My Name is Marcus: Umbra

IV. Wait

Over the course of the next hour, a few more people began to trickle in. Leon, Hop and Sonia arrived not long after Marnie and Piers, and Leon and Hop's parents followed shortly thereafter. The parents all took to the kitchen to help finish the feast while everyone else took to the backyard. As it turned out, a rather sizable plot was hidden beyond the wall of stone and shrubs surrounding the front of the house. Near the house was a stone patio with a large log table, two long log benches, a grill, and a wood stove. A lush lawn of well-tended grass filled just about everything else within the fenced perimeter, with the only exception being a modest bonfire pit surrounded by a couple of stone stools. Towards the back fence stood a single tree, providing constant shade for anyone sitting beneath it. Early twilight began to beckon, causing the looming woods beyond the western fence to begin casting their shadows upon the yard. Piers and Marnie sat next to one another under the shade of the tree near the back fence. Hop and Sonia sat on the log bench facing the yard.

Leon stood alone in the grass, attempting to juggle a rock he'd found on his way back from the lab using his feet, and having very little success. "Auugghh", he groaned in frustration after failing for what seemed like the fortieth time, "how does he do it!?"

Sonia sighed. "Alright, Leon, I'll bite; what're you doing?"

Leon turned around, a puzzled look on his face as his brain attempted to switch gears from the laser-focused task at hand to having a normal conversation with another person. "Oh, uh, well, I'm trying to figure out how Marcus's Cinderace juggles rocks so effectively. Maybe then, I'll be able to figure out how he's able to land his Pyro Balls so accurately and be able to come up with a strategy to counter them."

Hop looked at his brother, utterly perplexed.

Sonia giggled. "So your plan is to learn how to defeat your new rival's ace Pokemon by pretending to be his ace Pokemon?"

"What?", Leon replied defensively, "it's Master Mustard's first lesson in Pokemon battling!", he exclaimed as he hunched over, scrunched his face to simulate wrinkles, and began stroking a long imaginary beard. "Lesson number one, my pupils;", he said with a grin in a strained elderly voice, "success comes with a complete understanding of your opponent. In order to defeat your enemy, you must THINK like the enemy, ACT like the enemy, BE THE ENEMY..." He coughed quietly, clearing his throat before returning to his normal posture and tone of voice. "...Or something like that", he shrugged with a smile.

Sonia's fit of hysterical laughter was interrupted by Hop chiming in excitedly. "Holy moly, big bro!", he exclaimed. "Why didn't I think of that!? You're a genius!"

Sonia only laughed harder as Hop joined in on Leon's excitement. Leon grinned wide and bright.

"Quick, help me find a good rock!", Hop shouted.

"You got it, little bro, let's do this!", Leon replied with enthusiasm as he joined Hop in scouring the property for a suitable pebble to play their game of glorified hacky-sack with.

Marnie sat with her legs crossed and her hands together, twiddling her thumbs anxiously as she looked down at the ground. She seemed unnerved about something as she subconsciously started scrutinizing every individual blade of grass on the lawn to distract her from the myriad of various thoughts in her head.

"Y'know, you ain't gotta sit here with me for my sake or anything", Piers said to Marnie. "Go hang out with your friends, I'm fine right here."

"It's cool," she replied softly, "I ain't feelin' that social right now."

Piers raised a brow. His concerned brother-senses were tingling. "You okay, Marn? You ain't really moved or said nothin' in the past twenty minutes."

"I'm fine, Piers", she replied sharply, but at a low enough volume so as not to make a scene.

Piers went silent for a second before replying. "Alright, whatever you say."

Marnie repositioned herself so that her legs bent upward, her arms wrapped around her knees and pulling them towards her chest. Her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. Where is he? What could he be doing that's so important that he'd be late to his own party? A barrage of emotions seemed to be fighting for dominance within her all at once. What were these feelings? Anger? Sadness? No, they felt like something more than that, something deeper than that.

How long do I have to wait to see you again?

She couldn't take it anymore. She had to get up and go somewhere, do something, anything, to get these thoughts and feelings off of her mind. With this decision made, she took to her feet.

"Where are you off to?", Piers inquired.

"I'm bored waitin' here", Marnie explained. "I'm gonna go into those woods and look for some Pokemon."

"Alright", he responded nonchalantly, "just be careful ya don't get lost."

"I can look after myself, Piers", she rebuffed defensively. She was starting to lose her patience. Any longer, and her composure would follow suit.

"I know, kiddo", Piers affirmed softly, "I just wouldn't feel like a good older brother if I didn't mention it."

Morpeko looked on at Marnie, a look of concern on her face.

Without another word, Marnie walked through the yard and into the house, making her way back out to the path to the woods. Morpeko quickly scurried along after her.

Piers had an idea of how Marnie must be feeling. She was getting to that age where she was having more emotions and they were getting more complicated. Couple that with the fact that she hadn't been that great at acknowledging them or communicating them since she was a toddler, and he figured she was probably struggling with something right now. As much he wanted to help her get to the root of it, he figured that trying to pry it out of her wouldn't end too well. He decided it was best to just give her her space for now and let her try to sort things out on her own.

"Where's she going?", Hop asked, a tad confused.

"Oh, don't worry about it", Piers replied, "she just felt like getting some sight-seeing in."