Yep, this fic is finally back from the grave. It took me four months to write this chapter, but here it is regardless. Sorry for the wait.
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Chapter Twenty-Two
Light. It filled Latias' vision as she flew, blocking out all else. She felt as though she was floating perfectly still in a glowing void, although she knew she was flying at speeds she could only guess at. The bright layer she had summoned to protect herself from the cold and turbulent atmosphere worked in conjunction with the falling snow to create this bizarre illusion, which made her feel utterly isolated from the now-invisible world. This feeling was further heightened by the absolute silence that enshrouded her, causing her to question whether the world was truly there at all. It was as if she had strayed from the real into the unreal, from a place that could be sensed to a place devoid of sensation. To her, it was both soothing and slightly harrowing, as she was simultaneously comforted by the welcome lack of disruption but unsettled by the fact that she didn't know where she was going or what lay ahead.
At that moment, however, her destination was not her immediate concern. She had brought Ren with her into the sky so that they could talk freely and privately, but both of them had grown quiet. Their conversation had more or less ended the second they began to fly: the interruption had created a pause in their discussion, and the momentum behind their communication vanished as a result.
Thus, they flew in silence. Latias knew that this would not help Ren at all, but she wasn't sure what to do. She was aware that she would probably have to be the one to reengage the conversation, but every time she was about to speak, she thought better of the words she had chosen and withdrew her mind from Ren's. Nothing she could think of seemed sufficient or helpful enough to say. As the silence between them grew, she began to feel more and more awkward. She decided that she had been too hasty in bringing him up here: she had wanted to go somewhere where they both could converse confidentially and undisturbed, but if she didn't know how to help him, then what was the point? She had never lost a loved one, and therefore didn't even truly know how Ren felt. Her empathic connection with the boy gave her some idea, but it wasn't the same as if she had been in a similar situation.
She was considering simply turning around and flying back to the others when she sensed a glimmer of amusement emanate from Ren's mind. The boy had been despairing over the memory of his brother's loss; this had prevented him from speaking to her, but it hadn't prevented his feelings from seeping across their mental connection. Now it seemed that Ren had recalled a fonder memory, one that made him momentarily forget his darker recollections.
"What's so funny?" Latias asked him, her mind's voice sounding strange after such a long silence.
Ren seemed startled for a moment, obviously not expecting her to speak. "What?"
"Right. That's what I asked you," Latias teased, trying to lighten the mood. However, Ren didn't seem to understand, and his mind registered confusion at her statement. She sighed and rephrased the question. "What are you thinking about?"
"My brother, mostly," the boy replied. "…Why?" he added after a brief pause.
"I'm just curious," Latias answered. After a moment, she added, "Would you mind sharing with me?"
"You want to see what I'm thinking?" Her passenger sounded slightly surprised.
"If it isn't too much to ask," the dragon thought back quickly, suddenly worrying that Ren might be feeling pressured. He had already made himself very vulnerable by sharing with her about his brother. If he did not wish to continue revealing his personal thoughts, she didn't want to make him feel obligated to do so.
The boy considered her question for a long time before answering. "If you wish," he replied finally, if not slightly hesitantly. Then he widened the pathway between their minds, and allowed her to look in on his thoughts.
The first image that Latias was confronted with depicted Ren's brother, Bron. She could tell by the way the young man was smiling that he and Ren were engaged in a lighthearted conversation, although she could not discern what about. Their voices were indistinct at best, even becoming completely silent at times. This caused her to wonder if the memory was fading from Ren's mind, slowly being erased by the onslaught of time.
In any case, Bron had a similar appearance to Ren, except his auburn hair was much longer than his younger brother's, falling nearly all the way to his shoulders. His green and brown eyes were soft and mirthful in the image, but they had an intensity about them that hinted that he had seen harsh times. His face was drawn, and although he was smiling, his appearance suggested that he was always enduring a very subtle pain. It struck Latias then that Ren had possessed a similar air about him when they first met, as though he were harboring some inner burden. The look had lessened over time…or had she become accustomed to it? She was trying to decide when the image changed.
The new scene portrayed a time near the end of summer, the trees just beginning to change from vivid green to a brilliant orange. A few leaves dotted the lush grass, standing out like tongues of fire in the otherwise emerald landscape. Latias saw that Ren and Bron were languishing behind a pile of firewood, sharing a large chunk of honeycomb that they had apparently stolen from their parents' Combee hives. Their father suddenly called for them from a ways off, and they both tried not to laugh as they began to eat faster. Just as they finished, their father came around the side of the woodpile, and they gazed innocently at him as he eyed them suspiciously.
However, when their father did not stop staring, the brothers took on a look of guilt and averted their eyes from his incriminating scrutiny. Seeing their expressions, their father burst out laughing, and brought out something he had been holding behind his back: another piece of honeycomb. He broke the treat into three segments, keeping one for himself and offering the other two to his children. Ren glanced at Bron warily, obviously thinking that this must be some kind of trick: weren't they supposed to be in trouble? His brother was smirking, however, and simply shrugged as he accepted his portion of the honeycomb. Seeing this, Ren relaxed, and did the same. Then their father sat with them and they all began to eat, laughing and joking until the sun sank low.
This memory melted away as well, only to be replaced by another. It was mid-fall, and the world was filled with oranges and browns and yellows. The colors suggested warmth, but according to Ren's thoughts a chill wind was moving across the land, and Latias shivered despite the fact that she wasn't physically cold. She spied Ren and Bron once more, both younger than in the last memory, and saw that the latter was leaning over the former's shoulders and helping him hold a bow and arrow. They drew the string back in unison, much farther than either of them could have accomplished alone, until Latias could hear the wood of the bow creaking in protest. Bron spoke quietly to Ren for a few moments, both of them peering intently at some spot in the distance. Then they let the arrow fly, and it sped thorough the air for a few hundred yards before burying itself to the feathers in and through a small sapling. Ren ran after it, whooping and laughing as his brother followed with the bow, beaming with pride…
And then, suddenly, the memory disappeared into darkness, seeming to have been cut off. Startled, Latias took note of her surroundings, wondering why Ren had ceased to communicate with her. She had been so absorbed by Ren's past that she hadn't been paying attention to the present. Strangely, however, she couldn't tell the difference between the two. The air around her appeared to have been replaced with the landscape of Ren's last memory, as though the scene had come to life and she was a part of it.
"Ren…what happened?" she asked, looking in every direction and finding only amber-colored trees and swirling leaves. "Where are we?"
"We're still flying," the boy answered, his mind's voice sounding shaken. "Latias…you're doing this. It's an illusion."
The dragon was taken aback. "I'm…? But…how?" she pondered. Then she asked, "What makes you think I'm causing this?"
"Your eyes are glowing."
They both grew silent again, staring bewilderedly at the sight unfolding about them. It was a perfect replication of the memory Ren had sent Latias a moment before: not a thing was out of place. Latias felt she could very well reach out and grasp one of the leaves that occasionally drifted by.
It was then that Ren sent her another memory. As if on cue, the air around her came alive, colors swirling and blending into one another until a new scene had formed. Springtime, and Bron was giving Ren a knife throwing lesson. The wooden blade arced through Latias' view, and she turned her head just in time to see it embed itself in a circle carved into a tree trunk. Bron clapped Ren heartily on the back, and then they raced each other to retrieve the blade.
Memory after memory followed this, pouring through Latias' mind, each event being woven into the alternate reality that she was creating. She watched Ren's life play before her eyes, each scene bringing some remembered emotion or sensation. It was mostly fond memories, but after a time Ren seemed to slip on occasion and show Latias something he didn't intend. She only saw these kinds of memories for a brief moment before Ren caught himself, but the little she did see frightened her. She saw Ren being beaten by a group of older boys, their blows coming at her as though she was the one on the receiving end. She saw her companion lying in bed and starving, eyes clinched shut in an effort to ignore his aching stomach and fall asleep. Kairn shouting taunts at him as he ran away from an obviously unfair fight yet another time, the former bully and his Houndour attacking if he didn't run away.
Latias recoiled at some of the more violent memories, flinching away from the all-too-realistic scenes she was herself creating. She was even forced to close her eyes once or twice, such as when one of Ren's ribs was broken during an especially vile attack from his tormentors. The episode played on lucidly behind her eyelids, however, as Ren had not yet curbed the thought. She heard the sickening, muted snap of bone and watched as the boy crumpled to the ground amid a smattering of laughter.
She began crying after that incident, her tears running back across her face and instantly freezing as they streamed away from her light-protected body and into the frigid air. The images were becoming too intense, and although Latias wished she could take them on, she was eventually forced to ask Ren to stop. However, he did not do so. He seemed to have lost himself to his thoughts, reliving them almost in a trance without noticing the toll they were taking on her. She asked him once again to stop, this time more urgently, and afterwards yet again when he still did not cease.
Latias was contemplating landing to check on why Ren wasn't listening to her when the nightmare began. She suddenly found herself intensely cold and inexplicably without breath, which caused her to gasp in shock. That gasp drew an icy liquid into her mouth, which ran down her throat and into her lungs, causing her chest to burn with a stabbing frigidity. She began to cry harder, now due to sheer terror. It was as though she were drowning.
Drowning. Latias' eyes widened, and she fought desperately against her tears to see what was happening around her. She saw that a ghostly light was falling about her in wavering shafts, revealing that she seemed to be underwater. She looked up and saw the sun, a freakish white color, staring down at her through the dark water as though it were some disembodied eye. The pain in her lungs increased, and a dread-filled and agonized roar erupted from her throat, although it was borne on liquid instead of air.
"Stop Ren!" she screamed in her head, only to once again find that he didn't answer. Horror stricken, she wondered if this wasn't another of his memories. Perhaps this was reality; the situation felt much more genuine than what Ren had been showing her up to this point. Had she accidentally landed in a river or lake? It would be too costly to assume otherwise, so she mustered her strength and began struggling towards the surface. She made some headway, but her strength was almost immediately depleted by the glacial water and her lack of air. In a different approach, she tried to gather what little light was around her into a protective barrier, but there simply wasn't enough to be effective.
She realized after a few moments of panicked deliberation that she didn't have any other methods of escape, and as a creeping numbness began to course through her body, she sank into despair. There was no way out of this situation, and she was going to die. Not quite ready to accept what was happening to her, she looked around her with what little consciousness she had left in an attempt to spot Ren. The boy was nowhere to be found, however, so she dejectedly turned her eyes upwards and tried to come to grips with her unexpected and devastating fate. How could this have happened? She thought she had been flying at a safe altitude…was it even possible that she had strayed this far off course? It happened so fast; there had been no warning, no sign to show her the danger.
Sensing that her end was near, Latias couldn't help but reflect on what could have…no…should have been. After all, was she not being cut down before her life had truly even begun? She thought forlornly that the burden of finding the Eon Chronicles would fall solely on the remainder of the group, and that they would have a more difficult time opposing the evil spreading across the land. The five friends had already been given a taste of the dark powers at work in the world: Latias couldn't imagine the responsibility being heaped upon the others should she die. That responsibility was her creed, as much a part of her as her ancient lineage. To fail in her duty would make her life effectively forfeit.
Aside from all that, what about experiencing the richness of the world? Namely, what about her friends? She had developed a profound and personal relationship with her four companions, but she didn't think for a second that they had already become as close as was possible. They had just begun to develop a deep-rooted bond, and already she was being torn from them. The thought left her with a burning sense of injustice. What kind of fate was this, to give her a taste of life and then take it away so soon? She recalled with no minor sorrow that she had not even seen the ocean yet.
"I'm not done!" she shouted in defiance of the darkness threatening to overcome her vision, imagining that she must be delirious for doing so and choking back a sob. "I need more time…"
As if in answer, a shadow moved abruptly across the sun, and something landed in the water above her. The object sent the surface into violent unrest and shattered the sunlight as though it were glass. She sensed the object…no…the being move near her in the water, and then felt arms wrap around her body. The touch sent the sensation of needle pricks running across her feathered hide, shocking her if only momentarily back into a fragile state of awareness. Whatever had come for her then began to move purposefully upward, bearing her swiftly towards the surface in a strong embrace. Once she was free of the water, she automatically tried to breath, sluggish though her mind was. Nevertheless, she realized she couldn't force the water from her lungs, and then found that whatever was carrying her was beginning to tighten its grip. She writhed in protest, feeling as though her chest were being crushed, but then suddenly retched up a copious amount of water and found that chilly air was entering her lungs. She took a few short, ragged breaths, and then coughed out more liquid as her lungs began to empty themselves on their own.
"Don't be afraid," her rescuer said soothingly after she had taken a few more gulps of air. "You'll be alright."
Latias went rigid at the words, momentarily forgetting in her stunned state her present situation and that she needed to breathe. The way the phrase was said...the exact tone of voice…it matched something deep within her; something that she had not known was there. It was a single, short memory, one that contained those words exactly as they had been uttered. Along with the phrase was something else; a fleeting image of blue and white, textured as though comprised of feathers. She knew instantly what the memory depicted, but found it nearly impossible to believe. And yet…
Fighting against her weariness and her doubt, she formed a single word in her mind, and then pushed it questioningly at the being that now held her. "Father?"
***
Kairn sat cross-legged in the middle of the clearing the party had slept on the previous night, holding his sides and staring dully at the area in front of him. He had decided a while back, along with Latios and Houndoom, that an explanation for Latias and Ren's strange behavior and departure would be provided upon their return. Once this conclusion had been reached, the three had grown silent, stalled in their travels until the others returned.
This silence proved hostile to Kairn, who remembered soon the horrors of the previous day and night. The thoughts brought him great distress, so much that he felt ill as he had during the previous evening. He felt cold although the area was relatively warm due to Houndoom's influence, and was trying very hard to dwell on something besides the visions of carnage that played through his mind.
Latios noticed the boy's discomfort, and mercifully hovered over to engage his attention. "Are you hungry?" the dragon asked, quickly trying to turn Kairn's thoughts to something as mundane as possible. The boy shook his head indicating the negative, so Latios landed facing him and gave his best effort to appear relaxed. The gesture had a visible impact on Kairn, whose anxiety began to disappear in no subtle way upon seeing his friend in a state of calm.
"What were those blue orbs?" the boy asked suddenly. "The ones you used to counter the whirlwinds last night?"
Latios pondered the question for a moment. He hadn't really thought while using the technique: he had simply known that his body was capable of the ability, and had used it as the circumstances required. It was no different than using his claws or his teeth to fight, although looking back at the situation he deemed that it was indeed strange.
"It was more or less a roar I suppose," he said after a few more moments of reflection. "Although it required a great deal more air and I had to expel it all at once. I also contained it with a small amount of light, which must have given it that blue glow you noticed." The dragon grew silent and appeared deep in thought, until finally he nodded as though he had tested his words and found them to be a satisfactory explanation. "Now I have a question," he added. "You mentioned yesterday that you believe Latias formed the mental connection you share with Houndoom." He glanced at the black and orange pokemon, who was curled up and asleep nearby. "You said she was linking your minds so that you could communicate with each other, as you had been injured to the point of unconciousness. What exactly happened to you?"
Kairn knew that Latios was only concerned for his well being, but he couldn't help but fear answering the dragon's question. How could he explain that he had abandoned Houndoom while the pokemon had still been a Houndour, the result of which had been both of them nearly dying? What would that do to Latios' opinion of him? He hesitated, wanting to be truthful, but also wondering if it would be wiser to lie about what had happened. The anxiety he had felt before returned, and he felt paralyzed as Latios studied his face, looking at him more and more inquisitively as awkward seconds passed.
Abruptly, images began to flood into his thoughts, and the familiar burning sensation that represented Houndoom's telepathic link with him grew strong. Latios' expression changed to one of surprise as the images also came to him, and they both waited silently as Houndoom sent them a visual representation of the events in question. The pokemon began with being lost in the forest, skipping his abandonment by Kairn entirely. He showed himself wandering through the trees, near exhaustion, trying to find food in order to keep up his strength. Then he showed Kairn elsewhere in the forest, equally lost, calling out his name and desperately trying to locate him. Houndoom then advanced the story until he arrived at Griffith's home, and continued ahead until Kairn also made it to the old man's cottage. He depicted how they had been rendered unconscious by their lack of strength, and how they had lost their will to live, thinking they would never see each other again. In conclusion, he illustrated how Latias had bridged their minds in order to show them that they were indeed together, and exemplified their recovery process from that point.
In this version of telling, Kairn knew he was depicted as a compassionate friend, and felt he hardly deserved it. He looked at Houndoom with shame and remorse in his eyes, but the other stared back with nothing short of devotion.
"Thank you," he mouthed to the pokemon, partly for his intervention in the conversation but mostly for the undying sense of loyalty the creature expressed. Kairn decided he would repay Houndoom by making good use of the second chance he had been given; he would strive for betterment, using the best of his abilities to prove that he was worth the risk.
Love was a funny thing. It had a way of overlooking even the greatest of wrongs, while simultaneously turning the wrongdoer from his actions.
***
No response came after Latias inquired as to her rescuer's identity, so she opened one of her eyes to a slit and glanced at him. She noticed instantly that the being was not her father, as he was not in fact a Latios, but a human. The young man had long red hair, and as Latias glanced up at his face from her position cradled under one of his arms, she noticed that he had hazel colored eyes. Recognition instantly registered in her mind: it was Bron.
But of course it would be Bron. Latias began to feel foolish, realizing that she was still being subjected to one of Ren's memories. So this had been the illusion she was creating all along, realistic as it had seemed.
"Ren," she tried to say, but her mind's voice came across almost inaudibly. She was still recovering from the simulated fatigue that the boy's memory had imparted to her, and she gave herself a few moments to recuperate before trying again.
The second time she hailed him, Ren ceased sending her his memory, and the illusion that Latias was creating from it faded away. She sighed in relief. "Yes?" the boy asked, sounding as though he had just been shaken from sleep.
"Next time, please answer me when I ask you to stop." She couldn't quite keep the exhaustion out of her tone.
"You asked me to…?" Ren's mind radiated bewilderment at Latias' statement, as he had not heard her before. Then he realized what he had been thinking about, and what Latias had been doing with those thoughts. "Oh lord…you don't mean…?"
"I do mean," Latias answered bluntly, unable to call forth the mental stamina for a longer answer. "But don't worry about it," she gently added when she noticed that Ren was dismayed with her response. "I'll be fine."
"No, you won't be fine!" The intensity and resolve in Ren's mental voice took Latias aback.
"I am quite sure I will be," she responded, sounding anything but.
"You don't understand, do you?" Ren asked enigmatically, somehow managing to sound condescending and sensitive simultaneously. "How can you not see it? I did it to my brother, and now I'm doing it to you…Latias, I'm hurting you."
"That's absurd," Latias retorted, although she was beginning to understand at last how the boy viewed his brother's death. He thought himself personally responsible, and the thought had twisted his mind. Ren now felt that his mere presence brought pain to others.
"Think about it," Ren was saying. "You allowed Eli to pull your feathers so that he could create the armor I'm wearing. You had to rescue me last night when I was knocked off of your back by that Ariados' web, thereby placing yourself in danger when you could have simply escaped had I not been there. And just now I subjected you to what I hold to be the worst experiences I've ever had. You always put up with my shortcomings, and always try to help me. You're so much like him…" The boy trailed off, but Latias knew he was thinking of Bron. "I'm afraid that I'm going to have the same effect on you as I did on him," he finished quietly. Latias could feel him trembling, painfully denoting the sincerity of his words.
"You're afraid for me?" The dragon's words made her sound incredulous. She would have laughed under any brighter circumstances. "I should be the one worrying about you! Why do you think you need that armor in the first place? Why do you think those creatures attacked yesterday? Ren, you aren't the source of my problems…I am. The evil growing in the world seeks me, not you. I do what I do for you because you have chosen to accompany me as I complete the task that is my birthright. I don't have the option of quitting: you always do. Whenever I help you, or do something for you, it is my attempt to thank you for your decision to stay with me despite the dangers we will face. It's the least I can offer in return for your friendship. Don't you understand?" she turned his own question against him.
Ren became silent, thinking about what Latias had told him. She allowed him to do so, continuing on with other matters. "Now then. We should probably take the Eon Chronicles that Eli gave us to Griffith," she said, more to herself than to her passenger. "I would imagine he has finished the saddles he was making for us by now, which should prove useful. It's a bit difficult for you to fight and for me to fly when you have to hold on to me with one arm. After that, we would obviously continue searching for the rest of the Chronicles."
Right around the time she finished this statement, she found that she was no longer flying through a snowstorm, but through open air. The change in atmosphere lasted only about as long as she could blink, as she was back in the blizzard almost instantly. However, her eyes had detected what she had flown through and the image stayed etched in her vision. She had been inside a sphere of pure air, which was housing a creature with an elongated green body, white claws on short forearms, and red fangs set in a reptilian head. Four spines swept back from that head, and a pair of black and yellow eyes had stared briefly at her as she rushed past.
She was amazed at the sight, and recalled the creature from a story that Griffith had taught her while she was still in the egg. The being was a Rayquaza, an ancient ouroboros that dwelled in the sky. Riding atop the Rayquaza, she had seen a human in shining golden armor. According to the legends, a member of the ouroboros race would only allow one very specific individual to ride it.
The king.
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