#anyway yeah Ana and Keyo are extremely upset and Cheri is just sad bc he didn’t want to be right

[cryptids-lobelia-garden]

AIGHT so. Here’s this. It’s set like. Right after the battle atop Mount Coronet, so the trio are like 15, 16 ish. I’m not SUPER happy with this, but ey, it’s Something. I can play with it later when I get to this scene in their story. Anyway,

Warnings: Ana expresses grief through anger (she doesn’t hurt anyone ofc but she angy), Keyo is in the middle of a pretty bad autistic shutdown over this (hi! The author is actually autistic! Putting that there just in case.), I guess the main warning here is grief over a nasty friendship breakup (the friend tried to kill them). Emotional hurt/comfort

Day 8: Bloodshot

“I can’t believe he would do this!” Ana fumes, pacing back and forth. “I mean, seriously! Who does he think he is!? We trusted him!”

Keyo hums. They haven’t moved from their bed, hidden under their Pokémon. They haven’t really done much but stare at the ceiling, tears slipping down their face.

They’d trusted Volo the most out of the three of them, after all. They’d considered him an older brother, and the betrayal hit them hard.

“And I thought he trusted us too!” Ana steams, kicking at the floor. “It makes no sense! Why would he tell us about that thing he had with that girl and then up and betray us!?”

“Didn’t you say he got quiet after telling you guys that?” Cheri asks. “Maybe he was trying to distance himself by that point?”

Ana freezes. “Oh gods, you’re right,” she says. “..UGH! I HATE him!!!”

Keyo flinches at the sound, and Ana grimaces, whispering a quick “Sorry.”

“Hm.”

“..it just..” She sighs, sitting down, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. “It doesn’t make sense, it’s.. It’s not fair.”

Cheri frowns as he watches the two. I wish you guys would’ve listened to me. “..I’m sorry,” he murmurs, moving to pull them both close.

“He made sure we had a place to stay when Kamado kicked us out, and we talked about so much- was all of it just fake?” Ana asks.

Cheri frowns and doesn’t give an answer.

He doesn’t know.

Be strong, for them. They need you. Step up.

Cheri pulls them closer. “..at least he gave us a chance to stop him,” he murmurs.

Ana nods, hiding her face in his shoulder. “..I hate him,” she whispers, tears quickly staining Cheri’s sleeve.

Keyo doesn’t say anything, barely moves at all, letting Cheri hold them close. They close their bloodshot eyes, letting out a quiet, shaky sigh.

The three hold onto each other, grief and rage consuming two of them.

“..how did you know?” Ana asks.

Cheri shrugs. “Intuition, I guess? I got really good at figuring out if people are bad people when I evolved,” he murmurs.

Ana nods. “..Next time, we’re listening,” she mumbles.

The sentiment is bittersweet.