When I first open my eyes, everything's fine; peaceful, quiet. But just a little too quiet. Not even the chirps of insects break through the still night. There's no moonlight to illuminate the surface of the world, nor is there a cloud to dot the dark sky. I was certain I had fallen asleep to a soothing breeze, but now the air is still. While I can't see anything, I can't shake away the feeling that something is horribly wrong.

"Flora? Roger?" I whisper, rubbing the sleep from my eyes and pushing myself up to turn to where they lay, "Hey, guys? Are you-"

They aren't there. Instead, their sleeping bags lay empty and in disarray, as if the two had bolted from them in a hurry. The camp fire is a dead heap of charred bits of wood and ash, still warm, yet not smoking from where the embers had gone out some time ago. A lantern and other items have been scattered around, possibly kicked away by a sudden retreat.

And they aren't the only ones missing. Turtwig and Jolteon had been sleeping out of their Pokeballs as well, but now they're nowhere in sight. Gone who knows where, just like their trainers.

Whatever threat made them leave, even if it's still here, I can't help the startled cry that bursts from my lips, "Flora! Roger! Everyone! Please, where are you?!" I don't even bother taking time to reach for a flashlight and instead create a miniature Aura Sphere in the palm of one hand to break through the darkness. Still, I see nothing and just this small luminescence isn't much help. They're fine, I try to reassure myself, even though I don't believe it for a split second, Nothing's out there and they're fine. You're just being paranoid.

That lie is contradicted by a shrill scream tearing into the lonely night. It startles me so much that the orb of aura I had created blinks out. A lump forms in my throat and my heart pounds in my chest like it's about to burst.

It's too dark, but I'm not afraid of it. I can't be, not after having lived in it for years. So what's out there right now that's terrifying enough to cause me to tense up like this. "Flora!" I force myself to scream, because for some reason I can't make myself race toward the cry. "Flora! Is that you?!" But there's no answer.

The long period of silence gets me moving again. Not just moving, flying through the brush, my hands held out in front of me to smack away snagging briars and gripping tree limbs. Cold beads of sweat collect of my forehead as I run, going who knows where.

For the first time in a long time, I am afraid, but there is nothing to place my fears upon.

The spark is so sudden, I feel my heart leap up into my throat with I see it. A bolt of lightning streaking the sky and brightening everything almost as clear as day for a split second. It's not natural though, I can tell that by the yellow glow; it has to be an electric attack. To me, however, it's a beacon, guiding me to my company and telling me they're still alive. Now if I can just get to them to ensure that they stay alive!

I warned you…

I freeze in my tracks, turning deathly pale. I've heard that voice before. One which has haunted me all my life: past, present and future. One which sounds only in the cover of shadows, whispering a hidden omen in the farthest reaches of my mind. One which has thrived in every nightmare I have lived through, toying with my sanity as I have tried to piece together my hold on reality.

"Show yourself," I whisper through grit teeth, clenched fists shaking at my sides. It is only through a force of will that I form another, stronger Aura Sphere; I don't want to look. I don't want to see what's coming, but at the same time I know I have to, just as I've had to face everything else.

But I wasn't alone then.

A harsh echo of laughter erupts through the silence, travelling around me, as if to taunt me, before sounding from all around with no form to match itself with. But it is nowhere near frightful than what follows. A chill sets in my spine as a new voice, this one all too familiar, whispers in my ear, cold breathes tickling the lobe; Dusknoir's voice. "Poor, pathetic, little Lira… Still just a lost little girl with no family, no home, and no idea who she is. A small child who still cries after waking up from a bad dream and who's still terrified at the thought of being left alone. And now you'll be forced to leave someone you care about behind. Poor thing, really now, I almost feel sorry for you."

"Shut up..." I hiss, resisting the urge to look behind me. I can't help but feel that it'd only be a bad idea.

"What's the matter? Afraid of the truth? Afraid of facing what you are?"

"What are you blabbering about?"

"You're a Guardian of Light, aren't you? How foolish can you be? Are you so blind to not see that the title comes with sacrifice? Everything that's happened and everything that will be… it's because of what you are and the choices you make- who and what you choose to sacrifice. Just like how you nearly allowed Ri to die because you chose to defend Uxie. Like how you chose to run and leave him behind as an apprentice rather than stay and fight by his side. And your parents-"

"Shut up!" Screaming, I spin on one heel and launch my Aura Sphere straight at the chest of my assailant. But rather than making contact, I find myself shoved back, hitting the earth hard on my side and rolling away several feet. Even with the throbbing pain in my shoulder, I push myself up and glare hatefully at the figure. "You have no right, no right, to say that all those things were my fault! Not after everything you've done! And whatever happened to my parents, whether in the dark future or this one, isn't my fault!"

"Oh, isn't it? To you truly find it all some mysterious act of fate that both your parents were killed no matter what the outcome of the future? That somehow you, barely a toddler at the time, could survive without some force acting in your favor? Refresh my memory again, young one; how did your parents perish exactly?"

"They died in a car wreck. I was four. There was nothing I could do!" I snap.

"And in the dark future?" I fall silent. No one knows what happened to them; not even me. When I returned home from gathering thistle in the forest near the town that I was born in, I had returned to find my parents lying dead on the floor, their pale faces and wide eyes petrified with the fear they must have felt during their last moments. That's how the townspeople found us- the door wide open, myself screaming and crying and begging for my parents to come back. There was nothing to give the slightest hint of how they passed: no signs of struggle, no internal injuries, no marks. Nothing had been broken or stolen. We could all feel it though, even though we couldn't prove it- the cold hand of murder, as if it was still outstretched and waiting for another victim to fall into its grasp.

"How did they die, Lira?" Dusknoir questions again, hovering over me.

"No one knows," I reply in a soft, choked voice.

"Your parents were good people," he moves off somewhere behind me, his arms behind his back, "They just had the unfortunate luck of having you for their child. If you had only been there at the time, or if they had just given up your location, so much pain for all of us could've been avoided."

It takes me a moment to realize what he means, but when it all sinks in, it hits hard. My parents died for the price of my life. Yet still, another piece of knowledge has been revealed, one that coverts my anguish and guilt to unrelenting anger. "You were there…" I say with a gasp, everything beginning to go hazy. "You… you killed them…"

"I was simply following orders."

"You killed them!" I cry out, darting around and preparing to attack once more. Only one thing stops me from lunging forward and ripping up the Ghost-type to shreds for what he's done. We are not alone.

There they all lay: Flora, Roger, Turtwig, and Jolteon. In a piled heap, none of them moving. To either side of the small mass of bodies stand a pair of Sableye. And to make matters worse, each pair holds either a bound and chained Ri or Grovyle between them, on their knees and too injured to fight back.

"Dialga might've wanted to give you time to make a decision, but why wait? I'll go ahead and give you the choice right here. Pick one of them and both of you may go free. My men and I will not fight or pursue you ever again; we'll let by gones be by gones. However, the other will be executed immeadiately, to face the crimes the three of you committed. If you choose to fight me, or choose not to pick at all, I will be forced to terminate all of you. "

"Let them go, Dusknoir!" I order, forming an Aura Sphere in each hand. How did he capture them?! I know that Grovyle went with Dusknoir back to the future, but Grovyle was still strong enough to fight back. And there's no way Dialga would've let the monster travel back into the past and kidnap Ri, not after everything we've done! He wouldn't let us die like this, no, he would've killed me the moment I came back into existence. So why were they here? None of this is making sense!

"You know, if you really can't make up your mind, perhaps what you need is some… motivation." With a nod of his head, Ri is shoved forward to lie on his stomach. He bites his lower lip, trying to stay strong despite how much anguish he's in as the Sableye start to beat and kick at him, their laughter bouncing around my skull and rattling my brain to the point of pain.

"No, stop!" I scream, diving toward him. But at that moment, Grovyle is shoved down as well and given an even more severe beating. I skid to a halt, backing away shamefully. I know what sick game they're trying to pull. It doesn't matter who I run to, the other is going to suffer. The other will die, and I can't bear to lose either of them.

"Lira…" Ri manages to gasp softly through the hurt. "Please… d-don't worry about me. Grovyle… he'll protect you… You two… just go! Don't look back!"

"Don't listen to him!" Grovyle shouts angrily, "Lira, you care about Ri more than anyone! Just run! I've lived my life; I've served my purpose! But you two… You two have a chance to make something of yourselves and live a happy life. To have a future… And besides… If I… if I must sacrifice myself for something… I'd sacrifice everything to give you just that chance…"

"Lira, he's your family!"

"You both are the strongest of forces! You both care for one another! You both need to survive!"

My hands fly over my ears and I sink to my knees screaming, my eyes sealed shut as if that would make everything around me disappear. I can't do this! I can't! They both mean so much to me that nothing in this world could make me choose one over the other. But if I don't, we all die and it will have all been for nothing because I couldn't make a move! Tears stream down my cheeks and I shriek until I lose my voice and it's all just hopeless, hoarse cries. Ri's and Grovyle's protests join the chaotic chorus of the Sableye's and Dusknoir's laughter that rackets around my head. I can't take it!

This can't be real! This isn't real! This isn't real! This isn't-!

Zap!

I bolt up from the ground to a very real physical pain, my hair standing on end and my body shooting off sparks. I stare forward, screaming even as I try to catch my breath in my panic.

"Hey… Hey! Calm down; you're fine!"

That voice… I know that voice. Slowing my breathing, I look over to one side to see Jolteon sitting right next to me. Alive. And around us, Flora, Roger, Turtwig… they're all ok too. No one's hurt at all; they're safe and sound, sitting up in their sleeping bags.

And giving my very strange, tired looks.

"You're fine…" Jolteon repeats, but he still stares at me with concern.

"What's wrong?" Roger asks, "Bad dream?"

I'm silent for the longest while. This reality, the one I've truly waken up to, is hard to adjust to after the horrors I just saw. But this must be the real one; it's the only one that makes logical sense when I really think about it. So I nod, rubbing a throbbing temple, "Yeah, just a bad-" I can't say dream; it was still all too real for that. I sigh, "Just a nightmare…"

Flora scoots closer, handing me my canteen from where I left it. I take a good swig of it, as if filling my non-existent thirst would calm my nerves. "Wanna talk about it?"

That's an easy one to answer. I shake my head no without hesitation.

"Ok… Well, if you think you'll be alright now, we all better get some more sleep. The sun will probably rise in a couple hours and we want to get as much rest as we can."

At this I nod, but as everyone drifts off once more. I can only lay there wide awake in my sleeping bag, too scared to go back into that realm. The months of reprieve I had from my nightmares, when Ri was there beside me to protect me from them and be there when I woke up, are gone. I'm on my own again, and they once more have full range to torture me as much as they like.

I never could've imagined they'd strike back with this sort of vengeance.