You people might have noticed that I'm not posting so fast. I was working on this huge MapleStory project, and it's pretty much done. But then schoolwork caught up. Enjoy this, anyway. If you like this, read Under the Shadow of the Sky.
No, I don't support Altoshipping. But for the sake of the plot, I had to write about it.
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My bond with my sister was unbreakable. It was something formed even earlier than our birth from the cosmos, thousands upon thousands of years ago. Her thoughts were in mine, and mine in hers—we were inseparably linked by mind and emotion, by every intention and anticipation. No matter how far apart we were, no gap separated us mentally. She was always there for me, and I for her.
We were happy, guarding our adopted hometown, walking the streets disguised as ordinary people, taking in the sights and sounds of ordinary everyday life on the water-paved roads. It was a lively world; men and women made their living as shop owners, riding their rafts upon the canals to sell goods, their shouts bringing colour to the wind. Some performed, the magical melodies and rainbow ribbons winding through the skis. But never was it silent.
Never silent. Every time I called, she would answer, without fail.
A.D. 1300
"Latias, I feel bored. Where are you?"
The sky was decorated with clouds, like white islands floating on a blue sea. Here and there, Pidgey were roosting on the eaves of square white houses, their coos somewhat soporific, as I gazed on.
"Have you seen the new clothes shop in town? These dresses are fabulous!" Latias' reply came almost instantly.
There she went with her endless talk about clothes and accessories. But that didn't matter—all I wanted was someone to speak with, in real life, or n telepathy.
"Uh…tell me about it," was my answer.
"This one is red! Beautiful scarlet! I love the silk. I am sure it will look great on me!"
"Go ahead and buy it. But use real money." I knew too well of her way of creating illusions of false money and using it to pay. My suspicions were proven right when I sensed her guilt.
"But it saves us money!" Latias replied.
I sighed and smiled. "We can earn it again quite easily, I am certain! These humans simply love our magic shows."
Life was this easy for us. We spent our time idly, for no danger had come to Alto Mare for centuries. When we could, se earned money through shows and displays. The citizens around us loved it. In our human forms, we needed all that humans needed—food, drink, shelter, clothes. Love and company. So our money was never useless, and neither was our mental link.
It was so strange, passing through the years, watching as the humans grew older, and left the world, as new humans appeared in turn. It was fascinating, for with the changes of man, came changes in everything else. Architecture was kept, but the new buildings that sprung up changed in design. The humans began to harness the Pokemon's power, and they learnt to use electricity to light their homes, not just fire.
A.D. 1990
Alto Mare had become a bright place. So many had come in from other places, and brought with them such wonderful new things. Latias and I spent more time patrolling, apart, for the population had increased at least fourfold.
Yet though we stood apart, our minds remained bonded. She always gave an answer when I asked.
"Latias, where are you now?"
I stood at the door of a small house, white with a blue roof. It was shaped very much like Alto Mare's old houses. But it was very different on the inside—in the dusky darkness, light beamed through the doors of glass that opened by themselves when you stood before them. Within it were shelves upon shelves of tins and boxes—food ready for consumption, unlike it had been seven centuries ago. They were even cooked and packaged for customers, and we had slowly followed the trends.
"The lighthouse," she replied, and there was a wave of sadness. Somehow her mind seemed more distant today.
"Is anything wrong?" I asked, certain that something was bothering her.
I heard her sigh mentally. "You know the way we…will never die? Do you ever feel lonely?"
"Yeah, I do. It's like—all the friends I've ever had are…"
"I guess." I felt her overwhelming sadness, and tears sprang to my own eyes. Just like her, to be this emotional.
And yet again, it was a valid question. We had seen so much, seen countless lives come and go, seen crying infants become hobbling old men and women. I did feel…lonely.
"Bu at least you're here," I said, after a long while of silence. "As long as I've got you, it won't be so bad."
"Thanks." It was a short reply, but the emotions that followed that single syllable told me everything.
A.D. 2000
With the turn of the millennium, the aura of evil in Alto Mare suddenly escalated. Along with the impending danger, a group of travellers arrived on Alto Mare's streets on the day of the Water Festival.
For some reason, we both knew that they were special. Our many centuries observing Man had given us sharp insight on people's personalities, and we could detect their thoughts with our psychic powers.
That day, the true signs of danger finally showed, like a barrier of safety suddenly breaking and spilling darkness on the city. The enemies, men with evil intentions, pursued us through the canals.
The travellers helped us. Our short adventure lasted a few days. How strange that a mere number of days could be so significant despite our millennia-long lives. Their help saved us, and we did our job as the city's guardians in return. But I had never known how much things would change after that.
"Latias…" I called out to my sister, though she was in plain sight. Her human form, a girl in a red dress, shifted on the bridge and turned away, gaze trained on the water. But I felt what she felt, all the same—a painful yearning, a whirl of confusion—coldness. "Latias? Why do you feel so?" She turned suddenly, sighed angrily, and ran through the sidewalks.
I could see and feel the tears in her eyes. Over and over I called, and yet she never replied—not once.
Her thoughts passed repeatedly over that boy—one of the travellers—and at once I understood. I understood why it hurt so much. For the first time, she had fallen in love, and we both knew that it was fruitless. We would never grow old. He would soon, too soon, be gone from the world, and she would forever be lonely. There was no pointing pursuing this.
But she couldn't stop feeling this way.
I stood in the midst of dawning moonlight, as Latias' footsteps faded into echoes, then nothing. Water continued to rush along the canal as I stood there, unable to help but feel what she felt, because of our inseparable minds.
My sister had closed off from me in every other way. I had called out so many times, but she had not replied.
"Latias!" I shouted once again as I followed the way she had gone. "Where are you?"
The response I got wasn't a true response. It was more like an automatic effect I triggered by saying anything to her—unfeeling, without heart, unwilling.
"Leave me alone, will you? You don't understand any of this! Stay out of my business!"
I wish I could.
Day by day, the coldness spread, holding my heart in what seemed like dormant suspension, from all her ignoring and anger. Year by year, her pain was still growing, swelling like a freezing river bursting its banks. We hardly spoke anymore.
The worst part of it was that I did understand what she was going through. I felt her every ache and longing, comprehended her regret—and she treated me as if I didn't. She was so different now, because of a useless, endless longing.
A.D. 2200
That boy was probably gone already. But Latias still felt the same. It had changed—from a storm in her heart, it had become an ice age, and she never smiled, no longer cared about all the things she once had cared about, in the earlier eons.
She wasn't the only one changing. Around us, drastic changes continued to take shape in our hometown. Metal was slowly eating the city; half of the buildings were made of metal, tall and angular with corners that seemed to scratch the sky. Every last Pokemon had been captured. The skies were filled with smoke.
I had been on a bench by the water, staring into my own human form's reflection. Then I had suddenly heard a scream of terror in my brain, after the urgent, scary shouts of men.
The fear suddenly began to flood into my heart like cold water, and I rose instantly. My heart was pounding.
"Latias! Latias!" I called loudly through our mental link. "Where are you?!"
Her reply came. "Second branch to the right, off the main canal!" That was the location of our old home, the garden! I followed her directions, racing on my human form's feet at the fastest I could.
Upon the wild, weedy grass, Latias was being held down by a group of three men in black suits, as they brought a syringe towards her neck. Her terror had rendered her completely motionless, though her unnerved fear was apparent in her expression.
"Latias!" With that shout, I bowled the syringe man over. He yelled out and fell back, syringe breaking on the weeds. The other two made a grab for my arms, and I wrenched them away with some difficulty.
"Transform," I told her. She gave a frightened glance at me, before a man leapt upon her, and she fell over.
"Alright." My sister began to glow, and at that instant, I began to morph into my true form as well.
We rose into the air, carried by our own psychic forces. They stepped back, all three, and suddenly had their Pokemon, Magnemite, at ready—to stun us.
Latias and I were faster. Light burst from our mouths, and they were blown into the canal on the power of our combined attack, splashing into the water like huge black fish. "They'll be on us soon," I quickly conveyed to my sister. She nodded, eyes still wide with shock, and we turned to fly away.
Our journey lasted just a few minutes—or a few decades—I could hardly tell. Finally, here was a chance for us to talk.
"Latias," I said as we soared beneath the stars, over the town. "I know you're still—hurt, by what happened, two hundred years ago. That—boy." She was silent, mentally and emotionally. "Thing is—I do know what you're feeling. I've been feeling everything you've felt. And Latias, I know you feel alone sometimes. But I'm still here, alright? I'll answer to your every call."
No response. Latias was silent as ever.
Sighing, I saw my temporary abode far below, and descended. I had hoped for it, but my sister did not follow. Carefully, I turned back into my human form, and crept into the alley. We had been attached today, and it didn't take a genius to know that we would be in danger from then onwards.
Then, as I leaned back on the dim rubbish piles, I heard a voice in my head. Latias' voice.
"Hey, Latios. Thanks."
There was only the feeling of calm in her heart, and I was at peace for that night.
Our old garden was torn down after that, and it made way for a huge industrial building. We lived in hiding from then on, changing homes everyday. But at least we lived together, once again.
"Isn't life good?" I commented, as we sat on the roof of a skyscraper, watching a smoky sunset, blurred so much by smoke that we couldn't make out the sun anymore. Alto Mare was a patchwork of metal, grey, black and reflective.
It looked so different from how it had, a millennium ago—I could see where the grass had been replaced by metal roofs, white houses by towering buildings.
Even to that stupid question, Latias gave a reply. "Yeah, somehow," she said. And we gazed on into our marred world, side by side, a queer feeling of satisfation remaining in both our hearts.
Hm. That was quite a meaningless piece, actually. But I wanted to try and convey the feeling of passage of time—something quite fun to do. And Latios and Latias are my favourite legendaries.