The entrance to Turnback Cave loomed ominously out of the distance as we made our way across the otherwise empty mental world. Adrienne, Maddie, and I had taken on our Spirit Pokémon forms, something Heatran didn't seem too thrilled about.
"Humans taking on the sacred forms of Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf! Huh!" she huffed, purposely talking loud enough for us to hear every word. Small licks of flame flared around her iron teeth as she grumbled something under her breath, then added, "Never thought I would see the day."
"Jerk!" I thought.
"Well, I never thought I'd be on trial for murder, but life's just full of surprises, isn't it?" growled Adrienne. She'd been fiercely irritable since learning from Regigigas that there was no real proof we'd killed Giratina, and yet we were being sent on this insane mission. Adrienne had always hated getting blamed for stuff she didn't do—something our trial at the Court of Origin had only taken to a whole new extreme.
I expected Heatran to make a snappish comeback. But after a brief pause, all she said was, "I suppose it is."
We traveled in silence for a few minutes, Heatran bounding along on four feet with surprising agility while the rest of us flew. The Lava Dome Pokémon had stopped muttering to herself, and she averted her gaze if any of us tried to make eye contact. (If you can call it that with a Uxie, anyway. But oddly enough, I could see even with my eyes shut all the time.)
Now, though, her silence seemed more awkward than hostile; maybe she was beginning to accept us as allies. Maybe I had judged her too quickly. After all, she'd just lost her best friend. Who wouldn't feel like being a jerk after something like that?
After a while Adrienne asked, "Do you think we... uh... did that... to Giratina?"
"Oh, spit it out," Maddie snapped. "Heatran, do you think we murdered Giratina or not? I mean, come on, what could be more stupid?"
"Do I?" Heatran seemed surprised by the question. She thought about it for a few moments, then admitted, "No, I do not. Sometimes I think the Court may jump to conclusions far too quickly when there are lives on the line."
"Thank you!" Adrienne shouted, throwing up her tiny Azelf arms in exasperation.
"Well, it has always been this way, and it does not help that Dialga and Palkia are always sidling up to Arceus," said Heatran with a small chuckle that sounded like iron pipes clanking. "But there is more to it than that... it is hard to explain. ... When I saw those three who looked like you entering Turnback Cave, their malicious intent was clear, but somehow... I got a very bad feeling just being near them. There was something about them that made them very different from you three. Something that cannot be masked by smooth words or a pleasant expression." Heatran paused, her own expression darkening. "Something deadly."
An oppressive silence hung over our group for a while.
Deadly. That was the way a Legendary had described the Inners. They must have somehow become much more powerful since the last time we'd met them. Was it possible that they'd somehow harnessed the power they had stolen from Cresselia and managed to keep it alive? And worse, was that power growing?
"Wait!" someone behind us called out.
I snapped out of my dark thoughts and pivoted midair to see who had shouted. An orange blur hurtled toward Adrienne at bullet speed, then suddenly slowed to a stop, resolving itself into a familiar shape.
"Dragonite!" said Adrienne, looking pleasantly surprised. "It's been a while!"
"Who are you?" Heatran asked Dragonite crossly. "If you have come to engage in idle conversation, I would suggest you leave. We are on an important errand."
Dragonite let all of his words out in a breathless rush. "I know, I know! I heard all about it from Cresselia. Adrienne, I know you guys would never do something like this. They must be crazy! And I'm coming with you."
"Oh no, you are not," said Heatran. "This is not a mission for a non-Legendary. All you will do is slow us down." Her tone was so haughty and superior that I wanted to attack her. So much for having judged her too soon. Those Legendaries were all the same!
If Dragonite was annoyed by Heatran's attitude, he didn't show it. Instead he dipped his head in a reverent sort of way. "Forgive me, Legendary Heatran, but if you want me to stay behind, you'll have to knock me out first. I was unable to accompany Tiger and Maddie on their quest to the core of Adrienne's soul. I will never stay behind again, not if I can help it!"
Heatran gave a hiss of frustration; steam rose from her mouth as she said, "Very well, Dragonite. But get in my way once, just once, and you will find yourself left behind faster than an Extremespeed attack!"
"Of course, Legendary Heatran," Dragonite murmured, dipping his head even lower. It would have been almost funny if I hadn't been so angry. I had to speak up; I just couldn't let that conceited Heatran boss him around as if he were some useless deadweight.
"Hey, Heatran, why don't you just give it a rest?" I said. "Because believe it or not, you're not the most powerful Pokémon in the world. We need any help we can get!"
Heatran fixed furious red eyes on me. "You obviously don't know what we're up against," she snapped. "I have never actually gone inside Turnback Cave before—I always met up with Giratina at the entrance. There is a good reason for that. I have heard tell of what lies inside, and it is not called Turnback Cave for nothing. If one enters unprepared, turning back is the wisest choice one can make."
She glanced sideways at Dragonite as she went on, "The best course of action is to take as few with us as possible. This not only makes our group members easier to keep track of, but also helps to keep us from attracting unwanted attention. If the Inner Evils lie in wait to ambush us at some point in the maze, it would work in our favor to be as quick and silent as possible."
"Quick?" said Dragonite, his nose twitching in amusement, but he kept his head bowed. "Haven't you heard, O Legendary Heatran? We Dragonites are able to circumnavigate the earth in sixteen hours. Our wings might not be as big as a Charizard's, but we can still maintain a respectable flying speed, if I do say so myself."
Heatran gave another steam-hiss, but this time she sounded resigned. "You Dragonites may be quick, but you certainly aren't silent. I suppose we will have to muzzle you if we are dragging you along."
"Muzzle me? Muzzle me? The very idea!" the Dragon Pokémon harrumphed, apparently forgetting rank for a moment as he glared at the Legendary. "I'm perfectly capable of silence. Just you wait and see, Legendary Heatran, I can be quieter than a Cacturne who stalks people in the black of night!"
"Somehow I doubt that," muttered Heatran, but she sighed and signaled to us to keep moving.
The entrance to Turnback Cave looked like something out of Greek mythology.
Two huge pillars the color of rain clouds stood on either side of the huge opening. The stone of the cave was even darker gray, almost black. Just inside the entrance, twin rows of sconces held small flaming torches; the firelight didn't reach far enough to let us to see any deeper into the cave. Except for the dull roar of the flames, the whole place was eerily silent.
"Each of you must carry your own torch except for Dragonite, who can produce his own fire," said Heatran in a low voice. "If we are separated, there will be no other way for you to see in the dark. The Flash technique would be an acceptable alternative under different circumstances, but in here it is suicide to draw too much unwanted attention to oneself. Keep quiet, keep moving, and whatever you do, don't lose your fire."
Adrienne, Maddie and I nodded grimly. My stomach was knotted hard with anxiety, but I kept my mouth shut and followed my human friends to collect my torch.
"Now we go," said Heatran, leading the way.
"Let's show those Inners we mean business once and for all," Adrienne said in an undertone as we flew forward into the forbidding darkness.
"I second that," I muttered. "I'm just kind of sick of having to mess with those jerks all the time, you know?"
"Oh, I know," growled Maddie in agreement. "I know."
The creepy silence followed us into the cave, and I was reminded unpleasantly of the cave Maddie and I had had to navigate while we'd been in Adrienne's soul. It was like the silence itself was the predator, crouched and ready to attack at any moment. I held my torch away from my body and sort of brandished it as a warning to anything that might jump out at us from the darkness, as if to say, "I've got a shiny burning thing and I'm not afraid to use it."
As if any creature who posed a real threat would be afraid of a stupid little torch.
After a few minutes, we found something. I knew it was blocking our path because Heatran suddenly stopped and backed up several paces, hissing softly.
"Water," she whispered distastefully. Being a Fire- and Steel-type, she probably wasn't too crazy about the stuff. Then she stiffened. "There is a current, but why does it make no noise?"
I floated down to the water and held my torch against the surface. Heatran was right; it looked like part of a river, but the water made no sound as it flowed. Maybe it was like the Stream of Consciousness in Adrienne's soul, made of something other than water. A chill shot down my spine as I wondered, "But what?"
"We are the voices of the dead..."
I let out an involuntary shriek and jerked back. The voice had come from the water!
"Are you crazy?" hissed Heatran. "You will get us all killed! Then how are we supposed—" She cut herself off. "Look," she said dully.
Dark forms were rising from the river. At first I thought they were weird reflections made by the water, but then dozens of pairs of eyes started glinting in the dark. When I squinted and held out my torch, I could just make them out. As more and more of them rose, the water level dropped.
Ghost Pokémon. The river was made of Ghost Pokémon!
"Prepare to defend yourselves!" shouted Heatran to the rest of us—or maybe she was warning the ghosts not to underestimate us.
Baring their teeth in wicked grins and cackling, the ghosts ignored Heatran and flew forward to attack.