[NEW] Eeveelution Café

[B1] Special Chapter 1: Who?

"Disgusting. Get back into the Egg and let me smash you into pieces. You deserve this."
Snowbelle rolled over, kicking the blanket aside some more.
"Do you want me to drop you into a lake? Watch you struggle and drown? Or perhaps, do you want me to put you over an open fire and watch all of the water in your body dry up? Maybe even leave you in the Polluted and watch you wither from all of the concentration? Never mind, the surviving Infused will kill you before you get to explode!"
The Glaceon curled up into a ball with fear displayed in her posture. 
"Can you even understand me, you stupid wretch? I have no idea why the Lord would ever give me such a creature, but I will have to raise you until you die from falling off a tree, and I will finally have my normal life again. Raising you already seems like such a pain."
Snowbelle clutched onto a pillow, using all of her arm force to deal with the stress she got from listening to those words.
Those familiar words.
"I will have to raise you until you die from falling off a tree."
I will have to raise you until you die.

I will have to raise you.
I will have you.
"I will have you."

"Mom? Can I please go to school one day?" Belle asked, looking out of the window to hear the distant chatter of new students in an academy located decently close. 
"No, sweetie, we can't afford that." 
"But why?" the Eevee asked with despair in her eyes. "Mom, I promise I'll do good and pay you back everything once I get a job-"
"I'm sorry, sweetie, you can't go."
Belle pouted. "Can I at least go outside-"
"No. Stay inside and finish reading your books. I'm gonna go out." 
The Eevee blinked and thought of something. "Mom, can I go with you?"
"No."
"Can you use the money to get me one year of academy? Please?" Belle asked. "I promise I'll be top student in all of my classes, get as many awards as I can, learn as much as I-"
"Shut up, Belle. Like I said, we can't afford school, so you can't go." 
The Eevee swallowed and made up her mind to get into school somehow, no matter what happened next. "But Mom, you can go out every week and bring so much stuff back! How come you can't afford school but all of that stuff inst-"
"You ungrateful brat! I'm only buying all of that to let you live! Food, drinks, books..."
"What about all of the stuff that you end up throwing away at the end of the year?" Although Belle's body was numb with fear, she continued proving her point.
"GO TO YOUR ROOM! FROM NOW ON, YOU'RE ONLY GETTING A PLACE TO LIVE IN! MAKE YOUR OWN FOOD, I DON'T CARE IF YOU STARVE TO DEATH! THAT WOULD BE THE GREATEST FAVOR YOU CAN EVER DO FOR EVERYONE THAT EXISTS!" her mom screamed in response, Belle's ears stinging with pain.
Before the first tears dropped, she left and slammed the door behind her. Belle trembled and took all of her books and snacks to her room. She read and read until she had to turn on a light, then she continued reading until her eyes were threatening to close on her. The snack stash was still full with snacks, and Belle had no intention to eat. Her mom ignored her and even invited some friends over with cheer and "a reason to celebrate". 
Belle kept reading, for days, for weeks, for months straight, until her food source finally ran out. Her mom had read through her nocturnal activities to hoard more food when she was short, and already predicted her constant sneaky water breaks.
And so the Eevee starved, not knowing how to cook or even owning any food-related books. Her collection for reading was also completed over three times, and Belle coped with some random doodling. Finally, she left the room in broad daylight and downed six cups of water while her mother watched with disgust in her eyes. 
The opposite of relish and liking something.
Liking.
Belle went back into her room and suddenly found a book about a murder committed under a willow tree by the lake. A book that she missed twice. The Eevee picked it up and slid her bookmark in between the cover and the first page. 
The novel was about an attack, a struggle and a death. All of the evidence were on willow leaves and each one led the investigation team closer to a truth.
Suddenly, Belle found herself interested in willows and especially how the branches can grow into new trees regardless of the position in the soil.
Willows. Growth. 
Growth. Willows.
Willow.
Soon, a willow will be entering into Belle's life, and so will the growth of realization and the growth of finding someone to protect.

"Belle, you're getting a sister." Belle's mother knocked on her door for the first time in ages, but still burst in regardless of the Eevee answering or not.
"Huh?" Belle put down one of her favorite re-readable novels and had bright eyes. "A sister?"
"I adopted her, and she's already a better daughter than you'll ever be. Her name's Willow." she spat. 
"Willow? Like...the tree?" Belle was dumbfounded by the term 'Willow'. 
"What do you think?" she scowled. "C'mon, go out and meet her."
Belle jumped up from her chair and dashed right out the door, excited for something new in her life that was about to happen.
In front of the half-shut front door stood an Eevee, smaller than Belle in size, with less bright eyes and a look that suggested she was zoning out. Some neat and small baggage was piled up behind her. 
"Sweetheart!" Belle's mother called from behind before trotting over. "Belle, help her carry her things to her room. It's been a tiring journey for her and she needs to rest."
"Where's her...room?" Belle avoided eye contact. 
"Next to yours." 
The Eevee picked up as many baggage as she could before carefully carrying them to the vacant room next to her own. 'Willow' simply stood where she was and watched without even responding to her new mother in full sentences. 
After around 3 back-and-forth trips, Belle was done and their mother left her with Willow. 
"Hi." Belle said awkwardly. 
"Hi." Willow repeated with the same tense tone. 
"Uh...you wanna maybe go see your new room? Or do you want a house tour?" Belle attempted to get a proper conversation started. "Or both in a sequence?"
Willow didn't respond. 
"Hey...uh...let's go see your new room, and tell me if anything seems off! C'mon!" Belle trotted off to the room and prayed that Willow would follow her. 
Surprisingly, the new Eevee did in fact follow her, but was still oddly quiet. Belle knew that she had to keep this up, and so she did.
"Ta-da!" Belle did a dramatic gesture to get Willow inside the room. 
The room was clean despite having barely anything in it, and Willow's expression became more relaxed.
"Mom's gonna keep me, right?" she whispered quietly.
Belle nearly missed that question, but her mind processed it as fast as she could.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure she will...! She does dislike me a lot, so having you here would even everything out. But hey, it'd be great to have a little sister like you!" the Eevee gave a radiant smile to her new sister. 
Willow's eyes widened in some surprise, but then nodded and smiled back. "Belle, right?"
"Mhm!" Belle nodded. "You're Willow, like the tree?"
"Yup!"
Belle remembered a specific character from one of her novels. "Can I call you 'Wills' if you're comfortable with it?"
Willow tilted her head. "'Wills'? No one's every called me that...but sure!" 
"Want me to help with unpacking? I'd love to get to know you more!" Belle cheered with bright eyes, the slimmer of hope expanding by every moment. 
"That'd be great!" Willow nodded before sitting down by the baggage and opening each one carefully. "Say, Wills and Belle does seem like a nice name match for siblings!" 
"Wills and Belle?" Belle processed the two names while helping Willow unload her things. "Belle and Wills...Wills and Belle..."
"Ehh," Willow started sorting and piling her things in a certain order. "Willow and Belle. Say, I like how your name's so simple. My name's only Willow because one of my former families were all Leafeons, or Eevees that were going to be Leafeons. They said I was destined to be a Leafeon, but I don't want to be one. Even if I'm destined to be one, I still want to try and be something different. I just can't imagine myself as anything other than a Leafeon...so over some time, I just accepted it." 
Belle listened quietly, before asking a small question for her new sister. "Well, what if you become something different?"
"I really don't think that'll happen." A bit of frustration surfaced in Willow's voice. 
"What if." Belle smiled softly. "What would you do then?"
Willow thought about Belle's question for a few moments, and the silence was appreciated by both. 
"I would celebrate and throw a party with you." Willow admitted after thinking it through.
"How do you know I'd stay with you forever?" Belle had a surprised look on her face. 
The Eevee answered with another question of her own. "You won't betray me like everyone else, would you?"
"No, I won't betray you. I...promise to help you as much as I can. Even if times aren't...well. Like a situation that might throw everything we have away in an instant." Belle bowed her head. 
"Thanks, Belle. Nobody has ever made a promise like yours." Willow thanked, her smile radiating a peace that can't be explained fully.
"Mhm, Wills." Belle smiled back, her voice low.
"I'll repay with the same effort." the Eevee promised as well. "We'll protect each other. Even when things fall apart."
"Even when things fall apart." Belle echoed quietly.