Why does Threshold occur? Correction: Why do _I_ have to go through Threshold? My parents didn't have more than 15% pokegirl ancestory each. The doctors said the likelyhood of me going through threshold were 23%. Compared to some of my friends, who have 40% to 89% chance of thresholding, it seemed like a safe number. And it really hurts. Why does this have to happen to me? ...I haven't done anything bad. I don't tease girls who are going through threshold behind their backs and I haven't so much as kicked a titmouse my entire life. What hurts worse is that the only things mom and dad can think about is who is to blame. I just wanna die... it hurts... - anonymous recording of a girl undergoing threshold, used as primary evidence to start the Hunter's Guild's Haven, for abandoned pokegirls or those undergoing threshold who are not wanted by their families. ========================== Gilded Life, Silver Lining ========================== Crimson League Sidestory 2 ========================== Kalia looked at the report in the envelope. Her junior high school had been offering a free Threshold estimation. Her parents heard the 'free' part and decided to 'let' Kalia attend it. The fact that the children would be getting the results in two to three weeks was a bit disconcerting, but the free part remained their primary focus. For Kalia, it had been a very embarrassing and violating experience. Unlike with normal examinations, which one friend had told her only involved a little blood letting, the free exam had been a full body physical. Kalia was certain the male doctor have forced her to get naked for his demented pleasure, but it had been free. She and her friends were sitting in the park. Each held the envelope that would tell her how high her chances of Threshold were. All of them were terrified of what they would see. One of the girls, Nadia, was almost certainly going to go through threshold. Her pokegirl ancestry was the highest of them all. She had taken the examination to see how much longer she would have before she lost her freedom. Kalia bit her tongue and opened her envelope, hearing similar tearing noises as her friends buckled down and opened their reports. Nadia had an 89%. Guni has a 67%. Riho had a 40%. Kalia was shocked to see a 23% on hers. "Ka-chan, you really lucked out." Guni grumbled. "I'm surprised. I thought I'd get a higher number." Kalia explained. "Yeah, well, looks like I'm probably going to be a FairyCute just like my grandmother." Guni sighed. "Well, that's not entirely true. An aunt-in-law on my dad's side had a 78% and she's still human." Kalia said, trying to ease her friend's depression. "I guess." Guni sighed. "I wonder if I'll become a Vampire. My great-grandmother was one..." Riho noted. "At least you don't have to worry about being a Tigress. I'm sure I'll probably be hunted down and tamed the instant I change." Nadia sighed. "Come on, Nadia. It's not certain you'll threshold. Kalia's aunt-in-law didn't. And she must be over forty by now." Riho noted. "Actually, she's thirty-eight." Kalia said, defending her in-law against a perceived insult. Some women were delicate about their age and Kalia knew her aunt-in-law was one of them. "How about if one of us thresholds, whoever isn't a pokegirl can adopt her?" Riho suggested. "Why would we do that?" Guni asked. "Well, we're all good friends and we know we wouldn't be mean to each other. We're the best possible people for us to wind up with." Riho answered. "I hope you guys don't threshold over the next two weeks. My dad's taking me and mom sightseeing in Vale." Kalia said. "Lucky Farfetch'D." Riho snorted. "It's not THAT exciting..." Kalia responded. "Still, you'll be in Vale. I hear the view is gorgeous." Guni sighed. Kalia had been feeling ill since take-off. She didn't know why, but for some reason, her stomach had started to knot tighter and tighter as they ascended. She thought it was just mild airsickness, but as the flight went on, she began shaking and sweating. Her mother noticed her daughter's pale palour and cold sweat as they reach cruising altitude. "Honey, are you okay?" her mother asked. Kalia could only weakly pant in response before she clutched her mouth and coughed. Kalia pulled her hand away to see blood. It was the last thing she recalled as she slumped weakly against her mother. Kalia wasn't fully awake, nor was she truly sleeping. She felt as though she were floating in a dark limbo. She weakly opened her eyes and saw a ball of light in the distance. She felt herself being tugged towards it. As she drew closer, sounds began reaching Kalia's ears. "...do you mean, she's going through Threshold?! She only had a 23% chance of it!" her mother's voice angrily shouted, though the noise was reduced considerably by the time it reached Kalia. "We don't know why, but something about the flight triggered it. Threshold is still a mystery. Women who have 99% chance of Thresholding have been recorded as NEVER undergoing it in their entire lifetimes, while some with a mere 5% change at the age of ten." a doctor apologized. "This is all your fault! Your brother's Foxx must've done something to her!" her mother snapped. "My fault?! You're the one who let her visit your sister. Sukebe knows Psidykes are the CLEANIEST of creatures. Yeah, eating rat heads. Real clean, ain't it?" her father answered angrily. Kalia looked at the light. If she was just going to go through Threshold, she might as well just stay where she was. The light drew away as the darkness embraced her. It was so warm and much better than the bitter life the light offered. She felt like she was in the embrace of her aunt, back when she was only five, when her mother and father went on a second Honeymoon. Her aunt used to drape a blanket over them and they'd just lay there. One of her aunt's Psidykes would come in with a pillow for her aunt when Kalia fell into a half-sleep. //You want to go back, don't you? Your friends probably want to see you again.// "I won't see 'em, though. I'll just wind up a breeding farm, get my brain fried and wind up as some guy's screw toy." Kalia answered. //It's true that the world is not a pleasant place, but we can assure you that it is still worth living in.// Kalia closed her eyes. //We know you are tired, child, but you will find that you are stronger than you realize. Return to the world that you come from. If you are patient, we are certain you will grow to accept that which you have become.// Kalia reopened her eyes. "Really?" Kalia asked. //We cannot tell you of the trials before you, but we know that should you manage through them, you will find someone that you will accept with an open heart.// Kalia sighed with a heavy heart. "Are you awake?" came an inquiry. Kalia blearily nodded at the black-haired woman's inquiry. She had a blue diamond tattoo on her forehead, and a blue triangle pointing down on each cheek. Kalia realized she was laying on the unknown woman in a position very much like the one she and her aunt often laid in, her head nestled in the woman's bosom while the rest of her body was draped like a blanket on the raven-haired woman while a real blanket was draped over both of them. "Who are you?" Kalia asked. "My name is Peorth. I'm a Megami. I'll be taking care of you." the woman answered softly as she smiled at Kalia. "Mom? Dad?" Kalia inquired as she raised her head. Peorth's eyes reflected sadness as she shook her head, "Your parents left while you were asleep." Kalia laid her head back down and looked at the ceiling, which was painted a comforting shade of blue. "I'm not in a hospital, am I?" Kalia asked. "You're in Haven, the Crimson League's center for-" Peorth began. "-abandoned pokegirls." Kalia finished, feeling numb inside. "You've been asleep for ten days. In that time, the Threshold process ran it's course." Peorth answered. Kalia noticed a lock of her hair that fell into sight. It was white. She looked at her left hand. It was a medium brown, almost like chocolate. She was probably a Drow Zee. She'd seen them in books, but never met one upclose. A small part of her was thankful she'd been spared from feeling the pain of transformation from human to pokegirl, but the rest of her was still having trouble dealing with the concept of being a pokegirl. "Why? Why me? I didn't... I didn't..." Kalia began, as tears formed in her eyes. Peorth's right hand cupped Kalia's head and stroked the shockingly white hair as the Drow Zee cried. The Megami sighed. At times, it did seem unfair for it to occur at all. However, Peorth thought to herself, Kalia would find one who would love her as she was. The Megami held Kalia, stroking the young pokegirl's hair reassuringly. At least Kalia had been spared from the scene of having both her parents thrown out of the hospital. The Drow Zee would hopefully never know what her own mother had done. No child would ever want to see their parents being ejected and sued for assaulting a doctor and harrassing nurses. Kalia was much better off in Haven. ======================================================================= Ironically, this story seemed like it would take longer for me to convey. Strange. Then again, a lot of my stories feel like that.