Day turned to night as Latias watched the construction continue, keeping her distance and letting her anxiety slowly drain away into curiosity. These foreigners were weird, she thought to herself. They were always moving, always working— A stark contrast to the slow methodical work of the artisans of Alto Mare. Had these guys even taken a break today?

That thought broke Latias from her stupor, making her realize just how late it was getting. Had she even taken a break today?

“How long are these guys going to be at it?” Latias whined, as it began to set in that the whole day had been spent on her little stake out. Pouting, she floated down from her hiding spot— About fifty feet off the ground and completely invisible —And approached the workers, watching them shuffle about. “What’re you up to?”

Their focus seemed to be on the lighting, as long cables bearing lamps were being hung from the walls of the theater to a stone pillar in the center stage. A worker was even standing on top of the pillar, precariously securing the cables in place even as his perch shook under him.

Latias shuddered at that. Not the dangerous position the worker found himself in, not at all. Heights weren’t one of Latias’s fears. No, what made her shudder was the attention. Despite keeping busy, nearly all of the worker’s in the amphitheater had their eyes on the pillar climber, watching as he struggled to get a metal hook through a loop to secure the lights. He wasn’t just visible, he was seen, like a lighthouse in a stormy night.

It made Latias shudder.

Dipping to the side, Latias groaned, running her hands over her face and shaking her head. How did she get like this? How did she get so scared? It wasn’t even her up there! Stealing herself, Latias got closer.

“It’s not me up there, it’s not me. No one can see me,” she told herself, the words coming out in mumbles. As long as she could hear it, she could somewhat believe it. “Let’s just wait until they finish this, then we’re done tonight. We can go back to the garden!”

The garden brought some calm to Latias’s nerves, as she took a deep breath in and let the shudders leave her with the exhale out. Just a bit longer, and she could go home.

“Home,” she repeated, watching along as the pillar worker just barely missed hooking the cable through the loop again. He just needed some more slack on the line, something none of the other workers wanted to help with it seemed. It was that, that gave Latias an idea.
Floating over to the stretch of lamp-bearing cables that swayed from the wall to the pillar, Latias gave the set up a once over. Then, with only a moment’s hesitation, she pulled on the cable—

“Got it!” the worker atop the pillar called out.

—and gave the worker the slack he needed.

A round of cheers filled the arena, giving Latias a moment’s pause as she floated back and looked over her work. The workers were celebrating finally getting the lighting secured, the pillar worker especially, who stood tall atop his perch despite how much it shook underneath him. His work was done, and now so was Latias’s.

See, that didn’t take that long at all! Latias didn’t know what she was worried about—

Dramatic irony was not lost on the universe today, a stark contrast to the sounds of the cracking stage, which were lost on Latias.