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Chapter 20: Wounds Within
Medici
Before leaving with the detective, Axel let me out of my Pokéball, asking me to stand watch with Amber and Vanna on the off chance that something else would happen.
So he trusts me with that at least.
Really, it is great that he trusts me to stand around and watch as nothing happens. It makes me feel so good about myself, knowing that my master is perfectly fine with letting me do whatever I want as long as nothing serious is happening. And the fact that he tells me to go in Pokéball the very moment that everyone's lives are in danger? I love it! It makes me feel so! DAMN! GOOD!
The force of the punch I let loose on the tree in front of me caused it to collapse. Not as if anyone would notice, seeing as the entire forest was a wreck. I'd tell you how that had happened, but I wasn't there when it happened, now was I?
I could feel myself tremble with Rage, but I forced myself to calm down, attempting to the do the breathing exercise Inigo had taught me. Breathe in… hold it… focus… breathe out. Breathe in… hold it…
Smash your guitar against a rock. Repeatedly. Then rebuild it using only the power of your mind that could have been useful in capturing an enormous flying death machine and smash it again. Repeatedly. As therapeutic as the exercise was, it wasn't helping me control my anger, and I let out another yell, tossing the instrument aside and smashing the rock apart with my fists.
"You talk to him," I heard Shelligan whisper to Qwill, thinking I couldn't hear him.
"No way no way no way! Medici is being really scary right now! No way no way no way!" Qwill pleaded, not even trying to whisper. I smashed the rock again, sending off a small tremor in their direction, and they scattered. So you're not afraid of Death, but you're afraid of me? Is that how it is?
Don't think like that a note that had somehow gotten into my hands told me. Confused, I turned around quickly… and she was there. Gardevoir, terrified of me in nearly every other circumstance, was right there. How could I not have calmed down?
"I… um, I…" She continued to stare at me, and I sighed. "I mean, come on… if you were put in your Pokéball right before someone tried to kill everyone you cared about, you'd…"
No excuses she wrote forcefully… somehow. I began to object, saying that it was a waste of my power to not at least have me protect people, how Axel had completely ignored my feelings on the matter, how it was basically torture to sit in my ball and just wait, occasionally hearing a loud shout or scream, but she continued to point at the pad over and over again.
"… Why?" I asked weakly. "There's not a single way I was wronged in this scenario?"
He cares about you she wrote simply, placing the note in my hand for me to stare at. He didn't want you to get hurt.
"What…" I paused. "But… why not return everyone then? Why only me?"
"Because you obviously would have gotten carried away, like you always do," I heard a voice say from behind me. I whipped around quickly, shocked, and the owner sighed. "Of course, even with your grand mental prowess you don't notice me here. Why do I even bother?"
This might only serve to reinforce her preconceptions about… all of us, but I really don't like Amber's Totodile. You can't cut a guy some slack when he's getting over a sudden, unexpected emotional crisis? Which I seem to be having a lot of lately for… some reason?
"But anyway," Totodile spat at me. "If I know Axel the way I think I do, then don't you think he returned you because he knew you'd just throw yourself at Deathwing without thinking and gotten killed? Hell, I've only known you less than a month, and I'd have done the same thing."
I hated to admit it, but she was right. Not that I'd say that out loud.
"Thanks Gardevoir," I said, causing Totodile to leave in a huff. "Is that… is that all you wanted? To put me in my place?"
Gardevoir turned red, and the illusion that she'd actually been trying to tell me what to do shattered into a million pieces. She hastily scribbled a note on her pad:
No! I didn't intend to be so critical. I wanted to ask for help, actually.
"Help? Really?" I chuckled, reassembling my guitar as I began to calm down. "You remember it's me you're talking to, right? The creepy one?"
She smiled, and I swear to God I literally almost melted. It's useful creepiness, she wrote mysteriously.
Gallant
When the first thing you see when you're brought out of your Pokéball is your trainer crying, you immediately think the worst.
"What is the matter? Are you hurt? Is everyone all right?" I inquired quickly, cursing myself for falling under Death's pressure so easily and having needed to rest. "Please, Miss Vanna, answer me! Where is the Detective? Should I send for help?"
"No… it's nothing like that," Vanna said, wiping her eyes. "Everyone's fine, and Axel's just in town with the Detective but…" she sobbed again, her entire body heaving with each shaky breath. "Bertrand… Gallant, Bertrand's dead! Death… he killed him."
I was shocked. Death had really gone out of her way to kill a dying man? That seemed odd for him, all things considered. Could it be that Bertrand had seen something he shouldn't have? That Death… unfathomable, unknowable Death, had needed to cover its tracks?
I would have continued thinking, but I felt Vanna's arms grab me suddenly, wrapping me in a tight, almost suffocating embrace as she wept onto my shoulder. I froze. What was I supposed to do? Gently, hesitantly, I patted her on the head, whispering "there there," like an uneducated buffoon.
Then again, in a situation like this, I suppose that's quite a fitting descriptor.
"ORDEEEEER UUUUUUUP!" I heard someone yell, and before I could even respond, the tent flap opened, and Gardevoir, flawless Gardevoir, walked in, taking Vanna by the hand and gently pulling her outside. Vanna resisted, taking a few minutes to pull herself together, and eventually caved, dragging me along as well.
The Meditite had gotten a ridiculous looking 'Kiss the Cook' apron from somewhere, and had constructed a roaring fire, over which spun a rotisserie chicken that he occasionally seasoned.
"Good evening, ma'am," he said with a bow, motioning her to take a seat at a freshly crafted table (from the methodology of the cuts, I could tell that Inigo had been involved). "You're in for a very special treat tonight. Munson-style spitfire chicken with an exquisitely tossed salad and a fine chardonnay."
"You… I… what's going on here?" Vanna sputtered.
"Nothing at all," Medici shrugged. "I just felt like spontaneously turning our campsite into a fine dining atmosphere, and everyone else agreed to go along with on a whim. Now if you'll sit down…" He turned sharply towards a hastily constructed tarp. "Shelligan! Get out here and exquisitely toss that salad!"
The Squirtle's skill at juggling and performance has already been discussed at length, so suffice it to say… the tossing of the salad was indeed exquisite. I sat down at the table in shock and awe, and found that Gardevoir had snuck into the role of our waitress, setting our places and grating cheese over our salads.
By this time, Amber had returned (she had gone to report the Deathwing incident to the nearest station, I believe), and Medici went behind the tarp, bringing back another table that looked even more recently carved. She smiled warmly at Medici, examined the table briefly, and then walked into the 'kitchen area'. I heard the Treecko yelp in fear, and saw a brief flash of red before Amber returned, Pokéball in hand, and sat down at the table, Qwill joining her eagerly, Totodile joining her begrudgingly.
When the chicken was served, I nibbled hesitantly at first, but found that the Meditite's skills were incredible (whoever this 'Munson' was that he spoke of learning from, he must have been a culinary genius). Vanna, fully understanding what was going on by this point, gripped Medici in a tight hug as he walked by the table, and I can't say I blamed her. I knew that the gentleman face the Meditite wore was a Façade, and that more likely than not this had been Gardevoir's idea, but it mattered not. Vanna was smiling and laughing, troubles not forgotten but at the very least softened, and I gave the Meditite a thankful nod as he walked by.
Not bad at all, you insolent cur, I thought to him.
Yeah… I know he replied haughtily, smiling broadly.
Qwill
Yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum! Medici cooks really well which makes sense because he learned how to cook from Mr. Munson who also cooks really well and I never really understood why because as far as I know up until that point he'd only even had to cook for himself but I guess even old single men have a right to be really good chefs and oh my gosh look at that Axel's back!
He came back and at first he was kind of disappointed because he thought that Medici had decided to cook on the one day that Axel wasn't there to eat it and I can understand why he'd be disappointed by that because I mean who wouldn't be but it turned out okay because Medici saved some for Axel and he tore into it because it was really yummy and that's what you do with really yummy food or at least that's what Medici says because if you asked Treecko he's say that really yummy food should be savored over a long period of time and not squatted or something like that but I don't really understand that but I don't understand a lot.
After he was done eating Vanna and Amber and Medici and Gallant and Shelligan and I all asked Axel what the detective had done with him and first Axel took out the BBUTTON to show that they hadn't taken it away from him which was a relief to me because otherwise Professor Redwood might get really mad and then I might not get to play with Champers ever again and that would be so sad because I really like getting thrown in the air when it isn't painful!
But anyway we asked Axel what had happened and he said "I've got some good news and some bad news and first the good news is that none of use are getting arrested," which is really really awesome because I've heard that horrible things happen to unevolved Pokémon in jail and I just thinking about it makes me shiver like I've been hit by an Ice Beam except so much worse because Ice Beam's not that bad, but anyway Axel also said "and another part of the good news which I should call awesome news because that's what Qwill would call it and he's super smart and cute and we should all listen to the really cool things he says is that they decided that if they were going to let me keep the gauntlet I'd have to be part of POLESTAPH and so they made me an honorary officer!"
Everyone was really happy for Axel and starting cheering except for AMBER because she's really smart and has a good memory and remembered that Axel also said there was bad news and so while she was happy and she smiled for Axel she didn't full out celebrate because then she asked "what's the bad news?" and everyone else whose memories weren't as good as AMBER'S calmed down a little and started asking like 'yeah, what is the bad news' and 'why is Qwill so awesome' and I answered partially because I was born that way and partially because Amber raised me to be that way and partially because Axel trained me to be that way and partially because oh you're so sweet for saying I'm awesome!
Axel sighed but not really in a depressed way but more of a resigned 'this is just what happened and I'm actually perfectly ok with living with it and also this may turn out to be awesome but I'm not sure but seriously it's not depressing at all' sort of way and he said 'I may or may not have an assignment to do' he said, which didn't make any sense to me at first because why would the police department give Axel homework to do? Unless it was the Detective's exam which would be super awesome because that would mean that Axel would be a real life police detective and then he could change his name to Jenny and I could be friends with a bunch of Growlithes and Arcanines which would be so cool because
Narrative ended in interest of reader sanity
Author's Note:
Hey everyone! I'm totally alive and stuff! School kept me pretty busy over the last week, but hopefully I'll have more time to write seeing as Thanksgiving break's coming up! If I can generate a surplus, I can release one every couple of days without having to rush to finish them… ooh… applying economics to fan fiction is so practical… and sexy.
Yes, the dreaded Qwill narrative has returned! I know it's hard to read, and I apologize for that, but you have to understand! It's so easy for me to write because it's the closest thing to my natural thought process in this story! Also, believe it or not, there are some people who find it brilliant and adorable, comparing it to… (gasp) Faulkner! NOOOOOOOOO!
I kid. It's a great compliment, I understand. But I've never quite been able to forgive Faulkner for The Sound and the Fury no matter how badass the original quote from Shakespeare may be:
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
I wonder… could the same thing be said about Death? Perhaps the opposite?
Also…
Viva la feminism?
Also also:
Happy Thanksgiving! To all my American peeps out there who celebrate it! To those of you who aren't American peeps and/or don't celebrate Thanksgiving… have a nice day, and be thankful that you won't be forced to eat turkey this coming Thursday.