Reaching out into the darkness, a single arm strains forward. Fingers outstretched, looking for any feeling, any touch—only to receive nothing.

"Where are you going?"

An outline forms in the twilight, a fake smile gracing its lips. It mouths something, forced words of happiness: 'everything will be alright, you'll see.'

"No, wait for me! Stop!"

The lines twist and morph into something new. Two crimson coffins float amidst the void, bleeding lies and treachery. The hand recoils, unsure.

"Come back! Come… back…"

A hand materializes, fingers gently wrapping around the first. It pulls the other down, whispers of false promises echoing in the void. The darkness ripples, like a stone thrown into the water.

"They'll be back for sure… right? Right?!"

The arm freezes, droplets of salty tears running down its sides. Trembling, the hand squeezes the other, reassuring the arm's protection.

"... Right…?"

The void shatters. Agony and pain remain.

Hope continued to trail behind him, a bloody burden that never ceased its quest to push him forward. As much as the Charmeleon hated to admit it, Hope controlled him. It controlled everything and everyone it could grab on to, wrapping dirty strings around the limbs of it's victims and shoving them around to it's whim. Hope was a master puppeteer, a reminder of the bloody sacrifices the world made to live in blissful Ignorance. A Sin.

And here he was, guided up the mountainside by this shadow and it's strings—telling himself that it was his job to complete; only he could do it.

It was a bluff he no longer believed in.

He propped up his backpack, claws tightly gripping the straps as he let the faint light of his tail guide him up the mountainside. The rocky trail seemed to go forever, but he knew he was almost there. The air was thin enough, and he recognized the tight feeling in his throat.

'Once you're there, you can end this nightmare,' Hope whispered, dark tendrils crawling up the Pokémon's shoulders. He shrugs them off, the contents of the bag shaking audibly.

Still, with the ever faithful light of his tail guiding him through the void, the Chameleon felt his chest squeeze at the thought of reaching the top. Despite wanting to finally end the perpetual darkness, the Pokémon knew he shouldn't expect it to be so simple. It was, after all, Hope that led him on.

Hope chuckled softly, mirth lacing its next words: 'I am the torch that guides the lost, and I am the silence that swallows souls. Nothing is without a cost. Nothing.'

A sharp tug pulled the strings onward, the Charmeleon forced to contemplate the Sin of Ignorance later, a shiver trailing down his spine.

The subtle taste of rainfall tinted the air, and a boy shoots a worried look towards his brother. He pulls his jacket closer to his body, mulling over his thoughts before speaking aloud. "We need to go back to the camp, Xander. What if they catch us out here?"

His brother ignores him, continuing up the dense mountain trail. The path was covered in overgrown foliage, having clearly not been traveled over for many years.

The boy stamps his foot on the ground frustratedly, kicking up a rock. He watches as it falls back down the steep trail, before hitting a larger rock and splitting in two, shaking a bit for settling into an uneasy stillness. "Xander–"

"You can go back if you want, Felix. I'm leaving."

Felix stops, wide eyes staring at the other boy. "But we can't leave, Xander! We need to stay–"

"Why can't we, huh!? Do we have to sit around and mope with all the other refu–"

"–No, that's not what–"

"Then what? Why do we need to stay?"

Tense silence filled the air between the brothers, the dull dim of the mountain ambient echoing in leafy path. Overhead, a bird chirps goodnight as the sunlight pales between the canopy of trees.

"Go back, Felix. I don't want to hear your voice anymore."

With a scowl, Xander turned heel and began his trek up the mountainside once more. Felix was frozen in place, watching with a dull blue eye as his older brother slowly ascended the trail.

Felix's body moved before his mind caught up, and soon he felt his feet trudge forward to catch up with the disappearing figure of someone he once knew.

The plateau was closer than he remembered.

He stood at the edge of a stone circle, markings of a strange language etched into the carvings of the formation. The Charmeleon's red eyes surveyed the ruins—it was worse than before. Vegetation grew rampant over the stone pillars that littered the area, broken stone parts scattered randomly across the center circle.

Sighing, the Charmeleon pulls off his bag, padding over to the center before dumping out its contents.

The bones of the past poured out, clinking and clanking as they piled up on the ground. The Charmeleon's red eyes glazed over slightly as he did so, not particularly paying mind to the scene.

He didn't want to lose his resolve, not when he was so close. Salvation was near.

Deep in empty thoughts, the Charmeleon failed to notice the arcane markings emit a soft glow as the bones touched the center of the circle. Blue and red hues released into the air around him, the Pokemon took a few steps back, watching noncommittally, trying to avoid the memories the threatened to overcome him. He'd seen this before.

Waiting for the bones to disappear, he shifted his weight on his claws. The air was dense with negative energy, a Sinful reminder of what he was doing.

Hope was strangely quiet.

"Huh, it appears we have an extra visitor."

The Charmeleon whipped around, startled by an unfamiliar voice. Before he could get a look at the unknown interloper, he felt Hope's strings wrap around his torso, pulling him back. The last thing he saw was a blood-tinted sky, and then everything erupted into pain.

'Whoops.'

Felix knew his brother was angry, and confused, and frustrated. He had been preparing for Xander to do something stupid and impulsive—running off into the wilderness was far more than he was expecting, however. Before, they were safe, now they were no where. Neutral territory.

Anyone could attack. Times were dangerous. Felix hated it.

After Xander's startlingly calm outburst, compared to how he usually handled his temper, Felix lagged behind his brother a bit. As much as he wished to grab his brother and smack some sense into him, Felix loved walking in the mountainside. Being free. The apparent danger was sometimes forgotten among the many, sounds, smells, and sights.

It was so different than what he was used to. Smoke, screaming, smoke, screaming, smoke—

He looked ahead, and for once couldn't spot his brother's figure among the trees. Either it was becoming too dark to see that far, or his brother had sped up. Felix bet upon the latter.

Suddenly the darkening forest failed to seem welcoming.

Dangers reconsidered, Felix sped up. Something felt wrong.

Spotting a clearing, or what looked like one in the blackening forest, Felix dashed ahead, wondering, hoping, that Xander had thought against traveling in the darkness.

Everything was forgotten as he tripped and fell headfirst into the clearing, the world exploding into white.

A/N: Oh man, fanfiction is way overcomplicated for a newbie like me. Took a long time to figure out, along with several computer issues and school starting back up. Hope you enjoy the full Prologue, sorry about only uploading 1/4th of it before. lol

It's really vague and ambiguous on details, but for some reason I like writing prologues like that. Don't really know why.