After such a long day for Mesprit, it's nice to just enjoy some time alone with Jirachi.
Yet another two chapters I decided to make into one large one, in small part because I didn't know which one I should put first, so to save myself the headache I give you a two for one.
Well that was certainly a busy day. Cooking enough for Groudon alone is already a nightmarish endeavor. Add on how hungry forty something other members get and I would need another millenia before I had any feeling in my arms again. Fortunately for me, I had some very convenient ribbons growing out of my back that could act as a back up.
I could just lay on this bed and let all my cares drift off to be problems for later. Also helping me keep my thoughts away from how exhausted I was was the fairy laying next to me. Mesprit was on her back and hoisting a magazine above her. We weren't exactly talking, but I for one was too tired for any chatter. Besides, her company alone was enough for me.
Mesprit shot up out of nowhere breathing rapidly and clutching her chest. In an instant I felt all my strength return to me and I shot up just as quickly. "Are you doing OK?" She turned to me and put her paw to her forehead. Her voice was shaky and filled with labored breathing. "Yeah… It's just another flare of emotions…It'll pass." I attempted to set my magazine aside, but I had already thrown it across the room when I sat up. It's not a problem right now. Mesprit takes priority. "Do you need me to get you some tea?" She shook her head and her breathing slowed to a far less concerning pace. Then when one shock passed another one arrived just as quickly. "Hey uh…do you need something to wipe your eyes?" The paw on her forehead moved to her cheeks, wiping away a portion of the tears now running down them. She let out a tired sigh, "Sometimes feeling everyone's emotions is the worst…" She got up entirely and floated across the room to grab one of the handkerchiefs I prepared just for these events.
"What in the world is going on out there right now?" Mesprit gave a shrug and let out a loud yawn . "Questions for tomorrow. I've already been on enough of a roller coaster for one day." Without another word she returned to laying next to me. She never bothered recollecting either magazine. Within minutes I could hear her snoring. Returning to my bed I figured this was as good a time as any to try and get some sleep for myself.
Mesprit breathed hastily and was sobbing in union with her snoring. Did she feel everyone's emotions even when she's asleep? I'd have to ask her about that later.
When the source for her emotional charges silently barged in, Azelf. Tossing the door open with an uncaring level of force. "Um…Hi Azelf. Is there something I can do for you?" She turned her head in my direction, but her golden eyes looked past me. Directly at Mesprit, who remained asleep despite the noise and the sudden chill brought on by Azelf's presence. "No."
She turned to leave without a second thought. "H-hey, wait what's going on?" She didn't turn to face me. She only clenched her fists, "Something only Mesprit can help me with." I rushed ahead of her trying my damndest to hold her in place with my ribbons. She wasn't even trying to fight back against them. She just stood there with this dull fury in her eyes. Thinking quickly I said just about anything I possibly could to make her feel like I could help her.
"Hey. I mean, I'm not as good with emotions as Mesprit is, but she's been teaching me some stuff. Trust me, I can be a real problem solver." She let out an annoyed growl and her shaking fists slowly unclenched. "Sure… Might as well see how bad things can go for me." Well that was a rude way of putting it. Well I could forgive that if it meant she was more comfortable. She continued to put no effort into resisting me. So I ushered her inside where we could at least have our chat where it was warm. She kept her eyes on Celebi who had simply fallen asleep the second she stepped into the room. "No need to worry about her waking up. I know from experience that she is a very heavy sleeper."
Her attention refocused back on me and her golden eyes narrowed into slits. "Why do you care so much? It's not like we're all that close or anything." That was a pessimistic way for her to view getting help. Sure I wasn't a total marshmallow like Latias, but I wasn't going to go and make one of her secrets into a source of blackmail. "Does it matter?" Her eyes widened and her brow scrunched. "If it would make you more comfortable I can share a secret with you if you really need that kind of assurance." She nodded and I was prepared to share one of my personal stories from when I used to grant wishes with reckless abandon. I guess all she needed was that reassurance, because she dropped her secret with no further hesitations.
"Uxie told me that he loves me." I didn't even have a chance to voice my surprise, she clamped her paw around my mouth. Hissing at me a simple command, "Quiet!" My entire body shook from the very real danger I was now in. I whimpered a frightened, "Mmhmm!" nodding as best I could with Azelf's iron grip clamping my jaw shut. "Good." I could feel her grip loosening and her entire demeanor soften. "So my response… wasn't a good one. I froze in the middle of what I was saying and kinda rejected him." I wanted to assure her, to give her some sort of advice for the mess she was in. Sadly my mouth was still thoroughly jammed shut by the blue fairy I was trying to give guidance to.
"Mmmhhmmph!" Her face turned a faint shade of red at the realization that my jaw was still being muffled by her. She mumbled a faint, "Sorry…" and withdrew her grip. "Bleh…So what exactly did you do to him?" She lost all the burning rage in her demeanor and was now little more than a quiet whimpering mess. "Nothing… I don't want to hurt him. Didn't do very good of a job on that front."
"Well I guess if you weren't interested in him. That was a pretty gentle way for you to turn him down." She curled in on herself and let out another depressed groan. "So… You didn't want to turn him down?" She shook her head and mumbled a sad, "I don't know what to do now…"
"Theoretically it's an easy fix, go tell him the truth." She let out a pathetic groan signaling how difficult that was going to be for her. Therein lies the problem, Azelf was either too stubborn or too afraid to show that kind of vulnerability. I guess if it was as easy as it supposedly was then Mesprit would have succeeded with pairing these two up by now.
"OK Azzy. Here's what I can do for you. Either tell him before this meeting comes to an end. Or I will." Her sad golden eyes silently bore searing hatred into my very being. "Think of this as a motivator. You don't have to accept these terms, but I think you could use that little extra push. " Her burning glare maintained their unblinking lock and her paws began clutching the bed sheets beneath her. "Y-you…you-" She quietly held up one of her paws for a handshake. To avoid her possibly crushing my hand I used one of my ribbons as a makeshift hand. She accepted the placeholder and locked it with a firm grip. She maintained her grip long after the point one of these deals required. She continued to meet my look with steely determination and spoke with a renewed vigor. "What's your secret?" Well shoot, that first one I had just wasn't going to cut it anymore. I needed something way bigger and something she didn't know about. Well I guess I had one thing I managed to keep on the down low. It wasn't going to make me feel any better, but I was gonna keep to my end of our first bargain. "So. You remember when I had to hibernate to grant everyone's wishes?" She gave a nod and I continued. "Then you probably remember when someone wished for me to make that copy of Groudon." She gave another curt nod, "Mew thought that entire experience was hysterical." My free ribbon waved in a dismissive motion.
"Pfft! He was doing that just to save face. You should have seen how much he doted on me when nobody was looking." I leaned in close and whispered to her, "Celebi was totally jealous about all the attention he was giving me." Her eyes quickly darted to the slumbering time fairy then back to me ready to ask so many more questions. "You should ask him about that if you have questions. Or if you just wanna watch him squirm." She grinned at me and let out a soft but nonetheless diabolical chuckle. "You're pure evil."
"Oh please, that's obvious, but that's neither here nor there. So back to the actual matter at hand, one of the individuals who helped stop that whole mess was an Absol. One that I started dating after the dust cleared." Azelf's eyes widened as the revelation of my words sunk in. Arceus never forbade us from bonding with mortals, but it was something that she advised we approach with caution. Their lifespans were but a flickering moment in our immortal existence.
"Hiro is kinda the reason I've been so dead set on never hibernating again. As long as I never overexerted the amount of energy I put into the wishes I grant. I can fully enjoy the world around me."
"What happened?" An obvious question leads to an obvious answer.
"He refused to wish for immortality. He wanted to live a normal life so I let him and we parted ways not long after."
"I just haven't really felt that spark for anyone since he passed." As I said that my eyes fell on Mesprit. Well maybe that's been changing in recent years. The willpower goddess had followed my gaze and her voice had a twinge of wicked intentions. "That'll do. Thanks for the talk."
Her grip relented and the crumpled ribbon fell to the bed beneath us. Without another word she sat up and made her way to the door. Leaving me among my slumbering companions.
As soon as she was out of the door for good I felt the true extent of my exhaustion. Leaning back into my bed I let my ribbons coil around me.
So many years later and that sting of his departure had finally started to waver. Was I well and truly starting to move past him? He was such a precious part of my life that even centuries after his passing I still warmly remembered his face and the gentle bass of his voice.
I could still recall the day he passed away, I was in a deep sleep. A dream devoid of any definition and purpose until he appeared. I had not seen him for well over a decade. It was the first time that I truly felt how long that really was. He was as young as the day I first met him. He was staring at the deformed and twisting dream. I was so overcome with joy at the sight of him that I could hardly even find the words to greet him. "Hiro! D-did you change your mind about that wish?" He didn't look at me. He didn't even acknowledge my presence. Instead he stared off into the vast unformed dream. At first I didn't understand. Even when we parted ways he never once treated me so coldly.
"Are you OK?" He muttered a grim but undeniably firm, 'No.'
He turned to me and for a brief moment I could glimpse his true appearance. His youthful features had vanished entirely to the passage of time.
"I don't think I will be waking from this dream." His words filled me with an overpowering dread.
"Hiro please! You can stay with me." He placed one of his paws on my head and ruffled it exactly how he used to. Letting the ribbon on top dance between his gentle touch.
"You know me. That is a life I do not wish to live." Why though, I never understood his decision. I wanted so badly to refuse his request. To give him that eternal life so that he could spend it with me. I'd rationalize it as something he would come to understand. That he would thank me for acting freely. Except these thoughts were just my selfish desires. If I defied what was his final wish then he would never forgive my actions. And as much as I wanted him around for the rest of time, I could never stand the thought of him hating me for all eternity for my actions.
To thank my resolve, he had a final gift for me. He leaned in and delivered a goodbye kiss. That was the last time I felt his presence before he would venture to the great expansive dream I could never explore.
I surrendered to sleep not long after. Maybe with any luck things really will change for me after this meeting. I wasn't sure how I felt about leaving Hiro behind even all these years later, but maybe Mesprit could help me find the answer to that.
I had been alone in this meticulously crafted cabin since my confession. Nestled in what would be my designated bed. The slim bits of light I could perceive had faded away entirely and I had been in quiet contemplation for over four hours now. That rejection stung far worse than I expected it to. At the very least her reaction was cordial enough. Considering how she usually reacts to upsetting factors involving me it would be fair to say that I got off easy. Honestly I was overreacting too. I had known for a fact that such an outcome was not only a possibility, but was certainly going to be the only result. We had spent an eternity hurling the most vicious insults at each other. Hell we've only just managed to pass a threshold of holding civilized conversations. With any luck by tomorrow things could go back to normal between Azelf and myself. Perhaps I could ask her to not treat me any differently in exchange for some kind of favor. No doubt she would prefer to pretend the entire event never happened. Tomorrow was going to be an utterly painful experience…
I should try to ease my mind enough to be well rested for whatever pains the next day had to offer me. Theoretically I could just read to ease my nerves. Let the words lull me away from all these confusing emotions. For reasons beyond my comprehension that did not entice me. I had been trying for half of those four hours to find anything that would suffice. None of the books I brought with me were all that appealing at the moment. I doubted there even existed such a book that could assist me at this time.
This only served to further annoy, confuse, and frighten me. My breathing had hastened to an unhealthy degree and I was shivering in spite of the warmth the blanket provided. I was completely overwhelmed by my emotions again. At the very least no one else was awake to see me in such a miserable state. My roommates had all fallen asleep nearly the moment they entered. That was a convenience for me. It ensured that none of them could see me crying. Wait, I was crying? How unlike me… Arceus I really am a mess right now.
"Hey dude. You doing OK?" I flinched and hastily recomposed. Wiping my eyes clean as fast as I could. Focusing on the source of the strangely hoarse voice I spoke as plainly as my tired mind would permit me. "I am fine Mew. I was just reading a tragedy." Mew had put a small amount of his weight on my bed. I am assuming he was resting his head and paws at the edge. His voice lacked that mocking tease whenever he had caught someone in a lie. It must have been from his sore throat. "Hmm…You sure about that?"
"I am. Is that all?" He breathed what I could identify as an annoyed sigh. Something Mesprit used to do at least once every time she spoke with me. "If you say so dude. Hey soooo, hypothetically I can't sleep. Would you happen to have any sciency remedies that could help me out?" To a degree I did, though it would more accurately be a coin flip to see how effective it would be. "Have you tried coffee? I know it sounds counterproductive, but there is a possibility that it could have the inverse effect and-" A light yet rapid rush of air repeatedly flew by my face as he spoke up. "Gonna cut you off right there. Jirachi has already tried that test. The end result was Arceus banning me from EVER drinking that stuff again." I was morbidly curious about WHICH of his events proved hectic enough that it warranted such a reaction directly from Arceus. "I'd tell ya if I could. Everyone who was there refuses to clarify what happened. They don't wanna risk me knowing what happened so I could do it again." As sickening as my curiosity had become I conceded that it was best to leave this mystery where it was. Some things even I was not meant to know, as much as I detested such outcomes.
"Hmm… how about we go for a walk? If I go alone everyone is gonna think I'm planning something and I'd kinda prefer to keep those rumors to a minimum." There was a degree of logic to that statement and I would be lying to myself if I said I would not have had that train of thought. "Perhaps a short walk will do me some good."
He let out a happy squeal and all his weight disappeared from the bed. He catapulted off to do his usual somersaults. Which also means… "QUIET DOWN YOU PINK PIPSQUEAK!" He suddenly yelped and a thud indicated someone had knocked him clean to the floor. Likely using a pillow. Floating off the bed I heard Palkia still grumpling, from the angle of his complaints and the impact from where Mew landed. I had an idea who that particular perpetrator was. Mew approached me tempering his joy ever so slightly now. "Soooo like… ready to go?" I nodded and we left as quietly as we possibly could to avoid any further pillows being lobbed at us.
We traveled for a considerable distance from our designated cabin. I was rather uncertain of where he had taken me, only that there was an abundance of nature surrounding us. Well the cool night air was a nice change of pace. "You can let it out now. Nobody else should be able to hear you out here."
"I beg your pardon?"
"You looked like you were having a bad day. So I thought I'd find you a good spot to just scream it out. Trust me, no one would hear you. I can confirm that from personal experience." Well that would answer why his voice sounded so rough. Still I had no need for such an outlet. That lapse in emotions was all I needed and all I would permit myself.
"It was not a bad day, Mew. If anything I am relieved to have this particular burden lifted." He was quiet yet I could feel his energy constantly looping around me. He wanted me to continue. I suppose Mew is going to learn about this faster than anyone else. Might as well rip this bandaid off as well.
"I got rejected by Azelf. Happy?" He stumbled out of his spiraling hover, ending with a loud thud to the ground in an undoubtedly messy sprawl. "Seriously?!"
"Yes."
He flew back up and fell silent again which was an oddity for Mew. In the past when I was alone with him he would just ramble on about nothing for hours on end. It was where I developed the ability to tune out one-sided conversations I had absolutely no interest in being a part of. When he spoke up again it was not what I was expecting from him.
"…I guess I didn't really have that bad a day either. I gotta spend most of it with Celebi after all. It was just… well we got separated for a little bit and…" He trailed off and I had a good idea of what happened from there. The usual interrogation for when he used to misbehave occurred. That would understandably sour my day if it came unprompted.
"Eh, I'll be good as new tomorrow. So no need to hold it against any of them." That was about as blatant a lie as could be. His sore voice alone betrayed how much he despised such treatment. "I honestly wish I could have even a tenth of your optimism Mew. It would make dealing with recent events significantly easier." He let out an accusing 'AHA!' and I had the uncomfortable feeling that one of his fingers was inches away from my face. I wasn't even certain why he had such a reaction. Though by the tone of his voice. He must have been expecting me to chastise him. "Wait, did you just compliment me?" I nodded and he was rather silent over such a development. I estimate that aside from Celebi he very rarely receives praise for who he is. When he spoke again it maintained that unusual gratefulness Mesprit had from earlier today. "So um…thanks man… we can change the subject if you want…" I briefly considered accepting the offer. It would have let the matter be laid to rest and I could tell myself I would be satisfied.
No, I was already this deep in and Azelf would undoubtedly tell him what had happened. I might as well make sure he hears my recollection of events before he hears another one of Azelf's exaggerated fantasies about me.
"I made a move to hold her hand. A motion she accepted. I must have made the wrong assumption about why she permitted such an action because she rejected my confession that followed."
"Dude you make romantic advances sound SO robotic! Why else would she even let you hold her hand?" It was a bit odd for her to allow such a transaction that much I could concede. Still there was certainly a logical explanation. Even if such answers so rarely applied themselves to Azelf's actions.
"That is a traditionally romantic gesture, yes. Yet there are plenty of instances where such an event is a warranted occurrence. Plus…she still said she didn't-"
Before I could continue he placed his paw on my shoulder and spoke with a strange simple wisdom that completely changed how I thought about recent events. "Maybe she just wasn't ready for such a change."
That was a reassuring thought, but it would also mean she was lying to me about what she said earlier. I am not sure which of these two realities I would prefer. I suppose an answer would unveil itself in time. Although it also opened another question, "Why are you so certain she feels that way?" His answer did little to assure me, he just hummed out an insidious, 'No reason~'. He retracted his paw and floated away.
"Welp. I'm feeling beat now. Wanna head back while we still got a chance to get some sleep?" I nodded and we made our way back to the small cabin. On our way back he started the one-sided conversation I had anticipated for this entire detour. "So did you know Celebi has a heart? Like an actual physical one. She obviously has one of those theoretical ones. I mean one that beats and everything! It totally caught me off guard the first time I heard it." He held the entire conversation by this point, mostly just him finding an excuse to gush about Celebi. Unlike previous instances I felt the appeal in paying attention to what he had to say.
I could not help but smile to myself. His words about Azelf have left an unexpected impact on me. Maybe I was going to sleep easier than I had initially anticipated tonight.
Azelf could use a hug, Jirachi is dealing with the difficulties of finding new love, Uxie is struggling to comprehend so many emotions, and Mew is still cooling down from what happened earlier today. But the good news is Mesprit's sleeping soundly.
It's also becoming very apparent to me that those initial 10 chapters I had in mind...were underselling how many ideas I wound up having. Currently I honestly have no idea how long this will be, but I'm not gonna get caught up in the semantics of how long it's going to be.
As always please leave a review and have a good day.