As soon as Arlene wrenched the ring of Charlie's finger, she became panicked.
"What the hell happened Arlene?" Charlie cried, her voice verging on hysterics.
Arlene sat on the bed and put her arm around her shaking friend's body, calming her.
"Someone tried to kill you," Arlene told Charlie, her voice calm. Outside rain had begun to fall heavily, and Charlie listened to it, sobbing, trying to ignore the thick smell of blood in the air. From another room they heard footsteps and Arlene immediately jumped to her feet, ready.
"It's probably Volkner," Charlie whispered, her voice barely audible over the falling rain.
"Why isn't he in bed with you," Arlene asked, her stance still ready to attack, just in case. Charlie shrugged, and opened the window, beginning to feel nauseated from the smell of blood.
Volkner entered the room, and noticed the blood on Arlene's paws.
"What happened?!" he exclaimed, standing in the door way, too upset from earlier to go to Charlie's side. Arlene paused, and then crossed the room and muttered something to Volkner, to quiet for Charlie to hear. The two then left the room and closed the door quietly behind them.
From her bed, Charlie heard bits and pieces of their conversation. The ring was mentioned constantly, and so was Fuchsia City, for some bizarre reason.
Finally, the bedroom door reopened and Volkner and Arlene entered.
"Charlie, Arlene and I have discussed the situation and have come to a decision," he told her, crossing the room, and sitting next to Charlie on the bed.
"Why were you sleeping on the lounge?" Charlie asked Volkner, reaching for him like a child.
Volkner paused before continuing and looked at Arlene, who nodded slightly.
"You had a tantrum and hit me, Arlene seems to think it was because of the ring, she also thinks the ring is what brought those people here. You need to leave Sunnyshore, with the ring, until we work out what's happening here," he explained, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend.
"What?" Charlie exclaimed, instantly breaking out of his embrace. Outside lightning struck, followed by the deep rumbling of thunder "Leave? To where?" she continued, her hysteria returning.
Arlene crossed the room, her features lit by the light of the lamp.
"Volkner tells me that a cruise ship, the S.S. Aurora leaves for Fuchsia City late this afternoon. We should be there later this week. It's a place which is fairly remote, and we should be able to hide whilst Volkner goes to Canalave City to see if the library has any information to help us," Arlene explained.
Volkner looked at Charlie to see if she had any reaction to the chosen location, but her face remained the same.
"We should start packing very soon, try to get some sleep though," Arlene suggested, and then left the room, and went into the bathroom to clean the blood off of her paws.
Volkner yawned, dramatically and Charlie rolled her eyes.
"I don't think I can sleep," she told him, her voice slow and heavy with meaning. Volkner nodded and pulled the blankets over them, cuddling close to Charlie.
"This will probably be our last night together for a very long time," he told her, running her fingers through her golden hair.
Later that day, Charlie dressed in the plain clothing that Arlene had made her pack, a black hooded jacket and jeans.
"Keep the hood up and keep your Pokemon in their Pokeballs unless we are in absolute privacy," Arlene warned as the trio made their way down to the Sunnyshore Warf.
"That's it!" Volkner exclaimed, pointing to a large cruise ship with S.S. Aurora printed on its side "I received two free tickets, luckily. Perks of being a Gym leader," he told them with a shrug. Suddenly he pulled Charlie into a fierce embrace, kissing the top of her golden haired head.
"I'll miss you, every second of every day," Volkner whispered tenderly. Charlie nodded, blinking back tears; she reached up and kissed him full on the mouth.
Arlene dragged her away then, the boat was boarding, and she didn't want to be the last on the boat, hoping to draw as little attention to them as possible. Arlene had covered her furry appearance with a heavy grey cloak, the hood drawn around her face.
On board the boat they moved silently through the halls, until they reached their room. It was below the water level, and Magikarp would drift past the portholes, eerily. The room was plainly furnished, with two single beds, a table and two chairs and a TV. Charlie collapsed on one of the beds, and sulked, Arlene sat at the table fiddling with a black cord.
"Come here," she told Charlie, several minutes later. Charlie obeyed and stood up, crossing the tiny room to the table. Arlene tied the black cord around Charlie's neck, with the ring now attached and slipped it under her plain grey shirt.
"Keep it hidden at all times," Arlene murmured, and then she released Snake, Jaydin and Fate from their Pokeballs.
Charlie returned to her bed, as she watched Jaydin and Fate squabble over a TV channel, Arlene still sat at the table, thinking.
"I used to live in Fuchsia City," Charlie said in Arlene's general direction.
"Oh?" Arlene asked, showing she was interested and preoccupied at the same time.
"My dad was a ranger at the Safari Zone, the best ranger that ever worked there," Charlie explained "We moved to Snowpoint City when I was ten."
"Why?" Arlene prodded gently, now curious.
"My mother died, when I was nine. From an unknown disease, apparently," Charlie kept her eyes on the bedspread, beginning to feel nauseas from the rocking of the boat and the memories of her mother.
"I'm so sad for you," Arlene told her, her voice thick with sincerity. Charlie began to cry, silently, hoping Arlene wouldn't notice. There was a long, awkward pause between the two, covered by the noise of the TV and Fate's laughter "My parents were murdered when I was four," Arlene said very slowly, as if she didn't say those words in that order very often, like I child memorizing a speech.
Charlie looked up, quickly, her eyes met with Arlene's "I'm so sorry, I didn't know," she stammered, feeling guilty. Here she was, sobbing over her mother whom she had wonderful memories with for nine years, and Arlene had lost both of her parents before she really knew them. Arlene had nothing, but Charlie still had a father and a brother.
The conversation plagued on Charlie's mind the entire week, where she spent most of her days in the tiny cabin with Arlene and their Pokemon. They chatted idly, and watched television together, laughing mostly. But Charlie's thoughts were still on her dead mother, on Arlene's murdered parents, and curiously the ring, which felt heavier around her neck every day.
When they finally stepped off the boat, and onto the docks of Fuchsia City Charlie felt like her mind and heart had grown heavy from the childhood trauma, which resided here, the trauma she and her father had masterfully left behind in their hometown.
Fuchsia City was still the same, open and sprawling, where you couldn't see your neighbours without walking a hundred metres in either direction.
The majority of homes were farms, and there were few businesses, the general store, the PokeMart, the massive Pokemon Centre, the Gym and the old school where Charlie used to attend.
She felt nostalgic, remembering her own farm, with the dusty, warm smelling air and riding on her Ponyta every other day.
"There's an abandoned farm on the outskirts of town," Charlie told Arlene as they finished stocking up on supplies in the general store. Arlene nodded and gestured to Charlie to lead the way, the two crossed the town with their hoods drawn over their faces, masking them.
The house and farm was still empty, it had been that way since Charlie was a kid. Apparently the farmer who lived here and killed himself after his wife left him for a rich businessman in Celadon City and the people of Fuchsia City refused to inhabit the house out of respect.
The pair made beds on the floor out of old potato sacks and cooked dinner on the old stove, careful to keep any smoke under control. They would be safe here for a while…
OOC:
All of your characters receive the same dream, except Charlie and Arlene.
In the dream you see a girl with dark blonde hair and pale skin (only Malic would recognize her as Charlie), dressed in dark clothing. She is in a corral, with broken posts and fencing, the land is barren, and the ground is dust, she is alone. The sky behind her is red, blood red, there are no clouds and also no sun or moon.
On her hand is a ring, the band is pure black and glowing curiously and it is set with a large stone, blue in colour, completely opaque and shining like crystal.
The girl begins to scream, her voice strained. Over and over she screams for help, sometimes saying your name, begging for help. She tells you to come to Fuchsia City and find her.
Suddenly, everything goes black and all you can see is a pair of eyes, obviously belonging to a Pokemon. They are glowing red and from the darkness you hear a voice, a voice so low and demonic that you begin to instantly shiver.
The voice, at first is impossible to understand and then finally, you hear clearly…
"I am Maledict"
