Counterbalanced – Chapter 27

Panting heavily, Alex leaned against the cold wall, cursing his low level of energy.
He wouldn't even have thought about resting two years ago, but the fire's smoke had damaged his lungs and throat, enough for him to be out of breath after a good run, and it annoyed him to no end.

While he was working hard to regain control over his lungs, his eyes studied the people out on the wharf.
Then, slowly breathing in through his nose, he re-read the note he was holding.

'Prime Pier.

- Nicholas.'

The small piece of paper had been cruelly crushed in his hand.

It wasn't even addressed to him, but the light blue ribbon that had been elegantly placed beside it spoke a million words.
It was Yena's, and she was in serious trouble. He'd resisted the strong urge to smash everything in Nicholas' tent to bits, and had started sprinting towards the wharf immediately after reading the note.

His panicked mind raced for a way to find out exactly what was going on at the Prime Pier.

...

…

Yena struggled to wake up.
…Was she even asleep?

…

A strong gust of cold wind made her skin crawl, but her arms refused to pull her jacket closer.
In fact, none of her limbs responded to her wishes.

…

After a while, she began to realise she was standing up, not lying down.
The autumn wind was now constantly present.

…

She blinked, and was surprised to discover that her eyes had been open all this time.
The things she saw weren't coming through at all.
Worried, she focused on looking at what was in front of her.

…

The wind was ruthlessly blowing in her eyes.
She had to repeatedly close her eyes, and open them again.
She felt like she was surrounded by a thick layer of mist.

…

As in a dream, she heard people talking nearby.
She couldn't quite understand what they were saying, until one of them raised his voice.

…

"There!"

…

More sounds were coming through now.
Was that… the sound of the ocean?

…

Her lips formed words as she tried to speak, but no sound came out.

…

A familiar voice from the distance.
Calling out.
Her conscience slowly floated to the surface.

…

Voices, voices.

…

There was a hand on her arm.

…

Someone was screaming…

…

Wake up. Wake up. Wake u-…

...

The cold wind went right through his sweater, tugging at his trusted black bag hanging over his shoulder.
But he paid no attention to it, and kept a steady pace as he walked down the Cruise Dock pier.
He clenched his fists as he stared at the next pier in the distance, to his right.

The Prime Pier.

There was a small group of people standing at the end of it.
It had been two years since he'd seen Nicholas, but Alex instantly recognised his brother from afar.
The tall man was looking at Castelia City, until one of his men spotted Alex.

"There!"

The word was carried over the dark water by the wind.

On the next pier, Nicholas immediately turned his head.
It was too far for Alex to see his expression, but he could hear the grin on his brother's face as Nicholas yelled:

"Look at you…! No wonder we couldn't find you…
And you took a wrong turn somewhere! Why don't you come over here instead?"

Some strong language from Alex' side told Nicholas exactly how he felt about that plan.
Nicholas had now fully turned around to face Alex.

"Mind your language! Or have you forgotten why you came here?"

He gestured at someone standing at his right side.

Yena's blond hair was wildly blown around her head as she motionlessly stared in his direction.
Alex ground his teeth as he spotted Hypno, keeping a close eye on the girl he hypnotised.

"She has nothing to do with this! Wake her up and let her go!"

The wind blowing in his favor, Nicholas' smooth voice easily flew over the wild water.

"She has everything to do with it! Without her, you wouldn't be standing there!
Now I suggest you get yourself over here… How do you feel about taking the shortest route, distance-wise?"

Alex breathed in fast as Nicholas placed a hand on Yena's arm, gently guiding the hypnotised girl towards the edge of the pier.
Her face remained motionless as the tall man placed her in front of him, her toes already over the edge.

"Don't…! She'll drown! She… She can't swim, Nicholas!"

Nicholas' reply was merciless.

"Better get over here fast, then. Fetch!"

One gentle push was enough to make Yena step over the edge of the pier.
With a splash, she disappeared into the dark water.

Alex was now screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Nooo…! Nicholas, you…!"

But there was no time for shouting obscenities.
Alex flexed his shoulders, making his bag fall on the ground behind him.

Then he ran up to the edge of the Cruise Dock pier, and dove.

...

The shock of plunging into ice cold water was the last thing Yena needed to fully wake up.
She gasped as the water closed over her head, but there was no air to breathe in.

Nearly choking on the salty ocean water, she struggled to not let panic take over.
Broken out of her hypnosis, she discovered she was back in control of her limbs, and started to wildly claw her way back to the surface.

Yena coughed and gasped as she reached the open air.

Where was she? What happened?

Her head refused to give her answers, and the ocean gave her no time.
The wind made strong currents in the ocean water, and she was shocked to find that she had drifted away from Castelia City.
She couldn't remember falling into the water, or anything leading up to this.

There were people on the pier!
She tried to call out for help, but a wave overtook her.

She had to swallow a mouthful of ocean water to make way for air as she re-surfaced a couple of seconds later.
She eagerly gasped in the cold air, before another wave went over her head.
The breath she had taken was hardly enough, and her lungs were screaming for more.

She waved her arms, instinct made her legs move, and she was rewarded with another chance to breathe.

But the cold water made her movements sluggish, and the lack of air made her dizzy.
Struggling back to the surface became more difficult every time she did it, and every time a wave smashed down on her, she felt like it might be the last time she'd seen the cloudy sky.

…

…

Then, a hand grabbed her jacket near her shoulder, and pulled her up to the surface.

Yena coughed as her body tried to get rid of the water in her lungs, and she desperately clinged to the person next to her in the water, who had immediately started swimming back to Castelia City after getting a good hold of her.
After fulfilling her lungs' primary need for air, Yena started to cry in relief as she recognised Alex.

Trying not to pull her friend down, she did her best to swim along.

Alex was a good swimmer, but not powerful. Their progress back to the piers was slow, and Yena could tell he was tiring fast.
Feeling terrible to have put him into this possibly fatal situation, she made a couple of attempts to speak.

"A-… Alex…"

He tightened his grip on her.
His reply was weak, and she could tell he was almost completely out of breath.

"Don't… Don't let go. I'll get you back there…"

Despite the fact she was barely able to move her cold hands, she tried to get a better hold of him, placing one hand around his arm, the other on his shoulder.
She coughed again.

"I'm sorry, Alex… I sh-shouldn't have meddled with y-…"

But another wave towered over them, and both of them needed some time to get back in the rhythm of swimming after getting back to the surface.
Panting heavily, Alex did the best he could to say:

"My… My bag. It's… still at the other pier… And… If you see a chance… Run for it."

"R-right."

They were now getting closer to the Prime Pier, and Yena could hear sneering remarks being made as Nicholas and his men watched them approach.
One of them had lowered himself on the small ladder on the side of the pier, ready to grab them.

Seeing Nicholas somehow cleared Yena's mind.
She was cold, tired, and had lost all sense of direction. But in the last couple of minutes before they reached the pier, clinging to her mysterious friend, Yena remembered the last things she and Nicholas had said to eachother, on Central Plaza.

"He doesn't know I'm here, so he won't come looking for me."

"Ha! I don't think you two know eachother as well as you'd think."

Thinking of that moment triggered something in the back of her mind, as if a hundred puzzle pieces suddenly started to form a picture.
Scenes from her time with Alex flashed by in her head, and led her to one conclusion…

He was clearly keeping something personal to himself.
What's the type of secret he could keep by constantly pushing people away like he had done?

…

His smooth way of climbing trees and fences.

…

Professor Juniper's words to Alex:

"What have you done to yourself, walking around like that?"

And later:

"You can't keep hiding like this forever, you hear me?"

…

Tauros examining Alex before deciding to go with him, and his contant protective behavior since then.

…

Alex fiery arguments, as he convinced her to free the Pokémon from the enclosure:

"Why don't you try and live on the wild side of life for once?
And don't you dare to say it's not for girls, because that's the lamest excuse ever."

…

Nurse Joy's surprised look in Striaton City as Yena informed how Alex had been doing.
She had changed something on the night nurse's form, as if a mistake had been made.

…

Talking to Alex after the nurse had changed his clothes.
He had looked like he expected her to say something more…

…

Quinn warning her about Alex in the gym:

"There's something about him that's just… off."

…

Alex' words as he panicked before going to Castelia City:

"They've always thought so anyway, made the same mistake…"

…

Him being unwell for five days, and pressing his hand on his stomach.

…

Alex not doing well in all-male units, before finally settling down in a mixed one.

…

The Gray Guardian's dance teacher, saying:

"Have you seen him move in Chase's classes? That boy has a natural grace..."

…

One of Nicholas' men, yelling:

"She's standing right there! …Don't stand around! Get her!"

They had pointed in Yena's general direction, but…

…

"He doesn't know I'm here, so he won't come looking for me."

"Ha! I don't think you two know eachother as well as you'd think."

…

As Yena came back to that last moment, Alex' secret dawned on her.
After the smoke damaged his windpipe two years ago, his voice had lowered, sounding hoarse and raw.
With a nasty attitude, people wouldn't want to look into you too much.

…The circumstances were perfect for someone wanting to hide.

As the last minute before they reached the Prime Pier counted down, she pulled Alex closer.

"Alex…"

He must've sensed it was something important, because he turned his head to look at her.
His facial features were more refined than Nicholas'.

She knew his answer before she had even asked.

"Alex… You're a girl, aren't you?"