🇪🇸 / [ 🇬🇧 ]
The spring sun came in bright and strong that morning. The boy was staring out the window from the unmade bed, in the distance the silhouette of the Prism Tower could be seen.
"What's the matter?" asked a feminine voice, seconds later the girl walked into the room. "It's pretty late for you to still be in bed."
The boy turned to look at her, the sun shining off her dark skin contrasting with her pink locks and a white shirt a couple sizes too big for her.
"Don't I have the right to sleep in once in a while?" He formed a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
The girl leaned on the doorframe. "You don't have the right to lie to me so blatantly," she answered in the characteristic tone she used when she wanted to say something serious as a joke.
He got quiet upon that.
"Come on, I have an hour before going to the salon." She sat next to him on the bed. "What's wrong?"
"I'm not sure how to say this without sounding insane," he whispered.
"Yanchu, we're way past that point."
He bit his lip, hesitating before answering. "In the grand scheme of things... Do you think our souls are worth anything?"
The girl threw her head back and cackled loudly but immediately composed herself. "Really starting the day off great, huh."
"It's just that..." The boy lowered his gaze, putting his thoughts in order. "Something like souls must exist, right? That's why ghosts exist. Anyone can see ghost pokemon, but only I can see people-ghosts. And there's so many more ghost pokemon. And some of them used to be people. Does that mean pokemon souls are stronger? That they're worth more?" He ran a hand through his hair, breathing heavily. "What if the only thing that comes after life is just staying in this world? If not, who stays? Most people even think we were created by a pokemon. What does that say about us?"
"Most people..." she repeated after a moment, "like me?"
The boy sighed. "You know I didn't mean that."
"Look, I was taught we are pretty low in the hierarchy, which is kinda funny when you think about it," she chuckled. The boy tried to smile back but he clearly still seemed troubled. "But you can't let these questions get to you like this." She grabbed his hand. "We have worth no matter what comes after our life."
"So what do you do then?" he replied, voice still fraught.
"On some level... we all believe whatever makes us feel better. Whether it's cause we want to believe everything has a meaning or because we want to believe there is no retribution for our actions."
The boy made a face. “Well, it's not like I believe there are NO consequences just because there is no god—"
"I know, I know, I'm not gonna pretend I understand the mess of a belief system you made for yourself with your powers." She waved her free hand. "But that's what I meant, you can’t force something that doesn’t sit well with you, no matter what I say. I want to believe my sister is in a better place, don't you think?"
The boy remained silent, looking at their linked fingers.
"I guess," he whispered after a couple seconds.
"Come on, get up," said the girl in a more cheerful voice. "I found a pancake recipe you're gonna love!"
She kissed his cheek and exited the room. The boy sat still, staring at the door for a while, and breathed deeply before following her.
