It feels like its been forever since I've put up a story even slightly related to the Soul Etude ( previously Strangers in the Night) Storyline. One of the previous years for Valentines day, some may recall I made another story, A Lover's Lament which referred to a letter 30 years prior. This story is the event 30 years prior. This was similarly meant to be for Valentines day, but I didnt finish it in time.
There is actually slightly more that happens at the end of this, but for the sake of respect, they won't be added, even though it leaves the Ganon/Laura side of events slightly unwrapped. The pieces that happen aren't entirely necessary, although if enough people want the extra piece added, I'll make it into a second chapter.
LG.
### Notes ###
Italics are thoughts, used rarely.
Ganon/Garren are the same person, one for the actual name, the other is his public name.
Similarly, Laura/Lauren are the same person.
Alex/X are the same person, Alex being his chosen name, and X being Razor's project reference of him.
Alex does not know that Laura is a Latias, but he does know Ganon is a Latios.
= A Lamentable Oversight =
Rain. Pattering at the windows, rattling against the doors, even if by some chance you missed the ruins, missed the festivals, missed the monolithic centrepiece, the one thing in Oapert City you couldn't miss was the rain. If it wasn't raining, it was snowing. If it wasn't snowing, it was raining. Just such rain was pelting down today, running down a window, behind which a certain red-haired girl was watching out forlornly. The rain wasn't anything new to her, in her year of living on this island; she'd grown used to its frequent visitations. Her anguish was more earthly-bound.
"Lauren, you're missing out on your own birthday party." A youth called over. She glanced backwards briefly, before returning her gaze out of the window. The twenty-eighth of January. For her species, birthdays were nothing to celebrate, and up to a few years prior were more of a curse than a boon. Up until they were 13, Latias' were kept in the comparative comfort of the Nursery. Each birthday was just a step closer towards being forced into the real world, and potentially under predation from the Rayquaza. Still, these humans had a more jubilant view of the occasion, and having accidentally let the date slip, in her position she was expected to throw a lavish and crowded party in her own honour. Of course, in fitting with her guise she'd arranged one, and considering it was only her seventeenth, it certainly lived up to the standards of elaborate; she'd hired the reception hall of the most prestigious hotel in the city, the Park Plaza. The guest list was filled with some of the most influential members of the city, even a Frontier Brain had turned up. However, it was one name on the guest list that was the main cause of her current mood.
Alexander Darcy was a somewhat enigmatic member of the city. Whilst he was a legend in the opera world, that was the extent of public knowledge about him. Up until two years ago, he had been an unknown, appearing apparently from nowhere, and even now where he actually lived wasn't clear, although it was assumed that due to his fame, he lived in some secret penthouse, one even more exclusive than the one 'Lauren' lived in.
In truth, Alex lived in neither the grandeur nor comfort the gossips accused him of. His choice of abode was an out-of-service iron foundry located on the city's border, taken out of commission by both the loss of demand for in-situ iron and by rising levels of toxicity. As such, it was extremely undesirable, and his highest bid of zero was enough, which included the building, the grounds, and all of the equipment. Since the 'purchase' two years ago, he hadn't made any real changes to the building, still sleeping in the dilapidated offices overlooking the factory floor, falling to sleep to the rattle of a diesel generator.
As for why he was absent from the party, he'd have been waiting there for an hour previously if he'd remembered, but recently, he had a lot of things on his mind. First and foremost, his pet project, Lana. Then there was practicing for the current Opera, Sanctity of Heart. And then further to those two, there were the frequent attempts to capture him from Teams Rocket, Magma, Aqua, and Strato, The Kid's Grid, and finally Razor itself.
The party would probably hit the newspaper in the morning, Laura thought to herself, looking back over the hall as the Mayor toasted his glass against another partygoer's, his face already gaining a red hue and his merriment unambiguous. Reluctantly pulling herself away from the window, she wandered across the room, smiling sweetly to well-wishers on the way, and even enduring an awkward hug from the Mayor.
"Happy Birthday Lauren." He slurred, patting her on the back considerably harder than a sober man would, knocking the air from her lungs "Swellegant party you've arranged, you do the town proud with sharing the gaiety with the world. And the bubbly." He took another swig from the glass, draining it and swapping it for a fresh glass from a passing waiter, "Wonderful."
She forced the grin wider, so much as to look sickly sweet. She disentangled herself from him politely, but rapidly, and made a light curtsy.
"I'm glad you enjoy it so much your Honour." She replied, again as politely as she could bear, "But I shouldn't keep you, so by your leave."
The mayor gave a drunken smile, and gestured that she was free to continue, and after another formal curtsy, she continued across the hall, clutching herself tightly and making a face as though sick once out of earshot of the Mayor. Quickly moving through the rest of the crowd, she stopped at the far side, stopping to take several deep breaths. What humans found appealing about these huge parties escaped her, she definitely didn't want to be stuck with an eighteenth birthday party on this kind of scale. Moving along the edge of the room, she took a seat at the edge of a bar she'd arranged to have set up. Folding her arms, and resting her forehead on the countertop, she sighed again, breathing slowly. Her main reason for having this bar arranged wasn't to get her guests as bladdered as possible, but more a way of getting in a useful friend of hers who wasn't quite in the same social elite. She smiled, for the first time genuinely this evening, when she heard the footsteps behind the counter, and the quiet squeak of a glass being cleaned.
"A Vodka and Red Bull, Garren." She said quietly, a guilty smirk on her face as she lifted her head to look at her barman. He narrowed his eyes at her, pausing with his cleaning. Behind Laura, the crowd began to suddenly fall silent, all turning to look at her. Annoyingly, this was a very common phenomenon whenever she tried to order that particular drink, and she glared at her guests angrily.
"Come on. It's my birthday. I want a birthday treat." She called to them. Collectively, they held their breaths, the eyes turning to Ganon. He simply looked back down at Lauren, squeaking the glass in his hand once.
"It's your heart. It works best when it's beating." He countered. The crowd laughed, before continuing the hubbub of the party before. Lauren scowled in their direction, before returning her attention to the barman who'd shown her up.
"I thought only Club Granite did that when someone asked for that drink." She muttered angrily. Ganon sniggered, and put the glass away, sitting on the opposite side of the counter.
"Well you shouldn't make presumptions about the intelligence of the city. It's quite common knowledge that one drink is enough to kill you."
"Made common by you…" She replied tersely, scowling at him, "If you won't serve it, I'll find some place out of town that will."
"Which is a four hour round trip by monorail just to get to the mainland and back, then even longer to actually find a bar that will serve you."
"Oh shut up with your logic." She said, slumping on the top, "Are you getting me a drink or not?"
"Depends what you order."
"Then just a cola since you make such a fuss over me and alcohol."
"Coming right up."
"And whilst you're at it, can you ring your brother and get him to hurry up?"
Behind the counter, Ganon scowled. X. She'd invited X to this party. Whilst that would have been good news that it would bring him out into the open and make his capture more likely, such a public confrontation was something he was keen to avoid. Amidst the confusion of trying to recapture someone that had set themselves up as a celebrity, he could either escape, or worse still, one of the other teams could take advantage of it and snare him. Then X would invariably be used as a bargaining chip against Razor.
"Lauren, I have told you plenty of times. He is not my brother, I do not have his number, and you shouldn't attract his attention." He replied curtly.
"Stop being so aggressive about him, Garren." She growled, blushing slightly. Gossips had already started spreading rumours of certain things between herself and Alex, and commenting on how they'd make a cute couple. The legendary battler and the legendary opera star, two people who had been unknowns until so very recently, and rapidly shot up the social ladder and wealth charts. Further to that, they'd been seen together often in comparatively romantic areas of the city, and a paparazzi claimed to even have photographed an almost-kiss between them.
"Girls like you shouldn't hang about with low-lifes like him." Ganon muttered back angrily, "Think of him what you will, but I know him-"
"Like a brother." Laura interjected, sipping the cola in protest.
"He's not my brother. I know him, and he's certainly not the angel everyone cranks him up to be."
"Look, do you want me to quadruple the amount of money you owe me?" She said, raising an eyebrow at him threateningly. He gulped.
"I'll be good."
It was probably ironic, but Alex found the iron foundry strangely calming today. It may have just been from a longer than usual day practising at the opera-house, or a very close encounter with Moxis, but the old anvils and smelters really seemed to sing home today. He breathed deeply, immersing himself in the soft notes that resounded from them as the drafts in the rafters played them like giant instruments. But regardless of the pleasures the music brought, they paled in significance to the real reason for the spring in his step. According to the sensors, Lana was going to wake up today.
Moving between his steel behemoths, he was humming a tune from the opera he was going to be performing. It wasn't a piece he was actually due to sing, but he liked the melody anyway. It was a jolly little tune, unusual for opera, which mirrored his optimism. Whenever Lana was awake, he was there for every second of it, never permitting himself relief until she lapsed back into the coma that made up the majority of her existence. Like him, she was the product of science, the imperfect art of cloning. He'd built up a replica of the machine that made him, having literally known it inside out, and used Lauren's DNA to produce Lana. It wasn't entirely theft, since he'd used a hair she'd left on him when she hugged him… once… but he stood by the logic that since she seemed to show no interest in him as a partner, that rather than encroach where he wasn't wanted, he'd make a copy of her to dote upon instead. However, underestimating the energy requirement, what he produced was incapable of supporting its own life. He thought it abhorrent to discard her over such triviality. Rather than try again, he'd kept her on life support ever since. And every moment he was with her he knew it was the right choice.
He purred to himself softly as he saw her section of the building ahead. He'd cleared it especially, firstly to actually fit the machine that made her, and secondly to provide a clean space which more closely resembled a real home rather than a dilapidated factory. The bed she rested on was a medical pod salvaged from the trash of a Pokemon Centre, a glass case curving over where she slept. Smiling, he sat down next to the bed, and raised the cover off it. She was still asleep, the dreamless slumber that was always so enticing to him. By comparison, she was free. She wasn't pursued by various organisations that wanted to steal the technology to produce their own clones. She wasn't expected to sing in front of thousands on a daily basis in the Culture season. And she didn't have to think about what other people thought of her. Because there was only one person. And she knew what he thought, because he told her constantly. He loved her, plain and simple.
He leant onto the edge on the bed, propping himself on his elbows. For a second, he moved his hand to stroke her cheek, but decided against it. Only with her permission, he'd always promised her.
"CONGA!" Someone shouted as a fast Latin beat started playing across the hall. Amid the hoard of whooping, and vague lines forming up, Laura sighed.
"I'm never hiring a DJ again." She confided to Ganon, who'd settled to simply sitting behind the bar instead of cleaning glasses. He nodded.
"You should have made a list of which songs you wanted him to play then." He said, nodding to the youth that had been arranged, who looked like he was having a fit constantly by the way he manipulated the disco machines.
"I didn't ask for advi- HEY! WHAT THE HELL?!" Laura screamed as the person at the back of one of the passing conga lines grabbed her wrist, and yanked her off the seat. The girl grinned at her.
"It's your party! You have to conga!" She tittered. Laura made a face of fear, quickly scanning the rest of the floor to see who had yet to join the conga line. The mayor was one of them, and he was making a wobbly way across the hall towards her, obviously intending to be behind her. She made a pleading face to Ganon.
"Garren! Join this line now!"
"But I-"
"Or I'll never let you off that debt!" She practically screamed. Ganon jolted in alarm, and vaulted over the bar, standing behind Laura. Laura glanced backwards at him in earnest.
"Hands on my waist." She demanded. He complied reluctantly, and Laura let out a small sigh of relief, "There is no way I'm letting the Mayor's hands anywhere near my butt."
Ganon looked over at the Mayor, who was still making a drunken lurch in their direction. Laura coughed to get his attention back.
"Don't even think about enjoying this." She warned, wiggling slightly to emphasise what she was talking about, "Or I'll charge you for what Isaac thought you owed me money for."
"How about I pinch your backside then, if you're going to accuse me of the crime?" He teased, moving one hand down less than an inch. She swung a foot backwards, hitting his toe with her heel.
"You even think about it, and I'll put my stiletto through your foot." She hissed. Ganon immediately put the hand back up to its appropriate place, but he still screamed suddenly. The Mayor had just clamped his hands on his buttocks.
Alex began to smile as Lana's eyelids twitched lightly in front of him. He leant closer to her ear, softly purring a special little song he kept just for her. Again, a small twitch, this time now with a small smile settling on her face. The sheets rustled as she shuffled slightly, and finally, the moment Alex always adored, she opened her eyes slightly, slowly blinking until she could see again. Still crooning his little song, Alex moved up so he could look into the amber eyes he adored. She smiled back up at him more, and sighed.
"Hi Alex." She said, her voice slightly croaky and little more than a whisper, but one that made his heart melt regardless.
"Hello Lana." He whispered back, raising his hand up towards her face. She closed her eyes, and lifted her chin, allowing Alex to stroke the side of her face, purring to him as he did so, "How are you today?"
Still purring softly from his caress, she looked back up at him again.
"Mmmmm… I'm good."
Alex smiled again, and leant forwards to rub his nose against hers gently. As much as he'd love to sweep her up in his arms, she was a frail creature and if he wasn't careful, he could easily do her severe damage.
"Glad to hear it." He said softly, pulling away from her face slightly, simply looking at her face. It wasn't the first time they'd just spent the time gazing into each others eyes, his red eyes and her amber ones, but the affection in them never dimmed. Bringing his fingers under her chin, he stroked her again, eliciting another purr.
"What do you want?" He asked her tenderly. She murmured something vaguely, tried to raise one of her hands. Alex took a sharp intake of breath, and immediately took hold of it with his free hand, "You don't need to move… please, save your strength, love."
"Alex…" She replied remorsefully, "Please. I want to touch your face too."
Alex smiled at her simple request, and rested his head on the edge of her bed for her to touch. He hummed and closed his eyes at her caress, nuzzling her hand lightly. With his eyes closed, he couldn't see the brief look of desperation on her face.
The Mayor staggered back, clutching a bloodied nose, in front of an absolutely livid Ganon. The entire hall had stopped completely, and with the exception of Laura, had all backed off from the action. One of the Mayors' aides ran into the space, offering the hobbling man some support. The aide glared at Ganon indignantly.
"You sir! Do you have no shame?!" The aide yelled at him, "You have just physically assaulted his grace, an official dignitary representative of the Oapert City council. Who the hell do you think you are?!"
Ganon took a step forward, to which the aide pulled the Mayor away backwards, fearing another attack. Snarling, Ganon responded.
"I'm Garren Darcy." He declared, "I am 17 years old, and hail from Cemusem. I am a barman for Club Granite, and an acquaintance of Lauren Snow. I was invited to help serve drinks, and not so some old pervert could get two handfuls of my backside."
The crowd gasped at his accusation, looking over at the assistant, who was beginning to go red in the face from the awkwardness of the situation he was being forced into.
"I'm afraid you are mistaken, his grace is a pillar of moral strength and would never-"
"For goodness sake!" Ganon bellowed at him, turning around, "He's left massive handprints on me! That's evidence enough!" He turned back to face the junior, "He was aiming to cop a feel of Lauren in the conga, but because this moron is trashed, he got me instead."
"Enough of your drivel sir, you have clearly drunk too much. Lauren, if it's not too much hassle, could the bouncers you've arranged remove this poor excuse of a barman from the premises?"
Ganon blanched, and looked back at Laura behind him. Oddly, she simply gave him a reassuring smile before returning her attention to the helper. Within moments, she had crossed the distance between them and backhanded him across the face with enough force to turn his head.
"He has more right to be here than you." She said calmly, slapping him back the other way, causing him to clutch at his face.
"But Miss-" Another slap.
"Shut up. Get you and your paedophilic Mayor out of my party."
"But-" His face was becoming raw from the ferocity of the slaps, which wasn't helped by her adding another one to those now.
"OUT!!!" She screamed at him, before looking around the rest of the room, and flicking a hand down to a pokeball at her belt, "The party is over." She called over the rest of the hall, earning quite a few disapproving sounds from those attending, but the threat of her setting her Pokemon on them suppressed any violent dissent. His pride hurt, the aide began the process of dragging the Mayor towards the doorway, whilst various other small groups began to detach as members started to go home. Taking Ganon's arm with her free hand, she pulled him back over to his bar to make sure one of the leaving parties didn't drag him out with them. She sat on one of the stools, and gestured for him to sit on the one next to her. He shook his head.
"He grabbed really hard, there'll probably be bruising." He mumbled. Laura sniggered.
"Better you than me." She laughed, giving him a playful shove, "But seriously, thanks. At least now I have an excuse to get rid of everyone at last… I think I deserve a Red-Bull and-"
"No."
"Oh come on."
"You're too cute to die." Ganon replied without thinking. Laura gave him a curious look, causing him to notice what he'd said, "I meant-"
"Shush." She said, putting a finger over his lips and smirking, "I'm just playing with you. I know you won't serve it."
Ganon raised an eyebrow at her comparative timidity, unused to her being so… friendly. She removed the hand from his face, and leant back onto the counter.
"Why did you attack him? Besides the grabbing?" She asked, "Normal people in your position would have just gritted their teeth and endured it."
"Would you?" He replied. Laura simply beamed.
"Great minds think alike."
Lana was enjoying petting Alex, but even so, she couldn't bring herself to mention their imminent parting. She had fooled the sensors that read her life signs that she was in a stable condition, but the truth was she was deteriorating, and she knew Alex didn't have the ability to keep her alive much longer. She'd mustered the last of her strength to be able to be awake up until the moment her organs finally caved in to the relentless weakening. She sighed sadly, which Alex immediately picked up on. He jolted upright, and immediately scanned over her, looking for anything that had caused her pain.
"Did I do something wrong?" He asked in earnest, looking into her face. His heart literally broke as he saw tears in her eyes, and he leant down to kiss them from her cheek, "Please don't cry, tell me how I can help you."
Lana smiled up weakly at him, and with a lot of effort, lifted her hand straight off the bed and placed it on his shocked face.
"Alex, I'm sorry I hid this from you." She blubbed, curling the fingers around the back of his neck for support, "But I didn't want you to get upset over it."
Alex faltered, lost for words at her sudden outburst of both movement and despair. He placed his hand over hers, and rubbed his face against it gently.
"Lana…"
"Alex… please… can you do me one favour?" She asked.
"Whatever you want." He answered immediately, meaning every word.
"Promise?"
"I promise." He said. Lana smiled again, and gave a contented sigh.
"I want you to pick me up, and let me stand with you." She said. Alex gawped at her, his mouth hanging open in shock. He was tempted to argue, but he was entirely aware he had promised her it. Leaning down, he placed a hand behind her back and another under her knees, gently turning her until her legs would lie over the side of her bed when they were released. Slowly, he lowered her legs until her feet touched the floor. She smiled up at him reassuringly when he stopped to ensure he hadn't caused her pain.
"Please hurry." She whispered, and after a brief delay, he nodded. Leaning back down to her, he draped one of her arms over his shoulders, and slipped his arms around her back. Slowly, much too slowly for Lana's taste, he arched back until he'd pulled her back upright. Her legs wobbled from the newly realised weight on them, and she leant forwards on Alex for her support, wearily wrapping her other arm around his shoulders. She smiled against his chest, nuzzling him softly.
"Thank you." She purred to him happily. Keeping one arm supporting her back, he brought one arm up to stroke the messy hair running down her neck.
"Lana… you're dying…" he whispered, "You should save your strength."
"No Alex…" She sobbed, in some pain, "I wanted to be able see you one last time."
"But I never finished reading Romeo and Juliet to you…"
"You never would finish it, you bean." She laughed weakly, "But I can imagine it would be something like this." She wrapped her arms around him slightly tighter, burying her face in his chest. Alex whimpered, and similarly embraced her, wordless.
For a few minutes, they simply stood there in each others arms in the abandoned factory, Lana quivering slightly from exertion, and Alex's tears getting her hair quite wet.
"Alex?" She said quietly, lifting her head wearily, "I know I've already asked a bit much of you today, but will you kiss me?"
He looked at her through tear-blurred eyes, and their gazes met again, those beautiful eyes that he couldn't say no to, even if he'd wanted to. Slowly, he moved the hand on her neck back to her chin, and lifted her head slightly.
"I'd be honoured to." He said, slowly leaning forwards. She smiled, and closed her eyes, her lips parting slightly as they neared. He paused less than a centimetre away from her, waiting for just a second when her breath caught, before taking her lips softly with his. It wasn't an electric kiss, but she tasted sweet, although the tint of pears drew a tear from his eye. She shuffled against him awkwardly, her ability to stand wavering, and he felt her tentatively licking his lips.
How on earth does she know this kind of thing? He thought to himself as he mimicked her action, the kiss descending into a more passionate affair. She was purring and moaning in his mouth, and Alex couldn't honestly say he wasn't either. Regardless how much they didn't want to accept it, some part of them knew this was the only kiss they could ever share, and each tried their hardest to make every ounce of love they'd ever known between them show in it. However, limited by Lana's rapidly failing body, and the need to breath, their kiss was cut far too short. Breaking the kiss in a strangled whine, she panted loudly, now utterly reliant on Alex for support. He whimpered to her again, nuzzling her reassuringly.
"Alex… another promise…" she said, a blush rising to her face. Alex hugged her closely enough to feel her heart beat through her chest.
"Anything." He responded in little more than a whisper. Lana smiled into his embrace, burying her face into his shoulder.
"Find the other me… make her happy." She said, squeezing him as hard as she was capable of, tears staining the front of his shirt. Alex made an anguished squeak in his throat from the gesture, and kissed the top of her head softly.
"But I love you." He whispered, another tear running down his cheek and onto her hair.
"We love you too." She replied shakily, grasping the back of Alex's top in her hands, determined to hold onto him for as long as she could last, "You gave me life. It's only fair I can give you a life back. You need someone."
Alex felt his fists clenching behind her back in resentment. She was right, but he still wanted that someone to be her. For one simple error, he'd cost himself his best chance of happiness.
"You'll find her. I promise." She whimpered again, her body no longer able to produce any tears. His own tears were more fervent now, falling freely. He took a deep breath through her hair, her familiar scent tearing at his heart.
"I wish I hadn't underestimated the power." He wept, his body shaking is distress. Lana sighed again, feeling her grip falter.
"Me too." She said almost imperceptibly, kissing at his shoulder since it was the only thing she had time to reach, "I love you, Alex."
If Alex made any more intelligible sounds, they were lost to the lump in his throat, emerging only as desperate squawks. Against his chest, he could still feel her heartbeat.
Bah-dum
Bah-dum
Bah-dum
Bah-dum
And then came silence.