FOREVERMORE
~Part Three Of The Forever Trilogy~
Chapter 54
Paradox
June 16, 5041.
(?'s POV)
This was so not happening.
Feya had wanted to go into the walled garden behind the main building, so I took her. Feya was a shiny Celebi that had hatched from an egg I had stumbled across, and she was convinced that Blizzard and I were her parents. It was a really long story, as my gramps would say.
Of course, Aventurine, or Avey as she liked to be called, my roommate and second cousin, decided she wanted to come along too. And the Viridian, and Rose—another second cousin of mine—found us and followed us. Then the boys—my brothers Aoi and Jin, Blizzard, and yet another second cousin who also happens to be a first cousin, Aureolin—joined up. So we all ended up going to the freaking garden.
When we got there, I released Feya from her Master Ball, and we started following her deeper into the garden.
The name's Phoenix, Phoenix Kimu. My parents are Pyrite and Amber Kimu. I'm fifteen years old. Aoi, Jin, and I were born at the same time, making us triplets. Crazy, huh? We looked almost nothing alike. I have red hair—from an recessive gene, apparently—and gold eyes. Aoi has brown hair; he tames his wild Kimu bangs, but he can't do anything about his Rosso spikes. His eyes are blue. Jin looks a lot like our dad; he has messy black hair with the Kimu bangs and gold eyes. We're all pretty tall, but none of us are quite to six feet yet.
Blizzard and Viridian are the two oldest kids of Zircon and Galena Oak. Bliz is sixteen, and Viri is fourteen. Blizzard looks a lot like his dad, with his spiky brown hair, though his eyes are blue. He's the tallest out of all of us, standing at six feet. He's best buds with Aoi. Viridian is really pretty, but kinda naive. She has long brown hair, and bright green eyes. She's really innocent, so Bliz's real protective of her. He has the nastiest glare on the planet, that boy.
Aureolin and Rose are the two oldest kids of my uncle Corundum and aunt (and cousin, it's complicated) Quartz Rosso-Senri. Aureolin is fifteen, and Rose is thirteen. Aureolin has the traditional Kimu looks—black hair with the bangs, and gold eyes. However, he's a little on the short side for a guy, and he always wears a gold and white version of Ruby's hat. Rose has brown hair that goes down to her shoulders, and pink eyes. She's short, barely standing over five feet, and she's really sensitive about it.
Last but not least is Aventurine Berlitz-Palmer, or Avey. She's my best friend, the same age as me. She's the only daughter and eldest child of Bronze and Opal, my cousin. She has long black hair that she clips back with purple hair decs. Her eyes are somehow purple, but with her family's crazy genetics I'm pretty sure anything is possible. She's very sophisticated and proper, the total opposite of me.
We entered the nicest and most beautiful part of the garden, and walked along a bit, before we bumped into the last people we wanted to see.
"What a pleasant surprise, Phoenix," came the oh so familiar drawl of Cosmic Oshiro.
I stopped right where I was, freezing up just by the sound of his voice.
Could I die now?
Cosmic was my first and last boyfriend. In other words, he was my ex. He was slightly taller than me, but not by much, which shaggy black hair and piercing blue eyes. I would be in denial if I said I no longer had feelings for him, or even if I wasn't attracted to him anymore. It had killed me to dump him in the first place. Our relationship was far from healthy, so I knew it was for the best, but sometimes I still had moments I regretted it. I always felt weird around him, and got all defensive. I hated thinking about what had happened between us.
"What do you want?" I snapped, tensing up.
His smirk widened, and he flipped his hair like he always did. "What do you think, Phee?"
...Those words could have several meanings. And my brothers both probably took it a different way.
"Shut up, Oshiro," Aoi snapped darkly. "We're not here to deal with your crap."
"We're just here for a walk," Bellatrix notified us in a very threatening tone.
I didn't like Bellatrix, and it had nothing to do with the fact that she liked Cosmic. There was just something about her that put me even more on edge; it was like just her presence was threatening. And she just seemed so... so cold. She had long, straight black hair, with bangs cut straight, ending right above her steely gray eyes. She was swearing a black leather suit. Her leather vest, the only thing she had on her torso, was tight fitting, and unzipped to show cleavage. Her leather pants looked like they were glued on, and she had black stiletto boots that went up to her knees. A coiled whip was attached to her belt, along with her Poke Balls. She was sixteen. I wondered how the hell she could move with clothes that tight.
"Suuuure, and I'm a Hippopotas," Jin deadpanned.
Bellatrix scowled at him, her hand moving down to her belt. I was surprised to see that neither Altair, Castor, nor his brother Pollux, were anywhere to be seen. Maybe what she said was true.
"So you really do have a Celebi," Cosmic said, and I realized Feya was still out of her Master Ball. Oh crap.
"Biii," Feya whimpered, flying to hide behind my head. I felt her clutch at my ponytail.
"Yeah, well, you can't have her," I snapped.
"Who said I wanted her? I was just interested in finding out the truth," he said, calm as ever. "Relax, Phee."
Relax, Phee. He had said that so many times before...
Whoa, I needed to snap out of this! He was always getting to me! Why couldn't I be strong enough to ignore him?
"Um, Oshiro-senpai, why do you always call Phee-chan by her nickname though you're not friends?" Viridian asked, her green eyes wide with curiosity and innocence as always.
Why did she always have to ask questions?
Cosmic, however, was caught by surprise. He hadn't expected that question. Nobody really had expected that question.
"You shouldn't ask things like that, Viri," Bliz reprimanded her gently. "He probably doesn't even know why himself."
Cosmic's hands clenched into fists and he scowled. "Shut up, Oak. I do too."
"Is it a reason that won't make us want to kill you?" Aoi asked, narrowing his eyes.
They really did not like him, and I didn't really blame them. But the atmosphere was getting too tense for my liking. I let out a strained laugh and attempted to brush my bangs away from my eyes.
"C'mon, guys, I think we've spent long enough out here! We have curfew, y'know!" I exclaimed, my voice strained, as I started turning around.
"Since when do you care about curfew, Phoenix?" Avey asked me.
"Uuuhhh..." Since I don't want you all to commit murder. "What are you talking about, Aves, I've always cared about curfew!"
She gave me a look. I sighed. There was no fooling any of my family or friends. They all knew me too well.
"Humph," Bellatrix snorted. "You're all so predictable. Especially you, Phoenix. No wonder Cosmic dumped you. You're so boring."
Whoa whoa whoa, hold the phone! "Excuse me?! I'm the one who dumped him!"
"Save it," she said icily. "I find you extremely irritating."
"Me irritating?!" I exclaimed in exasperation. "At least I'm not a wannabe ice queen with my boobs half hanging out of my shirt!"
"Oooh, that was a burn," Jin said with a snicker.
"Why you little-" she began, looking very much pissed off. Mission accomplished.
"Bellatrix, enough," Cosmic snapped, getting annoyed. "Just drop it."
"Why are you guys out here anyway?" Aureolin asked, raising an eyebrow.
But nobody got a chance to respond because suddenly Feya's grip on my ponytail was released, and she flew up in front of me, catching my attention. She let out a pained cry, clutching her head. We all stared at the pink Celebi, not knowing what was wrong.
"CELEBIIIIIIIII!" she screamed suddenly, making us all jump.
There was a bright flash of light, and it, without warning, engulfed us. I was blinded by the light, so I squeezed my eyes shut. I had no idea how long it lasted, but when it was over, I had the sensation that I was falling. And then when the inside of my eyelids turned red again, I realized I was falling.
"Shiiiiii-"
The air rushed out of my lungs, as I hit the ground, landing on someone. I gasped for air, trying to breathe. I had no idea where I was or who I landed on or what even was going on. I just stayed where I was, trying not to move to minimize the pain from landing.
"Get. Off. Of. Me," came the pained groan from underneath me; I opened my eyes and saw the spiky hair on the back of Blizzard's head.
Well, this was awkward.
Normally, I would tease him, but I was in too much pain at the moment. On the bright side...
"You smell good," I told him.
"Okay, okay, I'm moving, I'm moving!"
I pushed myself up, wincing, and rolled onto my back next to him. Crap, that hurt. It was a good thing I lost that weight because then I would have hurt Bliz even more than I already did. I took a moment to rest, and then pushed myself back up into a sitting position. I rubbed my forehead, and looked over to see that he was already sitting up. I reached up to fix my hair as I looked around. We were alone, in a clearing in a forest.
Ha ha, I was alone with Blizzy.
"Where do you suppose we are?" I asked him once I was done with my hair.
"Well, Feya probably sent us forward or back in time," he said, looking at me. "So who knows."
Okay, so this was serious. "I hope everyone's okay," I said with a frown.
"There's only one way to find out." He got up on his feet, and then held his hand out to me. "Come on."
I took his hand, and he pulled me up onto my feet. I brushed off my shorts, and took a moment to stretch a little. I was still sore, but it was much better than before. And then we set off.
It didn't take us long to get out of the forest. We came to an open field, with a single old concrete building near us. That was a little weird, if you asked me. Anyways, there was Viridian, talking to two strange people, being her friendly, innocent self that drove her big brother insane.
The guy was tall—taller than Bliz. He had wildly curly platinum blonde hair, and icy blue eyes. He was wearing a short sleeved white dress shirt with the first few buttons open, and blue jeans. He had to be about nineteen or so. He was actually pretty hot, even if he reminded me of Uncle Zlato.
The girl, on the other hand, screamed bad vibes to me. She had long, smooth pink hair and matching eyes. She was a little on the short side, with curves that would make me jealous if I didn't have any of my own. She was wearing a cropped pink tank top that revealed cleavage and a black miniskirt. Jeez, what was with girls not covering their chests up these days? I mean, I didn't want to see that! She was probably eighteen.
"Viridian!" Blizzard called to his sister, catching everyone's attention.
"Bliz-kun!" she exclaimed, her green eyes lighting up with happiness. "Oh, I was just asking these nice people to help me find you!"
She bounded up to us and gave her brother a big hug. He pushed her away after a moment, turning his attention to the 'nice people'.
"Who are you?" he asked, calm as ever.
"The name's Flax," the guy answered. "Flax Ama."
"I'm Pink Mazenta."
Those names were familiar, but I couldn't place it. I was forgetting something, wasn't it?
"Let me guess," Flax said with a smirk. "You're from the future, aren't you?"
I was so startled, I gasped. Blizzard stiffened, and Viridian's eyes grew wide. We were totally caught off guard. None of us imagined anyone would ever ask us that.
"I take that as a yes," he said, still smirking. "What are your names?"
"...I'm Phoenix," I said after a moment, assessing the situation. "Phoenix Kimu."
"Blizzard Oak," was, of course, Bliz's response. "Viridian is my little sister. How do you know?"
Flax snorted, and Pink laughed at us. I wasn't liking this one bit. Who did they think they were?
"It's pretty obvious," Pink said, flipping her hair in a Cosmic-like fashion. "You look a lot like Cyan Oak. Ginger is obviously a Kimu; she has the look. I didn't need her to tell me her last name to figure it out. Your sister looks like Green Sakaki, so she must be related to Jade, which means you must also be related to her."
I stared at them, my eyes widening with shock. This chick was good. She was smarter than she looked. But all of this was making me even more suspicious.
"How the hell do you know so much about them?" I demanded.
Flax smirked again, looking down at us. "We work for Synis, sweetheart."
...Synis...?
Crap, we were in that time?!
This was really bad. Really really bad.
I couldn't believe this. It took me a moment to snap out of my daze. I realized my hands were clenched into fists. I tried to loosen up.
"First of all, don't call me 'sweetheart'," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. "Second, I am a Kimu, but that doesn't mean I'm a whore like this sorry bitch here. Third, I will kick your bastard ass if you don't let us go."
They were absolutely astounded by the audacity of my statement. I smirked at them. Pink was obviously furious, while Flax just looked shocked. Pink really did not appreciate my comment.
"You little-" she began, taking a step forward.
"Shut it," Flax snapped at her, and she froze. "You know you're one so just shut up."
Okay, now that, my friend, was mean. I couldn't believe he just said that! I had never met such a jerk before in my life. Even Cosmic wasn't that mean! What was this guy's problem?!
"You really think you can beat us?" he asked us coldly.
But before any of us could respond, a familiar, yet younger sounding voice cried out, "We can!"
I jerked around towards where the voice came from, and nearly had a heart attack. It was exactly who I thought it would be—my great uncles Goldy and Grey, and my great aunt Fiori. And they were so young—barely older than us. Grey wasn't so bad looking; I could see why Fiori was first attracted to him. Fiori was pretty, too, and Gold wasn't too shabby himself.
"Flax," Grey said, sounding very irritated, and even a little tired. "Picking on children now?"
Okay, I so did not look like a child, but whatever.
Flax laughed, amused. "Someone's peppy today."
"Someone's about to get their ass kicked!" I exclaimed a bit too gleefully.
The trio took a good look at us this time. Their eyes grew wide with shock.
"Holy crap, he looks like Cyan!" Gold exclaimed, pointing to Bliz, who then pinched the bridge of his nose. "And he acts like him, too! Are you our kids from the future or somethin'?"
I let out a strained laugh, and rubbed the back of my head. "Uh, not quite..."
Bliz gave me a look.
"What?!" I exclaimed. "They're going to find out anyway! We all look too much like them!"
"Kimu?" Fiori asked me.
I grinned, and nodded. "Kimu pride, yo! Most badass family on the planet. No, in the universe! So badass Synis wouldn't even kidnap us!"
"Also the most irresponsible," Bliz reminded me.
I stuck my tongue out at him. "Well, Aoi, Sunny, and I are gonna end that! Jin... Probably not."
"Sure," he said, rolling his eyes.
"Shut up, Bliz!"
"PHEE! BLIZ! VIRI!"
The cavalry had arrived. Aoi, Jin, Aureolin, Rose, and Avey had found us, and I was relieved to see that Feya was with them. They ran up to us, and then saw our new friends.
"Holy crap!" Jin exclaimed, his eyes widening.
"What the hell is going on?!" Rose yelled angrily.
"It's a long story," I said, regaining their attention. "But we've traveled back in time."
"Great," Aoi sighed, brushing his bangs out of his eyes. "Just dandy."
Our relatives looked really confused and a bit freaked out. I didn't blame them at all. If I was in their place, I would be doing the same thing.
"They look like me!" Gold exclaimed, pointing to Jin and Aureolin, sounding very pleased with it.
"Kimu pride," I said with a smirk. "My bro and cuz."
"We can talk about this later," Grey said, still sounding irritated and tired. "Flax, you're outnumbered. Don't even bother."
Flax smirked. "Oh, I don't plan on it."
Pink scowled. "Your time is limited, Grey."
Grey narrowed his eyes at her, and Fiori scowled. I could feel the tension. Something went down, I could tell. Then it hit me like a slap in the face, and I remembered Cade and Ruzova weren't my blood relatives. How could I have forgotten?!
"Oh shit!" I exclaimed. "You're that Pink! Cade and Ruzova's mom!"
Everyone jerked to look at me. Whups, that might have not been the smartest thing to yell out. It was too late now.
"...Ruzova?" Pink asked me, raising an eyebrow, sounding confused.
"Oh, crap, it's a long story," I said hastily, feeling like I was under a spotlight. "She's... uh... Oh, nevermind!"
I wasn't sure if she was more confused or pissed off.
"How can she be Uncle Cade's mom?" Rose demanded. "She's not nice at all!"
"Uncle?!" Fiori exclaimed, her eyes widening.
"Rose! Shut up!" Aureolin snapped, and then sighed, knowing it was too late. "Uh... Well... Our mom's... your daughter... with Grey..."
Fiori flushed, though Grey didn't really seem bothered, unless he had developed a really awesome poker face. Gold snickered, very much amused. Pink scowled, not liking it at all. Flax laughed, probably at Pink. But he was really getting on my nerves.
"So, can I kick his ass now?" I asked hopefully.
"Phoenix!"
"Okay, okay, sorry!"
...
July 19, 5001.
"I'm starving," I announced once we had entered N's freaking castle. "Where can I get a bite to eat?"
Grey already looked irritated with me. Whups. "The kitchen. Where else?"
"Well, I was just wondering," I said, looking around. This place sure was impressive. "Hey, do you have any citrus fruit?"
"Yeah," Fiori said, sounding slightly confused. "Why?"
"Well, the guys should eat some!" I declared. "It's very healthy for you. Personally, though, I love cherries. They're so good! The best part is when they pop in your mouth and all the juices flood out-"
"Phoenix!" Aoi snapped at me.
"Huh, what?" I blinked, and then realized what I was doing. "Oh, whups. Sorry, I just love food so much!"
But they were all just staring at me. Fiori was blushing even harder, Grey looked even more annoyed, and Goldy was trying to hold back laughter. I cracked a grin and laughed a little. Aoi slapped his forehead.
"Dear Arceus," Grey sighed. "Kids these days." He walked away, leaving us with Fiori and Gold.
He sounded old saying that, but whatever.
Goldy finally keeled over laughing. "Oh my Arceus! This girl! You're the best descendent ever! We have to hang out!"
My grin widened and I bowed. "Why thank you, my favorite great uncle! I'd love to chill sometime!"
"He's our only great uncle, Phee," Aoi deadpanned.
"Oh, whatever!"
"I'm confused," said Viridian. "Niisan, what's the big deal about cherries? They're just fruit."
"...Yes, they're just fruit," he agreed. "There's no big deal or anything. You're imagining things. Don't worry about it, Viri."
"Oh, okay," she said, not sounding convinced.
Some day I would get that girl alone and finally give her all the education she needed. She was freaking fourteen and I was pretty sure she didn't even know where babies came from.
Fiori ran a hand through her hair. "Come on, we need to sort this out. Then you can eat."
"Okay!" I said cheerily. "You're my favorite great aunt, y'know?"
"She's the only great aunt we know," Aoi deadpanned.
"Shut up!"
Fiori sighed, and then led us away. Goldy followed us. We entered a lounge of sorts, where Grey was talking to a variety of people. I recognized all of them. The only ones missing were my direct relatives—Amethyst, Diamonda, Rubin, and Topaz.
"...And there they are," Grey said with yet another sigh, gesturing to us.
I gave them a friendly wave. Feya then decided to release herself from her Master Ball. She let out a happy cry, and latched onto the top of my head. Everyone who didn't know her gasped and stared. I just laughed and reached up to scratch her under her chin.
"Time travelers?" Plato asked.
"No, we just have a pet Celebi," Aoi deadpanned. "Of course we're time travelers. How else could we look so much like all of you?"
"The deadpan snarker strikes again!" I cheered, pumping my fist into the air.
"Shut up, Phoenix."
"Then don't be so mean!"
"At least I'm not lazy and lay around on my fat ass all day stuffing my face."
"I'm not fat!" I screeched, my hands clenching into fists. "Shut up! And I don't lay down all day eating! I only do that once in a while!"
I heard Jin snickering, so I glared at him and he shut up.
"Let me get this straight," said Crimson, interrupting our spat. "You came from the future with the shiny Celebi?"
"With Feya," I corrected.
He gave me a dry look. "...With Feya."
"Yep!" I exclaimed.
"Are you bipolar or something?" Gold asked.
"Oh me? Nah, it's just really hard to make me angry! Aoi just does that to keep me on my toes! 'Cause if he doesn't nag me I'll start lazing around again and I will get fat. He helps me keep myself in shape so I can keep up with my Pokemon!"
"You have to be harsh with her or she won't listen," he sighed. "Unless it's Mom or Dad. You don't want to give them trouble. Especially Mom."
"We love our mom and all but she gets angry real easy," Jin added with a sigh.
All my friends let out strained laughs, knowing exactly what my brother was talking about. Feya reached down and grabbed my bangs, pulling on them. I playfully swatted her away and she let go after a moment.
"So, where is everyone?" Aureolin asked.
"Am and Diamonda are out on a date," Gold told us.
"What about Gramps—I mean Rubin, and Topaz?" I asked, curious about where they were.
Everyone grimaced. Cerise actually flinched, and turned to Shirou, who then put his arm around her shoulders to comfort her. I frowned, crossing my arms over my chest. Those were not the reactions I was expecting.
"Where are they?" I asked, getting serious.
Sapph's hands clenched into fists. "Rubin's dead."
Wait, what?
WHAT?
That was freaking impossible.
I knew him in the future, back in my time. He was alive and well, with Nana—what we call Topaz—his wife of many years, and they had freaking six kids. Yeah, there were two sets of twins, one of which my mom belonged to, but still. He couldn't be dead. Aoi, Jin, Aureolin, Rose, and I, along with our younger siblings, would not exist if that was true. What happened?
"How?" Aoi asked, oddly calm, but hey, that was my brother for you.
"Synis killed him," was Sapph's bitter answer.
Blizzard stiffened, and Viridian gasped. They were, after all, related to Synis through their dad. This was not pleasant news to them. I looked over at Blizzard, knowing he would take it the hardest. He was especially sensitive to these things. His expression was cold. I had to try to make him feel better! I reached out to grab his hand but he just yanked it away.
"Bliz, don't worry about it," I said gently. "He's alive in our time."
"Delayed ripple effect," he deadpanned.
Crap, he had a point.
"Ugh, don't go all emo on us, Bliz," Rose snapped; I loved that girl but she could just be so insensitive sometimes.
Like I said, Blizzard was sensitive about his lineage. He was proud to be an Oak, Sakaki, and Berlitz-Palmer, but he was disgusted that he was a Synis, too. He was worried it would make him a certain way or something. His relation to Giovanni was not as close as it was to Obsidian Synis. This already caused so much inner conflict for him, and finding out Synis murdered Rubin just made it worse.
"Blizzard," I said gently, and he finally looked at me. "You're not like him. There's nothing you can do about this, so don't go beating yourself up about it. Okay?"
He was looking down at me, his eyes still steely. But he nodded, and I gave him a reassuring smile. I then returned my attention to everyone else.
"What about Topaz?" I asked.
"She's alive... If you can call what she's doing living," Gold responded with a sigh. "She's really depressed right now thanks to what happened to Rubes... She refuses to leave her room, and we have to force her to eat anything."
"It's terrible," Cerise whimpered, tears brimming in her eyes. "I'm so scared for her... Nobody knows what to do... We need her back but we have no idea how to help her..."
"Diamonda told me she tried to hurt herself," Crimson said, his voice quieter than usual, as he stared at the floor. "So we had to remove all dangerous objects from her room. She would have been successful if Raiden hadn't been around. He's really watching her now."
I stayed silent. There was nothing to say. My grandfather was dead and my grandmother was probably on the verge of suicide. I had gone through something similar when I dumped Cosmic, but that was nothing compared to this. I had mainly gone into withdrawal from my addiction to his love, if you could even call what we had that. Topaz was totally different. I had never had a proper relationship, so I had no idea how to describe what she had with Rubin. But I knew it was the total opposite of what I had with Cosmic.
"There has to be something we can do," I insisted.
Gold shook his head. "We've tried everything. Nothing works. She's been like this for about a month now."
"Well, damn," said Jin. "Talk about screwed up."
"You said Rubin was alive in your time," Jade said, sounding confused. "That's impossible."
"Not necessarily," Avey said, speaking up for the first time. "Haven't you heard of Jirachi?"
They all blinked.
"...Jirachi? Isn't that the legendary Pokemon that grants wishes?" Plato asked.
Avey nodded, smiling a little. "Yes. Unlike my cousins and friends, I've actually paid attention to our grandparents' war stories. And I've come to the conclusion that a lot of you died in the War. So something had to have brought you back. After doing a lot of research, I believe it was Jirachi who did it."
"More of us... die?" Fiori asked slowly, not sounding pleased with the prospect at all.
"I'm not entirely sure," Avey said. "But I believe so."
"No one informed me of this!" I exclaimed exasperatedly.
"Of course not," Avey said, shaking her head at me. "I discussed this with my paternal grandparents and they told me not to tell anyone. However, as these are our grandparents before us, I believe they have a right to know so they can save themselves."
"Oh."
Avey rolled her eyes at me, and I stuck my tongue out at her.
"...May we know who you're related to?" Plato asked.
"Oi, I don't see why not," I said, and everyone else either nodded or shrugged though my dear eldest brother looked like he wanted to smack me. "Aoi, Jin, and I have Kimu, Rosso, and Senri blood."
"Oak, Berlitz-Palmer, Sakaki, and... Synis," Bliz said with a sigh.
"Rosso, Senri, Kimu, and Kuro!" Aureolin declared proudly. "For Rose and me!"
"I have Berlitz-Palmer, Sakaki, Kimu, and Senri," Avey announced.
Aaand they all stared at us. I smirked playfully, and reached up to ruffle both my brothers' hair. "Kimu pride!"
"That's nothing to be proud of," Aoi said, giving me a irritated look.
"Aoi! You just said that in front of our great aunt and uncle! That's rude! They're more Kimu than any of us and deserve the most respect!"
"Yeah!" Jin agreed with a nod.
"Kimus have problems," he said sharply. "And you know what I'm talking about."
"Oi, the tradition?" I asked with a snicker.
"Tradition? There's no tradition," Fiori said, frowning.
Jin snickered. "Am started it. Well, Gold Senior did, but whatever."
"Not this again," Rose groaned.
I laughed. "Aoi will be the first in our generation to continue on the generation."
"I will not," he retorted hotly. "I'm not an idiot like some people."
"This has nothing to do with intelligence," I told him, shaking my finger at him. "And really, when shit is going down, you're really not thinking."
"And you know this how?" he inquired.
"It's just common sense, dude!"
"Yeah!" Jin agreed with a nod.
"...Shut up, Jin."
"...I think I know what they're talking about," Gold said, his eyes widening. "Crap, we do have a problem."
"What are you talk-" Fiori cut herself once she realized it herself. "Oh..."
I snickered some more. Everyone else sweatdropped. Man, I was going to enjoy my days in the past. Though we did have a major problem at hand—Topaz's depression. I was going to try to do something to help, even if I didn't know exactly what right now. I doubted Feya could take us back to the future anytime soon. So we were basically stuck here. In the meantime, I was going to have some fun!
"Kimu pride," I said, pounding my fist on my breastbone and then holding out a peace sign.
"That's not-"
"Shut up, Aoi!"
PSA - A word on depression
Okay guys, before I go onto my author's note I have something to say.
According to one of my faithful reviewers, "But topaz, cut it out and get over it already. She's being a baby. Yeah, it's sad but not eating, talking or LIVING for a MONTH? come on girl!"
You obviously do not understand depression at all.
In fanfiction, depression is usually played off for drama and isn't taken seriously. The person afflicted gets over it in a week or less. But in real life, this is most definitely not true.
How do I know? Because my family and I have had to dealt with it. I personally have been depressed before, and, y'know, I'm still not quite over it and it's been YEARS.
According to this person, anyone who is depressed is being a baby. That really freaking pisses me off to hear that.
If you saw the love of your life be STABBED right in front of you and then DIED in your arms, how would YOU react? I sure bet you wouldn't get over it in a day or two.
Don't forget that Topaz gets attached to be people, so she reacts more severely than others.
It's "sad"? I think it's a bit more than "sad".
So I hope this teaches you all a good lesson when it comes to stuff like this. I don't enjoy writing it, but it's necessary to make Forevermore a realistic story.
Depression is a serious thing and should be taken seriously. It leads to even worse things, like hurting yourself and even suicide. You don't "cut it out and get over it".
So no one better complain about how I write my depressed characters again, and hopefully you have learned how to properly write them from me.
Got it?
Good.
I'm sorry if I sound a bit harsh, but I get really upset about stuff like this.
This has been a public service announcement.
Okay, I wrote that PSA a couple days ago so I'm not that upset now, but still. My message still matters.
WE HAVE REACHED THE COMEDY THAT IS THE PMTTS ARC
I hope you're not too confused. If you are, just ask me your questions on my tumblr.
Oh my gosh, I love these kids so much, they're so fun to write. Enjoy the comedy while it lasts.
The Cessa arc is MEANT to be serious, guys. There's no more fun and games after the PMTTS mini arc. War is serious and will be taken that way.
Anyways.
I would like to know who's your favorite so far out of the PMTTS crew! Personally, Phoenix is my favorite. I just love her personality; it's such a joy to write.
One more thing before I forget yet AGAIN!
My good friend Starran has started an ask blog for the FT crew! The link is on my profile, and is also on my blog. Check it out and ask questions! IT'LL BE FUN! You can ask about pretty much anything, okay?
As for the anniversary special, I'm still trying to figure out what to do. Once I know, I'll let you know.
I believe that's it for today.
SO GO FORTH AND REVIEW