cry.
"And Agatha likes apples." she said, slicing up an apple and neatly placing three slices on top of the grains.
The bells rang out again as she put the teacup and saucers onto the trays. She quickly began gathering tea leaves, preparing their tea as the three bells began to ring out in an unharmonious union. She placed one tray atop her head and the other two onto her hands, hurrying into the house and through the hallways.
"Cinder-Yellooooooooow!"
She sighed, climbing the stairs, a routine that seemed to get more mundane every day. As she reached the top of the stairs, she blinked, suddenly feeling cool air against her toes. She turned around, then smiled, realizing that she lost her shoe at the top stair. Had it stretched out again? No, the back of the shoe had worn to threads. Slipping her shoe back on, she pondered if the cobbler would do her another favor and tighten them back up.
Unlikely, but Agatha wanted her to run errands today. She could always beg for a few coins from some of her friends.
Gently, she nudged open the first door.
"Good morning, Lorelie." she smiled at the eldest cousin, glasses on her face. "Sleep well?"
"What would you care, Cinders?" she stated, glaring at her as she took her tray. She pointed to a basket in the corner. "Take that ironing and have it back in an hour. One hour."
"Yes, Lorelie." she said, somehow managing to take the huge basket while balancing the tray on her head and the tray on her other hand.
She walked out the door, shutting it with her foot, and moved onto her next room. She gently opened the door, and saw Karen laying down. Had she fallen back asleep?
"Good morning, Karen." she smiled. Karen snorted something, then sat up, rubbing her eyes. Passing her tray off, Karen glared at her.
"It's about time." she spat out. "Don't forget the mending! And don't take all day doing it, either."
"Yes Karen." Yellow responded, taking her small box of mending and putting it on top Lorelie's huge basket of ironing. Shutting the door behind her, she somehow managed to transfer the tray from her head onto her other hand. Gently, she knocked on the door with her foot. Pushing it open.
"Well, come in, child, come in."
"Good morning, Aunt Agatha." she said politely.
"Pick up the laundry and get on with your other duties." she stated bitterly.
"Yes, Aunt Agatha."
Yellow moved back down the stairs to the laundry room, the huge piles already seeming heavy. If, out of all her chores, she hated laundry the most. She hardly understood why her cousins and aunt needed to wear so much clothing in a single week. It was like they wore three outfits a day, and with Karen's clumsiness and Lorelies need to change her clothes every hour and leave it on the floor, Yellow was stuck with multitudes of sewing up tears and ironing wrinkles. If it weren't for the the Ruby, she was sure her dress would be falling at the seems.
Just as she was about to start Agatha's load of laundry, she heard a piercing scream of horror. Yellow jolted up, hearing a clatter of dishes and a groan of fear.
Rushing up the stairs out of concern, she reached for Karen's doorknob, only to have it yanked open by Karen herself. Briefly, she saw Diamond yanking Platinum through the air, and wondered what those two could have possibly done to elicit such a scream.
"Mother! Oh, Mother! Mother! Mother!" she cried out, nearly shoving Yellow back. She turned to her, a fierce glare on her face as she wagged her finger in Yellow's face. "You did it! You did it on purpose!"
"Did what?" Yellow whispered softly in question, watching as Karen continued freaking out, running down the hallway towards her mothers room.
"Now what did you do?!" Lorelie demanded, shoving her into the wall to go check up on her younger sister.
"She put it there! A big ugly... bug!" Karen cried. Yellow opened her mouth in horror. Bug...?! "Right under my teacup!" She glanced up and saw Platinum and Diamond resting on the molding, the former with a hand over her mouth, the latter with a comforting hand on her shoulder. Had one of them gotten caught under there?
Slowly, her gaze moved to Lucifer, who was pouting by the door. No wonder he was following her...
"Amarillo!" she heard Agatha cry out sharply. Lucifer seemed to do a happy dance as he pranced into his owners room. Her two cousins stepped out, haughtily looking at her.
"Aren't you gonna get it." Karen smirked. Lorelie simply 'hmphed'.
"Close the door, Amarillo." Yellow nodded, shutting the door in her cousins faces. A moment of silence. Yellow had a sinking feeling that she wouldn't be getting off so easily with this. "Come here."
With a sigh to steel her nerves, she stepped forward till she was at the foot of her Aunt's bed.
"You... You don't honestly believe that I-"
"Hold you tongue, servant." Agatha said sharply. "Now," she said, reaching over for her own teacup. "It seems we have time on our hands."
"But I've only done what-"
"Silence!" Yellow fell silent as Agatha poured some tea into her cup. "Time for vicious, practical jokes. Perhaps we can put it to better use. Now let me see..." she trailed off. "You'll have one hour to get the shopping done. After that..." she paused. "There's a large carpet in the hall." she glanced up at her, voice becoming stern and threatening. "Clean it. And the windows, upstairs and down. Wash them." she paused. "Oh yes. And the tapestries and the draperies..."
"B-B-But I finished-"
"Do them again." she ordered. "And don't forget the garden, sweep the terrace, scrub the stairs, clean the chimneys, and of course the mending and the ironing and the laundry..." she paused, taking a sip of her tea. "Oh yes, and one more thing." the teacup went to the saucer with a soft clink. "See that Lucifer gets his bath."
Yellow lowered her head, bowing politely.
"Yes, Aunt Agatha."
She walked out of the room, pondering if it was bad that she took some sort of strange joy out of seeing Lucifers look of absolute disdain at the word 'bath'.
o.0.o.0.o
"Please, White?" Yellow begged the cobblers daughter. "It's the only pair I have, and they're falling apart." The younger brunette looked conflicted, staring at her.
"I'm sorry, Yellow." she sighed, blue eyes falling on the counter. "My father would have my head if I gave you another freebee."
"Not even a few small stitches?"
"I'm sorry." White shook her head. "I really am."
"Gee, your dad must really be a cheap crank, then." Yellow jumped slightly as she whipped around, seeing a familiar set of red eyes. She smiled brightly.
"Fire!" she exclaimed.
"Hey, it's been a while." White smiled. "Can I get you something?"
"Yes." he placed a few coins on the counter. "A new pair of shoes for Miss Yellow."
"Oh, you don't have to-"
"To late." he grinned.
"Same as the last pair?" White asked. Yellow sighed, not really wanting to argue with one of her few friends.
"I... I suppose." she responded. White ducked behind the shelves, leaving the two alone.
"So what brings you in?" she asked him.
"I saw your ponytail and decided it's high time we had another conversation." Fire grinned. "It feels like ages since I last saw you."
"It might have been. I haven't been to town in a while."
"Has it gotten better?" Fire asked. Yellow didn't respond. "You don't have to live there. I've said it once, and I'll say it again, we've got room."
"I'm not going to impose." Yellow stated gently but firmly.
"I'm worried about you, Yellow."
Yellow giggled.
"Don't be. I'll be fine."
"Here you go." White said, placing a pair of simple flats on the desk. Yellow took them and slipped them on, giving her old pair to White, knowing her father would repair them and sell them for a cheap price.
"Thank you, Fire." she said, then turned to White. "Tell Black I said hello."
"Will do." White smiled. "Keep that chin up, Yellow. A stars not a star if she's shrinking into a corner."
Yellow shook her head at Whites performance metaphor, giving them both a slight wave as she walked out the door. She quickly made her way back to the chateau. She had a day of work ahead of her, anyways.
o.0.o.0.o
V blinked as she stared at he three children, then slowly glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand. Well, well. It seems they were way up past their bedtime. She smiled, shuffling down slightly as Celina cuddled into her shoulder, Iri on top of her and Aini in her side. Aini muttered something about flying emolga.
V chuckled softly as she closed her eyes to sleep.
o.0.o.0.o
I think we can all guess who 'Fire' really is.
Anyways, someone voted for TopazxPearl! That made me really happy. XD
But yeah, I changed the mice to fairies because I wanted the dexholders to have a role.
But it's like three AM right now, and i'm exhausted. Time for bed for Amy!
Amy47101 signing off! ^.^