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Chapter 73
Dying Light
I can stand this no more.
I cannot tolerate these horrid thoughts festering in my mind as if they were demons bent on tormenting me for all eternity. I refuse to continue to let them ravage my peace any longer. I cannot possibly continue to look after this planet with the darkness that surfaces and suffocates me so often.
I can never be called a benevolent and unyielding god if I have these lingering thoughts filled with weakness and enmity that strike unannounced.
There was a loud crack, followed by an unsettling ripping sound. Banshee-like shrieks resonated through the darkness.
Put me back. I do not belong out here.
I do not think so, foul shadow. I have no use for you anymore, not that you were ever needed in the first place. You will no longer be a part of me.
But I am you. I am your shadow. You cannot do this to me. You cannot live without me.
I do not need you. Don't ever make such a claim. You are nothing but a detriment that I'm quite glad I was able to rid myself of. You need shadows you say. Hmph, I think not. There is no need for a shadow. All you ever did was corrupt my thoughts and contaminate them with darkness. You were the source of the malice, my weakness, my fears. I do not need any of that. You have no right to exist within me.
There was silence. Neither of the two voices said a thing as they remained hidden within the darkness, presumably the more superior entity glaring down at the weaker, shirking creature.
But then, there was a loud, unnatural roar, and two white circles ignited in the darkness, glimmering with the brightness of the full moon, growing bigger and bigger with each passing second.
What are you… No! Stay away from me, foul demon!
IF I CANNOT BE YOU, THEN YOU HAVE NO REASON TO EXIST. I WILL SHOW YOU WHAT A TRUE DEMON IS. GRAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWR!
Novus's eyes shot open as the quills upon his body instantly ignited themselves, shooting out flames that grazed the ground. Realizing what was happening, the Quilava quickly composed himself and forced the flames burning upon his fur to cease. He was thankful to find that he hadn't set the ground on fire, as he had done a few times in the past when he inadvertently set himself ablaze in a panic. He released a sigh as he set his head back down upon the ground, closing his eyes momentarily.
It was then that Novus noticed that something wasn't right. His chin wasn't being scrapped with tiny rocks nor was it being tickled with blades of grass. The soil beneath him, for whatever reason, actually felt as though he were laying upon a large pillow of sorts, similar to the cushions he had rested upon in the Kuron transport devices. The Quilava opened his eyes and looked down, and was surprised to find that resting beneath him was nothing but a crystalline-like substance with pink, star-shaped flowers sprouting up everywhere. It spread out all around him for as far as he could see, glimmering in a peaceful, almost otherworldly light. The crystals and flowers all around him seemed to shine many colors at once, all soft colors blending together so seamlessly.
Novus looked up into the sky to find that it was filled with the soft and bright colors as well. Clouds of lavender and pink strolled through the sky at a soft pace, as if being pushed by an invisible breeze. Stardust and star fragments of many colors glimmered like twinkling stars in the night sky. And though there was no sun or moon to be found, Novus found both to be unnecessary, for the sky somehow seemed to emit its own light that seemed to filled the Quilava with a comforting warmth that no fire or sun could ever provide him.
He continued to stare up at the magnificent sky, becoming lost in its wonder and beauty. He let the flowers brush up against him as he watched a large star streak across the clouds, leaving behind a trail of smaller stars that soon exploded into stardust. It was all so beautiful. He never would have imagined that such a land could ever exist in a world filled with countless horrors.
It was with this single thought that Novus suddenly remembered everything that had happened to him only moments ago. Finding Terron and Nyx in the Unown dimension. Zekrom having a heated conversation with Terron. A black shadow devouring Zekrom. That shadow soon turning on Terron and soon Novus himself. That shadow revealing what it was to the Quilava when it discovered who he truly was. It sucking his spirit right out of his decaying Quilava body and into itself.
And then, Nyx had done something to that shadow, and an entity had fallen out of it and disappeared into the abyss. Not long after, Novus and Terron had been thrown into that abyss as well.
Terron. Novus realized, completely snapping out of his stupefied trance. He fell with me. Where is he?
The Quilava tore his gaze away from the sky as he scanned the field surrounding him. All that he saw were flowers, all of them swaying softly as some of their petals fell from their fragile forms and drifted away into the distance. Novus hurriedly looked around for his bag, but quickly realized that it was nowhere in sight. But rather than stop to search for it, Novus quickly abandoned all thoughts of it as he got to his feet and took off running through the field, looking every direction he could in search for the Cubone. The flowers around him seemed to part out of his way as he scurried by, making it so that he couldn't step on a single one of them. Novus would have questioned how the flowers were able to move on their own, but he was too preoccupied with Terron's whereabouts to be concerned about something as trivial as the supposed sentience of the plants.
After running for a few minutes, Novus had still not found the Cubone anywhere. Growing deeply concerned that the shadow from earlier had somehow managed to capture him before he fell too far into the abyss, Novus picked up his speed and ran even faster. It wasn't much longer until Novus found someone standing amongst the fields, picking the flowers from what he could tell from his distance. The Quilava hurried over to the creature and soon found himself approaching a Braixen. She already seemed to know he was running toward her, for she brought her gaze over to him just as he skid to a halt. She was smiling softly and holding the flowers close to her chest, hugging them.
"Have you seen a Cubone around here?" Novus asked.
The girl stared at the Quilava for a moment, keeping her soft gaze on him. And then, something sparkled in her eyes and she threw the flowers she was holding into the air, where they soon burst into hundreds of starry petals. They slowly rained down upon her as her smile widened.
"Reshiram, you're here!" she cried gleefully. "Oh, this is a surprise. I really wasn't expecting you to be here just yet! Hey guys! Reshiram's here! Reshiram's here with us!"
Novus stood dumbfounded before the Braixen as dozens of Pokémon and human children appeared out of nowhere and rushed toward the duo, all of them just as ecstatic as the Braixen. Within a matter of moments, Novus was surrounded by many giddy creatures, all so close to him but not a single one reaching out to touch him.
"You were right! He really is here!" a Chespin said. "That spirit is unmistakable!"
"But why's he still a Quilava?" a Jigglypuff then wondered. "Shouldn't he be that giant dragon? Did his soul get messed up when he was getting here?"
"Maybe he looks like that because he wants to look like that," the Braixen suggested. "You know, like how Giratina used to look like whatever he wanted to look like when he was still around. So maybe Reshiram's doing the same thing right now. Don't know why, though. I think being a dragon is better than being a Quilava."
"Well when you spend fifty years as a Quilava, maybe you get too comfortable," the Jigglypuff then said.
"But he was always looking for his body back on Shiron!" the Chespin pointed out. "There's no way he'd want to stay a Quilava for all eternity when he was doing all that!"
"Well I don't know! Let's go ask those people back at the Crystal Gathering place," the Braixen said. "I bet they'll know what's going on. They always know what happened to anybody back in the mortal realm before they get here."
Without another word, the large group of Pokémon and humans turned away from the Quilava and hurried off into the horizon before disappearing entirely, not a single trace of the crowd to be found. Novus almost couldn't comprehend what had just happened before him. There was no possible way that all of those Pokémon had disappeared like that. It was impossible, just like how they all knew who he truly was despite keeping that secret hidden from almost the entire world.
However, Novus knew that he couldn't ponder anymore. Remaining still wouldn't provide him any answers. He would have to find them another way, right after he found Terron. That was the main priority. With his conviction renewed, the Quilava took off running in the direction he was facing, somehow never growing tired even as he seemed to go on for miles and miles through the surreal wonderland.
After a while, Novus finally found himself entering a new environment, one very much different than the colorful heaven he had grown accustomed to. He now found himself entering what appeared to be a barren wasteland with only dead, withering trees sprouting about its cracked ground. Each tree had several massive hollows in it, big enough to house a large number of small Pokémon during a mighty lightning storm. The reddish-brown sky above him offered him no sun as with the last place, though here it seemed to have the effect of making the environment all the more eerie. It did not help that not too far from where Novus stood, he saw the wasteland end at a cliff. Beyond that cliff was an impenetrable fog that he swore held creatures that would peak out of it occasionally. He couldn't help but shiver at the sight.
He turned away from the cliff and then looked back at the trees. He saw a few Pokémon sleeping within the holes, somehow sleeping peacefully and soundly despite the ominous vibe to the area. And as it turned out, in a hole at the very base of one tree, one of those slumbering Pokémon was Terron. He was all by himself, laying on his side and facing away from the Quilava.
Novus rushed over to the Cubone's side, nearly bumping into him before he was able to slow himself. He shook the Cubone with his paws, and watched as the Cubone rolled onto his back. Novus flinched back as soon as he saw the darkness that made up the entirety of his eyes, suddenly afraid of what he had just awoken. He had forgotten what he had learned about Terron before the two had fallen into that abyss. Now that he was able to remember, he wasn't so sure that he wanted to speak with Terron anymore.
However, the Quilava quickly realized that he had no reason to think these thoughts. Regardless of how he felt now, he did need to wake Terron up. Terron needed to be awake if Novus wanted to gain the entire truth out of the Cubone, and then also, he genuinely was worried for Terron. While Terron didn't seem to be acting too maliciously ever since he took on the appearance of a demon, his behavior certainly seemed all the more hostile. It was admittedly very unnerving to the Quilava and greatly made him worry that Terron truly would become a real blight demon at any moment, not a strange hybrid as Terron already was.
Novus watched as the white lights in Terron's eyes flashed a few times, perhaps because he was blinking, before the Cubone sat up. Then, he turned his head and looked straight at Novus. The second those pools of darkness locked onto the Quilava, he instantly wished he could flee from Terron. He couldn't see Terron in those eyes. All he saw was the horrible monster that had tried to suck his soul out of his body.
"Terron, you're awake," Novus said, forcing himself to sound relieved and joyous.
"Yeah, I am," Terron answered blankly as he peered past Novus. "Where are we? I thought that we fell down into all that darkness after Nyx messed up the Primogenitor somehow."
"I wish I could say, but I'm not sure," Novus replied. "Perhaps we are in another dimension that is between Kuron and Shiron. I couldn't say."
Terron nodded silently. Novus expected Terron to begin showing remorse over his actions, or perhaps express his grief over losing Nyx to the Primogenitor, but was shocked to find that Terron spoke no more. He only stared at the horizon resting behind the Quilava with his empty stare, not a single hint of sadness in his eyes.
Novus almost couldn't believe it. Terron had always been so sensitive when it came to losing somebody, and the two of them had just both lost Zekrom and Nyx. Then not only that, but they had survived a harrowing encounter with the Primogenitor and learned many dark truths. Novus imagined Terron would have something to say regarding everything that had occurred to them, but Terron said nothing. If Terron hadn't explicitly stated that he remembered what Nyx had done to save them, Novus would have thought that he had blocked out all of the events to save himself from undergoing severe trauma and distress.
The Cubone got to his feet and after dusting himself off, walked out of the hollow in the tree. He strolled past Novus and kept walking, increasing the distance between the two of them with each passing second. He showed no signs of stopping.
"Terron, is something the matter?" Novus called after him, following after him.
"I need to get back to Shiron," Terron answered without looking back. "I have somebody I need to see."
"For what reason?" Novus asked.
"Because I want them to know that I'm aware I woke up the Primogenitor as Dimitri. And other things."
Novus's heart stopped upon hearing this and it almost made him stop walking. He couldn't believe what he had just heard from Terron in a completely detached and utterly dismissive tone.
"So… you really did wake up the Primogenitor after the creator put it to sleep," Novus muttered quietly, almost not wanting Terron to hear him. "You were the one that woke it up and have allowed it to ruin Shiron for fifty years."
"It was more Yimtri than me because he's the twisted side of Dimitri, but if you really want to get technical, yeah," Terron shrugged indifferently. "I woke it up."
It was when Terron said this that something in Novus snapped. The Quilava bolted forward and rushed around the Cubone before blocking the Cubone's path, forcing him to stop. Terron glared at Novus and tried to walk around him, but Novus refused to move out of his way. He kept his horrified, disbelieving stare fixed on the Cubone, a glint of wrath burning in his eyes.
"Why?" Novus asked. "Why would you do that? Why would you wake it up? Couldn't you tell that the Primogenitor was an evil creature when you found it?"
"Because like I told Zekrom, I wasn't thinking," Terron scoffed. "Or better yet, I couldn't do anything about it. That was Yimtri's fault and I couldn't do anything to stop him when we were the same guy. Look, I don't have time for this. You can try to make me feel guilty all you want, but I'm not having it. Not when I have something I need to go do right now. So, get out of my way."
"Terron, I don't think you realize that you realize the true gravity of your actions," Novus retorted. "You do realize that by doing what you did, you have allowed the Primogenitor to ruin the lives of thousands if not millions of Pokémon, do you not? I don't hate you for what you've done, but with the way you're acting-"
"Heh, you're one to talk," Terron chuckled darkly before pointing a finger at the Quilava. "If I recall what the Primogenitor said right, it said that it was a part of Rem that Rem tore out because it was sick of dealing with it. And what exactly are you? Why, you're half of Rem. You're half of the creature that made the Primogenitor exist in the first place. So if I'm half the one who's brought tons of suffering on everybody, then you're exactly the same as me. And do I see you feeling bad over what you did?"
Novus felt as though he was punched in the stomach. His ears flattened against his head as Terron's words struck him deeply, eradicating the bravado that he had been building in himself. Even the fire brewing within his body seemed to smother itself out, leaving only cold ash within him. Terron, seemingly realizing this, smirked knowingly.
"Tell me, which is worse?" Terron asked snidely. "Is it creating the Primogenitor and allowing it to go absorb everything and everybody so it can go on some crazy revenge quest, or is it waking up the Primogenitor after it's been asleep for hundreds of years and letting it turn everybody into Plagued Ones? Which one caused the most destruction, hmmm?"
The thorn in Novus's heart was pushed in deeper, making the Quilava's legs weak. He found he couldn't answer the question. He had no idea that Terron could possibly have this much of a vicious side within him. He had seen the Cubone enraged several times, but they had always been short-lived before the Cubone went back to being rational. But now, Terron seemed to be stuck in a perpetual, sadistic wrath. Just the way he smiled seemed to belong to that of a madman than the respectable Cubone who he entrusted so much to.
But perhaps worst of all, Terron had reminded Novus of a grim truth he wished wasn't true. He knew now that Rem had suppressed the memory of it tearing the Primogenitor out of its body so that neither he nor Zekrom had to suffer, knowing that they were the ones who had created that monstrous being. And though it had worked, the Primogenitor had been able to remember and wasted no time in telling Novus who it really was. He had a feeling that the voices he had heard earlier were part of the memory that Rem had suppressed from his mind. The Primogenitor must have brought it to light when it was trying to assimilate Novus into itself. Now, because of that, he knew that he was responsible for all of the Pokémon lost so long ago before the Primogenitor was sealed away.
His choice as Rem was the catalyst of everyone's misery.
"I do feel regret for what I did as Rem," Novus confessed quietly. "I really do. I realize now that the entire reason I wanted to obliterate the Blight Demons from this world ever since I awoke was because I created them in the first place… and just the thought of that fills me with the deepest of regrets. The damage my actions have brought upon everyone is the same as your actions, if not even more so. But that isn't stopping me from undoing my mistake. Regardless of that awful mistake I made as Rem, I'm still going to kill the Primogenitor. That was my intention in the first place, and knowing the true reason for why the Primogenitor exists… it gives me even more a reason to keep fighting. Even if I will die in the process."
Terron didn't say anything, keeping his black eyes glued to the Quilava. Novus couldn't tell what the Cubone was thinking with the way his eyes seemed to be stuck in a perpetual state of spite.
"Listen, Terron," Novus said, forcing strength back into his voice. "I don't hate you for what you did, and I'm not trying to condemn you for it either. You and I are both responsible for horrible things brought upon the worlds thanks to the decisions of our whole selves. We both made mistakes in the past, and there's no reason to hate the other for it or pointlessly wallow in our mistakes. However, I at least want you to take some responsibility for what you've done. I want you to help me set right what we both did wrong. You seem to be forgetting about everything so that you can go-"
"Can go what, go find somebody? Well guess what? You're right," Terron answered. "I'm going to tell you something Novus; I need to go talk to somebody very special right now. I don't care about finding your body or figuring out how to get Zekrom out of the Primogenitor or whatever you want to do right now. I'm going to die pretty soon because thanks to what I am. I'm going to die the second the Primogenitor dies. I'm just like you. We're both living off borrowed time. However, unlike you, I don't plan on sending myself off to my death as soon as possible. I need to talk to somebody and I can't talk to them when I'm dead and in the spirit world. I've got to be alive to do it."
"You mean to tell me… that you intend on forgetting about our mission to save the world just so you can speak with Zekra?" Novus asked hoarsely, not believing his ears. "You want to put the welfare of both Kuron and Shiron at stake to fulfill your selfish desires?"
Terron turned to walk around Novus, but the Quilava moved once again to block his path. The Cubone, letting out a menacing growl, reached into the pocket of his black, leathery jacket before ripping out a good-sized bone club. A purple fire seeped out of his hand before enveloping the bone, turning it into a wispy dagger with wicked curves upon its blade.
But just as he was to speak malicious words, Novus and Terron noticed something flying toward them in the distance. Neither one could make out what it was, but based on the way the world around them seemed to grow colder the closer it grew to them, they could only presume it was something hostile. Terron shot the Quilava a nasty look before tearing his gaze away and keeping it on the oncoming object. Novus reluctantly did the same, though took the precaution to take a few steps away from the Cubone. The knife that was still clutched tight in Terron's hand was not comforting.
Eventually, the object that Terron and Novus had noticed stopped before them, revealing itself to be an Aegislash. She held her shield out in front of her body, perhaps because she thought of the two as a threat, her arms intersecting through it so that it was impossible to knock the object out of her grip. She stared down upon the two of them with her single, metallic eye that seemed unable to move or blink. And though she didn't appear particularly malicious, Novus couldn't help but feel intimidated by her. Despite him having an elemental advantage over her, this Aegislash gave off a very potent aura that made his extinguished fire unable to reignite.
"There you two are," the Aegislash said, sounding neither frustrated nor relieved. "I was wondering why you two suddenly disappeared off the face of Kuron before suddenly reappearing back on Shiron in comatose bodies. I assumed that you two were dead, and sure enough, the little ones inform me that they've spotted you frolicking about. Truly I never would have expected this to happen. It shouldn't be happening."
The Aegislash's eye narrowed as she removed her shield and put it behind her back. She then took her appendages and crossed them over her chest, or rather, the part of her blade-like body that matched the place of where a chest should be.
"How did you two get here?" she asked, her voice suddenly stern. "I know you're not dead because you two still appear as a Cubone and Quilava instead of a human and dragon, so what exactly did you two do so that you ended up here in the spirit realm in your strange state?"
"Wait. This… this is the spirit realm?" Novus asked, momentarily forgetting his troubles and looking around him. "Is that what was this place is and why those Pokémon knew who I was? I always heard that spirits could spy on the lives of mortals, but I never thought the spirit realm was like this…"
"Yes, this where all of the deceased live, Reshiram," the Aegislash said curtly. "Now answer my question. Why are you two here?"
"We were in the Unown world, and we fell into an abyss within there," Novus answered. "The Primogenitor was there, and it knocked us into that darkness."
"So I see," the Aegislash said indifferently. "No wonder why I could not find you two for a time; the Unown world is impossible for us to spy because of how large and utterly complex it is. Though, I suppose we should be glad that you're here merely by accident then."
The Aegislash wrapped both of the Pokémon in her arms, one in each scarf-like appendage, before flying away from the sight and taking them with her.
"Regardless, I'm going to have to get you out of here," she stated matter-of-factly. "Neither of you are dead, so you don't belong here. The living don't belong here unless they're special. Neither of you are the kind of special I'm talking about."
"Where are you taking us?" Terron asked in a monotone, keeping his bone gripped tight in his paw, though now without his plagued energy coursing through it.
"To an exit," the Aegislash answered. "Normally I'd ask Giratina to take you two back to the mortal realm, but he's not coming back and I got assigned to deal with you two, so I'm just going have to take you two to a dimensional tear that's where your bodies are."
"But this is the spirit realm," Novus objected. "Giratina should be here. I thought that all of the legendary beings fled here after they realized that they could not defeat the Primogenitor and that it was devouring their brethren. Then also, I thought that Giratina was a guardian over this world when he wasn't tending to his own strange realm."
The Aegislash didn't say anything, keeping quiet as she continued flying over the spiritual wasteland.
One second, the three were flying across the barren land. And then in the next second, the three were suddenly soaring in the midst of a perpetual black and purple haze that encompassed them for miles and miles around, going on forever without cease. But Novus was soon to realize that this wasn't the case.
In the distance ahead of him, he could see what appeared to be a cluster of floating rock masses, all varying greatly in size. Amongst one of those rocks stood a great pillar that stretched up far into the sky, glowing with strange colors. The sky all around the area was no longer the darkness, but rather, a chaotic mesh of many colors that streaked past one another continuously. However, it only stretched on for so long before becoming lost in the dark haze that surrounded the Quilava.
A twinge of fear pricked Novus's heart when he saw the strange place in the midst of nowhere.
"What is that?" Novus asked.
"That's the home of Rem's shadow," the Aegislash answered nonchalantly. "It's where it and its spawn hide when they're not anywhere in the mortal realms."
"Wh… What?" Novus gasped.
The Aegislash continued drifting past the Primogenitor world, tightening her grip on the two in her grasp and holding them closer to her body. Novus squinted his eyes, and soon he found he could somewhat better see the massive pillar gleaming upon a faraway rock. He now saw that it was actually a grotesque tower of sorts, its mass made of some sort of uneven metal that jutted out at various points, making it seem as though the structure was nothing but a large, unstable stack of steel. He could clearly see vines of a black, writhing substance spiraling up the tower, holding it together and gleaming a different color every few seconds as the Primogenitor's own body lights did.
"What you call the Primogenitor lives here in the spirit realm," the Aegislash explained. "After it came into existence, it knew it needed a place that would allow it to spy among all of the mortals of the world, human and Pokémon. So, after it got ahold of a number of Unown, it came here using their power and had those Unown build what you're looking at. They tore out a piece of the spirit realm and warped it into this, which unfortunately none of us can reach because somehow they locked us out of it. I'm sure you can understand why no legendary fled to the spirit realm for refuge now."
Novus stared at the strange place before him, taking in the implications of everything the Aegislash just spoke. So this is where the Primogenitor had been hiding the entire time it was alive. It was in a place where no mortal could ever reach, and from the way the Aegislash described it, no spirit could reach either. He could just vaguely see the opaque barrier separating the Primogenitor's realm from the spirit realm, containing that corrupt world and its unnatural sky within its safe contains.
"And no one knows how to enter that place?" Novus asked.
"Afraid not," the Aegislash replied. "Only those who work for Rem's shadow can access it. They seem to have abilities to open up portals on their own. Of course, what difference does it make to us denizens of the spirit realm? We cannot stop it, nor do we intend to. We do not meddle with the affairs of the mortal realms. That's your business and your business alone. We only watch from afar so that we know what to do with you when you do get here. It's what was decided the moment this realm was made. Then not only that, but the creator and Giratina specifically told us not to meddle with Rem's shadow no matter the circumstances. They said it is out of hand and that whatever happens, happens."
"But the Primogenitor is right here beside you," Novus retorted. "You do not worry that it will imprison you all?"
"The Primogenitor cannot imprison us," the Aegislash scoffed. "It can only put its spawn into creatures that have bodies. It cannot hurt us just as how we cannot hurt it. We do not bother one another. Rem's shadow leaves us alone and we let it wreak havoc in peace."
"I do not agree with the philosophy you have been following for far too long," Novus snorted. "I do not care what the creator told you. Whoever rules this realm in place of Giratina should do everything in their power to stop the Primogenitor. Even if you claim you cannot hurt the Primogenitor, you should still do something to end the suffering it's brought upon the world. Perhaps discover a way to remove that barrier so that when I find my body, I can enter the Primogenitor's realm and destroy it."
"Well I'm afraid that's not going to be happening," the Aegislash responded. "As one of the rulers of this realm, I'll speak for the entire council and have you know that we have no intentions of breaking an oath we swore to the creator all because one of Rem's fragments demanded it out of us. Even if we wanted to assist you, we can't. We swore an oath to the creator, and you never break an oath that you made with the creator. But of course you'd know what that's like, don't you?"
Novus's stern stare didn't break, though he felt a twinge of despair strike his heart at the words. The Aegislash shook her head as the Primogenitor's world fell behind them, becoming nothing more than a black speck in the distance.
"If you want to destroy your shadow, then you'll have to do it all on you own. Nobody in this spirit realm can help you. The only help you can find is in the mortal realms. I'm afraid that's all I can-"
"Just get us out of here."
The Aegislash looked down to find Terron glaring at her. The white pinpoint of light that was once in his eyes was now gone, leaving only two black circles in its place that seemed to eerily match the fog surrounding them.
"Get us out of here," Terron repeated again, his voice becoming a low growl. "You said you wanted us out of your stupid world, so stop wasting time and throw us into some dimensional tear."
"Well I see you've still got that vicious attitude you had back in Kuron before you disappeared," the Aegislash said curtly. "You really didn't like that Nyx didn't tell you the truth about yourself, did you? What did you ever do with that Darkrai anyway? I know you didn't kill her or fall into that abyss or else she'd be here with you two."
"Primogenitor swallowed her up," Terron answered indifferently. "Now seriously, take us back to Shiron."
"Fine, if you're so eager to go back to that Rem shadow infested world, I won't deprive you of that," the Aegislash replied.
She hastened her speed, and before long, the three found themselves in a new location. The three were now in front of what appeared to be an island that held a small monument made of gold and diamonds. Pillars lined the entire front as they held up the ceiling, their sides adorned with ivy growing around their shafts. A stairway led up to the entrance of the building, each of the steps sparkling as brightly as a lake's surface when hit by the sun's rays. The Aegislash tightened her grip on the two as she floated toward the entrance of the monument before hurrying inside.
Novus expected to find the inside to be filled with many hallways and statues, perhaps as a dedication to creatures who had performed great deeds in their mortal lives as well as many creatures of sorts wandering about to treat the place as a museum of sorts. However, he was very surprised to find that the inside only held a single room that held no furniture within it. It was a purely empty room, save for a single human standing idly at the end of the room. Novus couldn't tell much about the human due to them wearing a suit of black and white armor that covered just about every inch of them.
But when the Aegislash drifted toward the human, they seemed to perk up.
"Oh, Sabre," the human said, a female from how they sounded to Novus. "What brings you here?"
"These two," the Aegislash answered, holding up Novus and Terron. "Rem's shadow knocked them into this world and the others of the council forced me to go retrieve them after some of the little ones informed us. I'm not sure why I was tasked to do this out of everyone else, but it is what it is."
"Aren't those two the ones everybody's been talking about all over the place?" the human asked. "You know, the 'saviors of the mortals' as they call them?"
"Yes, this is them," Sabre nodded.
The human peered at the two mortals behind her metallic mask for a moment.
"Terron looks rather demonic for a supposed savior," the human commented. "If I didn't know better, I'd say he was actually working for Rem's shadow like all those Fellowship leaders are."
"Well he does have a good amount of Rem's shadow in him," Sabre agreed. "But then again, a majority of the group does."
The human nodded silently. The Aegislash holding the two Pokémon looked down at them for a brief moment before swooping toward the human.
"But I'm afraid we'll have to continue talking about this later. These two need to be sent back to Shiron," Sabre stated. "So if you will Grace, open the tear. We need to reunite them with their bodies before they actually do die."
The human didn't hesitate. She stepped away from the wall and held out an armored hand toward it. A large crack formed in the wall before it widened, spreading out along the entire wall and growing with each passing second. A brilliant, white light flooded out of the crack is it grew until it finally, there was a space as big as Sabre herself.
Sabre drew closer to the dimensional tear until she was right in front of it. And then, she outstretched the appendages that were holding Novus and Terron until they were dangling in the midst of the tear. Novus could feel the pull of some supernatural force trying to drag him into the tear, but it was unable to break him out of Sabre's hold.
"Here's your exit," Sabre said. "When you go through it, you should reunite with your bodies and it will be as if you were never separated in the first place. I'm sorry that there's really nothing that can help you here. I would offer my help and come along with you two, but I'm not allowed to. I'm sworn to remain detached from mortal affairs."
"Are you sure there isn't anything you can do?" Novus insisted. "Surely there must be something that you can do to assist us."
"I'm afraid there's not," Sabre said again. "I'm afraid I can't offer any sort of divine intervention like you're hoping."
"Well actually… what if we informed them with information?" Grace then spoke up.
The Aegislash turned toward the human, and though her eye didn't change, Novus could tell she was surprised.
"What do you mean?" Sabre wondered.
"Well we can't help any mortals with our presence and we're not allowed to leave the spirit realm," Grace started to say, "but what if we told them of a few things happening in Shiron that surround their situation? Mortals only have a limited perspective on everything, so perhaps knowing what's happening outside of their perspective can help them in some way."
"Hmmm, an interesting idea," Sabre considered. "Fine, we will try that. But we need to make it quick. They need to rejoin with their mortal bodies before it's too late."
"Alright," Grace said before coming over to Sabre's side and looking down at the two within the dimensional tear.
She paused for a moment, staring down at the two dangling Pokémon as if to collect all of the proper information in her thoughts, before finally speaking.
"I really hate to tell you this, but basically your entire group has almost completely fallen apart," Grace explained ruefully. "You probably already knew this, but I think you deserve to know how exactly everything got this way and what's happened to all those you call your friends. To start, Yimtri is hanging out at Midnight Swamp with his Fellowship to commence his own plan to take down Rem's shadow in. From how we see it, he doesn't have any intentions of coming back to your group since he feels fine on his own and for some miraculous reason, Rem's shadow hasn't found him yet. We think it's because he's in the middle of that foggy swamp no one even visits."
"I see…"
"Moving along, Zeverous isn't alive anymore. Regrettably he died when trying to save Zekra from one of the generals working for Rem's shadow, and now he is here with us. We often see him going from tear to tear, watching Zekra obsessively and praying that she will never come here for a very long time. We were going to tell him that you two were here… but then we decided not to when we realized that you two are actually not dead. He doesn't need to see you two just yet."
Novus frowned sadly as soon as he heard this. He had always had the suspicion that somebody from their group would perish at the hands of the Primogenitor's followers, but he had never wanted to believe it would actually happen. He wanted to believe that they would be strong enough to stand against every adversary and challenge that came their way regardless of whether they were split up or not. But now that he heard that Zeverous, one of their strongest warriors, had fallen, his faith in the group's strength wavered.
Then not only that, but he couldn't imagine what Zeverous's death had done to Zekra. He knew that she had probably watched her brother's death right before her very eyes.
But as it turned out, Novus didn't have to imagine anything.
"And then finally, your dear friend Zekra… well, let's just say that she didn't take Zeverous's death very well," Grace said quietly. "She's better now after three months of Shiron time by remaining with your old caregivers, but there are no promises that she'll help you two anymore. All she wants to do now is find answers about herself in the Greninja Village, and I don't know what answers she'll find. For all I know is that those answers might tell her that she really shouldn't be with you two anymore. They might just tell her to have as close to a normal life as she can after everything. Or… other things might happen."
"Other things?" Novus asked.
Grace didn't say anything, only keeping her masked gaze on the Quilava. And though Novus couldn't see her eyes, Novus knew that she had a somber glimmer to her eyes. Her sorrowful voice was all the indication he needed. He wanted to ask her why she refused to answer his question and see if he could gain any more information about their companions, but then Sabre glared down at him.
"There's something else that happened on Shiron that maybe you two can use for information," the Aegislash then said. "I don't know how useful this will be, but apparently some strange creature nobody's ever seen fell out of the sky and landed in the middle of the Cacturne Desert shortly before you two got here. It's huge and some kind of dragon that holds of the elements of fire and ice, but it's asleep. Nobody knows what to make of it."
"A fire and ice dragon you say?" Novus asked.
"Yes, exactly," Sabre said with a nod. "Though like I said, no one knows anything about it. It simply appeared and no one knows where it came from. For all anybody knows, it could be an alien corpse from some faraway planet. But knowing your current predicament in the mortal realm… maybe knowing of its existence could prove useful."
Novus nodded wordlessly. It was then that Sabre loosened her grip on him and Terron, allowing the vacuum of the dimensional tear to rip them out of her grasp. Novus reached out toward the disappearing creatures as he fell, but it was futile, for the two only stood there as a white light slowly enveloped Novus's being. It numbed him, making it impossible for him to move as his mind slowly grew weary.
"Good luck saving your realms," Sabre called out to them. "You're going to need it at the rate everything is going back there…"
That was the last thing Novus heard before he was completely consumed.
When Novus opened his eyes again, he found himself staring at a cloud-filled sky, their white, fluffy masses obscuring the sun from his view and its warm rays from his fur. The Quilava lay there on his back for a moment, staring up at the clouds in silence. He was back in Shiron now. This was most certainly Shiron. It felt just like the dimension he had been tasked to watch over since he came into existence. It seemed that after so long, he was finally back in the land that he truly belonged to.
The Quilava forced himself onto his feet and took in his new surroundings. Unlike his awakening in the spiritual realm, Novus wasn't in any sort of mystical field, but rather in the square of a town of sorts. He didn't recognize the city he was now in, but he did note something very strange; it was completely desolate. Despite the many number of shops and buildings surrounding him, there wasn't a single Pokémon in sight. Every single door in the area was open, leaving all of the rectangular, stone buildings available to anybody who crossed their paths. Decaying berries, leaves from the surrounding trees, and trash of all sorts were scattered all over the cobblestone streets, leaving the entire city a mess and reeking of its foul stench. Even the fountain resting nearby Novus was filled with filthy water overflowing with algae, clearly having not been cleaned for weeks.
When Novus saw a crumpled and damp newspaper settled against the wall of one of the shops, he hurried over to it and snatched it up in his paws. He threw it down onto the ground and scanned the headlines. He only had to glance at the front page to find what he wanted.
There, right on the front with an artist's illustration of a Magmar Plagued One, with the headline of "SPECIAL TASKS FELLOWSHIP GIVES NAMES TO THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR DEMON OUTBREAK". Novus's heart stopped as soon as he read the headline. But rather than continue, he snatched up the paper in his mouth before searching around for the Cubone he had been with. He was quick to find Terron sleeping in a patch of grass, curled up in a ball like before. The Quilava trotted over to him before shaking him with a paw. Terron instantly awoke and turned to face Novus, but didn't say anything nor did he rise to his feet. He only remained on his back, staring at the Quilava with a blank stare.
"Terron, we're back in Shiron, but I'm afraid that the condition of this dimension has worsened drastically ever since we left," Novus announced grimly before turning back to his newspaper. "I'll read to you what I just found. 'In the last month, there have been numerous reports of strange, demonic beings that resemble Pokémon flying about Shiron in swarms. From what eye witnesses have reported, they will devour entire populations at a time and are seemingly invincible, for they will always reform if something tries to destroy them. They were thought to only exist in the western part of Shiron, but now it has been confirmed that they have begun to appear in other parts of Shiron as well. Based on what reports have stated, it appears that the demons are sweeping across Shiron in a massive, eastward wave and are estimated to completely encompass the entire region within five months. And though it appears that there is nothing to be done to stop these indestructible beings, hope has arisen.
"The Special Tasks Fellowship leaders, known for providing assistive services of all varieties to the region, have informed everybody of the cause of these demons. According to them, a Darkrai that once existed in a forest near one of their bases broke free and is now having its five helpers assist it in turning everyone into demons. According to the Fellowship leaders, they had contained the Darkrai in that forest long ago when they discovered it was the source of the demons, but it was able to break free by brainwashing a Cubone, Zorua, Quilava, Zoroark, and Sableye, the latter of whom was once the leader of the Dusk Mines Fellowship, into setting it free. It is said that if all of these Pokémon are eliminated, then the demons will cease to exist, for the demons' life energy is tied to the six Pokémon's spirits. Therefore, killing all of them will permanently eliminate the demons.
"The Fellowship reports that the Zoroark has been eliminated as of recently, but there still remains the other five, who have yet to be found. The Fellowship proclaims that if anybody can find and kill any of these five and bring back proof to one of the leaders, then they will be rewarded with two million Poké. All except the Darkrai contain the mark of the Fellowship upon them, so please use this as a way to determine if they are the correct Pokémon. Do not try to reason with them, they will kill you on sight. Kill them if you ever spot one of them and save us all…'"
Novus stared down at the paper for a long while, unable to process what he had just read. There were too many thoughts in his mind, stirring up a maelstrom that made it impossible to have a single concrete thought worth voicing. All he could do was stare down at another illustration in the paper, this one of him, Terron, Zekra, Nyx and Yimtri sitting close together. The artist had portrayed them as truly sinister beings, all of them smirking maliciously with the slightest hints of black wisps rising from their bodies and streaming into the air.
But just as he was to fling the newspaper away from himself, he saw another illustration on the next page. It was a picture of a shadowy figure, its body formless and shapeless, only appearing to be a humanoid mass of darkness. Nothing about it was distinguishable, save for the two yellow, insidious slits that were its eyes. Novus couldn't help but shiver at the sight of the creature.
Underneath the picture there was a small description that Novus couldn't stop himself from reading.
It read: "THE SHADOW HUNTER. AVOID AT ALL COSTS."
"So we're still fugitives," Terron said blankly, snapping Novus's attention away from the strange creature as he started to delve more into the details. "Except this time, literally everybody in the world is after us."
"Y-Yes, it appears so," Novus said, pushing the paper aside. "It's the world against you and me thanks to the lies that the Fellowship has fed them… and now there is a creature called The Shadow Hunter that is murdering everyone that the Blight Demons cannot reach… It seems everything has become much worse since we were last here."
Terron didn't say anything. He slowly pushed himself up, and then got to his feet before tapping the Socius still stuck fast to his wrist. There was a dim flicker of light within his black eyes, and then the next thing Novus knew, Terron was wearing a large black robe. It covered up all of his body, shrouding his appearance from the world so that it was impossible to tell that he was a Cubone, for even his mask-less face was unrecognizable to those not of his kind. But as it turned out, even that was to be covered by the robe, for Terron reached behind him and pulled a hood over his head, obscuring his face from Novus in its impenetrable darkness. To Novus, Terron looked just like a tiny Grim Reaper ready to bring death upon all who dared cross his path. All he was missing was a fearsome scythe.
The Cubone wordlessly wandered into a store near Novus, disappearing inside of it. Novus stood there, feeling at a loss. He didn't like where any of this was going. It was true that he was still upset with Terron over their last argument, even if he had calmed down for the most part, but he wanted to move past that and end the Primogenitor. It was their duty as the ones who allowed the Primogenitor to bring destruction upon their worlds.
Mustering up all the courage he could, Novus followed the Cubone into the store, and was soon to find Terron standing before a large map book of Shiron spread out along the floor. It had many maps within it, labeling just about every city and environment Novus felt was known to the public in great detail as well as a massive map of all of Shiron cramming in as many landmarks as it could. Terron was holding out his Socius toward the book, allowing it to scan over its surface several times with a strange, green ray of light as he flipped through the pages.
"Terron, what are you doing?" Novus asked.
"Downloading these maps onto my Socius," Terron answered hollowly. "This way, it'll know a bunch of places and help direct me on how to get there. This thing can tell me how to get anywhere. Got it in Kuron."
"Oh, so it can tell us where Cacturne Desert is?" Novus asked hopefully.
"Yeah. It can," Terron said as he continued flipping through the pages.
"Alright. Well, while you're obtaining all of those maps, I think I will see if there are any supplies to be found in this store that we can use," Novus offered. "We have a long journey ahead of us, and since neither of us can fly, it could take a very long time to reach Cacturne Desert depending on where-"
"I'm not going there," Terron interjected.
Novus felt his heart sink. He knew that this was coming, but he had ultimately wished to avoid it. He didn't want to further argue with Terron, for his energy was already quite spent, but it seemed now that he had no choice.
"Terron, I know that you want to find Zekra, but we cannot do that right now," Novus said, forcing himself to be composed. "We are on limited time. But, I guess we can try to compromise. How about this; after we find that dragon in Cacturne Desert, we'll go find Zekra. We won't go stop the Primogenitor right away, and you can still speak to her while you're alive. We just need to find this dragon first because I strongly believe that the dragon Sabre and Grace were mentioning was that creature I saw fall out of the Primogenitor. I have no idea what it is, but I have a feeling that if we find it, it could greatly help us. We cannot afford for the Primogenitor to take it away from us. And then afterwards, right after we find it, we'll find Zekra. How does that sound?"
Terron remained quiet as he continued scanning the map book with his Socius, his eyes hidden behind the hood. Novus half wished he could walk over to Terron and pull back the hood, but he knew that doing so was not the smartest thing to do. Terron was in an extremely volatile state and he had no intentions of pulling one wrong move and sending Terron into a frenzy. He had already witnessed Terron's murderous rage back in the spirit realm. He had no intentions of witnessing it again.
A minute passed and Terron stopped flipping through the book's pages and kicked it over to a corner in the store. He pulled his arm back into his robe before turning his head toward Novus. Even though Novus couldn't see his eyes, he could feel a sharp, spiteful glare being cast upon him from within that darkness.
"Who ever said anything about me going to see Zekra?" Terron asked simply. "I don't need to talk to her. I don't even think I'd find her. I have no idea where that Greninja Village is and neither does the map book. I have no reason to talk to her right now. She clearly doesn't want to talk to me anyway, if she ditched me after finding out about my secret."
"Then… if you're not going to see her, who do you want to see?" Novus asked quietly.
"That's none of your business," Terron hissed.
The Cubone strode past the Quilava, shoving him into a shelf as he exited the store. Novus crashed into the shelf, knocking a few knickknacks onto his head, but he shook them off and hastily followed after the Cubone. He grabbed the back of Terron's robe, pulling him back as he was about to wander into the streets. Terron tried to keep moving forward, but Novus refused to let go of the cloak and kept the two rooted to their spots. After struggling for a few seconds, Terron swiveled his head towards the Quilava. Novus thought he saw two pinpoints of white light burn maliciously in the darkness of the hood.
"Let go of me," Terron growled.
"No, I will not," Novus stated firmly, tightening his grasp on the robe. "Not when I have absolutely no idea what you're going to be doing. You could be sending yourself to your death for all I know! Terron, we need to stick together. We need to find that dragon. I promised that we would find whoever you want after we do that. What more do you want? I'm willing to set aside saving the world to help you with whatever you want to do!"
"Novus, I swear, if you don't let go of me right now, you're going to regret it," Terron said in a low, demonic tone. "I have someone I want to see. I'm not going with you to find that stupid dragon. There's no way I'm helping you with that. You can go do that all on your own."
"No… you wouldn't," Novus gasped. "Terron… didn't you just hear what I read from that paper? The entire world is out to get us! If we don't stick together, we're both going to die. There's no way that either of us can stand against what the world has in store for us when both of us are alone. We're both going to die if we split up. Either the Fellowship will find us, or… that Shadow Hunter will. I do not know which one I dread more."
"Well then you better be pretty good at not getting caught," Terron said indifferently. "I'm not going after that dragon. You can't convince me otherwise."
Novus wavered. He knew that he should have seen this coming. Terron was an unmovable boulder when he set his mind to something. No matter the circumstances, regardless of the dangers ahead of him, he would relentlessly walk the path he chose until he reached his destination. This situation was no different. Terron was never going to help Novus find the creature that was separated from the Primogenitor.
Novus should have yielded. He should have allowed himself to abandon his own plan and follow Terron to wherever he wished to go. But… he couldn't. He just couldn't.
"Terron, please, listen to me," Novus said, his voice now begging. "I used to always think that I could do everything on my own. I thought that destroying the Blight Demons was my duty and my duty alone. I thought that having others help me was a nice gesture, but not nessecary in the long run when I was to be the one to destroy the Primogenitor on my own. But now, with everything that's happening, I know that I was wrong. My divine duty as a Rem fragment cannot be done by myself alone. Not with how much the Primogenitor's forces have overtaken this world. I need help. I need help to put a stop to all of this, and… you're all that I have left. You are literally the only one I can trust and depend on in the entire world."
Tears welled up in Novus's eyes as his throat grew sore, but he refused to let them stifle his words.
"I don't want us to be separated," Novus said hoarsely. "I need you right now. You're all that I have left in this world. Zekra might still be alive, but I cannot depend on her anymore. She is no longer with me and possibly no longer wants to help us. You heard Grace and Sabre yourself. You're the only one I can rely on anymore. You're the only one left. I don't want to lose the only one who can help me defeat the Primogenitor. I… I don't want to lose… my only friend. So please… please come with me. Please don't leave me... Please remember the promise we made to each other. The promise that we'd always be there for each other, even when the entire world was to turn against us… Please remember…"
For a moment, nothing happened. Terron continued to glare at Novus from beneath his hood while Novus kept his grasp firm around the robe, refusing to let the Cubone take one more step forward. They both remained there in that town square, their eyes locked onto each other in complete silence. Novus didn't even bother to fight the pain welling up in his heart as the tears flowed down his eyes, splattering onto the ground between the two.
There was a moment longer of silence, and then Terron sighed. He turned around to completely face Novus and pulled down his hood, allowing the Quilava to see the Cubone's face once more. He was frowning pitifully, the darkness in his eyes now dreary and downcast. It seemed that Novus's words had reached him. Novus released a relieved sigh as he let go of the Cubone's robe.
"I'm sorry," Terron said shamefully. "I haven't been acting right. I've been so upset over everything and it just messed up my thoughts. It made it impossible to think about anything else except to go do something stupid and reckless. I'm really sorry if I hurt you."
"It's okay," Novus said, wiping tears from his eyes. "I'm just glad that you're alright now. You really had me worried."
"Well, I can't break my promise, right?" Terron asked with a warm smile before opening his arms out to the Quilava. "C'mere Novus. It's okay. I'm better now."
Novus rushed forward and buried himself into Terron's chest, allowing the Cubone to enclose him in a tight hug. The Quilava continued to let the tears fall freely down his face, but now, they were happy tears. He almost couldn't fathom the immense relief flowing through his being. He had been so worried, so distraught that Terron was going to abandon him and potentially be killed on his reckless journey. But now, everything was okay. He and Terron were going to remain together and put a stop to the Primogenitor once and for all. They were both going to undo the mistakes they had both made.
Something sharp and painful suddenly struck through Novus's back, causing him to let out a loud scream as it pierced through his organs. Then the next thing he knew, Terron shoved Novus away from himself, throwing him onto the ground before him.
The Quilava looked at his back to find he had a large hole right in the middle of it, digging deep into his flesh and nearly reaching his spine.
"God, you are so predictable."
Novus swiveled his head back in front of him to find Terron still standing there. But now, instead of wearing a sympathetic and warm smile, he had a vicious, displeased scowl that could melt the cold exterior of even the most stoic of all souls. Clutched tight in his right hand was a bone enveloped in black, wispy energy, bearing a resemblance to a dagger. Novus's eyes widened at the sight. It was the exact same weapon Terron had pulled out in the spirit realm, except now, there was a thick coat of red at the tip. It was blood.
Novus's blood.
"Terron… why…" Novus babbled, unable to form coherent words. "Why would you…?"
The Cubone didn't say anything. He only returned the bone from somewhere within his robe before pulling his hood back over his head, shielding his face from Novus once more.
"Don't ever let me catch you following me," Terron said, his voice brimming with a powerful malice. "Because if I do… I'm finishing what I started."
Then with that, the Cubone turned away from the injured Quilava and left, slowly becoming a black dot as the distance between him and Novus grew. Within minutes, Terron was gone, leaving Novus all alone in the empty streets of the abandoned town, bleeding and feeling frail.
That isn't Terron anymore. Novus realized, the fracture in his heart growing with each word he thought. It might look like him, but that Cubone I just spoke with… that wasn't Terron. It's someone else now. Someone far more sinister.
I'm… I'm going to have to let whoever that is go. I'm going to have to find that dragon on my own. I don't have a choice. Because… Terron is gone.
Terron isn't coming back.