[NEW] Eeveelution Café

[B1] Chapter 13: The Start and The End Are All The Same

"He actually did it!" Willow congratulated Lavender after the Espeon told her about it.
It was the next morning, and the news had already spread to everyone.
"WHOA, VOLT!" Dewdrop whacked Volt's shoulder.
"Geez, Dew, I actually pulled someone faster than you, and you still said you'd get married before me when we were younger." the Jolteon grinned.
"You didn't marry Lavender, genius." the Vaporeon pouted at her lost bet from many years ago.
"Hmm, who knows?" Volt shrugged. "Maybe we'll marry before you even get a boyfriend!"
"Pfft, we'll see about that!" Dewdrop was determined to not lose the bet. "What if I lied to you and...I have been dating Bonfire all this time!"
"Bon!?" the Jolteon turned in an instant to look at the Flareon with shock.
Bonfire shrugged and made eye contact with Dewdrop.
"You're dating my sister?!" Volt cried out. 
"Eh, I mean, you just started dating Moon's lil sister, this can just be a chain if I had a sister." the Flareon put an arm around Dewdrop and forced a smile. 
The Vaporeon squeaked in automatic response. "Uhm...could you not?"
"Aha! So you're just trolling me!" 
"Eh, I mean, I wouldn't mind marrying him just to win the bet before you, y'know." Dewdrop admitted. "Then divorcing him later."
"Wow, thank you for the kindness!" Bonfire side-eyed Dewdrop. "You get my hopes up and then you submerge it completely."
"So you're saying you like Dew?" the Jolteon had wide eyes. "I thought you said you-"
"Eh, I could like Dew to help her win a bet." 
"THEN THAT'S NOT ACTUALLY LIKING HER!"
"Depends, if I try hard enough, it'll work."
"NUH-UH!" 

"Well, I wonder if they'll follow the layout we want," Lavender ranted to Willow and Snowbelle about the café endlessly. "I know it's the same Timburr crew and they did WONDERS on the interior redesign, but I just still have this part in me that worries for some reason!"
"Oh." Snowbelle and Willow blinked, still trying to process what the Espeon was saying. "Well, congrats with Volt?"
"We're not even talking abou..." Lavender's face slowly became red just by the mention of her new boyfriend. "Uh...thanks."
"Y'all are so cute together," Willow complimented with a smile. "I really can't believe he asked you out!"
"It was one of the daydream locations, and I didn't even realize it until I woke up this morning!" 
"Geez, he even carried you back and tucked you in when you fell asleep?" Snowbelle was surprised. 
"Mhm!" Lavender felt waves of pure joy go through her body all at once, but instead of stiffening, it made her feel much better than before.
"Wellll, I knew it was a great idea to give him to you!" Willow sighed in relief. "He seems happy, you're definitely delusional in a good way and absolutely elated, so when are you two gonna kiss?"
Lavender's eyes widened. "Wha...what...?"
"Kissing's alright, the romance novels I read barely cover that." Snowbelle provided unhelpful advice. 
"Yeah, duh, because you're always reading doomed love tropes! At least get a slow burn if you're gonna be sad about it!" Willow snapped. 
"I don't even read that much romance, it's too cringy." the Glaceon shrugged.
"Uh-huh, okay." her sister rolled her eyes. "Well, borrow Lavender some romance books and let her be delusional."
"It's best if I didn't." Snowbelle refused simply. 
"Okay." Lavender shrugged, not really caring about the issue on books. "So, as I was saying earlier, the crew said they'll be done in two days, including today!"
"So we can visit the day after tomorrow?" Willow had bright eyes of excitement. 
"Mhm!" the Espeon nodded eagerly. 
"That's great. I'm gonna go grab some water." Snowbelle got up and left to the kitchen quietly. 
"Hm, is she alright?" Willow turned to Lavender.
"How should I know, she's literally your sister!" Lavender narrowed her eyes and shrugged. "But yeah, she seems normal? Why?"
Willow shook her head. "No reason, just felt something was off. Must be a mistake."
"You alright?" Lavender asked, gaining a bit of worry. 
The Leafeon's eyes were fixed onto the door where her sister had left from. "Mhm."

"Snow, you alright?" Melody noticed the gloomy Glaceon.
"Yeah." Snowbelle grabbed her cup of water and sipped from it. 
"No, you're not." the Sylveon carefully extended a ribbon and loosely tied it around Snowbelle's paw to measure her happiness.
"Hey-!" Snowbelle pulled back her paw but to no avail. 
Melody took back her ribbon and instead used it to open a cupboard without going over. She took a cinnamon roll that she made the other day for herself and took a bite from it. "Talk to me."
"I'm fine, Melody." the Glaceon groaned and put down the cup. "Don't bother."
"I literally just felt anger on you. Anger that you're denying. It's interesting, don't you think?" Melody's voice went cold. "Denying anger isn't good for your long-term."
"Melody, I'm not just going to tell you how I'm feeling. Besides, if you can just feel it by intruding on personal space, then do it. I don't care." Snowbelle snapped in response. 
"So you're not denying your anger then, that's good." Melody's voice was dull, suddenly losing the unique "sing-song" tune she'd always had. 
"Wh..." Snowbelle's body froze with fear, realizing that something was definitely and severely wrong with the Sylveon standing in front of her. 
"I have a question for you, since you're the smartest out of all of us." Melody's sky-blue darkened like the sun being covered by storm clouds. 
The Glaceon couldn't speak.
"What do you do once you realize that you can't exist?"
Snowbelle blinked in confusion. 
"What do you do once you realize that you can't exist?" Melody repeated. "What do you do once you realize that you can't exist?"
"You...are existing. You can't not exist if you're asking...me this." the Glaceon forced a sequence of words, but even the syllables were becoming unfamiliar to the mouth.
"What do you do once you realize that you can't exist?"
"Stop...asking...me that." Snowbelle spat before the world began to spin right in front of her eyes. 
"What do you do once you realize?"
"What do you do?"
"What do you do?"
"What do you?"
"What are you?"
"What are you if you don't exist?"
"Do you exist?"
"Do I exist?"
"Does anything exist?"

Snowbelle screamed from the random thoughts coming from nowhere and attacking her before realizing it was the only thing she can do. She screamed until her throat went dry and raspy as tears streamed down her eyes. Suddenly, something warm hugged her. 
Melody?
The Sylveon was normal again, with her usual sincere and joyous aura, but Snowbelle kept screaming and tried pushing her to get away. 
"WILLOW!" Melody yelled while trying to get a hold of the shrieking Glaceon. "HELP!"
In a few moments, the Leafeon was out and helping Melody steady Snowbelle.
"NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!" she cried and kicked and tried to thrash her way out, but nothing seemed to work for her anymore. 
Snowbelle went numb and stopped moving entirely.
"BELLE!" Willow wailed. "WHAT EVEN HAPPENED!?"
"I don't know! She came to get water and I sensed something was wrong so I tied my ribbon around her wrist and I felt anger so I asked her about it but then she got mad and told me to leave her alone, so I did and suddenly she stopped leaving and slowly started to collapse while screaming out of nowhere then I tried to help her but then she attacked me!" Melody blabbered without any pauses. 
"This is weird," Willow commented, finally starting to calm down a bit. "She seemed fine a while ago. Bland in personality, if she kept the same behavior and tried to make a friend out in Town Square or something."
"Bland?" Melody extended two ribbons and got Snowbelle to lean against the sofa and rest. "She's fine, but something's wrong."
"Do we ask her? When she wakes up?" Willow asked, still worried. 
"I mean, we could get her a therapist." Melody shrugged, also not sure about what to do next. 
"Okay."

"Y'know, this place is so neat!" Lavender looked around the well-furnished café and beamed.
"The Timburr never disappoint." Volt stood next to his girlfriend and smiled.
"Well, we also have the menus," Bonfire lifted the bag of fabric menus up. "When are we opening?"
"Next week, probably. We can come in daily to make some final physical preparations." Snowbelle suggested. 
"Can I post this on my socialsss?" Dewdrop asked. 
"3 days before opening," Lavender answered with a small smile. "Can't leak too too early!"
"Aw, okay." the Vaporeon sighed before her eyes brightened as she started decorating her station with the water-proof plushies that Melody gave her last time.
The café already had a sincere and enthusiastic feeling to it after some time, to the point that some may argue that it can open right then and there and get some sales in before the day ended. Dewdrop still begged Lavender to post some small spoilers and hints of the new place opening, while the rest arranged and hung out. Snowbelle, however, wondered why she constantly had feelings of mixed anger and sadness, especially when seeing Lavender laughing with Volt.
Maybe I always needed a boyfriend somewhere? To comfort me during occasions where Willow wouldn't even understand?
Why do I even care in the first place? I'm not getting a boyfriend. Not ever. Willow's probably going to get married and I'd be at the wedding, single and alone. I'd be happy for her and myself. Happy that she has someone to rely on. Happy that I can always rely on myself no matter what happens to anyone else.
I don't want a boyfriend. I don't need a boyfriend. I've already prepared from the beginning. I'll date myself (kyari here this is not s3lf-cest i repeat this is not s3lf-cest) if everyone else is dating someone. 
But then why do I always have this sinking feeling in my stomach? 
"Hey! Belle!" Lavender yelled out to Snowbelle with a wave. "What do you think about this?"
The Glaceon looked up in panic and saw Lavender dangling some sort of cursed cheesestick creation that she made just moments ago. Snowbelle's tense expression softened and she burst out laughing along with Lavender.
"Huh?" Volt noticed the two laughing and dropped his conversation with his friends to come over. "What's funny?"
"Hey, Lav, I know I sound whiny but I kinda wanna go back for a b-" Willow came over to talk to Lavender, her words mingling with Volt's awkwardly. 
"You go first." the Jolteon blinked. 
"No, it's...fine." Willow shook her head. 
Volt glanced at Lavender before forcing an awkward smile and leaving. Willow rolled her eyes and continued talking to the Espeon, but Snowbelle felt that something was wrong with the Leafeon. 
"Y'know, we should totally set a specific date for release!" Dewdrop came over to Lavender before she was going to announce a departure. 
"Oh...yeah!" Lavender sighed. "Eventually."
Snowbelle stared at the fidgeting Leafeon and debated whether to ask her about stuff or not. Either way, this would be a new thing for everyone here. Running a café would cost time and boredom for a stable income. A stable income promises debt-paying. Debt-paid and cleared would bring some lightness. Lightness brings joy. Joy brings...
Joy brings...?