*Fear of something leads to anger at that thing…*

*Anger at something leads us to seek out that thing…*

*And when we seek out that which we fear…*

= Chapter 34 – The First Thrown Stone =

(Alvin's PoV, minutes after 'Sycamore's' Birth)

Darkness, that was all he could see as he tried to find his way back to the den, and that was all he knew he would ever see for the rest of his days.

But he had to hurry, time was running out.

'Have… to hurry…' He thought tiredly, using only his sense of smell to find his way.

Minutes passed as he stumbled forward, following the familiar scent of the tunnel, feeling the familiar dirt beneath his aching paws, hearing the rustling of the trees in the air. He knew he was close, but every step was taxing on his body, and every step he had to take was carefully placed so he didn't variate from his path.

He had to get back to his den, he had to get help…

Then, just as he was feeling himself begin to stumble, he saw a pair purple 'lights' before him in the distance. It was the only way he could describe them, a pair of purple lights in the darkness of his vision.

Unable to understand what he was seeing, he took a chance and pushed forward, praying to Arceus that they were members of Pack David at the very least.

Minutes later he was close enough to the lights that he could make out their shapes, and saw that they faintly resembled 'Sevipers', and sure enough…

"Who trespasses?" He heard one of them hiss, male by the sounds of it.

Seconds later the second Seviper approached.

"Alvin… Alvin your back?" The second hissed, female by the sounds.

"What's happened to you, where's Elder Isis?"

He panted as he collapsed before them. "Get… help…" He whispered.

(David's PoV)

"So, what are you going to do now David?" Serena asked as held his sleeping Absol son in his arms.

"I don't know Serena, I mean… I've never been a 'dad' before." He said truthfully.

"Well if you need some ideas~." Said with a flick of her paws, twirling her stick nonchalantly.

"Preferably ideas that do not involve 'breeding'?" He asked her.

"Hey now, if you gave Lucy a perfect 5 IV son who came out 'shiny', why can't I have the same thing?" She said with a huff.

"Well at least you guys can have kids." Serena said with a sigh. "If I start walking around with a big belly the media will be all over me. I'd have to answer some questions and you know how the media is, say one thing they'll hear another. They'd wanna know who the father was, I can't exactly say that my Absol put a baby in me."

At that her Absol blushed and looked away.

"Well I suppose…" He was saying before a sudden commotion arose from the back of the pack near the entrance.

He and all the others turned to see two Sevipers pushing and shoving their way through the pack, with many members complaining and protesting at them. Lancelot took up a defensive posture next to Lucy who, after David put their son next to her, shielded the Absol pup with her paws and legs.

"Out of the way, out of our way!" One of the Sevipers hissed, shoving a Growlithe out of his way with his own head.

"Let them through, make way all of you!" He ordered loudly over the commotions.

At his command all the Pokemon began to back up and make a clear path for the Sevipers, who upon being given a clear path, he could see they were carrying two Espeons atop their bodies.

One of them looked like a normal Espeon but was covered in patches of dirt and mud; the other Espeon however, was very aged and who's fur was badly burned.

It was Alvin and Isis, the two Espeons who left their den many weeks ago.

"Isis, Alvin!" He yelled as the two Sevipers reached them and carefully put the two down.

He knelt next to them and tried to look over them and saw that both were heavily burned, sporting burn marks on their bodies in patches and even what looked like fang marks on her neck. Alvin wasn't nearly as burned as Isis but the elder Pokemon's breathing was far more laborious, barely even noticeable compared to her lethargic breathing nephew.

"Someone, get Xerneas!" He ordered. "Alvin, what happened to you two?"

Alvin looked up at his words and opened his eyes, and revealed his eyes to have white irises, similar to his aunt's eyes, indicating that he was blind.

"Leader David…" He muttered. "Is… that you?"

"Alvin, what happened to you?" He asked again as Alvin breathed heavily.

The Espeon took several quick breaths before looking up at him again. "We… were ambushed… by former leader Scar…"

=Flashback, Alvin's PoV=

Alvin ran as far as he dared before he felt a sudden surge of psychic power emanating from behind him.

"Oh no… not that…" He muttered as he closed his eyes and pushed his face into the ground as much as possible, shielding his eyes with his paws as well to protect them. "Auntie Isis, you said you'd never use that power again! If you use it now, you'll…"

He knew that even by closing his eyes, even at this distance, his aunt's most powerful move, the Dazzling Gleam combined with her massive store of psychic energy, would not only seriously damage any Pokemon or human close by, but the sheer blinding light would permanently blind any creature unlucky enough to be close by and can't shield their eyes fast enough.

She had used that power many times in her youth she told them, but each time had been during pack wars, when she'd had no choice but to do so to defend her fellow pack members. Combining her psychic powers with her Dazzling Gleam granted her a powerful attack, but at the cost of her vision.

Then he felt the surge of power explode exponentially in all directions, and even though he was shielding his eyes, his eyes saw the tiniest specks of light push through his eyelids.

Seconds later though the light ended, and the psychic energy dissipated with it, signaling to him the coast was clear.

He opened his eyes and looked back at the place where his aunt was.

"Auntie Isis!" He muttered, before running back as fast as he could.

He ran swiftly and soon arrived at where he had left his aunt. There, lying on the ground was his aunt Isis, the Elder Espeon covered in burns and surrounded by a circle of charred grass and dirt. Not far from her was a badly breathing Houndoom, Scar, also lying on his side and motionless except for his breathing.

"Isis!" He yelled before running over to her. "Isis, Auntie Isis wake up!"

She was barely breathing and the longer he watched the slower her breathing became, the burns on her body showed that she had been hit by a Fire Fang, evidenced by the fang marks in the center of her burns.

"Urg…" He heard a voice groan nearby.

He looked and saw Scar slowly rise to his feet, turning shakily glare at him and Isis. However, the Houndoom was far from unscarred, just like Elder Isis, Scar's hide was coated in a sheen of fairy and psychic energy, the residual traces of the Dazzling Gleam hitting him. The longer it remained on him the more pain he was feeling, but that was not the only damaging effect Isis had done to the former Pack Leader, his right eye was nothing more than a white ball in its socket, while the other eye had a tiny patch of white in it.

His right eye was blinded, and his left eye's vision had been partially damaged.

"I'm… going… to kill you… both… for this!" He growled as he took a painful step forward.

"Get away from my Aunt!" He growled back, stepping forward and gathering his energy to battle the former leader.

One on one he had no chance, but wounded and nearly blinded, the odds were now suddenly even between him and the former Pack Leader.

Scar opened his mouth and sent a roaring flame against him, and he managed to dodge it barely before standing in front of his weakened aunt. Then Scar sent a second stream of flame and this time Alvin had no choice but to endure the attack, lest Isis be harmed more. The flames stung his body and caused numerous burns, yet Alvin endured and used his powers to shield himself as best he could.

"What's going on here?" Another voice called out, and seconds later several Mightyena and even a few Houndours appeared surrounding them.

"We found the Sentries weak and half blind, they said something about intruders here!" A Houndour barked.

"We were…" Alvin tried to say quickly, but was silenced as Scar roared at the top of his lungs…

"THESE TWO INTRUDERS JUST ATTACKED ME WHEN I CAME TO INVESTIGATE A DISTURBANCE!" He yelled, getting everyone's attention. "THEY BLINDED ME AND ALMOST KILLED ME, AND YOU SAW WHAT THEY DID TO THE INTRUDERS. KILL THEM!"

With that all the Mightyena and Houndours glanced between each other and them, as if trying to figure out if what Scar said was true. Eventually they began to advance upon him and his aunt, faces set and various fang moves taking effect.

"Isis, wake up auntie Isis!" He said, trying to find a way out of their situation.

(Alvin… can barely… talk…) He heard a voice in his mind say.

He looked down and saw his aunt open one eye barely in his direction.

(You must… use… my power… concentrate… gather your power… the combine it… with your light…)

"But I can't do that, I'm not like you!" He said as the pack grew closer. "I'm not gifted like you, I can barely use a confusion attack!"

(You… are my blood… you can do it…) She whispered faintly before closing her eye. (You… are a light… of our pack… you… can do it… you… can… do it…)

He looked around again and did as she said, began gathering her psychic power and beginning to channel it into the gem on his forehead. At the same time, he began gathering the energy he needed to cast a Dazzling Gleam. He had seen and been taught how to perform the Dazzling Gleam just like his auntie performed. Yet his gleam wasn't nearly as powerful as his Aunt's weakest use, but then again, he never combined it with psychic power before either.

"Come on… come on…" He hissed as he willed his power to gather faster, before he felt it beginning to weaken.

"What the…" One of the Mightyena growled as a light suddenly began to glow.

He opened his eyes and declared in a loud voice, "DAZZLING GLEEEEEEAM!"

With that he saw nothing but a brilliant white light shine throughout his field of vision, at the last second before he too became blinded, he saw Scar turn away from the source of the light.

Before everything became darkness.

"MY EYES!"

"I can't see…!"

"What's happening… I can't see!"

"My eyes… I can't see, they're burning!"

From all around the field he heard the moans and cries of all the Mightyena and Houndours screaming in agony.

With the attack done he fell to the ground tired and depleted of all his psychic power. He began panting heavily as he tried to blink and clear his vision, only to realize that the more he blinked, the more he noticed that all he was seeing was darkness.

Then it dawned on him, he too was blind. The same 'light' that his aunt told him he could shine was the same light that blinded her had blinded him as well, dooming him to see nothing but unending darkness.

Or at least that's what he 'thought', before he noticed several weird 'shapes' of colors surrounding him, different hues of colors ranging from purples and blues to even greens and yellows. Most of them were hard to distinguish but they were leaving his vision, shrinking and disappearing into the darkness.

Yet one shape he saw was a flaming dark red, and it looked like a raging inferno to him, it had remained nearby.

"So, you can use that… as well?" He heard Scar growl in frustration. "I can… still kill you then!"

Yet before the Houndoom could put his words into action, he felt another psychic surge of power emanate from his aunt, and in a weak yet loud voice that called into his mind, she declared, (Mimic… Teleport!)

=Flashback ends, David's PoV=

"After that… aunt Isis… used her mimic power… to perform a teleport… the same move a Kadabra used while fighting her in her youth… before she became blinded… by her own Dazzling Gleam." The young Espeon said tiredly. "She never forgot it, and because she never saw another move… she could always use it again… but she used the last of her strength, to get us near the den. She couldn't bring us any closer…"

"Easy Alvin, easy… rest now… your both okay." He whispered soothingly as he saw Xerneas approach out of the corner of his eyes. "Xerneas, you need to help us! Alvin and Isis are badly wounded!"

The Life Giver nodded and looked down at both Espeons, before closing her eyes and entered into her active state and performing a Heal Pulse.

Alvin was soon wrapped in a pink light and all his burns began to vanish, his breathing steadied, and his limbs settled down. Yet as soon as Alvin was fully healed Xerneas closed her eyes and returned to her former state.

"Xerneas, what are you doing, you need to save Isis!" He said in shock.

Everyone looked at the Life Giver before she gave him a somber look, a very familiar one that, through the emotions of his team, they had seen once before.

(I cannot…)

"Wat do you mean you… 'can't'?" He said, realizing that he had just mirrored Lucy's words from their past.

(As I said… once before… to your team, I cannot stop that which is fated to happen. Even though she still has the source of her body's life… her body is too weak to sustain itself now… even if I poured into her eternal life, her body has lost too much strength to sustain itself.)

(If she had made it here sooner… perhaps I could have… but as she is now it is far too late. As I once told your team, I cannot extend that which is now destined to end…)

"No…" He whispered faintly.

Everywhere around Pokemon began whispering and crying as the realization started to sink in.

Elder Isis, was going to die.

"Out of the way… what's going on here?" A female voice called out, and moments later the other Elders soon made it through the crowd of Pokemon to stare wide eyed at the scene.

"No… Elder Isis…" Kuma muttered.

"It can't be…" Yin said.

"How…?" Nayru asked.

"Why?" Jen barked.

"Impossible…" Spinner hissed.

At their words the elder Espeon opened her eyes weakly and tried to lift her head. (I… came back… like I promised…) She said to them all in their minds, unable to gather the strength to speak. (Pack… leader… please… come to me… hold me… I must speak to you…)

David nodded and carefully knelt and picked up the dying Espeon in his arms. He could feel her heartbeat slowly beating, trying its hardest to keep her life going. But each beat it gave became the tiniest bit weaker which every second.

"I'm here… Isis." He said gently.

(Pack leader… do not… grieve… this was 'destined' to happen…) She said warmly, giving him a loving smile. (My dreams… my visions, told me… that I would face against the flame… that 'I' would light your path… and that you would… shine our pack's path.)

She coughed slightly, and the tiniest drops of blood spilled out of her mouth, but she looked back at him with her blind eyes, still wearing that loving smile.

(Remember… what I said… and have faith… in my words. I… have… lit your… path.) She whispered. (Our pack's strength… is your strength… it lives and dies… as you live and die… when you are strong… we are strong…)

She began to close her eyes and he felt her heart beat growing weaker more rapidly.

(Pack Leader… David… and those who you… are within a pact with… please… watch over them… our 'pack'. Remember… I… have… lit… your path…)

(Just… have… faith…)

He watched as Isis closed her eyes, and her breathing became slower and weaker. Her heartbeat slowed to a crawl, growing fainter in strength with every second.

Until finally, Isis took her final breath, her heart gave its final beat, and her limbs became limp in his arms.

And Elder Isis, died.

All around Pokemon began sobbing and weeping, others had angry expressions riddled with tears of anger and sadness.

But it was David and his team who had the angriest of expressions.

All of them had the same furious expression with tears streaming down their faces. Each of them subconsciously sharing their experiences and memories of Elder Isis with each other, of every time they were helped by her or even spoke to her. Even Xerneas who had the calmest of expressions was angry at what had been done.

"Everyone…" David called out, getting the whole pack's attention. "I want everyone to follow my instructions…"

=Time Laps=

An hour later the whole of the pack had gathered in the lake chamber for the funeral of Elder Isis.

The Elders had told David that they rarely if ever had anything like a funeral, any Pokemon that died within the pack inside the Den usually just had their bodies burned. It was the only respect they could give their fallen pack members. However, David didn't want that, instead he had them all prepare for the funeral of the Elder Espeon.

Xerneas using her powers of the geodes that granted her great power when she used the move Geomancy, summoned and created a coffin of multicolored gems. She also used her powers to 'heal' her body, so as to not mar her body with the burns of battle and horror that befell the aging Pokemon. The Onix that resided deep below the Den had been called up and carefully dug a pit for the coffin to ensure the lake would not touch the burial site.

With all of their preparations done, everyone had gathered in a large circle, both Pack Members and even Winter Reserve Guardians, for the final respects to their lost Elder.

The only two humans in the chamber, David and Serena, watched as four Espeons, members of Isis' family, levitated the Elder into the coffin, and Xerneas' horns glowed, causing the geodes to grow and encase the Espeon, sealing it up and ensuring that no air would penetrate its contents.

(Elder Isis, though I could not give you eternal life, I shall give your body eternal existence…) Xerneas declared somberly to the beautiful coffin in the center of the chamber. (You shall watch over your beloved Pack in death, as you once did in life, your wisdom inspiring and feeding the generations to come… until the end of all life itself.)

Her declaration made she retreated, to the back and allowed David to step forward to give his declaration.

He stared at the coffin, looking at the peaceful expression of Isis, appearing as if she were doing nothing more than napping. She looked as if she could wake up at a moment, with a smile on her face, a twinkle in her blind eyes, and a few words of wisdom to share.

"I was not interested in being a pack leader, I was simply trying to meet up with a friend that day to talk with her about my latest song." He said. "So, when I first came to this pack everyone treated me with distrust and dislike. I was even prepared to let Scar return to power if he would just leave Lucy and me alone. But Isis… her knowledge of me, of the future… convinced me to stay… if she hadn't told me that she foresaw me becoming a pack leader… I might have fled the area with Lucy."

He smiled sadly and fought back tears again, trying to stay strong in front of everyone but it was very hard.

He was staring at the lifeless form of an Elder, who's wisdom he had respected and listened to above all the others. She was the same Espeon who giggled at his ideas of mating any number of females he wished without fear. She also convinced him to not be afraid of fathering any offspring with those other than his mate, or even mating his own offspring. She guided him in his actions for laws, inspired him to be better than the leaders of the past, and helped him grow as both a Leader and as a 'man'. She was also the one who convinced him to take Lucy as his prime mate, and with her at his side they lead their pack to become even stronger within a year.

Even on death's door, she continued to assure him, inspire him, help him become stronger, and ease his fears and pains at her passing.

"Isis… I don't know if you hear me… wherever you are… but know… I will not abandon or let this pack die… for as long as I live…" He said determinedly. "I will follow the path you lit for me… and I will light our pack's path… as you said to."

His declaration given he returned to the others and turned to watch as the four Espeons used their powers and carefully laid the coffin of Elder Isis into its final resting place. The Onix used its tail to sweep the dirt and cover the grave. And as a final show of respect, Alvin stepped forward, guided by his sister, and buried a single seed in the center of the grave. Xerneas then used her powers one last time.

Moments later the seed began to sprout, slowly growing in size to become a small sapling, then growing taller and stronger into a proud Berry Tree, and as it finished growing a circle of multicolored gems sprouted from around the tree, showing the outlines of Isis' grave.

Within seconds of sprouting multiple pink Pecha Berries grew to ripeness.

With that done everyone began to openly cry and mourn the loss of their oldest and wisest Elder.

He could hear mothers weeping, saying thank you for Isis inspiring them to find ideal mates. Daughters lamented that they didn't ask for advice in what kind of mate they should be looking for. Fathers cried and said they wanted to ask for her opinion in their young's mating candidates, and sons swore vengeance upon Scar and any who tried to harm or did harm the Elder Espeon.

Yet through it all David remained quiet, staring at the tree, and knowing that had he only not listened to Isis, she might be alive now.

Had he only sent Lancelot, had he only sent 'anyone' to help her, she would be alive and well.

And 'Scar' would be dead, instead of Isis.

Later everyone began to leave for their own dens, Serena and her team heading for their hotel that they were staying in for a tour of Kalos, and Lucy and the others to their own dens for bed.

Only Lancelot and David stayed up, instead going to go outside for a moment, to 'get some fresh air' as it were.

Outside in the cold night air, David stared at the night sky, looking at all the stars, twinkling and glimmering high above him.

*If only Isis could have seen the stars… did she ever see them? Did she ever think to herself what does this look like or what that looks like?* He thought to himself.

(Master?) Lancelot asked respectfully.

"Yes?"

He glanced at his Lucario and saw an angry expression on his face.

(He has to pay…)

"He will…" he replied.

Silence as they looked at each other.

(I could have stopped him… I could have 'killed' him…) He said bitterly. (I had a chance, I had a reason to… I had an opening… but I granted him mercy! He's alive and Isis is dead… because I didn't kill him for trying to get me to betray you!)

"If only I hadn't been so soft with him… his son Ardent was the only 'decent' member of his family that we knew." He too muttered bitterly. "If I had just killed him like Yara and Nera said to… if I'd just killed him then…"

They were silent again as they both let that knowledge sink in.

"Lancelot…" David whispered.

(Yes, Master David?) He replied.

"Bring him here…" He growled. "In 'any'… condition."

Silence again as the words sank in.

(With pleasure… my master.) Lancelot said proudly, holding up his Mega Stone arm.

David too nodded and held up his Keystone Bracelet and touched the stone with his finger.

A cascade of light and power lit up the area around the den entrance, to anyone it looked like a rainbow of lights were pouring from the ground at a distance. But in the dead of night nobody noticed the caped Lucario racing off into the distance, with nothing but pure determination in his heart and conviction in his footsteps, and all the power of a Mega Evolved Lucario.

.

.

.

=Note from the Author=

I am so sorry for all those waiting, but I FINALLY found inspiration to resume the story, and I am taking advantage of it. This chapter was hard to do because I am so busy with life problems. Yet believe in me, and continue to have faith, I WILL finish it!

On to the story, future lemons are coming again, I think next chapter will have another spicy lemon for you all to enjoy, though I'll let you guys decide what girl David gets. Outside of Serena options are open, and next chapter a new love will blossom between 2 of the pack's members. Who they are, you'll find out. Also, for those of you wondering why David mega evolved Lancelot and had him run off into the sunset, there's a reason why.

If you read one of my chapters in Romances of the Pokemon World, emotions control mega evolution, and really strong ones like anger and rage, desire and love can cause mega evolution to act in weird ways, for example mega evolving without training/both stones. In this case, Lancelot's mega evolution is fueled by not only the emotions of both David/Lancelot, but also everyone in their pact, including Lucy/Karen/Sophia/Terrance and even Xerneas. That's 6 individuals powering one mega evolution, and no matter the distance their bond links them forever.

If any of you have reviews to write go ahead~ if you wanna say "your stupid for not updating faster" or say "took ya long enough" go ahead, but next chapter I write is for Arceus' Book, and then Second XCOM Viper. That's the cycle I'll try to do but for now~

This is imperatordavius, signing off.