Emerald's pov

"Adventure?" Ray asked. Yeah I could see in his face he didn't like being dragged along. Honestly, I was surprised this was working at all. I would have thought I would be anchored to Ray, not that I would be able to pull him. I guess I thought that because he was significantly bigger than me. But, that really had nothing to do with our bond, did it? We were linked on a metaphysical level, so our physical reality didn't matter much, did it?

"Yep. I'm going to show you around. I know you'll like it here." I smiled at him. I needed him to like it here. Or else the both of us were going to have a pretty miserable time together. He just sort of grunted in response. I frowned. Getting his heart rate up would cheer him up. It always cheered me up. Seeing the ocean would cheer him up.

"Emerald!" A voice called, an olding, balding voice that sounded like he was all stuffy inside. It was Archibald. I sighed. Of course he would see me, of course he would catch me. That was right, I was grounded. Grounded in a castle, but grounded all the same.

I hated that word, grounded. The ground was the last place I wanted to be. I wanted to take flight, I wanted to go, to soar. I didn't… want to be dependent on a Pokemon who didn't seem to like me in order to get that sort of freedom. Grounded, just thinking the word made me shudder. I stopped. I knew it was no use to try and fight Archibald. He and his Chatot were surprisingly powerful. Chatot was a parrot looking Pokemon with a music note head. He could sing any tune, including notes that were totally impossible for other creatures to produce. I did like to listen to him, but he didn't like to be listened to. I had gotten quite good at hiding from him in order to hear his song. I did not know how they got so good at magic.

I didn't know why I was so bad at magic. I guessed it was just something you were born with, and I had been born unlucky. I… had been born unlucky… Was that really true, was there really nothing I could, nothing I could have done, I meant. Well, I wasn't going to let that stop me. I didn't let that stop me. I had already won, I just had to sharpen my skills now.

"Sorry, Archibald." I said. I was not sorry.

"Back to your room, then. Off with you."

"Go think about what you did. This will teach you responsibility. You can't be so reckless." Chatot finished. The two were strangely of one mind. The two of them often finished each other's sentences. It actually became slightly creepy at times. I didn't pay much attention to it, most of the time. I mostly just listened to them and considered them the same person.

So I dragged myself back to my room, my head held low, drooping. Ray was looking at me strangely, I was sure. I didn't care. He could look at me like that for the rest of my life, everyone else already did. This guy who was supposed to be my partner in crime. That's how it was for the rest of them. What made me so different? What made it… wrong? Why were things so wrong? Was it me? Did I do something wrong? Or was I just born wrong? Maybe there was another world that I was more suited for. Heh, what a cool world that would be?

"What's happening? No more adventure?" Ray asked in a mocking tone.

"Not right this moment… I'm grounded." I sighed.

"Grounded?" He asked. Seemed Ray wasn't familiar with the concept. Was that not something they had in his world?

"I'm not allowed to go outside and adventure with you. Last time someone got hurt." I chuckled. "It wasn't even my fault, and he said as much to them, but I get punished all the same. Apparently if I was a good leader I'd take the blame. Doesn't make much sense to me." I said, I looked at Ray. He didn't have much of a reaction. That seemed to be a common theme here, huh?

"So… we're staying inside?" Ray asked.

"Yes." I sighed, defeated for the moment.

"To the library, then." He said.

"We were just there."

"Yes." Without any further response than that, he started floating ahead of me, and I found myself walking forward, despite myself. Ah, so this was what I was doing to him. It didn't hurt or anything, I just was being dragged along to the library. I really didn't want to go back to the library.

"Why do you want to go BACK to the library, the lessons are done for today!"

"To read books." He said simply. Why would he want to go back in there and read? Well, I guessed it was just as good as any other activity you could do trapped in the castle. Still, I wasn't about to let an entire afternoon go to waste. I would let Ray take me to the library. I had a plan to escape. There was a path from the library that went outside that I was pretty sure Archibald didn't know I knew about. I could use that to my advantage. I couldn't go to the kids, sure. It was important for them to explore, but their folks were probably pretty cautious right about now, and would let Archibald know. It would have to be just me and Ray, but I would be able to show him something great, something to get him to stay.

And so, we got back to the library. Lilly was still around, so I couldn't make my escape right now. Why was Lilly still in here? What did she… even do when she wasn't teaching? It occurred to me that I didn't actually know. I only ever saw her when she was being a teacher. I'd seen her a few times outside, sure, but I was doing things then, so I never really, uh… paid attention to what exactly she was doing.

"I had a feeling you would be back." Lilly said, smiling a little.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Not you, Em. I'm talking to Ray." I glanced over at Ray. He looked more at ease in this room. He liked the library, alright. That was going to be a problem. This was the most boring place ever. The only purpose it served was to be the backdrop for magic lessons. "I think you'd like this one." Lilly said, and handed Ray a big leather-bound book. Ray took it in his hands, blew some of the dust off, and opened it.

"What is it?" Ray asked.

"History of the kingdom. I thought you might be interested." Lilly replied. Ray nodded and settled down on a couch to read.

"So I just have to sit here?" I asked. That pissed me off.

"Compromise is the stuff of relationships. Especially for you two." She said. I hated this. I had things I wanted to do. Time was wasted here, there was nothing cool to do in a library! But he was anchored here, and he anchored me here. I wondered what exactly the tether was, and why and how it connected us. It was probably made of magic or something, but what was magic. Magic was nature, it was a farce of nature, but why exactly did it tether us? That was probably going to be a mystery forever, either that or it was some really complicated answer that I couldn't even begin to understand. He had dragged me, and I had dragged him. What governed that? Maybe… strength of will?

"That's right, Emerald, compromise." Ray said, shooting me a snarky grin. Was he really this petty?

"Remember that, Ray." I snapped back. Maybe I was just as petty. Haha, maybe we belonged together after all? I was going to make him eat those words… with a fork… Yeah, that would show him!

Arceus, I was bored. How long was he going to be here? Or, more importantly, how long was Lilly going to be there. As long as she was around, I couldn't make a move to leave. I already knew my route to escape. There were so many hidden little doorways and passageways in this palace. If I wanted to hide from my sisters, from my problems, I could do it with or without magic. But no, she stayed there, and Ray continued to read. So I sat.

Seriously, why was Lilly just sitting there? She wasn't really doing anything, she was just there. I didn't stand directly at her, cause then she would know I was staring. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Guardevoir poke her head out from behind the book case again. Her face was bright red, I thought that was what I saw, anyways. I looked up to confirm what I thought I saw, and as I did, she ducked behind the book case, again. Did she… did she like Ray? Was she enamored with Ray? That was adorable! That could be just the thing to get Ray to like things here, not try to leave, a girlfriend! And Guardevoir was a great catch, too. She was beautiful and nice, a bit shy though, but she liked things peaceful, and it seemed like maybe Ray did too.

Lilly put a hand on Guardevoir's shoulder, in a form of comfort. Guardevoir seemed to gain courage, then, balled her fist in determination, and walked up to Ray. She gave him a tiny tap to get his attention. He didn't seem to feel it, he was engrossed in the book. She tapped a little harder and he looked up.

"Huh? Yes?"

"Hello…" She whispered.

"Hi. What do you want?" Ray asked.

"Do you want to… maybe… hang out some time?" Guardevoir asked.

"No." He said simply. And that was that. She absolutely deflated. She took all of her courage, and it was for nothing. Wow, Ray was cold, colder than I thought, turning down a petty girl like that so harshly. I wanted to retaliate, but Lilly put up her hands in protest. Ok, I backed down, but only for her. And I would tell him about it once she was gone. Which, I was pretty sure she was about to leave, since Guardevoir was the reason she was staying, I was willing to bet.

Yep, there she went, Lilly was comforting Guardevoir, and they were leaving out the room. Good, good. I waited a few moments and then ripped the book from Ray's hands.

"Emerald!" he yelled. But I knew nobody would come. People yelling at me was way normal. I grinned, a glint in my eyes. I pulled Ray towards the hidden passage, and he pulled back. It was a tug of war.

"Ray, I have something I need you to see." I explained.

"You aren't allowed out." Ray countered.

"Ae you going to listen to a stuffy guy like him?" I asked. Archibald, in my honest opinion, was not worth listening to. We were going out. That was what was going to happen.

"If I go with you… will you leave me in peace for a while?" Ray asked after a long while.

"Yeah, sure." I said. I knew he would fall in love with this place. The world, not necessarily this kingdom. He sighed. Compromise was everything, huh? Seemed it was already working.

"Fine, then. I'll go with you."

"Yay!" I grinned. Before he could decide otherwise. "But…uh, now that I think about it, we should wait until night time. So… read your books, I guess." I rolled my eyes. I had been silly. They would be looking for me come dinner time, and I didn't know it I'd be back by then. Plus, if I was caught at any time, I'd be in a lot of trouble. Ray won for now, but he conceded, and I wasn't about to let him skip out on it. We would wait until bed. Nobody checked on me after lights out. I handed the book back. He snatched it back from me with a huff, and went back to the couch to read.

Will Affa remember to upload regularly? The world my never know, but I'm up to chapter like 40 something on this story already, so it's just a matter of remembering. Have an awesome day!