Finding Red

28

Blood. Sticky, sweet, and ruby as it dripped upon tousled powder snow. The cry of a Blastoise ricocheted and emptied out into the hallowed battlefield grounds. And there was pain, blistering and searing pain that pulsed with the wave of each drop. Screaming, so vicious and bloodthirsty that it sounded inhumane. Purple flashed across her vision, fleeing to only her peripherals as she tried to focus on it. The sound of water flowing seemed to take over everything as the rough feeling of her hands clenched down on her ears. And yet, an unfamiliar voice sounded in her mind.

"It looks like you're no better than I am after all," it said, in a sad but almost patronizing kind of tone. "So then, what do you intend to do about it now, hero?"

The rushing water faded for a moment until she found herself face to face with Blue in the park in Viridian. His eyes no longer held the friendly tint that she knew intimately, but rather were doused in anger, resentment, and deep kind of betrayal. His fists were shaking and tears were streaming down his face. She found herself backing away, blood ice alone, and the feeling of frustration frozen within her soul.

"How could you do this to me?" Blue asked. "I thought you of all people would understand."

She woke up crying.

Adrenaline pushed its way through Crystal's system as she sat up with a concerned Blue to her right and a silent Red to her left. Nuria jumped in her lap and tackled her as she stared at Blue, shocked by the difference in his character from what she was experiencing just a few moments ago. Red looked sad as he waited for her to speak, even though they both knew Blue would be the one to prompt anything.

"You alright?" Blue asked.

She nodded. "It was a nightmare."

Nuria continued to nuzzle her head into Crystal's arms as she took deep breaths to try to calm herself down. The deep and impenetrable she felt from the nightmare kept coursing through her system as she tried to bring herself back to reality. Something about what she experienced felt real, as if the same Blue who was here with her now had said it to her. Every moment that passed with the waves of breath felt as if they stretched an eternity and the noise around her felt as though it were suffocating, choking the waves that came in.

Red sat in front of her at which Nuria squeaked. "Crystal, look at me."

She gazed into Red's eyes and tried to convey her resolve and her fear to him without alerting Blue as to what was going on in her mind.

"Blink twice if there was anything new in the nightmare," said Red.

Crystal did as he asked at which Red sucked in a breath. Nuria, aware of what Red was saying and how she was feeling, burrowed her head more into Crystal's chest. Crystal patted Nuria's head to reassure her that it was alright, which resulted in aggravated noises coming out of the Pokémon's mouth.

She turned to Blue. "Sorry for my reaction, it's just that my nightmares can feel almost too real."

Red spoke up. "We'll talk about it later then?"

"I hope it wasn't anything too bad," Blue said.

She shook her head. "No, it wasn't."

"Do these normally happen?" He responded.

Crystal nodded. "Yeah, they're pretty frequent. It's usually just a matter of trying to get myself in line again afterwards."

"We can start heading towards Ecruteak if you want," Blue suggested. "I just have to step away for a quick call with my gym trainers and we can be on our way."

"That would be nice, thank you," she responded.

As Blue walked away, Red cleared his throat, and Nuria sauntered over to sit in front of him. He looked as calm as the lapping waters behind her, and to her surprise, watching his inner peace made the throbbing of her inner pulse slow down. She assumed that in the little down time they had, he wanted her to talk about the new nightmare so they could figure out any clues that came from it.