The arbitrary halfway point I set for myself. Absolutely no clue still if this is going to mark that point still.

Well probably not, but we got Mew's POV. Almost certainly going to be nothing but sunshine and rainbow I can assure you.

The Lake trio were here which meant Arceus could get to her announcements. Which meant it was time to see who gets to build what. Which means it was time for one of my favorite parts of every meeting. Seeing everyone's reactions to who gets put on the competent list. I swear she does this just to get a rise out of us. How else could Palkia have been labeled competent when he barely knows how to use his powers?

I never had to worry about this process. Arceus never trusts me with anything. Half the time she never even assigns me to do anything on the 'incompetent' list. Eh, not really an issue this time around. I can just hang out with Celebi and Arceus will see it as her keeping an eye on me. Maybe that's one reason why Arceus has always put her on the efficient side. She's had all of her responsibilities and the burden of keeping an eye on me. Well regardless of her reasons for it, it's one of the few things Arceus has always been right about.

"Lastly, a first for the competent side. Congratulations Mew, you've done well these past few years."

"What?" Me and just about everyone else in attendance questioned in varying degrees of shock/anger. This had to be another joke or she got the list mixed up. No way was I even a joke entry on that list. She had to be waiting to say she was joking, one of those cruel pranks where she would break into laughter and wheeze out 'Can you imagine?!'. Yet that never came, she maintained her refined demeanor and looked at me with something other than disdain. She almost looked like she was proud of me. Everyone was quietly to very loudly expressing how ridiculous these results were. "Seriously? What did he do to that list?" "He must have bribed her or blackmailed her!" "How in the world is he good at anything?" Sheesh, if I wasn't so afraid for my life right now this might have actually been entertaining to watch.

Arceus stamped one of her golden hooves to silence the crowd. "I can assure everyone that there has been no major issues or sabotage from an outside party. Now please split off into groups and get to work. I have something special planned for tomorrow and you will all need to be well rested for it. Meeting adjourned."

Celebi wrapped her arm around my shoulder, shaking me with joy. "Welcome to the club big guy!" Azelf gave me one of her congratulatory arm punches. She was grinning rather smugly, she didn't even make the 'competent' side and she was grinning. She must have been enjoying the sights of everyone's egos getting so thoroughly crushed. Years of experience have taught me that such a look was never a good thing. "Dude, whatever you did for that to happen it was awesome." All I did recently was promise Arceus not to tamper with or steal the chocolate fountain if she brought one. I didn't even have to say anything after that. She talked herself into the idea. That's probably where she was now that everyone would be distracted by these assignments. Well no matter her reasons for including me these results should have been utterly hysterical. So why didn't I think they were funny?

Azelf and Uxie broke off from Mesprit to meet up with the 'incompetent' side. She still looked gloomy, but at least she looked like her soul was back in her body. "Hey dudes." It was so very tempting to ask her if she made her confession in the woods. I so badly wanted to, but with everyone else directing their suspicions on me right now. It was probably for the best to just let Mesprit and Celebi talk.

Celebi quickly broke away from me to catch up with Suicune. I couldn't exactly blame her, after she was stuck with me for so long, Suicune must have been a breath of fresh air. At least Mesprit would tolerate my presence until she got back.

Unsurprisingly nobody trusted me with any of the construction tools. It's not really something I would have been bothered by. I honestly had no idea how to use over half of the equipment safely. What I could have done without was just how rude they were about it. Zapdos especially, "I wouldn't trust you with a pair of plastic scissors you waste of space." She hissed in my face and smacked me away with her tail feathers. "Go bother Celebi! For whatever reason she wants to waste her time dealing with you." Don't say it's her fault Moltres left her. Don't say it's her fault Moltres left her. Don't say it's her fault Moltres left her. Mesprit pulled me away from the overgrown turkey before I fired back at her. "Easy. She isn't worth it." She wasn't, but I REALLY wanted for her to be.

Construction was going swimmingly, these guys really did know what they were doing. This was in spite of how I was literally just left to sit there and do nothing. Either getting scolded for not contributing or getting yelled at for being unneeded. Maybe if I just hid in one of the constructed cabins then nobody would care enough to look for me.

At a certain point one of Celebi's only weaknesses crept up. A weakness she happened to share with me, a deeply rooted love for sweets. Hours had passed and everyone was getting hungry. So she and Palkia wound up volunteering or getting volunteered in Palkia's case to get something for everyone. Celebi undoubtedly went both to grab us the best available sweets but also to grab some convenient blackmail on Arceus dunking her head in the chocolate fountain. Palkia meanwhile... I think everyone honestly just preferred my company to his tone deaf singing.

"Try to stay out of trouble while I'm gone, OK?" She kissed my cheek and fluttered off, almost immediately deflating when the large purple dinosaur she would be stuck with started loudly singing again. Once she was out of sight, the moment I was dreading came up. Everyone's eyes were on me, Arceus I hated when this happened.

In particular I could feel the Suicune's sheer hatred for my existence radiating from right behind me. "Be honest with me. What did you do?" Seriously? She was one of Celebi's best friends. If anyone other than Celebi should have understood I wasn't doing anything it should have been this water wolf. As calmly as I could manage I breathed out my growing frustrations. "I didn't do anything." Her ribbon tails coiled around me. Tightly pinning my arms against my waist. She spun me around forcing me to look her in her ferocious blood red eyes. "Don't lie to me!" What was the point of even answering her when she wasn't going to believe me unless I lied and said I tampered with the list? Well I still wasn't going to admit to something I didn't do. "I'm not." I could feel everyone else was watching. They could have stepped in. Of course they wouldn't, they never did. Did they really all want me to confess to a lie that badly? Her soul searing carmine eyes maintained their lock on me. Even as her tails uncoiled and she backed away. She maintained the exact same expression. "Have it your way. I'll find out eventually." Everyone returned to their business once she was done. Acting like nothing happened.

Mesprit tried to approach me, a little too late for her to make a meaningful contribution. "Hey Mew, are you OK?" No, I was not OK. I was anything but OK. Over a decade of trying to stop being a nuisance and in that time it feels like I've accomplished nothing. Should I even bother if nobody is going to treat me any differently. Worst of all I couldn't even put on a smile and tell her I was OK. She could sense how I was really feeling. Including how I felt about her not doing anything while I was at Suicune's mercy. "Sorry Mew…" She sounded completely ashamed of herself. She couldn't even bring herself to look me in the eyes. I couldn't say anything to her, it would have just made the both of us feel even worse. So I just went back to doing nothing of merit and praying this day would end quickly.

Palkia's obnoxious singing announced their return. Celebi was carrying a large tray of chocolate coated truffles. Palkia meanwhile was carrying literally everything else. Celebi flew right up to me still blissful from indulging her sweet tooth. "You gotta try these, they are absolutely divine." Normally I would love to gorge on sweets with Cel, but I really wasn't feeling hungry after that 'conversation' with Suicune. I couldn't even put the energy into sounding like how I usually did "No thanks..." Her eyes refocused and began to dart from me to Mesprit to everyone surrounding us.

Without a word she handed the tray to Mesprit and took me by the hand. "Hey Mesprit, tell the others I'm taking a break with Mew." She started guiding me away from the construction zone before Mesprit even had a chance to tell anyone or say anything at all. "Cel, where are we going?" "You'll see."

This was an unusually familiar sight. It was the spot where we took attendance. "So… are we expecting more guests?" She didn't laugh. She lied down and motioned for me to join her. I sat next to her and immediately felt her hand rub against my back. Inviting me to rest in the grass with her. I took the offer and rested my head on her chest. Where I could hear the therapeutic rhythm of her heartbeat. She placed that same hand on top of my head and moved her fingers in a steady pattern. That gentle touch and the soothing thump in her chest did wonders for calming my nerves. I could easily close my eyes and drift away. I've done it plenty of times in the past and would have welcomed it now. Except I know Celebi and she wasn't going to leave the matter that brought us to this moment where it was.

"Who was it this time?" A question she has had to ask a depressingly large number of times. This year alone we were nearing fifty total.

I was hesitant about answering this time. Suicune saved her life and the two of them have been like sisters ever since. Please don't be angry. "I-it was Suicune… She didn't believe I didn't do anything and well nobody else believes it either." She stopped petting the top of my head. She was quiet and I was shivering at the thought of her being furious with me. "I'll have a talk with her about that." I was overcome with relief from Celebi's words breathing rapidly as my fears just as quickly evaporated. Still I doubt that talking with Suicune will do any good. No matter who Celebi spoke with, they never changed their mind about me. The most it did was get them to judge me from a distance. In a way them pretending to hide their disgust for me was even worse.

She didn't take her hand away from my head, it was holding me close to her chest. I had fallen asleep like this more times than I could count. I closed my eyes and it dawned on me. This was going to be the first night we would spend separated since I moved to her forest. I wasn't comforted by this thought. Turning to look Celebi in the eyes I could see her eyes carried that same solemn thought.

"Maybe we can talk to Arceus about sleeping arrangements tomorrow?"

She gave me a nod. Hopefully Arceus will be in a good enough mood to allow such a change. I'd even sleep outside in the grass if that's what she deemed acceptable. Celebi and I did that all the time so it should be a solid enough foundation for her to allow it.

"Well… Not like we can ask her right now…" I hated how right she was. If we didn't get back to work then who knows what kind of trouble it would give us. "I mean, we could just say I kept you busy." She only gave me that cold blank stare that could only ever mean one thing, "No." Had a feeling she'd reject it, she always did that to my worst ideas. I just hoped in this instance she'd allow it. I really didn't want to go back there.

I sat up but stayed seated while she flew up and stretched her wings. "Do I really have to go back?" She took me by the hand and hoisted me up. "Don't worry, I won't make the mistake of leaving you alone with everyone again." She gave my hand one last reassuring squeeze and we turned to make our way back to the crowd of resentment.

So this chapter was actually REALLY difficult to write. In no small part because of what I'm putting Mew through now and what I've got planned for him and everyone else in the future.

With that said, please leave a review and have a nice day.