Chapter Thirty Two – Shattered
Troy and Daniel walked up the steps leading to the Route 3 Daycare Centre, where Harvey was busy attempting to quell the anxieties of the Pokémon who overheard the disturbing news about Alexa's Zoroark and the argument between him and his younger siblings; despite his efforts, however, Perri still appeared to be riddled with worry for her son – not even Michael's comforting settled her nerves! Harvey soon spotted his son and nephew approaching him and stood up, looking at them with annoyance.
"Oi! What was that all about, why did you run off like that!?"
"Look, I'm sorry, okay, but I couldn't handle hearing you arguing with Aunt Hailey and Uncle Hayden for much longer," Troy apologised. Harvey sighed as he ran his fingers through his fringe.
"Sorry, sport... I don't even know what happened; I was frustrated about what happened to Alexa and-"
"I get it, but you didn't need to implicate that Alexa chose to battle Adelina!"
"You're right...I'll apologise to her once everything's settled; she's got too much on her plate as it is." Harvey chuckled nervously. "Kinda blows my whole travelling idea out of the water, though... Where DID you disappear to anyway?"
"We just informed my sisters about what's been going on," Daniel explained bluntly. "I was going to go alone, but I agreed to let Troy join me, considering the circumstances at the time."
"Yeah, I'm sorry you had to see that..."
"Personally, I paid it little heed, especially after hearing my mother's side of it all. Anyway, I'm on my way home now to see if I can calm things down, implying they haven't already."
"I'll join you," Harvey said, hopping over the fence. At the exact same time, Troy hopped over the fence and joined the Pokémon in the paddock.
"I don't need an escort," Daniel said sceptically.
"I didn't say that; I need to see your mother anyway," Harvey laughed. "Apologies are better delivered in person, after all."
"True enough, I suppose," Daniel shrugged. "I'll keep in touch, Troy," he said begrudgingly.
"Sure, if you want," Troy replied with lacking enthusiasm. "Say hi to Aunt Hailey for me!"
"Will do," Harvey nodded as he and Daniel made their way towards Nacrene City. As soon as Daniel and Harvey left, Troy was about to resume his duty of care when, out of nowhere, a white flash brought forth the firm figure of a Gallade; the Gallade's sudden arrival startled the younger Pokémon nearby.
"Steven, hi! What can I do for you?" Troy asked happily. Steven looked around and spotted the apprehensive Robbie and Reese staring cautiously at him. Steven, however, stared blankly back at them.
"Lade."
Keith walked up what looked like a man-made pathway over Chargestone Cave; he appeared to be having some difficulties in walking up the steep incline, but Ava was resting comfortably on his shoulder, occasionally patting him encouragingly until he finally arrived at the very top of the cave. He stopped to catch his breath and to admire the Unovan view in front of him; Driftveil City was literally a stone's throw away from his location with Nimbasa City not too far away, the Ferris Wheel being the most notable sign indicating the city's location, and even Castelia City was in Keith's line of sight, despite it being impossible to tell which city landmark gave away its location due to the sheer number of skyscrapers in the city.
"...I wish I was there."
"Pichu?"
"Castelia City...with her."
"Pichu-Pichu?" Keith nodded.
"I...I know she said that I couldn't do anything to help her and my being there would make things worse, but...it doesn't feel right that I'm not there, y'know?" Keith finally began his walk down the path and downhill towards the route leading towards Driftveil City. "If nothing else, I could have helped her tell the story, even though she said me knowing about it would cause problems..."
"Pichu?" Ava was completely confused; why was Keith talking to her like she was talking to a parent?
"But, in the long run, it doesn't even matter if I know, right? I mean, if she's coming out with it, then it doesn't matter that I know, given how I'm related to her, right?"
"Pi..."
"No, that doesn't sound right...maybe Alexa has a point, but it doesn't change the fact that I should have gone with her..." He sighed. "I dunno... ...I just hope she's doing okay..."
"Pichu..."
"As soon as the boys are back and once we've had a rest, I'm taking Robbie and going to Castelia City to see her; I want to know if everything turned out okay for her and, if not, be there for her. I know she said I couldn't do anything, but I need to know if she's okay!" To Ava's concern, Keith suddenly stopped halfway down the path. "...I need to do anything and everything I can to make things right..."
Daniel walked into the kitchen, where Colin and the much calmer Hailey sat at the table over a calming chamomile tea. The two seemed to be much more relaxed, much to Daniel's relief.
"Hey." Colin and Hailey finally noticed Daniel in the doorway and were mildly surprised to see Harvey making his way over to them as well.
"Harvey! We didn't expect to see you here."
"Yeah, I wanted to apologise in person," Harvey said humbly. "I shouldn't have lashed out on you like that and I shouldn't have accused Alexa of choosing to battle Adelina..."
"I'm sorry, too, Harvey; I shouldn't have taken the news so personally..."
"We don't blame you, Honeybee, we just didn't appreciate your attitude towards the whole thing," Colin said kindly.
"You're right..." Hailey looked up at Daniel with guilt written all over her face. "And I'm sorry I brushed you off, sweetheart...I know you wanted to help me, but-"
"It's all right; I'm just glad you've stopped fighting."
"It's never nice to see your parents fighting; I understand," Colin smiled.
"Not just that."
"Huh?" Hailey was confused.
"Haven't any of you noticed how you turn on each other AFTER Adelina's been around our airspace?" Daniel asked openly. "This is what Adelina's after; she wants us to fall apart!"
"I don't get it; what are you saying?" Harvey asked.
"I'm saying that everyone in this family turning on each other over virtually nothing is exactly what Adelina's trying to accomplish; arguing with each other is playing right into her hands and you can't do that!" Colin felt disturbed.
"Are you telling me that she...? She...?"
"That she kissed your father deliberately?!"
"I...would imagine so...?" Daniel felt awkward; all he recalled from that incident was Colin's extremely crude description of the act in question – he didn't see the actual event with his own eyes. "But Keenan and I speculate that Adelina did, in fact, force Alexa to battle her; Alexa knew to steer clear, having stated her attempt to do so yesterday to Keenan, which would make the idea that Alexa challenged Adelina willingly contradictory to that statement."
"I didn't think Alexa would battle her willingly..."
"I'll apologise to Hayden for saying otherwise," Harvey said seriously.
"Speaking of which, I should apologise to him as well," Hailey said as she initiated a contact with her Xtransceiver.
"Hailey, isn't it a little too soon? You did say you'd wait a few hours..."
"I know, I know, but what if what Daniel said is true?"
"That Adelina forced Alexa to battle her? What would she have to use against Alexa?" Colin asked.
"Lydia, perhaps?" Daniel presumed.
"Nah; her death isn't a secret," Harvey said quickly. Hailey looked at her Xtransceiver as she commanded it to connect to Hayden's Xtransceiver, but was puzzled when the contact was dropped as quickly as it formed.
"That's odd."
"What is it?" Colin asked.
"Hayden hung up."
"How is that odd? Maybe he's still in a bit of a sour mood or maybe he doesn't want to be interrupted," Harvey guessed.
"No, no, no, you don't understand; he hung up after as my Xtransceiver connected to his. Like, immediately after..."
"So one ring and he hung up?" Colin asked.
"I guess so; it's like...he hung up without thinking about who was calling him..."
The atmosphere in the hotel room was filled with heavy tension; Hayden stood near one far corner of the room with his hand held over his Xtransceiver and his body slightly turned away from the rest of his family, trying to combat his anger and despair, Keenan sat on the sofa with a look of horror in his eyes and Lily was sick with worry. Alexa, however, looked the worst; her eyes were sore from her tears and reflected her sense of dread and fear as she stared at her father. Ryder stood in front of her, almost protectively, as he kept his eye on Hayden and what his reaction would be, while Jollie looked up at Alexa with her own sense of fear. The silence only served to unnerve Alexa further as she looked at the man avoiding eye contact with her.
"...Dad...?" Alexa's feeble attempt to attract Hayden's attention were for naught; if nothing else, Alexa speaking up again only made it harder for Hayden to fight back his emotions – he clenched his Xtransceiver.
"...Hayden, please, say something...!" When Hayden made eye contact with her, it was clear to Lily that anger was the dominant emotion; the glare in his eyes could intimidate a Gyarados on a bad day.
"What's there to say?! Three years ago, our daughter was kidnapped when she decided to play the vigilante for some stupid reason!" As soon as Hayden spoke up, Alexa recoiled; she knew he was furious, but his anger still alarmed and scared her; Ryder upped his guard in a heartbeat and tried to match the enraged glare Hayden had turned on his distraught daughter. "I mean, what were you THINKING?! Do you have ANY idea how RECKLESS you were being?!"
"T-The mugging aside, I-I didn't have a choice...!"
"Care to explain that!?" In that moment, Alexa was reacquainted with the same level of fear she experienced during the incident she was being interrogated about; while she was expecting this feeling, it hadn't changed its impact on her – she looked away from Hayden, trying to keep her eyes glued on one of Ryder's pointy ears.
"...t-the SPD wouldn't listen to me...a-and I-I didn't know about the IP at the time..."
"So you decided to take the law into your own hands?!" Ryder had no appreciation for Hayden's grilling while Alexa was in such a vulnerable state; as the argument progressed, neither did Lily.
"I-I exhausted all of my options, what was I supposed to do?!" Alexa asked tearfully. Ryder began to snarl deeply at Hayden while Lily looked at him disapprovingly.
"Left them alone would have been a valid option!"
"YOU WEREN'T THERE!" Alexa screamed; despite mostly being afraid and distressed, there was a hint of anger in her voice. Lily hurried over to Alexa and wrapped her arms around her; to her concern, however, Alexa didn't seem to show any reaction to her embrace.
"Honey, it's okay, there's-"
"Okay?!" Hayden shouted furiously. "HOW IS ANY OF THIS OKAY?!"
"Hayden, stop it!" Lily snapped. The dispute was starting to stress Keenan out as well as Alexa; both of them began to hyperventilate, but Alexa was choking back sobs at the same time – she often struggled to breathe clearly. "Her Zoroark's having surgery as we speak! Must we press her about this now?!"
"She insisted on it, Lily!" Hayden said defensively.
"Yes; to tell us about it, not to go through this cross-examination! It can wait!" For some reason, Hayden gave off a small laugh.
"Wait!? It's taken her three years to tell us the whole story, Lily; how much longer do you want us to wait before we get to the bottom of why she decided to play the fool's game?!"
That was the final straw for Alexa; with those harsh words, she forced herself out of her mother's supposedly calming embrace and fled the room. Ryder and Jollie immediately hurried after her, but Lily caught the hotel room door before Ryder could slam it closed behind him. Lily looked down the corridor, but saw Alexa disappearing around a corner, her Pokémon in hot pursuit.
"Alexa, wait!" Her cries were left unheard; Alexa and her Pokémon had disappeared from the entire floor and were on their way to who knows where. During the commotion, Keenan jumped up from the sofa and shut himself up in the bedroom he shared with Alexa; Lily heard the door slamming and sighed as she gently closed the door to the entire room. She looked back at the torn Hayden with annoyance. "You KNEW what Alexa was going through BEFORE she confessed her tribulations to us; why did you have to make things even worse for her?"
"You heard what she said, Lily; she admitted-"
"I know what she said..." Lily sighed. "She's a vulnerable child right now, Hayden, she doesn't need any more pressure – you know she can't cope with such high levels of stress!"
"She should have thought of that before she somehow decided to tell us about it!"
Keenan sat on the floor leaning against the door, listening in on his parents as they had a small argument of their own; Keenan was still horrified over what he had heard, but he paid attention to what his parents were saying.
"She said she needed to tell us, Hayden; it's our responsibility to hear her out if she has something she needs to tell us, even if we don't like what we hear."
"How did you expect me to react when I heard the word 'kidnapped', huh?! Do the Happy Dance around a sombrero?!"
"Don't be stupid, Hayden-"
"Why would she even tell us about this NOW of all times, huh?! Why would she tell us about it if it's completely unrelated to what happened to Xavier?!" That was a question that began to plague Keenan's mind; somehow, it allowed him to calm down a little as well.
"I don't know, Hayden; maybe it was the stress."
"Oh, yeah, I get it now!" Hayden yelled sarcastically. "I can just picture it now; 'Hey, Dad, my Zoroark's having brain surgery, mind if I tell you I was kidnapped three years ago'?! I'm sorry, Lily, but that doesn't sound like something ANYONE would do, whatever their state of mind!"
"Hayden, for your sake, you had better calm down before Alexa decides to come back..."
"I know you're concerned about Uncle Hayden, but why don't you just fly to Castelia City?" Daniel asked as he watched Hailey putting her coat on with Colin's assistance; Colin already had his black fleece on and zipped up.
"The more time Hayden has to calm down, the better," Harvey replied with a smile. "You already know he's not as emotionally stable as your mother and I."
"Daniel, if we're not back by the time school's out, I need you to get your sisters home safely." Daniel was perplexed.
"I only walked them to school because I didn't want to stick around for the morning argument; now that an afternoon one is off the table, why do I need to escort them? Daphne has her Pokémon-"
"All of whom battle better alongside yours," Hailey concluded. Daniel nodded understandingly.
"You want me to be with them in case Adelina tries anything on us." Hailey nodded.
"We're counting on you, buddy," Colin said as he patted Daniel on the shoulder on his way out of the kitchen with his wife and brother-in-law.
"What about Peggy?" Daniel asked as he followed the adults. The Beautifly peeping into the house decided to fly away.
"If she does try something, I want you to make sure Peggy's safe," Hailey replied as she walked outdoors with Colin and Harvey. Daniel remained at the front door and listened to his instructions. "If you feel that Peggy's in any sort of danger, you tell her to run back here and wait in the museum."
"I'll make sure of that under Polonius's protection," Daniel said affirmatively.
"We'll call if we're going to be late, honey; see you later," Hailey smiled as she left the porch with Harvey and Colin. Daniel waved them farewell before he closed and locked the front door after returning to the house.
Silvia flew over Castelia City on her way from Nacrene City. From a bird's eye view, she spotted the distraught Alexa fleeing into Castelia Park, a fenced off area of luscious greenery with a large Leavanny water fountain in the very centre. Seeing Ryder and Jollie in pursuit, Silvia flew discreetly down towards the park and hid in one of the bushes near the water fountain, where Alexa finally stopped; she knelt in front of the fountain and buried her face in her arms as she sobbed breathlessly. Ryder and Jollie finally caught up to Alexa and were worried when they saw her crying.
"...you okay?" Ryder asked quietly. Alexa stopped her sobbing, but showed Ryder little acknowledgement, making the Lucario feel nervous. "Uh, right...that's a stupid question... ...listen, Alex...I...I-I thought you were brave when you told them."
"Buneary," Jollie nodded in agreement.
"...doesn't matter anyway...m-my Dad's hurt...my brother's crushed...my Mum's rattled... ...I've broken this family...!"
"No, Alex, it's not your-"
"I should have said something sooner...!" Ryder approached Alexa and crouched next to her, looking at her sympathetically.
"You're letting Hayden's anger get the better of you."
"But he's right, though...! ...what I did was reckless... ...I don't even know what I was thinking..."
"Now you're REALLY letting his anger get the better of you; look, Alex, he wasn't there, he doesn't know what the stakes were!"
"...if he does...it-it'll only make things worse...! ...all I wanted to do was to help Professor Rowan...! ...I-I didn't want things to get so far...!" Alexa began to sob again. Pitying her, Ryder gave her a gentle cuddle as she wept into the base of the water fountain.
"I know, Alex...I know..."
As Alexa and Ryder's conversation took place in front of the water fountain, Silvia was unable to hear the topic discussed for the falling water; she quietly flew away in frustration.
"...n-now my Dad's hurt...I...!"
"Do you want to see Keith?" Ryder asked.
"...n-no..." Alexa calmed down somewhat as she raised her head from her arms; instead, she sadly stared at her reflection in the water in front of her. "...but..."
"But?"
"...I-I will if I can't make things right with Dad...I-I didn't mean to hurt him..."
"Jollie and I will support whatever decision you make."
"Bun, Bun," Jollie agreed faithfully.
"...thank you..."
Silvia flew over to Adelina and Huey, who were sitting at a table outside a rustic-looking coffee house; Adelina enjoyed a very tall glass of mocha latte, but she and Huey each had a thick slice of what looked like a luxurious chocolate gateau – Huey had crumbs and smudges of chocolate icing riddling his face. Silvia landed on Adelina's shoulder and whispered in her ear; Adelina listened intently for about a minute before chuckling to herself – once she returned her latte glass to the table, of course.
"Sounds like I don't need to cause any more damage...but I'll do it anyway. Good work, Silvia," she smiled as she held a red carnation in front of the scout Beautifly.
"BEAU!" Silvia seemed to squeal with delight as she accepted her reward; he didn't hesitate to begin tucking into the silky smooth petals.
"Reeooo?" Huey asked with a mouthful of gateau.
"No, honey, Alexa's damaged enough from the sounds of it, so she's off limits." Adelina smirked. "That just leaves Hailey's litter..."
To be continued...