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Chapter 71

In Your Mind

"You are going to exhaust that Socius and it is going to shut down on you if you continue to do that."

"No I'm not. These things will never shut down as long as they're connected to you. They run off the electricity running through my nerves, so even if I'm asleep, it'll always be on. Only way it'll ever shut down unexpectedly is if I die."

"Then you will surely faint if it is using your own energy to fuel itself."

"Nah, I won't. They don't take up that much energy."

As soon as Terron said this, the grey suit with white, glowing lines coursing through it fizzled out for a brief moment before a new outfit took its place. Now the Cubone wore a black, leathery hoodie that fell over his head, obscuring his eyes from any outsiders. And yet, despite how much of a shadow it cast over his face, Terron could still see perfectly well. The end of the jacket trailed behind him, staying only a few inches off of the ground.

"Oh yeah, this outfit's really nice too," Terron remarked as he looked over himself. "Got some nice pockets and the hood's good for going around without anybody recognizing me. And it's good at insulating too! Feel so warm wearing this. I think I'll stick with this one."

"That is probably best, seeing as how that is the twentieth outfit you have put on."

"Well I wanted to see everything I had when I was still Dimitri," Terron shrugged indifferently. "There's even like five more outfits I haven't looked at, but I really don't know if they can top this one. It's so soft and perfect for keeping all of my bone stuff in."

Terron sent the Socius latched to his wrist a command with his thoughts, and within seconds, he felt all of the bone weapons from within his old jacket reappear inside of his new one. He wasn't sure how the bones had been converted into data so that they were transferrable between the real world and the world within the Socius, but he found he didn't care. So long as it aided him, he had no reason to ponder the reason. All he knew was that he was in need of a new jacket, particularly one that didn't have many rips and tears in it. He would have also liked another skull helmet, but he had a feeling that they didn't have those on Kuron. If he wanted a more durable persona he would have to go back to Shiron and slay a monstrous Pokémon with an unbreakable skull. Hopefully finding a Charizard or maybe even a Noivern wouldn't be difficult to find and kill.

But for now, that wasn't his main concern. According to the maps the Socius was feeding into his thoughts, he was about five minutes away from his human home, the place he used to live in for many years as a human. Now he was so close to seeing it again. He had no idea what to expect, as he was unable to remember what his home even looked like or if his parents even still lived there, but he knew he would never know unless he visited. Even if he was to find that nothing waited for him at this supposed location the Socius was leading him to, he had to have faith for the time being.

Terron remained silent as Nyx continued to fly him across the city as he provided her directions, occasionally swooping behind a building to avoid being spotted by a pedestrian. It seemed that the humans who had come out of the buildings were heading out into other buildings in the area, thought there were quite a number of humans who remained outside and congregated in little gathering spots with other humans, such as on benches or vendors or even inside of those transport devices Terron had used. And then, after a certain amount of people gathered, they would either remain there for a brief time and talk amongst one another, or immediately wander off somewhere else. No one ever remained in one spot for more than fifteen minutes at a time. In a way, despite everything appearing so different, Kuron wasn't so different from Shiron's lifestyle at all.

After a few more minutes of stealthily drifting about Kuron undetected, Terron and Nyx final arrived at their destination. The two found themselves floating within a small neighborhood, standing in front of the home within that they knew was Dimitri's old home despite it being so similar to the ones surrounding it. It was a very odd house compared to the ones Terron had seen on Shiron, this one having a giant, white oval design with many windows plastered upon its front. Two stairwells led up to the higher parts of the house while a smaller one lead to the front door. The lawn it stood upon was covered in a thick blanket of grass and held a few small, budding trees that grew along the walkway that lead to the sidewalk. Terron wasn't sure if he was more amazed by the intricate design of the home, or the fact that this was the first time he had spotted actual grass in a Kuron city. There had been a few trees growing within the main parts of the cities, presumably for shade and oxygen, but that had been it. Terron didn't even think he saw a single flower.

Terron fixated his gaze upon the front door of the house as Nyx set him upon the ground.

"So this is where I lived," Terron stated simply. "It feels familiar to me, but at the same time, it looks kind of alien too."

Terron looked toward the window closest to the door.

"Here, let's look inside," Terron instructed. "Let's see if anybody is home."

Cautiously, Terron made his way down the walkway, careful not to make any noise as he drew closer to the window. Once he was directly underneath the window, he felt Nyx pick him back up again and peer with him through the glass pane. Much like the exterior of the home, the interior was filled with white. Even as Terron and Nyx moved to each window, allowing them to see the other rooms, everything remained was the exact same color, whether it be the ceiling, the walls, the carpet, or even the couches. Everything within the city was a solid, marble white with a few exceptions being a few glass-like tables, shelves, and counters. The ever-present veins of light flowed through the house, but they weren't filled with power as of that moment, leaving many dark, empty lines scattered around the building. Terron briefly wondered how the house could be so clean and not have a single trace of dirt upon it. He was sure that even the tiniest speck of brown would have stood out like sore thumb amongst the near divine coloring of the rooms. But somehow, the entire house was free of all filth.

"Hm, where are my parents?" Terron wondered. "I'm not seeing them anywhere."

"Maybe they left for the day and will be back in the evening."

"I hope not. We can't wait for them to come back. We have to be with Novus and Zekrom by then. Here, let's try looking in that window. I think that's the kitchen and we haven't tried that place yet."

Nyx hovered over to a window far to their right, and then allowed Terron to gaze inside. The kitchen was just about the same as the rest of the house, all of the furniture being pure white while the dining table and countertops were made out of that transparent material that he began to suspect wasn't actually glass. The stovetops held four groups of grey rings upon it, each group holding three rings that illuminated with the light Terron had seen continuously throughout the city. There were a few other odd contraptions as well, such as this odd box with a touchpad upon it or a circular spot embedded into the counter that had many buttons upon it, but Terron didn't bother to pay much attention to them.

What he found himself mystified at instead were the two humans sitting at the table on the far side of the room. They were both sitting there on opposite ends of the table dressed in grey suits similar to the one Terron had tried out for a few seconds. A plate of pancakes sitting in front of them, halfway gone. Neither one of them appeared to be talking to each other, instead only idly staring into space. Based on the blank stares and the occasional flicker of light from the Socius devices upon their wrists, Terron could only presume that they were using the devices. Why they weren't instead talking to each other when they were with one another, Terron wasn't able to fathom the reason. He vaguely wondered if the Socius devices were brainwashing them.

But despite their blank stares, Terron knew who those two humans were. Those were his parents.

His mother and father.

Terron reached out toward them, but stopped himself when he realized that he was separated from them by a window. Then not only that, but if he attracted their attention, they would never know it was their son. They'd only see some unknown creature and immediately fear the worst.

"So they're still here," Terron said quietly. "They look like they're doing okay. But I wonder… if they miss me. I wonder if they really are okay."

Nyx didn't respond, only keeping her own stare locked onto the two adults as they idly ate and presumably used their Socius devices. Terron watched with her, noting everything they did. Everything seemed so monotonous to them, but Terron couldn't help but wonder if it would have been any different if he was still there. If only five years had passed in Kuron, he imagined he would have been in his adolescence, very close to adulthood if he were still in this dimension. He wondered if that would have altered anything in his parents' lives and it meant that they would actually be holding a conversation. He considered that maybe his parents really did miss him and were using their Socius devices only to distract themselves.

After several silent minutes, Terron's parents finally finished their meal and deposited their empty plates into a sink. The sink closed up as a sheet of metal covered its top, and the sound of running water filled the kitchen. Then, the two humans made their way out of the kitchen. Terron sighed as he looked away.

"Alright, let's get going," Terron announced. "There's nothing more to see. I got to see my parents, and I think what I got is the best thing I can really do in this situation. So let's just go back to Novus and Zekrom and get some rest while we still can."

Nyx remained unresponsive, still watching the retreating figures of his parents. Terron frowned as he gave her a light shake with his paw.

"Come on, let's go," Terron said. "There's nothing left to do. I got what I wanted. I don't want to stay anymore."

"You are lying."

"What?" Terron asked, stunned by her curtness before quickly composing himself. "No, I'm not. I want to get going. We don't have anything left to do here."

The Darkrai ignored Terron as she held Terron in one hand and used the other to open up the window. The second she did, there was a loud click and the two adults stopped in their tracks and turned around. The second they saw Nyx hovering there in the window, her shadow looming ominously over them, they screamed and ran the other way.

But just as they were to round the corner, Nyx fired two black spheres at them from her claw tips. The moment the spheres sank into their bodies, the two collapsed on the floor, locked in a dark slumber. Nyx, completely unfazed, shut the window behind her and lowered herself into the house. Terron shot her an absolutely horrified look as she set him down.

"What… why are you… what are you doing?!" Terron screamed at her.

"Giving you what you want."

"What?! How is knocking out my parents what I want?! What kind of twisted logic are you following? I said I wanted to go back! How do you mix that up with attacking my parents?"

"Watching your parents from afar does not really satisfy you. I could see the look in your eyes. You want to talk to them. You want to be with them again as if you actually were a human, even if it is only for five minutes."

Terron was about to retort, but then realized that he had nothing he could say to the Darkrai. She was absolutely right. While he was happy to see his parents again, having to spy on them from afar wasn't what he had truly wanted. He had wanted to speak to them again just as Nyx thought, but he knew that dream was impossible, so he had told himself to be satisfied with what he got. However, his heart still ached at being separated from them by a window and Nyx had been able to catch that with ease.

"Alright, fine, you're right," Terron said shamefully. "But what does it matter? I can't talk to them again. If my parents see me like this, they'll never know who I really am. If they can even understand me in the first place. So it's better to just get out of here before I start feeling even more bad and regretful that I can't be here anymore."

"But that is where you are wrong."

The Darkrai swooped past the Cubone until she was hovering beside his parents. They both shivered as she came near, but they didn't rise from their slumber.

"Your parents are in a dream I created right now. They think that they are still eating breakfast just as they were moments ago. They do not realize that they are in a dream. Because they are in a dream, it is possible for anything to happen there. Anything that I want can come true in the dream."

Terron stared at her for a while, slowly contemplating her cryptic words. When everything clicked in place, he gasped as he took a few steps toward the Darkrai.

"So you mean… you can put me in their dream too and make me look like a human?" Terron whispered.

"Yes. It would be just like what I did with the Mystery Dungeons of Shiron, except for a less insidious purpose. So, do you want to talk to your parents one last time?"

Terron found he couldn't speak, so he only nodded with a joyous smile upon his face. Nyx's eye seemed to sparkle dimly as she held out a claw to him.

"Do what you must. Good luck, Cubone Dimitri."

There was a bright flash, and a Dark Void shot out of Nyx's palm and flew straight toward the Cubone. Terron only closed his eyes as he welcomed it and absorbed it into his chest, letting it take him away to the dream world.

When Terron opened his eyes again, the first thing he noticed was that he was no longer gazing upon everything from a low position. While before he had been standing a good foot below the dining room table, he now found himself standing over it. The second thing he noticed was that he could no longer feel the tiled ground beneath his feet. Instead, he felt something soft and cushioned, and upon looking down, he was able to figure out why that was so. He was wearing shoes now.

Human shoes.

It didn't take Terron very long to understand what had happened. He rushed over to the table and peered down at its surface, and soon found his reflection staring back at him. What stared back at him was not a Cubone with a damaged ivory mask, but rather, a human boy wearing the same jacket he had been wearing earlier along with matching pants. Terron brought his hands near his face as he looked over them, noting how he had five fingers and vulnerable skin instead of a scaly hide. The experience almost surreal to him. It didn't seem real.

Oh right, this really isn't real. Terron realized, almost in disappointment. This is just a dream. Second I'm done here, I'll be back to being a Cubone and half of the human I look like right now.

Terron let his hands fall to his sides. He continued to stare down at his reflection, taking in his old human form. At one point he thought it might be possible that he could become a human again if he and Yimtri somehow found a way to merge back together, but it seemed that idea was impossible now. With the inevitability that the two of them would both die when the Primogenitor perished, there was no chance that either one of them could be the complete and whole Dimitri in the living realm again.

And yet, Terron refused to let this drag him down. He had allowed himself to wallow in self-pity for far too long now. Nyx had given him a chance at closure, and he wouldn't waste it by regretting that he could never be human again. He had a purpose to fulfil in this dream and couldn't allow anything to distract him from doing so.

The false human moved away from the table as he strode out of the kitchen and went into the living room he had seen earlier. He had a feeling that they might be in there for a reason he couldn't comprehend. He could only presume that Nyx was supplying him with these thoughts to guide him without making her presence known. Sure enough, he found his parents sitting on the couch, the both of them staring off into the distance as the screen upon their Socius devices flickered occasionally with light. They didn't even notice him. Terron gulped as he stared at them in silence, unsure of how he was to go about speaking with them. Just seeing them there before him, knowing that they hadn't seen him for five years, stifled Terron's voice and made it impossible to move.

Nyx must have sensed Terron's anxiety, for after a few seconds, the Socius devices upon both of the human adults abruptly stopped working. Both of their hazy expressions faded as they blinked, tapping the screen with their fingers. Nothing seemed to happen. Terron's mother sighed disapprovingly as she got up from her seat.

"I'm going to go to the store and see what they have to say about this," Terron's mom said. "Maybe we got defective Socius's or something. These things aren't supposed to quit working unless-"

She stopped as soon as she turned toward the living room entrance and saw Terron standing there. For a moment, she stood there in silence with a glazed over expression just as she had worn when using the Socius. But then, her eyes abruptly grew as she took a small step forward. Terron grimaced uncomfortably and had to resist the urge of backing away.

"Dimitri? Is that… you?" she asked softly.

As soon as she said that, Terron noticed his father also rising from his seat and stopping right beside Dimitri's mother. Now they were both staring at him, both of their gazes fixed upon him in a terror and disbelief.

"Y-Yes, it's me," Terron choked out. "It's me… Mom. Dad."

His mother abruptly ran up to him and hugged him as tight as she could, nearly crushing Terron's ribcage. He made a coughing noise as he feebly struggled, but his mother refused to relent her embrace. He thought he could hear her crying in his ear. His father continued to look at Terron from the spot he had been standing in earlier, casting him a concerned, but overjoyed expression.

"Dimitri, where have you been?" Dimitri's father asked. "Nobody's seen you for five years and your Socius wasn't giving away your location to anybody. Not even the ones who makes those things could find wherever it was. What happened to you?"

"I… well I…" Terron babbled.

He didn't know how to answer that question. He had known he would have to, given that he knew his parents would probably be worried sick about him, but he couldn't think of anything to say. It wasn't as though he could tell them that he was stolen out of Kuron one day, had his soul ripped in half by a sinister being, and then spent twenty-five years in an alternative dimension as two different beings. If he said that to his parents, they would think he was insane for sure, and he had no intentions of letting his parents' last memory of him be that of seeing their son spewing seemingly impossible and delusional explanations.

And then, an idea came over him. At first, Terron thought it was completely insane to go along with it, but after thinking about it, he realized that he had no choice. This last visit he was to ever have with his parents was meant to bring both him and them closure and peace. This was the only way to bring them just that.

"I left because… there's something horrible happening to our world," Terron said, keeping his voice strong. "It's got to do with those spawn that keep flying around at night. Nobody knows why they're here and nobody knows how to actually stop them, except to just ward them off with the guardians at night. But there actually is a way to stop those things, and I found it. I found it with a couple of other Pok… people that are also knowledgeable about what's really going on. And because we're the only ones who know, we're trying to put a stop to it."

"Who are these other people that know about whatever you're talking about?" Terron's father asked.

"They're members of a secret society," Terron answered quietly. "There's only a couple of people there, but they figured out something about the spawn that nobody else has. And they found me one day and they thought I could help them for some reason. They never said why; they just asked me if I'd help them after they told me a couple of things."

"And how exactly are you supposed to be able to stop the spawn?" his father asked skeptically. "Why didn't you go to the police and tell them everything? What, did your group develop a bunch of super powers or something and that's the only way you can actually stop whatever the spawn are up to? Or are you going to tell me that the police force is corrupted and they're in on this whole thing?"

If only you knew how close you were to guessing the real situation… Terron wanted to say.

"I can't tell you that," Terron answered instead. "I'd love to, but I can't because I'm sworn to secrecy. All I can tell you is that this is why I didn't come back home one day. We found something that could really help us end everything, so we all had to leave home for a while. We thought we'd get back in a day or so, but then things happened and we got trapped there for five years. We just barely got back."

"But… your Socius," Terron's mother then said, releasing the boy from her embrace as she looked at him. "Your Socius should have told us where you were. It wasn't giving out any signal at all."

"We shut our Socius's completely down," Terron said. "We didn't want anybody to track us down and ruin everything. We had somebody tamper with it so that we could still use it, but not have it be traceable by any means. We couldn't afford to have our plans ruined. But then we got stuck at that place for five years and we realized it wasn't such a great idea anymore…"

Terron looked at both of his parents and studied their expressions. Even though they were both clearly relieved to see him again, they also had a clear glint of suspicion in their eyes. Terron knew he should have expected this reaction, but it was the best thing he could say next to the actual truth. Of course, it didn't matter in the end. He would have to leave them again very soon, and this time, permanently. The false human slid his hands into his pockets as he took a step back.

It was best to get it over with it instead of letting it eat away at him.

"But even though I'm back right now, I really can't stay for much longer," Terron said reluctantly. "We found what we need to put an end to those spawn, and we have to do it soon. They're rapidly multiplying and pretty soon, they're going to finally fulfill their mission. They're making themselves more known. Before, when I was still here, they wouldn't dare appear because they were planning. But now… now they're ready to do what they came here to do. I've got to go stop them before it's too late."

"You're leaving again?" his mother gasped.

"Yeah, and this time, I'm really not coming back," Terron said ruefully. "What I have to do to stop them… it's going to end up killing me in the process. But I really don't have a choice if I want to stop those spawn."

Terron watched as his parents both shot him a horrified stare. He could see the both of them frozen in place for just a brief moment before they both rushed toward him and held him tight. Terron would have resisted and tried to have broken out of their grasp, but then he remembered that this was all a dream. Nyx could end everything whenever she or he wanted it to end. There was no reason to be afraid that his parents wouldn't let go.

"Are you crazy? You're not leaving!" his mother cried. "We've been worried sick about you for five years, wondering if you were even alive or not, and now that you're finally back, you're just going to get yourself killed?"

"I really don't want to do this, but I really don't have a choice," Terron sighed. "Trust me, I'd stay here with you guys again if I could, but I can't. I need to go stop those spawn."

"Somebody else can go stop those spawn," Terron's father said. "You don't need to go do it yourself. You're just a child. Tell the police about what happened and they'll do something about it. Everybody takes spawn information seriously after seeing what they've done."

"But nobody else can do anything," Terron argued. "It's just me and the others that can actually do something. Nobody else can. Anybody else who tries will end up just dying fruitlessly."

"That's enough!" Terron's father yelled.

Terron's mother backed off as his father grabbed him by the shoulders and gave him a sharp glare. Terron could see the fury that burned in those eyes, but also the fear. The fear of losing his son to a force he couldn't understand.

"What can you do that nobody else could possibly do?" his father demanded. "You don't need to act like a hero, Dimitri. You're not going to just throw away your entire life just because you have this delusion that you're one of the few people in the world that can save us. This isn't like something out of those stories I used to see you reading. There are people out there that are better suited for taking out the spawn than you. You're not a chosen one or humanity's last hope; you're my son, and I'm not about to lose you again."

Terron frowned pitifully as he averted his gaze. This wasn't going well. Nothing seemed to convince his parents that what he was doing was unchangeable and that they'd be forced to let him go. As much as Terron wanted to leave his parents right there, he knew he couldn't. They deserved a better last memory than what was currently happening. But from how things were going, that seemed nearly impossible.

And then, Terron realized that there actually was a way for them to understand. It'd be risky, and potentially scare his parents and make their last encounter with their son even worse, but Terron knew it was the only option he had left.

"Only I can stop the spawn... because this happened to me."

It didn't take long for Terron's thoughts to register over to Nyx. He felt himself shrink as a light came over him. He didn't bother moving as the process continued in front of his stunned parents. Within a matter of seconds, Terron stood before his parents as a tiny Cubone wearing the exact same clothing that he had worn in his human form. Shadowy haze drifted off of his scaly skin, giving him the appearance of a true Plagued One. They both stared at him, utterly horrified at the creature that was now their son. But unlike what they had done with Nyx, they didn't flee from him. They only remained rooted to their spots in tense silence.

"When I found that thing that could make me defeat the spawn, it did something to me," Terron spoke. "I look like the spawn now, don't I? Well, that's what the power does to you. It made it so that I can infiltrate their forces and kill the origin. And nobody else can get this power because what gave this to me got destroyed not long after I found it with the others. There is no other way to kill the origin of all of the spawn unless you can pretend you're one of them and get them to let you into their fortress. Me and the others really are the only ones who can even attempt to do that.

"But of course… even with this power, it can't save me and the others. As soon as the origin is killed, we'll die too. The origin's going to self-destruct as soon as we kill it, and we know there's no way we're going to get out of the place fast enough. But it's not like there's any choice. I'm not about to let the world get overrun with those things just because I don't want to die. So please… don't make this any harder on me. Please let me go and just do this. Please."

Terron felt the light come over him once again, and he found himself standing as a human once again. He looked at his parents with a blank stare, doing his best to remain unwavering and strong despite his stomach tying itself into a knot. But he knew he couldn't show his weakness. He had to convince his parents to let him go. He had to make them think that they were the ones who had a choice in the matter.

A tense moment later, both of Terron's parents slowly gave him a sad smile.

"You're sure there's no other way?" his mother asked.

"No, there's not," Terron stated. "I would have found it by now if there was one."

His mother nodded grimly, but understandingly before hugging Terron once more. Except this time, her embrace wasn't nearly as suffocating as earlier. It was gentler now.

"Well, if you really are going to go, can you at least spend one last breakfast with us?" Terron's father then asked. "We'd like to spend just a little bit more time with you before you… you know."

Terron smiled softly and slowly nodded his head. After his mother had released her hold on him, the three went into the kitchen and made themselves a breakfast of pancakes from an odd, instant machine that Terron couldn't recognize before sitting down at the table. As they ate together, Terron's parents told him all about what had happened in the world while he was gone, such as inventions that had recently been created, supposed neighbors of theirs, trips the parents had gone on, as well as political subjects he couldn't begin to fathom. And in return, Terron told them small tales about his time on Shiron, smudging the details so that they matched the story he had told them. It felt wonderful to speak to his parents again.

But as soon as the pancakes upon his plate and his parents' were finished, he knew that his time had ended. And though he knew he could technically stay with them forever in this dream, he knew he couldn't. Who knew how much time had actually passed in the real world.

Terron cast them each a sad smile as he slowly got up from his chair.

"I guess this is goodbye," he said awkwardly.

"Yeah, I guess it is," his mother said somberly.

"… Thanks for being good parents to me," Terron said after a small pause. "I'm sorry that I can't stay with you guys any longer, but I'm really glad that you guys took care of me and are letting me go. So… thank you. I love you guys."

And then, while he still had the strength within him, he turned away and exited the dining room, feeling the dream world disappearing all around him as he slowly seeped back into the real world.

When Terron opened his eyes, he was unsurprised to find that he had tears streaming down the sides of his mask. With a quiet whimper escaping his throat, he sat up, removed his helmet, and wiped the tears out of his eyes with his sleeve. When he finished drying his eyes, he looked up to find Nyx hovering in front of him, offering him a clawed hand. Terron stared at it for a moment before averting his gaze as he hugged his helmet close to his chest.

"I didn't want to leave there, Nyx," he told her. "I knew it wasn't real, but I really wanted to stay and there and pretend nothing was wrong."

"But you still left. You knew what had to be done."

"Well you would have forced me out anyway," Terron chuckled darkly before sighing. "But what I'm saying is that I really wish I could have stayed in that dream. Even if most of it was painful, that last moment I had with my parents at the breakfast table was something I really wish I could have again. But I know it's not possible. I know that was my last chance to see my parents."

The Cubone looked behind Nyx to see his parents still passed out, though now on the couch in the living room. Nyx must have moved them while Terron was asleep. They were still locked in that dream world, though perhaps they still thought he was with them. Maybe Nyx had put in a dream Dimitri for them to spend more time with so that his departure hadn't seemed so abrupt. The Cubone then looked back over at Nyx and finally took her claw, where she pulled him to his feet. She tried to withdraw her hand, but Terron wouldn't let go.

"We should leave. We need to go back to the others before it gets dark."

Terron didn't move. Instead, he kept his blank, blood-shot eyes fixed on Nyx. The Darkrai, seemingly realizing that he was in no mood to talk, picked up the tiny one in her claws and flew out the window, closing it behind her as they made their way back into the city.

The two remained silent as Nyx flew them through the city, staying high above and traveling by rooftops, before she spotted one of circles along the road that held the transport devices. After a quick glance to make sure that no humans were nearby, she fell into the circle and let the sphere close in on her. Once the keyboard appeared before the two of them, she pressed Terron's paw into it.

After verifying that it had read Terron's mind and was headed to some tourist attraction near the group's shelter, the two then settled into their seats. Or rather, Nyx awkwardly sat in her cushion while Terron sat right beside her, for he refused to loosen his grip around her hand. Thus, the two sat on the same cushion which had thankfully grown so that it could hold the both of them without the two squishing each other.

For a while, the silence continued. The two said nothing to each other as they watched the scenery go by in colored blurs. They occasionally saw the afternoon sun peak through their window, casting its light into the vehicle before retreating behind the skyscrapers that filled Kuron. But eventually, that grew tiresome and Nyx drifted off into a lulling daydream about nothing in particular. She tried to peer into Terron's thoughts, but for whatever reason, she was unable to hear anything. His blight, for whatever reason, wouldn't allow her to do so.

But as it turned out, she didn't have to read his thoughts to understand why he was being unusually silent. She had only pondered over the odd occurrence for only a few seconds before Terron abruptly let go of her hand and hugged her around the waist, burying his head into her wispy body. His mask clattered to the ground.

Nyx looked down at the Cubone to find that he was trembling.

"What is the matter?"

For a moment, Terron didn't say anything, only twisting his mouth into a tight grimace as he squeezed his eyes shut. It seemed that he was holding off tears.

"I thought saying goodbye would make me stronger," he whimpered out, holding her tighter. "I thought tying up all of the loose ends that I could in life would make this easier. But it doesn't. I still can't think about how I'm going to die as soon as we get back to Shiron. I don't feel any better about it."

Nyx would have frowned pitifully if she could. She should have expected this out of him. But, she didn't share these thoughts and tried something else.

"Accepting your mortality is never easy. You should not expect yourself to be able to accept your inevitable fate at one time."

"Well then how are you able to be so accepting of it then?" he then asked, looking up at her. "How are you able to be so strong about it and keep going without being all depressed about it?"

"It is because of everything that I have seen. Watching all of the catastrophes that have occurred because of the Primogenitor has subdued any fears I may have had and encouraged me to do anything to stop it. Even if it meant an end to myself. Then also, it is probably because I do not have anything I will miss when I die. I do not have close friends such as you to feel attached to. I am not scared of leaving someone behind to be in this mortal world all alone. There is you and Sableye Dimitri, but you two will regrettably perish with me, thus I do not worry."

"Well if that last part were true, then I wouldn't be so scared too," Terron said. "If I'm scared of leaving someone behind, that's not true. Everybody I care about, except my parents and whatever friends I had as a human, are all going to die with me. Well, except maybe Novus… he'll stay alive because he's not plagued."

"Yes, that is right."

Terron was silent for a moment, now staring off into the distance. Nyx didn't try to break free of his embrace. She had a feeling that despite how cold she must have felt, he needed her touch. It was soothing to him.

"Maybe I need to make everything right with Zekra before I'm ready," Terron then said. "Maybe the reason I'm still depressed is because I miss her and want to be best friends again. Maybe… maybe if I could see her one last time and figure out what's wrong with us, I can finally accept my fate."

Nyx felt an uncomfortable feeling slink through her body. He still didn't know why Zekra refused to speak with him. He couldn't know. It was already bad enough that Yimtri was able to keep Dimitri's memories and see his horrible mistake. Terron didn't also need to know the secret that Zekra and Nyx herself kept harbored away from him. And she knew that while she could keep the secret, Zekra couldn't. She would cave if she ever saw Terron again. She loved him too much to keep secrets from him. It was somewhat of a miracle that she had lasted for as long as she did.

"I do not know if that will help. Besides, you two will have all the time in the world to speak to one another in the spirit realm."

"But what if we don't actually go to the same place?" Terron argued. "What if there's like separate realms for humans and Pokémon? Doesn't matter if I'm a Cubone now; I'll end up in the human realm as Dimitri and I might not even be me anymore. I want to talk to her as myself one last time. Alive and still a Cubone."

"The spirit realm has everyone in it in one massive world. It does not segregate. Even if it did in some places, you could probably visit the other areas without much of a problem."

"And how do you know that? What, have you been to the spirit realm?"

"Yes."

"No you haven't," Terron scoffed, releasing her from his tight hug as he turned away from her. "You're not dead. You never did die. Quit lying to me."

Nyx shot the Cubone a sharp glare, but before she could speak the words formulating in her mind, their vehicle came to a stop. The two looked out the window to find themselves staring at what appeared to be a slate grey cave in the distance, a number of signs posted around it and lasers making an "X" over the entrance.

"You have arrived at Diamond Caverns. Please step out of the vehicle and watch your step."

Terron wordlessly got out of the cushion, put his persona back upon his face, and exited the spherical vehicle, keeping his paws in his pockets. Nyx followed behind, though she couldn't help but wonder why this cavern seemed so familiar to her. She had never been to Kuron in her lifetime. The Primogenitor had no use for her in the human realm.

"Let's go back to Novus and Zekrom," Terron said as he looked down at his wrist. "The Socius should be able to give some directions from here."

Nyx watched as the Cubone's eyes flickered a light blue for a brief moment before they glazed over. She now found she could access his thoughts again, for she could see the maps being created in his mind, all of them flashing before him so quickly. But then, just as a concrete path was to be formed, something else happened. A quick flash of a memory sparked in his mind. Nyx barely saw it, but it had been Dimitri walking into that very cavern that stood before them with his parents and a group of other humans.

And then, another memory appeared, this one of him falling down a deep hole in the cavern and into a seemingly endless abyss.

There's something in that cavern you need to see. Something that I think could help you.

Nyx flinched at the voice she heard echoing in Terron's mind. She knew it wasn't his plagued self speaking to him right now. It had a similar voice to it, nearly indistinguishable, but she knew it wasn't the same being. There was a very subtle rasping to this voice. But she knew who was speaking now. She didn't want to believe it, but she knew there was no denying it.

She forced herself to remain calm as she drifted over to the Cubone's side.

"Do you have the directions?"

"Yeah, I do," Terron nodded. "But… I wanted to check out this cave first. I get this feeling that there's something there that we should go see."

"But it is getting late. The sun should be setting soon. We need to go back to the others before they awaken."

"Well this'll only take like maybe five minutes," Terron shrugged indifferently. "Besides, it's my plagued self telling me to look in there. You said that it was helpful and that I should listen to it sometimes."

Nyx regretted telling him that. Maybe she should have lied and pretended that their plague was as malevolent as the true plague. However, it was too late for regrets. She shook her head as she grabbed ahold of his left arm.

"It is being foolish right now. It knows better. Come on, we are going. And take this thing off of you. We do not need it anymore when it has told you where to go. It is very unnerving by the ways you describe it."

Nyx grasped the Socius in her claws and was to pry it off the Cubone as she had done with the other human, but suddenly found that she couldn't rip it out. It was as though the device was glued to his arm. She grasped it with both claws as she pulled harder, but was met with the same result.

"Nyx, what are you doing?" Terron asked oddly. "Why are you being so weird? Is there something… you're hiding from me? Again?"

The Darkrai didn't want to answer the question, but it seemed she didn't have to.

She is. She doesn't want you to listen to me. She knows you can hear what I'm telling you. She's always been able to hear what's going on in your head. Isn't that right, Darkrai?

Nyx withdrew her grip from the Socius and distanced herself from Terron. She watched as the Cubone's confused scowl turned into that of a horrified one as the implications dawned upon him. She wanted to say something to him, but was unable to find her voice. The thing within Terron was intimidating her purely through its voice.

She knows that there's something at the bottom of that cavern that you should know about, but she won't let you see it because there's a chance that it will hurt you. But that pain should be worth it if it'll make all your suffering bearable, shouldn't it? I mean, you're already in a lot of pain right now, so what does a little more mean to you now? But if you're lucky and she's wrong, you'll actually end up being a lot stronger and be able to die without being so depressed about it.

"Cubone Dimitri… do not listen to that thing. You have no idea what is there."

Terron kept his gaze fixed upon her, saying nothing as the unknown being's thoughts swirled through his mind. For a brief moment, Nyx thought she saw his Socius flicker with a strange light.

And then, in a flash, Terron turned around and ran toward the cavern. His movements became abnormally fast as he seemed to fly across the dirt before leaping right through a gap in the laser blockage and landing somewhere inside. Nyx frantically hurried after him, leaping into the ground and becoming a shadow as she pinpointed his location using his blight. She didn't understand why his blight wasn't subduing the creature talking to him right now. It should have had the strength just like it always did. But for whatever reason, it was failing her and allowing the entity to lead the Cubone to a sight she knew she could never allow Terron to see.

When she found herself in the cavern, she caught a quick glimpse of Terron before he jumped down a hole in the far distance. Nyx cursed herself for not being fast enough as she plummeted down the hole with him, desperately trying to catch up to him before he could reach the very bottom. But unfortunately, she proved to be too slow, for by the time she was about to grasp the Cubone, he landed in the hidden chamber as spacious as his human home. While most of the chamber was rather desolate and was home to only a large cluster of stalagmites and stalactites, Nyx knew this chamber was more than empty. All she had to do was follow the Cubone's gaze to find what the chamber truly held.

There, standing before the two of them, was a crater the size of a bowling ball in the rocky wall whose surface illuminated with an otherworldly light that would shift through different colors every few seconds. Scattered along the ground in front of the hole were what appeared to be several shreds of some sort of black, oozing substance that had streams of darkness rising from it. That same substance also seemed attached to the hole, draping over it like some sort of grotesque curtain.

Terron continued to stare at the hole, saying nothing as his mind remained empty. For a moment, Nyx thought that the entity's plan had failed and that there was nothing to worry about.

Her hopes were instantly shattered as soon as she saw a torrent of memories immediately flood Terron's mind, playing out the events that had occurred in this dark chamber. Nyx watched as the Cubone's grim scowl immediately became that of a malicious, spiteful one as he immediately shot his gaze over to Nyx. For a second, she no longer saw Terron, but rather an enraged Sableye ready to pounce at her.

"You knew… you knew what I did," Terron said to her, pointing a trembling finger at her. "You knew I woke up the Primogenitor."

Nyx watched as the Cubone drew closer to her, the glint in his eyes growing darker with each step he took until he stopped a few feet away from her. But even with that much distance between them, Nyx couldn't help but feel unnerved. She knew the Cubone standing before her was no longer the frail Cubone scared of what he couldn't control or understand.

"Zekra knows about this, doesn't she?" Terron asked. "That's why she didn't want to talk to me anymore, isn't it? It's because she knows what I did as a human. She knows that I'm the reason her life is an absolute mess."

The Cubone tore off his skull helmet as he spiked it into the ground. He watched it bound off the rocky ground and crash into a wall before it rebounded and landed near Nyx. He didn't bother to retrieve it, only keeping his smoldering gaze on the Darkrai.

"So that's why you didn't want me to go talk to Zekra again," he said accusingly. "Because you know that she knows the truth about me. You know she'll tell me the truth if I ever see her again. You've known ever since she came back that morning after she talked to Yimtri. Isn't that right?"

Nyx didn't even get a chance to respond, for Terron suddenly started snarling as more malicious thoughts raged a storm in his mind.

"And Yimtri… he knew this whole time," Terron went on, seething as he looked away from the Darkrai. "And he's the one who told Zekra I bet. I bet that somehow, Zekra managed to coax it out of him and Yimtri caved, and then he ran away because he didn't want me to know. I bet he even blackmailed Zekra into keeping the secret away from me even. That prick of a Sableye… he never changes. He's always hiding things from people and hurting everybody around him in the process… Hmph! I never should have expected him to be a better person in the end. He's nothing more than living poison."

Terron brought his gaze back to Nyx. There was a raging inferno burning in his eyes now. Any semblance of restraint he had been using earlier was gone as he glared maliciously at the Darkrai. She thought that she saw that entity inside his body appear in his eyes, shooting her a devious grin.

"Why?" he cried, throwing up his arms in the air. "Why didn't you tell me any of this? Why did you keep this a secret from me for so long? Why'd you do that when both Yimtri and Zekra knew about it? Why keep me out of the loop?"

"Because I wanted to protect you. You know how it affects Sableye Dimitri. I did not want you to share the same fate as him."

"You still should have told me!" Terron screamed. "I wouldn't have turned into Yimtri! We're not the same! I'm better than him! Don't you dare compare me to him!"

"But you two are the same. You two can pretend you are as different as can be from the other, but you are the same human in the end. You two are alike in more ways than either of you are willing to accept."

"No. We're. Not!" Terron growled fiercely. "I don't care if he's half of me! I am nothing like him! He's everything that was wrong with Dimitri! Don't you dare act like I'm just as bad as him! I didn't go letting hundreds and thousands of Pokémon become Primogenitor fodder all because I was too scared to do anything else! He can say that he was waiting for the right moment all he wants, but I know the truth! He's nothing but a gutless coward that couldn't own up to fixing his mistake! And I will NEVER BECOME THAT AS LONG AS I LIVE! I'D RATHER DIE THAN WATCH EVERYBODY ELSE AROUND ME DIE! DON'T YOU EVER SAY THE TWO OF US ARE THE SAME!"

Nyx cringed at the demonic tone in his voice. She had only heard that horrifyingly large amount of plagued influence in exactly one other Pokémon, and no matter how much she had to witness it, she was never able to grow used to it. That warbled, malicious tinge that corrupted their words always reminded her of the Primogenitor's insidious, borderline alien voice.

"Oh dear me, it seems that I have come in at a rather bad time."

Nyx froze in place as she felt all of Terron's malicious energy instantly extinguish itself. A wave of dread washed over them as the regal, condescending voice echoed through their ears. The two immediately twisted their heads to find a rather familiar Volcarona floating before the crater where the Primogenitor once slept, giving them both a look of mock sympathy.

"Yes yes, well I am quite sorry that I have come when you two were in the middle of something," Chrysalis said. "I would love to come back later when you are not having some kind of irrational spat, but sadly for you…

A black portal suddenly materialized behind the Volcarona that pulsed with purple power. A malicious gleam in her eyes appeared as she spread out her six wings.

"I am on a very tight schedule."

A vacuum swept through the room, sucking Terron and Nyx towards the portal. And though they both feebly grasped for the pillars of rock protruding out of the ground, it was no use. The gale swept them up in its grasp within a matter of seconds and dragged them into the portal.