#yveltal showing up at his house for the 5th time in one month: dude. you HAVE to stop

[gardenofgods]

For Ho-Oh, nothing really seemed too amiss at him at first regarding Lugia’s behavior. There was a time where the sea guardian doted on his three sons, just as much as Ho-Oh loved and cared for his own children.

He wasn’t sure what changed, or what happened. At some point, he noticed that love began to wane. Perhaps his priorities shift, or something else happened. Ho-Oh couldn’t say, and he still doesn’t know what happened. He grew distant to his boys, despite their young age still. Ho-Oh still took care of them, of course he would. They were his nephews, his family, and they would always have a place with him, as his own children did. Lugia wasn’t coming around as often as he was anymore, despite living in Ho-Oh’s come with him. His brother was changing into an entirely different person, before his very eyes.

It was hard for him to accept and acknowledge that something was wrong. He wanted to believe his brother wasn’t a neglectful father, and the thought was sickening and world shattering for Ho-Oh. He tried talking to Lugia about it whenever he was around, but his twin wasn’t keen on really talking on the subject. Ho-Oh did what he could for all of the children, but Lugia’s boys especially were old enough to know something wasn’t right with their father.

Everything culminated into an explosive meltdown the day Brass Tower fell. Ho-Oh had left for only a few hours, and he should have known better than to even think about placing his children under his brother’s care. It was devastation when he came back. Once his own children were brought back, and subsequently left after the backlash from the people of Ecruteak, Ho-Oh unleashed a rage upon his twin unlike anyone had ever seen.

He threw the blame at Lugia immediately for what happened, for the death of his children that he easily could have done something about. Put out the fire, run in and get them, instead of letting them suffer the worst kind of death imaginable. Ho-Oh likely shouldn’t have thrown a punch, but his rage and grief were too strong for him to hardly think. It was the punch that would lead to the biggest rift in the family thus far.

Something in Lugia had truly snapped that day, for the beating Ho-Oh suffered was far worse than any injury he suffered, even in the war. Several of his ribs were broken, his arm was broken, and he lost an eye. Not to mention the several gashes and scrapes that Lugia tore through him as well. Then, his brother left, just like that. Back towards their home, which worried Ho-Oh since his nephews were there. While he had tried his best to get up and get home, he collapsed. From the severity of his injuries, along with having little to no energy left after reviving his three children.

After that day, Ho-Oh didn’t see Lugia for a long, long while after that. Thankfully the boys were okay, and once Ho-Oh had enough energy back, he was able to utilize Recover and repair all the damage he suffered. He blamed himself for the split of the family for the longest time. It was easier that way, than to accept the person his brother turned into.

Ho-Oh did his best to take care of his nephews, trying to keep his own grief and depression under wraps. The fact that their father had left, likely never to return, was known. And naturally, they all wound up leaving at some point too.

The splitting of the family put the biggest hole in his heart, one that felt bottomless and deep. Family was always the most important thing to him, and everything was shattered and rend into pieces. That was about the times his deaths started, either self-inflicted or happening upon intentional, reckless and self-destructive behavior. His deaths ruined his mind, twisting and warping it into an amalgamated mess of faint memories and recollections. Nothing he could truly grasp onto any longer. Children..? He thinks he may have had some, at some point. He can’t remember their names, their faces, he can’t remember anything. Was that what he wanted? If only he could remember.

It was easily the darkest, most low point of his entire life. Cast into a void of despair and agony so deep, so unfathomable. And then was a shining light, a pinprick upon the return of his daughter. Ho-Oh asked who she was, and he could see the pain in her eyes. All he could do was stare, a thousand yards ahead.

Slowly, with Suicune’s return and her help things got better. The cold numbness that took Ho-Oh was slowly beginning to subside, and day by day, he started recalling things again. His children. His nephews. His brother. Suicune had told him he made home in Whirl Islands, hearing passersby talk about it in Olivine.

He didn’t know what compelled him to, maybe because he was curious of what became of his brother, or because he wanted to clear his conscious, but he flew to Whirl Islands the next day. There was a tense air, and a slight feeling of animosity, but they were able to speak for the first time in decades. Ho-Oh learned of some birds that Lugia had dumped in another region, and for a split second he feared he was talking about his nephews. However, it wasn’t the case. It was a whole separate trio. Ho-Oh was alarmed at this news, Lugia not saying much else on the subject of how they came into being, or where they were.

He begged, and he pleaded Lugia to tell him. Ho-Oh promised he would take care of them, and Lugia wouldn’t have to lift a finger, but the sea guardian wouldn’t budge. It brought about the damning realization that Lugia... truly was not the same person that he grew up with, the same person he fought side by side in the war with, this was no longer his brother. Where there was once warmth, now gone and replaced with a bitter cold. It was like talking to a stranger. And it broke his heart.

Ho-Oh left without any word beyond that, struggling to accept that his brother, his twin, had changed in such a drastic, negative way. He still hasn’t talked to Lugia since that day, and he can’t foresee himself doing so ever again, really. Not if this was who he had become - a cold and unloving man towards all, even his own children.