A/N: Sorry this took so long guys...uggh I hate busy schedules... But I think you'll enjoy this next chapter, so that leaves me in the clear right? ...RIGHT?

lol, anyways, Happy Reading!

Chapter 9

The tide was pulsing in and out of the shore. It would carry bits and pieces of shell and kelp along with it, dropping them off and then returning to wash them away. It was as if the tide and its cargo were dancing, an in and out motion that moved to the sounds of the night. The moon was its spotlight, casting its silver rays down to the sparkling water. The beach was, for the most part, empty. Only one remained to watch the ocean dance. She sat, her red eyes switching from the dance by her feet to the endless horizon and back again. A breeze kicked up, ruffling Moonlight's white fur.

"Moonlight." She had felt Midnight's presence before he had spoken. She sighed, knowing exactly where this conversation was heading.

"No." she said.

"Is it really worth it?" he asked. She felt anger boil within her. Worth it? How could he possibly suggest that it wasn't worth it?

"Why wouldn't it be?" she snapped, jerking her head around to look at him. His sad gaze met her angry one.

"I know it isn't what he deserves, Moon. But think it through…"

"Think it through? What is there to think through? The boy needs help, and we can help him. What else is there?" He was sighing before she had finished.

"Moon, she hasn't even been in there for two days and he's already about to collapse. How long do you think this can go on before someone slips up? We could end up right back where we started in a mere second." She tried to interrupt him, but he didn't give her the chance. "All I'm asking is which is the most unfair? Living a fragile life in misery? Or ending one that was good to the very end? I'm not saying I want it to end that way," he added as she glared at him, "I'm just trying to look at it realistically." She felt the anger dissipate. It was replaced by an empty feeling she'd told herself she would never go back to long ago.

"I know what you're saying, Midnight." She said finally, her eyes watching the tide sweep up a strand of kelp. "But we can't give up on him." She saw him move next to her out of the corner of her eye. He, too, watched the ocean's dance now. After a long pause, he sighed once more.

"I know. Just remember that not everything has a happy ending."

Drew lay on his side, staring out the window. The last he remembered, he was in the cave with May, and now he was in the same bed he had been given the last time they visited the island. He guessed that Yue had wanted her own bed back, seeing as how it was the most comfortable in the house.

"And therefore on the whole island…" he thought to himself. It looked as if it were mid-day now. He wondered how long he'd been out. A day? Two? Neither would've surprised him. He could hear May and Yue talking in the other room. He didn't want them to know he was up just yet, he wanted some time alone—something that was very hard to come by these days, apparently. He managed a smile, at least he knew May cared. Sudden movement out the window caught his eye. A Pachirisu was darting up a small oak tree, a second one followed it. Drew watched them chase each other around and around the trunk. He suppressed the urge to laugh, not wanting to alert anyone in the house that he was awake. However, he soon found himself having to suppress a cry as a sharp pain radiated through his chest. He could've sworn he heard someone curse and, as quickly as it had come, it was gone and all was normal again.

Oh how he hated this predicament.

He clenched the bed sheets in his fist, feeling anger boil within him. The feeling was quickly set aside for that of fear, however, when he remembered the last time he'd let himself get angry. He would never have said that to May. Ever. Those words weren't his. He had heard himself say it—scream it, more like—and had felt his lips move, but the words had come out of nowhere, as if someone else had cried them.

"Because someone else did." The realization hit him like a slap in the face. He felt chills run down his spine as the rest of him went suddenly cold from fear. He wouldn't let himself loose control. He wouldn't—no—he couldn't let it happen again. His grip on the sheets tightened, so much that it hurt. Why him? Why was it always him? He wanted to scream in frustration. Why couldn't life just keep on being normal? Why couldn't Smoke just go away and never come back? What had he done? Had he accomplished nothing? Were all his efforts for nothing?

No. He had done something. May was right, he had done something. But what? Before he had assumed he'd just kicked Smoke out entirely, but that couldn't be it because then he wouldn't be in this situation. It wasn't that simple, there had to be something he was missing. What was it with this place and missing information? There had been prophecies, right? Moonlight had said it herself, long ago, that they had been expected forever. How could information be lost now when the pokemon on this island knew about its importance centuries ago?

"But what if they didn't?" He thought to himself, his own mind immediately countering, "Then how would Moonlight and Slowking have known? How would the amulet have survived all of those years? There must be something! Think, Drew, think!"

But it seemed that Drew's mind had finally stumped him.

Darkness. All was dark. There was no light. No, light would mean she had failed. She could see it, almost taste it. The light could blind her if she were looking at it. But she would not look—could not look. Looking would mean she had failed. She felt him reaching for it. Snarling, she pounced on him. He could not go to the light, she would not let him. He screeched in protest as she shoved him back to the shadows. She could hear him growling from the darkness. She growled back, angry that he would do this; angry that he would not listen.

"Why?" she cried, knowing he would not tell her. He hissed and she felt him lash out at her. She avoided his slashing claws, feeling the pain of heart instead. How could he do this? To him? To her? Why, after all they had been through? Was a sister's love not worth more the power he craved?

"You are my brother!" she shrieked "We were born together! Grew together! Laughed together! Do you not remember how we would laugh?" Silence answered her. Not even a growl. She sighed, about to move on.

"Smog was your brother. What of him?" he hissed angrily. She froze, only for a second. A second was all it took, he lurched forward. She shrieked and reached for him, but it was too late. She chased after him. He wouldn't get far, but it didn't matter. This would be a small victory for him, and just as painful for Drew as any victory would be. How could she have let him get to her? How could she have let him distract her?

That's right, a sister's love, how could she have forgotten?

It was sunny in the afternoon. Drew was sleeping as he should be, he needed it. And Yue, who had been talking to her earlier, had taken a nap of her own. Moonlight and Midnight had gone to visit Slowking for the day. So May had decided to take a walk around the island. She had started exploring the forest, letting her feet carry her wherever they pleased. Noting landmarks she could use to get back, she watched the pokemon carry out their daily lives. There were Pidgey in the sky, and Magikarp in the stream. Pachirisu darted around the trees while Mankey watched them from the branches. She laughed as one of the squirrel pokemon snuck up on his friend and tagged him. Immediately the tag game had begun, and the two were blurs of blue and white around the tree.

"Cute little guys." May muttered to herself. It was only then that she noticed where she was. Her feet had carried her to the clearing with the large tablet. No ghost pokemon were in sight, but the tablet still stood in the center. She stood in awe; it looked so grand, standing in the sunlight as it looked out to the entire clearing. Her feet then carried her closer to the tablet. She wished she could read it; the whole thing was covered in scribbles of a language she did not understand. She admired the three jewels in the middle of it. One was an emerald green, the other a golden topaz, the third caught her eye. It was sapphire, the same color as her eyes. She instantly loved it. She reached for it, her fingers brushed it.

Suddenly, a bright light flashed before her eyes. She cried out as a sharp crashing sound echoed around her. She could have sworn she saw a large pair of eyes but, before she could make anything out clearly, the world turned back to normal. She realized that she had backed away from the tablet and was now holding her head. She let her hands fall to her sides. She felt confused and frightened…but…there was something else. She almost felt…empowered. She had no clue why and it puzzled her more than the events preceding the feeling.

"May, are you alright?" She jumped, not expecting Spoof to appear behind her.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry Spoof…I had a…moment." The Gastly was giving her a strange look, but she quickly changed the subject.

"Did you need something?" she asked. He blinked, and his expression turned from one of perplexity to one of worry.

"Something's happened…" he started. May groaned.

"Why is it that every time I let my guard down, something happens?" she asked. However, she'd already started running for the house. She knew it had to do with Drew. It always had to do with Drew. Why must it always be him? She felt her heart sink, why oh why must it always be him? If anybody deserved this, it definitely wasn't him. As she pelted through the forest, a strange sound brought her to a halt. She stood very still, tuning her ear as she listened for it again. There, she heard it again.

Laughter. Childish, giggling, laughter.

The sound itself wasn't strange, only the context in which she had heard it. She was about to move on, with more important matters in mind, when the source of said laughter presented itself. She froze, not believing her eyes. A small girl ran through the bracken to her right. She had a head full of jade locks that flowed past her shoulders. She wore a white dress with little pink flowers. May stared after her as she stopped in front of her. She turned to her, her eyes shut from her gleeful laugher.

"Can't catch me!" she cried. May could have sworn she was speaking to her, although she showed no other acknowledgement that May was there. She continued on, running into the bushes to May's left. There was no sound of feet, not disturbance in the rows of shrubs where she had disappeared. No other creature seemed to notice that the girl had even existed. Her laughter was fading, just as May's trance was ending. Had it been a dream? She had seemed so real, May had almost run after her. She blinked, remembering the importance of her return and continued on her path. She saw no other sign of the girl and, although her appearance could hardly be explained, she forced herself to shove her thoughts about it to the back of her mind.

However, she couldn't help but wonder why it was that the girl seemed so familiar.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"I don't understand it, May, I just don't." Yue was whispering, "Moonlight and I heard him crying out and we ran in here just in time to see him acting exactly as he had before we came. And then, as soon as we saw it, it was over." May nodded, listening intently to her friend. She was leading her back through the house to the room she and Drew had been using. Although May knew how to get around by now, her friend's presence was comforting. Tok had been sitting in the living room, staring straight forward. May knew how close he and Drew had become, he must have been horrified. As they came to the door, Yue seemed to recall her shocked brother as well.

"Um, I better go make sure he's ok…" she gestured toward the way they had come. May nodded, and Yue was gone in a flash. She walked into the room, first noticing Moonlight curled up on her bed. Then Drew. He curled in a fetal position on his bed. She looked at Moonlight who returned her gaze.

"He hasn't moved since it has ended." She said. May got the feeling that the Absol was sending her words only to her. "He's still himself, just a little out of it." she added, noticing May's worried eyes. She nodded, continuing over to him. She sat down next to him and, as the bed moved with her added weight, he groaned softly. She looked at his face, which had lost virtually all of its color, and saw that he had his eyes shut.

"Drew?" she asked quietly. He didn't answer her. She reached for him, placing her hand on his forehead. She was surprised to find that he was cold. She could feel his pulse fluttering beneath his pale skin. He moaned at her touch, but didn't back away.

"Drew? Can you hear me?" she asked. His eyes opened slightly, revealing his emerald pools through thin slits. She hoped that meant that he could. She ran her fingers down his face and neck. She was about to continue to his shoulders when he yelped and backed away from her. Her eyes widened when she noticed the black coloration that had started to crawl onto his neck. Moonlight jumped at the sudden cry, but seemed to already know its reasoning.

"What happened to him?" May asked, her voice filled with fear. Moonlight sighed, her eyes pondering. It was as if she were trying to explain something very complex. But before she could start, Drew spoke.

"May…" he croaked. His eyes were now open and wide as saucers. He was trembling. May suppressed the urge to state "I thought you never got scared," worry taking over her as she realized that it truly did take a lot to scare Drew—and she meant a lot.

"It's ok, Drew." She whispered. He shook his head vigorously.

"No…no…" he whispered, grasping the pillow underneath his head. His knuckles were going whiter than his already-paled skin.

"Drew, it's ok." She urged, wishing he would snap out of it. He was staring off in the distance. His gaze horror stricken by means she could not see.

"He was there…I saw him…" he said softly. May froze, knowing exactly who "he" was.

"It's alright, Drew, he's gone now." She soothed. He shook his head again.

"No…no…he's there. He's always there." His eyes flicked to her, finally focused on the real world. His trembling had slowed, but his death grip on his pillow remained. "He told me…he told me…" his eyes shut and he turned away from her. She ran her fingers through his hair again, desperately trying to calm him down. His trembles finally stopped and his grip relaxed. He looked about to fall asleep. She sighed, sending Moonlight a look of relief. She returned it, although May could see her own lingering worry reflected in the Absol's eyes.

"He wants to destroy me." May jumped, not expecting Drew to continue. She felt chills run down her spine as he finished: "He wants to destroy me…so he can kill you."