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Life with Lugia

By shadowlugia249

Author's Note: There's really nothing to say here. This is a completely original story that I thought of on the go. And that's it! Enjoy!

Have you ever wanted to take back a bad decision that you've made just to see what could have happened? I'm not talking about a simple problem such as cheating on a test or saying the wrong thing to your girlfriend. I'm talking about the really bad, "what-was-I-thinking", everyone-suffers, life-altering decisions. Ever had one of those before? I'm just guessing, but I think that there's no one in the world who hasn't had one of those at one point. Have you ever wondered what could have happened if you could take one of those back?

I have. My father tells me that the past cannot be changed no matter what you try, and I respect him enough to believe him. But even though he has never lied to me, I can't help thinking what could have happened to me if I had just left...

But I'm not complaining right now. My decision was one of those that turned out to be better for me in the end... but I can't help but shake the feeling what could have happened if I had just...

But I don't want to spoil the ending for you. Let me tell you about that one decision that forever changed my life.

My name is Johiko Darck and I used to be a collector of sorts. I was a collector of rare and spectacular items from all over the world. But my collection consisted of just one type of item - silver.

I had always been fascinated by silver and the wonders it brought to me. It sounds like a strange and expensive hobby to most, but believe it or not, I can actually afford it. For three generations, the Darck Family has been collecting silver artifacts from all over the world and it seems that I caught onto that tradition rather well. Ever since my parents passed away, I have been continuing my family's tradition of collecting silver items and storing them in our "vault".

The "vault" happens to be a closet hidden inside the crawlspace inside another closet. It's blocked by a massive state-of-the-art thumbprint scanner. Yes, I admit I spent some of our silver money, but I did it to protect the value it brought to me.

I should probably tell you what my collection consists of. Over the years, my family has collected things like: silver statues, miniature molded figurines, countless jewelry, pendants and tea sets, rare coins from God-knows-when (I haven't checked the dates in a while), silverware and eating utensils from every corner of the globe and my pride and joy - a full-length silver mirror that always seemed to tarnish when I wasn't checking on it.

But believe it or not, the only contributions I've made to this collection are a couple of bars of 99.9% pure silver that I won off of a bet with a friend of a friend of an acquaintance (don't ask). I was already 20 years old and this felt like mere pennies in comparison to the wealth that was concealed in my closet-in-a-closet.

Believe it or not, but every last cent that this silver was worth had been earned with hard work, constant vigilance and/or pure luck. My family decided back when they started their collection that they would not resort to stealing or ripping off anyone to get any one piece of this massive wealth. We had earned that stash with honor and tradition and would be forever shamed if it was breached.

Have I ever worried about getting ripped off myself? Of course I have! Not a day goes by that I don't think about someone discovering my vault and pinching every last penny I had. That's what prompted me to remove the door to the vault and replace it with a bank-standard-issue security door in the first place. I put my own life savings into protecting my stash. I'm talking insurance up the ying-yang and every security measure I could think of. I was as determined as my own parents were in protecting our heritage and continuing our legacy.

But all that changed when I took an innocent excavating trip down to the Caribbean...

I don't know what brought me there in the first place. Maybe it was Fate or maybe it was the crazy thought that I would stumble across Captain Jack's treasure. Those "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies were pretty cool and that's probably what got me down here in the first place. The sheer magnitude of the treasure I had seen in those movies sparked my interest at what kind of silver mother lode could be down here along with the not-so-important-to-me gold and whatnot.

Boy, was I wrong! I had misinterpreted the islands in the movies as fortresses built into the islands. It turns out that it was all movie hocus-pocus. The amount of effort it would take to make a fortress in these cliffs would be next to impossible. Plus, most of Caribbean Islands were flat and/or forest covered. I could find no indication that pirates had ever been here. The locals even laughed at me when I brought up the topic of pirates in the local marketplaces. It seemed that this was a wasted trip in its entirety...

...

...

...until I checked the library for information on pirates the day before I was scheduled to depart. It was a strange tome that had been buried deep inside the library.

I had never seen a book like this in all my life. Its pages were made of sheets of fine sheet metal while the cover was lined with strange blue gemstones. It looked very valuable, but according to an ancient sales tag, it was priced for $19.99 American. This was odd, even by Caribbean standards.

When I opened the book, I saw that it was completely blank! The metal pages had nothing written on them whatsoever! It reminded me of an ancient diary that had never been written in.

I should have put the book back and forgotten all about it, but something about it kept me from doing so. I brought it over to a table and began flipping through it in hopes of finding something. I counted 30 separate metal pages in the whole tome. It also didn't seem to retain fingerprints like most metals did. Unlike my prized mirror, it didn't tarnish in the slightest.

But that was nothing compared to how the pages felt. When I touched the metal sheets, they seemed to ripple with a life all their own like water. The feel of the pages was like touching soft, flexible skin. I couldn't put my finger on it (metaphorically, of course), but it reminded me of something I had seen in an old life but could remember. Strange...

As I flipped absentmindedly through the strange book, I started thinking about how my Caribbean trip had been all for naught. I had thought that there was valuable silver treasure here, but I had been mistaken by Hollywood movie magic.

Thinking about this, I tapped the page I was on distractedly. But for some reason, I received a sudden jolt from the page as if I had discharged some static electricity. Sitting bolt upright from the shock, I tried to shake the tingling feeling out of my hand, but that wasn't what was the most shocking.

At the exact point where I had tapped the metal paper, a dot of black ink had appeared as if I had dripped a pen on it. I stared at the point and watched in amazement as it started to spread all over the page. It twisted and spun its inky tendrils into what appeared to be letters and soon, words! Not only that, but a separate image had started to appear to in the spreading ink. It seemed to be an ancient map on the bottom half and an old-fashioned drawing in the upper-left corner.

I watched in disbelief as the picture in the corner was drawn into what appeared to be a massive bird flying over the ocean. It had five crudely-drawn feathers on its wings almost like human hands and it had a pointed "mask" around its eyes.

Once I had gotten over the initial surprise of this picture, I turned to the words that had appeared on the upper-half of the page. They were written in a loose, old-style, spidery handwriting that I recognized from somewhere in my mind. It read as thus:

To my beloved son,

If you are reading this, then you are alive and well. But you currently exist in a form I would find insufficient. You may not remember, but you once existed in this world over 1000 years ago but were cruelly taken from me in your egg. Now that you exist once again, I will be looking out for you so that we may exist as a family once more. But this time, you will be given a form that I will bestow upon you in due time. I will not lose you again and I will not take the chance that you will be taken from me before we meet.

To prove that you are indeed my son, I've arranged a little test to prove that you are of my blood. Below, I have drawn a map to where a token of our family lays dormant. If you are able to claim it, I will know that you are my true son. If not, then this will have all been for naught.

I must apologize in advance if the events after your trial are less than what you had hoped for. When I lost you, my soul was all but destroyed. It may take a while, but I will eventually come to my senses and we will be a family once again. Until then, please forgive any of my actions towards you that may be somewhat dangerous. Fate will make things right in the end.

Until we meet again...

The signature was not one that I recognized. It wasn't a name but looked like a pawprint with three digits on it. Whatever was telling me this complete and utter hogwash hadn't bothered to tell me its name straight up.

I was trying my hardest to understand this gibberish. Maybe I was not this person's "son", but I somehow found a note that had been sent between them some time ago. For the life of me, I knew that my father died of a brain tumor when I was six. This note was absolute nonsense to me and I knew it.

But something still bothered me. Why did this note reveal itself to me when I had touched the page? Why didn't it reveal itself to someone else? According to the note, he had been waiting 1000 years for someone to read it. Could it have really been meant for me? Nope. I knew my family inside and out and there was no one 1000 years ago that was trying to contact me.

But I still took a good hard look at the map that had been drawn out in front of me. I had a feeling that this was a treasure map that had somehow been magically revealed to me. Taking out a pen and a piece of paper, I started to trace the map.

But for some reason, I couldn't do it! I couldn't budge my hand to copy the map on paper. It was like an unseen force was preventing me from plagiarizing this ancient map. As hard as I was trying to copy the map, the force barely had to get its hands dirty to stop me. I was nowhere near strong enough to fight it.

Realizing that this map could be priceless, I decided to buy the whole damn book and take my chances with "Fate" later on. Closing the book so that no one could see the map, I brought it up to the register and rang it up. The cashier was amazed to see such a fine tome in her library but she just shrugged and took my money without saying anything.

Before I was scheduled to return home, I gave this crazy treasure map idea one shot to prove me wrong. I had already had a bad time searching for treasure in the first place, so my enthusiasm was limited. If this didn't pan out, I made a personal promise to retire from silver hunting for good. I was that disappointed with myself to make such a bold move. I would be letting my entire family tradition down and I would reach an all-time low.

But that was what I was willing to risk if this shot in the dark didn't work. I was that desperate. If this didn't pan out, it was all over. No going back. So long, family tradition.

But maybe I should count my silver before it's cashed. According to the map on the "bio-metal" pages of the book, the island I was looking for contained a cave carved into the cliffs on it. Sure enough, that was true. The island was the exact shape and scale as the one in the book. And after renting a boat to check it out, the cave was in the exact spot as the one on the map.

That was two-for-two and I was starting to get excited. But I had a problem; the entrance to the cave I was looking for was partially underwater in the middle of a series of sharp rocks. I was a fairly decent swimmer, but even I knew better than to attempt a feat like this at high tide. I decided to wait a few hours for the tide to lower before I attempted to infiltrate the cave.

During that time, I was flipping through the "Silver Tome" as I called it for something that told me about what I was about to find inside the cave. I had expected a reaction similar to what had happened when writing had first appeared on the pages, but this time, there was something written on a page that had previously been blank. It was in the same loose, old-fashioned, spidery handwriting as before, but this note had words written there that I had not written and had never been there before.

My son,

By now, you are probably thinking about how to endure my trial to prove that you are indeed my son. I understand your determination, but I must once again apologize if what happens after you acquire the item is not to your liking.

I should probably explain myself on my actions in this tome from earlier. You see, when one of us is born, we are the most vulnerable in our egg and for the first year of our lives. If it had not been for a tragic twist of Fate, we would be living together as father and son without a second thought. But sadly, you were laid with a rare but deadly heart condition that is said to be incurable in common society.

It is called "HBD". It destroys the heart by attacking its own cells to cause violent heart attacks that can be devastating to the body. If I had only known that you had had this heart condition, I would have done everything in my power to cure you before you hatched. But sadly, my determination to be your caretaker clouded my judgment and you died just minutes after you emerged from your shell.

I will never forget the feeling of my son passing away in my arms. For over a fortnight, the heavens rained down the tears of my grief. I went into a state of depression that seemed endless. In the end, I had all but forgotten who I was or who you were.

But there is a new hope for the two of us. If you can prove that you are indeed my son, we will once again be the family I tried to start so long ago. My life will be complete and you will finally remember who you once were. And not only that, but our family may expand slightly if all goes well. I will not tell you anything more; you will have to figure it out for yourself.

Good luck...

The same paw-shaped print took the place of the signature. I still thought it as odd that someone would sign with a mark as strange as this one.

Other than the fact that it seriously creeped me out, I found it to be a very good read. This book was obviously meant for someone who had tried to "prove themselves" ages ago and I just happened to stumble upon it. But I still couldn't shake the feeling that it meant something to me in particular. Try as I might, I could not remember having a life other than the one I was living right now.

But that didn't mean it wasn't true. All my life, I have been haunted by a massive figure in my dreams. The being inside the Dream World would appear for a few fleeting instants and then disappear as swiftly as it came. I had a feeling that it was watching over me, but I just wish that I could have seen what it looked like - even a shot of its face - so I could understand it better instead of waking up countless times in frustration.

However, if I'm awake and I have some serious time to think, I can hear a distant voice in my head followed by the look of two blue lights. Johiko... my son... why...? Why did... you die...?

I know - creepy. I think that it was my father before he died, but something else disagreed with me. It didn't sound like his voice and I had heard him plenty of times before he died when I was six. I've even heard his voice on countless home movies that my mom took before she died of cancer when I was 19. No... there was something different about that voice. I could not place it with any person I had ever met in my life, but it still scared me every time I heard it.

This brought me back to the second note. Was this story really meant for someone else or was it really and truly meant for me? I thought about it for longer than I did last time, but it still came across as nonsense.

I now turned my attention back to an image that I had overlooked when I read this note. There was a chart that had been drawn on the liquid-metal page that hadn't been there before. It looked like a strange, circular drawing with... wait... ten... twenty... 60 lines lining the outside of the dial. Every five lines, there would be a larger line like an intermission in the sequence. And there was one red line on the whole drawing. And all around the inside of the drawing were more lines with a symbol that looked like a sun in the same peculiar position as the one in the sky. On the bottom half, though, was a moon-shaped symbol that was not in the sky at the moment.

I was unsure what to make of this symbol when I suddenly saw it move! It was brief - very brief - but the red line on the 2:00 position had just shifted one place. As I looked at it for some time, I saw it again! the entire circumference had just shifted another position.

Now sure I wasn't seeing things, I was filled with a query. Could this be some kind of clock? I looked at my own watch and compared it. Believe it or not, but I had one of those fancy analog watches that showed you the time, the date and the approximate position of the sun in the sky. At night, the moon would take its place. Against all odds, my watch was almost identical to the design in front of me. It was a few seconds fast, but the minute hand on my watch was in the exact same place as the red notch in the design. What's more, the sun was in the same place as the one on my watch - about 5:11 in the afternoon. That confirmed it - this was a clock.

But what was a working drawing of a clock doing in this book? I leafed through the pages to find a second note. This one was short and appeared to be typed instead of written.

Evening's first light at Midsummer's Night. The way to the key will be revealed.

From what I knew of Midsummer's Night, it was not in the middle of the summer like you would think. It is actually on June 23 - the same day as the first day of summer. I don't know the logic behind it, but that's how it worked.

Doing the quick math in my head, I realized that it was 6:00 on the evening of the first day of summer. And wouldn't you know it! That was today in exactly... 45 minutes and 32... 31 seconds!

Now seriously freaking out, I slammed the book shut and looked at the break in the rocks with bated breath. This was too coincidental. Everything seemed to be working in my favor. That scared me a little and I really started reconsidering going on this little treasure hunt.

But I had come too far to just back out now. I was determined to see this through. It was as if Fate was urging me on to finish what I started. So against my better judgment, I waited patiently in my boat until 6:00 on the button.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing as my watch hit 6:00. The water in the ocean seemed to lower to the point where I could just motor right in without hitting anything. The rocks and corals that had blocked my way before were gone and my way was clear.

Now scared to within an inch of my life, I held the Silver Tome in front of me and stared at it.

"I don't know what you are," I said, gripping the sides as hard as I could. "But you'd better not be lying about this. If I die from this, you're getting shredded. I'll come back in the afterlife, take my shotgun and blast so many holes in you that you'll be holy in the wrong sense of the word.

Something about the book seemed to tell me that my threats were meaningless. It was as if the book knew that nothing could destroy it and was challenging me to try to harm it.

"I must be going mad," I said, putting the book down and shaking my head. "I'm talking to a book, for crying out loud!"

But right now, all I wanted to know is if this book was indeed telling the truth. I started up the motor again and slowly chugged into the opening in the cliff wall. If this was all a cruel prank by Fate, I guess I was just at the wrong end of a joke. Right now, all I cared about was getting to the bottom of this.

The tunnel that led into the heart of the cliffs was unlike anything I had ever seen before. The walls were lined with what appeared to be large, blue gemstones. They appeared roughly-cut but would fetch quite a pretty penny if someone could get them out of their places. There also appeared to be many, many silver drawings in runes that I could not identify. It appeared to be notes about something that evaded me. But even though I was inexperienced figuring out these runes, they seemed... familiar, somehow. If I could just read them, I could understand the stories they were trying to tell me.

But these runes were nothing compared to what I found when I reached the inner-most sanctum. The inside of the cave had expanded to heights and magnitudes that would rival most historic cathedrals. The walls seemed to go on forever, or at least to the top of the island. Not only that, but there were enough silver runes on the walls of this cave to write an encyclopedia. There were no pictures - just pictures that were neither Chinese nor Japanese nor any other language I could recognize.

"The entire history of the planet must be in here!" I said in utter shock. "Every moment of the ones who created this place is etched into the walls forevermore. Amazing..."

I was so immersed in the beauty of the ancient text that I was completely unprepared for when my boat slammed bow-first into a small island in the exact center of the room.

"HOLY (expletive)!!!" I yelled as I was flung face-first into the boat. Now fully aware of myself, I got to my feet and looked at what I had hit.

There was a large, circular platform in the exact center of the pool of water all around me. It was roughly as large as a trio of cars lined in front of each other the whole distance across. The innermost area of the platform appeared to be...

"Is that... a nest?!"

A massive collection of branches, twigs, seashells, seaweed and other thinks you would normally find in the ocean littered the so-called "nest" and appeared to be way too big for any bird I had ever seen and lived. It seemed to be more of a dinosaur's nest than anything else.

And there... at the very exact center of the "nest" was the item that I had been searching for. There was the one item that would cement my place in Darck family history for all time. It was so... perfect.

A large, foot-long, oval-shaped, silver stone was sitting in the center of the nest as if it was just waiting for me. Closer examination showed that it was completely flawless in every way. Its smooth, silver surface was free of taint or tarnish. The color of the stone made a mockery of every last bit of silver that I owned and would polish forever to make shine as bright. It was... perfect in every way.

To add to its beauty, a single shaft of light was shining on it from somewhere in the massive cavern, lighting the whole cave and making the silver writing on the walls shimmer. If this was a gift from God, it certainly met all expectations.

I climbed into the nest and walked over to the stone, sitting innocently in a shaft of pure moonlight. It was amazing at the detail its creator had gone through to make it completely flawless. I was sure that this was the one item that would make my family's silver collection legendary.

I reached forward to touch the shining silver stone. I just wanted to touch it - to bask in its radiance and become worthy of being in the presence of such a treasure. I just wanted to hold it and feel the pure power that radiated from it. At first touch, my fingertips just slid over its surface. It was perfect. I had never felt such a flawless surface in all my life. Then curiosity got the better of me. I planted my hands firmly on its surface and curled my fingers around it to lift it.

Bad move.

Pure, unadulterated, unnatural, excruciating pain shot through my arms and hit me in the heart like there was no tomorrow. I was hit with the feeling of every nerve in your body being on fire and screaming in agony. No mortal force, however powerful, could compare to what I was feeling. My soul was burning and my brain was screaming for release.

The sheer shock of my dilemma was too much for my voice. Not a scream escaped my lips as I underwent sheer torture. I was begging... no... pleading for release. I wanted it to stop. I wanted to remove my hands from this accursed stone and run far away from it, but my hands would not move. It felt like they were welded to the stone's surface and would not let go. Please... make it stop... let me die... please...

I was in so much pain that I was staring to hear things. Somewhere deep inside my mind, a memory snapped and I heard a voice call out to me like a plead of its own.

My son... take it... lift it... and you will be... complete...

My body was fighting every effort to remove my hands from the stone's surface. I was going to go insane if I didn't listen to the voice. Summoning every last ounce of my physical strength, I yanked the stone from its place and the pain suddenly stopped. I, however, did not. I had yanked it with such force that I tumbled backwards, tripped over the nest and fell back in my boat. But that was not the end of my journey.

I could see an infinite whiteness expanding from me. Clouds and stars wheeled overhead and I knew that I had died. I felt weightless as if I was being lifted straight off my feet and a figure appeared in front of me. I still could not make it out, but it had a feeling of comfort about it that I trusted. It was so... peaceful. It held out its hand and I took it in my own. I felt a surge of energy flow through me that I could not explain. And to top it all off, a voice spoke to me from the heavens:

Well done... my son...

That was the last thing I ever remembered.

When I finally woke up, I found myself in a bed that felt strangely familiar. It was the curves and bends in it that were similar to mine and the blankets I was under were so comfortable. It was as if I was in my own bed...

...and I was! I recognized the surroundings of my own room and the comfort of my own bed. But how was this possible? How could I have traveled from the Caribbean all the way across the country to my own house in the time I was unconscious? It was as if I had never left.

I didn't understand. the last thing I could remember was lifting that silver stone from its nest and then blacking out. How could I have gotten here from the Caribbean without regaining consciousness? It just didn't make any sense. Was it all... a dream?

Getting out of bed, I immediately stepped on something round and smooth and slipped, falling back onto my bed. The item in question went rolling off to one side as I got up again. What the hell was that?! I got to my feet without any problems this time and looked at the item that had tripped me up.

"No... it's not possible! I'm seeing things!"

The silver stone that had nearly killed me back in the Caribbean was sitting next to the wall, looking innocent. I was sure that I wasn't seeing things and I was clearly awake. And yet, the stone was sitting there as if it had been there this whole time.

I walked over and picked it up again. This time, it did not shock me and I was able to get a feel for it for the first time. It was considerably lighter than I had expected. It only weighed about ten pounds when it looked like it should have weighed 50. Silver is very heavy and a lifetime of handling it has told me how much each item should weigh in correlation to its size.

Also, there was something different about it. Tapping my knuckles on it, I heard a hollow thock, signaling that it was indeed hollow. This was odd since it seemed completely solid to me.

Casting aside my suspicions of how I had gotten the stone from the Caribbean to Minnesota without any memory of it, I got dressed and went to go schedule an appointment with my local appraiser. She had done countless appraisals with my family and she had guesstimated every last cent of value for the past 5 years. It was only recently that my mom was persuaded to use an appraiser. She felt that she knew the value of our silver collection by heart. She had been completely unaware that the items we had in our collection were worth no less than $750 million American. Nice, huh? I was amazed myself when she gave us the total value. And at least my mother was able to die with that figure in her head before her cancer caught up with her.

But this stone was clearly the heart and soul of my collection. I suddenly felt rotten for trying to put a value on it. It was clearly priceless and I realized that I would never sell this stone for all the money in the world. I ignored the phone and went about my normal day. Acquiring the stone had given me a new lust for gathering silver, so my first stop was the Internet and the amazing inventories of uBid.com (I don't believe in eBay).

That night, I went to bed deep in thought. There were some silver miniatures that I had found that I was brooding over. I wasn't sure if they were the right ones since I hadn't checked my stockade in a while. In the morning, I planned to check my vault to see if the miniatures were the right ones to add to my collection, but right now, I just wanted to go to bed.

I laid the silver stone on my bedstand wrapped in a cloth. The shine that radiated from the stone in the moonlight was amazing! I had had to cover it up with a black cloth to get it to go out. And once I was in bed, it took only a few minutes before I was yet another visitor in the Dream World.

I was standing all alone in a white void that seemed to go on forever all around me. I was confused as to why I was here. Normally, my dreams are filled with images of my life that somehow are translated in the Dream World, but I was completely unfamiliar with this unusual white mist.

I started walking, but I didn't get far before I heard a thunderous voice calling out to me.

THIEF!!! FILCH!!! BETRAYER OF HUMANS!!!

An incredibly powerful psychic voice was venting its incredible anger at me as if I had taken something from it. The sheer power coming from it hit my brain like a gunshot and I dropped to my knees in pain.

Where are you?!_the voice continued to call. _What have you done?! My precious egg! You stole it from me! You are a THIEF!!! I will find you, you traitor! I will destroy you for the sin you have done!

I tried to run, but then I felt that the figure could see me if I did.

Your efforts to run are futile! I will find you and you will pay for your treachery!

I stopped where I stood and tried covering my ears, but the sheer hatred and anger was still getting through.

Where are you, you filch?! When I find you, not even the gods can protect you from my wrath! You cannot escape me, traitor! I will_find you!!!_

"Please... make it stop," I said meekly, tears trailing down my face. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. Please... don't hurt me." The angered figure was taking a lot out of me and I couldn't keep up my fight much longer. If I didn't wake up soon, it was going to destroy me under its power.

Suddenly, a massive shadowy figure appeared in front of me. It stood over 15 feet tall and its eyes were ablaze with blue fire. There was nowhere to run anymore. It had found me and I was going to die here and now.

But just as it raised its arm to strike me, a second force came out of nowhere and blocked it with an equally-powerful force. I couldn't see who it was, but I was grateful for its timing. My energy was spent and I dropped to my hands and knees. I had a few fleeting seconds to look at my savior, who resembled the figure somewhat and hear its words of comfort.

"Forgive my father... I will protect you... Skyle..."

But these last comforting words were not enough for me to sit bolt-upright in bed, panting heavily. What the hell was that all about?! I felt as if something had tried to kill me in my dreams but had been thwarted at the last instant by a second intervening figure. I had a feeling that if it hadn't come along, I would have died in my sleep.

I was suddenly scared for my life. I was this close to dying in my sleep and it was by a twist of Fate that I had been saved. What was I going to do? From what I knew of dreams, if you went back to sleep shortly after the nightmare, it was highly likely that you would have the same one again. I didn't want another experience like that, but I was too tired to resist it. Looking at my clock, I panicked when I saw that it wasn't even midnight. If I went back to sleep now, I had almost eight more hours of torture to endure.

On a hunch, I turned to the silver stone on my nightstand. Somehow, it had given me comfort when I had held it this morning. I was hoping that it would pass on the same comfort again... but it wasn't there!

The stone was missing from under its cloth and it was certainly not in my room. It struck me as odd that it would just vanish, but a sudden clattering noise brought me to my senses. It sounded like something heavy rolling across my hardwood kitchen floor.

Climbing out of bed, I went to investigate. Sure enough, when I reached the kitchen, I could see the stone sitting in the middle of my floor, glowing brightly in the moonlight. Now breathing a sigh of relief, I went over to pick it up.

"How did you get out here? Are you magic or something?"

But as soon as I bent down to pick it up, the stone rolled away on its own accord just out of my reach. Not only that, but it had emitted a loud squeak sound before it parked itself in front of my sink. Now confused, I went over to try to pick it up again, but it rolled away again just when I was about to grab it.

"Since when does silver have a mind of its own?" I thought out loud.

Trying once again, I inched towards the stone carefully, but it appeared to be reading my thoughts and rolled at the same speed as I was moving. I moved in a slow circle and the stone did the same. It let out another squeak and stopped when I did.

Deciding to try to outsmart it, I turned my back on it and whistled casually. The stone sat there, unsure on what I was planning. It squeaked again and rolled close to me in curiosity.

Bad move.

Like lightning, I pounced on the stone and grabbed it with both hands. The stone felt outsmarted and started to shake violently in my hands. I was doing my best not to drop it, but the stone was putting up a pretty good fight. The squeaking inside it grew louder and more rapidly as I wrestled with the stone. It brought me to the ground, but I held on tight to it as it struggled to get away. I got to my feet again and was about to stuff it in a bag that I had when suddenly...

Crack! Crunch!

The stone stopped struggling and I was greeted by the sound of something cracking. From the moonlight in the window, I could see that a hairline crack had appeared in the stone. It spread about three inches lengthwise from the center of the stone and I stared at it in disbelief.

"Okay... it fights... and it's breaking. What else can it do?"

A few more crunching sounds echoed in my quiet house and the stone now resembled a spider web with the cracks all around it. I was at a loss for words when the stone suddenly fell apart in my hands, leaving something small, wet and cold in my arms.

The thing seemed to uncurl itself in my arms and it squeaked again. It looked at me with narrow, navy-blue eyes and I realized for the first time that the "stone" had been an egg! And whatever was inside it was sitting in my arms. Careful so as not to hurt it, I set the creature down on the floor and went to turn on a light. After getting over the initial glare, I was able to get a decent look at the creature.

The creature reminded me of a baby bird, but something told me that baby birds were not two feet from head to tail and covered in what appeared to be silvery-white skin instead of feathers. I was sure that normal birds did not have long, flexible tails as pronounced as this one and they certainly did not have two navy-blue spikes near the tips of them.

As for the creature's wings, they looked like large, flat flippers like a marine mammal's own. It also had four flat, rectangular feathers on the ends of them with a fifth one under them like an opposable thumb. They looked like human hands, but the "fingers" were flat and the "thumb" was under the palm.

The bird-like creature also had a set of no more than ten rectangular, navy-blue "plates" lining its spine. It also had a round/V-shaped sky-blue mark on its massive belly. As for its feet, they looked more like a dog's digitigrade feet instead of scaled bird's feet. There were no claws and there were only three toes on each foot.

And at the end of a long, slightly serpentine neck was a head that was pointed near the top and had a curved beak that seemed to blend with the rest of its face. There were two small, pointed fangs on the upper and lower parts of its maw and what I saw on its face nearly took my breath away. It had the most adorable narrow, navy-blue irises I had ever seen and surrounding them was a pair of pointed, navy-blue growths that looked kind of like a mask. The whole thing was about a foot tall and about 18 inches from the tip of its head to the tip of its tail.

The "bird" was not so much a bird as a god in bird form. It was as graceful as it was adorable. It was as powerful as it was defenseless. And it was as majestic as it was cute. Finally, it hit me what this all meant:

I was a father!

The adorable creature had been looking at me this entire time without moving. It eventually grew bored and started walking around like a robin - one foot in front of the other with its wings at its side, bobbing its head curiously as it walked. The baby creature was taking interest in my kitchen and everything it could reach (which wasn't much). It sniffed my table and tried gnawing on it with its beak. I was sure that it wouldn't break it with its small mouth, but the sound of wood crunching underneath its bite pressure was enough to make me go over to it and pull it away from the table. It gave me a look that seemed to be more curious than annoyance. It finally took time to look me over.

As it looked me up and down, my mind was suddenly filled with a medley of mixed emotions. I couldn't understand them, but I knew that they did not belong to me. I then figured that they belonged to the creature and it was somehow projecting its thoughts to me.

After it was done examining me, it smiled and let out a squeal that sounded like, "Yaaa!!!" and walked over to my legs before rubbing its neck on my bare skin. It was unbelievably smooth and somehow, it felt familiar as if I had had this same sensation before. I just couldn't place where I had experienced it before.

It squealed and purred as it rubbed its head against my leg. It seemed to take a particular interest in me and it soon backed up a few feet before looking straight up at me with an innocent look on its face.

"What?" I said, taken aback by its cute expression. "Are you... do you think... I'm your mother?"

I had thought that this would go unanswered by the creature, but I was caught off-guard when it actually nodded! It was like it had understood me!

"You're really something else, you know? I wonder what I should call you."

"Ya! Bra! Br-r-r-r-a!" It sounded like it was trying to talk to me but couldn't quite get the words out. Meanwhile, my mind was filled with a static that I could not make heads or tails of.

"I think I'll give you a name just for tonight. I have to get back to bed." I thought for a second. It had come from a silver egg and I was a major silver collector, so I picked a simple yet worthy name. "I'll call you "Silver". How do you like that name?"

The creature's expression was immediate. It squealed and purred and flapped its wings happily. I could tell that it liked the name, so it became "Silver" the... whatever it was.

"Okay, "Silver", I'm going back to bed. If you want, you can come with me."

I started walking away and sure enough, Silver started following me. When I stopped, it stopped, and when I walked forward, it did likewise. I eventually got back to my bedroom after shutting off the light in the kitchen and climbed into bed. I made to pick up Silver and put it on my bed with me, but it simply squatted down, spread its wings and "jumped" onto my bed. The brief list its wings had created gave it the thrust it needed to climb on my bed.

I watched as Silver walked in a small circle a few times before it curled up and put its head over its tail and went to sleep. I smiled at the small creature and lied back in my bed. The attack on my subconscious was long-forgotten as I closed my eyes and reentered the Dream World without incident.

This time, there was no angry figure to attack me, but there was a second figure here that was just out of my mine of sight. In fact, it was behind me in the one place I couldn't see it. I tried to look behind me, but it still managed to avoid my line of sight so that all I saw was a blank white mist.

(Author's Note: By now, you should be familiar with this approach. I've used this method in many of my other stories. And you appear to like it because I haven't heard anything bad about it. But I am asking you if you know any other ways of doing this. If you have any ideas, send me a review.)

I even turned my head back and reached my arm backwards to feel the figure behind me, but it was just out of my reach once again. I grew frustrated at the presence's attempts to evade me. I knew it was there, but I just couldn't grasp it.

"You and I will be one in the end, but for now, I'm just supposed to protect you."

"Protect me?" I said in frustration. "Protect me from what?"

The figure sighed and put its hand on my shoulder. I could feel it, but I couldn't see it. "My father's fury, of course. In his current state, his mind is clouded as to your future. Until he calms down and thinks about what he is doing to you, I must protect you."

Some things just didn't add up. "Who is your father? Who is trying to hurt me? What are you?!"

I was suddenly surrounded by a thicker white mist and I knew it was wrapping something around my front. I just couldn't see it. But the feeling of comfort and safety coming from it made me feel much better about all this.

"If I tell you now, I will anger my father much more than he is now. Until then, take care of my sister while I make arrangements."

"Say what?"

The figure put its hand on the back of my neck and spoke gently in my ear. "I know you want to enjoy me in full and I want to do the same, but now is not the time. I will speak with my father and contact you at a later date. Please care for my sister until then."

This only added several more questions to my list, but before I could ask them, the figure receded from my dream and I was all alone again. I could feel my conscious self waking up, but I felt annoyed that the figure had just left me in the dark like this.

I woke up in frustration like I had so many other times, but a sudden heavy feeling on my chest diverted my thoughts. It seemed that Silver had crawled up on top of me and fell asleep with me under her.

Wait a minute... "her"? Was it really a "she"? I thought about this for a minute and then figured it all made sense. The figure had said to take care of its sister. I figured that it had meant Silver, so I guess I could call "it" a "she" now.

As for why Silver was on top of me, I guess she must have felt comfortable on my chest. For a minute, I was anything but, but once I thought about it, it was rather soothing for her to be on top of me. Her body heat was transferred through my blanket, warming my core and keeping me comfortable. Also, her slow, deep breathing along with the echoing thump... tha-thump of her heart seemed to put me into a trance-like state that I never wanted to come out of.

But a quick glance at the clock told me that I had slept for the remainder of the night and it was now 7:37. Oh well. I didn't want to, but if I wanted to get up, I had to awaken the sleeping dragon.

I placed my hand on Silver's neck and she slowly opened her eyes. Yawning widely, she chirped as she got to her feet and hopped off the bed. She then turned around and watched me get up.

I did so but hesitated when I looked down at her. I admit that I was still half-asleep when she had hatched, but I could have sworn that she had grown since last night. Before, she stood about a foot from her footpaws to the tip of her head and was about 18 inches from tip to tail, but I was sure that she had almost doubled in size in less than eight hours. She was now as big as a 2-year-old toddler standing straight upright.

I had a feeling that this was nowhere near as big as she was going to get, so I started making plans to move her somewhere larger. If she kept growing at this rate and she enjoyed sleeping on my chest so much, she was going to crush me under her weight before she was fully-grown.

But right now, a loud gurgling sound coming from Silver's belly and a feeling of need coming from her and into my mind told me that she was hungry. I got dressed and escorted her out to my kitchen to find out what she ate.

It seemed that whatever Silver was was rather choosy about what it ate. She seemed to be rather partial to grapes and other "wet fruit" such as apples (Cut into pieces, of course. I didn't want her to choke!), orange slices and pears.

But soon, she began rejecting the fruit I was offering her by whining and sending me an annoyed feeling. But she was still hungry. So I decided to find something else that she could eat. But she wasn't much of a carnivore. She refused to touch the roast beef in my fridge, the leftover ham or any of my lunch meat chicken.

Just when I was about to give up and let her complain, I spotted Silver looking at a Tupperware container containing some fish that I had thawed out but not cooked the previous night. When I offered her the container and opened the lid for her to sniff it, she started barking and chirping happily. She even sat back on her tail like an obedient dog and looked up at me expectantly.

"Does the birdie like the fish?" I said, swirling the bowl above her.

"Ma! Yaaa! Brr-r-r-a!!!" From the happy and hungry feeling she was sending me, that was a definite "yes".

I did not like to touch raw, wet meat of any kind, but Silver would not let me get by her to get a paper towel, so I had no choice this time. I reluctantly took the fillet out of the fishy water and held it above Silver's head.

Just as I was about to lower it down her open gullet, she suddenly frowned and shut her beak firmly. The fish was only a few inches from her face when she gave me a look that made me feel annoyed. What was wrong with it now? I was giving her what she wanted and yet she was rejecting it before she even got it.

I was then struck with an idea. This was a chick that was less than 12 hours old. Even with her size, I was sure that her parent would not have given her a full-sized fish fillet and expected her to eat it. I tried a different tactic by fetching a knife from a drawer and cutting the fish into smaller pieces. But Silver still wouldn't open up. She was being rather fussy with her food and yet she was still sending me a hungry feeling.

And then I got another idea. Most bird parents ate the food and then regurgitated it into their chick's beak. But since I wouldn't eat raw fish to save my life and I was not very experienced in the department of "projectile vomiting", I improvised by getting out a blender and dropping the fish into it. As an added hunch, I decided to try and mix some milk into the pitcher to soften the fish and give a little more flavor to it before I liquefied the mixture within 30 seconds. Since the fillet had already been de-boned before they packaged it, I had no worries about anything getting caught in Silver's throat when she finally ate it.

Silver grew excited when I opened the top of the pitcher and I nearly gagged on the smell of the fishy mixture. She opened her mouth again and tilted her head back for me to spoon the fishy milkshake down her throat. She did not object to the added milk and soon, the whole pitcher was empty.

Fearing that she would want more, I looked at Silver with anticipation. But the baby bird appeared to have had enough. She sighed happily, curled up and fell asleep on the spot. Now feeling that I was onto something, I went about cleaning up the silvery eggshells that had been left over from when Silver had hatched.

Once I was done, I decided to take a chance and leave her alone so that I could go get my own breakfast. I was taking a big chance in letting her fend for herself, but I was confident that she would not become a problem.

After a hearty breakfast of biscuits and gravy at the local Denny's, I returned home to a shocking sight. Silver had doubled in size again and was now as large as a full-grown Great Dane! What was more unusual, Silver had located the Silver Tome that I had acquired in the Caribbean and had it lain out in front of her, reading it intently.

I thought this as odd that a bird would be reading a book with no print, but upon closer inspection, I noticed that the Silver Tome had been filled with strange runes that seemed somewhat familiar. I still couldn't read them, but they seemed strangely similar to the silvery runes that I had seen in that cave where I had found Silver's egg.

"What are you reading there, girl?" I asked innocently, sitting next to the impressive bird.

Silver merely looked at me and sent me a picture of herself back to my head. This was also odd since she hadn't been able to "speak" in pictures earlier, but she seemed to be learning at an alarming rate.

"Okay..." I said, brooding over the picture. "Do you know what kind of creature they call you?"

Silver smiled and put a wing on my shoulder. It felt strange to be receiving direct comfort from something you considered a pet. She did not speak, but her mind appeared to be considering a single five-letter word. I tried to understand what she was trying to tell me, but I just couldn't picture the letters in the appropriate order.

Silver appeared to be sensing my frustration and closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again and letting out a chirp. Taking the hint, I closed my own eyes and the word was a lot more distinguishable now. I could make out five letters floating around my mind. Trying to concentrate, I visioned the letters forming in the correct order.

Suddenly, the letters froze in place and then flew to their respective places. I read them as such: "L... u... g... i... a... Lu... gi... a...? Lugia?"

Silver smiled and nuzzled my cheek appreciatively. It seemed that she was congratulating me for figuring it out.

"Lugia? Is that what you are? Are you a "Lugia"?" The expression I got in return seemed to confirm it. I was the father of a female Lugia named Silver.

But now that I knew what she was, I wanted to know more about these "Lugia". I had never heard of them before and yet Lugia like Silver have been around for a while. So after borrowing the Silver Tome from Silver the Lugia, I flipped though the pages, hoping to find something that could explain what they were. Maybe the author that had written the first two notes mentioned something about Lugia that I could work with.

As I flipped though the metal pages, I noticed that when one of them would ripple, I would get the same smooth, liquid-like feeling that I had gotten from touching Silver. It felt almost like Lugia skin that made up the pages of this book, but they were clearly metal. Huh.

Finally, I came across a page that had held one of the old notes. New words had been inked in their place along with an ancient drawing of a Lugia standing over a small orb that I assumed was its egg. The note read as thus:

Johiko,

I admire your determination to learn more about your sister, but now is not the time to discuss it. We Lugia do not disclose our secrets to just anyone, which means that you are an exceptional case. I am not sure if you have noticed, by my state of mind is not stable at the moment. I don't mean to alarm you, but when you took Silver's egg, you enraged me to an amazing degree. At the moment, I am out for your blood, but that is no cause for alarm. When we finally meet, everything will fall back into place.

I would advise you not to panic should you not hear from me again or if you encounter me in the Dream World. At the moment, things will not make sense to you, but stay focused and do not ever give up. I will contact you in the near future.

Until then,

The same three-toed paw print marked the signature of the letter. Now for the first time, I realized that it was a Lugia that was talking to me and me alone. There was no other person meant for this book. I was being addressed by a Lugia that was calling itself my "father". And although I did not know that every word he wrote was the truth, it still didn't stop me from being concerned.

My "father" had said point-blank that Silver was my sister and that he was no in the mood to explain anything more. According to him, his anger and attacks on me would only intensify until we finally met face-to-face. I should have been worried and concerned, but Lugia's writing had somehow convinced me that I got nowhere by worrying.

Silver leaned her head on my shoulder and I stroked her behind her mask. She was really quite cuddly once you gave her a chance.

That night, I was once again in the strange white mist. I could sense that someone was there, but I wasn't sure whether it was good or evil. But a few seconds later, that was irrelevant.

HOW DARE YOU STEAL FROM ME!!! You cannot hide from me, human filth! I will_find you and make you pay! Your blood will be spilt at my mercy and you will return what you have taken!_

Sure enough, it was the voice of Silver's father, Lugia. I realized now that this Lugia did not have a name, but he did have a bone to pick with me. But this time, he was much closer than he was last time. The power radiating from him was much more pronounced than before. When Lugia spoke, I felt a stab of energy hit me in the heart as if he was attacking me directly in the body. It seemed that he was as gung ho as ever to make me suffer for my actions.

Where are you, you slime?! What have you done with my egg?! I will hunt you down and break every bone in your pathetic body to get back what is mine! I will ravage your soul and send it to the Fires of Hell!

I couldn't take this kind of abuse much longer. I knew that Lugia was not in his right state of mind, but his fury was dangerous nonetheless. If my relief didn't get here soon, I was dead meat.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know it was yours! But it's hatched now, so I can't exactly return it!" I tried to explain my situation, but Lugia wouldn't hear it.

SILENCE!!! Your words mean nothing to me! Your heart is as black as a moonless night to steal from me! When I find you, I will use your body to warn those foolish enough to challenge me!

I was running out of steam. Please... please hurry!

"FATHER, STOP!!!"

Right on cue, the figure that had saved me the previous time stepped in-between me and my attacker. I still couldn't make him out, but this next conversation explained a lot. Lugia looked as if he had seen a ghost.

_Johiko... my son... what are you doing?_His voice was much softer now.

"Father, you must stop your torment of this poor soul. If you keep this up, we will never see each other again!"

But... I thought... he...

It was odd that the figure was also named, "Johiko", but I was just glad that it was here.

"Do you want to lose me again?! I went through a personal hell to return to the planet and you're destroying my last hope! Shame on you, Father!"

It seemed rather strange to see a behemoth like Lugia being yelled at by his much smaller son.

Johiko... why...? Why did it have to come to this?

The second Johiko went up to his father and put his hand on his wing. "You haven't been yourself. When you lost me, you were devastated. Come... let us go somewhere to regroup. I will explain everything."

But... what about...?

"I will deal with him. Please leave, Father. I will catch up with you in a moment."

Lugia was at a loss for words. He said nothing as he turned around and vanished into the white mist. Johiko, meanwhile, turned to me.

"Johiko, I'm sorry that our meeting had to fall under these circumstances. I apologize for my father's actions, but he finally seems to understand the truth."

"What are you going to do?" I asked him.

Johiko sighed and looked away. "I must explain everything to my father about what had happened when we died. It will take some time, but I will get back to you in the future. Until then..." He turned back to face me. "Please take care of my sister. You are all she has at the moment. When she is old enough, she will understand, but I ask that you care for her until then. I know you disagree, but please treat her like your own sister instead of a pet. It will be better for her in the end."

I realized what Johiko was doing. He was leaving me for a while and taking Lugia with him, leaving me to tend for his sister, Silver. I first thought that it was a big leap, but I figured that I was more than capable of caring for her.

"I'll do it. She'll be just like one of the family."

Johiko smiled. "That's good. Take care of her properly and who knows? She might return the favor sometime in the future."

And with that, Johiko turned and left me to be with his father. I was all alone now, so I closed my eyes and focused my power into waking up. There was nothing left for me here, so I had no reason to be asleep.

The next morning, I woke up to the sweet stare of Silver standing next to my bed, smiling at me. I should have freaked out from the sudden image of her, but she gave me a feeling that seemed to soothe me instead of freaking me out.

"Hi, Silver. Were you waiting all night for me?"

Yes.

Huh?! Did she just...?!

"Silver...? Did you just...?"

_Yes._Silver barked and nuzzled my chest.

"You did! You spoke! Well... telepathically, of course."

Yes! Johiko!

I smiled as I sat up in bed. Her first few words involved me. I was as happy as a parent could be. "You're really something else. Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

Water!

I didn't want to let her dry up, so I decided to give her a shower. I had a feeling that she wanted to have water on her skin instead of down her throat.

Granted, Silver was now half as big as my sofa, but the picture she gave me when I asked her said that her growth would be slowing down for a while. Still, despite her size, she was still able to move through the house without getting stuck. I still had to watch that tail, though. Those spikes were sharp!

Once I had gotten Silver into my bathtub/shower, I got the water going at a fairly-warm temperature.

Hot!_she said, wincing from the water. I didn't think so, but she knew what was best, so I lowered it to a cool temperature that _I would find uncomfortable to bathe in.

Nice. Cool._Silver spread her wings and started squealing just a parrot did when it was in the shower. (Author's Note: My mother's parrots did this when they had _their baths, so I figured a Legendary bird would do likewise.)

_I'm a duck,_said Silver, splashing her feet in the small pool.

"Yes, you are," I said, ignoring the water that was flying everywhere. "You're a big duck!"

Silver started honking just like a duck would when it was wet and flexed her tail for fun. If it wasn't for the strong plastic lining on my shower walls, she would have made my walls look like cheese.

While she played in the water, I got out some of my no-oil soap and gave her a proper bath. She was enjoying the clean feeling she was getting and squealed delightfully.

When I got in the bathtub to wash her belly, Silver looked me in the eyes and smiled.

Play! Play!

Before I could ask, she had headbutted me and I was stunned as I slid into the bathtub.

(Author's Note: For those of you who are disturbed easily, STOP READING NOW!!! Don't say I didn't warn you!)

I was trying to recover from her sudden attack when I heard a distinct rrrip!!! followed by a feeling of pure cold and wetness. When I finally realized it, I noticed that Silver had torn my shirt and pants off, leaving me half-naked underneath her in the tub. I suddenly panicked and tried to get up, but Silver placed her foot on my chest and pinned me against the edge of the tub.

"Silver! What are you doing?!"

Playing! Johiko play with Silver!

I tried to wriggle out of her grip, but her weight was too much to budge. There was also a look in her eye that I did not recognize. Her eyes were glazed over and her navy-blue irises were filled with a look that scared me.

Suddenly, Silver made a sudden lunge for my neck with her beak. She wanted to bite me for some reason and I didn't understand why! It was just by instinct that I managed to get my arms up in front of me to block her for biting me.

"Silver! Stop it! You're hurting me! Get back!"

But Silver's voice was suddenly not her own. It was joined by a second voice that sounded stronger and more dominant than her own.

Johiko play with Silver! Silver play with Johiko!

For the first time since Silver had hatched, I was suddenly scared of what she could do to me. I should have realized that this was a creature that could get as large as a whale and it could crush my skull with one good bite if it wanted to. I was in a losing fight for my life and if Silver got her maw any closer to me, I was dead meat.

"Silver, snap out of it! You're gonna hurt me! You could kill me! Please stop!"

For a minute, Silver relented in her attack. It seemed that she had finally come to her senses and was about to let up. I even dropped my arms in amazement. But then she let out a demonic shriek and lunged at me, sinking her fangs directly into my jugular. It felt like four sharp hypodermic needles were injecting a feeling of liquid ice directly into my bloodstream. I started bleeding profusely, but only for a few seconds. The puncture wounds I had sustained sealed up without so much a single scar and Silver finally lifted her foot off my chest.

She also seemed to be aware of what she had done and started wailing.

Johiko! I sorry, Johiko! I sorry! I didn't mean kill you! I so sorry, Johiko!

From the feeling of sorrow she was projecting into my brain, she meant every word of it. But now, I couldn't accept her apology. My blood was like ice and I was starting to fade out. My muscles had seized up and I had been hit with lockjaw. The venom leeched into my skin, removing all color from it and turning it a pale silver-white shade.

Johiko! Not die! Johiko not die! I so sorry! Johiko, please not die!

It felt as if I was dying, though. I knew that Silver hadn't been herself, but I could do nothing about it. I was going to die slowly and freezing in my own bathtub. I realized that this was how most suicides played out. When my body was finally discovered, what would they do with Silver? What about Silver, herself? Would she stay with me in mourning or leave me to myself and fend for herself?

Suddenly, I felt a feeling of sudden warmth as if a hot water bottle was being pressed against my chest. Through the pain, I saw that Silver was trying to make amends for her actions by pressing her belly against mine to keep me warm. She applied just enough pressure to keep me warm without crushing me. This was a strange action from an animal, but at least she had the sense to make my last few moments comfortable.

A sad, shuddering wail was echoing in Silver's throat. Her sorrow was genuine and I didn't blame her. She hadn't meant to kill me. She wasn't a bad person; she had just been acting on instinct.

I had a few last, shuddering breaths before my mind finally left my body and I was among the living no more...

...

...

...but my journey didn't end there. As I journeyed to the afterlife, I was suddenly blocked by a familiar presence. It couldn't be... could it?

Halt, Johiko. I will not let you pass!

"Lugia... Please let me by. I am... so tired."

But the impressive figure was immovable. No! I will not_lose you again! The pain I was in when you left was not of this world. I was in so much turmoil that I almost died as well. You and I_ will_be together again! I_ refuse_to let you pass!_

"But... Lugia..."

Go back to the planet, Johiko! Embrace the new existence I have passed on to you! Take care of your sister and prepare to come home! I will find you again, my son, and we will be a family once again!

With a Psychic shove, my spirit was thrust backwards back towards my body. Lugia was sending me back to the planet, but something about the new "existence" raised a question in my mind. What was going to happen to me? What else could happen to me that I wasn't allowed to pass on in peace? Why couldn't Lugia just let me die?

A sudden pain in my torso caused me to hunch over in pain. Something was happening to my body! I could feel it like a ton of bricks! It felt like my insides had just frozen over and were being pushed around like slush. I was spared the thought of what was happening when I heard a voice like an angel.

Johiko! What happening to you?! You... you changing!

Back on Earth, my body had seized up and it felt like I had been punched in the stomach. My organs were shifting around and getting shredded like in a blender. The pain was indescribable and I felt like I was going to die all over again.

The skin all over my body had gone numb as if it had been jabbed with a thousand needles. It felt like I was stretching within myself. My skin was becoming taut and rubbery almost like a biological balloon. A thin layer of blubber filled in the gaps between my muscles and my skin. And to further humiliate me, my manhood was practically sucked into itself with a wet slurp sound. I was still male, but there were other ways of telling now.

Finally, my organs reformed into something I could work with. I felt that I could breathe a lot easier now and I wasn't going to throw up. But then the bones in my feet all but shattered. The pain of the splintering bones was enough for me to scream bloody murder. I was surprised that my neighbors hadn't heard me or called the police.

Johiko! I here for you! Please be with Silver!

Silver the Lugia was standing outside my bathtub with her wing on my chest. She had somehow turned off the water so that I wouldn't drown and had climbed out of the bathtub to comfort me.

I tried to answer, but my throat was on fire along with my feet. The skin that had covered my toes had melted and melded together to form three single digits and had become digitigrade like a dog. Finally, the bones fused back together as if they had always been there.

But that wasn't the end of my torture. My head felt like it was going to explode, and it practically did. My neck stretched out and elongated, becoming slightly serpentine. Not only that, but the bones and cartilage inside it were reduced to nothing but fine powder. I could feel my scalp pulling on itself as it grew outwards and upwards to form a distinct point behind me. Not only that, but the skin that had once been my nose had melted with my upper lip and had pushed out to form a curved, hooked beak. Not only that, but all but four of my teeth were forcibly ripped from my gumline, leaving just two now-sharpened fangs on my upper and lower jaws. Finally, my eye sockets started to push out so the powder that was my bones crystallized and solidified into a distinct, pointed, bony mask. Just when I couldn't take it anymore, the bony powder in my head reformed to my new pointed skull.

Now that I could speak again, I told Silver of the next part of my mutation. "Silver...! Help...! Tail...!"

At first, she simply looked at me, but the feeling of pain in my spine that I now projected into her mind caused her to snap out of her trance. Without a word, she scooped her wings underneath me and lifted me out of the tub. My spine was grinding loudly and dully as I felt it start to lengthen.

Thinking quickly, I said to Silver, "Get me to my bed! Put me on my front!"

Silver was still too young to understand my verbal commands this well, but she was experienced enough to understand a picture of my place and position sent to her mind. She quickly carried me out to my bedroom as I started to groan from the pain I was in. In the gap between her wings, my tailbone practically exploded out of my backside, tipping itself with two razor-sharp spikes.

By the time Silver set me face-first on my bed, I thought that that was it. I was still in pain, but this was nothing compared to what I had gone through.

But I was wrong. The worst was yet to come.

My shoulder blades gave a gunshot-like snap and began pushing on my shoulders. If you thought losing bones was painful, try growing them! The crackling and crystallizing of bone growing from my shoulders could be described in two words: sheer torture. Remember the needles? Well, now they were back and it felt like they were driving into my shoulders at about a thousand per square centimeter. I was in so much pain that I could not scream anymore. As the bones grew, they also started to take shape into thick, five-fingered wing-like shapes. The bones didn't break the skin, but it was nothing short of torture.

But when the bones in my new wings had taken their final form, I was welcomed the feeling of pure cold that I found rather soothing. I knew that it was finally over and I had mutated into something that only God and Silver knew at the moment. When I finally woke up, I would embrace the inevitable as it came. Right now, I just wanted to sleep...

I was locked out of the Dream World that night. No matter what I tried, I could not enter my own Dream Room and was left in a void that was filled with dreamless sleep. It was as if something was deliberately keeping me from dreaming that night.

But when I finally woke up, I was greeted by the most wonderful sight I had ever seen and remembered - Silver's worried face. The sight of her gentle, navy-blue eyes was like floating through a sea of calm coolness. For the first time in my life, I was thankful to still be alive.

Johiko!_said Silver, squealing and rubbing my chest. _Brother! You awake! Silver thought that you died when Silver bit you. I so sorry that happen.

My muscles were still stiff from last night, but I was able to lift my hand up and stroke her behind the mask.

"I'm just glad you're here for me." I used my other hand to rub my own mask, which was still sore from my mutation. "What happened last night? I don't feel like I should."

Silver gave my face a little lick and nuzzled her beak with mine. Silver happy that Brother Johiko here for me. But Silver never think that you would become Man-Lugia.

""Man-Lugia"? What are you talking about?"

Silver disconnected from me and left the room for a minute. When she returned, she had a hand mirror in her beak. She set it down at my side and looked grave.

Please no scream, Johiko. Silver happy that Brother Johiko with her now, but Silver not so sure about what Johiko think.

""Brother"? I don't understand."

Silver nudged the mirror closer to me and I picked it up. When I held it to my eye level, I didn't even think of screaming. The sheer shock and disbelief I was feeling trumped my ability to scream.

The face that was looking back at me was yet wasn't my own. In fact, if the reflection in the mirror didn't put its hand to its face and feel for itself when I did, I would have sworn that I was looking at a True Lugia. I had a curved, sharp beak with one... two... four fangs in total on both of my jaws. All of my other teeth were missing and the thin, flat tongue that was in my maw did not look like mine. Not only that, but the pointed, ivory, navy-blue mask around each of my narrow, navy-blue irises was too real to not belong to me. My skull had been rearranged to form a point on the back just like a Lugia should have.

But something stunned me when I felt it with my own hands. While normal Lugia had not a single hair on their bodies, I had a mat of untidy, deep-brown hair that was of different make and thickness than what used to belong to me.

Dreading at what I would find next, I chucked the mirror across the room, where it shattered against the wall. Screwing the bad luck, I sat up in bed and held my arms out in front of me. They were now covered with a smooth, flexible, silver-white flesh that I knew belonged to a Lugia. But I also saw that my hands and fingers were much slimmer and more slender than before. Other than the fact that I no longer had any fingernails or fingerprints and I had not a single hair on my arms, I still recognized the limbs as my own. They were just... different.

But now I was examining my chest area. It had the same sky-blue mark on it that Silver had, it was much more vertical than she did and... wow... I had a six-pack of abs that most men would spend their life savings in gyms and supplements to acquire. Running a hand over them, I could faintly feel them through the thin layer of blubber that was in-between my muscles and my skin. Neat!

My legs were just as trim and powerful as my chest and arms. They were slightly longer and much leaner than they used to be and even had the same sleek, silvery-white skin that covered the rest of my body. And despite the fact that I now had three digitigrade, Lugian toes and pads on my feet, I could have sworn that the legs still belonged to me.

I was suddenly aware that something was sticking out of my backside. Turning my head, I smiled at the new long, flexible, prehensile Lugia tail that now belonged to me. It was strong, flexible and powerful just like Silver's own, albeit a tad slimmer and longer than hers.

But the true wonder that was now mine was the cause of the unimaginable pain in my shoulders last night - wings! A pair of full-sized, "five-fingered" Lugia wings now grew out of my shoulders and were hanging folded at my sides. By moving my shoulder blades, I found that I could fold them, unfold them, flap them and flex them just like an extra pair of arms.

I had started this examination in pure fear, but now I was feeling nothing but pure power. I was now a Lugia and the sheer power and ability that now belonged to me would be mine forever. I was a Lugia!

But wait... something still didn't seem right. It was like something was there that shouldn't be. Let's see... wings... yeah, those belonged to a Lugia. Tail...? Yep. Beak... mask... skull... check. Feet... yeah, Lugia had three toes just like me. Arms...

Arms? I held them out at my sides and held my wings at the same time. I then looked at Silver, who was sitting calmly at my side in front of my bed. She only had five limbs. I had seven. Her arms were her wings, while my arms and wings were separate.

"Silver?" I said, realizing for the first time that I was speaking vocally instead of mentally like Silver did. "What's going on? I look like you... but I don't look like you."

Silver gave me an innocent look. You Anthro Lugia. You Lugia but with human traits. Father make you special.

These three sentences told volumes. I was a Lugia in a form that was also part-human - an Anthro Lugia. And according to Silver, her father had made me special by turning me into an Anthro Lugia. And now that I thought about it, the Johiko that had saved me from Lugia was also an Anthro Lugia -

me! I realized now that Lugia was not only Silver's father but was also my father to boot.

It all made sense now. I was the baby Lugia that had died in my father's arms shortly after I hatched. After I died, Lugia went into a state of depression that had almost destroyed him, damaging his memory of me. After 1000 years, I was reincarnated in the body of the human Johiko Darck. And it was because of this that Lugia realized that I had been reborn and communicated to me through the Silver Tome - a book written by Lugia himself - since his memory had been damaged. It was my anthro form that had protected my human form from being destroyed by Lugia's rage. And the whole ordeal with Silver attacking me? Lugia had briefly possessed her so that he could inject his powers into me, thus turning me into an anthro Lugia. The "venom" had been a kind of spiritual force that had changed my body into what I had now.

But something still didn't make sense. I knew that Silver and Lugia were psychic, but I couldn't feel any of that power in my own body. I felt just as capable as I was in my human form. It was like I had the body of a Lugia, but the spirit wasn't part of me yet.

Every last one of my thoughts was heard by Silver, who I realized now was my sister. She simply put a wing on my lap and crooned gently.

Father do everything for reason. You not remember now, but soon, he tell you everything. You be True Lugia soon. But now..._She rubbed her head against my chest and squealed in uncertainty. _We go swimming? Shower not good enough no more. Silver be in house for days. Silver want to go outside, yes?

While it would be a while before Silver's vocabulary was whole, I didn't see why we couldn't go out for a swim. Lugia were water creatures after all and the shower certainly couldn't provide enough wetness to satisfy our albino skin.

"Sure, why not? But..." I hesitated as I thought about it. "I'm pretty sure society won't let a Lugia get behind the wheel of a car... or walk around in public."

That not problem. We fly_to water. You fly, yes?_

"Uh..." I wasn't sure about that. Sure, I had a pair of beautiful new wings, but I was unsure about how to use them.

Johiko not worry. Follow Silver.

And with that, she made her way through the house with me following close behind her. We left the house and stood out on my front porch in preparation for a flight to the largest body of water I could think of - Lake Superior.

We fly there,_said Silver, reading my thoughts again. _You know fly, yes?

"Uh... not really. This is still a little new for me. But you're only three days-old! How do you know how to fly?"

Lugia born much learn to fly._I interpreted this as: _Lugia already know how to fly when they're born.

"Okay... you go first. I'll follow."

Silver nodded and walked down the steps to my front lawn where she could get some room. I watched in interest, my still-human mind taking in every detail. Silver held her head back and closed her eyes to get a feel of the wind around her. After she had gotten her bearings, she spread her wings and tilted them in alignment with the wind. She then flapped once... twice... and she was in the air. Within a few seconds, she was at 200 feet and still climbing. When she had reached about 500 feet, she stopped and turned to face me.

See? It easy! Now Johiko try.

I figured that it wouldn't be that difficult, so I stepped where she had stood and flexed my own wings experimentally. An instinct deep down inside of me seemed to surface and I could feel the wind flowing over my skin. It felt soft and cool as I got my bearings for a moment. I then let go of all thought and let only emotion and instinct enter my brain. With one... two... three flaps of my wings, I was also in the air.

I pumped my wings a few times and was soon at 300 feet. When I reached Silver's level, I opened my eyes and looked down at the world below.

At first thought, I was startled that I was this high in the air without any restraints, but then a second though entered my mind. I was flying! I was on my own in the air and it felt... good. Better than good - I was free! I was the lord of the skies and nothing could take me down!

Silver could sense my emotions and smiled as she flew in a small circle. Johiko happy. Silver happy. We fly together?

I smiled as I spread my wings to their fullest. I let out a cry that sounded like a ghostly wail that echoed all around the area.

"Let's fly, Silver. I know where we can go for a little swim." Silver trilled and took off towards our destination. I chuckled and followed right behind her.

Flying as an Anthro Lugia for the first time is something that I will never forget. The sensation of wind passing through each of your limbs is beyond comprehension. As the wind passed through my slender fingers and in-between my feathered wings, I felt as if I was soaking in a bath of pure cold that was anything but. The experience was second to none.

I even felt confident enough to do a few rolls and flips in the air with Silver on my opposite side. It was amazing! I never thought that I would ever be this free, but I was definitely mistaken. We continued our dance the entire 200 miles to the shores of the largest freshwater lake in the world.

The people below watched as the two of us hovered high above the lighthouse on the edge of Lake Superior. We did not care that they were looking at us or that they were taking pictures. Let them take them; it did not matter to us. We were beyond such pathetic media. We were gods now, but I still had to protect my sister. She was still mortal and would be mortal for the first full year of her life. But that was how all Lugia were when they were born. That was why our father was so concerned with our safety. He only laid one egg every 1000 years, and that was why he was so devastated when I died the first time.

Silver and I hovered over the seemingly-endless water, looking at each other for a while. We were about to go for our first swim together as brother and sister, and the both of us were a little nervous as to what we would experience.

_Are you ready for this, Johiko?_said Silver in perfect psychic English. Her vocabulary had improved greatly as we had flown here.

I nodded and flexed my tail with anticipation. "As I'll ever be. Let's go for a swim!"

Silver nodded in response and went into a steep flip and then folded her wings and back plates against her body as she dove deep into the lake. I did likewise, except I folded my wings and plates and held my arms in front of me as I penetrated the water's surface like a silver-white bullet.

I didn't need to worry about holding my breath. We Lugia, Anthro or not, have the ability to breathe both above water and under it. We had a unique respiratory system that allowed us to filter oxygen out of any environment, no gills required. I was also able to keep my eyes open underwater since I was a natural creature of water now. I was basically a fish in a bird/anthro form.

Silver flapped her wings underwater just like she did in the air, propelling herself through the current like a professional athlete. Her eyes were glowing a bright blue color as she dove deeper and deeper. I followed right behind her, pumping my wings like her, but also doing a kind of breast stroke at the same time. The cool feeling under here was just like being in the sky, but the sensation was much fuller. I can't really describe it without you being in my place.

Silver and I spun through the deepening water as we did our dance just like in the air. It was fun to do and we were looking forward to doing this forevermore.

See, Johiko? Is life as a Lugia really all that bad?

I smiled as I swam by and tagged her with my wing. "No. I never thought it would be this enjoyable in all my life. I truly feel right at home here with you. If only Lugia were here to make my memories a little more complete..."

So it is wished for... so it shall be...

I all but stopped breathing. Off in the distance, another more dominant figure with similar glowing-blue eyes was approaching us. I didn't need an introduction or to be psychic to know who this was.

_Lugia... Father..._said Silver in sheer awe.

The figure of Lugia approached Silver and looked at her closely. He seemed to be taking in every last detail of his beloved daughter as he stroked her gently with his wing.

You are even more beautiful that I had ever thought. Johiko has taken good care of you.

Father... he has been my best friend throughout my entire life. I am glad to have him as my brother.

Lugia nodded and turned to face me. I was at a loss for words at the moment. I hadn't expected him to be here in the slightest, so it was still surprise to see him here. He approached me so that we were only a few feet apart and looked me up and down in astonishment.

Johiko... my son... You cannot remember me, can you?

I shook my head. Try as I might, I could not remember anything about my previous life. I was not psychic or immortal - the key parts of any Lugia's life.

Lugia smiled and put a feather under my chin so that I was looking at him face-to-face.

Look into my mind, Johiko. Your memories are awaiting to be taken back. You will be whole again and we will be complete.

I did so and a great understanding started to fill my mind. I could remember things that I had never known before. I could remember my father's sorrowful gaze as he watched me die in his arms over 1000 years ago. I could remember the pain that HBD had caused me before I died. I could recall every last bit of the afterlife that I had experienced, waiting to be reborn into the world. I was becoming complete just by looking into my father's mind.

Not only that, but my true power had been awakened deep inside of me. I felt a great understanding of my powers be revealed as I looked into Lugia's eyes. Not only that, but my human life was washed entirely away. Any and all of my human accomplishments amounted to nothing anymore. I was more... capable now; more complete than ever before in my life. I was no longer Johiko Darck the human - I was now Johiko Darck the Lugia. My true destiny had been awakened and I was now complete and whole again.

For the first time, I saw Lugia as not only a mythical creature, but also my own flesh and blood. I was his son... his true heir. There was no other explanation for it - I was a god.

"Father..." I said, reaching up with my hand to touch his face. "My loving father... I thought I had lost you..." My voice was cracking and I was overcome with a wave of emotion at being reunited with him.

Lugia smiled and wrapped his wings around me, bringing me close to his chest. Just like with Silver, I could hear the deep thump... tha-thump of his heart. I was weeping from the sheer sorrow I felt. But it wasn't a bad sorrow - it was a sorrow that I felt for not being able to tell my father how much I missed him.

Do you hear it, Johiko?_said Lugia, stroking my back gently, a tear falling from his eyes and mixing with the water around him. _My heart now beats in your chest. We are together again and there is nothing that will separate us again.

I smiled and we separated. Turning back to Silver, I said happily, "What do you say, sister? Shall we go for that swim... as a family?"

Silver nodded and swam close to me. I was confused as to what she was doing when she butted me in the chest and said, Tag! You're it! Catch me if you can! And with that, she took off like a water rocket.

Lugia and I looked at each other and laughed. "Shall we, Father? I could use the exercise."

Lugia nodded and took off after her. You're it! Catch us if you can!

I chuckled and shook my head. My first game as a family was none other than the childhood playground game of tag. Well if that's how they wanted to play it, I guess I was game. I went into a spin, creating an underwater Whirlpool and chased them down. This was going to be fun.

Now that I think about it, I guess I made the right decision when I took Silver's egg from that cave. My life had been repaired and I was much better off as a Lugia. I was filled with a happiness that I had never had as a human. I had a family again and nothing was going to take it away from me again. This was one decision that I would remember forever as the one that brought a family back together.

END