Chapter 66 - Through the Mist I

Delia rolled her sleeping bag back up and placed it on top of her backpack with care.

Ever since they left Two Island, she’d moved from the service room she’d been sharing with Celeste to a cramped corner in the boat’s living room. It was dusty, windowless, and had no privacy with everyone walking by in the morning. Still, it was her space where she and Shelly could keep their distance from Celeste.

It had been days since their argument, and part of her felt bad. Some things Celeste said hit too close to home. Others… not so much. Her frien—Celeste crossed a line, and Delia wasn’t one to forgive and much less to forget. Those hurtful words still echoed in her mind.

“You keep on torturing Luan.”

“Can’t disappoint Olga… Can’t let the Professor down either.”

“Perfect Delia has to stay perfect.”

“You lost your own mother, so now you’re trying to fill the void by clinging to everyone else’s?”

Delia snapped the straps to keep the sleeping bag in place shut. Then she heaved a sigh. And then, deciding it was all still a mess, began reorganising the backpack again.

Celeste didn’t get it.

Her thoughts circled back to that same place, relentless.

Celeste gets away with everything.

For a crime? She gets community work on a pretty island. For jumping off a boat in the middle of a storm? She gets an adventure. When she rudely talks back to people? She gets a pat on the back and a few laughs.

Isn’t she so free-spirited?

Delia’s hands fumbled through her belongings. She shoved clothes out of the backpack, then carefully folded a shirt and placed it on the bottom. More clothes followed. Over the clothes, she packed the cooking equipment she got from Olga. Thermic bottle. Tablecloth. Where to pack the potions and antidotes? Is Celeste carrying potions? Lori probably is. Fishing rod to one side strap, bottle of water to the other. Toiletries in the front pocket. Snacks. Why was she carrying Rage Candy? Raincoat on top. It wasn’t exactly rain season, but better to be prepared. Celeste wouldn’t prepare. Celeste gets away with things. She doesn’t understand loss. Grief. Consequences.

She doesn’t get out of your head, either.

Was the bag okay now?

Delia scrutinised it. Would rolled clothes be more efficient? Was the weight distribution right? Should she repack?

Her hands stopped on the straps. She looped them around the sleeping bag and tightened them carefully. If she rolled the clothes, they’d get wrinkly. Better leave them folded. She fiddled with the pockets. When Celeste came to mind again, she shifted her thoughts to the Professor. Last time she called, she’d seen the instant noodles on his desk, the dust on the piles of books. He needed her back much more than anyone else. Or… anyone but Olga. Could Delia really leave her boss to hire a stranger for the first shop in Kanto proper? Viridian’s success was crucial for the Ice Boutique. And Celeste…

Celeste didn’t matter.

Delia would find a way to make it right by the people who’d been kind to her. And only those people.

She wouldn’t let them down.

She couldn’t.

“M-Morning.”

And speaking of not letting people down…

“Hey, Lu.” Delia turned to Luan. His cheeks were red, and he was staring at his feet, like always. How long had he been at the door waiting to talk to her this time? “Nice day outside?”

The boat’s quarters were below sea level and mostly windowless, but in anticipation of their arrival in Cinnabar, Mia had excitedly woken them in the very early hours to see what she called “the most breathtaking view ever.”

In their captain’s words, “Picture it: the volcano glowing red against the pre-dawn blue. Mansions on the beach, lit dimly against the ocean. The world brightening as the sun rises.”

No doubt it was pretty, just like Mia described. But it wasn’t long ago that Delia had spent a week in Cinnabar. She’d seen it plenty of times—the big secret was that the volcano also glowed red against the dusk blue. She’d seen it before and she’d see it again. The difference was that, after today, Celeste wouldn’t be around, trying to mend their friendship with every breath she took.

Even thinking about her was grating.

While Delia was lost in thought, Luan tried to strike a cool pose against the door frame. Clumsy and bent awkwardly, he shifted around. “Not really…” he said. “I-I mean, the weather. It’s not really nice…”

At least he was stuttering less.

“That’s a shame.” Delia flashed him a smile. He almost squealed. Sometimes he could be sweet… like a little child.

A brother of sorts.

Delia’s jaw tensed. Thinking about Celeste was almost better than thinking about him.

She and Luan would part ways when she left for Cinnabar, and it would all be fine. Distance. That’s what he needed. Distance to crush on somebody else and focus on his own goals, such as getting sponsored and earning badges. That was better than to have his budding confidence and heart shattered by Delia. Was that really so wrong? Was this torture, as Celeste would put it, from high on her pedestal?

With a deep breath, Delia patted her backpack and double-checked some pockets. Not even she could find more to organise. That was true for the backpack as much as her Cinnabar itinerary. When there was no coming up with some “grand idea” that would be “incredibly fun,” she didn’t need to constantly re-plan or come up with alternatives.

Except…

Her hand rested on the sleeping bag.

What was she supposed to do now that everything was in order and nothing and no one was bringing chaos into her life?

She turned back to Luan, still at the door, and still staring. She blinked cutely at him, pretending not to notice his reddening face. “What’s up with this bad weather?” she asked, slinging her backpack over her shoulders and rising to her feet. When Luan fumbled with his overly long legs and arms, she averted her eyes.

In less than an hour, this would all be over. No more dealing with Luan’s fumbling once she got to Cinnabar. And in less than a week? Back to Pallet, where she wouldn’t deal with Celeste either.

Then there’d really be no chaos left.

Not even in small, healthy doses.

Back home, where the people around would be suffocating in a more predictable way.

…

Yes…

…Much better.

She peered at Luan through her lashes and nodded at whatever he was saying. Still about the weather, no doubt. She didn’t get distracted often, but with Luan? At some point, the idea of appearing aloof so she could pretend not to notice his… approaches took hold of her. Over time, she wasn’t acting anymore. He’d listen to her, no matter what she said, which was nice, but he’d stutter and stumble on his words so much that she didn’t always find it necessary to reciprocate…

How come he was into her, again?

She sighed, and he noticed. Because he always noticed. So she simply shook her head and gestured for him to continue.

“You want to see how it is outside?” Luan asked, almost as if he was asking her on a date.

Delia gently brushed her hand over his arm. “Sure, Lu,” she said with a small smile.

He almost fell over at her touch.

It was so easy to make him happy.

How could she not?

—*——*—

Menace, Luan’s Hoothoot, pecked his head the moment he emerged from below decks. The Flying-Type had become better behaved lately, but Delia noticed with curiosity that the pecking never stopped. In fact, it seemed worse, especially when she was around.

Even his Pokémon were trying to set them up…

“Oh, my!” Delia exclaimed before Luan could say anything. “Can we even get to Cinnabar in this weather?”

She stepped forward, her attention fully on the situation ahead. A fog, so thick not even sunlight could pierce through, shrouded everything. This was more than clouds obscuring the volcano. This was…

“Pretty bad, right?” Luan picked up his Hoothoot. “Lulu and Rev and some of Lori’s and Mia’s Pokémon are going around to see if it’s thinning somewhere, but I don’t know…”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

No, no, no!

Delia’s heart sunk. She was supposed to leave this chaos of a crew in one hour. She could endure a bit more, but how long? An entire day of Celeste berating her? Skipping her last chance at a holiday and heading straight to Pallet?

She just—

Her eyes locked on Luan’s unblinking gaze, his mouth thin and pressed shut, as if words were struggling to escape. By the Legends, he’d love it if she stayed longer. Every day since he beat Celeste, his confidence had grown. Maybe in a few more days, he’d be brave enough to…?

She needed to leave.

Now.

“Delia… you okay?” he asked in a low, somewhat husky voice. His Hoothoot chirped, wriggling away from his arms and flying off. Delia could almost swear the bird winked before flying away. Luan’s recently free hands reached out to her. He barely trembled this time. Was it bad that she hated he was gaining confidence?

“Why’s that, Delia? Harder to torture him this way?” she could picture Celeste saying.

She ran her fingers through her braid, letting the satisfaction of not feeling one hair out-of-place calm her. Celeste’s words would not affect her, she told herself.

More centred, she took another step forward, feeling Luan’s fingers slip away. She was just out of reach now, as it was supposed to be.

“Where’s everyone?” Delia asked.

“Hmm… th-they’re all in the cockpit figuring out what to do… Cee… she’s there too…” he said, deflating. He’d built all his confidence up, and Delia swept it away with one step.

Torture, that’s what you’re doing. The all-too-familiar voice in her head didn’t stop.

Delia straightened up and looked at the small staircase leading up. Despite everything else, she actually felt sorry for him, caught between her and Celeste and not taking sides.

Not that it would take much to sway him. Actually, maybe she could—

She caught herself. She wasn’t that kind of person. And she wasn’t torturing him. No. She was leaving in a couple of hours, sparing him the pain. If anything, she was being a good friend… just like she’d been to Celeste when she spoke to her mother.

One more glance at the foreboding mist made Delia even more uneasy. It wasn’t just that this fog kept them from their destination. The way the world simply ended, mere steps ahead, seemed wrong somehow. Like someone took an eraser and cleared water, horizon, and sky into a grey smudge of nothingness.

It… was just fog… however.

Nothing unusual about it.

“Let’s go,” Delia said, turning to the stairs with resolve. She couldn’t run from Celeste every minute of every day, and Lori and Mia would have already figured a way out.

Before Luan could say a word, she was already moving towards the cockpit. Despite being on the boat for days, Delia had never really been there. Mia often kept the door locked. One of the few places on the boat that she said was off-limits.

So, it felt almost strange when she reached the top of the staircase and saw the door slightly ajar. She could hear Mia’s grumbling and Lori’s muffled voice from inside. She also caught a glimpse of an Eevee running about. That’s when her hand hesitated at the doorknob.

Luan, ever in her shadow, stared at her and then at the door. Maybe he saw Aria too. Was there really a surprise in it? Where there was Aria, there was Celeste. She already knew they’d be inside.

“Can…. you go first?” Delia whispered.

Luan seemed unsure at first. The corridor was tight. Delia stepped back, pressing against the wall, trying to give him space, and he trembled as he squeezed past her. When they were closest, he stopped.

All Delia could feel was his breath on her face, shaky and warm.

She knew she should move. She really should.

Why wasn’t he moving?

Before she could muster the resolve to step away, he reached for her hand, and she almost recoiled.

Torture. It’s like you engineer all these situations. Why? Does it feel good to have him on your hook?

He lifted her hand closer to his chest. “D-D-Delia… I… I… wanted…” Luan spoke, his voice so low she could barely hear him.

Not that she needed to.

As soon as he began, she shot her eyes up to him and knew what he was about to say. She could feel his breath heavy, see his pupils dilated. She could feel the dampness of his palms against hers and could tell this was taking everything from him.

Winning a battle was probably easier than this.

Thank goodness.

Before he managed another word, she kicked the door open, and he let go of her almost immediately.

Somehow, she expected everyone to look at them. Celeste might crack a joke. The others might push them closer.

No one spared them a glance.

—*——*—

Lori leaned against an open window that should’ve given them a panorama of the deck and the ocean ahead—if there had been any visibility. Her eyes settled coldly on Mia, who stood in front of a large panel filled with equipment Delia couldn’t begin to understand.

Lights blinked everywhere. The needles on various meters moved—some erratically, others barely. “Anchor down,” one display flashed, while a radar pulsed with beeping sounds. The surface was sleek and metallic, well-polished, but Delia’s eyes fell first on the patches of rust gathered on the side. Then, more worryingly, she saw Mia’s Joltik scuttling along buttons and loose wires, jutting out from an open panel. Once it disappeared inside the equipment, sparks flew out.

“Hellooo! Anyone copy?” Mia’s words snapped Delia back to the humans. She held a radio between her fingers. No answer came, only the crackles of static. She fiddled with a dial, the crackling turning to a high-pitched hiss before vanishing into more silence. “Cinnabar, do you copy?” she tried again.

Still no answer.

The silence that followed amplified every other noise. More radio static. Luan’s slowly steadying breaths. Lori’s heels clicking together. The buzzing of Joltik’s electricity and the tapping of its tiny paws on the metallic surface. The creaking of a spring—

Delia’s eyes followed that last sound.

In the corner, sitting on an office chair and bent over its back—because really, she couldn’t even sit properly—was Celeste. She spun from one side to the other, casually moving her feet so her Eevee could chase her untied shoelaces like a toy.

When Delia looked, Celeste looked back.

Her face scrunched up in a weak attempt at a smile, and her mouth was already moving, because Arceus forbid Celeste to actually shut up for once. Luckily, that was when Lori’s Glalie mercifully showed up at the window, making her stop before words could escape. The Ice-Type hovered by his trainer and shook his body in what no doubt meant a negative.

Mia sighed. “The others are still out…” she muttered. Lori only deflated, their hopes dwindling. Mia then turned to the Joltik. “Found what’s wrong with the radar?” she asked, eyeing the open panel.

Delia glanced at the radar again. It seemed to be working—or at least it looked like what Delia expected a radar to look like. Over the black background, a green line swept around, and with every blip, it revealed… dots.

Not one or two, but an entire minefield of them.

Maybe she didn’t know how radars worked after all… because this many dots couldn’t be right.

She locked onto the Joltick again. If the radar was broken, how come their best bet at fixing it was some bug? This… couldn’t… no…! In an hour, she would be in Cinnabar. It would be fine. That was the plan. No more unplanned chaos…

It had to be fine.

Delia took a step back, bumping into Luan, who steadied her with a firm grip on her shoulders. His eyes were wide, and now everyone was looking at them. Lori and Mia, but also Celeste, silently judging, no doubt.

Torture, Delia. You are torturing him.

She shook him off.

“No! We’re leaving in an hour!” she suddenly blurted out, directing it at the real Celeste, not the imaginary one in her head.

“You… okay, De—“

She walked away from Luan’s increasingly shaky hands before he could touch her again, and trying to keep her composure, she pointed to the radar.

“What is going on?” Delia demanded.

It was Celeste who answered. “Mia’s been trying to contact the Cinnabar’s dock people and…”

She kept talking, while Delia watched the radar flare up. Whatever Celeste had to say, she didn’t want to listen, but she caught some words about how they’ve been at it since dawn.

“That’s what happens when you sail in some old bathtub…” Lori muttered.

Mia shot her a side-eye. For a moment, she seemed too tired to argue, but after another failed attempt at using the radio and a few seconds of staring at the mess of wires in her panel, she snapped back.

“It was working back in Two,” she said, overly dramatic. “So it’s either still working, or it broke after we left. Maybe someone kept instructing her Pokémon to spit ice near my sensors.”

Lori’s face barely twitched, but she let a faint smile appear at the corner of her lips. “I doubt Powder’s strong enough to break it.”

Celeste’s protest was loud. “Hey!” She bent forward dangerously, almost losing balance.

They all laughed.

Yes. Even Delia. Though her laughter was more nervous than the rest.

Unlike the others, she laughed, knowing it was all a show. Mia and Lori were the adults—or as close as it got to being adults. They were trying to keep the “kids” calm. And Celeste, goofy, messy Celeste, always made it too easy.

The laughter didn’t last long, however. Mia’s Delibird returned, followed by Luan’s Munna and Lunatone. Then came Mia’s Bronzong and Lori’s Cryogonal.

Each Pokémon brought worse news than the last. To the east, the fog was even thicker. To the west, it rolled in even further. Delibird flew high, but couldn’t see the island, and Cryogonal, the fastest of the lot, almost circled around. It was the same everywhere.

Mia tapped her fingernails on the panel. Delia did not like the sound of that. “The only way seems to be through…” she said.

Lori crossed her arms. “But?”

“But I’m not risking it.”

Silence fell hard on them. Maybe on Delia, it fell even harder.

“I told you, the radar has to be broken,” Lori insisted, glancing outside as if she could see something. “I sail through here all the time. I know these waters. North of Cinnabar it gets busy, and east towards the Seafoam Islands it gets rocky. But here? Some of the safest waters in the entire Indigo Bay. There’s nothing ahead, Mia.”

Mia leaned back on the panel. With a heavy sigh, she shook her head. No more banter, no more attempts at lightening the mood.

“Sorry, Lori.”

Delia was at a loss for words. Luan, staring at her, wasn’t helping.

Never one to sit back and watch, Celeste had to ask. “So… we wait?”

More silence followed. This… didn’t bode well.

“I’m sorry…” Mia said again, shoulders dropping. “I already got called out for being late to get back to Kanto… My boss isn’t the most understanding person in the world, and she needs me back at the office.”

Lori adjusted her glasses, still broken and held together by tape. “With that, we agree. These mists aren’t going anywhere, and I don’t see a point in spending the day here.”

Mia fixed her gaze on Delia before turning back to Lori. “Then what?” she asked. “I see two options. Either I take you to one of the Seafoam Islands, and you can catch a ferry from there once this clears up. Or you get back to the continent with us.”

Delia’s heart sank further. She wanted to say Seafoam… but more delays? More time with Celeste? And what about the Professor? He wouldn’t mind, but she simply couldn’t. Her mind raced. What if she went back to the continent?

No, no, no!

That would mean more time on this boat with Luan. He was just about to confess his feelings for her, and she just—she couldn’t deal with that. She couldn’t deal with another hour on this boat…

“I’m not waiting two months for my Gym Battle just because of some fog.” Lori’s voice cut through the air like a lifeline. “Fractal can take us.”

Mia tapped her flaring radar again. “You sure?”

Lori barely moved. “Like I said, we know these waters.” She paused, considering. “And if there is something out there, a Lapras can manoeuvre faster than a boat. We’re what? Forty minutes away? On Fractal’s back, it should be even faster.”

Delia couldn’t hold back. “I’m coming too,” she said, surprising even herself. “I… the Professor’s counting on me for his research, and… I’ve delayed…”

Her mind raced for a way to finish the lie. In truth, she cared more about completing her task than the Professor or Spencer. But… they needed her! Maybe not for this, but for everything else. She wouldn’t let them down, even if it meant riding a Lapras through dense fog.

“What about you?” Delia heard Lori’s voice directed at Celeste and Aria. The little Eevee let her eyelids drop halfway and barked wryly, earning a nudge from her trainer. Was there really any doubt she’d go?

Celeste looked at Delia, her awkward smile turning defiant. “I could wait for the Gym, but Olga really needs us to go to Cinnabar Labs. I can’t let her down, can I?”

Delia raised an eyebrow. Celeste had no idea what it was like for her, did she? The nerve. One moment she was apologising, the next she was taking cheap shots at her.

She folded her arms and tried to keep her expression neutral. “Are you all packed up, Celeste?” she asked. It surprised no one when Celeste’s eyes widened, and she sprang to her feet. With Aria on her heels, she darted to the cabins below, shouting something about just needing five minutes.

It’d be twenty, at least.

Delia’s eyes trailed back inside, where she met… Luan.

“Hm… D-Delia, c-can we talk?” His face was Charmeleon red, and as soon as he began speaking, his eyes turned to his feet. “W-Wanna come down to the deck?”

Mia snorted, covering her mouth to hide it. Lori had a small smirk, too. They both pretended to be busy, quickly turning their backs and talking about the radar.

He wanted to finish that conversation…

This was a disaster.

One Delia could manage, though.

Because Delia always managed the aftermath of disasters, didn’t she?

Just a few more minutes and they’d have distance.

She put on her polite, innocent smile while her brain raced for an out. “Sure, Lu. Let’s go down,” she said. “I think Shelly needs some air.”