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In the midst of a heavy snowstorm on Mount Coronet, a fleeting figure is marching through the endless assault of the icy winds. The faint silhouette belongs to a man called John who is currently searching for his significant other who went missing three days ago. Clutching to his chest, he holds a silver pendant, reminding him of the reason he started his dangerous journey in the first place.
Coming to a halt, he carefully opens the pendant until he was greeted by the very thing that gave him strength until now. A picture of his wife, a loving woman who he last saw as she bid him farewell, embarking on a trip in hopes of acquiring a picture of the elusive Absol.
Looking at the pendant’s picture, John’s expression softens just a little, in spite of his dire circumstances. The icy wind continuing to assault him, his life force slowly but steadily drains as the storm’s cruel assault commences.
The man shivers, long having been aware of the creeping feeling of his strength slowly leaving his body.
Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes turned into hours. It happened just before he reached the peak, the point at which he would start his way back to the foot of the mountain to continue his search on another day.
At last, his strength depletes, making him to drop to his knees.
Lacking the power despite his vainly efforts, John simply can’t get back up, no matter how much he wants to. Looking into the white blur of the snowstorm, he believes to make out a figure slowly approaching him. As the mysterious entity’s form becomes clearer and clearer to see, he freezes in shock at the sight that revealed itself to him.
Floating towards him, he recognizes the figure as a Froslass, pokémon said to be cold, murderous beings feeding on the souls of wanderers unlucky enough to find their way into their territory. Ever floating closer to him, John desperately tried to struggle back onto his feet as the deadly spirit slowly approached him in a hauntingly graceful manner.
‘So this is how it ends? My soul being devoured without even having the chance to find anything from her able to at least grant me certainty about what happened to her?’
Looking up at the pokémon who was now floating in front of him, he simply stares at it as he looks into her eyes which cause a thousand thoughts to assault his mind at once.
What does it want? It looks down at him in an almost welcoming manner, him being down on his knees and completely at its mercy, unable to struggle should it decide to claim his soul for consumption. It must be toying with him, right? This look in her eyes, the gaze of someone seeing a plan coming to fruition. Yet, John can’t quite shake the feeling that in some odd way, these eyes seem familiar to him.
Is he seeing… empathy? No. It must be his mind playing tricks on him. A desperate attempt at finding solace while facing a dire fate, desperately clinging to the delusional belief that he is allowed to survive this ordeal by some miracle.
But he doesn’t care anymore of what happens to him, as it was at this moment that he realized what should have been obvious to him a long time ago.
Mia is dead.
Always having been the gentle, soft counterpart to his sturdy personality, she must have also have found her end in the mountain’s cruel climate.
He simply stares up at the Froslass for what feels like an eternity, both of them not moving while their gazes met. Eventually, he stops thinking. As everything turns black, he drops into the snow.
‘I’m sorry, Mia. I tried my best, but I wasn’t strong enough. After all, what use is there in continuing to live in grief knowing that you’re gone? Forgive me.’
The man takes a last, shaky breath before his body finally fails him.
Slowly regaining his consciousness, John opens his eyes to find himself lying in a cave which must be situated somewhere inside the mountain. Where was he? Didn’t he die at the hands of the blizzard as this haunting spirit closed in on him?
“You are awake.”
Making efforts to turn his head towards the voice’s owner, the man finds his body not quite obeying his commands, with it feeling alien to him.
Hovering into his field of view, his eyes grow wide as he spots the Froslass who was eyeing him before everything went black. Did it just talk? He recalls that psychic- along with some ghost-types possess the ability to communicate with humans telepathically, yet he could swear that he just perfectly understood the Froslass’ native language as if she was speaking his own.
“W-who are you?”
He was slightly taken aback by being subjected to multiple unknown sensations, along with the fact that his own voice somehow sounds unfamiliar to him, now having an unknown, ethereal quality to it. The Froslass keeps staring down at him, her eyes filled with something familiar.
“Someone who cares for you deeply.” the ice spirit replies. “I wanted to warn you, make you turn back, but I was too late. I’m sorry.”
Tears formed around the ice pokémon’s eyes.
Still overwhelmed by the whole situation, he can’t seem to make sense of the ghost’s words. Yet, for some reason he wishes that she would stop crying, the sheer emotion contained within her cries making him feel hurt himself.
“W-what happened t-to me? Why do I feel so strange?”
For some reason, John can’t feel his legs, with his hands feeling strange along with the sensation that he… holds something?
As John struggles to comprehend the situation he finds himself in, the Froslass drifts ever closer, her face now being right in front of his own, her eyes filled with a haunting familiarity and care.
“John. I can answer your questions, but they might overwhelm you. Are you ready?”
John’s growing panic more and more makes room for the ever-increasing confusion taking root in his mind. Why does the Froslass know his name? What could she probably tell him that would overwhelm him? And why does he have the feeling that something about this whole situation feels… off? For lack of a better idea, he simply nods, the motion hindered by his neck feeling stiff.
“You died, John. You aren’t human anymore.”
The Froslass’ words hit him like a truck. He isn’t human anymore? What does that mean? Surely, when he takes a look at his hand, he will see that it’s perfectly nor-
His body once again freezes up as he holds one of his “arms” in front of him to take a closer look at it. Instead of a human hand, he was looking at something else. Greeting his sight, he sees a black piece of fabric faintly resembling a human arm. At the end of it, its color turns into a pale purple and it splits into four tassels mirroring the appearance of fingers. Perplexed at the strange limb, he tries moving his arm with the odd appendage copying his exact movements. What on earth has happened to him?
“You might want to take a look at yourself.”
The Froslass grabbed John under his “shoulders”, causing his body to turn upside. Staring at the reflection looking back at him from a wall covered in a thick layer of ice, he didn’t see a human. Instead, staring back at him was a sword-like entity, spouting two “arms”. A golden shield rested on the floor next to it. John recognized the creature staring back at him as he recalls being told about the pokémon.
It is an Aegislash.
No, he is an Aegislash.
“B-but how…?”
“Like I said…” The Froslass continued, looking at John with a sad expression. “You died. Your soul’s desperate wish didn’t allow it to find rest, causing it to attach itself to something nearby. In your case, it was a sword buried deep within the snow.”
John can’t believe what he is seeing clearly in front of him. The creature in the reflection was mirroring exactly his own movements. Was this supposed to be his fate? Eternally persisting in the world of the living like this, never being able to find solace in knowing what happened to the one closest to him? Never truly knowing what happened to Mia?
“T-this can’t be happening. I-I was supposed to find her, not die myself in the process! I-I-I…” He paused before uttering his next words. “I was supposed to save her. But I failed her instead.”
He surely would have started to cry now, if he would have been still able to do so in his new form. Looking down at his trembling arms, the Froslass inched closer, giving him the impression that somehow, she tries to comfort him.
“John, you haven’t failed her.”
Looking at the Froslass in anger, the now Aegislash lashed out, fueled by the bitter frustration that has amassed inside of him until now.
“How can you say that!? I didn’t even find anything left of her! I… I completely lost her. Why do you know my name, anyway? Are you the one that murdered her? Do you find amusement in my misery?” John lets out a bitter cry. “Tell me, what gives you the right to tell me these words? Acting like she isn’t dead, by now surely buried under that cruel blizzard’s snow? Now tell me! Who are you to have the right to say these words?!”
Having released his entire bitter frustration, he can’t stop himself from regretting at lashing out at the Froslass in front of him who clearly acted out of a desire to help him.
“Do you really not recognize me? After all this time?”
Tears start to build up in her eyes, slowly falling down in the form of small, icy crystals.
“Look, I’m sorry, It’s just-. It’s a lot to take in. What do you mean by that? Who even are you?”
Having stopped crying for now, he thinks about the Froslass’ words. He is supposed to recognize her? She is the first Froslass he sees, but yet he can’t deny the feeling that she indeed seems strangely familiar to him.
“I’m Mia, John. And I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to befall the same fate as me, but I couldn’t do anything to stop you. You’ve always been so unbelievably stubborn, always putting me before your own safety.”
If he would still have a mouth, it would now stand wide open as John stared at the Froslass in shock while realization struck him.
“M-Mia?”
“Yes John, you do remember after all!”
Before he could react, the Froslass has taken him in a tight embrace which he returns, starting a whirlwind of emotions inside of him.
“But that means that you-“
“Yes, I died.” answered Mia. “I should have never gone here, I’m sorry John, I-I-. I killed us. I last thing I remember was me carelessly running after that Absol which ended up in me falling down a chasm. And now…” She gestures at herself. “… I turned into this.”
Not being able to bear looking at her like his, John takes her hands, looking deep in her still familiar eyes he now identifies as the ones he always knew. Despite her different appearance, he is able to recognize his love in front of him. He stares into her eyes that display the kind soul he fell in love with all those years ago.
“Mia, do you remember what we promised each other the day we married? We vowed to stay true to each other for the rest of our lives. It was at this day that I became the happiest man in the world.”
“But we did die John. We are still there, but we aren’t alive.”
“Yes, that may be true. However, I would always start over, as long as I’m with you. Do you think that maybe… we can start again?”
The now Aegislash looked at her determinedly causing the Froslass to stare back in awe as she looks at him with eyes wide open, her expression eventually shifting into a warm smile.
“As long as I’m with you, I can get through everything fate may throw our way. I love you, John. Nothing could possibly make me happier.”
He simply pulled her into a tight embrace, the two bonded spirits having found each other yet again, even in death. As he held his significant other, John was certain of one thing:
Whatever the future may bring, they would never have to be alone ever again.
Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months, then years, then decades, then centuries. As time marched forwards unfaltering, stories of a strange phenomenon spread through the mountain’s nearby settlements. During cold, clear nights, if the moon shines bright onto the peak of Mount Coronet, wanderers tell of witnessing two figures dancing along in the moonlight. As time went on, more and more people seek out the mountain for the chance to witness the hauntingly beautiful phenomenon themselves.
Yet, the two souls didn’t care for the attention their performance stirred. After all, what significance holds such a small inconvenience to the eternity they still had for each other?