As I came to in a new space, I immediately felt overly sweaty and hot. Focusing on the sensation, it felt like I was sitting next to a campfire, but far too close. Opening my eyes, I found that I was only inches away from an intense inferno. Jumping to my feet and nearly stumbling backwards, I got a huge whiff of burning wood. Rapidly eyeballing my surroundings, it seemed I was stuck in the middle of a forest fire, and as far as I could see, the exit was nowhere close. Fortunately, it seemed that the blaze had not yet reached the forest trails that I'd woken up on.

Dusty and Sycamore were lying safely besides me, still passed out from falling. Quickly jerking them awake, they woke up with the same realization that I did.

Woah! We... We need to get out of here! Sycamore's voice worriedly called out in my head once he'd gotten a view of his surroundings. Dusty looked petrified.

"Come on, let's follow the path this way! We need to get out, fast!" I yelped, getting them onto their feet. As I broke into a sprint, they followed close behind.

While we were running, a majority of the time was spent navigating the least fire-y trails and making quick decisions dodging around smoldering obstacles. For some reason though, I immediately got a strange feeling that I knew this forest from somewhere. The way the turns curved, how the paths traveled up and down over small hills, or even how a winding stream cut through the landscape… It all gave me bits of nostalgia for some reason. However, I figured it was just a coincidence and continued to focus on getting out safely.

In the moments that there was a long straight or we reached spots of the forest that hadn't completely caught fire yet, I was definitely observing my surroundings. It was so surreal being in a place like this, and although it was just a figment of Darkrai's nightmare, it felt extremely lifelike. I guess since this was the most realistic of the dreams I'd fallen through, it really caught my attention. The resounding crackling of the walls of flames, the eye-catching red coals on the ground of long burnt trees, the extremely hot and sweltering heat mass that we were trying to escape from... But for some reason, there wasn't any smoke billowing through the woods.

Puzzled by my realization, I looked up at the forest's canopy on the next straight. Although most of the smaller and medium sized trees had thick flames reaching up to the top, the highest parts of some of the largest trees hadn't caught yet. And as far as I could tell, the unburnt leaves weren't moving; there was definitely no wind at all. But to top it off, the sky beyond the inferno was a dark orange, and it didn't look like there was any smoke up there either. Something wasn't right.

As I was just about to report my findings to Sycamore and Dusty, we all heard a familiar voice calling out from deeper within the woods.

"Phoebe? Hey, Phoebe! Where are you?!" We all skidded to a stop before Dusty and Sycamore turned to me, obviously recognizing who was calling out.

"Eliza! She must be close, come on!" I frantically said, looking for the best path to get to her. As I was about to dash off again, I noticed Sycamore and Dusty exchanging apprehensive looks with each other. From their body language, I could tell they were hesitant to go any deeper.

"What's the holdup guys? Eliza needs us!" Knowing that I would just go myself if they didn't come, they glanced at each other once more before turning back to me and reluctantly nodding in unison. "Right, this way!"

I immediately found out how difficult it was to locate Eliza through the flames. Tuning out all the rest of the noises to specifically listen for her voice was honestly the easiest part. Every time I heard her call out to her sister, I had to not only determine where her voice was coming from, but also figure out how to get myself to that place. And as far as I could tell, she wasn't making it easy on us either; every time I thought we were right beside her, she was on the move again.

To make matters worse, I could tell we were all getting tired from the constant running, and the excessive heat was really starting to drain my energy. I longed for the relief I'd get from drinking a tall glass of ice water or jumping into a cool swimming pool right that moment. As the first thoughts of turning back brushed through my head, we made a sharp left turn and finally caught sight of Eliza.

"Phoebe? Phoebe!" she continued to scream out into the blaze with her back to us. I immediately noticed how ravaged and raw her voice sounded, as if she'd been at this for hours. Her normal clothes were tattered and sweat-stained, and she was covered in small cuts and burn marks.

As I was about to call out to her, she turned and caught a glance of us approaching her. Expectedly, she flinched and backed up for a moment in surprise, but once she realized who we were, she calmed down.

"...Oh. It's you again. And you brought your Pokémon, too." Eliza said in a stern voice. I could tell she wasn't happy to see us. Nonetheless, I ignored how she felt and spoke my mind.

"Eliza! Thank goodness you're okay. Come on, we need to get you out of here!" She immediately rolled her eyes and groaned at my response.

"Ugh, will you just cut it out with this hero stuff? How many times do I have to tell you I don't want to be saved?"

"What?! Come on, Eliza– the fire could get worse at any second!" She looked me over for a second before letting out an annoyed sigh.

"Tough luck because I'm not going anywhere. My sister is lost somewhere in here and I need to find her, no matter what happens. I'm not leaving until she's by my side!" I opened my mouth to speak again, but it was like the words I was going to say evaporated in the heat.

Part of me wanted to actually take her advice and make a break for it; after all, every second we spent in here was a second wasted in trying to get to the portal. But even the thought of what could happen to her if she stayed here too much longer was something I couldn't not act on. And although she had been nothing but antagonizing to me since the day we met, that wasn't going to stop me. Clawing at possible things to say, I gave it another try.

"C-can't you see that all of this is fake, Eliza? Darkrai is just playing with your emotions and your sister isn't actually here, she's–"

"Shut up, stalker! I don't even slightly care if this whole thing is real or fake! Right now, I know that my little sister is close– really close. I'm certain I've heard her screams for help, and I'll be damned if I don't take the opportunity to see if she needs me or not." She then pointed directly at me with the most fierce, fire-filled eyes I've ever seen. "I know you don't understand why I'm doing this, so get out of my sight before I have to throw your lifeless body into the fire!" And with that, she turned and continued heading down the trail, beginning to call out her sister's name again.

"Eliza, please! Wait!" As I was about to run after her, I felt Sycamore's paw on my shoulder. Turning to face him, he and Dusty were shooting me intense looks.

Let her go, Luke. We need to get you out of this fire as soon as possible so we can look for an exit and return to the bridge.

"B-but... She'll definitely–"

We have more pressing matters to get to. Any more time spent here could come with dire consequences. Do not forget how close we are to our goal and what that human has done to hinder our efforts to get here.

I couldn't believe what he was saying at first. Letting Eliza continue to descend into the raging forest fire to look for someone that may or may not be real was certainly a death wish. But as she slowly disappeared deeper into the wildfire, still wildly screaming out for her sister, I finally began to question my own reasoning.

Sycamore was more than correct; Eliza had stopped at nothing to give us to Darkrai during the journey to Kinzua. And as I stood there watching the dancing flames unsure how to continue, I realized that time was definitely running out. If I didn't make it back from this nightmare in time, could the Pokémon World still be saved?

"...Come on, let's head back the way we came, you two," I sighed. "Hopefully one of you was keeping track of where we were going, right?"

After backtracking for a while through the sweltering heat and roaring flames, I was unsure if the forest fire was getting worse at all. Some parts of the woods were completely engulfed with fire, while others still looked barely touched or already burned out. Seeing it like this made me worry less about Eliza; maybe she would be fine after all. Nonetheless, I personally didn't want to volunteer myself to find out how the fires in Darkrai's nightmares felt.

Fortunately, we quickly found ourselves crossing a small footbridge over a dried streambed and quickly came around a small uphill bend to find what looked to be the exit. The trees parted away about fifty yards ahead of us, and it looked like there were some kind of grassy fields beyond them. Perking up, I pointed out the opening to Sycamore and Dusty before putting the last of my unused energy into making one last push.

As soon as my dominant foot touched the ground outside the burning forest, I immediately felt relief. Although the air was still quite hot, it was nothing compared to the stifling heat inside. Getting a good distance away from the forest, I threw myself onto the cool grass. Gasping in the cool, fresh air, I felt my heart rate start to calm down as my body began to relax. Pacing myself to only take deep breaths, I sat up and turned around to see Sycamore and Dusty doing much of the same.

Once we'd all caught our breath and cooled off enough, we reconvened. I started the conversation with,

"Everyone all right? No burns or anything?" Sycamore and Dusty both shook their heads no. "Good, I'm glad we all got out of there in one piece. But… Eliza…" I stared back at the woods, watching the flames once more, sincerely hoping I'd see Eliza's silhouette emerging from the exit just then.

Luke, I know that you wanted to save her, but…

"It's okay Sycamore, I understand." I let out a sad sigh. "Although it hurts me to know she's still in there, I know we have to be choosy in this stage of our journey…" There was a pause as I realized how dire the circumstances were to leave someone helpless in a blazing fire.

...We need to focus on finding a way out of here. You said we have find a, er, 'glitch', of some kind, right Luke?

"Yep. It could be anywhere, so… Either of you have any ideas?" Sycamore and Dusty looked at each other for a moment but turned back to me with nothing specific in mind.

"...Gar, Garbo?" Dusty then spoke up.

He says that maybe we should look around a little more in this clearing.

"...That's definitely a good place to start. Where are we now, anyways?" Looking out to my left, I was caught off guard when I spotted a set of rectangular buildings and a football field not far from where the hill sloped out. Nothing else nearby besides the forest seemed to be on fire, except for a more isolated fire off in the distance. However, I immediately got the same vibes from inside the forest earlier; slight pangs of nostalgia as if I'd been here many times before, but I couldn't exactly recall where this place was.

Observing the structures in front of me closer, the buildings looked to be set into specific parts. Out closest to the football field looked to be a lightly-colored brick building with large, tan-tinted crosshatch windows, like a gymnasium. Beyond that, built into another part was an area with lots of windows; inside, I thought I could make out plenty of long tables with built-in chairs stacked on top of each other, like a cafeteria. And on the floor above that, there were more sets of large windows that would abruptly stop and resume, reminding me of a string of classrooms. No doubt that this structure was a school of some kind.

As my suspicions mounted and I began to place together where we were, I stood up and walked over towards the unburning tree line beside the football field so I could get a better look at what was behind the gymnasium. Dusty and Sycamore seemed puzzled by my movement but did not follow me. As soon as I spotted the singular sycamore tree atop another hill behind the school, I finally realized where we were. And as soon as I did, I felt my heart drop.

Luke… Is everything alright? Sycamore questioned, obviously seeing my worried mannerisms. I didn't reply as my legs practically started up on their own again, breaking into a sprint past the two of them and back into the burning woods without hesitation.

On the first downward turn back into the forest inferno, Dusty and Sycamore finally caught back up with me.

Luke?! I told you that it was not safe to rescue Eliza! I'd never heard Sycamore sound angry before, but now was not the time to be worrying about our relationship.

"No, Sycamore– don't you see? Eliza is the way out of here!" He went quiet for a moment as we descended deeper, needing a moment to digest what I'd said. "Can't you guys tell where we are!? The sycamore tree on the hill, the football field and track, the school, even the woods we're running through right now!" Again, another pause. I turned around briefly and locked eyes with Sycamore, watching him finally make his own realization.

...Hart's Woods! But… But why? Dusty looked just as surprised.

"I was so preoccupied with getting out of the fire that I forgot we were still trapped inside Darkrai's nightmare… But this isn't our nightmare that we're in, this is Eliza's! And the 'glitch' we need to get out is–"

Eliza's sister! Suddenly, I heard the cracking of breaking wood and turned back around to the front to see a smaller tree falling onto the path in front of us. Skidding to a stop, it landed with a hearty thud only a couple inches from where we were. As it hit the ground, the top layer of bark that had long since been burned through came off all at once, revealing the hot coals underneath.

Turning to Dusty and Sycamore, we all exchanged worried looks.

"...That was too close. Did any trees fall like that the first time we ran through here?" They thought about it for a moment but shook their heads no.

...And does it feel hotter in here now to you two as well? Sycamore added. Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I decided to take his word for it because we'd only been back in the forest for a couple minutes and I was already a sweaty mess. However, it was all enough evidence to tell me that we were certainly running out of time.

"Let's get going, you two! I have a bad feeling about this…" I worriedly asserted, carefully hopping over the burnt tree in front of us and continuing to run down the path.

As the three of us called out for Eliza, we found the forest to be eerily quiet. Before, her calls to her sister would echo across the whole space, making it evident where she was. But now, she had fallen silent; had she actually found her sister, a way out, or worse?

In the moments we weren't screaming Eliza's name, even more evidence that the fire was getting worse presented itself to me. I could finally tell the heat was somehow more insufferable now, and I thought I could tell the flames were getting larger. More completely burnt trees began to fall around us, some even falling on the path, but most were small enough to jump over, so we only had to change route once. Nearly all of the woods was now ablaze, and at some points, it was almost as if the fire was rerouting itself around us on the fly, like it didn't want us to intervene. I couldn't imagine what would happen to us all if we didn't find Eliza soon.

After running aimlessly for a while, I could tell we were lost. At this point, my body was screaming for me to stop running and my skin felt like it too was on fire. Again, the voice in my head told me to just admit defeat so we could get out of the fire, but we were so far in now that it would probably be even more tough to find the way back. Sycamore and Dusty must've felt the same way, as they stayed quiet while we searched.

As I was about to finally give up hope and listen to my instincts, Dusty spoke up.

"G-Gar! Arbo!" I turned to see him pointing straight ahead at a large fallen tree on the path ahead of us. At first, I thought he was telling me to look behind the tree, but as I saw something move from underneath, I realized we'd finally found her.

"Oh, crap– Eliza!" I shouted, breaking into a mad sprint towards the tree. Nearly stumbling over myself as I came to a quick stop, I didn't hesitate to reach down and attempt to pick up the tree. Stupidly however, I forgot we were in the middle of a forest fire and immediately singed my hands on contact. "Ah, hot!" I yelped in surprise, falling backwards onto the dirt trail. As Dusty and Sycamore came up to my sides, I heard Eliza quietly say,

"...Stalker?" I almost lost her voice in the fire's perpetual crackling. Looking down to where she was stuck, we locked eyes for a moment before she intentionally turned away from my gaze; she looked to be in even worse shape than before. And although it only looked like only her legs were caught underneath, I couldn't fathom how much pain she was in from a huge half-burnt tree landing on top of her.

"Eliza! Are you okay?"

"...No, I'm not. Why would you even ask me something like that when I'm like this?" she snapped back, shooting me a nasty glare. In all honesty, it was a pretty stupid thing to say, but I never claimed to be the most socially gifted person in the world, especially not in the midst of a forest fire.

"...Right, sorry." I muttered quickly, before quickly turning to Dusty. "Dusty, do you think you could attempt to pick up the tree by yourself? I feel like your tendrils wouldn't be burned so easily since they're made out of metal and all." He nodded and quickly got into position beside me. As soon as he made contact, the searing sound of fire hitting a colder object sizzled into the air, yet it didn't stop him. Sycamore and I anxiously watched him as he pulled with all his might, but the tree hardly moved at all. As he let go and stepped back for a moment to catch his breath, I realized we would need more help.

"No use, this tree's massive. It's gonna take at least five of Dusty to get this thing off the ground." Eliza grumbled. Yet again, she wasn't helping. Suddenly remembering back to before we were in the nightmare and were still on the bridge, an idea popped into my head.

"Eliza, where's Greninja? Maybe he can help us by cooling off the tree with some water!"

"Oh, well, about him… I, uh... May have lied about Greninja defeating Liepard on the bridge. In fact, it was the opposite that happened... And besides, I don't think Poké Balls work here anyways; believe me, I've already tried a bunch."

"Then there's gotta be some other way!" I whisper-shouted, swiftly glancing around to try and find some kind of answer in the landscape, but all I found were roaring flames and hot coals.

"Just get out of here, stalker… Leave me to my own demise. I-I'm doomed anyways…" I stared her deep in the eyes again, feeling something welling in my throat. But right as I was about to reply, she closed her eyes and I saw her body go limp.

"Eliza? Eliza!" I yelped, the emotions suddenly coming back to me. As she didn't respond and stayed motionless, they took control of me. Without hesitation, I reached down under the big log and heaved upwards with all my might again. Like Dusty, a sizzling sound erupted from the surface of the bark where I'd made contact, as the pain shot through my body, but I did my best to ignore it. The tree moved a little bit as I pulled with all my might, but as the burning, searing pain from the hot bark became too much for me to handle, I had to let go.

"Bah, damnit! Dusty, help me out here! Come on, on the count of three!" Dusty looked bewildered at first, but then jumped into position once I started the countdown. "One… Two… Three!" The two of us yanked on the log once more, lifting up to a new height, but still not nearly enough to pull Eliza out.

Luke, stop this at once! We need to get out of here! Sycamore yelped in my head, obviously getting more anxious about the intensifying fire.

"One more time! Ready? One, two, three!" I yelled, ignoring him. Pulling with all our might once more, it was clear that Dusty and I alone still wouldn't cut it. Letting the log carefully drop and waving my hands all over the place to try and cool them down, Sycamore once again contacted me.

Stop, Luke! Can you not see what you are doing to yourself? Briefly peering down at my hands, the two of them were covered in the biggest, worst looking blisters I had ever seen. They hurt something fierce too, but that wasn't going to stop me.

"I'm not quitting until Eliza's free! Once more, Dusty! Here we go!" As I was about to reach under and begin my countdown again, Sycamore swatted my left arm down and put his foot on it so I couldn't move. Angrily staring up at him, he shouted in my head,

That is enough, Luke! You are putting us in harm's way every second you attempt to free her! There has to be another, less dangerous way out of this nightmare!

"Do you trust me, Sycamore?" I felt his balance on me falter, my question obviously catching him off guard.

...I– Well, Luke, I... Look, if we do not make it out, the whole world could–

"Do you trust me or not, Sycamore?!" I shouted even louder this time; Dusty looked worried.

I… I do, Luke, but–

"Then I need you to believe me on this! The only way we can get out of here is with Eliza alive!" At this point Sycamore looked mortified; I could tell he wasn't ready for a dilemma like this one. "I don't care if you help or not, Sycamore… But like I said before, I'm not leaving until Eliza is out from under this damn log! Again, Dusty!" Turning back to face the log, I got ready to pull again, while also trying to hide my terribly red face from my partners. Deep down, I couldn't stand to talk to Sycamore this way, but while the emotions were in control, there was no other option.

"Ready? One… Two… Three…!" The burning sensation erupted through my hands once more as the tree moved up as much as it did the time before. As I let it drop, I immediately started my next countdown. "Once more! One… Two… Threeeee!" Again, the tree hardly moved.

Stepping back for a moment to catch my breath, I realized we only had a couple attempts left. With the pain mounting, my energy nearly gone, and the forest fire almost at its tipping point, I knew the end was coming if we didn't get this oversized log off Eliza soon. Gritting my teeth and getting back into position, I yet again forced myself from looking over at my partners.

"Come on, Dusty– we've got this! Ready? One… Two… Thr-" Suddenly, the air was filled with the sizzling of a new object touching the hot wood.

"Carrr!" Sycamore spouted from my left. Finally peering over, I saw him recoil from the log, blowing onto his paws to cool them off. I couldn't help but smile as we briefly glanced at each other with the same confident eyes once he was ready again.

"Alright, guys! Time to do this! On the count of three!" I shouted, getting ready once more. "One… Two… Three!" This time, the log moved even further up, possibly enough for Eliza to crawl out if she was conscious. As I was about to shimmy over as close as possible to try and pull her free, the weight of the tree suddenly got much heavier, and I had to drop it. From behind Dusty, I saw Sycamore back away, clutching his right paw in pain.

"Come on, we've almost got it! ...Get closer to this side and we'll get it on this try!" Dusty nodded and piled in beside me, while Sycamore hesitated for a moment, staring down at his burnt paws.

One final push, Sycamore! I know you can do it! I thought to myself. I'm unsure if he was listening or not, but as he looked up and we exchanged looks once more, we both nodded in unison. He then got into position right next to Dusty and took a deep breath. Taking a quick breather myself, I stretched out my arms and bent down, hopefully for the final attempt.

"Alright, here we go! One… Two… Three!" Pulling with all my might, the log got more than enough height off Eliza. "Hold it, hold it!" I excitedly shouted, seeing my opportunity. As I reached down to grab Eliza by the arm, I realized I wouldn't be able to pull her behind me enough if I was still holding the log. Unsure what to do and my strength running out fast, I decided my only choice left was to take a gamble.

Letting go of the tree, I immediately repositioned myself so that I was directly in front of Eliza. As I reached out to drag her from underneath, the log dropped again, but fortunately with just enough room remaining.

"Almost there, come on!" I shouted as I yanked on her arm. But just as she was about to be completely free, her shoe got caught on something underneath. Seeing the log slowly dropping back to the ground, I knew I had one last chance. Letting out a sort of battle cry, I put the last of my energy into a final, all-out pull.

Lunging backwards, I attempted to lift my arms over my head the best I could. Fortunately, my strategy worked too well, as her foot was freed almost immediately, causing me to overcompensate and tumble backwards. Letting go of Eliza as I fell, I hit the ground hard, kicking up some dirt and ash as I landed. But as soon as I made contact, I heard an enormous thud from in front of me that shook the forest floor; Dusty and Sycamore both fell back too, letting their bodies go limp so they could rest for a second.

As the sound of our heavy breathing mixed in with the loud crackles and pops of the fire, I almost couldn't believe we'd pulled it off. I wanted to sit and 'relax' longer, but my instincts told me that we'd be toast if we stayed any longer here. Painfully standing up, Sycamore and Dusty did the same.

We… We did it! Sycamore's voice was frail but uplifting. I smiled back at him before realizing I had no energy to talk. I could've just thought back to him, but my body was still busy gasping for oxygen so all I could muster was a half-assed thumbs-up. Just as I was about to quickly convene with Dusty, the now familiar sound of another burnt up tree snapping from its base rang out into the forest.

At first I ignored it, considering it was farther away and I felt like it wouldn't hit us. But as the sound multiplied and a bunch of trees appeared to have split at the seams all at once, I had to look up. Warily watching in front of us, a mass of burning wood slammed into the ground, almost completely engulfing the trail ahead with flames. And as soon as it settled out, a dirty, nearly black cloud emerged from within.

"Smoke! Sycamore, Dusty… We've gotta get out… Now!" The two of them looked panicked at first, but as Sycamore came over and helped raise Eliza into Dusty's grasp, I knew they were ready to make a hasty escape. "B-back the way we came, quick!"

Although we backtracked as fast as we could, the smoke almost immediately caught up to us. My eyes promptly started to water, and I couldn't stop coughing. It was now even harder to breathe, and I now felt like I could pass out at any moment. But in a time and place like this, the only way to survive was to keep pushing yourself. Sycamore and Dusty looked to be having the same problems as well, yet all three of us kept moving forwards, knowing we'd surely be lost to the flames if we even stopped for a moment.

To make matters worse, Eliza was still unresponsive, and the fire was somehow getting even more intense. The further we ran, the more trees that snapped and fell near us, one even nearly clipping Dusty. We tried to pick up our pace multiple times, but we were so exhausted from our rescue efforts that it proved futile.

Fortunately, soon after the point it became unbearable, the tiny bridge across the canal outlet once again appeared just down the trail. Just past it and up the hill was the exit!

The three of us all immediately recognized where we were and perked up, naively thinking we'd be getting out that easily. Suddenly, the loudest cracking and snapping sound we'd heard yet came from a huge tree just ahead of us. Screeching to a stop, all of us watched in exhausted horror as a giant fiery husk of wood plummeted to the forest floor, coming down hard with an earth-shaking slam; the bridge was reduced to nothing but tiny bits of rubble, and now our best way of escape was blocked off.

Since climbing a steep hill and backtracking to find another way past the tree were both out of the question, I pointed down to the canal outlet and shouted without any forethought,

"Through the streambed!" as loud as I could. Immediately, all of us hopped down onto the dirty floor and took off.

By now the stream had definitely been completely dried out from the inferno around it, creating uneven mud cracks in the ground that you would presume to see in a desert. But since it was wider and deeper in-ground than the forest trails, it was an appreciated difference. Unfortunately though, I noticed almost immediately that the stream began meandering, making what could be a minute trip up a hill into one that could take a couple minutes or more. However, we couldn't reasonably cut through the burning landscape or even turn around for a split second, so I knew this was our only option.

Navigating around the stream bends as fast as we could, we came around one final corner and an exit at last appeared on the horizon. The outlet cut through the higher ground around it about fifty yards out straight ahead, and just behind it were the rolling hills surrounding the middle school. By now however, we were on the last of our reserve energy, and there was no way any of us could even think about speeding up, so all we could do was keep our pace.

Inch by agonizing inch, we edged onwards towards our goal; every second we were still moving was nothing short of torture. Attempting to psych myself up with the refreshing thoughts of cool grass and running water, I found it extremely hard to focus on anything other than keeping myself from passing out.

The closer we got, the more I worried something bad would happen to us, be it an explosion of some kind or even another tree blocking our path; after all, this was still Darkrai's nightmare. But as we were about to cleanly sail under the final burning trees, and the feeling of relief was finally right in front of me, I figured it was safe to let my guard down and get to an early celebration.

Squelch! I felt my right foot sink into something marshy, deep enough to stop my momentum cold. Stumbling forwards, it wasn't long before I was completely submerged in a mud puddle from my ankles down. Recovering from the whiplash, I realized I was the only one who had gotten stuck; in my happy stupor, I must've forgotten to look where my partners were going and completely missed the fact that they'd jumped over. I guess the fire hadn't been hot enough here to completely dry the deepest parts of the stream.

Sycamore and Dusty didn't notice I'd fallen behind, as they too were probably about to celebrate themselves. But I didn't stress myself out too much because I figured it would probably only take a second to free myself and the fire was more bearable this close to the outside. Yet as I was about to pull myself out, I froze when I heard the sound of splitting trees right above me. Staring straight up, I saw the two trees closest to the ends of the streambed nose-diving towards me at the same time. With nowhere to go and no time to react, I closed my eyes and instinctively ducked down, fearing my luck had finally run out.

There were two awful, deafening crashes right above my head and I was suddenly covered in ash from my waist up. After the ground around us briefly shook, I felt like something was burning mere inches away from my head. Bending down as far as I could and looking up, I found the two still flame-engulfed trees bridged across the higher ground above. Instinctively glancing away in fear and astonishment as I realized that I was somehow okay, I met gazes with my partners. All I could muster saying was,

"H-help. Please."

With Sycamore's help, I carefully freed myself from the mud pit and maneuvered myself safely out from under the burning trees just above. We all then climbed up from the streambed and moved the minimum distance away to feel safe. As soon as we hit that point, all of us rolled over on our backs and stared up at the deep orange sky, more than delighted to just stop moving.

As we laid there nearly motionless for some time, not a lot of thoughts ran through my head. I was mostly just taking the time to finally catch my breath and feel the wonderful comfort of not being in a life-threatening forest fire. After quite a bit of time however, I regained my normal consciousness and sat up with a start.

"Eliza!" Sycamore and Dusty both jumped at my sudden outburst. Struggling to stand up, I hobbled over to where Dusty was to find Eliza lying comfortably on the ground beside him; I could tell he'd gently placed her there before he took his own rest. She looked to be breathing and didn't seem to have any visible injuries besides burns and cuts, but I still figured she was going to be in a bad state whenever she woke up.

Still fearing the worst, I fell over on my knees beside her and attempted to think of a way to approach the situation without it being any more awkward than it already was. Luckily, she woke up a second later and began coughing, much to my relief.

"Oh, thank goodness..." I said with a sigh.

"S-stalker? ...Where am I?" she grouchily said once she had composed herself.

"We got you out of that fire, Eliza. No need to worry anymore." She blinked at me a couple times once I'd finished talking, as if she was unsure she'd heard right. "Where are you hurt, by the way? One of us could possibly look for something to help with the pain while you take a breather." Again, she said nothing before sitting up and peering around at her nearby surroundings. She jumped for a second when she realized she was right next to Dusty, but then gazed down at her injuries and tattered clothing.

"I'm… Actually okay? Surprisingly good for having a tree land on me, I guess. Nothing's broken, and the burns don't feel that bad… It's like I only felt some of the pain, for some reason." Realizing that I too had sustained quite a bit of damage myself in the fire, I curiously looked down at my hands; Dusty and Sycamore also seemed to be inspecting their wounds too. The blisters that had formed there looked even worse now than before, but it only felt like I had accidentally burned myself on the stove back home. Maybe pain in Darkrai's dreams could only be expressed using the inhabitants' knowledge and past experience with it?

Peering back up at Eliza, she was now looking around the area like we all had the first time we escaped from the fire. It took a second, but I saw her eventually make the same realization Sycamore, Dusty, and I had.

"This… This is Hart's Woods! And that's… the middle school?"

"Yep. Welcome home," I joked, realizing it sounded better in my head than in execution. Eliza then turned her attention back to me for a second before swapping back to Dusty and Sycamore. Right as I started to suspect she was planning something, she then quickly went to stand up as if she was about to run off. However, she didn't get very far, as her injuries rendered any running to be useless, although it was a surprisingly good attempt. She fell right back into Dusty's arms with a very similar squish to the one I'd made in the mud puddle.

"Ew, yuck! Get away from me!" Eliza shouted before pushing off him and somehow catching herself before stumbling back to her feet. She then made a break off towards the direction of the woods. Seeing what she was about to do, I sprang into action and painfully hopped back up on my feet. Rushing over as fast as I could to where she was going, I could tell that Dusty and Sycamore wanted to stay out of this one. Sliding across the grass in front of her, I outstretched my arms.

"Woah, woah! Where are you going?"

"Get outta the way! I need to get back into those woods!" She slowed down and actively tried to get past me until we were nearly face-to-face, but I tried my hardest to keep myself in front of her.

"But why would you want to go back?! We all nearly didn't make it out!"

"For the love of…! You need to grow up, stalker!" She finished her sentence by giving me a quick sucker punch in the gut. It was by no means a strong blow, but I full-on crumbled under my own weight for obvious reasons. She then began running backwards towards the woods so she could face me and talk at the same time. "Do I need to say it aloud, you dumbass?! This nightmare is all I have left!" She stopped for a moment to shoot me a rage-filled glare. "Yes, I know this is a nightmare! And yes, I know that I'm putting myself in danger! How do you not understand what the phrase 'I don't need help' is?!"

I immediately wondered how I could be in the wrong for helping her out of the fire.

"...But… Why–"

"Don't you even dare ask why! I've had to explain it a million times to you already, but I guess I'll just have to do it again so I can get it through that thick skull of yours!" She stopped and quickly cleared her throat. "There's nothing for me once I leave this place. My home? Gone, destroyed, lost to the stupid Ultra Beasts like every other person on our dumbass planet. My parents? Even if I found them alive and well, they still wouldn't give a damn about me, even after all of this invasion crap. My goals and dreams? Ha, as if I had any in the first place." She then got closer and glared at me directly in the eyes, the fire creating a bright silhouette around her.

"Yet finally, we get to something I actually cared about– my little sister. But where's she? Oh, that's right, stuck in Ultra Space with the rest of the human race, wasting away to work for an alien overlord for all of eternity! And if you think I'm just gonna give myself up, then you're sorely mistaken… I'd rather die than be forced to work even a second for them, those sister-stealing assholes!"

"Eliza, I-I didn't..." I couldn't get my words out. The lingering emotions that had popped up in the while we were stuck in the forest fire were beginning to cloud my head again.

"Don't say another word, or else! I've made up my mind– I don't care what happens to me in this stupid dream... If I go back into that fire, at least I'll have some hope that I'll finally be able to find my sister, real or not. And who knows, maybe the fire doesn't actually hurt after all." Eliza glanced back down at her injuries once more before turning her head to look at the fire. "But if I don't make it out… Or even if I'm stuck in some kind of loop trying to save her forever… I'm much happier with any outcome here than back in the real world!"

"This is… Really what you want?" My voice was wavering and scratchy as a heavy lump formed in my throat.

"What? No, this wasn't my goal at all!" Eliza whipped her attention back to me and began to point directly at my head. "Of course I'd rather live life to the fullest in the real world, and of course I still want to! But the further I chased you across the state and the more times you escaped from just under my fingertips... The more I realized my fate had already been sealed. Life would never return to the way it was and it certainly wouldn't get better, either." There was a pause as she backed down for a second, the thoughts weighing her down.

"But no matter what happened, I knew that probably, even if I succeeded in capturing you, there was still a chance Darkrai wouldn't uphold his side of the bargain. Towards the end, I even started wondering if I would be happier giving up and rotting away in Ultra Space as a prisoner next to my sister..." She froze up for a second, stricken by a sudden flash of grief, but then continued.

"...Maybe so, but I've always thought life is meant to be experienced– and definitely shouldn't be spent locked up in a mega prison while naively hoping that someone more fortunate than you would somehow save the day…" With a deep sigh, she turned and faced back out towards the fire. "So this is the perfect place for me. A place where I'm finally uncertain about my fate, but actually hopeful that it could just once turn out the way I want it." As she finished, she was still gazing out at the fiery forest. By now, I felt like I was about to break down and cry. The deepest parts of me knew why I felt this way about her decision, but my overly emotional and extremely tired brain just couldn't fully process it.

"...You know, in a way, I should actually be thanking you for getting me here, but…" she mumbled before looking over her shoulder at me. "Goodbye, stalker; for real this time. I finally have the rare opportunity to be happy…" As she began walking away, my emotions peaked again; all the anger and sadness inside me desperately wanted to get out.

"Eliza, please! Don't do this! W-we need–"

"Don't let me stop you this time, stalker. This is what I want."

"B-but, we can't… I can't let you–"

"Jeez, it's okay, stalker… No need to get this worked up." She then turned her head and clutched her hand into a fist at her side. "Just… Please let me walk the path I want to walk for once… That's all I ask." As she faced forwards and continued walking, I knew I only had one last chance to save her. I didn't hold anything back.

"I... I know how it feels!" I cried out. She stopped in her tracks.

"You… You what?" she said, sounding almost menacing, still facing towards the fire. My heart was pumping a mile a minute, and my mind was screaming at me to be careful of what I said, but I ultimately remained out of control of what I was doing.

"...I know what it feels like to actually lose something. I-I may have only truly experienced it recently a-and not felt it to the full degree that you have… But believe me Eliza, I definitely understand." While catching my breath to continue, I watched as she once again turned her head towards me. "When you lose that something in your life, whether it be a great person, a wonderful place, or anything else that's really important to you… I'm talking about something that you actually loved and cared for; something that gave you inspiration and motivation…! Life just seems to lose meaning." I paused again in an attempt to briefly tune out my emotions as best as possible so I could gather my thoughts more concisely.

"...Even though it feels like night will never turn to day, you can't just stay in the past forever. Think about what you stand for, what's best for yourself, and what's best for all that you've lost! You... You gotta keep fighting and hold all the good times close, but never forget that time always ticks onwards, no matter what happens. B-but that's a good thing! ...Because time heals all wounds."

Unable to speak anymore, I averted my gaze once I was finished, my cheeks red hot and my emotions finally done outbursting; to say I was pretty embarrassed was an understatement. But in the quick glimpse I caught of her as I looked back up, I thought I saw her crying.

"S-stalker…" she said after another moment had passed. "I-I had no idea... Was Slowking… And your mother...? Did... Did I?" Suddenly, she gasped, making another realization. As her brain processed everything, I watched the emotions on the corner of her face change from grief to guilt.

After another short pause to think, she then turned back to me and asked something that completely surprised me.

"What's your name?"

"My... name?"

"Yes. Your real name."

"...Why?"

"I've always just called you 'stalker' or something else mean-spirited. I think… I want to just call you just by your name now." She sniffled before holding her fist in a ball, looking me dead in the eyes with a suddenly confident stare. After my social anxiety peaked and I could no longer stand locking eyes, I took a deep breath and sighed, still wondering why I was about to tell her.

"It's… Luke." Eliza nodded and closed her eyes.

"Thank you… Luke," she replied quietly before opening them again. "Now… How do we get out of this nightmare?" Not sure I'd heard right, I asked,

"E-Eliza, you… You're not going back in anymore?" She let out a single laugh at my response.

"Damn, you sound like a child. But no... I'm not." I let out the biggest, most relieved sigh I ever have, placing my hand over my heart to feel how fast my pulse was racing; Sycamore and Dusty looked just as reassured as I'd been. "Hey, you'd better tell me how we get out of here soon before I change my mind and run back into that fire, stalker! Er, I mean Luke. Wow, that's gonna be a problem." I couldn't help but laugh.

"I don't care what you call me, Eliza, I'm just glad you're along for the ride."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Skip the rest of the sappy stuff for me, okay? I've had my fill of it for one day." She then began walking back towards us. "More talk about how we leave this place." As I was about to let her in on it all, she stopped by my side and reached out her hand to me. Confused and a little bit bewildered, I stared at it, then up at her; she chuckled when she saw the look on my face. "Just grab my hand, Luke. I guess I'm kinda sorry that I socked you in the gut, but let's just say you had it coming." She then made a 'hurry up' motion with her outstretched hand.

Still a little hesitant to grab it for some reason, I shoved my anxiety in the back of my head and reached out. Instead of grabbing my hand though, she went further down and gripped my wrist before pulling me back up onto my feet. Giving her a quick nod to say thank you, the two of us walked side by side back to where Sycamore and Dusty were still resting.