Pokemon Virus Version Chapter 81: Sisters
Disclaimer: I do not own Alice in Wonderland, or any of it's characters...
An Angel...
"Okay, so instead of a cat, I'll be waking up from a dream with the doll in my arms..."
In the 'Green Room' was me and the rest of the cast. Only minutes remained before I was to start the opening act on Center Stage.
"...I will be called for tea, and after that, the final curtain will fall as I exit 'Stage Right'."
It was a play with a name very familiar to everyone: 'Alice In Wonderland'. I was none other that Alice, Alice Angel. All the pressure was on me to play my part perfect, so I paced back and forth, my eyes glued to my script, hoping to all the studying and rehearsals would pay off.
My wearing consisted of a black headband that brought out the bangs of my long, strawberry hair, a white cream colored dress, white stockings, and black heeled boots. My pink eyes were as bright and optimistic as my attitude. I was four and a half years old.
"Amy?" Just before I was about ready to exit the Green Room, someone grabbed my attention by calling out to me. This 'someone' wasn't one of my fellow cast members, but she WAS someone I knew and loved all too well. "Amy!"
"Huh?" I saw that my sister was approaching me, "Ariel?" I already knew what she was obviously here for when seeing what she held in her arms.
"Honestly, you're so forgetful," A smile was on Ariel's face as she held that doll out to me.
That doll always creeped me out. I was hoping there would be a doll of a different Pokemon in the extra props...My smile became faint as I stared into the eyes of the still doll. This was noticed by my older sister, who also stopped smiling, "What's wrong?" She looked at the doll, then back at me.
"I didn't forget about the doll, I left it home on purpose." I answered. "It's so creepy."
"What? What's so creepy about THIS cutie?" Ariel asked.
"It's evolution."
Mr. Mime scared me way back when. It looks so much like a clown. I tried numerous times to convince Teacher to take the Mime Jr doll out of the play. I've even intentionally destroyed the doll, only for Teacher to buy a replacement the very next day.
Ariel sighed, "It's normal for kids your age to be scared by Mr. Mime. But hey, if you just go through the play with Mime Jr, you'll never have to deal with it again."
Now I sighed. Why couldn't Teacher have just trained a Purrloin, like in the movie? Well, I guess it can't be helped now. I grabbed the doll with both my hands, and started toward Center Stage.
Anything for the people...
...
Alice In Wonderland: The Final Scene
In, about, and finally out of the dream world of Alice known as Wonderland, I opened my eyes to see the little doll sleeping in my lap. I have to say, the doll has really grown on me throughout the play. The crowd continually whispered out loud about 'how cute Amy and her little doll was together'. Ariel's face in particualr stood out to me in the audience. Her smile told me that she was very proud of me.
I stood up after waking from Alice's nightmare. My eyes on Teacher, she said to me, "Alice, would you please pay attention and recite your lesson?"
"Um...how doth the little Totodile, improve his shining tail. And pour waters of the-"
"-Alice!" Teacher interrupted, "What are you talking about?"
"Well, the Caterpie said..."
"Caterpie?" Teacher questioned, "Oh, for goodness sake. Alice, I..." Teacher paused, then started toward Center Stage Right, where the doll and I followed as we exited the stage and ended Alice In Wonderland's final scene.
...
After, the entire cast, the Mime Jr doll included, all stood side by side, taking a final bow as the sea of people cheered and applauded...And even after we made our exit to the Green Room one last time, I held the doll closer to me than ever before, refusing to let go of what I've suddenly become attached to.
"So was I right?" Just when about everyone had left, I was approached by an Ariel who should be just about ready to return home with me for the night.
"I..." I stalled describing my thoughts for the doll, "I love it." Mr. Mime aside, Mime Jr was just as cute as my sister said. I started toward the Green Room's exit, prompting for Ariel to follow, "I've already asked Teacher if I could keep Mime Jr, and she said yes..."
That night was the beginning of a very warm friendship between a girl and her beloved doll-a friendship between Mime Jr and I...
End Flashback
Rose's POV
I could not help but envision myself in the body of Amy as Ariel told me the story of how she came to know and love a very beloved doll...the same doll that attacked me earlier...
It looked as though Ariel was so much happier back then. But what happened? Whatever happened to Amy? And how did that doll get in such poor condition...How could the doll talk to me?
"Ever since Amy left, there's been a void in my life, a void I believe can never be filled until I fulfill my promise to catch her in the next life. That is why I come here..." We passed a sign at the edge of town. The sign let me know where I was: Autumn Town, a town that celebrates the traditions of those born and passed yesterday. The Pumkpaboo Pumpkin Harvest was just another way of say 'Day of the Dead' or 'Halloween'. So the way Ariel was handling the passing of Amy...It was typical, yet very unusual and personal at the same time.
Envisioning Amy in me, Ariel continued through the black forest outside Autumn Town, her hand in mine, and her 'Angel of Death' perched on her shoulder. Eventually, the three of us made it back to the meadow, only now...
"The roses..." They were no longer red...They were as black as black as the night sky...What happened?
"Every night, I come here with Angel to await my death. With the bad luck of Angel, and with death's symbolism through these black roses, I wait for 'something' to happen, my impatience growing with every night, though I never show because..." Because she always has those empty eyes and that empty smile on her face, "You get it. I see it in your eyes."
The three of us took our seats on the grassy ground, where I picked a single black rose and held it close. I like the black rose, it was just as black as my dress. "I saw the doll."
"You did?" Ariel asked. Her red eyes and black hair glistened.
"Running away from the doll is the last thing I remember before waking up in the bedroom of Amy."
Ariel...she slowly closed her eyes and sighed as if she was disappointed. But why? What was she disappointed about?
Looks like I just missed her then." She answered.
"Missed who?"
The girl paused, and that empty smile disappeared from her face. Her brief pause became a brief moment of silence between the two of us as she became hesitant.
I shifted my gaze from the black rose I was holding, to the face of the teenage girl. Curious, I tilted my head slightly to the left. Looking at Angel, I saw that he too looked uneasy.
"Murkrow..."
What was the hesitance for? Ariel had absolutely no problem telling me her life goal to die, of all things. Because I was told that Ariel visits this meadow every night, I had to ask myself: Did Ariel know something? Did she know why the once red roses were now black? Despite knowing her for just a few hours, I felt a suspicion that pained me. And from someone who feels so much like a sister to me?
"Ariel." I called.
"A garden of roses that have just lost what represents their lives in the color red...All these seemingly dead roses...It's like...It's like a cemetery...Here, I will lay my body to rest, and if I'm lucky, my body will be found, taken, and buried next to my sister." Ariel rose to her feet, and took a single step toward the dark forest.
"Ariel..."
"Mur..."
"It'll come, and it'll end us both right here."
End us BOTH?!
"Amy-Rose-Little Sister...I ask that you accompany me, away from this life."
It was my turn to pause, and like before, this brief pause turned into a moment of silence as I stared at who I believed to be a beloved.
"Beloved?" Was all I could say to the girl.
"Join me..." Her eyes returned to being half closed, and that empty smile was once again on her face. A slight breeze brushed against her long black hair and her long red skirt and she held a single hand out to me.
Slowly, I rose to my feet, prompting Angel to fly and rest on the shoulder of Ariel. Now the breeze was brushing against my long blonde hair and my black, long sleeved dress. "No..."
Once again, Ariel's smile disappeared as she turned around. "Fine." She was disappointed. Was I REALLY going to elect myself to die?
Ariel took another step toward the forest, and then another. She was waiting for something...
Please, let it all end here. "Ariel called into the forest. There was no answer, so she tried again, "Take me away."
The sound of footsteps could be heard from within the forest. Inching from the blackness of the woods, and out onto the black garden, standing right in front of Ariel...I was horrified by what I saw.
A ripped head with stuffing sticking out, a poorly sewn mouth, and stains of blood all over...it was the living, broken, Mime Jr doll from before, and Ariel was giving it a 'not so empty' smile.
I thought I saw movement from the eyes of the doll as it looked at me and said, "You're back. Beloved, you've come back for me..." The sadistic smile of the doll was just sickening.
"I've been waiting for you, "Ariel said to the broken doll.
Ariel clearly knew this doll, confirming that this doll WAS in fact, the same doll that Amy once loved.
"Will you take me to my sister?" The teenage girl asked.
The eyes of the evil doll never left my face...This doll knew I was not the girl who once loved it...It knew I was just a girl that looked like her. Yet, it still smirked as it said, "Amy, will you accompany your sister? If you die too, you and her will be able to meet in the afterlife." It purposely called me Amy.
Slowly, I turned to Ariel with a look of desperate worry on my face. "Ariel..." This girl was once again staring death in the face, and she was once again welcoming it with open arms. "Ariel...Ariel, please no!" My feelings of concern were letting themselves out of me. But why? Why was a tone of passion beginning to surface from inside me...? Because Ariel, she made me feel loved. But before I was really able to express myself, Ariel spoke up, addressing me in a firm tone.
"This is the end I've been waiting for..." Ariel started, "At last, my suicide doors have opened. No longer will I have to deal with the petty struggles of everyday life, Amy aside. You were like a little sister to me...I mean..." In the cold, stillness of the black night, Ariel began to stall. And though the night what still, the same could not be said for the face of Ariel, and it was to be expected...by someone uttering what was believed to be their last words. Though she was smiling, Ariel began to cry, as did Murkrow, "You're NOT like a sister to me. It won't be you waiting for me on the other side of eternal slumber. I...I don't love you, 'girl who merely looks like my sister'."
After another pause, I looked down to the ground, my eyes were wide open. My eyes started to water as I winced. My heart was shattered as the sister I loved denounced me. Failing to resist her words sinking in on my fragile heart, I was once again alone.
...How many times have I given a dearly beloved unconditional love, only to be heart broken in the bitter end?
Father Atticus, Brother, Ariel Angel...They were the three beloved who came to mind when thinking of sudden and bitter heartbreak. Still, I could never bring myself to hate any of them. Sure, I have said those words out loud, but the truth is: I miss them very much. I could never hate a person I unconditionally love.
Returning her attention to the evil doll, Ariel asked, "How will I die?"
"Hmhnhn," The smirking doll chuckled as it answered, "Ariel, I used to have a mutual love for you, because you were Amy's sister. But if you choose to join your 'Angel' sister, I can't blame you. You have a choice to choose between life and death, because unlike me, you're still alive..." We all paused, "I'll slip you into a bleak nightmare that'll kill your soul. I call it..."
With Angel flying back on my shoulder, I took half a step back as the evil doll began to make a dark aura. As it began to spread, it said, "...I call it, a Night Shade!"
"No..." I stood there with my head nodding sideways and my eyes holding back tears as Ariel did not even move. Letting the darkness come to her, this was her last stand.
"Rose, Angel, this is my final goodbye," Ariel uttered. The last thing the girl with the empty smile said was, "I'll see you both in the next life...someday..." as the dark Night Shade swallowed her body whole, along with the evil doll.
"No..." No was the one word I kept saying to myself. Why? Because I refused to believe this would be the last time I would see a person I called a beloved. A duet of tears made their way down my face. "No! I will not let you throw your life away! Sister!" Determination...did I get it from Brother? I was determined not to let my love become the one that got away as I hastily ran into the Night Shade, and after my 'sister'.
Being in the presence of a Murkrow at night brings bad luck...It was a superstition I believed to be false. But with Angel sticking by me, and what I was seeing with my eyes, I began to have a hint of doubt.
I was surrounded by darkness.
And I was not floating, I was sinking. Sinking 'down there'. Have I shared the same fate of death as Ariel? I did not see her, and I did not see myself floating to the heavens...
To Be Continued...
Night Shade, a ghastly shroud of darkness that causes the foe to see a frightening mirage; A 'nightmare' of sorts...
A Mime Jr doll using Night Shade? It'll all come together next chapter. It's a means to keep the readers in suspicion. And even when you DO read what happens next, it STILL might not make sense if you don't know your Pokedex entries. Ariel wasn't being a jerk. She was just...disappointed.
I haven't forgotten about Seth hitting Rose. That moment alone will the cause of a few future chapters that will be dedicated to their relationship.