Chapter Text
“...! Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me. Can’t those errand runners do anything right?” Spinel gagged at his obviously wrong coffee. He set down the mug on the kitchen counter and eyed it with disdain as if it were a particularly grotesque insect. “I could’ve sworn that I made it clear I wanted the packs which used robusta beans, not any of this arabica bean crap,” he huffed disapprovingly.
“If you couldn’t be bothered to buy the pack yourself then you have no right to complain,” Amethio countered flatly. “They both have the same effect at the end of the day anyway, so just drink it and get on with your work.”
Spinel rolled his eyes at the teen’s unsolicited input. “I’ll have you know that it isn’t the same. Robusta beans have more caffeine and consequently make the coffee more bitter, which is the way I like it. It’s not even that hard to check for what beans the brand is using. Honestly, how did such incompetent fools end up being hired?”
“I truly don’t understand why you need to make a fuss about it. You didn’t even realise it was wrong until you tasted it, for all you know you might end up enjoying that kind more than your usual taste. The underlings aren’t here to run errands for you anyway so just do it yourself next time.” Amethio chided him.
Spinel frowned at the boy, sick of his ‘advice’. “I have particular tastes and I don’t expect them to change anytime soon. I know what coffee I like, it doesn’t matter if they both make me feel the same way. I wouldn’t use an Espeon instead of an Umbreon. I wouldn’t spend time with my uncle if I wanted to spend time with my father. Even if two things have similarities, they simply aren’t the same and so I won’t be satisfied until I obtain exactly what I set out to obtain.” He crossed his arms stubbornly. To be honest, he probably didn’t care as much as he appeared to, but he never missed an opportunity to argue with Amethio no matter how petty it seemed.
“That’s a logical fallacy.” Amethio pointed out.
“ You’re a logical fallacy.” Spinel childishly retorted, trying to repress a giggle at how quickly their argument turned to such schoolyard taunts.
“What?” Amethio’s purple eyes narrowed in confusion.
“Master Amethio.” Hamber bowed, disrupting their argument as he entered the Explorer’s base kitchen. “If you are quite ready, Master Gibeon requested that I bring you to him.”
At that, the boy straightened and he seemingly lost all interest in his dispute with Spinel. “I see. I won’t keep him waiting, we can go right away.”
Spinel smirked, amused at how quickly the teen's disposition changed at the mention of Gibeon. “Maybe he’s finally grown sick of you and means to fire you.” He attempted to tease. But the teen didn’t fire back a retort, clearly fixated on presenting himself.
“Then, please follow me.” Hamber turned to lead the way with Amethio following close by.
“Safe travels~” Spinel put on a mockingly sweet voice as he waved them goodbye.
There was no reason to linger around now that his coffee had been ruined. With Amethio and Hamber now distracted by the meeting he couldn’t pass up this opportunity to go and investigate that. He’d been meaning to look into it for a while, but since the summoning Rayquaza event Amethio had kept such a close eye on him that he hadn’t had the chance to sneak away. Honestly, that child needed to learn to stay in his own lane. Since their first meeting the pair had never seen eye to eye, but what had at first been a minor annoyance to his work had now evolved into a genuine hindrance.
No matter. When adults became serious, there was very little that children could do to interfere. Spinel let out a deep breath.
“Now… let’s see how genuine this eternal blessing is.”
***
A smirk graced Spinel’s lips as he admired his stolen treasure in the palm of his hand. The infiltration to steal the piece of Rakurium had gone just as planned, even with the additional party he hadn’t accounted for being present. A part of him considered probing that Professor to see if he had any additional information regarding the mysterious substance, but judging by the fact he gave up his search immediately he probably didn’t know even a fraction of its true worth.
Spinel had been keeping tabs on the sacred item for some time, but with all of this Terapagos business and the Explorers’ constant monitoring, he hadn’t had any time to sneak in and retrieve it. The research notes kept within Exceed’s database hadn’t been as insightful as he’d hoped, the scientists working on the project hadn’t been able to uncover much through any of their experimentations and so they deemed the project futile.
But that didn’t matter. Spinel could succeed where they failed. He’d find a way to release the full potential of this ‘eternal blessing’. Despite the companies pristine reputation, he knew that the Explorers pulled the strings behind the scenes. That’s why he could also be certain that the Rakurium must be connected to Gibeon somehow. That man had been an utter mystery since the day Spinel had met him, no amount of research gave him even the faintest glimpse into his history. There just wasn’t something entirely human about his boss. In the present time, everyone has some sort of trace on earth. But Gibeon was like a blank slate. It was as if he hadn’t been born in this time.
This led Spinel to his current hypothesis: immortality. It sounded absurd to most, scientists had been researching how to extend life for centuries but had never been successful. But with a description like ‘eternal blessing’, paired with a man whose approximate age didn’t reflect in his appearance… If Rakurium could somehow grant one immortality, then of course Gibeon would want to extract as much of it as possible. Judging by the fact he’d given a piece up for research, this small piece alone likely wasn’t enough to extend one's life force by much. But, the fact still remained that it was a fragment of a blessing. If it couldn’t extend life, perhaps it could help preserve it.
If that was the case, then perhaps Spinel had finally grasped the miracle he’d been longing for. He didn’t want to get his hopes too high. He’d been searching for something this miraculous for years so in the case that it didn’t work as he’d speculated he couldn’t let it crush his spirit.
If it was for her… He couldn’t give up no matter what.
Before Spinel could drive off, his phone began to ring. Retrieving his phone from his pocket, he glanced down at the caller who appeared to be from the Explorers research department.
“Yes? Has something come up?” He questioned the caller.
“Indeed, your presence at the facility is required,” they responded.
Spinel sighed, these things always seemed to happen when he had something important planned. “Will it be quick? I’m quite busy regarding my current mission at the moment,” he half lied.
“It’s more important than your work. You see, it’s about your sister’s condition…”
***
Eight years. It had been eight painfully excruciating years since the day he’d received that call. They had been years full of desperation and perseverance, searching and searching for anything that could possibly help cure his sister's condition. Simply waiting for her to awaken hadn’t been a viable option, it would’ve been equivalent to searching for a pin within a sea; he’d need fate to bless him with a miracle.
And yet, a miracle had occurred.
There was certainly a shred of irony in the fact that the moment he’d made progress in curing her condition she’d awakened the very same day, but he couldn’t care about something so insignificant any more. He didn’t care that technically all of his efforts up until now hadn’t amounted to anything. What mattered most was that his will hadn’t wavered for a single instant, even when the hospital had attempted to shut off her life support he didn’t abandon his resolve and kept fighting for her life.
Since taking Gibeon’s deal, she’d been kept in an Explorer's research facility in Paldea. Spinel visited her as often as possible, although guiltily he hadn’t been visiting much as of late due to how busy he’d been regarding the Terapagos mission. He’d make it up to her starting now. Now they could be siblings again and he could have at least one part of his family back…
On a more bitter note, it would be hard to give her the news that neither of their parents had survived the attack. He’d probably give her a few months first though, she didn’t need to hear something that painful right after awakening. She’d probably need to be gently eased back into a normal life, she might not even be very mobile after being stationary for eight years straight.
A fond smile tugged at his lips as he imagined her panicked expression, but being the bookworm that she was she would be more concerned over the fact all her favourite book series might have finished while she slept rather than the fact she’d missed all those years of everyday life. The only reason he hadn’t broken down into a mess of emotions on the spot was because he needed to pay attention to the road as he drove. When he thought back on it, it had been pretty similar when he’d received the news too, only the emotions he’d been keeping at bay had been the polar opposite. This time, he’d be shedding tears of joy rather than grief. It was about time the universe let something good happen to him for a change.
After what had felt like hours of driving, Spinel arrived at the facility's front door. Umbreon stood by his side, his partner had also known his sister before the incident and so she’d been awaiting this day just as much as he had. He scanned his key card at the entrance and within the next moment the door opened. As soon as he stepped in, someone was already awaiting his arrival.
“Master Spinel,” they acknowledged him with a nod, “I’m sure you're very eager to go and see her, but there are a few things we need to fill you in on first.”
Spinel was tempted to ignore their words and rush over to her room at once, but his more logical side advised him to stay and listen. “Is she truly awake? She didn’t regress immediately, did she?” He struggled to keep the fear out of his voice. That had been a rather cruel day: years ago the hospital had notified him that there’d been signs of consciousness but by the time he’d arrived she’d ended up regressing into an even deeper sleep.
Thankfully, the worker shook their head. “No, I can say with certainty that she’s awake. We haven’t analysed what exactly caused her to awaken, so I will warn you that there might be a slim chance she could randomly fall back into her coma. But even that seems unlikely given how healthy her mind seems to be at the moment.”
“I see. Then, has there been any side effects?” Spinel asked.
“Indeed.” The worker’s tone sounded hesitant as if they were struggling with how to deliver the news. “You see… Her mind suffered greatly as a result of the damage done by that pokemon’s psychic attack. We’ve run a few tests on her since she woke up, but it seems this condition is irreversible. Unfortunately, Sapphire has been inflicted with amnesia. We’ve tried probing her memories, but it doesn’t seem like she can remember much at all.”
A pit opened in Spinel’s stomach. He’d been anticipating something like this. No one escaped an eight-year coma unscathed, especially considering her coma was the result of an attack on her brain. The realisation that things couldn’t go back to how they’d been stung deeply. It was infinitely better than death. So long as she could breathe and experience life again, he could be happy. They could make it through this, he’d waited eight years for this day and he wouldn’t let her memory loss make this moment any less special. Memories or no memories, the fact remained that the person in that room was his sister. He’d treasure her regardless.
“Understood,” he spoke after holding a silence for a few minutes, “may I meet her now?”
“Of course.” They turned and led the way.
Every second felt agonisingly long. Part of Spinel expected to hear an alarm, and then he’d laugh bitterly that it had all been a dream. But as they approached her room, no alarm went off. The worker opened the door.
And sat on that bed, which he had visited countless times to talk to someone who couldn’t even hear him, was a very familiar girl.
“Sapphire…” His breath shook.
Her long teal hair. Those same pink eyes. Anybody could spot the family resemblance on sight.
When Sapphire met his gaze, there was something almost shy about her expression. Perhaps that was what made the situation truly set in for Spinel. His sister was awake. She was here, she could hear him, look at him, speak to him…
At once, he was overcome with emotion, tears began to prickle at his eyes and he practically leapt toward her. Then, in one swift motion, he embraced her into a tight hug. How long had it been since he held someone like this? Since the incident, he hadn’t been close with anyone apart from Umbreon.
Sapphire let out a gasp and her body became stiff in his grasp. Realisation striking him, Spinel willed himself to pull away despite how badly he wanted to hold her and never let her go again. Umbreon must’ve reached that conclusion before he had, opting to sit and gaze up at Sapphire instead of immediately showering her with licks.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I got caught up in the moment and completely forgot I’m practically a stranger to you with your amnesia.” He brushed away the tears that had begun to spill down his cheeks. He needed to greet her with a smile. “I’m just so grateful you’ve finally come back to me.”
Sapphire merely stared in shock for a few seconds, clearly taken aback by Spinel’s surge of emotions. If any of the other admins had seen him like this they’d be more likely to believe he’d been replaced by an alien.
“It’s okay, I understand how you must be feeling. The people here were telling me as much as they could about you before you arrived. So… While I can’t remember anything as of now, even just by seeing you I can tell that you truly are my brother.” She spoke softly as if attempting to console him.
How wonderful it was to hear that voice once more.
“Do I feel familiar at all to you?” He questioned.
She squinted in concentration. “It’s hard to recall… To think of you as my brother does seem right, but I think it’s more instinctual than memory-based.” She looked apologetic.
“Well, it can’t be helped. For you to wake up at all is a miracle in itself, even if you can’t remember anything I’ll still cherish you the same.” He swore. It sounded cheesy, but he decided he deserved a bit of cheese after all he’d been through. Furthermore, the poor girl must’ve felt so lost and confused. He needed to show her he’d be there for her and support her even if she couldn’t recall anything.
“You’re very kind…” She looked away in slight embarrassment. “I’m not certain my memories will ever return, but I’ll try to do my best to become the sister you once loved.” She spoke with more determination.
“In that case,” Spinel stuck out his hand towards her and she blinked in confusion, “my name is Spinel, it’s a pleasure to meet you after all these years.” He introduced himself.
Sapphire’s eyes widened in realisation and the faint trace of a smile spread across her face. Her hand intertwined with his into a firm shake. “Glad to finally make your acquaintance. My name is Sapphire.”
At that, Umbreon hopped onto the bed and placed her right paw onto their shake to join in. Spinel chuckled, “And this is my most trusted partner, Umbreon.” Introducing the pair to each other once more felt so nostalgic.
With her free hand, Sapphire gave Umbreon a good stroke and the pokemon wagged her tail contently. These were the moments he’d longed to retake for years. He’d never wanted the world, just the pieces that belonged to him. And now, those pieces had at last been stuck back into place.
“I’m sorry.” Sapphire’s tone was suddenly remorseful. “I’m not the person you were expecting. Perhaps to you, she’s even died in some sense… I don’t want to become a burden, so if you come to the conclusion that I’m not her, don’t feel forced to stay by my side.”
Spinel shook his head adamantly. “I don’t see you like that at all! You’re not some parasite infesting her body, even if you don’t have her memories you're still her at your core. I’d never abandon you, you’re my sister through and through.” He swore.
She looked down, clearly not entirely convinced. “I just don’t want to cause you any more grief than you’ve already suffered…”
“Oh, how about this!” An idea struck Spinel. “I’ll let you experience how she used to live. Her hobbies, the food she liked, the places she frequented… Even if it’s not quite the same, I think you’ll be able to regain some pieces of her that way.”
“Do you think that’ll help me remember?” She looked slightly hopeful.
“Potentially. I think it’s worth a shot if it’ll make you happy. Maybe you’ll never become entirely her, but if you resonate with her past then it proves she’s still a part of you.” Spinel pointed out.
“Alright then. I’ll learn more about myself to try and become her once more.” Sapphire conceded.
Spinel smiled warmly and placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s a promise then. I swear I’ll remind you of the world you once loved.”
He’d still have to balance this all with his Explorers work, but she’d most likely be busy with recovery too. It was still worth researching that Rakurium piece too, they had said that her condition had a chance of crumbling again and he didn’t think he could manage another eight years.
This time, he wouldn’t fail to protect his family.