This is not an official chapter of „A Mansion made of Dreams", I just used these characters and this setup to write something that I needed to write, without having to invent a whole new story. I know it is short, but as far as I can see, it's long enough... It's different from the rest of the story, it doesn't advance the plot, but I still needed to write it. You'll see why.


PLEASE NOTE: I do not own Pokémon, and I have to say that I'm kind of proud of it, because the idea of capturing animal-like creatures to make them fight each other is pretty sick, actually. Whatever, every species of Pokémon referred to in the following text is the property of their rightful owner, however, the actual story belongs to me.




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A Mansion made of Dreams




For Sally


The gentle moonlight basked the room in a tender shimmer, reflecting off the water's calm surface. The upper half of Chria's body was lying on the floor, while the lower half was floating in the clear liquid; when she turned her head, the pool almost seemed to be filled with icy crystals, glowing in the moonlight. The water didn't move at all. No sound was heard. All of Chria's children were quietly sleeping on a pile of pillows next to the Lapras' pool, except for Varol, of course, who was lying in the far corner of the room. But he was asleep as well. There were no movements, there was no noise; it almost seemed as if time had stood still.
Chria wanted to sleep. She knew she had to rest, or she'd be insanely tired in the morning. But it just didn't work. Every time she closed her eyes, it was as if she opened the door that concealed all her bad memories. Since the mansion had been attacked, it all had returned to her; all the things she had tried to forget were now flooding her mind more than ever before, and it was the worst when she closed her eyes. If she somehow managed to fall asleep, she'd have terrible nightmares, anyway. The incidents from a few days ago, the senseless violence and the death of six Pokémon she had known had brought back so many bad feelings... The worrying about her children, the general uncertainty she had had to bear with for such a long time already and the stinging loneliness that had been there since her mate had died, it all was simply too much. The water was cold. She was holding on to the floor with her flippers, as if she could be sucked into the black swirling crystal if she let go for just a second. She was shivering.
Chria tried to focus on something, anything that would be able to take her mind off of these bad thoughts. She looked at her sleeping children. Normally, seeing them always made her smile, but not in a night like this. All she could think about was that these childrens' parents had been taken away from them, or that they had been abandoned, and neither one of those was a fate that any child deserved. It made Chria feel even colder. She looked at the ground and sighed. She felt like crying, but she had done that enough already; after her mate had died, she had been crying for days, and now she felt that there were no tears left inside her to be shed. But when she closed her eyes, she could see her mate getting killed over and over again, as the most painful one of her memories became stronger and stronger, and the salty water started to flow from her eyes. Her whole body shook with each of her sobs, and she felt as lonely as she had never felt before. It was a cold, dark night in a cold, dark world, and the only one she had ever loved had been taken from her such a long time ago. She knew she could not go on like this forever; she knew she wouldn't be able to always put on a happy face, but if she gave in to her loneliness, her children would greatly suffer from it. Chria wished to be able to talk about all this with someone, but the only one whom she could imagine to tell about her problems was dead. Nobody would make her feel better, or comfort her in that special way that only her mate had been able to comfort her in. And though she trusted her children, she could never tell them about it, for she didn't want to bother them with her problems; also, they probably wouldn't understand her. They were too young. And she would never be able to forgive herself if she made them unhappy by telling them about these things she worried about, and...

„Why are you crying?" The sentence was spoken in a whisper, but it was loud enough to make Chria jerk; she lifted her head and tried to blink her tears away. In front of her sat Demorho; the soft moonlight was strong enough for her to recognize his worried expression. She quickly glanced over to the rest of the children; all of them were still sleeping. She turned back to Demorho.

„You shouldn't be up at a time like this, sweetie", she spoke in a soft tone. Her tears had stopped flowing; she still felt as bad as before, but she didn't want to cry in front of her children.

„Neither should you", replied the Vulpix in a low tone, being careful to not wake up any of his siblings. His tails were in a low position, and his ears drooped a little. Chria swallowed. This was exactly what she did not want: including her children in her desperation.

„Go back to sleep, Demorho", she said, trying to make her voice sound strong and secure. „You don't need to worry about me. I'm just a little..."

„You haven't been feeling well these days, mother", Demorho interrupted. He lowered his head and gave Chria an affectionate lick across one of her flippers. „The other ones didn't notice, but I know there's something on your mind." He looked up at her with a sympathetic expression. „Maybe you'll feel better if you just tell me about it." The Lapras turned her head to the side.

„I'm fine, my dear", she said, her voice shivering a little. „Please... I don't want to bother you with my problems, I..." She quickly stopped talking as she realized she had just admitted that she had problems. Now Demorho would just worry even more, and it was all her fault. The Vulpix nodded.

„I know you care about me very much, mother", he said, „but I care about you, too. And I do it so much that I can't leave you alone when you obviously need someone to talk to." Chria slowly shook her head. Maybe Demorho was right. He was the oldest of her children, and he had been with her for quite some time now. Perhaps he'd understand. And it could really make her feel less lonely to talk about all this, but... she didn't want to ballast his young mind with dark thoughts, she was there to protect him from things like that.

„Demorho...", she started and turned back to the Vulpix who was still looking at her. She could see in his eyes that he wouldn't go to sleep until he had helped her in some way, and Chria sighed softly. She just hoped she made the right decision.

„...have I ever told you the story of the boy and his Poochyena?" Demorho just shook his head. Of course, this had been a rhetorical question; Chria knew she had never told any of her children this story. She took a deep breath. „Listen well, sweetie..."






„Once upon a time, in a city built by humans, there was a young boy who had never been good at making friends. But nonetheless, he had always been quite happy, because he had parents who cared for him, and he was living a good life. Loneliness was something he had never experienced, for nobody had ever left him, and so, he had never missed anything or anyone in his life.

Then, one day, his parents bought a female Poochyena for the family, and as the boy grew used to the Pokémon and became close friends with her, he realized that having company was something very enjoyable. When he came home from school and his parents were still at work, then the Poochyena greeted him, happy that he was back, and this made him happy as well. They deeply loved each other as friends, and the boy felt happier than ever before in his life.

As he grew up, the Poochyena became even more important for him. Sometimes, he just sat next to her for a long while, telling her about his problems, or things that made him angry or sad. And the Poochyena always listened to him, but she never objected, for he could of course not understand her language. He could tell her about anything without having to argue, without having to discuss, and it helped him that there was someone who knew about all the things that were on his mind, and who didn't judge him for it. It took a great weight off of him, of which he had never even known before that it had existed, but it had, indeed, always been there. And the boy knew he was happy with his best friend the Poochyena, and he was certain that it could all go on like this forever.

But then, one day, the Poochyena didn't seem to be feeling well; she didn't come when he called for her, all her movements became slow and sluggish, and he was sure that she was in pain. So his parents took her to the Pokécenter, and as he saw them leaving the house, he knew this was the last moment he would see the Poochyena alive. It was just a feeling, but yet it was a feeling of certainty. He knew she would die. And still, he didn't want to come along to the Pokécenter. Instead, he stayed at home, hoping that he was wrong with his assumption. But in the evening, when his parents returned, they were carrying the Poochyena's lifeless body.

It had been some kind of disease affecting the internal organs, but he didn't care that much about why she had died; the only thing he needed to know was that she was dead, and that he would never see her again. They buried her body in their garden; it was a cold, dark night in November. And from then on, every night seemed colder and darker than before; the days were grayer, and the house was empty. Actually, it was again just as it had been before the boy's parents had bought the Poochyena, but only now could the boy really understand what it meant to be lonely. Only now it could make him sad to come home from school, finding all the rooms to be lifeless, finding a house where there was no happy Poochyena greeting him. It was just that he had grown used to someone always being there for him, and now, that his best friend had died, he felt terribly lonely. And he would be missing the Poochyena for the rest of his life, because she had been special to him, and you never forget those who are special to you..."






Chria just stopped talking. She knew she would start crying again if she continued with the story, and she didn't want this to happen. Also, she was sure that what she had told Demorho would be enough to make him understand. The Vulpix was looking at the ground.

„The world can be a sad place", he stated. The Lapras nodded.

„Yes", she agreed, „it can, sometimes. And there are a lot of bad things you will never be able to forget, sweetie..." She knew that Demorho recalled how his parents had died, and she knew that he understood what she was talking about. „Life can be painful sometimes, and such bad things sometimes happen without anyone knowing why... And it is not unusual to feel left alone sometimes, to feel abandoned or to feel sad. But you need to keep in mind that you have to focus on the good things you can find in your life, or you will never be happy." Demorho looked up at her.

„I see, mother", he said. „You want me to understand that there will be situations where I will be sad, without being able to do something about it. You want me to understand that the world sometimes takes my loved ones from me, and that I should not take anything for granted. You want me to understand that even you will have to leave me someday... don't you...?" Chria closed her eyes.

„Nobody is immortal, Demorho", she replied in a low tone. „We all know that we have to die someday. But if there is someone we love, be it a mate, a sibling or a parent, we have to remember that this person has always wanted us to be happy... So they wouldn't want us to feel bad for the rest of our lives because we're missing them. There are a few things I know about life, my dear, and one of those things is that there will always be bad times, but there will be good times as well. You just have to not let the bad times stop you from acknowledging the good times and you'll be fine." She sighed. It was so easy for her to say this, but it was so hard to listen to her own words. Demorho softly nudged her flipper with his nose.

„It's going to be good times from now on, mother", he spoke in a compassionate tone. „I will always be there for you. I promise." Chria smiled a little and lowered her head, placing it on Demorho's back. The warmth he was giving off made her feel a bit better.

„Thank you, my dear", she whispered as she closed her eyes. The Vulpix lay down where he was, staying close to his mother. 'He's much more mature than I had expected' was the last thought Chria had before she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.







(2281 words)




This very short story is dedicated to my beloved dog Sally, who passed away exactly one year ago on November 3, 2005 at the age of ten. I still miss her. And I always will.



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I am sorry to have bothered you with something personal like this, but I just felt it was necessary to pay her my respects in a way she deserves. Since she was always there for me, I felt that a simple „Farewell" wouldn't have been enough, and this was the only thing I could think of to do... Thank you all for your interest. And the next chapter will have something to do with the actual story again, I promise.



-- Lion vom Silberwald