Chapter 53: Visions of Another History
May 4
outside Dragonspiral Tower
The afternoon sun caused the lake around the tower to sparkle with its wind driven wavelets. Normally this would have been a quiet time, with local Pokemon going for a drink, for food, or anything else of their own business. Despite how much the humans revered this place, not many came to visit on an ordinary day. But this wasn't an ordinary day, and the local Pokemon were keeping away from the lake. There was still a crowd waiting on the southern side, waiting on their leader who had entered yesterday afternoon. No one had seen or heard from him since.
Although the humans were disrupting the local Pokemon, there was one Pokemon out in the open, flying over the surface of the water and waiting himself. With his brilliant coloration made to mark him as a significant resident of the desert, Rune stood out greatly in this wooded area. He had been taken out of N's team, as League regulations stated that teams could be at most made of six Pokemon. This didn't bother him much. After all, the Sigilyph had helped when he had first been released, and he would continue to do so now. He was waiting too, and thinking.
This day was something to consider. When he had been patrolling the ghost town of Shira, he hadn't really thought much, lost in the memories of the old kingdom. He had heard from other Pokemon that traveling with humans changed Pokemon, but all of them assumed it simply made them stronger. Rune knew he was stronger, but he was changed in other ways. For one, he was worrying about what had happened to his friends in the tower.
For another, he was concerned about the myriad of thoughts coming from the crowd of humans nearby. He used to not care about what others were thinking if it had nothing to do with him or his duty to serve Reshiram. It wouldn't be important to his immediate concerns. But now, most of them were worried about N too, but had faith to stay for his return. Rune felt glad that they cared about N too. However, it was those who had other thoughts that really concerned him. Some of the other thoughts were dangerous, wishing to cause harm to others. Not Rune himself, and sometimes not even towards N.
But there was one who was slowly getting angry that N hadn't come out yet. This one was a potential firestorm in the calm patient woods, looking to disrupt the very structure of Unova. Feeling that distressed Rune and that was why he kept away from the humans, and over the water. But worse than that, the firestorm soul was the one who held great sway over the whole group, most of all over N himself. Rune felt a sense of dread of Ghetsis, one that could destroy so much that he now held dear. Before he left the desert, he wouldn't have even made such connections.
"What should I be doing?" Rune said to himself.
Things had been so predictable and orderly in the desert. Now it wasn't and he was confused. Maybe he wasn't as intelligent as he thought he'd been. He looked over at the crowd, wondering if he should do something about the danger. But then he noticed something different. Within the crowd, there was a Pokemon. The humans wouldn't have noticed, though, since the Zorua seemed to be a child of theirs. Only, there hadn't been any children with Team Plasma, not that Rune had noticed. That Zorua could get in trouble.
It didn't have much to do with himself, or what he was troubled about. However, he knew N would have helped the Zorua not get in trouble. With that in mind, Rune flew over to the southern shore of the lake and spoke to the hidden Pokemon. "What are you doing here, Zorua?"
What looked like a child with messy dark blue hair blinked at him. "I don't fool you, but I can fool everybody else," he said proudly, without moving the lips or changing the expression of the illusion. "I came looking for my father."
"Oh? But, I think you will be noticed, as a child in a group of adults."
The Zorua wasn't impressed. "If I am noticed, it's because you're speaking to me."
Rune cooed; he couldn't deny that. "Even so, this isn't a group for you to be around. What makes you think your father will be here?"
"Mother said so," he said. "She said that father was going to work for his friend, who was going to summon one of the great dragons here. When I heard that a summoning was going to happen, I had to see it, and meet father. I came all the way here all by myself."
It must have been Zane's cub, not too surprising. Rune descended some. "I see. I think I know who you're talking about. Perhaps, I can take you up to meet him."
"Really, would you?" the Zorua said, eager enough to yip despite his illusion. The humans around them finally realized something was off about the child with them, giving the 'child' confused looks. "I want to go!"
The Sigilyph took a deep breath. Was he doing this to help the cub? Or just to have an excuse to check on N? Humans made things complicated. "Very well. But I won't take you looking like that."
"Okay!" The Zorua dismissed his illusion, causing some startled gasps nearby. Quickly, Rune picked the Zorua up in his claws and flew him upwards, circling the tower to make it to the top level.
Up there, he found trouble. He could see a barrier keeping Pokemon like himself from entering the roof from above. He could possibly fly through an archway, even though as a spiritual gate it would feel strange. However, there was a layer of ice covering the gate, bearing a black circle. "I could get in if it wasn't for that ice," Rune said.
"What ice?" the Zorua asked. "That gateway looks spooky to go through, but you should be able to go in."
Blinking his eyes, Rune shifted his focused and realized that the ice he was seeing was spiritual too. Then he laughed at himself. "Ice that I see on another level. Well, brace yourself, cub. We'll have to pass through a strong power to get in there, but I'm sure that we can." Then he flew into the gateway.
The physical realm and the spiritual realm met at that point, such as the space deep within Relic Castle where Rune had met with Reshiram. But for being such a small area, the power here was intense and frigid. The power of lightning and fire were also strong, but not as strong as ice. The feeling was over in seconds and they were in.
N's other Pokemon quickly noticed them, although N himself seemed to be preoccupied, kneeling in the center of the space with his hands on the Dark Stone, speaking quietly to himself. Rune dropped the Zorua close to the floor, then flew up higher to shake his wings out to be rid of the feeling lingering from flying through the gate. Excited, the Zorua bounced over to Zane; the Zoroark had been lying on the ground, but lifted his head as the cub stood unsteadily on his back paws in front of him. "I've found you, father! I'm right, right?"
"Say what?" Zane said, sniffing him carefully.
"How are things going?" Rune asked Tock, settling down. If Zane was busy, then the Klang was the most reasonable Pokemon to talk to. Plus, the two ancient Pokemon were asleep. "I didn't think it would take this long."
"We did not think so ourselves," Tock said. "There is a positive charge and a negative charge about this situation."
"Oh? What's positive?" Better to hear the good news first, he thought.
Tock turned on the spot, looking at the Vanilluxe. "Pierre has been mostly sane today."
"Really? That's great." Rune hummed in good cheer, glad that a teammate was in a better condition.
Coming over from examining a column, Pierre seemed hesitant, his floating pace unsteady. "They say that, but... this quiet is unsettling. Even if my demons stayed away from my angel, I still heard them from the distance, saw them in the shadows. But ever since we entered this sacred place, there's been nothing but silence in my mind. I appreciated the peace at first, but I don't know what to do with myself now. It doesn't help that N is being strange."
"Is that the negative?" Rune asked, looking back to his friend. N hadn't moved a bit and his thoughts were strangely quiet as well.
"Affirmative," Tock said, going over to N's side. "We're concerned that he's not going to be sane. But we can't really tell that like you can. He's not responded to much."
"I can hardly feel anything from him," he said, coming to hover in front of N. "I can try to reach deeper."
"What's going on?" the Zorua asked, turning to them.
Zane sat up and put a paw on the cub's head. "It's a long story, kid."
While they talked, Rune focused on N. The human's thoughts and emotions were quiet, even hollow. Puzzling... he looked deeper and noticed that his body was in a state-like sleep but was weary and weak despite that. "I hope you haven't given up," Rune said softly.
"What's that?" Tock asked.
Rune turned his attention from N, since there wasn't much more to find. "He's tired and discouraged. Have any of you talked to him?"
"We tried," Pierre said. "But his mind is so far away."
Escaping from under Zane's paw, the Zorua bounded over. "Well if he's sleeping, shouldn't you wake him up before talking to him?" And before any of them could stop him from being rude, he barked loudly and got onto N's lap. Then he put a paw on N's cheek.
Startled, N nearly fell over. He looked around wide-eyed, then settled on the Zorua. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Waking you up," the Zorua said, licking his face. "Hello!"
"Trouble?" the Archeops asked, as he and the Carracosta woke up. The ancient bird shook itself, then hopped closer.
"No trouble," the Carracosta said, coming out of his shell.
"How are you?" the Zorua asked.
"Uuhhh," N replied, not entirely alert. But he did take hold of the Zorua as he shifted his legs out from under him. "Not so good."
The other Pokemon gathered around him too. "You should have something to drink and some rest, from what your body says to me," Rune said.
"Please don't hurt yourself," Pierre said, coming close and nudging N with one of his heads. "Even with the peace of this place, it's distressing to see you now."
"I'm sorry," N replied, with little energy to his words. He didn't even try to do anything about it, until Zane got a bottle of water out for him.
"What is the status of the mission?" Tock asked.
There was no reply, but Rune felt something troubling in N's feelings. Worse, he couldn't identify what it was. "Don't give up," he said. "But what do I feel from you? It's something terrible."
"What's wrong?" Zane demanded, twisting his ears back briefly. But he was just as worried and couldn't stay angered at N's silence.
Although he did take a good drink of water, N still didn't reply. He looked at all of them, but the troubling thing only grew. It was... fear? Still in his arms, the Zorua patted him again. "Why're you shaking? I don't see anything to be afraid of."
"Something's not right," N said finally. "I heard from Zekrom at the base of the tower; she told me to enter. But ever since we got here, I haven't heard from her again. What's going on? Why would she tell me to enter and then not respond?"
Rune looked back at the archway. "Does it have something to do with the ice?"
"What ice?" Pierre said. "There was ice here, but it's all gone."
Coming close to N, Rune brushed his wing against his friend's face. "Look at the gate, with your mind's eye. Like you saw Shira."
"I was trying to not be confused by such ghosts," N said, but he did ask suggested. Then he clutched the Zorua closer. "Ice... there's still ice there. He was right; the Kyurem I've spoken to isn't supposed to be here. The balance of having two of them is off just enough..." then he shivered noticeably, his fear growing instead of settling like it should have. "I-I should do something, but..."
"But what?" Zane asked. "If there's a problem, it should be fixed."
"I told them I would come back with Zekrom."
Tock sped up his gears briefly. "It's a problem out of your system, an obstacle you have no connection to. It's not your fault."
"N, what's wrong?" Rune asked, feeling like he ought to cry. "There's something wrong in your thoughts and I can't see what it is."
"I know I didn't cause this," N said. "But... it scares me too, but... it was something Ghetsis said to me before we came out here. I was trying to tell him how the things I've seen and heard on this journey through Unova are still lingering, like you..." he looked up at Rune, "I let you go and you came back again, and," he looked over at Pierre and Tock, "you..."
"What?" Tock said.
"I want to hate anyone who would hurt you, but I can't hate you for hurting yourself," Pierre said.
The Archeops spread his wing out. "Leader! Be brave. Leader better than fear."
"Be strong," the Carracosta echoed.
"You're helping me," N said, his eyes going watery with tears. He looked down at the Zorua in his arms, then let him go. "I don't even know what you're doing here. I've never met you before."
The Zorua wagged his tail, his red eyes bright. "I came to find my father! And to find you; I heard that you were a great person going to summon one of the great dragons. I was happy to hear that my father was with someone like you."
Although he briefly gave Zane a puzzled look on hearing that this was his cub, N didn't seem bothered by learning that. "You're helping," he repeated. "I'm not a Pokemon; I'm not a human either, really, but you're still helping me. I never figured out how to be around humans, but all of you, and other Pokemon that have been with me, you help me connect to them. But then," N paused, growing tense. "He said that if I didn't come back with Zekrom, then I might as well jump off the tower rather than continue to live."
"Noooo, don't!" Pierre cried.
"That is illogical," Tock said, although he sounded just as troubled.
Zane growled. "What kind of foolish talk is that? I'd never advise someone to choose death if they failed."
Even with them saying that, Rune could feel and know what that terrifying feeling in N was. It didn't matter what they said. If this problem wasn't solved soon, then he would choose that rather than to admit to failure. It was because the stigma of being a failure, of having his life be worthless, that was worse than having no life at all.
Rune felt like panicking. If he had been who he was back when he was patrolling Shira, he would have. But that wasn't going to solve things. "Then you need to get Zekrom awakened," he said. "If that barrier is there because of there being two Kyurems, then we need to get rid of one. Maybe if you got Reshiram and his King in here, then the power of the both dragons can overcome the imbalance. Or since the barrier is made of ice, we might need the other Kyurem here to hold it back."
"Why don't you go get them and bring them here?" the Zorua asked. Because he wasn't as emotionally invested in this, the cub managed to keep a lot calmer and cool headed than even his father. "With all three of the dragons in this place, they should be able to solve the problem better than anybody else. You and I are the only free Pokemon here, and I can't fly."
"Right, I can do that," Rune said. "I can at least find Lord Reshiram easily, and he would be able to find which one of the Kyurem could help best. I'll go."
"Thank you, Rune," N said meekly. "I've set you free twice now, and yet you still freely stick by my side."
For a moment, Rune lowered himself to below N's eyes in deference. "I admit that at first it was because I had no other purpose, and Lord Reshiram asked me to watch you. But I am not doing this for him. I am doing this for my dearest friend."
Then he flew back through the gateway, to find his old master.
Nuvema Town
"It has now been thirty-six hours since the Black King of Plasma has entered Dragonspiral Tower," the reporter said on the late night news. "Yet N has not reappeared and nothing seems to have changed. No one has been able to get in the tower after him and our cameras have been unable to view what is going on at the top level. The members of Team Plasma remain here faithfully waiting for his return. They are certain nothing has gone wrong. It has been many years since Zekrom and Reshiram were last called upon, so it is unknown if this wait is simply a part of the summoning or if something has indeed gone wrong."
"What is it?" Hilda asked, leaning back in the couch.
"It's unusual," Kyurem said, watching out the window. "If he is worthy, she would have come within the hour, at most. I thought he was worthy."
"It must be frightening for him to get silence," Leslie said. "I hope there's some other problem."
Hilda scratched Fedora's back. "Well we know that he's going to stay up there until something happens. You know what's going on?"
"My attention has been here, not there," Kyurem said, turning from the window and coming over to her. "It may be that Hilbert needs to be there, since both are expecting to be called on."
"Could be. Maybe I ought to call him and give him a poke." At that point, there was a knock on the door. "Wonder who it is now," she thought aloud, getting up.
"I'll get it," Kyurem said, going to the door and opening it. "What?"
"Oh good, you are here," Hilbert said. "Listen, we have to talk. I know you're not going to like this, but Reshiram insists on it."
"Speak of the devil," Hilda said. "We were just talking about you, and about N being at the tower. Let him in."
He nodded and came in. Following after him was a Sigilyph, a Pokemon she remembered seeing with N, not Hilbert. "Yeah, I was going to wait until after all the fuss died down. But then Rune came and asked all of us to come. You too, Hilda."
"Currooo," the Sigilyph said in a sad-sounding tone.
"She shouldn't be going into Dragonspiral Tower at this time," Kyurem said sternly. "I'm not going to let her get killed."
"You can't leave her alone either," Reshiram said in a faint voice from the Light Stone. "And you must come there. Zekrom has been trying to connect to N, but we're being blocked again by the imbalance caused by having you and the normal Kyurem around. Since you can't leave this world at this time, you need to be there to pull us through the block. And Zekrom does not want to tell N that she cannot come at this time. It would be dangerous."
Kyurem fumed silently for a moment, then said, "You can't get around the block caused by our power?"
"We have been trying, but nothing has yet worked. And it is strong enough that I don't think even both of us working at it with our bodies at the tower would help."
"Fine, but the four of us will enter together," Kyurem said. "We must be careful."
Hilda felt a little nervous. But, this was getting too serious. She had to do something about that. "And we need to get properly attired!"
"Hu-what?" Hilbert asked, staring at her in confusion.
Over at the couch, Leslie laughed. "You need to be dressed right for the occasion," she said, getting up. "After all, you're going to be at this big and important moment not just to impress the masses, but to meet with legendary Pokemon. There's no excuse to go in looking like an everyday slob." She teasingly smoothed down a part of Hilbert's jacket.
"Unless they surprise you," Hilda said, poking Kyurem in the shoulder. "You still have that crown and coat I got you, Hilbert? That should do just fine, once you brush your hair and wash your face. I think I've got something hanging in my closet that'll be great."
"Don't take too long," Kyurem said. "We don't want N going nuts while you're still getting dressed."
"Gotcha!" She started towards the stairs.
"You can use the bathroom down here, Hilbert," Leslie said, pointing him in the right direction.
"Oh, well, I guess that makes sense," he said, giving in and heading over. "But Kyurem's right; don't take too long."
Upstairs, Hilda found a dress she had gotten last spring, a white sundress that had tiny blue polka dots on the skirt and blue flowers across the chest. It was a little casual, but finding the white shoes from her Castelia outfit as well as some of her mother's clip on earrings and a ice-crystal like set of barrettes, it seemed cute and nice enough to go out with. She wore the barrettes low, though, so that she could wear a white sun hat that had a blue ribbon and a snowflake pin on it. Then she grabbed her travel bag and a white umbrella (just because it seemed to fit) and headed downstairs.
"Let's see, I think… yeah, I still has some healing stuff in case of trouble," she said, thinking aloud while checking her bag.
Leslie smiled and hugged her. "Good luck, dear. And you'd better come back alive from this."
"Thanks Mom. I'll see you again, I promise. Is Hilbert ready?" She couldn't see him, although Rune seemed to be pacing around in the air still.
She shook her head. "Not quite."
"Hilda, can we speak privately for a minute?" Kyurem asked. "Outside."
"Oh, sure," she said, nodding. "I'll pop back in when we're done, Mom."
She nodded. "Okay, I'll let him know to wait a bit longer."
Hilda headed outside with Kyurem. It was a bright night, with the full moon hanging large in the sky. Nuvema was quiet as usual, with many of the houses lit up but few people in the old streets. Overhead, some wings from Woobats could be heard on occasion. It was peaceful here, not a night when one might expect to die.
"It seems unavoidable that we go to Dragonspiral Tower now," Kyurem said, looking around the town. "I would go alone, but those Shadow Triad are hanging around here. I don't know if they mean to kill, but the risk can't be taken."
"I'll try not to do anything stupid," Hilda said, smiling. "I trust you."
"That's good," he said, looking down. "I had hoped to know more by this point about why you died at this time. Still, I agree with Reshiram and Rune. We don't know how much power N and Hilbert truly have as gijinkas, and if he snaps in failing to call Zekrom, there is no way to know what he would do. And yet, you may… there is something I need to say to you before we go."
"What's on your mind?" Hilda asked. It was odd to hear him like this. Normally he used as few words as possible.
Kyurem looked to her. He seemed pensive, even. "I'm grateful that I got to travel with you. I've spent many centuries avoiding contact with others, especially humans, but this time has been precious to me. I know that I seem serious to you, but I have been happy."
"That's good," she said, smiling. "It's been fun having you around. It'll be sad time when you have to leave this time, but let's not think of that yet."
"Then you do trust me." He took her arm and then, to her surprise, kissed her forehead. Then he went on, telling her, "Don't worry. I'll be watching over you. What I'm leaving you with is a mark that you won't be able to see, but will allow others to know that you are under my protection. Not only that, but I'm giving you a gift that you have asked about. You'll now be able to understand Pokemon just like N can."
"Whoa, really?" Grinning, she hugged him. "Thanks Kyurem! Now I'll definitely have to be coming back in order to make full use of that."
Kyurem put his head on her shoulder for a moment. "You do that." Then he pushed away. "We need to be going. Go get the King and we'll fly over to the tower."
Fortunately, Hilbert was ready when Hilda peeked back in. She hugged her Mom one last time and said goodbye to her (making sure to say she loved her… just in case). Not that long ago, Bianca had lent her a Fly HM so that she could teach Kyurem to use Fly. He took her and Regal took Hilbert, following Rune up north to Iccirus and Dragonspiral Tower.
When they arrived at the lake, there were still a large number of Team Plasma members hanging around. Hilbert looked around, feeling determined to stop this before it turned ugly. "Okay, now we'll have to see about them letting us in."
"They're not all dangerous, but they won't appreciate you being here," Rune said. The Sigilyph were supposed to be intelligent, he reflected; Hilbert thought that was part of why he could understand him too.
"That's not a problem," Hilda said. Then she stepped forward and shouted, "Hey, move aside! We're going in!"
Some of the knights did move aside, but Ghetsis and Giallo came up to meet with them. "Why should we let you in?" Ghetsis asked. "We have yet to hear back from N."
Going bold, was it? But, no backing down now. "That's exactly why you should let us in," Hilbert said. "We know what's going on and if you want to help Zekrom appear, then let us help N do that."
"And if you don't, I'll just freeze you all in place so you don't interfere," Kyurem added.
"You're here to help N?" Giallo asked. "And to help yourselves, it would seem. But it has been a day and a half now. Good luck."
"Thank you," Hilbert said, heading down with the Light Stone floating beside him, and Hilda and Kyurem walking behind. A part of him felt hurt about how Giallo was speaking to him as an enemy. But his uncle seemed to have closed himself off fully to him. Maybe after this was over with, he'd be willing to listen again.
As they got closer to the edge of the lake, Reshiram spoke up. "Just move ahead and into the tower. What appears is not quite what is and nothing will stand in your way."
"Okay," Hilbert said.
"It's basic if you're worthy of entrance," Kyurem said. "Stay straight and don't turn aside."
As they said, and as N had done yesterday, they were able to cross across the water itself and pass through what seemed to be a solid wall. But once they were all inside, Hilbert stopped, unsure of how to proceed. "Hey, you remember when I said this place was thick with time distortions?" he asked Hilda.
She nodded. "Yeah. They still here?"
He waved his hand in front of his face, seeing it tinted blue. "It's a total fog in here. I can hardly see a foot in front of my face now. And when I touch it, that's usually when I start seeing things."
"There's no way to know when or if you'll be alert while walking up," Reshiram said. "That's trouble."
Hilda took his hand. "Well don't worry. I see perfectly fine. I'll lead you through even if you space out."
"That's good, because there's no telling when they'll start coming." He followed her down the stone pathway, but as he thought, visions of another world passed by his eyes.
And this time, he knew exactly what he was seeing. He was seeing the history that Kyurem had come from.
May 4
another world
Hilbert stepped off the pillars and began to walk up the stairs. This second room had proven an odd obstacle, as ruins of pillars and statues made the way hard to navigate. After checking around, walking over the pillars seemed to be the only way to go.
But then, the grinding of a stone made him pause. Hilda then passed through from behind it, followed by her dark blue Sawk. "Oh hey, I caught up just in time," she said, smiling. She waved her hand, in which she was carrying a yellow daisy.
He stared at her for a moment. "Hilda? But, how? Only one eligible to become a hero can enter this place, and there are only two heroes at a time."
She just laughed at him. "Well it seems that I'm worthy, huh? That was easy once I saw you do it; wouldn't have thought to just walk right in. Come on, let's get going." She ran up past him.
"Hey, wait!" But it took past the next level and up the next stairs for him to catch up. "What are you doing in here? Why did you come?"
"Why not?" she asked. "I mean, N's been in here for hours and hasn't come out. I'm worried about him, so I figured I'd come check on him."
A flame of jealousy burned in his heart. "Is that it?"
"I also thought it might be a good chance to see you succeed in calling your dragon too," she said, looking back down at him briefly. "What's wrong with coming to support both of my friends? Come on, no time to waste!"
"This isn't a game," he said as he ran up after her.
"Does it have to be so serious?" she asked back, although she slowed a bit so they were together. Silly... but that was part of why she was so interesting, wasn't it?
At the top of the tower, N was kneeling, both of his hands on the floating Dark Stone. He had stopped wondering why he wasn't getting a response as he was so intent on getting Zekrom to appear. In a weakening voice, he repeated his request for her appearance. He was even ignoring his other Pokemon who were nearby.
As they got close, Hilbert told Hilda, "I think that in order for Zekrom to appear, Reshiram has to appear too. I've got the Light Stone, so once we get up there, both dragons should be able to awaken."
"That's good," she said, teasingly tapping him with her daisy. "Come on, let's go! Hey N!" She ran up the last stairs.
"Wait, Hilda!" Hilbert called, running up after her.
In the final room, N heard voices but didn't comprehend what they were saying. It did distract him from his summoning. He felt anger but it was a weak emotion compared to the weariness that had a hold on his body. Without really thinking, he got up and raised his hand to stop the ones trying to interrupt him. Some power swelled within him, but he hardly realized what was going on.
N fired out a Hyper Beam and Hilda walked right into it. For a moment, there was nothing to be seen but a bright white light. Hilbert's vision cleared in time to see Hilda's body fall onto the floor. She was still holding onto that daisy, but it was bent and covered in her blood. Hilbert called out in a panic, dropping down beside her, ignoring the masonry rocks underneath him. Several feet away, N collapsed back onto the floor after exhausting himself from the attack. For a moment, death held stillness and silence over Dragonspiral Tower.
But that couldn't last. "You killed her," Hilbert said, his voice shaking with anger.
N was getting back onto his feet, looking hazily at them as he realized what was going on around him. He saw Hilda, dead from a large wound to her chest, and Hilbert kneeling beside her among the loose rocks of this place. What was he talking about? True, he didn't agree with them, but he wouldn't go as far as murder. "I did not," he said, taking hold of the Dark Stone.
"You did, you killed her!" Hilbert shouted, getting up with a look like he wanted to kill N then and there. "And that's the truth of it. I will swear it on Reshiram, you killed her, you deluded madman!"
"How dare you..?" N started to argue, but then the Light and Dark Stones began to glow. They both moved away from the two boys, heading over to in front of the archway. They grew in a flash and then there they were. Reshiram and Zekrom stood side by side, majestic in real life.
But a bitter split had erupted violently between the two heroes already.
Hilbert was having a hard time convincing people to do what he wanted today. At first, they were cooperative. Then, looking like they were coming awake from a dream, they would treat him with suspicion. But that didn't matter when revenge was so strongly in Hilbert's mind. He used his popularity and clout to get into the Champion's area of the Pokemon League Stadium without having to fight any of the Elite 4.
As he approached the main area, climbing all those stairs, it became apparent that N had defeated Alder. Hilbert would have been glad to fight N on the spot. But instead, N called on his castle to appear and make 'a more suitable stage'. Hilbert pursued him.
"This isn't the right time to confront him," Reshiram said. "Your anger clouds your vision; you should step back to calm your mind."
"No, because then he'll get away!" Hilbert snapped. He continued on, further into N's Castle. The members of Team Plasma stayed wisely out of his way.
At the throne room, Hilbert and Reshiram met with N and Zekrom. N tried to conduct the exchange with pompous dignity, but Hilbert wasn't going to let him get away with that. "I'm not here to challenge you for any fancy ideas," Hilbert said. "I'm here to show you how damn stupid your ideals are, and to get revenge for Hilda's death."
"I did not kill her," N said, finally breaking his calm mask to get angry too.
"Stop being so deluded and open your eyes to your own corruption and insanity!" Hilbert challenged, feeling a giant surge of power run through his body. He didn't care about what it was as his focus was solely on N. The same feeling of power came out in N, who ignored it too even though large empty crests appeared underneath both of their feet.
Zekrom and Reshiram noticed. But for as much experience as they had, neither one had a clue about what the empty crests meant. "Wait a moment," Zekrom said as the energy turned red.
Then both crests exploded, breaking up into hundreds of red and black arms. Right as N and Hilbert noticed that their rage had turned into an unsettling form, it lashed out towards the two legendary dragons, taking hold of their very life force and ripping it straight out of their bodies.
The two dragons screamed, unable to resist as their souls were grafted straight into N and Hilbert. For a moment, they were stunned by the feeling of fear and pain from the deaths of their partners. It was soon eclipsed by the pain as their human genes, meant to be unalterable, were forced to change and accept the incredible power of the immortals. The forms of dragon scales began to appear over their skin, especially visible on their arms and legs; white scales on Hilbert and black scales on N. The red crests filled in with what should have been the signs of Reshiram and Zekrom, altered to reflect their new owners. They were turned into dragons reminiscent of the ones whose powers they now held.
Then, the power theft was complete. The atmosphere of the room calmed down, leaving the lifeless bodies of the two elder dragons and the uncertain forms of the two newly created dragons. What was going on? Who was responsible for this?
They each felt that the other was the one responsible. Growls were exchanged and then the two began to fight themselves, causing an explosion of power that brought down two-thirds of the castle they were in. Since it was a wreck, both took to the air and continued their fight. Their hatred and confusion left them focused on each other, not realize the destruction following in the wake of their combat.
N felt a feral sense of victory, but was utterly exhausted after days of battle. As his mind began to clear, he looked around them. This had once been Castelia City; not a single building was left intact. Many were smoldering ruins. The wailing of alarms sounded in the distance, but there were no screams amid the burning of fire.
For a moment, N was confused. "What's going on?' he asked. He looked down and saw Hilbert. "What's going on? Hey, Hilbert, get up. Tell me... why do you think I killed Hilda?"
But he didn't respond. His vision cleared further but he hardly recognized the body he saw. The power of truth, once Reshiram's, then Hilbert's, and now his, awakened in his mind. With that, N saw what was going on: the destruction both had caused in their battle, the theft of power from the legendary dragons, the fact that Hilbert was his brother, how savagely he had killed his brother, how he had killed Hilda in a moment of inattentiveness, the corruption of his own ideals… one of his arms had black scales, and the other had white, permanent proof of lives he had taken.
"No, no..." N trembled and closed his eyes, but that did not block out the truth. Then he screamed in a voice that wasn't entirely human. Transforming back into a dragon with features of both Zekrom and Reshiram in a tint of green like his hair, N lashed out against his pain. In that moment, the entire region of Unova and many lands around it were devastated.
But madness had a grip on N and wouldn't let go with just that.
"N!"
That voice broke through to N's mind, finally calming him down. That voice was reassurance that things would be okay, that this moment was only a terrible obstacle on the path to a perfect world. This had to be happening for good reasons, N thought. He wasn't evil; he wasn't corrupted. He just couldn't see things clearly. But the one who called him could.
N descended as a dragon and landed by Ghetsis on top of the remains of the castle. And for once, Ghetsis was smiling for him. "Calm down," he said, although he still didn't touch him. "You've done well, N. I'm proud of you."
"Ghetsis," N said, then burst into tears. He lowered his head, not feeling worthy of the praise. And yet, he felt a burst of happiness on hearing it. He had finally done something worthy of Ghetsis's expectations of him. What it was, he wasn't sure as he had caused so much destruction and pain and death. "I'm not evil?"
"No, you're not," he said. "You're just not used to this power and you still need to learn to control it. But now there is no one who can defy your dreams."
"I don't know, I could hardly think until you called my name. And what I'm seeing now is so terrible, I can't…" he cried out again. There was too much pain in his heart and he saw no way he'd be able to ignore this.
"But that's what I'm here to help you with," Gehtsis said reassuringly. "You leave the planning and thinking to me. We'll turn this world into what it's supposed to be."
Leave the thinking to him. If he didn't have to think, then he didn't have to remember. That sounded like a good idea to N. But there was a problem in that even combined, Reshiram and Zekrom were still not whole. This led N's power to continue to destabilize as time went on, making it dangerous for anyone to stay too close. Especially when N began losing himself to his emotions. The obvious solution to that was to complete that ancient power by finding Kyurem, and stealing the power from him as well.
May 4
Dragonspiral Tower
When Hilbert's mind cleared, he found that the mist had started to clear too. Hilda was bringing him up the final set of stairs, where N was waiting. And where he would attack without realizing it, setting them down that terrible road. "Wait a minute," he said, stopping and trying not to lose his balance on the stairs.
"Oh, you finally out off dream land?" Hilda asked teasingly.
"We can't go up there, not without being careful," he said, looking up. "I know what happened in Kyurem's history, listen." He tried to tell it quickly, but they had to know how things were going to happen.
"You stole power from my siblings?" Kyurem asked after he was done, watching him intently.
"It didn't happen consciously," Hilbert said. "We both were angry and the power activated on its own… no, that's not it," he snapped his fingers. "Back when Dr. Umber had me, he intentionally goaded me until I lost my temper and a crest like that appeared and turned red. The only reason it didn't get Genesect was because Umber separated us quickly once it started to appear. We don't have control of it. But, that seems to be what this whole plan is about." He looked up the stairs.
"To mold your lives so that both of you would aim to become the heroes and call on Reshiram and Zekrom, only to steal their immortality from them," Hilda said. "That's pretty crazy, but I can see how it fits."
"And N doesn't have control over what happens next either," Hilbert said. "He just reacted to us coming up there. So we need to get in there without startling him."
"We have to be in there for the summoning to work," Kyurem said.
"It's already changed," Rune said, flying ahead of them. "N listened to us this time; you said he hadn't. I see him and... what's that?" He darted up, then turned back to them. "Come up here."
"What's going on?" Hilda asked as they came up the last of the steps to the top of the tower.
They were greeted by an immense flash of light...
