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Ch.2

A RARE MEETING AND A DEAL

By the time that I'd reached the place where Latias had pointed to, my whole body felt numb and my fingers bled. Though that was a small price to pay for my life, as if I let go from this height that I'd no-doubt be a smear on the ground below. Whatever had called out to Latias had definitely a love of high places that normal people couldn't get to, which meant that it liked it's privacy. This got me more and more excited the more and more I thought about it.

Laying there on my back on the small outcropping of a cave in the mountains uppermost face, I gasped for air as my whole body was protesting the slightest of movements. Latias came over to me and started to shrill and looked me over as if wondering what I was doing laying there. "I'm sorry Latias. That climb...seems to have taken more out of me that I thought. Your going to have to give me a minute...to try and recover from climbing...all that way." I told her as she gave me a small trill then lay her body down next to mine and snuggled under my arm while she lay her head across my chest.

I must have passed out from exhaustion, as when I opened my eyes, I could see the sun had nearly faded into the western sky. I could feel a slight weight on my chest and when I looked down, I could see that Latias had moved a bit in my sleep so that she way now mostly draped over me, and had the cutest little shrill whenever she breathed out. Not wanting to wake her, I simply lay there for quite some time until my stomach gave a loud growl, which woke her with a start. It was quite comical as she quickly levitated up and started launching attacks at non-existent foes. Once she'd realized how silly she was and that their was not an enemy in sight, she slowly lowered herself down onto my body as I continued to laugh.

"Sorry about that Latias. I guess I'm a bit hungry from climbing all that way. Do you think you could find us something to eat from the island below. I'd hate to have to climb back down all that way just to get something to eat, then climb all the back up to here." I asked her as she gave me a happy trill as she nuzzled my cheek, then disappeared over the side of the small outcropping with a wave behind her. About twenty minutes later she returned with a large leaf filled to the brim of many different kinds of berries in her claws. Not being much of a berry eater, I just stared down at the leaf as she lay it on the ground, but knew better than to protest the free meal before us. My stomach wasn't going to stay idle for long as it let out another loud growl to signify that it really didn't care what went in it so long as something did and the two of us dug in.

After we'd finished off a decent amount of the berries, I began to feel my strength returning. "Thanks a lot Latias," I said as I pulled her into a loving hug and caressed the back of her head. "If you hadn't gotten those berries, I'd still be laying here to exhausted to even move." She gave off a long happy trill and returned the hug. After a few more minutes of recovering from out large meal of berries and allowing them to work their magic on restoring my strength, the two of us got up and looked towards the cave. "I guess now is as good as a time as any to find out what's been calling out to you Latias." She gave a small shrill and I could see that she was shaking a bit. Not knowing what was ahead of us, I pulled out a MAG flashlight from my pack , switched it on, and the two of us entered the cave.

At first it looked to be like your average cave, dark, round, and spooky. Though upon further inspection of it, I began to get the feeling that something was living in here. The caves walls were rubbed/cut smooth so that there was no jutting rocks to catch/snag on you, a strange kind of moss at the roof of the cave that gave off a small bit of neon/florescent light the deeper in we went, and the air within the cave had the smell of fresh air which meant that the same moss was probably filtering it. Though most of this could be explained naturally, but when I saw that the moss was placed at the same intervals on the roof as we descended into the cave, the size of the cave stayed the same without it closing in or expanding, and the ground was free of debris, I knew that someone/something really did do all this and took a lot of effort to make it comfortable.

Being a bit daring I clicked off the flashlight and allowed my eyes to adjust to the light of the moss. The moss produced a bit of a reddish light glow that wouldn't hurt your eyes if you decided to exit the cave after a long stay, but I was further surprised when Latias quickly latched onto my arm and started to shiver. "What's the matter Latias?"

'HUMAN!' A big booming voice shouted out from the depths of the cave and slammed into my mind like a freight trail loose on it's tracks, effectively giving me a migraine. 'You are trespassing upon sacred ground. Leave with your life of suffer the consequences of my wrath!'

After my headache had lessened to a smaller degree from my rubbing of my temples, I finally got back to my feet from my knees and felt Latias tug at my shirt and giving incessant shrills of worry. It was obvious that she wanted me to return to the exit of the cave, but I simply shook her off. "Not a chance Latias. If this voice is so demanding that it calls out to you from miles and miles across the sea, who knows what it has in store for you. I'm not going to abandon you to it's wants and desires." She slowly stopped tugging at my shirt and looked up at me with a bit of shock in her wide eyes. "If your going to face this thing, then the least I can do is accompany you to make sure that you stay safe." Latias let go of my shirt and gave me a few short trills and shrills, then quickly embraced me with a quick hug and a happy cry.

After she let me go I turned back to the way that we were going and took a deep breath and threw out my chest. "NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!" I yelled down the tunnel. "Me and Latias are a team and I'm not abandoning her. So wherever she goes, I go!" I yelled back with a bit uneasiness in my voice. As one person said, 'Bold words often mask a weak speaker.'

'Very admirable,' The voice said. 'I can tell that you care for Latias very much, though your fears are unfounded.' There was a slight pause as if the thing were thinking of something. 'She cannot help me.'

I slowly turned to look at Latias and she gave me a confused look. So turning back to look down the tunnel I gazed into the darkness. "Then why call her if she can't help you?"

There came a very long pause again as we awaited an answer, but nothing came except a long slow breath of air that had the distinct smell of salt water. 'Very well then. Come, come to me and I shall explain all.'

"Now if anybody says that, you know that you should be creped out." I turned to Latias and shook my head. "You...we aren't needed here. Lets go Latias." I only walked a few steps back the way we'd come until I noticed that I was alone. Slowly turning I saw Latias looking down the tunnel and giving off a few short shrills and trills, then looking back at me. "Come on Latias. You heard what the voice said, we aren't needed here. So lets go." Latias only looked at me for a minute until she slowly flew over to me and gave a long slow shrill. Then with lightning fast movements, she snatched her ball off my belt and quickly turned, and flew off down the tunnel. I stood there for only a moment in shock at this new type of playing, until I gave off a grunt and quickly gave chase.

"Come on Latias. This isn't funny." I yelled as I continued to run down the tunnel, descending deeper and deeper into the caves after her. Latias never even once looked back as she continued to fly down the tunnel, just barely keeping ahead of me, but always staying teasingly just out of my reach. The air within the cave began to take on a more salty smell, but I just ignored it as Latias was beginning to slow, and with a tackling leap I leapt out and pinned her to the ground. "Gotcha!" I shouted out with a triumphant roar of laughter. "Though you'd just be able toooooo...." I stopped in mid sentence as I looked around me with a shocked expression upon my face.

The tunnel had opened up to a massive cavern, filled to the brim with soft glowing green and blue crystals that reflected the light coming in from a small opening somewhere behind the gems. In the middle of the cavern there was a large pool of some kind that softly pulsed as if alive though in truth probably due to an underground spring, though that too didn't seem right. 'Wouldn't it be that if it were an underground spring that it would overflow and fill this cavern?' So it had to be a something that kept itself stable... "That pool probably leads out to sea. And that would explain the heavy salty air in here." I said to myself as I got off Latias and looked about. 'We must have descended a long way if that pool really does open out to the sea.'

Walking over to one of the walls covered in the crystals, I took a closer look at the geode in fascination. 'I wouldn't touch that if I were you human,' The voice said again inside my head. 'You are now within my lair and I wont have your dirty human hands smear up my crystals.' It said as I looked down and realized that my hand was indeed moving to touch the largest crystal in the bunch that I was looking at. A slow chill rises up my spine as I turn and look about the room, though the only being there is Latias as she floats over the massive pools edge. I slowly walk back to her and stand at her side and look into the water.

The water within the pool is like that of a blue like crystal as we are able to see all the way to the base and see that it too is a tunnel that probably leads out to sea. "I guess I was right in my assumption of this pool leading out to sea, but where is this voice coming from?" I ask as I look about the room once more and begin to wonder. "Surely not from the crystals, because that would be just crazy."

'Indeed. That would be foolish of the mind to think that mere crystals were capable of speech.' The voice says in my mind as I begin to look around the room again for the third of fourth time. 'Though your voice does portray confusion as to where my voice does portray from, and this voice does have a vessel.' It said with a slight chuckle.

I was about to shout out to the voice for trying to confuse me, until Latias grabbed my shirt, gave it a small tug with her claws, and pointed down into the water with the other. "What are you saying Latias? The voice is coming from the water?" I asked in confusion, then my mind started to piece together the puzzle. "I get it. The voice is coming from the being that is hiding within the water. Plus that must be the voice of the legendary that summoned you here." She gave a happy trill and clapped her claws together to signify that I'd gotten what she was trying to get across.

'It is about time that you finally realized what she's been trying to convey to you for quite some time.' Said the voice as I could hear laughter or some kind of mocking laughter. 'Though I guess it's no fault of your own that you can't understand our native tongue. You're just a mere human after all.'

I was about to shout out my anger at the voice once again at mocking my race, but stopped when Latias grabbed my shirt again and shook her head. She turned towards the pool and started speaking to it in a rushed/angered tone as if convening my anger in her native Pokemon tongue. 'SILENCE!' The voice shouted which made the whole cavern shudder for a moment and fill the sounds of clinking crystal. 'I SHALL NOT BE LECTURED BY ONE OF MY OWN KIND ON MANNERS. KNOW YOUR PLACE YOU INSOLENT CHILD!' Then without warning a large torrent of water shot out of the pool and headed strait for Latias.

Moving on impulse I quickly placed myself in the line of fire and got hit in the back my the pressure of the water. By the sheer pressure of the water, my shirt was instantly torn from my body and threw us far away from the pool. We landed in a heap near the far end of the cavern and me over Latias. After a few moments she finally opened her eyes and looked up at me. "Are you alright Latias?" I asked her as I slowly lifted myself off of her. She gave me a slow croon and nuzzled my cheek affectionately. "That's good." I said as my face scrunched up in pain and I fell to the side clutching at my back and screamed out in pain.

It felt like my back was in a vice and being twisted at the same time. Not knowing the extent of my injuries I simply lay there and tried to writhe into some position to ease the pain. This caught the attention of Latias as she quickly levitated up an began to fuss over my battered back, though doing hardly any good as her claws were to clumsy to do much other than poke and prod. After several failed attempts to help me, she flew over to the pool and started yelling in her language to the pool.

'YOU DARE TO ANGER A GOD. YOU FOOLISH...' There came a long silence as if the voice were listening to what Latias had to say. 'He means that much to you?' The voice paused once again as if considering the words that Latias had spoken to it. 'Very well then. I shall reveal myself to this human of yours and aid him. Though know this...he still is trespassing upon my island and is going to be punished for said intrusion.'

My consciousness was slowly beginning to fade as the pain in my back was proving to much for my mind to take. The last images before my mind finally winked out were that of Latias floating over the pool then an enormous torrent of a hydro twister raise up out of the pool, then darkness as my consciousness left me in the depths of sleeps embrace.

Ever so slowly I began to hear far off voices of someone calling out to me. Slowly opening my eyes I could see that I was somewhere new, somewhere...familiar. Eventually my mind finally came to me and I realized that I was sitting in a tree that stood outside my families home. That's when I realized that the voice that was calling me was that of my mothers calling me in for supper. With a happy yell back to her I climbed down the tree that I'd been sitting in like a little Mankey, and quickly ran towards the house.

The smell of freshly baked Oran berry pie greeted me as I opened the back door to our families one story, three bedroom house. My mom was there to greet me with a smile as she set the pie out on the window sill to cool for dessert. She walked on over to me while wiping her hands in her apron, knelt down so that we were a little more eye to eye, gave me a kiss on my forehead, then telling me to wash up for dinner. So giving her a smile as she called after me as I headed for the upstairs bathroom, saying that I'd had enough Mankeying around in the trees for one day, then the sound of her laughing after she said that. I always enjoyed hearing her laughter as it would always had a pleasant ring, which was fairly similar to that of a Sooth Bell.

Looking down at my hands as they were being rubbed with soap, I saw how small they were and realized what was truly going on. This was a memory of my past, a distant memory of the day that I'd never forget, and as if right on queue the door to the house banged open and the sound of a loud belch could be heard. That meant that Father was home and he was drunk as a Skunktank again. I knew what I'd been told to do when daddy came home like this in my memory, but this time I was set to stop these events as best I could. Though struggle all my mite, it seemed that my body moved on it's recorded path of my memories of my past and I moved to my room to hide under my bed where I placed my hands over my ears in fear.

The sound of raised voices could be heard from somewhere in the house, then the sound of something made of glass shatter against a wall. There was a long silence and I slowly moved out from under my bed in wonder if the whole event was over, but just as my head peaked out from under my bed the sounds of two gunshots were heard, then something heavy hit the floor. I cringed at the memory of what I knew that sound to be, then the sound of another shot and another heavy object hitting the floor. 'No, I don't want to go out there and see this again. Somebody make this memory stop.' I mentally screamed as my child like body moved on it's own curiosity to see what those sounds were. I exited my room and walked around the hallway and entered the kitchen.

Blood was splattered against two places near the refrigerator as my mothers body lay in a heap near it facing away from me. My body began to tremble as I looked down at the crumpled form of my mother and I fell to my knees. "Mother?" I asked as I slowly scooted over to her and shook her shoulder. "Come on mother, get up. Why wont you get up mommy? Come on mommy, this isn't funny, get up." It was at this moment that I felt something wet against my hand and looked down at my hand as I raised it up to see. My hand was covered in a red liquid that I knew instantly as blood.

In my mind I was mentally screaming at my child like body not to do what I knew it was about to do, but I had no control over it as my childish body shifted my mother to her back. Her eyes were open in that of shock/fear as I could see a hole right in the middle of her forehead. Clasping my hands over my mouth to try and stifle my scream I leapt to my feet and saw a second hole near her heart. Shaking my head I began to panic and desperately tried to hold onto my sanity. It was at that moment that I saw my fathers boots and saw that he was laying on his back. 'Don't look at that bastered. DON'T LOOK!' I mentally screamed again. "Daddy?" I asked as I walked/swayed around the corner and saw something that finally proved to much for my child like mind to take and passed out from the sight of him still clutching the small revolver to the back of his throat.

Instantly I was awake screaming out my lungs while thrashing there on a hard surface. I was laying on my stomach and looking about the massive cavern floor with something light and feathery against my back to hold me down while my body thrashed in convulsions. 'Settle down human. It was nothing but a memory.' The voice said but did little to calm my shattered nerves at the memory of my parents deaths or murder/suicide.

It was a good several minutes until my nerves finally settled down and I could feel something nuzzling my cheek. Slowly rotating my head I turned and saw Latias looking at me with tears in her eyes as she slowly began to coo to me. Pulling her close to my chest I hugged her tightly to me as if she were the only thing keeping my sanity together as I bawled into her soft feathers.

'I must say that this a bit much for a child to witness.' Said the voice as I kept my eyes closed and clutched all the more tighter at Latias. 'Never before have I seen something to rival that.' Latias turned her head a bit and shouted something to the voice then went back and started to nuzzle me while she crooned and lightly rubbed at the back of my head. 'Though I may be able to help you truly forget all that if you agree to help me with a little problem of my own.