Alone

Nightmare

"Master Nightmare, wake up please" said a voice from the void inside my head. I obeyed, knowing exactly who it was, by the way he talked. "Yeah yeah..." I yawned "Give me a minute Ash." Ash the Absol is my personal servant, although I try not to treat him that way. He's my only friend in this stupid kingdom, aside from Crimson. Ever since my mother died he's kept me away from the 'war', one I've never heard about from anyone but him, and almost completely isolated me from everything. I've never even seen sunlight in the stupid kingdom of darkness. My Grandfather put up a shield of darkness. It does nothing but keep the light away from us, so we can't see the sunlight unless we leave the kingdom entirely, you know, to keep away the evil 'kingdom of light'

"Hurry up" Ash said, grinning "You wouldn't want to miss the special day"

Here's a little bit of background. Today I turn thirteen, which, as every Eevee knows, we evolve. To evolve we have an alter in the center of the four kingdoms, light, dark, fire and ice. In the alter is eight magical stones, each with a picture above them. The stone you touch is what you become, but we can only do it once. On another note, My father, the king never notices me, all he does is ignore me and discipline me. Life couldn't be more depressing.

I stand up and walk towards my mirror, seeing a relatively plain Eevee looking back at me. I was not much to look at, a plain yellow-ish fur coat, brown eyes and a white tip of my tail and scruff. I had a neat pelt, kept clean an trimmed by yours truly, and a nice scar, exposed and alone. My fur hid all my scars except one, which rested over my left eye, all of which were caused by my father, his fuse being shorter than I am tall.

I get up and walk towards Ash, grinning to his attitude and saying "let's go, I can't wait for this"

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We walked up to my father, the king, surprised? Well I do have a servant, how many peasants own a servant? Anyway, my father sat prominently on his throne, busy yelling at his advisors who disagreed with him. We approached and waited for him to finish, occasionally laughing at the stupidly long insults and curses. After waiting for about five minutes before he 'apologized' finally agreeing with his advisors, and promptly sent them off with a grimace.

He eventually turned to us, with the meanest of scowls, and grumbled "what is it son?" See what I have to deal with daily?I swear he hasn't smiled since my mother died, turning him into a hateful creature, he can't even speak to me without groaning. "Your majesty, Nightmare wishes to tell you something" Ash said, nudging me forward and smiling.

"I don't have time for it Nightmare, I'm really busy right now. Go do something with Crimson, she'll enjoy your company" Classic dad. Crimson, my only other friend. She's also the mate my father has chosen me (this will sound less weird if you consider we only live for about 50 years). She's nice, and she turns thirteen today as well, kinda coincidental but hey, who cares. I like her, she's kind, forgiving and is my only friend other than Ash. The loneliness hurts less the more you think about it, simple. I think dad selection me with her was the best decision he's made in quite a while, second only to letting me live to 13.

"Nightmare and Crimson turn thirteen and require to travel to the Stone Alter to evolve, its kind of a big deal to him and her" Ash announced, a serious look on his face. "Sure..." He sighs, looking up. I swear I even saw his mouth upturn ever so slightly. "as long as someone goes with them" my father says, avoiding eye contact. He doesn't often feel happy, or surprised to hear it's my most important birthday in my life. He seems to actually be feeling a slight bit of joy, but that quickly dissipates. Today is going to be great...