The Commission Chronicles
Chapter 33: Unforeseen Gift


     I felt the energy field around me dissipate, and I wasted no time in getting to Latias, or Latria. I couldn’t tell what was going on anymore.

     “Latias!” I yelled. “Wake up! Come on…”

     I shook her a few times, and her eyes opened slowly. No longer were they golden, but now a bright sky blue. She blinked a few times and looked up at me.

     “L-Lateon?” She mumbled.

     That was all the response I needed. I scooped her up into my arms and hugged her. Was it just me, or had she grown?

     She woke up now, that was for sure. “Gah!” She gasped. “Lateon… I’d like, to breath…”

     I let her go quickly. “Dang, sorry about that…” I mumbled, shifting away a bit. “I just got overly excited. I couldn’t tell if you were okay before…”

     She looked at me and smiled that little smile of hers. And suddenly the parts glowing on her body turned a light teal.

     I furrowed my brow and looked at her.

     The smile seemed to melt from her face, and she gave me a confused look. The glowing parts now turning to a purple.

     I shook my head. “Latias, you’re glowing.”

     She looked at herself. “What are you talki-OH MY GAWD! I’M GLOWING!”

     She reached out to touch the glowing parts, and noticed a crystal in her paws that was glowing as well.

     She frantically looked all over her body. “I’ve got crystals all over me!” She exclaimed.

     I flew over and examined them. “You sure do. Somehow you’ve become infused with Crystalline energy…”

     I then looked at the Master Crystal. “What did you do to her?!” I demanded.

     “There is no need for such hostility” The voice responded. “What has been done, was done for a good reason.”

     I waved my hand. “Go on…”

     “As the Guardian of Crystoldia, you have chosen to allow Latias to live here. As such, she is a favored Latias.”

     I looked at Latias and she smiled, blushing a bit. Her crystals now glowing magenta.

     I looked back at the Master Crystal. “But why do this to her?” I asked.

     “As a normal Latias, she would not be powerful enough to defend Crystoldia against such attacks as will inevitably come.”

     I stopped them right there. “Wait!” I said. “Are you telling me there’s an imminent attack on Crystoldia? You can see the future?”

     “No I cannot.” The voice responded. “But there will always be fierce attacks by those who want the power for themselves. And Latias would not be strong enough to help defend Crystoldia through those ongoing battles.”

     I looked at Latias, then at the Master Crystal. “So then… What exactly did you do to her?”

     “I have made her stronger.” The voice said. “With the Crystalline energy running through her, she is now far more powerful than before. The Crystalline parts of her body are a side effect of such enhancements.”

     I thought for a bit. “But… They keep changing colors. What’s up with that?”

     The voice continued. “That is a display of her emotions. Her mood is reflected in the current color of the crystals.”

     “Oh…” I mused as I looked at Latias.

     “I feel a lot easier to read now.” She said as she crossed her arms, the crystals shifting to a purple again.

     I chuckled. “Well… She also looks, bigger.” I cringed at Latias’ response.

     “What?!” She exclaimed. “Bigger? Like, fat?”

     “NO NO NO!” I quickly responded. The now vibrant purple color glowing more on her crystals. I was entering dangerous territory.

     “The reason you see so… Is because it is so.” The voice said. “She has grown larger than a normal Latias. I suppose you could say she is a Latios’ size now.”

     “Oh…” I replied. “Hmm, that ain’t bad I suppose.”

     “There are a few more things, but I’ll let you two discover them.” The voice told me.

     “You ALWAYS have to turn something into some sort of mystery, don’t you?” I asked as I rolled my eyes.

     “I can’t do your job for you.” It responded. “That is up to you.”

     I nodded. “Ok, ok. I just wish you had told me first. I nearly had a heart attack when that happened to Latias…”

     “Latria.” The voice said.

     “What?” I asked. “Latria?”

     “That is Latias’ name now.” It told me. “No longer is she Latias, but Latria. Her name has changed, along with her abilities.”

     I looked at Latria. She was looking over herself confusedly, mumbling her name to herself.

     Then she looked at me. “I’m Latria… This is gonna take some getting used to.”

     I nodded. “You got that right. And after what? Three years of calling you Latias. Yeah… Of course this is gonna take some getting used to.”

     She giggled and hugged me. “You’re silly. I had to get used to calling you Lateon. I think you can get used to calling me Latria.”

     I chuckled and noticed her crystals now turning teal.

     “You know…” I started. “I think it would be a good idea for me to make a note of what these different colors mean.”

     “You do that.” She told me.

     I took Latria’s hand, and phased us back up to the Pool Room. Which had basically become our contemplation area.

     I sat down with a note pad and pencil with Latria in front of me. “Alright.” I said. “How do you feel right now?”

     “Happy.” She responded.

     “Ok, put down teal for happiness.” I checked off a color and emotion. “How about if you’re sad?” I asked.

     She rolled her eyes. “I can’t just MAKE myself sad.”

     We both stared at each other a bit.

     “I’m just gonna have to keep note of what you’re like and what colors are glowing.” I said. “Obviously this testing thing ain’t gonna work.”

     She shook her head. “No, no it is not.”

     I sat there for awhile. Then I got a brilliant idea.

     “Hey!” I said quickly, catching Latias off guard.

     “Wha?!” She exclaimed, her crystals flashing lime green in surprise.

     I picked up the notepad and wrote down another line. “Lime green… Expression of surprise…”

     She crossed her arms and glared at me. “That was just mean.” Her crystals now turning a purple color.

     I wrote down another line. “Purple… Expression of being upset. Hmm. You also had it for when you were confused as well. I’ll put it down for both.”

     She sighed and looked at me. “Please stop that. I feel like some sort of experiment being examined in a lab.”

     I set the pad down. “Alright, alright.” I said as I flew over and hugged her. “I’m sorry. It’s just that all this stuff that happened to you piques my curiosity.”

     She smiled and hugged back. “I know. It’s okay, at least I know that I’m not considered just an experiment to you.”

     I just smiled at her as I saw her crystals glowing a teal color. A sure sign that she was happy.

     Then she spoke up. “Lateon. The voice said there were a few other things that I had been given as well. I don’t suppose you would have any idea what they would be do you?”

     I thought for a second and shook my head. “I can never tell with the voice.” I told her. “But there is one that I think you may have received.”

     She cocked her head. “And what would that be?” She asked.

     I pointed to a crystal on the floor. “See if you can control that.” I said. Look at it, reach toward it, and imagine it shaping into something else.”

     Latria looked at me, then at the crystal. “Well, here we go.” She said as she concentrated and reached out toward the crystal.”

     I saw her eyes begin to glow as she did, and that told me all I needed to know.

     Her eyes widened in surprise as the crystal began to glow and twist around. Eventually it stopped glowing as bright, revealing it to be a perfect sculpture match to a Lati head.

     Latria looked at me, a combination of wonder and excitement in her eyes. Which reflected in the orange glow from her crystals.

     I wrote down another line and nodded. “I was right.” I said as I looked at her. “Latria, you have Crystalkinesis.”

     She picked it up. “I didn’t think I could actually do it… But I did…” She looked up at me. “What else do you think I could do?”

     I shrugged. “Beats the heck out of me. I reckon the only way to find out is by experimentation.”

     She looked blankly at me.

     I shook my head. “Not THAT kind of experimentation… I meant something like… Moves. How about moves?”

     She nodded. “Sounds good to me. Where should I try them?”

     I thought for a second. “I know. Follow me.”

     I started flying down a tunnel with Latria in tow. And we soon arrived in a large cavern. It was mostly empty except for the occasional large boulder and stone pillar.

     “This room would make for good practice.” I told her. “The best way to get an idea of what you’re capable of is to think about your moves. You my pick up some clues as to how your moves changed.”

     Latria looked out into the chamber and looked thoughtful. Then she spoke up.

     “It feels like my Mist Ball is different.” She said.

     “Then go ahead and try it.” I told her.

     “Well I don’t want to destroy anything…” She said.

     “Do it.” I said again.

     “Alright, alright.” She replied as she held her arms out, preparing the attack.

     She started charging it, and all of a sudden, a burst of energy welled up between her paws. It swirled around in a bright blue.

     She looked at me with a surprised expression, this was clearly not a normal Mist Ball.

     I nodded and she looked back into the cavern. Then she threw it.

     It traveled in a straight line, a thick blue mist streaming behind it.  Latria’s eyes began to glow, and she turned toward me to see what I thought so far.

     As she did so however, the ball quickly swung around, heading straight for us.

     My eyes widened and I swung her head around, the ball following her gaze, eventually slamming into a wall and exploding in a larger explosion than originally expected.

     We both floated there and stared blankly at the small crater that it had left.

     “Uhhh…” Is all Latria could say.

     “Apparently that attack follows your gaze Latria.” I told her.

     “Yeah… Apparently…” She replied.

     We both looked at each other.

     “Practice outside?”

     “Yeah, yeah that would be nice.”

     I took her hand and flew toward the ceiling. “I know just the place. MUCH more room to practice.” I said.

     She let go suddenly, and I looked at her,

     “What is it Latria?” I asked.

     “I dunno…” She said. “I was just wondering. What if, What if I too can phase through stuff?”

     I looked at her, then moved aside. “Then go for it.”

     She looked at the ceiling, then at me, and back to the ceiling. “Let’s hope this doesn’t turn out like the practice move did.” She said.

     She flew toward the ceiling. Reached it, and bonked her head.

     “Ow!” She exclaimed as she fell back, rubbing her head.

     I flew down to her, trying my best not to chuckle, and failing.

     “That’s not funny!” She said. “That hurt.”

     I smiled as I rubbed her head. “Now now there. I’ve made my share of blunders too.” I told her.

     She just sheepishly smiled up at me. “Sorry for the outburst…” She apologized.

     I noticed her crystals glowing a magenta as she blushed.

     “Magenta…” I said, Latria’s face turning to confusion. “…Expression of embarrassment.”

     She then realized what I was doing. “Will you stop that?” She said exasperatedly, trying to hide a smile.

     I chuckled. “Hey, once I’ve got them all down, you won’t have to worry about it anymore.”

     She rolled her eyes, and I decided it was time to change the subject.

     “How about trying this phasing thing again?” I suggested.

     She looked sarcastically at me.

     I spoke up again. “Go ahead. I find that it’s much like manipulating crystals actually. You concentrate on phasing, imagine yourself going through the wall as you reach it.”

     She sighed and flew back up to the ceiling. Only a bit slower this time.

     She reached the ceiling, and concentrated on phasing, I could tell because her sky blue eyes had begun to glow again.

     She disappeared right into the stone.

     I hovered there grinning, and her head popped out of the ceiling upside down. She was grinning as well.

     “Congratulations Latia-err… Latria.” I said, shaking my head. “Still gotta get used to that.”

     She giggled. “Now then teacher. What other lessons do you have for me?”

     I shook my head and shot toward her. She eeped and phased back into the stone, with me right behind her.

     We both phased out towards the coastline, and eventually just shot right out of the large cliff, looking straight out towards the ocean.

     I looked at Latria. “Follow me. The place I was talking about is this way.”

     I pointed out over the ocean. And then shot off.

     Latria was right there beside me, and that was when another thought hit me.

     What speeds was she capable of?

     I glanced back at her, and she grinned. “You thinking what I’m thinking?” She asked.

     I nodded. “If you’re thinking about how bad I’m going to beat you in a race. Then yes.” I responded.

     Getting her riled up about a race was the surest way to see what she was capable of.

     She shot ahead of me much faster than she would have been able to had she been a regular Latias.

     I sped forwards as well and pulled alongside her, grinning.

     She started speeding up, and so did I. We rapidly accelerated, wavering around each other. I would pull ahead, and then she would go a bit further.

     I calculated our speed, and found that we were both going about 526 mph at this point.

     “Latria. I have something to tell you.” I said telepathically. Opening your mouth at this speed was not something you would want to do.

     “Yes?” She responded.

     “You’re going about 530 miles per hour.” I told her.

     Her eyes widened. “What?!” She said. “I-I’ve never been able to go this fast!”

     “Well you can now.” I replied. “Now slow down. We’re approaching the area.”

     We both slowed down to a reasonable speed. And Latria was just beaming. She was really liking these new abilities that she had received.

     I pointed to the island up ahead. “That island is the perfect place to practice.” I told her. “Deserted, and in the middle of nowhere. Prime conditions for a place to create explosions.”

     She giggled. “So we’re gonna blow stuff up are we?”

     I shrugged. “That’s what we’re here to see. With these new moves and powers, you may very well be creating some explosions.”

     Latria looked at her paws. “Well, perhaps you should stay back a bit then. I don’t feel like accidentally hurting you.”

     I nodded. “Already had that plan.” I said, then pointing to a long empty slope that traveled from the beach all the way to the side of a mountain. A mountain that had a steady stream of smoke rising from the top.

     “That large empty space will do fine.” I told her.

     “Is that a volcano?” Latria asked.

     “Yes it is.” I replied. “Don’t worry, It hasn’t erupted… Yet.”

     She looked at me strangely, and then I started chuckling.

     “No Latria. I don’t expect it to erupt anytime soon. It just has tummyaches every once in awhile.”

     She shook her head. “Sometimes I wonder about you.”

     “You should ALWAYS worry about me.” I replied, grinning widely. “Now blow up that rock.” I told her as I randomly pointed to a rock on the beach.

     She whipped her arms around and fired a blast at the rock, a thin beam fired from the crystals on her paws and hit the rock. At first nothing seemed to happen.

     But then crystals shot out of it and detonated, leaving a nice little crater on the beach that quickly filled up with water.

     I floated there, still pointing to the position that the rock used to be at. Staring blankly at Latria.

     “Well…” I said. “That was interesting…”

     Latria looked at her hands and grinned. Then she charged another one of the blue spheres. This one however seemed to be comprised of a whole bunch of small ones.

     She released it and looked around on the mountain’s side. The little energy spheres following her gaze in a tight line of blue mist and glowing orbs.

     Then they raked across the mountainside, like a stream of exploding machinegun rounds.

     She looked back at me, and I was grinning widely. “Homing attacks like are the perfect thing for airborne targets.” I told her. “That attack will be VERY useful.”

     Apparently pleased with my praise, she closed her eyes and began to think.

     “Thinking about another attack?” I asked.

     She nodded and opened her eyes. “I have a feeling this next one is going to be interesting.” She said, a mischievous look on her face.

     She flew down to the beach, and I hovered next to her.

     “What’s this one gonna be?” I asked.

     “Dunno, but it’s mostly a close range move from what I feel.” She replied.

     I nodded and hovered back a bit. “Let’s see it.”

     No sooner had I said it, than she released what looked like a flamethrower of blue energy.

     It covered the ground in a sweeping motion as Latria moved her head. And immediately, hundreds of sharp pointy crystals shot up from the ‘coating’ on the ground.

     She had just breathed what could essentially be called, a blanket of crystal seeds.

     We both flew over to the deadly sharp carpet of crystals, and Latias grinned. Then she reached toward it, and it expanded, large points of crystal shooting up out of it.

     “Check it out!” She said excitedly. “I made ammo!”

     I snapped off a crystal and bit into it. “Not to mention dinner!”

     We both started laughing, and after awhile we sat down and started eating Latria’s attack.

     “Ever eaten a move before?” I asked her as I took a bite out of one of the crystals.

     “I have now.” She giggled with her mouth full.

     We both sat there for awhile, then at the same time we started talking. “Hey…”

     We both giggled.

     “You first.” I said.

     “No you.” She insisted.

     I rolled my eyes. “I was about to say that we should be heading back. The sun is starting to set.”

     She looked at me with a combination of surprise and amusement. “That’s what I was about to say!” She replied.

     “Great minds think alike.” I said as I shot off of the beach, and toward Crystoldia.

     I caught Latria off guard. Cause she yelled then flew up, eventually getting next to me.

     “Apparently I was wrong.” I told her.

     “What?” She asked.

     “I said great minds think alike.” I told her. “Well apparently you weren’t thinking like me when I shot off. I guess my mind is too great for you.”

     She looked at me with an expression that just said, ‘how dare you’.

     But then she grinned. “Actually…” She started. “I didn’t go. So YOU weren’t thinking the same as I was. Therefore, I could be the great mind.”

     I chuckled. “Crap, she’s catching on.” Then I shot off even faster.

     We basically repeated the process heading back to Crystoldia that we had when heading to the island.

     Essentially, go fast.

     We reached the coastline and I slowed down, stopping at the shoreline. Latria stopped a bit after, and looked back at me.

     I just plopped down on the beach and looked out to the sunset.

     Latria flew over and sat down next to me.

     “Way to go back there.” I told her. “I’m definitely impressed.”

     “And you weren’t before?” She asked with a hurt expression. “Was I not impressive enough for you until now?”

     I looked at her in surprise, then realizing the joke when I saw the grin creep across her face.

     “Oh yes.” I said, extending the joke. “I wasn’t impressed at all with you before.”

     She rolled her eyes. “Oh… Well maybe I’m worthy of the oh so great Guardian of Crystoldia.”

     I sighed and looked at her. “Oh please, referring to me as the ahem, ‘oh so great Guardian of Crystoldia’ is still a bit too much. Even in a joke. I’m not THAT great.”

     She scootched a bit closer to me. “Well you are to me.” She said as she nuzzled me.

     I just blushed and looked out to sea.

     The sun was but a soft orange orb halfway into the ocean, it’s rays of light glinting off the water. And the sound of the waves crashing up onto the beach with the palm trees slowly swaying in the gentle breeze.

     And then there was what I would consider the best of the moment.

     Latria right there next to me.

     I looked down at her, and she looked back at me. Those sky blue eyes seeming to peer straight into my very being. I started getting those darned butterflies in my stomach again.

     But that didn’t matter to me. It was a feeling I had never experienced. One I really didn’t want to end.

     And it felt like heaven.

     We sat there together on the beach until the sun had set, and the stars shone bright in the night sky. Her crystals glowed a bright pink the whole time. I put down a mental note that it meant love.

     If it did, and my Guidecrystal changed colors based on emotions like hers, mine would’ve been doing the same thing.

     Eventually I felt Latria slipping. And she slumped over on me, her eyes were closed, and the Crystalline parts of her were glowing a light blue color. Which I noted as meaning calm.

     I picked her up gently and phased back into Crystoldia, where I lay her down on her bed.

     I couldn’t help but smile while watching her. She had a slight smile on her face as she slept. The Crystalline parts of her body pulsing slowly as she breathed.

     I sighed and suddenly felt a slight surge of energy. I couldn’t tell what it was, it felt new to me. But I decided it was probably just my own emotions screwing with me.

     I flew over and lay on my bed. It had been a good day. A bit unnerving, yes. But I could definitely say that it was a good day.

     And I now felt that Latria was truly a part of Crystoldia, like I was.