(Glacia)

"C-Celebi?" My mouth was dry. "You... you're Celebi?"

The disoriented Celebi nodded. "Uh... yes, I'm Celebi." She turned to Naetle. "Naetle? I haven't seen you in ages - why are you here again?" She asked.

Naetle opened his mouth to speak but Alice, who was holding onto an ill Ken, interrupted him. "Excuse me, what's going on?" Alice looked somewhat ticked off and cut right to the chase. "Who are you, exactly? And why did you appear in a pillar of light?"

Celebi tilted her head. "Pillar of light? What do you mean? I just went and took a nap, found myself in Limbo, and..." Celebi's voice trailed off, and she took a deep look at her surroundings. Then she gasped. "Wh-where am I?" Then her eyes dilated. "Wh-when am I?"

Alice looked confused. "What do you mean, 'when'?"

Naetle began to sweat. "Uh... could you please leave, Alice? Shouldn't you take care of Ken?"

Alice narrowed her eyes. "No chance, Naetle." She put down a nauseous Ken. "Ken will be fine. I'm more concerned about the... Celebi?" Alice shook her head. "I've heard that name before..."

Celebi broke out a smile. "Are you sure?" Celebi floated up to Alice. "I didn't know I had fans!" She took hold of one of Alice's posts. "Nice to meet you... Alice?"

Alice nodded. "Yes... I remember the name 'Celebi' from somewhere, but I can't exactly put it down."

For someone who looked lost and disoriented, Celebi was also rather cheerful. "Naetle will help you explain." She turned to Naetle. "So, Naetle, where and when are we?"

Alice raised a brow. "Okay, what do you mean by 'when'?"

"Sometimes I travel through time in my sleep, it's not much of an issue." Celebi confirmed what I had thought.

"Travel through... "Alice's eyes widened in shock. "You-you're from that fairy tale!"

Celebi's eyes sparkled. "Fairy tale? I have a fairy tale now?" Then she looked at Naetle. "But Naetle, aren't you from the past?" She gasped. "Don't tell me you time-traveled again!"

Naetle blushed. "Uh... yeah. Thousands of years into the future. We're a couple millennia away from the past, Celebi."

She tilted her head. "But how? As far as I can know, Dialga and I are the only ones that are able to make Dimensional Holes."

"Hold on, hold on!" Alice butted in again. As she began to speak, Tom brought a dozing Ken over to me, looking rather confused himself. "Are you that Celebi? The Lustrous Celebi? The one who traveled through countless generations to save time itself?"

Celebi blinked. "The Lustrous Celebi?" She looked over herself. "I am rather Shiny, yes. But I didn't time travel myself - I took Grovyle, Naetle, and Sky to the past. I can only manage short hops in time."

Alice grabbed her head. "This... this is too much. Wh..." She pinned her gaze on Naetle. "Naetle, she mentioned you. Give me some context, would you?"

Naetle sighed, then nodded. "Alright. Parts of that legend are wrong, and I'm a time traveler." Naetle deadpanned.

Alice gaped. "I... what?"

"I'm a time traveler - I was born four millennia in the past. I became a Venturer to find a way home."

Celebi chipped in a little. "He's not the only one. Those two are time travelers as well - I can tell." She pointed at me and Tom. We had been watching the conversation at work. I squirmed a little bit when Celebi directed her attention at us.

Alice gaped a little bit - then she shook her head. "This is a joke, isn't it? You can't be some figure from some legend - that's a little too unreasonable." She shook her head. "Tell me the truth - who are you, actually?"

Celebi frowned. "I'm Celebi - didn't I tell you that?"

Alice snorted. "And I'm Conkelldius. What are you, a Ditto? A Zoroark?" Alice grabbed Celebi a little bit and shook her up. My breath hitched.

Celebi said nothing as Alice grabbed her. Then the two of them disappeared in a flash of light.

I immediately stood up. "What happened?!"

Naetle turned to me, shock in his eyes. "They must have time traveled!"

Then there was another flash of light, and the two of them appeared again.

Alice sat down, dizzy. "Oh... that's an experience," she moaned. "Remind me never to time travel again."

Celebi giggled. "Your reaction to your teenage self was amusing - I didn't know two people could get into a shouting match that fast."

Alice shook her head. "This is... this is too much." She sat down. "What... what on Naixe is happening?"

Now that Alice's curiosity had been somewhat pacified, I stepped forward. "Uh, so you're the Celebi from that fable, right?"

Celebi nodded. "That's me! I read that book of fables when we time traveled - it was rather hilarious!"

I blushed. "P-pleased to meet you."

Celebi bowed. "No, the pleasure is all mine." She turned to Naetle. "But I'm still rather confused. If I'm lucky, I can fit a few decades in a single jump. How did we get to this time, some millennia away from the past?"

Naetle tilted his head. "Celebi, I don't know. I appeared here like you did." Then he adopted a look of hope. "I've been looking for Sky and the Passage of Time - do you know where they are?"

Celebi shook her head. "The location of the Passage of Time isn't always in the same place. Sometimes it's in a mountain, other times it's in a forest. Once it was under the sea. It usually stays in one place for a few weeks, then it goes somewhere else. If I had a location, I could take you there, but..." She shrugged. "Right now, I can't help you."

"And as for Sky, I have no clue where he is."

Naetle looked downcast. "Oh... I mean, I thought that you'd know... You know a lot about time travel and all."

Celebi laughed. "Oh, don't be so silly! I'd love to know everything related to time. But aside from having my own personal time hopping abilities, I'm not that different from you."

Celebi then adopted a pensive expression. "Still, we are rather far off from our own time. I'm required to use the Passage of Time to travel anything rather than a few hundred years or so. Only Dialga's power can create Dimensional Holes after all."

"W-what?!" I shouted, drawing attention. "D-Dialga was the one that sent me back in time?!"

Celebi tilted her head. "Yes, I suppose that is so." She then leaned in. "Tell me, Eevee, what is your name?"

"Glacia VII of Eonia Kingdom." I recited, the words falling from my tongue.

Celebi gained a pensive look. "Eonia Kingdom... Oh, I've been there on one of my trips through the Passage of Time! It's a nice place."

I nodded. "It was nice, back then..."

As we talked, Alice got up. "I... I don't know what's happening. Characters from fairy tales are talking right in front of me." She pinned me with a stare. "You're... you're from that ancient kingdom?"

I nodded. "We... we didn't think you'd believe us if we told you the truth." In for a penny, in for a pound. "We had to worry about Night, too."

Alice looked confused. "Night? The prison warden? What's she got to do with any of this?"

Celebi tilted her head as well. "Who is this Night you're talking about?"

I resigned myself to the explanation. Over the next half-hour, I informed Alice and Celebi of what Night was planning, and what she was capable of.

I don't know what I was expecting. Looking back on it, I only believed Vinia about Night in the first place because of the wanted posters. They had specific information missing, information that should have been on them.

Alice and Celebi had no such reason to believe us.

"So, let me get this straight. You're saying that the medical girl, that apprentice to Ms. Kiss-"

"Vinia, yeah."

"She's the daughter to the prison warden of Jeden City, Night. Night has been brainwashing hundreds of Pokemon in secret, including the Captain. This has been going on for years, without anyone knowing about it. The way you know this is because Vinia herself told you. The only reason you believed her is because of a strange bounty poster."

The way Alice laid the facts down made me feel a bit foolish, but I stood resolute. "I'm telling you the truth! How else would Sky's wanted poster have no species?!"

"Glacia, have you checked the wanted posters for higher ranking outlaws?"

A dark feeling sunk into my stomach. "No...?" We still didn't check the higher ranked outlaws. In retrospect, that was a stupid lack of action.

"Well, they recalled those posters that had no species on them. There was an error, and not all the information was there. Do you know what they changed in them?"

"No..." I hadn't told Alice what species Sky was.

"The species Sky was. You know to what species they changed it to, from Unknown?

"No!"

"Piplup."

"NO!" I grabbed my head. What was happening? Somehow... somehow, there were still information leaks.

Were... were the wanted posters actually true? Did Sky actually steal those documents?

Alice scoffed. "Glacia, I like you, but you're too gullible. A misprinted wanted poster, and you're left thinking there's a huge conspiracy going on. Did you ever stop and consider, 'Has one of my friends lied to me?'?"

I couldn't answer.

Then Tom stepped up. "No, she hasn't. And I haven't either, Alice." I felt shudders and saw Tom shaking. "I... I trust Vinia, Alice. They're my friends, and I'm sorry, but I'll believe in them."

Alice's eyes lit up, and a core of fear appeared within me. Then, somehow, she calmed down. "Tom... you idiot." She turned around. "Grow up a little bit, would you? Stop believing everything you hear." Alice grabbed Ken, who was still half-conscious. "See you later." She started walking out of the clearing.

Tom stepped forward, a quiver of fear in his voice. "Wh... where are you going?!"

"To wake Ken up, Tom. I still have to train him, you know." She turned to face him. "I'm going to try to forget everything tonight. Most of all, your utter naivety, Tom." She sighed. "For now, leave me alone so I can deal with this."

Tom recoiled. "I..."

Alice left.

The clearing was silent. Naetle had been watching the argument. He had grown angry when Alice had doubted us. Then he, along with the rest of us, turned dumbstruck when Alice had revealed the revised posters.

Celebi, on the other, looked pensive.

I turned to Celebi, pleading. "Celebi, you have to believe us! Not for our sake, but your own!"

If Night - or anyone else, for that matter - found Celebi, they might try to use her. I didn't want Celebi to have to time travel backward, considering that she's probably the only one that can use the Passage of Time.

Celebi floated in place. "I'm not sure, Glacia, Naetle. I've seen a lot of weird things, but… I don't know, it seems a bit strange. Are you sure that this… er, 'Night', is after you?"

There was nothing the three of us could say. All the evidence we had for Night's wrongdoings were Vinia's firsthand accounts.

Naetle and I turned to Tom, but he still seemed to be in a little shock after what Alice had said. He wouldn't be much help for the time being.

"We… we're sure, Celebi." The words spilled out of my mouth, though for once I doubted their veracity.

Celebi considered what I had said for a second, then shrugged. "Alright."

It was a bit silent in the clearing after that. Naetle coughed. "Celebi, what do you... mean?"

Celebi did a little loop in the air. "I'm assuming you want me to hide, right? From this 'Night'?"

We nodded. "Y-yes."

Celebi twirled. "Well, that's alright! After all, someone as special and wonderful as me can't fall into the hands of some evil Gardevoir." She then shrugged. "I have more important things to do as well - like look for my dear Grovyle!"

"G-Grovyle?"

Naetle's eyes widened. "You... are you saying that Grovyle is in this time?!"

Celebi nodded. "I can feel that he's somewhere on this... Naixe, though I'm not exactly sure where. I don't have the strongest senses, after all."

The Temporal Grovyle... I'd like to meet him.

Then Celebi began to float away.

"Wait! Where... where are you going?!"

Celebi turned to me. "I'm... going to look for Grovyle." She was rather confused. "Glacia, didn't I say that?"

I couldn't respond. Somehow I had thought that Celebi was going to stick around for more than an hour. Now it looked like she was off on her way.

"Where will you look?" Naetle asked, a little concerned.

Celebi thought for a second. "Oh... I'll find him eventually. I don't tend to stick around anywhere for too long, except for my forest. I'll have to scour the entirety of Naixe to find him. It won't be too difficult." She waved. "Thank you for the wonderful night!"

With a flash of light, Celebi disappeared from the clearing. Tom, Naetle and I were the only ones left in the clearing.

Tom was mentally out of commission, so we decided to leave him be, and left the clearing - or at least, we tried to. Before we could step foot outside, Tom cried out. "P-Please!"

Naetle and I turned to face Tom. "What is it, Tom?" I replied, somewhat, distant. I was in my own little funk as well.

"D-Don't leave!" I could see that Tom's eyes were somewhere far away. I turned my own blank eyes to Naetle.

"I'll stay," I said, my voice bland. Naetle, a little creeped out by the both of us at the moment, nodded and left for the campsite.

Soon, Tom and I were alone in the clearing where Celebi had appeared. For some reason, even though it was a balmy night, I felt shivers climb up my spine.

"G-Glacia?" Tom whispered.

"Yeah?"

"What... what are we doing? Who are we - who am I?" Tom asked, tone breathless.

"I'm the princess of Eonia Kingdom. You're an amnesiac Litwick. We're time travelers. We're trying to find a Piplup called Sky who has a 'Dimensional Scream'. We're doing this so we can find a Passage of Time to return to our own times."

That summed it up, I thought. But only a few months ago, I would have dismissed everything but the first sentence as fiction.

In fact, it all felt rather empty. We had knowledge - which seemed to be wrong all the time. We had power - until we needed to do something important.

We used to have hope - until we found it was an illusion the whole time.

My friends feel strange and alien at the best of times - sometimes, I can't understand them. Some things set people off in strange ways. Some people, even if they like you, don't want to stick around.

"We... I'm not ready for this. For any of this." Tom confessed. "I wish I was a Chandelure, an adult - then I'd know what to do."

But we wouldn't get the chance - the time travel ripped everything away. Lord Black, the Umbreon general from back in my time, may have been the spark, but the time travel was the flame.

The time travel's distortion ripped away our ability to evolve as well, as Naetle had told me. I wouldn't be able to become a Glaceon any more. I was now trapped as an Eevee. Even if I did return, all I'd be was the former heir. For others to consider you as an adult, you'd have to complete your Evolution. If you hadn't, you were still nothing but a child.

Vinia would turn into a Kirlia when she got older, and then into a Gardevoir. Once Merla matures enough, she'll be a Volcarona.

Tom, Naetle, and I? We're stuck.

We sat on the clearing for a little while. To tell the truth, I'm not even sure we're doing the right thing anymore. What if the radar doesn't work? What if Night isn't as bad as Vinia claims she is? What if Sky is as bad as the wanted posters say? What if...

At some point, I fell asleep.

I felt rather strange. I knew that I should be on something soft, or at the very least, dirty. I've woken up like that for the past few months, after all. I've gotten used to it.

Instead of that warm feeling, though, I laid on a cold and hard surface. I tried, for a few minutes, to get a good position to relax on. Feeling bored, though, I got up.

Then I experienced deja vu.

Fantastical colors swirled about as strange wisps floated about. My claws clinked on the floor as I walked about.

Where... I've been here before, haven't I? But when exactly? All I remember is going to sleep and...

... here. I'm here again.

If I'm remembering right, this is the place where I had first dreamt myself into - my first dream world. Back then, only two and a half months ago... how much have I changed?

I had spent thirty minutes wasting time and enjoying myself in simple pleasures when I had come here.

How...

... fun. How fun. I actually wanted to do it again - to pretend I was only some princess. Before I knew about Night. Before I had met the awful Captain Falcon. Before I had met Tom. Before I had traveled through time. Heck, before the revolution back in my time! This was the last bit of fun I had, without any past thoughts niggling around in my head.

I cracked a smile. Here, I wouldn't have to worry about any of those problems. In fact, I'll take my time here while I can!

For the longest while, I played around. I made the wisps giggle (they were definitely sentient and sapient). I chased my own tail, an enjoyable task.

I made it a genuine vacation and did my best to forget about my problems in their entirety. For a small while, I even succeeded.

I petered to a stop, though. While I was much more fit than I was as the crown princess, I didn't have infinite stamina. I reached my stopping point and laid on the cold, marble-like ground.

It was nice here. There wasn't much to do, not that many books, but I had gotten used to that. I enjoyed exploring much more, though

I tapped on the ground, thinking. If I remembered right, there was a passage down there, below the floor. I had blown a hole through the ground with a Shadow Ball and jumped straight through.

Oh, what the heck. Sure, things could hurt me in dreams. I remembered that strange Miasma creature, especially. But I've gotten used to battle. I wouldn't lie on the ground anymore, like some chump.

Let's see what's actually 'down there'.

I cock my head back and gather energy for a Shadow Ball. A massive Shadow Ball appeared into existence, its form calm. With ease, I fired it at the ground.

The ground didn't explode like every other instance I've used Shadow Ball. Instead, it melted and merged into the ground, causing ripples. It reminded me of a drop of water falling into a puddle.

"Why did...?" Then I remembered what Dad's Shadow Ball looked like, all the way back when I learned it. It had melted into the wall, too.

I had finally mastered Shadow Ball. I mean, sure, it took a few months and some temporal shenanigans, but I made it.

It didn't help my case, though.

But that didn't stop me. Over the past month, I've been expanding my repertoire. I learned Bite by emulating Naetle. I've learned Refresh through some complementary lessons on healing by Vinia. And finally, I ooze the cuteness needed for Baby Doll Eyes.

My proudest achievement, though, is Swift. As my most versatile move, it gives me a lot of control over the battlefield. Tom and Naetle can go have fun with their raw power. I needed some actual techniques and strategies to make my battles work. For reliable power, I could only rely on Shadow Ball, after all.

Swift gave you so many options, though. It gave me a revolving defense, a routing offense, crowd control, a way to shepherd enemies, and a smoke screen. No matter what, Swift had you covered.

I sent a few glowing stars over to some random spot on the ground. One by one, the stars slammed into the ground. At the final burst, a crack appeared in the ground.

Something I could exploit.

After a few more Swifts, the crack opened wide into a hole. I opened the hole wide enough so that I could jump into it and took a literal leap of faith.

I twisted and turned in the ether, deciding to relax and enjoy the trip. Plus, no one had to push me in this time. Oh, that reminded me - I still haven't paid that gremlin wisp back for what he did to me.

I landed in the underground passageway and bounced a little bit. After shaking myself off, I took a good look around.

Torches lit a corridor forward. That was where I had gone before, assuming that this was the same place as a few months ago.

There were no lights back, though - and that's the direction I'm going in. I'm not dealing with that giant scary orb thing that had attacked me. The memory from then is somewhat faint, but I remember the orb gave a smaller orb a quiz or something.

It was rather odd, and I'm not going to risk incurring its wrath again.

The passageway without torches was pitch black. Luckily, I can use my Swift stars as a temporary light source - the possibilities are endless.

I walked for some time in the pitch black corridor. I didn't interact with anything, but then again, my Swift scared them off.

Then, out of the blue, torches, began to line the walls. I blinked a little bit but walked onwards.

The torches continued for some time, before they stopped appearing in the corridor. At that point, I stopped, as my exploring senses were tingling.

At that point, I looked up and saw a small hole peeking up at me.

A circle. I've been walking in circles.

I narrowed my eyes. If there is anything else down here in the underbelly of this dream world, I've passed it in my circling.

I send my Swift stars to illuminate the walls, making sure that I could actually see what was on them. Strange markings covered the walls, of course. That was par for the course in a mysterious place like this.

I shook my head. Repeatedly over the last few months, my fiction books... the heroes in them don't seem to have much trouble with their problems. Oh sure, they struggle to defeat the big monster they have to face. But they always face the problem with a large smile on their face and conviction in their every step.

Over the past few months, I suppose I've been in an adventure of my own. But... it has been the farthest thing from fun.

But I digress.

I started looking at the markings on the wall. They seemed to be your average Arceist markings. It depicted things like the creation of the world and birth of the creation trio.

It was nothing I hadn't seen before. But it was strange nonetheless. This isn't the last place I would think to find Arceist paintings, but it was nowhere near the first.

That did beg the question, though - where am I? I can't help but think of this place as a dream world. But Tom doesn't sleep, and there were no other Pokemon around, aside from the average ones.

Let's ignore the possibility that this is the dream of an average Pokemon. Then this is either my dream - which I'm not too sure about - or I'm in some other place.

I shook my head. This is complex, to be honest.

I decided to keep on investigating the walls. They seemed to go on about the creation of the Pokemon World, and how the various species came to be.

Then... I saw something new.

There were strange creatures appearing on the wall. I knew they weren't Pokemon. The artist drew them in a different way from even Arceus and the rest of the legendaries.

These...

These are humans.

Tom and Naetle had once described to me what a human looked like - bipedal, shaped like a Lucario or Gardevoir, Pecha colored skin, built like a Fighting-type...

It's not completely foreign. Looking at drawings of the humans, they seem like humanoids (was that where the term came from?) similar to Hitmonchan. Yet, as I look at them, I sense a strange disconnect. They're different from Pokemon, like Berries, but... different.

I can think of berries as not Pokemon. They don't think, they don't eat, they can't use moves, etc. But humans... they're more than that.

And that... that frightens me in some way.

Did Arceus destroy the human race to save Pokemon kind? Maybe... he saved only a few humans, like Tom and Sky, because they were... I don't know, special or something.

I kept on looking at the wall. The humans grew in numbers, until they eclipsed the size of the Pokemon population. I hoped that was only symbolic.

Then... there was a gouge.

A figure was drawn with gouges. It stood among the rest of the carvings.

There were more carvings forward, and I walked forward to illuminate them.

On a single mural, there was only ever one gouge-man. But while the gouge-man didn't change across the different murals, the humans did.

A strange pit grew in my stomach. I looked onward, forgetting to maintain the Swift.

The humans started lying down in the murals, and strange lines radiated from them. Ten or fifteen murals down from the first one with the gouge-man, the human figures began lying down.

Then, even more strange, the humans began to disappear. One by one, the human markings started to disappear from the murals. As I walked onward, I started to feel a little confused. What did this mean?

Soon, all the human carvings were gone. There was only a single human left.

Then a single white ball appeared in the mural.

And then the last human disappeared.

Was... what was this?

I noticed that I could still see, even though I had passed by all the torches long ago. I had also dismissed all my Swift stars.

I turned around and came across the large ball of light.

"So... two thousand years later, you still trespass again." There was a modicum of silence. "Tell me, before I eviscerate you. Why, and how, are you here?"

"W-what do you mean?" My voice was trembling.

The ball of light considered me with disdain. "This is my domain, and as you can see I am very territorial. I don't take very kindly to uninvited visitors. Why - but more important, how - are you here?"

"I'm here because..." I was tongue-tied. "I was... curious?"

The ball was silent for a short time. "... and how? How do you continue to intrude upon this realm? How are still alive, even though many thousands of years in Naixe's history have passed?"

"I... I can intrude upon dreams. I can travel to the worlds inside people's heads. I... I didn't mean to come here."

The ball pointed up. "Then what is that?" The hole was still in sight, for some reason.

"That... that was the curiosity."

The ball studied me. "As for how you are still alive, let me make a guess. You traveled forward in time, correct? That, or you are immortal."

I couldn't keep the shock off my face. "Yes... it's the first one... how did you know?"

"There is a distortion of space around you. It bugs me."

I shrunk back.

The ball turned away and sighed. "My rage had fallen away. I can see that you didn't mean to intrude. Nonetheless," it turned an irritated gaze upon me. "You've made a lot of trouble for Tom."

"For Tom?" I was a little confused - Tom didn't seem to be in much trouble. Then I remembered that Tom was the name of the smaller ball of light.

The ball nodded. "I was the one who placed him down in the world."

Placed him down in the world...

"Wait, so my Tom is... is that Tom?!"

The ball was a featureless ball, so I had no actual evidence of its disdain, other than its voice. "There aren't any other Toms in the time I placed him in, the time we're in now. Litwick, correct?"

For some reason, this had dumbfounded me. I mean, it makes sense, on some level. They have the same name, same attitude, etc.

But in all my musings on the subject of Tom, never had I connected him to the ball... named Tom.

Sometimes, I can't help but think I'm rather smart. Then I always come across someone who makes me feel like an idiot. Always.

The ball noticed my shock and sighed. "Of course you found him." The ball sounded defeated. "Oh, what's the point of killing you at this point?"

"None at all!" I agreed, making haste. The mention of my future murder managed to snap me out of it. "I'm innocent!"

"No, you are not." The ball denied. "I should have suspected that it would have tried to interfere. It's listening to us right now."

I was beginning to feel confused. "What's 'it'?"

The ball decided to be cryptic, of course. "What can rewrite preordained fate, of course."

"'Rewrite preordained fate'?" I parroted. "What on Naixe are you talking about?"

The ball sighed again. "You know what, Glacia? This is my sacred domain, where only those I permit can enter with their spirit intact. You have trespassed not once, but twice."

I began to fidget. "But I-"

"I don't care, Glacia. If you want to exist beyond a few minutes from now, you will make a deal with me."

I gulped. Tonight had reminded me of my books. When a hero (myself, in this scenario) meets with an ancient evil (the ball), it's a bad idea to make deals with them. They tend to blow up in your face, in the end.

"Well, Glacia? Do you want to live?"

I gulped. "What... what do you want me to do?"

"Oh, it's nothing," the ball 'explained'. "I want you to tell a certain person something."

A creepy tingle crawled down my spine. "What... what do you want me to do?"

"You know a spider, right?"

A spider? Who on Naixe could the ball be talking about...

"Myga?!"

The ball nodded. "Yes, that's her name." The ball continued. "If you want to live, you must tell 'Myga' something."

What on Naixe could the ball want with someone as uninteresting as Myga?

"Promise me, on your life and spirit, that you will tell 'Myga' that the time for the true Ahriman to awaken has come."

As the ball said that, an awful chill fell over me. "Ahriman?" A strange feeling crawled up my spine. "What does that mean?"

The ball scoffed. "I'm not going to say it again." It began to glow with a bright light. "Remember, tell Myga that, or I will come after you." An eerie glow settled over the corridor. "I don't have to wait around for you, after all."

I gulped. "Y-yes, right away," I promised.

Then the corridor began to dissolve around me, and I started to scramble and flail around in the middle of the air.

The ball's voice continued to echo through the abyss as I fell through the void. "Remember our deal, Glacia. I want to see where you will take your destiny."

"Hey!" A somewhat familiar voice rings through my head. I force my eyes open.

I'm awake in our tent, back at the campsite. Merla was hovering, a concerned look on her face. Ken, who I recognized only after a few seconds, was nursing a sooty spot on his down of feathers.

Merla turned an annoyed eye to him. "Thank you, Ken." Her voice was icy. "Now Glacia is awake because of you."

Ken snorted and turned his head away. "How is someone supposed to have a good sleep with you staring at them all the time?"

Merla colored. She opened her mouth to put Ken in his pace. "I can't believe you, you-"

"S-stop..." I stopped Merla, shaking my head. Merla immediately quieted down, although she looked a bit grumpy. Somehow, I felt that she wanted to put down Ken.

An old grudge?

"I... where's Myga?" Once I had somewhat collected myself, I forced myself to ask the pertinent question. "I need to go ask her something?"

Merla adopted a quizzical look. "Myga? She's with Koga and Alice. Why are you-" Before she could finish asking her question, I was already halfway out of the tent. "Glacia? Where are you going?"

I stepped outside, dodging Merla's increasing curiosity and concern. The morning was warm and bright, and the various Venturers were milling about. Everyone was packing up and was feeling a bit eager and anxious. We were nearing the Arc, where we would conduct the breaking.

I dodged through the masses of Pokemon and headed for Team Zelda's tent. Assuming they weren't already done with their packing, we - I - would be able to meet them there.

Sure enough, the three members of Team Zelda were packing up for what would look like the final day of the trip. I cleared my throat and approached the busy Myga.

"Er, excuse me, Myga?" I asked her, feeling a bit peaked. The dream had taken its toll on me - my thoughts were strange and disoriented. The chill I had felt in the dream prickled up and down my spine. It was familiar, but I couldn't quite place where the feeling originated from.

The electric spider turned to me in surprise. "Glacia? What are you doing here?"

My mouth began to move of its own accord. "The time for the true Ahriman to awaken has come."

The chill spiked over my back, which proceeded to arch. Behind me, the two other members of Team Zelda raised their eyebrows in confusion.

"Glacia? What are you talking about?" Koga, who had been stretching for the march, asked.

"I don't know," I answered.

Myga turned a bemused gaze to me. "Well, thank you?" She questioned. "I have no idea what 'the Ahriman' thing is, but... glad to know."

As Myga said 'Ahriman' again, the chill grew even more. My eyes began to burn and sting.

"Please... stop..." I heard a faint moan behind me. I turned to see a distraught and panicking Merla. She had curled up into a ball. "Please... stop saying that."

Myga stepped back. "I... I'm sorry?"

Koga sent a sharp look toward us both. "Don't say that word, Ahri... Don't say it again." He warned. Turning to Merla, he issued a proclamation. "That word... don't say it. I don't know why, but it doesn't seem to be good for Merla's health."

Feeling nauseous, I walked to Merla. "Merla..." I choked out. "Let's go back to get ready." Merla nodded, and together we walked outside.

That ball... what did it force me to say? Every time we said that word, a chill grew stronger and stronger over me. It was receding, but I nonetheless felt the slightest bit paranoid.

Merla seemed to come to her senses. "G-Glacia... what was that?" She questioned in a whisper.

I shook my head. "I don't know," I stated, hopeless. "I... I don't know at all."

Merla nodded herself. "I feel... it's awful. I don't know why, but it... it reminds me of something. It reminds me of something terrible."

The chill was receding, but I remained on edge. "Let's... let's go get ready," I offered.

We met up with Naetle and Tom back at the camp, with Ken sitting there as well. They seemed to be arguing amongst themselves.

"... I don't know where they went! Glacia seemed to want to do something, and Merla followed her. I tried to follow along too, but I had a dizzy spell, and they left in the meantime!"

Tom looked almost apoplectic with his worry. "What if they're hurt? What if-"

Naetle interrupted Tom. "No," he stated, with a confident stance. "They're not in trouble, Tom. Glacia wanted to do something, and Merla followed her. That's all." Then he pointed at me and Merla; we were in his range of sight. "Look, there they are."

Tom looked ecstatic. I began to wonder if he was developing Merla's issues, as that sort of look was familiar.

"You guys... you're back!" he shouted, with glee and relief in his voice.

I somehow cracked a smile. "Tom, I wasn't leaving." Alice's abandonment must have rather hurt him. They had grown close during the last week. Alice's... dropping of him... came completely out of left field. It was bizarre. "I'm not going to leave you."

The smile fell from Tom's face, replaced with a frozen look of doubt.

The chill grew in my veins, freezing my blood.

'You can't keep that promise, you know,' it whispered. 'You can't control fate. He's already had that promise broken to him once already. Do you want to have it broken again?'

"Did Alice say that?" I whispered to Tom. He nodded.

Oh... oh no...

The five of us were completely silent.

Ken began to walk away. "I'm... I'm going to back to Team Zelda. I'll... I'll talk to you guys later." Our tentative new friend escaped from the situation. I wish it was that easy for me to do.

"What did Alice say?" Merla asked, cutting through the thick silence.

"A... a few nights ago... in a cave... Alice promised she'd never abandon me... and now..."

It had appeared Naetle or Tom had briefed Merla on the situation with Alice. Her eyes turned stone cold. "I see."

I turned completely around, so I was facing Team Zelda's tent. As Ken stepped into the tent, I began to walk to the tent as well. I was going to give Alice the largest piece of my mind.

I walked through the much less dense crowd, the blades of grass crunching under my feet as I walked. I bumped into a few Venturers, but shoved past them.

I was about to enter the flap to Team Zelda's tent when I felt something grab my tail. Furious, I turned around to see a frantic Tom.

"G-Glacia, no!" He begged. "I... no!"

I bared my teeth. "Tom, I'm going to destroy Alice, for what she did to you. Let me go."

Tom shook his head. "I can't. This... we'll make Alice apologize in some other way."

"Apologize? For what, exactly?"

Alice stepped out of the tent. The commotion Tom and I had been causing must have attracted some attention. There were plenty of other Pokemon looking at us as though we were aliens. In fact, I spotted Team Link looking rather confused.

I opened my mouth to respond to her, but she shook her head. "If you want to say anything to me, let's do in the tent. We're going to get ready to pull it down, so we'll need your hands."

Somehow, she ushered Tom and I inside. Ken and the rest of Team Zelda were finishing up the packing.

Alice handed us a pile of Apples. "There, pack that into the food bag. We'll be pulling the tent down in a few minutes."

Tom put Apples in the bag. I didn't.

"Alice, why did you hurt Tom? I demand to know." I straightened my posture, almost unaware of it. Dad would be proud. "As your pr... please tell me."

Alice turned a snarky eye onto me. It seems she didn't appreciate my regal demeanor. "You know, Glacia, I don't particularly like your voice right now. You're doing well in pissing me off if that's what you want to know."

I laughed, my voice hollow. "Oh, so you're going to pretend that you didn't make that promise. That you didn't break Tom's fragile heart?"

"Break his heart?" Alice made some sound of confusion. "What are you talking about?"

The rage exploded. "You told him you'd never abandon him! You told him that you would always stick by his side! Now you've gone and told him to shove off!"

Alice raised an incredulous eyebrow at me. "Yeah... for a night."

"F-for a night?" Tom piped up, confused yet hopeful. "I... you're not..."

Alice stilled for several seconds. Then she sighed. "Oh... oh no."

"Now do you see what you've done to Tom?! Do you see how much you've hurt him?!" I demanded, raising my voice.

"Tom, do you have insecurity problems?"

Alice's question caught us both off guard.

"I... I don't think... I'm not sure?" Tom offered, a little weak.

"Tom, you shouldn't be so scared if I want to be alone for a night," Alice stated. "I don't know why, but you're way too clingy. You need to lighten up and learn to trust me."

Tom was silent. I was frothing.

"What... who do you think you are?!" My blood froze over, and the air I was breathing started to solidify. Alice stepped backward, confused, but not distressed. "Tom has done nothing wrong! Don't try to pin this on him, you witch!"

"What's wrong with you, Glacia?" Alice asked a little concerned. "You're usually much calmer than you are now." Her temper seemed to be rising, though.

"Don't try to trick me, monster!" I leaped at her, ready to extinguish her flame.

Then Tom caught me by my tail. "Glacia, what's wrong?" I heard him ask. "You're... you're scaring me!"

I bared my teeth at him. "Let me go, Tom. I need to rip out her throat." The tent went silent. All stares were on me.

Tom shook his head. "I... no, Glacia, I..." Then his eyes narrowed. "Glacia, what's wrong with you?!"

I stared Tom dead in the eyes. "If you don't let me go right now, Tom, you'll regret it."

Fear enveloped Tom's eyes, and he let me go.

By all measures, I should have leaped at Alice then, ready to destroy her to the best of my abilities.

Tom's fear, though, chained me to the ground. Not out of shame, though, but out of a sense of... joy?

What... what is wrong with me?

I tore out of the tent with Quick Attack, weaving my way through the dense crowd. For some reason, ice blossomed with my every step. I heard Tom call out after me. I ignored him. I shot into the forest, almost tripping along the way. I had to get away... get away from everyone.

A small while later, I found myself in an unfamiliar clearing - of which there seemed to be a lot around here. I speculated they were the old campsites of the previous Breakers.

I sat down. The chill - which was now an understatement - pulled at my muscles, begging me to go back to the campsite. Some part of me wanted to listen.

But I couldn't. If I went back, I would turn into that strange, murderous Pokemon again.

Somehow, that word... Ahriman... it-

The chill coursed through me, stronger than ever before. It bit and tore through my skin, and I huddled into a small ball to ward it off.

Ugh, now only the thought of the word Ahriman would-

The chill shrieked through my muscles, and I couldn't manage to bite back a scream.

No more thinking of that word. The ball... I shouldn't have trusted it. It didn't care that I said it to Myga - all it wanted to do was make me say the word. It chose the most random, least important person in my life so I would feel at ease.

It was a trap. The word, Ahri- no! The... Taboo, yeah... it causes these weird chills. And the rage too, most likely.

How could I have been so stupid? Alice... what she did wasn't too nice, but what I did to Merla was at least three times worse. And what I said was with malice! Alice wanted some alone time, and I was thinking she was as bad as Catal.

I had to stay here, for now. I... it would be a bad idea for me to return to the campsite. I'll have to catch up later. The rest of Team Ness and Vinia... they can handle Night for now.

This problem has become much more pressing.

I sat down and leaned next to a tree. Why can't I be a normal person? No time travel, no Taboo... I don't even want to be a princess anymore.

Well, no I liked being a princess. I didn't mind it that much. I only had a few issues with being the crown princess of Eonia. All the stuffy rules and regulations I had to follow and the lack of anything exciting in my life drained me.

In fact, what had peeved me most back in Eonia were my siblings and the fact I couldn't become a scholar.

If I could, I would take it all back in a heartbeat. I've had no victories in the future. Every time I made progress on the front of returning back home, something would appear to distract me. Sky, Night, Catal, Celebi... now, the Ahriman.

Icy pain roiled through me. At this point, it was attacking my skin. I coughed some dark mist. Wait, dark?

A strange spike of fear rose. I purposefully coughed and... more mist. More dark mist.

It was... it was Miasma. It was unmistakable.

The cursed mist flew around my limbs, caressing me like a demented cat.

Then a voice rang out - a strangely familiar voice. With a strange precision, I recognized it as the voice of the being that had first dragged me to the future.

"Hello, Miss Glacia. Care to recognize me now?" The Miasma whispered to me, mocking me. "I did what you told me to do. I brought you to the castle grounds. Now it is your turn to do something for me.

"Miss Glacia… say that word."

With the order the Miasma thickened, almost bubbling around me.

"No! S-stop!" I blubbered. I flew into a panic, releasing Swift stars into the air and commanding them to slam into the mist. Instead, they tore through the ethereal curse, leaving it undamaged.

'Miss Glacia...' The Miasma crooned. 'All I'm asking you to do is just say that name again... over and over... it will strengthen me... empower me...'

"No!" The ice was spreading on the dirt of the clearing, spilling over it as if someone had knocked over a glass of water. My paws weren't bothered by the ice much, though.

Then I took a look at my reflection. It was by chance, an awful, awful chance.

In my reflection, I saw the color of my fur - a sickly mauve.

I was turning Inverted.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

My scream tore through the forest serenity causing plenty of Pidgeys and Pidove to flee. The Miasma relished in my scream of anguish. It twisted and turned in my blood, stronger than before.

I can't... I can't stay like this. I'm not like Merla, I'll crack soon. I'll turn into this thing's... this thing's puppet.

I'll lose my identity, my heart, my soul. And nobody will be able to help me... nobody.

"Glacia!" A familiar shout echoed in the clearing. I froze.

Then Vinia, of all people, showed her face.

"Glacia! What's happening?!" She blanched. "Is that... is that Miasma?!"

I nodded, ice cracking in my fur. "Pl...please help me!" I begged, my voice croaking. "You... you have to suppress it!"

Vinia nodded, Teleporting over to my side. She then put her hands together and used both Disarming Voice and Draining Kiss.

The Fairy type moves seemed to work. The Miasma hissed and recoiled when it touched the fairy aura.

An insane joy swept over me. It... right, we could stop the Miasma. All we'd have to do is get someone to look into my dreams like I did for Merla. Then, we could destroy the Miasma and I would be free.

As the minutes crawled by, we beat the Miasma back. Somewhere along the line, I started using Baby Doll Eyes on myself, at the ice that the Miasma had created. The Fairy Type energy helped speed along the process a little bit.

I coughed, and only a tiny wisp of dark mist sprang out, which Vinia's Disarming Voice snuffed in an instant.

The chill finally receded, and the Miasma let out one final, angry shriek at me before it died out.

Both of us collapsed, exhausted.

"G... Glacia?" Vinia questioned. "What on... what happened?" Vinia gulped. "I... the last thing I heard from Tom is that you ran away after yelling at Alice and that you're in the woods. We went in to find you, split up, and... the Miasma?"

"It's..." My breathing became. "It's a curse. A forbidden word." There was no other way to say it.

Vinia looked at me funny. "I have to apologize, but... what are you talking about? A... A forbidden word?"

I spoke with great care. "I can... you know how I can visit people in their dreams?"

Vinia nodded.

"Well, last night I visited some ball of light. It told me to tell Myga, that the time for 'the true Ahri... the true something' to awaken has come."

"The true what?" Vinia looked confused. "The Ahri... what were you going to say?"

"I can't say it!" I cried out, startling Vinia. "It's cursed!"

"What?!"

"Every time I say the word... it makes the Miasma stronger!" Vinia looked dumbstruck. "Right before you came the Miasma was demanding me to say it over and over again."

"But... that's impossible! The Miasma isn't sentient, right?!"

There was nothing I could say to that. It was gas and moved without any purpose. In Merla's mind, it had talked to me, weakened me... but it was playing on my negative feelings. It stopped talking when I gained enough resolution.

Merla told me about her experience with Miasma, too. Merla was able to ignore it ... it played on her desires for friendship, fozar revenge. It never attempted to trick her, though. It never showed the barest signs of actual intelligence, of adaptability.

If... if the Miasma truly is sentient, truly is sapient...

If it had an actual name...

"Vinia! Vinia, where are you!" Another female voice called out. "We've been looking all over for you!"

Myga appeared, pushing her way through some bushes. She spotted Vinia. "There you are! We've been looking for you. We have to regroup so we can find Glaci..." Myga noticed me. "Glacia! Why did you run off like that?" She ran to my side, letting me lean on her.

"Th... thanks. I...I need some rest." I transferred my body weight over to her. "I... needed some alone time."

"No problem!" She chirped, forgetting about my transgression. "Let's go back to the camp. We're about to leave - we can even make it to the Ring today!"

The Ring was the last thing on my mind, but that doesn't matter, not right now.

Vinia scrambled after us, and we made our way out of the clearing and into the dense forest.

"Everyone... everyone's been looking for me?" I asked, leaning in a little close to Myga's ear. "They... they're not upset?"

"Oh, Alice is fuming," Myga said, making a nonchalant leap over a dense bush. "Luckily, Tom and Koga managed to calm her down, and she's helping the rest of us look for you."

"Who.. who was looking for me?"

"Well, there was me, Vinia, Tom, Naetle, Merla of course, Alice, Koga, Ken, and Team Link."

"Team Link?"

Vinia caught up to us, panting a little bit. "Yeah... *pant*... Kol overheard us and wanted to help. He convinced the rest of his Team to help as well - the Prinplup, Vanillish, and Krokorok."

I felt a little heartened. Regardless of my awful actions... they were willing to risk being late to help me. Even Team Link, who I've only known and met in sporadic bursts.

I... I needed to say thank you. To them... to everyone.

Our pace slowed down a little bit. Myga seemed to think that we didn't need to move as fast now, and we were taking our time as a result. I didn't particularly mind, as it gave me some well-needed rest.

It also gave me the time to think about what I was going to say to everyone that had been looking for me. It was going to be a little awkward, but... I hope they would find it in themselves to forgive me.

Then, in the middle of our backtracking through the woods, we heard some rustling in the trees.

I turned to face it on reflex. There, with his furry face sticking out of the bushes, Kol the Luxio stood.

"Kol?" Myga sounded amused. "What are you doing here? I thought we were going to meet back at the tents?"

"Well, I was going there, but then I smelled something weird. When I followed the scent, I found you guys." Kol turned to me, a wry smile adorning his face. "You know, you've caused us a lot of trouble, but no Pokemon left behind and all that. Couldn't leave you here in the forest while the rest of us were off breaking."

"Yeah. I'm sorry I've caused so much trouble. It's... it's been a little hard, that's all." I explained, although I omitted some information.

"The trip has been that hard on you?" Kol asked, a little concerned.

"Uh... yeah." I lied. No need to mention the Miasma.

Myga pushed Kol, joking around a bit. "Don't mind this idiot, Glacia. For now, let's get back to the camp."

The two of them started walking back into the forest. Vinia and I followed, although I was only at a wobble.

It was ten minutes later that I started feeling some concern. I had a strange niggling feeling within me. Something... something wasn't quite right. I ignored it. I had dealt with enough problems today. I'm not going to create another.

Another ten minutes, and I was starting to feel a little concerned.

"Uh... Vinia? How long did it take for you to find me?" I whispered over to her, though I saw Kol's ears twitch a little.

"Only fifteen minutes. Why are you asking?"

Something... something wasn't adding up.

"Did you... did you come straight to the clearing?"

Vinia shook her head, a look of concern developing on her face as well. "No... I looked around for a bit, fanned through the area. It took me a while before I found the clearing."

It had taken me around five minutes to run from the campsite to the clearing where the Miasma had overtaken me.

We had been running for at the very least five minutes before we met Kol. It had been twenty-five minutes now that we've left the clearing.

We should have been back in the Base long before now.

Vinia seems to have caught onto what I was thinking. "It's been a long time, right? Why is it taking so long?"

I shook my head. "I don't know, Vinia," I confessed.

"Maybe..." Vinia sounded out. "Something's put us all under an illusion making us run in weird circles."

That sounded... possible, I guess.

But what Alice had said last night still rang true. I had believed in Night with ease and without much definitive proof. I mean, I still believed in her, because it did explain a couple of things.

But this?

"I don't know... are you sure we're not only walking in circles?" I shrugged. "I mean, I'm pretty sure that's more likely than some illusionist coming and trying to make us a little lost."

"I mean..." Vinia shook her head. "Well, yeah, I guess you're right." She chuckled a little. "I... okay, uh, guys?"

Kol and Myga, who had been conversing as we walked, turned around and made a complete stop. "Yeah?" Myga said, tapping the ground, a little impatient.

"It's been taking a long time since we've started walking. Too long. Have we... have we been walking in circles?"

Myga raised an eyebrow. "No, we're making a small detour. I mean, do you recognize any of these trees?" She gestured to the forest. "If we were walking in circles, we would have passed a few trees a few times by now."

That reasoning felt a little off to me, but I felt relieved nonetheless. "So where are we making the detour to?"

Myga pointed a little bit to the right. "There's a meadow over in that direction. We're heading there so that we can meet up with an old friend of ours before we head back to our Teams. We want to introduce you guys. We think you'll be good friends, you know, expand your circle. Vinia can Teleport you back to the camp, right? You don't need to worry about time."

We nodded. "Oh, er, we're sorry." Vinia bowed. "We'd love to meet your friend."

"Great!" Myga tapped Kol on the shoulder. He had been watching the conversation silently. "Lead the way!"

A few minutes later, we arrived at the meadow. Flowers in a rainbow of colors bloomed, making me feel like I was in an oil painting.

We went to sit by a particularly scenic pile of rocks. I decided to let myself go and sunbathe a little bit while we waited for Myga and Kol's friend to arrive.

Vinia, who was a little bored, decided to ask a few questions. "So, you guys know each other?"

Myga snickered. "This kid... well, he thought he knew his stuff, right. Thought that as a powerful and prideful..." she snickered. "Shinx, he could defeat the tiny little Joltik."

Kol looked away. "You make it sound as though you won without effort."

"But I won!" She crowed. "I won and you lost! So there!"

Myga seemed a lot less uptight when she was with Kol. She was much more amicable around him, completely ignoring us in the process.

"After that, I introduced Kol to my third friend. The three of us became best friends. We had so much fun, messing around and sparring." Myga sighed. "The good old days."

Kol and Myga smiled. Vinia, though, was frowning.

I scooted over to her. "Vinia, why do you look so miserable?" Again, Kol's ear twitched.

"It's just... well, I thought I'd scoop a little happiness off the top of their conversation. You know, join in the joy."

I adopted a puzzled look. "So... do it. I mean, it looks like there's enough happiness to go around twice with those two." They had fallen somewhat silent, though. I guess Vinia somewhat put a damper on them.

Vinia shook her head. "But there is none."

I narrowed my eyes. "What are you talking about? They look plenty happy."

"But they're not happy. I can't sense any happiness off of them. They're smiling and laughing, but I can't feel anything off of them."

Then Vinia doubled over as if someone knocked the wind out of her.

"Vinia?!" I was immediately at her side. "Vinia, what's wrong?"

"H... Happiness. They're... happy. To the point of... insanity." Vinia wheezed out, clutching her stomach.

I took a look at Kol and Myga. They had stopped their frowning at Vinia and now had adopted serene smiles.

These smiles, though... they were different. Instead of the normal, happy smile, their smile was dopey. They looked at us - or should I say, through us.

They looked like they were on Nip, even though there was no Nip anywhere near here.

Vinia kept muttering to herself. "Why is this strange happiness so familiar. It feels... strange. Artificial."

"Uh... guys?" I asked. "What's... why are you looking at us like that?"

"Oh, no reason," they said in unison.

I started to back away. "Uh... you know, guys, we should be back at camp. They're looking for us. We'll come right back to meet your friend in a minute or two." I went over to Vinia. "Vinia, can you Teleport us back to camp?"

"Oh, yeah, sure, in a minute." She said, dazed. "Let me figure out what's going on first."

I shook my head. "No, Vinia, we need to get out, right now. This... it all feels so wrong..."

Only by reflex did I manage to dodge the attack, as an arc of electricity traveled through the air.

I landed on my butt. "I... w-what?" Then a Thunder Wave arced through the meadow, catching Vinia and I off guard. Vinia and I fell to the ground, paralyzed.

Vinia and I stared at Myga and Kol. For a split second, their eyes turned a neon pink. Vinia started shivering as the two electric types advanced on us.

"Wh-what's going on?!" I cried out. "Why are you two attacking us?"

Myga chuckled, but it felt much more sinister than it had before. "Oh, it's nothing personal, Glacia. Our third friend wants you two to stick around." She then fired a web at me, sticking me to the ground.

"S-Stop!" I struggled in vain. "K-Kol! Help me!"

Kol turned to Myga. "You need me to help trap them some more, or...?"

Myga shrugged. "It's your call, Kol."

"Alright, then." Kol turned to me. "Sorry, Glacia, but no. I'm not helping your smug bratty face anymore. No offense."

What... what's going on?

Vinia finally collected herself, then noticed the situation we're in. "Glacia, what's going on?"

I locked eyes with her. "Myga and Kol... they're attacking us for some reason." I continued to struggle. "Help me, please?" I begged. Vinia nodded and Teleported over to where they had trapped me.

Vinia closed her eyes, appearing to concentrate. "Teleporting, now!"

Nothing happened.

Vinia opened her eyes, panicking. "What... what's going on? I... I can't Teleport!"

Myga snickered. "Well, that's Spider Web for you. Turns out, the Bug-type energy prevents you from Teleporting. A neat trick, you know."

Vinia continued to struggle, and somehow got herself more and more caught in the Spider Web.

"What... what do you two want from us?" I asked.

"Look, Glacia, you wanted to leave so much that we had no choice." Myga's unsympathetic voice rang out. "We just want you to stick around to meet our friend... or should we say, Mistress?"

Then it seemed to click for me and Vinia.

"Yes... time for you to meet Mistress Night."

There was a bright flash in the clearing. Once I opened my eyes, a pale Gardevoir appeared, an empty smile stretched across her face.

I took a glance at Vinia. Her face was stone solid, but an unmistakable glint of fear shone in her eyes.

"Hello, you two." Night drawled. She took a long glance at us. "It looks like you two have had to face some trouble."

The two Electric-types bowed. "We must apologize, Mistress Night. They caught on to the ruse."

Night waved her hands. "It's no matter. In the end, the two of them are here. Glacia and..." she turned a scornful yet amused eye on Vinia. "... my daughter."

Vinia said nothing, her lips locked.

"Did you paralyze them? It would be most unfortunate if they were to fight back."

Kol nodded.

"Wonderful. What about their friends? Will they worry?"

Kol nodded. "Unfortunately, they will. What do you suppose we do?"

Night had been silent for a few minutes. Then she began to plan. "For my daughter, the only one who cares for her is the nurse. We can have her removed and indoctrinated.

"As for Glacia... well, you two can spin a wonderful tale, so make something up. If nothing else, lead your teams in for indoctrination. That Alice will be a concern, but we can imprison her if Nyx doesn't want her."

I began to shiver myself.

"As for Glacia's teammates, lead them on a wild goose chase. Tell them that Team Knight attacked and kidnapped them. That'll get their blood boiling. Team Knight has remained hidden during the morning, so that will remove any sort of alibi. In fact, tell that to your teams as well. We'll be removing them soon enough, so he won't be much cause for concern."

This... this was the mind that could run a conspiracy. One that could manipulate every pawn on the field.

Night had turned to Vinia. "You know, Vinia, your escape attempt was rather hilarious. You do know that from the moment you left your room, I knew what you were doing, right?"

This broke Vinia's facade. "W-what?"

"I have eyes all over the prison. You were more useful to me outside the prison than in it. It was clear that even with serious persuasion, you wouldn't learn to adopt my methods."

She shook her head. "I've needed to remove your face from my heart so that I could actually indoctrinate you as well. Why did you think I continued to show you the indoctrinations, even though you despised them?"

Vinia began to stutter. "Y-you mean...!"

"Yes, I drove you from my prison, but stuck you under my thumb nonetheless."Night sighed. "Oh, that was nice to get off my chest. Monologuing is rather fun, you know."

Hoping to bide some time, I egged her on. "What about Sky? Why do you want him?"

Night sighed. "Trying to bide time, are you?"

I gulped.

"Not like it will help you, at any rate. The Piplup? Yes, we did want him. That Dimensional Scream sounded useful, and time travel is fascinating, at any rate."

I noticed something. "You... wanted him. As in, you don't want him anymore?"

"Well, once we found him- "

My body flashed cold. "You... you found him?"

Kol bared his teeth at me as Night gave me an unimpressed look. "Yes, some Venturers found him. All I had to do was claim the bounty I manufactured. Either way, I soon found him useless."

"Use... Useless?" Vinia said, a little confused. "Why is he useless?"

Night sighed. "You know, I've gotten bored. Kol, Myga, stand by while I hypnotize the two of them to sleep. Knock them out if they do anything to resist."

I jolted into action, trying to struggle my way out of the Spider Web. But it was fruitless - the adhesives in the Spider Web were stronger than anything I could handle right now.

I couldn't attack, either. My Swift couldn't handle three fully-evolved pokemon, not at this stage. They had paralyzed me as well, so any attacks I sent out would be weak and ineffectual.

Vinia sighed next to me. "We've lost," she whispered. "She has everything. Power, intelligence... how can we win?"

Then Night began her Hypnosis.

It coiled on me like a soft blanket, letting me know that it was okay to relax, to fall asleep...

No! I have to focus, I have to get out!

Vinia tried to struggle as well, and she seemed to be doing better than me. We were both weakening though. The Hypnosis was sapping our resolve, and we didn't have anything to stop it and protect ourselves.

All we could do was wait, wait for the end of our freedom...

...

...

...

'You know, Miss Glacia, it doesn't have to be this way." The voice crooned into my ear. 'If you say the word, I will awaken. I will grow in strength and fight off the manipulator for you.'

A chill coursed through my blood, and I gasped, waking somewhat.

The Miasma! It... it was speaking to me, still. It had laid dormant in me for the hour, remaining silent, but it hadn't left.

And I wasn't going to let it out again. It'll corrupt me, turn me evil.

'You'll turn to darkness either way, you know. Once you're under her spell, you'll never break free. You are standing on a precipice leading to your demise, Glacia. I'm offering you my hand.'

'Take it.'

I gulped. The offer sounded enticing, but... wouldn't I be trading one prison for another? Someone will shackle my mind, no matter what direction I go.

The Miasma remained silent. The Hypnosis came again, lulling me into the false sense of security. Vinia was beginning to fall asleep, under Night's spell.

I saw Night's smug face, and a bolt of rage shot through me. If I lose here... there's no going back. No way to win. Night... she won't stop at anything. No Pokemon will be enough to stop her.

At this point... it's my choice.

I sighed.

Okay, Miasma you win.

Ahriman.

The Miasma coursed through my blood, waking me from my stupor. I stared at Night with defiant eyes.

Ahriman.

My breath grew chilly, and the Spider Web began to solidify under my feet.

Ahriman.

Ahriman.

Ahriman.

With each Ahriman, the Miasma's power grew. The Spider Web turned from sticky to brittle by the power of the ice, and dark mist began to surround me.

Vinia woke from the small trance she had fallen into. "G...Glacia?" Her eyes widened. "Glacia! The Miasma!"

Kol and Myga looked nervous. "Madam, what should we do?" they asked, like the puppets they were.

Night waved them off. "Nothing, for now. We can trap them again later. I want to see to what depths Glacia will pull from the Miasma."

The dark mist tore and tugged at my skin, turning it purple again. I ignored it and focused on Vinia.

As she trembled, I spoke to her with a calm and steady voice.

"Vinia," I commanded. "Run."

The web under Vinia's feet froze over. Vinia's eyes widened. Before anyone could react, she wrenched herself from the ice, freeing herself.

Night's eyes widened as Vinia started running away. Then, out of nowhere, her eyes started glowing, and Vinia slammed to the ground.

"Myga, Spider Web!" She ordered without missing a beat, and Myga quickly nodded, before firing another shot of Spider Web at Vinia... before I intercepted it with a Shadow Ball, which I had managed to release in the nick of time.

The two attacks collided mid-air, creating an explosion of bug and ghost energy.

That was enough, though, to free Vinia. Before Night could trap her again, Vinia immediately Teleported away.

Night's eyes widened. "Oh, dear..." She shook her head. "No problem, no problem... if she's smart, she won't call for... The two of you, come over here for teleportation! We need to run damage control!"

Myga and Kol stood next to Night, and grabbing them, Night teleported them away. As they left, I struggled, managing to release one of my legs from the Spider Web.

I had started work on one of my other legs when Night reappeared in the clearing with a flash. A look of deep irritation was on her face.

"Oh, of course, you had to find a way to resist." She put her head in her hands. "Well, I have to apologize, Glacia, but I can't Hypnotize you, not yet. If those two fail to stop Vinia... I won't be able to handle the combined strength of your teams."

She started to unleash a pink mist of her own around the meadow. Whenever the pink mist touched the Miasma, it ate away at it. The chill grew warmer and warmer as the pink mist grew thicker and thicker.

"Misty Terrain is useful, you know, for Miasma management. And since you're already paralyzed, it won't help you with status conditions." She began walking over to me.

I was still stuck in the icy web, though. But desperation struck me, and somehow, with a great burst of strength, I tore myself from the Spider Web. As Night approached me, I used Refresh to rid myself of my paralysis, before Quick Attacking myself away.

As I neared the edge of the clearing, though, she slammed me into the ground with her powers. I tried to summon a Shadow Ball, but to my surprise, it didn't come.

"If you're wondering why you can't use a Shadow Ball, I've used Imprison on you." Night then held up a Shadow Ball of her own. "Imprison not only locks you to the ground but prevents you from using any of our shared moves.

I grit my teeth and tried to use Bite. But my attempts were immediately thwarted by Night's Draining Kiss. It sapped me of my remaining energy.

"Ah... Ahriman." The chill in my blood spiked for a second but receded when it came into contact with the Misty Terrain.

Night grabbed my fur. "Too bad, Glacia." She turned my face so I could see the grin splitting her face. "It was fun while it lasted."

Then, in a blur of light and sound, we teleported away.

And I knew no more.