The road south of Veilstone City was very peaceful, which Destiny sincerely appreciated. She never enjoyed nature all that much, but after all that had happened in the past week, it was more than welcome. Destiny's mind was about to explode, or so it felt. Thoughts about evil Spirits, Looker, Cynthia, and many more things were rushing through her mind, giving her a big headache. She didn't wake up from her thoughts until she heard someone yelling at her.
"Hey, Destiny! What are you doing? Stop staring at the ground, and look ahead instead!" When she looked up, she realized that the peaceful grassland was already behind her. They were standing in front of a huge swamp. And this was a real swamp, with fallen dead trees and quagmires and everything. By the look on her face, everyone could easily see that Destiny was not happy. "I suddenly really wish we had to go through another cave..."
They started their difficult hike through the swamp. Well, it wasn't too difficult for everyone. Acris could simply hover over the ground, and Niamare jumped from tree to tree. Zyana was sitting on Cheryl's shoulder, who was notably having less trouble with traversing the marsh. Destiny was having the hardest time, as she had trouble separating the walkable ground from the puddles. And falling in one of those quagmires was the absolute last thing Destiny wanted.
After half an hour, they decided to rest for a while. They sat down on a fallen tree, and looked around. By now, the mist was surrounding the area, so that all they could see was the swamp. Destiny looked at her clothes, which were covered in dirt and other things she'd rather not think about. "Great, now I look like I literally just emerged from the swamp myself." She stood up, and looked around. "Eh, guys... Which way are we supposed to go now?"
Everyone else looked around as well, and slowly they all realized they were terribly lost in the middle of the swamp. Destiny was about to say something, when she felt something falling on her face. She looked up, and saw an ash grey sky above theirs heads. "Oh please no..." More raindrops fell from the sky, and soon after, it was raining heavily, turning the walkable ground into muddy fields as well. Destiny's hope shattered into a million pieces. "We're lost in the middle of a huge swamp, we're covered in dirt, it's raining... I'm so done with this."
Slowly, they made their way through the field. Acris' wings were too wet to fly with, so he had to walk as well. Niamare was the only one who wasn't turned into a living swamp monster yet, but shortly after, she slipped on a tree trunk and fell in the mud. Cheryl helped her get up again, and she saw the tears in her eyes. "Cheryl, I want to go home..." Meanwhile, Acris got his feet stuck in the mud repeatedly, which annoyed him a lot. When he got his foot stuck once again, he snapped: "Damnit, I hate this! I hate the swamp, I hate the rain... I shouldn't have come with you in the first place, Destiny. I should've stayed there with the Psyduck. At least they don't try to kill me repeatedly."