Come on, don’t you think Will could be a priest?

Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfiction belongs to me under international copyright laws and taking it is plagiarism. Thank you. *Phantomness bows*

Chapter 14

As he arrived at the inn next to mount Moon, the hostess came out to greet him.

“How is my friend?” Red requested. “Is Will still here?”

She smiled pleasantly. “You mean the young musketeer who was wounded in the shoulder? Why yes, he is.”

“That’s wonderful.” Red grinned. “May I see him?”

“Oh, I’m afraid you can’t disturb him.”

Red grinned slyly. “Is there a woman with him then?”

“Good heavens, no! He’s with the Curate of Cerulean and the Jesuit Superior from Lavender Town.”

Red blinked. Then his eyes widened as the impact sank home. “Is he worse? Is he dying, then, for such measures?”

“No, nothing like that!” The lady reassured him. “However, he seems to have been touched by grace since his injury and is now determined to take holy orders.”

Red mentally translated. Ah. Priesthood. “That’s right. I had forgotten that he was only temporarily a musketeer.”

“You still want to see him?”

“Of course!”

“Then walk up the staircase, he’s in room number four in the right.”

Red thanked her and headed upstairs to find his friend. Unfortunately, he found the door barricaded by Will’s servant, Wallace.

Wallace’s dream had always been to serve a churchman, and now, with Will finally setting himself on the right path, he was determined not to let anyone lead him back into a Musketeer lifestyle again. Obviously, his painful wound and the inexplicable disappearance of Will’s mistress had fixed his sights firmly on heaven, and now was the time for him to take up the mantle of the priesthood.

Therefore, Red’s reappearance could bring disaster to Will’s soul!
However, Red was not to be deterred. Talking to Wallace was like talking to a brick wall, so finally he just shoved him aside and opened the door. There, he found Will sitting up in bed, talking amiably with two men. One, in a long, dark cassock, was obviously the Jesuit. The other, in plain robes of dull gray, leaning on a weathered oaken staff, was the Curate.

The conversation was entirely in Latin, which went over Red’s head. He’d never liked the language, and the village priest who had tried to teach him some at home had given up in despair. He watched and listened silently as they argued points of theology and tried not to yawn. This was absolute torture!

Finally the Curate and the Jesuit got up to leave, and Wallace conducted them outside with a dirty glare at Red. Red sighed inwardly and wished belatedly that he’d hit the man harder. Effacing little plump man…

“So, my friend, I am glad to see that you’ve returned home safe and sound.” Will finally said, closing a thick leather-bound volume.

Red smiled. “Yes, I am. I wish I could say the same for you.”

“I don’t think I’ll be returning to Indigo Plateau.” Will said dreamily. “I think I’ll head down to the harbor, maybe find a boat to Houen.”

“What? Will, that’s desertion!”

“Well, I deserted the church when I joined the Musketeers.” Will shook his head. “But enough of that. How have you been?”

“Fine.”

“And what of Brock and Lance?”

Red frowned. “I haven’t found Lance yet. Brock… he’s still in Viridian being nursed. Apparently he sprained his knee while fencing and it hasn’t healed yet.”

“Terribly distressing.” Will replied mildly, proving that he was not at all taken in by Red’s lie, but he smiled. “Well, since you’re here, I suppose you should join me for dinner. But I warn you, it won’t be very appetizing.”

Red blinked. “What is it?”

“Well, as it’s Friday, we can’t have any meat. We’ll have to make do with fruit, but for your sake, I’ll add an omelet of tetragones.”

“… What are tetragones?”

“Spinach.” Will said promptly, with a smile.

Red resisted the urge to bang his head against the table. Will had surely gone over the bend this time…

Hmm… perhaps he should try to find the cause of the man’s misery. It couldn’t just be the wound, as Will was stronger than that!

Maybe it had to do with the loss of his mistress.

Red nodded. That seemed to make sense. There was no doubt in his mind that Lady Karen was Will’s Mistress. However, she had apparently vanished from Indigo Plateau. He had no doubt it had something to do with Duke Morty.

Well, in that case…

“So you’re really determined to give up and go into the priesthood?”

Will nodded solemnly. Red sighed.

“Well, that is a pity.”

“You see, Red.” Will said sadly, “The world is a tomb, and men and women are only shadows. It would be best to fix our mind on the heavens above.”

“I don’t quite see.”

“It’s a terrible thing, this world, Red... People you trust with your life can stab you in the back in an instant. Friendship is shallow, love even more so...”

Red frowned. “You’re too pessimistic, Will.”

“No, it’s the truth. Beware, Red. You must never let the world see your sorrow. Otherwise, they’ll hurt you, and haunt you…”

“I see.” Red added a sigh of his own. “Then I suppose I’ll just have to tear up this letter. It would be a waste to give it to you now…”

Will’s attention shot to Red immediately, his eyes focusing. “What letter?”

“It was delivered to your home, and as you were absent, I came to bring it to you. What a pity…”

“Who is it from?” Will demanded.
“Oh, no doubt some tearful woman of low station.” Red said. “Or perhaps it’s Lady Karen’s maid, and she’s snitched her Mistress’s paper to make herself more attractive in your eyes. She must be deeply disappointed.”

“Give it to me!”

“I seem to have lost it.” Red muttered treacherously, searching through his pockets. Will grimaced.

“Red, you’re killing me!”

Red finally dug the letter out of an inside pocket. Will snatched it from him, tore it open, and read the lines with the haste of a man possessed. Finally, he kissed it several times in rapture and hugged Red.

“Oh, Red! You’re a lifesaver! She didn’t abandon me after all! She had to leave Indigo Plateau to save her life! I’ll never doubt her again!”

The two friends began dancing around the room, trampling papers and books underfoot.

Wallace came in with the fruit and omelet.

Will threw his priest robe at him, knocking the surprised man aside. “Get rid of that hideous omelet and tell the landlady to send up a larded capon, a roast hare, and four bottles of old Burgundy!”

“So no thesis then?” Red teased.

“Shut up.” The wine arrived first, and Will poured a glass for each of them quickly. “So tell me, how are things in Indigo?”

End Chapter

Completed 4/6/05

Yep, put the fic on hold for a week or so while I crammed for midterms, now I have a week or so of break before finals start crashing down…