Welcome to Gaia! ::

Belle sat silently on her bed. Her eyes were void of emotion as they stared out the window, fists clenching and unclenching in her lap. The tears had long since stopped falling, and now it was just emptiness. Her eyes were red and sore from wiping them tissues, and her jaw hurt from the crying. Snow was falling outside, but she barely noticed. She'd been interrupted multiple times by various servants asking if she needed anything, so she'd now requested to be left alone. Her mother had already been grieving for weeks - she was already starting to move on. Belle, on the other hand, was only just starting. Her friends, upon hearing of her arrival, had arrived to see her, but she'd had the servants send them away. She wasn't stupid - she knew now that they were only excited for the novelty of being the friend of a girl who had run away and became a trainer, they cared nothing for her mourning.

She sighed, looking down and shifting her weight slightly. She heard a click, and slowly looked up to see her mother entering her room. "What?" she asked dully. Her voice sounded hoarse - her throat felt raw, and it was painful to speak. Both she and her mother were wearing black, simple dresses for their loss. Her mother, Eloise, shut the door and sat on the bed next to her daughter, reaching out and gripping her hand sympathetically.

"How are you, sweetie?" she asked. Belle stared at her, emotionless. "I see." She patted her hand, silent for a few sweet moments. "You know, the girls from your school are here again. Do you want to see them?"

Belle paused for a moment, thinking. "No," she replied finally. "I want . . . I want my father back!" Her voice broke, eyes squinting as she dissolved into tears again. This was ridiculous! She thought she'd gotten rid of her tears . . . apparently not. Her mother blinked, unsure of what to do. Somewhat awkwardly, she reached out and patted her back.

"I want him back, too," she replied quietly. "But that's not going to happen. You need to embrace that, alright?" Belle didn't reply. Why would Eloise even think this? Surely that wasn't how you grieve? This was making no sense. She didn't understand . . . "Your friends are here for a reason. Are you sure you don't want to talk to them?"

"What do they have to say, mother?" She didn't doubt that she would know - no strangers were allowed on the premises unless they clearly stated their intentions. She was hoping that it was something she could put off for a while - she was in no mood to talk to other people at this moment.

"They . . . well, you know, your promenade is approaching. They wanted to know if you were attending?" Belle frowned. Prom. She'd forgotten it was approaching. She sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"I . . . I don't know? Maybe." She knew these girls - they would tear to shreds anyone who did not go to a dance (with a date, no less). She grimaced. Prom. Why did she have to go to stupid private school? The girls there were worse than hyenas, in her opinion. Making a split-second decision, she said, "Yes."

Eloise looked surprised. "Yes?"

"Yes." Belle looked somewhat determined, now that she had something to do.

"Alright, sweetie. Might I ask why?"

"Because I don't want to sit around doing nothing all day." She stood, gripping the bed for temporary support (her legs had gone to sleep). "Mother, who is available to attend the promenade with?" Upon seeing her open her mouth to protest. "I know you know, mother."

Eloise shrugged, muttering something under her breath. When asked to repeat it, she sighed. "No one. It is the day before, you know."

"Oh." Unbidden, tears welled up in her eyes again. She couldn't have a father, she couldn't even go to her own prom - what good was this doing her? She didn't know any other teenage boys that would be old enough to . . . But . . . No . . . She couldn't, could she? She looked down at her mother, who was still sitting on the bed. "Mother, I must go." She then hurried out of her bedroom and into the large, expensively decorated corridor. She pretty much bolted down it, the servants respectfully stepping out of her way and bowing their heads as she passed.

She quickly reached the end of the hall, and descended the marble spiral staircase. She then raced across the ground corridor and out into the courtyard, bare foot. Belle moved towards the first guest house, the door being opened by another one of the servants, and then hurried up another marble staircase, down the corridor (with her Pokemon watching curiously from their doorways) and opening Mewtwo's door, tears sparkling in her eyes again. In a broken tone, she whispered, "Help me."

((Was pretty much dead on my feet when I wrote this, so I'll go over it later to check for retarded mistakes. I couldn't find the right pictures I wanted, but here's one of the inside: [x]

Belle sniffled into the pillow, trying to contain her depression. By now, she was used to the psycat's intrusion on her mind, and even welcomed it. She dabbed at her eyes with the sleeves of her dress, looking at Mewtwo. "It-it's . . ." The tears sprung up again, making new tracks down her cheeks. She struggled to slow them down, chin trembling uncontrollably. She made an attempt to clear her throat, trying to regulate her breathing. "It's this thing for school. A dance. And I have no date!" she wailed, throwing herself backwards on his bed, hair flying everywhere, the sobs making her body shudder. "It's not fair! I hate my life!" She turned herself over, so that she was face down on the bed, the gold duvet and sheets half-twisted around her, still sobbing to herself.

"It's not just that," Belle declared as she rolled back onto her back, staring at the ceiling. "I come back here and . . . and . . . this happens." She refused to say it out loud. "And then there's prom and I can't go because I don't have a date and it's all wrong! My life is wrong! None of this was ever meant to happen!" She sniffled, gripping the pillow tighter when he suggested she ask someone to prom. "You don't get it! There's no one left! Prom is tomorrow! . . . Besides, the guy always asks the girl, and no one's going to ask the stupid runaway to such an important event." She buried her face in the pillow, body shaking again.

((IDK about anyone else, but I tend to put emphasis on random s**t when I cry, so that's why there's a lot of italics XDDD))

Belle sat up, looking Mewtwo in the purple eye. "Yes," she responded, voice still hoarse. "I am. Ask me," she ordered, crossing her arms in a childish manner. Her right to have both parents alive had been stripped from her, and she was damned if she would let prom be taken from her, too. She was fully aware that no expected her to be there - generally, in Iclea Town, the families of the dead resided in their homes for days, even weeks, on end. Belle, though, wanted to prove them wrong, and give them the message that she was not going to curl up and fade away. Hell no, she was going to prom, even if she had to force a Pokemon to be her date. Besides, no one would know, right?

Belle blinked at him, surprised that he actually did it - she was already preparing to throw him outside in the falling snow if he refused. Actually, she was disappointed, that would have been fun. None the less, her eyes were alight at his question. "Yes," she breathed. "Oh, yes, Mewtwo! Yes!" She promptly threw herself across the room, tackling him in a hug. "Yes, I will go to prom with you!" She was sooo excited! She was going to prom with her baby! Yay! Her friends were going to be sooo jealous!

Belle beamed up at him, eyes twinkling. "Weeeell, the prom's tomorrow, so we've got, like, no time. You'll need a tux and shoes, dance lessons, etiquette lessons, a corsage for me, you need good social skills and you definitely need to not talk to people in their minds, mmkay?" She tilted her head, thinking. "I can get you a tailored suit and shoes within a few hours, you can do that weird thing where you get stuff from people's minds for the lessons, I can assign someone to buy me a corsage to go with my dress - I'll need to get one tailored, too - and the last two shouldn't be too hard, provided you can just smile and look pretty." She pulled away from Mewtwo, moving to the window, where it was snowing outside. She stared out for a moment, before turning back to him, a pleased look on her face. "Ready to have your measurements taken?"

Belle sighed when he said (or thought, or whatever the right verb was) that he wouldn't need a suit. There goes her fun. She still got to get a dress, though, which was awesome~ She frowned at him for the dancing part. "Why, Mewtwo! We'll just have to hire you a dancing tutor then, yes? Yes. Oh, yay, you're going to have so much fun! Dante can learn, too! And what do you mean, you might be able to convince people that you speak? You're a Psychic, for Arceus's sake! Use your damn powers!" She huffed, folding her arms at him. "Besides, can't you speak? You have a mouth and a tongue, don't you? Those are speaking tools, not just decorations to make you look like a pretty kitty."