No one spoke after Astrid's declaration, and barely anyone moved. Leaf was still huddling against Shadow's body, cold clinging to his fur stubbornly. Shadow wasn't faring too much better in that department, but conditions were improving gradually from back at the clearing. The Espeon made a mental note to majorly scold Frost for his reckless use of cold temperatures, but now didn't seem to be the best time.

In addition to just being uncomfortable, the lingering chill was making it difficult for Shadow to focus on his prickles at the back of his mind, and so he was struggling to really get a sense of why he had suddenly become so anxious again. It was more a gut feeling than anything, but he wasn't one to doubt these instincts nowadays. Even back at the Solaceon Ruins, his gut instincts had been proven to be at least partially right, and the vibe from earlier that morning was still lurking in his brain.

The Espeon's ears twitched, catching a hint of sound from further down the pathway, and even the faint murmur of chattering. Astrid's eyes had narrowed a little, and she was quietly murmuring to herself, the words of which were too unintelligible for Shadow to understand. Frost was shifting his weight impatiently, his ears straining to catch the sounds that Astrid was picking up on. Leaf, by contrast, was completely oblivious to what was going on, and probably too fatigued from the cold and absence of sunlight to really notice that the group had stopped and hadn't done anything for almost two minutes.

"Can't you tell if what's coming is dangerous or not?" Shadow asked the Absol irritably. "With your disaster sense or whatever you call it?"

Astrid blinked and turned her gaze to Shadow with mild amusement. "An Absol's ability is not so clear-cut, you know," she answered with a small smile. Shadow got the impression that she was used to answering this question. "Like, I don't get details of what kind of disaster is about to strike, I just get a sense of something brewing. Sort of like an impending storm, or dark clouds over an area. If I picked up details, you'd think I wouldn't always be tardy in arriving on the scenes."

Shadow frowned to himself. He couldn't exactly fault that answer. Much like his own psychic sense, he didn't usually know exact details of what he was sensing, and it usually only pertained to things in the immediate vicinity. Now and then, he was able to determine whether something was dangerous, but rarely with that much accuracy. An Absol's sense could very well be similar, but even more broad or subjective in terms of what it picked up.

"But what about what you said as your reason for interfering on my fight?" Frost asked, his tone slightly colder than usual. "You said it went off, so you had to intervene to avert it."

Astrid shrugged nonchalantly. "Just because it went off at that moment doesn't necessarily mean it went off BECAUSE of that fight. I just wasn't going to take chances. And just so you know, you should have gotten your tail kicked."

"What."

Shadow flinched, giving the Glaceon a wary glance. The reaction had been completely deadpan, but Frost had narrowed his eyes at Astrid. Thankfully, there was no fluctuation in the temperature around them, which allowed Shadow to relax a little bit. By this point, he had figured out that the Glaceon did not care for his strength or skills to be questioned or insulted. And that was putting it mildly. Then again, this hadn't been a difficult conclusion to reach, considering how put out Frost had been back when Raze recommended finding a better tutor for Shadow's psychic abilities.

"Yeah, he wasn't really trying," Astrid said with a shrug, seemingly oblivious to the effect her words were having on the Ice-type Eon. "Shh, they're almost up to our location" she shushed the Glaceon swiftly, when he opened his mouth to retort.

Shadow had also become increasingly aware of the sounds of footsteps and quiet chatter, accompanied by a spasm of discomfort passing through him. He tensed his body, narrowing his eyes as something rounded the bend up ahead.

Astrid cocked her head curiously at the approaching figures, and now that Shadow had a line of sight of them, he realized that there were three different Pokemon. One of them was a humanoid figure that stood roughly at his height, with shoulder-length green hair and a white garment of some sort cloaking its body, giving him a particularly feminine vibe. It had two pink horn-like objects on either side of its head, and its eyes were a bright pink. Even at this distance, he felt an oddly soothing vibe from her.

The second Pokemon, and evidently the most talkative of the trio, was an odder sight. It had a bright orange body and hovered in mid-air, a strange blue energy field outlining its form. In addition, it seemed to have no limbs at all, save for two strange lightning-bolt shaped appendages near the bottom of its body.

But it was the third Pokemon that made his breath catch in his throat, and his entire body tensed, his silver eyes narrowing with instinctive aggression. Whereas the other two Pokemon were complete strangers, the likes of which he had never seen before, the third Pokemon was all too-familiar.

A bipedal canine with blue fur, with red eyes peering from behind a mask of black fur, and one paw glowing with blue flames. The vibes it gave off were nowhere near as strong as the last time they had met, but he didn't need those vibes to experience the surge of hatred towards the Riolu.

The small group paused on noticing the second group of Pokemon standing before them. Astrid considered the three with great interest, evidently finding nothing remotely unpleasant or suspicious about them. Frost was studying the hovering electric-type with the greatest fascination, leaving the Riolu overall unnoticed. Likewise, the three Pokemon were regarding each member of their group with wary fascination, and Shadow silently noted that the humanoid's gaze seemed to overlook him entirely, drifting from Frost to Leaf. Then again, his fur did blend with the shadows of the forest quite well.

"Hi!" the electric creature chirped, waving its lightning bolt appendage in greeting. Astrid stifled a giggle with her paw, her jagged tail flicking with playful amusement.

"Hey," she replied with a smile, then glanced at Frost. "If two groups of strangers meet, who starts introductions?" she wondered.

"I wasn't aware we intended to linger long enough for introductions. Wasn't the plan to leave the forest as swiftly as possible to avoid potential ambushes?" Frost answered, casting a glance towards Shadow. "Our only reason for delay was because-"

"Oh hell," the Riolu breathed, his eyes having followed Frost's glance, causing him to realize the Espeon was not only present, but giving him a death glare.

"Um..." the green-haired humanoid spoke up, her voice distinctly feminine, but also very faint and nervous-sounding. "Did the tension just skyrocket?"

"I don't think so," Astrid answered casually, looking around. "Ooh, you're a Kirlia, right? So you're the empathic sort?"

"Um...yes?"

"Is that a question?" Frost scoffed. The Kirlia fidgeted awkwardly.

"No?" she guessed. Shadow rolled his eyes, silently hoping that Frost wasn't going to pursue this element of the conversation for long.

"Do you have names yet?" the electric Pokemon interjected curiously. "If not, I could come up with some!"

Astrid giggled. "Thanks, but I'm pretty sure we all have names already. I'm Astrid."

"I'm Plasma!" the hovering Pokemon supplied promptly, smiling at the Absol.

"You're a Rotom," Frost noted. It was not a question, but the Glaceon's tone was one of genuine interest. "An electronics possessor, if I'm not mistaken."

"Yup! My favorite is a TV, but I can possess other stuff, too. I live in the Old Chateau, which has a surprising number of cool stuff for me to play with, like an old fan, some old machines, and even a broken refrigerator! Good thing there wasn't any food in that, because I haven't checked out most of my house for like twenty-odd years, and that could have stunk to high heaven. Time flies when you're watching reality shows, right?"

All throughout this miniature speech, the Riolu and Shadow had yet to say something, neither of them willing to look away from the other, although Shadow took great care to avoid prolonged eye contact. He had no reason whatsoever to assume anything about this Pokemon, despite the absence of vibes associated with Diablos. There would forever be an negative imprint of this Pokemon's existence in his mind, and he doubted he'd ever truly relax around him, either.

Cecilia had told him that Force had been an unwilling victim of Diablos' possession and was no more pleased by what had happened than she had been, but it didn't make a difference in Shadow's mind. Having faced Diablos in the depths of the Ruins, once again possessing this Riolu, had solidified his fears. Few individuals could be absolutely trusted, and those willingly associated with the demon were to viewed with suspicion at all times, especially those known to have been possessed previously.

"Um, I'm Iris," the Kirlia said, flashing a nervous smile at the group. Force subtly beckoned to the Kirlia, who leaned in closely for the Riolu to whisper something urgently to her. As he spoke, her eyes widened a little and for the first time, her gaze flicked towards Shadow.

"What are you saying?" Shadow asked sharply, causing Leaf to flinch from beside him, and both Iris and Force looked up, slightly alarmed. His sudden aggression caught him briefly by surprise, but his gaze hardened regardless. He still had good reason to view them with suspicion, and he was not going to let them conspire in secret if it might put Leaf, himself, or Frost in harm's way. In the back of his mind, he was aware that he might be behaving irrationally, but he'd rather be irrational and safe than sensible but dead.

"Uh, nothing, just-" Force began, but Shadow growled, his fur bristling.

"You can't say it's nothing when I see you whispering," he snapped. His head was pounding a little now, and the psychic pressure within his skull was building, as though his mood was compressing his head, causing the energy to strain against their limits.

"Okay, just take it easy," Force said, raising his paws before his body in an attempt to placate him, taking care to diffuse the aura flames surrounding it before doing so. "All I said was your name and where you were standing, okay?"

"...I'm so lost right now," Astrid said, looking between Force and Shadow with slight concern. Leaf and Frost seemed similarly confused, although the Glaceon was studying Force with growing realization.

"This is like a real-life soap opera scene. I just wish I knew the context, so I could enjoy it on multiple...what?" Plasma abruptly stopped speaking and got a distant expression on his face. "Ooh, I see. That's...pretty juicy drama."

Iris and Force turned towards the Rotom with puzzled expressions, but he responded by humming a jaunty tune to himself innocently until they refocused on their group.

Force sighed and massaged his forehead with his right paw. "Look, we're not looking for any conflict here. So we'd like to just-"

"Hang on a second," Astrid jerked her head up, her green eyes focused intently on the Riolu's massaging paw. "Where did you get that?"

"What?" Force blinked at the Absol, then lowered his arm to his chest level. Now that his attention had been drawn to it, Shadow was able to see a crude metal ring of some sort fastened to the Riolu's wrist. "This?"

"That too, but more importantly, I'm asking about that stone in the center," Astrid clarified nonchalantly. She took a slow step closer to get a better look.

"Uh...we found it at the Solaceon Ruins about a week ago," Force answered, glancing at Shadow nervously, as if he knew the mere mention of their last meeting would incite an aggressive response. Shadow just scowled, drawing his tail around Leaf, silently commanding his brother to remain close. Leaf flinched a little at the touch, but then relaxed again. Shadow didn't really expect Leaf to resist much in his fatigued state, but the secondary purpose of the gesture was to send a warning to the opposing group not to do anything against Leaf.

"Oh, is that the same stone Lin had me carry out of the Ruins?" Frost wondered dismissively. "Not much of a fashion statement, but to each their own."

"Hey!" Plasma protested, sounding offended by Frost's flippant tone. "I made that cool bracelet out of bits of metal and old jewelry stored up in my attic. Did you know I can totally use my body as a crude welding tool?"

"I'm not trying to be fashionable," Force argued, crossing his arms defensively. "It's just the only lead we have to figuring out what it does."

"Wait...you're wearing it like that, but you don't actually know what it is?" Astrid asked, her voice abruptly rising in pitch, and her green eyes widening in a mixture of disbelief and concern. "Why would you do something like that?"

This response earned Astrid a number of confused and alarmed looks from everyone present. Leaf whined a little bit, cuddling closer against Shadow, either in pursuit of further warmth or of greater comfort than just the forked tail around his shoulders.

"Um...well, we're trying to figure out more about it," Iris explained nervously, fidgeting with her paws. "Our visit to the Ruins of Alph didn't go well, so we don't have other leads and..."

"Leads for what?" Astrid asked, confused.

"I bet I can guess," Shadow growled. He met the Kirlia's pink gaze and focused intently. He had only the vaguest idea of what he was attempting to accomplish, but his hope was that he would at least get some flickers of insight from the attempt.

Iris flinched at the intensity of his gaze, and gripped Force's arm tightly.

"Oi! Don't you dare!" Force snapped, stepping forward as if to shield the Kirlia from Shadow's glare. Blue aura flames erupted from the Riolu's paw, far stronger than they had ever been in Shadow's memory, or even during their previous encounter. Slowly, the flames expanded outwards, surrounding the Riolu in a pale blue aura.

Even through the growing haze of anger writhing in his chest, Shadow recognized the tenderness behind the two bipeds' interactions. The way Force was shielding Iris now reminded him of how he always tried to shield Leaf from all threats, whether it be a rampaging Beedrill, or the zealous eyes of a novice Pokemon trainer.

The Espeon blinked and broke eye contact, the anger subsiding as swiftly as it had arisen. These two shared a similarly powerful bond to himself and Leaf, but with the affection of a loving couple. The Kirlia's name even resounded with his memory now, from when he had confronted the Riolu down in the depths of the Ruins.

Back then, the Riolu had nervously asked at one point whether Shadow was trying to read his mind, and that he only let Iris...something. Shadow had interrupted at that point, but it was obvious where the sentence had been going at the time. Force only allowed Iris, this Kirlia, to bond with his mind. Frost and Raze had teased Shadow about having his mind briefly linked with Cecilia, and also with Leaf, and following his tutoring with A/C, he understood now the significant level of trust needed to bond in this fashion.

"Force?" Iris squeaked, and it took the Riolu a moment to understand what his apparent lover was informing him of. Not only was he being surrounded by a shimmering aura, but the stone equipped to the crude bracelet was beginning to pulse softly, flickering on and off rhythmically, like the beating of a heart.

"What is this?" Frost wondered, the Glaceon looking increasingly bewildered with every twist the conversation had been taking. However, even he was regarding the flickering stone with incredible wariness, as if sensing something far more dangerous than visually apparent. When it came to ominous signs, objects glowing or flashing with peculiar light ranked fairly high on the list, and Shadow could perfectly relate to that concern - his forehead gem operated similarly, always glowing or flashing when tapping into the powerful energies within his body.

"It's an ancient stone containing an untold reserve of power that for some reason has an affinity with Force's aura," the Rotom supplied cheerfully. "Seems like our theory was spot-on, if it's responding to him like this now. It definitely resonates with him, and not Diablos."

Shadow growled at the mention of the Spiritomb's name, the name of the demon that had sent his family to hell. Hearing it spoken by the Rotom confirmed all his suspicions about these three Pokemon and their association with that monster. Yet...he wasn't surprised enough by the revelation for true anger to awaken in his heart. He had already known Force was associated, and Cecilia had made no secret of the fact that her group as a whole were in on it.

"How about we back away civilly now?" Force suggested, clenching his fist and fixing Shadow with a serious glare. "I don't have a quarrel with you personally, so don't give me reason to. You target Iris and I'll..."

"I won't," Shadow said solemnly. The Riolu blinked in surprise, but still regarded him with skeptical wariness. "I don't want revenge. Even if I did, I wouldn't take it out on her."

"Something's wrong," Astrid said suddenly, her eyes flicking around the forest, drawing everyone else's attention. "I don't know what it is, but...I don't like the feeling of it at all."

"I sense something, too," Iris said anxiously, clutching Force's arm tightly.

The Riolu cast Iris a concerned look, and then closed his eyes, allowing the aura field around his body to expand outwards. It was not too different from what Shadow himself had to do with his psychic abilities, yet another odd indication of how vaguely similar the two of them were to each other.

"We should go," Shadow said seriously, giving Leaf a light nudge with his head. The Leafeon whined a little, but nevertheless stood up and allowed himself to be nudged further down the path. Shadow kept a fraction of his attention on the tickling sensation in the back of his mind. It was already beginning to prickle, the sense of danger drawing nearer, yet its identity remaining elusive. It was unsettling, and the fact that Astrid, Iris, and Force all seemed to be sensing something nearby did not make him feel any better about it.

What happened next occurred so swiftly that Shadow never had time to process the warning before the danger was upon them. Light exploded around them in all directions, kicking up dust and debris all around them. Shadow dove sideways, seeking shelter behind a group of trees, but another barrage of energy bolts exploded nearer to his hiding place, forcing him to retreat further into the forest depths. Bits of bark erupted inches from his face, and stray twigs collapsed from somewhere above him.

In all the commotion, he realized that Leaf had not followed him, but when he tried to head back in that direction, he found a tangled mess of large branches in his path, all but sealing him from the rest of the group.

The forest descended into chaos as wild Pokemon burst out from their dens or hiding spots, seeking shelter and safety from the sudden attacks, some of them adding to the frenzy by launching attacks at any Pokemon in the vicinity they perceived as a threat. Few of them noticed Shadow in their haste to escape, and he again had his fur color to thank for the extra camouflage.

"Damn it," Shadow growled, struggling to see through the narrow slants in the fallen branches, in the hopes of catching a glimpse where anyone else in his group might have gone. The explosions seemed to have ceased, but he felt an uncomfortable buzzing in the back of his mind, as if something was causing some sort of interference to his psychic sense. He couldn't pick up anything at all, no matter how intently he focused his mind. No hint of anyone else's presence, friend or foe alike, and his ears failed to catch even the slightest sound that might be Leaf, or Frost, or even Astrid.

Growling in frustration, the Espeon weaved through the trees around him, searching for some alternate pathway that would take him back to the main section of the forest, but everywhere he looked seemed to have met a similar fate of destruction to the earlier pathway, and if the spot wasn't outright demolished, there were wild Pokemon darting in and out of the areas, making it impractical or even dangerous to try to slip through that way. His only option was to keep searching, and to keep his senses alert.

Panic was threatening to invade his thoughts. He had no idea where he was in the forest, and no clue what might have happened to the others. Best case scenario was that Frost or Astrid had seized Leaf and pulled him to safety, and it was all he could do to focus on that scenario instead of any of the less desirable outcomes.

The reminder that the rest of the Eterna Forest was far from a safe haven did not lighten his mood, either. The Eterna Hive was probably still on high-alert after fending off the earlier attacks, and Shadow didn't relish the idea of stumbling upon a hostile group by himself.

Finally, after what felt like hours of crawling over branches and fallen leaves, Shadow emerged in a less claustrophobic section of the forest. It wasn't as open as the earlier clearing, where Frost had practically frozen everyone to death, but it at least felt more like a path than the treacherous obstacle course he had just gone through.

As he stepped free of the tangles of broken twigs, Shadow was greeted by the less-than-welcome sight of a certain blue-furred biped. Force had evidently taken a similar pathway to reach this area, and he whirled around as Shadow emerged into the area, only to lower his paws.

"Oh, it's you," Force said, and even without an aggressive stance, the wariness in his demeanor was beyond blatant.

"I'm delighted to see you, too," Shadow snapped back. "What the hell happened?"

"Search me," Force said, shrugging impatiently. "Is anyone else with you?"

"No. I have no idea where anyone else went, and I can't sense a damn thing," Shadow grumbled. The buzzing in his head had still not lifted ever since the explosive light show had occurred, and it was not boding well for his mood. He was right back to feeling almost completely helpless, and until now he hadn't really recognized how much he had come to depend on his psychic foresight. Having it inactive made him feel jumpier than usual.

"Fine, guess we're going through this together, then," Force said, crossing his arms. "Truce?"

"We're not fighting now, are we?" Shadow retorted. There was a brief pause, and then both of them cracked the smallest of amused smiles.

"I just hope Iris is okay," Force said nervously. He lifted his paw and conjured a sphere of aura within it, inspecting the glowing paw carefully. "Yeah...she should be. I don't know why she hasn't Teleported to my side yet, though...she usually is pretty prompt when she's worried about me..."

"My psychic sense is acting up, maybe she's got a similar problem," Shadow suggested seriously. Force blinked at him.

"But...that's never been a problem with us, before. Are you able to Teleport?"

"I don't even know HOW to Teleport," Shadow sighed. Force scowled, but the frustration wasn't directed at Shadow, so he didn't bother reacting to the Riolu's expression.

"Okay. On foot it is, then," Force said, gesturing in one direction. Shadow didn't move, instead raising an eyebrow expectantly. "Oh...right, the whole animosity thing," Force said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, before taking the lead.

"Are you able to navigate the forest?" Shadow wondered, following after the Riolu.

"Vaguely, but I've got my aura abilities, so I can sort of get a reading on where familiar signatures are located," Force answered casually. "The trick is finding an actual path that goes that way. Tons of fun if you're exploring Mt. Coronet. I can find where we want to go, but the passageways are a maze with dead ends and the like, so there's a lot of trial and error involved."

Surprisingly, the two gradually managed to strike up a bit of a friendly rapport over this discussion topic. Force seemed perfectly willing to discuss the ins and outs of his aura abilities and the time he and the others had spent exploring the caverns of the great Sinnoh mountain, and all of it was new information for Shadow, so he was able to listen attentively without becoming irritated.

Force was just talking about the time they had gotten stranded somehow on one side of an enormous lake, with their destination on the opposite shore, when he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, and Shadow did likewise.

A high-pitched shriek filled the forest, the sound waves reverberating and echoing within the enclosure of trees, making it difficult to identify the whereabouts of the sound's source. Yet Shadow could sense its presence at a distance, even as his stomach churned with anxiety.

Coldness seeped beneath his skin, smothering him in its icy embrace. His heart pounded against his ribs, and it took most of his conscious effort to keep his breathing as steady as possible.

At the same time, Force gasped, instinctively clutching at his own chest, his red eyes widening in shock and pain. Like Shadow, the Riolu seemed momentarily struggling for breath, and fear clouded his eyes as the aura Pokemon raised his eyes towards the Espeon, as if aware that they were experiencing the same symptoms.

"You feel it too, don't you?" the Riolu whispered breathlessly, but there was no doubt in Shadow's mind that the question was directed to him, and him alone. Shadow didn't even have to reply, no doubt his expression supplied the answer for him.

Force straightened up, and fixed Shadow with a weak smile.

"Strange, isn't it? And to think that I've never made the connection before now. Now I get it...it's because we both have a piece of the same soul within us."

"What?" Shadow wished he could have said something more interesting, but his brain had practically shut down from the combination of the cold fear gripping his heart, and the realization that the Riolu he despised by instinct felt the same crippling discomfort.

Force evaded his eyes for a moment, but soon after looked back up, now wearing a slightly sad, almost guilty expression. "When we unsealed Diablos...he presented me with one of his souls, to strengthen my aura abilities. When he attacked you...he tried to transfer the soul from me to you, but your parents interfered, and the soul's been broken ever since. One piece within me, and one within you. The sensation we experience when the other is near...that's the broken soul resonating with its other half."

Shadow's eyes widened. The most terrifying thing about the Riolu's words was that they made complete sense. The last time he had revisited his memories of that one fateful encounter, he had realized that Diablos had attempted something that day, and tried again down at the Ruins, but until now he had no idea what the demon was trying to do. Ever since then, he had been plagued with this nameless fear accompanied by spasms of discomfort and cold terror. He had assumed it had to do with the traumatic memories, or that his mind and body instinctively recognized Diablos' presence. Perhaps that had been true in a way he had never imagined.

Force sighed softly. "I didn't make the connection down at the Ruins. Whenever I sensed your aura from a distance, I felt that discomfort, but never knew why. Diablos said he needed us to be in range of each other to remove the fragment, and that he couldn't possess me again, either."

The Riolu scowled bitterly, and Shadow immediately recalled what the Weavile had said when she and Frost had arrived at the lowest level of the Ruins. It seemed now more like an echo of what Force was saying to him now - that Diablos had claimed not to be able to possess the Riolu.

"What he meant was he couldn't possess me until we were in range again. I guess Lin convinced him to remove the fragment at the Ruins..." the Riolu trailed off miserably. "But it's not entirely gone."

"What do you mean?" Shadow asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Diablos told us last night," Force mused. "That when he was removing my fragment, Lin broke it again somehow, leaving a tiny fragment within me. I don't know how she did that, though..."

"She hit his paw with an Ice Shard," Shadow said quietly, his eyes widening in realization. Even now, he could perfectly recall the possessed Riolu's yelp of pain and surprise as the shard of ice had struck his paw, and Force collapsing like a marionette with severed strings. Even worse, was now he recalled how the green sphere of light had flew at him immediately, only to be deflected by an instinctive psychic barrier and disappearing into the wall. Now he understood...that had been Diablos attempting to merge the two broken halves within Shadow's body.

"Damn it," Force sighed, closing his eyes. "Even if it's a tiny piece, I don't want his power anymore."

"Why do you work with him?" Shadow asked seriously, doing his best not to make his tone too aggressive. It was a question that still burned within him, ever since his talk with Cecilia, where she had told him everything, including aspects of her group's discontent with the Spiritomb's methods. Nothing she had told him fully justified their motives for working with such an evil being.

"That's...a complicated question," the Riolu stated slowly.

"How?" Shadow demanded, stepping closer and facing the aura Pokemon. Force didn't flinch, only gazed at the agitated Espeon with a solemn expression. "After all he's put you through, and what he's done to me and my family, how can you possibly justify working with him? Why would you try to help unseal his powers if he can already do so much with what he has?"

Force sighed and averted his gaze. Normally, this would have been cause for annoyance, but this time, Shadow detected a different vibe from the aura Pokemon, an emotion that he couldn't perfectly label. It wasn't sadness, or fully guilt, although those elements were present on his face. It was deeper, and more sorrowful and complicated. Shadow waited patiently, silently wondering just how difficult it might have been for Force to put his thoughts and feelings into words.

"I suppose every team has that one member who is considered despicable compared to the others," Force said slowly. "The one that no one really trusts, or even likes, but who is too valuable...or even too dangerous, to abandon."

"That's not really an answer," Shadow said, frowning.

"Did you ask Cecilia this question?" Force wondered. Shadow flinched, but nodded, and the Riolu gave him a curious look. "What did she say?"

Shadow sighed, closing his eyes. Of all the things that the Quilava had told him during their talk, this one bit had stuck with him, and bothered him, more than anything else she had said.


"Why did you unseal him?" the Espeon wondered, fixing the Quilava with a serious frown. Cecilia hesitated, and then shook her head.

"I don't fully know. It wasn't my idea, and I left the last meeting early after confronting him over your parents, so if it was explained then, I wasn't there."

"I see," Shadow replied softly, studying her in silence. She sniffled and wiped her eyes, looking up at him. Her eyes were an extremely attractive shade of blue, and he could clearly see how distraught the situation had left her. Despite all that had happened, there was a certain...trustworthiness about her, something he could at least admire, apart from the sleekness of her figure. He shook himself mentally to dispel those thoughts for now. "What do you plan to do now?" he asked, barely speaking above a whisper.

Cecilia fidgeted, her eyes betraying the storm of conflict raging in her mind. Finally, she looked up, and her eyes were sorrowful, glistening freely again.

"I won't abandon my friends," she stated, and smiled sadly. "They're all I have. No matter how hard it is for me, I'll stay with them until the very end, with the hope that it ends well. They mean everything to me."

"And me? What about me?" Shadow ventured quietly. Cecilia gave him another sad smile.

"You matter to me...but maybe not in the way we may have hoped. When I look at you, I feel the weight of pain and guilt at how I've indirectly ruined your life and hurt your family, including Rio, one of my closest friends in the world," Cecilia said, and she closed her eyes tightly, her voice catching in her throat. "But you do matter...and that's why I had to tell you the truth about all of this..."

The Quilava leaned forward, and placed a long, lingering kiss on the Espeon's mouth, before backing away.

"I only hope that can prove the sincerity of my remorse," she said quietly.

Shadow was silent for a long time. "Thank you," he said finally. "You cannot imagine how much it means to me to have been told these things...and I understand your decision. But my friends and brother is all I have left, so I'm sure you can accept my choice, too. I don't blame you for what happened, but if I'm a target, we have to part ways. That way...neither of us can be a pawn. All I can really do is give you this as an expression of my...gratitude."

He stood up and pecked the Quilava sweetly, maintaining eye contact until she blushed and smiled.

"Wow, you're really wordy when you want to be," she said, stifling a giggle.


Shadow reopened his eyes, and focused on the Riolu, who was starting to give him a concerned look, as if afraid that he had fallen asleep mid-conversation. "She said she'd stand by her friends no matter what," Shadow said solemnly.

"I thought so," Force said, nodding and beginning to walk forward again. "If it's any-"

The Riolu's sentence was interrupted by him walking face-first into a solid object. Following the initial smacking sound of his face against the object, Force stumbled backwards, his eyes slightly dazed. Shadow stared at him, and then at the space in front of him, then back at Force.

The reason for Shadow's confusion was simple enough: there wasn't anything occupying the space in front of Force. No trees, no signs, no buildings, not even another Pokemon. It was empty space. Yet as Shadow peered closer, he noticed the faint shimmering in the air. Tentatively, he extended one of his paws, and felt something solid where the air shimmered. Furthermore, he was becoming gradually aware of a dull humming sound behind them.

"What was that?" Force demanded, cautiously prodding the space in front of them, and his eyes widened upon discovering the same invisible barrier that Shadow had. "Um...that's not good."

Both of them winced as a wave of discomfort overcame them simultaneously, and the humming became louder and more noticeable. Very slowly, the two Pokemon turned around, to find the source of the noise hovering in the air before them, and moving closer with slow, yet purposeful movements.

It was a bird-like creature with a sphere-like body. Green markings outlined a black stripe on its abdomen, and two blue eyes peered out from the makeshift darkness its design contained. Each of its wings and tail had several feather-like shapes protruding from them, with alternating blue and red stripes upon each feather. At the top of its head was a black stalk with a third blue eye upon it, reminding Shadow unpleasantly of the Solaceon Ruins and the symbols scattered throughout the place.

This was not the most worrisome detail, however. Not only was the creature uncomfortably familiar to him, but as it approached, he could see numerous scorch marks adorning various areas of its body, giving it an even eerier presence, like the survivor of a hellish landscape consumed by flames.

The Sigilyph showed no emotion as it drew nearer, and Force tensed, his red eyes upon the opposing Pokemon.

"Is that the same one?" Shadow wondered aloud. Force made an inquisitive grunt, not daring to take his eyes off the Ruins guardian. "Cece fought a Sigilyph at the Ruins," he explained swiftly.

"Explains the burns," Force muttered, and he flicked his wrist, conjuring a sphere of energy into his paw. He pointed the glowing paw at the Sigilyph. "What do you want?" he demanded.

The eye at the top of the Sigilyph's head glowed with an ominous light, and Force was hurled backwards by an invisible force, so strong that Shadow could have sworn he felt the air ripple as it passed. The Riolu crashed against the invisible barrier around them, and fell to one knee, wincing with pain.

"Oh shit...not friendly," Force gasped, clutching his back with his left paw and wincing fiercely.

"I could have told you that," Shadow retorted, shifting his stance into a more battle-ready variant. "I'm betting we have to beat it to get rid of that barrier," he said, recalling what Cecilia had said back at the Ruins. At the thought, his mind immediately began to fill with questions. Why had the Sigilyph suddenly come here, to the Eterna Forest? Why had it attacked them, and why now, of all times?

However, this wasn't the time to dwell on these questions. Survival and focus came first, and the answers would come in time.