FOREVERMORE

~Part Three Of The Forever Trilogy~

Chapter 55

The Legacy

July 21, 5001.

(Phoenix's POV)

"Sooo... What're we doing today?" I asked the woman before me; Diamonda had asked me to go shopping with her.

"I need to get a few things for Am's birthday tomorrow," she told me as we entered the department store outside of Opelucid City. "And we're low on diapers and other such things."

"Ooooh." I thought for a moment, looking around. "He's turning... twenty, right?"

She blinked, surprised by what I said. She adjusted Aqua in her arms. "How'd you know?"

"Did the math," I said with a shrug. "It's not that difficult to figure out." I paused. "So, what are you gonna get him? He's kinda hard to shop for. Seriously, what does he like?"

I remembered, a few years back, Aoi, Jin, and I all got Gramps something for his birthday. It was one of the freaking hardest things I ever had to do before. It took us forever to try to figure out something he would like. We ended up just making a sculpture tribute to the War since that was the one thing we knew meant a lot to him. He was just happy that we put the effort into something just for him. But that was him when he was old, not when he was young like he was now.

"Oh, I don't know yet," she sighed. "He can be so difficult sometimes... but I still love him."

I grinned mischievously. "Well, if you can't figure anything out... you can always just have sex."

She obviously did not see that comment coming. Her eyes widen with surprise and her face flushed. "Phoenix!"

"What? It's true," I said with another shrug. "You're married, it's okay."

"I know," she sighed. "Arceus, you're worse than Gold."

"Oh, I am?" I asked, caught by surprise. "That's a first, heh. Anyways, there's bound to be some-"

"Phoenix!" she snapped. "Stop!"

Aqua squealed, and started squirming in her mother's arms all of a sudden.

"See?!" I exclaimed, pointing to her. "Aqua even agrees! She wants a sibling!"

"Phoenix!" she sighed heavily. "Oh, for the love of Arceus. I can do this myself. You go do whatever."

She turned her back to me, and started to walk away. Oh man, why did she have to be like that?! I was just trying to have some fun to her. I sighed, and then thought of one last thing to say.

"Don't forget to get some citrus!" I called.

...

So here I was, in Opelucid City. It was a lot different in the past, more old fashioned. It was really hot out, so I was glad I had on a tank top and shorts. I had released my baby Pichu, Ra, we I had hatched just days before leaving for Happy Hollow, that annoying boarding school my parents sent my brothers and me to, along with our friends and cousins. He was a cute little thing, with a tuft of fur on his head like my bangs. He was perched on top of my head. People stared at us.

"I wonder what everyone's doing right now," I mused. "Heh."

Ra snickered.

"Jin's probably being an idiot, as always," I sighed. "I love him, but he's got no charm."

Ra totally agreed with me.

"And Aoi's probably being Mr. Serious and Responsible. He has no Kimu pride."

"Pichu pii," said Ra. Yup yup.

I sighed again. Just then, my Pokegear rang, making me jump a little. I pulled it out of my back pocket, and answered.

"Yo?"

"Phee, it's Blizzard," came the clear, calm voice of my friend. "We need you back at the base now."

"Who's 'we'?" I asked mischievously. "Blizzy Wizzy?"

"...Us. Who else?"

"Who's 'us'?"

"...Phoenix, just get your ass up here."

"Okay, okay!" I exclaimed. "Jeez, don't be such a Super Serious Guy! I'll be right there, SSG!"

I hung up, and then took out a Poke Ball to release Neith, my Flygon. She appeared in a flash of light, and I climbed onto her back, Ra still on top of my head. Once I was safely situated, I pointed forward.

"Onward, Neith! To the castle!"

She unfurled her wings, and launched herself into the air. People on the street stopped to gape. Well, we were in Unova. I bet they never saw a Flygon before. The flight didn't last long since we were so close to the League, and therefore N's castle.

Neith landed lightly on the ground, and I slid off. I thanked her, and then returned her to her Poke Ball. I headed inside the cool castle, scaling the stairs rapidly. It took me a few minutes to find everyone.

"Yo!" I exclaimed as I entered a room filled with all of us from the future. "What's going on?"

"We need to do some investigating," Aoi said from where he stood. "The lab in Nuvema has records. We should go check it out. We need to find out what else is different here."

"Ooooh! Hey, maybe we can meet Liz and Viola and Rin!" I exclaimed, my eyes brightening up. "And maybe even Professor Pine!"

Aoi gave me a look. "Behave, Phoenix. Please."

I waved him off. "Pffft, like I'd do anything! C'mon, let's go!"

"This is so exciting!" Viridian cried, her green eyes sparkling. "We might get to see young Skyshipping! Didn't they fight a lot, Phee-chan?"

"I dunno," I said with a shrug before grinning widely. "But, heh, this is gonna be great!"

"Behave," Aoi sighed.

...

"Thank you for letting us examine your records, Professor," Avey said respectfully as she sat down in the chair in front of Professor Willow's computer desk. "This will really help us figure out what's going on."

"Pssh, it's nothing," Willow said, dismissing her comment with a wave of her hand. "I hope it helps."

Professor Willow was so young. She had to be about twenty or so, and had light brown hair pulled back into a high ponytail. Her eyes were bright blue, and she had on reading glasses. It was so weird, like everything else.

Aoi was checking out the computer with Avey. Jin was messing around on his Pokegear, bored. Blizzard was leaning up against the wall, his eyes closed, probably deep in thought about something. Viridian was sitting at a table with Aureolin and Rose, chatting away. I was sitting on top of another table, swinging my legs back and forth, bored out of my mind.

I sighed, and leaned back, staring at the ceiling. I crossed my legs, and then uncrossed them. I tapped my fingers on the cool wood surface of the table. Then I reached up and began to play with my ponytail, twirling hair around with a finger.

I glanced over at Bliz, who still hadn't budged an inch. Did he know how freaking attractive he was when he did stuff like that? Okay, I admit I liked him a lot more than I should. That's why I teased him so much, why I had so many nicknames for him. I threw so many hints at him, but he just didn't get it. Or maybe he did and was just ignoring me... Either way, he was a good friend, and there was no way I would risk ruining our friendship by directly going after him.

But... when I thought about it... Did I even have a chance with him...? He knew about what I had done with Cosmic, along with my brothers. My actions in the past could be putting him off...

"Scarlet's dead," I heard Avey say, catching my attention. "According to this, she died in the Mount Silver bombing..."

Okay, that was really screwed up.

"You're from the future, right?" Willow asked, looking up from what she had been examining.

"Yes," Aoi answered with a sigh. "And our future is turning out to be much different from your present..."

The professor frowned. "How far in the future are you?"

"We're their grandchildren," Avey told her, ever so calm.

Willow looked surprised for a moment, but then nodded. "I can see it. So, basically, you're... the legacy."

Aoi shrugged. "You could put it that way. But what's bothering us is that some of our relatives that are alive in our time are dead here... Such as Rubin and Scarlet."

Willow frowned, and stroked her chin. "It could be a delayed time ripple effect. Hmm... Perhaps... Topaz is... pregnant..."

I slid off the table, catching everyone's attention. I shook my head. "No, it couldn't work that way either. Our mom was her third child, second born, with a twin. Even if she was knocked up, it would be with our aunt."

"It's highly unlikely that she is pregnant anyway," Avey said, and we all looked at her. "It's been a month. Diamonda would have noticed the early signs. She hasn't."

Willow pursed her lips. "There's no scientific explanation, then."

"That's because we're not dealing with science here," I said quietly.

...

(Goldy's POV)

July 22, 5001.

What do you know, today was Am's twentieth birthday. It was a weird feeling, knowing that my older brother was now twenty, no longer a teenager like the rest of us. It made me realize how old we all were getting. None of us were really kids anymore.

But Am... He really was a man now.

The guy had everything—a beautiful wife, a cute kid, a happy marriage, good friends, a high position, and even a home to live in though he never used it. Compared to that, I had almost nothing. Not that I wanted to be the High Commander, but still.

Fiori was even better off than me.

I loved my brother and my sister, but I couldn't help but feel jealous of them sometimes. They got a lot more respect than I did. But, I guess I could only blame myself for my idiotic actions when I was younger...

I really had too much time to think. My duties as a commander should have increased with the loss of Rubin, but Sapph insisted on doing it all herself .

And the kids from the future really freaked me out. I mean, half of them shouldn't even exist.

Sometimes I felt like I had no one to talk to. Topaz was depressed and nearly suicidal. Sapph was too busy. Rubin was, of course, dead. Plato was too busy. Am was definitely too busy, as was Fiori. Pretty much everyone else but me was super busy.

Maybe they were just giving me a break after everything that had happened... But if that was the case, Sapph deserved much more of a break than I did. He was her twin brother, after all. But nope. She did seem to be handling this better than I was, anyway.

Maybe I should ask her about it...

I pushed myself up from my bed, getting up. I ran a hand through my sloppy hair, and tried to straighten out my wrinkled clothes. I trudged towards the door, and pulled it open, stepping out into the hall. Barely had the door clicked shut when I heard a scream come from down the hall. I tensed, and looked towards where the sound had come from. Topaz's door was wide open, which was why I had even heard the cry.

Arceus, that was definitely not good.

I rushed down the hall to the room, and stepped inside, praying to Arceus that whatever it was, it wasn't that bad. The bedroom was empty, but the bathroom door was open. I pursed my lips.

"Topaz?" I called. "Diamonda?"

"Diamonda appeared, stepping out of the bathroom. Her face was pale, her expression alarmed. "Gold, I need your help... T-Topaz..."

"What'd she do?" I demanded, worry overtaking me.

She pressed her hand to her forehead, and gestured to go inside the bathroom with the other. I hesitated at first, not sure if I wanted to see what it was or not. But then I steeled myself, taking a deep breath, and walked towards the door, heading inside.

But what I saw would forever haunt me. It was like she was finally reminding me of what she had been like when we were kids. The memories had brought back the worse possible part of her personality.

Topaz sat in the bathtub, in a tank top and pajama short, her knees pulled up with her arms wrapped around them. She was shedding silent tears, just sitting there, not moving. Though what really caught my eyes was the red blood dripping down her legs, pooling in the tub. It had to be coming from her arms; I didn't see any cuts on her legs. For a moment, the reality of the situation came crashing down even harder on me.

Dear Arceus. Why did she have to get so attached to people?!

"T," I called, but she didn't respond, not moving an inch. "Topaz..."

I had to stay calm. If I freaked, Diamonda would probably freak too, and that was not good.

I stepped up to the tub, and reached down to pick her up. She was lighter than I expected. Diamonda moved closer and carefully pulled one of her arms out to examine it. Cuts lined the inside of her arm, bleeding. Was she just trying to make herself feel better...? Or was this... attempted suicide...?

"We have to get her to the infirmary right away," Diamonda said, and I nodded.

Topaz didn't resist at all. It was like she had lost the will to live. And seeing my friend like this nearly ripped my heart out. I hurried with Diamonda to the infirmary, ignoring the fact that her blood was smearing on my shirt. She was more important than my clothes.

...You know... A couple years ago I might have been shallow enough to care more about my shirt... I couldn't believe I was once like that. Some day my past actions would come back to bite me... All I cared about back then was having fun and doing what I wanted. I didn't really care about how others felt. I was the only one that mattered. I was such an idiot back then. You could say I was even like Flax of all people. That was kind of why I felt like I didn't deserve anything I had now. I... wanted to pay some sort of price to make up for what I did.

Once we were at the infirmary, Diamonda took charge and kept everyone calm. I was relieved that today was Cerise's day off. She would have freaked if she had seen her sister like this. She would have frozen up like a Deerling in headlights.

Topaz had to get stitches on several of the slashes, but not all of them. Her arms were bandaged up. She was given a blood transfusion just to be safe. Then they weighed her to see that her weight was alarmingly low; had she stopped eating again? We had been giving her some freedom after she started eating on her own accord, and not by me forcing her to.

This was all Synis's fault.

"We're going to keep her here for a few days," Diamonda told me. "To watch her. I want you to find the object she used to cut herself with. I thought we got all sharp objects out of her room..."

I nodded solemnly. "All right, I will."

"Thank you," she said as I turned to go. "Oh, don't forget Am's party is tonight."

"I won't," I promised as I left.

...

(Phoenix's POV)

I dug through the freezer, looking for my favorite dessert—vanilla ice cream—to snack on. The good thing about being tall was that I could reach pretty far into the refrigerator. I let out a triumphant cry when I found the container. I pulled it out, and shut the freezer's door, before setting it down on the counter.

I took a cone out of the package I had found earlier, and proceeded to fill it up with the frozen treat. Once I had a complete ice cream cone, I put the tub away and tossed the spoon into the sink. I took a lick, and vanilla flavored heaven exploded in my mouth.

"Mmmmm," I sighed happily.

I pulled myself up to sit on the counter, which was shockingly cold against my skin. I shifted, pulling down my shorts a little. Once I was comfortable, I continued to feast upon my ice cream. Only a few minutes later, I heard voices, and the next thing I knew, Grey and Fiori walked inside, with a baby version of Cade in Fiori's arms.

"Oh my Arceus!" I exclaimed, leaping off the counter. "Cade's a baby!"

Fiori gave me a dry look. "No duh. This is the past to you, remember?"

"Ahahaha, that's right," I said, sweatdropping. "Sorry, I'm just so used to him being... my cousin that's not really my cousin. And, well, I haven't seen a baby in ages." I paused to lick my ice cream. "Say, I'll leave you be. Heh." I smirked devilishly. "Have some oranges while you're here!"

I waved, and skipped out of the kitchen before they could even respond. I slowed to a walk, eating my ice cream as I went. Today was Am's birthday, and there was going to be a party later on. I loved parties; it was going to be an absolute blast.

"Phoenix!"

I turned, sliding my feet on the floor. It was my brother Jin, with the color drained from his face, horrified and worried at the same time.

"What is it?" I asked as he walked up to me, switching to a more serious attitude.

"It's Gran," he said, sounding devastated. "I mean, Topaz." He took a deep breath to steady himself; I was worried now. I had never seen him this shaken before. "She... hurt herself... real bad. She's in the infirmary right now."

I almost dropped my ice cream cone, I was so shocked. I never thought I would ever hear anyone ever tell me that. I shut my mouth, realizing I had dropped my jaw.

"What did she do?" I asked solemnly, dreading the truth.

"She... cut her arms," he said, struggling to keep his voice steady. "With a razor she had hidden. She even sent Raiden off somewhere so he couldn't stop her."

I ran my hand through my hair, pushing back my bangs. I had no idea what to say, how to react. The Topaz I knew, my gran... She was so much stronger than this. It scared me. It was like everything I knew was crumbling before me.

"She's really bad, Phee... You should come see her... It... It scares me."

I stuffed the remaining chunk of my ice cream cone into my mouth, and then surprised my brother by pulling him into a hug. He put his arms around me, and squeezed me tight. We stayed like that until I finished chewing and swallowing my food.

I pulled back and said, "Let's go."

All right, before I go onto the special, let me explain.

It was an iPod drabble challenge. I set my iPod on shuffle, and wrote oneshots based on the song. The lengths vary. The idea was from XxMagicDreamerxX.

I also recommend listening to these songs. I'm also sticking to third person for a change. I think I managed to avoid any spoilers. And, due to some life problems, there are less drabbles than I originally planned.

HAPPY TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY

1. Diverse City - Toby Mac

They were such a ragtag group. At first it was like they had nothing in common, other than the fact that they loved Pokemon and wanted to be united with them. They were from everywhere, with different backgrounds and appearances and personalities.

But that changed when the truth came out—most of them were from the past, the children of the legendary Pokedex holders. Of course, they couldn't tell anyone. No one would believe them. So, to everyone on the outside, whether they were in the Resistance or not, they were a very strange group.

But after being through so much together, there was no way they were going to stop being friends.

Notes: This was hard considering that this song has pretty much nothing to do with anything in the series... Except for being an odd group of friends from all over with almost nothing in common. So I just did what I could, haha. I love the song though, great message.

2. Beautiful Ending - BarlowGirl

Would she ever get her beautiful ending?

After he died, it was like she lost everything... And even though for was forcing herself to continue, she had to wonder if things would ever end right.

Not just for her, either, but for everyone.

So much tragedy had struck them. So many had died. Not just in the Resistance, but throughout the world. Even if the war ended, would there truly be peace?

There was only way she could get her beautiful ending...

And it seemed nearly possible to achieve...

But she wasn't about to give up any time soon.

Notes: If you couldn't get this was about Topaz I'll smack you. Anyways. This song was a bit easier to apply to the trilogy, but only in the romantic sense. And it was a bit depressing. Aha. Ahahahaha.

3. Never Surrender - Skillet

It was like this every day.

Cerise pretended everything was just dandy. She was happy and cheerful. But deep down inside, with everything that was happening, she was not as joyful as she appeared.

She wanted to be of some help. She wanted to show them she could take care of herself, especially to her sister and brother.

But after that incident with Flax... she felt even more helpless.

When Rubin died and Topaz was thrown into depression, she couldn't do anything to help her sister, and it was far too late for her childhood friend.

Cerise Rosso had never felt so useless before in her life.

But she didn't want to feel that way. She wanted to be strong. She wanted to be able to stand up for herself. She wanted to feel worthy of Shirou's love and the friendship she had with everyone else.

But some days it was just so hard to keep going. However, she wasn't about to give up and let everyone down.

She would never surrender.

Notes: This is exactly how Cerise feels in a certain chapter far, far away when some major crap happens. I think you'll love what she does in that chapter, though, uh, something REALLY BAD happens to someone else.

4. Bring Me To Life - Evanescence

Every night she would lay in bed thinking of everything that happened during that long month of sorrow. Of course she would always end up crying, and Raiden would lay silently on her chest as she hugged him.

Without him, she felt so numb. She had no more motivation. She couldn't bring herself to move. She just wanted to sleep away her sorrows and keep as far away from reality as possible. It hurt too much.

She hated sleeping at night. It would always bring nightmares. She would relive the moments he died. Red was always exceptionally vivid in those dreams.

Sometimes the pain was just too much... which led to things that frightened her friends.

But she didn't want to be like this forever. She wanted the pain to end somehow. Everything she did was a cry out for help. But no one knew what to do.

She felt like nothing. Absolutely nothing.

But today was different. A certain girl came to talk to her, and her words made her think.

Would Rubin want her to live like this?

...No, he wouldn't.

What would he want her to do?

...He would want her to keep on going, no matter how much it hurt.

It looked like she had finally woken up.

Notes: Another about Topaz, but kinda about Kummern more, too. This is basically what happens when she gets out of her depression. Dear gosh, everything is freaking depressing so far. I think my iPod hates me. I have some happy songs in there, BUT NOOOOOOOOOO IT HAS TO PLAY THE DEPRESSING WHEN YOU'RE HAPPY/HELPFUL WHEN YOU'RE DOWN ONES

My iPod hated me at first and then actually gave me songs that apply to the trilogy, songs that I actually consider THEME SONGS

Too bad I didn't get This is War by 30 Seconds to Mars, that is the freaking theme song of theme songs.

Anyways. This was much shorter than I originally planned... I was really busy this past month.

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S BEEN TWO FREAKING YEARS AND WE'RE STILL NOWHERE NEAR THE END

Moving on.

You want ship names for the PMTTS crew? Well, there's only two canon ships among the group. Celestial, the ship of Blizzard and Phoenix (this one had to be freaking obvious enough) and Cerulean, the ship of Aoi and Viridian. The others' shipmates are other characters you won't meet until PMTTS.

I honestly don't like this chapter or the special... But whatever.

Finally, if you've been paying attention to my profile and my tumblr, you would know by now that I am taking a hiatus from Forevermore. Why? Because it's far too depressing for me right now. Evermore WILL be continued, don't worry.

That's it, then.

Don't expect any updates for a while. I kinda feel bad, but I need the break.

So, goodbye, for now!