Do you know how in the Piece - I mean - Pokémon video games they always say like, "Wait! Don't go in the tall grass alone! It's dangerous!"
Yeah. Heed that warning.
It's not because any wild Pieces attacked me or anything. Most of the ones I see look up at me and then look down, eyes reflecting the moon that lights up everything until it is almost like a cloudy day. A young Electrike actually sleepily toddled up to me before and thumped down by my leg. I petted her soft head (green hair, like Lana's, but no fingernail polish) and waited for a couple moments before moving on.
No. The wild grass is dangerous because I keep tripping. I guess I don't usually notice it, because Torrent and Briar and Aiden are always looking out for me. It doesn't matter where I put my feet. Briar will always make the grass unfurl or Torrent will lightly swing me up with one strong arm so that my feet just clear any knots or Aiden will gently nudge me away from holes. But alone: that's a whole different story. I keep tripping and stumbling over depressions in the ground and if there had ever been a point where I should have turned back, I had crossed that line when I tumbled into a river and got back out again to keep going.
Look… I wanted to be alone. Crazy, right? I never wanted to be alone after Ash… died. But now I do. Just for a little bit, anyway. Just enough until I can scrape my knees and tumble in the dirt and maybe find a river to jump in. I put everybody in their PENs back at camp, except Briar and Skyra. But even at this distance, if I shout, they'll hear me.
And then I will be safe once more.
I can be a little unsafe for awhile, right?
Suddenly, the western sky explodes in lightning. I fall down on my butt but quickly stand up again, because there isn't a cloud in the sky, even though my hair is standing on end with static. That didn't look like a simple Thunder Bolt. I bet Steven's ring that that was Thunder. And what Piece around here knows that move. I quickly stumble over a log and scramble my way over to the direction of the attack. It's not long before a beam of bright, green-tinged light shoots towards the sky. Once again, I mark my place in the stars and run towards it.
"I'm not done yet."
Those are human voices. When I silently part the grass, I almost call out his name in shock. But at the last second, I stuff my knuckles into my mouth.
"Wynne, is this necessary?" Steven asks, rubbing his temple. There's a shallow cut on his cheek that dribbles blood down to his white collar. He doesn't seem to notice though.
"Of course it's necessary. I'm fighting for the company," Wynne responds, brushing off the dirt from her hair. In front of her stands a beautiful woman with long green hair and a shimmering, floating dress. Her posture is picture perfect and her face looks like it was shaped for a smile. But I can tell by her eyes that's she's not a human. She's a Piece. A PAL-caught piece. "Gardevoir is still standing. And I have an Altaria and a Magneton left."
"Of course. That's exactly what you're fighting for," Steven says sarcastically. Or at least I think it's sarcastic. From here, I'm close enough to see his pale skin and dark-ringed eyes. He looks very tired. I wish I could make him put his head on my lap and sleep like Skye does when she's tired. In front of him is Stavros, looking as mischievous as usual and behind him is Bastion. Her yellow eyes glow through the slits of her helmet. "Do you think I'm Ex-Champion in name, Wynne? Do you think I bought myself the title?"
"No, but I think I'm good enough to take it from you."
"Take what?! I'm Ex-Champion! That isn't transferable!"
"Let's wager our companies, then."
"I don't want your goddamn company. I like your father. I want him exactly where he is. All I want is to go to sleep, and I was about to, before you tracked me down, by my cellphone, I presume, and proceeded to tear up half the ground in an inane display of unneeded and unwanted idiocy."
"I will leave if you win this ba—"
"Jesus Christ. Stavros! In the air!"
Abruptly, Stavros crouches and leaps into the sky, until he is just a small figure against the moon. In the same motion, Bastion grabs Steven and flaps her steel wings, hard.
"Gardevoir, Double Team!" Wynne shouts just as another Piece appears with a flash of red light. Before I can get another look at her, Wynne is in the air and Steven calls out his next order.
"Earthquake!"
If Bastion hadn't turned her head at that exact moment, I would have died. But she does turn her head, and she lets out a scream of distress before she disappears. Before I can take my next breath, I'm whisked into the air and the ground underneath my feet explodes in cracks and spires and plates and mountains. I can't speak because she accelerates rapidly to dodge a hurtling boulder. I see something out of the corner of my eye and Bastion wrenches us towards the left before spiraling to the ground and depositing us on a fairly stable-looking rock.
"Alexa?! Are you okay?" Steven's eyes are big and frightened. He has a new injury, right around his temple now. He cups my face but I'm too stunned to say a word. So I just press a hand to his hairline to stop the bleeding. He winces and then hugs me hard. "Thank, God. Thank, God. Thank, God. Thank, God." He rocks me like Torrent does. I'm still too surprised (not scared) to say anything. "Say something, sweetheart. Are you okay? Did you get hurt anywhere?"
"I mean," I cough to clear my throat. "I twisted my ankle a little bit, but that was before coming here. Steven, you're bleeding."
"Yeah." He puts his lips to my temple and I'm sure he's feeling my blood thundering through my veins. "Yeah." His hands are shaking.
"Dr. Stone. I have sent out my next Piece," Wynne says in a cold voice.
"Are you kidding me? Alexa almost got killed—"
"That's none of my concern, Dr. Stone. Do you forfeit this match?"
I pull back and I see Steven watching me carefully.
"I need you to cover your eyes," he says slowly.
This is where I have seen that face before. He looked like Torrent did when Briar kissed him. I don't know what the emotion is, but it scrunches his eyebrows and pulls down the corner of his mouth. But the light shines in his gaze.
So I cover my eyes and I don't fight when he tucks me under his chin and covers my ears.
"Let's get this over with quickly, Stavros," I feel him say. "Psychic." After that, I only hear faint talking (or is that shouting?). Something warm and vanilla-scented splatters across my cheek. I feel, more than hear, Bastion unfurl her wing to protect us from something searingly hot.
I peek between my fingers to look up. I see a sharp jaw with grey stubble, a calm face. He glances down and nudges my fingers back with his chin. He smells like cinnamon and cigarettes and—
My heart thumps loudly and I know Torrent is searching for me now. Briar must have let him out of his PEN to find me.
"I am here," I tap out on the ground with my feet.
"Well, that was useless," I hear Stavros say when Steven uncovers my ears. In the distance, I see Wynne's retreating back, still proudly straight. "I guess I'll fix the ground." Stavros takes a deep breath. Everything outlines in purple as he starts fitting pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle.
"What are you doing here, Alexa?" Steven asks, eyebrows still together. "That was very dangerous of you. And why are you damp?" A line of dried blood traces the curve of his cheek.
"I didn't know Earthquake would be like that." I check his cuts. They have stopped bleeding by now. "I wanted to be unsafe for a while. I fell in a river."
"Unsafe, Champion Oak?" But his voice is warm this time. Before I can took at his face again, I feel the wind start to blow, dizzyingly strong.
"Your Pieces are angry," Bastion comments. Stavros snickers in the background. A plume of fire rockets towards Bastion from the brush, but she deflects it easily with her wing. One of Skyra's katanas hurtles towards Steven, frighteningly accurate, but it outlines in purple and then drops to the ground. Stavros doesn't stop and continues sealing the cracks all around us, replanting trees. "What level do you think we are, children?"
"Torrent!" And we are reaching for each other at the same time. He scoops me up and hugs me, nuzzling the crook of my neck. But just as quickly, he drops me down.
"Alexandra Ming-Zhu Oak! You are in so much trouble!" His eyes are glowing grey and his mouth is a stern line across his face. "Do you know how many things could have gone wrong? You could have met a Manectric and they would have torn you apart for dinner! If you wanted to go for a walk, you should have woke one of us up!" The ground starts to get soft under my feet, and I pull up my legs with a wet sucking sound, "We would have gladly—"
"Sorry," I say, and I tilt my head sideways the tiniest bit. I know Torrent can't stand up to me when I do that, and right on cue, I see him deflate. But Briar walks up to me and hits my wrist sharply. "Ow!" He has a cold anger in his eyes.
"If you had died," he enunciates slowly, gripping my shoulders, "we would have died, too. Do you understand? Please think about your actions next time." He stalks off and Skyra follows him, face stiff. Skye waves bye-bye and follows them.
"I haven't seen him like that in a long time," I say, rubbing my wrist, "This reminds me of right after we battled Brendan."
"We show love to you in different ways," Torrent murmurs, kissing me on the forehead. Aiden touches my shoulder, as if to confirm I am alive. "But seriously, that was dangerous."
"I met Manectrics, though. They didn't hurt me."
"I — wait, really?"
I nod.
"Mhm. A little Electrike came up to me while her mom was watching, too."
"I think," Steven bends and sniffs my neck, "that Briar marked you, which is why they didn't touch you. You smell like a plant to them. A very intoxicating plant." I clutch onto his suit lapels before he can straighten up. He raises an eyebrow. "Do you need something?"
"I'm sorry," I say.
"Brendan has been discharged," he answers, not meeting my eyes.
"Let's go help Stavros," Aiden mumbles and grabs Torrent's hand to drag him off. Steam curls from their interlocked fingers as Torrent literally leaves furrows in the ground, resisting, but I'm only momentarily distracted.
"This apology isn't for Brendan, Steven. It's for you," I say. He curls his hands around my own, fisted into the black material. Rough hands, warm hands. He's missing a ring; it's the one I have. "I should have trusted you, Steven. I'll apologize for that. But how, when Ash died… those things are important. I'm so sick of lies. I'm swimming in lies. They told me he died in a car accident and now, here I am, and, and—" Steven crouches down until he's eye-level with me, his hands still around mine.
"Yeah. Alright."
"And don't keep things from me, Steven. I'm not a kid anymore."
"You are."
"I'm not."
"You are. But just because you're a kid, doesn't mean I should keep things from you."
"Alright. I'm sorry for yelling at you and I'm sorry for a lot of things. A whole lot of things. And I like you very much. I'm sorry I've been calling you to see how Brendan was. That wasn't very nice. I like Brendan, too, but I like you also, just as much."
"Mhm," he hums. One of his hands go to my forehead, and then my cheek. He untangles my hand and takes off his jacket to wrap it around me.
"This jacket is too big," I laugh and he smiles and wraps it tighter. He motions Aiden over, picking me up and handing me over to him when he gets here. "Wait!"
"I'm not going anywhere, Alexa," Steven replies. "But maybe you shouldn't have gone swimming in that river."
"I fell in. It was an accident."
He nudges my head until it's against Aiden's heated neck. All of a sudden, I start shivering and I can't stop. Aiden hugs me tighter to him, the tremors ricocheting down my limbs.
"Alexa, stick you your tongue for me? Go, mleh."
I copy him.
"Good. Now say 'It's always been raining on Route 33.'"
"It's always been raining on Route 33."
"Good girl. You're alright. What dilated pupils you have. Shock, most likely. Go to sleep, Alexa."
"I'm not tired. Don't go away."
"I won't go away. Stavros, come here for a second."
I see him approach out of the corner of my eye. He pulls down his mask and grins, the scar slashing his lip standing out in the silvery light.
"All ready to sleep, little lady?" he says, much quieter than normal.
"No. I'm not tired."
"Oh, my," he says. His puts his middle finger and thumb together. They glow purple. "Follow my fingers, little lady. And… goodnight!" He snaps and I'm plunged into darkness.
I do not dream.
When do I wake up, I wake up between Steven and Torrent, disorientated and groggy. Is it the same night? Is it the next night? I do not know.
There are thousand of bubbles above Torrent's head and semi-precious stones glitter under my hands. Torrent must have done something very tiring. Next to him is Aiden. I cock my head when I see that. They aren't touching, but their heads are leaning towards each other, as if they had been talking before they went to sleep.
When I try to stand up, my legs give out and I slip down next to Steven again. That's fine. I'll try again in a minute. For now, I watch Steven's chest rise and fall, rise and fall. He has his jacket covering him, so I wriggle my hand underneath it and touch his chest. My hand starts to fall up and down with his breathing. It's toasty warm by his heart.
Something vibrates insistently in the pocket of his suit pants. Slowly, quietly, he opens his eyes and then sighs. He touches the back of my hand with the tips of his fingers and with the other hand, fishes his phone out from his pocket.
"Hello? Yes. Yes." I touch his cheek. He looks at me briefly, the corners of his mouth flicking up. "What's his name? Mhm. Did you check his EEG? Alright. Have him take a Blissy Shot and check on him again." I lower myself down next to him and automatically, he slides his arm under my head.
Why do they all do that? Is that a common form of love? Skyra does that, too.
"Hello," I say to him when he gets off the phone.
"Hello," he chuckles. The back of his fingers brush my cheek.
"You still look tired."
"I'm always tired. How are you feeling."
"My heads sorta floaty. You should sleep more."
"So should you." His thumb touches the corner of my mouth, but that's all it does. I relax.
I feel safe.
"Why did Wynne want to battle you?"
"I don't have slightest idea. Many people forget that I was Champion, I suppose. They only associate me with the hospital and Devon."
"Why did they eat him, Steven?" I ask after a while. His face darkens and he rolls on his back, facing the stars. Not wanting to be ignored, I flop down on his chest, harder than I should have, because the air rushes out of his lungs. "Oops, sorry. I forget you're not Torrent. But you said you would tell me things, Steven."
"Hm." He brushes back my hair. Torrent stirs sleepily and then rolls on his side, closer to Aiden. "PALs had a rushed testing phase. My father said they shut off a Piece's consciousness, but I never saw the paper data for that. I never saw any data for that. It might be that their consciousness is still on, but buried underneath the stronger electrical current."
"Is that why you didn't switch Stavros and your other Pieces to PALs?"
He laughs.
"My father tried, and Stavros sent him through a window. Then one of my father's workers tried to wrap Bastion's wings with electrical wire, and then put the bracelet on, and I had to physically restrain Stavros from strangling them. That was one of the few times I've seen him acting protectively." He pauses. One of his hands reach out to my face and then stops. I complete the motion for him, leaning my cheek against his hand. "Your brother was a bad person, Alexa."
I inhale. I exhale.
"I know." Something foreign and angry buzzes in the back of my brain, but I shove it away. "I know he was."
"And it's not your fault that you loved him. It's not my fault either."
"I know. Is that why you keep me around? Because I remind you of him when he was good?"
His eyes narrow.
"Who told you that bullshit? Did Wynne tell you that?"
Who had told me that? I remember someone telling me, I just don't remember who. Had it been whispered in my dreams?
"I don't know. Maybe myself."
He meets my eyes for a second, for two, but I don't look away. I'm not lying. I don't know who told me. I see him start to think, lists and connections being made behind his eyes, lines being drawn, people being remembered.
"You think too much," I say, licking his palm. And just like that, he stops, and his thoughts wind down.
"Very true. And no, that's not why I keep you around."
"Why did they eat him, Steven?"
"I don't know. Maybe they didn't want him hurting anybody else. Red started using PALs before they were popular. He left a trail of blood wherever he went." Steven closes his eyes. He still has dark circles. "Whatever it was, by the time he reached me, he was a different person. I decided to stop him in the only way he would listen. I stepped down from being Champion right after he died."
I think about that for a long time, my head on Steven's chest, his hand petting my face. It must have been painful for Steven, too. Even if Steven didn't love Ash by that point, hearing how he had died, it would be enough to make anybody cringe. Maybe that's why he didn't tell me things, because he didn't want to remember himself.
What had happened to Ash's Pieces? I looked up, so that I could ask Steven, but his eyes were closed, his breathing steady, even though his hands were still lying against the bones of my face.
I nuzzled into his palms and closed my eyes as well.