FicWad

“Anya, wake up.” The voice of Burnet called, pulling me out of a black, dreamless sleep. As I slide my lids open, I found the yellow irises of my host staring worriedly at me. The concern in her eyes pulled me awake and had me sitting up in an instant.

“What? What’s happened this time?” A glimmer of fear sparked in my chest and I tried my best to control it by forcing out a note of anger instead. I looked around the home and find it still oddly empty when compared to the night before. “Where are the children?”

“They’re still out with Ori. That’s not what I’m talking about though. It’s Mel. She’s not waking up.” Burnet pointed to the table near the kitchen where I see my sister’s mother-in-law sitting statue-still on a chair.

I squint my eyes in her direction, but she appears to simply be sleeping, while seated. Shaking my head, having already guessed what’s going on, I walk over to the older woman, grabbing my Go Bag as I slowly amble towards her. Utilizing some of the medical instruments inside, and showing the concerned party along the way, I prove her stable condition.

“She’s in a trance,” I state once I’ve exhausted all my options.

“Are you certain? This just doesn’t feel right.” Though she appears to have calmed herself down, she still keeps casting worried glances at the statued Psychic.

“Positive. I’ve known Mel long enough to know that she isn’t able to sleep during the day. Even with as tired as she would be now, she wouldn’t get a wink. In cases like this, when she can’t rest her body as well as her mind, she simply meditates. It doesn’t do much to replenish physical strength, but it does recover her Psychic powers.”

Burnet’s eyes had yet to leave the frozen form, but she finally tore them away after a few heartbeats more. “Okay. I trust your judgment, Anya.”

Instead of responding, I sniff and turn away, walking towards the window. Outside, the sun was beginning to make its trek to the horizon. A few Pokemon, a couple of Mel’s and some of my host’s, wander around, stopping to examine patches of ground, or gliding past another with a barely heard grunt of acknowledgment. I know they are patrolling the place, but it still throws me off to see these creatures acting together with such seeming intelligence.

I spot Breeze, the Pidgeot, gliding high in the air and decide he must be helping to keep watch as well. I wonder who told him to do that? I think to myself. Satisfied at the happenings going on, I turn back to the couch and return to sitting on it.

I stare at Burnet for a moment, trying to decide if she looks like she’s recovered since this morning. The dark patches under her eyes have reduced and her complexion has returned to a closer example of her normal skin tone. Where the patches were, now heavy bags set. Her white hair is ruffled and sticks out at odd angles. If I didn’t already know her age to be three years younger than me, I might think she were 20 years older just by her appearance.

While she doesn’t move around with the same grace I’ve always known Sashi to use, who prefers to be a busybody like Burnet, she doesn’t appear to be struggling with her movements either. Grabbing onto items and moving them, even heavier objects, around without difficulty.

The white-haired woman is working in the kitchen, the sound of pots shuffling around and a pile of food setting on the counter. I notice the amount of ingredients she’s pulled out is rather large and realize she must be preparing dinner for everyone, even though there are only three of us here at the moment.

Of course, she’s getting a meal ready for everyone. None of the people that aren’t here have made it seem like they won’t be returning tonight. I can’t return to my sister’s house while it’s still under the police’s watch, Mel canceled her hotel booking when the Professor offered her a place to reside here, and Ori seems determined to stick around too. There are a lot of us staying in this tiny home at the moment. I realize with a shake of my head.

Sighing with a feeling of resignation, I pull myself back to my feet and return to the table, grabbing a cutting board and knife off the counter, as well as some vegetables, and begin chopping them. We work in silence for a long time.

The meal, a thick soup, is on a burner, simmering quietly away. We returned to the couch once more. Burnet busies herself with some small electric device, tinkering with it with some tools she’d grabbed from her basement. I was reading the book I kept in my bag.

The silence between us seemed to grow until the younger woman finally says without looking up from her work, “For someone who’s afraid of Psychics, you sure seem to know a lot about them.”

“Well, Kabir is my closest friend.” I respond, working hard to not become disgruntled at her poke at my uncomfortable feelings towards the mystic beings. “Plus Mel is also my parent’s neighbor. She was there while I was still living with my family and going to school for my Doctorate. Of course I’ve picked up a lot of information about them. It doesn’t take much to learn the things I know either, you just have to open your eyes and watch them.” I grunt, trying to deflect a continuation.

“So you do know about Himiko then, right?”

“Do you think I’m dense?” I ask incredulously.

“Absolutely not, but you clearly hate the idea. It seems odd that we have to tiptoe around the conversation about Himiko’s Psychic powers. She is your daughter, after all. Plus, it’s very uncommon for these powers to appear suddenly in a family.” She hinted, finally looking at me steadily with her own challenging gaze.

I cast a furious glare at the woman, perturbed by her forthcoming attitude. She merely returns the look, unconcerned by my anger.

“It comes from her dad’s side,” I say, casting my eyes to my hands and squinting as memories flood my head. “Kai’s grandfather is a Psychic. It skipped a couple generations.”

“Did you know this before you married him?”

“You think my husband would have kept a secret like that?” I growled furiously. Would she dare imply Kai would hide such important information from me?

Burnet moved her hands into the air, removing one from the head of her Munchlax at her side, “I mean no ill about him. It just seems odd that you would marry someone with that history, hating Psychics as much as you do.”

“Yeah, well, you seem to know far too much about how people are feeling.” I blurted out, wanting to remove the focus of the conversation. “Or what about the heart condition you’ve been hiding?”

“Anya, I’ve not been hiding it. The people that need to know about it, do. I probably would have told you at some point too, but the conversation for it has just not come up. As for that first one, I’m not Psychic, if that’s what you were implying.” Her tone is flat as she speaks and her eyes have narrowed.

“And yet I remain unconvinced.”

She sighs in frustration. “I don’t know what that is. I’ve always been able to feel people’s emotions. Physically feel them, as if they were my own. I’ve visited plenty of Psychic Doctors regarding it and they’ve all concluded that I’m certainly not Psychic as well. Though, they all seem to agree that the strange ability I have is what’s been affecting my heart. Strong emotions, like today on the beach, can cause my heart rate to skyrocket. It’s like my body doesn’t know how to handle it and goes into overdrive. That’s what the medications I took today were for. Otherwise, I can usually meditate. Though, I don’t think I’ve been doing it right, seeing Mel over there now.” She chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

“That is peculiar,” I say, unable to control my curiosity about this oddity. I’ve never seen this before. I wonder if this is something that happens with others too. Like Kabir with his Psychic powers. I’ve not heard of a single other case like his, though Mel makes it sound like there are others.

My thoughts are interrupted by a knock on the door. Burnet rises to her feet to answer it. I glance over to Mel and find that she still has not even flinched, her mind completely shut off to all outside stimulation. Her breathing is so slow I have to take a moment to watch, ensuring that there really were respirations.

The woman that is at the door is maybe a few years older than Mel. Her nearly fully grey hair is short, with thick curls clamping it tightly to her head. Her skin tone is much darker than even Kabir’s mother and when she speaks, it's with a heavy accent. I’ve learned this woman to be Burnet’s mother, having seen her once before. On the same day that Sashi was attacked and kidnapped.

“Miku, sweetie, I’ve been worried. You haven’t been answering your phone.” She says with a voice thick with concern, pulling in the Professor for a tight hug.

“I’m sorry mom, I was sleeping. I must have forgotten to take it off silent.” Burnet responded, returning the affectionate gesture.

“What about your house phone? I called that one too, but it just kept ringing.”

The younger woman glanced around for a moment, looking at the home phone’s cradle, not seeing it there, then locating it on the countertop. “Oh, I think my guest must have been using it and forgot to put it back on the receiver.” She glanced apologetically at her mother.

The woman sighed, shaking her head while muttering in a foreign language. Checking herself, she looked over at me and smiled. “Hello. I know we’ve seen each other before, but I do not believe we have ever properly met. My name is Zuri Burnet.”

“She’s my mom.” Burnet beamed.

“So I’ve gathered. I’m Doctor Anya Māhoe.” I answered, bowing slightly, but not rising to my feet.

Zuri glanced over to the table once more to the older doctor, looked at me, then turned her gaze back to Burnet. “Is your friend unwell?” She said, indicating with a nod of her head to the unresponsive Psychic.

“That’s Doctor Melanie Gomez. She arrived in Alola only last night, so she’s just resting right now.”

The ebony-skinned woman frowned slightly but then shook her head as if deciding her thought impertinent. “Well, my dear. I was wanting to see how you were doing. Come, talk to me.” She gestured to the couch, putting her other hand behind her daughter’s back and ushering her towards me.

They talked for a long while, catching up, discussing the siblings of Burnet, and then turning the topic to a Pokèmon of Zuri’s, while I continued reading my book.

“I am just not sure what the matter could be, but my Flygon has not been acting like itself lately. It keeps staring off into space and ignoring my commands. I know I should take it to the Pokemon Center, but their hands have been full caring for all the extra Pokemon of that young Ashoka couple.”

“Sashi and Kabir,” Burnet said, glancing apologetically at me. I huffed and rolled my eyes, not enjoying the sympathetic look.

The glance was not missed by this newcomer though as she turned her gaze to me. “Do you know the couple, dear?” She queried.

I didn’t answer and instead glared my fury at Burnet, not wanting to be the center of attention.

“Sashi is Anya’s sister,” Burnet responded Mareepishly.

“Your sister! That would explain why you seem so upset. I cannot believe this would happen. Especially not in Alola. It has always been so safe here. Why, Burnet, you have been here since you were six. You would know just how safe-“ Zuri cut her remark short as she noticed that her daughter was not paying attention. Instead, the Professor’s eyes had fixed on a point behind my head. I turned around to see the female doctor, still unchanged.

Burnet rose her to feet without saying a word and padded over to the still-seated Psychic. “Mel, are you alright?” She said, placing a hand on her shoulder and shaking her gently.

“She can’t hear you. She’s in a trance, remember?” I stated with irritation that my comment from earlier would be so easily forgotten.

“I know that, but something is wrong.”

“How do you mean, Miku?” Zuri questioned, rising to her feet as well.

“I don’t know. This just doesn’t feel right.”