Chapter Thirteen: Possessed

And Everything Came Crashing Down

Selene, the Sake look-alike, started eating her salad. I was just staring at her in total shock. I looked around, everyone was eating and drinking like nothing was out of place. Meanwhile, there was an atomic bomb explosion in my head, where everything rolled around like Pokéballs. Sake's Selene! No, Selene is Sake! Sake doesn't really live in a shack in Oreburgh, she isn't really poor, and she isn't really Ellena's friend. Ellena! Maybe she's a part of this too! But… Why would they pretend to be poor? Why would they 'escape secretly' from Oreburgh? Why would Pete die? Pete! He's the answer! My mind flip-flopped. How could Pete be the answer? He was a mine worker! …Right? I looked down at my food. Suddenly it didn't look appealing. I felt like throwing up.

A man who was clearly a disgusting and deprave old man was seated next to me, someone who I really disliked, and vice versa, was sitting on the other side of me, I was completely out of my element at a dinner party for me where I was sure I would have to talk, and sitting across from me was either a clone, a mirage, or a liar. A big liar at that.

Interrupting my thoughts, Mister Creep leaned in close to me. "Eat darling, you're far too skinny." He mumbled.

Don't throw up don't throw up. "I am full." I managed.

"Full? This is the first of four courses! You can't possibly be full."

"Four courses? How much do they expect me to eat?"

"Apparently more than you normally eat. Miss Skinny Bones." He chuckled.

"Oh, what's funny Georgo?" Locus looked over at us. Thank you Georgo Creep.

"This lovely Cynthia made a joke, it was quite funny." He turned his head back to me and winked. Gag.

"And what joke was that?" Locus asked. Every eye turned towards me, everyone either anticipated me to fail, like Lea's workers, or make a funny joke to liven up this dinner.

"Actually it wasn't funny." I shrugged.

"Yeah I heard it, it wasn't funny at all." Maxina added. I didn't know if that was to help or to make everything worse. I considered the latter.

"Oh…" Locus seemed disappointed. "Well then. Why don't we all get to talking, hm? Let's ask Cynthia Everheart a few good questions." Yes, let's make her puke. I thought. I swallowed all my fear down hard and put on my confident face and matching smile.

"Actually, I've always had a question for her." Maxina said. I looked at her and smiled bigger.

"What is it?" I asked. I sounded like a genuinely wanted to know, but inside I was screaming no, no, no, no, no! I knew that she questioned me as a 'rebel' before on the train, but she wouldn't bring that up here in public, right?

"What are your thoughts on the attacks?" She asked. There was way too much smugness caked in her smirk.

"Good question, Maxina!" Locus praised.

No, that wasn't a good question. I was deciding if that was better than the rebel question. "Well, my views are numerous, and they go in different directions. I like to think that they are natural disasters, so to speak, but I think that's not the truth. I think someone is taking out anger on towns, possibly taking out anger on Pokémon." I smiled. No, that was not what I thought. I thought Lea was behind it all, and I knew it wasn't 'someone' it was multiple 'someone's' because I saw them running away in Eterna Forest. But I needed to feed them something that wouldn't get my head chopped off.

"Very… Intellectual." The business man seated beside Locus said. And no, it was not intellectual. Any bonehead would think that up.

Speaking of boneheads, everyone else nodded and agreed. I wanted so bad to roll my eyes.

"I have question." Fantina perked up. I looked passed Maxina and smiled at her. I was growing to like Fantina, she wasn't the average Golden. "Since you have zé winning…" She thought for a moment. "Streak, what will you do if you perderé?" She asked.

"Excuse me?" I blinked.

"Perderé, uhh… Mislay so to speak."

"Oh, lose?" She nodded. "What my grandfather always said was if you're knocked down, you stand right back up and try harder. So that's what I'll do." Everyone smiled at the sounds of that.

"I would like to ask this lovely lady something." I faced Georgo. Great! Mister Creep… I thought. "Do you plan to ever settle down? Possibly with a husband? Maybe even have a few kids?"

I didn't like this question. Not only was it so not appropriate for this old man to ask a fourteen-year-old something so personal, but I didn't have an answer. I was just fourteen! "Well, sir, I haven't really thought about it. Right now I want to focus on training, only training, and maybe in a long, long time I'll start thinking about it. But for now the answer is no."

"Such a shame, too." He made a 'tsk, tsk' sound. I looked at Locus; maybe he would say something to Georgo. He didn't.

The servers came around and gave refills to the people who needed them and took everyone's salad. 'Four courses' echoed around in my brain. Four courses of food I'm expected to eat, four courses of people asking me questions I either don't have the answers to or don't want to answer, four courses of me staring at Sake, or Selene, wondering if she's really who I think she is, and four courses of me wishing that this is a dream.

The servers brought out big bowls of soup and sat them down. "Enjoy all. This is my favorite soup." Locus said. I studied the green mush. I swirled my spoon around in it, looking for any chunks of meat. Nothing. I decided to taste.

I dipped my gold spoon in the hot soup and brought it into my mouth. To my surprise it was just like Grandmother's specialty greens soup. And it was deliciously seasoned. I looked up at Selene, she was basically inhaling her soup. Then she must be a starved Sake! I looked at her hard. Her face was slim and ended in a 'v' but it wasn't as noticeable. Make-up. She has to be wearing make-up, it's re-shaded to look like she's not a poor, starving lady.

Jackson, the man Selene was 'married' to, elbowed her side. She stopped eating so vigorously.

"Jackson, you haven't said anything all night, what's eating you?" Locus asked.

Jackson smiled. "Oh nothing." He looked at his 'wife' rather lovingly. "We just have some interesting news."

Selene's head shot up, she looked at Jackson with pleading eyes. She peeked at me quickly. She definitely knew who I was.

Jackson ignored her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "She's with child, we're pregnant."

Atomic bomb explosion. My eyes widened. Everyone else clapped and smiled, I was motionless. What was going on here? Everything I thought was turned upside down. Sake was a bad guy? That didn't even make sense.

I put on a fake smile and clapped. Selene looked around at everyone and stopped at me. She looked petrified. "Excuse me." She said quickly. She jumped up, knocking her chair to the ground, and sprinted down the hallway that lead to the bathroom.

"Ah, baby sickness already?" Someone said.

Jackson laughed. "Yeah, it's been rough, but it'll pay off soon."

Shortly Selene came back to her seat. She kept her head down and stared at her soup.

"Congratulations are in order." Locus raised his glass. Everyone, including me, followed. "To Selene, Jackson and little Junior." I took a sip of the bitter drink and quickly spit it back in my cup subtly.

"Now, let's focus back on the main girl of this dinner." Locus grinned at me. "Have you ever considered going into contests?"

"Actually no. I'm more of a battle type of person."

"All understandable." He nodded. "Now, everyone saw that battle today, and oh you were fantastic! Fantina, what were you thinking when she started having the upper hand?"

"I thought she was fantastico and I understand why I was defeated. But I know that with strength comes grace and nobility, so she will excel. That's why I am fine with my vaincre."

Locus talked to others and I focused on my soup. I was glad the attention wasn't on me anymore. My mind spun around and around. Although, suddenly I felt like I was at peace. That made me think the presence was there.

Are you here? I thought.

Chills ran through me. Maybe this was a bad idea. "Yes."

Are you always here?

"No."

Why are you here giving me peace?

"You seek peace. Do you not?"

I guess I do. Why do I need it? I knew the answer, I was just wondering if It did.

"You have been fooled, look at the eyes across from yours."

I looked at Sake. She has fooled me. How did you know I would be fooled?

Nothing. I know you're there, I'm still at peace.

"Focus."

Why do I—"Cynthia?" Georgo leaned in. I hated being interrupted, but being interrupted by him was the worst.

I looked at him. "Yes?"

"You are acting weird, something bothering you?"

"No, no. I was just thinking."

"I've been thinking too." He said. A weird smile crossed his lips. "About what a beauty you are."

You can't get into his head, can you? I thought. Luckily, I was at peace during this moment. I didn't throw up or punch him. I grabbed my spoon and started eating again. He was still inches away from me. I turned to him. "Thank you." I muttered through a fake smile. Gag.

The servers made their rounds again. Only two more courses. Everyone was chatting with one another, Maxina kept bugging Fantina. I could hear the frustration in her voice. Georgo would make comments about the servants. He probably meant to be talking to me, but I pretended not to hear him.

"That one almost dropping the bowl." He would mutter. "That one has to be from Oreburgh." What can I say, he was a Golden. Not like that was an excuse.

Plates were passed around. They were larger than my head. Bowls of bread and plates of greens were sat in the middle of the table. Then, three huge plates with something horrid on them were placed in the middle of the table, right in front of me. It looked like a featherless and headless bird. You could see the bone sticking out of the wings and legs. It was gross. Another thing that was set in the middle of the table was a white paste-like substance. Because it was served in a gold bowl I assumed that, along with the poultry, it was the main dish.

"Everyone, I had a specialty shipped in just for this meal." Locus said. "Enjoy Krabby and Taillow."

"Krabby? I haven't had that in years." Georgo said. He dished out meat on his plate and ignored the greens completely. He smiled at me and pulled off the leg of the bird and put it on my plate. "Skinny legs eat a leg!" He laughed. A few others laughed at his corny joke, I just smiled. He filled my plate with meat and greens, I knew I wouldn't be able to eat it all. He grabbed a spoon and started filled his mouth with Krabby. "It's quite delicious." He stuffed more of the white, mushy meat in his mouth.

I started picking at the greens. They were delicious, and it filled me up, but I knew someone was going to open the I'm-not-eating-meat bag. And I was going to pay for it. One thing I never understood: Why someone liked this sordid gunk. Krabby meat was white and mushy, it didn't look appealing. Taillow meat was slightly blue with white blotches and it looked textured. There was no way I would pick up the leg and pull the meat off with my teeth and stare at a Pokémon bone. No way whatsoever.

Then, an overwhelming feeling hit. I felt something stinging inside of me. It almost felt like fire. I would have screamed if I wasn't being calmed by the presence. My right hand started shaking. I stared at it. What's going on? I thought. No answer. My hand stopped shaking. It felt like it was in a fireplace. Overwhelming heat and arguably the worst pain of my life flooded my hand, and crawled up my arm like a bug. But all the while I was at peace.

My arm lifted and outstretched towards my plate. I was not moving my arm. I grabbed my right wrist with my left hand and tried to pull it back to my lap. It wasn't working. My hand grabbed the disgusting Taillow leg and brought it to my mouth. I'm not going to open my mouth. I told my hand mentally. But my mouth opened and I bit into the leg.

My first instinct was to spit it out. The meat tasted weird. It was chewy and greasy; I could feel the grease on my lips and dribble to my chin. Then I lost the sense of taste. I couldn't taste the meat anymore. That was odd. I chewed unwillingly and swallowed. It was so gross. I tried fighting my arm again and I tried squeezing my lips together. But it was like something else was in my body, or someone else. I was still in-body, but I couldn't do anything but look around and breathe. I certainly didn't mean to let anyone in.

I was trying to distract myself from the sickening meat in my mouth. I still couldn't taste it, but I could feel it. I ate the poultry then put the bone back on my plate. I felt the fire from my hand and arm disperse, and so did my peace. The presence left. Fear shot through me. The fear that I had hidden behind the peace. My heart rate increased. I tried calming myself down. You are fine. The thing is gone; it may not ever come back. I didn't believe it would never come back, but I knew it was gone.

I grabbed the cloth napkin and wiped the rest of the grease away. I knew the presence had gotten inside me and made me do that. I was possessed. At first the presence only visited my head, or something like that, but now it could come and control my body. So it could speak to me, toy with my emotions, and make me do things? Yeah, that spelled out P-O-S-S-E-S-S-E-D. Also spelled out M-U-R-D-E-R-E-R and P-S-Y-C-H-O-T-I-C.

However, this wasn't the time for me to have a mental breakdown. That would have to be taken care of in private. Now was the time to impress people. Not to worry about Sake or Selene or me having voices in my head. Nope, not that time.

"You aren't talking at all, Missy." Maxina whispered.

"So? Why do you care?"

"I hardly do, but I've made people think I'm your mentor of sorts. Say something or you'll make me look bad."

Oh, she wants me to talk? Sure. I looked straight at Selene. "I would just like to say, Selene and Jackson, that I'm very happy for you two. On your marriage and the baby." I smiled the best fake smile I could manage. I saw hurt cut through Sake's face. Her eyebrows drooped like a withering flower, and her gaze fell to her lap, or possibly her stomach. She knew I didn't mean that. I didn't feel any guilt. In fact, I slightly smiled at my victory. No matter how cruel that was, I was hurt too. I was deceived. And possibly Ellena, my friend, was hurting too.

Jackson's face lit up. "Thank you, Cynthia." He grinned and nodded. He wrapped his arm around Sake. A few others commented congratulation again. I looked at Maxina, she smiled and nodded.

Minutes flew by and I ate my greens. I didn't touch my Krabby, and nothing else made me touch it either. Catalane, the girl who originally was going to sit beside me, chatted with me for a moment. She asked about my training. Everyone held on to my every word. This party was really about me, and that made me sick. Once I felt nauseous, I thought of the meat in my stomach. That made it worse. I choked down some of the pink drink to keep from vomiting and stuffed some bread down my throat so it would get the taste of the drink out of my mouth.

Now, I was waiting on dessert. The last course. The table was rid of any and all meat. Except what had dropped onto Georgo's bib… And the grease on his chin. Gag. I watched him guzzle his drink down and let out a satisfied breath as he placed it back on the table.

"I wish those desserts would hurry up." He muttered to me.

"I don't think I could handle more food." I admitted.

"Sure you can." He winked. Plates with huge pieces of cake with poffins circled around them were sat in front of everyone.

"Berry cake and sour poffins." Locus said. I noticed he used a rather professional voice when announcing the food, it must have been out of habit.

I picked up one of the small poffins and nibbled on it. Some sour berry juice spilled over my tongue. I quickly grabbed my fork and took a bite of the cake, the sweetness calmed the sour and made a delectable dessert.

I couldn't help myself but to peek at Selene. She was stuffing herself with cake. If she secretly lived the high-life, why was she still so hungry? Things didn't add up. I trusted Sake so much. Enough to let her lead me through an underground tunnel. Now I'm rethinking it all. If I walked through a tunnel with her now, what would she do? It all made me sick. I trusted someone and they let me down.

Now I couldn't wait for the dinner to be over. I will get some sleep then head to Oreburgh in the morning. If Sake, or Selene, isn't there then I would talk to Ellena and get some answers. If she doesn't know anything, Sake's a dirty liar who not only lied to me, lied to basically her family.

Not the time, I told myself. I took another bite of cake and decided I really couldn't hold anymore. Locus wasn't eating either. I looked down at Maxina and Fantina. Fantina wasn't eating, she was having a conversation with Maroon, Lea's worker that was sent to meet me. Maroon was an older guy with reading glasses pushed to the end of his nose. He hadn't said anything to me all night, and that made me wonder. If he wasn't getting to know me, what would he say to Lea? Maroon took a few bites of poffin and cake. He met my eyes and I realized I was staring. I looked back at Maxina, she tried to talk to everyone, but it was obvious she was just being annoying.

"Cynthia, where are you from?" Someone asked me. It was some business man I had met earlier, I couldn't remember his name.

"Celestic Town." I answered.

"Where now? Celestic?"

"Yes, Celestic. Next to Cornet, it's known for doing research on Cornet Mountain. In fact Celestic has discovered more about Cornet than anywhere else." I bored everyone in the room at that moment.

"Oh, so it's kind of like that camp at one of the lakes, Camp Verity or something." He said.

"Camp Verity, what's that?" I asked.

"It's a camp where researchers stay at on Route 201. They've recently found this new lake, apparently it's linked to Lake Valor and Lake Acuity." Locus explained.

"Well, Celestic isn't a camp. It's an actual town I was raised in. But, tell me more about these lakes." This peeked my interest.

Locus chuckled. "You're a researcher, are you?"

I shrugged. "It's in my blood."

"Right, well, that's about all I know. Anyone want to help me out?" Locus asked.

"I know a thing or two." A soft, mousy voice said. I turned and faced Maroon, he was finally speaking up. "The lakes are sacred places. Because of lack of knowledge they're sealed from the public. Whenever someone enters the lake area, they're hit with an intense feeling. Some believe ghost collect there. That's why only certain people can enter them. It's quite odd, actually. Lake Acuity, near Snowpoint, if anyone enters they normally have powerful headaches. Lake Valor, near Pastoria, causes insane pain and everyone is basically forced to leave. Now with Lake Verity, some people end up having breakdowns and can't stand the feeling they have. Only a few men have been able to go to the lake. Woman can't, once they step to a certain point they end up feeling overwhelmed and cry hysterically. In Valor only people who are strong-willed can fight the feeling telling them to leave. And in Acuity Lea's smartest researchers even have trouble entering, although some people can handle it and they've done research on it."

"Very mysterious." Jackson commented.

"Yes, I agree." I said. "What gives the lakes that energy?"

Maroon shrugged. "Beats me." I didn't necessarily believe him.

The final course moved on. I spoke only to quickly comment or when spoken to. I pushed the information given to me about the lakes into the back of my mind. I silently allowed myself to ignore that info now and worry about it later. I picked at my cake. I forced a few more bites down, only when anyone would look my way.

Everyone had stopped eating when the servers made their rounds. Each personal 'servant' came out of the sitting room. Constance came over to me, Maxina shot her a mad look. Oh well. "Hey." She whispered. She raked her fingers through my hair and I rolled my eyes. She pouted her lips and gave me the 'Stop that' look. I looked around, Mister Georgo Clank's servant was wiping his mouth and chin. Other servants were doing similar things. Were those people just that lazy?

Constance stood by while Maxina and I stood up then she pushed our chairs under the table. Everyone exited through the giant double doors and back into the first room. Neutral music flowed through the room, I noted a small stage in one corner with a trio of musicians. My throat ran dry. Why wasn't anyone leaving? I turned to Constance. "Do not tell me it isn't time to leave." I murmured.

"Okay, I won't tell you that." She smirked.

"I will. It isn't time to leave." Maxina grinned. "What's the matter, Miss Popular? Afraid the world might stop revolving around you for less than a second?"

I glared at her. "No." I hissed. "That's what you're afraid of." She squinted at me then walked off.

Constance rolled her eyes. "Children need to learn to play together, especially when the playpen is full of watchful eyes." She whispered. "You'll be fine! If anyone asks to dance with you, say yes every time. And put a nice smile on your face, not your cocky fake one." I frowned. "Don't do that."

I did not want to dance with anyone. But because people started to pair up and dance, I knew it wouldn't be long until someone asked me. Luckily, Maxina was dancing with Georgo. Jackson approached me. Selene was out with Locus. He held out his hand. "Want to dance, Cynthia?" He grinned. I smiled my best smile.

"Sure." I took his hand and he led me out to the middle of the floor. Now probably wasn't a good time to realize I had never danced a second of my life. Jackson placed a hand on my side, and I rested my hand on his shoulder. We started moving and turning, I was just fumbling about trying to keep my feet.

"So, are you ready for gym number four?" Great, he's going to talk too?

I cleared my throat. "Of course I am. I'll be headed there in a few days." I slightly tripped, but caught myself. "…Sorry." I muttered.

He laughed a bit nervously. "It's all fine." We spun around. I didn't say anything else because I was too focused on my feet, that couldn't have been good.

"Why don't we switch?" Locus grinned. Selene looked sick on his shoulder.

"Of course." I said. I smiled my sweet smile again. Locus and I walked to a clear spot. I resumed the dance position again: Hand-in-hand and other hand on shoulder.

Locus always had an odd smile on. He looked like a clown. Probably because of his not natural red hair and up this close I noticed he wore eyeliner. I didn't trust him. There was just this evil air about him.

"I'm so sorry you couldn't meet Lea." He said. If he was sorry, why was he grinning? "He so wanted to meet you."

"I am sure I will meet him sometime, right?" I chuckled.

"Maybe."

I started to get the hang of dancing. "I bet Lea is very busy up there." I looked up at the mural on the ceiling.

"Of course Lea is busy, he is the champion after all." He said it like I didn't know it.

"I know that." I gave him a weird look. "Does Lea know who I am?" The words spilled out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"Yes he does. He has seen all of your battles. He admires you greatly." Oh I'm sure he does. I thought. I rolled my eyes in my mind.

"That's good to know." I smiled. "Maybe one day I'll have the honor to battle him."

Now Locus gave me a weird look. "Really?" He sounded suspicious. I thought I pulled off that last sentence well, I was a good liar.

"Yes really. Isn't it an honor to battle a champion? It means you have to earn the strength to even attempt it, right?"

"Yes, yes. But I just didn't know how you truly feel." There was still doubt in his eyes.

"I truly feel that way." I tried to assure him.

He nodded. "I also admire you." He chuckled. "You've become quite the role model here in the Golden Cities. Pretty impressive if you ask me."

"Thank you, Locus. That means a lot." I meant that… Sort of.

Locus stopped dancing. "I think there is one other person wanting to dance."

"Is it Georgo?" I looked around. He was dancing with some other young girl.

"May I cut in?" I turned my head. Maroon was standing there. Locus backed off and Maroon took his place.

"Hello, Maroon." I said.

"Hello. I just was wondering if you wanted to ask me anything else about the lakes."

"No, I don't have any more questions. You're very knowledgeable." I focused on my feet.

"Thank you. You have a strong mind as well. I can't wait to tell Lea all about you."

I looked up from my feet and met his eyes. "Why couldn't Lea join us?" I asked.

"He's busy. With the attacks he didn't want to leave." I nodded. "Do you really believe what you said about the attacks?" He didn't have suspicion in his voice or eyes, so I guessed he was just making conversation.

I had to think twice to realize what he was asking. Then it hit: Oh yeah, what I said earlier. "Of course. Someone's just angry."

"You don't believe in the rebels?" He arched a white eyebrow.

"He could be a rebel I guess. But I don't know. No one does, right?"

He nodded. "Right." I tripped over my own feet. I fell backward and landed right on some business man.

"Watch it." He snapped. I stood back up and focused on my feet while we danced.

"What do you think about the attacks?" I asked.

"I think there are rebels out there. They feel too strongly about Pokémon… Like you." He looked at me strange. I was shocked to hear that. He thinks I'm a rebel? I lost my footing and fell backwards. I landed right on a table, food fell on me. I realized I had pulled Maroon with me. He rubbed his head.

Everyone came over to us. Constance helped me up. "Thank you." I muttered.

"Don't be so ditsy next time." She whispered. I smirked. I wasn't hurt, although a bit of pain shot through my elbow. The elbow Sake basically healed for me. I rubbed the base of it and found Selene eyeing my elbow. Yeah, she remembered.

Servers got the mess cleaned up and Constance dusted off food from my dress and got out a lot of the stains. Unfortunately, my move didn't put an end to this party.

I walked back into the ballroom. I saw Fantina talking to Maxina. I walked over to them. "Hello Fantina." I said.

"Bonjour Young Trainer Cynthia." She greeted. Maxina walked off and found Locus.

"Do you mind if I ask you something?" I had been thinking about asking Fantina a few questions.

"No not at all."

"What do you know about… Possessions?" I murmured.

She was taken aback. "Mi scusi? Possessions? I—I do not think I should…" She stopped.

"I thought that since you worked with Ghost Types you could tell me if they actually possess people." There was no way to make that sound better.

"Only sometime." She said. "But most are not powerful enough. If you come across a strong enough Ghost, it may try to get inside your head and, as you say, possess you."

"Can they control you?"

"How so?"

"Move your arms and hands, turn your taste buds off and talk to you."

"Cynthia, what do you know?" She gave me a weird look.

I shrugged. "I heard a legend the other day about someone who was possessed, I'm just curious." That wasn't completely a lie.

"They would have to be very powerful. The only thing I know of is Ghost's showing you visions. They sometimes creep into you while you're sleeping, then they cambiare your dreams into a nightmare. Not body control."

"So, in the legend, the person was possessed by a very strong Ghost Type?"

"If it was Pokémon." Someone approached her and asked her to dance, she accepted. "Bonne chance, Cynthia." She said as she waltzed away.

If it was Pokémon. Great. To my luck, the music stopped and Locus walked up on the stage.

"Thank you all for coming tonight! I think I speak for us all when I say good luck Cynthia, we are cheering you on." Everyone started to file out. Constance and Maxina found me and we left together.

The streets were lit up with streetlights and other bright lights shining out of shop and building windows. You wouldn't have known it was nighttime in that city. We found the Center again and entered. We were walking to the elevator when someone walked up to us.

"Cynthia Everheart?" He held out three envelopes.

"Thank you." I took them. I would read them as soon as I made it to my room. We rode up the elevator and went our separate ways. Constance told me to meet her for breakfast, but I doubted that would happen.

I walked into my room. I smiled. I jumped in the shower then relaxed on the sofa. The envelopes got my attention. I picked them up and examined them. The first one was addressed with perfect calligraphy. That was from Grandmother. It said that the garden was producing greens, Celestic's summer weather wasn't bad, she told me to be safe and she loved me. The second was written with a quick, messy hand. It was from Oliver. It said that Annie examined the statue ruble and the gem. She thinks that it was made to honor a legendary, and he'll let me know what else they find out.

The last one was from Jamie. That's odd.

Cynthia,

Hi. Sorry to bother you. You're doing awesome out there, I've been watching you on television. I have been doing well, so has your grandmother. But I need to tell you something. Ember's gone. He disappeared. Last night Isis came to the shop looking for him, apparently he was mad about something and he didn't even say he was leaving. Why does he have to be a hotheaded Drama Queen?

I just wanted to inform you.

Stay Strong and Good Luck,

Jamie

Great. Ember, my best friend, was gone. For all I knew he was captured by Lea and then killed because of his sarcastic and disrespectful mouth. My stomach knotted.

Not only was that eating me, one sentence also stuck in my head like super glue.

If it was Pokémon.

Authors Note: What a pain-in-the-butt chapter! It was not my best chapter (By far) but I think it was okay. What did you guys think?

A few fun facts about this story: Originally, Cynthia's last name was going to be 'Evers' because I was reading a book and the main characters last name was Everly, so that's all I could think about when I tried to come up with her name. Then, Everheart was born! I really like that name now.

Did you notice all the chapter names are one word? That's something I've done on purpose.

I hint all the way through the story. It's getting more and more obvious, but you guys should have it figured out if you've been paying 100% attention. I think I spilled the beans in one sentence in earlier chapters, did anyone catch it? Hehe, I love knowing everything!

I put a lot of references and inside jokes in all the time, and sometimes without realizing it.

Okay that's all I can think of for now. What do you think is going to happen? Now that Mr. Ember is on the move and Cynthia is learning more about herself. Drop a review down there! Criticism is accepted and I would definitely thank you for it.

Thanks for reading, you have hung with me for a while and I so appreciate it.