Solana's Trials

Solana sighed as she sat at the desk in the living room, looking over the slew of papers before her. It had been just over twenty-four hours since her father had been arrested and he had already gotten a lawyer. She had been confident that she would be able to win the case, but he had gotten one of the hardest-hitting attorneys from Unova, one of the best money could buy. He had already refused to speak to the police and his lawyer was only stonewalling the police. The mansion was under full lockdown as the police searched it for evidence. Luckily, they had already found the torture chamber—for lack of a better term—and had begun interviewing the long-time servants. Most of them were still around from when Solana had been a child as Kinsley kept a tight rein on everybody around him. They had been terrified to speak initially, but Solana’s almost miraculous reappearance had convinced them to speak. The firsthand counts of the abuse were already beginning to mount as well as the physical evidence. Unfortunately, as she was the one to bring charges, she was getting hounded constantly by police. She wanted to help them search the house and had tried to use her Top Ranger position to get in, but they shut her out as it was “out of her jurisdiction.” She knew it was true, though, so she had to sit back and watch on the sidelines. The day had been a rough one. As soon as she had stepped outside of the house, the media had hounded her, peppering her with nonstop questions about everything. She had also been forced to display her body to doctors and police officers for pictures of the scars. Their reactions would be seared into her mind forever. She had taken the dress she’d been wearing at the time off at a Slugma’s pace, slowly revealing the scars that crisscrossed her back and torso. There was barely an inch of unmarred skin from the twelve years of relentless beatings. Solana had wanted to break down and cry, but she knew it wasn’t the time nor the place. She had managed to hold the flashbacks at bay until the appointment was over, but just long enough to get to the car. When she passed onto the seat and into the darkly tinted windows, she had cried for well over an hour afterward. Only her mother’s gentle ministrations had helped calm her down. Pandora had been subjected to the same treatment at the same time but in another room. Solana was glad in away as she wasn’t sure if she would have been able to handle seeing her mother’s body just like hers. Of course, she had as a child and the images still haunted her. Despite the strange heat wave Sinnoh was currently experiencing, the older woman still opted to wore clothes that hid her entire body. Even the smallest glimpse of skin revealed terrible scars. But what worried Solana the most was what the doctors had said. Due to the severe abuse she had suffered while her body was still developing, there were internal injuries. She had always opted to ignore the pains in favor of training, but they warned her that if she pushed herself to her limits continuously, her body might shut down completely. It meant she would have to retire early from being a Ranger at some point. That scared her more than her father had her entire life. She would have to leave the family that she had come to know and love over the past four years likely within the next five or so years if she wanted to live to a good age. What would she even do after she retired? She had spent three years training for this and had intended to do it for the rest of her life. But now, she had a choice: retire early and live a long life or continue her dangerous job and die early. She gripped her hands into fists and closed her eyes, tears sliding down her cheeks. Why had this happened to her? She was one of the best, but she wouldn’t be for much longer. Her body would catch up to her sooner or later and she had to choose what to do. After the case was won, she would be set for life with money as everything was already being transferred over to her mother’s name. But she didn’t want to sit around idly and cross stitch like her mother did. She didn’t want a quiet life. After everything she had experienced, there was no way she could go back. Even her long ago dream of being a professional musician would leave her feeling empty. Her calling was to be a Ranger, not some pretty doll that sat around and did nothing. In a long ago lifetime, she would have been, but not now…