Alto

Janus and Mateo hadn’t spoken since their last conversation. The silence was close to driving Alto crazy, but he didn’t know what to say. They passed by multiple dead cities and small villages, begging to trade for any food or weapons, but everyone was too caught up in their own survival. Nevertheless, this was pretty normal and both Alto and Janus had suspected it. A few hours prior, they had figured out where, or what, they were headed for. Janus had a map of Clearborne which he said the girl had “forgotten” after she had left. Alto already knew that the girl was probably dead, and she knew she wouldn’t be coming back to Janus. Hence, the map that she didn’t bother to take. Normally the brunette would have said something like that, but Janus conveyed a different feeling. Alto felt that he was useful, he didn’t want to hurt the younger boy.

Most of the cities and towns were already trashed from the war, but there were a few more still standing. Those cities were in charge of the bigger operations like how to protect the survivors, yet still remain in the war. Janus explained how Clearborne wanted to win no matter the cost. Förseglad City was the only chance they had to get back to the Commonwealth.

“You understand that people are going to know who you are, right?” Janus murmured as they walked.

“And that’s exactly why I have a plan,” Alto retorted.

“And what’s your amazing plan?” Janus rolled his eyes. “The city won’t let you in and people know what you look like, so the odds don’t seem to be in our favor.”

“Oh, we’re not going in tonight,” Alto smirked.

“No, I know that look, that look doesn’t seem good,” Janus sighed.

“Janus you need to focus. We’re almost there. We’ll get there by sundown for sure. But tonight, you have to find the girl. Before, she voluntarily helped you. She carried you through those hard times. Now you have to do the work. All she probably wants is for you to be safe and this is the only way,” he said, trying to convince him.

“Yeah, I would like to be useful for once in my life,” Janus smiled.

“There’s the Janus I know and love,” Alto laughed.

“Dude, that’s weirdly gay,” Janus laughed along. Something tingled inside the brunette like a memory waiting to be remembered.

“Actually, I think I was something along that line,” he said cautiously. Alto wasn’t ashamed of who he was, he just wanted to be careful.

“Really? That’s so cool,” Janus paused for a bit. “Sadly, I can’t feel the way you do. I'm aro,” he said calmly, taking a long swig of water from his bottle.

“Aromantic? I never really got what that meant, sorry if that came out offensive, I'm not very keen with these kinds of terms,” Alto said carefully.

“Nah, don’t be sorry, not many people actually understand. You see, most people have crushes or feelings for other people but I guess it’s different for me. I just don’t have romantic feelings for anyone,” Janus explained.

“Oh, I get it now,” Alto said, pausing for a second. “But I would love to hear it in your own words. Make me understand how you feel about being aro.” Alto could see how surprised Janus was. So much that he smiled widely, head tilting down.

“No one’s ever asked me that so I'm not very prepared,” Janus laughed. “Being aromantic makes me feel free, actually. I don’t feel like I have to live up to any expectation or pressure to have a family anymore. I feel like I’m in control now,” he said slowly, emphasizing almost every word, trying to sway Alto to understand the feeling of euphoria tugging up inside him. Janus wasn’t ashamed to talk about this topic at all, instead he embraced it.

“That’s,” Alto smiled in awe. “That’s amazing, Janus. I, well, sometimes I want to be able to feel that way too. Sometimes the weight of love is just too heavy.”

“Whenever you need someone to talk to, I’m here. You should explain to me the ‘weight of love’ sometime,” Janus nodded, nudging Alto playfully.

“Of course,” Alto laughed.

As they continued walking, Janus suddenly sped up his steps, squinting at the distance. He motioned Alto to follow him. Gradually, they broke into a run, Alto yelling at Janus, asking him what he saw. Janus, being too caught up in looking, didn’t respond.

“I found the seal!” Janus yelled over his shoulder. He stopped abruptly a few seconds later with Alto almost crashing into him. Janus was doubled over, still panting, inspecting the edge of the seal. There was a blue tint to it, like a towering bubble surrounding the rather small city. All the lights inside were off. Out of pure curiosity, Alto stuck his pointer finger out. “Alto, wait-” he heard Janus yell. Less than a second later, a loud popping sound exploded from where he once stood. Before he could even cry out, Alto was already metres in the air. He could hear his body make a loud thumping sound as his back hit the ground. “ALTO!” he heard Janus scream as quick footsteps made it to where he was lying. Alto felt a shot of pain up his spine, his body paralyzed in shock. The wind was almost completely knocked out of him, and he struggled to breathe. As soon as he could move, the injured boy tried to prop himself up on his arms but the strain almost made him pass out. Alto remained with his body flat on the solid ground.

“Ugh,” he groaned as Janus crouched down beside him.

“My God, Alto. Couldn’t you have just waited for one more second?” Janus scolded. “Dude, I don’t see you moving anytime soon, and I need to see if you have any injuries. I'm going to take your shirt off, ok?” Janus said, his voice a little unsteady. Alto nodded, not wanting to speak. Moments later, he lifted his arms above his head as Janus carefully removed his gray t-shirt that was stained with dirt.

“Never doing that again,” Alto smiled, trying to brighten up the mood.

“Yeah, ‘cause next time I’m not helping you,” Janus joked. “Now, can you turn on your side?” Alto rolled his body to the right, bearing the horrific ache in his back. “Good. There are some bruises, but you’re lucky to not have any spinal injuries,” he said, tracing his spine with his finger with minimum pressure. Alto still winced, though he wanted to get back on his feet as soon as possible.

“So I can walk?” Alto asked, gritting his teeth as he repositioned himself to be able to sit. Janus nodded.

“You should be healing in a few days…” he trailed off, staring at Alto’s back with his eyes wide open.

“Janus, stop scaring me, what’s wrong?” Alto asked, a bit nervous.

“Whoa. Y-you’re just healing really quick,” Janus stammered, his hands running along his back. “God, dude I'm sorry he didn’t mean to,” the shorter boy exclaimed, realizing that he’d been caressing Alto.

“Nah, it’s fine. You may want to rethink the whole ‘I'm aromantic’ thing again though,” he laughed while Janus rolled his eyes. “Maybe it has something to do with the whole coming back from the dead thing,” he shrugged, referring to his back.

“Maybe it has something to do with your power,” Janus murmured, smirking.

“Power?”

“Alto, everyone who gets into the Sunken has to have some kind of power, right?” Janus asked, his brows furrowing. Over the past few hours Alto had regained some of his memories but never any about the people he was with. Everyday, he still thought about the blond boy with his matching earring.

“I’m not sure. They’d been testing on me for a while but they never figured out what my ability was. Somehow they just knew that I had one,” Alto replied.

“So they know that you have a power but they never found out what it was,” Janus said slowly. Alto nodded, then realized what his friend was saying. “You’re not immortal, you clearly died. You’re not a healer, healers wouldn’t come back to life-” Janus paused, seeing Alto’s eyes go wide. “I think we just beat them to it.”

“My cut. On my neck,” Alto remembered, feeling the back of his neck. There was no scar.

“They beheaded you, oh god,” Janus said, turning his head away.

“I don’t even know if this is a strength or a sin,” Alto said halfheartedly.

“Well I guess we’ll have to find out.”