"Hey, Gilag! Where're ya going?" Alit asked after Gilag had stood up quickly after finishing breakfast, or more like lunch, considering the time.
"Ponta, remember?" Gilag responded.
"Oh right! Try not get asphyxiated by his hug, they're almost as crushing as yours, or get possessed by him." Alit called.
"I know!" Gilag yelled back as he disappeared into an overlay network, arriving moments later in a forest.
"Now where is that little fella?" Gilag mused, "Hey Ponta! You here? PONTA!"
No answer.
Gilag frowned in worry. Perhaps the little tanuki had gone somewhere else in the past fourteen years. In that case, it could be near impossible for Gilag to find him. Or maybe something happened to him- no. Gilag shook that thought away. He couldn't think that way. Besides, Ponta could make himself spectral when he wanted, it was something he and Gilag had found out after playing one day. Basically, what happened was Gilag had a treat tied to a piece of string on a stick and was holding it high while Ponta tried to get it. Eventually, Ponta had suddenly shifted into spectral mode and flew up to the treat, turned solid, and enjoyed his snack. They both had a laugh over that. Gilag sighed and smiled as that carefree memory came back to him.
"PONTA!" he called again. Now he was worried. What if he never found his little friend? What if he never saw Ponta for the rest of his life? Gilag teared up then sat on a rock by the river and started to cry. If he never saw Ponta again, it would be his own stupid fault for not being strong enough to fight those f*cking maldorians off. He missed the tanuki, he hated the possibility of never meeting him again.
"Ponta!" he yelled out, his sobs making his voice crack.
He kept crying for another moment before, "Kiraku!" he found himself tackled in a small yet incredibly strong furry hug.
"Ponta!" Gilag sobbed out, hugging the little fuzzball back.
"Where da pon have you been?!" Ponta chirped, "I've been waiting!"
Quickly, through tears, Gilag started to explain, "When I was going back to barian, apparently some maldorians, they're sludge aliens, by the way, attacked the other emperors and me and we fell to earth as toddlers without memories! I didn't remember anything until Nasch and the other emperors restored my memories after getting their own back!"
Ponta had looked surprised throughout his explanation, then started growling and his eyes turned red. Believe it or not, this wasn't normal, but only because Ponta didn't get that angry often, maybe two times before that Gilag could remember. And surprisingly, why he could make his eyes glow red had honestly nothing whatsoever to do with Barian World. Let's just say tanukis were not considered to be yokai for nothing.
"Those bastards!" Ponta growled.
Gilag's eyes widened, he had NEVER heard Ponta swear. "Are you alright?"
"Just pissed! The first time you left, you died and I thought you had betrayed me. The second time, you were brainwashed and I had other things to worry about than that jerk who brainwashed you. But this time we were finally getting things to go back to a form of normal then these Maldorian bastards come around and take you away again! I'm just sick of people messing with your life!" Ponta pouted.
Gilag smiled sadly and nodded, "True, I DO seemed to get brainwashed every other century or so."
"...that had better be an over exaggeration." Ponta said.
"It was, don't worry. I've only been brainwashed or got amnesia five times." Gilag assured him.
"You know, I REALLY do not like that number," Ponta commented, "Five times is five times too many."
"Yeah, I know," Gilag said.
Ponta calmed himself down and brightened up, "Well, you're here now, da pon! And you're going to bring me back with you, right? I visited the BARian after you had been gone for a week. It was a really long trip on my own, even in spectral form, pon!"
Gilag hugged his little tanuki again, "You... went all the way to the BARian when I didn't come back?"
"Yep! I came back after I saw no one was there." Ponta said.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there, Ponta." Gilag whispered.
"It wasn't your fault, Kiraku," Ponta replied.
"I still should've been stronger and fought them off," Gilag said sullenly.
"Stop being so down on yourself, pon! Now let's go home!" Ponta chirped. He scrambled up onto Gilag's shoulder and sat up straight. Gilag smiled, ruffled the tanuki's head, opened an overlay network, and dissolved into it.
…... (^0^) ...
When Gilag and Ponta returned, they found the other barians all seated around the dining room table. "Hiyas!" Ponta waved to the emperors. They all looked up, except for Misael and Vector, who seemed to have other things on their mind.
"Hey! Ponta!" Alit waved back and grinned, "Long time no see!"
"Hello again, Ponta," Dumon said with a smile.
"It's been a while, how have you been doing?" Merag asked.
"I've been generally hanging around the woods where Gilag left me, pon." Ponta said, "I didn't want to go far in case he came back while I was gone."
Dumon gestured to an empty seat next to Alit, "Gilag, sit down."
Gilag sat and Ponta scrambled down into his lap. Gilag scratched Ponta's head as he asked, "What's up?"
"Dumon had the idea that we have a counseling session." Nasch said with a slight grimace.
"...what?" Gilag asked.
"I think it's a great idea!" Merag said sharply, "We've all been hurt from those past fourteen years and a lot of us aren't focusing as well as we should on the Maldorian problem."
"Wait, WHAT?!" Gilag said.
"Basically we're supposed to talk about what was worst about those years, and try to get over it." Misael muttered, his face oddly red.
"Not 'get over it', accept that it happened and that it is over with now. Not getting over it, just not letting it haunt you," Dumon corrected, "And NO ONE is allowed to tease anyone about what they say here under any circumstances."
Everyone nodded at this. "Yeah, I sure as hell won't." Vector muttered.
The other barians looked at him, then all became incredibly concerned once they realized he was completely serious. VECTOR, of all people, refusing to torment them when they were putting things out in the open that could he could use as blackmail? Suddenly the prospect of the therapy session seemed a lot more appealing.
Dumon looked around. "So, who wants to go first?" Nobody volunteered. Dumon sighed, "Guess I will then," he took a deep breath, "Alright, my adoptive parents were never around. I learned how to cook when I was five because neither of my parents usually home to cook dinner and they always ate fast food when they were out because it was, well, fast to get and eat. They would buy groceries whenever I wrote out a list of things to get at the store. They would always by me a few presents and get me a cake for my birthdays, but they were never around to celebrate them with me. I had no friends, aside from Vector and he couldn't come for reasons I never understood then, but do now, so I celebrated alone. I knew they loved their job, so I never complained once to them. I often wanted to, I wanted to scream at them to pay attention to me for once, to spend a day with me, just one day..."
Dumon bit his lip and looked down, "But I never said a single word. I never told them how abandoned I felt, because I didn't want to be a bother to them. The only thing I can ever remember complaining about to them was the bullying at school, and that was one time. A group of kids had thrown my bookbag into the river and left me hanging upside down from a tree leaning over said river with a rope they had tied around my leg. It was the first time I can remember being honestly scared for my life. I screamed for help, but none came. I didn't know how I got down at the time, one moment I was hanging upside down as the sun set, the next thing I knew I was standing by my house. Now I know it was my barian powers pushing past my amnesia to save me. I ran inside the house crying and since my parents weren't home, I ran into my closet and just sat there in the dark, crying silently. When they did come home, I came out, still crying, and told them what had happened. And... and... my mother said, "We'll buy you a new bookbag and supplies." After that, I never said a single word."
"THOSE BASTARDS!" Misael exclaimed, voicing what everyone else at the table was thinking.
"They just didn't understand. They deal with criminals, they've seen worse-" Dumon started.
"Dumon, they should've been even more concerned BECAUSE they were in law enforcement. What those bullies did was attempted murder, despite their intention to simply harm you." Nasch said sternly, "If you were not a barian or your powers hadn't kicked in to save you, you could've easily died that day. They should've called the cops or dealt with it themselves because they are members of law enforcement."
Dumon shrugged, "It hurt, but they love their job, as I said. I didn't want to rock the boat in their perfect lives."
"And what made you think you didn't deserve at least a decent life?!"Misael said, "You of all people deserved better!"
"For once, I fully agree with Little Miss Misa," Vector commented, "I knew you well during the past fourteen years and you were not much different than you are now, except less assertive. You were my best friend during that time, so seriously, what the hell?! You of all beings deserved an easy and relaxing life for those years."
Misael growled at Vector for the 'Little Miss Misa' comment but Dumon was blown away. Vector actually spoke up for him? VECTOR?! That's not saying that the psycho barian was completely devoid of feeling, but it was incredibly surprising for him to be nice and stand up for someone else without making fun of them or laughing like a maniac. Dumon looked down, "Thank you, Vector. But despite all of that, I still hold affection for my adoptive parents."
"That's exactly why you deserved better," Merag commented.
Dumon blushed. "Well, enough about me, who else?"
Misael bit his lip. "I- I suppose I will. But I want everyone to remember that they cannot laugh!" he snapped. Everyone at the table nodded. Dumon was slightly surprised that Misael agreed to talk about his life. After all, getting teased for being effeminate had always been a sensitive subject for him, and those fourteen years just made it so much worse. Misael took a deep breath, "I can sum up one of the worst parts of that life and the cause of why all the other major horrible events occurred in two words, forced cross-dressing."
The other emperors got real quiet. "I'm sorry, what?" Nasch asked, with a slight edge to his voice.
Misael huffed and his face burned bright red. "You heard, forced cross-dressing. My adoptive parents made me dress up like a girl, dresses and everything. They disposed of any pants and shirts I bought with my allowance and forced me to wear frilly dresses. My name during that time was Ella and everyone, even though they fully knew my true gender, referred to me as a she. Don't even get me started on the bullying because everyone, adults and kids, tormented me constantly for the cross-dressing."
"But... that wasn't your fault..." Gilag whispered and Ponta growled softly.
"Do you think they cared?!" Misael spat, "I was their verbal and physical punching bag. The little she-boy."
Vector blinked, "I can't make fun of that even if I was allowed to. Oh sh*t, I can't make fun of that! Out of curiosity, is making fun of his effeminate looks still on the table? Because that will honestly have nothing to do with this atrocity."
"Highly advised against, but your old taunts are still allowed," Dumon stated, sighing, "Misael, I have said this before and I will say again, they were all just cruel and heartless humans. You owe nothing to them."
"Do I really?" Misael whispered, "They did feed me, they gave me a place to sleep."
"But they abused you as well," Vector piped up, "You could've found food from a dumpster like I did a few times. You could've slept in a box. And your life probably would be better than it was. I'm surprised you didn't try to run away."
"I DID!" Misael snapped, "I tried almost fifty times! I just couldn't get far. After all, a boy in a dress is kind of conspicuous."
"Oh, yeah, you were cross-dressing, I guess people will notice that." Alit said.
Misael glared at him, "I want to remind everyone that no one is to speak of this again after this meeting."
The other barians nodded. Vector sighed, "Jeez, who'd ever think we'd have something in common, Misa?"
"Call me that again and you will eat your own internal organs." Misael snarled.
"Actually, you two are a lot alike. I mean you both have incredibly violent tendencies-" Alit started.
"SHUT UP!" Misael and Vector snapped, although Vector added in a fit of insane giggles. Alit sweatdropped and sank lower into his chair.
"Alright, who's next?" Dumon asked.
"Eh, I'll go," Vector said with a shrug, "Don't worry, this'll be quick. Basically my adoptive parents were drunkards who barely manage to pay the rent and would do odd jobs for anyone who'll pay them. They physically abused me every day and called me some things that should not be said to children. They beat me within an inch of my life every Friday night and... yeah, that's it. Oh! And beer bottles hurt. That's it, I'm done."
The barians were all staring at him with wide eyes and their mouths hanging open. "Wait, they WHAT?" Merag snarled.
"Abuse, beat me over the head with beer bottles and cut me with the glass shards, do you want me to go into more detail?" Vector asked in the tone of voice as when he was describing his most recent torturing, but he was fidgeting and his eyes were downcast.
Nasch frowned, "Remember how I told you I wanted to say karma when you first briefly mentioned your family a while ago?" Vector nodded. "I changed my mind, I don't think you were bad enough to warrant THAT. Living on the streets, definitely. Getting slapped once or twice by your parents, probably. THAT, no, never."
Vector blinked in surprise. "Wow, Nasch, YOU are actually siding with me?"
"There are worse things in the world than you, Vector. Those people are some of them," Nasch said.
Vector swallowed. "Th- thanks. If you ask me later though, I will deny thanking you for anything."
Nasch huffed. "If you ask later, I will deny saying anything to cause you to thank me."
Vector smirked, "You know what? I think just having my memories back helps."
Nasch cocked his head, "What? Are you too insane now to be as bothered as a normal person would be by that experience?"
"Oh, hell no. I was already completely nutso back then too. I lost my mind when I was seven and after that, everything was just great. Being insane is a wonderful coping mechanism for pain and suffering, emotional AND physical." Vector laughed but it sounded slightly strained.
"And this is why you should NEVER write a self-help book." Dumon sighed.
"Aw, now I actually want to." Vector whined, "Okay, my turn's over, who's next?"
"May I skip on my turn?" Merag asked, "I don't want to talk about what I did."
"Sorry, Merag, we all have to go." Dumon said with a shrug.
Merag sighed, "Alright, let's get this over with. I was a b*tch, okay? I was cruel to people, I found anything I could to tease them about and then tormented them endlessly. If I ever go back to my old hometown, I would apologize to everyone I had ever hurt and let them attack me in any way they wanted with no retribution from my part. I was a monster and I never gave those who I left crying a second thought. I have the nickname of ice queen, but there is a difference towards being cold to people sometimes and being downright horrid. I didn't act like the empress that I am during those years, I acted like a common criminal. I never questioned my choices in friends, even if they made me do things that I didn't want to do, I never said no or hesitated. Whether it was shop-lifting, posting embarrassing photos of people all over the internet, or anything else. Eventually, I stopped feeling anything from my barbaric actions other than pleasure. Even when I put down my own brother," Merag bit her lip, "I'm done with my turn, I have nothing else to say that will convey my feelings any better than I just have."
Nasch frowned. "Merag, I forgive you fully. You were acting like an idiot, yes, but I was a douche back when I was Reginald too. I acted horrible to people as well."
Merag sniffed, "Thanks, Nasch."
"So do I, you weren't responsible for your actions." Dumon stated.
Merag looked at him, "I poured orange juice all over your book once and flushed your homework down the toilet every chance I got."
Dumon shrugged, "It's fine. You weren't you at the time."
"I have nothing to forgive you for," Vector said.
"I called you a retarded mental ward reject with a carrot fetish." Merag said.
"Yeah, and I laughed at the time, proving your point. Although the retarded part and carrot-fetish parts were wounding, but mental ward reject is very accurate." Vector said with a wink.
Merag smiled and laughed at his antics, "Alright, who's wants to go now?"
Alit shrugged, "Me, I guess. Okay, you all know, or know of, my dad, Dr. Ares Juliosu, the man with 20 different degrees in science and 7 doctorates. The greatest scientist in the world and the smartest man in the history of the world," his voice was laced with bitter sarcasm, "Also the world's most demanding father ever. I needed to have the top grades in everything and he'd freak out if my grade average ever got below a B. And don't even get me started on if I got a C or less. It wasn't pretty. And you all know me and my skills in academics," Alit sighed, "Every other night was a screaming match. I wanted to join sports teams but Dad wouldn't let me under any circumstances. Occasionally, I tried to secretly join them without his knowledge, but he always found out and pulled me out of them. I didn't have any friends to vent to, no one wanted to hang out with the "loser clown kid". Dad wouldn't hear about my social issues, he always said that when I get into a good college and make lots of money from a high-paying job, I'll be the one laughing, and he wouldn't hear about my protests that money wasn't important to me.
"All I wanted to do was become a professional athlete or professional trainer, not become a banker or a scientist. But he wouldn't hear of it. "Andre, sports aren't worthwhile uses of time or effort. You should be studying for you science quiz. If you get any lower than 85%, I will ground you for a week. If you get lower than 70%, it'll be a month! I don't care if you want to be an athlete, trust me, you'll thank me later for making you study. Don't look at me like that, I'm a scientist and I love my work! What makes you think you'll ever be happy as an athlete?"" Alit mimicked, "Well, guess what Dad?! I was a gladiator in my past life and loved every second of it! Except for when I got my head chopped off and that would've happened no matter what I chose to do because Card Game Satan wanted to make me into his little puppet!" Alit took in a deep breath to calm down, "I wanted to make him proud, so I tried hard in school, I tried as hard as I could, but I wasn't quite good enough. I guess things are better now, I mean, he's already moved on with his life. He's helping with the war effort now as a scientist and doing the job he loves and I'm an emperor who's fighting the maldorians and doing what I love. We've gone on with our lives and everything has worked out peachy. Who's next?"
Gilag frowned, "Alit, you still love him don't you? You still miss him?"
Alit looked down, "A little. But those times are over. We have completely different lives. No use wondering if he misses me, if he thinks of me when he falls to sleep at night, if he worries about me, if he wonders where I am, if he ever cares if he sees me again," Alit was cut off by his own choked sob, "I just can't think about him right now. I don't think I'll ever be able to talk about him without crying."
Gilag reached over and squeezed Alit's hand as Ponta ran up to Alit's shoulder in order to nuzzle him. Alit smiled through his tears. "Thanks, guys. So, who's next?"
Dumon frowned. Alit was still hurting exponentially but he didn't think there was anything he could do about it.
Gilag stood up and said, "I'll go." He took in a breath, "I lived with my parents until my adoptive father was killed in a drive by shooting when I was six. My mother took care of me after that. Then, when I was eleven, she began to get really sick. It started off as a small cough and a runny nose, then she got worse. She couldn't get out of bed and slipped in and out of consciousness. She had a high-paying job at the hospital but when her employers heard how sick she was, they fired her and cut her insurance and everything. I had to drop out of school to take care of her. At first, I begged on the side of the street for money so I could buy food and medicine for her, but no one ever gave me anything. I tried to get a job, but no one would hire me for anything, plus I was under the working age. So I started to mug people to get money. I would participate in any criminal activity, as long as it paid. The one thing I never did was kill anyone. I couldn't bring myself to end someone's life, even for the sake of my own mother's. I did terrible things to people, but I had no other choice. No one, not even the family on my adoptive father's side since my mother had no family left on hers, helped us. I was on my own to take care of her. I miss her, I hope she's all right."
"I'm sure she's fine, Gilag," Merag assured him.
Nasch was silent for a while, then, "If you want, we can check in at the hospital Dumon checked her into and see how she's doing."
Gilag sniffed. "R-really?"
"Yeah, but no getting too attached until after the war, okay? We don't want to be distracted or put her in danger because she's close to you," Nasch ordered.
"Yes, Nasch!" Gilag said eagerly.
"I wanna meet your mom too, pon!" Ponta chirped.
"Alright, we can see how she's doing tomorrow," Gilag said happily, "I'm kinda tired today."
"Tell me about," Nasch grumbled, "Merag woke me up with ice cold water and a bag of onions, then I had to talk with a bunch of stupid politicians. I'm exhausted."
"I wouldn't have needed to wake you up if you had gotten up when you were supposed to," Merag shot back, "It's your turn, by the way."
"What?" Nasch asked, caught off guard.
"You are the only one of us who has not gone, my king," Dumon prompted.
Nasch sighed, "Oh, right. Fine, I was the obvious least favorite child of my parents. In their eyes, Merag was an angel and I was the devil. They adored Merag, but I was little more than scum that wasted some of their wealth on the food I consumed and the clothes I wore. I was a loner at school and the only reason anyone knew my name was because I was Merag's brother. I was taunted daily but I never showed that they hurt me, so the bullying never went too far. I felt numb, everyday was the same and the only thing I ever really felt was pain from the insults. There wasn't any difference between life and death for me, or pain and love. I had forgotten what love really felt like before I recovered my memories. When I touched that card and remembered, I actually felt something for the first time in what felt like forever. I remembered what loyalty felt like, what it felt like to be loved, to be happy," Nasch's eyes burned with fire, "I remembered how it felt to live."
The other barians were stunned into silence by the force of his words. Nasch leaned back into his chair, "That's it, I got it out of my system. Session over?"
Dumon mutely nodded, then coughed, "Yes, well, I'm going to train Mygalo. I will see you all later," he stood up and teleported away. Everyone quickly dispersed to do other things, all knowing that each and every one of them needed to think about the new information they had just received.