"Are you sure you're alright?" Quill asked Aamira.
Aamira was smiling, though it was hard with how agitated she was becoming. "I've told you a hundred times, I'm fine!"
"I just want to make sure. There's no telling what's ahead of us." Quill said guiltily.
"I know, you're right. So what floor are we on?"
"Thirteen. And I don't think we're anywhere near the top yet."
The two of them kept walking for a while before Aamira finally spoke again. "You don't have to worry about me, you know that. And I know you can feel my emotions so why even ask how I feel?"
Quill glared at Aamira. "If I remember right you used to hate me being able to feel all of your emotions because it felt like I was reading your mind. So I just tried to get used to it and not make a big deal of it like you did from the start. And besides, I can feel that deep down you're really scared of something. You're scared of what's going to happen, aren't you?"
Aamira didn't say anything. What Quill said was too true to admit. Aamira finally realized how she was supposed to save the world. Some time ago in Atra when they had first joined up with Lucario, Lucario explained about one of the Aura Reader's abilities. It was called Aura Restore. Basically it turns any aura back to the way it was originally, but it took up a lot of energy. The only way it would even work would be if they made it to the top before the next morning. Since that night was the full moon, somehow she would get more energy from these plants called Lunar Flowers, but it would still call for too much energy, which in the end would cause Aamira to completely disappear.
Aamira had decided some time ago that she didn't have much of a choice. It was the only way to save the world. It did scare Aamira though. What was it like to disappear? Would it have been like she never existed? Or would she go to some place that everyone goes to after they died? Now that she thought about it, Aamira had never even heard of any real religions in the pokemon world. Then another thought came to her. Where did ghost type pokemon come from? What if she ended up something like Mismagius? But that would only happen if she had any aura left and if she did she wouldn't need to worry about disappearing in the first place. Even though their team was made to solve mysteries, this mystery seemed to have to be solved the hard way…
"Well, I'm still waiting." Quill said.
"Huh?" Aamira turned to him. "Oh, yea… Well, I remember Ceilia saying something. She said that it was natural for everyone to fear the unknown. But what if something goes wrong?"
"Well, if that happens, we tried our best." Quill said. "And if we end up stuck in a world of chaos, well at least we'll be together and with all of our friends too."
"How could you be so confident?"
"I don't know. I guess it's because I'm with you. You know, before you showed up I was such a coward that I burnt everything that I walked near. But ever since you showed up I've felt like we could do anything together. It's because you were always so confident that I felt confident too. I guess now I'm kind of scared too because you are, but I know as long as we're together everything will work out in the end."
Aamira nodded. "You don't need to worry about me though. I'm sad about Lucario, sure, but since it just suddenly happened like that… I guess it was just sort of a shock so I still can't really believe that it did happen. So it doesn't really feel like anything happened. It scared me though."
"Yea, I understand. You were both pretty close. It's gotten to the point where it's a little weird to be here with you and not be able to see Lucario. It seemed like whenever you were around, he was too as if he was trying to never leave you alone."
Aamira remembered Lucario's promise. He promised that he would make sure that she was never alone again. But why would he promise something like that when he had decided to seal himself in that staff with Mismagius? Had it just been pity, or was it something else? Some Aura Reader Aamira had turned out to be; she couldn't even figure out what her own friend was doing. But, now that Quill had mentioned it, Lucario had always been there. He knew that soon they would have to be apart and maybe never even see each other again, so he wanted them to spend as much time together as possible.
Aamira's eyes filled with tears again.
"Okay, now I know you're not okay! Did I say something?"
Aamira wiped the tears away from her eyes. "Lucario's really gone. I'll never get the chance to see him again and I never even got the chance to tell him how I felt… It's just that none of this is fair! We work so hard and risk everything to save everyone and this is what happens!"
"Yea, but this isn't anything like a book you know?" Quill said. "In stories there's usually always a happy ending. In real life, I guess no one can really avoid having to make sacrifices. It's always when you think you have everything that you lose what's most important to you… Then you feel like you don't have anything."
Aamira knew he meant his brother Shadow. His whole life Quill had thought that he had been the cause of his little brother's death and now he finds out that he was actually alive this whole time right before Mismagius got to him. They all lost something, and now Aamira was about to lose more. But was Quill willing to lose more? That was the whole reason Aamira had decided not to mention it to him. And now no matter how Aamira tried to distract herself, those thoughts kept coming to her.
'Quill's right, but I really don't have anything anymore. He's all I have really, and he feels the same way I do about this. So in a way, it's almost like I don't have anything to lose either way.' "Well, we're still here together, at least. And you're the best little brother I ever could have hoped for."
Quill smiled. "Right. I guess when I was trying to cheer you up, I was really just trying to cheer myself up too. But you're right. We're together, which is one thing that both of us have."
'For now…' Aamira couldn't help thinking.
"But you know…" Quill said. "Even if we did get separated somehow, I'm not sure if we would really even feel alone. You remember what I told you my mom used to say? 'In times of crisis you have to cast aside what you want, forget what you've lost, and be grateful for the things you still have and will have in the future.' But the 'forget what you've lost' part sounds sort of harsh the way things are now. But the 'be grateful for the things you still have' part is true. I think that what it really means is that you can't be selfish when others need your help, don't let what you've lost cloud your mind, and hold on to your memories because that's all you really need. Ironic since this whole thing sort of started with your losing your memory. But think about it. Because you did lose your memory, most of your memories must be of our team, right? Now that I think about it, we haven't even been apart for a full day before. So as long as we don't forget each other, it's sort of like we're always together because both of us sort of have a part of the other in our memories."
Aamira stopped and stood rooted to the spot, staring at the ground.
Quill stopped and turned around. "Hey, are you okay?"
Aamira looked up at him. "Thanks Quill."
Quill seemed a little confused. "For what? I didn't do anything."
"You've done everything you could have. To tell you the truth, before I doubt I would have had the courage or the strength to go on. I might have even given up at the last minute. But you're right. As long as we're in each other's memories, a part of us will never leave each other. There's no reason left to worry." Aamira smiled confidently.
"Yea! So let's keep going!" Quill said with an equally confident smile.
Aamira followed after him. 'I can do this. I know I can. And even if I do disappear, a part of me will always be alive inside Quill's memories. And the rest of our friends too!'
The two of them battled the rest of the way through the dungeon. All thirty five floors of it, making it undoubtedly the longest dungeon they had ever gone through. At the top of the tower was a giant mirror that stretched the whole east side of the tower and rose at least twenty or thirty feet into the air. The storm that had started so suddenly during their battle with Mismagius had ended and night had fallen, though still really bright since they were in the world of light, and the full moon hung faintly in the sky, though it didn't seem to shine like it did in their world. All around them blue-white flowers had burst into bloom and were glowing in the color of moonlight.
"You know how some people say that everything has a smell?" Aamira asked. "Well, I think moonlight does too. And that's what these flowers smell like."
"What, it's not enough that Lucario and Riolu can sense aura, they also have to have better senses in everything else?" Quill asked sarcastically.
"I'm serious. These smell like moonlight and the Solar Flowers in Atra smelled like sunlight. The Solar Flowers smell warm and welcoming, and these Lunar Flowers smell cold, but reassuring." Aamira's voice trailed off. 'But isn't that how Lucario always acted? I guess it's ironic in a way since he comes from Atra…'
"Hey, look over there." Quill pointed to the mirror. "Someone broke the lower right corner off. And there are cracks spreading all over the mirror."
Aamira looked closer at the mirror. Sure enough there were some fragments missing from the lower right corner and there were cracks spreading from there to every edge of the mirror. "It must have been Mismagius. That must be where she got the Mirror Shards that she used to control people."
"It looks like the whole mirror might collapse at any minute…" Quill said. "Maybe that's why we don't have much time." Quill took a few steps to get closer. "In every piece of the mirror, it looks like there's another world. I can't believe that all of these mirror shards actually reflects a different world. There are just so many."
"Well, come on. We don't have much time. The nights here don't last long and already the moon is starting to set." Aamira led the way towards the mirror, but stopped suddenly.
"What is it?" Quill asked.
"I thought I just saw something… In a few pieces of the mirror I thought I saw something huge move by it."
"Maybe you're still just a little shaken…" Quill said.
"Yea, maybe." Aamira took another step towards the mirror and heard Quill yelp.
"I saw it!" he said. "Sort of big and black, right?"
"So I wasn't just imagining it?"
All of the reflections of the different worlds suddenly vanished from the mirror and were replaced by the head of a large dragon that seemed to be coming straight towards them! Aamira and Quill shouted in surprise and ran for it. To their surprise, the dragon actually did come through the mirror and landed right in front of them. It was a serpent-like dragon with six tentacle-like wings with a red claw at the end of each. Its neck was covered in what seemed to be yellow armor and its tail was armed with spikes. Its eyes and the stripes covering its body were all glowing a dangerous looking red color and it's head was shaped like a spear.
"What is that!" Quill shouted out of fear.
"I am Giratina." The dragon said in a voice that seemed to be a mix between a male's and a female's. "I am the guardian of the Looking Glass. You shall not pass me. You shall not shatter the Looking Glass."
"We're not trying to shatter it, we're trying to save it!" Quill said frantically.
Giratina roared. It was so loud that more of the glass shattered and small pieces fell to the ground. "Liars! I know someone came here and tried to shatter it once before. I know you intend to finish what they started! For like the previous intruder, the two of you do not come from this world! Only the worthy can go near it!"
"So what do we have to do to be 'worthy'?" Aamira asked.
"You must defeat me!" Giratina roared again and used Dragon Breath, which the two of them were just barely able to avoid.
The two of them prepared to fight Giratina, but it had disappeared. Then it suddenly reappeared under Aamira and attacked.
Quill ran over to her. "Are you okay?"
"Yea, I'm fine." Aamira got up, though in a bit of pain. "I forgot about Shadow Force, Giratina's special move."
"We can still beat him though! We have to!" Quill said.
Giratina flew close by them. Quill used Flame Thrower and was lucky enough to burn Giratina. Unfortunately, it didn't even seem to annoy it. Giratina's claw-like wings shot towards them. Aamira was able to dodge, but Quill wasn't as lucky. Fortunately it didn't seem as strong as Shadow Force. Giratina used Dragon breath again, which they were both able to avoid. Quill used Flame Wheel and hit Giratina on what they figured was its neck. Aamira followed up with Quick Attack, but Giratina was able to avoid it. Aamira used Aura Sphere, which of course, hit.
'No!' She thought. 'I need to save up my aura. I can't use Aura Sphere!'
Giratina used Dragon Breath and hit Aamira, pushing her further back from the Looking Glass. Quill used Swift, but Giratina was able to dodge it by using Shadow Force. This time, he attacked Quill. Aamira used Drain punch and Force palm and Giratina threw her back with Ancient Power before she could attack a third time. Giratina used Dragon Breath and the two of them just barely avoided it. Quill used Flame Wheel again and this time Giratina dodged it. Aamira used Quick Attack again and was able to hit Giratina again. But before she could use another attack, Giratina threw her back with another Ancient Power.
The two of them were getting tired and while Giratina was starting to weaken, it didn't seem that they would be able to last much longer against it.
Giratina used Shadow Force on Aamira and Quill used Flamethrower as soon as it came out of the shadows. They had to hurry. If the moon set before they could defeat Giratina, all would be lost. While Quill distracted Giratina with Swift, Aamira ran up its tail and used Force Palm on the back of it's head. Giratina fell to the ground. For a second, they thought they had won, but then Giratina vanished again and used Shadow Force on Quill. Quill used Flame Thrower and Aamira used Drain Punch. Both attacks miraculously hit, but Giratina didn't look like it was willing to give up any time soon. It used Dragon Breath on Quill, but Aamira blocked it with Drain Punch. Giratina flew up high into the air then came flying down towards them while using Dragon Claw. This time, neither of them were able to avoid it. But just like Giratina, neither of them was willing to give up. They couldn't afford to give up with so much on the line.
"I have an idea." Quill said to Aamira. "Throw me towards Giratina and use Drain Punch to give me a burst of speed. And don't hold back."
"What? Are you sure?" Aamira said. But then it occurred to her that since Drain Punch wasn't an attack that was very effective against Cyndaquil, it probably wouldn't do too much damage. "Alright if you're sure."
Aamira did what Quill asked her to do. Quill flew through the air towards Giratina and used Flame Wheel. It hit Giratina on the side of his head as he tried to dodge and Giratina fell to the ground.
Quill landed a few feet in front of Aamira. "Did we… win?"
"I think so…" Aamira said.
"Well, come on! We don't have much time!" Quill ran towards the Looking Glass, but Aamira suddenly grabbed him and pulled him back just in time to avoid Giratina's Dragon Breath.
"How did you know I was going to do that?" Giratina asked.
"You're the renegade pokemon." Aamira said. "Treachery is what you're good at. Even after all of that fighting, it still seemed too easy to defeat you since you're a legendary pokemon."
"If you hadn't pulled him out of the way, he would have been defeated…" Giratina said. "What does that one mean to you?"
"He's like my younger brother. And besides, I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt if it could be avoided. Even if it was an enemy I would have helped them if they truly needed help."
"Please, Giratina!" Quill said. "We're not trying to shatter the Looking Glass! A pokemon named Mismagius has been trying to use it to get to the Origin Egg and replace the worlds that already exist with a new one. We defeated her with some help from our friends, but now if we can't save the Looking Glass, aura everywhere will be completely distorted and everything would fall into chaos. Please believe us! We're only trying to help!"
"This is exactly what that pokemon said." Giratina said thoughtfully. "That pokemon was given an opportunity, but nearly destroyed the Looking Glass. If I couldn't trust that pokemon, why could I trust you?"
"You shouldn't trust us…" Aamira thought out loud. "After everything that's happened here, why should you ever trust anyone? But I think maybe that's what really turned you into the renegade pokemon to begin with…"
"Perhaps there is a way for you to prove how trustworthy you are. This test will be even harder than defeating me. If you're as caring as you claim to be, you would prefer that to hurting me." The Looking Glass behind Giratina turned a steely black color and the cracks were barely visible now. "You, small one, look into the Looking Glass."
"Look into it? Okay…" Quill took a few steps forward until he could see his reflection. Giratina kept his eyes on Quill and Aamira kept her eyes on Giratina.
"What do you see?" Giratina asked.
Quill took a while to answer. "I'm standing in Vine City. And there are some others there with me. There's Espeon, Typhlosion, Aamira… and… and Shadow."
"And who are they?" Giratina asked.
"They're… my family…"
"So all you really want is for you and your family to live a peaceful life together back where you come from." Giratina said thoughtfully. "Okay, now you look into it."
Aamira stood where Quill was a few moments ago and looked into it, admittedly excited as to what she would see. Soon it came into view. "I'm in Vine City too. Only I'm standing by the lake with Lucario." Aamira's eyes flooded with tears again at the sight.
"Is that all you see?" Giratina asked.
Aamira half didn't want to look at the mirror again, but did anyway since a part of her still wanted to see Lucario. Then she saw something that she didn't notice before. "There's another pokemon there too. It's… It's Mismagius!"
"Mismagius?" Quill said. "What does this mirror do anyway?"
"The way it is now, it reflects a person's heart." Giratina explained. "You, young and innocent and probably never really knowing your family, see yourself with them. And your friend, who has suffered recent losses, sees herself with the one she loved. But I did not expect you to see that pokemon in your heart."
Aamira was still looking at the Mismagius reflection. "This Mismagius is different somehow… her eyes seem… warmer. And kinder. And she's smiling like always, but it's not an evil smile… it's a happy one…"
"I see…" Giratina said. "After all that's happened, you cannot bring yourself to feel hatred. Instead, you feel pity. For you know that had things been different, you might have been friends. You have… a kind heart… and if you think you can save the Looking Glass, then I'll chose to trust you."
"Really?" Aamira said. The image in the Looking Glass faded and it returned to how it was before.
"That pokemon came here long ago seeking answers… Why, I still don't know." Giratina said. "When that pokemon looked at the Looking Glass, that pokemon saw something that excited it. But that pokemon's greed and ambition was too great for that pokemon's own good. That pokemon rushed towards the Looking Glass and ran into it. The Looking Glass shattered and I attacked that pokemon, causing it to retreat to the world it had come from."
"So that's what happened." Quill said. "I bet she wanted to see something that would give her more power than anyone and she saw the origin egg. She tried to get to it, but ended up hitting the Looking Glass."
"I think you might be right." Aamira said.
"The moon is setting." Giratina said. "Soon the second sun will be up and the power of the Lunar Flowers will fade. If you are to have enough power to restore the mirror and stop the aura distortion, you must do it now."
Aamira ran to the mirror and put her hands on it. Something about it sent a chill up her spine. She had to focus her energy. 'I have to save everyone!' She thought. 'Because right now, I'm the only one who can!' She could feel her aura flowing into the mirror as if it were a giant sponge, but it was happening to quick. At this rate she would disappear before anything could really happen.
All around them the Lunar Flowers started to glow brighter. As if a strong wind was blowing them, the pollen in the flowers flew through the air towards Aamira and started to float around her. She could feel the energy of the Lunar Flowers joining her own and both her energy and the Lunar Flowers flowing into the Looking Glass.
"Pay no attention to you eyes." Giratina said. "Though you cannot see it, it is working."
Yes, Aamira could feel it working somehow. She was starting to shake now. Not out of fear for what was about to happen, but out of exhaustion. She collapsed to her knees, but dared not take her hands off of the Looking Glass until she knew it would be saved. But now she was starting to get dizzy. How much longer would she be able to keep this up? Then suddenly, everything went dark and Aamira collapsed.
Far below the tower, an all out war was being waged between all the Investigation Teams from the world of shadows and Mismagius's army.
"We would have been doomed if you hadn't shown up." Weavile said to Noctowl as the two of them watched the fighting between the Investigation Teams and Mismagius's brainwashed pokemon army.
"I never thought you really meant that we would need every Investigation Team. But why aren't you fighting with everyone else?" Noctowl asked.
"To explain why I did what I did. You see, though I searched and searched I could not find the answer to peace. Eventually I figured it must not even exist. But then some strange things happened that led me to figuring out the answer."
"You're saying you knew the answer to world peace?" Noctowl said.
"Yes, but it meant having to join Mismagius. I didn't like it, trust me, but I knew a fight like this was coming."
"So you're saying this is the answer to peace?" Noctowl said. "All of this fighting?"
"That's the only conclusion I could come to." Weavile said. "But if you don't believe me, look over there." Weavile pointed over towards Charmeleon. An Onyx was using Rock Throw and right when it seemed it was going to hit him, a Water Gun pushed it away from him. The one who had protected Charmeleon was Milotic.
Noctowl smiled and chuckled. "Ignis and Aequor fighting together for a common cause."
"Yes. But not only that. Both of them were in the resistance, you know? And I know from seeing the two of them in person, they're fierce rivals. Maybe even more than that. They would normally tear each other apart first chance they get."
"So you're saying when there's an enemy strong enough, even the worst of enemies would come together to defeat it." Noctowl said. "So that's the secret to peace… And it wouldn't even have to be an army. It could be just a simple problem like an energy crisis or something like that. Surely with everyone united an answer would always come."
"There's an old legend." Weavile said. "It is said that the day all pokemon can learn to live in peace, Ho-oh will return. I wonder if that's true or if maybe Ho-oh ever existed at all. Could it be that Ho-oh is really just a pokemon used to represent something… more?"
"Who knows?" Noctowl said. "And who knows if we'll ever know. It seems that there are just some things that not even an Aura Reader can learn."
Aamira woke up to an unfamiliar scene. She was lying in a flower field that was surrounded by trees. In the very center of the field was an enormous crystal clear lake. The sky above blazed with the light from the sun, though it didn't seem as bright as it was in Desolo. Was she back in the shadow world?
"Hey! You're finally awake!" It was Quill standing there beside her.
Aamira got up unsteadily. Was she imagining it, or was her energy still ebbing away? Either way, it didn't keep her from noticing that every pokemon they knew was there. All of them started cheering when Aamira got up.
"We did it!" Quill said. "We saved everyone!"
"That you did." A shadow crossed over the mirror-like surface of the lake and Giratina appeared, only it looked a little different. It only had one set of shadowy wings and instead of being in a serpent form, it now had six legs. Everyone was startled by the appearance of the colossal pokemon, but calmed down when it didn't attack. "Now listen, this is very important. Shards of the Looking Glass have been spread far and wide and even into different worlds, so though it might take time, aura everywhere will begin to go back to normal. And since this is the closest place in this world, Shroud Lake was the first to recover."
"No way!" Aamira said. "This is Shroud Lake?"
"Yea, can you believe it?" Quill said. "It doesn't even look like the Lake of Life the way it is now. There are Lunar Flowers, Solar Flowers, Gracidea Flowers, and a bunch of others too. There must be a flower for every color of the rainbow here. And look up!"
Aamira looked up. There was a huge rainbow stretching across the sky, which was also being reflected in the lake. "You know, the rainbow is said to be a symbol of peace."
Noctowl chuckled, causing a few people to turn to him, but he offered no explanation.
"Before you woke up, everyone started thinking of a new name for the lake. There were a few good ones like Aura Lake and Rainbow Lake, but in the end we all decided to go with Weavile's idea, Lake Harmony."
"I think that's perfect." Aamira said through a smile.
"I must return to Origin Tower." Giratina said. "Now that the Looking Glass is starting to repair itself, I must make sure nothing else happens." Giratina slipped into the lake and vanished.
"Hey! We should have a celebration!" Aipom said. "It will be like a new holiday and once every year people from every country go to a different country to celebrate. And since we're already here, this year it will be in Silva."
"That's an excellent idea." Noctowl said.
While everyone was talking excitedly about the party, Aamira had something on her mind. 'I know I'm not imagining it.' She thought. 'I can feel it. My energy is still getting weaker…' her head was throbbing and she was still shaking all over.
"Hey, come on Aamira, let's…" Quill stopped in mid sentence. "Aamira! What's happening!"
Aamira raised both of her arms. Though it was faint, she could just barely see Quill right through them. 'So this is it…' She thought.
"Quill, I'm sorry…" She said. "And everyone. I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you to worry."
"What's going on?" Quill asked.
"Remember when Lucario was explaining Aura Restore?" Aamira asked. "He said a lot of kings died trying to bring their loved ones back to life by using up all of their energy. I think saving every world in existence would be a lot for anyone…"
"So… You're just going to disappear?" Quill said sadly with tears in his eyes.
Aamira smiled and nodded. "Mismagius told me that I would before she was sealed in the Aura Scepter. For once she was telling the truth. But it was a small sacrifice for countless worlds, right?"
"Well I don't think so!" Quill said. "What am I going to do without you? You're like my older sister…"
"And you're like my younger brother, and nothing will ever change that…" There was a faint glow around Aamira now and a lot of the people watching could see the lake right through her. "But we'll always be together, because I'll never vanish as long as you go on. I'll go on in your memories and in the memories of everyone else too…"
"But… I'm still going to miss you."
"And I'll miss you, but I'm afraid there's no other way. But now, everyone will know what happened and nothing like this will ever happen again. So keep the team going in my place. Alright!"
Quill was trying to stop crying, but gave up and just nodded.
Aamira kneeled down next to Quill and hugged him. "This is goodbye…"
Quill started crying even harder and hugged Aamira back. "PLEASE DON'T GO!" But then Aamira vanished and Quill fell to his hands and knees. 'See ya…'
Most of the pokemon at Lake Harmony were crying now. What was a happy scene not long ago, was now one of ultimate sadness. Out of the corner of Quill's eye, he thought for sure that he saw a giant bird pokemon glowing in seven different colors fly over the rainbow, but no one else seemed to notice.