Pokemon Rejuvenation: Rise from the Ashes

by Rider of Black 00

A young man takes on the Aevium League to escape from the tragic past that haunts him to this very day. Join him as he forms unlikely friendships with Aevium's most noteworthy citizens, as they work together to save their home from the dark forces that follow closely behind them.

47. Chapter 47

Yagumi Kuzuki: I assume they're talking about no romance involving the player character? Because that lines up with what I saw in a FAQ post they made a few months ago. Either way, the fanfic will proceed as it has been since I started writing it.

Welcome everyone, to the next chapter of Rise from the Ashes. In this chapter, we should be able to finish off the remainder of Episode 12 in this chapter, which means you get a nice gym battle to enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon Rejuvenation, nor do I own Pokémon Uranium. They are the property of their respective creators.

Outside of Sheridan Village: 30 years ago

The glowing light that enveloped the duo had died down, with both of them eyeing up the surrounding area as they rubbed their eyes to see if the sight before them was genuine. "Ah…we're back! I can't believe we're back; I'm so happy to see the color green again!" Melia called out in joy, her luscious blonde hair blowing gracefully in the cool wind.

"As am I, Melia. It's a relief that the both of us were able to make it back to our own time period, and it's all thanks to you!" Julius shot her a smile.

"Ahahahahaha…it wasn't all my doing. Remember, I did have help from Venam when I needed her the most." The blonde chuckled lightly, before her tone grew more serious. "But we can't celebrate just yet; as we don't know how far behind in time we've been placed, we'll need to make our way to Vivian's place as quickly as we can. If we don't stop ourselves from interrupting the ritual, then we'll be forced to go through this entire ordeal all over again. I-I can't say that I like the idea of sacrificing someone to save ourselves, but we don't have a choice."

"I don't like it either, but if it's really for the greater good, then I suppose we'll have to let it happen. We will make this right, Melia. Even if it means doing something really terrible…" The young teen pledged, with Melia shooting a determined smile at him as the duo entered the village. they quickly made their way to the wooden bridge that lead to the back of the village when the blonde halted Julius in his spot, gesturing at him to crouch down beside her as they watched the scene before them…where they saw their past incarnations talking to each other and Aelita. "I-I know this was to be expected, but I still didn't expect to see my past self talking to your past self."

"Once you get a bit more experience with time travel, you'll get used to it." Melia whispered back to him, causing the young teen to raise an eyebrow at her. Has she seen her own past incarnation carrying about her business, unaware of her future self watching her? Perhaps Melia simply wanted to relive her dearest childhood memories, alongside Venam and Ren before Team Xen ruined it for her. Soon enough, the trio talking before them were done, with Aelita making her way to Vivian's house, leaving the two Melia's and Julius' on their own.

"There we go, now that we're alone I can get their attention, so they don't run off. And though I'm gonna hate myself, a pebble to the head is what the situation calls for!" Melia began, reaching for a pebble beside her feet only for Julius to gently grab her wrist. "Hmm? What's the matter?"

"The pebble won't work. Remember when you had a pebble thrown at you before we stopped the ritual? It didn't stop you then, just like how it wouldn't stop you now." He told her, the blonde recalling the memory as she slapped her forehead.

"Argh, of course! How could I have forgotten about that?! The plan didn't work back then because it was already attempted once, and I was the one who threw it!" The blonde scolded herself, before a new plan quickly formed in her mind. "You know what? The best plan we have right now is to catch them by surprise and merge with them, sometimes you gotta deal with things head on, literally."

"Agreed, with the element of surprise by our side, our wills should be able to overpower them easily." The young teen agreed, the duo getting themselves ready as they ran at their past incarnations, who promptly turned around and were surprised at what they're witnessing. Before either of them could speak, the duo were tackled by their future selves as a wondrous light shone throughout the area. A few seconds later, the light died down as the future duo were on the ground, slowly getting up as they rested their aching heads in their hands.

"A-Are you good…? Do you remember anything?" Melia inquired, with Julius rubbing his head.

"Y-Yeah…my head hurts like hell though. Hopefully we don't have to do this again." Julius replied with a wince, as Melia let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, thank goodness…" She replied, turning to face Vivian's house. "Let's go Julius, we have some work to do!"

Nodding in confirmation, the young teen followed the blonde towards the large house, stepping inside and saw Cella, Anju and Aelita discussing something among themselves, the pair quietly slipping into the group as they heard what they were talking about. As they had expected, it was the exact same thing they had talked about before, however Melia decided that she will take charge at this crucial point in time

"Should we be following the group like this?" Melia inquired, causing Cella to raise an eyebrow at her.

"Huh? What do you mean, of course we have to!" The black-haired woman replied.

"Yeah Melia, what's your deal—" Aelita began, only to get taken aback by the blonde's gorgeous hair. "Y-Your hair! How did it grow so much within a short amount of time?!"

"That's not important now. What's important is Vivian's behavior. I know this is going to sound ridiculous, but I need you all to listen for just a minute." The blonde began, taking in a deep breath to prepare herself. "Julius and I have been through all of this already. We were able to save Vivian, but it came with a price. Due to our act of heroism, our future was destroyed and replaced with a doomed timeline. Because of many people I hold dear to me, we were able to make it back here in one piece! But it isn't over for us yet…we must let Vivian do what she wants."

"So what you're saying is the world would be better off if Vivian killed herself. Is that it?!" Cella shot back, her eyes filled with a gripping sense of pain.

"I know it sounds absolutely terrible when worded like that, but it's the truth. For the sake of the future, we must—" Julius began.

"Save it! You might not care about Vivian, but I do! I refuse to humor your stories about time travel. If you don't want to help, fine, but don't bring me down with you!" The black-haired woman shouted at them, gesturing at Anju to follow her down the stairs with Aelita choosing to stay behind.

"I-Is it true, you two? You aren't lying to me, right?" The magenta-haired girl inquired.

"Yeah…I may even have proof of our adventures on my body somewhere…" The young teen replied, lifting his shirt slightly, only to wince at the sight. There was proof alright; a hideous, bruised scar that was no doubt a mark left behind by Yveltal when he took the attack for Melia. Aelita and Melia took a quick look at the scar and winced in sympathy as Julius pulled his shirt back down.

"Julius isn't the only one with proof of our claims; as you pointed out, my hair had grown significantly in length. The two of us have been through too much to simply lie to you. I know Vivian means so much to you, given that she's the original leader of your home, but there's so much at stake here; if she doesn't do this then it's all over." Melia pleaded her case, with Aelita mulling it over before coming to a conclusion.

"I-I believe you Melia, and you Julius. If this has to be done, then I'll help you in any way I can." Aelita pledged.

"Thank you Aelita, thank you so very much…" The blonde smiled at her, turning to face the staircase. "I don't think Cella is capable of stopping Vivian from doing what she wants, I'm more concerned about Ang—Anju. She's definitely strong enough to stop her."

"As Angie was an avid user of Ice-type Pokémon, it's safe to assume Anju is an Ice-type trainer as well. Therefore, we'll need to use Pokémon that are strong against Ice-types." Julius told them, a confident smile forming on Aelita's face.

"Leave her to me then, my Fighting-type Pokémon will make quick work of her!" The magenta-hair girl proclaimed. "You two do whatever you need to do."

"We will, now let's get going!" Melia rallied the duo, as they quickly ran down the stairs and through the hidden corridor. Soon enough, they saw Anju and her Regice engaging in battle against Vivian's Regirock, the blue haired woman raising an eyebrow at their presence.

"Hmmm? What are you three doing here? What's the meaning of this?!" She asked them firmly.

"I'm sorry, but whether or not you believe us or not…the reality is that this needs to happen." Melia told her, a small scowl forming on Anju's face as Aelita took a couple steps closer.

"You two go on ahead, I'll deal with her!" She told them, the duo giving her a quick nod as they quickly made their way to the Spring of Purification. Upon arriving there, they saw Vivian in the midst of preparing the ritual as the duo approached the purple-haired woman.

"Why…Why do you two persist so much? Have you not done enough?" Vivian asked them

"You have it all wrong, Vivian. We're here to help you." Melia told her, catching the woman off-guard.

"Help me…? Why would you ever want to do that?" The older woman inquired.

"This may sound crazy, but we've experienced what you're trying to protect us from. Well the aftermath of it." Julius explained, the purple-haired woman raising an eyebrow at him.

"What are you going on about?" Vivian asked another question, gazing at the duo as if they had lost their minds.

"Julius and I both stopped you from doing this in one timeline, but that caused a domino effect which led to a doomed world where there was no hope left. If it weren't for the people of that time, we wouldn't be here right now." The blonde told her, with the purple-haired woman taking it in slowly as she came to a realization.

"I see…that means you've seen it, right? You've seen what's about to transpire?" She replied, catching the blonde off-guard.

"Y-You believe us?!" Melia exclaimed in surprise.

"I've hinted this to Julius the other night, but I already know that you and your friends are from a different time. I was blessed with the power to feel everything the Earth does; I can feel the life force of every being that exists in this world. I felt when you and your friends suddenly appeared near Kugearen City and then Route 4 soon after." Vivian explained to her, the duo taking the time to digest the fact that their cover had been blown long ago.

"I guess you're really good at pretending." Julius commented, with Vivian letting out a light chuckle.

"Hahaha…that's how I got through most of my life, but no longer. Time is running out; I have to do this now. If you truly wish to join me, you may, but you must not disturb me while in the process. Should the ritual be interrupted in any way, it could lead to some interesting…side effects." The older woman told them, entering the spring and made her way through it as the duo shot an uneasy glance at each other.

"I truly hope this is the right thing to do." Melia said solemnly.

"I hope so too, Melia." The young teen replied, the duo making their way through the spring and into the chamber in the back room, where they were greeted with a large Garufan symbol on the pitch-black floor of the chamber. "Yeah, that's a Garufan symbol on the ground, alright."

"I'm surprised you know about it, young man." Vivian chimed in, approaching an open book that rested on a stone altar.

"I met someone who's quite knowledgeable in that area…" Julius chimed in, as Melia's gaze was fixated on the book.

"I've heard that a boy named Kanon gave you that book." The blonde commented.

"Indeed, Kanon is an old friend of mine. He's a loyal servant of the Protectors of Aevium and Lady Nymiera. I feel bad to have had to conspire with him in private; I'm sure he didn't appreciate helping me with something this…grotesque. Nevertheless, I have to do this." The purple-haired woman explained, lighting up all the candles in the room while talking.

"Do you, though? Are you sure this is the only way to save the world?" Melia inquired out of curiosity, and a small sliver of hope that Vivian can be saved alongside the world.

"I've researched alternate ways for months, but it isn't possible. I wish it didn't have to be this way, but sometimes life isn't so kind to us. I learned that the hard way." Vivian replied, as she lit up the final candle. "There! That's the preparations done. The ceremony can begin now."

Stepping back to give the woman her privacy, Melia and Julius watched from the sidelines as Vivian placed her hand over the book, the latter uttering a chant to herself as she soon began to glow a lustrous gold. "To prevent the world's devastation, I give to you, oh Earth, my body. My soul, my entire person. Everything I am, to the soil. For my loved ones are precious and forever perfect in my eyes. But they tread the path of adversity and tribulation. So thus, I leave them with this spell of protection. To guard them from the harsh ways of humanity."

It was then that the glow had completely overtaken Vivian's body, which was slowly rising up in the air as the room was completely enveloped by the glow, only for it to be abruptly halted all of a sudden, looks of confusion appearing on the trio's faces. "Wh-What? What's happening?" She inquired, only to get knocked down to the ground as a cry of pain escaped her mouth.

"Vivian!" Melia called out in concern, as she and Julius quickly ran up to her. "Vivian, what happened?!"

"Get out of the way!" A voice demanded, the two teens stepping aside as Cella quickly ran up to her. "Vivian, please speak to me! Don't leave me!"

"Ungh…" The purple-haired woman groaned in pain, as both Aelita and Anju joined the scene, the black-haired woman shooting a glare at the duo.

"You both killed Vivian…I'll never forgive you for this!" Cella shot at them, with Melia raising her hands in defense.

"Y-You don't understand, we had nothing to do with what just happened. There was this earthquake and then—" She began, only for a twisted voice to laugh at them from out of nowhere.

'T-That voice! I-It can only be…' Julius thought to himself, as the voice began to speak to the heroes.

"I've been looking for you for a very long time, Vivian. Using Garufan magic to hide yourself from my radar, I must say I'm very impressed. To think that following these pesky trainers from another time would lead me right to you." The voice spoke smugly, as the familiar form of Indriad's twisted assistant, Gardevoir appeared before them. "It was a stroke of genius for sure."

"I should've known you would pull a stunt like this, Gardevoir." Julius hissed at her, the wicked Pokémon turning to face him.

"Ah, you again. It's been a while since you last meddled in my affairs. I'd suggest chatting over a cup of tea, but I'm not one for tea." She smirked back at him, with Melia stepping back in complete bafflement.

"W-Who on earth are you?!" She demanded, with Gardevoir letting out an eerie chuckle.

"I am Gardevoir, Master Indriad's loyal servant. As for why I did this to Vivian, well she tried to stop something that was destined to happen. If I allowed her to continue, this land would be saved from Master Indriad's gift to humanity." She explained.

"Indriad's…gift to humanity?" Cella inquired.

"Correct. I'm sure she told you all her premonition? That in fact, was no false premonition. It is an event that has already been set in motion." The twisted Embrace Pokémon answered, as both Cella and Anju came to a startling revelation.

"S-So that means Vivian was right? That means her sacrifice was…" Anju began.

"In vain." Gardevoir interrupted her. "Don't you all see? It's pointless to go against what's been set in stone before you all were even born. You all haven't even begun to fathom what's in store. But just like my master, I am a generous being. Indriad may have a gift for humanity, but I've left a small gift for you all as well! You see, Vivian doesn't have to die all alone…you can all die right with her! Oh and Julius…give my regards to Anathea when you meet her in hell!"

"Me…Me curse…you…" A voice whispered, catching Gardevoir off-guard as she looked around for the source. All of a sudden, a familiar looking Mimikyu leapt out from the shadows and attacked the wicked Pokémon, slowly beginning the process to remove it's cloak as Melia called out for everyone to look away for a few moments. But Gardevoir hadn't caught onto that simple fact, as she soon made a most grievous mistake; never look under the disguise of a Mimikyu. With a loud cry of pain, the wicked Pokémon was soon petrified in place, with Mimikyu putting it's disguise back on as it chirped at the heroes, letting them know that the coast was clear.

"Y-You saved us, saved me again?" Melia spoke softly, with Mimikyu slowly approaching her and nuzzled her leg.

"Y-You're all on borrowed time…this set back means nothing…Julius, I swear I will destroy you and your friends!" Gardevoir weakly hissed at him.

"Pffft, like I'm scared of you. If anything, I'm the one who will destroy YOU for all that you've done!" Julius retorted back at her.

"Master Indriad will succeed with his plans, and I want you all to be alive to see it. D-Do you understand me? I am sparing you…for now. Until next time, be on your guard!" She hissed at the group, retreating from the area as Cella gazed at the empty space where her enemy once stood.

"That monster…Vivian did all of this and now she'd died for nothing…" She sighed sadly, another groan escaping from Vivian as her eyes slowly opened. "Vivian! Thank goodness you're okay!"

"Heheh…if only that were the case. That wretched Pokémon thought she stopped me, but the spell was successful…she gave me too much time. I bet she was laughing while she watched, but now I'm the last one laughing…hahahahahahaha…" Vivian laughed weakly.

"Does this mean you're…" Cella began weakly, a few tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Yes, my time to leave this world approaches. I shall leave successful, however…the ritual was interrupted. What kind of consequences will arise because of that? I have an idea…"

"Consequences?" Anju inquired.

"You should know more than anyone Anju…Garufan magic has the tendency to be unforgiving. Speaking of which…Cella, make me a promise…Never let me do Garufan magic ever again. Don't even let me think about it." The purple-haired woman requested.

"I-I promise, Vivian! I…I promise." The black-haired woman pledged, with Vivian shooting a weak smile at her.

"Good…oh, and Cella? Thanks for being there for me." She replied, her body glowing a bright white as it soon faded from view, leaving nothing behind in its place.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't help you more…" Cella spoke softly to the spot Vivian once lay.

"There was nothing to be done. Vivian was determined to do this for a long time, it seems." Anju told her.

"I guess that makes me the last one in Sheridan Village, I can't just leave this place. there's just too much for me to leave behind if I don't stay." The black-haired woman commented.

"Then stay, this place is your home too."

"Yeah, you're right. I think—" Cella began, only for a mysterious pillar of light to catch the group off-guard, causing them to step back in shock. But as soon as it appeared, the light disappeared, leaving behind what looked like a young child, swaddled in a white blanket with familiar lilac-hair.

"Uhhh…what just happened?" Aelita inquired. "Who is this?"

"V-Vivian…?" Anju inquired, stepping closer to the child.

"That's not my name!" The child frowned at the blue-haired woman.

"Then what is your name, sweetheart?" Cella inquired gently.

"My n-name? My name is…My name is Taelia!" The child chimed happily, with Aelita stepping back in surprise.

"T-Taelia?!" She exclaimed.

"So, you're not Vivian, your name is Taelia?" Anju double-checked, the young child nodding in confirmation. "I think I'm beginning to understand now; this is the consequence of Vivian's ritual. Garufa magic is something that should not be toyed with. It's incredibly unstable and unpredictable. There is almost always a consequence for taking part in one of its rituals. I suppose it's something similar to the concept of equivalent exchange."

"Equivalent exchange?" The black-haired woman asked.

"It's a very risky process, but the concept is simple. You cannot gain something without giving something back in return of equal value. Vivian gave up her life to protect the lives of countless others. But her ritual was interrupted and resulted with this girl. My guess is that this girl, Taelia, is the reincarnation of Vivian." The blue-haired woman told everyone, who were stunned by this revelation.

"Vivian's reincarnation?! T-This all seems so unbelievable, but the proof is right there…" Julius mused to himself.

"Correct, but that's not all. I'd imagine that although Vivian was successful in her endeavors to create a protection spell…it will not be as strong as it could have been, due to the interruption." Anju continued from where she left off.

"Which means whatever catastrophe she predicted will still happen." Cella chimed in, the blue-haired woman tilting her hand slightly.

"It'll still happen, yes, but not to the extent that she feared would happen. The spell should've weakened it greatly. Unfortunately, there isn't much we can do about it, but I do have an idea." Anju began, closing her eyes as she formed what looked like a small capsule in her hands, before gifting it to Cella. "Here, take this. This capsule contains a portion of my power inside of it. When this jewel is smashed, its power will be released. When that happens, it will encase you in ice for 24 hours. When it becomes clear that this event is taking place, use this to protect yourself and Taelia."

"I-I see…Thank you, Anju." Cella accepted the gift. "There's actually something I want to do. Something for Vivian. Will you all help me?"

"Of course we will, Cella. Anything for Vivian!" Melia smiled at her, with the black-haired woman gesturing at the group to follow her. Soon enough, they arrived at what looked like a small shrine at the back of the village, where a shiny gold-colored bell rested. "There's a small tradition we used to do in Sheridan Village a long time ago. When someone in the village has died and passed on, we would ring the bell for safe passage to the heavens above. It's only right to revive this tradition with Vivian's passing."

With a quick flick of the wrist, Cella rang the bell, a soothing melody echoing through the area. However, she opted to ring the bell once more, to grant her fiancée safe passage as well. "Goodbye, Vivian. One day I will make this place the community you always wanted it to be." She spoke her goodbyes, vowing to make her friend's dream a reality.

"Vivian's sacrifice will not be in vain, Cella. I will make sure her name is known throughout the ages." Anju pledged, the black-haired woman nodding as she turned to face the other three.

"So…will you all be returning to your time then?" She asked them.

"Ah, so you believe we're from a different time then?" Melia chimed in.

"Yes, there's no doubt about that in my mind anymore. For the record, I no longer hold a grudge against any of you, anymore. Truth be told, I don't know what I'm feeling right now, but…" The older woman began.

"I'm sorry, Cella." The blonde apologized to her, but she brushed them off.

"No, it's really okay. Vivian isn't truly gone, is she? She's dormant within the soul of Taelia, and I will protect her this time. I will not fail, not again." Cella told them, shooting a small smile at Taelia.

"We believe in you, Cella! I know you're going to do just fine." Aelita offered her support.

"We're going to go back home now, I think all of us could use some rest after what we've been through. Thank you all for visiting, Anju, Aelita, Melia and Julius!" The black-haired woman thanked them, as she and Taelia made their way to the former's home with Anju bowing respectfully to the trio.

"My time here has also come to an end. Despite everything, I will remain positive and remember this day in a good light. Best wishes to you all, may our paths cross again!" Anju expressed her farewells, the blue-haired woman making her leave as the trio watched her go.

"Oh, our paths will cross again, but the less said about that, the better." Julius commented to himself.

"You know…I just had a huge realization back then, but it's best if I tell you all later. What I want to know is what you two went through; what on earth happened that caused you two to look…so dead inside?"

"Well truth be told; we are a little dead inside. But I think we should check up on Erin, after all I doubt she would want to be left out of this conversation. She's been in bed this whole time, hasn't she? It's been weeks since we last saw her." Melia chimed in.

"For you two, maybe, but Erin has only been sleeping for around an hour." The magenta-haired girl replied, causing the blonde to chuckle lightly.

"Heheh, I guess you're right. I lost track of time. Ah well, it could've been worse. You could explode into a million pieces and disappear into thin air, just like last time." She replied, causing Aelita to raise her eyebrow in curiosity as the trio made their way back to the place the four of them were sharing for the time.

0000

"So let me get this straight…because Melia and Julius interrupted the ritual initially, they were sent to a doomed timeline and worked alongside the remaining people to get back to this time to prevent the ritual from being interrupted in the first place. Have I got it all correct?" Erin inquired, a look of surprise on her face as Melia nodded in confirmation.

"Yes, and now Vivian is gone, unfortunately." The blonde replied.

"So you really did choose the million, huh?" The white-haired girl mused to herself. "Based on the information I was given, the sudden growth of Melia's hair, and that nasty scar Julius picked up, it seems you're both telling the truth. I didn't believe time travel was possible until recently but look where we are. There are tons of things in this world that I don't understand, and that's perfectly fine with me."

"Didn't you say you had something else to show us?" Aelita asked Melia, with the latter raising her arms in the air to stretch them.

"Yeah, I did say that. But let's save it for later. We should return to the Rose Theatre now; our work here is done." The blonde replied.

"Makes sense, we had to go back eventually. Let's get out of here." Erin called out, the group of four packing up their things and tidied up the place before making their leave and exited the house. Upon exiting the village, they saw Anju packing up the last of her things onto what looked like her own yacht.

"So you're really leaving?" Melia asked the older woman.

"Unfortunately, I must. I know I don't look like it, but I have a family to look after. My son doesn't like it when I'm gone for too long, he starts to cry and…I think you get the picture. Babies will be the end of me one day, I swear." Anju replied, a small sigh escaping from her mouth.

"Have fun with that, I guess." Erin chimed in casually.

"Ah, I will. Plus, someone has to inform Nymiera on what happened here. And on what's going to happen…who knows, you may meet her one day. But until then, I must bid you all adieu." The blue-haired woman waved at them, about to step onto the yacht, only for a flash of light to shine throughout the area. The group of five turned around and saw what looked like a small seed land into the dirt before the entrance to the village, sprouting into a small tree with luscious pink leaves. "Hah…Vivian, you can be quite the funny person sometimes. Looks like you'll finally get your wish after all."

With a final bow, the older woman hopped onto the yacht, the group of four watching it slowly drive away from the dock before turning to face the small tree. "Hey Julius, what do you think she meant by Vivian getting her wish?" Melia asked him.

"If I would have to guess, I would say that Vivian wanted Sheridan Village to prosper for ages to come, with the tree marking a new beginning of sorts." Julius proposed his theory to her.

"Who knows what's even going on at this point? Let's just go home already, yeah?" Aelita suggested, only for the familiar cry of Mimikyu to call out to them, the group watching as the small Fairy-type Pokémon approached Melia.

"Mimikyu!" The blonde smiled at the Pokémon, crouching down to pet its head. "Poor thing…you aren't supposed to be here right now. Will you be alright in the wild all by yourself?"

"Honestly Melia, can't you take a hint? It wants to come with you, just catch it already!" Erin called out to her, with Melia gazing at the Mimikyu intently.

"Is that what you truly want, to come join me in my adventures?" She asked it, with Mimikyu jumping up and down in joy at the proposal. "Then it's settled, you're coming with me, my friend!"

With a quick throw of her ball, Melia throw it at the Mimikyu, who was more than eager to tap on the button and enter the ball, the device wiggling for a few seconds before the light died down, indicating a successful capture. Picking up the Pokéball, the blonde shot a small smile at it before tucking it into her pocket.

"Nothing feels as great as befriending a new Pokémon, does it?" Julius chimed in, with Melia giving him a quick nod.

"I want to visit Spacea and Tiempa one last time, alongside you of course. Those two put us through hell and I want answers." The blonde replied.

"Got it, we'll be waiting for you in the past. Just don't take too long." Erin agreed, as she and Aelita began the trek to their destination, as Melia and Julius went their own way to confront the duo over what they went through.

Amberette Town: Spacea and Tiempa's residence

Melia slammed the door open in a fit of rage, the blonde entering the building quickly with Julius following behind her, the blonde ready to give the two a tongue-lashing of a lifetime. "You can stop hiding now, I'm back from Sheridan!" Melia called out with Spacea and Tiempa arriving on cue to welcome the duo.

"Ah, Welcome ba—" Tiempa began.

"Yeah, no, shut up. I'm talking now." The blonde silenced her, impressing the young teen with how she was taking charge of this situation, her words catching the two deities off-guard. "Do you know the absolute hell you put Julius and I through?! Just to prove a point? To teach me a damn lesson?!"

"Of course, we have, we watched the whole thing after all." Tiempa replied casually, as if the pain the duo went through was of no concern.

"I'm sure you did, Tiempa. I'm very happy you two had front row tickets. Listen, I didn't come to chat for long, I just came by to give you two a message." The blonde continued.

"Oh, and what would this message be?" Spacea inquired.

"If you ever put me and Julius in that sort of danger ever again, I swear to it that I will deal with you both personally. I will not hesitate to cut you down. I don't care what sort of power you two claim to have. I don't care about what higher power told you to do this, but don't fuck with me like that again!" Melia threatened the duo, catching them by surprise as she turned to face Julius. "Shall we leave?"

"Y-Yes my lady." Julius nodding in confirmation, the duo making their way out the building, only for Tiempa to call out to them.

"W-Wait! While what we did wouldn't be justifiable by human standards, without us, you never would have awakened the power that remained dormant within you. So we do not regret what we've done, sacrifices must be made." She told them, hoping her actions would've been excused.

"Yeah, yeah, sacrifices…next time you do something so drastic, I'll have to put aside my differences to make sacrifices myself. Two to be exact, it's for the greater good after all." Melia retorted back, gesturing Julius to follow her out, the young teen shooting a glare at the duo before they promptly left the building and began the trek to the Timesplicer stone. Upon arriving at the small cave, Melia took a deep breath to settle her nerves as a myriad of thoughts raced through Julius' mind.

"I don't mean to sound childish, but what you did back there was one of the most badass things I have ever seen. To openly chew out two deities and threaten to cut them down takes immense courage; I don't think I could've done that at all." He gushed her up, looking at her in awe.

"It was nothing; I got so tired of people trying to use me for their selfish desires. I thought I could trust those two, but now that I look at it, they're just as bad as Team Xen. They used a moment where I was scared and vulnerable for the sake of having me join their group, heck they do that to everyone in the group. That's what Crescent tried to tell me the day I arrived. They manipulate you at your lowest point, when you have no other option but to say yes. But I didn't listen to her, and now I paid the price. Now that I think about it, Crescent was the only one who truly looked out for me back then. Maybe I should get into contact with her again somehow." Melia mused to herself, letting out a sad sigh as Julius wished to help her.

"Melia, is there anything I can do to cheer you up? I'm willing to do anything." He offered with a smile on his face, the blonde shooting him a casual smirk as she pushed him up against the wall, before embracing him tightly and gave him a most passionate kiss. Julius was a little surprised by this but caved into her desires and made out with her, his arms embracing her as well. The duo continued kissing each other passionately, until Melia broke off the kiss half a minute later to quickly catch her breath.

"Phew…I really needed that. Now let's head home already, we shouldn't keep Erin and Aelita waiting." She smiled at her lover, the duo approaching the Timesplicer stone and touched it as they were soon taken back to their time.

Rose Theatre

The duo soon found themselves back inside the luxurious Rose Theatre, with Julius taking in a deep breath to settle his nerves; oh, how he missed the fresh air of the present day. They soon exited the small room and found Aelita and Erin relaxing in the corridor, the duo shooting them a friendly smile.

"Ah, you're back quicker than I expected." Aelita told them, stretching her arms briefly. "Eh, it doesn't concern me. I'm just glad that we're back home!"

"So you four made it back safe and sound?" Souta called out from across the hallway, approaching the group of four as they turned to face him. "So Aelita, did you learn what you wanted to?"

"Uh, kinda? I need to talk to the Eldest immediately." The magenta-haired girl replied.

"In that case, she's in her room. It's the one right next to Erin's." The elderly gentleman informed her.

"Great! I think it'll be best for everyone else to come, I'll meet you there!" She proclaimed, quickly making her way to her destination as the other's watched her go in slight amusement.

"Huh, never thought I'd see the day where she's this excited over something." Erin chuckled, shooting a glance at Melia. "Is this the Aelita you and Julius are familiar with?"

"Yes, this is most definitely her. Perhaps the curse on her is going away?" The blonde suggested, with Souta raising a hand to his chin.

"No, that's not it. Regardless, we should go follow Aelita since she insists on us being there." He told them, the group of four quickly making their to their destination, only for the elderly man's eyes to widen at the sight of Melia's hair. "Y-You…"

"Hmmm? Is something the matter?" Melia inquired.

"N-Nothing, let's proceed." He replied, the group continuing their trek as his comment put Julius a little on edge. Why express surprise over it, if it meant nothing to him? Truth be told, it wasn't that important right now so he could put that question on hold for now. "Hey Julius, what happened to you all in the past?"

"…It's a long story sir, one I'm not ready to tell now." The young teen answered, the group making their way into the room where they saw Aelita conversing with the Eldest.

"Ah, Aelita, you've returned! Did you learn anything?" The Eldest inquired, a small smile on her face.

"Well I learned something. Not exactly what I wanted, but something nonetheless! I learned the origins of my mother!" Aelita chimed in, with Erin, Melia and Julius raising an eyebrow at her comment. "It all dawned on me the moment that little girl, Taelia, said her name. Taelia was my mother's name!"

"So that little girl was your mother when she was young?" Erin double-checked, the magenta-haired girl nodding in confirmation.

"She must've been; her name was Taelia and she was born in Sheridan. Isn't that right, Eldest? Or should I say…Cella?" She continued, the Eldest stepping back a little in surprise over Aelita's revelation.

"Wh-What? The Eldest was Cella all along?!" Melia exclaimed in surprise.

"Well now that I look at things differently…she does bear several similarities to the Cella we knew back then." Julius commented, having connected the pieces in his head.

"Hoohoo, it's been a long time since I was called that." The Eldest, or Cella as they now know chuckled lightly. "Yes, I am the very same Cella you met in Sheridan. I continued to live in Sheridan until the calamity happened. Taelia and I got out safe, and we rebuilt Sheridan together with Taelia's soon to be husband, Keta, but he was known as Kenneth back then.

"Kenneth…? Of course! I knew he looked familiar." The young teen exclaimed, as all eyes were soon set on him. "A-Ah, my apologies. Please continue…"

"Hahaha, I suppose the jig is up, eh Cella?" Souta commented.

"I suppose it is, Souta." Cella replied, the elderly woman soon noticing that his face was a little paler than before. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah…but I feel that time is running out." He replied.

"You're running out of time? What do you mean by that?" Erin asked, only for the old man to seemingly brush it aside.

"It would take too long to explain, I must ask Julius a favor." Souta told her, attracting the young teen's attention. "There is a room adjacent to the one that has the Timesplicer stone in it. I have unlocked the doors to the closet in that room. I'd like you to take a quick look, everything will make sense once you do. After that, meet me by the cliffside and we'll settle things there."

"S-Souta! A-Are you…" The elderly woman began.

"I know, Cella. I know." He said back, slowly making his way out as a feeling of unease welled up within the heroes.

"Something's wrong with him, and I intend to find out what." Erin stated quickly, making her way out of the room.

"It would be unwise to bother Souta at this time. He has…a lot going on…" Cella tried speaking to Erin, but the latter had already left the room before she could finish.

"W-What was that abo—are you crying?" Aelita inquired, noticing a few tears fall down the Eldest's cheeks.

"I-It's nothing…I'd like to be alone for a little while, though." She requested, the remaining trio accepting her request as they quickly made their way out of the room.

"I'm not so sure what that was about, but I think we should give her some space to cope with whatever's troubling her." Melia suggested.

"Agreed; if any of you two need me, I'll be searching that closet for whatever Souta wanted me to pick up." Julius informed the duo.

"Fine by me…I'll be taking a nice rest; I think I've more than earned it." The blonde smiled back, with the young teen making his way through the hallways once more and towards the closet the elderly man has mentioned. Upon entering the small room, Julius was taken aback by the sight of two small machines; one to heal his Pokémon and the other one was one of those gym panels that Jan had showed him right at the start of his Aevium League challenge. Was Souta a gym leader this entire time? And if so, what type was he proficient in? Either way, Julius saw this as an opportunity to heal up his Pokémon and prepare for what will undoubtedly be a hard battle ahead of him.

0000

"Ah, you're here. I take it you understand the situation now?" Souta chimed in, noticing that Julius was approaching him.

"I do now. I'm not sure how you were able to become a gym leader without Jan's approval, but if it says so in the logbook, then it must be genuine." Julius chimed in, recalling Jan's odd reaction to Souta's sudden application; could Amanda have signed him up without Jan realizing it? Or was there more to it than meets the eye? The fact that he was the Flying-type substitute was a bonus considering how the current leader was unable to battle for…obvious reasons.

"Besides being a spiritual healer, I took up battling to get through some tough times. It seems as though young Talon isn't prepared for battle at the moment, but I guess that means I have to fill in for him. Let us do this quickly then." The elderly man continued, raising his staff in the air as the duo were suddenly flung up into the sky, causing Julius to cry out in surprise. Once the ascension was done, the young teen found himself on what looked like an arena made up of clouds; how it could hold his weight was a complete mystery to him.

"I-Is it safe up here?" He inquired, with Souta letting out a polite chuckle.

"Do not fret, young one. It's perfectly safe up here. This place…I guess you could say it's a frame of mind, literally…" Souta began, turning to face the young teen. "This may come to you as a surprise, but I was given the duty of healing Aelita AND making you stronger, Julius. Aelita's therapy is almost over, she requires one more piece of the puzzle to repair herself. Thus, I must turn myself to you and finish what I started. Defeat me in battle Julius or suffer the consequences!" He declared, throwing his first Pokéball and sent out a Skarmory, the metallic bird letting out a quick shriek to intimidate the young teen.

"I'll show you the real master of the skies; go, Pajay!" Julius called out, the large parrot exiting its ball and let out a large 'caw' at its foe, the war for aerial dominance about to begin. Skarmory opted to take the initiative by swooping towards the Pajay, its wings shining an illustrious silver as it crashed into the parrot, sending it flying back a couple feet. However, the Pajay was able to recover from the attack and took to the skies, a loud squawk escaping from its beak as its wings began to shine a bright red, causing the suns rays to intensify greatly, with Souta raising an eyebrow in intrigue. Now that it's attacks were powered up by the suns rays, the Pajay spread its wings and spewed a stream of superhot flames from its beak towards the Skarmory, the attack hitting it head on as it squawked in pain and crashed into the cloudy arena, unable to continue battling.

"Impressive, you seem to have a grasp on how to use the sky to your advantage…" The elderly man began, recalling his fainted Pokémon. "But I've used this field to my advantage before you were even born; allow my Unfezant to show you what I'm talking about!"

He threw his second ball to the ground, the regal bird emerging from within as it let out a high-pitched squawk at its foe before quickly taking flight. The Pajay attempted to strike it down with another high-powered Flamethrower, but its opponent was able to dodge it easily, the Unfezant's body glowing a harsh red as it tackled into the parrot, sending it hurtling down towards the arena. Just then it was able to gain a second wind, the Pajay quickly regaining control and swooped back up to confront its adversary, slashing its wings in the air to create a few blades of wind that struck Unfezant head-on, causing it to stagger in the air.

Managing to recover from the attack, the Unfezant flew up in the air and retaliated by conjuring up its own set of wind blades and flung them towards Pajay, a few of them striking its wings with its speed dropping considerably as a result. However, the Pajay had one last trick up its sleeve, its entire body glowing red as it was soon cloaked with intense flames. The Unfezant tried to avoid the attack, but a sudden gust of wind gave the parrot the edge it needed to land the attack, crashing into its foe as the duo were soon sent hurtling towards the arena, crashing into it as a few small clouds were kicked up from the impact. Once they died down, it showed that the both of them were knocked out from the last-ditch maneuver.

"Great work out there, Pajay. You've earned yourself a nice rest." Julius praised his companion, the two trainers recalling their Pokémon as the sun's rays continued to shine brightly. No doubt Souta will find a way to benefit from it now that he had his turn in the sunlight, however there was a way to get around this predicament. "Dunseraph, it's time for you to take flight once more!" He called out, the majestic snake emerging from its ball as Souta gazed at it in awe.

"To be able to lay witness to the sight of Dunsparce's legendary evolution…it is a once in a lifetime experience I never thought I'd get to see. Now to see if it is as strong as the legends say it is." The elderly man mused to himself, selecting a Pokéball and send out his Oricorio, the regal red bird flapping its wings calmly. The young teen gazed at his new opponent intensely, knowing that as it was in its Baile form, it gains the perk of boosted Fire attacks from the sun. Regardless, he had a way to deal with such a threat.

"Halt that Oricorio before it gets too strong!" Julius called out to Dunseraph, the God Snake Pokémon nodding as it shuffled its body in the air before glaring at the Dancing Pokémon, causing it to be rooted on the spot as it was temporarily paralyzed in fear. Using this brief window to secure the first hit, the Dunseraph took to the skies and charged up a ball of draconic energy, before firing the pulsating blast at its foe, sending the Oricorio skidding back a few feet as it let out a cry of surprise. Luckily, it was free from its paralysis and began to dance in a frantic, yet rhythmic method, sending a series of heat waves all over the place as the attack scorched the Dunseraphs' skin, leaving a few small burns all over its body.

But despite the pain, it wasn't ready to throw in the towel yet, the God Snake Pokémon swooping down and snatched up the Oricorio with its hands, holding it firmly so that it could fight back or escape its grasp. Flinging it up into the air, the Dunseraph began flapping its wings slowly, as the Dancing Pokémon was soon getting squeezed by the intensifying air pressure. A few seconds later, it relinquished its grip on the Oricorio, the small bird hurtling towards the arena as it crash-landed into the clouds, attempting to get back up only to fall down on its stomach.

"Oh my, this battle's bringing back some fond memories with its intensity. I'm sure my friends are enjoying themselves as well." Souta chimed in, recalling his fainted Pokémon as the sun's rays started to die down. "Ah…good. Now I can change the tides of this battle, literally. Dragonite, show them your real power!"

The Dragonite emerged from its ball and let out a quick grunt, eyeing up the Dunseraph as a slight shiver of excitement coursed through it's body. This was going to be a battle between two powerful dragons, but neither one knew who'll be left standing. The Dragonite opted to make the first move, flying into the air and used its wings to generate a powerful hurricane, the attack's power boosted by the strong wings in the air. This had caused Julius to hold onto the ground for dear life as his Dunseraph was flung back several feet by the attack, only to quickly recover and swoop towards the Dragonite, conjuring up a series of mysterious rocks using an ancient power. It flung the rocks towards its foe, but the Dragonite was able to block the attack with its arms, taking in a deep breath and retaliated by spewing draconic fire at its foe.

The God Snake Pokémon retaliated by charging up a ball of draconic energy, firing a pulsating beam towards is foe as both attacks clashed in the air, with Dunseraph soon winning out as it struck the Dragonite head on, pushing it back a few feet. But despite taking a super-effective attack, the Dragonite wasn't ready to back down yet, moaning loudly as it conjured up a sizable tidal wave that swamped the arena and caused a sizable rainstorm to form above them. With the rain at full bore, the Dragonite's antennae began crackling with electricity as it fired a wicked bolt of lightning at is foe, with Dunseraph tackling into its enemy as the attack struck it, causing both Pokémon to get electrocuted by the attack. Flapping back a few feet, the Dunseraph's body began to glow as it picked up the Dragonite and attempted to finish it off once more. However, the Dragonite was able to wiggle around a bit and loosened the grip, charging up one last draconic ball of energy in its mouth and fired it point-blank at the God Snake Pokémon. The resulting explosion sent the duo hurtling towards the ground, crashing into it as they slowly got back onto their feet. There, they gave each other a quick nod of respect before landing face first into the clouds, the both of them knocked out and unable to continue.

"Now this is what I'm looking for, a battle to get my mind off of things." Julius grinned, the duo recalling their Pokémon.

"Quite right, but with a rainstorm like this, I'll be able to regain the advantage. Swanna, time to take flight!" Souta called out, sending out his fifth Pokémon as the large swan let out a soothing squawk. The young teen began thinking to himself; with a rainstorm like this, Swanna's Water type attacks would be even stronger than before. However, it also served as a double-edged sword, one that will secure himself a victory.

"Your Swanna looks very impressive, but how can it hold up against my Yatagaryu?" He called out, throwing his Pokéball into the air as the serpentine dragon emerged from its ball, the Stormbringer Pokémon turning its head and let out a sigh of relief, thankful that its comrade was no longer suffering from starvation.

Almost immediately, the Swanna began flapping its wings furiously, conjuring up a large hurricane in the hopes of disorientating its foe. However, the Yatagaryu was able to remain calm, unfazed by the powerful storm given that it was the herald of such events. The Stormbringer Pokémon quickly charged up electricity within it's horns shooting a wicked bolt of lightning that struck the Swanna head on, causing it to squawk in pain as it was sent hurtling towards the wet clouds and crashed into them, knocked out from the super-effective attack.

"Looks like my duty's finally over, I just need you to overcome my last Pokémon…" Souta commented quietly, recalling his Swanna and sent out his Pidgeot, the head of his cane glowing as his Pidgeot was enveloped in a multi-colored orb. A few seconds later, it broke out and emitted an ear-piercing squawk as its body was empowered by Mega-Evolution.

Realizing that this was its last opponent, the Yatagaryu opted to give it is all, swooping up in the air to avoid the initial gust of winds blown its way by the Pidgeot. The Pidgeot opted to follow it in the skies, its entire body glowing a harsh red as it tackled into the Yatagaryu and sent it flying back a few feet, with the latter shooting a bolt of lightning its way in retaliation. For a few minutes, the two powerful Pokémon clashed with each other in the skies, trading blow for blow as neither one seemed to tire out.

However, it was the Pidgeot that opted to go for its secret move, its wings glowing with a golden-white light as if it was blessed by the heavens above. Diving towards the Yatagaryu, its body soon became engulfed in the heavenly fire and crashed into the serpentine dragon, causing it to cry out in pain as it was sent hurtling towards the arena. But just as it was about to crash, it managed to recover and flew back up towards the Pidgeot, it's horns crackling with electricity as it fired off an immensely powerful bolt of lightning. The attack soon struck the Pidgeot, causing it to cry out in pain as it was sent hurtling towards the arena and crashed into it, devolved out of its Mega form as it was deemed unable to continue battling.

"Outstanding…simply outstanding." Was all Souta could say, recalling his Pokémon as the Yatagaryu flew back down to Julius.

"Phew…that was one tough battle. I couldn't have won that without you!" The young teen praised his companion, petting it on the head before promptly recalling it to its ball.

"Ahahaha…it's good that it ended the way it was supposed to be. You most certainly deserve this; Julius, take the Golden Wing Badge with pride." The elderly gentleman beamed at Julius, handing him a badge that resembled a pair of wings colored gold.

"Thank you, sir." He replied, placing the newly acquired badge on his card before tucking it away, the old man turning to face the skies behind him.

"They're horrible beings…Spacea and Tiempa." He mused to himself, catching the young teen off-guard with his comment. "What, you thought I didn't know? They may not see themselves as morally ambiguous, but their tactics are cold and cruel. It's all for the bigger picture."

"Y-Yeah…Melia and I got a taste of their tactics firsthand. It was a most terrifying experience that will never leave me until the day I die." Julius replied quietly, looking down at his feet.

"I too became a victim of their grand scheme as well. I'm sure the Cella in the past mentioned it once or twice, but she lost her fiancée suddenly while she was just kicking off her career as a lawyer." Souta began, the young teen coming to a sudden realization.

"T-That must mean—" He began.

"Yes, I was her fiancée, at least at the time I was. I had been killed by a jealous doctor who thought of my spiritual healing as a threat to his business. Because of that, Cella went to Sheridan Village to mourn my passing…my supposed passing. But as I died, Spacea and Tiempa appeared with an offer I could not refuse. They would grant me temporary life, a life to dedicate myself to spiritual healing. They kept me alive so that when Aelita would be cursed, I could awaken her. But the plan changed when you appeared into the equation. Spacea and Tiempa were amazed by your power, your skill, your…" The elderly man continued, with Julius raising his hand in the air.

"Sorry to cut you off, but I'm not interested in what they want with me; not after what they did to Melia." He replied, with Souta promptly clearing his throat in response.

"Sorry…anyway, they advised me to become the substitute Flying-type leader so that I could speed up your journey. Those hooligans…" He concluded, pausing himself to avoid dropping any…harsh words. "Ah, but we no longer need to linger up here in the skies, do we?"

"Y-Yeah, the sooner I'm back on solid ground, the better." Julius agreed, the old man raising his staff in the air as the duo were quickly sent hurtling back down to Earth. A few seconds later, they promptly landed back on the cliffside with the young teen staggering a bit to regain his footing.

"You know, the other day a child looked at me oddly…" Souta began, a pair of golden wings sprouting from his body as Julius stepped back in shock. "I wonder…why that was?"

A bright light shone in the area, causing Julius to shield his eyes as a sudden 'whoosh' echoed throughout the area. Once the light died down, the young teen saw that Souta was no longer standing there, his cane resting idly on the ground as he slowly approached it. "Rest in peace, Souta…" The young teen spoke quietly, picking up the staff and making his way back into the theatre, unaware that Erin had been watching them the entire time. But as Julius re-entered the theatre, he was soon confronted by the white-haired girl.

"Julius, is Souta really gone…? He just got up and left?" She asked him, the young teen nodding in confirmation. "I've been with that old man since I was born, and he didn't even take the time to say goodbye? F-Fine, if that's how it's going to be, then good riddance… he was a stupid liar who went back on his promise to me!"

Erin promptly stormed off to her room, with Julius sensing that she wasn't really angry at him. If that was her way of coping with her loss, then that's her choice. Regardless, he still figured it was best if he checked up on her, as well as Cella and the others. Quietly making his way to the room where she was staying, the young teen saw her conversing with Aelita and Melia, with Erin standing beside the wall.

"Eldest…are you doing okay?" Aelita checked up on her.

"Yes, I'm doing quite fine…But I…" Cella began, sighing to herself as she put her personal feelings aside to complete the task at hand. "I believe it is time for us to break this curse that ails you once and for all."

"Yay, I can finally say good riddance to this thing!" The magenta-haired girl cheered. "I can't wait to be free of this thing so that I don't feel like I'm on the verge of having a migraine every few moments."

"I'm going to tell you the truth now but know that it may not be the one you want to hear." The elderly woman began, taking a deep breath to prepare herself. "Like I was saying before, Taelia, Keta and I rebuilt Sheridan from the ground up. The place was completely shattered by the calamity. But no one knew of Sheridan, or cared to, so they didn't send any help our way. By the time we were sent help, we were already back in business. Eventually, Keta and Taelia got married and had a child. Things were great and it finally felt like peaceful times had returned to us. That was until disaster struck one night; a man in a cloak lured Keta out of his house and entered his home without his knowing. While Keta was distracted with affairs outside, the man in the cloak killed everyone in the house."

"O-Oh my…" Was all Melia could say, an uncomfortable feeling welling up inside her stomach.

"W-Wait, you told me my mother died in an accident…" Aelita began taken way off-guard by this sudden revelation. "My mother was murdered?!"

"Poor Taelia…she was murdered? For what reason would someone attack her?" Julius inquired, as Erin noticed something odd with the story.

"Wait a moment, Cella just said that everyone in the house was murdered, but if that's the case, then how are you here? If she really is your mother, then by that logic you should be dead." The white-haired girl pointed out.

"Y-Yeah, that makes sense. E-Eldest, how could I have been murdered that night, yet be standing her right now?" The magenta-haired girl demanded answers, only for Cella to say something that would shock everybody in this room.

"That's because you aren't the child of Keta and Taelia." She admitted, with Aelita stepping back in surprise.

"I-I'm not the child of Keta and Taelia? T-Then who am I? Tell me, TELL ME!" She demanded more answers.

"Don't get confused here, your true home is still Sheridan. There's no question about that. But the truth of the matter is that you have no parents, Aelita. After all, I'm sure Melia and Julius know how Taelia came to be." The elderly woman answered, shooting a glance at the duo.

"Well yeah, when Vivian died, she was reborn as Taelia due to a side effect of the protection spell getting interrupted. She appeared right out of thin air…" Melia trailed off, covering her mouth in shock as she soon realized what the Eldest was getting at.

"N-No way…no fucking way…" Julius whispered to himself, his eyes wide with shock over the implications he was just given.

"Seems that you two have solved the puzzle; Aelita is ailed with a curse I call Vivian's Madness. When Vivian sacrificed herself, she was bound to a life of perpetual reincarnation. When she died, Taelia was born, and when Taelia was killed, Aelita was born." Cella told them, as Aelita began trembling with shock over the revelation she was given. "Keta wasn't your father; in fact, he was your husband while you were still Taelia."

"Hahahahaha…my whole life was a lie then, wasn't it? I was never the person I thought I was. I understand now…Keta was depressed because of me. I was an everyday reminder that he couldn't protect the one he loved." The magenta-haired girl chuckled dejectedly to herself."

"While it is true you caused him grief, it wasn't your fault. He had his own demons he had to attend to as well." The elderly lady called out to her.

"Is this why I wasn't marked down to become the next Sensei of Sheridan? Is this why I lost the position to that wretched Texen?!" Aelita inquired harshly, shooting a glare at the old woman.

"That's correct. As long as you have this curse on you, the man in the hood might come back to seal the deal once and for all. We did this to protect you, to hide you from whoever that man was. Because he came back multiple times, looking to finally end your life once and for all." Cella defended herself, only for a low growl to escape Aelita's mouth as she stormed out of the room. "Aelita! Quickly, we need to stop her from leaving the grounds!"

"M-Maybe she needs some time to herself. She did get a whole lot thrown at her." Melia suggested.

"Not Aelita, she needs to be watched, remember?" Erin rebutted her, turning to face the Eldest. "I thought we agreed to not push her like that. Do you not remember what happened the last time she was pushed this way?"

"Oh, I remember, I remember that clearly. But to break the curse, it must be destroyed. I'm bringing it out of her on purpose. Erin, go watch Aelita. Julius, hand me Souta's cane." Cella told them.

"As you wish." Julius agreed, handing his elder the tall staff as Erin promptly exited the room. "So what do we do now?"

"I want you and Melia to meet me outside. Things aren't going to go well, so you better be prepared for anything." The Eldest informed them, exiting the room as the duo were left to themselves.

"This is it, Julius, we're so close to saving Aelita. If anything goes wrong, I'll use my power to help you. This time…we're the ones in control of the situation." Melia promised.

"Let's just hope everything goes alright." The young teen said, the duo squeezing each other's hands gently for support before making their way out of the room. Upon arriving outside, they saw Erin keeping her distance from Aelita, a vivid red aura enveloping the magenta-haired girl as she was consumed by rage.

"This is what she looked like on the day Souta broke the chains around her heart. Looks like she isn't taking the news to lightly, huh?" The white-haired girl commented, with Julius staring at the enraged girl intently. This anger…he had never seen or felt it before, no wait, he had. This must've been the anger that consumed him during the confrontation with Angie, the one that terrified Melia and Venam that day. Was this intense rage caused by some Garufan curse? Considering that Anju had dabbled in it back then, it would make sense that Angie was knowledgeable about it as well. Could the Dimensional Rifts have been born from a Garufan spell long ago?

"So, what's the plan then?" The blonde asked Erin and Cella.

"The plan is to open up her heart while she's vulnerable in this form. First, I'll have to combine my power with Souta's…" The elderly woman began, raising both staves in the air as they soon merged into one. "Souta…let's finally end this."

The three teens opted to step aside, granting Cella sufficient room to approach Aelita as the magenta-haired girl glared at the elderly woman. "You kept that information from me my entire life…my entire life was a lie because of you." She growled viciously.

"Your life, a lie? No, but you were placed in a false setting. One that I have made true through my love." Cella attempted to reason with her.

"No, you did it to enslave me. To keep me from destroying everything." Aelita hissed back.

"Believe what you want, but that doesn't change reality." The Eldest continued.

"Argh, I'll kill all of you!" She growled, lunging at the elderly lady only to get immobilize in midair by a mysterious power. "Wh-What are you doing to me? Release me this instant!"

"Aelita, you've always been stubborn as a rock, but this time you will listen. This time I shall not fail!" Cella shot back, channeling her power as the magenta-haired girl was promptly shattered into thousands of tiny pieces. "Now reform!"

As suddenly as she was shattered, Aelita was slowly being rebuilt, only to transform into what looked like a pitch-black hole with what appeared to be a pair of wings on its edges, the three teenagers stepping back in surprise. "What the hell is that?!" Erin exclaimed in surprise.

"I don't know…but it looks like a portal of sorts." Melia commented.

"Exactly, this is a portal to Aelita's heart and subconscious. You may also recognize it as a Dimensional Rift." The elderly lady answered.

"Hahaha…I had a hunch I'd have to experience this thing again. Hopefully I can keep my composure this time." Julius stated, eyeing up the portal carefully. "I've seen a few of them in my time here, but none of them looked like that."

"The difference in appearances can be attributed to the fact that Aelita is a human. A Pokémon holds a far greater power than a normal human does, so their Rifts are larger and stronger. But if a human were to ever come across a plague like this, it would take this form." Cella informed the trio

"So what do we do about this?" The blonde inquired.

"We must infiltrate the Dimensional Rift and forcibly extract Aelita from it. However, she won't go with you voluntarily. Do what you must to bring her out of this hell." She explained the plan to her.

"In that case, Julius and I will go in and get her." Melia offered, only for Erin to knock the offer back.

"Not a chance, this is my scene. I'll go in there with Julius while you stay here and use your power to make sure that nothing goes terribly wrong. I've been with Aelita through most of this, I want to be the one to finally set her free." The white-haired girl began.

"She raises a good point. I'll need Melia to stay here and use her power should things get out of control. We must do this quickly, or else it'll be all over for us!" The Eldest added, with Melia about to form a rebuttal in her mind before accepting the plan.

"Alright then." Melia conceded, shooting a glance at the other two. "Julius, Erin. Please, be careful in there."

"We will Melia, and we will save Aelita from this curse!" Julius pledged, as he and Erin promptly stepped into the portal as their world grew black.

Aelita's Dimensional Rift

Upon stepping inside, the duo saw what looked like a child's drawing beneath them, depicting what looked like…a village, Sheridan Village to be precise. "Huh, I wasn't expecting this place to look so peaceful." Erin commented, looking around her surroundings.

"Y-Yeah, but this could be an illusion. W-We must tread carefully…" Julius began, clutching his head in pain as he felt his mind assaulted by the negative emotions inside him. If they didn't save Aelita in time, she wouldn't be the only feral trainer running rampant.

"Since there's a lot of ground to cover, we better make haste and find her quickly. The sooner we can get this done, the sooner I can take a nap." The white-haired girl called out, the duo quickly making their way through the village, only for a mysterious voice to call out to them.

"It's been a long time." It called out, the duo grinding to a halt as they saw Vivian approaching the duo. "Well it has been for me, but I guess I can't say the same for you two."

"I can't say I'm surprised we'd find you here." The young teen chimed in.

"Well of course, this is our burden too. Isn't that right, Taelia?" Vivian replied, as a second purple-haired woman approached the duo, looking so similar to Vivian that they could pass off as twins.

"And how do we know this isn't some sort of trap sent by Aelita's Rift? For all we know, you could lure us into a false sense of security before dealing the finishing blow." Erin eyed the duo suspiciously.

"Unfortunately, we can't prove that we aren't, so you'll just have to trust us." Taelia told them.

"A tall order, but if it means ending this quickly, then I'm willing to trust them." Julius conceded.

"Lovely. As you may have suspected, if you don't act fast, Aelita will disappear forever, with us alongside her." Taelia replied.

"I'm so proud of what Cella accomplished, but this sort of thing is double-edged. While in this state, we remain vulnerable to our own burden's manipulation." Vivian added.

"So in other words, let's stop talking and get going?" The white-haired girl suggested, the duo nodding in confirmation as the group of four made their way upstairs and towards the largest house. With the two purple-haired women standing aside, they gestured at the duo to step inside, which they did. Upon entering the house, they saw Taelia and Keta, or Kenneth as he was called back then, relaxing on the couch, the young woman spotting the duo and approached them.

"Oh, hello! You must be Aelita's friends from school, right? Kenneth sweetheart, will you go fetch Aelita for me?" Taelia called out to him.

"Of course, dear. Would you happened to know where she is? last time I saw her, she said she was going outside to play with you." Kenneth replied, only for the door to burst open as a young Aelita ran into the house.

"Mommy, mommy! I'm home!" The young Aelita cheered, with the purple-haired woman picking her up into a hug.

"Aelita, there you are! Your friends from school are here to visit you!" Her mother replied, with Aelita growing quiet all of a sudden.

"I'm going up to my room…" She replied, making her way up the stairs as the duo watched her enter the room.

"You're more than welcome to join her in her room if you wish." Taelia replied, the duo looking at each other briefly before accepting the offer and walked up the stairs.

"Didn't we just talk to her outside?" Erin asked Julius.

"We did, but given that this is a Dimensional Rift, anything is possible—" The young teen began, only for the room to quake briefly as all color was drained from the area, causing Taelia and Kenneth to devolve into a bitter, rage-filled argument.

"Why did you have to go and ruin everything, huh?! We were the perfect family; everything was meant to be perfect!"

"That wretched child has ruined everything for us! Now look, our guests think we're bad people!"

"Are we too neglectful of the house? Have we said something too rude?!"

"Now look at what you've done! The neighbors are asking for sugar! What are we going to tell them? That we have no sugar?!"

"This is all your fault you know?! If you just let her go, none of this would've happened!"

"How could I let her go?! How?! I want to know how?!"

The argument was so messy, so jumbled up that it was impossible to figure out who was saying what, the two teens stepping back in surprise at the sight. "This is like watching a really, really bad family sitcom. You know, the ones that never seem to end despite the fact they should have ended at least 15 seasons ago?" Erin commented.

"P-Please…let's get a move on. I-I don't want to be around this madness any more…" Julius weakly pleaded, the white-haired girl looking at him oddly before conceding.

"Very well, the sooner we can pop this bubble of hers, the better. It's a favorite pastime of mine." She agreed, the duo leaving the chaotic room and entered Aelita's room, which was full of color thankfully.

"Oh, hello friends! Have you come to play with me?" Aelita asked, gazing at the duo before her.

"Not particularly, there's something we need to talk about." Erin began, taking a seat before her. "Aelita, I'm going to say something that you must listen to carefully. You need to come with us."

"G-Go with you?" The young girl inquired.

"Yes Aelita, it's for your own good." Julius added, taking a seat beside Erin. "You don't remember it now, but you don't belong here. People outside are waiting for you to return."

"But…But I don't want to go. I want to stay here and play." Aelita refused the request.

"You don't have a choice; we're going to get you out of here." The white-haired girl replied firmly.

"No, I don't want to go! I want to stay here with my mom and dad! Everything here is perfect so what don't you just GO?!" The young girl growled, pushing Erin into the back wall as Julius quickly ran to check up on her.

"Erin! Are you alright?!" He checked up on her.

"Yeah…I didn't expect her to hit me that hard." She replied, slowly getting back up on her feet and stared at the now angry child. "Don't make me say it, Aelita. You wouldn't want to hear it. You need to wake up, Aelita. You know more than anyone else here that this world isn't real."

"It is REAL!" Aelita shot back, the color from the room draining once more as the negative emotions flooded the room.

"It isn't real, and I'm not going to baby you like everyone else did in your life! I'm going to drag you out of this dream whether you like it or not!" Erin shot back, with the young child shivering on the spot as she saw several visions, visions of Kenneth and Taelia walking away from her with another child in their hands.

With a mournful wail, Aelita cried out at the top of her lungs, causing the room to quake violently as it soon dissolved into nothingness, the duo crying out in shock as they crash-landed in a mysterious place, the both of them rubbing their aching heads as they got up off the floor.

"Where are we…?" Erin inquired, shooting a glance at Julius who was on the verge of collapsing. "A-Are you alright?!"

"Y-Yeah…w-we're near the end…I-I can feel it." He replied weakly, slowly making his way forward as the white-haired girl shot him an odd glance before opting to follow him. As they walked down the straight line, they heard what sounded like voices calling out to them.

"Garufan magic requires a price to pay."

"Everyone must give something they love, no matter what it is."

"Such is the rule of equivalent exchange."

"But no one is prepared for the consequences of their desires."

"Neither were we…"

Once the duo reached the center of the room, they were soon confronted by Aelita, twisted and warped by the Dimensional Rift. With a sinister smirk, her entire body began glowing as she took on a new, terrifying form. She now resembled a tall golem made entirely out of stone, with several fist-sized stones orbiting her body as her entire left arm was transformed into what looked like a large rifle, yet her head was the exact same strangely enough.

"Look at you two insignificant worms trying to ruin my paradise. Treading on through a world where you don't belong makes you unwanted. Out there I am weak and fragile, but her I am powerful. Here I am invincible! And you two? You're nothing to me. Just a pair of ants that will fall to my bullets." 'Aelita' sneered, only for Erin to roll her eyes in annoyance.

"I have had enough with your fucking edgy bullshit! Aelita, you are the most stubborn, annoying little bitch I have ever met. But damnit, that's who you are and that's just what you should be! Wallowing in your own self-pity is the one thing that makes you weakest. You think you're all big and tough in this world? On the contrary! I've never met someone so pathetic and helpless! You wanna be strong? You want power? Then get up and change things yourself for once in your damn life! Come on Julius, if she wants to act stupid, then we will as well!" The white-haired girl chewed her out in dramatic fashion.

"Y-Yeah, let's do this!" Julius chimed in, only for 'Aelita' to chuckle at them.

"If that's how you want to play, then so be it. But I shall not fall!" She called out, conjuring up six Golems with her power as she readied herself for battle. Both Erin and Julius selected a Pokéball and threw it, sending out their Absol and Laissure respectively.

The Golems opted to charge at the duo, leaping up into the air so they could crush their foes with their heavy bodies. The Laissure began the counterattack by scurrying underneath a Golem and leapt up into the air, smacking it away with its tails as it was sent flying back and crashed into the ground, disappearing into a cloud of smoke. A second Golem landed on the ground before Absol and was ready to tackle it, only for the Disaster Pokémon to dodge the attack and slash at it, causing the Golem to disappear into another blanket of smoke. While it's back was turned, another Golem saw this opportunity to strike down its foe and rolled towards it, only for the Laissure to kick it away, the Megaton Pokémon crashing into an invisible wall of sorts and disappeared into smoke.

The remaining three Golems let out a low, distorted growl and rolled towards the heroes, with the Absol and Laissure charging at them to intercept the attack. The Absol dodged an incoming attack and slashed a Golem, narrowly avoiding an incoming rockfall from another Golem as it pounced on the hostile Pokémon and slashed at it. Meanwhile, the Laissure had managed to pick up the final Golem with its tails and tossed it near the Corrupted Aelita, causing it to disappear in smoke as the girl scoffed to herself.

"Looks like I have to settle things myself…" 'Aelita' hissed lowly, aiming her rifle at the Pokémon and fired a barrage of sludge at the duo, who narrowly dodged it in time as they briefly glanced at each other. From the look in its eyes, it seemed that the Absol had a plan, but it needed the Laissure to distract their foe long enough for it to work. Agreeing to the idea with a quick chip, the Earthshaker Pokémon sprang into action and attacked the Corrupted Aelita with a series of blows from its tail, while the Absol was busy collecting enough power for it to use its strongest attack. The Laissure continued its barrage of swift attacks and timely dodges, narrowly avoiding any incoming barrage from its foe as she started to grow more annoyed at her enemy's tricks. But around three or so minutes later, 'Aelita' caught a lucky break when she was able to knock the Laissure to the ground, sending it skidding across the floor as she aimed her rifle at it. However, before she could finish it off with a powerful attack, the Absol charged at her, its horn glowing a pitch-black as it lunged at 'Aelita' and slashed at her, causing her to fall onto one knee.

"U-Urgh…" She groaned in pain, her body enveloped with a warm light as she was soon reverted to her normal form and fell onto the ground, with Erin and Julius running up to her as they both recalled their Pokémon.

"Aelita!" Erin called out, only for the lilac-haired girl to disappear from the area as looks of confusion appeared on their faces. "I'll find you, even if it takes me to the ends of the earth."

0000

"Ugh…where am I? What's happened?" Aelita asked herself, sitting up on the floor and studied her surroundings, only to see Vivian, Taelia and Keta gazing at her, small smiles on their faces.

"You've been freed, Aelita." Keta reassured her.

"That's right. Because of Erin and Julius, the curse that ailed us has been broken." Vivian added.

"This world is beginning to crumble as we speak." Taelia warned her.

"So this will be the only time we're together again…" Aelita spoke softly, a hint of sadness in her tone as the three adults continued to smile at her.

"I'm afraid that's just how things are meant to be." Taelia informed her, the young lilac-haired girl looking deeply into her eyes.

"Mom…I-I mean, Taelia. I've always seen you as my mother. But now I know that's not the case. I don't really have a mother." Aelita replied, sighing lightly to herself.

"You were born from my death; in one way I am your mother. We are connected through blood and soul. Is their anything more to be said?" The older woman chimed in, causing Aelita to let out a light chuckle.

"Heh…I guess not. One last thing though, what was her name? Your real daughter, I mean." She inquired.

"Her name was Nora. A nice name, isn't it?" Keta answered.

"Yeah, it is." Aelita chimed back.

"Aelita, there's something I must tell you before we run out of time. Listen closely…" Vivian began, the room glowing brightly and enveloping everyone in it.

0000

"W-We were this close to getting her out of here. I-I just wasn't fast enough, I guess." Erin commented bitterly, blaming herself for their failure.

"I'm also responsible for failing Aelita; had I been in the right state of mind, I could've been a lot faster and more reliable in the grand scheme of things." Julius replied, taking a deep breath to collect her thoughts. "Still, Aelita isn't one for giving up, so I'm sure we'll find her again."

"Heh, you have a point there. This isn't the first time she's run away from me. If this rift still exists, that must mean she's still around here somewhere. Standing around won't do us any good so let's—" The white-haired girl began, only for the duo to get caught up in a wondrous glow as they were warped out of the dimension. A few moments later, they found themselves back before the entrance to Rose Theatre, with Aelita's sleeping body lying on the soft dirt path. "Aelita! I-Is she going to be okay?"

"She's going to be just fine." Cella answered her query, a small smile on her face. "Thanks to Melia's power, we were able to cleanse Aelita of Vivian's Madness."

"It wouldn't have been possible without the efforts of Erin and Julius. I saw an opening the moment Aelita was knocked out and used it." Melia chimed in, with Aelita groaning to herself as she slowly sat up on the dirt path.

"Ugh…man, I have such a bad headache." She winced in pain, holding her aching head.

"Come, let's bring her to a bed. She'll need to regain her strength." The elderly lady called out, the three teens gently picking up her body and made their way to Erin's room.

2 hours later

Both Melia and Julius were waiting outside the room, taking a much-needed break after what they have just been through when they saw Erin exit her room, the white-haired girl letting out a sigh of relief. "She's going to be just fine."

"Oh, thank goodness!" Julius sighed in relief as well.

"Indeed, it's a relief. Does she…you know?" Melia began.

"Remember everything? Yeah, I'd say so. I think she's taking it pretty well. But she's taking a nap right now so no visitors." The white-haired girl told them. "Surely there's something you two can do while she's resting up?"

"I'm sure we'll find something to do. I'd suggest a practice battle, but my Pokémon are all tuckered out from what they've been through." The young teen commented.

"Jokes aside, there's something I wanted to tell you two. There's this box that's been sitting on the ground near the entrance to the theatre. Nobody really talked about it, so I decided to take a look. Lo and behold, it's something for you, Melia." Erin informed them, a puzzled look appearing on Melia's face.

"For me? That's odd…who would send me something?" She inquired.

"I dunno, but it came from someone called the Puppet Master. I have no clue who they are, but Aelita mentioned how she and Julius had a run in with them once. Aelita doesn't think they're particularly malicious, but you should be careful regardless."

"I guess I better take a look at it I guess." Melia replied, making her way to the entrance with Julius and Erin following right behind her. Upon arriving, the trio took a seat beside the box as the blonde eyed it up wearily. "I-I'm afraid to open this, to be honest."

"Don't worry Melia, I too was a little nervous when I received my box. I'll be right beside you just in case anything goes wrong." Julius pledged, the blonde shooting him a smile as she removed the lid from the box and gazed at its contents.

"Books, more books, and would you look at that, even more books!" The blonde commented, eyeing up the contents suspiciously. "Erin, this box is just filled with books. Books on top of books on top of even more books."

"Well, take a look at what they're about." Erin suggested, with Melia looking over the titles as she began to read them.

"This one says 'Strange Phenomenons 101' and 'How to—' I…I won't be reading that title aloud." Melia began, her eyes focusing on another book in particular. "Hmmm? 'Miera region: Origins'?"

"Isn't that the region Kastu told Erin about on Route 4?" The young teen inquired.

"Yeah, it was. What could a book about that region be doing here?" The white-haired girl pondered.

"Wait, these books have weird stickers inside of them. There's a card with a list of names on them." The blonde began, flicking through a few and spotted the strange stickers.

"That's a book from Blakeory Atheneum." Erin exclaimed, the other two shooting an odd glance at her as she got closer to the book in Melia's hands. "Atheneum is just a fancy word for library. It's located in the Scholar District. Look at this, the final name written down on the card."

"R-Rune? You mean to tell me that Rune checked out this book?" Julius inquired.

"Not only this book, but every single book in this box has Rune's name on it." The white-haired girl continued, finding something wedged inside the box. "This must be Rune's library card. Why does the Puppet Master have access to all of Rune's belongings?"

"Furthermore, why send these things to me of all people?" Melia inquired as well.

"When the Puppet Master spoke to me and Aelita back then, they said that each of us would be sent a gift. Under the assumption that this was the gift meant for Aelita, it makes no sense that it would be addressed to Melia. Unless…Aelita's gift wasn't physical at all. Perhaps he had gifted her crucial information about Team Xen, be it their true motives for the reasons they committed so many twisted actions." The young teen chimed in. "However, knowing the Puppet Master, they wouldn't be giving her the answer outright. Perhaps in some sort of twisted fashion, this is their way of giving us a hint."

"In that case, it's only smart to—" Melia began, before the door to the theatre burst open, a familiar figure running up to the trio.

*pant…* "There you are, I finally found you three…" Huey panted, resting his hands on his knees.

"Huey? What are you doing here?" The blonde inquired.

"Lavender's finally been released from the Emergency Room! She still needs to stay in the hospital for a few days, but she's doing well. But she asked me to go get you, Julius, Erin and…Kanon, was it? Speaking of which, where is he anyway?" He inquired.

"I wouldn't worry about it." Erin commented off-handedly.

"Does she want to talk about what happened that night with Venam?" Melia asked cautiously, the young redhead nodding in confirmation.

"Yeah, she said she has information that will be important to you. Information about someone you used to know. She was being vague, but that's all I have." He replied.

"In that case, we must make our way to the Hospital of Hope right now." Julius stated, the group of four promptly leaving the theatre in a hurry and made their way to their next destination.

The Hospital of Hope

"Do you mind telling me why you have a child cooped up all the way down here?" Madelis demanded an answer from Dr. Isha, the duo having a discussion in his secret office.

"She's a special case, I don't see the problem." Isha replied casually.

"The problem is that this isn't a quarantine zone. If she's not infectious, then she doesn't belong all the way down here. Why not put her upstairs like the rest?" The redhead inquired.

"Why do you even care? It's my work and that's all it is. it was very nice speaking to you, Madelis, but you've overstayed your welcome. Cassandra sent you for a quick stitch and that's what you got. So please, leave." He huffed back at her, promptly leaving the office and left the redhead to herself, mulling over what she had just seen back there. The young girl had mentioned that her body housed a special disease that nobody else had, or so she was told by the doctor. But what was most odd was her name, Franchesca; it was the exact same name as…

"Well I guess it's time to make a phone call. A phone call to an old 'friend'." Madelis mused to herself, quietly making her way out of the underground office.

0000

The group of four had finally arrived in Lavender's room, the lavender-haired girl shooting them all a small smile. "Ah, you're all here. Good to see you all again."

"Lavender! I-I'm just so happy that you're doing well!" Huey sniffled, wiping a few small tears from his eyes.

"It's okay, you already shed your tears once. No need to do it again." She smiled at him.

"I hate to break up the happy reunion, but you said you had information for us?" Erin chimed in.

"Yes. We're glad you're alright, but I need to know what happened that night." Melia requested, a hint of desperation in her tone.

"Y-You're right. I didn't call you up here to laugh and catch up…I called you here to fulfill my promise, and to deliver a message. I know who exactly turned Venam into stone, I saw them with my own two eyes. This is what happened that fateful night…" Lavender began to recall her story to the others.

That night

"…So, let's try this again, Lavender. What are you doing up so goddamn late?!" Venam demanded.

"Alright, I suppose there's no harm in telling you what I'm doing. You see—" Lavender began, only for a crashing noise to interrupt them.

"What the hell is that?!" The brown-haired girl exclaimed, the duo turning around and saw that looked like a human cloaked in a malevolent black aura, and it was approaching them slowly.

"What is that?!" Lavender inquired, the duo stepping back from it.

"I don't know, but don't let that fucking thing touch you!" Venam called out to her.

"Target confirmed." The entity spoke, lowering its aura and revealed itself to be a teenage girl that Venam thought looked…familiar somehow.

"It's a girl…" The lavender-haired girl commented, taking in a deep breath to confront it. "Why did you scare us like that? That wasn't very nice of you."

"Your name is Lavender, correct?" The girl spoke.

"Y-Yeah." She replied, the mysterious girl narrowing her eyes at her.

"That's all I needed to hear…" The girl replied, using her power to create what looked like four red rods filled with intense energy circling around her.

"Hey, whoa, whoa, easy! No need to bring out the claws immediately, you know?" Venam attempted to defuse the situation. "How about we just talk about this for a second?"

"You two talk far too much as it is. I don't need to hear you." The girl retorted. "I'm doing my job and that's all."

"Have…have we met before? Because you look so familiar." The brown-haired girl commented, causing the mysterious girl to raise an eyebrow in response.

"Huh? I've never seen you before in my life." She replied.

'I've definitely seen your face before. You were that girl Melia and Julius tried to save, Nim was it? B-But that's impossible…how can you be alive?!" Venam exclaimed, the girl eyeing her up before retracting her rods.

"Now I remember you. I've only ever seen you with your hair purple." She commented.

"S-See? We're friends—" The brown-haired girl began.

"We aren't friends." The girl rebutted.

"What? Why the hell not?" Venam inquired, the girl eyeing up the duo menacingly.

"I wonder…have you two ever felt real fear before?" She commented, a slight sneer on her face.

"Real fear? I…I can't say that I have." Lavender answered.

"I want to see you experience fear. Yes, that's what I want the most." The girl grinned maliciously, retracting her rods once more. "Better run, playthings. Otherwise the big bad Nim is going to get you, and you don't want that to happen."

"R-Run Lavender!" Venam called out, the duo quickly fleeing from the area as Nim opted to give them a five-minute head start. Once the time was up, she immediately began her pursuit of her prey, running all over the city in search of them. The terrified duo ran for what felt like hours, desperately trying to flee and find a hiding place from their tormentor. But no matter where they went, Nim would somehow find them, causing them to start running again. To them it felt like she was…toying with them, relishing in the fear she projected onto them. Eventually, the duo fled into the sewers to evade her, only for Venam to stop for some reason.

"Wh-What's the *huff* problem? We *huff* can't stop!" Lavender huffed, her breathing ragged and painful.

"L-Listen to me, Lavender. She's not going to stop chasing us. No matter where we go, she'll be right behind us. I need you to go without me while I buy you some time, o-okay?" Venam told her, the brown-haired girl's voice breaking slightly as a wealth of emotions welled up within her.

"W-What are you talking about?!" The lavender-haired girl shot back. "I'm not going to leave you behind!"

"Goddamnit, I'm not giving you a choice! It's either she catches us, or we die of exhaustion. So you're going whether you like it or not." The brown-haired girl retorted, causing Lavender to pause momentarily before she accepted the grim proposal. "Good. I'm going to need you to go get Melia and Julius. If you can get them, you'll be safe. Tell them…Tell them that Nim did this. Promise me that you'll find them and tell them that. And one…one last thing."

"W-What is it?" Lavender inquired, the young girl watching tears fall down Venam's cheeks.

"I may not get another chance to say this. I want you to tell Melia and Julius this for me…Remember, I love you." Venam requested, choking on her words as tears poured down her cheeks, hoping that the two people she loved the most would be able to hear her confession.

"I will…I'll tell them!" The lavender-haired girl pledged, with Venam nodding slowly as she watched the young girl quickly run through the sewers.

"I can't believe I'm doing this. I'm so fucking stupid." Venam commented under her breath, her back to the sewer wall as she mulled over the fate she accepted. "I hope you two aren't too angry with me, Melia, Julius."

"Where are you? Oh, where could you be? How long can you run for? I'm getting bored, and that won't be nice." Nim taunted, walking slowly through the sewers, turning around and spotted Venam. "Ah, there you are."

"Y-Yeah, that's right. Here I am, you coward! After everything we went through to save you…just why exactly did we bust our ass to save someone who's insane?!" The brown-haired girl shot back at her.

"You're calling me a coward? Who's the one trembling in fear and stepping away from me?" Nim taunted, approaching closer to Venam as the latter stepped back from her. "The only coward here is you, Venam. How does it feel to not be tough anymore? You always think you're in control when really you have no control. You selfish girl. But being selfish is all you've ever known. Even now, in this selfless act of sacrifice, you do nothing but bitter my tongue with the green taste of greed. You're not a hero, nor a good person."

With a quick flick of her hand, Nim sent Venam flying into the sewer wall, the brown-haired girl groaning in pain as she slowly got back up to her feet. "But that's all the time we have for now! Let's say we wrap up this show?!" Nim taunted.

"Wh-What?!" Venam exclaimed, her tormentor letting out a twisted chuckle.

"Did my scary bit scare you? I worked really hard on sounding genuine. You should've seen the look on your face when I went all grim reaper!" She chuckled, hints of the original Nim poking through.

"Y-You're saying all of this was just a prank?" The brown-haired girl inquired.

"Hahahahahahahahaha, no. I'm still going to kill you." Nim replied, her four rods planting themselves into the sewer floor, surrounding Venam in a makeshift square. "Well I wouldn't exactly say kill you, more like petrification. You know, I kind of went through the same thing. Don't worry, you won't feel pain. In fact, you won't be feeling much at all. Oh, and for the record…I know you all left me on Valor Mountain to die. So you have no right to say 'after all we've done for you'."

"B-But we did try and save you, we all tried our hardest!" Venam retorted.

"Lies! The only person who cared enough to try and save me was Julius. He came to Valor Mountain all by himself to try and save me, but he failed because his friends failed him. So goodnight, Venam. Have a nice eternity…oh and stop calling me Nim, the name I go by now is Lorna; the girl who is ALONE!"

Though Lavender wasn't there to see everything go down, she could hear and see everything that conspired. She ran as fast as she could, hoping that she would make it out of those sewers alive. And though they seemed to have no end she eventually made her way back outside, where she promptly collapsed from exhaustion and laid still. As the young girl laid there, helpless to do anything, Lorna walked by her and shot her a small sneer.

"Heh, truthfully, you were supposed to be the next one on my list. But certain circumstances came up that shifted my point of view. Thus, I will spare you the dread of being turned to stone, for now at least. But I want you to relay a message to a very special someone, you may know her as Melia. Tell her that I'm looking for her, and when I find her, I will kill her myself. Do you understand me? Team Xen won't get her, because I will. Oh, and a piece of advice? Don't hang around these people, things like this happen when you do. Goodbye, Lavender. This won't be the last time we see each other." Lorna told her, walking off into the city as the young girl soon closed her eyes and drifted off.

0000

The room became deathly silent upon the story's conclusion, a horrified look on Melia's face as she collapsed into Julius' shoulder and began sobbing, the young teen embracing her as tears also streamed down his cheek. The person that they both held dear to their heart, the one they both loved with all their hearts passed on her confession to them as a parting gift of sorts.

"Is that all?" Erin inquired, with the young girl nodding in confirmation.

"Yes…I believe so." Lavender replied.

"O-Okay then…s-see you later, Lavender. I-I wish you a speedy recovery." Melia replied weakly, quickly making her way out of the room.

"W-Wait, where are you going?" Huey inquired.

"I-I'm going back to the Rose Theatre to check on Aelita. Y-You want to come with me, Julius?" The blonde answered, shooting a look at the young teen.

"Y-Yeah…I would like that." Julius replied, making his way to her side.

"W-Wait a minute. Don't take this the wrong way, but this isn't exactly the way I expected you to react. Are you not afraid of her? I thought you were guilty about this girls' death?" Erin inquired.

"Oh, I was definitely guilty, but that feeling's sort of gone now. But why should I react differently? I felt guilty about Nim's death for months. I wasn't able to sleep or think clearly because I thought everything was my fault. Little did I know that she was alive and well. Oh, and also? She's trying to kill me." The blonde replied.

"Not to mention the fact that she was the one who petrified Venam. I don't care what her reasoning was, that's completely unforgivable!" Julius chimed in firmly.

"Exactly. Lavender, if you ever see Nim, Lorna, or whatever they're called at this point, tell them to wait in line, because several other people are in queue for my capture. In fact, let her find me herself. I'll deal with her like I deal with any enemy." Melia requested, turning to face the door. "I'm done going out of my way to protect everyone, it just can't happen. The only people that matter to me anymore are my friends. Come, Julius."

Nodding in confirmation, the young teen followed the blonde out of the room, a lot going through their minds as the other three watched them leave.

"Don't worry, those two will be fine. She's just going through her edgy phase." Erin reassured the other two.

"I don't know…she looked pretty serious about what she said." Huey replied a little warily.

"Oh, no doubt, her ideology has probably changed considerably. But she'll perk up eventually." The white-haired girl replied, the door opening as they saw Dr. Isha approaching Lavender's bed.

"My sincerest apologies, I didn't realize you had visitors, Lavender. Unfortunately, visiting hours are now officially over. Everyone must leave." Isha informed the trio.

"I'll come visit soon!" Huey promised.

"I'll be waiting!" Lavender smiled at him, watching the trio exit the room, leaving her alone with the doctor. "So Doc, how are things looking?"

"You only suffered a minor asthma attack. We're just going to make sure everything with you is fine." He replied, making his way to the laptop and typed away on the keyboard.

"Good, I can't wait to be released." She sighed in relief, watching Isha gaze intently at the laptop. "By the way, will you know when that'll be?"

"When what will be?" Isha commented, making his way off the laptop and exited the room, leaving the young girl's question unanswered.

Rose Theatre

"I've decided on what I'm going to do next." Melia informed Julius and Erin, the duo eyeing her up in curiosity. "Erin said those books are from the Blakeory Athenium, right? What if the Puppet Master wants me to go there next?"

"Sounds plausible. Maybe we can find some answers to the questions that have plagued us since the very beginning." Julius agreed with the idea.

"I figured you'd be interested; for example, I want to know more about this Miera region I keep hearing about. For some reason, I believe that learning more about the Miera region will shed some light on some things. What exactly those things are? Well I guess that's what I'll be going there to figure out." The blonde continued, the door to the theatre opening as a familiar figure stepped outside.

"Rise and shine, everyone!" Aelita called out, looking exactly like she did before this whole saga with her curse happened.

"Aelita! How are you doing?" Erin inquired.

"I'm doing quite fine now, Erin. Thank you." The lilac-haired girl smiled back, scratching the back of her head sheepishly. "I uh…I wanted to apologize for how I acted while I was under that curse. If I said anything rude, please forgive me. I wasn't in the right mind."

"That's perfectly fine Aelita, I'm just glad that the real you is back with us." Julius smiled at her.

"Yeah, I wouldn't worry about it. that wasn't you talking." Erin began, looking into her eyes. "But if you say anything rude again, I'll know that it's really you talking. And in that case, I won't feel bad about slapping the shit out of you."

"I'll take your word for it!" Aelita chuckled lightly. "I also wanted to thank you all for what you've done to help me out of this. Without you all, I don't think I could've been cured at all. And I know that I was only just cured, but I think I'll be taking my leave."

"Y-You're leaving? But why?" Melia inquired.

"Vivian was blessed with the power to feel and hear the Earth. But when she sacrificed herself, her abilities became dormant along with a new power. Vivian told me that I have access to her powers, but I must awaken them."

"Well I'm sure Melia and I would be able to help with that." Julius chimed in, the blonde lightly slugging him on the shoulder as she barely contained a giggle.

"So how exactly do you plan to do that, become a nomad and find yourself?" Erin asked her.

"Ahahahaha…no, but I must travel and find the three springs of life and use their water to purify my body and soul." The lilac-haired girl answered.

"The three springs of life? I can't say I've heard of them." Melia commented.

"They're springs that belong to the Protectors of Aevium. One of those springs, the Spring of Purification is in Sheridan. That's the place that was located behind Vivian's house." Aelita explained to her.

"And the other two?" The blonde pressed further.

"The Spring of Persevation and the Spring of Rejuvenation? I have no idea where the latter is truth be told, but I have heard there's a huge spring-like area in the Evergreen Forest, so I think that's where I'm going to head next." She answered.

"Will Cella be going with you?" Erin asked.

"No, this is something I have to do on my own. From the moment I left Sheridan with Julius, I've always relied on others to help me do everything. But if I truly want to awaken as a new person, I'll have to do it alone. And if I want to keep fighting Team Xen, I'm going to have to get stronger. Thus, I'll also be leaving all of my Pokémon behind as well. E-Except my Hawlucha, of course." Aelita explained her motivations for going on her quest.

"So…this is goodbye, then?" Melia began, a hint of sadness in her tone.

"Yep, for now at least. Goodbye everyone! I promise that I'll be even stronger the next time we meet!" She bid her goodbyes, waving to the trio before her.

"Goodbye Aelita, good luck on your journey!" Julius wished her well, the lilac-haired girl shooting a smile at her friends before making her way down the dirt path, the trio heading back to the theatre to make preparations for the next day.

That night

Julius was unable to get some sleep, his mind full of various thoughts, both sad and good. While he was relieved to see Aelita free from her curse and taking the first steps to awakening the new power within her, he was also distraught over the situation with Venam, her last request to Lavender still stuck in his mind. She knew that it wasn't going to end well for her, so she requested that Lavender pass on her confession of love to the two that meant the most to her, Melia and himself. Figuring that a bit of fresh air might do him some good, he made his way towards the cliffside behind the theatre, only to see Melia standing beside it as well.

"Couldn't get some sleep, Julius?" Melia asked him, the young teen nodding as he approached her.

"Yeah, I wasn't able to get some sleep. My mind is all over the place." He admitted. "So, what have you been thinking about?"

"I was thinking about what Madame X said to me before, how Venam was beside my side when my power was awakened. How she was there to pick me up when I needed her the most. It's kind of amusing you know; Madame X acts like she understands everything and everyone…but that mask she wears blinds her from things that are as clear as day." The blonde began, turning to gaze at the full moon in the sky. "I now know what I'm fighting for…I'm fighting for a better tomorrow. Team Xen wants the power I have inside me so they can use it to bring back Storm-9. That, I'm sure of. But even if that's something that threatens the very existence of each and every being on this earth, I can't help but feel like I'm mostly just fighting, for the ones I love."

"I know how you feel; I spent most of my life fighting for answers, fighting to defend the ones I love and fighting for…revenge. Sometimes I grow tired of it, but I know I can't back down, or else it would've been all for nothing." The young teen commented, looking up at the moon as well.

"Even if everything isn't set in stone, there's something that I know. One day, it is destined for Madame X and I to fight, and I will win." Melia began, a look of determination in her eyes. "Venam, I will save you from your fate. I will bring you back to me, my love…"

"We'll bring her back together, Melia. I'll offer you my unyielding support to save the one that you love…the one that I love." Julius pledged, offering his hand to her. The blonde shot him a smile and held his hand firmly, the two lovers gazing at the moon as they made a vow to themselves. No matter what adversary they might come across, they will save their lover from her fate.

And that's this chapter wrapped up nice and neatly, with Melia and Julius promising to save Venam together. I didn't expect this chapter to be long, and I apologize for it, but what a way to end my second favorite episode in the game! These last couple chapters were fairly tricky to write, but I'll do anything to please Melia and Venam. Keep in mind, my memory regarding the events of Conflicting Ren-union is a little hazy, so I apologize if the upcoming chapters seem a little disjointed. Thank you all so much for reading and supporting my story, I'll see you in the next chapter.