If you still take the request thingies, do you have any headcanons on AZ's relationship to L (not Lysandre!), what he felt like when he first saw him post-weapon? How difficult was forgiveness?
I actually really like this prompt! I actually discussed this topic with a second party to discuss how AZ and L’s reactions would go.
“Zygarde, where are we going? We’ve been walking quite a while. Where are you taking me?” L grumbles, walking with his hands in his coat pockets. The wind whips through his whitened hair, ruffling his faux fur on his hood as he follows the dog facsimile down the backstreets of Lumiose in the middle of the night.
He barely remembers anything about this place, despite calling it home. All he knows is that Zygarde has a mission for him, and he feels a deep, compelling force to complete it. Maybe then he could understand why he feels so strange…
They arrive at a half dilapidated hotel hidden in an alcove just off the side of the main road, the name of it long scrubbed by rain and dirt from its sign out front. The lights inside are, unsurprisingly, off. Likely busted or too old to light properly anymore.
“Zeh!” Zygarde barks, trotting up to the door and pawing at it, as if attempting to push it open. It gets frustrated, starting rear back as if about to headbutt the door, before L steps in. He puts himself between Zygarde and the door, putting his hands up to placate the Pokemon, before turning to the door himself. He knocks on the door, unsure of what else to do, and waits.
He growls under his breath, reaching for the handle and jiggling it. He finds that it’s open already, and slowly opens the door to step inside. Zygarde bolts past him, barking relentlessly and running around inside. This place seemed abandoned, what could it possibly want here?
“Bonjour! Anyone here?” L calls out into the empty old air, steps echoing through the room as he walks around, occasionally dodging Zygarde as it runs circles around the place, looking for something. It’s actively getting frustrated, snuffling its nose directly against the floorboards as if that will somehow give it more information than it already has.
And then Zygarde’s head whips up, snapping to a doorway in the far right of the lobby. L barely picks up on it too; movement of some kind? He wasn’t entirely sure.
They hear it again. Definitely movement, and whatever was making the noises sounded big. Real big. It shuffles toward the archway separating the lobby from what appeared to be some kind of kitchen. If there was any food in there, he supposes, there could be a pokemon in there. L couldn’t exactly tell, but he readies himself to fend off the creature should it decide to lash out.
A flash of white fur appears, and the not so little visage of some..thing briefly passes by. It appears dirty and genuinely doesn’t look like it should be able to fit through the archway is must’ve slunk through to get inside, which terrifies him. L has to think quickly before he gets spotted-
“Zeh! Zygaaa!” Zygarde barks out a call, bounding into the room after the lumbering giant as if it didn’t have anything to fear. L fumbles as he fishes a pokeball out from his pocket, scrambling after the legendary to try and stop it before it gets seriously injured.
“Zygarde no, no! We don’t have all your cells yet, you don’t know what that thing could do, come back! Oh mon dieu-“ L shouts, chasing after Zygarde in an attempt to save it if it needed help. Frankly he isn’t sure why he thought he’d be any help if Zygarde couldn’t take it down, but one could suppose it’s simply human nature.
He summons his pyroar, gesturing to the pokemon to follow him as he runs after the little dog facsimile into untold danger. He rounds the corner just in time to see a flash of green from Zygarde, charging blindly into the dark. He commands his pyroar to light up his mane, surge a low fire through it, and the whole hall becomes bathed in light.
He’s not prepared to come face to face with…him.
A man, or what was a man, stands before L with a bewildered expression. Stretched beyond human proportion, his body is far too tall and far too thin. He’s dressed in similarly shaggy clothing to L, though clearly far more worn and having seen much in their time. His face bears a similar wear to it, his age shown plainly in the furrowed brow set taut over L’s appearance here. His hair, much like his own, is stark white; it almost appears like it was bleached unnaturally like his. What had this man gone through?
“Ah, my apologize, Zygarde-“ L begins briefly, straightening up and trying to be polite. Even if it’s not warranted, something in him always aired on the side of caution, so being cordial was likely to keep the peace-
The man says, pushing himself up straighter. His words may be straightforward, but the tone which with they’re said is anything but friendly. L has seen a few people react to him this way.
Good Arceus what did he do?!
“Come to pay your penance? Ask of me advice?” The man asks, tilting his head. His tone is borderline cruelly soft, a feigned kindness meant to make whatever venom he spits next hurt. L braces, knowing this wasn’t going to be a pleasant conversation. Zygarde, spooked by the taller man’s voice, retreats back to L’s side.
“I’m afraid I have no memory, monsieur. I woke in a pile of rubble, badly injured and alone. I’ve been living in the alleys since, attempting to piece together what it is I did to cause that mess. All I can gather so far is that it involved a weapon.” L confesses, his voice a bit quiet. He didn’t have anything else to go on, but if this stranger remembered him, perhaps he knew something more?
“You used a powerful, dangerous weapon for your own selfishness, under the guise of creating what you called a ‘beautiful world’. Despite my warnings, no matter what I offered to skew you away, you refused to listen. This is your penance to pay, for better or for worse. The loss of your memory appears to be only but a side effect of being buried beneath the rubble, if I were to wager a guess. Believe my word when I assure you that it is a fitting punishment for your hubris.”
L winces at the growl in his voice, deflating visibly as he hears the ire in this man’s voice. What he says isn’t completely new information, and although hesitant to press, L needs to understand what happened.
“What did this weapon..do? Did..did I hurt anyone?” L asks, his voice cracking slightly. He’s scared that people may have been harmed, but no one who’s recognized him has given him the kindness to just explain! He’s being told he deserves this punishment, but he can’t remember what it is he’s being punished for.
This makes the man pause. At his stillness, a little pokemon, a small Floette, finally makes herself known. She peeks out from his hair, nervously looking at L like she was afraid of him. His heart breaks to see such a little pokemon so scared of him just at a glance. He looks at Zygarde, who only flattens its ears in pity and looks away.
“Perhaps, if anything, you are owed an explanation for your penance, if your memory has failed you.” The man says, gesturing for him to follow as he lumbers off to another room. The two men walk back to the lobby, and the larger one settles down, rather uncomfortably, onto the dusty old couch. L settled on a ripped armchair, recalling his pyroar to its pokeball. Zygarde stands up on the side of the armchair, asking permission, before jumping into his lap and settling down. It’s a small comfort, but he appreciates it nonetheless.
The larger man steeples his hands toward the floor, taking a deep breath before meeting L’s eyes again. “To understand what it is that you must atone for, there is a bit of an explanation I feel inclined to offer you. As a start, I am known as AZ. Though I am certain that my appearance belies what I am about to say, I was once king of Kalos, over three thousand years prior to modern day. During a war against a neighboring nation, I lost a very dear friend, one I was unwilling to accept the death of.” AZ explains, reaching over and petting Floette’s chin with a finger when he refers to her. “I built a terrible machine, a monster of metal and magic that was capable of restoring the life of a single creature at the cost of thousands of lives, and I used it to restore them.”
“How does this pertain to my-“ L interjects, before being cut off by AZ, with a curt voice, “I am not finished.” AZ growls quietly, clearly not willing to be very patient with him. “That machine..I reconfigured it to be capable of expelling energy like a firearm. I created what would become known as the Ultimate Weapon. I fired it only once. It was enough to destroy two nations, and change myself permanently; this unnaturally tall body is a direct result of exposure I received by using the Ultimate Weapon.” AZ says grimly, lifting his hand and turning it over slightly, staring at it like it wasn’t his own limb for a moment. L remains quiet, eyebrows furrowed yet eyes wide. Did he…?
“Five years prior of this conversation, you fired that weapon. Or rather, attempted to. Two children were able to sabotage your effort at the cost of causing the weapon to misfire upon itself, and cause a large explosion underground where the weapon had been lain dormant beforehand.”
“That..was the rubble. Oh arceus I..how many..?” L attempts to ask, head falling into his hands as he tries to remember to breathe. He may have murdered thousands and can’t remember a thing about it.
“No one was harmed, blessedly. Perhaps besides a few people who were pulled from the rubble..and you.” AZ finishes quietly, looking away from the smaller man. His expression is hard to read, but he seems bitter over what happened.
“Zeeeeeh..” Zygarde seems to share the sentiment in his tone, though it’s leaning more toward sorrow than bitterness. The cell pokemon lifts its head to look up at him, and L runs a hand over its head. Sometimes, he truly felt like Zygarde knew so much more than it could tell him.
“….AZ, was it?” L asks, tentatively, eyes slowly daring to pull upward and meet the man’s gaze..or glare, really. He almost flinches when their eye lines finally do cross, seeing the resentment harbored there. AZ says nothing, but looks L up and down before turning slightly toward him. It’s a reluctant invitation to talk, but an invitation nonetheless.
“…I’m not sure why Zygarde brought me here, but you have been incredibly helpful. I can see, however, that my presence isn’t welcome, so perhaps I should leave.” L says, and AZ doesn’t stop him at first. L slowly pulls Zygarde off his lap, much to its distress, and hoists himself off of the old, ripped armchair with a grunt of effort. He dusts himself off, looks at AZ apologetically, and starts toward the door when he meets no resistance from the older man.
He only halts when AZ’s voice breaks the silence one more time.
“You and I are not dissimilar. I believe Zygarde may have led you here in the hope that perhaps I would be able to offer some insight into your condition. However, I have not found it in myself to forgive your actions that day. I will, in time. If it is of any use to you..”
L turns, just slightly; an indication that he was listening. AZ continues, his voice still rough with contained anger. He clearly wants to shout, but he’s restraining himself. L can’t help but feel grateful for that.
“…Your name was Lysandre. The café can guide you to more answers.” AZ says mysteriously, before going quiet again. L waits a beat to see if he says anything else, but the creak of the floorboards and the thump if his cane fading somewhere else into the hotel, indicates he’s had enough.
“…Lysandre, huh?..” L muses quietly to himself as he steps back outside into the cold night. Zygarde bounds back out and takes off again, clearly intending to use what they learned to figure out their next step.
“I suppose I’ll be visiting the café then. I hope they’re still open at this time..” He mumbles to himself, before starting back out into the dark, underneath the moonlight again.
From the window, AZ and Floette watch L and Zygarde trek back into the darkness of the city alleys, and Floette trills in a sorrowful but curious manner. AZ hums ruefully, sighing and petting her little chin. “We can only hope he will find his way to the light, Floette. Zygarde is a promising guide, at the very least. Perhaps there is good left in him after all.”
THIS TOOK WAY TOO LONG HOLY SH*T
Please enjoy my little short story of the first meeting between AZ and L after the chaos of X/Y. I went a bit overboard.
If you have a prompt you’d like me to try, please feel free to send me an ask!
