Eclipsed 29: The Trick

Snowdrops's POV

Day of the Rescue

Normal types.

Although they seem useless, some normal types can be extremely powerful. Even though they have no advantages whatsoever on any type, they only have one weakness is to Fighting attacks.

At least that's what the book told me.

It had been a long time since we had to deal with normal types. The last time I remember was stopping a bouffalant stampede a year ago.

Apollo walked into the kitchen. "How's it going?" He asked.
My heart fluttered. I looked up from my book and took a drink of fresh miltank milk. "Morning." I looked away and buried my face back in the book.

The rest of the boys soon followed. I glanced at Blitzen as he got out ingredients to make omelets. Apollo's fur was starting to bristle and his tail puffed up. I knew the bickering was going to be heated, so I skipped to the Bidoof page.

I was reading about how pathetic bidoof were when Blitzen zapped a bunch of bread. "Dig in!" He announced. I got up and ate a slice with everyone but Apollo. Brushing the toast's crumbs off my paws, I sat down to read again.

I was trying to learn about the skills they have with knives when the argument got intense.

"That's not what I'm saying! In fact, I packed granola bars for everyone!" Apollo said forcefully.

"Yeah, well it won't be good enough for me!" Blitzen retorted.

I gave up and watched them debate, shutting the book.

"Blossom's life is at risk at the moment! Each second is valuable and can't be wasted!" He argued.

Ember looked around. "Will you two stop it?! Fighting isn't getting us ANYWHERE!"

We were silent for a moment. No one had noticed that Ember's omelette was completely black. Then it burst into flames.

Firework screamed. Geo and I backed up as quick and far as possible. Riptide aimed a Water Gun at it, but it hit the toaster which sent out a few sparks. Blitzen screamed at him that he used grease. The smoke alarm went off and everyone was drenched. Poor Ember yelped in pain and dived under the table.
Riptide's eyes widened. The sprinkler water hit the fire which doubled in size. I screamed loudly as the room began to fill with smoke. A few seconds later, Apollo found the fire extinguisher and sprayed the flames. They took a while to die out. I rummaged around and managed to find the door. I opened it and the smoke slowly leaked out. Everyone stood panting for a minute. The silence was broken by a high pitched blast of a horn. Everyone exchanged looks. Ember put on the finished vest as everyone raced out, the sound of the urgent meeting horn echoed in our heads.

When we got to the courtyard, I sat down by Apollo with Firework on the other side of me.

It was a long time before the queen appeared. She made a huge announcement about us going to war and began to recite the story of Nightmare.

I've heard it so many times in my life. I felt my eyelids drooping and I fell asleep.

I was in a meadow. After prancing around for a while, I realized this dream didn't feel like I was watching a first-person movie. I was controlling my actions!

"Sweet! I'm in one of those lucid dreams! Whee!" I exclaimed as I willed myself to fly.

The meadow seemed to go on forever as I soared. "Huh?" I had spotted a massive black abyss. I glided towards the void. I felt a surge in gravity around it and screamed.

When I emerged, I was still in the meadow, but it must've been nighttime. It didn't feel like a meadow night, though. There were no crickets chirping, fireflies glittering, frogs singing. All was silent. Not a peaceful silent. My ears rang with emptiness, searching for a noise. The sky was bristling with black, threatening clouds so I couldn't find comfort with the moon and stars.

"Hello." greeted a male voice.

My head whipped around, trying to find the noise's source.

"Don't be afraid. I didn't do this to you."

"Who is it?!"

"You don't know me. Well, not personally."

"What?"

"Never mind."

"What are you doing here? I don't remember allowing you here."

"This dream isn't completely lucid."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Everything that you want to happen, I let happen."

"Prove it."

"Alright. Wish for a cake."

I pictured a vanilla cake with white icing and blue swirls. It had black designs on the top and yellow candles. It seemed to sparkle from the imaginary sun.

I opened my eyes. There was no cake.

"So? That could be because this realm is different from the other one."

"Now, imagine something else."

The first thing that popped in my head was a spoon. I really don't have any idea why.

I heard a thump beside me. It was the exact spoon I had thought about.

"How did you..."

The voice chuckled. "This world is split into two sectors. One belongs to my counterpart. This is mine. I can use my powers in her realm and she can use hers in mine. She can sense when I'm there. Our relationship is... Touchy. If I continued to allow to do as you wish there, she would notice and forbid me from returning. That's why I brought you here. I am safe in my realm. Here, we can talk."

"Talk about what?"

"You see, I know you have a dark secret."

I stiffened. How much more did he know about me?

He chuckled, as if he had read my thoughts. "Don't worry. Everyone has a dark secret they hide."

"What's yours?"

"Snowdrop, my dear, we're discussing you right now. Now tell me, what is your dark secret?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I can help you. Look, I can... Guide you for a while and when you return, everything will be perfect."

"And how can I trust you?"

"Snowdrop, I understand I'm putting a lot of pressure on you. I know that you want to take your time, and that's alright. It's just nature. You're taking a risk. But don't you think it's a risk worth taking? If I'm right, everything will be fine."

I hesitated. It seemed like a good choice. Something told me that he was someone true to his word.

"All right."

"Good girl. Now, tell me about your dark thought."

"Well...There's an umbreon I like, but he's interested in someone else. I've known him for a long time. No matter what I do, I'm never good enough."

"I can fix that. Let me guide you, and you will be together. Do we have a deal?"

I was quiet for a moment. "Deal."

Then I was lulled to sleep.