44 Dinner, and a Heart to Heart Talk

{Author's Note}

Hello! Greetings! Salutations! It's your favorite, or not-so-favorite, author Gambler here to present another chapter to you weirdos!

Not much to say before this is started, other than that this is another serious chapter. It delves into the topics of Kevin's emotional and mental turmoil, so don't expect too many laughs to come out of it.

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***

{Later That Evening}

It was just before sunset that the trio stopped to make camp for the night at the border between the forest surrounding the Witch Hunt Village and the desert. While they could easily keep going without any issues, it was surprisingly more annoying to travel through the desert at night than during the day. This was mostly due to the numerous nocturnal species of monster girls who prowled beneath the moonlight, searching for travelers to snatch up for an easy meal.

Kevin was...not okay, but certainly felt better than he did the last time he'd changed back from his Sylveon form. Every memory from his initial transformation to when he'd returned to being an Eevee was still rigorously suppressed and locked behind so many layers of mental walls that Sylph had to convince him not to use his Espeon evolution to double their effectiveness, with only wisps of information bleeding through to give him a general idea of what happened. Even if they weren't as painful to remember, he wasn't taking any chances after the Enrika Incident.

Fortunately, Alice also kept her mouth shut about what she'd seen and heard. Unbeknownst to the boy, though, this was only half due to the outburst he'd had the last time she'd pushed the envelope on teasing him. The other half was because, after a month and a half of traveling with him, she respected him more than she had when they'd visited Enrika, and was reluctant to poke that particular wound lest it cause him to resent her.

They'd gathered around a campfire, which was easily put together by the teenager. In fact, with the addition of his new Rock and Ground Type powers, setting up the entire camp became a breeze. A few waves of his hands and a fire pit, kindling, benches, and even soft moss to sit on were manifested from the surrounding forest and earth. Snapping his fingers to light the fire in the center was just the icing on the cake.

On the topic of the sudden control of the Rock and Ground Type Energies, it had dawned on him that he shouldn't have access to them just yet shortly after he began to cook dinner. He specifically remembered the System telling him on the first day that the twenty-five percent proficiency with any elemental Type would only be unlocked after transforming into the corresponding evolution for the first time.

When he questioned the System about this discrepancy, he didn't know whether or not he should be annoyed by the answer.

[The Host has discovered a hidden aspect of the Eeveelution System's Update 2.1: Scarlet and Violet!]

[The Being saw fit to allow direct access to the 25% of power that the Host would receive upon unlocking a form, instead of waiting for a full evolution to be used! To quote the Being: "Most of the evolutions you'll be unlocking from here on out won't have any immediate uses, so consider this another freebie."]

He wanted to be surprised, but he couldn't exactly say he didn't expect SOMETHING to be hidden in every update. The Being was just the type of asshole to hide secret power-ups, power-downs, and seemingly-inconsequential tweaks to the Eeveelution System and hide them behind the more 'important' aspects of an update. What was the most frustrating, though, was the fact that if he'd noticed this sooner, he wouldn't have NEEDED to use his Sylveon form back in the mansion!

Now, many may criticize this line of thought by stating that, with his Spirit Class power level in the majority of his forms, he technically NEVER needed to use an evolution with Type advantage against whatever monsters and/or mutated humans he encountered. The rebuttal to that fact, though, was simple: for every pokemon game Kevin had ever played in his life, he ALWAYS used Type advantages in every battle, even going so far to make sure every pokemon on his various teams were Dual-Types, and had some moves that were outside of their Type if they could. It became so ingrained into his mind that, even in another world with a new set of rules, he actually COULDN'T bring himself to fight in any form other than one with Type advantage, if he could help it. The only exception would be the encounter with the 'Four Bandits' back on the Ilias Continent, but even then that was more of an embarrassment than a series of battles.

With this new discovery, he never had to fully transform unless he felt that the form would be worth it. He could leave the Sylveon form for only the most dire of circumstances, such as if the world was actually ending and there was literally no other form that could save it other than the Sylveon form, or...

...

...

...Nope, that was the only situation in which he'd willingly subject himself to that transformation ever again.

{A/N: Never say Never, young Eevee.}

Feeling a sudden chill rush down his spine, Kevin got the feeling that dwelling on this topic any more wouldn't be good. So, he turned his focus to the outside world again, hoping that the Being wouldn't take that statement as an invitation. Maybe he shouldn't have left the train of thought on THAT particular thought, but that was something for his future self to worry about.

"Mmmmm," Sylph hummed in anticipation, lightly hovering over the pot her host was cooking with. "That smells so good!"

Alice nodded from the other side of the campfire. "I agree. It's amazing how well you put what few leftovers we have to use."

"If there's one thing my mother taught me, it was to never waste food," Kevin smiled as he threw the last of the 'ingredients' into the mixture. "At the end of every week, any leftovers were chopped up, ground up, or just thrown together in new ways. 'Wasting food is wasting money,' as she said."

The lamia went silent for a minute, staring at the pot. She was curious about the Eevee's family, as he only ever mentioned them in passing. From what she gathered so far, he had a mother, father, and brother who lived with him, the latter two of which he never sounded happy to remember. While she did want to ask about his mother, now that he brought her up, she felt they still weren't close enough for her to broach the subject.

After all, she felt uncomfortable talking about her own mother to him, so she'd use that reluctance as a reference for how he might react as well for the foreseeable future. If she ever thought she could share her own past with him, logic would dictate that he'd feel the same. They were pretty similar in terms of personality, after all.

In the end, she decided to broach a new topic. "Where are we heading tomorrow?" she asked.

"Oh! I know!" Sylph grinned. "We're finally going to pick up Gnomy!"

A look of discomfort crossed Kevin's face. "Actually...I think it would be best for us to stop at Sabasa to resupply."

As much as the small Spirit wanted to argue against him, she knew that he didn't want Alice to know the real reason. She decided that they would need to discuss it in the Dream Room tonight, mainly since Ilias would be on her side in trying to help him come to terms with what was to come, rather than allow him to suppress it like he always did. They may have been married against their wills, but she took her position as his wife seriously; and that meant looking after her husband's mental health!

Knowing the boy as well as she did, Alice could immediately tell that while he wasn't lying to her, he wasn't giving her the full truth. The only thing that kept her from inquiring further was a look from Sylph on his shoulder which told her that it was personal, and that the Spirit would be handling it.

Instead, she simply nodded. "Good. I wasn't thinking about stocking up on food the last time we left, so I forgot to buy as many local dishes as possible. Do you think any of them would be willing to lend us the recipe for Sabasa Fish? Or maybe for their Candied Scorpions?"

Kevin didn't even try to hide his shiver at the latter question. "I still can't understand why you would eat those things."

"Food is food," she shrugged.

"But yeah," he continued. "None of the dishes seemed to be particularly protected. And if anyone decides to push back, we can always bother the King about it. I'm pretty sure he'll do anything to get back on my good side at this point."

All three of them got a chuckle out of that particular thought. Alice even found herself wondering whether or not the King had gone so far as to punish Sara for setting the events that would bring his kingdom the boy's ire in motion. It wasn't likely to be anything too drastic, but a military man such as him would likely have some...creative punishments from his days as a soldier. With a bit of luck, maybe the princess would even be whipped into proper fighting shape at the end of the ordeal and not require saving in the future.

***

{Later - The Dream Room}

"Kevin."

"..."

"Please?"

"..."

"Come on, Kevin. We need to talk about this."

"Can we not and say that we did?"

"No."

"Then please leave me alone."

Ilias let out a sigh. When she'd entered the Dream Room that night, she was expecting yet another relaxing session of blowing off steam and ignoring the psychological nightmare her life as a 'goddess' had become over the course of the last few millennia. It had become her favorite part of the day, and by now she was visiting every night for just that little bit more sanity the Room's presence would bring to her shattered mind after leaving.

What she wasn't anticipating was the dream's host once again lying face-down on the bed, with the main difference from the previous episode of hatred being that he wasn't moving or making any sounds. The boy just laid there, barely breathing, and ignoring the now human-sized Spirit of Wind sitting on the bed next to him and trying to coax him out.

Luckily, Sylph had no problems with telling her sister what was going on.

"He's trying to ignore the dread he's feeling toward the future Bonding Ritual with Gnome," she had revealed, reaching out a hand to gently rub her 'husband's' back. "I'm trying to coax him out to talk about it, but he won't budge."

The Spirit of Light instantly understood. It was no secret that, while the teenager was slowly becoming more comfortable and closer to Sylph, he was still the same emotionally-scarred boy that hated the idea of being forcefully married to her. The idea that in the next few days he would be willingly subjecting himself to the same situation as last time, where all of his control would be taken away from him and another soul would be fused with his in 'holy matrimony,' must've seem like a nightmare now that the inevitable encounter was drawing closer.

All three of them knew for a fact that he couldn't just say "fuck it" and NOT seek out the Spirit of Earth. Neither his instincts, nor his emotions, nor the Being himself (whom Ilias still hadn't been informed about) would allow him to back down from the task he had set for himself. His body, heart, and soul yearned to be complete; and no matter how hard his logical mind tried to fight back against them, it was outvoted, three to one.

So, he resorted to the same method as he always had back in his first life: hiding away from the world in his bedroom and praying that something will save him from having to deal with reality. It may not be a good plan, but it had worked enough times for him to think it might work.

If only he had his laptop...

It was as Sylph and Ilias were trying to brainstorm a way to convince him to speak with them that the former had the perfect idea. Sure, it was incredibly manipulative of her to use this as a trump card, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Without further hesitation, the white-haired Spirit dredged up every negative memory she could think of...

...and cried.

Her sobs were silent, but the room was small and quiet enough for them to be heard by the other two occupants. Two small streams of tears rolled down her cheeks as her vision blurred, her body shivering with each strained breath. Instead of bursting out into dramatic tears and making a big show of it, she curled into herself and allowed the negative emotions to overtake her.

This course of action was incredibly underhanded for one particular reason: Kevin literally couldn't ignore it. The artificial love between them, which was gradually becoming genuine over time, made it painful for him to hear her cry. If anyone else had been the cause of this, he would've become enraged and set out to put them in their place; but knowing that HE was the reason for her subjecting herself to this overwhelming sadness caused a pit to form in his stomach.

While his logical mind told him this was yet another ploy to make him face reality, logic and emotions don't always mesh well together. His heart was aching from hearing his 'wife' break down like this, regardless of whether or not his brain said it was just a ruse. All of his plans for wasting the night away without saying a word crumbled in an instant.

It took less than a second for him to roll over, sit up, and wrap his arms around her. A moment later, he had pulled her onto his lap, resting her head on his shoulder as he gently stroked her hair, her legs and arms wrapping around him as well for comfort.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, using his free hand to rub her back. "It was wrong for me to keep ignoring you, and I'll do anything to make up for it. Just...please, stop crying."

As much as Sylph would've loved to end it right there, having received that assurance that he was finally willing to converse with her and Ilias, it wasn't that simple. Unlike her airheadedness, which could be turned on and off like a light switch due to her nature as the Spirit of Wind, this state of sadness wasn't so easily resolved. Remembering so many negative events from her long life at the same time, most of which she kept locked away to maintain her happy-go-lucky attitude, had taken its toll on her; especially since the last time she had immersed herself in them and let those feelings flow was several hundred years ago, after the death of her previous Host. Almost a full hour passed before she was ready to once again address the reason she had subjected herself to that in the first place.

Off to the side, Ilias observed the heartwarming scene with a mixture of jealousy and longing. She wanted him to hold her like that, and tell her that everything was going to be alright. Unfortunately, she had a long time to wait for her to be able to embrace him in person. Her state of mind had become much more stable in the outside world than it had in over a thousand years, but was still nowhere close to where it would need to be to even be on the same continent as him.

When the Spirit of Wind had finally calmed down enough, she reluctantly removed herself from Kevin's lap to sit beside him again. Her eyes were still red and puffy, and her cheeks were still flushed, but she was ready to tackle her 'husband's' problems once again.

"That was low, and you know it," the boy grumbled, unable to stop himself from wrapping an arm possessively around her shoulders.

She gave him a sad smile. "I would do it again, and you would too. If it means helping you, then taking advantage of our Bond is a small price to pay."

"Hah...I hate it when you're right," he sighed.

Ilias, sitting down on his other side, rested a hand on his shoulder. "We DO need to talk about this, It's eating you from the inside, and I would prefer for you to NOT have a mental breakdown after the ritual."

The Eevee slumped. He knew that she had a point, but that didn't mean he had to like it. "I know. I'm just...not good at acknowledging my own feelings. It's just so much easier to suppress them and not have to deal with the painful ones."

"That's usually okay," Ilias nodded. "But not when those 'painful feelings' are at risk of completely shattering your mind. Trust me when I say: it isn't a pleasant experience."

Being reminded of how Ilias was pretty much a psychopath who was driven insane by her own loneliness did help put things into perspective. The added knowledge that him snapping like she did would probably result in the end of the world wasn't a pleasant topic, though, so they left that little tidbit unsaid.

"I think being Bonded to Gnomy will actually help," Sylph encouraged. When she saw the quizzical expressions being directed at her, she continued. "Just like how I'm the Spirit of Wind, but also have the aspect of Freedom, Gnomy's domain isn't just Earth. She is the embodiment of Stability, be it physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. If Kevin does successfully perform the ritual with her-"

"-Then his emotional turmoil might actually even out, rather than get worse," Ilias finished for her. "If I remember correctly, she's very stoic and doesn't speak, so her presence within your shared soul wouldn't be as...'loud' as Sylph's."

"You say that as if my boisterousness is a bad thing!" the slighted Spirit pouted.

"Actually, I'm implying that you need someone to balance out the effect you're having on him," Ilias corrected.

As they continued to childishly argue back and forth, Kevin sank into his own thoughts. Both Spirits had good points, and their logic was slowly chipping away at his internal defensive arguments. Sure, marriage was an abomination and it made his skin crawl to think that he would be getting married to another Spirit soon, but the benefits were starting to outweigh the existential terror. The constant background war between his heart stating that he loved Sylph and his mind pointing out that it was artificial bullshit might be easier to ignore if he had another being whose mere existence brought stability in his soul. Deep down, he knew it would never really go away, but being capable of suppressing it even further was tempting.

Then, there was Ilias' point of Gnome apparently being Sylph's opposite, and not just in terms of their elements. If she was silent, stoic, and possibly likely to help keep the fairy-like Spirit's airheaded side in check, then that was another point in favor of going through with the ritual. As much as the boy did love Sylph (artificially, but you get the idea), even he got tired of her nonstop energetic personality, sometimes.

Finally, there was the primary reason for him seaking her out in the first place: unlocking his forms. If the results of the previous [True Bonding Ritual] were anything to go by, then at least one of his forms would have all restrictions taken off of it, with his Eevee form gaining fifty percent access to the Elemental Type's full power. He didn't know if it would be his Rock Type evolution, Ground Type evolution, or both; but either way, he was getting a major power-up from this.

Letting out yet another sigh and flopping backwards onto his back, he covered his face with his hands and groaned. "Ugh...if I didn't have to get married to do this, or have fake love shoved into my soul, then this wouldn't be so hard!"

"True..." Sylph agreed, before leaning over him with a smile. "But consider this: even if it's fake, were you ever really happy before the first [True Bonding Ritual?]"

"...no," he conceded.

Once again, she had a point. Although he suspected that it was just as artificial as the love he felt for her, he had to admit that the days since the ritual -(barring a few, like the incident with the Pyramid)- were some of the happiest he could remember. Having someone to share his thoughts with whom he knew for a fact not only would never hurt him, but actually COULDN'T hurt him without a damn good reason, made his days more pleasant. Her upbeat attitude and childish demeanor also added a few levels of amusement and brevity on top.

Maybe...having another Spirit bonded to his soul wouldn't be so bad?

Sensing the shift in the atmosphere of the Dream Room in response to Kevin's reluctant acceptance of the situation, Ilias grinned. "Glad to see you're finally taking it a bit better."

"Oh, I am still dreading it," he shot back. "But, I think I can hold onto my sanity just long enough to complete the ritual."

"Good!" the self-proclaimed goddess nodded. "Does that mean we can finally move on from this heavy talk and just relax like usual?"

"Of course!" Sylph proclaimed, shrinking down to her usual fair-like size and zipping up into the air. "No night in the Dream Room is complete without a bit of fun and unwinding, after all!"

Kevin's lips quirked up into a small smile as he nodded in agreement. Sure, he might be stressed out again once he woke up and start overthinking about the future again, but that was tomorrow. Tonight, it was just him, Sylph, Ilias, and the Dream Room; their own little sanctuary away from the cruel reality of the outside world.

***

{Author's Note}

So...yeah. That was some heavy stuff to write. Next chapter should continue back to Sabasa, have some...interactions between Kevin and the locals, and then he's headed off to the Safaru Ruins to Bond to with Gnome!

For those of you who don't like these overly emotional sessions in the Dream Room: it's necessary for character development. Kevin isn't just going to magically become a better person, or become okay with having to be subjected to forced marriages. It's going to take a long time for him to become even marginally okay with his situation. That's just how people work.

Anyway...

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