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A Story For The Soul - A Pokemon One-shot

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Post  Gratuity Sun Oct 28, 2012 6:10 pm

A Story For The Soul
because that's what a story is about

~~~

BEFORE YOU READ THIS
if you even read this:


1.
The Eevees and Eeveelutions in this story are all named based on elements in the Periodic Table. And while I wish that I could give you the entire history of how I decided to do that here, let's just say that I was lazy to come up with enough names. Just thought that it would be necessary.

2.
This story references my other fic (which I'm rewriting or something), but don't worry; it's still possible to understand the stuffs without actually going over and wasting half your day reading twelve lousy chapters. So yeah ^^.

3.
This story is pretty long. Brace yourselves.

~~~

“Ethy, thank you for helping me with my work! I…really appreciate it.”

I returned the compliment with a sweet smile. Patting the Eevee on his head, probably chilling him the least bit, I managed to receive a cute squeak from the furry critter.

“Hey, I’m just wondering…” he continued, still slightly overwhelmed by that encouraging pat.

I nodded to show that I was listening.

“…can you help me in Literature? I just…can’t get it right…especially with Mr. 58 as my teacher…he’s too boring.”

The second part of his statement didn’t really matter right now.
Literature? Nah, I can’t help in Literature…
I mean…other than Chemistry, which I never scraped past that magic 50, Literature was the subject that threatened, and eventually caused me to drop out- wait, that’s not the right word- escape from school.

“Well, not Lit, Magnesium…I just can’t do it,” I replied.

The cheeky little Eevee chuckled.

“Are you serious? I’ve seen your stuff.”

“You’ve seen my what?”

“Ya know, your book about your adventures with those two other pokes...who was it, the steadfast Luxray and the joker Typhlosion? Whatever. It's called ‘Choiced’ or something like that! You wrote that, right?”

That book. The only book I wrote; co-wrote, actually.
How long ago was that written?

“Well…I didn’t write that book myself…” I muttered, trying to push the attention away from myself.

“I liked your parts the best, though! You know, you always wrote about really emotional stuff! Stories for the soul! Always made me tear…I loved them.”

I blushed, but it wasn’t just because this guy was complimenting me. I was partly embarrassed at something else, but I decided to hold that back for the moment. In the end, I probably wasn’t going to have to teach this guy Literature.

“Well, I…don’t teach it, so it’s just not ri-“

“You’re an artistic genius, Miss! Please help me!!” Magnesium interjected.

I’m an artistic genius?
Suddenly, all thoughts about failing in Literature disappeared into nothing. Yeah, I did co-write that book, and I handled all the emotional areas, so that was something commendable. My inner ego, which was concealed by my modest image, started thumping at my heart, and I felt the exhilaration rush through me. How hard could it be? This guy liked me!

“I mean...you actually managed to spark an interest in Art in me! It’s something I’ve never experienced before! You’ve also helped with those boring humanities stuff! And you’ve got a talent for teaching too so it would be a waste if you didn’t try for another art subject, right?” he continued, reminding me of that Typhlosion I travelled with who was now a full-time policeman…he could never sit still.

However, my mind was mainly thinking about something else. I always knew that I was a pretty good teacher, but now that someone had just flattered me, I was instantly encouraged to show off what I could do.

And suddenly, the second part of Magnesium’s statement; the one about Number 58 boring out everyone in his Literature class; it suddenly mattered to me. I could do better than that guy. Definitely. One period would do; I could show the class, and most importantly Number 58, that I could do this.

“I’ll do it, okay?” I said calmly, trying my best to contain my excitement.

“YAY!!!” Magnesium jumped upwards, almost banging his head into me, and started running around in circles.

“THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!!!” he chirped.

I sighed, attempting to keep my cool; my heart was thumping right now.

“No problem, sugar. Don’t over-react, though, okay?” I spoke in a gentle undertone.

Magnesium instantly calmed down, and he panted a few times before introducing a new point.

“Hey…I liked your stories. You know, the stories that touched the souls; the stories for the souls, actually. Can you write me one?”

Curious eyes flashed at me as I let my ego take control.

“No problem! I’ll do it from scratch if you’d like.”

Magnesium’s smile widened.
“Thank you!! Just take your time, okay?”

I nodded.

We both left the classroom feeling a hundred and one times happier.


~~~


After dismissing the final class of my day, I walked to Number 58’s table in the staff lounge, carrying two cups of coffee on my back. I made sure that one of them was “black” – black meaning that it was really concentrated, with no sugar or milk. His lessons were going to end in twenty minutes, so I was prepared to wait.

Number 58 was (in my opinion) actually a decent teacher. I had sat through one of his lessons to help to supervise some group work. My group fell asleep, and I almost fell asleep, however staying awake managed to help me supplement my Literature a lot more than I expected. No doubt, he was overly formal and boring (the stereotypical Umbreon teacher); but he was a great teacher if you could keep awake.

I just hoped that I could keep awake when talking to him, therefore the “black” coffee.

However, upon reaching his table, he was already there, apparently waiting for me. It isn’t good to skip lessons; so this wasn’t good. There was something serious here.

“Hey, 58!” I called out.
“Sit down,” he said solemnly.

Wow, that was abrupt.
I slowly laid down the tray of coffee, and I instantly took the “black” coffee and drank it all down in one gulp.

“Right! I need to-“
“I know what this is about, Miss Plutonium,” he interrupted.


Giggling, I commented, “Erm…just call me Ethereal. Ethy would do.”

I couldn’t help but notice that he spoke extremely slowly, with the above statement being said in five full seconds. Arceus be praised for the invention of “black” coffee.

He spun his rotatable chair one full round, and completely ignored what I said.
“You want to take one lesson off me?” he then asked.

I chuckled.
“Yep! Just one! I wanna see how it is to teach Lit! You know, I’ve got three art subjects under my arsenal already, so an attempt at one more won’t hurt, right?”

The Umbreon frowned.
“So what’s this ‘Story for the Soul’ thing I hear about?”

Oh. Apparently, Magnesium had already told him for me.

“Heh, I bet you know too, right?” I smirked.

“That wasn’t very polite,” he dragged. Notice the use of the word “dragged” here.

“Sorry for that then,” I said, trying to fit into this serious atmosphere.

“Okay, so you think that you can…write a story for Magnesium?” he questioned.

“Yeah, of course. I mean-“
“And you think that it’s because you co-wrote ‘Choiced’, right?” he interrupted.

Well, he was pretty right. I felt myself blush, and I slinked backwards a few millimeters; the furthest I could get away from this guy before he realized that I was trying to get away from him.

With some hesitation, I said, “Well, no, bu-“
“Don’t deny it. It is.” I was interrupted again.

Raising an eyebrow, I intentionally did a little cough, and said,
“I…no, really, it isn-“

“Just admit it.”
Wow, interrupted again.

“You really shouldn’t interrupt me…it’s…well, no-“
“Well, you’re just doing this because you think you’re the best teacher in the world, right?”

I felt a little tremor in my body, don’t know where it came from, but it was the first signal that I was getting angry. I was threatened to tear Number 58 into shreds, but I held back.

“Erm…I’m…no-“
“You think you a-“

“Don’t interrupt me!!”

I let a little burst of adrenaline out, all converted into anger. I was usually okay with getting interrupted, but not this time.

Number 58 narrowed his eyes, and fixated them on me.
“Excuse me?”

I did the same, except that I didn’t do it as well as he did.
“What?”

“He then slumped back against the back of his rotating chair, and he muttered,
“You can’t.”


Feeling my blood starting to gain heat, I tried to calm everything down.

“I…well, I’ll tr-“
“You can’t.”

Getting hotter.

“Come on, it’s just one session! Ju-“
“You can’t. You’re not meant to do this.”
“I ca-“
“YOU CAN’T.”

Boiling point reached. Uh-oh.

I felt so much tension building up inside me; my body was almost shaking. It was just plain rude of him to say that I couldn’t. I felt all the stored tension in me explode and rain down on Number 58.

“Oh you think I can’t?!! Just watch and see!! Just watch and see!!!!!” I blared.

He smiled slyly; the trademark smile I liked to pull off during my adventuring days.

“You’re mad, woman?”

That just pushed me across my limit.

“You asked for it!!! Ice Beam!!!”


I converted all the tension inside me into the most powerful Ice Beam I had ever conjured up in a while, outwitting all those times I was in desperate situations; overpowering all of those times I was fighting tough opponents; the most powerful Ice Beam ever. The cyan ray of energy hung by my open mouth, ready to be released at any moment. It shone with an intimidating light, and while cyan is normally a colour that symbolizes tranquility, in a situation like this, everything is reversed.

Without mercy, I launched it towards the unprepared Umbreon.

“Argh!” Number 58 shrieked, still at a relatively slow pace. He cringed, and covered his face.

I stopped that Ice Beam just before it hit him.
Then, I dispelled it.


The radiant cyan ray crystallised, and it smashed into tiny shards of ice which were absorbed back into my body.

Still in shock, Number 58 said,
“Miss Plutonium, I think-“
“You’re still not sure of my new name, righ-“

“Ethy!! I think it’ll be more appropriate to approach this in a more civilized manner!!”

Wow, he was speaking fast for a change.

“So, can I have just one session?” I politely asked, smiling like a child.

“YES!! YES!! TAKE IT!!!”

I bowed.
“Thank you.”

I waltzed out of the staff lounge with a swagger.



~~~


“You did what?”
“Yep, I’m going to try out teaching Lit.”

Sulfur and Lithium were sitting with me at a round table in the cafeteria. We were supposed to conduct a meeting – we did, actually – but it ended so quickly that we had about an hour or so to do nothing.

Sulfur sighed, and struck a lamed expression on her face.
“You said something about beating up Cerium (58, btw), right?”

I laughed. I knew Sulfur from young; she always aimed for the most interesting parts of a statement when talking to me. Everything else was just scrapped.
“Oh, that!”

“So what did you do? It’s really great that you dared to challenge him, actually, he’s pretty scary!” Lithium, the Espeon said.

“Well, I got really angry at him because he didn’t let me go for that ONE lesson, so I threatened him at Ice-Beam-point. Of course I never hit him, but hey, I got my way.”

There was total silence for a few seconds.

“So...you forced him to give you the period,” Sulfur commented.

“Not re-“

I thought about it. I did kinda force him to give up one period; but it was just one period, and I was still really happy about being flattered. Since this was coming from a friend, I decided to keep that little bit of anger inside me.

“Kinda, yes.”

“You shouldn’t do that.”

I didn’t really like the sound of that statement. Thankfully, Lithium covered it for me.

“Hey! Ethy just wanted to do what she wanted to do! Don’t criticize her!”

“I’m not criticizing her.”

“Well you are!! Psychi-“

I quickly stood in between the Leafeon and the Espeon. Lithium instantly cut her attack and looked down.

“Urgh…” she went towards Sulfur. “Sorry, gal.”

“No hard feelings.”

Then, they both looked at me.
“But you really should go apologise to him. In fact, you might want to return him that period.”

I laughed.
“Are you serious, Lithium? I think it’s a little weird, having that come from you!”

He gave me a stern look.
“I’m serious this time…I think it’s wrong to attack someone just to ask for something, right?”

Then he put up a more concerned look.
“Look Ethy, as much as a friend I wanna be, I don’t think it’s right to. You know what? Make you choice. You should be the best at that, right?”


Then, he giggled.

I felt my blood boil again.
Lithium was obviously insulting my horrible judgement; I’ll make sure she gets it.
…but she’s a friend. I’ll leave her alone.

Without saying a word, I hung my head down and stormed out.

“Ethy! Wait!”

I kept going.


~~~



Back at home, I instantly took out some paper, and I stared blankly into it.

I need to write a story that touches the soul…so I have to start with a…what do I have to start with? Heck, I don’t even know what I’m writing about here. When writing “Choiced”, all the words just…well, appeared…they all went up to my brain and down onto the paper in no time at all…why?

Of course! I need inspiration!

Leaving the pen and paper behind, I bolted out of the house, ready to search for that little spark that I required.


~~~


The first place that came to my mind was the town square; lots of stuff happened there and there was bound to be some occurrence that would help to give me that inspiration.

However, for the first time in my entire life, nothing happened. Absolutely nothing happened in that town square. Just a while ago, I was mediating a fight once every forty-eight hours, but it was surprisingly peaceful today.

“What’s this? Something should have happened by now…”

Just as I said that, I bumped into my old friend, Frenzy. He was the Luxray who travelled with me, as written in that book. He was also a pretty solid writer, so it would be nice to leech some advice off from him.

“Heya Fren-“
“Ethy, what’s this about writing a story for the soul?” he interrupted.

I turned my head away and tilted it to him in an awkward angle in such a way that he was slightly intimidated (I could see that); trust me, I’m good at intimidating people.

“How’d you know?” I questioned.
“The news is spreading, my friend.”

Frenzy them came close, cheek-to-cheek.
“What has gotten into you?” he whispered.

Suddenly feeling a little agitated, I shrugged Frenzy off. He was barely moved a few millimeters.

“Ethy…what happened?” he asked.
“Nothing’s wrong! I just need to get some inspiration,” I replied, trying to keep up my smile.

Frenzy smiled, and it creeped me out slightly.
“You need inspiration?”

“Yes, I need inspiration. Nothing wrong with that, right?”
“You might want to find a grammar checker first!”

Frenzy was doubled over with laughter, and even with the rising tension inside me, I still felt as if it was right to play along.

“Yeah, I guess so…any tips on that?”
“Don’t do it.”

Wow, that was really encouraging. But Frenzy was always right; it was all true – he grammar-checked every last line I penned down, making sure that I didn’t write any messed-up sentences. I couldn’t do that myse-
Wait, what am I thinking? I can do this, I just need some inspiration!

“So Frenzy! Do you have any tips on how to write well?” I asked, trying to change the subject.


He paused there for a while, suppressing his laughter.
“I think having some foundations would help.”

I silently melted an ice crystal inside my mouth. It usually helped to calm me down; just form an ice crystal and eat it. The chilling feeling helps to hold some anger in.

I tried not to comment, in case I exploded.

“Alright, time to get serious,” Frenzy continued with a cheeky smile. “I don’t think you should…I don't think...you have it. I’d be happy to spell-check this for you, but-”

“I’m tired of your arrogance.”

There was a small moment where no one spoke nothing. Then, Frenzy calmly replied with a “What?”.

“You don’t feel like you’re looking up on yourself a bit too much or something?!” I snarled.

Frenzy stared at me, mouth agape.
“Ethy, what’s wrong?”

“You’re what’s wrong!!!!!”

I let my inner emotions run free, shocking every one that heard me. I had never let any one other than my teammates hear me screaming before.

“Ethy…”
“Don’t talk to me now!!! Don’t…”

Suddenly, I felt a wave of embarrassment creep up. Arceus, what had gotten into me?! Why was I getting so agitated half the time?! It can’t be because of that stupid story! I felt my heart drop onto the ground and disintegrate, and I felt my body burning up, flustered.

Mustering up all the courage I could collect, I hung my head down, and muttered, “…excuse me, furball.”

I quickly dashed off, hiding my face from the crowd.

It isn’t right to jump at your friends like that.


~~~




Holding back tears that could freeze the air, I dashed back to the village, crashing through the crowd, and straight into my house. I couldn’t stop to say hi to any of my friends; I bashed right across them. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. Not after I had shouted at Frenzy.

What was I now? Some… kid?

Upon reaching the house, I stormed in, forgetting everything about the surroundings, and I lay down in my bed. I wanted to just sleep all of this off. Tomorrow, everything would be alright.

No, it wouldn’t. I still had to finish writing that story.

I got up of bed slowly and reluctantly, and I made my way to the table. On the table were the empty sheets of paper and a pen, which was never used.

Sitting down and getting ready to write, I started planning. What could I write about? Today would be a good start…


"I need help. I don’t want to stay like this.

Today, I just shouted at one of my best friends. This wasn’t-“

I looked at the piece of paper with utter dissatisfaction. In exasperation, I froze the paper, and let it smash into tiny fragments as I let my emotions run wild.

“WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME?!!!!”
I cried out in desperation, letting my teardrops fall like glass shards from broken glass. I slumped my heavy head on the table, letting it freeze a small section of it. The teardrops froze quickly, leaving streaks of ice on my face. I didn’t bother shaking them off. Only cold teardrops would freeze; I only cried cold teardrops when I was…sad.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
“Hey Ethy!! It’s me!”

Magnesium.
He was here.
I couldn’t meet him like this.
But what could I do about it?

“I’m…coming,” I replied.

Slowly, I opened the door, to see that cute little brown figure standing by the door with a box of sweets on his back.

“Hey Ethy! This is for you!” he said with a cheerful smile.


“…”
I hung my head down.

Magnesium instantly understood that there was something going on with me.
“You okay?”

“I’m…fine…yes,” I stuttered, holding my tears back.
“You’re crying…are you sure?”

“I’m…fine. Just call me tomorrow, okay? I’ll be fine.”

“Sure! Please remember my story as well!” he said, bouncing up and down.

I felt my heart stab itself. The word “story” had just become a word that could set me off. I didn’t want to remember anything about that story.

Without thinking, I slammed the door shut.

I was intending to return back to the table to write at least a paragraph of something; I could do this over a few weeks.
But not today.
Today, I needed to get to sleep.


~~~


When I woke up the next morning, I felt much better. I cheerfully got up, trying to forget all the stuff that happened yesterday; I didn’t need to remember any of that, I could just enjoy today like it was a normal day. In fact, it was a weekend, so that was great!

Unfortunately, all that changed when I made a turn and saw the blank sheets of paper still lying on the table, waiting for me to write something on it. Instantly, my mind started to fill with all the images of the stuff I did yesterday. Attacking Number 58, walking off my friends, shutting the door on Magnesium, and…shouting at Frenzy. What happened to me?

I got ready to waste today to pen down all the thoughts that went through my head yesterday, so I went back to that table with the papers and pen I dreaded so much. This “Story for the Soul” had started to chip off little partitions off my soul.

I stared at the blank papers again.
Nothing came out of my mind; why?
I had all the inspiration I needed. All the events I penned down in “Choiced” were all crafted from these faults in character…why couldn’t I pull out something from these incidents?

And that was when I realized that I had forgotten the most crucial step to achieving that inspiration I needed. I had to resolve the problems.


~~~


The first problem I needed to resolve was definitely the shouting at Frenzy thing. It was just…not right. I felt horrible for doing that, and if I resolved this one first, it’ll be a huge chunk of pain removed.

I started walking in circles around the Town Square. However, I never saw Frenzy…maybe he was as shaken as I was in this situation?

Suddenly, I bumped into someone.

“Oof! Sorry for that, gal! I’m - wait, is that Ethy there?”

I looked up. It was Crimson, the happy-go-lucky Typhlosion that also co-wrote “Choiced”.

“…hey, big guy,” I looked up at his towering figure, and squeezed a tiny smile out.

“What’s wrong with ya?” he asked with a gentle, concerned tone.


“It’s…a long story. Don’t bother hearing it.”

I felt myself holding back tears. It has been a really long time since I felt this weak and helpless. Even when being emotionally assaulted, I tried not to share my pain with anyone…it just made them feel as bad as I was.

“Nope! As your friend, I DEMAND THAT I HEAR IT!!” he jumped about happily and…well, demanded. However, I could sense a tiny reluctance in his voice; I could totally understand that. It’s never nice to listen to someone that’s complaining to you.

“I…haven’t been myself lately.”
“…mmhmm…”
“And I…argh.”

I sniffed, catching a stray tear in my hand.
“You already know…right?”

Crimson was dumbfounded for a moment there, but he decided that it was best to tell me.
“Yeah, I do.”

This was one of those few times where Crimson displayed his more loving and concerned side. He was usually extremely ignorant, but when it came to tough times, he would stick with a friend.

“I think you should forget this story,” he said. “If it’s causing you that much pressure, don’t do it.”

“I can’t just turn down something like that!! I’m doing this for Magnesium! I can’t say no!” I complained, letting those complaints beat down on Crimson.

“Well, it’s the hole you dug for yourself. You’ve got to get out of it.”
“It’s the…what?”

I felt myself getting agitated much more quickly. In a while, I would let it down on Crimson. But I promised to try to be nice today…I wasn’t going to do anything to anyone, I was going to reconcile and let everything pass by. I’d then gather inspiration for my…urgh, story.

“I heard about the incident with Frenzy too.”

I looked at Crimson with tear-filled eyes. Cold tears. Crimson’s expression was…mixed. He definitely was concerned, but he didn’t want to talk to someone who was basically complaining to him. It meant that he had to sympathise, which never felt good.

“Don’t worry, Frenzy’s strong enough…however if you wanna write that, you might want to run a grammar check with him.”

“So you-“
I stopped the sentence before it got nasty.

“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Okay…and as for the Umbreon…”

I looked at him to acknowledge that I was paying attention.

“Give him back the period he wants. You forced it out of him, just give it back. Everything is good after that.”

“…Give his period back?”
I didn’t like the sound of that. The only reason why I’m going through all of this pain is to try teaching Li-…I’m lying to myself even! What am I even doing this for?! I don’t know what I’m doing this for!

My mind faded into a blur, and blind thoughts started to launch outwards blindly.

“NO! I WON’T GIVE IT BACK!! GET LOST, CRIMSON! YOU’RE NOT HELPING!!!”

There was another moment of awkward silence, before I realized what I did; before I found out that I had just shouted at another friend. This story was making me blind, and I couldn’t stop it! Feeling that same burning feeling returning, I burst into tears, and landed right into Crimson’s arms.

“Sorry!! I didn’t mean that!!! Don’t get the wrong idea!!!” I cried out, forgetting that there were crowds of pokes around looking at me. I let my cold tears evaporate as they fell on Crimson’s hot body. Forgetting that Crimson wasn’t a jar to pour my emotions into, I released all my emotions on Crimson.

Crimson patted me.
“Just go to sleep, okay? It’ll all be okay tomorrow.”


Hi tone indicated that he didn’t want to talk to me anymore. But I was…so blind; I couldn’t stop myself from doing anything.

“It won’t! It won’t!!!”
“Trust me. It will.”

I knew that it would not work. But a small moment of clarity, which was catalyzed by that encouraging response, helped me to make the right choice. I had to stop this. I wasn’t doing Crimson any good by complaining to him.

“Alright…I’ll try,” I replied.

I walked off in the wrong direction, and Crimson, finally relieved that he had shaken me off, ran to Arceus-knew-where.



~~~


I wasn’t going to go home and sleep it off. I was going to go meet Frenzy and end this day once and for all. I wanted to end all of this misery right now.

But every step I took made the images in my mind more vivid. Images of my uncontrollable self; images of all the hearts I might have shattered, all the images of my inner conscience fighting itself. All those images condensed and formed tears, which I never dared to let go. I was too ashamed of myself to. All this had happened because of that story for the soul that I had promised to write. I should never had accepted that request! Never!

…I’m trying too hard to make me look like an angel.

I finally decided to look deep into my heart, an area where I never dared to explore; was this all because of Magnesium’s unreasonable request? It wasn’t. It was all because I accepted it. It was my stupid ego that caused this. All this would be over if I just declined the request. But I didn’t decline the request.

I’m stupid. I’m stupid!!

Just as I was spending too much time letting my demonic side and my ethereal side, fight each other to the death, a wall of fur stopped me. That distinct texture; I instantly recognized it as Frenzy’s.

“Frenzy…”
“Hey, Ethy!” he called out as if nothing had happened.

“I’m…sorry, Frenzy…please…fo…”
I couldn’t finish the sentence. With the embarrassment filling me to the brim once again, I cut my sentence short with a few sobs.

“Aww Ethy, no hard feelings on my side, okay?”

“Stop talking like that!!”

There was silence once again. The same awkward silence that I hated to hear. The silence wasn’t just deafening anymore; it was blinding, burning, paralyzing, destroying. What made it so hard to control all these emotions?! Was it just me?

“Frenzy…what’s wrong with me? Help me! Please…!!”
My four knees buckled, and I landed on the ground with a plop. All the pokes walking by had a quick glance at us…they never stopped to look, though.

“I…” Frenzy went down on the floor beside me.

“Look, I’ve accepted your apology, okay? Just return that period back, and everything is through.”

“Where’s your apology?!” I suddenly shouted out.

“Why do I need to apologize?”


All the anger that was suddenly amplified in that little statement Frenzy said was now amplified even more. I channeled all the anger into frost, and a cloud of mist started to envelop me, making me feel like I was burning up, with all the cold I had just thrown away like that.

“You don’t feel that you’re the slightest bit arrogant?!! Well I’ll tell you in the face that you’re thinking too highly of yourself!!! You’re an arrogant idiot and you’re going to live with that!!!”

I released much more cold. Ignoring the burn that was starting inside me, I launched an Ice Beam, hitting Frenzy square on, and freezing half of his body.

“Ethy!! I’m so-“
“YOU DON’T DARE TO SAY YOU’RE SORRY EH?! I’LL MAKE YOU!! ICE BEAM!!!!”

Mercilessly, I fired another Ice Beam, which landed on the exact same spot as before. Clouds of frost started diffusing outwards. I started feeling hotter and hotter, but I never stopped to think.

“You…don’t deserve to know me!!! Ice Beam!!!”
“No!! I’m-“

Suddenly, I felt giddy. I had gained so much heat from releasing my inner coldness that I could no longer function right. Desperate to regain all the coldness I had given up, I started charging…but before anything could happen, I was struck in the head by something.

It was Frenzy’s Superpower attack. The one which he had used so many times against anyone other than me.

Almost instantly, I passed out.


~~~


When I awoke a while later, I was on a hospital bed.

The first thing I did was look around. Crimson was standing there in front of my bed. When I opened my eyes, I saw him in his usual police uniform.

Seeing that, the next thing I did was to try to move my arms.
I couldn’t.
Tilting my head to the two sides, I saw that they were cuffed to the bed.

I felt my heart disappear for a second or two. It returned with a wave of embarrassment running through every last cell in my body, and following which, it was time to accept my fate.

I had gotten what I deserved.

Crimson leaned over my head.

“I’m sorry, Ethy…this wa-“
“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s no-“
“It’s fine…it’s what I deserved, Crimson…”

I smiled. Not very broadly, but enough to show that I had accepted the situation.
“Thank you, Crimson.”

Crimson was dumbfounded for a second. He then buried his head into his palm, and shook it.

“No, this isn’t right!! Why, Ethy?! Why did you have to do that?! I’m…feeling that…I don’t know what to say!!”

I smiled once again.
“I’m fine, Crimson. You did the right thing…”

Crimson didn’t want to accept that fact.
“NO! I’ll defend you in court! I promise!”

“Please do not defend me…it’s the right decision. I’ll learn from this, don’t worry.”

I then turned away for a while, noticing that there was an empty bed beside me. I could guess who that was for.

“Is Frenzy okay?”
“…Yes. He’ll be fine. They’re treating him in the coal chamber right now. He's...quite frozen.”

I nodded, then continued,
“Tell him that he must not defend me. No one should defend me. Clear?”

Crimson nodded, still looking concerned, then he slowly raised his trembling hand up to his forehead and saluted.


~~~


“Ethereal G.”
“Yes…?”
“You are charged for assault and aggression. Are you clear about that?”
“Yes, your Honour.”

Arceus, the Judge was reluctant to issue this sentence; we had known each other too well. He stood by that judge podium when I was first convicted for my criminal activities about five years ago, and he even saw my team and I through our entire journey. Most of all, he knew that I wasn’t a criminal at heart.

“You will be charged with…two years of imprisonment…are you…cl…”
Arceus’ voice started dying out. He looked down for a tiny second; probably disappointed, or possibly lost for emotions.

But he was a judge; he had to be neutral. Quickly, he got back to his normal stance.

“Do you have anyone that wishes to speak in your defense?”
“No, your Honour.”

I looked back, and Crimson and Frenzy slowly let their hands fall.

Arceus kept silent for a moment, stared at Crimson and Frenzy, and then he muttered,
“Guards, take her away…", before he turned his head away and continued, "...quickly…I don’t want to remember this day.”

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t resist. As I felt the cuffs go over my hand, I stared thinking of all the stuff that led to this. Why did I even get here in the first place? What was this all about?

It all started with a story. A story for the soul.
And something as simple and stupid as that had degenerated me into this mess of failed choices; horrible decisions which I never should have made.

Yes, it was only right that I went back to prison.

Suddenly, I heard high pitched voices combine to form noise…why was that noise so familiar?

Arceus' tone suddenly lightened.
“Hmm…? Ethy, do you have someone to speak for you now?”

“No, just take me away and do what you’re meant to do.”

Just as I finished saying that, the bashing of the front doors with a powerful Leaf Blade attack broke the solemn atmosphere. A Psychic attack then flung the doors to a side.

“Your Honour, wait!!!!!”
That high-pitched voice. It was…Magnesium?


I turned around, and saw about two hundred Eevees or so. They were all clustered together, like a clump of weeds.

“Guys…just-“ I tried to ask them to leave, but I was interrupted by Magnesium himself.

“Your Honour!! Don’t punish Ethy!!!”

Arceus smiled, and his mood suddenly shifted.
“Oh great! Alright, Ethy you’re-“

Then he remembered. A judge must have no bias.
“I’m…sorry. She did bad stuff…she…deserves…this…”

“No! She did nothing wrong!!!” Magnesium shouted.
“Magnesium…come on. You know what happened…”

“Yeah, I do! I caused this entire mess!!”

The audience gasped in unison.

“You know the Story For The Soul thing? I requested it!! It was my fault that she had to go through all of this!! I started the idea so you can transfer that sentence to me now!!!”

No. No way. As much as I wanted to be saved, I couldn’t let a child bear the brunt of my mistakes.

“No. It was my…pride. My pride caused me to become blind; to forget my limits. I would never be able to write that story, my child…”

Magnesium came closer to me.
“B-but…”

I smiled sweetly, then spoke with a warm tone.

“Look…it’s not just a.. mistake that kids make. We all… think too highly of ourselves at times, especially…"

I paused for some tears.

"...especially when we’re flattered with all those merits… we had obtained,” I stuttered.

Magnesium looked at me innocently.
“You…couldn’t do it, but you said you could…?”

I nodded, letting the shame overcome me.

Magnesium turned away.
He then silently walked away from me.
But he turned back and faced Arceus.

“Your Honour, it’s a mistake she made!! Can you not forgive her?!”

“We’ll see if the defendant has anything to sa-“
“No, the defendant has nothing to say.” I interjected.

“No, Ethy…” Frenzy was already ready to defend me; he always managed to talk us out of these sticky situations…but I was never going to live up to this shame unless I made the right decision.

Just for once; to make the correct decision once, since this entire story for the soul thing started, anyway.

“Well…continue, guards.”

I was bumped forward, and directed to a Lapras which would transport me to the prison. But Magnesium wouldn’t let me go.

“Your Honour!! I need Ethy!! We won’t be able to survive in school without her!!!”

“Meaning…?” Arceus inquired.

“She’s the only teacher in the world I’ve seen that can inspire!!! I…need her. We need her. Is that right, class?”

There was cheering from the bunch of Eevees there.

Suddenly, a little sparkle appeared in the sea of desperation. What would happen if I went?

Why was I being so selfish and depriving the innocent students of what they needed?

In fact, why was I so selfish over the course of these three days?

Why did I never think of others, but only of myself?

“Your Honour…please give Ethy back…we need her. Sulfur, Lithium, what’s your stand??”
Magnesium turned to my two best colleagues.

“We need her too…she changes the atmosphere of everything with her cheeriness. Don’t just sentence her like that after a small...or rather, not-so-small incident! Give her another chance! She won’t attack anyone again!! Right, Ethy?”

Suddenly, it seemed right to live in this shame. The shame felt by…making the wrong choices. But I needed to help some people. And I needed to…be there. I couldn’t keep thinking of this shame. I had to learn to discard it.

I nodded, which already started generating some noise from the crowd.

“Ethy, please come back to us…don’t worry about all the wrong things you did; we’ll help you reconstruct everything.” Sulfur said.

Arceus looked at me, and he grinned.
“What’s your decision?”

I had nothing to say.
At my darkest moment of life, I had friends; friends that would help to defend me when I needed them the most; friends that would…carry my load for me. I was overwhelmed, and I felt tears forming. Warm tears.

And I let them fall as I nodded.

The audience started clapping, and the Eevees started cheering. Frenzy and Crimson came over and gave me the same hug they gave me when I first survived an encounter with the court.

I was…flustered. There was just too many emotions running through me at that time. I was…happy. The shame would come later, right now…I could start rebuilding my life again.


~~~


A few days later, after clearing up all unfinished business, I entered Mr 58’s Literature class. It was a pleasant surprise to all the Eevees, and some of them thought that I was going to go crazy again; but I had something in mind.

Upon entering the class, the first thing I did wasn’t to greet them.

I walked over to Magnesium’s table.

“Ethy…I’m sorry,” he said.

“Don’t be, okay?” I replied with the same sweet smile as I gave him before all the madness started.

“…Please forget my story…it’s…causing you too much trouble.”

I shook my head.
Then I handed him his Story For The Soul.
The one he had crafted himself.

Gratuity
Gratuity

Posts : 10
Join date : 2012-10-25
Age : 27

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