Finally done chapter 2! I got 5 reviews for chapter 1, but only 3 people put it on alert. Enough interest for me to carry on. Enjoy chapter 2!

Chapter 2: Meet on the Wind

Luzania continued to run as hard as she could. Behind her, she could hear the sound of chasing footsteps.

What do they want with me? She thought, alarmed. Whatever the reason, though, she did not like the fact that she was being chased. Picking up her pace, she continued to race through the streets, through the corridors marked by towering metal buildings, between the passers-by, who turned to stare at her, their faces turning into a blur. No one had ever been able to outrun her before.

Soon, though, minutes later, Luzania realised that the footsteps hadn't stopped chasing. She took a turning into another, smaller street, which was deserted. At this point, she glanced back, fearful all of a sudden of her pursuers.

They were the girl and boy from outside the marketplace earlier on. Seeing no threat in them, and yet suspicious of their intentions, she stopped and turned.

"What do you want with me?" she yelled angrily as they came to a halt before her.

The boy stepped forward. "Um...we were just wondering why you were in such a...um...state, when you ran from the marketplace," he explained hesitantly. "You looked really, really afraid."

Luzania felt her tension loosen up a little. "Is that all?" she questioned, realising that they didn't wish to further harm her. SHe glanced down at her clothes, which were in a pitiful state.

"Yeah...I see what you mean," she sighed. "They...everyone...hates me. They think that I'm weird. They took away my home, cast me out of society totally. Now I'm nobody."

"But you aren't really nobody, are you?" the girl replied, walking forward as well. "You stand here before us. You speak, and we hear your voice. What is your name?"

Luzania sighed and looked on. "Luzania," she replied, smiling for once. "My name is Luzania."

The two stood there, seeming to think as she watched. "Nice name," the boy commented. "You said that you don't have a home, or something like that?" Luzania nodded. "Do you want to come and live with us?"

Luzania glanced from one face to another, apprehensive. Will I be a burden to them? Are they really willing to share their home with an outsider, a dirty, abnormal orphan like me?

Slowly, she nodded. She did want a home. She wanted to have a place to stay in the coldest winter nights, a place to give her the comfort of the knowledge that she would have a home to return to at the end of the day...

"That's great then!" the boy exclaimed. The girl smiled in approval. "Let's get back, then! Never mind that we forgot to buy our stuff at the market..."

Very soon, Latios and Latias were on the way home, their new acquaintance, Luzania, following. Somehow, Latios was amazed that she had such a sad story. He remembered seeing her once or twice before, in various parts of town. He had never thought much of it, always believed that she was simply an ordinary girl hanging out somewhere.

How was it possible that such a beautiful, spirited girl could have such a troubled life?

"By the way," Luzania suddenly said. "What are your names?"

Instantly, he received a telepathic message from Latias. What do we say?! she burst out. Do you want to tell her our secret? She's a human, though a special one. What do we tell her now?

Latios began to think quickly. We shouldn't tell her anything yet. We must see if she's worthy of knowing the secret first, he replied. For now, we're called...He thought for a moment. Lucida and Lorenzo.

"I'm Lucida," she quickly said. "And my bro's name is Lorenzo." Latios thanked the sky silently for his sister's wonderful acting skills.

"I see," she replied. "Nice names."

As they led the girl along, an uneasy silence grew between them. Latias didn't even send Latios any telepathic messages.
"Here," his sister finally said as the familiar sight came into their view. Between the long rows of fifty-storey-tall apartments was a line of huge metal covers lining the side of the street.

Luzania gasped loudly. "The...the canals?" Her voice was heavy with shock.

As Latios looked on sadly at what the canals from five hundred years ago had become, he nodded. He could almost see the long stretch of water as it had been, five centuries ago, trees, and birds and all.

"What're we waiting for?" Latias called, seeming excited at the prospect of showing a new person their shared, secret home. Following after, they ran to the edge of what had once been the canal.

--

Luzania could not believe it. They live in the canals?

For as long as she knew, she had always wondered what was under those metal covers—what was it below them, that had been hidden from the citizens of Alto Mare for hundreds of years? Her mother had told her tales of how Alto Mare had once been a beautiful city with trees, grass and open skies. Then, the canals had been open as well, the home to hundreds of Pokemon, and the site of many races.

Then, she recalled, they had been covered up to prevent the breeding of Bug Pokemon that might cause diseases. Now, they were simply hidden channels that supplied the city with water. But why did they hate the water so much that they had to take such a beautiful thing away from the city?

Lucida lifted the cover. It seemed heavy, and her extraordinary strength amazed Luzania. Slowly, she lowered herself into the hole.

"Come on down," the girl called out. Luzania looked on at the blackness below as Lorenzo went in after his sister. Taking in a deep breath, she stepped forward and put her foot in. Her sandal met with a metal rung, and soon, she had guided herself down onto a ladder, up to her head inside the hole. "Remember to cover it again."

She could hear splashing. Rhythmic splashing, as if pails of water were being thrown repeatedly upon cement. Then, she entered the darkness, and pulled the lid over her head, all sunlight instantly vanishing.