Hey people! Sorry for the lack of update last week...can you believe I actually –gasp- forgot?! Yes, I know. Throw tomatoes at me. I'm so horrible. ;-;

But here is chapter NOW! And don't eat me, because I can't say I like it all that much. I suck with transitions. But I'm the writer, and we're all our own worst critics, so I'll let you be the judge. :P Here, finally, is...

Chapter Forty-Three

Livesih tyort sedotnog ardeeht, nopullaci!!!

A bright blue light surrounded me, and some invisible wind caused my hair to start flying around. As I repeated the Dragon melody over and over, the light somehow got even brighter, and I could hear Darrell yelling something at me, but I didn't bother to listen.

No...this was for them, to avenge the deaths that were so mindless, and yet meant everything. This was for them, for everything I never said that should have been.

Still covered in the light, I began to do a little zombie-like walk to the pool, and literally walked right into it. No matter, since it wasn't like I had to hold my breath, but Darrell didn't know that. I could still vaguely hear him yelling for me, and I had a smile—just a little—at that.

The water whirled all around me, mixing with the light, and with the exception of my belt, my clothes were torn off and instantly replaced with some sort of dress. I looked down a little, seeing that it was strapless and shaped...well, like a Dragonair. It was dark blue in the back and on most of the billowy sides except in the front, where it was white like a Dragonair's stomach. A slit up one side separated the two colors; and a ball was at the very top of the dress, once again like on a Dragonair, and I knew the key was in there. And of course, the belt still circled my waist.

The light or the water, I had no idea which, carried me back up from the pool, and Darrell was looking shocked, but to my surprise, so was Anthony.

"You...aren't…" he gasped.

I narrowed my eyes. "Ever going to forgive you, you loser," I finished, my hair still floating all around me as I gently landed near them. I walked towards Anthony a bit, my dress and hair flowing behind me as gracefully as a water Pokemon swimming

"It's because of you, isn't it?" I said a deep, cold voice I had never heard myself use before, but there was no time to be shocked by it. Kitsune's ears perked slightly at hearing me speak, and he ran over to me only to turn around and walk next to me.

"It's because of you that I'm even need here," I continued, feeling as if though there wasn't a trace of happiness left in me; only anger. "You've been tampering with fate. You and your clan are the reason these Dragons even need someone like me." I looked up, making an 'L' on my forehead. "You really are a looooooseeeeer!" I stuck my tongue out at him and ran over to Darrell, who was looking at me like I was the biggest idiot in the world.

"You are the biggest idiot in the world," he whispered to me, placing his hands on my shoulders.

"Yeah, I know," I whispered back.

"WHY YOU LITTLE—" Anthony bellowed at me, sending a ball of cackling electrical energy towards me. Darrell attempted to yank me away from it, but I stood my ground, staring at the floor, and somehow, a shield erected itself around me, and like when Steve had kissed me, the attack fizzled away into nothing.

"Lindsey..." Darrell said slowly, his gaze boring into my eyes. "What...happened? What..."

I suddenly spun around, whipping my hair in his face. "That's right," I said to Anthony. "You said you would tell me everything. Well, now, my best friends in the world just sort of—oh yeah, sacrificed themselves, so the least you could do is tell me what the hell is going on!"

Anthony snickered. "Do you even believe I know all of the secrets of this Den? All of the past, present, and future it holds? Mommy Tamer did a horrible job of explaining, didn't she?" He laughed some more. "Now, though, it is certain you have no immediate protection!"

I blinked. "What?"

"Love," he shivered, like it hurt him to say that. "Is what you...you Tamers have been using against me, to kill me, destroy me, and seal me away. It is what I was never granted, and therefore, is a weapon against Hunters. But now..." He sniggered. "Now that two people whom you "love—" He flinched at the word, "--More than anything have died by my hand...there's no way you can stand in the way of the Hunters!"

I clenched my hands into fists, tinkling my fingernails against my cross-and-rhinestones belt. "No," I whispered angrily. "Steve and Ivy—" I looked up, involuntarily raising my arms and spreading my fingers. "ARE ALWAYS HERE FOR ME!!!"

A sort of rainbow-colored attack was released from my palms; it looked like it combined water, ice, electricity, grass, and who knows what else type of attacks. It hit Anthony full-blast—this attack didn't go through him!—and he slammed into a nearby wall.

My mouth fell open and I stared at my hands for a second, and then looked down at Kit. "Did you do that?" I mouthed.

He shook his head, his big dark eyes wide. Okay...how did I suddenly wield so much...power? What was that attack?

I turned my head to look back at Darrell, who was wearing an unreadable expression on his face. Before I could ask what it was about, his arms wrapped around my waist, and my stomach fluttered.

"You're right," he whispered in my ear. "You are not alone. You are not alone."

Anthony was somehow getting up from that incredible attack, and his eyes were burning red. He shakily 'stood', looking as if he wanted to throw another attack at me.

"You are not alone."

He was preparing it, and I instinctively wanted to put up some sort of shield. Why did I feel like I needed all this protection? It wasn't just because I wanted to save my own life, I was sure of that...

"You are not alone."

"I am...not alone," I said, my voice echoing through the Den. Suddenly, Anthony stopped planning his attack, and it diminished at once. I felt Darrell's arms, which were locked around me, slowly slip away, and before I could turn around, he had disappeared behind me.

"Darrell?!" I cried. Where did he go? No, no, not him too...

"I'm right here," his deep voice called to me. I looked, and where Anthony had been standing, Darrell suddenly was. How did he get there? And where was the Evil One?

"Darrell?" I whispered.

He extended a hand. "Lindsey," he said in a soft voice I had never heard him use before; it was sweet and loving...and yet, had the harsh undertones of the creepy voice I had often heard him use before.

"Mochiles and Ivy are gone, aren't they?" he continued, thinking I would melt with that tone of voice. I'm not one for lovey-dovey mush, but with Darrell...it was different.

"Yes," I whispered, feeling any trace of power I had in me dwindle away. I started walking towards Darrell, and he extended a trench-coated arms towards me.

"You don't have them with you anymore," he said. "Come...with me. You know you'll never feel any more pain with me. You can forget about everything here."

"I...can...forget," I murmured softly, the dress trailing behind me like some sort of wedding gown. I was in front of Darrell now, his hand still reaching out for mine.

"That's right," he soothed. "Take my hand. Come with me. You can rest, and not worry anymore. The Hunters will take care of it all."

I looked down at his hand; his large, pale, wrinkled hand. I hesitated, but I had no clue why—I didn't have much thought or emotion left in me; my body felt like a listless lump of nothing. Darrell could take me away...he has before...

I slowly lifted my hand to place it in his, but an imperfection caught my eye—a scrape. In a huge rush, I gasped my mind suddenly filled with the memory--

"Together in mind and wounds," Steve said so seriously, Ivy and I doubled over laughing.

Smiling, he rolled his eyes and opened the passenger back door to the truck, seeing how Mom and Dad were coming over. Ivy climbed in first, and then I after her. "The one time I try to be remotely serious..." he pretended to sigh, getting in after me and slamming the door.

"Don't scare us like that again," Ivy said. "You being serious is, well...just not right."

"It's downright scary," I agreed. "You should leave the seriousness to Ivy." I looked over at her and winked. "She's way better at it."

"Yeah, yeah."

'Together,' I said to myself. I let out another little gasp and jerked my hand back.

"What's wrong, Lindsey?" Darrell asked, all too sweetly.

"You're wrong," I blurted out, rubbing the cut on my hand. "Steve and Ivy aren't gone. They said they'd never leave me...and they're right. I don't care what anyone says...I'M TRULY NOT ALONE!"

The minute I finished screeching those words, Darrell collapsed and Anthony floated from behind me. "Tsk. And to think you were so close to leaving this wretched Den to me."

I narrowed my eyes, getting into a fighting stance and realizing something all at once. "You...you've been getting at Darrell, haven't you?!"

"Why, whatever do you mean, little Tamer?"

"You've been possessing him...or something!" I growled. "He's not a Hunter! He left! Why can't you all just leave him alone?!" Darrell twitched.

Anthony smirked some more. "Oh yes...he is a Hunter, little lady. The very one I've been waiting for since destinies threatened to collide. Like I've been saying, he is merely my puppet...a shadow of me."

"YOU BASTARD!" I screamed, unknowingly releasing another one of those rainbow-colored attacks, and it had the same effect as the previous one did. I didn't waste time being shocked, though, and was stomping over to him, but still managed to look graceful, somehow.

"Darrell is no one's puppet," I growled. "He is his own person." Stomp. "He left his family because he knew that they were wrong." Stomp. "And I know him better than you ever will, even if I don't posses him." Stomp. "So no matter what you make him do, his heart, no matter what lineage it possesses, will always be his." Stomp. "And hopefully, one day it will also be partly mine." Stomp.

I was getting Anthony nervous. Sweeeet. He was floating in front of me, trying to avoid me trudging right into him or anything, but in an instant, I grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled his face to mine, completely ignoring the fact that was, in theory, just a ghost, which was how I was probably able to do that.

"I still have no idea what's going on," I said to him in a voice that even threatened me. "And you are going to tell me right now before I kill you with my bare hands."

He sniggered. "Kill me? Did you just say that you would try to kill me?!"

"I don't need to try," I growled.

"HA!" he laughed. "So I was wrong; you're not different than your little Tamer family. Tell me how I, Anthony Hunter, was able to escape this so-called "death" for these so many years? It was thought I was killed, then sealed away, but I guess you could compare me to a Zigzagoon: you just can't get rid of me."

My eyes widened as something he had said came into realization in my mind. "Wait a sec...Anthony Hunter?"

"That's right," he grinned evilly as I slowly released his shirt collar. "Your precious little Hunter is a descendant of me!"

I looked back at Darrell, shocked. He was still slumped up against the wall where he had collapsed before. He didn't look much different, but suddenly...he seemed like another whole person.

"That may be," I said, once again in that threatening voice, "But like I told you before...no matter what he may be descended from, he's still just...Darrell."

Anthony scowled deeply at the 'what' comment, but he didn't say anything about it. "Tell me, little Tamer, are you aware of what a Hunter actually does in this Pokemon world?"

"Do you think I even care?"

"You should...yes, you very much should." He began to do a little simulation of pacing by floating back and forth. "You see, Tamer, death means nothing to us Hunters unless it has some underlying purpose. Oh you may have heard differently," he added, seeing how I opened my mouth in protest, "But now, that doesn't matter, does it?

"Besides a Legendary Pokemon...the most superior of all, of course, are the pure Dragon Pokemon of Dratini, Dragonair, and Dragonite. Far more powerful than any so-called 'Legendary', since Dragons are legends in themselves...and much more elusive...how often do they make themselves shown? Hardly ever.

"A creature that can hold so much power, and still look cute doing it...that, of course, is the key to their power. No one can even fathom how great these Pokemon can be until they've seen the power they can exert for themselves.

"So why would a Hunter want one of these magnificent creatures dead? It seems odd, doesn't it?" He stopped pacing for a second and looked me straight in the eye so harshly that I jumped back in surprised and nearly stumbled over my dress. He held back a snicker and continued his "pacing".

"Hunter prize the death of Dragon for one simple reason: it grants us eternity." He narrowed his eyes over at Darrell. "Infinity, that is passed to the possessor. You see...Dragons live an unspeakably long life, so it's truly a wonder they're so rare...in fact, you could say they have the tendency to live for an 'eternity'. Among little trainers and collectors, they are the most sough-after Pokemon. A lucky few may get a glimpse of them..." He turned to stare at me. "But luckily, you, being a Tamer, will have a lifetime with them...if I don't kill you first."

I raised my eyebrows. "Now why would you want to do that?"

"I never did have my revenge," he growled.

"You know, we're getting pretty chummy," I commented. "Care to tell your good friend Lindsey exactly what 'revenge'? Hmmm?"

"Nice try," he sneered. "But it is part of the story that you will never know."

Just as I opened my mouth to give some sort of rude reply back, he yelled out something in some sort of weird language, and three Dragonairs, their eyes glowing as red as a Rapidash's, came out of nowhere and literally pinned me to the wall with their horns.

"Ow," I muttered, oddly not afraid. Even though the Dragonairs looked, well, evil, I felt only a sense of peace around them. Why, I had no clue, but I had a feeling it would explain a lot of things that were going on.

Anthony floated up to me, his face mere inches from mine as he studied my face. "It's uncanny," he murmured. "You Tamers are all so different...yet you look so much alike." He took a hand and lifted some of my hair away from my face.

Oh, gross. Darrell does things like that.

"Um, you're so wrong there dude," I replied. "My mom and I have the same hair color, but that's about it. And Dad and I are nothing alike."

"I was not talking about them," he hissed. "Unworthy ones. No, Tamers that you do not know of, being so ignorant—"

"Shut up!" I yelled. "My parents are not unworthy of being here! My mother is a Tamer, and my father knows what he got into when he married her!" My voice was suddenly not sounding like my own at all...it was deeper, clearer, and carried a note of mystery.

"Though she never knew these Dragons, never assumed her destiny, and didn't find out the truth until it was too late, she is still a Tamer!" I was screaming in my new voice by now. "She is a part of this family, and always will be!"

I noticed something move out of the corner of my eye and saw Mom had regained consciousness and slowly lifted her upper body up. "Lindsey…" her voice was barely a whisper, and I knew only I could hear it. I heard Darrell also being to stir.

At that moment, a sort of rainbow mist appeared between Anthony and I, and he was shot back. The Dragonairs that were pinning me suddenly slumped down at my feet in a heap, their eyes closed. I was too busy gaping at what was forming before my eyes to notice, though.

The aura shaped itself into something long and noble, and the colors faded away into a few, forming...a Dragonair. The most beautiful, graceful, elegant, striking Dragonair I had ever seen. I let out a small gasp its eyes distinctively glinted green and a sweet voice made its way into my head.

"Enough, Anthony. It is time for us to end this misery that has been set in this sacred Den. Nevermore will you harm any creature here. The Prophecy will be fulfilled tonight, as it should. The disgrace that is a Hunter shall no longer walk this world. The foretelling of this very moment has arrived, and things will be as they must."

I gaped at the Dragonair, so astonished that I barely noticed Darrell get up and wander over next to me. This Pokemon...there was no way that it was real. It was too perfect to exist. No freaking way was it just a Dragon-type Pokemon.

"This will not end," Anthony growled, sending a sudden attack. I instinctively ducked, but saw there was no need when the Dragonair's natural shield had protected us.

"It will, and it has. The Prophecy has already come to call, don't you see? It is because of that and you I am here."

Anthony stopped his cynical grin. "What?"

My hair suddenly started blowing everywhere, and I heard Mom let out a strangled scream, but it sounded far, far away. I kept staring at the Dragonair, which was now glowing a bright blue, like it was evolving.

But wait...was that a Dragonair? No, they aren't as thin, and surely they're taller than that. I gasped as I realized what was happening; as the Dragon Pokemon grew long, thin arms and long, elegant legs that were beaten by the length of her hair, which was also flying around. When the glow finally subsided, the woman slowly lowered to the floor from her previous floating position. I could only see the back of her, since she was facing Anthony, but I could see that her hair was the longest I had ever seen—it was dragging on the ground like a fancy wedding dress—and that it was the exact same color as mine and Mom's.

I glanced over at Mom to see what she was getting out of all of this, and saw her hands were clamped over her mouth, eyes wide and face chalk white. The woman suddenly turned her head around to look at me, and it was my turn to go into shock.

I had no idea that April had finally arrived.

Heh heh...um, yes. –cough-

Adriel—MWAHAHA! DINE ON MY FURY, FOR YOU WERE WRONG!...and please don't damage my vital organs...I need them to watch/drool at Danny, you know. :P

Hakura0—Well, at least you laughed before the sad part, right?...Right? Hey, don't walk away!

Zero-Chan—Wow...I have a feeling that if it was the right phase of the moon, I would've gotten a very...EVIL review. O.o But that was a beautiful dance, Lurk. Simply beautiful. –applause-

Rose—YAY APRIL! The lady who started this whole mess...sorta...kinda...not really...ack, y'all will see what I mean. ;D Mystical is probably...hiding. 'Cause, ya know, Dratinis dislike evil. They're just too damn cute.

Karania—Teeth feeling any better? ;)

Opaltiger—YAY PLOT! XD Man, I'm so easily amused...and apparently so evil...;-;

Robin Ryan—LOOPHOLE! :P Not really. Sorta. Kind. –hides-

LoneHowl—Haven't you figured it out yet? I'm crazy. ;D And no, I didn't know they could learn Future Sight...hrmm hrmm...-files that away in memory along with pie recipes- YAY SPOILERS!

-cough- Wow...it just occurred to me that I've been working on this for almost a year, and still am not done with it...forget that I published it in September; I started working on this before I even finished Diana. So...YAY FOR LAZINESS! –grins-

What will make me get off my fat butt and finish writing this before I have to start the horror that is my senior year of high school? REVIEWS! YAY! –dances-

Hey, I haven't fallen over all chapter! –falls over- Darn it.