Heart of Steel [Pokémon Fanfiction]

27| Bellworth

The place Arietta led me to was on the outskirts of Lilycove where the steel downtown buildings deconstructed down into white and brown-bricked civilian homes. No, they weren't even that. The houses I was looking at were more like cottages than anything, the kind people would rent on vacation. There were hardly any people in this part of the city, the last person I saw having been making their way towards the city's center.

   "That's my place." Arietta pointed to a cookie-cutter home. The two things separating it from the others were the various flowers in a flower bed beneath the single window on that side of the abode and a lonely-looking marble statuette of a Skitty on the front porch. For Arietta's home, it was surprisingly humble. "Inviting, I know," she remarked. "We're almost there, by the way. It's at the end of the street."

   Our destination was a small peninsula-like outcropping that sharply dropped downwards to a thin beach. Beyond that was the ocean, which shone orange and yellow in the setting sun. Arietta sat down on the grass and let her legs hang over the partial ledge. Following her lead, I sat down as well, sitting with my legs crossed instead. I didn't feel comfortable with the possibility of falling off, as miniscule a chance as it was.

   "Remote enough for you?" Arietta asked, looking out at the water. "I come out here when I don't feel like going into town, which is pretty often. But anyways, what are you waiting for?"

   "Oh! U-um..." How do I even start explaining this? "Before I say anything, I'll tell you this. I trust you, Arietta, so that's why I'm telling you. Do you promise not to repeat this information to anyone? And I really mean promise." I made my voice sound as serious as possible. I needed to know I wouldn't regret this.

   "Yes, I promise," she said, reflecting my tone.

   "Okay." I took a deep breath. "When I said my dad works as a manager, I wasn't telling you the whole truth. In reality, my dad is on a much, much higher rung of the corporate ladder. He's Devon's president."

   "Wait, you're related to Joseph Stone?" she asked.

   "The one and only," I said, rolling my eyes.

   "I didn't know he had any children. From what I've heard, he only has a wife." She turned to me. The light sea breeze pushed her hair away from her face as she stared, almost examining me.

   I felt my muscles tense. The way she was looking at me made my stomach squirm uncomfortably, and I had to fight the urge to break eye contact. I'd begun to hate it when people stared intently at me. It made me feel like I was some object to be admired.

   "Then again... your resemblance to him is uncanny," Arietta mused.

   My heart sank a little. "I hear that a lot. The few that have seen us side by side have said I look exactly like him when he was my age." I closed my eyes, letting out a sigh. "It's... quite irritating to hear, in all honesty."