Author's note: Chapters from here on in may be a tiiiny bit later than a weekly upload. I just became a lot busier because I just got a new job! YAAAYYYYY!
But I'll still be updating! Just expect it to maybe not be weekly anymore. At the very least il try making it Bi-weekly. That being said, if I can update this story next week, I will.
I'm just extending the 'due date' for myself. Anyway- hope you guys enjoy!
Chapter 20: (Not) Alone
Arven was alone, fully healed and pacing back and forth outside the door of Aeon's hospital room. He remembered the surprise on the Nurses' faces when he and Koraidon were able to get to the same Hospital they visited before, when Arven found out the truth about Aeon. The sharp emotional pain of guilt was tearing through his chest. Nurse Joy came out of the door, and Arven's head swung over to her. One look at her expression was all it took for Arven to know what was going on.
"I'm sorry," Nurse Joy said.
"How is he?!" Arven cried. "Is he going to be okay?"
"It's hard to say," Nurse Joy said.
"What do you mean, 'it's hard to say?' He's not…!" Arven took a step back and put his hands on his face, gliding his fingers through his hair. I messed up, Arven thought. I messed up so badly…
"We're not sure what exactly is going on with him," Nurse Joy said.
"Isn't there something you can do to help?!"
"It's not so simple to fix a robot. We're Doctors, not scienti-"
Arven slammed his fist against the hospital wall- and Nurse Joy nearly leapt from fright.
"All of you nurses are just...useless!" Arven roared.
Nurse Joy's eyes widened in surrpise.
"First," Arven continued, "you tell me you can't heal Mabosstiff, that he's suffering from some incurable disease, now you're saying you can't fix Aeon!? It's not fair! Everyone I know is leaving me and there's nothing I can do!" Arven slowly fell to his hands and knees, and then started to cry. "It's not fair!" He shouted, slamming his fists on the ground again and again. "It's not fair, it's not fair, it's not fair!"
Nurse Joy squatted and placed a caring hand on Arven's shoulder. Arven swatted it away.
"Don't touch me!" He cried, now sobbing. After watching him cry for a while, Nurse Joy went to rub his back, and Arven didn't resist- he no longer had the mental strength to do so. He just kept crying. "I was such a jerk to him..!" Arven cried. "If I had one more chance, just one more chance to see him, one last time... I'd tell him how sorry I was...!"
Nurse Joy then suddenly heard footsteps. Her eyes looked up to see an unfamiliar face. "Sir? What're you doing here?"
Arven looked up- and once he saw who was in front of him, he became so surprised he couldn't even gasp.
"Dad...?!" Arven said.
In front of him was, in fact, Professor Turo. He stared with a deadpan look, staring straight at Nurse Joy and not once looking his son in the eye.
"Is Aeon in there?" Professor Turo asked.
"Y-Yes.." Nurse Joy replied.
"Wh-What're you doing here?!" Arven cried. "Where have you been!? Wh-What..!?"
"I'll fix him. Let me in the room." Professor Turo said.
"I-... I'm not supposed to-"
"Please." Turo responded.
"Aren't you going to answer me?!" Arven cried. "I haven't seen you in years! Stop treating me like I'm invisible, I'm right here!"
Nurse Joy glanced at the professor, then at Arven. Then, she finally nodded and opened the hospital room door for Professor Turo to enter.
"You failure of a father- talk to me right now! I'm your son!"
Professor closed the door without looking at Arven. Arven turned around and slammed his fists against the wall door again and again.
A few hours had passed, and Arven was sitting on the floor right next to the hospital room door, using his Poképhone and playing mobile games on it. Soon, Arven saw the door open, and didn't even look up, assuming that it was his father leaving the room.
"Arven?" Aeon's voice reached Arven's ears, and Arven was so startled his phone nearly flew from his hands. Arven rose to his feet, and came face to face with Aeon, who looked at him with worry.
"Are you okay?" Aeon asked.
Tears began to well up from Arven's eyes all over again.
"Why are you asking me if I'm okay..?!" Arven cried. The older boy then went and hugged the android with all of his might. The sudden weight pushed onto the boy nearly had him trip, but he managed to hold Arven in his arms. If he wasn't in combat mode, Aeon would have the strength equivalent to a 12-year-old boy.
"I…" Aeon looked surprised, not hugging Arven back due to sheer astonishment. "Why are you…hugging me? I don't understand."
"Just shut up for a second…!" Arven started sobbing. "Just shut up… And let me appreciate this moment…! Thank… Thank goodness you're still alive…!"
Professor Turo watched the two boys from inside the hospital room for a brief moment before wordlessly walking past them and out of sight. Arven pulled away from Aeon, putting his hands on the boy's shoulders.
"Listen," Arven said, wiping some of his tears and sniffling. "From now on, I'm going to treat you like your family, okay?!" Arven cried. "I'm not going to make that mistake ever again, and I'm never going to have you get hurt ever again, okay?!"
"I… Um…" Aeon looked to be completely confused.
"C'mon, you can still talk, right? Dad didn't remove your speaking program or whatever, right?"
"I-... Sorry, it's just… earlier, you were angry with me. Now… you're…" Aeon shook his head. "I'm sorry. It's like… it just feels like I was destroyed and…I'm dreaming."
Arven shook his head. "You're not dead, Aeon. You're stuck with me," Arven said with a smile."...Y'know, now that I think of it, you and I…were technically made by the same people. Me, biologically, you… y'know, mechanically. Is 'mechanically' the word? Whatever!" After shaking his head, Arven nodded to himself. "Since we were created by the same people, that makes us brothers by default! So yeah…!"
Aeon still looked to be at a loss for words.
"What's wrong?!" Arven chuckled, patting the android's shoulders. "Aren't you programmed to love me? C'mon, Smile, why don't you?"
Aeon nodded and smiled.
"Y-Yes.." Aeon said.
"Aren't you happy?" Arven asked.
"Yes..!" Aeon smiled, and tears started to fall from his eyes. "I'm so happy..!"
"Ugh- don't start crying, now I'm gonna start crying all over again..!"
The two brothers hugged all over again.
Professor Turo was on his Pokephone, already far away from the Pokecenter.
"Of course," Professor Turo said, "It happened just as you said it would, Sada. Telling me to leave before the designated time was a genius idea. It minimized the time Arven spent crying. The plan should continue going smoothly from here on in."
He turned the phone off and lowered his head.
For a moment, the whites of Professor Turo's eyes turned pitch black, and his eye color changed to blue. A sinister grin came to his lips the moment this happened.