Three things I want to say:

From this point on, I will try and cut down on graphics for the younger readers.

For those who are actually wondering, I will be bringing Dai and Team Zakuro back rather soon.

We are currently getting a rather impressive blizzard here, as I'm writing this…wow…

…what? We are having a blizzard! I promise! Although one would think it would have come around Christmas…

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Chapter 20: The Scream of Shadows

Aura was dragged into consciousness by a hollow cracking sound. Opening her eyes a slit, she saw that she had been moved to a small, quiet chamber and placed on a thick straw bed with a woven blanket covering her. Two Luminous Orbs had been placed in holders on the walls, providing a gentle light to illuminate the otherwise shadowed room. Nearby, Jay lay on an identical straw bed, fast asleep. Aura looked up above the chamber doorway, where the noise was coming from. At first she was unable to see anything. Then her vision adjusted and she saw the oddly colored Treecko, Ryrku, tucked away into an alcove and munching away on small pile of Chesto berries. It was the sound of her teeth cracking the thick berry shells in two that Aura had heard.

Her gaze wandered to the rest of the room, and she inhaled sharply. Alakazam was at the other side of the room, hovering in a cross-legged position in midair. His eyes were closed in deep meditation, and his two spoons were floating upright on either side of him, suspended by a thin field of psychic energy. And the figure next to him…

Luma looked surprisingly healthy, considering how he had been the last time Aura had seen him. There were only minimal signs that he had been hurt—the bandage was gone, and Aura could not see much of his wound except for a pale scar peeking over his shoulder. He was lying on all fours in a sphinx-like position, looking completely calm and at ease.

Aura was confused over how his injury could have possibly healed so fast. After all, he'd hardly been able to walk when she'd left the headquarters. "How did—" she started to voice her question.

Ryrku yelped, startled by the sound of her voice, and nearly fell out of the alcove. She managed to save herself by clinging to the wall in a very reptilian manner, though she did drop one of her berries.

"What the--!" When she saw it was only Aura, Ryrku relaxed visibly and climbed back onto her perch with a loud sigh. "What, are you trying to make me kill myself? Don't do that!"

"Sorry…" Aura apologized sheepishly. Jay stirred and shifted a little in his sleep but did not wake up.

"You're awake early." This was more of an observation than anything else. Alakazam's eyes opened, and he looked at Aura.

"Um…yes." She nodded, and then tried to ask her question again. "Luma's shoulder…how did it heal so…?"

"It's called psychokinetic regeneration, my friend." Luma gave a tiny smile. "Alakazam is quite the healer—he can fix just about any injury within minutes."

"Save for yours, Aurelia." Alakazam sounded grim. "I am not sure of the cause, but some obstruction prevents me from doing anything much except for minimal repair."

"So in other words, Legs," Ryrku said lazily from her alcove, "he was only able to stop your head from bleeding before some weird power forced his healing to stop. It's only you—he can still work with everyone else."

Aura looked down at her wrist—she still had a splint, though someone had changed it out for a new one. How nice to know that she was, once again, the odd one out. "You mean…I'm negating Alakazam's powers?" Was that even possible?

"As I said, I am not sure what the reason is. However," Alakazam said more quietly, "under these circumstances it may be time that I brought your attention to a serious matter."

Ryrku swallowed a bit of berry and looked down at them. "Does this mean it's time for me to leave?"

"If you don't mind." Alakazam nodded. "Stay, Luma," he added as Luma started to get up. "This is something you need to hear as well. And let Jay sleep—it has been a strenuous time for us all, and he needs the rest. If he wakens we will fill him in on what he has missed.

Luma nodded and sat back down. "Very well. I'll see you later, Ryrku."

Ryrku jumped down from the alcove, landing feet-first on the floor and carrying the last of the Chesto berries in her hands. She shrugged in response before loping outside.

Luma waited until Ryrku was gone before speaking. "While Alakazam and Charizard were searching for Tyranitar, I stayed behind to find new sources for our research. We're going to need them trust me." He sighed. "The headquarters was not spared from the destruction, and only a few books were recovered from the wreckage. The rest are lost for good."

Aura felt her heart sink. "What are we going to do?"

"Listen," Luma said. "Believe it or not, there are still a few places left that weren't damaged too badly by the disaster. I was able to find one such temple nearby. It's an interwoven network of catacombs and treasure chambers called the Darknight Relic. While I was there I found two things—the first was an inscription dating back to well before Pokemon Square was established, and the second was an object that I think could be of great value to us."

Luma turned and reached a paw behind him, dragging something into view. In the dim light Aura had to lean forward and squint to see it. The object was a triangular, translucent sky blue block that gave off a faint glitter in the light. What was strange was that the block appeared to be made entirely of ice, as the air around it was chilled slightly, but it did not melt in the warmth of the room. It took her a bit longer to realize that it was, in fact, some sort of intricate device, riddled with catches, triggers, and empty compartments.

Alakazam was also staring at the device. However, he wore an expression of surprise and bewilderment rather than mild curiosity. "Luma…exactly where did you find this?" he asked in a low voice.

"It was hidden underneath one of the catacombs," Luma explained. "The room was so badly detoriated that I never would have expected to find anything there. When I was about to leave, though, my paw accidentally kicked aside a floor tile. It turned out that there was a space underneath, where this was hidden away. Why do you ask?"

"Because," Alakazam said, "that device is the same treasure Darienne's team brought back from their first expedition to the Buried Relic. She and Blaziken brought it to me not knowing what it was."

Luma's fins rose in interest. "And?"

"I advised them to hide it away from the Square, where it would be safe. Until now, Team Zakuro and I were the only ones who knew of its location."

Aura's curiosity increased. "What is it?"

"I believe it is one of three sacred artifacts, all of which are said to bear amazing power matching those of their guardians. The three components are designed to fit together, so that once interlocked their combined power is used to awaken an ancient Pokemon of legend. By itself," Alakazam added, gesturing a hand at the device, "this Ice part is essentially useless, but if someone were to gather it and the other two parts to use for the wrong purpose…"

"I understand. If it's not used carefully, it can be dangerous." Aura nodded. "And what about the inscription, Luma?"

"I was getting to that." Luma set the Ice Part down on the floor, in the center of the group. "There was an engraving on the north wall of the chamber farthest inside the relic. It took me a while to decipher the runes, but in the end I was able to discern that the Relic itself used to be one of the more fundamental dungeons under the Nightshade cult's control. That's not the end of it, either. For seventy years before the Rescue Team Organization came about, Nightshade was a prominent figure of authority over the native Pokemon. When the rescue teams came about the cult was driven out of the area, assumingly for good."

"But they weren't really gone?" Aura said.

"Correct. Nightshade is only a part of something so much bigger, something much more powerful. The inscription I saw was made before their period of silence—the seer who placed it predicted that they would eventually return to power." Luma turned his gaze to Alakazam, then back to Aura. "Right around this present generation."

Aura felt a chill creep through her fur. Now? Right now? "But…the Rescue Team Organization got rid of them the first time around, didn't they?" she asked nervously. "Why couldn't they do it agai—"

"The Rescue Team Organization," Alakazam broke in softly, "can no longer be trusted."

Aura stared at him in shock. "What…what do you mean?"

"Over the past year their authority has been steadily decaying," Alakazam told her, "to the point where they can no longer be depended on for our protection. This disaster is just one more example of their failure to act when they are called upon—nearly three days after the storm there are still no signs of their taking action of any sort, even for their own village. Those rescuers you saw out there are not our own. They have come from the Aoris."

"What? But I thought they died out long ago! Isn't that what you told me?"

Alakazam nodded. "It is true that the majority have dispersed by now. However, the Organization Dawn—those who are here now—are one of the few factions that have remained strong in hiding. In any case, it seems that we must turn to the Aoris for aid."

"Ryrku's one of them," Luma added. "Her dad was one of their leaders in the past."

Aura raised an eyebrow. That would explain why Ryrku had been dodging all her questions.

"Any how," Luma continued, "if Nightshade really is returning it may be wise for us all to be very cautious from now on. Especially you, Aura, if what I've heard about you is true."

"Before my return," Alakazam started before Aura could question this, "you experienced an unusually strong vision, am I correct?" When Aura nodded he went on, "There are few recorded cases of any Pokemon having the same ability as yours, so it is difficult to know the full extent of its bounds, but I do know the main gist of it. What you have appears to be an ability that is similar in many aspects to a very rare talent called the Dimensional Scream. Those who have it are able to view an occurrence of the past or future upon physical contact with the individual or object related to the event. However, when I asked further about the circumstances of your particular vision, Jay informed me that yours came out of nowhere, and involved a Pokemon who was considerably far away around that time."

Aura suddenly was scared. Had her vision really meant something? "Did…" she swallowed. "Did she come back?"

Much to Aura's horror, Luma nodded. "In critical condition, shortly after you fainted. Just like you said, something almost tore Razor apart. It was a miracle she was still alive by the time Rayne and Shinbashi brought her back."

"As I mentioned earlier, however," Alakazam said, "there are some notable differences between your vision and a typical Dimensional Scream. First is the fact that you had no contact with Razor when the vision came. This lead me to believe that your Scream is a variety that focuses not on a person or object nearby, but on a Pokemon associated with that subject."

Luma nodded. "That would make sense. When you think about it, she was around a lot of Pokemon that were acquainted with Razor. First there were Ronja and Dekka, two of the clan's members. Then she spent a good deal of time around Jay and Jack, both of whom were trained under Razor. All that exposure could have triggered a Scream centered around somebody they all had some degree of relationship with."

Aura's blood ran cold. Just the fact alone that she could have predicted such a thing…it was unthinkable. It then occurred to her that this…Dimensional Scream…wasn't her only oddity. An image sprung into the front of her mind of the day time had stopped around her.

"Um…Alakazam?" she asked quietly. "There's…something else."

Alakazam looked interested. "Yes?"

Aura hesitated. How could she say this so that it wouldn't sound completely outlandish? Feeling that there was no possible way to do so anyways, she decided to just tell him out front. "That day when Bannette attacked us, something weird happened. I…" she swallowed. "I stopped time."

For a while, nobody spoke. Alakazam and Luma both turned to stare at each other, their expressions strange and unreadable. Aura was just starting to feel that something was incredibly wrong when Luma said quietly, "That makes no sense…as far as I know, no Riolu is capable of molecular immobilization. Even the strongest Psychic and Ghost-type Pokemon have great difficulty at suspending the flow of time for more than a few seconds."

As Alakazam spoke, he sounded troubled. "If you are right, Aurelia, there is one possible explanation for all this. However, so man centuries have passed, and the idea alone is…" his voice trailed off, leaving Aura very nervous.

"What?" she asked. "What is it?"

Alakazam was silent for a few seconds. After the pause he said, "It is nothing. I may be wrong."

"But Ala—" Aura started to protest.

"If you'll excuse me," Alakazam interrupted her calmly but sternly, "I'll be taking my leave. Charizard and I have had no luck so far at locating Tyranitar, and now that you appear to be on the path to a safe recovery I wish to get back to our search as soon as possible."

The field of energy disappeared as he descended from his midair position to stand on the ground, taking his spoons up in hand again. He motioned to Jay, who had still not awakened—Aura was starting to have a sneaking suspicion that sleep for Psychic Pokemon involved a very deep trance. "When Jay wakes up, tell him all we have discussed. And be careful in the days to come—Jay may be in great danger, as will you, Aurelia…and you as well, Luma."

For the first time since Aura had met him, Luma's eyes widened in surprise, his formerly calm demeanor shattered. "Me…? But what do you—"

"You may have become wiser over the years, my friend," Alakazam said with a thin smile, "but it does not change the fact that you live a life of danger. By now I have seen several omens that tell me things will become more difficult for you—not to mention Aurelia and Jay. The three of you each will have a part to play in the events that are to come." Before any more could be said, he reminded Aura, "Take care to rest until you heal. I'm afraid you may have to recover the old-fashioned way. If all goes well, I will return in a few days." He nodded to her and Luma in farewell before taking his leave. As he walked out of the room and away from the light of the Luminous Orbs, Aura had the impression of his being swallowed by the shadows of the hallway, and then he was gone.

Aura looked over at Luma, who was still staring out after where Alakazam had left. His face was one of confusion and mild shock, and in that instant Aura saw him for what he really was—a confused outcast, hardly even a few years older than herself yet already exposed to the worst of the world's troubles. Underneath his placid appearance he was still just as nervous as…well…for some odd reason Aura's thoughts flashed to Dai. Yes, that was who he reminded her off. They both shared that same element of uncertainty.

She wondered if Dai was alright.

"Luma?" she asked, trying to get his attention.

Luma did not respond for a second. Then he blinked and looked over at her. "Huh?"

"Was…was Alakazam always so…" Aura thought, trying to come up with the proper word to use. "…ominous?"

Luma considered this visibly for a moment, his tail slowly flicking. "I suppose…" He sighed. "It never occurred to me when I was younger, though. Before I had to leave the Square, I mean. I always just thought of it as a normal thing for adults, particularly Psychic-types. It never occurred to me that his skills went deeper than physical manipulation and mind reading."

Aura looked down at Jay's motionless form. It felt strange to her that one of her friends could possibly be entangled in something so…dark, so mysterious. Not just Jay, in fact, but Luma as well…and herself. What on earth would they be so important for that their lives would be on the line? "Do you have any idea what Alakazam could have meant?" she asked quietly.

Luma's face was pensive. "I don't know, Aura…I honestly don't know…I just hope we'll be up to whatever happens when the time comes."

TBC…