"Come life or death; rain, fire or snow; an unbreakable connection will always bring you home."
"You talk about me like we've met before."
Protector of Silence
Special - Chapter Twenty-Seven - Hajime and Owari
Sunrise was coming. Hajime could tell. The sky was no longer dark and pale colours were leaking like ink into the cloudless sky. Sitting on the grass at the edge of the lake before the castle, he watched the colours reflecting off the water, the ice having melted for the summer, and making the sky seem endless.
Hajime flinched as he heard something whiz by within an inch from his ear. An arrow embedded itself in the soil near his knee, quivering for a few seconds from the impact of being launched into the ground. Hajime growled as he heard chuckling behind him.
"Watch it!" he spun around, one fist clenched "You could've kill me if you hadn't missed!"
His best friend came down the slope slowly, slotting his bow into his quiver. He sat down and plucked his arrow from the dirt.
"Nope, I didn't miss" Owari grinned obnoxiously "I aimed for there. If I wanted to kill you, we wouldn't be talking right now."
Hajime rolled his eyes. "Alright, Mr Cocky. Maybe we should all start calling you Sir Robin Hood instead."
Owari grinned at that, but then realised Hajime was just joking.
"You meanie!" he slapped Hajime on the arm "You can be real mean when you want to be Haji!"
"Coming from the one who just smacked me?" Hajime raised an eyebrow.
Owari opened his mouth to argue, but decided against it, seeing as Hajime had never lost a battle of words in his life.
"Well at least I'm not as violent and blood-thirsty as you are" he retorted instead.
"Come on Owari, you're hardly a pacifist" Hajime grunted "You'd probably make a brilliant swordsman if you put your mind to it. I could always talk to the Master about it."
"Nah, archery's for me" Owari shook his head "I don't really like getting my hands dirty."
Hajime rolled his eyes and grunted: "Of course you wouldn't. Plus you're just plain lazy. Archers barely do anything."
"Actually, Hajime, you'd be surprised by what archers are capable of doing. They're agile and their arrows very rarely miss."
At the sound of the new female voice, Hajime and Owari both tensed. They turned around in their seats, but they didn't really need to. They knew that voice as well as their own, the third of their trio friendship.
"Lady Clara!" They both attempted to jump to their feet, but just ended up bashing each other's forehead and falling to the ground again.
The twelve-year-old princess, a year younger than the two them, giggled, her pale-blonde locks jiggling as she did so.
"I wish you two wouldn't call me that" she sighed, kneeling in the grass in between them "It gets tiresome with everyone else."
"Of course, sorry Lady Clara...sorry! Not-lady Clara!" the two boys both said. The fact they said it all in unison started the giggling again.
"Oh! I made you guys something!" Clara gasped, fiddling with her sleeve. Her dresses had no pockets, so she always carried things in her sleeves. They were too big for her anyway.
"Lad... I mean, Clara, you didn't have to" Hajime told her.
Owari shook his head at his friend furiously, his eyes gleaming at the idea of a present. Opportunist.
From her left sleeve, which was a pretty silvery-blue colour like the rest of her dress, Clara produced two bracelets. Both had one charm on: a raindrop. One raindrop was blue, the other red.
"Here" Clara pressed the blue raindrop bracelet into Hajime's palm "These stones once came from one gem. As long as you have one, you're part of an unbreakable chain."
She slipped the red one onto her left wrist.
"Yeah, love's all around" Owari sighed dramatically.
"Oh! Sorry Owari!" Clara gasped just as dramatically "There wasn't enough enough to make three!"
Owari snorted and prepared to get up. "Oh, alright then! If that's how it's gonna be! We'll leave and you can just go back to...brushing your hair, or whatever it is you do all day!"
Before he could leave in a huff though, Clara pulled him back down again.
"I'm just kidding Owari!" she laughed "Here!" From her right sleeve, she brought out a third bracelet. He cheered up again and accepted it from her. He rubbed the yellow raindrop between his fingers, almost thoughtfully.
"So, where did you get these stone from?" Hajime asked.
Clara raised hers up to the sky so the sunlight shone through it and made it sparkle like a real raindrop.
"My nurse gave them to me" she explained "She said it was rumoured they all came from a sacred crystal. Because they all came from the same gem, they are drawn to each other. And therefore, if you have one of these gems, you'll forever be tied to the others." She smiled "An unbreakable connection."
For a few seconds, no one spoke, as if they didn't know what to say after this, but, as always, it was Owari who broke the silence.
"So, these bracelets will keep us together, like, forever?" he asked, then grinned "That's so cool!"
"Sounds a bit bogus to me" Hajime muttered, staring at his bracelet.
"On come on Haji!" Owari rolled his eyes "Have faith in something for once! Anything that keeps us together forever has to be good, right?!"
Hajime put on a small smile and nodded. "Aye."
"Aye?" Owari blinked "Who are you, Blackbeard? Is that any way to talk in front of a Lady?"
Owari gestered dramatically at Clara. Hajime burst out laughing at the irony of Owari's statement, considering Owari's usual language whilst around...well...everyone.
"Together forever" Clara sighed, looking at the growing sun rays caught in the red gleam of her charm. Then recited what appeared to be a poem: "Come life or death; rain, fire or snow; an unbreakable connection will always bring you home."
For the life or him, Solomon couldn't understand how exactly he had got into this situation. The last thought he could confidently remember was answering the door whilst in the middle of his grammar homework. A petite blonde of about his age was standing on the doorstep, giggling like an obnoxious schoolgirl. She had been holding a tray of cookies...or was it flapjacks? He couldn't remember, but he was sure she'd been wearing oven gloves.
"Hello!" she giggled "My family just moved in next-door! I'm Caitlin, but everyone calls me Caty!"
Solomon's life went on a downwards spiral from there. It continued when Caty came over to his house EVERY DAY! Then, when he went back to school, he found she was now starting in his class. It wasn't that Solomon didn't like Caty, he was actually secretly glad to have someone who considered him a friend and not the 'emo kid in the back of the classroom who actually goes the work set'. It was just, she could be so...annoying. Annoying to the point where he debated whether he should start training the family Growlithe as a guard dog.
And to top it all off, Caty loved adventure. She was always charging off into the woods to find new Pokémon to play with or get bitten by. So, one day, out of the blue, she suddenly came out with:
"Have you heard of the legend of the ghost of Smoke-Stain Mountain? The legend of a mountain climber who lost his wife so climbed up into the caves and was never seen again? You have, that's great! (Gasp!), I have the most amazing idea! How about we climb up Smoke-Stain Mountain and see the ghost! The tales we'll be able to tell the others at school! Oh please Solomon, pleeeeeeeeease!"
Which is why poor Solomon is halfway up a mountain on a sweltering hot day with his dark-brown hair and itchy clothing glued to his skin and his eyes virtually closed from exhaustion. Meanwhile, Caty of course is skipping ahead, not at all bothered by the weather and singing a merry song whilst Solomon is pitifully moaning about becoming his shirt.
"I can't believe we're actually doing this!" Caty squealed, which Solomon had to agree with "This is so brilliant!"
Solomon snorted, grunting: "It was still brilliant forty-seven times ago, Caitlin."
Yup, that's right, Solomon still didn't call her by her nickname. Why? Well I think the answer's pretty obvious by now.
"We're here!" Caty squealed again, now stopping in front of a large cave mouth.
'Thank Arceus for that!' Solomon thought with a gasp.
He achingly forced his steps to quicken so within seconds he was standing beside Caty, although he was sweating buckets and taking long gasping breaths.
However, when he turned towards the cave, he really wasn't very relieved. It didn't have a 'Do Not Enter Unless You Want Your Mangled Corpse To Be Discovered' sign above it, but it should.
"Come on!" Caty, of course, didn't read the non-existent danger signs practically bordering the cave mouth. So she grabbed Solomon's wrist and dragged him into the cave. "We're going to see the ghost, aren't we?!"
Solomon was inclined to snap:
"No, I don't want to be here and this is darn-well dangerous and stupid."
but before he could say anything, they were both plunged into darkness. Solomon was determined not to be freaked out, but he was only ten and his voice had risen to an almost girlish pitch.
"C-Couldn't you have brought a torch?!"
"No silly!" Caty giggled as she dragged him along through the blackness "We're meeting a ghost! Ghosts don't like light! Do you want to scare it off?!"
'Yes' Solomon was tempted to say.
But in the end, he decided it was better if he just kept his mouth shut, or Caty would start complaining and they'd be here even longer.
"Here Ghosty! Here Ghosty Ghosty Ghosty Ghosty!" Caty began calling like a child might call for their puppy "We're not afraid of yooooooou!"
'Is she for real?' Solomon thought, sweat-dropping.
But he wasn't doing that for much longer.
They had apparently reached the back of the cave. It was almost round, and for the first time Solomon realised just how narrow the passage they had just come through was. But that wasn't what was crazy: it was the fact there was a heap of sand in the middle of the floor of the cave that looked flattened like someone had lain on it multiple times and fastened to the wall were two burning torches. And they were lit!
'That means someone was in here not long ago.' Solomon swallowed as he thought this. Now clutching Caty's hand like it was a lifeline, they took a few steps forward, huddled together. Solomon had suddenly forgot how hot and tired he was; now he was feeling extremly cold.
'We need to go' he thought, pulling Caty backwards a step.
She seemed to understand, not saying anything, but beginning to turn around with me.
"Well, that was easier than I thought."
Solomon swore he nearly had a heart attack. Standing behind them, just over a metre away, was a boy their age. His dark hair was ruffled except for two long locks coiled around his ears. His dark blue eyes were like the ocean: pretty to look at but deep enough to drown in. His nose and cheeks were slightly freckled whilst his face reflected the torchlight, his skin resembling something close to copper. Solomon and Caty were both small for their age, but this kid seemed to loomed over them, aided by their fear. But that wasn't what really scared Solomon.
'He couldn't have passed us in the corridor, and he didn't follow us up the mountain. But the room was empty before. He just...appeared. He just APPEARED?!'
Caty took another step forward, still holding her companion's hand, her face set and determined. Taking a shaky breath, she asked:
"Are you the ghost of Smoke-Stain Mountain?"
The fact she said this as if she was asking whether it was going to rain on Saturday make Solomon boggle.
'She must be a few screws short of a box.'
Surprisingly, this mysterious kid just laughed at the question.
"Nope, not me" he laughed.
Caty blinked in confusion. "Are you a ghost?" she asked in genuine curiosity.
"Me?" the dark-haired boy laid a hand on his chest "I might be."
"Really!" Caty's brown eyes lit up "That's so brilliant!"
Solomon had really no idea what to say, or if he should say anything at all.
"What's your name?" Caty pressed on
"My name?" the kid asked "It begins with an O."
Solomon blinked, not exactly getting what 'O' was hinting at. 'O' then looked directly at him, making him feel almost uncomfortable.
"Still pinning after Clara, are we Hajime?" he asked, almost in a tease.
Solomon meant to say: "Are you talking to me?"
But for some reason he didn't understand, it came out as: "How did you find us?"
'O' smiled and held up his left hand. Tangled in his fingers was a bracelet with a single charm: a yellow raindrop. Seeing that bracelet made something in Solomon lurch, but he wasn't sure what or why.
"An unbreakable connection" was all 'O' said.
Solomon gasped as he felt something in his chest start to burn, sending fire through his veins. Beside him, Caty shrieked loud enough to burst his eardrums and clawed at her ears. Her legs gave out and she crashed to her knees before falling onto her side. She had apparently fainted.
"Caitlin!" Solomon dropped to his knees, despite the pain, shaking her in an attempt to wake her "Caitlin, wake up! Caty!"
Finally, the pain became too much for him and he too fell to the grounds but before he passed out, he was sure he heard 'O' say:
"I'm sorry, Haji. Don't remember me."
Solomon and Caty couldn't remember much of that incident when they woke up. They remembered going exploring and meeting someone, but they couldn't remember who. This memory blank puzzled them greatly, and no matter how much they tried to move on from it, they found they couldn't. They certainly couldn't remember the person's name.
Surprisingly, this had a dramatic effect on their friendship. Caty seemed to become...less wild, to Solomon. It was almost like she didn't want any more adventures after that. And Solomon seemed to stop being so uptight to Caty, like this adventure had taken a massive weight off of his shoulders. They both changed, but for the better.
Years later, when they were teenagers and looking forward to the best part of their lives, they like to sit on Solomon's front porch, looking over the valley at the sunset, thinking about their strange encounter on Smoke-Stain Mountain. It was the evening before they were due to leave home, their last sunset together as children, Caty said something that surprised Solomon, but seemed to almost make sense to him.
"It starts with an O."
Changhyi had been expecting a normal night, just walking down the Castellia City streets. Though that did depend on your definition of normal. Changhyi's version of normal was a bit loose.
Sang-Min was at least a building ahead, not thinking of the consequences of waltzing like a girl through the darkest of the Castellian alleys. Ae-Cha, the only female of their group, was not helping by skipping along beside Mr Catastrophe-In-The-Making - i.e. her brother - giggling and smiling, holding the hem of her dress with one hand. Personally, Changhyi thought she looked stunning in it, but there was no way he was going to tell her that. He didn't want things to be awkward between them at this Christmas/birthday party, it wouldn't be fair on Eun - the birthday girl. So he kept quiet and just walked along behind them, grumbling about how sure he was that Sang-Min was going to get hammeredtonight and wake up with a splitting headache. And of course Changhyi would be the one dumped with the responsibility of taking the idiot home and having to bare the brunt of his 'migraine temper' when he woke up. Yup, the benefits of crushing on your best friend's sister - she's too cute to say no to.
This is Changhyi's normal.
This however, isn't:
"Last time I checked the carol went: 'Tis the season to be jolly'."
Changhyi turned around again. Leaning against the wall of an alley, just visible in the beam of a light above a doorway, was a boy. The dim light meant Changhyi couldn't see much of him, but he wanted to take a guess that the not was younger than him and had dark hair.
"I am jolly" Changhyi grunted "My version of jolly."
"I see" the boy, definitely younger than Changhyi's eighteen years, hummed "You used to say that a lot."
"Used to? I don't believe we've ever met before" Changhyi blinked in confusion, now completely ignoring Sang-Min skipping along like a schoolgirl whilst positively screaming 'Ding Dong Merrily On Hiiiiiiiiigh!' - an act that would normally annoy him beyond his wits end.
"Not in this life" the boy shook his head "But in many others."
As the boy shook his head, Changhyi caught a brief glimpse of his face. He was surprised to see the boy couldn't be older than eleven, since it was unusual for kids that age to talk to eighteen-year-olds in dark and potentially hazardous alleyways.
"Huh?" Changhyi blinked again "Not in this life? You're not making any sense."
Instead of trying to make some thing make sense to Changhyi, the boy went off on a different tangent. "Her name is Ae-Cha? Right?"
"Ae-Cha?" Changhyi repeated "What about her?"
"You like her, right?" the boy prompted, causing Changhyi to shamefully blush "Seriously, three lives later and you're still head-over-heels with her."
That turned the embarrassment into utter confusion. But before Changhyi could ask though, Owari asked his own question: "And you haven't told her?"
"What, are you my relationship counsellor?!" Changhyi finally had enough "What do you know about love?!"
"Plenty" the boy folded his arms, still leaning against the dirty wall of the side-alley "Having to coach you in telling Clara your feelings was tiring and I swear you shaved off at least three years of my original life."
"Clara?" Okay, now this kid was really not making any sense.
The boy's face fell, as if he had just realised this.
"Oh...she's not called that anymore..." the boy smacked his forehead "Stupid Owari! Stupid, stupid, stupid!" He then looked up at Changhyi again. "Sorry to have to do this again, old friend."
"Huh? What do you...?"
"CHANGHYI!"
Changhyi jumped and whirled around to the right. Sang-Min was rushing...er, galloping towards him.
"Sang" he sighed "Don't you have the brain capacity to walk normally like regular people?"
A hand came into sharp contact with his arm.
"Don't be mean about my brother, Chang!" Ae-Cha shouted at him. But her pretty grey eyes told him she was only joking.
"Who were you talking to?" Sang-Min asked, still bouncing up down in hyper-ness. Did he have ADHD? Maybe.
"Me?" Changhyi blinked "I was talking to...er..."
He trailed off and tried to remember what had happened just seconds ago.
Blank.
Nothing. Nada. Zero.
'What just happened?' he thought 'Was I talking to someone?' He looked down at his watch and his eyes widened 'I lost five minutes? FIVE whole minutes?! What happened in five minutes?'
"Hellooooooo! Chang?!" Changhyi blinked and realised Sang-Min was waving his hand in front of his face.
"Has he zoned out again?" Ae-Cha asked, shouting genuinely concerned.
"Uh huh" was the stupid blond's reply "He's a lost cause, sis."
Changhyi battered said stupid blond around the head.
"You know, Sang, I'm not against abandoning you whilst you're still sober!" he warned.
Sang-Min grinned and took off running down the alley. Finally! He moves normally for once!
"Come on!" Ae-Cha giggled and wrapped her friend's wrist, dragging him around behind her "Let's have some fun."
He nodded and pushed the strange memory loss out of his head in an effort to having some fun at Christmas with his best friend and her moron brother.
"Yepamundo!"
Ugh...stupid Sang-Min.
Night had fallen on Olivine Beach. Whilst the town was still lit by the few lights still not turned off for the late evening, the beach was only illuminated by the stars, the moon and the twirling beams of the lighthouse on top of the cliffs.
Standing on the crystalline shore, a figure could be seen, a black dot on the white sand. He wore a long black cloak, but the hood of it was pulled back, so his pale slightly-freckled face could be seen. His dark-blue eyes, ruffled dark hair and the loops of hair coiled around his ears made it clear who he was.
Owari was a still as a statue, not even twitching. He didn't move until he heard footsteps in the sand behind him and he half-turned towards the noise maker. This person was dressed in dark colours too, black jeans and an indigo hoodie, but his face was hidden by the hood. But anyone who lived in Olivine would know this person simply by his stature, his gait or (in Owari's case) his scent. The blue light encased within the stranger's body was unmistakable too.
"Finally" he breathed "I didn't think you'd ever find me."
The stranger shook his head lightly, allowing the hood to fall behind his neck, revealing sandy-blond hair, glistening green eyes and a tanned youthful face with a darkened expression upon it.
"You didn't exactly make it easy, Owari" was the stranger's reply, eyes locked on Owari's cool-as-a-cucumber form.
"I don't tend to give myself away without one earning an audience" Owari now frowned "Sorry, I don't know your name this time. I should've done more research. I take it you're not going by Changhyi anymore."
"No, I have never been called Changhyi" the stranger grunted "Most call me Helio. Helio Primo"
"Helio - sun" Owari's eyes trailed from Helio's sandy-blond hair to the star-speckled sky "I suppose it works."
"What works?!" Helio demanded.
But instead of answering, Owari asked another question:"Do you have any friends?"
"Of course I do!" Helio shot back.
"Name them."
"What? Oh fine! Jake, Callum, Lucy, Devon..."
"Laura?"
Helio flinched at the name.
Owari smiled. "Oh, so I got it right this time. No more double-barrel names."
"Shut up!" Helio spat.
Owari recoiled at the violent reaction. "Why, something happen to her?"
Helio looked away with a hiss. "She moved away. To Blackthorn City."
"Oh" Owari nodded "Don't worry, you'll find her again. You always do."
"What do you mean?" Helio blinked "And why did you need to see me, whoever you are?"
He removed from the front slip-pocket of his hoodie a wad of pieces of card, each one written an instruction with pale-blue pen and signed with the name 'Owari'. The one on top, the most recent one, read:
Olivine Beach. Full moon. Meet. ~Owari~
"You actually followed them?" Owari raised an eyebrow "You've never followed them before. I practically stuck the last clues on Solomon's forehead and he didn't listen. I had to physically appear before him and then had to remove his memories because I almost created an imbalance. Oh, you have to remind me of that, by the way."
Helio didn't understand but made a mental reminder of the little speech just spoken.
"You talk about me like we've met before" he commented "But this is the first time I've met you face-to-face."
"You no" Owari nodded, almost sadly "But a part of you I..." He trailed off. Then a distressed look came over his features. "ARGH!"
With a yowl of anger, he kicked a lump of sand into the sea, shattering in mid-air before plopping as little chunks into the calm waters. Helio jumped back at the sudden burst or anger but didn't say anything.
"Lord Arceus! I am so sick of repeating myself!" Owari ranted and raged, glaring at the moon and sea "Every time I visit my best friend, he just stares at me blankly because no matter what I try he doesn't recognise me! And he doesn't stand of chance of recognising me because after every meeting I have to forcibly remove his memories of me! I hate this! You and Clara will always be together, but what about me?! My own best friend who I've known since I was nine doesn't know me! It's torture! Every time I see you it tortures me like someone's shoved a knife through my gut! I can't bare it any more! Not in your last life!"
He took a deep breath after this outburst, as if he was drained. Helio just stared at him, wondering whether all this angry energy had come from and wondering if he should say something.
"I'm sorry" Owari apologised with a sigh "I needed to get that out of me. It's just, this is your last life, I had to see you one last time." He looked up at Helio "I won't erase your memories this time. I'll lock them away; that way when the time comes you can find me." He shook his head "Forget that reminder. Have a happy last life Hajime. I won't forget you."
PHe then turned and, in nothing but a rush of warm wind, he was gone.
Without any explanation why, Helio collapsed in the sand.
That was how he was found the next morning. People asked him what happened, but all he could say was:
"I met someone. A friend, I think."
Kellyn let out a sigh. His mind was still spinning from the craziness of the dreams he had just had, but he was oddly relaxed. He was lying on his side, the sea beating against the shore to his left. His head was on someone's lap and the same person, Kellyn was guessing it was Starlight, was soothingly running a hand through his hair. It helped the headache go away. Giving a content sigh, he didn't bother to open his eyes before sleep took him again, this time giving him normal dreams.
"A fifth life huh?"
Owari swayed back and forth at the edge of the clifftop, ignoring the banter of the troublesome students playing arm wrestling on the grass behind him. The precarious position he was in could result in a potentially fatal fall, but he knew he could vanish from this world before he snapped his neck. If death was even a possibility for him. He just hoped when he teleported he wouldn't end up in Vietnam again; they must have wanted posters up for him now. But Mexico was out of the question too. And it might be best if he stayed away from Mozambique as well. And Argentina. And Pakistan. And Ukraine...
...Come to think of it, he was running out of countries he could actually go to without getting shot on the spot.
"I might want to avoid that world, period" Owari decided out loud "Of course, knowing my luck I'll end up there anyways."
He sighed and rolled his eyes. He softened again when he looked back at the three on the beach. He couldn't help but remember three others who sat on the shore of a lake like these three. Only back then, Hajime's pride would have never let him fall asleep with his head on someone's lap.
'But those days are gone now' Owari reminded himself 'I'm no longer a part of Hajime's future.'
He slid the yellow raindrop bracelet Clara had made him off his wrist. Holding up to the fading sunlight, he smiled.
"Go" he whispered "I was never meant to keep you. Go to the one you need."
As if it had heard him, the bracelet faded out of his hand. Down on the beach, Starlight remained completely still, no indication anything had happened to him. Owari pursed his lips.
"Interesting" he muttered "And I thought..." He looked up at the sky pensively for a few moments. Then he looked at the three again and smiled. "So, I see you found your Clara again, Hajime."
Kate smiled sweetly as she ran a hand through Kellyn's hair. He always fell asleep when the three of them came down here, and her lap was probably more comfortable than the hard ground.
"He's so peaceful" she commented.
"With you of all people doing that, I can't imagine why" Starlight teased them.
Kate frowned and wanted to smack him on the arm, but that would involve moving Kellyn and she couldn't bring herself to that.
"Do you think he minds?" she asked.
Starlight chuckled. "Trust me Kate, he really doesn't mind."
"You saw what I did to Keith the other day. That was a warning."
"So you really are more violent than your boyfriend figures."
"Shut up, Muppet!"
"Yes, of course that proves your point."
"Starlight, Kate and Kellyn. The future's in your hands now. The three of us might be gone physically, but we're still there in spirit. Keep our spirits alive. I know you can do it. From beginning to end. From hajime to owari."
An unbreakable connection.