Make Believe

I live inside my own world of make-believe
Kids screaming in their cradles, profanities

What a hypocrite

Mayumi walked, back hunched as she could barely hold up her own weight, leaning slightly on the mirrored walls of the labyrinth. The silence was deafening. 

I see the world 
Through eyes covered in ink and bleach

Tired. 
She could easily describe herself right now as tired. No matter how much she slept, she was still always tired. Heavy. Gravity weighing down more and more as she kept walking. 
Her head hurts. Her eyes sting. Her bones ache.
She was so tired.

Cross out the ones that heard my cries 
And watched me weep

Why was she alone?
People who went in alone always got hurt.
She really didn't know why.
She understands that doing this, staying silent, storming off...was worrying people, hurting them. Yet her feet took her away from her normal jogging route, towards a realm of mirrors and honesty. Maybe she needs this. Needs a heart-to-heart with herself.

So...alone she walks...

Every familiar she saw went down. Yet with every familiar down, she grew tired. More and more. It was exhausting. But she had to continue. She had to keep going. She had to prove something.

It wasn't long before she appeared. Her tail swishing and her eyes bright behind purple heart-shaped glasses. A grin broke onto her face when she saw Mayumi. 
“Well well well, ain'tcha a sight for sore eyes Mayu~?”

“You again…”
The smile turned to a pout. “Aw, boo. You say that like you ain't happy to see me? Don'tcha like me? Or, well- Like yourself~?

She doesn't reply. Instead, Mayumi flexes her claws and snarls, lashing out at the clone with her claws heated up to a red-metal temperature. The clone chuckles, dodging with ease. She jumps up onto a glassy ledge.

I love everything
Fire Spreading all around my room

The clone watches Mayumi silently, glaring up at it with a huff, then laughs. A wicked and cold sound, before jumping back off the ledge and kicking Mayumi down in one swift movement. “Tsk tsk. You’re still fighting all of this? Don’t you get it~?”

FLASH
She first sees mocking brown eyes beneath puffy cream hair, the normally soft expression of a Whimsicott turned into a sneer. “You’re so crude and stupid.”
FLASH
Then a dark snout, a sharp-fanged smile, and the piercing red eyes of a Zoruark, another sneering expression. “You actually make me feel better about myself in comparison.”
FLASH
Then blue tousled hair interlaced with yellows and soft pinks, a smug look across a Ponyta’s face, “You never help anyone.”
FLASH
Another smug look, but colder and crueler than the normally joking look of a Mr. Mime, “You never do anything right.”
FLASH
Flashing bright orange eyes, a black-and-white face speckled like the night sky, a Latios bears a grimace and with a growl says, “You couldn't even help me, your own best friend, when I needed you.”
FLASH
Then the soft icy eyes, and gentle face of an Alolan Vulpix, now cold and calculating, “You never understand anything. You just don't get it, do you?”
FLASH
A strange and never-before-seen look on the otherwise familiar face, the dark eyes and snarling fangs of a Flareon make themselves apparent. “You were a disappointment from the moment you were born.”
FLASH
A little litten, its expression far too cold for the seven-year-old body. “I never looked up to you.”
FLASH
Another little litten, shiny and bright yet her expression no less cold or out of place than the last. “I never respected you.”
FLASH
Mayumi couldn't bring herself to look up this time, the heartache far too much for her. But as if on its own, her head bolting up when she heard the next voice. A voice she had grown comfortable around, usually felt safe around. A voice that always made her heart melt whenever calm, soft words came from it. But...no calm words came this time...

“I never loved you.”
She looks up, almost as if by force. The person now standing before her, another sneering look across the soft cheeks. The normally warm and bright pink eyes, now cold and calculating, swept over Mayumi with contempt. The Cherrim flashes a smug grin. “A shame isn't it? Pity being the only reason I’ve stuck around this long?”

“STOP IT!”

Mayumi cries out once. Then again. Then again. Over and over, she cries and cries. Flames sputter in and out of life on her body with every sentence, burning melted holes into the mirrors around her. 
“Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT!”
She continued until her voice grew hoarse, and she couldn't muster another word. She curls up, head in her hands, and sobs.

Copyumi chuckles, followed with one more flash. Mayumi steals another glance and...The spitting image of herself, but not quite her. A familiar, yet long-forgotten smile missed over seven long years. The smile then turns to a frown, and the eyes of the familiar face grow cold. From her lips, from her mother’s lips, stinging words come out in the all-too-familiar voice “Its all your fault...You always drive everyone away, Dayong...”

Mayumi covers her ears, eyes pressed shut and pouring tears, mumbling. The sight of her own mother, the same face that has haunted her this whole time, telling her that...seemed to finally break her. “Make it stop...someone make it stop…”

“Mayumi Silva…”

She jolts, finally shaking her tears, turning back around. The clone seemed to stop talking, head tilted in what was almost curiosity. It didn't even take the chance to exploit Mayumi’s weakness. Perhaps it wondered the result of this as much as she did.
As soon as the familiar Sylveon comes into view, Mayumi hisses in a fit of teary anger. “What do you want? Don't you think this is a bad time?”

“Oh no. I think this is a perfect time.”

“Of course you do, you fleabag…”
Mayumi turns back to the clone, growling as she tries to stand. She was shaking, but she managed. The copyumi chuckles. “Fascinating. Perhaps let the incubator finish, huh little me~?”

“Mayumi Silva, I’ve come with a proposition for you. You might enjoy this one in particular, seeing your current stasis. I believe-”

“Kyubey, forget it! I’m not your puppet, I’m not your plaything, and I don't want anything from you!! You’re a fucking liar, I hate you!!!” Mayumi screams, punching the ground beneath her as she interrupts Kyubey. Her fangs are bared in a snarl.

Kyubey tilts his head, his feeling-less grin unfaltering. “You’re acting quite irrationally. I haven't told you anything that wasnt true at the moment. I never spoke a lie to your face, or to anyones. It’s not my fault if you believe I was dishonest.”

“Tch...The gems? The witching?”
Kyubey shook his head gently, his expression unwavering. “I didn't lie about those things. I just didn't disclose them for both my own and your benefit. I really don't understand what the big deal is about those things to your kind.”
He pauses, quiet for a second before looking back to Mayumi. 
“But I digress. That isn't why I’m here. I have a proposal for you.”

Kyubey lept up, making himself comfortable on Mayumi’s shoulder. His expression remaining unchanged throughout all of this.
“You’ve grown quite strong Mayumi Silva. Strong enough that I believe you have become worthy of a special reward. Similar to that of some of your allies, you have the opportunity to become a legendary subspecies of your populace permanently. I’ve read and seen that you were quite interested in the Victini subset. Perhaps that would be-?”

The long and odd rambles of Kyubey were interrupted with chuckling. Chuckling turns to laughter. The clone, now returning to Mayumi’s Torracat mug, swoops in for another strike. Mayumi barely managed to dodge, but knocked Kyubey off her shoulder in the process. 
“Haha! If I knew that's what that was about, I would’ve interrupted sooner! Face it Mayumi! Even if you were able to become legendary, you wouldn't be able to beat me! You wouldn't have the guts to! And everything I said would still be true!”

Mayumi looks on, eyes blank with silent fury. She silently turns, eyes settling on Kyubey. “...Do it…” Her tone was perhaps the calmest tone she had ever taken. Calm...yet just as full of silent fury as her eyes.

Kyubey nods, and within seconds…
Spirals of purple flame and light surround the furious Mayumi...

My worlds so bright
Its hard to breath

The clone of Mayumi, still a Torracat, scoffs. She then bolts forward, swiping forward at the spiral. “Oh please! None of this will change a thing! You’re still useless!”

As soon as the claws the clone tried to slash at Mayumi with, the sudden heat of it melts away the claws within seconds. The clone jumps back with a growl. “What the…?”

The dying flames melt down into the ground, and where the shattered remains of a broken girl once stood, a new figure fluttering a few inches off the ground. Eyes open, revealing piercing blue. Glittery freckles shimmer in silver across the infinite space of its skin. As soon as the figure touched the ground, a fanged smile crossed its face.
With a furious warcry, violet flames erupt from dark palms and envelop the clone. 

The clone stood still, eyes wide and almost...surprised? The fire surrounds her, bright and fiery hot. Yet, the clone remains. With the circling flames, so hot that the form of the clone almost seemed to start melting, the clone chuckles. The chuckle becomes a laugh. A wild and deranged laugh.

When the flames die down, the only remains of the clone were scattered ash and scuff marks. Silence. Kyubey seemed to have disappeared after the appearance of the Victini. Of the new Mayumi. She looks around, quiet. No more familiars seem to be around. If they were, she certainly couldn’t see them.

But that's alright

Still quiet, Mayumi looked to the mirrors of the labyrinth walls. Still melted, but she didn't really care. All Mayumi cared about now was the reflections. The blue eyes. The dark fur speckled with star-like freckles. Deep space making their homes on her ears, her paws. 
With realization, a gentle smile crosses her face.

Mayumi. Mayumi looks deep into her reflection. Her reflection. Not her mother’s. Hers. This was something she could say with confidence now. The idea of that caused feelings, long-bottled feelings, to spring to the surface and bring tears to Mayumi’s eyes. Not of sadness however. Happiness and relief and sudden weight lifting from her shoulders created these feelings. These feelings that finally...after so long…

...Mayumi Silva has finally returned...