Alto

There’s no way Alto could say that he wasn’t upset. He was disappointed. Maybe a bit too much. As he sulked, he realized that Raelynn was talking to him.

“Anything happened on your trip here?” she asked as they walked to the city. She said it as if nothing had happened.

“Not really, Janus and I just caught up with each other a little,” Alto said, not making eye contact. Suddenly, the blood rushed to his head. “You know, what’s with you? Your sister died not too long ago and you don’t even feel bad. Janus left and you don’t even have any sympathy for me. And while you were gone, Janus was crying because he thought he was the problem that led to Mica’s death when it was clearly you!” he yelled. Instantly, he felt the guilt pooling in his chest. He didn’t even want to say anything, it just kept pouring out.

“Well maybe some people just get over things really quickly,” she says quietly. She didn’t seem hurt by his words in the slightest. “Don’t think that you’re the only one who’s been through a lot.”

“I'm sorry I didn’t-”

“There’s nothing to apologize about. I'm used to it,” she said blandly. Alto opened his mouth but nothing came out. “I have ASPD. It comes from being in the lab alone everyday. You wouldn’t know,” Raelynn said, looking the other way when he peered up to meet her gaze.

“No. You’re wrong. I-I do,” Alto stammered. Regaining himself, he tried again. “I meant. I know what you mean by being alone. I was kept in this place by myself for a few years, watching everyone get out of class and back into their dorms. I can’t remember any faces though. Maybe dying more times should help,” he chuckled. Raelynn smiled.

“Glad to know there’s someone like me too,” she said, turning her head back to look at me. “You’re not as invincible as I thought,” she joked.

“Trust me, half the time I don’t know what I'm doing,” he laughed. “Hey, I almost forgot to tell you. Janus had this dream-”

“Tell me later. We’re going to go in now and if you don’t shut up, they’ll shoot you on sight.”

“Ok, boss, lead the way,” Alto said sarcastically. Raelynn liked to be in charge. But it seems like there wasn’t much she could be in charge of. Maybe it wasn’t not about being ‘in charge’ . Maybe it was about taking care of the people in your charge. That was probably me.

“Hey, bread for brains,” Raelynn whispered. There were guards surrounding us as we walked. “Keep your head up, they’re going to think you’re retarded.” Alto rolled his eyes and straightened himself. He should have the same courage that he did when he was the best lawyer in the country, as Janus said, but he doesn't even remember what that feels like. How long has it been since he’d woken up in the middle of Clearborne?

“What if someone notices that I'm Mateo?”

“Oh, you bet they will. But don’t worry. We figured out long before ULTRASONIC that your ability was resurrection. Guess who got us your DNA samples! Hell, ULTRASONIC probably still doesn’t know what you are!” she laughed, pride gleaming in her eyes. “We knew that if you ever died, you would come to the center of Clearborne every time. If you hadn’t noticed, your old house was somewhere along that line.”

“Alto Aureum, huh? What does that mean?” he asked, not wanting to talk about anything that he didn’t remember. “Alto is a nickname someone from the Sunken gave to me. How do you know it?”

“It’s probably a coincidence. That’s just what we call you here. When we first found you, our new technology from Yosnana gives us your name right away. But for some reason there was a malfunction and hundreds of names popped up. We decided to go with the last two. Mateo Queensley and Alto Aureum. That's why I called you both when I saw you and Janus wandering on our borders,” she said. Alto nodded, not thinking much of it. But the malfunction in Yosnanan tech was pretty odd. While they were walking, the guards used most of their technology they had on them to scan his entire body from head to toe. He noticed that their uniforms were black with neon purple lines, randomly placed. Alto couldn’t say it was ugly but it was certainly unique. Since he didn’t have anything on him except his clothes, going through the security didn’t take too long.

“Where are we going?” he finally asked.

“To the outskirts. Prince Nile doesn’t want too many people near his mansion so the builders built it far from the villages. Don’t worry there’s a shortcut that only our officials know. Including me,” she said, winking at me with a playful smile.

“This prince, is he Rudy’s son?” he asked. Hearing the name Nile had triggered some old memories. He had known the Clearborne king since he was a kid. He took him in when his parents had died. He’d also agreed to hand him over to ULTRASONIC.

“Yeah, King Rudy. He died last December,” she stated. “He was a great King. You know him?”

“Mixed feelings on my side. Nile and I basically grew up together before your king handed me over to ULTRASONIC,” he spat.

“Sorry to hear that,” the brunette mumbled.

“You don’t have to say that,” Alto said, biting his lip to prevent him from saying something that he’ll regret. “I’ll make a new impression. Start over. Nile’s probably forgotten me by now anyway.” Raelynn laughed.

“Have you forgotten that we’ve been monitoring you all this time? Trust me, Nile remembers. And he remembers very well,” Raelynn smirked. Oh, so she knows too. Great.

“I was 10,” Alto argued, though he knew he wasn’t going to get anywhere.

“And he was 9. You both have a lot of catching up to do,” Raelynn retorted, cracking up.

“Indeed,” he sighed. Soon enough, they’d approached a white polished Outercraft waiting for them

“Come on, let’s go!” Raelynn yelled as she climbed into the pilot’s seat.

“So we’re really doing this,” he asked, though it came out more like a statement. There was no way out of it and he knew it.

“Yes. Now stop sulking about your ex and get in,” Raelynn yelled.

“Yeah, yeah,” Alto said as he climbed in the co-pilot seat. “Not the way I expected to have a reunion but I guess it’s got to happen sometime.” Raelynn chuckled.

“And that sometime is now.”