Silver Notes: Again sorry for the delay y'all. Not only was this chapter hard to write 'cause it's packed full of a bunch of really important answers, but I've also been rather busy with work. Still I hope you all enjoy!

Also, the whole deal with the Institute and the Stigmas is better explored in my other fic, Wysteria Files.


As Above, So Below

Fantina stared at her from across the table with eyes that had suddenly gone from a bright amethyst to a black so deep and bottomless they seemed to suck some of the light around her. Inyssa shivered. This was the same feeling as the first time she'd met her. As though the room's temperature had gone down drastically.

"I suppose we should get this out of the way early," she said, her quiet tone booming all the louder compared to the previous silence. "It's not quite what you want, but it will help you understand, down the line."

"What are you…?"

Placing her hands on her lap, Fantina pushed herself gracefully to her feet and walked around the table, stopping beside the ceramic vase adorning the middle, a bouquet of red spider lilies resting in it. She raised her right hand slightly. Then, she pinched at the white fabric of the glove with the fingers of her other hand and slowly pulled it out, letting it fall on the table.

At first, Inyssa thought Fantina was wearing another glove underneath the white one, but the more she looked, the more she couldn't distinguish between her pale skin and the… dark, violet corruption spreading from her palm outwards.

Inyssa's eyes went wide, fraught with horror.

"W-what?"

Fantina let out a low chuckle at her reaction, uncurling her fingers so that she could get a good look. The very center of her palm was adorned with a small dot of the darkest color Inyssa had ever seen, so dark in fact that even with her eyes flared and her sight sharpened, she could barely perceive it. Darkness spread from the dot outwards, covering every inch of skin down to her forearm. However, as it got farther away from the source, the color changed from jet black to a deep, rich purple, forming a disturbing yet beautiful gradient that eventually faded into the woman's normal skin tone just before it reached her elbow.

But it wasn't just the blackened hand that shocked Inyssa. It was also that, as said hand moved slightly, the light in the room felt like it was pulled toward that darkness, forming small, dot-like gleams across the surface. Every few moments, it made it look as though there was a small galaxy painted across Fantina's skin.

"Startling, is it not?"

The sound of Fantina's voice shocked Inyssa back to reality, who'd forgotten to breathe for the past few seconds. However, as she looked up at her for an explanation, all she got was a sad smile.

"You are not the only one who carries her predecessor's scars upon your arms," said Fantina. "However, unlike you, I'm not brave enough to show mine to the world. You'll have to forgive me for that."

Following that, she pinched at her other glove and took it off as well, revealing another, identical arm.

"S-since when have you…?"

"It's been a long, long time," smiled Fantina, letting out a small sigh. "Though if you want a more specific time-frame… since slightly after I met Johanna."

Inyssa gulped, unable to take her eyes off Fantina's hands. "But… why do they look like that? What did you…?"

As a response, Fantina extended her right arm to the side, the tip of her index finger touching the petal of one of the lilies. There was a sound like that of a snap. The petal, then the rest of the flower, blackened and shriveled up as though it'd been left out on the sun for a whole week. The effect spread throughout every other flower touching that first one. After a few seconds, the entire bouquet had shriveled up and died.

Inyssa's mouth fell open. When Fantina raised her arm again, she instinctively tried to rise from her chair, though she stopped when she realized the woman wasn't walking toward her.

"These," said Fantina, curling and uncurling her fingers, showing off her palm, "are the product of my contact with the heart of nothingness, that which all Eight Stigma must commune with in order to carry Nyss' old mantle."

"W-wait, wait!" Inyssa cut her off, shaking her head in confusion. "S-stigma? Nyss? Slow down, what the hell are you talking about!?"

At that, an amused smile crossed Fantina's face. She nodded and walked back to her chair, placing her now uncovered hands atop her lap as she sat.

"Like I said, to get to Shadi, I'm afraid you'll first have to listen to this," she explained. "The two of us… ended up walking very similar paths, despite my insistent warnings against it."

A now familiar image flashed across Inyssa's eyes. Fantina and Shadi arguing outside the latter's room, while she looked at them from behind the couch, accompanied by the former's daughter.

"I'm… sure you already know this, being such a talented and knowledgeable trainer," she said, "but there's a good reason very few people specialize in the training of ghost pokemon. In fact, not many have one in their team to begin with."

Inyssa frowned. What does this have to do with anything?

"Ghost pokemon are hard to control," Inyssa confirmed. "It depends a lot on the species, but in general it doesn't matter how good of a trainer you are; whether a ghost type will accept to join you or not depends on your personality, not your skills. It depends on how compatible the two of you are. And besides… most normal Pokeballs can't even hold ghost Pokemon inside against their will."

"Those things all contribute to it, yes," said Fantina. "However, in most cases, it comes down to the simple fact that we, as humans, are both disturbed and fascinated by the concept of death. We love to explore it in our stories, in our art, but we avoid thinking about it on our daily lives as much as possible. Almost like an offering to Death itself, to keep it out of our doors.

"Now, imagine you're a ghost Pokemon. An entity whose entire existence has been defined by death. Most trainers you might run across will be interested in you, they might even genuinely like and appreciate you, but as much as they might try to hide it, you'll always see that glint of fear in their eyes. That feeling deep in their chests that tells them there's something wrong about you. That an integral part of you is that which disturbs them more than anything else. How would you feel?"

Inyssa thought about it for a moment. It was true that, outside of Fantina she'd never met another trainer who was in possession of a ghost type. Now she knew why. If she were in their shoes…

"I'd… start avoiding trainers. Avoiding people," she replied. "As much as I could. Doesn't matter how nice you are to someone; if it's obvious you fear or look down on them… they'll end up hating you anyway."

"Very much so," said Fantina, smiling. She looked proud of what Inyssa had said. "Of course, it all depends on the species. Yamask and Phantump will generally be more somber about the whole thing than, say, Shuppet or Gengar, which tend to approach the matter in a much more childish, albeit dangerous way. But the root of their behavior is, usually, the same."

Inyssa nodded, looking down. "Then… what makes you and people like Morty or Agatha or Shauntal so special? Why are ghost Pokemon attracted to you?"

Fantina leaned back on her chair, frowning contemplatively. She pressed a finger against her lower lip, and Inyssa noticed that her skin didn't start blackening or rotting like the flowers had.

"Well, if I had to draw a similarity between all of us, it'd be that we all have a very odd sense of humor." She smiled mischievously. "And we're all very childish, in one way or another. Ghost Pokemon are attracted to that for some reason."

That wasn't the whole story, of course, and Inyssa let her know that she knew by raising a judging eyebrow.

"Though… I guess there is another reason," she continued. "This might sound obvious in retrospect, but all of us simply… don't fear death. I don't mean to say we'd throw ourselves off the top of a roof at the slightest inconvenience, just that, whether because we've come face to face with death sometime in the past or simply because we never feared it to begin with… we don't possess that same primitive instinct that makes others recoil from ghost Pokemon. We can live with them, not pretending that they are the same as any other type of Pokemon, but instead accepting that they are not, yet treating them with the same respect and love as we would for any other. That… is what makes us different. What makes them trust us. In that sense…"

Fantina shot her a very specific look which made Inyssa shiver.

"You and I are similar, aren't we?"

Inyssa gulped. "I… I don't think Hao stayed with me because of that. His circumstances were different."

"I'm not talking about Hao," said Fantina with a wave of her hand. "I know from both Vi and my dear Gengar that you are very much the type of person ghost Pokemon would feel comfortable with. If you ever decide to become a Gym leader, I'm sure you'd make for a fine ghost-type specialist."

"I…" She narrowed her eyes, shooting Fantina an icy glare. "Is that just some dark joke you felt like saying? That odd sense of humor of yours at work?" she asked, tone getting heated. "Yeah, I was a dumbass who looked for any possible excuse to throw my life away and pass it off as a 'heroic sacrifice'. And because of it… ghosts like me. Great. What a ringing fucking endorsement. Sure, sign me up to be a ghost-type specialist right away."

"Well, sarcasm aside… you've sure grown self-aware, haven't you?" muttered Fantina, raising an amused eyebrow. "You've changed so much since last we met. So what if that change was brought about by the pain that was inflicted on you? Does that mean you shouldn't be proud of the 'you' that fought tooth and nail to climb up from that pile of rubble?"

"Are you saying I should be happy that I didn't end up worse?" Inyssa spat out.

"I'm saying you should take pride in the horrors you've survived. We humans are surprisingly sturdy; as a matter of fact, sometimes not even death can lower our spirits!" She giggled to herself. Inyssa groaned at the terrible joke. "Trust me; I've seen horrors, both human and inhuman, that would shatter your sanity like a hammer falling upon a teacup. And I came out the other side still smiling! I'm sure Vi would want the same of you."

Inyssa's eyes narrowed into an irritated glare. "Sorry… I guess I just wasn't born with the sense of humor," she whispered. "And I've had enough of people trying to cheer me up for the day. Can we get back to the point?" She pointed at one of Fantina's arms. "What does all this information about ghost Pokemon have to do with anything? Why are you telling me this?"

"Because it is important. Here, let me show you."

Once again, Fantina stood up and walked around the table, this time stopping right next to Inyssa, who couldn't help but flinch slightly at the sight of those dark-hemmed hands. And it certainly didn't help when one of said hands was extended toward her.

"D-do you…?"

"Take my hand," said Fantina. When Inyssa did no such thing, she sighed and added. "Don't worry. I have full control over this power; I promise I won't harm you."

Inyssa raised her hand slowly, timidly, squinting as though bracing herself for pain. But as their fingers touched, no pain came. Instead, her eyes flashed gold and that familiar sensation of her mind rising free of her body enveloped her whole, blinding her in a flash of white light. When she could see again, she found herself in that misty, ethereal form she'd taken many times before, although for once she was accompanied by someone else. Despite the figure beside her being entirely made of white wisps, Inyssa could instinctively tell it was Fantina.

"…Interesting,"Fantina's ethereal form whispered.

Is this… your mind? asked Inyssa, horrified, her thoughts echoing outwardly.

"So it seems," Uxie said from behind them. "How fascinating."

Compared to the pearly silver of Inyssa's mind, Fantina's was a crude mix between a dirty, rotten white and a deep, sanguine red. No matter how far she looked, all Inyssa could see were corpses. Human, Pokemon, and some that appeared to be neither. They covered every inch of the ground, rising up in piles of twisted, mangled limbs and torsos. However, it was hard to focus on anything concrete about them, as they were all covered from tip to toe in beautiful crimson flowers.

The flowers grew not only out of their ears and mouth, but also from every wound, puncture or missing chunk in their bodies, which, considering the state most of them were in, meant that it was hard to find a corpse that wasn't completely covered in them. The thin, vein-like petals that rose up from the edges dripped blood down to the ground every few seconds, as though the flower itself were siphoning it from its host.

Are those…? Inyssa recognized the flowers, and she did her best to focus on that instead of the horribly gruesome scene before her. Are those red spider lilies?

"My favorite flower," Fantina muttered sadly. "Or… well, they were. Seeing them here in my mind, in this context…"

The shock of the sight before her was enough to throw Inyssa off, because she almost asked Fantina why she sounded so surprised, before remembering that not everyone could hop inside their own minds like she could. This was most likely the first time Fantina had seen this place.

Y-yeah, uh… I'll do you a favor and not give any thought to what any of this means.

"Personally, I find it wonderful," said Uxie. "I still fail to understand humanity's fear of corpses. After all–

Uxie.

"Hm?"

We get it. You can shut up now.

"O-oh. Alright."

Fantina couldn't help but chuckle. Despite not having a body, her laugh reverberated through the air, and as it did so, every flower around them seemed to wiggle slightly, which was exactly the kind of fucked up thing Inyssa did not need to see.

"In any case, this was only meant to be the lobby of what I wanted to show you. How about we change the scene up a bit?" asked Fantina. "Here, let us start with the beginning."

A few of the wisps forming Fantina moved, and a moment after the gruesome scene disappeared from their sight, which made Inyssa sigh in relief. What replaced it was a darker, much less fucked-up one. A dark, candle-lit room, the middle of which was occupied by a young, purple-haired girl sitting on the floor and reading a book. A ball of gaseous darkness with big, sharp eyes floated around her head. A Gastly.

Is that you? asked Inyssa.

"Indeed," replied Fantina. "This is something Johanna already knows, of course. She's known ever since we first met, though she's sworn never to tell another soul. You see, I have always had this… predilection toward ghost Pokemon, ever since I was a child," she explained. "It all comes about from an event in my childhood, the details of which you don't need to know. I'm sure your imagination can fill up the blanks, while leaving some of my privacy intact."

The scene before them changed, dissolving like smoke underwater. It split in half as it reformed, two taller, slightly older Fantina standing with their backs to each other, a thin line of smoke separating them. They both threw their hands forward in unison, ordering their respective Haunter to attack. The first Fantina wore a normal, everyday outfit and seemed to be fighting in a gym arena, while the other danced and gesticulated elegantly while in a beautiful, close-fitting dress in the middle of what looked like a stadium full of people.

"As I made my debut and all of Sinnoh's trainers and coordinators learned to fear my name, my public image was that of a talented young girl who couldn't quite decide what path to walk in life. I both gathered all eight gym badges and reached the finals of the Grand Festival at the same time, mere months after the beginning of my journey. On one hand, I beat all members of the Elite Four… but I was unable to claim the title of Champion."

At that, the first Fantina gasped and fell to her knees, clutching her chest, while the other looked up proud, fingers curling into a victorious fist.

"On the other hand, while Johanna proved to be one hell of a wall to climb, I eventually defeated her and took my place as Sinnoh's top coordinator, a title I would continue to hold for years to come, even after becoming a Gym leader. And… well, if you ask most people, that's as much as they'd be able to tell you about me. But there was more, so much more that I desired besides fame and recognition."

Once more, the scene faded into nothing, only to reform into a sight Inyssa found uncomfortably familiar. A young Fantina stood at the entrance of the Lost Tower, the sliver of moonlight filtering through the branches above casting sharp, eerie shadows across her face. Said shadows were lined with a multitude of eyes, most likely belonging to her ghost companions.

"I wanted answers. Answers to the nightmares that plagued my mind every single night, nightmares of unfathomable destruction and death, the likes of which not even a god would be capable of. Nightmares of the end of all there is, and all that ever will be. And every time, I would watch from high above, like I were something beyond even the universe itself."

If Inyssa were corporeal, her eyes would've shot wide open. What Fantina was saying… these nightmares she had…

"It's just like what Shadi claimed to see," Uxie whispered to her.

W-what the hell…

Fantina continued, not having noticed her shock. "I of course made sure to consult with other ghost specialists like myself, but not a single one knew of these dark, ominous dreams. It seemed I, for better or for worse, was special. And while nowadays I'd want nothing more than a normal life, back then I couldn't have been more different. I was… infatuated with that which others said I couldn't have for myself. The secrets of death, of ghost Pokemon, of these nightmares I kept having… oh, how sweetly they beckoned to me. So sweetly, in fact…"

Another figure appeared behind young Fantina, that of a young, handsome girl of long ashen hair. Inyssa gasped. She'd seen videos and pictures of Johanna from when she was young, but to see her from up close… disregarding her pudginess and the lack of bags under her eyes, the resemblance to her was almost uncanny.

"…that I chased them at the cost of what was dearest to me."

The illusory Johanna tried desperately to grab young Fantina by the arm, but as soon as their skin touched the former burst into smoke and dissipated into nothing. The latter bit her lower lip, but she didn't look back. She walked toward the entrance of the tower, disappearing under its shadow.

"I would spend almost all of my free time inside the tower, studying, investigating, miring myself in the gentle darkness that rested deep within me; trying to understand it. And once the books from Canalave library and the scrolls I'd borrowed from Lavender Tower fell short, I moved my investigation toward greener pastures."

The next scene that materialized before them was one that Inyssa recognized well. Young Fantina stood at the end of a long, cavernous tunnel, the light of her torch unable to penetrate the massive wall in front of her, made entirely of some glassy, obsidian-like stone.

"I visited the Celestic ruins next, although even in possession of the Lorekeeper's ring, what I saw posed more questions than answers. I had no interest in the Lake Trio, nor their supposed creator. I was, however, taken by that wall of pure nothingness from which said creator was born. Yet despite my belief of the contrary, the Lorekeeper of Celestic insisted that the darkness I'd seen meant nothing. That the fresco was only meant to depict the creation of Sinnoh, and nothing more."

Next, Fantina stood atop the ceiling of a building in the middle of the night, overlooking all of Celestic. The multitude of ghost Pokemon floating around her weren't nearly as unsettling as the hungry, almost desperate look shadowing her face.

"I knew she was hiding something from me. Something important. But what could I do? As powerful as I'd become and as much influence as I could muster, I was still a teenage girl, while she was the heir of a clan thousands of years old. Even if I wanted to take the information I needed by force, I didn't stand a chance against someone like her. And yet… once again, the secrets beckoned. They sung sweet lullabies into my dreams, urging me to chase after them. To make them mine.

"After a time, I began to get desperate. All my other searches were for naught and I was driven to the point of seriously considering attacking the Lorekeeper clan just to get answers. I was a fool, of course, as every other person was during their teenage years. What others didn't possess though, was my tenacity, and my power. And most importantly, my lack of attachment to my own wellbeing. Luckily for fool young me, I didn't need to go to such lengths.

"Because, that night, my dream was different."

The scene changed agian. Inyssa heard the rushing, tempestuous rush of water, the sound of a storm swallowing the sea, before she could see it. There was no moon. Only the occasional flash of lightning illuminated the churning chaos that were the waves far, far below, extending infinitely in every direction, seemingly even past the horizon. Despite being there for only an instant, Inyssa found it a dizzying sight.

"I dreamed of this spot, high above some unknown body of water, every night for the following week. Some nights, the sea was swallowed by a storm. Others, it reflected the light of the moon like a polished mirror. But no matter how it looked, the dream always ended the same way. A voice. A… strangely familiar voice."

The storm clouds parted as she said that, revealing the gleaming moon for only an instant before its light was snuffed out, leaving everything in darkness once more. Then, from that darkness, a light shone far below. A pale, sickly turquoise glow under the churning waves, framing the shape of what seemed to be an underwater structure the size of a mountain.

Then, just as fast as it appeared, the glow vanished. And from deep beneath the waves, someone spoke with a voice like thunder, like the sea, like a storm.

"I await you, my child."

To say it was an inhuman voice would've been falling short, as Inyssa felt that not even a legendary Pokemon could've produced such a sound. It was as though the sea itself had split in half to form a mouth with which to speak those words. Yet despite its strength, the tone itself was… warm. Motherly.

It made Inyssa's non-existent skin crawl.

"Eventually, after a lot of investigating, I found a lead," said Fantina. "Less than a legend. A mere myth, a rumor of an underwater maze of caves and temples resting far below the waves of the Unovan sea. The Abyssal Ruins. But, just like with the famed Mirage island from Hoenn, it was said that the ruins would only show themselves under specific circumstances, which nobody knew about. Still… I thought it'd be wise to at least see that spot for myself, considering I'd been dreaming about it for so long. I departed at once.

"Back home, everyone assumed the worst, seeing as I ended up disappearing for an entire month."

A flash of light engulfed everything, thinning a moment after into a single bolt of lightning as the scene changed. Wind and rain battered ceaselessly against young Fantina as she tried to keep herself firm atop her Drifblim. They flew above a dark and endless sea, not a speck of moonlight to be seen. Were it not for the occasional flashes of lightning and the direction the rain was failing toward, it would have been impossible to determine up from down.

And yet, the girl persevered. Her head moved quickly, erratically like that of a Hoothoot as she looked for any sign of the Abyssal Ruins, for the light that heralded its presence. And yet, none could be seen. Drifblim's flight got slower, more difficult. Despite this being a memory, Inyssa illogically wanted to yell at the girl to give it up, to head back to shore and wait for another opportunity, but even if she could have, and even if young Fantina could have heard her, she never got the opportunity.

In the blink of an eye, the sky was parted down the middle by a tower of blinding light. Fantina barely had time to tilt her head up before thunder swallowed her whole. Inyssa gasped, although the sound was drowned by the roar of the boom as it finally traveled through the air.

Everything went dark. The sound of the sea and the storm slowly faded, leaving only the ringing that followed the boom of thunder behind. And in the end, even that vanished. The last sound was one that Inyssa knew she would never forget for as long as she lived; that of a body desperately flailing and spluttering the last of its precious air as it sank into the abyssal depths.

"Strangely, the last thing I felt was not fear or desperation. It was… familiarity. Safety. The feeling of falling asleep on sweet, caring arms, knowing that everything will be alright.

"And in the midst of that feeling, I heard that same voice."

Once again, as the voice spoke, Inyssa felt every inch of her incorporeal form shiver.

"My poor child… you've been careless again, haven't you? You mustn't do that. You are my beloved creation. You are a part of me, so why do you choose to hurt yourself? Can't you see how it also hurts me?

"But… it's alright. I forgive you, my child. I can wake you up from this dream, just like I did all those years ago. All I ask in return is another small part of you. Will you do it? Will you feed your poor mother for the chance to rise once more?"

There was a moment of silence, and then the voice spoke again.

"Yes, it's alright now. Just a little bit further, and you'll find me. Just a little bit further… and you'll free me, my child. You will take my place."

Inyssa jumped as a choked gasp was heard and a different scene materialized in an instant. Young Fantina lay on her side, desperately trying to catch her breath. Her coughs echoed throughout the cavernous insides of the place she'd woken up in. It was… massive. An impossibly tall and wide corridor of blue-ish ancient stone, poorly illuminated by the chunks of chargestone stuck to the walls.

It didn't look like any kind of architecture Inyssa had seen in her life. The corridor turned and twisted onto itself as though it were a spiral, spires and cubes and strange pieces of rock growing out of the ground, walls and ceiling in random spots, sometimes even blocking the chargestones themselves. A few of the stone structures were lined with holes or slots in which to put something in, while others already possessed some form of item inside, though not all of them were like that. The placement and assortment of everything in the corridor made it look less like a human-made structure and more like a building growing and expanding in the same way a plant would.

"Much like I'd done once before, I gave up a part of myself in order to… rise again," said Fantina, sadness clear in her voice. "And once I woke up, this is where I found myself in."

What… is this?

"The place I'd been looking for; the Abyssal Ruins. Although some better know it by the name of 'The Sunken Library'."

It doesn't look much like a library.

"Nor did I begin to drown when I woke up inside, but you know how people are with names," said Fantina. "Regardless, I didn't have much time to muse about semantics. I was weak and confused by what had just happened to me, but I wouldn't let that stop me. I began to explore the ruins without even a semblance of a plan, as circumstances had forced me to. Fortunately… or perhaps the opposite, I didn't need to look for long before finding something."

Once again, everything dissipated into smoke, only to reform once more. This time, Fantina found herself in a similarly dark room the size of a cathedral, a misshapen clump of about a hundred chargestones tied with a net and hanging from the ceiling, casting a sickly blue light upon the tall, slender statues that formed a circle around the middle of the room.

And, in the spot where all the shadows converged, stood something that any pair of eyes would have recognized as a person, yet Inyssa's mind blared a loud alarm at the sight of him, telling her that there was something there she wasn't seeing. Next to her, she felt Uxie grunt, as though in pain.

"My meeting with Alberich, was... monumental, but ill-fated. Yet to young me, he was exactly the person I'd been looking for all this time. As the keeper of the ruins, he possessed the knowledge that had escaped my grasp for so long, and he was willing to give it to me… for a price."

Inyssa was almost too distracted to listen, unable to take her eyes off the man, trying to determine his facial features amidst the heavy shadows falling upon him. Something about him… felt terribly familiar.

The fact that he's the keeper of a place like this… I'm guessing he wasn't asking for money in return.

"Unfortunately, no. What he wanted was for me to join him. To join them." Just then, Alberich's shadow split into seven others, each with a distinct shape and appearance. "His Stigma. There were supposed to be eight in total, and I was meant to replace their number eight, whose time was, according to Alberich, starting to run out."

That's…

"Ominous? Yes. Though he assured me that all I needed to do was take her place, take her Stigma. Once I did that, I could leave for Sinnoh and never see him or any of the others again, and it wouldn't be a problem. And the strangest part was that… well, he was telling the truth.

"I don't need to tell you my answer. I hadn't come all this way and died a second time just to turn around and leave it all behind. I'd already done my fair share of sacrifices. What was one more? So I accepted. I became their Eight Stigma, and did like all others before me, keeping Chaos from spreading out."

The scene faded again, though this time it didn't reform. Inyssa felt as though her very soul frowned; this couldn't be it, could it? No, if it was then she was probably allowed to punch Fantina in the face.

But… what the hell is the Institute, and who are all those people? And what even is Chaos? she asked, irritated. I know it's what we saw in that fresco, and I know it's what Nyss brought into the world when she tried to enslave Dialga and Palkia, but what is it!?

"I had much the same questions as you. I too had been to Celestic Ruins, and I too had read Nyss' diary… though back then it was hidden not amidst the tomes of Canalave but in the insides of the Sunken Library. But no amount of reading or investigating could have prepared me for the truth. For me, it was my hunger for knowledge that led me to it. For you, it's necessity, and the desire to save what you love. Despite your intentions being nobler than mine, I have to ask… are you sure you want to know? I can show you, but–"

Oh, don't you dare pull that shit on me! Inyssa cut her off, voice flaring with anger. I didn't come all this way just for more cryptic bullshit!

Despite being unable to see it, Inyssa could tell that Fantina smiled.

"I suppose you haven't. I'll have to apologize to Johanna for roping yet another one of her daughters into this, but… it really is inevitable," she said, turning toward the empty space before her. "Fine. Let's share this truth. All I ask is that you brace yourself."

I'm read–

Inyssa didn't get to finish the sentence, which saved her from being proven wrong less than a second later.

A scene of impossible breadth and desolation hit Inyssa's like a hammer to the face. What she saw made no physical or logical sense. Her eyes flared up immediately, but as much as her and Uxie's mind combined tried to wrap themselves around what lay before them, they couldn't begin to parse it. She remembered the expression Uxie had used before toward her. 'Like drinking an entire ocean through a straw'. But no, that was nothing compared to this.

The realm in which they stood had no horizons. The more they looked, the more they felt as though their sight should eventually reach its end, the more there was to look at. There was no solid ground, no anchored surface. Instead, thousands… no, perhaps even millions of broken, dilapidated structures floated amidst an endless void of deep black and flashing purple, as though a palatinate storm were trying to break through the surface of a moonless night.

At first, neither of them could even parse what the structures floating through the void were. Their minds kept trying to steer their sight in a hundred different directions at once, making the impossible in giving their incorporeal forms a splitting headache. But slowly, they were able to parse out the details. There were… small islands, pieces of ground and vegetation that had been ripped apart from god-knows where, some of them even having small waterfalls whose water fell infinitely to the void below without rhyme or reason, some even upside-down. But… no, that wasn't all. There were also buildings. Houses, palaces, castles, temples… structures that Inyssa had seen in books from thousands of years before and some that looked as though they could only exist in the distant future.

All of them were… scattered to the void, floating aimlessly. Some were mashed together into unrecognizable forms, others were so far apart from each other that they looked like stars in the night sky. Yet all of them… every single thing inside this horrible void looked like it was suffering the same fate.

They were all slowly disintegrating, being eaten away by what loomed in the distance. A black sun. It hung high above them much like the real sun, only it was... no, it looked to be about the same size, but deep down a part of Inyssa understood that it was impossibly bigger. So massive that the mere idea of its true breadth would drive her mad.

At that thought her eyes shone brighter, and Inyssa felt emotions that were not her own. That ancient hunger for knowledge that made the core of Uxie's power flared angrily, forcing her to stare straight at the black sun in defiance, intent on understanding its nature no matter the cost. Unfortunately, much like the real sun, she could only look at it for a few moments before having to stop, a terrible pain cleaving her mind in half.

A-agh! Fuck, I-I…

"Take your time," Fantina whispered beside her. "I can't think of a worst person to behold this sight than a Shockeyes."

What… what the f-fuck? Inyssa could barely think. The sensations wracking through her Spirit were unlike anything she'd ever felt before. Physical pain was nothing compared to it. W-w-what is this?

Fantina took a second to reply. Despite being only a mass of wisps, Inyssa could perfectly imagine her looking up at that black sun with a sad, nostalgic smile on her face.

"There is no official name for this place, but our predecessor, the first to hold back the great Chaos, once called it the World of Distortion. It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" she asked, a clear smile on her face. "You could think of this place as a sort of limbo. That which connects everything we will ever know to the fate which awaits all that there ever will be."

All that will… huh? It was hard to parse Fantina's riddles normally much more when this place made her feel like this. W-wait… our predecessor?

"I'm afraid you've missed the forest for the trees, Inyssa. Pull back a bit those big eyes of yours, will you?"

I–

Inyssa didn't know how in the hell she'd missed them. Maybe because of this place's enormity, there was just so much that she couldn't even see what was in front of them. But… there they were. Young Fantina stood on the same platform as them, only a few feet ahead. And before her was another person; an old woman of silvery white hair. Her eyes were hidden in shadows, but a satisfied smile could be seen on her face.

"This is where I faced my final trial," said Fantina. "Where I took the mantle of Eight Stigma from its previous owner."

The old woman raised her blackened hands, atop which rested a small, smooth crystal the color of amber.

It… looks familiar, she thought. But I don't remember ever seeing something like that.

Young Fantina raised her own hands, placing them atop the crystal so that, between the two of them, it was fully hidden. Then, something odd happened. Despite the crystal being hidden from view, it was clear that it slowly started to dissolve, as their hands got closer and closer together until, finally, their palms touched.

There was a throb in the distorted world around them, almost like a heartbeat. Then, with a sound like that of rushing water, the stigma adorning old woman's hands and the dark, corrupted veins lining her arms started crawling up young Fantina's skin instead. The girl's whole body tensed up, and though Inyssa couldn't see her face with her back turned toward them, she could imagine from her body language the intense pain she must have been in.

After what felt like an eternity, the transference was complete. When they let go of each other's hands, there was no crystal to be seen, only the dark corruption eating up young Fantina's arms.

The old woman let out a tired, satisfied sigh and looked up at the girl with a smile. Her eyes, which had previously been hidden by shadows, were now in plain view. They were big and bright and full of love and compassion.

"Thank you, my child. For relieving a poor old woman of her burden," she said, her tone so warm and motherly. "I pray your time will be easier than mine."

It didn't take more than a second for Inyssa to recognize her voice.

That's the voice from before! The one that spoke to you when you were drowning!

Fantina said nothing, but she could feel as a proud smile formed on her lips.

"Now…" The old woman took a step back, letting her shoulders drop. Suddenly, she looked drowsy. "I think I've earned my rest. Shall we?"

"M-master?" asked Fantina, frightened.

"Come now, you know this was coming," she said, smiling. "It's a perfect opportunity. For me to say goodbye to it, and for you to meet it for the first time."

"I-I…"

Out of the corner of her sight, Inyssa saw the black sun move, and froze in horror. It pulsed like a heart, tendril-like wings of pure darkness pouring out of its sides as a pair of red, burning eyes shone from within. No… not within. The black sun itself was changing, reshaping into a form so vast and horrifying Inyssa's mind refused to even try to behold it.

She did, however, see as it spread its wings and dove toward them with impossible speed, swallowing everything in its path. Inyssa and Uxie screamed in unison, and were then, alongside young Fantina and the old woman, consumed whole.

For a moment, Inyssa thought she had died. Then her mind was jolted back toward her body and she awoke with a start, eyes shooting wide open as a horrified gasp crawled up her throat.

"Take your time. I reacted much the same way my first time."

Had Inyssa been in any state to tell Fantina to go fuck herself, she would've gladly done so. But she couldn't. She barely managed to push herself up to her feet, her mind swimming. Her head felt like it was about to split in half but for once she was grateful for the pain, grateful for a physical body she could anchor herself to. Compared to what her mind had just been subjected to, physical pain was a bliss.

And it wasn't just her. Deep in her mind, Uxie was silent, shaking with fear it never thought a being of its power could feel. Uxie felt… small. Insignificant in a way it'd never felt before.

It took Inyssa a few seconds to be able to speak, unconsciously hugging herself and shaking slightly.

"That was… that was it, right? The… thing. Chaos. What Nyss vanquished."

Fantina gave a solemn nod. "Chaos. Nothingness. It has quite a few names, considering its existence is the Lorekeepers' greatest kept secret. Although for our purposes, I think it's better to call it by its Ancient Sinnohan moniker." Her lips moved as she said the name, but for some reason it took Inyssa's mind a few seconds to recognize the sound she made. "Giratina."

Inyssa swallowed. That name… something about its inherent wrongness sent a shiver down her spine. Unconsciously, she shimmied toward the nearest chair and let herself fall on it, feeling her legs weak and shaky.

"Gi…ratina," she mouthed off the name herself, rolling off her tongue like something sour and unpleasant. "But… what is it? Really?"

"Before Arceus came to be, before there was… well, anything, there was Nothing. An infinite sea of pure absence. Then, from that nothingness, a spark was lit. A being emerged. And before this being split its power to create time and space, it inadvertently created something else. Contrast. Struggle. A fate that was written into the very fabric of the universe growing from that being with every beat of its heart. For just as Life bloomed for the first time, so did its opposite."

"D-death?" asked Inyssa, then frowned at herself. "No, that's… not it."

"Indeed. I've met many who have fallen to death, yet they are still here. Death is not the end, nor is it the opposite of Life. It is simply a… transitory step. A moment of silence in between two heartbeats," she explained, a hint of passion in her voice. "No; what was born that day besides Life was not Death. It was Entropy."

Somehow, Inyssa wasn't surprised at the answer. A part of her felt as though she'd known it for a long time, like it was written in some part of her mind the moment she was born, but she'd been too afraid to acknowledge it.

"You're right to be afraid, of course," Fantina said like she'd read her mind. "Fear of entropy, of this nothingness, is present deep in every living being's Spirit, though most mistake it for the fear of death."

"And… that's what that thing is?" asked Inyssa, tone uneasy. "The, like… opposite of Arceus? Something that wants to swallow everything into nothingness again? Like… like it tried to do before Nyss stopped it?"

For a moment, Fantina looked surprised. Then she just giggled and waved with her hand as though to swat the thought away.

"Oh, no, no. I'm afraid you're thinking of it too much as an entity like Arceus, instead of… well, absence itself. Something without a mind to think. Life and entropy are just the byproducts of two opposites coming into contact, much like the sparks that fly out when steel strikes flint." Fantina raised one of her blackened hands in front of her, showing it to Inyssa. "When Nyss took Dialga and Palkia's powers for herself, Giratina did not come forth because it saw it as its perfect opportunity. It's just that, in the other two's absence, nothing held it back anymore. Just like if you poke a hole on the side of a glass full of water, said water will start pouring out."

"And to stop it, Nyss…" Inyssa was out of words for a moment. "When she used Dialga and Palkia's power to create the moon, that'd be like… like covering the hole in the glass with tape?" She frowned at herself. This headache was interfering with her ability to make good similes. "But why was reflected sunlight enough to cast it away?"

Fantina looked somewhat proud that she'd asked that. "You should know better than anyone; our dear moon is so much more than a simple mirror. Nyss made sure of that. She imbued most of the power she'd absorbed onto the moon itself, making sure its light would be strong enough to keep Giratina at bay. And when the two collided, another pair of sparks lit the night. Another two beings came into existence." She smiled. "Two beings I'm sure you're familiar with."

Inyssa nodded. Again, she wasn't surprised. A part of her felt like she'd known this for a long time.

"Darkrai and Cresselia."

"Isn't it funny?" asked Fantina, her lips quirking up. "A small portion of what was once Arceus' power collided against a small portion of Giratina, and the result was a repeat of their first clash, only… much smaller. The result was even the same. Two beings, one of light and one of shadow, were created. In a way, you could think of Darkrai and Cresselia as pale imitations of something greater. Ha…" She pressed a hand against her mouth and giggled. "Much like a plush toy of a Tyranitar versus the real thing."

Inyssa just glared at her, once again unsure of what to make of her sense of humor.

I'm pretty sure both of them would rip you to pieces if they heard you say that, she thought.

"I… okay, I get what it is now," she said, a bit of her usual strength coming back to her voice. The shock of what she'd seen a mere minutes ago was starting to fade. "But what does it have to do with you or that weird Institute or Shadi?"

"I was getting to that," said Fantina. "You see, Nyss knew that the moon she'd created couldn't stop Giratina forever. That power that it possessed, that reflection of light that kept the darkness back, reaches its peak roughly once a month and then slowly weakens until it can recharge again."

Realization dawned on Inyssa. "The phases of the moon."

"Yes. Luckily, any amount of light is enough, but… well, what would happen during moonless nights?" she asked, clearly rhetorical. "Fearful that the seal might fail, she thought of a failsafe, a way to contain Giratina during moonless nights only. And the key to that failsafe is what you saw both me and my old mentor holding before I became the Eight Stigma."

"That gem? The one that looked like a piece of amber?"

Fantina nodded. "In truth, it's not really a gem. It's more of a… coagulation. When Nyss' and Giratina's power clashed and the latter was banished, a small part of it was cast off, left behind. Since it was a piece of… well, nothingness itself, it couldn't quite be perceived or even felt by most people. Those like me or Nyss being the only exception," explained Fantina. "And Nyss got an idea. That piece of Giratina, the Griseous Orb, was still connected to what it'd been cast away from. Small though it might have been, it was a piece of Giratina itself… If her previous bonding with the siblings of the lake had been any indication…"

She didn't finish the sentence, but Inyssa had no problem connecting the dots at that point.

"She wanted to bond with it?" she asked, horrified. "That's what you and that old woman… and what Shadi… did?"

It was brief, but a small, saddened smile formed on Fantina's lips. "You're right, in a way. But of course, it would be impossible for any human, even one as strong as Nyss, to fully bond with Giratina itself, so she simply bonded with that small piece of it. The Griseous Orb." Once again, she raised one of her hands and examined it. "I'm sure you're wondering how that helped with the moonless night problem. Well… as it turns out, bonding with even a piece of Giratina is quite different than bonding with, say, the siblings of the lake.

"With the siblings, the bond is mutual, but very one-sided. The power a human receives from them was far greater than whatever they could offer in return. But with Giratina, it's the opposite. Its very nature is that of absence. Like a black hole. You will get some power, yes, but the price to pay in return is much greater. You will influence Giratina much more than it will influence you." Fantina spread her palm open, showing her the small dot in the middle. "I told you before; Giratina is, by nature, mindless. But it doesn't have to be. Like blood dripping into water, the smallest addition will alter its nature."

Inyssa swallowed. "T-then… if you were to bond with that thing, that Griseous Orb, Giratina wouldn't be mindless anymore? It would take on your… personality?"

"Yes. That is why Nyss managed to keep it at bay for so long. That is why, when I fell and drowned in the waters of the Unovan sea, the voice that urged me to rise again, Giratina's voice, sounded like that of my predecessor," she explained. "And when it was my turn to carry that mantle, I did so without complaint. Every moonless night I felt within myself Giratina's urge to devour all, and every moonless night I simply reminded both myself and it that there was no need to rush. Entropy would claim all in the end. Giratina's victory was assured from the moment Life came into being… so what was waiting just a little bit more?

"That's how it was for a long time. From my years within the Institute until I finally left their ranks years later, horrified by the atrocities they'd committed. And yet, I was not persecuted. I was allowed to keep this power, this bond to myself. And so… I kept it." She closed her eyes and sighed. "I didn't even let go of it when my own child was tainted by the darkness that rested within me. Nor when she abandoned me to join the very Institute I'd found too abhorrent to be a part of so long ago."

She… she must mean Sanbica, thought Inyssa. So she's one of them… those Institute guys.

Fantina seemed to notice the look on her face. She smiled and waved the matter away. "Oh, you needn't worry about her or those idiots she hangs out with. The Institute is none of our concern, since we are of no concern to them either," she said. "In any case, this brings us to your previous question… though I'm sure you could answer most of it for yourself by now."

Again with that irritating smile of hers. Then again, at this point Inyssa was irritated in general, not only by everything she'd just learned but also the fact that they were all in much, much bigger trouble than she'd first assumed.

Placing both elbows on the table, she hid her face in her palms and sighed deeply.

"Shadi bonded with that piece of Giratina at some point, didn't she?" She parted her fingers slightly, looking sourly at Fantina. "And you helped her do it."

Fantina smiled tersely. "You're… half right."

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" asked Inyssa, voice thin with exhaustion and frustration. "Yeah, I remember you two arguing in our house, and I remember you telling her that you wouldn't teach her anymore but… what happened? Why…?"

In lieu of actually relying her current feeling of overwhelmingness through a single question, she just threw one palm up, shook her head and huffed through her nose in a general gesture of 'What the fuck?'. Luckily, Fantina seemed to understand the nuance of her frustration.

"Shadi studied under me, yes, but never did I suggest the possibility of her succeeding me. I didn't even tell her much of what I've told you today. Only a small fraction. Yet she was… intelligent, reckless and good at putting pieces together; a terrible combination, really." Her face darkened as she said that. "In truth, I only taught her what I knew regarding ghost Pokemon, and later on I helped her in her quest to locate both Darkrai and the Dread Plate. Although… I never could have imagined what she'd eventually use them for."

Inyssa remembered. Flashes of the memories she'd recovered that night. Shadi coming back home on that rainy night, the shadows heavier around her, an unmistakable glint of blue in her eyes. That dark stone she kept looking at like it was a puzzle. How Inyssa had inadvertently helped her put the pieces together…

"The day we broke off our teacher-student relationship was the day she suggested… no, she insisted that I tell her more about Giratina, about the Institute, about everything else I've revealed to you, Inyssa." She sighed. "In all honesty, I still don't know how she found out about it all. But of course, I couldn't comply. No matter how much she insisted that she needed the power, I felt as though I'd done enough damage as is. I'd already sent Johanna's daughter down a dangerous path. I would not make it worse. As you remember… Shadi did not take that well. That was the last time I ever saw her."

Inyssa blinked in confusion. "Wait, then how did she…?"

"It just… happened one night," smiled Fantina. "A few weeks from then, I woke up to find that I could not feel Giratina's presence within me. Moreover, the Griseous Orb that had melted into my scars was also gone, although the scars themselves remained."

"H-how?"

"All I know is that, at some point, she came into contact with the Institute. As to how she managed to obtain that bond with Giratina in a way that no one's ever done, especially without me noticing… well, your guess is as good as mine, I'm afraid." She shrugged. "Judging from your battle against her, though, that bond couldn't have been very stable. She didn't have the darkened scars nor the stigma on her one remaining palm, did she?"

Inyssa shook her head.

"Yes, I figured," muttered Fantina, looking down pensively. "Perhaps it was the fact that she was already bonded to Darkrai, that she couldn't sustain both bonds fully at the same time. Or maybe it was another reason… but I believe she might have only partially bonded with Giratina," she explained. "It would explain a few things, especially… what happened to her in the end."

It felt like a bucket of cold water being suddenly dumped on her. Inyssa gulped, eyes going wide. The shock and horror of what she'd just experienced was such that she'd almost forgotten the main reason she'd asked Fantina for this information in the first place. And now that she was about to get her answers… she felt like her heart was trying to claw out of her throat.

"Giratina… took her, didn't it?"

Fantina was unable to meet her eyes.

"There are only two lights capable of burning through a moonless night'," Fantina quoted those familiar words. "'The first is the crack of dawn. The second is the flash of thunder.'" She looked up at her, forming a sad smile. "When your thunder struck Shadi, it destroyed not only her Dread Plate but it also burned away her bond with Giratina. You broke both of her bonds at once. What remained was nothing but a normal woman… one who currently held on to the Griseous Orb and had no way of containing its power. There is… a reason only an Eight Stigma should hold on to such an object."

For a few seconds she didn't say anything else, not because she'd finished speaking, but because the next words were difficult to get out.

"Shadi was… consumed. All that she was, her very being… was taken in by Giratina itself. She was practically erased from existence, and from the memories and souls of all who'd ever known her," she said with a heavy voice. "The only ones who can still remember her now are those whose Spirits have a… layer of protection so to speak, whether from having bonded with a legendary Pokemon or… for other reasons."

There was something to the way Fantina had said those last three words, but Inyssa couldn't think about that right now. Because suddenly, it was like the entire room had filled with cold water. She felt dizzy, weightless. Had she not been sitting down, she was pretty sure her legs would have failed her.

You already knew, a part of her told her. Deep down you knew that's what happened to her, so why…

"Is there…!" Inyssa looked up sharply, eyes full of desperation. "Is there a way to bring her back!?"

The emotion that formed on Fantina's face wasn't pity, but it wasn't far from it either.

"Well… if we don't, I'm afraid things will get rather difficult," she smiled. "She was the one keeping Giratina in check. And without knowing where the Griseous Orb is now, we either get Shadi back or… well, the leader of Team Galactic won't have much time to enjoy his victory once the moonless night arrives. Our world or his, it will be consumed all the same."

There were a few seconds of silence. Then Inyssa chuckled. It wasn't a healthy, sane chuckle by any stretch of the imagination, but it somehow eased a bit of the knot that had formed in her throat. She placed a hand against the side of her face and shook her head, a broken, wavy smile on her lips.

"Great… here I thought I was only dealing with one end of the world and a missing sister. Turns out there's two different ways the world could end… and my sister's still fucking missing."

Maybe she'd finally gone low enough to dip into what was Fantina's sense of humor, because the woman chuckled as well.

"If it makes you feel any better, we do have a plan," she said. "Cynthia and I have been trying to think of a way to solve both problems at once. Kill two Pidgey with one stone, so to speak. The rest of her group will take care of Team Galactic, and we… that being you, Barry, Metchi Cynthia and I will take care of… well, Shadi's mess."

That was enough to startle Inyssa. Not only the fact that she'd been recruited without her knowledge, but also that Barry was meant to work with them? Was… was Barry already back on his feet? And heading over here!?

Inyssa felt her breathing get faster and harsher.

"Breathe in and out. Slowly." Uxie spoke for the first time in minutes, its voice still weak but slowly recovering. "Let's handle one thing at a time, alright?"

She nodded. Uxie was right. Right now, this was more important.

"I'm guessing there's a reason you and Cynthia need all three of us," she said. "I'll… help, of course, but I'd like to know what the plan is."

Fantina sat silent for a few seconds. Then, slowly, almost reluctantly, she pushed herself against the table to her feet and sighed. When she looked at Inyssa again, there was an apologetic look on her face.

"That's… the thing. I'm afraid you probably won't like the first step of our plan very much."

"I… what is it?"

"Barry and Metchi are both ready, but you…" Fantina formed a lopsided smile. "You will have to… die, just a little bit."

Inyssa blinked a few times, confident that she'd heard her wrong.

"H… huh?


Cyrus frowned as he was led down one of the cave's many corridors toward one of the crevices where they'd left their equipment while they rested for the night. It had better be good, whatever Jupiter wanted to show him. He'd finally managed to fall asleep for the first time in three days.

"Yah, trust me boss, you're gonna wanna see this one," said Jupiter, her voice slurry. Was she drunk again? "Ah, here!"

"I can't imagine what would merit such–"

He stopped after entering the crevice, shocked. There, in the back, rested the three containers that held the siblings of the lake, both containing them and siphoning their power. At first, Cyrus noticed that something was odd, but couldn't identify what. Then it hit him.

"Uxie's vital signs…"

Jupiter exhaled out of her nose, relieved. "Yup. Its cerebral activity spiked up a few minutes ago, and it's stayed like that ever since. Which means…"

"The grunts outside succeeded in their mission." No true joy or excitement could exist within Cyrus, but there was still a certain intensity to his voice as he said that. "We finally have all three of them."