Don't make me sad, don't make me cry
Sometimes love is not enough and the road gets tough
I don't know why
Keep making me laugh, let's go get high
The road is long, we carry on
Try to have fun in the meantime

-Born to Die; from Lana Del Rey

"This is Lani, your half-sister. We'll finally be a real family. Won't it be beautiful?" Those words rang in Gladion's head for days afterward. How was he supposed to feel about a girl he'd never met before being his sister?* Things were difficult enough when it was just him and Lillie, so why did Lusamine have to make everything ten times harder? And Lani...Lani knew that she didn't belong with them. It was written all over her face. Gladion did feel bad for her, but he couldn't help the anger and hurt he felt. Lusamine had gone out of her way to have another child. With another man! It felt as if Lusamine had betrayed her first husband, Mohn. Mohn, the father of Lusamine's eldest children. It didn't matter if he'd disappeared or not, the fact that Lusamine had gone out of her way to meet up with someone else, to have a child with this other person, made Gladion unintentionally blame Lani.

As for Lillie, she wasn't exactly showing her emotions outwardly. Lillie's emotions tended to be more reserved, thanks to Lusamine's heavy influence on her. Growing up, Lillie had been under the belief that she had to keep herself as reserved emotionally as possible. A "proper" young woman wasn't prone to outbursts, she was polite and kind, despite any troubles she was feeling. Gladion caught on to how Lillie was feeling right away, despite her not showing it. She wasn't happy either, though Gladion had to wonder if it was for the same reason he was feeling. Lillie could either be upset because she wasn't the youngest anymore, maybe because she wouldn't be getting most of Lusamine's attention — or what little attention Lusamine was willing to give them anyway. Maybe Lillie's anger was something more deeper than that.

Whatever the reason, the two older siblings looked at the redhead standing beside their mother. They saw how small she was trying to make herself. They saw how she wouldn't exactly meet their gazes. Lani was already feeling out of place at Aether, and it was obvious she'd have a very hard time fitting in.

. . . .

It had been months since Gladion spoke to his family. It had been months since he'd even been in contact with them. Obviously Lusamine wouldn't want to talk to him about anything, but Lillie and Lani had no idea where he'd gone. Gladion had stolen one of the failed Type: Null experiments and escaped, joining up temporarily with Team Skull in hopes of gaining more power. Without the looming presence of his mother, Gladion could finally take a breath; though being alone and, essentially, homeless was something that hung over his head. Type: Null was definitely a challenge, considering the Synthetic Pokémon didn't trust humans at all. In total, the Aether Foundation had created three Type: Null experiments, all three of them failed due to their instability. Lusamine had forced an end to the experiments, since they were obviously going nowhere. Lusamine had suffered a great blow to her ego that her supposedly "precious Beast fighters" weren't even stable enough to live among humans or Pokémon.

Gladion took one of them because he couldn't stand the treatment they endured. Because the Null experiments were unstable, they had no control over their powers. The mask that covered Null's head was said to stabilize its powers, and Gladion was doing everything he could to find a way to take it off. The mask itself was made by the Aether Foundation, probably handmade by Faba, so it would probably be impossible to get it off without going back to Lusamine. As much as it pained Gladion to think about his companion in such a state, he knew there wasn't much he could do. The best solution would be to train Null up until the Synthetic Pokémon could get the mask off itself.

Evidently, the past couple months proved to be harder than he could've imagined. Living on his own made Gladion realize how easy he had it back at Aether. Lusamine had countless workers give him and his sisters whatever they wanted. Whenever his mother wasn't around, whether she was too busy with the Ultra Beasts or too caught up in something else, Gladion had the company of workers like Wicke.* Wicke had been a kind of consultant for the young boy; giving him advice on all his problems and pointing him in the right direction. He was grateful for her. Gladion noticed how Wicke would occasionally help Lillie with certain problems, but more importantly, spend time with Lani. It didn't go unnoticed by anyone that Lani was isolated by her siblings. The day Lusamine announced that Lani was actually her youngest child, and she'd be living at Aether with them, Gladion refused to believe it. He didn't want to believe it. How could his mother go out and have another child? What about Mohn, her first husband? The father of her eldest children? Didn't Mohn still mean something to her? He may of disappeared, but they were still legally married. Then again, Lusamine tended to toss things aside that were no longer useful for her. Mohn had been the one to really start the studies of Ultra Beasts and Ultra Wormholes; he gave the foundation for Lusamine's obsession. When Mohn disappeared, Lusamine essentially tossed him aside.

He was no longer around so he was no longer useful.

Maybe that was the main reason Gladion refused to acknowledge Lani's relation to him. Since she was the child of Lusamine and another man, that meant that Gladion's mother had truly thrown Mohn out of her life. That part of her life was no longer relevant. The big question was, though, was why Lusamine felt the need to have another child anyway. She never voiced wanting more children, she seemed satisfied with having Gladion and Lillie. What was Lani's purpose? What made her so beneficial to Lusamine?

Just like Gladion, Lillie had been upset over the situation, expressing it in her own way. Gladion tended to outwardly express his feelings more than Lillie, though. Lusamine had taught Lillie to be reserved in her emotions, that any kind of outburst would be considered "ugly" and "unladylike". Those statements would always make Gladion roll his eyes. As if his mother could be an expert on how to control her emotions. Lillie, however, took those words to heart; she kept herself in check, only showing even a hint emotion if the situation was severe enough. Lani's arrival to Aether had been severe enough for Gladion to see a flicker of anger sweep across Lillie's face. Lani had picked up on the anger that came across the older children's features; she knew they weren't happy with her being there. She knew she didn't belong. Gladion and Lillie made it their mission to not interact with her, so Lani's only choice was to go to Wicke. Maybe the two older children were harsh on her, maybe they could've at least given her a chance, but they couldn't. They wouldn't. Things were hard enough when it was just the two of them, but with Lani there, it would be even harder. Lusamine had expectations that Lani would be happily accepted. In reality, no one really wanted her there.

Lani caught on to that. She understood she was the odd man out. After a while, she gave up trying to interact with her older half-siblings. It wasn't worth it. She retreated to doing other things. Gladion should've been happy about that, except he actually wasn't. He felt guilty for making Lani feel that way. Or, he was in the beginning stages of that guilt. It would take Gladion stealing one of the Null experiments and running away for him to truly feel the guilt of how Lani had been treated. If he were still living at Aether, if he had a second chance, he'd try and gain some kind of relationship with Lani. But for all he knew, it could already be too late.

(A/N):

If you've got any constructive criticism for this chapter, don't hesitate to let me know. I'm not sure how I feel about this one, but hopefully it's at least a little interesting. As you guys can see, it was told through Gladion's POV. A kind reviewer suggested that I at least give some perspective on how Gladion and Lillie felt about Lani's arrival, so why not give it a try?

I own nothing in this franchise. All I own are my characters and the subplots I put in.

For anyone who's got an OC or a subplot that they wanted written into the story, PM me or leave a review and I'll put it in as soon as I can.

So yeah.

Thanks a bunch.

Willow