PMD: Stargazer Chronicles

Pharaoh- Reboot

Over the next few weeks, Agatha started to get used to her prosthetic feet. They were made of metal, but were covered in a cream-colored rubber to make them look like a normal Audino's feet. Agatha could tell they weren't, but they worked well enough.

Physical therapy hurt, and her push to make it end faster didn't help. By far, the most painful was for muscles on her hands.

Still in the hospital room, she would have to try and extend her hand with rubber bands holding it back. She tried not to show how much it hurt, but it slipped through her teeth.

The way Bayleef Jim looked at her pissed her off every time. He kept demeaning her with glances down out of pity. That look became a pet peeve.

The scars didn't help. They were scattered across her body, just barely sparing her head and face. Anytime anyone looked at her, it was like they were looking at the explosion, and Agatha felt like she was still in it.

________________________________________________________________________________

It was Audino Agatha's break day from physical therapy, but Bayleef Jim still came in through the door. She laid on her bed, half-covered in white blankets and halfway to taking a nap when he came in. His face seemed different today.

"Agatha," Jim said. "I just wanted to talk to you about a few things in the future."

"Okay..." Agatha said.

Jim walked forward and sat on his haunches at his bedside. Agatha didn't have the energy to sit up and kept facing the ceiling.

"Alright, money first... Your family's assets are all yours, sealed away until you turn eighteen," he explained. "We'll be giving you all of that information later. I'm sure you'll understand the reasons for this. And as for living arrangements, we have picked out a good home for you."

Agatha guessed what Jim thought about it: her family was rich. People would want to take advantage of that. She would ask what makes this home different if it weren't so obvious.

"Claire's a remarkable lady," Jim said. "She's adopted many hurt, young people like yourself over a period of years. She has a life of service, and you are exactly the person in need of her help next."

"I'm not... a lost... puppy," Agatha muttered.

"She's an old friend of mine. Do you trust me?"

Agatha rolled her eyes and sighed. Whether or not she would want to stay depended on if this Claire would talk to her like a five-year-old or not.

________________________________________________________________________________

The house took residence in a small wood. Agatha imagined it would be darker when Jim described it, but the sun poured through the canopy of leaves and down on the short, damp grass below.

They arrived around midday. Oak, elm, and pine trees crowded around each other. Butterflies, birds and bugs floated about everywhere.

The house was round, not like any house Agatha had seen before. A single, circular window poked out from high on the surface of the wooden dome. Flower beds surrounded the entrance: a basic, wood door.

Agatha stayed back while Bayleef Jim walked up to the door. He raised his paw and tapped four times in rapid succession.

The answer from inside came from a Mightyena. She seemed timid at first, peering from behind the door with her claw being the only part of her body in front of it. After she got a look, she opened the door.

"Hi, Claire," Jim said.

"Hi... Oh, is she here?" Mightyena Claire asked.

"Yes."

Claire peered past Jim. Her red eyes seemed to open a second time.

Claire analyzed her on some kind of different level. Agatha got the vibe that she was smart, but not like anyone she had met before. She held and moved her sleek muscles in perfectly balanced strides walking towards her. Agatha had to look up a little to make eye contact.

"Hi, Agatha," Claire said. "My name is... Claire."

Agatha noticed the pause in her sentence, like a thought interrupted her in the middle of talking.

"You seem hungry," Claire continued. "Would you like to come in?"

"Uh... Sure," Agatha said quietly.

A brisk breeze waved goodbye as Agatha followed towards the door. Claire went inside first.

Agatha tripped. The underside of the door was higher than she lifted her prosthetic feet for.

Claire darted under her. Agatha got back on balance when Claire re-extended her legs.

Agatha already had a sour look on her face ready to go, but it vanished. Claire kept walking inside the room towards a soft carpet with a couch facing a TV on the wall. She didn't say anything.

________________________________________________________________________________

The device her parents made was set up a little further from the house. It occupied a clearing shaded by trees arching in a competition for sunlight. Thick, green leaves and small pinecones that fell off of them decorated the grass. She had to sidestep the pinecones to keep from tripping and falling on her face.

The lack of feeling in her feet played tricks on Agatha all the time. Even though her balance stayed the same, she couldn't feel what she stepped on to know how to shift the rest of her body weight. All she had as backup were skills at catching herself.

Over the past week of staying at home, Agatha couldn't find anything wrong or weird about the device. In the end, she lay with her back on the grass and thought about nothing. It was all over her head. She knew a lot of engineering from her parents, but they didn't exactly work with normal materials. Not understanding the materials, she only understood half of the picture; not nearly enough.

Audino Agatha rotated her feet. She batted them against the ground, staring off into space.

A feeling snapped her eyes wide open. She rose to her feet and looked around. The forest itself didn't reply, but the sense someone was watching her grew.

Claire was at work. The forest itself didn't have any sort of locked door, so it could just be some random stranger. That didn't feel right either.

Agatha looked towards the device again. The four steel pillars seemed shorter to her than they were before. The steel platform was glowing.

Agatha shivered. She took short, tiny steps closer.

A gold ring of light appeared on the surface of the steel plate resting on the ground. Various dark colors were swirling around inside like a whirlpool. Agatha gazed in for too long and fell.