The Eon Bird Epilogue

A quiet night.  The leaves rustled in the trees as a winding wind caressed them.  The "hoot-hoot" of an owl, echoing through the dusk.  The crickets chirping, the frogs sounding their "ribbits".

But then… if one looked closely at the sky, one could see me, Raive, flying alongside my mate, Spirit.

It had been two years after my transformation from Clayton Grant to Raive Brand.  People forgot about my disappearance.  It happens, you know?  People move on.  But I knew that, after I found out the whole story – Spirit eating me and then using the energy and my soul to transform me into her mate – I would have to do something about the nagging thought that my human parents weren't ever going to forget about me.  So something had to be done.  It took an entire day to cajole Spirit into what I had planned, but in the end, she relented.  She knew that I wasn't going to let the matter rest.

Which brings us to the present.  After flying for a few more minutes, we silently alit upon a balcony – the balcony being my past home.  I looked at Spirit.  "So after this, I'm leaving my human life behind," I said.

She nodded.  "It's high time you did, anyway.  We had best do what we need to do and get back to our dimension.  Your brother is waiting."

I winced slightly.  "My true brothers are here, Spirit… John and Rick… if only they could see me now."

Spirit shook her head.  "It's best if only your parents knew."

"Spirit, I can't just—"

"No, Raive.  Only your parents."

I sighed and nodded.  "Raive… radically different from Clayton…"

Spirit touched my chest.  "Clayton Grant is still in there, Raive.  He just has a new body now.  A better one."

I looked down at myself, smiling briefly.  "I agree, my love.  But they may think otherwise."

Spirit held me close.  "Raive, it won't matter by the end of tonight.  Remember the plan?"
"Yes, and I hate every part of it.  I know, however, that it's necessary.  Knowledge of the other dimension must be kept secret.  It should only come through in the media here."  By that, I was talking about the Pokemon dimension where I now lived with Spirit.  Unbeknownst to me, she had slipped out of Clayton's Earth's reality while I was forming inside her, and she came to be in the alternate Pokemon reality that mirrors Earth.  There, I met members of my "family".  But those stories are for another time.

Spirit nodded and she unlocked the double doors with a mere thought.  The door slowly blew open and we walked in, my heart hammering in my chest.  We approached the large bed containing two sleeping figures in it; my human mother and father.

I stood at the foot of their bed, prodding them awake using calm mental energy.  "Mom… Dad… don't be alarmed, but it's me, Clayton…"

My mom woke up first.  Her eyes went wide, and she tried to scream, but Spirit muffled it with a gag made of psychic energy.  I winced, going to her side immediately.  "Mom.  We're not here to hurt you," I said quietly.  "I just wanted to say my final goodbyes…"
Her movements slowly died down, and Spirit removed the gag.  She looked at us both, breathing heavily as my father stirred.  She patted his shoulder.  "I don't believe it.  What did you do with my son?" She hissed.

I looked at Spirit and she spoke.  "The day at the beach, ma'am.  When he disappeared.  It was me."

My mother looked at Spirit, eyeing her figure.  She shook her head.  "That doesn't explain how he came to look like what he looks like now, and I still don't believe either of you.  This has to be a dream."  By now, my father had woken up and had had the decency not to scream or yell; he only looked at us, stunned.

I sighed.  "Mom… this is no dream.  This is reality… and Clayton Grant, I'm still him.  I just look different now."

She seemed to come to her senses, hearing my voice.  "Oh, my son, I thought I had lost you forever…" she hugged me tightly, silently sobbing.

A tear came to my eye, too, as I said the next part, hating every word.  "Mom… I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to live with the knowledge of my existence in this body."

My father spoke.  "Clay… are you going to…"

I spoke hastily.  "No, I'm not going to kill you.  That would be awful.  I'm just going to erase your memories of this night."

My father tilted his head.  "You have that power now?"

I nodded.  "I'm very powerful.  Where I live, now, you'd see fantastic creatures of every sort… their power is not out of place in that dimension."

"Other dimensions?  That's a bit too much for me to handle, not to mention your poor mother."

"Trust me, Dad, it'll all be fine.  Here's what I'm going to do.  I'm going to erase your memories of this night, but at the same time I'll leave within you the knowledge of my safety.  That way, your fears can be put to rest."

My mother sobbed quietly.  "We can't lose you again, Clay…"

"Look at me, Mom.  I can't live here now."

She shook her head, and then she sighed.  "You're right, who am I kidding?  What's your partner's name?"

Spirit inclined her head briefly.  "My name is Spirit, parents of Clayton Grant."

"It's a pleasure, Spirit," said my father.  He turned to face me.  "I'm just glad to see that you're not dead."

"Precisely.  That's why we came.  It took a lot of energy for us to switch dimensions and we'll be exhausted when we get back.  We came back here on my insistence, to see you.  Are Rick and John all right."

"Rick's having a bit of trouble with school.  He's fine otherwise, and John is, too.  Will you be seeing them next?" my mother asked.

I sighed and shook my head.  "You'll be the ones to tell them that I'm all right.  I can't risk anyone else seeing me like this."

My father slowly nodded.  "All right.  Son, we love you, you know that."

I sniffled, crying a bit.  "I love you too, Mom, Dad… Spirit, let's do as we must."

Spirit nodded and went to my father's side while I stayed with my mother.  I sent out waves of psychic energy that would do what I promised; erase their memories of the night but keep the knowledge that I was safe.  Spirit did the same.

Their eyelids fluttered and they dropped back to sleep, my mother reaching out for me as she did.  I caught her arm and slowly lowered it to her side.  I then let out a quiet Lugia's cry – it radiated sorrow and grief, and it could be felt with every sense.

Spirit took me by the hand and nodded, and we turned around, walking out the door onto the balcony.  We then locked the doors, spread our wings, and took off.

Of us in that world, there was no trace.

And the life of Raive Brand could truly begin.