Heh, I tend to be just the opposite. I start out with shorter chapters and can only get longer...
*nod* I used to be like that, but then, I found out people apparently don't read chapters as long as, say, twenty pages. XD;
Whoooooooooops, did I say eight? I meant nine, which is better than eleven in my opinion but similar in structure.
Okay, that makes more sense. XD
Would it have a split personality, one being insane and vengeful while the other's innocent and childish? :D
*adds this to the "suggestions to the author" list*
I need to watch Elfen Lied again. I love it for the exact reasons many hate it. <_<
It's a great show, as excessively bloody as it is. I really need to finish it. XD;
Also, at long last (ha), chapter twelve. Again, the request for a beta is still out there, even though I'm sending chapter thirteen to my current one tonight.
Twelve
(Fulvia is dead.)
Veronica soon learned that, even if someone seems accepting of his fate, it's incredibly difficult to force a stubborn and particularly proud being into an object the size of a baseball. Nonetheless, it took almost an hour of coaxing, pleading, and eventually threatening with violence to finally talk Bill into going into his poké ball before any one of their party could cross the town limits of Fallarbor. The former cop couldn't help but notice their traveling group was significantly quieter after that point.
Fallarbor Town, a spot of colorful buildings nestled in the valley between Mt. Chimney and the range of cliffs that marked Hoenn's northernmost edge, was still populated. Barely, but its people were still alive. Having remained mostly in Mauville since the beginning of the invasion, Veronica had no idea why this was, but frankly, it was the least of her worries. Right now, the most of her worries was fending off the questions and sympathy from her second cousin, who she found a block from the city limits and who was now walking her motorcycle beside Veronica and her small companion.
"I'm sorry to hear about Mauville City," Officer Jenny said for the umpteenth time since Veronica explained why she'd left her precinct. "You did your best, and that's honorable enough. If you'd like, we could get you transferred here."
"Not interested. Sorry, Pepper, but I've got things to do," Veronica replied.
The officer shrugged. "Suit yourself, but we really could get more help up here. Sue came up here last week, and – by the way, you've heard about Verdanturf, right? I feel sorry for those guys. The town was small enough as it was."
Veronica quirked an eyebrow. "Uh, Pepper? You were saying?"
Pepper straightened. "Oh! Right. Well, she came up here last week, but even then, we're overwhelmed. Are you sure you don't want to join us?"
She shook her head. "There's no ixodida up here, are there?"
Pepper grinned. "Not that many get close to town, thank goodness. I've heard the parasites stop at the ash fields, and the big ones don't have too much of a reason for coming up here except if they're trying to hunt for spinda. We're surrounded by mountains. Who's going to get us?" She paused. "But it's pretty bad outside of town. The ixodida apparently like hanging around Meteor Falls. We've tried to move everyone who's camping out around those fields and caves, but some of them are still down there." She stopped for a second time to shrug. "Anyway, what brings you here? It's a pretty desolate place to be just passing through. Looking for a place to relax from the invasion?"
"No, it's not that," Veronica answered. "We're looking for someone."
"Looking for someone?" Pepper blinked. "Who could you possibly be looking for all the way up here?"
At once, Veronica stopped. She tried to go over the names in her head, but she couldn't for the life of her remember what the name of the person was. She turned to Rose as the girl looked in wonder at the buildings around her. Reaching out, Veronica placed a hand on her shoulder, causing Rose to jump and turn her wide eyes towards her companion.
"Hey, Rose," she whispered. "Do you remember who Bill wanted to come here to see?"
Rose shrugged, shook her head, and looked away again. Straightening, Veronica put her hands on her hips.
"Hmph. Some help you are," she responded with a soft smile.
Pepper tilted her head. "Hey, Ronnie. Is there something wrong?"
"No," Veronica answered as she reached up to rub the back of her neck. "I just forgot who we're here for. That's all."
In response, Pepper nearly fell over her motorcycle. "Are you serious? You can't remember anything about this person? Maybe even why you wanted to see them?"
Veronica furrowed his eyebrows. "Well, my friend wanted to talk—er,
us to talk to them."
"Well, why don't you ask your friend?"
She shifted uncomfortably on her feet. "He's… not here right now."
"Hmph." Pepper looked skyward, at the bright, blue daylight. "Well, what do you know about your friend? Maybe something can give you a hint to the kinds of people he might know around here."
For a few moments, Veronica stood in thought. Then, she replied, "Know anyone a little weird and pretentious around here?"
Pepper raised an eyebrow. "No."
"Well,
that's a dead end," Veronica said with a sigh. "Mind leading us to the pokémon center? Looks like we'll need to place a phone call."
Pepper pointed a thumb down the road behind her. "Can't you do that from the station?"
Veronica shook her head. "No. Rose and I need a place to stay, anyway."
"You can stay at my place for the night."
Veronica smirked. "And can you treat our pokémon?"
Pepper raised her eyebrows. At that point, Veronica knew she won the argument. With a shrug and a sigh, Pepper turned away and began leading them down the road to the pokémon center.
---
Fallarbor's pokémon center was a lot like the one in Mauville, as Veronica noticed. Immaculate, tiled floors led from the door to the front desk, where a Nurse Joy was frequently working on paperwork via a computer. Behind the desk was a door to the examination and operating rooms. To the right was a waiting area, and to the left, a row of green public videophones, bookended by a PC on the far end and a clear tube that marked where the archaic transporter – the one that was in use just before the widespread installment of the PC Storage and Retrieval System – operated. Past the waiting area with its brightly-colored couches and wooden tables were doors: doors to the bathrooms, doors to the free rooms trainers could use, and the door to the dining hall. Even in the latter, with its maroon booths and the perpetual smell of fried eggs, Veronica had the feeling that if she magically switched the Mauville pokémon center with the one in Fallarbor, no one would notice.
But, of course, this one wasn't run by her best friend. It was Joy's sister-in-law, and that made it feel a bit wrong. Looking up from her work at the computer on the desk on the far side of the room, Joy watched Veronica and Rose approach. This Joy smiled sweetly enough. To almost anyone other than a Jenny or a Joy, that smile would have looked like the one on the faces of all the other members of the Joy family, but Veronica was different. She came from a family of nearly identical women, and with that, she grew up knowing how to tell nearly identical women apart. Her best friend in Mauville smiled with a sense of inner strength. This one smiled just to be sweet.
"Oh, hello!" she said. "Which one are you?"
The Joy was just trying to be polite. Veronica knew from her friend that Joys had the exact same potential to tell members of the Jenny family apart, and it wasn't as if she was an unknown figure within it.
"Veronica Jenny," she replied. "My precinct was Mauville City."
At once, Joy's smile faded. "Mauville City?"
Closing her eyes, Veronica decided to cut off the conversation before she had to explain why she wasn't on duty in her city. "My friend and I are taking a little trip. Don't ask. In any case, our pokémon could use some checkups. Would you mind?"
Joy blinked. "Your friend?"
At that point, Veronica opened her eyes and motioned to Rose, who was hiding behind the former officer. Slowly, Rose peeked around her companion and peered at the nurse with wide eyes. When Joy glanced at her and smiled, she jumped and hid herself partially behind Veronica again. Veronica looked over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow.
"Uh, she's not normally like that," she said. "I think."
Turning, Veronica leaned down. Her lips were next to the girl's ear, and even then, she lowered her voice to a barely audible level.
"Listen, Rose," she said, "she's related to the Nurse Joy you lived with for a little while. You remember her, don't you? Why don't you follow this one for awhile and let her look at your pokémon? I promise you, she's just as nice as the other Nurse Joy was, okay?"
Biting her lip, Rose looked at Joy again. Joy leaned against the desk, her smile broadening as she tilted her head slightly. Finally, Rose nodded.
"Good girl," Veronica said. "But just remember, don't let her see Bill. Keep him in your pocket until you get to our room, got it?"
Once again, the girl nodded. Straightening, Veronica exhaled and turned around to face the desk as she pulled Growlithe's poké ball from her pocket.
"Here we go," she said. "I've got a growlithe, and my friend has a few other pokémon. You wouldn't mind if she watched you, would you? Her name's Rose, and she could really use someone other than me to talk to."
Joy crossed her arms and leaned them on the desk. "Well, she's just the cutest thing! I don't think there would be any harm in letting her watch me go through routine checkups, especially if I'll be working with her pokémon. What do you say, Rose? Would you like to be my helper for the day?"
Quietly, Rose stepped around Veronica and approached the desk. Her lips were pressed together as she stared at Nurse Joy for a long moment. Then, slowly, she pulled four poké balls from her own pockets and nodded enthusiastically. With another smile, Joy took the balls both Rose and Veronica offered her and placed them on a tray beside the computer. Then, she walked briskly from behind the desk towards the door to the clinic.
"This way," she said.
Rose turned to Veronica one last time. A broad smile crossed the girl's face before she turned and scampered after the nurse. Shoving her hands into her pockets, Veronica watched them with a warm grin until they passed through the door. Then, the grin faded.
With a sigh, Veronica turned. Her steps were heavy as she crossed the waiting area and went through the open door to the dining hall. Pepper had disappeared into this room awhile ago, having promised to order them both a cup of coffee. Good to her word, the officer sat in a corner by a window, waiting for her relative to arrive, and on the table in front of her were two cups of black coffee.
Forcing a smile, Veronica approached and slipped into the booth, sitting down on the plastic seat. It felt entirely too familiar to her, but she knew it was in the wrong place and filled with the wrong people. It just wasn't Mauville.
Looking up from the cup of coffee in front of her, Pepper studied Veronica and raised her eyebrows.
"There's something wrong," she said.
For a beat, Veronica hesitated, wondering whether or not she should say anything concerning why the place disturbed her so much. Finally, she sighed.
"Ellen's dead," Veronica replied.
Pepper placed her cup on the table. "Ellen?"
"Dead."
"How?"
Veronica sighed. "A poison ixodida attacked her. She didn't get mauled, but she got poisoned."
Pepper furrowed her eyebrows. "And you told me the rest of your city's gone too. Did that poison…"
Veronica shook her head. "No. I shot one, and I couldn't kill the parasite in time. Its eggs hatched and finished the rest of us off. Except for that girl. Rose. She's a nice kid."
"She doesn't deserve to be here, though."
Pepper paused. A frown drew across her face, and she lifted a fist to pound it on the table. Veronica jumped and turned towards her cousin with wide eyes.
"Damn it!" Pepper snapped. "There's got to be something we can do to stop these damn things! They've got to have some weakness that can kill them all off in one shot!"
Veronica furrowed her eyebrows. "Aren't you getting a little excited? I mean, the big ones
are people at—"
She stopped. Her own words sounded strangely familiar to her.
"How can you say that?" Pepper asked. "The ixodida are killing us left and right! We can't just sit around and do nothing!"
It hit Veronica with the force of a stampeding rhyperior. Somehow, in the course of her time outside of Mauville, her perspective shifted. She wasn't a cop anymore. She wasn't the same person as the one who would gladly shoot an ixodida's claws off because it was a threat and chain another one to a monument to figure out how to kill it without letting the parasite hatch millions of eggs in its body. She no longer was the same kind of person as Pepper, the kind who believed the only way to stop the ixodida epidemic was to kill each and every parasite and infected human on the island.
Instead, she was like Ellen, the kind who looked into an ixodida's face and saw a person, the kind who only shot one as a last resort. She'd heard an ixodida's voice, watched him protect her, and saw him vulnerable in more ways than one. He was human inside, just like the other ixodida were nothing more than people who happened to be unluckier than she was. None of them deserved to die, especially because they didn't choose to become ixodida. They deserved to be…
"A cure," Veronica whispered. "That's what he's looking for."
Pepper, who had been ranting for the entire time about how dangerous the ixodida race was, suddenly stopped and stared at her cousin.
"Did you say something, Ronnie?" she asked.
Veronica looked at the table. "He wouldn't come all this way just to talk to a Nurse Joy, so…" She put her hands around her cup and leaned forward. "Pepper, are there any pokémon researchers in this area?"
Pepper blinked. "Well, there were a few. Professor George Cozmo, the Rousseau sisters, and I think the Fossil Maniac calls himself a researcher of sorts. Why?"
Veronica shook her head. "Are any of them still in the city?"
At that, Pepper pursed her lips momentarily and looked towards the ceiling. "Cozmo died early in the invasion. He got caught up in Meteor Falls when it got infested with adult ixodida. A couple of hikers managed to bring back his body. The Fossil Maniac moved into his abandoned laboratory, and Brigette Rousseau fled to Saffron City just before the quarantine. The only one who's still where she's always been is Lanette Rousseau. She's halfway between the city limits and Meteor Falls. It's dangerous out that way, but we can't get her to move."
Listening carefully, Veronica nodded every so often until her cousin was finished. Then, she asked, "What do they specialize in?"
Pepper tilted her head. "Well, the Fossil Maniac's pretty obvious. He studies ancient pokémon and their fossils, usually the stuff he digs up himself in the mountains around town. Cozmo did research in astronomy, studying meteors and the link between space and pokémon. Bit batty if you ask me. Brigette and Lanette Rousseau did a lot of research in pokémon-related technology, but on the side, they also do some studies into genetics and physiology. You know they worked with the Weather Institute to figure out how castform change shape, right?"
Veronica bit her lip. She knew Bill was looking for information about the ixodida and that he might not be entirely informed about the whereabouts of his colleagues. Secondly, she knew about the speculation that the ixodida were linked to the meteor that fell near Fortree, given that they started appearing around the crater it had left. So, considering both Bill's possible obliviousness to the status of each expert and each figure's field of study, she had a feeling he was looking for either Cozmo or the Rousseau sisters. That meant a two in three chance that they had come for nothing.
"Ronnie, what's with this sudden interest in our celebrities?" Pepper asked with a small smile.
"It's my friend," she replied. "I think he wanted us to go see one of them about the ixodida, but I can't remember which one."
Pepper frowned. "The ixodida, huh? Well, I hope for your sake it's Brigette, although I don't know how you'd get yourself to Kanto if it was."
Veronica sighed. "I don't think it is."
Then, eying her coffee, she downed the remainder. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she stood. Pepper blinked.
"What're you going to do now?" the officer asked.
Veronica gave her a long glance. "Actually, Pepper, if it's all right, I need to pick up some supplies."
---
One of the only instructions Veronica gave Rose was, "Don't open Bill's poké ball until you're in our room." Hence, Rose waited until after Nurse Joy showed her to one of the trainer rooms before doing anything. Part of her wanted to go back out, to follow Nurse Joy wherever she went. After all, she looked like the nice one who took care of her in Mauville City. However, she knew also that her brother was waiting patiently. So, with a small "thank you," she quietly shut the door and listened for Nurse Joy's receding footsteps. Then, she did the lock and pulled her brother's ball from her pocket.
That was over three hours ago.
The room itself was simple. Upon passing through the door, one would see a set of bunk beds against one of the white walls. The beds were neatly made with white sheets stretched tightly over the mattresses and brown, wool blankets at their feet. A wooden door was set into the wall just beyond the feet of the bunk beds, beyond which was a small bathroom done mostly in chrome. The only other piece of furniture in the room was a wooden desk and chair set, on which were a computer, a clock, a pen, and a pad of paper. Trainers rarely used rooms for more than a night; that was really all they needed.
At that moment, Bill lay stretched on his back on the bottom bunk. The wool blanket was pulled up over the lower half of his body, and his eyes were closed. Still, he wasn't asleep. He merely listened to his sister, who was at the desk with Veronica's bag at her feet. She carefully ripped out pages of the pad and tore small bits out of each sheet. Slowly but surely, each bit would transform from an ordinary, white corner of a page to a small paper bird that she'd set anywhere there was room on the desk. In the over-three hours the two had been alone in the room, seventy-six paper birds came into being. She told Bill she was trying to make a thousand. He recognized the superstition and didn't ask her anything more about them.
In the meantime, Bill was bored. If one asked his colleagues, they would have said this was usually a dangerous thing because it meant Bill would wander off or come up with some outlandish idea in about a few minutes, but that was usually when he had some way to pull it off. Here, the computer was an ancient model – at least ten years old – and barely ran, much less connect to anything through which Bill could get some form of news. Rose had commandeered the paper, not that he would have asked for it after she found a way to occupy herself anyway. The only other thing to do in that room was to leave it, but after realizing they were in a pokémon center, Bill quickly decided against that.
So, instead, he lay on the bed, pretending to be asleep but really quietly thinking about the situation. He knew he wasn't the only one stuck as an ixodida. That was already obvious. He also knew a bit of information about the parasites. Part of him considered asking Adam more, but he could feel Adam quietly working on reaching into his mind. He could tell the parasite wasn't looking at his conscious thoughts. Rather, it was like he felt an arm reach past him for a jar on a shelf behind him. Despite the discomfort he got from the sensation, Bill assumed his companion was looking at his memories and let it go. It wasn't as if Bill had any idea how to stop the creature from reaching that deep into him anyway.
Still, he knew that the sooner he found a way to physically separate himself from the parasite, the better. That was why he was in Fallarbor.
A twist of the knob broke the quiet of the room. When the door was stopped from opening thanks to the lock, a knock followed. Bill immediately sat up and glanced towards Rose. She put the bird she was making on the desk and glanced his way in response.
"Nii-san, the bathroom!" she whispered.
With a nod, Bill stood and drew the wool blanket around him and over his head like a cloak. Without a word, he started for the other room.
Then, a voice came through the front door.
"Rose," Veronica said. "It's me."
Bill paused just after opening the bathroom door. He turned back towards Rose, who jumped to her feet and padded to the door. She undid the lock with a click and stepped back to let the door slowly open. Sure enough, Veronica pushed open the door and slid inside numerous paper bags before stepping into the room herself. When she closed and locked the door behind her, she turned to Rose to begin explaining the items within the bags, but before she could say another word, she noticed Bill. Immediately, she gave him a confused look.
"Bill, what's with the blanket?" she asked.
"It's a disguise," he replied without skipping a beat.
She raised an eyebrow. "Your feet are showing, and you look ridiculous."
Bill looked down. Sure enough, his silver claws were poking out from the bottom of his makeshift cloak. Looking up, he opted to respond to the latter comment.
"I really didn't have too many other options," he said.
She tilted her head. "The door was locked. Also, you look like a demented Jedi."
"A what?"
She straightened. "You really don't get out much, do you?"
With a tight frown, Bill took off the blanket and threw it over the bed. Veronica smirked as she bent down over the bags.
"Sorry it took so long," she said. "I went out to pick up a few things. Here. There's backpacks for Rose and me to replace those old ones we took."
She drew two backpacks from one of the bags. The first was a large, brown backpack covered with pockets. She slipped this on to show off as she handed the smaller, pink backpack to Rose. With a smile, Rose happily accepted it and tried it on momentarily before retreating to the desk. There, she slipped it off and began to fill it with the things that were in her pockets.
"Save room, Rose," she said. "We're going to split up what's in my old bag along with the rest of this stuff. Clothes that should fit us – though I had to guess your sizes, Rose – food, canteens for water, basics of what we'll need on the road. I even got us some spare poké balls and medicines in case we encounter any other wild battles where we'll need 'em."
Bill leaned in, placing his hands on his knees as he studied the supplies Veronica was pulling out. His eyebrows rose as his tail swished behind him.
"You've thought of everything," Bill commented.
"Of course I did," Veronica said. "I even thought of this."
She pulled from one of the remaining paper bags a parcel wrapped in white paper and tied with hemp strings. Bill blinked as he accepted the package and straightened. Whatever was inside it bent easily in his hands like it was made of cloth. Glancing back to Veronica, he offered her a curious expression as she sat back.
"Open it," she said.
Quirking an eyebrow, he pulled one of the ends of the string to undo the knot at its top. Sliding the thread off the paper, he turned the package over and slipped his finger under one of the white flaps. It opened easily, and soon, the paper fell to the floor as Bill drew from the package a long cloak made of black velvet.
"It took me a bit of hunting to find something like it," Veronica explained. "I had to visit practically every artisan store still open around here. It cost my cousin a pretty penny, but I promised her it was definitely important. Try it on. I'm not sure if it'll fit you because I had to guess your size too."
With wide eyes, Bill carefully undid a silver clasp shaped like an oak leaf near the hood. Then, he carefully drew the cloak over his shoulders and redid the clasp before looking down to examine it. Sure enough, the cloak fell low. It didn't quite reach the ground, but it covered just enough of him to hide most of his body except a half an inch at the bottom – and even then, this time, his clawed toes didn't stick out awkwardly. Veronica stepped forward, nodding in approval as she reached up to pull the hood over Bill's head.
"We'll have to come up with something underneath it so you can use your arms, but it's a start," she said. Then, looking down, she frowned. "Your tail's probably going to be a problem if it starts wagging under this thing. Try wrapping it around your waist like a belt."
Blinking, Bill stepped back and opened the cloak slightly to peer down. He lifted his tail, examining it as it brushed the back of the cloak. Then, he wound it around his torso, just tight enough to make it less noticeable. Closing the garment, he glanced towards Veronica as she stepped forward and touched the hood.
"We'll need something else to cover those scales on your neck. Otherwise, I'd say you're perfect," she said.
Turning, she carefully stepped over the new supplies and towards her old bag. Opening it, she knelt down and began rummaging for some loose bit of cloth as Bill stepped into the bathroom to get a look at his face and the new cloak.
"Thank you," he said. "Is this an alternative to the poké ball?"
Veronica shook her head. "No, we're still going to use the ball if there's an emergency, like if you faint when we need to get out of a place quickly. That thing I got you is just so you can spend less time cooped up."
Bill nodded and turned on the lights. Looking in the mirror over the sink, he definitely looked human enough with the cloak covering most of him. As Veronica had noticed, the cloak was clasped at the bottom of Bill's neck, leaving the scales that lined the sides of his throat exposed. A patch of skin ran between them like a stripe, leading up to the bare chin.
He realized then that it was the first time he's really seen his reflection since he was infected. Even when their party stopped in abandoned houses, he hadn't really looked, but now, curiosity got to him. Carefully, he drew a hand from the folds of his cloak and pulled down the hood to get a better look at himself. His face was distinctly human, albeit paler and thinner now than before the accident. From a distance, the wires on his head – silver in color and the consistency of individual optical fibers – looked like actual strands of hair, and by then, they had grown enough to take on a wave reminiscent of his old curls. The only thing that looked out of the ordinary other than the scales were the two horns. They were white and rounded, jutting out of the top of his head in a manner that reminded him of cat ears. He could tell they couldn't possibly be used to attack, but in the time that he'd spent as an ixodida, they hadn't grown into anything otherwise potentially useful. Lifting his hand to touch one, he briefly wondered what purpose they could serve.
Their function is simple, Bill, Adam suddenly drawled.
Bill jumped and glanced downward, towards the black velvet that covered the jewel in his chest.
What are they? he asked.
Adam shifted, curling in Bill's chest with a liquid warmth.
How do bug-types communicate?
Bill furrowed his eyebrows. He knew the answer – the hundreds of answers, depending on the bug-type – but he couldn't come up with an answer that matched what he'd already perceived. Before he could puzzle over the question any further, Veronica appeared in the bathroom doorway.
"Hey, Bill," she said. "I've got these bandages. Let's try wrapping your neck in them."
He turned to her and blinked as she stepped forward with a tan roll of cloth in one hand and a safety pin in the other. Bill leaned against the sink as Veronica reached up, placed the pin on the edge of the sink, and began wrapping his neck with the roll.
"Tell me if it's too tight," she said.
He smiled. "It's fine."
A moment of silence lapsed between them. Rose appeared in the doorway to watch as Veronica slowly rolled the cloth around Bill's neck. He lifted his chin slightly to give her room.
"So, do you like the cape?" Veronica asked.
Bill chuckled. "It's one of the best gifts I've received in my life."
"Okay, now you're bullshitting," Veronica replied. "By the way, who are we here to see?"
Without skipping a beat, Bill answered, "Her name is Lanette Rousseau. She's a colleague of mine."
At that moment, what Pepper had said about Cozmo flashed through her mind. As a knee-jerk reaction, Veronica sighed with relief.
"Oh, thank God," she muttered.
Bill blinked and tried to move, only to be stopped by the former officer's hands. "What?"
Veronica shook her head and reached for the pin. "Nothing."
Finishing the roll, she pinned the bandages at the side of Bill's neck and drew up the hood. Then, she carefully pushed him into turning around and looking at himself in the mirror.
"What do you think?" she asked.
His eyebrows rose again. The bandages definitely covered the scales, although now, it looked like he was badly injured.
"Well, I suppose it's better than going without it," Bill reasoned.
Veronica smirked. "Yeah, probably. Anyway, tomorrow, we'll go see Lanette. There's something you should know, though."
He turned to look at her. "What?"
At that point, Veronica frowned. "Ixodida are infesting that route. The Officer Jenny around here tells me they like to lurk in Meteor Falls, and the parasites can hunt in the grasslands to the north of the cave. Are you sure you want to do this?"
Bill nodded. "I have no choice but to do this, Veronica. Lanette is the only one who can help me right now."
Veronica furrowed her eyebrows. "You know, Bill, she has a sister."
He gave her an awkward smile. "Veronica, I haven't been isolated for that long. Brigette is in Saffron City. She was there when I was still in Kanto."
"Well, what about the Birch Institute in Littleroot Town? Birch is one of the best researchers in Hoenn."
In response, he shook his head. "There's another reason why I think Lanette would be the best person to help me. I've known her longer than any of my other colleagues. We work well together – better and more efficiently than I do with anyone else."
Then, Veronica began to realize that it wasn't just a cure Bill wanted from Lanette. Her eyebrows rose at the sudden revelation, but she didn't dare say a word about it.
"Are you here to find a cure?" Veronica asked.
Once again, Bill nodded. "Of course. If I can cure myself, then perhaps I can help the other infected humans."
A smirk drew across Veronica's lips. "So, for now, you're trying to save yourself?"
For a brief moment, Veronica saw a flash of anger play across Bill's face. He was insulted, just as she had hoped. It said a lot to her about his motivations.
"What are you talking about? Of course not," he replied.
Veronica shrugged and turned to walk out of the bathroom. "Just trying to figure you out. That's all. Anyway, what'll we do about sleeping arrangements? There's only two beds. Hey, Rose? Want to share a bed with your brother or me? I'm not sleeping with him. No offense, Bill."
He blinked at the sudden change in subject.
"Just trying to… figure me out?" he murmured. Part of him felt he had more trouble trying to figure
her out than she did him.
Glancing at her brother with an apologetic face – eyebrows furrowed upward, lip bitten – Rose took Veronica's hand. She'd made her decision. Veronica turned and gave Bill a mock salute.
"I'm going to clean up a little out here and hit the sack," she said. "When you're done modeling here, you get the bottom bunk."
With that, she and Rose left the bathroom, pulling the door mostly closed behind them. Bill stood, mouth slightly open in silence as he tried to piece together exactly what had just happened.
---
From the peaks of the mountains surrounding Fallarbor Town, the place looked beautiful at night. Even before the invasion, the wilderness surrounding the hamlet would be pitch black, and there it would sit in the valley, twinkling with white and yellow lights. Now that the wilderness was considered nearly lethal, the hamlet became a haven, its lights glowing in defiance of the destruction that had engulfed most of Hoenn already.
One pair of eyes stared at these lights blankly. The ground-type stood unmoving, save for the arrowhead-tipped tail that swung back and forth behind him. His mouth curved in a slight frown as his hands balled into fists. He'd been there for awhile, since he'd seen a steel-type retreat into some round, human contraption earlier that morning. Now, he was waiting, in part for the steel-type to reappear and in part for something else.
The something else landed behind him with a small burst of wind and a soft scrape. He turned, watching as the female rose to her full height. White feathers covered the majority of her body, save for the gold-colored claws on her hands and feet and the skin of her pale face. Her wings were bird-like and never retracted into her back. Rather, they folded neatly behind her like an angel's wings. On her forehead, half hidden by white feathers that curled down from the crown of her plumage, her core glowed like a third eye. Her tail, covered in small feathers and tipped with an arrowhead like the male's own, curled around her bird-like feet as she narrowed her blue eyes at him.
"I find it highly unusual that you would call me to your domain," she commented.
The male turned back to the town. "You are the fastest at flying, and your nest is closest to our lady's."
She raised her eyebrows. "Yes, and what importance does this have?"
"Have you really not sensed it?" the male hissed with a frown. "Perhaps not. He has not been through your domain yet."
Crossing her arms, the flying-type moved forward. "Who?"
"A rogue."
She smirked and moved to sit on the edge of the cliff. Her talons swung back and forth over the edge as she peered down at the city.
"How is that anything to be concerned about?" she asked. "Rogues may not be common, but they're not unheard of. There is a rogue in every dynasty. I have rogues in my own domain, but I pay no attention to them. Humans are stupid. They panic, and when they do, they seek out other humans. But when normal humans see our kind, they panic as well and kill the rogues for us. Whatever the humans don't kill are killed by the drones, and when one of us dies, more of our brothers and sisters hatch and claim more hosts. So…" She glanced towards the ground-type. "Rogues increase our numbers. We should be thankful for them and let our lady's personal guards handle whatever rogue gets past his own human stupidity to reach her. That would, of course, be heavily unlikely."
The male narrowed his eyes. "You underestimate these humans. This rogue was responsible for the deaths of two members of the Venom Clan. I have been watching him ever since."
"He was lucky, then. Has he killed any of our numbers since then?"
Looking at the ground, the male shook his head. "No, but this one has also found humans who are not afraid of him. They are keeping him safe. As we speak, he lies asleep in that place, unknown to the other humans dwelling there."
The female shrugged. "He is lucky. Still, humans are weak. Unless his companions become our hosts, they will be killed if enough drones overwhelm them. If his companions
do become our hosts, however, they will most likely kill him. It should be of no major concern to you, and I fail to see why it should be."
"He is of the Iron Clan."
At once, the female froze. She slowly turned to her companion, staring at him with an open mouth at first. Then, she pulled herself away from the edge of the cliff and rose carefully to her feet. When she was at her full height, she narrowed her eyes.
"Repeat that," she hissed. "I believe I misheard you."
The male straightened to tower above her. "He is of the Iron Clan."
"A rogue. From the Iron Clan?"
"Yes."
She turned back to the town. "Is he…"
The male nodded grimly. "It is a possibility."
Suddenly, the female paled. She covered her mouth and shook her head before turning away. Her wings spread with a sharp flap.
"Our lady must be told," she said. "I see now why you have called me. What will you do?"
The male frowned. "I will do my best to capture him."
"And if he resists?"
He closed his eyes. "You know as well as I do that the Iron Clan produces such dangerous monsters. He will be destroyed utterly if he does not cooperate. It will be best for our kind."
The flying-type gave him a bitter smile. "I wish you luck, but be on your guard. The Iron Clan does indeed produce dangerous monsters."
With that, she pushed off the edge of the cliff and took to the air with a flap of her wings. The male resumed his post, watching his companion ride towards the eastern horizon. Then, he turned back towards the town and waited.