ANTHEA
The castle was in a state of frantic activity, and the broad alleyways felt narrow, with squires hustling from place to place. An unusual sight for the two, who lived on this castle ground for the majority of their lives. The huge castle often saw no more than ten occupants at a time round the year. Til a few hours ago, it was bustling, but now a familiar silence dawned upon the castle once again. It was not that everyone had left, but rather, everyone now congregated solemnly in the throne room. It was the day of the young boy's coronation - the day N would no longer the little boy under Anthea's care, and become her Lord. She knew that today would be coming since the day Ghetsis thrusted him upon her arms. Yet, it did not make today any less surreal.
"Raise him up to become a King," Ghetsis had ordered her, fourteen years ago today. While in name, Anthea and her twin sister Concordia were the caretakers of N, Ghetsis was the one most involved with his upbringing. Anthea saw N for a little under four hours a day, and he preoccupied himself with Pokemon, hurt from human abuse. He grew up with far greater empathy for Pokemon than any normal human. "Mummy" was the first word a baby utters, but for N, it was "Pokemon". N never did experience happiness, warmth or sunshine - he was surrounded with pain, death and sadness.
In spite of the queerness of the child, Anthea loved him. N was so kind, so gentle to the Pokemon he lived with. He could talk to them, understand their shrills, although Anthea was sure that making meaning from their pained cries only deepened his agony.
The two continued along the crumbling castle, moss lining its aged walls, delighting in its darkness and dampness. They now hold their final task as N's caretaker - to escort him to the throne room, where upon the coronation ceremony occurs.
Concordia opened the door. N's room was beautifully decorated. There was no other room in the castle that had colours beyond grey and gray. In fact, it was adorned with striking primary colours. Perhaps with N's coronation, this colour would spill, and drench the castle, then the world with his vivid ideals.
N was stroking the forehead of a Lilipup. The poor Pokemon had arrived a few days ago, brought in by one of the knights who saved it from abuse. From an unhappy household and whipped brutally, its scars burned raw. The severity of its injuries necessitated treatment before it could return to the wild and such a job always befell N. It was a job he took on to remind himself the cruelty of this world, Anthea was sure. No one hurt more than N when it came to seeing Pokemon in pain, but he was always in the front-line.
The boy turned, his eyes meeting Anthea. May the hopeful innocence, the youthful idealism in his eyes never fade, she thought.
"It is time. I have to go. But soon, very soon, I will save you and everyone else. I will free you from your misery. I will remove the chains to your shackle. I will return you the life you ought to have, but was so cruelly taken away by selfish humans."
The green haired boy joined Anthea and Concordia by the doors. As Anthea shut the door, she watched as the injured Lilipup tried to limp and follow N, but to little avail. N wanted to turn back and help the Pokemon up, but Concordia instantly reached out her hand to block his way.
"Once your ideals prevail, you will save not just this Lilipup, but every other Pokemon in this world. Sometimes, the little things you desire have to be sacrificed for the greater good, N."
"The greater good…" N murmured as he turned his back on the Lilipup. Anthea watched as he grits his teeth, murmur an apology before storming ahead.
The footsteps of N reverberated throughout the castle. For the Plasma squires and knights that congregated in the throne room, it was the coming of their King. To Anthea and Concordia, it was the boy's resolute ideal to free Pokemon. For N, it was a symbol of his powerlessness.
The Sages by the door of the throne room greeted N with solemn respect. With some effort, they opened the huge ornate doors ushering the three into the throne room. Anthea and Concordia retired to the side as N sauntered in, slower than his usual pace. This would be his first time in the throne room, his first time in such a crowd. It must all be so new to him, and perhaps he is pausing to realise what it means to be King. To be responsible for everyone here in this room, and to lead them towards his ideal of Pokemon liberation.
Ghetsis stood by the throne unflinching as he watched his son climb the stairs to reach him. On his hands, a golden crown, on his face, a grin. Ghetsis was her father, but her memory of him had been few and poor, and his grin, his grin gave a shiver down her spine.
"Natural Harmonia Gropius," Ghetsis called the boy, soon the King
"Yes," N answered.
"Are you willing to accept our ardent dreams in making the world a better place? Are you willing to lead us against the naysayers that will stand before us?" Ghetsis raised his arm dramatically, before lowering and presenting the crown to N, "Will you accept this crown, and henceforth be the Lord we loyally serve?"
"I will do everything in my power to fulfil our common ideal of Pokemon liberation."
"Very good," Ghetsis grinned. N bowed, and Ghetsis rested the golden crown upon his head, "Lead us into a hundred victories, Lord N."
What followed was the cries of the fervent squires and knights at the gathering.
"LORD N! LORD N! LORD-"
The boisterous chant died down the as Ghetsis raised his arm, calling for attention. As a grave silence returned to the throne room, Ghetsis began to speak, "And so today, our struggle will truly begin. We will emerge - no longer a fringe group, no longer a small, hapless organisation. With our Lord, we will alter the course of history. We will enlighten Unova of our cause while our Lord searches for the power of the legendary dragons to destroy whoever stands in our path. Our time is nigh, fellow knights and squires. This is our moment in history!"
"If N is going to be travelling around Unova…" Anthea murmured under her breath.
"You want to follow along, don't you, sister," Concordia interjected, "I think that is unwise, no matter how much you love him. He is now our Lord… And to awaken Zekrom, that is his own task, and no one else's."
"But…" Anthea had her reservations about sending N into Unova. He had never been out of the castle grounds, never seen how Unova is truly like. Knowing so little, she worried about his safety. Furthermore, she was deeply suspicious of Ghetsis - she did not know what he was planning with N, but she knew it was nothing good.
"I won't stop you if you do, however. And if you do, care for him twice as much, as if I was there as well."
"Thank you. I will heed your advice nonetheless, and I will only observe him from the side, to step in only when necessary…" Anthea excused herself, hurrying along the long alleyways, back to her room. If she was to leave this castle and watch over N, she had to prepare much in little time. Anthea herself knew little of the world outside, but to protect this boy, her Lord, she had to leave.
A/N:
Pokemon Black and White has, perhaps, the best story in the series. It has a lot of themes within the story: family, love, trust, suffering, destiny, idealism, etc. When I replayed the game, I was frustrated by how underdeveloped it was (but then I reminded myself it was a video game, and one for kids at that). This made me decide to write an attempted novelisation of the game to develop the story and its characters further. I was enchanted by how equally "right" each character in the game was, how each of them could take the place of the main character - and poof, the idea for this fic came. The story will be told from multiple perspectives, and will detach from the game's narrative over time, with the story plot acting as a crutch.
A slightly ambitious project, and my first too. Hopefully it doesn't die. Updates might be scarce initially since I am in the midst of my exams, and I am writing to escape. If you have a moment to spare, do drop a review, a comment, or a thought. It would be very much appreciated! Thank you for reading!