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Chapter 57

Night's Children

It was the evening when Terron noticed Nyx descending from her flight. At first, he considered it was because she had grown tired from the exhausting flight and needed a moment to rest as she had done several times over the past few hours. However, upon looking down at the landscape below, he was quick to realize that his assumption was wrong.

Resting far below him were dozens of crumbling stone blocks. They were tiny from where he was in the air, and barely noticeable in the dim moonlight, but he knew that if he were on the ground, they'd be quite spacious and easily dwarf him in size.

"This is the place, correct Quilava?"

"Yes, it is," Novus said with a nod.

The Darkrai quickened her descent, causing Terron to reflexively grip her arm. Nyx didn't seem to give any mind and only continued until minutes later, she settled herself near one of the behemoth buildings. She released her grip on Terron and Novus as they leapt out of her hands, both of them weary from the long flight.

As Terron took in a few deep breaths, he scanned his surroundings to get a better view of everything now that he had Novus's fire in his company. Just as he been able to see from high above, all of the structures around him were decaying and covered in thin vines or small patches of moss. Many of them had deep cracks embedded deep into their surfaces, almost appearing as though the ruin would, at any moment, collapse on top of Terron and crush him instantly.

Terron peered into the distance to find that close by him was a path of stone stairs leading up a hill of sorts. With curiosity getting the better of him, Terron wandered toward the stairs and followed them up the grassy slope. When he reached the top, his jaw nearly dropped at what he saw.

Below him in a valley of sorts, were dozens if not hundreds more of abandoned ruins. They were sprawled out for as far as could be into the very edge of his vision, and possibly even more beyond that. Some parts of the ruins seemed to have the vague appearance of an old village with several of the blocks separated with many rectangular holes cut out in the fronts. Others seemed to have belonged to part of a castle, with large, gaping holes present to reveal large chambers that connected to a great number of obscured rooms. Then there were ruins that seemed to be nothing but giant labyrinths much farther into the distance. They were nothing but mazes with a seemingly eternal amount of paths to get lost in.

Terron could only stare at the grand and wondrous sight in complete awe.

"Now you can see why it's going to take a week, possibly more to find our dragon."

Terron snapped out of his stunned trance and looked back to find Novus coming up the stairs, Nyx just behind him.

"Yeah, I knew that the ruins were going to be big. Just not this big," Terron confessed.

"The Unown Ruins are a rather strange place," Novus explained. "Long ago, these strange creatures known as Unown used to live here. Unown are very peculiar little Pokémon that are quite unlike any other you might know. For one, there are twenty-eight different kinds of Unown, all of which except two took on shapes that you humans then used for an ancient alphabet system. They used to live here in these ruins to hide away from the world so that no one could ever find them. For you see, Unown hold a phenomenal sort of power. One Unown cannot do anything with that power if it is alone, but with others, Unown can essentially create realities. They can take thoughts and dreams and give them form in the real world. Essentially, they're similar to Zoroark in that way, except their power isn't an illusion and everything they do is very much real."

"So what you're saying is that if somebody was ever able to capture Unown, they could re-write the universe?" Terron asked.

"Essentially, I suppose someone could," Novus considered. "However, that would require capturing at least two hundred of those Pokémon and somehow being able to control them, which that I think is downright impossible. Because you see, Unown do not listen to anyone. Sometimes they will amuse others if they find them to be harmless by making their dreams a reality as a means of entertainment, but they never alter the very fabric of reality for anyone's personal gain. They cannot be controlled or bargained with. But rest assured, there are no more Unown here. All of them left a very long time ago."

"Where are they now?" Terron wondered.

"I imagine that they are with the creator just as all of the other legendary beings are," Novus answered. "I see no reason as to why the creator would let them stay here when he withdrew just about everyone else."

Terron nodded as he went back to peering down at the spacious ruins, thinking of the great number of Unown that must have roamed this strange place in the ancient past. He could almost see them scurrying through the many buildings, hiding themselves from the known world.

"You guys ever meet Unown before?" Terron then asked.

"I did many, many centuries ago," Novus admitted indifferently. "Was in fact here that I met them. However unlike with most creatures who sometimes came across this place in the past, they weren't withdrawn with me. They thought I was interesting when they first saw me because of what I was. So they spoke with me in their odd ways before they grew bored of me. Afterwards, they let me be and never spoke to me again."

Terron nodded thoughtfully before looking over at Nyx.

"What about you?" he asked her.

"I myself have never met those odd Pokémon. I knew about them because others had spoken of them, but I never saw interest in them. I do not think they would have liked me anyway."

"Why do you think that?" Terron asked curiously, surprised by her comment.

"Because those Pokémon rely on peering into your mind to understand and communicate with you. They do not enjoy doing that with the darkness Pokémon. They can bypass the barrier we darkness Pokémon put up to prevent psychic ones from entering our mind, but doing that lets them see the darkness in us. They see the thoughts the darkness gives us and grow terrified. It terrifies them to see blackness that surrounds them and has no end, those unnerving thoughts of ours the only thing to keep them company. It makes them remember that they are just like almost everyone else when it comes to the dark. It makes them remember that they are powerless to the dark."

"Yeah… I guess it would be pretty terrifying to just be in the dark and not being to get out," Terron said cautiously. "I mean, the dark's kind of nice at times, but I do like having my light too. The dark is pretty scary when you have no idea where you're going or anything."

"It has been that way since the beginning for almost everyone. In the light of day, all of you other elements argue about who is strongest. Some of you claim that the psychics are the strongest, for they can manipulate the minds of others and make nearly everyone their puppet with enough training. Others claim it is the dragons for their sheer strength and the potential to harness almost all of the other elements. Each of you make an interesting claim, but all of you are wrong once the sun disappears from the sky and the moon takes its place. Your arguments stop as every single one of you go into hiding. Because in the night, all of you are no longer the strongest; the darkness Pokémon become that. Through the power the black of night brings us, we become death's faithful servants, killing you on sight should you be foolish enough to come across us. Your instincts know that, so they tell you to fear the dark. It is the oldest fear known to all who do not belong to the night."

"Wow, that's pretty grim," Terron said, not sure what he wanted to make of the unsettling information.

"It is to everyone who has that ancient instinct in them. But, times have changed as you can tell. I am a darkness Pokémon, but never once has ever crossed my mind to kill you. Do you want to know why it is different now than it was when everyone was a feral?"

"Why?" Terron asked, genuinely curious.

"Because everyone slowly started to become civilized. Instead of everyone working against each other, except for in packs, Pokémon wanted to be united. They wanted to work together to help each other and live in harmony. So through careful communication and promises, Pokémon of the day who never should have been in the same room were suddenly partners. And eventually, you Pokémon of the day came to us darkness Pokémon and convinced us to join you. We found out we liked working together with you other elements over trying to kill you. We had more strength when working together, and we were overall happier. So we left behind our world of darkness and power for all of you. Now, we stop listening to our instincts and sacrifice the full extent of our powers so that we can be with you other elements and find happiness in that. It never hurts us to be in the light, but if it were not for you other elements, we would still be the ones lingering in the black of night, watching you at every turn. We would not have left our world of darkness if you did not want us.

"That does not stop us from needing to kill Pokémon to keep ourselves alive, but we limit ourselves. We only kill when we have to, and even then, it is only to the feral of this world. If we still listened to our ancient instincts every time we were hungry, civilization would have stopped existing a long time ago."

"Huh, that's actually pretty interesting," Terron replied, slowly taking in all of the information. "I never knew that about you dark-types. So you guys are only awake in the day because of everybody else. You guys ignore your instincts to make everybody else happy. That's actually kind of thoughtful in a way."

"Many of the Pokémon affinities began ignoring certain instincts once they became civilized and wanted to create societies with others," Novus added in. "After the humans left the Pokémon some time ago, Pokémon reverted back to their primal states since no one knew what to do with the humans now gone. The humans had never truly taught us how to live on our own so much as they had been keeping us with them in their society as partners. So because we were suddenly partner-less in a sense, nearly everyone became a feral and everything the humans ever taught us were promptly forgotten. However, there were some Pokémon who were able to remember what the humans taught and attempted to replicate that in Shiron. It took time, but eventually they were able to re-create a society and went out to convince everyone to become civil again. But, in order to do so, they had to learn which instincts to ignore, for not every instinct is necessary in a civilized world.

"For example, let's take you ground affinities. You'd think that there'd be hardly anything for you to change about yourselves when you're all mostly level-headed, diligent, and hard-working. All of those characteristics are needed in an ideal society. But all of you have a massive flaw that is easily overlooked by others; all of you are sensitive. Maybe it's not quite obvious, but all of you are very thin-skinned and can be hurt rather easily. Thus, all of you tend to stray away from others and keep to yourselves so that no one can hurt you. You prefer the silence of isolation or your own kind than the potential of pain from others. In society, that instinct that tells you to hide yourself away from the world cannot be listened to. Society cannot function if it does not have contributing members. Thus, you ground Pokémon had to learn to ignore your fear and work alongside us other affinities. Or, you found ways to harden your hearts so that you could no longer be as easily pained, like that persona you have upon your head."

Terron reached up and pulled off his helmet before holding it close to his face. He stared at it for a time, marveling over the reason why Cubone had personas and thinking of all the times he had become so much stronger thanks to the power his helmet had seemingly given him.

"Of course, not everyone became civil as you can tell," Novus went on. "There are still feral Pokémon in this world. For whatever reason, everyone decided to stop trying to convert ferals into civilized Pokémon about fifty years ago and left them alone. I don't know why exactly everyone stopped, but that is why there are still those who are feral in this world."

"So everyone forgot that they were helping feral Pokémon become civil that long ago," Terron stated as he put his helmet back on. "You know, everybody here sure does have a talent for forgetting things. They forgot that Reshiram and Zekrom existed, they forget how to be civil after the humans leave, and they forget that they were making everyone civil at one point. That's an awful lot of stuff to forget. How do you even forget so many important things like that?"

Novus shrugged dismissively. Terron shook his head and sighed, but decided not to further question Novus about the matter. There was no point if there were no more answers to be gained.

"Let's get heading to bed," Terron then said. "We can start searching in the morning. Going to be a real joy looking for that stone…"

Novus headed back down the steps. Terron was about to follow after him, but then he noticed that Nyx was still at the top of the hill, staring into the distance with her back to him. He paused as he turned to face her.

"Something wrong?" he asked her.

"No, everything is fine. I am only thinking."

"Thinking? About what?"

"Thinking about what you said. As in, why the Pokémon of Shiron forget important information so easily. It is troubling."

"Well, why do you think that everyone's forgetting things like that then? You got any ideas?"

Nyx shook her head, prompting a sigh out of Terron. He turned away and slowly made his way down the staircase.

"Let's go, Nyx," he called. "I'm tired, and I bet you are too from all of that flying today."

"I want to tell you something before you head off to bed."

Terron stopped and looked back at Nyx, puzzled by her sudden statement. He found she still had her back to him.

"Yeah?" he asked.

Nyx didn't say anything for a time, only choosing to remain where she was without glancing back at him. She only continued to stare down into the ruins, obscuring her expression from the Cubone. But eventually, she did turn her head to the side to allow Terron to see her unconcealed eye. He noted that there was a deep, somber glimmer to it.

"I am sorry."

"Sorry? For what?" Terron asked with a thoughtful frown.

"For bringing you here."

"You don't have to be sorry for that. We had to come here anyway. Reshiram or Zekrom might be here and we need them to stop the Primogenitor."

"I am not talking about that."

Terron was about to ask her exactly she meant, but his thoughts were able to piece everything together faster than he could speak. His frown became more grim as Nyx's words dawned upon him.

"Oh, you mean for bringing Yimtri and I here to Shiron," he realized quietly.

Nyx nodded slowly, her gaze growing downcast. Terron sighed as he shook his head softly.

"But that wasn't your fault," Terron reasoned. "Your portal chose us by accident. You didn't get a choice for who it chose. It just picked some random human, and it happened to find the human we once were. And you did try to save us and send us back, so I'm not mad at you. You don't have to apologize."

"Even still, I want to let you know that I wish you did not have to be in this situation. Even if you will not be fighting the Primogenitor as you probably thought originally, know that I never wanted you to ever be involved in any of this. I would have sent you back to Kuron a long time ago if it were still possible."

"Wait a minute," Terron started to say, drawing closer to Nyx. "Are you saying I really can't go back to Kuron anymore? Am I stuck here on Shiron?"

"Yes. I could send back you along with Sableye Dimitri back right now if I could find a portal, but you two could not return as a human. You will both remain stuck as a Cubone and Sableye. The only way you can return to Kuron as a human is if I can figure out what is wrong with both of you and fix the problem. Otherwise you two will forever remain Cubone and Sableye, both of your souls fractured and incomplete. You two will have to live on Shiron for forever."

"Yeah… because we're split in half. We have to be the same person again if we ever want to go back."

Nyx held a gaze with the Cubone for a moment, keeping an awkward pause between them, before nodding slowly.

"You are not scared to become a whole being again?"

"Well I am a little," Terron confessed in a subdued voice. "I mean, if I get recombined, then who knows what will happen to me. Maybe all of my memories will disappear while my old ones replace them. Maybe I'll stop existing as I become Dimitri again and it'll be like you never took me out of Kuron in the first place. But…"

Terron found himself unable to finish. Though he wanted to say that he wanted to be a human again and go back to his normal, old life once more, a part of him prevented him from saying that. He knew that part of him to be the side of him that had grown attached to his memories of Shiron. It didn't want anything to change. It only wanted to keep living alongside Zekra and remain a Cubone forever.

What would Zekra think of me anyway? Terron asked himself. If I merge back with Yimtri, I'm not going to be the Cubone she always knew. I'll be someone else. Someone that she never knew. Will Zekra still want to be friends when I'm that someone else? Will she still care about me? Will I even care about her?

He couldn't answer any of these questions. He had no answers, and he knew that Nyx didn't either. No one had the answers. The only true way Terron could find out what would happen to him was if became Dimitri again was to actually recombine with his other half. But now, he wasn't so sure if he wanted to know.

"If you are scared, know that you do not have to worry about it right now. I do not know how to merge you and Sableye Dimitri back to together as of this moment. Your souls have changed so much since I tore you apart on that day so many years ago. Not to mention that the blight within you makes matters even more difficult. But I will find a way one day. And when that day comes, you and Sableye Dimitri can decide what you two would like to do. I will not force you two back into a singular being against your will. But for now, do not be troubled."

"Yeah… you're probably right," Terron said with a defeated sigh. "I shouldn't let this bother me. I've got other things to worry about anyway, like finding Reshiram and Zekrom."

Terron closed his eyes as he took in a deep breath, inhaling the cold air of the night. His thoughts weren't soothed, but they were silenced enough so that they were no longer overwhelming his mind. With his mind more at ease, he turned away from the Darkrai.

"Let's head back now," he announced. "Poor Novus is probably wondering where we are."

Terron, once again, stepped onto the staircase and made his way down to rejoin his other companion. And this time, Nyx followed close behind him. The two wandered down the hill, and then after reaching the bottom, were quick to find Novus waiting for them with a knowing smile.

No words were spoken as the three congregated into what appeared to be the remains of an old structure and settled together in a close circle, where they all soon fell asleep.

Zekra kept her paws wrapped tightly around Zeverous's false Pidgeot neck as they soared through the night sky, taking in the sight around her. Though the dim moonlight was all there was to illuminate the world around her, that was all she needed. Through its light she could see an endless sea of trees far below her. They stretched on for miles and miles, covering the land with endless evergreen without a single city in sight. It should have been a peaceful sight to Zekra. It truly should have to fly over the massive gathering of trees in the darkness that always brought her happiness.

But instead, there was only emptiness in her soul.

She stared at the jungle far below her for a while longer, wondering to herself if there were any Pokémon living in the safety of the seemingly infinite amount of trees.

"You feeling tired?" Zeverous asked, breaking the silence that had persisted between them for most of the journey.

"No, I'm fine," Zekra said, forcing a carefree tone into her voice. "Just sort of zoning out."

"That sounds to me like you're tired," Zeverous snickered. "See, this is what happens when you don't want to take a break."

"Shouldn't it be you who's tired and not me if we keep flying non-stop?"

"Well I can handle it since I've been doing this kind of thing for years. It's still kind of tiring, but I can take it. But you can still get tired from sitting for way too long. You get cramped up and everything."

"I don't feel like I've got cramps. I'm fine. How much longer until we get to wherever you're taking us, though?"

"Like five minutes. Maybe even less than that if it's closer than I thought it was."

Zekra nodded silently as she rested her chin on Zeverous's feathery mane and closed her eyes. She didn't feel exhausted, so she didn't worry that doing so would make her fall into a deep slumber. She only wanted to have a few more minutes of peace to herself.

You don't want to keep talking to Zev?

Zekra scowled hard as she saw a familiar entity manifested itself in the darkness of her mind, staring at her with what she thought was a vaguely confused look. She didn't even bother to open her eyes and only stared back at the Zorua with an increasingly disapproving frown.

Why are you here?

What kind of a question is that?

A question I just asked you.

Wow, someone's gotten snippy. You're starting to sound like me now. Well then again, I AM you and everything I do is just-

Why are you talking to me when I'm not having some kind of meltdown? That's the only time you ever talk to me.

Oh, that's easy. I just feel like it. It's been feeling a little weird only staying in your head lately, watching you do everything and never being able to say anything about it even though I'm technically a part of it. It's like being in a group and everybody's talking to everyone else except you.

Zekra's bitter frown shifted to that of a more puzzled one, taking her hostile feelings with it.

So you're saying that you're feeling lonely?

No, not that. It's more like I'm bored. I'm very bored of sitting here, not being able to do anything.

Why are you suddenly feeling bored of that? You've been in my brain for a while.

I'm not really sure. It's been a reoccurring thought as of late. And really, I don't think I should be having these thoughts. From how I see it, none of your friends' plagues ever get bored of the roles Mother gave to us. They all seem happy to keep quiet and only say things occasionally. But I'm not happy with that anymore. I want to do more. It's this feeling I keep getting, telling me to stop feeling satisfied with being your power source and do something else.

So what's more to you then?

I think I want to be my own creature, not just some part of you. Like, I want to be able to do something other than just give you my power so you can be stronger or whatever. Like be able to actually kill the ones who are after you in some physical form. You know, like be able to claw out their eyes and sink my fangs into their bowels.

The shadowy Zorua shook its head and laughed.

It's a silly thing really, but hey, you wanted to know.

Zekra found herself unnerved at the information. While her plagued self said that it was friendly and helpful, it was still a part of the Primogenitor. It was still a small fragment of that monstrous being that was slowly consuming Shiron with its presence. It still held violent impulses and craved killing when its primal instincts were awakened. Zekra could only imagine what kind of horrifying things her plagued self could do if it was outside of her mind.

But thankfully, it wasn't possible. Her plagued self couldn't escape her mind because it was bound to her spirit. Nyx had made it that way, and there was no way to undo it. Even if Zekra died, her plagued self would die with her. She couldn't imagine exactly how her plagued self could ever be able to separate itself from her body and take on a physical form.

Zekra was about to find peace in that, but then, a paranoid thought was quick to make its way into her mind. As soon as she listened to it, she suddenly realized how her shadowy half could potentially fulfill its dreams of being a part of the outside world.

You're not going to try and take over me so you can go do that, are you?

Zekra saw the fake Zorua scowl at her. The darkness surrounding the two of them seemed to become more oppressive and suffocating.

For the last time, I can't do that. I can't take over you unless you go insane like that one time, and even then, it's never for long. Stop thinking I'm a monster. It's really starting to irritate me.

Well then why else would you tell me that you're bored of being stuck in my head? You want out, and you know you can't get out of me because you're stuck to me. The only way you can ever get what you want is if you somehow figure out a way to take over me.

Zekra saw her plagued self shoot her a disgusted glare. For a split second, she thought it no longer looked like a Zorua, but rather, some sort of demented monster that was ready to spring and devour her. She couldn't make out the details of the creature very well due to it being obscured in darkness, save for two white, glowing eyes, but it was enough to make her shudder at the sight. Zekra snapped her eyes open, eradicating the horrifying scene from her vision.

She expected her plagued self to drag her back into the conversation, or perhaps back into its twisted little world so it could lash out at her, but it didn't. Her corrupted self had disappeared from her mind's eye, having retreated to some place within her she couldn't reach. Zekra wasn't sure if she found this comforting or not, but she was never able to ponder further, for Zeverous had begun a steep descent.

"We're here!" Zeverous announced ecstatically.

Zekra peered over Zeverous's shoulder to find that they were still above the giant jungle, this section seemingly not any different from all of the others.

"How do you know this is the place?" she asked.

"The trees here are a little different from everywhere else," Zeverous answered. "It's really subtle, but I can see it. So hang on; don't want you flying off."

"Nah, it's fine. I've got this."

Without hesitation, Zekra released her grasp on the false Pidgeot, causing her to fly up high into the air as Zeverous grew further and further away from her. The wind pushed against her as she too began her plummet, feeling it toss her fur in every direction it could. For a moment, Zekra only remained in her freefall, feeling the adrenaline course through her veins and the excited beating of her heart. It was electrifying and energizing. She hadn't felt this way in a very long time. There were times that she had a similar feeling, like when she was fighting Nyx when she was brainwashed or Mystery Dungeon ferals set on killing her, but it wasn't the same. In those situations, she had only felt that way because there was the distinct possibility that she was going to die. She had only been energetic because she was fighting for dear life.

But here, she knew she was in no real danger. If she were any other Pokémon her freefall could been impeding death, but she was different. She had power that no other Pokémon except her species had.

As she spread out her limbs and spun around rapidly through the air, all the while smiling to herself, she forgot about everything. Every single worry in her mind was wiped clean as the night air filled her lungs, leaving her as carefree as could be.

However, her blissful state was only temporary, for she noticed how quickly she was closing in on the trees. And in that instant, the harshness of reality forced itself back into her mind, bringing with it the dull aching of emptiness. Zekra frowned at the abrupt end of her happy moment, but chose not to dwell in it.

She channeled the darkness within her, and with the extra power provided with her Deception Amulet, became surrounded in a violet light. Within a second, she broke out of the light, now with the form of a Skarmory. She spread out her wings, then tucked them into her sides as she performed a nosedive into the cluster of trees. She felt a few thin branches and leaves scrape against her as she shot through the canopy, but ignored it until she was able to see the ground. Once she could see that, she instantly changed back into a Zorua and silently landed upon the grassy dirt.

Zekra scanned her surroundings, searching for her brother among the giant trees and roots that seemed to touch every patch of land available. It took a few moments of careful searching, but eventually she found him in his true form, standing on a large rock wedged between some roots. The moment that he noticed her, he smiled and leapt onto the ground beside her.

"There you are," he said. "Was wondering where you landed."

"Yeah, I guess I went a little too far away from you," Zekra laughed nervously. "Sorry to worry you."

"Oh don't worry about that. Kind of knew you'd be alright anyway. There's nothing here that I don't think you can't handle. Well, almost anything."

"What is this place anyway? Where exactly are we?"

Zeverous's grin grew deviously.

"This is that jungle that Novus had on his map," he started to say, not even bothering to contain his excitement. "As in, the jungle with that hidden Greninja village I was telling you about."

Zekra's jaw dropped. She had always suspected that she and Zeverous would be going to the Greninja village sometime in the future, as Zeverous was incredibly knowledgeable about it, but she had never suspected that it would be their first destination. She had always thought that Zeverous would have saved it towards the end, or maybe towards the middle of their search.

"This is the place?" Zekra asked, hastily glancing around. "Cool! Where's the Greninja place? I don't see it anywhere."

"Well of course not! They keep the place hidden real well," Zeverous pointed out. "But don't worry; I'll show you where it is. I think I remember where it was."

Zekra resisted the urge to squeal in eagerness. She looked up at her brother, waiting for him to take her to the secret village, but he didn't move. He only kept staring at her, still wearing that smug smirk on his face.

"Uh, aren't you going to show me where the place is?" Zekra asked.

"Yeah I'm going to, but… we should probably get some rest first," Zeverous said. "I mean, we have been flying for a pretty long time and you're probably tired…"

"Oh no, I'm fine!" Zekra assured. "I can stay up for a few more hours! Just show me where the village is!"

"Heheh. Not tired at all, huh?"

"Well only a little, but hey, I'm a dark-type, remember? We dark-types were meant to be awake at night!"

"Alright fine, fine. But we're still taking a five minute break because I don't want you passing out on me. Here, let's hide in case any Greninja come by."

The Zoroark wandered back over to the stone he had been on earlier before changing into a Sandslash. Then, after taking off his backpack, he dug into the ground and disappeared from sight. Zekra was quick to go after him and jumped into the newly-formed tunnel. She was quick to find her brother sitting against one of the walls, now back in his Zoroark form. When he saw her, he instantly closed up the entrance to the tunnel with an illusion.

"You know, I've always wondered something," Zekra started to say as she sat beside him.

"Yeah, what would that be?" Zeverous asked.

"You can do things like make it look like this hole isn't here and change how you or a place looks. But, can you create… Pokémon? Like, you can make illusions of like five Pokémon and make someone think they're being attacked by those fake Pokémon?"

"Hmm, an interesting little question. And the answer it that yeah, I can actually. I can't make too many Pokémon, but I can do maybe ten or something like that. It's kind of the same idea as my Double Team power, except I have to use a lot more power since I'm not making copies of myself."

"Oh, cool. How do you do it?"

Zeverous paused for a moment, seemingly thinking thoughtfully to himself. Zekra waited patiently, only keeping silent so that he could ponder in peace.

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain, but I'll try," Zeverous began. "You know how when we change into something else, we put an illusion over ourselves to do that? Making illusionary Pokémon is kind of the opposite. We have to make someone else outside of our bodies, and we have to make them act on their own. Except, we can't micromanage everything they do. I mean, we can do them to do certain things like use certain attacks, but not every single little thing like how to move or breathe. It's like how the Pokémon in your dreams act; you can't control them and they just do whatever your subconscious tells them to do. So you do the same thing with the illusion Pokémon; you make them, and then let your subconscious control them to a certain extent."

"I think I understand what you're talking about," Zekra said, nodding. "I just have to make my illusion powers work outside of my body and let them do whatever they want. Sounds easy."

"Well, I wouldn't really say that. There's a reason why I don't use that power too much, and that's because it's really exhausting. Zorua aren't supposed to be able to have that power until they evolve just because it's one of the more advanced techniques and because they'd pass out if they'd try to use it. I barely even use it because making those fake Pokémon act real while doing something else tires me out in like twenty minutes. Thinking about how the Pokémon has to act and everything is exhausting, even if you're supposed to let your subconscious do the work."

"Aww. I really thought I'd be able to do that. I mean, I can already transform into a whole lot of cool Pokémon and I don't have to have them right with me."

"Yeah, but that's because you've got that Deception Amulet. Even with that thing, I don't think you can create Pokémon. Plus, you've never really even created objects before, have you?"

Zekra frowned as she stared at the wall in front of her, slowly narrowing her eyes.

"Well only way to find out," she then said.

Her eyes became bright as she searched through her mind, finding a Pokémon to give form to. She had so many options to choose from, and yet, she couldn't quite think of the best one. She wanted something small so that it wouldn't be too exhausting, but something that wasn't as pitifully tiny as a Joltik. That would have been too easy.

Suddenly, something materialized before her and Zeverous. It was a hazy figure at first, being nothing but a black blob that hovered a few inches off the ground, but then it started to take on a shape. A very familiar, quad-pedaled shape. Very soon, there was the vague figure of a Zorua standing before the two. It was somewhat difficult to tell what it was, given that the darkness still clung to its body and made its markings indistinguishable, but it was undecidedly a Zorua. Or at least, a decent imitation of one.

Zekra squinted her eyes at it. While she had thought of making the illusion a Zorua for a brief moment, she hadn't fully decided that would be the end result. Then not only that, but this Zorua was different than the one she imagined. The one she imagined had a more friendly look to it. This one almost seemed to be nothing but a hollow shell of a Zorua.

The Zorua shifted its gaze to Zekra, staring at her with its eyes that were nothing but white spots on its face.

And then, it flashed her a grin.

Zekra's heart stopped as soon as she saw that grin. There was something wrong with that grin. Something devious, almost knowing was in that grin her illusionary Pokémon was shooting her.

Then not only that, but she had never told the illusion to give her that grin. She had only told it to remain still.

It had done that all on its own.

The Zorua promptly exploded before Zekra could process much more, turning into a small bundle of wisps that dissipated into the air. Zekra felt a wave of terror come over her as her illusion ceased to be, unable stop thinking about what she had just seen.

"Oh hey! You actually did it," Zeverous cheered, completely oblivious to Zekra's turmoil. "Good job! Don't feel bad that it didn't last long or look completely like a Zorua, though. Takes a lot of practice to get them to look like a real Pokémon and to get them to stay in reality."

"Yeah…" Zekra muttered.

"You okay? Did using that tire you out a lot?"

"Yeah… yeah I think it did," Zekra quickly said. "You were right; it does drain a lot of energy out of you. Let me just take a nap real quick. I think I'll feel better if I just get a little bit of rest."

Zekra rested her head against Zeverous side as she closed her eyes, pretending to sleep. In truth, she wasn't the least bit tired. In fact, she didn't feel any different than she had before she summoned up that clone of herself. What she was, however, was absolutely horrified. Why had her illusion smiled at her? Was it even something to be concerned about? It wasn't like the illusion had done anything else, after all. It hadn't moved from its spot, it hadn't spoken, and it hadn't attacked her either. So why would it grinning at her cause her to be so frightened?

Maybe because it's a new power and you don't know what to expect from it.

Back again, huh? Well I don't know. I mean, Zev made it sound like it's supposed to do whatever I tell it to do. But I didn't tell it to smile like that. Plus it looked kind of creepy…

Well of course it looks creepy. It wasn't a perfect Pokémon since it was your first try, and plus, it's from your brain after all. You're a pretty demented Pokémon sometimes, so naturally it'd come out looking like that when you haven't mastered using that power.

But I didn't tell it to smile like that! Why was it smiling at me? Why would it do that?

You could have told it to smile without realizing it. You know, like a subconscious thought. Things like that happen sometimes, like when you blurt out something without even realizing it until it's too late. Zev even said that you're supposed to let your subconscious control what your illusion Pokémon do.

I don't know… still kind of creepy. Probably not going to use that power for a while…

Do whatever you want, Zekra. Do whatever you want.

And with that, Zekra was left to herself once again. She released a short sigh as she continued to keep her eyes closed, trying to take her plagued self's words to heart and tell herself not to be concerned about the odd occurrence any longer.

Several minutes later, she had stifled most of the dread, only the occasional thought haunting her mind. Mostly satisfied, she opened her eyes and looked up at Zeverous.

"Sorry about that," she said. "I'm better now."

"You sure?" Zeverous asked cautiously.

Zekra nodded solemnly. When he saw this, Zeverous removed his illusion from the opening of the tunnel, allowing the moonlight to pour into the hole. The moment the light touched him, Zeverous changed into the Greninja form he had not used in so long. Zekra couldn't help but stare at him for a while, remembering all of the times he had used this form around her, never knowing who he really was.

"You don't have to pretend to be a Greninja too," Zeverous said, using his Blight voice. "You can just be some ghost-type if you want so you can sneak around more easily."

"You sure? I mean, I don't mind being a Greninja," Zekra replied. "It's just that you'd have to be some other Greninja since I only have the Greninja form you're using right now."

"Hmm. That's a good point. Would probably be safer that way anyway. Alright, go ahead."

A brief flash went off, and Zeverous still stood as a Greninja. However, Zekra could see that this Greninja was different from the other one. She couldn't articulate exactly how it was different, but she knew that it was no longer the Blight form. With a short breath, Zekra became Blight.

"Remember to use the voice I used," Zeverous reminded her, his voice now higher-pitched than before. "Otherwise, if we do run into the other Greninja, they'll know you're not Blight."

"Yeah, I know," Zekra said, instantly using the fake voice. "Do I have to talk like how you did too?"

"Most likely. The way Pokémon talk are a huge part of who they are. So if you sound completely different, the Greninja might start getting suspicious. I realize that it's been a while since they've seen the form you're taking on, but I'd still play it safe."

Zekra nodded to herself as she thought back to the days Zeverous had been in her company as Blight, and tried to remember the mannerisms he had used around her and her friends. After a few seconds of pondering, she crawled back out of the tunnel and into the sprawling jungle. She looked behind her to find Zeverous crawling out as well, before wandering into a seemingly random direction.

"This way. It should only talk about five minutes," he explained.

Zekra silently followed after her brother as they went deeper into the jungle. She half-expected the world around them to grow darker the further they went, having grown used to venturing through an endless amount of Mystery Dungeons, but the darkness never overpowered her. It always remained the same as it had been since the sun set, being more soothing yet energizing to her than oppressive like the blackness of the dungeons.

There's no more Mystery Dungeons in the world. Zekra thought to herself. We got rid of them for good after we brought Nyx over to our side. I'm happy to know that we never have to go back into those awful places ever again, but it just feels weird to think that they literally don't exist anymore, just like that…

Zekra paused, waiting for her plagued self to make a remark. However, there were no words to be made from it. It remained silent, its presence hidden to her.

Not talking this time, huh?

There was still no response. Zekra wasn't sure whether she found this comforting or unnerving.

"Hey, I've got a question for you," Zekra spoke up, looking at her brother.

"Hmm?" he asked, keeping his voice low.

"What does your plagued self do to you? I mean, I know you've got that pin now, but what did it do before?"

"Huh, well all it really did back before I got this pin was that it used to make me a lot more violent and angrier. Things used to upset me a lot more easily back then because it was amplifying my negative emotions, and because I had a whole lot, I was like some kind of bomb ready to go off if you pushed me just right. And of course, it made me want to kill a lot. But now that I have this pin, I don't have to worry about that anymore. I don't even hear its voice."

"It talked to you?"

"Yeah, but it didn't talk like you and I are right now. It was more like it was begging me to act in certain ways, and it wouldn't be quiet until I listened to it. Was just like some kind of whiny child really that would throw a tantrum until it got what it wanted."

Zeverous cautiously looked back at his sister, giving her a deeply concerned glance.

"Why do you ask?" he then asked. "Is yours getting worse? Is it acting like mine now?"

"No, it's still the same as it was before," Zekra said, tasting her own lie. "Was just kind of curious since you know, Nyx told us that they're growing more synchronized with us as time goes on. And I guess I'm trying to figure out what to expect since she said your plague is really attached to you…"

"Listen Zekra. Trust me when I say that you're nowhere close to where I was back then. I'm not saying that you don't have it bad, but you're not going to end up like me anytime soon. So long as you don't suddenly get mad at everyone you care about for no apparent reason, you'll be fine. And even if you did reach that point…"

Zeverous reached into his scarf and pulled out the silver pin before showing it to Zekra.

"I'd let you have this," he told her solemnly. "I'd give it up for you if it means that you don't have to suffer like I did. I never want you to go through what I had to go through. I'd rather die than have to live with the thought that your plague is destroying you, no matter how supposedly well-intended Nyx claims it is. Remember that, Zekra."

"I will, Zev…" Zekra said, feeling her heart sink. "I will… Thanks."

Zeverous smiled as he carefully fastened the pin back onto his scarf. Zekra looked away from her brother as her eyes began to sting.

Why do I have to lie to everyone nowadays? Whatever happened to sharing all of my secrets with everybody? Why did that have to stop?

Deep down Zekra already knew the answers, but they only briefly manifested themselves in her thoughts before she immediately ceased dwelling in them. Thinking about it would only bring her more grief, something that was already tearing her apart as the days went on. So instead of wallow in self-pity and allow herself to deteriorate further, she shut out the depressing subject from her mind and continued to follow her brother in silence.