First Impressions

A nightmare—just a nightmare.

"My goodness. Are you all right?"

"Camellia! Wake up!"

Her eyelids fluttered open, and she gasped for breath the moment they did. Her fur was damp with sweat, but she paid it no attention. That scene was the only thing that was on her mind—the amount of... innocence, childishness, so... unadulterated, it felt. Almost a familiar feeling, yet... it gave her a foreboding feeling as well.

Friends—friends, friends... she didn't have any friends. She couldn't remember anybody she knew from before, and she hardly knew any of the survivors. Even if Crusher made her feel safe, she had only known him for so long. They weren't friends.

Friends couldn't be made in that untrustworthy world, anyway. They told pretty lies, back-stabbed you, those two-faced liars... were just loathsome. She was better off by herself. Latios was an excellent comrade... but surely not a friend, right?"

"Camellia, are you okay?" she heard Crusher ask in concern, hovering above her. Latios was a distance away, peering out of the smudged window cautiously.

"I'm—" She swallowed the lump in her throat. "I'm okay, but... I want to speak with Latios." When she saw he didn't budge, she added, "Privately."

Camellia heard Latios snort, and he floated over. His eyes seemed to glow slightly, but it could've been her imagination. Nothing happened for a moment, and then the sylveon felt something pulse in her mind gently.

'What is so important that must be discussed privately with me?' he asked quietly, and his voice echoed—in her mind. Telepathy. It worked.

"What's going on? Why can't I know about what you're going to tell Latios, Camellia? Is something happening?" Crusher asked nervously, but Camellia ignored him, focusing on her reply instead.

She wouldn't let him distract her.

'I had a vision, and I want to share it with you. But I can't let Crusher know. Him and his silly survivor group always overreact, and it tends to be annoying. So, I just need to tell you only, right?'

"It would be best if you told us both," Latios replied out loud, narrowing his eyes.

No—Crusher couldn't know. She didn't know why, but she absolutely couldn't let him know. It was her sixth sense, or maybe just some irrational feeling—but he couldn't know. But Latios would know what to do...

...right?

She saw Crusher's hurt expression and tried her best to ignore it. This was for everyone's sake. They had to survive, and that was the only thing she wanted them to do. Not for them to befriend each other, or anything else. Just... survive.

"No. Please," she said. "I don't feel right if I tell too many people."

'...Speak.'

'I had a vision,' she began. 'Not... Not really. Maybe it was a nightmare. I think it was a nightmare because it didn't seem to be something that could happen in the near future. There were two creatures, one big, one small. They were in a green pasture of sorts.

'The small one was talking about friends, and the big one scoffed at it. It said friends were bad. That they were excessive baggage. The small one pointed out that the big one never had friends before, so it wouldn't know, and therefore, it couldn't make the assumption friends were bad things. The big one was all like "okay".

'And then... I heard a voice—'

No.

Camellia yelped, a sudden pain striking her mind, and she jolted forward, crashing into the table. Crusher was immediately by her side, helping her up and demanding so many things but she couldn't comprehend any of them.

She felt scared. Terrified. It was just one, powerful word and she felt like her world was being blown away. Like she was falling in an abyss by herself, forever. It made her terrified. Lonely. Everything she didn't want to be.

"What did you do to her?!" Crusher was immediately yelling, glowering at Latios, who had a confused look on his face. "You... hurt her!"

"No!" Camellia yelled, blasting a fairy wind at him when he lunged forward. "It wasn't him, it was the voice—"

I said no.

She yelped and fell silent. Whenever she was going to talk about that voice, it interrupted her. Gave her that horrendous feeling. She sighed, gritting her teeth. She needed to make some peace.

"It wasn't Latios," Camellia finally said. "I don't know what happened, but I felt... I had a headache. It's gone now, though. I'm fine. Maybe... it's that Infiltrator from earlier. Torn."

Latios shifted uncomfortably. "It cannot be Torn."

"Why not?"

"Because—"

I swear, if you ever speak about me to them...

...you will never get away alive.

She wouldn't doubt that.

Camellia coughed, interrupting Latios. "Anyway, about Yveltal and Xerneas... where are they?"

"I already spoke about Yveltal earlier." She was about to says she hadn't heard him, but Latios continued swiftly, "Xerneas is out of our reach. She will only appear if the mass destruction occurs, probably... but we cannot even pin our hopes on her."

"Is there no other way to find Xerneas?"

Latios grimaced. "Yveltal and Xerneas—they are both meant to be locked away from this world, because surely, they will both cause a disrupt in the balance of life. They were never meant to interfere with us. But a pokemon made a foolish mistake, and now Yveltal has found his way into our world, and if he is released... he will surely wreak havoc. If destruction occurs, Xerneas will be alerted of it, and she will pry her way to our world, and our darkest nightmares will come true."

Well... crap.

Camellia uncomfortably shifted. Imagine if Yveltal came and killed them all—and Xerneas came in and created more life. They'd try to outdo each other, surely, and the whole world would be a mess... Something stirred within her at that thought. Something unfamiliar, but it was eerie.

Pang.

At the sudden sound, the sylveon dropped to her knees, wheezing. Pain. That... and a weird feeling eroding her. She gasped, shaking. What was wrong with her?! It was like she was being attacked from something within—

Rowap. Rowap.

What—

Rowap berries? She didn't know why, but the berry's name was forcing its way into her mind, pushing away all the other thoughts. Rowap... did she need to eat them to stop all this agony? She bit her bottom lip, unsure.

Tea.

...Rowap tea?

Rowap leaves were needed, then?

"Latios," Camellia said. Her voice came out raspy and weak, alarming the two dragons. "Rowap... tea. I need rowap tea." I don't know why, she wanted to add, but her throat was hurting her. But something inside is telling me I need them.

"I don't have any," Latios responded, swiftly pulling a dark brown cloak over himself, and another over Camellia. It was clean, thankfully. "I know of a tea shop down the road. If the shopkeeper is not dead, perhaps we can retrieve some rowap leaves from him."

Crusher glanced back and forth. "Don't I get a cloak?"

"You do not need to be hidden."

When Latios opened the door back into the streets of mass killing, Camellia reminded herself why she was scared.