Chapter 2:
Her heart sank in response, deep verdant eyes clouded with sympathy. Her ribbons empathetically drooped towards the ground, weighed by the heavy atmosphere.
Silence filled the little garden, even the previous gurgles that surged from the majestic water feature had hushened in response, as if anguish was being emanated from Felix, and absorbed by the surrounding environment. Emmy wordlessly scooched across the bench and pulled Felix into a tight hug, her ribbons sympathetically patting his back in a rhythmic motion. After a few moments of uninterrupted respite, Felix pulled away from her.
"Hey, Em, thanks for being here. For me."
"You're a great friend." He chuckled lightly. "How do you ever do it."
Emmy blushed. "Well, I've gotta be there for my friends, y'know? But this isn't about me. You really should've told me this earlier!"
"No, I'll be fine. I don't want to burden you any more with my worries." Her body stiffened in disbelief at the sound of those words.
"Fine? Burden?" she repeated, "Felix, you dummy, look at yourself. You're normally so bright and happy, but," she said, a pang of sorrow flitted across her green eyes. "I could see it in your face! Your hopes and dreams, your look of utter hopelessness, it crushed me just as much."
Little tears welled in her eyes. "Felix. Next time, you better tell me, right away. We all have our rough days, just know that I'll be here, always. Whatever you're going through, or whatever I'm going through, we have each other, okay?" A lone tear managed to leak out the corner of her eye. "I just can't bear to see you suffer alone."
"Emerald…"
The tear trickled out and slid down her left cheek, which she hid by turning her head away from Felix to face towards the fountain.
"Just promise me that, please?"
"Alright. I will."
A faint smile crept onto her reddening face, she gave him a momentary glance, filled with such hope and warmth, before she turned back to contemplate. How could she help Felix with such a big problem? She would need to contact some friends in high places, and even then the king would opp— wait, the king!
She lurched back towards Felix; a sudden burst of energy shot across her posture. A ribbon glided to her cheek and wiped away the little moisture that collected on her cheek. "Of course, how could I have been so stupid!?"
"Uh, excuse me?"
"It's so obvious! We'll just have to find a way for you to 'do something'." A steely gaze affixed itself on her face. "We simply brainstorm a plan for you to make your impact, maybe get out of this Arceus-forsaken castle and explore the world, fulfil your desires, whatever they may be. The best course of action is to simply find a solution."
A giddy look spread across her face, a plan formulating. She would just have to convince the king to let down his fur and give Felix an ounce of freedom. After all, it wasn't as if he was doing anything important currently, so no one should oppose him, as Felix said himself, he was basically a 'backup heir'. It was quite simple really, well, simple would be a bit of an understatement, but she wouldn't admit to that.
"Come again?" The Flareon tilted his head, signifying his confusion. "Am I supposed to run off into the wilderness, abandoning everything and everyone I've known?"
"Exactly! Well, not exactly. The plan is to convince King Palladius to let you go and leave the kingdom, one way or another. We could possibly frame it as a journey of self-discovery, or a research trip, or some important, official mission sort of gibberish. We'll do anything, if need be." Her eyes glimmered with resolve and confidence.
Felix furrowed his forehead. "I suppose. But I don't see how Father would ever allow that. He hardly listens to me given his work, much less you, no offence."
"That's true." She brooded for one more second before another idea struck her, in quick succession. "How about we get Prince Buren in on it?"
He winced. "That's your best plan?"
"Yeah? I could probably convince him one way or another," she muttered, "Well, do you have a better idea? Your bro could be a very useful asset in convincing your ol' pops." Her words were imbued with a slight challenge.
"I understand, but you of all people would know that me and my brother aren't really…" He scowled. "On the best of terms."
"You're not the only one," she said, rolling her eyes, before quickly turning towards him once again, with a mischievous grin. "Welp, classic ol' Felix with his sibling rivalry. Great!" her eyes momentarily opened wide. "Not the sibling rivalry part of course, heh. But great, as in a perfect opportunity for you two to, I don't know, make up?"
"Uh-huh, whatever you say Em." Sarcasm dripped from his words.
"Whatever I say indeed, 'Lix."
"You must be joking," the Jolteon said in disbelief.
"Nope!"
The Jolteon sighed. He was pacing to and fro across the room, looking over at his desk with huge stacks of parchment, then at the bookshelf indented into the wall, then at the duo he was talking to.
"So, let me get this straight. You came here to disrupt my economics studies, over some half-baked, crackpot scheme to get little Felix over here to run off to danger in who knows where, away from his duties?"
"Um, well, sort of?" she said, apprehensive, "But you make our master plan sound so bad when you phrase it that way."
"Because it is bad." He groaned, a forepaw massaged between his eyes. "You haven't the slightest clue about anything if you are to genuinely follow through with this so-called 'plan'."
She bristled. "Hey! You take that back, it's the perfect solution to solve all of Felix's issues. And… Y'know it wouldn't hurt if you could be a teeny more supportive, as a brother," she added, as an afterthought.
He gave an unamused glance at the Sylveon. "Frankly, I don't give a Rattata's ass about being supportive to a fault. You are of nobility, a family of high standing no less, I expect you to know better than to delude Felix regarding such matters." His voice carried an air of enmity.
In response to his sharp words, she couldn't help her fur starting to prickle and puff, which she had to forcibly smoothen. Meanwhile, Felix was off to the side of the room, vacant and making himself seem small, visibly shrunk down as if wishing to be anywhere than where he was right now.
Buren padded over to the window and looked out at the landscape, the falling sun rapidly approaching the mountains far off in the distance. He stared at the image, absorbing the way the afternoon sun's yellow and orange lighting danced off trees and basked a gilded glow across the river. Meadows bloomed, and flocks of Butterfree and Beautiflies could be seen dancing in rays of gold. Spring truly was beautiful this time of year.
He continued, "Look, I get you're trying to help, you're a good friend to my brother and I appreciate you for keeping his lonely self company, but you're really barking up the wrong tree here."
She huffed. "But Buren, you have to—"
A sideways glare shot from his deep indigo eyes, catching the sun's rays at the perfect angle, giving his gaze a glint of danger. "I don't have to do a damn thing, now, I suggest you leave my study right this instant." He pivoted now to face the duo who were standing near the door on the other end of the chamber, his statement was laid with such resolution that left no room for argument. She could only stew in her anger at the pompous royal before she looked away in contempt, giving up on her attempts at convincing the prince.
"Alright then, have it your way. Just, please consider what I said, if not for me, for your brother." The typically blithe Sylveon held him in a cold, hard stare; the atmosphere in the room being trapped in stalemate for a few suffocating moments.
"Felix, let's leave."
"Forgive me, but I would like to talk to Felix in private for a moment first." His eyes had now turned to stare at Felix, which the Flareon could no longer ignore. "A word between brothers, if you will."
"What?" Now it was her turn to look unamused. "I'm not leaving Felix alone with the likes of you. We're a duo, two peas in a Metapod, so I'm sticking around for this."
Buren narrowed his eyes, likely at the slight jab.
"No it's fine, Em," Felix said, with sadness in his eyes, and a slight plea in his voice. "I think it's best if I do talk to Buren alone."
For a brief moment, her eyes gave off a hint of despair, betrayed by the sudden agreement from Felix, but was hastily masked once again by her previous anger. Harrumphing once more, she stormed out of the study, ribbons flicking the doors closed with a bang.
"Thank Arceus, she's gone." He chuckled, immediately the rigidness from his posture melted and the spikes in his fur started to smooth out. He shook his head at the encounter and padded up to the desk, sat down, and started flipping through the top book:
'Rising Mercantilism, its Intricacies, and the Consequence Therein."
A comparatively eerie silence had, for the moment, blanketed the room. Punctured once, by a deliberate lick to his right yellow forepaw, and the flipping of one page.
"So, do you still want to talk to me?"
"Yes, yes… You just sit right down Felix, and tell me what on Celebi's green Earth were you thinking? Listening to that foolish girl."
Felix sighed and flopped down onto the sofa, directly on the other side of the room to Buren's desk, width-wise. "Well, Emerald can get a bit too excited sometimes, it's not as if I'm fully in support of it."
"But would you?" Buren looked up from his studies to place a steely glare on him.
"Would I?"
"Would you actually go on this escapade and run off into the sunset with your little girlfriend?" A hint of bitterness shot from Buren's eyes, unnerving Felix.
That was until he absorbed the meaning of that sentence, blushing profusely. "First off, she is not my 'girlfriend', we've been friends since childhood," he hastily blurted.
"Yuck. I can't believe you would say that."
"Alright, alright. Hold your Horseas." A slight smirk flitted across Buren's face, masking the prior contempt in his eyes. Before reverting to a calm and composed glare. "You haven't answered me yet."
"Well, if I was given the right chance? I… I think I would."
"I see." His eyes returned to his papers. "We're so alike, Felix. I used to think like you, wanting nothing but a bit of freedom, but it was quite foolish of me."
"You? Like me? You must be kidding. The only thing we share in common is our blood. You're barely in my life."
Buren frowned. "Felix, please. We both know the obligations I have to follow."
"You sound just like Father right now, ever the statesmon."
In response he sighed, resigning himself to close the book, and padded over to Felix, brooding. He sat down on the opposite end of the divan, next to Felix, who was now laid sprawled, supine, and eyes closed. Paws rubbing his face in exasperation.
Buren contemplated for a moment before he finally seemed to steel the nerves to continue. "Look, how about we let bygones be bygones," he said with hesitance, head being cupped by his paws, "I know I haven't been the best brother.
"On the contrary, I was rather neglectful of you and, well, I may have put you down on a number of occasions."
"You could say that again." The snappy response elicited a long pause from his brother.
"Felix. Just know that," Buren's voice trailed off before he took a deep breath, which led to a shaky exhale. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, looking straight down at the floor.
"What did you say?" Felix pulled himself into a more active sitting position, eyes wide open, now staring intently at the Jolteon, who looked unusually small.
The sight reminded him of what he must've been like whenever he saw his brother ignoring him. Before this, if Felix had to guess the reason for their gradual transition to strangers in the same house, it would have to be his brother's scorn and eventual disregard for him. But now? He wasn't so sure.
"I'm sorry, okay?" Buren buried his face in his paws. As if unable to bring himself to look at his kin's eyes. "I was– No, I am a terrible older brother, and I always put Father's expectations over you. Is that clear enough, must I repeat myself?"
"No, no. I hear you," he responded, looking a bit stunned, before asking, "What changed?"
"Do you take me for a fool?" Bitterness was evident in his voice but it didn't seem to be directed at him, or anyone in particular. He paused momentarily, before continuing in a gentler tone, finally pulling his face free to look at Felix. "I still have fond memories of us being close as cubs. Do you still remember how we played tag in the courtyard? It used to really annoy the servants, having to clean our dirty fur afterwards. Oh, and how we used to pull pranks on the dukes and counts? They couldn't do a thing!" he said wistfully. A gentle, misty sheen adorned his eyes and a slight smile could be seen around his eyes which accompanied his reminiscing, this soon however, morphed into a scowl. "Ever since my training to be heir of Oudia, we've only drifted. For which, I can only blame myself.
"But what's done is done and I'll try my hardest not to make that same mistake again, to not let down the people around me, if you would let me." He ended his monologue, casting a longing eye at him before staring out the window, listless.
Felix was speechless, no doubt about it. His brother's admission had reopened an unopened section within his heart that was rusty from disuse, his chest thawed for his brother. He revelled in the emotions which he long thought were dead and buried.
"Look, Felix. If this is, really, what you wa–"
He shuffled over to wrap his brother in a tight hug, taking a page straight from Emmy's book. In response, Buren stiffened to attention, before melting into his embrace, closing their eyes as the rise and fall of two kindred flanks synchronised.
Eventually, despite being separate for so long, they had to separate. Much too early for either of them, but time waits for no 'mon.
Buren beamed at Felix, the sun's rays shone causing his face to bask in the sweet afterglow, melting through the prior tough and cold exterior. With this turn of events, a more optimistic glow seemed to lighten his entire body, a glimpse of the Eevee once past could be seen barely poking through.
Felix couldn't help but also crack a smile, glad to be reunited with his brother. "I suppose this was one of the things I needed to check off the bucket list before I go."
"I suppose it was."
My greatest and most sincere apologies for having basically abandoned this story for a good two months. I swear, it was in the back of my mind the entire time! I can't leave anything unfinished, so don't worry about that, that's a someseal guarantee. But, yeah. Life. Busy. I think we've all seen this routine from other authors before, huh? However, I'll try and get some more stuff out there, see if anyone's interested in this sorta writing. :p
Anyways, any support, feedback, and commentary is greatly appreciated! And you, reader, have a lovely rest of your day. :D