Broken Souls

Battle Wounds Worn Thin

"So."

Cricketunes strum up a serenade in the backwoods of Johto and Morty, Miki, and I are standing in front of Morty's house. It's not terribly large, despite belonging to arguably the most important person in the city, but there's a warm, rustic feel about it- just the way I remember.

"Bigger on the inside," I say as he opens the door.

"What?" Morty asks, turning around.

"Oh, nothing." I lie, the vivid memory of the last time I was here replaying in my mind. I try to recall the way Bronze's fire lit up the ground floor of the house, which is not only spacious (especially for the size as it appears from the outside- the two don't match up at all) but the whole thing is basically brimming with all sorts of machinery mixed with clearly uncared for furniture. Even though the whole place is nothing short of unconventional, I feel safe when I'm here.

There's a real fire now, humming and crackling away in a fire place in the living room, which is decked out with a sofa, several chairs, and a plasma TV.

Morty probably does have the money for a larger house, I reflect, he's just spending it on machinery and televisions. I can't believe I didn't notice how much junk there was in here when I was younger.

Feeling slightly guilty for being so spiteful when I'm in their house, I sit down and think of something more positive. "Tea?" Miki asks. "We already have some brewing."

"What kind of tea?" I ask.

"Chai. Morty likes green, which just proves how horrible his taste is, but I've personally always been more of a chai fan."

"There is nothing wrong with green tea." protests Morty. "Come on, back me up."

"If I told you I liked iced tea more than either of them, would I be kicked out of the house?" I ask.

"Boo," Morty says.

I laugh. "Yeah, yeah, I do go for the herbal stuff. I don't usually drink tea though. We don't even have stores that carry it in New Bark. We just have this one really low quality supermarket that sells sausages that taste like Tauros dung."

Miki comes back with two cups of tea, handing one to me and the other to Morty before going back and getting her own. They're served in cute traditional teacups that are probably worth a fortune. I take a sip to find my tongue is burning, and decide to put it down on the table until later notice. Miki doesn't say a word about this, but I do watch as she chugs her entire cup.

Fire types.

"So," Morty asks, "You... you're a Goldeneye."

I nod. "Celebi."
"Powers include phantom wings, correct? Anything else? Can you really time travel?" Miki's slightly more aggressive tone throws me off, but I take another sip of the scalding tea before continuing.

"I can't time travel on my own, but I get glimpses of the past and future. It's how I managed to keep up with you."

"That's still insanely powerful. Can you flash?" Morty says, awe in his voice.
"Since I started!" I tell him. "I can see the bonds and all."

"Mega evolution?"

"Mega what?" I ask.
"Never mind. So... any other... abilities?" he pauses.

The room is quiet except for the fire. I know exactly what I need to say but I don't want to say it. I can't say it.

"I..." I stop, try to pick up my tea, and almost drop it. I place the cup back down and the steamy liquid flies up, some of it splattering all over the carpet. "You want to know," I choke a sob down, "You want to know why I knew all that about you."