"Thanks for coming with me for this, Madilyn." Penny commented as the two made their way through Tagtree Thicket on their way to the Team Star encampment. "It means a lot that you're willing to help." The two women walked for a while as Madilyn tried to hide the flustered look on her face.
"Penny, I'm going to be perfectly honest; I don't really know how to take praise. Now that I know about daddy's mind games, I've found praise a bit disquieting." Madilyn shifted her bag on her back as they kept walking. After a few moments, an apple fell from a tree and knocked Madilyn on the head. "Ow, fuck." She looked down to her feet to find a little creature poking out of a green apple. As she observed, the creature appeared to sparkle. Madilyn pulled out a Pokéball, and within a few seconds the creature was hers. "Shiny Applin, nice." Penny remarked as Madilyn sent the Pokémon to her boxes. Then the girls were walking again.
Eventually, the entrance gate came into view. Madilyn flashed her Star Badge, and Penny pulled her phone from her pocket to make her call. After a few seconds, a man dressed in an ensemble that left only one eye visible stepped out of the gate. "Cassiopeia, we meet again for the first time." Penny chuckled. "It's good to see you again, Atticus."
"Have you come to ask me to return to Uva Academy like you have Mela and Giacomo?" Atticus asked, his tone wasn't sharp like Madilyn expected it to be, but it wasn't overly friendly either. "I admire your convictions, Atticus." Madilyn noted as Atticus looked Penny over. "My answer is no, Cass. Not after the incident in the lab." Penny nodded and sighed.
"We had to take Mela and Giacomo to task with a Pokémon battle, hence why I've got Madilyn with me today." She sighed. "Are you absolutely sure, Atti?" Penny's defeated look caused the one eye Madilyn could see soften, and Atticus spoke again. "Cass, I know it's hard to hear, but after everything I don't want to see that campus again. I'm surprised you went back, to be honest, especially after the whole thing with Garrett. You were shut in for months, Cass."
"I took a big leap of faith when I came back, it's true. They cleaned up the staff though, Atti. All the professors and admins who looked away or tried to bury us are gone. Garrett's gone too." Penny's face grew paler as the name left her lips, but she did her best to press on. "I watched one of the professors unleash hell when Garett came for me and Elaina. They really fixed the problem."
"I believe you. I really do, and I want to believe it will be ok if I go back, but the thought sends my brain to panic." Atticus turned to Madilyn. "Do not be alarmed by what you see." He muttered as he unzipped his jacket and let it fall to the ground. Madilyn gasped. "They can fix the school all they want, Cassiopeia, but they cannot fix me." His torso was covered in burns and scars. They looked like burns from liquid, but Madilyn couldn't know for sure.
Those are acid burns. Amara noted. "Every time I look at myself in the mirror, every time I see these wounds, I remember everything all over again. I remember the shock, the pain, the torment. I remember the hospital where they said they did the best they could. I remember the ache that first winter when the skin dried, cracked, and existence grew painful. The wounds may have started to heal, but I'll never be how I was, and I'll remember every time I do something as simple as wash my hands. Cassiopeia, my answer is no."
Madilyn sighed and pulled out Meowscarada's Pokéball. "Fuck it, we ball?" She asked. Atticus looked to her and sighed. "Damned and determined, aren't the lot of you. Shall we add a friendly wager?" Madilyn thought for a moment. "My prize is you going back to the academy. In exchange, I offer this little guy." She pulled the shiny Applin from her boxes and opened its Pokéball. The beautiful green on the Applin sparkled.
Atticus nodded. "That will do. Shall we begin?" Madilyn nodded and tossed Meowscarada's Pokéball. Then she blinked and she stood in a field with a tree at its center.
"Oi, who the fuck pulled me back in?" Madilyn called as Melody and Elaina approached. Melody just shrugged. "Is Amara out there battling Atticus? Dammit, I wanted to flex my battling skills." She sat in the grass and sighed. "This plurality thing kinda sucks sometimes, you know?" She asked as Elaina nodded along.
"I don't like to be in control much anymore. It makes me feel like shit that I'm not there for Penny." Elaina said as she sat next to Madilyn. Melody joined them shortly after. "Cool, now we're all sitting in a circle like a group of fuckups." Elaina sighed and laid backward. "Does it fuck either of you up that there's no sky and it's just a white void? I think it's a bit unsettling." Madilyn looked upward and sighed.
"Yeah, why didn't we make a sky?" She asked as the three of them sighed. "I don't really know how, to be honest." All of a sudden, the inner world shook, and Amara appeared alongside them.
"Wait, if you're here, and we're here, who's driving the body?" Elaina asked as she looked at the three other girls around her. "Is there someone else we don't know about?" The four focused, and Amara disappeared. A man appeared in their inner world. He was thin, lithe, and had a suave air about him. He blinked a few times then smiled at the girls. "Hey, I'm Rhys. How are you, headmates?"
"Hi, Rhys, what took you so long to show up?" Elaina asked as the man joined the circle. He just smiled and Madilyn's heart fluttered. "I just kinda woke up driving the body during a Pokémon battle. I hear Amara took my place." Rhys replied as he laid back on his hands. "I'll be honest though; I don't want to be here. This plural shit sucks." He gave a half-hearted smile. "I mean, I love all of you, but it's not really all that fun being severely depressed and also, you know, chilling out in a female body."
"I hear you. I know this body doesn't match your form, but it is just as much yours as it is ours." Melody spoke as she stood. "Amara should be nearing the end of her Pokémon battle now, so she may stay in the front for a bit. I'm going to bed." She turned and vanished with a cloud of blue sparkles.
"I can never read that girl." Elaina muttered to the remaining two. Madilyn nodded her agreement and the three parted ways. Amara, are you going to stay in the front after this battle? She called into the front space. Amara called back shortly after with a Yes, Penny's down for some shenanigans, so please stay back there.
"Fucking shit."