We arrived at Cyllage City the following morning. I had wiped my tears on my sleeve, shut my eyes and bit the inside of my lip.
"No more crying." I told myself. Stern. Strict. Abided.
Crying is weakness. Crying will give your secret away.
I had hidden everything under the rug again. Pushed it aside and tried to forget about how I broke apart in front of my crush. It was better to implode than express my emotions. For once, I was not proud of love.
Gary and Ash strode down the bustling sidewalk on either side of me. Gary, knowing there was a slight tension, kept the mood lightened by asking a series of utterly useless questions, to which, Ash answered heartedly and I gave a couple of grumbles.
Ash had picked up the chipping pieces of himself and temporarily glued them back together. Perhaps this was due to his excitement of seeing her today, even if just on a stage. Or possibly, the action of passing on his glumness onto me. I wouldn't have said he was quirky, there was still a saddened undertone, but better.
It was the new ruler's first performance as Kalos Queen and practically the whole region had gathered to see it. Aria had sat on her throne for a while now and no one would have thought she'd be thrown off so swiftly. Like a deft placing upon the royal floor.
The crowds thickened the closer we got to the stadium. Chatter and noise of Serena's last preformance flitted from every mouth, passing in one ear and out the other. I began to wonder how strange it would be to see Serena enter as Queen, dressed in an elaborate gown rather than her normal performance outfit. I wondered how I would be able to drag my legs out that stadium after she finished.
The crowds were too thick. Throngs of people, practically stacked one on top of the other. Weren't the stadium gates open? Shouldn't people already be filing through the central doors in order to get front row seats to the most anticipated Master Class of the year?
"There are so many people." Gary remarked and resultantly I threw him an irritated look for his obvious statement. He just shrugged in response.
"Let's see what's going on. There's clearly a hold up somewhere." Ash suggested and simultaneously began threading his way through the crowds. People looked down upon his clawing and scuttling, even as I and Gary took his path, only two paces behind.
We came to the stadium gates only to find them locked. No one was moving anywhere. Complaints about the hold up clung to the air, filling my ears. I cursed under my breath. Why hadn't they opened the gates? Registration for the performers started 45 minuets ago and audience members should have been let in fifteen minutes after that.
"What's going on?" Gary pondered while Ash took the steel bars into his rough hands and shook the gates. They were tall and sturdy, barley budging with his force. I sighed, not even bothering to try answering Gary's question.
But she came running.
The crowds voices amplified as she raced through the stadium court yard, then quickly simmered in anticipation of her arrival. The Kalos Queen was dressed head to toe in finery, jewels and expensive materials. Pure silks and foreign satins, gold chains and silver rings. Her hair was wild, bouncing with her graceful yet rushed steps. Feet slipped into three inch heels of white leather, clicking across the cobblestone. Her dress was an exotic array of mauve and pink, ruffled and crimped to emphasize her tiny waist. She was crowned with the most dazzling tiara you had ever seen and it set her blue eyes ablaze.
Queen Serena had arrived.
But something was wrong. I noticed her makeup was only half done and her hair half brushed. The ribbons that were meant to be tied around her torso remained lose and undone. She hadn't finished being dressed.
Ash's face lit up like the street lamps at sundown. The crowd bloomed in curiosity. Surrounding people demanded an explanation as to why things were being held up. And the look on Serena's face told me she was going to give them one.
The Kalos Queen didn't speak until she had pushed herself through the gates and hoisted up onto the platform of a nearby water fountain. She cleared her throat, then addressed everyone in a queenly manner.
"Can I have everyone's attention!" She bellowed, though it was clear she had caught everyone's attention the second she stepped out those stadium doors. "I'm so very sorry for the wait. It was entirely my fault, and for that, I am deeply sorry. I ask of your forgiveness. Though, you will still be granted an excellent performance...just not by me."
"It's been my dream for a while now to become Kalos Queen. I cannot see myself ever wanting anything as badly." Serena began what seemed to be a speech, one she had no cue cards or prompts for. It hadn't been written for her. I wondered if her important staff even knew about it. But as she said this line, her eyes found Ash in the crowd. And she focused hard, eyebrows knitting and questioning wether that statement was really true or not. Would she pick her dream over Ash? I didn't know. Possibly, it was a tie.
"Which is why, I will never give up on this dream. I plan on being one of the most inspiring and enthusiastic and finest Kalos Queens anyone has ever seen. I want to change the way people perceive performance. I want to make people smile." She pursed her lips carefully. "But I'm not that yet. I'm not ready to be the queen I want to be."
"I realized, as I was getting ready for tonight's performance, that I am yet to travel to Hoenn and witness the amazing contests there. I realized I am yet to have a full team of six Pokemon. I am yet to win a gym badge. I am yet to be truly heartbroken. Heck, I'm not even old enough to drive a car."
"How am I to stand on that stage and pretend to be the most sublime idol, when truly, I am yet to achieve things that so many people have? I'm not here saying I strive to be perfect, cause we all know that is not truly possible. I'm saying I strive to be better. "
"I am not ready to fully commit myself to the duties of Kalos Queen, as there are so many things I want to experience. So many things I need to experience, as a young woman. If I cannot fully commit, then it seems unfair of me to be here. And deeply selfish, when there is someone far better for this role than me at this current time." Serena glanced at Aria, who was also amongst the crowd, for she was only a performer now.
"Yes, I am stepping down as Queen. But no, this does not mean I won't be back. Cause you can bet thousands I will. I am not done being a performer and I am not done my chase for Kalos Queen. Some day in the near future, I will be back here, talking to all of you, but then, I will be ready. That is something you can be sure of. So Aria, if you please?" My honey haired friend extended her arm to the former Queen and pulled her onto the fountain platform. Gently, she lifted the tiara from her head and crowned Aria, as the reigning Kalos Queen.
The crowd cheered and thought nothing of the exchange other than the passing of a crown from one great Queen to the next. Aria was still well loved, for the talented and amazing performer she was. She was truly deserving of the title.
Serena stepped off the fountain with much haste. She was, of course, looking for someone in particular. Cutting her way through the clusters of people, who eagerly stepped aside for her, she headed directly to us.
I loved Serena so dearly. She was the first person to ever show me true friendship. I appreciated her so very much. But I'd never really known admiration until that day.
Ash could not wait the seconds it took her to squeeze through those last few inches, due to such a wide dress, so he shuffled himself forward. And once they encountered each others personal space, they thrust themselves even closer into a long, extended embrace.
"But Serena, that was your dream." Ash stated, his arms visibly tensing around her.
"And it still is. Didn't you listen to anything I said?" She giggled, wrapping her pale arms around his torso. Gary and I awkwardly waited for the couple to pull apart. The mahogany haired boy looked smug and accomplished as he watched their exchange, whereas, I struggled to hold a collected expression. And Gary --being the know-it-all he was--noticed this.
"Elaina, are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm perfectly fine."
*. *. *. *.
We laughed.
All four of us laughed as we waltzed through the forest line like nothing had ever changed, the Cyllage City skyline in the background. Like all we ever needed was each other and a sense of adventure. That was now bubbling and foaming within all of us.
"Where should we go now?" Serena asked, sparks seeming to light up her eyes, even under the cast of dusk.
"Oh! How about somewhere with a gym! I would like to earn my first gym badge." I suggested. After my melt down, I decided I needed to focus and get back on track with where my dreams were going. I still wanted to be the best, and that, though very vague, was still my goal. Luckily I had narrowed it down; I wanted to excel at battling, which started with a single gym badge.
"You sure? With just Espeon on your team?" Ash queried and I huffed at his negativity.
"I'm going to tell you the same thing I told my brother: I can and I will beat a gym leader with only one Pokemon and you'll just have to watch me." I smiled, nodding my head enthusiastically. It can't be that hard, right?
I was in for a real surprise.
"Sure you can! If you happen to be a champion, which you are not." Gary remarked and I frowned in return.
"I am a champion! In my own respects!" I argued, yet, no one took me seriously.
That night, we all settled around one of Gary's fires with a plate of Serena's cooking resting in our palms. We talked. And we talked a good while. Gary explained how he would have to head back to Lumious City in order to convey his new research to Professor Sycamore. Which was deeply saddening. Note my sarcasm.
But the night was good. One of those drama-less evenings you always remember.
That was, until approximately five hours later.
I figured it was the early hours of the morning, night still heavily dominant in the sky. We had all been asleep in our tents for a long while. I slept well, until that point. You see, the forest was quite that night and so when the soft rattle of the tent zipper opening hit my eardrums, I stirred awake. I assumed it was my tent mate. However, I was very wrong.
"Serena? What are you doing up?" I asked groggily, turning around and peeling my eyes open to witness her leave. My eyes were met with something that jarred me into alertness.
The face that peered through the tent opening was much too distorted and angular to ever be Serena's. So, like any sane person, I did the most logical thing my half asleep brain could summon.
I screamed.
______________________________________________________
I always thought Serena was rather young to take on the huge responsibility that is becoming Kalos Queen and really, I was very pleased with her decision to go to Hoenn. It was the best thing for her aspirations.