Candela's dreams were fevered and dark, and she couldn't wake from them. She dreamed of falling rocks and echoing screams. She dreamed of a heat so intense that it made her want to peel away her own skin. She dreamed of Spark speaking to her, saying something she couldn't quite hear. She dreamed of her mother.

When she finally began to resurface, she couldn't tell dream from reality. She saw Brutus's face leaning over her and a spinning star beyond him, one she'd seen somewhere before. Her skin felt raw and itchy, like she'd been standing too close to a bonfire. Had she been attacked? Had Team Rocket won?

Candela sat up, which spooked Brutus. Why was he so jumpy? And what was with all the wind and bright lights? Were they still fighting the Rockets?

"Candela…"

The voice was so weak that she almost missed it. Blanche was curled next to her, one arm wrapped around their stomach, the other extended to point at something ahead of them. Candela followed their gaze to a lone figure standing beneath the star.

"Spark?" Candela's voice was rough and dry. "What's going on? Where are we?"

But even before she'd said it, she'd figured it out. They'd made it to the portal… but how? The last thing she remembered was Team Rocket marching across the floor of the magma chamber. She vaguely recalled a battle… or had that been a dream?

She glanced around for Team Rocket, but found no sign of them. Instead, she discovered Hypno a few feet away, his hands gripping his triangular ears in distress, his eyes glued to Spark's back. Candela started to call to him, but was distracted by the bands of fire that flared to life around her arms, her chest, her head. Next to her, frost expanded across Blanche's skin, overflowing onto the ground around them, etching white fractals over the stone.

Electricity snapped and flashed around Spark's body, burning brightest in the middle of his back. Candela held her breath as something strange took form there. At first, it resembled a flower composed of light and fire, but as it unfolded, it became unmistakably wing-like. Like the sphere above, the wings were built of lightning and flame and ice, ever-shifting and yet remarkably constant.

Candela wanted to cry out, to ask Spark what was happening, why he wasn't answering her, but her tongue wouldn't obey. She was transfixed by the portal, and could feel her strength being pulled into it, fueling it. Blanche whimpered and tightened their ice-encrusted fists. Though she couldn't tear her gaze away from the sphere, she could see Hypno in the corner of her eye as he shouldered the familiar, battle-weary duffel bag.

The elemental orb split apart and spilled downward, shaping a tall, black chasm. The air around Candela vibrated with the new and powerful energy. She barely felt Brutus slip his arm around her waist. Suddenly, all she could think of was Waik's prophecy. The door had been opened, but did that mean they were saved?

Spark turned toward her, and for the first time, Candela realized his feet weren't touching the ground. He levitated, perfectly framed by the black door and the massive wings that expanded behind him like nebulae. His eyes burned white and sightless within his expressionless face.

"Go," he said with a voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere.

As frightened and confused and awestruck as she was, Candela listened. She allowed Brutus to lift herself and Blanche to their feet. Her legs held firm beneath her. She could move on her own. She wasn't dead. At least, not yet.

"Brutus, carry them," Candela instructed, nodding toward Blanche, who sagged against the machoke for support.

As Brutus gathered Blanche into his arms, Candela ran toward Spark. She slid to a stop four feet in front of him, blocked from getting any closer by a wave of searing heat.

"We'll go together, OK?" She nearly had to scream to be heard above the thunder and roar of the gaping portal.

Spark dipped his head in what Candela assumed was a nod. The motion was strained and unnatural, like it had taken tremendous strength to achieve. She wanted to grab his hand, but she could feel heat blisters forming on her arms just from being this close. She stepped back before she could do further damage to her skin.

Brutus nudged Candela from behind, a silent question. Whatever was happening with Spark, Candela had a feeling it was neither good nor sustainable. She had to move quickly.

"Go through, Brutus," Candela said. "I'll be right behind you."

Brutus held Blanche tighter to his broad chest, and for a second, Candela thought he wouldn't go. His eyes betrayed a fear Candela had hoped none of her pokémon would ever know.

"Please, Brutus," she said, a bit softer.

The machoke squared his jaw, turned away from Candela, and passed through the dark veil of the portal. Hypno trailed behind him with the bag, pausing briefly to look into Candela's face.

"I've got him. Go ahead," Candela directed.

Hypno hugged the duffel close to his body and ran through the door, as if he might lose his courage unless he sprinted.

"It's just me and you, Spark," Candela said, smiling at her friend, summoning bravery from the deepest part of herself. "I'm right beside you. Let's go."

Spark sank toward the ground, landing neatly on his feet. The heat began to dissipate, but Candela still sensed an intense energy emanating from him. He was like a nuclear power plant on the way to a catastrophic meltdown, and Candela prayed the disaster could be mitigated by going through the portal.

She moved closer to him, coaxing him forward. It was then that she noticed the crimson stain near his left side. She could feel her heartbeat in her throat. Maybe it wasn't his blood. After all, she'd been passed out for the past who-knows-how-long, so she could have missed all sorts of things.

Spark stepped forward mechanically, and Candela fell in step beside him, not quite touching him. His eyes, still supernaturally white and shining, were fixed on the chasm before them. He moved so slowly and deliberately, but Candela feared that hurrying him might do greater harm than good. The straining tendons in his neck and the sweat on his brow indicated that he wasn't moving so sluggishly by choice. He was fighting for each step.

As they stepped through the portal's threshold, Candela felt the darkness reach around her like a physical entity. Cold fingers tightened around her body, and she instinctively held her breath, as though she were sinking into shadowed depths.

For a terrifying second, the world was gone. No sound, no light, no sense of up or down, no Spark, and then…

A soft, warm breeze, hushing through summer leaves. Pidgeys trilling somewhere nearby. The sweet, powdery scent of pollen and the sharper smell of crushed grass. Wildflowers brushed Candela's knees with each gentle breath of wind.

She stood in a grassy clearing, broken here and there by half-overgrown boulders and stands of resilient trees. To her right, the Akanoir mountains soared into a sky so vibrantly blue and vivid that Candela swore she could reach up and grab a piece of it. As she lifted a hand to shield herself from the sun, she noticed three dark shapes separating for different corners of the sky. It took a second for her to register that they were the legendary birds, already detached from the leaders and withdrawing into the air, fleeing the mountain that had imprisoned them. Candela supposed she couldn't blame them for their retreat, but in her heart, she'd been wishing for them to stay.

Ahead of her, Brutus lowered Blanche into the soft grass as Hypno stood to the side, shivering despite the summer heat. Blanche's eyes were open, soaking in the spectacular view as if it could be taken away from them at any moment.

"Candy, look…"

Spark gazed into the sky as if it contained everything he'd ever loved. Once again, he looked like himself, albeit a very pale, war-torn iteration of the Spark Candela knew. No more wings or light pouring from his eyes. No more tense muscles or clenched fists. Just Spark. Light and hopeful and always on the verge of laughing. He turned to smile at Candela.

"Sunlight," he said.

He fell into the sea of flowers, his limp arms making no effort to catch him.

"Spark!"

Candela dropped to her knees next to him and swatted away the red and yellow wildflowers that bobbed into her path. She turned him onto his back, alarmed by the lack of resistance. More alarming were his eyes, partially open but dim and vacant. A chill raced up Candela's spine and she redirected her attention to the bloody tear in Spark's shirt.

"Candela? What's happening?"

Blanche sounded winded, and in Candela's peripheral, she could see Brutus helping them to their feet as Hypno fretted nearby. Blanche was bent in the middle, their waterfall of white hair half free from its band and hanging in front of their face.

Candela slipped her fingers into the hole in Spark's shirt and ripped it into a wider window for her to see the damage through. Another layer of fabric lay beneath it, a makeshift bandage that was too saturated to do its job. Candela loosened it as Brutus set Blanche down next to her.

The cut was only a few inches long, but the depth of it caused the skin to gape apart. It was a textbook puncture wound, and Candela could barely look at it without her stomach performing uncomfortable acrobatics. She tightened the bandage again and pressed one hand over it, relieved by the slight rise and fall of his breathing. With her other hand, she checked for a pulse beneath Spark's jaw, trying not to look into his hollow eyes. It took a while for her to find it, and when she did, it was thready and inconsistent.

"Candela…?"

"He's alive," Candela said, swallowing back her fear. "I don't know for how long, though. We have to get back to town, but I don't even know what side of the mountain we're on."

Blanche shook their head. "I don't understand. What happened to him? How did we get here?"

Sweat tickled Candela's hairline. "I don't know."

"What about the birds? Where are they?"

"I don't know, Blanche. They flew off," Candela said, gritting her teeth.

"What? Why?"

"Damnit, Blanche, I don't know!"

She hadn't meant to snap like that, but Blanche, Hypno, and Brutus's responses seemed disproportionately severe. They all flinched back and watched Candela with round, wary eyes, as if she might lunge at them. The terror on Blanche's face made them look younger, smaller, like the Blanche Candela had pulled from a frozen lake when they were kids.

Candela wiped the sweat from her face and evaluated the situation. Yes, she was angry. She was angry that she'd missed so much and felt so lost. She was angry that the legendary pokémon that were supposed to be bonded to them had vanished when they needed them most. She was angry that her friend was dying, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

But all that anger was doing her no good. She had to channel that energy into something productive.

"I'm sorry," Candela said. "We can figure everything out once we're back home. I'll send Kite up to scout our location."

Blanche didn't respond. They stared at Spark unblinkingly, their fingers tangled in their own hair.

"Blanche, are you listening to me?"

Blanche's bloodshot eyes lifted to meet Candela's. "It's too late."

"No, it's not. We can do this."

Candela turned out her pockets, searching for Kite's ball. She kept a straight face despite the panic that set in as she failed to find any of her pokéballs. It occurred to her that Spark must have called Brutus out, so he could have confiscated her other pokémon as well. She dug through the pockets of his jacket until she found what she was looking for.

As soon as she deployed Kite, her spirits began to sink. The pidgeot looked just as haggard as the rest of them. Kite chirruped feebly at Candela but didn't approach her. Candela pressed her lips tightly together, holding back the emotions that threatened to overwhelm her. She must have lashed out again, like she had with Spark at the top of the falls. That's why everyone was so skittish around her. She wished she could remember what happened after the Rockets showed up…

"Kite, can you find out where we are?" Candela asked.

Kite kicked off the ground and climbed into the sky, though she lacked her usual gusto.

"It doesn't matter. It's too late," Blanche repeated. "We were warned. We knew this would happen."

Candela bit her tongue and reminded herself to keep a level head. "Are you talking about the sacrifice thing? Because it didn't happen. We're alive. All of us. And I'm going to keep it that way."

Blanche crossed their hands over their heart, as though the weight of it was too much for their chest and they had to cradle it there lest it fall to the earth and shatter. Candela's own hand lifted to her chest, reacting to a sudden pain, a sharp-edged emptiness taking root beneath her sternum.

"It's over," Blanche whispered.

Their words felt like a claw closing around Candela's heart. She didn't need to hear it from Blanche. She already knew it was over. The breeze had died away without Candela noticing, leaving the world painfully silent. Above her, Kite drifted in broadening circles, looking for a town that was too far away, even for a fleet-winged pidgeot. Candela no longer sensed motion beneath the hand she held to Spark's wound.

"No," she said, because it was all she could think to say. Candela's body resonated with the word, with the physical, visceral rejection of what was happening. None of this made sense. They were supposed to save the day, overcome the odds, do what they'd always done. They were all supposed to win. They were all supposed to live.

When the screaming started, Candela half believed it had come from inside of her. She covered her mouth with both hands as if she could stop the sound, not caring that she could taste the salt of Spark's blood. She just wanted it all to stop.

But it wasn't her scream. It was high and inhuman and sounded like glass singing in the wind. Her hands dropped into her lap as she tried to pinpoint the direction of the cry.

"Articuno," Blanche murmured, and Candela swore she could see their breath despite the warmth of the air around them.

The scream quieted, then started back up again, not as loudly as before. Candela stood up, searching for a better vantage point, her mind racing, putting it all together. Articuno's cry wasn't one of agony or sorrow. It was a hail, a call to action. A beacon.

Thick fingers slid into Candela's hand, and she looked down to see Hypno next to her. She noticed the streaks in his short yellow fur from tears that he'd wiped away, but his expression was firm now. Candela squeezed his hand and a new fire blazed within her soul.

"No," Candela said, but it wasn't like before. Her heart ached and her eyes burned, but she wasn't done. "No, this isn't the end, Blanche. We're going home."

"How?" Blanche's voice was hollow, robotic.

Two golden shapes appeared in the sky, speeding closer. The breeze built up again, lifting Candela's hair and spiraling wildflower petals into the air. Zapdos and Moltres cut through the blue like twin comets, heading directly toward Candela, and yet she felt no fear. She knew now what they were doing, and she trusted them to pull it off.

Candela, Blanche, and Spark had carried the legendary birds to safety, and it was time for the birds to return the favor.