Calem shook in his bed, groaning in his sleep. It's been like this since I brought him back in the rented room in the Shabboneau Castle. He was cold, needing multiple blankets I had to request from house keeping. The damn castle didn't have much to offer, so Z went off to find some and handed it off to Calem to bring down his cold
"Idiot" I soaked a wet rag in a bowl and placed it on his forehead. He opened his eyes and looked at me, breathing heavily "what?"
"T-that's cold..." I snatched it off
"Well what do you expect? I never done this before" I took the bowl away "I don't even know why I'm doing this. It's your damn fault for leaving at night in the first place!" He chuckled weakly
"Thank you... for doing that" I huffed, throwing the cold water away. How the hell am I suppose to do this? What am I doing taking care of him? "You have a real heart" I walked back to the room to slap his forehead "ow!"
"Let's get this straight, just because I look like Serena doesn't mean we're the same person" since he already saw me without my scarf, I thought it be useless to keep it on, and let my long hair flow down my shoulders "this was only because you took care of me before, so don't think I'm doing this out of my heart, because I don't have one" I raised his blanket to his chin, freezing when he gently felt my hair. He stared at me tenderly
"I know... I'm never going to compare you to Serena. You two are different, despite similarities in appearance. You're perfect" my face heated up "you've... matured, since the last I've seen you" I blinked confused
"What? What do you mean by..?" He fell back asleep. I groaned annoyed and send out Fennekin "I can just leave him here, but something doesn't let me... you!" I pointed at Fennekin, having it flinch with Eevee sitting by the bed, licking its paws "you're a fire type. Make sure you stay by this idiot to keep him warm while I go out to get some meds"
"Por?" Z seemed confused. I cupped my face, not knowing what was wrong with me, and hurried out the door with only sunglasses. With Z not knowing what this was for, I told it to send out the right prescription out to the system in this near by Pokémon center, it should be ready now. What I got Z to do was illegal, ordering drugs without a doctors consent... it helped me do much more things back when I was in a gang, and it was something I never cared about, one would say it wouldn't be something to be proud of, but I knew what I was doing, and now knew that even if it was illegal, I was aware of what kind of medicine he needed
"Serena?" I stopped running when I saw Shauna calling the name that was not mine "oh!" She hurried over "Sophia! Why are you out here without a scarf? I almost mistook you for Serena" she held her chin to stare at my appearance "besides the obvious, did your hair get longer since you came to Kalos?" I played with my long ponytail, stroking the strands a little nervously. I should had thought twice before storming out the room like this...
"No, the rest of my hair was in my scarf" she nodded
"That makes sense! I remember when Serena cut her hair short, it look a year for even a few inches to come in! She swears to never cut it again!" I sweat dropped. Serena showed up in a video chat with short locks down to her shoulders one day, needless to say... I could tell she didn't like it. When asking why she did it, she claimed she wanted a change, but something told me that wasn't the real reason. Whether or not she wanted to tell me, she looks nice in anything
"Right..." Shauna kept staring at me hiding down a little, realizing that I regret leaving outside with no disguise. She smiled and turned to dig in her bag to take out a large pink and orange floral patterned scarf
"Here!" She handed it to me. Huh? "I wanted to give that to you! As a gift!" I looked at her confused, staring at the pretty nice thick and wide scarf "I guess this is the best time to give it to you!" I looked at her smiling all happily
"It's lovely... What do you want for it?" I started wrapping my hair with it
"Nothing! I told you it's a gift!"
"Why?" She hid her hands behind her, shyly
"We're friends, aren't we?" I held my hips, about to talk down about it "I know you don't think so! But even if you're not my friend, I'm yours!" I leaned closer, making a nervous wreck of herself
"You sure you want to think that way? I'm not your friend... I can betray you, will you still forgive me because you're my friend?" I crossed my arms "that's not a very good decision you're making there, Shauna"
"I know, but I'm determined to at least find a change" I cupped my mouth, holding in a giggle
"You're cute" I fixed a loose strand of hair coming out my wrap "but you came at a perfect time. I appreciate the gift. You're not so bad" she gasped like it was a accomplishment "don't get too excited, you just happen to be at the right place at the right time. Now I need you to listen to me..." I looked around, making sure no one was listening "remember that battle back in town? The one I won?" She gulped, nodding nervously "pick something up for me, will you?" She relaxed herself
"Is that it?" When making a illegal prescription, I would never be the one to pick it up for security reasons. If the hack turns out to be detected, the person could face major consequences. Shauna would be taking the blame, and since she wanted to trust me so much, I'll see how much she really wants to be my friend. It'll make more sense if I tell her first, just to test out the theory of her possibly hating me after all her hard work
"Just some medicine" I walked off, fixing my sunglasses
"What? Wait!" Oh Shauna, though it was lucky for me that you came at the right place and time, it wasn't so lucky for you
When getting a glimpse of the dream I had last night when facing my past self out of nowhere, I flinched and dropped my glasses on the floor, holding my head in pain. For some reason, I thought back at the necklace I grabbed from Calem back in the bathroom.
Shauna grabbed my glasses for me and handed them over "what's wrong?" I lifted my arm to keep her away, fixing myself. What was that..?
"Nothing..."
"Is the medicine for you? I don't mind getting it for you! Why are you asking in place of what you get after you won our battle?" I shook my head
"It's more than that, and it's not for me" I walked ahead "it's for Calem"
"Calem?"
"This medicine should do the trick for him. He was a idiot for being out there barefoot. This medicine is a doctor recommended prescription, but he never visited a doctor"
"Then how..?" I pressed my finger on my lips
"If you really want to show that you're my friend, you'll do this for me. There's no chance you'll get in trouble, but I always have others do my dirty work when I did something I wasn't suppose to do" she looked down, as if she was thinking about it. She was shaking pretty hard "you don't have to do this. Being friends with me doesn't give you any benefit. I'm nothing" I looked down "so give it up now"
"I can't" I looked at her "I really want to win your respect!" I watched her hurrying her pace to the Pokémon center "I-I'll get it for you!" I crossed my arms
"This is very risky. This can cause you a lot of trouble... are you sure you want to do this for someone like me?"
"Even if it's not just for you, it's for Calem too... I'm not sure how you did this, but that's what it means to be friends" I titled my head confused "you'd do anything for them" I watched her rush inside. There's a very low chance she will get in trouble. It might be illegal, but it's not like the drug is
"She's pretty loyal when it comes to her friends" I smiled "Serena is lucky to have her" I stood out in the Pokémon center, trying to think back at the dream I had last night
Calem's cold eyes... and him holding a knife up to me. Even if I wasn't afraid of it, he was holding it against me like he killed before. The girl's eyes were red, his were pale... those people weren't us, but taking our forms. My reflection spoke for my sake, and Calem... what did he need help for?
"What did I see anyways..?" I frowned at the sky "why did I have those dreams..?" That necklace kept coming to mind, like my brain was trying to tell me something
It all could just be a dream and I could just be overthinking it, but then my old self came back, wanting to talk to me... I haven't dressed like that in years. Black clothes, wraps. It was usually my style, even as a kid. I would love to put bandaids on my arms and stuff to make myself feel look different, and I would always wear dark clothes, or big clothes clothes, and even now, I like wearing those same kind, they have a better feeling to them and I could move around easily. With my "fashion senses" I'm sure I can make a design to at least make my usual style look casual, but Greg never let me do that and always caught me. My designs were based on Serena, so it wasn't easy to begin with
Those days when dad died, I was told by others that I would have to be in foster care from those who didn't know I had other family somewhere else. I didn't want to go all the way to Kalos. I couldn't tell my mom anything... and the people "trying" to help me, didn't even bother seeing that I had relatives elsewhere. Because I told them I didn't, they put me on board for foster homes. Not even getting the first second to accept such a fate, I ran away and lived in the streets for a year, stealing food, running from Pokémon, going to the library to read books... I haven't started living comfortably until Ciro found me
Ciro was my former boss in the gang I was in back in Jubilife. I committed to staying in for 5 years before leaving. I learned a variety of things such as holding a knife, stealing without getting caught, mugging people, getting others to doing what you want, and many more things. With my knowledge I gained in the library, using my year of being homeless to read every book there, I studied many subjects that eventually became useful such as hacking and psychology, not to mention putting together a computer, and learning about important laws and politically things. I was a very valuable member to that gang, and all of it was easy to do except for one little thing... interacting with Pokémon
The gang was put together by a former Team rocket grunt, so like his former duties, he wanted us to steal Pokemon and sell them. I refused to get involved, not because I was terrified of the creatures... but because I really did love Pokémon, and didn't want to cause them harm
Things went too far when Ciro tried forcing me to do a job, and because he kept forcing someone like me, someone that he taught how to defend herself, grow a gut, and be fearless and tough, he didn't let me refuse the job. He saw a escaping Pokémon and... did something. I watched blankly as he did this, but rage quickly risen from my body and... I killed him
Because of me, the gang dismembered, and would only come back together if I agreed to take Ciro's place. I refused and ran back to the streets, just like I was in the beginning before Greg found me when Z felt him near by and lead him to where I was...
I'll never forget my past... I didn't feel any emotions towards it, all I could feel was rage, the only emotion of very little few I knew. I was reliable and selfish, but I never went back on my word to anyone. That's the only one good thing Ciro thought me... and my sanity never left me, all because I refused to stay in foster homes and loose connections with my family
It was too bad Ciro had to die, he was almost like a big brother to me. He took care of me and let me do what I wanted, not even bothering if I had to talk to my sister or refused work. He snapped that one time and it caused him everything. I appreciated him for giving me the chance to grow old enough to where I didn't have to go to foster care if I lived in the streets longer than a year. Everything bad I learned was from him... and to think I'm still using those methods I haven't used since then? Brings back memories, even if I can't confirm if they were good or bad
I looked around the place, still waiting for Shauna, wondering why I was still standing in one place. I was here all because Calem was sick, and something made me go after him later after he left the room
"My head hurts" the building's doors slid open, letting Shauna out with her prescription bag in hand "oh? You actually got it..?" I took the bag from her, making sure it was the right one
"Yeah... At first I was pretty scared, but then I remembered you and Calem, I had to do this even if it was... illegal" she bit her lips
"You see what kind of person I am now? I didn't have to tell you how bad I am... you wanted to be my friend so badly that you did something like this. Sure, there's a very low chance you'll get in trouble or anything, but to think you actually did it? I'm very impressed..." I sighed "but that was very risky for someone like you, and for... me. I put you up to this just to test how a loyal you'll be for me... listen, I really do appreciate this, and right now I am pretty confused on why I even did this for him in the first place, but I did and you pick this up when I tell you to, so thanks..." I pet her head "don't let this get in your head... just because you earned my respect, doesn't mean you should trust me. I'm a criminal, Shauna" I held her shoulder "do you still want to be my friend?"
"Well... now that you put it that way. Before I can truly answer that, what about you?" She touched my hand "are you really as bad as you want to make yourself seem?"
"I've done many bad things in my day... I've stopped doing it, now that I have a better life, I have more support than I ever had. This was the first time I hacked into a system in a very long time" she smiled, nodding
"So I trust you'll be good!" I stepped back "you're more than you put yourself out to be, Sophia. I know you have a heart" a heart..? she offered her hand "you might not think you do... but I would love to help you look for it" I looked at her happy eyes "will you be my friend?" I smirked and walked away
"You've earned my respect, not my friendship. It'll take more than that to convince me. Now shut up and follow me. We still have that search to do" she whined, but followed me anyways. I smiled to myself and held my chest, feeling something in me that felt different than what I feel with Calem...
~~
And yet Sophia has yet to know how the heart works. So what do you think the dream was about? What was the meaning behind it? Unfortunately the answers won't come in a single chapter! Gotta keep going!