Crystal was utterly shocked when she found that she had been called to Queen Sapphire's quarters. It still was hard to imagine the queen as Gold's aunt. Tentatively, Crystal knocked and entered the bedchamber. She was appalled to find Queen Sapphire sitting up in the bed, disheveled and weak-looking. Crystal instantly went to her side.
"Am I that pitiful?" the queen asked in a withering tone when she saw Crystal's frantic expression.
"No, certainly not, Your Majesty," Crystal answered quickly.
The queen smiled, a toothy grin that showed off her sharp canines. "You're rather polite. Address me as Sapphire, please. I don't like to be so stuffy and proper." She shifted and winced. "But you're wrong. I am pitiful."
Crystal shook her head. "You're the bravest queen Hoenn has ever seen. The youngest as well." She'd always wanted to voice this. At least now it might offer some comfort to Sapphire.
"That is how they see me," Sapphire agreed. "They see me as a strong woman. But…" Was it Crystal's imagination, or were there really tears gathering in her eyes? "Despite that, despite all that I do for my people and my kingdom, I cannot even do the thing that a woman is supposed to do." Her eyes, the dark colour of a deep lake, slid to Crystal's. "Not even Ruby knows of my condition. Only the medics, and now you, princess. My pride rarely allows me to show how truly weak I am."
"Pardon me…Sapphire, but I do not follow," Crystal explained. "Are you ill?"
"Very." She put a hand over her stomach and took an uneven breath. "I cannot do the thing that a woman is supposed to do. I cannot properly birth a child. At the same time, I cannot hide how sick I am, and soon my people and my husband will know. As time goes on, I will grow weaker. It threatens my life. But I will face that, because I am brave." Her lip trembled. "My last wish…my only wish is that my child will survive. Not because he or she shall become the heir. Because this child is my child, a piece of me and the man that I love. And even though this child may be weak, I only want for them to live." Tears spilled down her reddened cheeks. "I am sorry to pour that out so suddenly to you, princess."
Crystal took her hand as she cried. "No. No, never be sorry, Sapphire. Because you are brave, and you always will be, no matter what condition you are in."
Sapphire managed a smile, flattered. "Why, thank you." Crystal had never realised that there was such a soft, sweet girl beneath all of that fire.
"These are dark times, but there must be a way to change the tides of this war," Crystal said.
"You're smart," Sapphire noted. "You have a brain suited for ruling, and you're set on the right course. I've no doubt you'll lead your nations into better times."
Crystal shook her head, letting out an ironic laugh. "I can only hope so."
"It's market day," Belle announced.
Pearl looked at his sister confusedly. "I hardly think there's some festival going on, with how quiet it's been. Then again, I did sleep through a parade once."
Belle rolled her eyes. "I remember. But the three of us are going to the market. We need some food and things, but we also need to get something to brighten the house. The holidays are over, so we can't put up any decorations, but this loud house has been unusually quiet and dull, and we are going to change that."
Poppy had to admit silently that the Nympharum house had morphed into something desolate. Even in daylight she found herself tiptoeing around. She had been there for days, and it still felt strange to her. Maybe it was the lack of people. She found herself imagining sometimes what it would be like with Gold, Crystal, and Emerald there once again, with Yellow Nympharum there, and with the other friends Belle had mentioned, Tanzanite and Cheren. She didn't even know them, but the idea of the small, comfy house packed with smiling faces made her melancholy, longing for something she didn't really know.
Pearl didn't seem fond of his sister's idea of "market day", but it was obvious that he knew how stubborn she could be, for he grumbled and put on his shoes.
When she stepped into the main squares of the city, full of bustling people, she felt snowed under by the snow and the citizens. The overpowering, crushing crowds made her anxious, like she might have to attack. Apparently, her tension was evident, because when Belle was admiring the bright red apples that had been imported from a southern continent, Pearl nudged Poppy.
"Oi, calm down," he said. "It's crowded, but that's the way cities are."
Poppy didn't reply, but she did try to loosen her shoulders.
Pearl raised an eyebrow at her silence. "Are you going to ignore me forever?"
"Stop trying to talk to me. You don't know what I am," she mumbled.
Pearl rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. Don't be a drama queen like Emerald, and assume that there's some coarse, hidden side to you that nobody can ever see, because they'll hate you. I know that my brother has been fighting to keep peace all over Kanto. And I know that you were an assassin. Belle told me."
"Even Belle doesn't know all," she returned. "She only knew what Black told her."
"The president's son," he remarked absent-mindedly. "Yes well, if you'd like to continue your silence, then don't mind me. But I'm not going to stop talking."
So stubbornness runs in the family, she thought.
Belle bounded over, brandishing the apples. "Would you look at these? Apples, in winter's wildest weeks!"
Her jabbering was cut off abruptly by a shriek that sliced straight through the frigid air. Poppy could feel her blood curdle at such a sound. She couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if she had become a killer. Would she be unfazed by such screeches of desperation? Just the thought made her shudder.
But people were halting all around her. More shouts rose, and bodies crushed her against Belle and Pearl as panic caused people to try to flee. Everyone was trying hastily to go a different direction. A crackling sound froze Poppy's heart.
Someone was setting the market stands on fire.
More and more went up in flames. It seemed as if the infernos themselves were surrounding them, ambushing. Suddenly, flames burst from behind Poppy. She could feel their head poking at her. Unable to control the terror coursing through her, she screamed and surged away, running blindly away. Belle shouted her name, but she didn't stop until she found an alleyway to duck into and tried to quiet her breathing. It took her a few minutes to brave the streets again. She'd gone far enough away that the only signs of the fire were the frantic city people and the smoke rising to the sky.
Thankfully, Belle and Pearl hadn't been too close behind her, but they had been slowed by the crowds of people trying to get away. Belle clamped onto Poppy's wrist, as if the assassin might flee again. Poppy wondered why Belle cared.
"It was just some Unovans trying to retaliate for the attacks on CasteliaCity. They've been arrested, and the fires are being put out. It's okay now," Belle said reassuringly. Poppy allowed herself to be led back to the safety of the house, listening to more mindless chatter about apples and nonsense.
The hiding thing worked for some odd hours, until, of course, the crew discovered that a rather large group was stowing away on the ship.
Within the darkness of the ship's cargo containment—a dusty level occupied only by a maze of crates—the stowaways had assumed that they could remain unnoticed. The crew on the ship frequently peeked into the storage, but whenever that occurred, the stowaways would split up and find a shadowy corner near the back to hide, practically holding their breath. Usually, their system worked.
That is, until Wally sneezed.
The dust was really getting to him, and when one man seemed to be bringing a smaller crate up to the deck, he could not hold it in and sneezed rather loudly. The crewman dropped what he was holding and had his jagged dagger out in a blaze. "Who's there?" he barked. Obviously, none answered, though anyone who could see Wally in the dark could see his panicked, guilty expression.
"Come out now, or I'll come back there and find ya!" barked the man in a tone that told them he was not lying. Red, ever a leader, exchanged glances with the stowaways nearest to him, and slowly stood up. Yellow tried to yank him back down, but he just gave her hand a squeeze and rose fearlessly.
"Alright, you've got me," he said, raising his hands in submission. "I'm sorry for the trouble, but there were no ships going directly to Kanto, and I heard that this one was bound for Vermillion."
The man still looked suspicious. "What's a young man such as yerself doing trying to get to Kanto?"
"You're not so old yourself, sea dog," Red said, not answering the question.
"Aye." As another man passed by, the first grumbled something to him. The second crewman scuttled away, blowing a whistle. Clearly, this was bad news. Red glanced around, but he couldn't find any sort of weapons lying around.
Soon, a whole group of men had gathered, causing quite a clamor. One shouted out, "Walk forth, boy, and slowly."
Red did as they asked, not alarmed even as he felt someone poke a blade at his back. It didn't stop the men from sweeping the area, checking for further breeches.
They were gobsmacked to find seven more unexpected passengers (one of which being a hound.)
All with something rather pointy facing them, they were led up to the deck, out of the stale air, and the captain was called. Red couldn't help but wonder if they would be made to walk a plank, like in the pirate stories he used to read when he was younger. Regardless of what dangers they were facing, Red reached out and held Yellow's hand in his. When her gaze snapped to him, he tried to give her a reassuring smile. He had come so far to find her. He wasn't about to lose her now.
When the captain emerged from somewhere they couldn't see, Red stepped up and tried to reason, "We don't mean any harm. We're not attacking Kanto, or anything, we just need to get there."
The captain grinned, displaying a set of rotting teeth. "Not attacking, eh? That's a shame. Because we are!" The men cheered and jeered, their bellows loud and sharp.
"You're rebels?" Tansy asked, alarmed.
"Against the monarchs, yes, we are, Missy," the captain replied, turning his attention to her. "Feel free to join our cause."
For some reason, Wally found himself stepping in front of her. "Sadly, I'm afraid none of us will be aiding you lot." It was only after he said this that he realised it might very well get them thrown overboard.
The captain chortled, but a crewman spoke up suddenly, "Hey, I've seen that boy! Yeah, he was the prince of Unova!"
"He's gonna try to stop us!" cried out another.
"And that other man! The tall one! He's Kanto's prince!"
Everyone began yelling all at once. Red tried to get some words out, saying that he wasn't his father and neither was the king of Johto. Tansy began coughing. White held Musha against her, but glared at any man who got close to her (including Black, but in all fairness, he only wanted to protect her.) Yellow stayed at Red's side.
Wally groaned. Now they were damned, and it was entirely his fault. "Hey!" he roared over the disorder. His companions halted, watching him wide-eyed. They'd never heard him sound so loud, so authoritative. Even most of the crew halted.
"Honestly, we just want passage to Kanto," Wally said, commandeering all attention. "We didn't even know what kind of ship this was when we snuck aboard. Yes, I am the former prince of Unova, and yes, he is the current prince of Kanto, but we aren't fighting for the monarchies. We aren't fighting for anything but peace. I don't wish to be king any more than Red wishes to follow in the bloody footsteps of his father. And look—we've also got the president's son with us!" He gestured to Black, who gave off a casual wave. Seeing him, the men mumbled to one another.
"Right, see we'd rather see this war finished than see any side's victory," Black said. "Really, if you're from Unova or Sinnoh, tell me, what has my father's rule ever done for you? Even when he was just vice president, all he was doing was ensuring his own power and reign. That's all he and Lance Corvus want; power. No offense, man," he added to Red, who shrugged. "But if you want to fight for a man who will not listen to his own people, so be it. If you want to lose your lives over a liar, who am I to tell you not to?"
"Captain," squeaked a younger man aboard the ship, "maybe they're right. Maybe…maybe we shouldn't do this. Even if Kanto attacked Unova, that was just Corvus's command. Maybe their system wouldn't be so bad if he weren't on the throne, and his son were instead. Maybe our ruler would actually listen to his subjects like he claimed he would if we had a different man as president."
"No way!" someone said in the back of the crowd. "I won't abandon my country! Long live Unova!" This was met with some sounds of agreement, as well as disapproval.
"Halt!" the captain interrupted. "You can all make your own opinions. But I for one would like to hear more of what they have to say."
Red sighed in relief. "Great, well, now that that's settled—"
"Red," Wally interrupted, urgency in his tone. "We have a problem."
"I'm— I'm fine," Tansy gasped out, but started sputtering and coughing yet again.
"That is not good," White said. "Is she ill? Does she have some sickness?"
Tansy tried to answer, but couldn't find her voice. When they looked to Cheren, he only gave them a wide-eyed stare. He was just as surprised. "I didn't know this would happen…"
"Please, do you have any medicine aboard?" Yellow asked frantically. "Her life could be in danger."
One of the men shook his head. "No. The only cargo aboard is some food and some plants."
Tansy grabbed Yellow's hand and tried to say something, but her words were breathy, with barely any sound.
"What's she saying?" White asked.
"She's trying to ask if there are herbs aboard," Yellow said. "Are there?"
"I dunno!" another man splurged. "For all I know, those plants are decorative. I'm no medic."
"It's a lucky thing that I wanted to be, then," Yellow replied. "Bring me to these plants."
While she scavenged the cargo for anything that might help, the others brought Tansy below deck into a spare room. Only minutes later did Yellow rush to where Tansy was fighting for her breath, her freckled face red and her eyes panicked still. Wally was wondering just how many times this had happened to her, when Yellow flew in with an armful of clippings.
"Someone find a mortar and pestle," she called out, "and I'll need a cup of hot water." Once she spread the clippings out and pressed them to dry, she put a hand to her head. "I'm so sorry, Tanzanite. I'm no good at this. I've brought thyme and eucalyptus and elder, because I know they're best for respiratory issues, but I just don't know which one…"
Tansy latched onto Wally's arm this time, gasping something barely coherent at him. "I think she's trying to say to use the eucalyptus," he said hesitantly. Tansy nodded.
Fast as a flash of lightning, Yellow used her tools—a pestle and a bowl as a makeshift mortar—to grind the dried eucalyptus. Then she let the bits steep in the warm water White had fetched from the galley, until it had turned the water a light green. Tansy held her breath long enough to drink some of the tea.
After a few minutes of sipping on the drink, Tansy's lungs finally cleared and everyone could breathe easily.
"That was…" Cheren shook his head. "That was scary."
Black raised an eyebrow. "Scarier than being on a ship full of rebels with two princes?" Cheren answered this with a cold, blank stare.
"I didn't know you knew all of that, Yellow," Red said, amazed.
Yellow averted her eyes, unable to help a small smile. "I was always interested in medicine, even if I couldn't ever be a healer. Besides, it was Tanzanite who actually knew which herb would help her asthma."
Tansy smiled wearily. "Well, I read a book on medicinal herbs at your house."
"So don't be so modest," Red said with a grin.
Yellow finally glanced at him, smiling like a little schoolgirl. "Well, then, we should leave Tansy alone to rest. We have some rebels to reason with."
As they left, Wally lagged behind. He himself didn't particularly like being fretted over, but he couldn't help but worry. "Are you sure you're alright now?"
Tansy nodded. "I should be fine. It was my asthma flaring up."
"Alright, then. I'll leave you be." Wally began to walk away.
"Wait!" He heard her leap up and felt a soft hand close around his, stopping him. As he turned back, she gave him a sweet, swift kiss on the cheek. It was just a peck, but Wally felt his heart leap. "Thank you," she said, blushing a rosy colour.
"For what?" he found himself asking. "Yellow was the one who helped you."
"Thank you for coming with us back to Kanto, and for protecting all of us before. You're…you're my hero, Wally." Hearing her say his name was like hearing music.
He'd never been called a hero before. He'd been a prince, an orphan, a stranger, a ghost, but never a hero. He couldn't help his heart swelling; he liked his new title.
"Well. In that case, you're welcome." He smiled warmly at her, this endearing young lady. Maybe the stars had not doomed him, for fate had been kind enough to send her his way.
In the overwhelming, heavy blanket of the night, Poppy found herself stumbling through another nightmare. When she woke to chill air on her feverish skin and the sound of Belle's soft breathing, she tried to slow her heartbeat. The attack on the city had shaken her. The things that she had never wanted to think about were practically bursting from her. She needed the sharp winter air to calm herself.
She slipped on her boots and cloak, not knowing what she intended to do. Should she run away in the dead of the night, like she so often did? Some foreign, hesitant part of her made her leave her gloves on the nightstand, though.
Poppy winced when in the corridor, a floorboard creaked beneath her. It was possibly the most noise she'd made in her entire stay in the house, excluding her panic attack earlier that day. It wouldn't wake Belle, but maybe… Sure enough, Pearl appeared in his doorway, his blonde hair tousled and messy. Poppy suppressed the urge to fix it.
Instead, she sent him a glance and let him follow her out of the house, down the street. She had no clue where she was going, but she had no doubt that he would guide her home.
Even in the dead of the night, the city was not extinguished. Some streetlights were still lit, though dimmer than they would be at the start of the evening. The whole area looked like the embers of a campfire (one that was small and happy, not disastrous like the inferno from earlier that day.) Some taverns were still open, some lights still lit, but most houses were dark and drowsy. The brightest stars had become visible above, but the moon was bright.
ViridianCity. The City of Light.
Although he said nothing, Poppy knew Pearl was worried. She wasn't used to being worried over. Grasping for words, she said, "I think I owe you an explanation."
"Are you really ready to talk about it?" Pearl asked. He was curious beyond measure, but he wasn't about to push her.
Poppy nodded. "I hope so." She took a breath, as if the words took great effort to pull out from wherever she had locked them up inside her. "My name is Poppy Syreni. I lived in Unova with my parents, and my older brother, Leo. We were happy. But my mum…" She paused. "I don't really remember what happened, but I remember what people said. They said she was a witch. I don't know why. But one day, she was gone. My father said she'd been killed." Poppy stared straight forward, her eyes dead. "But I'll never know how she died. I'll never know whether it was hanging, or burning, or the butcher's block.
"Then they came to our house. The townsfolk hated our family, for some reason. Maybe my father supported the monarchy in a time when that was so distressing. I'm not entirely sure. Still, a mob raided my house. They killed my father. They thought that I was a witch too, so they injured me and my brother." She shuddered when she remembered the blood on her nightgown, her brave brother's lame leg. "And then they set the house on fire with the intent to kill us. That's why I'm afraid of fire." She pushed back her sleeve and slid off the cloth wrapped round her arm. In the moonlight, her burn scars stood out.
"Poppy…" Pearl said in disbelief. Had she ever showed anyone this?
"The scars are all over me. Now you know my fear, yet I think you deserve to know the rest. The truth." She fiddled with her fingers and looked down at them, tears gathering in her eyes, her scars still in the open. "I tried to get Leo out, but when we were so close…I found that he'd already died from burns and his wound. I wasn't strong enough to pull him out, and I had to leave him there. I ran as far as I could.
"The next few weeks were a blur. I traveled, I stole, I hid. Finally, I made it to a city—Nacrene City. I wouldn't go to an orphanage, so I stole from stores or open windows, but by then I was thin and dirty from sleeping on the streets. I was probably sick and close to death on the day that I was trying to snag food from a market stand, when I spotted a girl picking pockets. She saw that I had caught her and came over to me. I thought that she might yell at me, even though I didn't care any longer. I had already lost my will to survive.
"Instead, she brought me to where she and some other kids were squatting. They were runaways, castaways, thieves, and ruffians. They were a sorry bunch, but they took me in. I felt that maybe I could have a place in their ranks if I changed. It was too late for that little girl, so I embraced that emptiness. I allowed myself to become the witch people had thought I was, and I joined something of a family with the other troubled street rats.
"I was with those kids for a long time, maybe a year, before we were caught. City folk knew that we were around, but someone got tired of us and reported us. I thought for certain we would all be split apart, put in orphanages, but instead, Drayden Harmonia claimed us. He took us in, and we thought we would finally be safe. We didn't realise that Drayden and his brother, Ghetsis, would poison Unova. We didn't realise—not at first—that we were doing their dirty work. Even after we did, we were so grateful to have a place that we stole again, we got information, and we even killed, for them. I wanted to protect my friends. I wanted to protect Black. I never killed, but most of the others did, and I still was bad. I didn't kill the former prince of Unova, like I was supposed to, but I nearly did. And then Belle found me and brought me here, and I just don't deserve it." They passed into a shadow, where the streetlights didn't hit. He couldn't see her eyes as she said quietly, "I don't blame you if you hate me."
A bloodstained flower. That was who she really was. A witch who had been hurt and tossed around so much that she had let the light within her eyes die. The surname she had been given, Syreni, and the one she had taken on, Harmonia, burned and bound her so terribly he nearly suggested she chose a new one. He very nearly suggested she take on his own.
But he could hear her, crying very quietly, in that patch darkness. In a shadowy spot within the City of Light, underneath the moon's soft ivory gaze, he pulled her into his arms. He convinced himself that he was just comforting her, and that his heart definitely wasn't jumping out of his chest. He spoke not a word.
A mysterious group was slipping like shadows through Sinnoh.
They stopped in every city or town they passed, no matter how big or small, and they told stories. In a kingdom cloaked in chaos and horror, they brought hope with them wherever they went, and gave it out like some abundant, magnificent treat. They shared stories of the other kingdoms of the PaxSeas, and all the things they had seen through they years. They whispered fables of the war, of the distortion in all of the governments. But whenever those who disagreed with them tried to find them to smother their flame, they were always gone without a trace.
And, most importantly, they spoke of a group that they called the Resistance.
The six mysterious strangers told everyone they met that there was a legion rising, who only wanted peace. They wanted the fighting, the war to end. They didn't care about any government. They were from all walks of life, from all different nations.
The strangers said that anyone could help. When the time came, the Resistance would need help. But until then, nobody needed to make any declarations or be yelled at for believing in a new, nonviolent cause.
And after they said their peace, the strangers always drifted somewhere else, leaving whispers and wonderings in their wake.
A/N: When I was writing the parts with Pearl and Poppy, I was listening to "Something There" from Disney's Beauty and the Beast XD
Hey, guys, this is kinda important, I'm doing another poll…
SO DO YOU GUYS WANT TO HELP ME WITH SOMETHING?
See, my fabulous friend Vy wrote stories about the little dexholder munchkins going on adventures, and as she was writing it, some of her readers came up with shipping names for her pairings (Meddleshipping for Orange & Aqua, Innocentshipping for Turquoise & Aries, Happymoonshipping for Topaz & Moonstone, et cetera )
AND SO, I'd like to do the same with my three OCs. So, the ships are as follows:
Wally x Tansy
Emerald x Tourmaline
Pearl x Poppy
SO, if any of you have any ideas at all for what those ship names could be, please let me know! Review or PM me, it doesn't matter. I'll decide and post the names in a chapter or two.
Alright, well, rant over! Thanks for reading!
-Silvia
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokespe or anything else