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Current music: Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds - The Beatles
BARRETT'S POV
A very bitter taste reverberated throughout my mouth, making me want to spit it out.
"I have to do this - I'm sorry" I heard a familiar voice assure me, but that didn't exactly feel good.
"A…Ammy?" I rasped. My throat felt as dry as the Sahara Desert.
"It's me," the mayor of Wildebush said softly. "Open your eyes, if you can."
I did as I was told, and immediately shut them again. You see, the sun was almost directly overhead, and at first I didn't understand why. That is, until I remembered: The sun always shines here.
That's right. I'm in the inner world. And I was just asleep for some reason.
"Now, now, that won't do" the mayor continued. "You can squint if you need to, but I need to make sure you're awake."
Once again, I opened my eyes, glancing up at the sky and squinting so that I wasn't staring directly at the sun. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to prevent me from receiving a blinder of a headache within seconds.
I tried to raise my paw to cradle my aching noggin, but my arm felt as though it were stuck in the silly putty they sometimes let kids play with at the Institute. Every movement was sluggish - even my eyelids felt like 10-pound dumbbells.
I must've been moaning pretty hard, because Skipper's voice said, "Don't push him too hard, Ammy. He just woke up, after all."
The mayor could be heard clicking her tongue. "Well, I need him to be awake for good. He can get up in stages."
As my stiff joints made themselves felt, I realized that I was lying atop the sleeping bag I'd packed for our journey. That's right - we'd been on a trip sponsored by the Wildebush government, and we were bound for another city. That city was called Emperor's Garden or something like that. We were going to ask for military aid from those bronze beasts that had attacked the school's gymnasium.
But something had gone wrong. For whatever reason, as she looked down at me, Mayor Ammy's expression was one of utmost relief. And Lucy, who sat beside me on her own sleeping bag, appeared just as dazed as I felt.
"Okay, so what the hell happened?" I blurted out once I was able to sit up. Arceus, I was so sore, as though I hadn't moved my muscles in a long time.
Skipper looked ready to grab onto me as though making sure I was still real. The cerulean Charmander scratched his chin, tilting his gaze skyward. "How much do you remember?" he asked me.
"Not everything" I mumbled groggily. "I feel like I've been asleep for days."
Amaterasu frowned. "That's because you have been asleep for days, Barrett."
I gasped. That was the sort of thing that only happened in movies. Nobody slept for days straight unless they were very, very ill.
"H-how many days?" I stammered. I tried to stand up, then decided I'd better not; my head was still swimming.
"Two" Skipper stated. "It's been two days since CountDown and the Ring-A-Dings attacked us and shot you and Lucy with sleep darts. Since then, we hadn't been able to wake you two, so I went to their den and got the formula for the cure."
I must've been staring pretty hard. Simply put, it was hard for me to fathom how casually my roommate mentioned getting the formula, as though it were as simple as looking up a recipe online for how to bake cookies.
"Two days," I mouthed. "That's…a lot".
"Indeed it is. You're bound to feel out of it for a while" the mayor told me. "But we'll have to get moving soon, because we were supposed to arrive today."
That's right, I realized sadly. This was all my fault.
As I hung my head toward the ground, Skipper asked what was bothering me.
"Other than the fact that we were just attacked, probably that it was my fault it happened in the first place" I sighed.
"How was it your fault?" Skipper responded, his eyes widening.
"If I hadn't talked us out of buying that Tendakraut, the bounty hunters wouldn't have gone for us. We wouldn't have lost two days. Lucy and I wouldn't have worried you both half to death."
The mayor sighed. "You know, Barrett, Skipper and I actually talked about this while you and Lucy were unconscious. Right after that fight, in fact. And…".
Are they going to banish me from the group? That would suck.
Ammy cleared her throat. "It's all too easy to beat yourself up for a mistake you think you should have known not to make. But there's only one Pokémon who can travel back through time, and that's Celebi."
I glanced back at the mayor - the headache had begun to subside, though I still felt rather weak.
"So you're saying that I should be easier on myself because I can't…I can't change the past?"
"That is exactly what I am saying" Ammy replied. "And you'd do well to learn from Skipper. After he wasn't able to protect you two from the darts, he could have just flayed himself alive for his inability to do something - ".
Skipper rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the reminder, Mayor."
" - but instead he decided to make things right. He searched the jungle for the bounty hunters' den and won a duel to get the recipe. And now you two are awake."
"Thanks, Skipper," I muttered.
"It wasn't out of the goodness of my heart," my roommate said. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't help."
"Whatever." As soon as I uttered those words, my stomach growled like a caged lion.
Skipper chuckled. "You must be hungry. You haven't had anything to eat in two days, after all."
I nodded, but then I realized something; if it had been two days, wouldn't the provisions have been depleted by now?
"Not to worry; we have plenty of food," Skipped continued. "All from our packs. We're not going to risk taking golden apples again."
The four of us sat around to eat lunch. Even though the meal mostly consisted of energy bars, make no mistake: They were some of the best energy bars I'd ever tasted.
"So you won a duel," Lucy said to Skipper. "What did that duel entail?"
"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me" the deep blue derg replied. "So maybe I shouldn't tell at all."
"Fair enough."
During the meal, I noticed that Ammy and Skipper smiled whenever they faced one another directly. Perhaps it was just good-natured, merely intended to celebrate my awakening. But it did not seem that way, and I wondered if they shared an inside joke or something similar.
If it's about me, I don't want to hear it.
Something about having been asleep for two days with two other dragons watching over me resulted in a sense of vulnerability. Forty-eight hours was more than enough time to hold many conversations without, and about, me. Had they been gossiping about me without my knowledge, speculating about where I'd come from?
I shook my still slightly aching head, deciding it was better not to drive myself insane by thinking too much. I would learn the truth when Skipper decided it was time for me to learn it. Until then, I had to calm down.
The rest of the trek to Emperor's Garden went by in a blur. It lasted roughly two more days, covering many miles through the jungle. Lucy and I needed to take breaks every so often as we regained our strength, which Ammy was more than willing to accommodate.
Every so often, we'd hear a rustling in the bushes, or perhaps the call of a wild Pokémon, and I'd be tempted to head for the hills. How many potential assailants lurked in the rainforest, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce on their would-be prey? After the ambush by the bounty hunters, I couldn't rule anything out.
I did not confront Skipper to ask what he and Ammy had discussed during my involuntary two-day nap. Chances were they had nothing to hide, but if they were hiding something from me, I would hardly be able to force that information out of them. No, it was better to stay quiet, because I needed my friends a lot more than they needed me.
Late in the morning on the third day of our journey (technically the fifth day of the journey overall), a city came into view. Even from over a mile away, I could tell that the settlement was of a far greater scale than Wildebush, and the architecture was far grander too. This became even clearer when we reached an ornate red gate that was guarded by a Lucario and Zoroark who both carried spears.
"Who are you four?" the Zoroark hissed, pointing his spear right at us.
Ammy raised a paw to show that she wasn't afraid of getting speared like a fish. "I'll explain everything."
The Lucario glared at his fellow guard. "You shouldn't be so hostile, Samuel. They're not here to cause any trouble."
Samuel Zoroark's teal eyes glinted. "How do you know that, Lucas?"
"It's simple," Lucas Lucario stated curtly. "That white dragon is Amaterasu, Mayor of Wildebush. She's here on an official visit."
"I know who she is," Samuel muttered.
"Your earlier statement would imply otherwise."
"What I mean," the Zoroark continued, "is that you were supposed to arrive two days ago. We'd begun to think you wouldn't arrive at all, so we've had all this security set up for nothing".
"What meeting?" I asked, trying not to freak out about Samuel's spear pointed directly at my heart.
The Zoroark grimaced. "You didn't know? But I thought you were on official business - what was your name again?"
"Barrett," I said as cordially as I could. "Barrett Charmander."
"Well, Barrett," Samuel replied, "I do not understand why you're here with the mayor. As far as I know, you just arrived in Wildebush a few weeks ago. Why would you be given a position of such importance?"
My stomach fell. "How did you know that?"
"News travels on the tropical winds here in the inner world," Lucas explained. "Sometimes literally."
Samuel glared at his partner. "Anyway. What was the holdup? You can't just show up two days late for a meeting and expect everything to be okay."
"We were held up in the jungle," Ammy announced authoritatively. "But we're here now, which is all that counts. And we have diplomatic immunity as well - isn't that standard supposed to be followed at all costs?"
"I suppose it is," Samuel admitted. "You four may pass - head right to the city's central square, where you'll be escorted to your quarters for your stay."
"Noted," Lucy told Samuel.
"There's another thing," Lucas said. "During your time in the Emperor's Garden, you'll have to wear a set of glasses."
"Sunglasses?" I blurted out. "I think I'm used to the sun by now." Even if I don't love it - I can almost feel some of my fur peeling off.
"Not exactly," the Lucario replied. "As soon as you put them on, you'll see why they are so vital."
The glasses lay in a basket that Lucas passed out, and they resembled the foldable solar eclipse glasses we'd used last year at the Institute when such an event occurred. The lenses of those glasses were so dark that you couldn't see anything through them except for the sun.
"Well?" Lucas offered. "Put them on."
I set the pair of glasses atop my nose, and then the world shimmered to life around me.
I recoiled at the sight, because I'd been expecting my surroundings to be barely visible through these black eyepieces. If anything, though, I saw more through them than I would have otherwise, and there was only one reason for that.
"It's virtual reality!" I exclaimed.
"Yes, yes, Emperor's Garden prides itself on its innovative streak," Lucas informed me. "Look at my head, for instance."
An odd request, to be sure, but I followed it nonetheless and found that the following words hung over the Lucario's head in bright blue characters: LUCAS LUCARIO - LEVEL 51 - 756,344 XP.
"This is…a real-life RPG?" I wondered aloud.
"You could say that," Lucas explained. "In Emperor's Garden, positive actions will earn you points, whereas negative actions will deduct points from your score. A higher level grants you special privileges; your income, your credit score, how quickly you're served at restaurants - your level affects all of those things."
"Huh" Lucy mouthed, but somehow she didn't sound surprised at all. Maybe I shouldn't either if I want to blend in.
"As you can tell," the Lucario continued, "I'm Level 51 right now, and I'm only a few hundred XP from Level 52. Can't wait for it."
"We really should get going," Ammy muttered disdainfully. "They'll be expecting us in the main square."
As we entered the city, I had more questions than answers, but I was greeted by the following words: BARRETT CHARMANDER - LEVEL 1. This shifted a second later, however; FIRST TIME IN EMPEROR'S GARDEN - 3,000 XP - YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 11!
"Wow!" I mouthed. "I'll be at Level 99 in no time!" (Of course, from my limited experience playing RPGs, I knew that the amount of XP required for a level up would almost assuredly increase dramatically the higher you climbed.)
Ammy grunted. "I'm sure you will be, Barrett."
This place is called Emperor's Garden for a reason, I assume. If I speak out against the Emperor, does that lose me points, or do I gain them? How do they determine if an action is good or bad?
We strode through the city, during which time my eyes were wide open at what I witnessed.
The buildings resembled pictures I'd seen of the Forbidden City in Beijing, not that I'd ever been to China (or any other foreign countries, for that matter.) Some Pokémon, mostly Fire-types like Blaziken, Torchic, and Magmar, were milling around outside cafés and other businesses. These establishments usually had neon virtual letters hovering over them advertising things like RAINFOREST CAFÉ - DINNER AND A SHOW!, JUNGLE DENTISTRY - BECAUSE YOUR CHOMPERS GOTTA STAY CLEAN!, or VR ARCADE - PLAY LIKE MAD!
The labels came in a rainbow of colors, and honestly, they were a beautiful sight, even if they were all artificial. Every time I turned a corner, I saw something colorful and ornate. Emperor's Garden was a decadent feast for the senses; the city was enough to overwhelm them if you let it. Especially for someone like me.
Soon after we passed IMPERIAL OPERA - ACT LIKE FOOLS!, the lines of businesses were replaced by a variety of tropical plants in a series of gardens. This was presumably the reason for the second word in the city's name. The plants all smelled incredibly succulent, as though a bite would be the most delicious thing I'd ever tasted. (Of course, I knew better than to eat any random fruit that showed up on a plant.)
"Wow" I mouthed as we reached what was clearly the main thoroughfare.
This concrete road was lined with palaces left and right. I could tell they were palaces because the gates were polished, and many of their facades contained murals of Fire-type Pokémon wearing crowns. Quite a few even had fountains in front of them.
Atop each palace was a set of virtual words, probably color-coordinated according to the species of the residence's occupant. For the sake of their privacy, I won't name the residents, but suffice it to say that they were clearly quite wealthy and/or privileged. A month ago, would I have thought I'd see such opulence in person? Not likely!
In any case, as soon as the four of us reached the main square, I saw that a crowd of Fire-types had gathered.
"What's going on?" I asked Ammy.
The mayor of Wildebush smiled. "I think they're welcoming us."
I was about to ask how the residents of Emperor's Garden knew we were here at this very moment, but I stopped myself from doing so. I recalled Lucas Lucario's words at the gate: News travels fast. And that didn't exactly reassure me.
There must have been thousands of Pokémon waving at us. A few even held out wreaths as though they intended to give them to us as a blessing.
I'll admit it: On some level, it felt great to be given a standing ovation…for about ten seconds. But then it sank in that I was the center of attention, that everyone and their mother had turned out just to see the four of us. And, as one of only two white dragons in Wildebush, I was bound to raise some question marks.
So instead, I focused on my surroundings, which were far more fanciful than I was used to. The central square of Emperor's Garden was built around a fountain the size of an Olympic swimming pool, with a statue in the middle the height of an indoor climbing wall. The statue depicted a Blaziken wearing a crown and cape and carrying a sword. The creature extolled here was clearly a member of the royal family or, at a minimum, someone the city had decided was worth respecting.
Above the statue was silver virtual text reading: EMPEROR'S GARDEN CENTRAL SQUARE. FIRST TIME HERE - 500 XP! Indeed, there was plenty of other text around the square. For instance, a few plants stood near the fountain, and if I were to water them, I would receive 5 XP for each. There was also an option to accept a "diplomat's welcome" from those who held out the wreaths, and if I accepted it, I would be granted another 100 XP.
"Come on, Barrett," Skipper muttered. "We've got to get our necklaces."
My mouth still hung agape, so fixated was I on the virtual world around me. "Necklaces?"
Lucy snorted. "Don't be blinded by the headlights, Barrett. Follow us - we'll do it together."
I gulped as I walked with my three companions up to those holding wreaths. One of the wreaths, which I soon discovered was more akin to those flower necklaces they gave you when you landed at the airport in Hawaii, already adorned Amaterasu's neck.
My heart raced like I was running a 200-meter dash. This is it, I thought. They're going to give me a…standing ovation? Considering that it's a city built for royals, Emperor's Garden sure is welcoming!
I stood in front of a Magmar and bowed as gracefully as I could. The wreath was placed around my neck, and then the Magmar smiled at me. "You're one of us now," he said brightly. "Welcome to Emperor's Garden."
I'm sure he meant well, but that sounds like something that'd be said in a zombie movie.
By the end of the ceremony I felt like I'd just gotten off a bad carnival ride at some terrible fair. As it turned out, if I had expected that to be the end of the pomp and circumstance, I was sorely mistaken.
"Hello!" a commanding female voice bellowed. "Welcome to Emperor's Garden!"
"Yes, welcome to Emperor's Garden!" the whole crowd exclaimed as though they were part of some choir. The crowd was not, however, facing us; rather, they faced a different Pokémon making her way toward the square.
That Pokémon was an Arcanine wearing a black hat that resembled that of a conductor. It briefly occurred to me that Danny (the young man from the Sacred Heart Institute), would have loved to have it. Then again, I hadn't seen Danny Sham in about a month; maybe he'd already forgotten about me as well.
Anyway, the conductor Arcanine was flanked by a trio of severe-looking Cinderace guards carrying spears. The Arcanine, however, projected a warm smile as she sized us up. "Well, hello to the four of you!"
"Hello" Lucy replied, gently nudging me with her eyes as well as her elbow. This was probably meant to tell me that I should, in fact, say hello to the Arcanine in return.
"Uh…hi" I mouthed feebly.
"No need to be shy!" the Arcanine proclaimed. "Trust me, I've seen it all. I'm Commander Maisie, head of the RSA - that's the Royal Security Agency - here in Emperor's Garden. As long as you're not trying to assassinate the royal family, you have nothing to fear from me."
"Thank you" Amaterasu responded, stepping forward. "Commander Maisie - ".
"- you can just call me Maisie, thank you very much."
"Okay, Maisie. I assume you are aware of the reason we're here."
The Arcanine nodded with a toothy, wholesome smile. "You're here for the meeting, which was delayed for two days until what is now tomorrow. Don't apologize for the delay - the jungle can be unpredictable."
"That's right," Skipper muttered. "It is the jungle, after all."
Amaterasu glared at my roommate. "Let me do the talking, please." Following our mayor's rebuke, Skipper turned his head away to presumably stare at the hovering text over one of the nearby buildings. We did, however, take turns introducing ourselves to the Arcanine as she gestured to each of us in turn.
"In any case," Commander Maisie continued, "I think it's best that my guards and I escorted you four to the place you'll be staying during your time in our city."
"Is it a five-star hotel?" I wondered aloud, which earned me a disapproving glare from Amaterasu.
Nonetheless, the Arcanine grinned even more happily. "It's better."
What could be better than a five-star hotel?
Commander Maisie and her pair of Cinderace guards led us through a part of the city that seemed even more exclusive than what we'd previously passed. I'll admit that this time period passed in little more than a daze for me. It's fair to say that I got overstimulated from the sheer amount of virtual text that hovered over my face, to the point where I didn't know what to say.
We passed wealthy families of Fire-types holding pool parties on their decks, gardens thick with plants that grew taller than Ammy, and even a few restaurants, such as ROYAL TAVERN - EAT LIKE A KING! It was almost too much to take in.
Finally, we reached the end of the road, which contained a gate that sat slightly ajar.
"Hey, Commander?" I asked the Arcanine.
"You can just call me Maisie, remember?"
"Maisie, right" I corrected myself. "Anyway, is there any reason why the gate's open? You're not worried about security, right?"
Commander Maisie smiled. "You've all been cleared through the city gate. I think you'll be plenty safe in the imperial residence."
Sure enough, as soon as we were through the gate, I saw that a sizable structure containing several towers, walls, and turrets stood before us. It was ringed by a moat, gardens, and even a fountain (though the scale was only a fraction of the one in the square).
There was one word for this sort of building, and one word only: Castle.
I nearly did a double take when the dark gray letters appeared in my vision: IMPERIAL CASTLE - CURRENT TENANT: EMPEROR CAMBRIDGE BLAZIKEN.
"So this is where the Emperor lives," I mouthed. A statement, not a question.
Skipper glared at me. "What else could imperial residence mean, Barrett? Like, really? What else?"
"Fair point."
Commander Maisie grinned. "Not only is it the home of Emperor Cambridge, but it'll be your home for the next three days as well! I'll show all of you to your rooms, and you can all make yourselves comfortable."
Lucy smiled. "Yes. Hopefully I get the penthouse suite. Lucy in the sky, maybe even with diamonds."
I decided not to comment on having hummed that song during our hike here. What would it accomplish besides making me sound like a weirdo?
Anyway, Commander Maisie led us through the gardens, which were adorned with numerous bushes containing succulent-looking fruit. One of these fruits was a golden apple. I mean, it literally looked like the edible solid gold that belonged in a Guinness World Records book. And yet the sight of it made me shiver.
Please, no. Not again.
"Barrett?" Commander Maisie asked me. "Are you all right?"
"What?" I replied. "Oh, yeah. I am. Sorry."
"You don't need to apologize, Barrett."
Honestly, part of me knew that the mere sight of a golden apple shouldn't have been so "triggering." After all, I didn't have to eat it. But sometimes fears just aren't rational.
"Your bedrooms are on the fifth floor" Commander Maisie informed us. "You four can have your choice of any of the guest rooms."
When Lucy perked up a bit, the Arcanine gently shut her down.
"None of them are the penthouse suite, Lucy. But they're probably pretty close. Again, take your pick, you can't go wrong."
We entered the castle through a very ornate door. As fanciful as the building had been on the outside, the interior showed off the building's royal bona fides to an even greater extent. A long crimson carpet with golden trim snaked its way along the marble floor, up a circular flight of stairs, and to each of several rooms visible on the second floor. The ceiling itself was at least several (read: seven) stories high, with a number of chandeliers dangling from there.
"What are those chandeliers made of?" I mouthed, not able to contain my curiosity.
Commander Maisie smiled. "Only the finest Sawsbuck antlers in all of Gardenia!"
I must've looked pretty confused, because the Arcanine clarified thusly: "Gardenia's the nation surrounding Emperor's Garden. It borders Dragonburrow, which contains your village of Wildebush."
"Oh" I mumbled. Something told me that should have been obvious, but poor, hapless me hadn't noticed the cues that, in hindsight, I really should have been able to pick up on. "But they're Sawsbuck…antlers?"
"What other antlers would a chandelier be built from?" Commander Maisie asked me rhetorically. "It's not like Deerling antlers are any better for this purpose."
Hopefully they only use antlers that have already been shed. That's all I can say.
Before we were due to head to the fourth floor, however, there was something I wanted to ask Skipper. And I wanted to have this conversation with just the two of us, just the way it had been a month ago.
I motioned for my roommate to follow me into a corner of the lobby. "Don't you want to see your room, though?" Commander Maisie offered.
"We'll be done soon," I told the Arcanine. Hopefully.
"Fair enough," the commander responded. "Just don't take too long, or else you'll delay the process."
Once I was confident we were out of earshot from the others, Skipper glared at me. "This had better be really freakin' important" he muttered.
"It is," I assured him. "It is really freakin' important."
"Well, if it's so imperative, cut to the chase. Don't beat around the bush."
"Right, sorry. Anyway, after I woke up the other day, I noticed that you and Ammy seemed to be sharing something with one another."
My roommate frowned. "We had a lot of time to talk while you and Lucy were unconscious. What is your point?"
He did not understand; his words only made me feel more suspicious, not less.
"Well, it looked like you were having conversations about me, without me" I clarified, trying not to raise my voice. "And I'm just curious to know what was discussed."
Skipper gave me a side-eyed look. "Nothing of importance to you. We just made small talk, you know? We had two days to do it."
"You dirty little liar," I remarked.
I tried to make those words sound playful, as though I were merely teasing my roommate rather than conveying anger. But, as with so many other things I said, I completely misjudged how Skipper would react.
"Barrett, I don't know how I can make you trust me on this. We didn't talk about anything too personal, at least nothing that related to you or Lucy."
"What if I said I don't believe you?" I retorted.
There was a certain fire in my belly that came whenever I wanted to lash out, even if I knew I'd regret lashing out about five seconds later. That fire was now a raging, enchanted inferno that I was ready to breathe like a dragon who's just been forcibly woken up from a deep slumber.
Skipper and I glared unblinking at one another, but I won the staring contest, as evidenced by my roommate's deep sigh and admission.
"Yes. We talked about you two briefly."
"What about?" I asked, ready to pounce as though I had the morals of an alleycat.
Skipper's next words sounded rehearsed, as though he'd practiced them multiple times before he actually needed to deploy them.
"Well, while you were sleeping, we noticed the way your paw was wandering toward Lucy's. Hers was doing the same toward yours. And…".
"Oh my Arceus" I mouthed. "Do you really think I was doing something wrong in my sleep? How could I have known?"
"No, no!" Skipper barked. "Settle down! You weren't being creepy or anything like that, but you were showing some affection that maybe you didn't realize existed."
My heart raced, Butterfree rising in my stomach as I slowly sensed what my roommate was telling me.
"So you're saying we're attracted to one another?" I inquired, balling my paws into fists. (To be clear, I had no intention of beating Skipper up, but that didn't mean I wasn't angry.)
The cerulean Charmander shrugged. "Maybe you are, maybe you aren't. But I think there's something subconscious there. Do you like her, Barrett?"
"I mean, I like her. She's my friend. I would trust her with quite a lot" I said defensively.
Skipper frowned. "I think you know what I mean by like."
"Well, like can mean a number of things" I mumbled breathlessly. Knowing what I know now, it was probably more to convince myself than Skipper. After all, my head was swimming around like it did after one of my extended sessions sitting by the furnace in the Sacred Heart Institute's library.
"Again, Barrett, you know what I'm saying. I think you like like her. As in, you're attracted to her."
The Butterfree in my stomach became a bona fide army, enough to invade and occupy a country, let alone my body. My face felt hotter than the surface of the sun, and I panted as I tried to figure out what to say next.
"You don't have to act on those feelings," Skipper continued curtly. "In fact, I think it's better if you don't. But you should at least be honest with yourself - there's something about Lucy that draws you in and doesn't let you go."
"No, there isn't," I muttered. "You're being ridiculous, Skipper."
To Skipper, of course, my insistence that I wasn't at all attracted to Lucy in a romantic sense sounded about as silly as a child insisting they're not sick right before throwing up. In his mind, that assertion would be disproven after what happened next.
"I don't think I am," my roommate replied calmly. Or at least, far more calmly than what I said next.
"I'm not in love with her, Skipper!" I bellowed, loud enough that I probably made a scene. In fact, I know I made a scene, because the castle's evident caretaker, a pink Braixen maid labeled as REX - CASTLE CARETAKER according to my VR glasses, turned to glance at us.
"You're lying to yourself," my roommate insisted. "I mean, you look dizzy, like you're about to pass out."
He was right. The Butterfree filled my chest, much like water fills the chest of a drowning victim. After that, my head spun like a broken carousel, my vision darkened, and I toppled to the ground in a dead faint right in front of Skipper.
Originally I was going to end this chapter a different way, with Barrett checking out his room. But I decided this was more dramatic, and when it comes to chapter endings, I think the more dramatic, the better, so long as it is relevant to the plot. It keeps people reading, after all.
The other thing is that I've started a story called "Hallucinate." It'll be the side project to this one, and it's sort of an AU to Dragon's Destiny. So feel free to check that one out, if you please - the chapters are going to be much shorter than these. I'll see you all next time!
