playthough From Everland to Reborn ~ A fairytale themed run [Last defeated: Amaria]

[J-Awesome_One]

Interesting. Well that’ll be nice. If you ever need help battling with made up characters or whatever, I’m right here!

[Candy]

From Everland to Reborn ~ Episode 66

Things that happened since August 19 and now:

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I don't really know what happened in September, but this is what happened the whole of October:

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So these days I've been collecting figures and modifying some, and in the beginning of October, which is casually also my birthday month, I said "hecc let's do something crazy out-of-my-league-art-skillz-wise" so I made a Shiny Chariot nendoroid with a mediocre stage that is cool because it lights up. Pictures:

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So every day after work, this was all I was working on for the month of October xD

And now I'm working on several projects at once but I said "boi I'll never finish FEtR if I don't write it. also I'm prolly gonna die soon from malnutrition so I gotta finish it before I die" so I have a new chapter for y'all~ but lemme quickly summarize the main points that you might not remember cause I also didn't remember so why should you

Spoiler

Last time (and even before last time), on From Everland to Reborn...

Candy accidentally slipped info that Aladdin had asked her to arrange Vanilla's escape from Everland when she was about to get arrested, cause her mouth be very loose

Vanilla thinks Aladdin ded and cold under the snow but still is berry curious to verify if what Candy said is tru and also ask him why, but ded peepo not speak so she's like "let's be optimistic for once and hope he somehow managed to survive that fall"

So she's debating whether to waste her time and go to Ametrine to search for him, or just suck it up and continue with life, when she meets Julia and everything at the Fiore Mansion goes down

Then after spending a b0ring night at the Fiore, she's like hecc I know Candy's prolly waiting for me at the circus after speaking with indecisive Taka, but let's just go to Ametrine. I mean how hard could it be to checc if someone is ded or alive, amirite or amirite?

There was a short encounter between Vanilla and Jasmin here which wasn't a lot of fun for either of them? Vanilla assumes Aladdin set a trap on her cause the only reason she went to his apartment in the first place was because he left his room key inside Wolfie's diary...

Anyway, to Vanilla's surprise, it turns out Aladdin ain't ded, even tho he might've broken 95% of his bones, or at least something like that is what Hazel says. o who's Hazel, you ask? she's this rando chick with a Stoutland named Mocha who is blind and apparently got a sixth sense but who knows if she actually does. and she's totally thinking Vanilla's Aladdin's gf even tho there's a lot of evidence pointing to Vanilla being involved in the accident that almost resulted in Aladdin's death (but her sixth sense says she didn't tri to kill him, and that is technically right since Aladdin jumped to his death on his own p much). she a weirdo

and they're just heading towards Hazel's house

 

 

Pikachu and I followed Hazel and her stoutland to their rustic wooden hut. The first thing I noticed was the middle aged woman on the roof, who was shoveling the snow off of it. A bald man of similar age was sitting on the front porch, sharpening a bunch of kitchen knives. Taking a closer look, I realized that he was on a wheelchair.

“Hazel is back, dear. We can serve lunch now,” said the woman on the roof. She wiped the sweat off her face, and climbed down the ladder to greet us. Once on the ground, I found that she was unexpectedly tall and with a very muscular build, almost as if she were a bodybuilder.

“Mom, I found Aladdin’s girlfriend!” Hazel waved her arm and said cheerfully.

“No, I’m not,” I quickly said, but the sound of awe from Hazel’s mother likely masked my voice.

“Oh how nice! Aladdin will be so happy to see you.”

“I doubt he will be,” I whispered to myself.

She took off her right glove and then suddenly took my hand to shake it. I wasn’t sure why she was acting as if she were Aladdin’s mom, but I was rather desensitized to odd behavior after spending such a long time in Reborn.

“I hope you will join us for lunch. I’ve prepared enough for everyone.”

I told her I didn’t want to bother them, since I had only come to talk with Aladdin and then I would be on my way out, but Hazel’s mother insisted that I do, and so the arrangement was made.

“Now come on in, err… What was your name again? Polaris, was it?”

“Come on, mom. It’s Vanilla. Aladdin said Polaris was her nickname.”

Hazel explained to her mother, but to be honest, I was now barely listening. A landmine had exploded inside my mind, deafening me for a moment. 

I couldn’t stomach Aladdin’s audacity in openly using that term to refer to me, as if nothing had changed since the time we went out. As if we were still on terms to call each other in endearing terms. The thought made me shiver with anger. The fakeness of this boyfriend business was at first mildly disgusting, but this had tipped it to a whole different level.

“That bastard… how dare he?” I muttered under my breath.

“Huh?” Hazel said, picking up my low voice.

“Where is he?” I asked with a louder volume.

“He’s resting in Arthur’s old room. He’s recovered quite well; he even ate a whole bowl of oatmeal this morning,” answered Hazel’s mother, but she didn’t know that I had zero interest in knowing how well he was recovering.

What she did notice was my abrupt change in mood.

“Are you alright, Vanilla? You seem distressed?”

“It’s nothing. I only have one purpose in coming here, and it is to ask him a few questions,” I said, with my blood still boiling. “Whether he lives or dies after our meeting, it’s not my business. I’d even do him the favor to put him out of his miserable existence.”

I couldn’t stand outside any longer, knowing that the target of my extended nightmare was somewhere inside this small hut. I was about to place a foot inside, when Hazel’s mother attempted to grab my arm. My instinct kicked in, and I slapped her hand off of me, but she insisted on capturing me. I knew I wouldn’t be able to escape if she successfully captured me, so I kept dodging her. However, in one such instance, my eyes diverted from the extending arms and onto Hazel’s face in the background. Her look translated how confused and scared she was, hearing unfamiliar sounds that didn’t tell her what was going on. In the end, that split second of distraction was enough for the woman to embrace me and knock both of us over on the snowy ground. Pikachu, who had been sitting on my shoulder, jumped off right as we hit the ground, and attempted to help me lift the woman off of me, but to no avail. She had me held between her two arms, and her legs were crossed on top of mine so that I couldn’t use my legs to push her away. Where could she have learned such technique of martial arts?

“Mom? Vanilla? What is happening?” Hazel said, looking in our general direction, but paralyzed on her spot.

“What is all this commotion?” the old man in a wheelchair approached us, and seeing the large woman almost squeezing me to death under her weight, he exclaimed, “Gwendolyn, what are you doing? You’ll asphyxiate the poor little kid.”

“She was hostile against Aladdin,” Mrs. Gwendolyn said with a tone very unlike the one she had before. “We know nothing about her. For all I know she could be an impostor lying about being his girlfriend. Don't you think so?”

“I never said I was,” I said with the little air I could squeeze out of my lungs.

“Get off of her now. You’re always so rash,” the man said. “I’ve told you before that you can’t tackle people to the ground just for the sake of it. Now, get up before the girl faints from lack of oxygen.”

Thank the heavens that Mrs. Gwendolyn listened to whom I assumed was Hazel’s father, for I was reaching the limits of living without breathing. I coughed and took some deep breaths, slightly horrified that I could have literally died right there and then.

“Sorry that I tackled you. Are you alright?” Mrs. Gwendolyn asked, extending a hand for me.

“I think I am alive, if that’s what you’re asking,” I said, taking her hand because I really needed it.

“We have warmed up to Aladdin this past week he has spent with us, and I would hate to see him injured more than he already is. I would’ve shown you to him had you remained calm as you appeared, and not lost my trust. Well, I guess it never hurts to be cautious of who we allow in our home, especially in this time and age when Team Meteor roams around this region.”

“You think I am a Team Meteor grunt or something?” I asked, almost laughing at the irony of that statement.

“I’m only saying that I can’t trust that you won’t hurt Aladdin.”

“I can’t trust myself on that, either, but I guarantee you, any pain he’s going through now and any pain he shall suffer, he deserves it a hundred fold. You talk of trust? Well then, I don’t know how you brought that monster into your home, without knowing anything but what he’s told you himself. I am not Team Meteor, but he might as well be as despicable as them.”

By then, I was nearly shouting. Pikachu pulled on my dress, and he shook his cloth head sideways when I looked at him.

“What? You know it’s the truth. Or maybe you don’t, because only I was there to witness his scumbaggery. I pity you all, because it seems that he’s brainwashed you all to his benefit. The only thing he’s good at is manipulating people, after all.”

“Young lady, calm down, alright? No need to raise your voice like that,” Hazel’s father said. “Hazel’s hearing is sharp, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t stress her.”

“That’s no problem, dad,” Hazel said, then stretched both her hands palms up in my general direction.

I understood that as a gesture to ask for both my hands, so I reluctantly acceded. What her father had said had made me feel remorseful for having a fit apparently out of nowhere.

“It’s alright, Vanilla. I understand you,” Hazel said. “Relationships are hard. I know you’re frustrated. You’re so frustrated you could almost push your boyfriend off a cliff. But you didn’t, I mean, would never, because you love him deeply. And that also gives you another level of frustration, because you can’t stop loving someone who gives you this much frustration.”

She said all that so quickly and with so much emotion, as if she had practiced reciting it for months, that I almost had no time to process it. When I did, though, I wasn’t sure how anyone could jump to a conclusion so far from the truth that it could be considered comical.

“Is this your sixth sense talking again?” I asked.

“Half my sixth sense, and half my extensive research on romance,” Hazel grinned widely.

I withdrew my hands from hers, and sighed. At this point, I wasn’t sure whether to correct her, because even though her reasoning was completely off, the fact that I was a walking chunk of frustration still stood.

“So, mom, please have more patience with my and Aladdin’s guest. You know how a young maiden’s blood can boil in the blink of an eye, and it’s not how they are, it’s just the frustration manifesting itself in a violent form.”

“I understand that, but I still can’t trust her,” she said in a quiet voice.

“Now that it seems we have all calmed down,” Hazel’s father said. “Let us all go indoors. Lunch awaits, and I’m sure everyone will be less stressed with a full stomach.”

Right then, a loud clatter was heard from inside the house, and all of us looked in the direction of the noise. Mrs. Gwendolyn was the first to react and enter the house, but not before nudging me away from the door.

“Aladdin!” she exclaimed. “What happened to you?”

The rest of us followed her into the house, and there I found Aladdin lying on the floor, with Mrs. Gwendolyn and an Audino crouched near him to help him up. His limbs were all bandaged neatly. There was a broken vase near him, and water spilled everywhere.

“You know you can’t stand up yet, not with those broken bones,” Mrs. Gwendolyn scolded him and carefully pulled his upper body up.

“I heard… I-” he whispered. “Vanilla…”

Then, with sleepy-looking eyes, he met my gaze for a split second, before his head knocked backward and he lost consciousness. Mrs. Gwendolyn stood up and carried him in her arms effortlessly, to tuck him back in the bed which was outside my field of view. When she was done, she left the Audino inside the room and closed its door behind her.

“I’m afraid he is in no condition to receive visitors, even if I allowed it,” she said. “Now, keep out and don’t go near this room while I go get stuff to clean the mess in there.”

“Mom wait,” Hazel said. “I can watch over Vanilla. Well, not actually ‘watch’ her, but still, make sure she’s sitting near me. Then would you allow her to stay a bit inside the room?”

“I don’t know, dear. In any case, what would be the point? Aladdin is unconscious right now.”

“Yeah, what would be the point? I have no business with a pseudo-corpse.”

Hazel’s mother sent a sharp look in my direction, but I ignored it.

“I heard Aladdin call Vanilla’s name, so I don’t know, I think he’d be pleased if he knew she spent time near him while he slept.”

“Trust me, that would either scare him or give him relief, if he wakes up, that I didn’t ki-” I saw Pikachu shaking his head from the corner of my eye, so I coughed and measured my words. “I mean, didn’t do anything to him while he slept.”

“Then let it be the latter,” Hazel smiled happily. “Let’s go, yes?”

She extended a hand to me again. I looked at her mother, and since she said nothing but didn’t alter her look of disapproval, I took her hand and moved towards the room Aladdin was sleeping in. The sensation of my hand on hers made her face light up. I didn’t know why she was so invested in creating a narrative that was far-fetched, but I felt like maybe what I should do was play along. At least, her insisting I am still Aladdin’s girlfriend would probably let me talk with Aladdin- something forcefulness or open hatred would not get me.

 

I sat next to Hazel in a wooden bench in the tiny room. There was not much free space- with the bed that Aladdin and the articuno occupied, the bedside table that had a new vase with water on it, Audino, and now Hazel and I with Mocha and Pikachu.

“This was my brother Arthur’s room, before he moved out into Reborn City. He’s working as a police officer there,” Hazel said. “Ever since we started treating Aladdin, he’s been coming everyday to help us out with chores. You’ll probably meet him in the afternoon, once he’s done with his shift.”

I didn’t say anything, but the prospect of meeting an officer didn’t particularly excite me. I mean, I wouldn’t be thrilled if he discovered I had been at the site of Aladdin’s fall, and arrested me for suspicion of homicide… which isn’t far from the truth, but still.

Given that I was silent, Hazel changed the topic to see if she could get me to participate in the conversation.

“Aladdin is actually doing better, despite how he looks right now,” she said. “I mean, he’s still bed-ridden because he broke both legs and arms in the fall, but his fever is going away, which I think means his wounds’ infection is going away and he’ll recover well.”

“The articuno appears to be in worse shape than him, to be honest,” I said.

“Oh yes. When we found him, apparently the articuno was lying beneath Aladdin’s body, so we think that it tried to save him and got the most damage. Thanks to that, Aladdin’s alive after falling from such a height.”

Aladdin surely trained his birds properly after coming to this region, I thought. And yet he used to call his training in bird language useless, just because his family didn’t change their opinion of him even after learning it. It saved his life, quite literally.

“He probably fainted just now because he placed pressure on his broken legs, and you know, that must hurt like a lot. The good thing about it is that if he can feel pain, that means his nerves aren’t severed, so he won’t become paraplegic like my dad,” Hazel commented. “He had actually not fainted at all since like four days ago. We even had some conversations, which I could talk to you about, if you don’t get angry like earlier. If it helps, most conversations weren't about you or you guys' relationship, because no matter how much we asked about you, directly or indirectly, he mostly brushed off the subject.”

“I’m not curious to know.”

“What?! How can you not be curious. The curiosity would be killing me by now, if I were you.”

“You and I are very different people, Hazel.”

I didn’t intend it a particularly sarcastic or offensive way, but my supposedly lighthearted comment made Hazel fall silent and look somewhat sad, despite keeping a smile.

“Actually, I don’t think we’re that different at all,” she said. “You just didn’t meet me when I thought and acted like you do now. You are bitter, and I understand you because I’d also spent many years of my life bitter.”

I assumed she meant that she had been bitter about her lack of eyesight, which I could completely understand. 

Right then, Hazel’s mother knocked on our door and announced that lunch was served.

“I’ll tell you a little story, since it might help you,” Hazel whispered to me. “But let’s go have lunch first. I’m starving!”

 

VANILLA RATES: REBORN CHARACTERS

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• Error 101: No Reborn characters found

 

Also this was Pikachu when Vanilla snapped and was just a yuge pain in the butt this entire episode:

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QUICK LINK TO NEXT EPISODE

[J-Awesome_One]

Interesting. I feel like we're not really in a Reborn set right now but still a Pokemon story nonetheless. Very entertaining and I'm so glad you uploaded an episode!

[Candy]

Just now, J-Awesome_One said:

Interesting. I feel like we're not really in a Reborn set right now but still a Pokemon story nonetheless. Very entertaining and I'm so glad you uploaded an episode!

it'll take about two more chapters to conclude Hazel's arc (because she's a minor character anyway) but in that is contained the awkward convo between Aladdin and Vanilla, and one more surprise so it shouldn't be unamusing

then finally we can fight Ciel and return to Reborn City~ tbh I'm looking forward to Vanilla being super impressed with the renovations haha but before that there's also a surprise, which would've been more hyped had I not taken a 2 month break already, but it is what it is I guess oof

[SilverAngelus]

Well it's about time!

 

Candy-sama, I can't help but think of a certain webcomic when I read this chapter

 

Hazel mentioned an "extensive research on romance." How exactly would she do that when she can't exactly see?

[Candy]

6 minutes ago, SilverAngelus said:

Well it's about time!

 

Candy-sama, I can't help but think of a certain webcomic when I read this chapter

 

Hazel mentioned an "extensive research on romance." How exactly would she do that when she can't exactly see?

blind peepos can listen to TV and podcasts, and talk about romance with frens, me thinks  not like us nerds who would spend time sitting on our asses searching quizzes titled "does he/she like me" (I may or may not have done this)

tbh I've been looking forward to writing this coming chapter for like forever so hopefully that'll help me actually write it within a reasonable time oof

Edit: ... or it might be the chapter after next. depends on how the flow goes

[Corso]

I don't like this Mrs. Gwendolyn, for once I wish Vanilla punched someone. Why is no one surprised that this guy has a legendary bird!?

[Candy]

2 hours ago, Corso said:

I don't like this Mrs. Gwendolyn, for once I wish Vanilla punched someone. Why is no one surprised that this guy has a legendary bird!?

Hazel's family probably was surprised about a week ago when they first found Aladdin, but Vanilla wasn't there to see them surprised xD

And maybe part of the "conversations" that Hazel had with Aladdin explained how he'd gotten an articuno, but Vanilla isn't "curious to know" so we might never know rip

[Candy]

From Everland to Reborn ~ Shelly's Reflection

And now, while we wait the next “real chapter”, enjoy a short snippet of what went on in Calcenon one day while Vanilla was dealing with Terrawr and then the WTC, featuring your fave Reborn girlie, Shelly~ Man, writing this was harder than expected because I felt attacked by my own writing several times oof but hopefully it's somewhat a nice read and a good opportunity to show Shelly's internal thoughts since she doesn't get much of that in FEtR given she's not the first-person MC.

 

I switched off the TV and checked the clock on the wall. It was already 9 o’clock at night. Another whole day had gone without notice from Vanilla, and I was already tired of watching cartoon reruns and the news channels which never had anything new or useful. That said, it was a little bit too early to go to bed, so I said good-night to the twins and went to my room, which was now being shared by Charlotte and Heather. They were both not in at the moment: Charlotte was still looking for her older sister, and Heather was still on her shift of defending us from PULSE Clawitzer’s attacks. 

 

I didn’t bother to turn the lights on, and laid down on my bed with my eyes open. I felt guilty and useless for wasting my days watching TV and doing nothing to help our fight against Team Meteor. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a large flying pokemon that could fly me up into the sky, so I couldn’t have a shift like Heather, and I was deemed “too young” to be out alone in the Route 4 forest or the Route 3 caves after sunset, so I couldn’t even help Charlotte find Laura at night. On top of that, I wasn’t so tech savvy as to assist Florinia in deciphering the identity of the unbreakable barrier between Labradorra and Calcenon or its origin’s location. I was just a free-loader in this house, which we were renting.

“If only Vanilla would show up and we could go back to traveling together,” I sighed. 

The time when we were together was the time I felt the most useful, even if all I did was follow her everywhere. At least I was walking and doing something productive, as opposed to sitting or sleeping. Most importantly, Vanilla had been there beside me, and that was enough to feel content with my own existence.

Whether because I was lying on bed or because of boredom, I started to feel drowsy. My thoughts drifted to the very first moment I met Vanilla in Lapis, right after the incident with Corey. I had been so shocked to see a corpse, especially one of the father of my friend, that I felt I was going to lose my mind. Victoria had acted like my mother would have, while Vanilla offered no word of comfort, and just watched me from afar. Not in a million years did I think I would wish to be together with her, back then. She radiated intimidation, just by how she simultaneously looked angry at, and tired of, the world. 

But then, when we were alone for our Gym match and she noticed that I couldn’t hide my fear, she showed me her friend Pachirisu to make me calm down. I knew from that moment that she was a kind person, even if she expressed that kindness in a way that was different to most adults I knew. My mother, who was kind to me by telling me that I didn’t have to work so hard to be on the level of my brother, and my father, who was kind to me by telling me that I could try to be a pokemon professor instead, since I was a good reader. Those are the types of kindness that the adults in my life had shown me. 

That was different to the kindness Vanilla had shown me. She never saw me as a good-for-nothing who needed to be consoled, but as an equal who needed to overcome my weaknesses. I’ll never forget every word she said to me on the second floor of the orphanage, the time we broke in to save Heather. 

“Each of us has to protect what is precious to us, and people don’t have time to protect what is precious to you in your stead,” I repeated, while touching my jaw, where she had pinched me to force me to look at her in the eye. Those cloudy blue eyes with visible red veins burned in determination. They had been scary then, but they were impressed in my mind for life and were now a valuable memory for me.

Since then, I had made the effort to be stronger, to help the people important to me. To not weigh the group down…

“Which is exactly what I’m doing right now,” I sighed. “And it’s probably what I had done with Vanilla too, even if I felt more productive than usual.”

She was so strong, honest, independent, reliable. She had Pikachu to help her when her two arms weren’t enough. It went without saying that she was probably doing better now without me to slow her down with my clumsiness. Yes, she didn’t need me. I, on the other hand…

 

Right then, the room lights were turned on and I squinted my eyes. Charlotte entered and was going to greet me, but she stopped when she saw that my face was wet.

“Let me guess. Vanilla,” she sighed. “Yesterday it was because you were worried about her safety since it’d been 3 days since you last saw her, and we agreed she is a master at keeping herself alive. What is it today?”

I wiped my eyes and my nose.

“I’m sorry, Charlotte. I d-don’t know why I’m plagued with, um, negative thoughts.”

Charlotte threw her jacket on her bed, and then sat on mine next to where I was lying.

“Tell me about those negative thoughts.”

“Don’t worry about me. Um, I’m sure you’re tired, s-so you should go to sleep.”

“Don’t you worry about me. Do you seriously think I could just go to sleep now? Come on, spill the beans.”

Since we were going to talk, I slid my body up to sit and recline on the backrest of my bed.

“I just feel like an, um, inconvenience to all of you. I, um, barely do anything, because there’s always someone better s-suited for the job,” I said.

“You’re no inconvenience. If you’re not doing anything right now, it’s because you’re back up for our team. We need you healthy and alive for if and when something happens, we can count on you,” she said. “But I guess that could sound like vague comforting, since it’s all up in the air. How about this? The biggest proof of you not being an inconvenience is the fact that Vanilla let you travel with her. I don’t think she’s the type to drag someone just for the sake of it.”

The last part of her comment made me flinch. Charlotte noticed that and smirked.

“So this is about Vanilla, huh? You think you were an inconvenience to Vanilla too?”

I didn’t reply, but my silence was an automatic affirmative.

“Silly girl. Anybody who saw you two together could tell that she cares about you a lot,” Charlotte said. “She’s usually got that smug resting bitchface on, but the few times I’ve seen her break her fake indifference is when you’ve been involved. Take that time in the Yuyeyu building, for example. I didn’t think her albino skin could look paler than when she thought the grunts were going to kill you. And that’s just one time, but you’ve spent more time with her and I’m sure you’ve seen her expressing raw emotions many a time.”

A tear fell down my cheek that was only starting to dry.

“I know she cares for me, b-but that doesn’t mean I’m, um, any useful treading behind her,” I said, then clenched both fists on my breast because it hurt to speak. “She probably left me h-here because I’d s-slow her down.”

“You told me she’s fighting Terra, and then going to fish a couple of girls, whom you don’t know if they’re alive or not, from down a waterfall. To me it sounds more like she wanted to give you time with Heather, or to prevent you from seeing two dead bodies in a worst case scenario. I’ve met Terra before, and I wouldn’t say you’re missing much by not watching the gym battle either.”

“I’ve met her before too.”

I wiped my tears with my pajama sleeves, but they were already wet and didn’t help much. Charlotte stood up and brought me a box of tissues.

“I think you should trust her more, you know,” Charlotte stated as she shoved the tissue box into my hands.

Trust her…

She had said it. Vanilla had. I had forgotten it in the stressful situation that was the whole ordeal at Ametrine City, but she had.

“And I trust you. If you trust me, then trust yourself because you’re capable, even if you don’t realize it,” Vanilla said as she looked into my eyes again. Everything that I needed to know tonight had been encoded in those simple sentences, and suddenly I felt like a fool for wasting Charlotte’s time.

“I’m s-sorry for making a fuss again. I d-don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“Nothing is wrong with you. You just lack self-esteem and confidence. I’d say you’ve improved since the first time we met in Lapis,” Charlotte said, and then added as an afterthought: “Maybe Vanilla helped you stand on your own two feet, but couldn’t teach you how to accept yourself.”

“Accept myself? I accept that I’m no good. That’s why my brother doesn’t t-talk to me.”

“Your brother doesn’t talk to you because that’s how he makes himself feel bigger than he really is. Whether you increase your individual worth or decrease the worth of everyone around you, the relative result is the same, don’t you think?”

I wasn’t sure about that but nodded just to please Charlotte.

“It’s difficult to change a thought so deeply ingrained in your mind, but only you can be your ally on this. Don’t underestimate your achievements, and don’t ever think you slow us down. Try to cherish yourself. I’m sure Vanilla would be happy to see you caring about yourself as much as she cares about you.”

Charlotte patted my head and moved over to her own bed. While she changed into her pajamas, I tried to put her advice into action. I tried to think of my achievements, but all I could remember was the many times Vanilla had extended an arm for me when I was walking on unstable ground, the time I had been in danger and she had either protected me or rescued me, and lastly when she held me in her arms when I was distressed after seeing Amaria jump off a cliff. The last memory made me blush a little, but it was one of the moments I cherish the most.

In the end, I couldn’t easily find a single time I had achieved something by myself, and concluded that either I had terrible memory or nothing like that had ever happened. 

That made me sad, but not for long, since I knew that wasn’t really what mattered. I had helped Vanilla, Heather and Cal that one time- just like Vanilla had said, I had been capable, even if I didn’t think I was. That was exactly one additional instance where I’d combined forces with others to achieve something, to the record of zero instances I had been holding onto since I was born. Isn't that what’s important? Wouldn’t that small improvement make Vanilla approve of me more?

“If you trust me, trust yourself,” I could hear her voice clearly in my imagination.

I relaxed my shoulders and fell asleep soon after, so quickly and deeply that I didn’t even realize when Charlotte had turned off the lights or when Heather had returned from her shift.

 

Press P for 1 Shell Bell pat

[Corso]

Shelly is my spirit gym leader. This chapter hit so close to home I'm not sure I should've read it, but it's beautiful nonetheless. Now get out of my mind Candy!

[Candy]

6 minutes ago, Corso said:

Shelly is my spirit gym leader. This chapter hit so close to home I'm not sure I should've read it, but it's beautiful nonetheless. Now get out of my mind Candy!

your mind and my mind and Shelly's mind are one and the same, fren xD

[J-Awesome_One]

Awww. That is adorable. Does this mean you're gonna do more Reborn Character Chapters more or was this just 1 off thing? Great as always btw!

[Candy]

1 minute ago, J-Awesome_One said:

Awww. That is adorable. Does this mean you're gonna do more Reborn Character Chapters more or was this just 1 off thing? Great as always btw!

I didn't have that planned. I wrote this one because I'm still figuring out how to most effectively tell the next part of the main story, and since we haven't seen Shelly in a while, I wanted to remind y'all about her existence haha But if I feel inspired to write some more chapters like these, I'll go ahead and do it whenever that happens xP

[Q-Jei]

All in all, I comprehend you. If we look back, we end up realizing that Shelly's scene time is not as huge as people would have believed. This type of episode was a good surprise to me, and I salute your initiative for having done so. This in-depth study of Shelly's state of mind helps us to get attracted to her character even more, especially since she had shared several experiences with Vanilla since the day they met each other for the first time. Her timid personality adds a lot to her cuteness too, even if I prefer cheering her up and help her to gain more self-esteem. If I could pass through my computer screen, I'd do more than patting her: I would gladly hug her in my arms. But to be honest, this responsibility suits Vanilla more than me ^^ This may be interpreted as out of context, but I can't prevent myself from comparing their relationship to Dawn & Cynthia's relationship where Cynthia appears to be more like a second mother to this protagonist. This makes me want to see more of them

 

Keep up the good work, I love what you do Let shipping make the world go round

[Aphelli]

It's the first time, I think, I'm commenting this story. I would just like to say that it's a very enjoyable read. 

That change-of-viewpoint chapter, while unexpected, was remarkably well-written (and, so sweet). 

[Candy]

1 hour ago, Mindlack said:

It's the first time, I think, I'm commenting this story. I would just like to say that it's a very enjoyable read. 

That change-of-viewpoint chapter, while unexpected, was remarkably well-written (and, so sweet). 

Thanks for the comment~ writing stories is fun in itself but there's nothing better than to hear (or read in this case) the readers' voices haha I wasn't sure how peepos would take a random insert of a chapter where the MC isn't in the picture, but I went ahead anyway because Shelly has approval rating of 99.9% in these forums and I think y'all needed a detox from Vanilla's fits.

[Evi Crystal]

You did a great job!

[Evi Crystal]

I love the moment, when Cain offered himself to be her sparring partner in Pokemon Battles. That's very sweet and kind of him

Edited December 25, 2019 by Evi Crystal

[Candy]

On 12/25/2019 at 5:32 AM, Evi Crystal said:

I love the moment, when Cain offered himself to be her sparring partner in Pokemon Battles. That's very sweet and kind of him

It’s no wonder he gets pretty high Vanilla rating despite his risqué jokes

[Evi Crystal]

2 hours ago, Candy said:

It’s no wonder he gets pretty high Vanilla rating despite his risqué jokes

Maybe she got used to his jokes

[Candy]

From Everland to Reborn ~ Episode 67

Me on January 1st, 2020: This year, I'ma gonna surprise my buddies by posting FEtR more regularly.

Me on January 29th, 2020: Why do I always make a fool of myself. BUT it's a chapter longer than usual! Does that make it better? Idk maybe? Or maybe not.

 

Very brief recap:

Spoiler

Vanilla finds archnemesis Jasmin in Aladdin's apartment, says LOL NOPE and leaves by making a half-suicidal jump down the cliff that Aladdin fell Idk how long ago.

Then she runs into Hazel aka blind girl "with a sixth sense", who had found almost ded Aladdin and were nurturing him back to health.

Vanilla gets angery at silly stuff and gets into a brawl with Mrs. Gwendolyn, Hazel's mom and she's like "f*ck no ain't no smol brain smol body girl talking to my precious Aladdin".

But Hazel insists that Mrs. Gwendolyn reconsider, plus invites Vanilla over for lunch. I think that's what happened lol

 

You might expect that lunch with Mrs. Gwendolyn and I at the same table would be awkward, and you’d only be partially right. We sat at the wooden table that had exactly four chairs and four plates for us. Once Hazel and I took our spots, Mrs. Gwendolyn approached Hazel and whispered something about time and food* to her ear, and then sat herself directly in front of me. Hazel’s father also joined us and sat opposite to Hazel, because that was the side of the table that was wider, for his wheelchair. For just a few moments, there was an air of unease at the table, and no one said or looked at anyone else sharing the table. However, once everyone started eating, the mood slowly but surely started warming up.

Then, Mrs. Gwendolyn surprised me by being the first to break the silence, and with a question addressed at me. 

“So, Vanilla. I’m assuming you aren’t from these parts of Reborn? At least I know none near Ametrine City that wears a pink flowy no-sleeved dress like yours with our cold weather.”

I was so astonished that she directed a word at me out of everyone at the table, that I nearly dropped my knife. The content of the question was also bizarre, for it made me wonder if Aladdin had omitted such casual information like our hometown.

“I’m from Everland,” I replied. “I traveled to Reborn to take on the Gym challenge, for we don’t have pokemon back home.”

“Everland? What a coincidence, don’t you think, mom?” Hazel said, but Mrs. Gwendolyn paid no mind to her comment.

“I see. How has the Reborn League treated you? Did you have a chance to fight Kiki? She used to be my sensei long ago, but I heard she passed away recently.”

“Yes, Gwendolyn actually used to be Apophyll Academy’s best martial artist a couple decades ago,” added her husband. “Too bad she couldn't finish her training there.”

I didn't ask why, but questions weren't particularly necessary to get anyone of this family to speak, apparently.

“I couldn't find the peace of mind Kiki told us to seek. I did greatly on courses like judo which required bodily strength, but flunked every single one of the courses that focused on the mind.”

“I don't believe peace of mind can be attained. Only the dead can have the lack of stimulus necessary to attain it,” I said, unsure whether my comment would sit well with Mrs. Gwendolyn. Perhaps it was wishful thinking, but she looked quite pleased. 

“I wonder if Kiki did. She always appeared serene,” was all she said about it, before changing gears and asking me of my own experience with the league.

I recounted my time in Reborn since the moment I set foot in Lower Peridot Ward months ago. However, I fumbled over words and omitted quite a few details about my and the Gym leaders’ involvement with the Reborn police, and my unfortunate encounters with Aqua Gang, Magma Gang and the rest of 7th Street. My ‘adventures’, if I may call them so, caught the curiosity of Hazel’s father in particular.

“I do listen to Gossip Gardevoir’s channel on the radio,” he said out of the blue. “We would watch it on the TV, but it's been quite long since it was broken, and we haven't had the time or resources to repair it.”

“And what does GG’s show have to do with Vanilla?” asked Hazel, though I'm sure all three of us had the same question in mind.

“Oh, haha. I think I jumped topics without explaining my thought process,” the old man scratched his head. “You see, GG sometimes talks about a girl called Vanilla, but because I couldn't see her picture, I couldn't piece together that it was you all along. Gwendolyn, you’d know this if you paid attention to her show.”

“I prefer to listen to music on the radio,” Mrs. Gwendolyn replied.

“In any case, you can now rest assured that this girl isn't anyone suspicious. GG says she's even an honorary member of the Reborn police!”

“The police? Then you might've met Arthur?” Hazel asked, all excited.

However, I did not know a single officer’s name, so I had to disappoint her there. 

“It's fine. You'll meet him soon anyway.”

“Well, the fact you were recognized by the local police certainly gives you credit. That doesn't excuse your attitude, but I won't butt in. When Aladdin is in better shape, you can speak to him. An honorary member of the police wouldn't hurt a healing man, would she?”

“I promise I'll watch my temper,” I said, just to get on her better side, if such a side was still available to get on. Mrs. Gwendolyn didn't look very convinced by my words, but did not touch the subject for the rest of our meal.

We ate our meal with Hazel’s dad leading the conversation about what Gossip Gardevoir had talked about me on her show. When she’d said that it was her business to know things, she wasn't joking. It was at least comforting to know that whether or not she knew about it, she didn't publicize anything about my personal life that I wouldn't want all of Reborn to know.

 

An hour or so after we had all finished eating, we heard shuffling on the adjacent room, followed by Aladdin’s voice calling Mrs. Gwendolyn. She instantly stood up from her seat and hurried to the kitchen to serve food for him in a small bowl. Then, like clockwork, she went into Aladdin’s room and her husband carried all the plates to the kitchen to wash. I was going to volunteer to wash them for him, but Hazel stopped me.

“I know you mean well, but my dad actually likes to do the dishes,” she said. “Since he can't move his legs, my mom takes care of everything physical. So he wants to help out in the things he can still do with his hands and while sitting down. Likewise, my job is to take Mocha and gather wood and nuts, and I also help mopping the house after dad sweeps the floors.”

Given that I came from a household where I wasn't expected to do any chores, since those were taken care of by the servants, I was amazed by the teamwork this family had achieved despite their disabilities.

“How are you feeling, Aladdin?” said Mrs Gwendolyn from the room Aladdin was staying in. She had apparently left the door a little open, and whether it was on purpose or not, we could hear their conversation quite clearly.

“I feel a bit dizzy but otherwise not bad,” Aladdin said. “Audino has helped me greatly as always.”

An audino’s pleasant cry followed that statement.

“That is good to hear. I've brought you something to eat. Perhaps some of your dizziness is owed to an empty stomach,” Mrs. Gwendolyn said. Unlike when she speaks to me, she sounded kind and happy when speaking with him.

The spring bed screeched. I assumed that was her pulling him into an upright position to eat. They were silent for a while, but then Aladdin spoke again.

“Mrs. Gwendolyn, I actually have a question,” he said.

“What is that?”

“It might have been a moment of hallucination, but I thought I heard my girlf- ...Vanilla’s voice,” he said, paused and continued. “I don't talk much about her, but I think you know who I mean.”

“I know exactly who you mean,” she replied.

“Well, when I heard her, she was… shouting hysterically. That's nothing unusual since that's all she has done every time we met recently.”

While he spoke, I was ready to stand up and shout hysterically at him for good measure, but Pikachu and Hazel both pushed me back to the chair.

“But my memory is hazy,” he continued. “And the next thing I remember, we were chatting and laughing like we used to. We were in the forest… That's a place we haven't visited for a long while. I know Audino's heal pulse tends to show me bittersweet dreams like those. But I wasn't sure what the realistic part meant. Has she come here? Is she here?”

I thought Mrs. Gwendolyn would deny my being here, but I was surprised when she didn't.

“No, you weren't hallucinating. She's here. Apparently she has come to talk to you, but her tone wasn't friendly to be honest.”

There was a bit of silence there.

“I haven't allowed her to do so, because I was sure she'd hurt you more than you already are,” Mrs. Gwendolyn continued. “But she has since calmed down, and if you want to see her, I'll let her in.”

“I think she hasn't left a great impression on you,” he said, probably because Mrs. Gwendolyn was frowning. “But be assured, she has every reason to hate my existence. After all, I sacrificed our relationship to protect the things I thought were the most precious to me.”

I was almost going to give him credit for acknowledging that I had every right to hate him, but when he called what we had a ‘relationship’, I stood up to make it clear that we had nothing of the sort. What we had was inconsiderate abuse. However, Pikachu again sat me back down and patted my head, perhaps thinking that that would appease my boiling blood.

“I bet if you had met Vanilla before me, you'd have acted the opposite way,” Aladdin laughed. “I'll meet her. Tell her I'll meet her tomorrow. I'll rest today so that I can have a clear mind for our conversation.”

“Sure I will. Now have this food. It should be cool enough to eat now.”

 

Their conversation ended there, and now Hazel spoke to me.

“When you talk to him tomorrow, you gotta tell him you were angry but don't actually hate him.”

“No, I actually do,” I said.

“Well, it doesn't sound like it, that's for sure,” she said, grinning.

I didn't say anything else, because what a third party I just met a few hours ago thought wasn't of concern to me. Hazel must've picked up on my bad temper, so changed subjects to her mom’s behavior.

“I'm glad my mom is slowly acknowledging you,” she said. “Aladdin said he'd meet you tomorrow, and she didn't oppose one bit.”

“How noble of her, to allow me to see him. Such honor,” I said, with very obvious irony so that even Hazel could hear it.

She indeed heard it, for she knitted her brows and was silent for once, before speaking again, this time with much less spirit.

“I know that my mom is being a pain in the butt to you, but I ask you not to think ill of her,” Hazel said and got closer to my side of the table. “Even though she didn't lose mobility or eyesight or anything, she had to bear with hardships of her own. I've often thought that her excessively protective nature developed as a consequence of the earthquakes.”

“The earthquakes?”

“You know, the earthquakes that hit Reborn about 10 years ago. They wrecked the city, I hear, but they also destroyed our home because we are situated under Ametrine mountain and that means avalanches can be the end for us. Speaking of, there was one quite recently, but it was on the other side of the mountain which is more prone to it.”

“So you lost your eyesight 10 years ago?”

“Yep. A block of wood hit my head and apparently damaged my ocular nerves. My dad was the one to pull me out of the house, but he also got his lower half nearly squashed. We made it though, and that's all that counts.”

I didn't say anything else, because I supposed she had to be hiding her bitterness under the brightness of a smile.

“I think I know the meaning of your silence, and you're right to imagine that losing my eyesight at barely 10 years of age was devastating to me. I could no longer walk by myself without bumping and falling, I couldn't eat without making a mess, and I couldn't even attend normal classes at school or play with my friends like I used to. That's what I meant when I said I could relate to your bitterness, because even if I'm truly content with myself now, there was a about half a decade when I was angry at everything, because I wanted my eyesight back.”

I didn't know what to say, and, to be honest, wished Hazel would stop talking about this topic. Yet, I knew that was only a manifestation of the guilt I felt for having, and taking for granted, that which Hazel probably wanted the most in the world. 

“My relationship with my parents was also not great after the accident. They tried to teach me to live with my disability, but I refused to do it. I don't know why. I guess the teenage hormones didn't help my mood,” Hazel chuckled, but as a teenager myself, I couldn't laugh. “I remember my mom would ask me to do the chores and I'd do them terribly on purpose, blaming my lack of proper eyesight. Many sessions of therapy eventually made my ill-humor go away, but then I began to realize how monotonous and meaningless my life was. When the anger from the accident cooled down, what came next was depression.”

Hazel paused and smiled at me.

“I think you are still in the anger phase. That's not good, but it's better than being depressed. I accomplished more in life being angry than when I was sad.”

“Anger is a driving force, for sure, but it clouds judgment more than usual. I can speak from experience; made many mistakes that could've been averted had I kept a cool mind.”

I remembered the recent times when I got badly beaten up in 7th Street because I couldn’t hold back from fighting when someone triggered me. Then there was the one too many time when Archer and his gang set me an icy trap because I barged in without no plans other than to beat his ass up. If King were alive, he’d scorn at my lack of improvement. When I was in the Underworld, I was spoiled in a sense, because Wolfie had always kept cool for the both of us even in the face of adversity. Yes… she was good at keeping my emotions in check, starting when we were just kids. 

I felt my throat shrink into a knot as a memory of her last moments alive flashed behind my eyes. Even in her last moments, she didn't drown in desperation from her early demise, but went with a serene expression.

“-you think?”

I had drifted away to thinking about my cursed short-temper down to Wolfie, and missed what Hazel had been saying, but I answered the question with “yes” to pretend I had been listening.

“I don't think you were listening, but that's alright. I didn't say anything important anyway,” she said, totally seeing through my mind. 

“Sorry.”

“Don't be. I'm the one boring you with my tale. It's just that you reminded me so much of my younger self, I wanted to tell you things can get better. I met Arthur, and together with my now-peacefully-resting therapist, he helped me break out of my melancholy.”

“You mean, your brother?”

Hazel laughed.

“Oh yeah, I forgot to make that clear, didn't I? Silly me,” she said, and scratched her head like her father did. “Mhm, but my sixth sense says to wait like two minutes. Introductions are better made in person, don’t you think?”

I didn’t know what she meant, but just as Hazel had predicted, the front door opened minutes later. I reacted to the creaking with a simple turn of the head, but when I saw who was standing there, I stood up so quickly that my wooden chair fell back with a clatter. The man at the door stood holding the knob, perhaps for balance or because he was frozen in place. He looked as though he’d seen a ghost, but that was probably not owed to my albinism but instead to my murderous aura. 

“What is she doing here?” asked Arthur, except I knew him by another name.

“Do you know each other already? Oh, you must’ve met when Vanilla became an honorary member of the police department, after all,” Hazel said with enthusiasm that neither of us two shared.

“No, we met under very different circumstances,” I said. 

After all, the first time I met Archer, it was when I was breaking the law in Everland, and when we met again, it was when he was breaking the law.

I contemplated my options. I could fight him right then and there, but that would only make Mrs. Gwendolyn more hostile against me. She might not allow me to see Aladdin, if she finds out I beat the crap out of her ‘son’. But what else was I supposed to do? Shake our hands and have tea at the same table? No way.

However, when I stepped forward, I felt my skirt being pulled back. I looked down and saw Pikachu, probably making a judgmental face, even though I could not actually read his expression.

“I was just telling Vanilla how you came here around a year ago, and did me and my family so much good,” Hazel said, filling the tense atmosphere. "That's why I call him my brother, even though we're not related, Vanilla."

I looked at Archer with incredulous eyes.

“Just because I didn’t do much good to you, doesn’t mean I couldn’t help others,” he told me. “After all, I’m a police officer. My job is to fight the bad people and help the good ones.”

“Police officer my a-” I was going to say, but Archer cut me short with a loud voice.

“Ah! Ah!” he shouted. “I brought some sweet treats for you. I’ll place them on the table to eat them later.”

He walked in long strides over to the table and dropped the plastic bag he was carrying on top of it. Then, he whispered to me that he had some stuff to talk to me.

“Sorry, Hazel. I have something urgent to tell Vanilla. It’s unfortunately confidential information I can only tell to another member of the Reborn Police.”

He said and was going to grab my arm, but I slapped his hand away. Don’t you dare lay a finger on me, I told him with my eyes.

We walked outside, where Arthur judged no one would hear us.

“Listen, I know I’m in no place to demand you anything,” he said. “In fact, I’m in your hands. I admit it. But I am pleading you: please don’t tell any of this family that I’m part of a gang.”

“You mean the leader of a gang,” I corrected, but Archer ignored me.

“They think that I’m a police officer, and I’m not lying when I say I really did try to find employment as one here,” he continued. “But you can imagine how hard it was to do that, given that my record is ruined, mind you, thanks to you.”

“Why are you even in this house? You aren’t even Hazel’s brother or anything. It’s so random.”

“I used to go from house to house asking for a place to stay,” he explained, then he looked at me funnily and said, “If you’re thinking, ‘How pathetic. You couldn’t just sleep outside like the homeless in Peridot Ward’, then I’ll tell you that going from sleeping in a comfy bed to sleeping on a dirty blanket on concrete isn’t an easy task.”

I may or may not have been thinking that, but sure.

“These people gave me a chance to stay and treated me like one of their own. I don’t want them to know that I’m lying about my job. That’s the only lie, after all. I’ve been otherwise very honest about where I come from and that I used to be a police officer there and all that.”

I was silent, and placed a hand under my chin as though I was deep in thought.

“What do you think, Pikachu?” I asked my friend who had followed behind me. “I think I should ruin this man’s whole career, after the low quality treatment I received.”

Pikachu twirled around on the spot. Not sure what that meant.

“How about I tell them that you were part of a crime syndicate when you were in Everland? And that you used your father's political influence to wipe off my accusations? Don’t think you have the upper-hand. If we go down, we’ll go down together.”

We looked at each other like two hyenas might when they fight over their meal.

“Fine. I need to see f*ckface, so until I’m done with that, I can’t have them raising their scum radars. Mrs. Gwendolyn appears to have a talent for that.”

Archer’s facial expression softened.

“It’s good to know that you’re a person with understanding, at least,” he said and extended his hand.

“I’m not going to shake your filthy hand,” I said. “We’re never going to be on good terms.”

Once finished our negotiations, I went inside the house.

 

But, to drive the message home, I shut the door just when he was coming in so that he would break his nose or something.

 

*Apparently blind people learn eating manners by locating the food items as if the plate was a 12 hour clock.

 

 VANILLA RATES: REBORN CHARACTERS

Spoiler

Nun yet... just wait one more chapter...

 

QUICK LINK TO NEXT EPISODE

[Corso]

5 hours ago, Candy said:

While he spoke, I was ready to stand up and shout hysterically at him for good measure, but Pikachu and Hazel both pushed me back to the chair.

Best quote

5 hours ago, Candy said:

“How noble of her, to allow me to see him. Such honor,” I said, with very obvious irony so that even Hazel could hear it.

Best quote #2

 

I feel like your writing style has changed since last time

[Candy]

1 hour ago, Corso said:

Best quote

Best quote #2

 

I feel like your writing style has changed since last time

well, last time it was all about feels and Shelly being hecc'n cute, but this time I aimed for a "lighthearted" "funny" chapter (those quotes, plus memes like "I think I should ruin this man’s whole career") with not so much emphasis on the sad parts (Hazel's story about the Earthquakes). because Hazel to me represents what Vanilla could become- someone who passed through years of hardship, and through seeking help and being helped by others, was able to cope with her disability and find meaning in life. well, that's a big COULD become, cause personally I don't see that happening lol

But if that's not what you think is different from my previous writing style... well maybe it just morphed thanks to months of not writing FEtR 

[Corso]

Maybe it's both, and now it's canon that Vanilla knows memes.

I don't know if it's just me being Unown or the episodes' frequency, but in my head Hazel was like 12. 

[Candy]

9 hours ago, Corso said:

Maybe it's both, and now it's canon that Vanilla knows memes.

I don't know if it's just me being Unown or the episodes' frequency, but in my head Hazel was like 12. 

She has the vitality of a 12 year old, that’s for sure. What can’t 20-something’s be fun and silly? You literally know one