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Chapter 84

Stop Hurting Me

I'm not a good person.

I admitted to this fact long ago for two reasons. One reason has to do with the fact that I am no longer an actual person. Since that day twenty-five years ago, I have been a Sableye, leaving behind any traces of my humanity. Or rather, merely having the appearance and guise of a Sableye. I truly am not a Sableye for many reasons, but I unmistakably seem to be one according to others and attempting to deny that fact would only cause others to think I am delusional and perhaps need to be locked away for my own safety. Thus I am no longer a human, but cannot be called a Pokémon. I'm something far stranger.

The other reason I know that I'm not a good person is because of what I have been doing ever since I became a Sableye. For the few years of my new life I suppose I could have still called myself benevolent. I was harmless even. I didn't murder anyone because they wouldn't listen to me, I didn't blackmail others to keep information to themselves, and I certainly didn't lie to an entire network of Pokémon about a dangerous and powerful secret. However, that changed after I discovered the woods where Nyx lived and exactly what that nightmarish forest could do to anyone who dared to wander near it. After that day, I stopped being that benevolent person and I went into a downward spiral until I became a cold, ruthless leader who had to put an end to the suffering I had brought on this world.

Though thinking about it now, perhaps I was still a bad person before I became a Sableye. Perhaps I was always a bad person if I woke up the Primogenitor from its long slumber as a human without much of a thought of what potential consequences could arise from my actions.

Does the thought that I'm not a good person bother me? No, it doesn't. It did at one point. For a small while as the leader of my Fellowship after I came back from abandoning them due to shameful reasons, I felt rather remorseful and saddened that I had to take drastic measures to make sure that the other Fellowships didn't know about my own Fellowship's condition. I felt that I didn't have a sufficient excuse to continue living the way I was, committing myself to fulfil the deeds I was carrying out. In some regards, I thought myself to be turning into a monster. Or rather, more of a monster than the literal monster I was becoming.

But at a rather astounding rate, my hesitance for my ways faded away. I realized within a matter of days there was no reason to feel regret for my actions anymore. I was doing what I had to with my circumstances. There was nothing else that could be done with my situation.

And so, my reluctant reasoning for my potentially morally wrong decisions soon became steadfast convictions that were justified under the pretense that there was no other option. Not long after I stopped finding myself so squeamish at the drastic measures I was taking, I soon felt I had understandable reasons for committing such deeds.

One of my reasons was because I knew the Fellowship would kill me. I didn't understand these thoughts at the time, as it was nothing more than a vague, persistent and paranoid thought that Nyx had been feeding me, but I knew the rest of the Fellowship could not be trusted. And though I didn't understand until later that it was because Nyx was trying to warn me that the Fellowship would destroy me to keep their convoluted conspiracy a secret, I listened to the paranoid thought. I did not think it was past them to kill their own members if they were slowly becoming their sworn enemy.

Another reason for my secretive methods was because I did not want Pokémon joining me and getting themselves pointlessly plagued in the process. Of course I wanted help in eradicating the Plagued Ones. Only a fool would dismiss all help and support offered to them when faced against a great foe. However, I knew that a good majority of the Pokémon on Shiron were not the support I needed. I needed Pokémon who were competent and held steadfast, unwavering determination within them, as well as hold a great deal of trust to me. I would not settle for anything less when I had a foe as great and powerful as the Plagued Ones. However, there were no Pokémon that met my criteria. They were all too naïve and blind. Thus, I refused to allow them to know my secret. I would not allow more pointless suffering all because I had been foolish enough to not shun these clueless Pokémon away. Only my Fellowship was allowed to know for there was absolutely no point in lying to my followers when the truth was germinating inside of them and infested the very place they lived in.

I had many more reasons, but they are pointless to continue rambling on about. In the end, I made my decision about my thoughts on my actions and methods, and decided that I truly wasn't a good person. I was, as I once told someone, "a bad guy". I still am.

But I suppose nothing less should be expected from a shadow.

Oh yes, I still remember the day Terron slandered me with that word. How could I forget? He was extremely irrational at the time, proclaiming that he was going to kill me because I ruined his life despite having been separated from him for roughly three months at the time and other such nonsense. I couldn't take anything he said rather seriously while I dodged each of his attacks, waiting for him to tire so I could knock him out in a moment of distraction and then hurry away to a new location where he would never find me or my followers. He was very delusional and I did not have time for crazed, murderous Pokémon that were regrettably my other half. But when he accused me of being a shadow and went on a rant about exactly how he came to that conclusion, I realized he was right. I used to believe that I was the more rational side of Dimitri after he was split into Terron and I, but I realized in that moment it was not quite that. No, I was Dimitri's shadow, having stolen his memories so that he couldn't remember anything when what was left of him after I disappeared became Terron. I am the only side of Dimitri that could possibly believe that my way of living was justified and kept my vow to kill the Primogenitor undying despite the trials and tribulations I was forced to go through. It should have taken me months to succumb to the level I fell to, but it only took me days instead.

It only makes sense that I am the Plagued One that should have overtaken Terron if the Primogenitor could have correctly put its taint into Dimitri and if Nyx had not torn Dimitri into two.

Does this bother me? That's a rather difficult question to answer. I don't consider myself a Plagued One quite frankly. Though it's true that I have plague within me right now, perhaps festering silently thanks to our deal, I do not believe I'm one of the demons I see flying in swarms across the land. I am still perfectly myself. I am simply a living shadow now, living outside of Terron's body. The side of Dimitri that he did everything in his power to not be.

I am his rejected self.

But I do not dwell in the thought. I have no time to plunge into an existential crisis when there are far more urgent matters on my mind. Why should I waste my time wallowing in despair when I have a monstrous abomination to slay? Only the weak wallow in their insecurities and uncertainties and let these feelings drag them into a bottomless pit instead of fighting back and moving forward.

But if I truly have to dwell on the circumstances of what I am and exactly what that means, then my answer is that that there is no reason to be bothered by what I am. Perhaps if I were still within Terron as a true shadow should be, then yes, I should very much be bothered by the fact that Terron can smother me out of existence every time I try to make myself known. But he can't do that. I am out here with him in the real world and he has no control over me. I can say and do anything I please and he cannot stop me. There's no reason to be disturbed by the fact that I am the embodiment of Dimitri's darkness and inner demons. I'd like to say nothing about the strange relationship I share with Terron is bothersome.

Except that there is something very, very bothersome about the connection we share.

It is a thing. I have no other word for it. It is more than simply a feeling or a persistent thought that will not go away.

It is a thing that plagues both my heart and my mind, deteriorating me from the inside out.

It rots within me every day, invading my mind and pestering me perhaps even more than my plague did before it fell into silence. No matter what I do, it will always find a way to trouble me and make focusing on my more urgent tasks far more difficult than they ought to be. It will stir up a maelstrom of thoughts completely irrelevant to what I am currently thinking, or it will form a raging tempest within my heart. I find it somewhat of a miracle that I was able to pinpoint the location of the gateway that leads to the Primogenitor's world with how much my mind was being wracked with torment. I had to piece together many memories and words from my followers to obtain the information and it is a wonder I was able to properly remember them with this bothersome thing digging into my mind.

I can't afford to have something bothering and pestering me any longer now that Syn should be returning from his mission sometime soon. A critical time is coming upon me and I mustn't let anything get in my way. This suffering has to end before Syn gets back. Because as soon as he returns and reports success… I am going to the Primogenitor realm and fixing the mistake I made long ago.

Until then, I am going to take care of this new problem that has arisen within me and made my aspirations rather difficult to focus on. There is absolutely no reason I should have to tolerate this unnecessary, burdensome thing any longer. As I once told Terron when he was drowning in his own despair, you must find the cause of your grief and eliminate it. You must take the metaphorical thorn that pierces your flesh and rip it out of you at all costs, no matter how much damage or pain such an action might inflict upon you.

It won't be easy, but I have a plan. I know exactly what must be done to make sure everything goes exactly as I need it to. I have thought over it countless times, perfecting it to counter any possible obstacles that I might come across and make my plan go utterly wrong and come crashing down on me. I refuse to let that happen. I need this plan to prevail or else I will never be able to kill the Primogenitor.

I can't keep harboring this thing inside of me for much longer…

I had a plan before this, admittedly. When I was talking to Terron and his corrupted friends, I fully intended on having Zekra sent away to Pledge Mountains so that I could obtain answers. I had made the plan specifically with her in mind. I do need the information at Pledge Mountain, but I knew I could have gone myself to get it. I've snuck in there once, and I know I could do it again if I truly had to. I'm much stronger and craftier than I was back then, not to mention I have abilities that I never would have dreamed of having those many years ago. But I needed Zekra to go instead. I didn't want her here anymore. I knew she wouldn't die, but she would at least be out of my life for several days.

However, Syn decided to ruin everything. He had to volunteer in her place and was bent on not allowing her to go. I was going to attack him to prove he truly wasn't fit for the job. I was ready to subdue him as quickly as I used to subdue Terron whenever he decided to push his luck too far. But of course, then his shadow had to join his side and they proved too much for me. When I saw both Syn's eyes and the shadow's head on his tail… I knew they truly could kill me. There was no question. They would if I wouldn't listen to them.

Accursed shadow, making Syn far more powerful than he ought to be. He might act confident, but he's still a child. He's younger than the rest of the group, yet he's arguably the strongest of them, aside from Reshiram. He's even stronger than me. Now because of his shadow's help, he's the one retrieving information from Pledge Mountains and not Zekra.

He's the reason I have to go about this new plan that I never should have had to make in the first place.

When he gets back here, he's going to feel the pain I've had to deal with.

But I suppose there's no point in dwelling over this anymore. Syn is gone and I have to follow this new plan. One that I cannot allow anyone to alter again because quite frankly, I'm tired of changing my plans.

I just need this to work.

The first step of my plan is to have a private meeting with two of my most esteemed followers, Lume and Noc. This is a relatively simple and easy step, for speaking to only those two in secret is not out of place to anyone. Those two have been in my Fellowship longer than anyone else, and have been shadowing me ever since the Fellowship discovered that my entire Fellowship was plagued. They are both very useful to me and as of late, they have also made decent listeners. I understand the importance of occasionally being able to share some of my thoughts with others for the purposes of needing feedback, and they aid me in this need. I do not tell them everything, such as what I did when I was Dimitri or rather personal thoughts, but they understand my thoughts better than the rest of my followers do.

There was another Pokémon who I once shared my more personal thoughts with after I lost the Pokémon that once led my Fellowship alongside me… but she's gone now. I do not know if I will see her again, let alone care about her as I used to. My tender feelings for her have vanished without a trace. She doesn't mean anything to me anymore, no matter how much I think about her and the meaningful memories we shared.

I don't understand why this had to happen between Nyx and I. I cared about her so much, more than anyone I had ever met before, and then… it stopped. I don't understand how someone can simply stop loving someone else so abruptly. There is always a process, even if the signs are incredibly subtle and require much reflecting to identify what led to the lack of the love. Even if there was the entire incident with me temporarily believing that she had lied to me for years and was only my companion to corrupt my soul, I should have felt better after learning the truth. I should have still loved her, even if it was only a fraction of the amount of the feelings I used to have for her due to the shock of everything she revealed to me. I should still have wanted her to be in my company.

But it wasn't enough. I still had some feelings, but they weren't enough and I wanted her out of my life and forget everything she ever meant to me.

Now I have no feelings of love toward her. I have absolutely none.

I cannot fathom why even though I want to rescue her from the Primogenitor, it is only because I need her power and not her companionship…

Gah.

What am I even asking? I already know why this has happened. I already understand why I no longer feel anything about the Pokémon that used to be by my side for years. The very thought of it even makes me fill with volatile resentment that makes my chest burn. The reason for my current predicament is utterly baffling and frustrating, something that shouldn't even happen. And yet, it is, and I can no longer love Nyx because of it. Perhaps Nyx and I never could have stayed together after she revealed she was not a Turtwig but instead a powerful Darkrai. I am not sure what would have happened, but I will never know now because I am stuck in thisutterly wrong, depraved circumstance. I could still have cared about Nyx instead of having my thoughts constantly drift toward…

No, there's no point in pondering in this anymore. I'm wasting my time. I'll take care of this problem soon. I need to follow my plan and then I can be free of this ridiculous predicament.

I meet Lume and Noc inside the church where I told Zekra about my past as a human. Thanks to our brawl, the interior of the church is rather charred, most of the furniture reduced to ash and black smudges are smeared all across the walls and floor. Miraculously the building is fine from the outside, and the structures seem stable so that it won't collapse, but that isn't much of a concern for the three of us in the first place. We are ghost-types and we will not die if the building decides it no longer wants to support itself and bury us beneath its rubble.

I find Lume and Noc waiting for me in the chapel, and as soon as I appear before them, they swoop over to me.

"You requested us to meet you here?" Lume asks me with the respectful and revered tone that each of my followers uses to first address me.

"Yes, I am in need of assistance from each of you," I answer them. "You could say that it is similar to when I sent both of you off to pretend to be Shade's helpers in terms of importance, even if it is far less dangerous."

"Ah, so another little errand," Noc says to me with a sly smile. "I never get tired of those. Well then, what would you like us to do? I have been growing rather bored of waiting around here for these past few days."

I know I could make a remark about that comment, but I find there is no point. Noc is right after all; none of my members have done anything meaningful since we arrived at Aurora Town nearly two weeks ago. We simply came here because Terron wanted to reunite with his friends, who he promised would provide us with great help to defeat the Primogenitor that could be found nowhere else. And though I honestly didn't believe that any of Terron's friends would reunite with him after hearing of their plights, I still listened to him and my Fellowship and I followed him to Aurora Town. I decided to give him a chance since I needed all of the power and support I could get.

But if I had known that Terron's friends actually would return and that in doing so I'd be stricken with a debilitating, crippling…

"My liege?" Lume then asks me, snapping me out of my derailing thought process. "Are you quite alright?"

I shake my head and internally curse myself for allowing my focus to wander as far as it did. I am about to lie to my followers and tell them that I am quite fine and they needn't worry, but then something else comes to mind.

"No, I am not alright," I tell them instead, surprising the both of them. "And that is exactly why I need your help. You see, there is something bothering me about Terron's posse. The Cubone himself is no threat, but there is something that irks me about his companions. I need you two to shadow them and study them for the next couple of days. Report to me anything suspicious about them after those days pass, as well as overall assessments of them. For instance, any behavioral patterns or odd quirks of theirs. I would do it myself, but then they might grow suspicious as to why I am not around when I am usually quite easy to find."

There is also the reason that Terron might be able to hear my thoughts process if I spy on his group and he happens to be near. I do not completely understand our mind-synch other than that we can share immediate plans if we are amongst one another. I used to think it was that simple, but lately it has become more than just that. It seems the more time I spend around Terron, the closer we get, and not in an emotional connection sort of way. For instance, I sometimes hear Terron's direct thoughts. I do not always, but sometimes when we are talking, I will hear thoughts within my mind that Terron repeats not long after I have heard them in my own head. There are other… things we share thanks to our mind-synch that horrify me, making me even more cautious about doing the spying myself.

But of course, I do not tell Lume and Noc this. They do not need to know.

"Can I trust you two to complete this task for me?" I then ask the two of them. "It is vitally important."

Though I can tell that the two of them are quite befuddled as to why I suddenly distrust Terron's group when they seem perfectly harmless to anyone that is not me and know I entrusted Syn to carry out such a vital mission, they do not let their uncertainties get in their way. They only stare at me with devious glints in their eyes.

"Of course," Noc says with a pleased grin. "We will not fail you."

"When you speak with us again, you will soon know everything you could ever hope to know about those Pokémon, and more," Lume then adds with a borderline malevolent giggle.

Then they both dive into the ground, sink into it and become dark shadows. I watch as they swiftly leave the building and head outside, presumably to begin their newest assignment.

I can trust these two. They have never failed me before. They will provide me the information I need.

I have completed the first step of my plan. Everything is going along smoothly and flawlessly.

Now I must commence the second step. I imagine it will not go as smoothly as this first step has, as it involves Terron. If I am not careful, he will be able to see my plan in his mind and everything will fall apart. However, I know that I can make this work. All I have to do is not think about my plan when he is not preoccupied and he will not be able to see it. The only time our minds synch seamlessly and regardless of circumstances is when we are in battle. I know when he intends to attack, and he can do the same with me. The same cannot be said about less violent plans.

I will make this work. I have confidence that I can pull this off. This plan will succeed.

It has to before the pain gets worse.

I begin the next phase of my plan by immediately finding Terron after I have finished my conversation with Lume and Noc. The sun is beginning its descent into the horizon, though I imagine it won't set for another hour or two. I still have plenty of daylight ahead of me. It isn't nessecary, given what I am and that I can see in the dark as well as I can in the light, but it at least makes me appear far less ominous when I approach my other half.

I discover his whereabouts rather quickly thanks to yet another consequence of our mind-sync. I do not know when exactly it happened, but there came a point after Terron was staying with me in Midnight Swamp that I always knew where he was. All I had to do was think about him, and then I would immediately know where he was. I'm not sure if he has quite caught on that I am able to find him because of this, or if he even shares the same ability. He most certainly hasn't tried to initiate conversation with me, thus I'm always the one to seek him out. I suppose it's a pointless thing to ponder over in the first place. It might be disturbing to some that I always know where Terron is at all times and that in theory he can never hide from me… but there are far more disturbing things that can result from our mind-sync. Far, far more disturbing.

Terron is in the outskirts of town, in an orchard area, though for what reason, I do not know. But since this information is trivial, I choose not to ponder in it and make my way to that orchard. When I arrive there, I do indeed find him standing amongst the many berry trees, throwing bone weapons at each of them as a means of target practice. He is rather proficient in his aim and manages to hit a good amount of the fruit with the weapons. Some even snap off the branches and tumble to the ground thanks to the force of his throws.

I am about to approach Terron, but then I feel another presence in the area. At first, I presume it's Noc or Lume, but then I recall that I told them to leave Terron be. Before I can ponder much longer over whose presence I am noticing in the atmosphere around me, a Pokémon leaps out of one of the trees nearby Terron and land next to him, her claws holding many fruits. She presents them to him, to which Terron smiles and asks her something, to which they both begin to laugh.

I immediately recognize that Pokémon to be Zekra.

Strange thoughts fill my mind.

Loud voices fill my mind and they range heavily in their demands.

Some demand that I should abandon my plan entirely.

Others insist that I should kill Zekra.

Stranger ones recommend that I kill Terron instead.

Others say that I steal Zekra away from him and talk with her. About what, I don't know. The thoughts do not think that far ahead. They live in the moment, nothing else.

There are other thoughts too. They are painful and louder than all the others. I ignore them the most.

They are the most harmful and even dangerous of the voices and they don't deserve a second thought about them.

But I still hear all of the voices.

They're everywhere in my mind. They're all talking to me. I can't think anymore.

I feel dizzy.

I don't think I can talk. I can see the words but I can't grab them. They keep slipping out of my grasp. They don't want me to touch them.

Only the emotions want me to touch them. But I don't want to touch the emotions. I don't want them with me.

It's Zekra's fault.

I should have known she'd be here. Of course she would be with Terron. They're always together. Especially now thanks to being separated for so long. They will likely never leave each other's sides again. It's incredibly obvious with the way they stare at each other.

It's the same stare I used to give Nyx when she was still Chloe.

I can't keep that thought going. I need to keep it away from me.

"Terron," I call out to him.

The atmosphere around Terron and Zekra changes. Terron changes first. He isn't happy anymore. Now he's hesitant. Not scared, but hesitant. He doesn't know what to think of me.

Zekra changes as well. She starts shaking and drops the fruit in her hands. Her fur stands on end and she seems ready to run.

Yes, get away from me, Zekra. Get far away from me.

But… maybe she doesn't have to run away from me.

She doesn't deserve to be treated this way... She never did anything to harm me. She is probably scared of me because she thinks I am upset that Terron knows that he woke up the Primogenitor. Perhaps he discovered it on his own, but I imagine she still thinks I will blame her, accuse her of breaking our oath, and then kill her when she's alone.

She shouldn't have to be scared of me…

I could stop acting this way…

We could continue to nurture the bond that we were starting to form… we were having a decent and somewhat meaningful conversation when we spoke to one another at the church what seemed like an eternity ago. She had interesting thoughts and I suppose with enough time, she and I could establish a more meaningful connection. It has been quite a while since I've been able to speak my thoughts so clearly without too much judgement…

And she already knows so many of my darkest secrets and seems to accept them without hating me…

Maybe…

Maybe she and I really could….

No. No, I can't think like that.

I can't ever start thinking like that. I don't want her anywhere near me. I don't want to deal with HER. I will have nothing to do with her. Because if what I'm thinking is going on with me is true, then…

No, I can't think like that. I can't.

I need to stop. Before it gets worse I have to stop.

BEFORE I MAKE MY WORST FEARS A REALITY AND NEVER RESCUE THIS DIMENSION FROM THE HELL I THREW IT INTO.

BEFORE I STOP MEANING ANYTHING.

"Terron, get your special friend out of here," I growl at him, barely able to suppress the true venom from my voice. "I need to talk to you about something and I refuse to have her here with us."

Terron starts glaring at me. I feel the animosity rising out of him. I refuse to back down. I need Zekra gone. I can't think with her here.

I can't focus with her standing there.

GET OUT OF HERE, ZEKRA.

I DON'T NEED YOU.

She runs away from me as if she can hear my thoughts. She runs far into the distance and I don't see anymore. Terron and I are alone now.

Not long after, the cloud of thoughts in my mind dissipates. I can once again think clearly and I have to resist smiling. I have always hated it when my mind has become like that. I cannot think the way I wish to and assess situations effectively. I become nothing more than an animal when I am in that disoriented state.

It reminds me that perhaps I am a true Plagued One despite what I have repeatedly told myself time and time again.

However, my relief is short-lived, for I notice Terron once more and see the malice and lividness upon his face. It is almost terrifying.

"Are you satisfied?" he asks me with a dark tone. "Are you happy that Zekra can't even look at you without wanting to faint?"

I don't answer him because quite honestly, I am not happy with what I have been doing. No, when he makes that remark, I feel something similar to claws closing in around my chest. If I still had to breathe, I would have felt as though I were suffocating.

"You deflected my question before and got everybody distracted with your whole plan to send somebody to Pledge Mountains, but I'm not going to back down from it this time," Terron then says. "This has just been going on for too long and I can't take watching this anymore."

Terron appears even more livid, scowling at me as he glares at me with an intense gaze. I think I even see a glint of a demon behind those blue eyes of his, the very same demon I had fought when he was trying to kill me. However, I do not see any thoughts of him wanting to attack me, so I do not worry. I only keep myself composed and listen to what he has to say. I would rather commence the second phase of my plan, for I do not like spending time with him either. Perhaps not as much as with Zekra… but I still prefer to minimize interactions with him. Regardless, I realize it's best he vent out everything on his mind right now so my plan can actually work. His mind will be clearer and more malleable this way.

"Why?" he asks me, half in anger and half in desperation, his face soon matching his voice. "Why do you… why do you hate Zekra?! What did she do so that you don't want to see her anymore? Because… she's scared of you, you know. She thinks that you're going to rip her organs out."

"I am not going to rip out her organs," I say with a disgusted scoff.

Of course Zekra would think that. That girl has perhaps the most morbid thought process I have ever seen. I am partially thankful I've never seen her hunt. I can only imagine what she does to her prey when she finds it. Some might say that I am a morbid person myself, but I don't ever recall ripping out people's hearts or slicing off their heads to kill them. I always did it in the dignified manner of cutting their throats open. That usually doesn't leave too much of a bloody mess everywhere, aside from the puddle of blood that has to be cleaned up afterwards.

"But you still have thoughts about killing her… I see them in your head sometimes when you're with her," Terron then says in a low voice. "You still hate her that much…"

I have to resist scowling when I hear that. Accursed mind-synch. I was hoping Terron wouldn't see those thoughts. He now probably thinks I want to kill Zekra the second he leaves her alone and I cannot afford for him to think like that.

I am about to begin telling him that these are simply passing thoughts and not true reflections of my actual opinion on Zekra, but then… I realize there is a perfect way to make my plan go smoothly. I can use this entire conversation to my advantage.

When I realize this, I allow the regret I feel for forcing Zekra away from me to come over me and frown in what I hope seems to be a pitiful manner. I even dim the lights in my eyes.

"Things are… complicated between her and I," I tell him quietly, turning away from him. "I don't intend to kill her, as there are many reasons why I cannot… but I suppose I cannot help these murderous thoughts at times. I am a shadow after all, and we shadows often have rather morbid and demented thoughts. It is simply in our nature. I cannot change what I am nor can I prevent these thoughts from arising in my mind."

Terron doesn't say anything to me, but I don't fret. I only continue on as I focus my attention on the tree that Terron had been using for target practice.

"However, I too don't enjoy these strained interactions I have with Zekra," I say to him. "You see, I would like to get along with her. She and I will be working together to defeat the Primogenitor, will we not? I need to be able to work fluently with her if that is so. I believe my main problem with her is that I simply hold resentment for her not keeping her promise to me. It's true that you discovered the truth before she ever told you… but she still broke a very important oath to me. And as you know, I do not take kindly to those who break their oaths to me."

"But she was in so much pain because she was keeping your promise…" Terron tries to reason with me. "If she had kept that promise any longer, I'm pretty sure she would have broke. You can't blame her for breaking it. I mean, I know you had a good reason for her to keep that promise, but you have to realize it was killing her from the inside and she was going to have to break it sooner or later… And it was still a good idea for me to know about everything."

"Perhaps," I admit. "However, that is the reason for my feelings toward her when I take the time to articulate them. They might not be justified, but they are what they are. But perhaps there is a way to… resolve them and decrease the strain between her and I."

"And what would that be?" Terron asks me earnestly, but also with surprise.

I have to resist smiling smugly as I look back at Terron and allow my gemstone eyes to glow with the usual amount of light they always emit. I must say my next words very carefully in order for this to work, but I am confident that all will be well. I can tell by looking at Terron it will work.

"I have no guarantees that it will work, but I would like to talk to her," I say to him. "I would like to attempt to apologize to her and work out an agreement with her so that we can move on. Like I said, there is no guarantee that it will work, for forgiveness is a fickle thing, but I feel that if perhaps I could talk to her and better understand why she did what she did, then I can feel more empathy toward her. Then, perhaps I might be able to forgive her and move on. It is the best idea I can come up with in order to mend our fractured bond, or at least fix it enough so that we do not have such hostile and fearful emotions towards one another anymore."

Terron seems to ponder over these words for a moment. I only wait patiently for him, ignoring the buzzing in my mind and the phantom feeling of the claws wrapping around my heart. I also try to keep my mind as empty as possible so that our minds cannot sync and he sees something I do not want him to see.

"Well it sounds like a good idea… but why didn't you do this earlier then?" he then wonders.

"Because I thought I could keep ignoring this problem," I answer him. "I thought I could continue to avoid Zekra completely, but after I sent Syn to go on that mission, I realized that was an impossible desire. I would have to work with her eventually and I cannot simply hope that I can avoid her the entire time the Primogenitor is being eliminated. Perhaps I do not have to be her friend, but I still need to get along with her. Thus, I cannot run away from this issue I have with Zekra. I instead must face it and make everything right again. So what do you say? Do you think that you can have Zekra meet me at the old Fellowship here in the evening two days from now?"

It doesn't take Terron very long to think about my words. I can already see a glimpse of his thought process and I have to suppress the gleeful thoughts that want to arise in my mind so he cannot see them as well.

"Alright…" he says with a sigh. "I'll tell her. It'll take some work convincing her… but I'll get her to come to talk to you. Just… please don't hurt her, okay? I mean, I get why you're mad… but just try to be rational about the whole thing? She really did try to keep your secret because she knew how much it meant to you. So don't be too hard on her and bite her head off…"

"Oh don't worry, Terron," I assure him, finally allowing myself to smile smugly. "I won't. I assure you I'm not a monster. She and I will come to an understanding."

The second phase of my plan is complete. I start to walk away, feeling satisfied with myself. Now I only need to wait two days and do whatever that must be done before I initiate step three. Everything is coming together so perfectly…

"Oh wait, I nearly forgot. You wanted to talk to me about something?" Terron then calls after me. "I kind of got distracted with what happened earlier."

I stop in my tracks. That's right; I did say that I wanted to speak to Terron regarding an unknown topic. It was the entire reason I had initiated conversation with him so that I could complete the second step of my plan. However, now it is useless thanks to Terron's hijacking of the conversation and me taking advantage of it.

I am about to end our conversation, but then I realize there actually is something I have to say to Terron.

"How is Reshiram?" I ask him, not even bothering to turn back around to address him. "I don't think I've seen him since Syn set off to Pledge Mountains."

"He's fine," Terron answers me. "He just kind of hangs around and sometimes flies around to make sure the Fellowship isn't coming from us."

"And is anyone from the Fellowship actually among us?" I then ask.

"No, Reshiram hasn't spotted anyone around the area. No Fellowship, no bandits, not even any wild Pokémon. Nobody even knows we're here, miraculously enough. It's just us."

"Hmm miraculous indeed. It seems the Primogenitor truly cannot locate us after all. I'm fairly certain it would have burnt this place to the ground by now if it felt there was even the slightest chance we were here."

I don't even need to see Terron to know that his innards are twisting inside of him.

I can feel it myself.

I leave behind Terron before my mind can begin to ponder in our conversation.

It has been two days now.

Over those two days, I did what anyone with my position and stature in life would do. I began plotting what everyone will be doing when Syn returns, using a map that I drew of Pledge Mountains with numerous wooden pieces scattered across it. Each piece bears a vague resemblance to Pokémon I want to keep track of and I place them upon the map to assign them certain roles and positions they are best suited in. It helps keep my mind organized and my followers do not disturb the map or move the pieces whenever they see it.

I had decided that I would give Syn a day of rest, as I imagined that traveling all the way to Pledge Mountains and sneaking through it can be quite an exhausting endeavor. I certainly remember my own journey to Pledge Mountains those many, many years ago. Those mountains can be quite difficult to climb, and it's not as though Syn can have someone fly him up to the very summit where the base awaits. Plagued or not, I will at least allow him rest. I cannot allow him to be fatigued when I require his power to defeat the Primogenitor.

I suppose, when I think about it, Terron was right when he said that his friends would be of great help. Now that seemingly all of them have gathered, I was able to find a role for each of them and saw how beneficial they are. I cannot guarantee that the plan I crafted will be the actual plan I will use when the time comes, for there is always the distinct possibility of variables being changed, particularly if we do not even need to invade the Pledge Mountain Fellowship despite my persistent belief that we will have to. Regardless, the plan I have carefully crafted is adequate until Syn returns and introduces variables I have not considered.

For Terron, it is obvious what I intended to do with him. I planned on making him my second-in command. I have been watching him from afar ever since he and I reunited in that swamp, and I had begun to realize that he has grown both in skill and maturity since I last saw him. There is a distinct aura radiating from his soul that reminds me of the power I feel within my own soul. I have even seen him command some of my own followers at times when they wanted guidance, and they obey him just as strongly as they would with me. I imagine they sense myself in him and thus are not afraid to seek his guidance due that, something I'm not quite concerned about when I do not have anything important for them to do as of this moment. Regardless, when the time comes and Syn returns, I will either have him lead and command a fraction of my followers to Pledge Mountain, or I will have him by my side, fighting with me. The synchronization between our minds mustn't go to waste, after all. I do sometimes resent being in Terron's company, but I do realize the potential it has when in battle and if I begin to feel that I need extra support, I will ask for his assistance. I cannot think of a better person to fight by my side than someone who already knows everything I am going to do.

The fire god, Reshiram, will of course make excellent aerial coverage. I honestly didn't think that I would ever have a godly being on my side, and yet I do, all thanks to Terron. With Reshiram's gift of wings and divine fire, I intend on having him incinerate anyone that dares to oppose us as all of us invade the Fellowship. I cannot think of many Pokémon that can oppose a godly being. Not even the three Pledge Mountain leaders, the true founders of the Fellowship, can stand up to him despite what they are. Perhaps he will make killing the Primogenitor more successful due to his power being more evenly matched to that monstrosity.

Syn I decided I would use as a scouter. I'll send him along with a few of my members to the location of the portal, sending them ahead of the rest of my group as we storm the Fellowship. They will secure it and guard it until I get there, making sure that pesky Fellowship members do not interfere. It would be a fitting job, given that he already knows how to get to the portal and can perhaps send one of my members to me so that we are led to the location. Besides, I do not want him anywhere near me. He's still the one that ruined my plan. I'll kill him if I spend too long with him.

Impetus, that Mienshao that I only knew as a Mienfoo, I was less sure about for a time. I did not quite know her power, as I haven't bothered to pay much attention to her, but I imagined she must've had powerful stamina. She also exhibited a strange sort of wisdom I have not seen before. She is almost a zen-like sort of being. Thus, because I was feeling uncertain, I enlisted on Terron's help to find something to do with her, for he knew and understood her far better than I did. He brought her into our little meeting not long after I asked that, and together, the three of us decided she would best serve as a distraction. She felt that thanks to her demonic appearance, Fellowship members would notice her and try to kill her, believing her to be a Plagued One. Thus, she'd lead their attention away from us and allow our infiltration to go along much more smoothly. And thus, Impetus soon became my prime distractor, wreaking havoc on the Fellowship while we slipped inside and found the portal. She warned that she couldn't distract the Fellowship forever, for surely they'd notice hundreds of new Pokémon flooding the place, but she felt she could at least buy us time.

Thus that only left… one other Pokémon to give a role.

Zekra.

I quite honestly had to have Terron help me with her. I admittedly knew of her powerful illusion abilities, even if Terron claimed they were far more powerful than I might think they were, but I didn't know what to do with them. Every time I tried to think about her, my mind would become stumped and I would find myself in a blank state. Thus, I had to hunt down Terron and with him, figure out what to do with his special friend. He was baffled by that, not understanding how I couldn't think of something when Zekra could change into any Pokémon she had seen at least once and could potentially distort others' perceptions, but I would only say that I could simply not come up with a role for her. He was utterly confused by this, not understanding how someone like me who creates plans so seamlessly could possibly not be able to come up with a role for a Zoroark, but he did help decide that Zekra would be best suited at playing decoy. She could confuse the Fellowship and make them think that she was either me or Terron or whoever else they were most concerned about, and then lead them far away. And though it reminded me of Impetus's role in some ways, I didn't bother arguing. I only wanted to stop thinking about Zekra.

Thinking about her only continues to fog my mind and make me become disoriented… I get these thoughts I don't enjoy having.

But no longer. It is now the evening, two days after I told Lume and Noc to see me again, as well as the night I am supposed to spend time with Zekra in an attempt to lessen the strain between her and I. I am back at that church Zekra and I battled in, and I am sitting amongst the burnt remains of some pews, winding a jagged end of my cape around one of my claws. I've had this cape for a very long time, now that I think about it. It's filled with holes and tear marks from numerous fights I have been caught in, and when I think about it, I really should get a new cape. True, this cape doesn't exactly do anything, but I enjoy wearing it because it provides a sense of authority and position of power. What kind of person of power wears a cloak that seems about ready to fall apart at the seams? It does make some believe that I have been through much, as I most certainly have, but to others it might make me look unsightly and perhaps hint away that I am deteriorating in the mind as well. I'm sure that I could find another black cape somewhere on Shiron. It wouldn't be that difficult…

I'm not able to continue entertaining this strange train of thought, for I feel a familiar presence in the chapel. I release my hold on my cape as I watch Lume and Noc rise out of the ground near me, both of their eyes glimmering with eagerness and excitement.

"We've gathered much information I believe you'll find quite beneficial and interesting," Lume says to me. "Each of the Pokémon you asked us to spy on have many remarkable things about them. Which would you like to hear about first?"

"Zekra," I say without hesitation.

Yes, tell me about Zekra. Tell me all about that Zoroark.

Tell me how to deal with her.

Lume resists flinching from my sudden answer, but she doesn't hesitate to provide me the information I request.

"Zekra. Very well," she says to me with a small bow of her head. "Ah, she is a rather amusing Pokémon. She spends much of her time with Terron, and the two of them seem rather close. I hardly seem them apart from one another. However, during the times that they are apart, whether it is because Terron is in a meeting with you or something of the sort, she becomes uncharacteristically cowardly. It is rather strange. She displays such a powerful, confident personality whenever she is with Terron, and yet the second he leaves, she is reduced to such a weak state."

"I have seen similar," I state. "She also becomes the same way when I am in her presence, even when she is with Terron. What else have you discovered about her?"

"She has very strange powers, even for a Zoroark," Noc then says to me. "From what I heard during a conversation between her and Terron, she appears to have merged with her plague and now she holds startling powers because of it."

"So she is just like Syn and Impetus," I note, more to myself than my followers.

"Yes, exactly," Noc says with a nod. "I followed her when she went hunting once. Apparently, she can cut down anything with her claws, including very large trees. Somehow, her plague makes her claws sharp and strong enough to do something I think only a Tyranitar should be able to do. Then also, she has this power that resembles the Night Burst some Zoroark use, but far more powerful. It honestly looks more Ho-oh rained fire down from the heavens. It incinerates everything."

So Zekra truly is quite powerful now, even without that Deception Amulet that she no longer has for whatever reason. I'm not very surprised if I must be honest. I always saw great power in her since the day I met her. Of course, I never imagined that power would be related to her being able to detonate what was essentially a bomb over a vicinity.

But then Noc says something that really surprises me, something I truly was not expecting at all.

"But I think her greatest power… is that her plague can actually show up in the real world," Noc informs me with a quiet voice.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" I ask him, glaring at him.

"Well… her plague makes itself appear outside of her head by using an illusion," he explains. "It can turn into anything, but most of the time it appears as a Sableye for a reason I haven't been able to understand. But regardless of its appearance, it's a rather frightening power. That illusion can do serious damage and you can't actually hurt it, you know, since it's just an illusion. The only way you can get rid of it is to attack Zekra herself, but then the illusion usually comes back and then starts attacking you so that you can't hurt Zekra anymore. I saw a wild Meganium try to do that out in the forest when Zekra was hunting. What happened after wasn't exactly a pretty sight. Zekra plague's very protective of her. It even calls itself a name. Venri."

Venri.

So Zekra essentially has what I have; a shadow to protect her when she cannot defend herself. She has an extension of herself that serves as one of her main trump cards and can turn the tide of any battle. She is just like Syn in some ways.

When I hear this, I begin to see that this is problematic. I was not expecting Zekra to have a power that protected her when she could not protect herself. I suppose it's not very surprising, given that she's a Zoroark, but still. This changes many things. This alters quite a bit I had in my mind regarding my plan.

But before I can feel the despair that perhaps my plan will no longer work, I realize that there is a way around this problem. It's vague at first, but after pondering in it for a moment, it solidifies and I realize that perhaps Venri is not so problematic after all. She'll certainly be an obstacle, but she's no hindrance I cannot overcome. I've faced far worse than plague that likes to take on my appearance. She isn't anything like Syn and his shadow.

She's weaker than them.

I get up from my seat and look at both of my ghostly companions.

"Lume, Noc, you've done well. That is all the information I need," I say to them.

"You do not want to know about the others?" Lume asks, tilting her head.

"No, I only need to know about Zekra," I tell her, turning away from her and facing the nearest wall. "You two gave me enough information for me to carry out what needs to be done next. The others were merely a precaution so that if you were caught, no one could figure out I only had my sights set on only Zekra. So with that said… I must ask. How much have both of your hypnotic abilities grown since I last asked you to use them?"

After giving Lume and Noc my directions, I leave them be and head back to my planning headquarters where the map is. It's within a small little store I cleared out when I first got here that is only nessecary to hold the table that the map rests upon with a few supplies littering the floor, as well as the shelves that remained of the store before I came along. No one is within the planning room, for my members are either eating dinner elsewhere or simply drifting about.

They will not be anywhere near me today. I specifically told all of my members at a secret conference I held yesterday to leave me alone until tomorrow morning. I said I had important business and I didn't need distractions. I do not even entertain the thought that one of my followers is disobeying me. They are very loyal to me. They will listen to me and do as say, even if they sometimes don't completely understand my reasoning.

They listen because I have built their trust after all of these gruesome, nightmarish years. They know I want what's best for all of us and though I may not always show it with my behavior, they know I am doing the right thing.

I stop pondering the thought as I phase my claws through the ground right beneath the table and fumble around until I feel something cold brush against my clawtips. I grab it as soon as I feel it and bring it back up to the surface. Soon, I find myself clutching an object that I am sure so many of my members and Terron will recognize.

It's a pin that suppresses the plague.

I found several of them after I had to flee from my own Fellowship. They were among other Pokémon that were apparently using them to disguise the fact that they were Plagued Ones. I admittedly didn't quite understand the logistics behind this for a while, and that has only recently changed thanks to Terron explaining to me what Impetus and Syn found while they were away, but I still kept these pins because I knew they would prove very beneficial.

Especially tonight.

Tonight, this pin right here will prove to be very, VERY beneficial.

I take the pin and I clip it onto the inside of cape where the collar is, this way no one can see it. Then, after making sure that it is fastened properly, I leave behind the planning room and make my way to the old Aurora Town Fellowship building. I take the time to revel in the quiet of the night as the remaining light of the sun is snuffed out from the horizon, dying the world dark blue with the dim glimmers of the stars above.

A time later, I find myself standing in front of the abandoned Fellowship. Since I find myself alone, I take the time to gaze upon it and study the toll time has taken upon it. In the many months since I have last seen this Fellowship, it has shown some wear. The trees are still doing quite fine, growing and extending their branches as if nothing had changed, but the same cannot be said about the hollows within the trees. Though it is difficult to see from my position, I can tell that the insides have been ransacked and that several walls are beginning to rot. Black, decaying wood makes up the interior of the massive network of trees and I can even see some feral Pokémon living within, particular of the bug variety. They are clinging to the walls with their silk, either because they want a place to rest or because they are waiting for hapless prey to take shelter and accidentally fly themselves into their webs. I think I even see the husks of a few bugs that had their insides sucked dry amongst some of the webs or littered along the ground.

I don't know why I never chose to make a base here after I came here with Terron a while ago. Maybe it was because it felt wrong to invade this once prestigious Fellowship that was once run by one of my old acquaintances. Maybe I even thought it was haunted by the spirits of dead Fellowship members. I can even see some dimensional tears in the area that would allow spirits to wander here from their realm. They are literally rips in the air, and when I look into the tears, I see a world that I know is not meant for mortals to see. It's far too surreal. But regardless, the tears are not very large, but I imagine if a dead Pokémon truly wanted to, they could come haunt this Fellowship.

Even still, maybe I should change that. This base would make a better place for all of my followers to stay anyway instead of the random houses or hiding places they have found. True, we would have to clean up the place a little and drive out all of the vermin, but this base could still serve as an adequate lodge until we are to invade Pledge Mountain.

I suppose there's nothing wrong with fixing this unruly Fellowship base if it can serve as a good, temporary home for all of us. We are the embodiment of what Len always stood for and perhaps this might be my ultimate way of paying tribute to his efforts. Even though I have not spoken with him in quite a long while, I do know that he was a virtuous Pokémon. He truly did fight because he wanted to end the Plagued Ones.

In some ways, he was the true leader of the Fellowship, not those insidious three beasts of Pledge Mountain that I once called my masters.

"Um… hi."

I hear a rather familiar voice from behind me. I turn around to find myself staring at Zekra, who is standing several feet away from me. Even from my distance, I can see her shaking and tapping her claws together. Even the glow in her eyes no longer seems as bright in the darkness that encompasses us.

Once again I feel my thoughts begin to fray apart. They start unraveling and soon the voices of many opinions invade my mind. However, before they can do any real damage to me and make focusing a rather difficult task, I am able to stop them. I stop them by telling them one thing.

We are going to settle this tonight, once and for all.

And when they hear those words, they do quiet. They do not go away completely, but they do at least allow me to hear the thoughts I wish to hear and my thought process becomes more stable. When that has been taken care over, I then bring my attention back over to Zekra. She is still as nervous as ever.

"Hello, Zekra," I tell her, keeping my voice composed and not at all malicious like I have been since she and I reunited. "I see that Terron convinced you to come talk with me."

"Y-Yeah, he did," she says, her voice so quiet that I can barely hear her from where I am. "Um… isn't… isn't he going to be here with us? I thought he was…"

"Ah no, it's just going to be you and I tonight. The two of us can't exactly have a meaningful talk when there's a third wheel with us, can we?" I say to her rhetorically.

Zekra doesn't say anything to me, only choosing to keep her distance from me. I sigh at the sight of this, but not because I actually have to sigh. I don't need to breathe now that I'm a ghost. I only do that because I don't know how else I'm supposed to convey the meaning that comes from a sigh. It's strange to some Pokémon, but I've chosen not to reflect in how some might view my strange ways.

"Zekra, I'm not going to hurt you," I assure her. "I only want to talk to you and try to resolve this problem that has come between us. There's no reason for you to be scared of me. Remember how well we seemed to be getting along when we last spoke at that church? Do you not want to be able to do that again?"

"I do…" Zekra answers me. "I like being able to talk to you, even if you're kind of hard to talk to sometimes. But you can be kind of… messed up sometimes. Like when you tried to kill me when I wouldn't leave you alone. It kind of makes it hard to talk to you now…"

"You know I can't actually kill you," I tell her, scowling now. "If I recall correctly, you're a Zoroark now and I'm still a tiny Sableye. You must have a large amount of power within you if you were able to evolve. Therefore, you have no real reason to fear me. If anything, you could kill me far faster than I could ever kill you."

Zekra's reluctance starts to fade when she hears that, and I see that stops trembling as much. However, she still keeps her distance from me. She's still wary of me. When I see that, I realize I can't wait for her to get over her fear of me. I'm far too impatient for that. Standing here with her is already quite taxing. I can feel the claws wrapping around my chest again and the burning as well.

I stop scowling, making it so that I'm only frowning while I hold out one set of claws to Zekra. I try to also make it so that I appear as though I'm trying to be sympathetic, but I don't know how well I am succeeding. I don't remember the last time I've tried to appear this way.

"Zekra, listen to me," I tell her, trying to soften my voice so that it's no longer brimming with agitation and darkness. "I know that I caused you a lot of pain by making you keep my promise. I'm not going to pretend that I completely understand everything that happened to you, because I honestly don't know what happened to you after I left. Terron hasn't told me, and you most certainly haven't. And while I understand you were in pain because of me, I'm still upset at you for breaking our promise I entrusted you with. You forced me to spill that information to you, and then you gave it away after everything I told you. We're both hurt here, Zekra. We both have a valid reason for the feelings within our hearts.

"So tell me, how are we ever going to get over our pain if we won't talk to each other? If we keep avoiding this talk, things between us are just going to get worse. I'm going to despise you more, and in return, you're going to think I'm going to kill you for breaking our oath. This cycle is going to continue on for a while, and then after a while, one of us will snap. I don't know who will be first, but one of two things will happen. Either you'll run away where you'll think I'll never find you, or I'll snap and lash out at you. I'd rather not have either happen. Especially when we are so close to stopping the Primogenitor…"

I look at Zekra to find that she's still standing where she was before. I release another sigh as I make my way toward her. I can see some tension in her, as if she intends to bolt away from me, but somehow she is able to keep herself still and allows me to come closer to her. Within a matter of moments, I'm standing right before her. She's watching me very carefully and is still skittish, but nearly as much as before.

"I know I've been the cause of this vicious cycle that's been formed between us," I tell her somberly. "I know that I'm the reason you're so scared of me and why everything's so strained. So, let me be the one to suggest that we end this. I don't enjoy this anymore than you do. I know that might be difficult to believe, but it's true. So let's… end this. Let's try to find a way for us to remove this tension between us and be able to get along again. Let's end the pain. For both of us."

I once again hold out my hand toward her. I can feel my hand trembling, but I do my best to keep it still so that she will not notice it. I watch as she stares down at my hand, giving it a look as if I have numerous barbs sticking out of my palms that will impale her the moment she touches them. I'm about to consider the thought that perhaps Zekra doesn't quite understand that I want her to take my hand in a show of acceptance, given that she grew up as a creature that walked upon four legs, but then I notice a change in Zekra.

She starts smiling. It's a reluctant smile, but it's also a hopeful one. The light in her eyes even returns as she crouches down so that she's better at my eye level.

"Yeah… let's end this," she says to me with a hoarse voice, as if she's holding back tears. "I want to be able to talk to you again without being scared anymore. I really do…"

Then she grabs my hand with hers, which she is able to do because I am keeping my hand tangible.

All I'm supposed to do is hold her hand for a moment. I'm supposed to make her realize that we are finally coming to an agreement and that the two of us will be able to exist in harmony with each other once more.

But I don't.

An impulse strikes me with the power and suddenness of a lightning bolt cast down from a mighty storm summoned by perhaps Zekrom herself, and I can't stop myself from obeying it.

I intertwine my fingers with hers mine despite how much larger her claws are than mine and I feel her warmth spread through me. It's so strong and powerful that I feel a strange energy ripple through my body that manifests in me in the form of a smile. Not a grin of smugness or contempt, but an actual smile of happiness. I feel a pleasant shudder course through me.

I tighten my claws around hers, wanting more of this feeling, and all of the worries and troubles in my mind slowly begin to fade away. No longer do I feel the weight of so many burdens pressing down upon me. I instead feel all of my thoughts drift away as I am whisked into a dreamy and serene wonderland where all is well. There are no Plagued Ones, no Primogenitor, no Fellowship, no leadership responsibilities, or even an outside world. I am in the happiest place I can be, my heart warm and light as I am filled with boundless energy.

I want to take Zekra and have her twirl around with me in this world. Just her, in fact. I don't need anyone else with me. Only she needs to be there with me and I will be happy like this for all eternity.

Perhaps she can see this world I am within her own mind as well. Or even better, perhaps she can make it a reality with her illusion powers and we can frolic about it together. I'm most certain she can. She is a Zoroark after all and I do recall that being an ability that the species has.

We can be happy together in that world of ecstasy.

Forever and ever.

We can be together and…

Wait.

Wait.

Dear GOD, no!

God no, it's happening! It's happening. I'm losing myself.

I'm losing myself to her.

As soon as I realize these things, I'm abruptly ripped out of my wistful and beautiful world and forced back into reality. And as soon as I am, all of the happiness is torn out of me as well. It is all torn from me, all of the false happiness and all of the insane delusions I was creating within my mind…

They're all gone and I only have one thing left within me. All I have… is the pain of knowing what all of this means. I can feel it ripping away at me, tearing into my soul as if it intends to rend it in half. It stings with a terrible ferocity that is far more horrific than anything else I have ever faced before. Something far more horrifying than even the thought that I brought the Primogenitor to bring destruction upon Shiron…

I'M DISAPPEARING.

I lash out at Zekra. In her moment of shared bliss and complete obliviousness, I rip my claws free from Zekra before flinging myself at her and tackle her down. Despite her large size, she isn't able to stop me as I latch onto her and force her down onto the cobblestone beneath our feet.

I NEED TO FOLLOW THE PLAN.

I NEED TO END THIS.

IT'S ALMOST OVER.

Zekra flinches the moment she hits the ground. I take advantage of this moment of vulnerability and raise both of my claws into the air, holding them high above both me and Zekra in her dazed state.

IT'S FINALLY GOING TO BE OVER.

I fill my claws with the power to kill any plagued being. They become covered in dark wisps so that it appears my claws are now fireballs of malicious energy. I can see them flickering in Zekra's eyes.

I DON'T NEED YOU, ZEKRA.

With all of my strength, I throw my claws down upon her neck.

But before I can sink my claws into her neck and obliterate the plague that is revitalizing her and keeping her alive, a Sableye suddenly appears between my claws and Zekra. She grabs my claws with her own and stops me, though not without my claws cutting through her. But much to my astonishment, my claws leave no marks on that Sableye. The Sableye doesn't even flinch.

Instead, she shoots me a powerful glare, one filled with the very same animosity and viciousness I see within all of the Plagued Ones.

It is when I see that do I realize what this Sableye is.

This is Venri, Zekra's shadow given life.

"Oh you just made the wrong move!" Venri screams at me in a twisted, distorted version of Zekra's own voice. "You have no idea who you're dealing with!"

She then lashes out at me, morphing into a terrifying abomination that I can only describe to be a mesh of many creatures at once. But she can't hurt me, because I rip my claws out of her grasp. Then I leap off of Zekra and disappear into the ground, melting into a shadow as I dart away from it. I reemerge back to the surface several feet away and find that the abomination is standing in front of Zekra, growling and hissing like a demonic guard dog. Zekra is no longer collapsed on the ground, but now instead sitting. However, she seems to make no attempts to run away, only giving me a horrified gaze of utter betrayal and hurt.

I feel something inside of me sting at the sight of that.

I shouldn't keep this up… I should abandon my plan right now.

Zekra didn't do anything to deserve this…

It's not her fault that she…

No.

No, it has to be this way. I can't let this continue.

I have to end this.

ZEKRA NEEDS TO DIE.

Venri morphs her form into that of a more comprehensible Zoroark form before she springs at me. She moves with a startling speed that is very unnatural, but I've already come to expect such things from plagued beings. Just as she's to crash into me, I jump out of the way. In my place, my shadow rises out of the ground and receives the full brunt of Venri's attack. It wraps itself around Venri as she runs into it and it constricts her like a snake so that she cannot move. She screeches as she fights the binds of my shadow, but my shadow is persistent and refuses to loosen its hold on her.

I use the short time I've bought myself to hurry toward Zekra. Her shadow won't be stuck in my own shadow's trap for very long.

And sure enough, I am right. Venri appears before me when I begin to run, having dismissed her old illusion so that she could make a new one to attack me. I can see the lividness in her eyes as she lashes out at me, bringing her claws down upon my tiny form. I do not know if she can actually touch me, but I am in no mood to find out.

"You're going to have to try harder than that!" she screams at me.

I reach into the collar of my cape and rip out the anti-plague pin that I took from my hiding spot earlier that day and decide to try something. I avoid her claws as they pierce the ground where I was just standing, and then I fling myself at her. I take the pin grasped tightly in my claws and when I close in on Venri, I press the pin down upon her illusionary body.

When the metal comes in contact with Venri, Venri immediately tenses. The determined and vengeful glimmer in her eyes is suddenly washed away and a more fearful appearance comes over her. She almost appears so similar to Zekra when she is in this state, and for a moment, I think I may have found this shadow's weakness.

But it turns out I am wrong, because I soon realize that Venri is not in pain or disappearing like I have anticipated. She is still amongst me in the form of a Zoroark illusion. It does not take long for Venri to realize this as well. As soon as she does, she begins grinning and the confident and almost evil light in her eyes returns.

"I'm not real, remember?" she says, mocking me. "I'm just an illusion. You can't hurt me with that thing. But I can hurt you!"

She strikes at me with her claws, and I'm not able to avoid them as quickly. I am knocked away from the shadow as I feel the three claws strike against me, and I soon find myself hitting the ground. I make my body intangible so that I slip through the dirt before the shadow can hurt me while I am temporarily dazed, and I soon find myself surrounded in the darkness of the underground world.

When my mind settles itself, I find that I do hurt from what Venri did to me. She managed to strike me across the side of my face, and I can still feel it aching. Despite the fact that some might believe that ghost-types do not feel pain because our bodies are strange, we actually can. We can feel pain just as how organic creatures of carbon could. We feel the burning when lightning strikes us, we feel as though our very bodies are melting when we are lit on fire, and we most certainly feel the biter stinging when we are struck with any sort of cold element. It's only that we cannot feel pain if someone were to physically strike us, because our bodies will automatically make us intangible the second that we are near any sort of living creatures, even if we do not consciously know it ourselves. It's a complicated, instinct-related defense mechanism that I have never completely understood.

But regardless, it seems that Venri actually can hurt me. I had thought that she could, but now I have a confirmation. The current injury she has inflicted upon me is rather painful, but it's thankfully not debilitating. I can already feel my plague easing the pain and restoring the pieces of my ghostly flesh that have been traumatized. Venri apparently can't kill me on her own, though this still is problematic. She can still hurt me enough that perhaps she can render me unconscious and allow Zekra to escape.

That can't happen.

I get out of the underground world and come back to the surface world. Unsurprisingly, I find Venri standing not too far away from me, poised and ready to strike. Behind her, I see Zekra beginning to run away, fleeing further into the city.

GET BACK HERE, ZEKRA.

I only have to take one step before Venri is after me once again, but she is much faster this time. She succeeds in striking me with her claws, but rather than fling me away as she had done last time, she holds me in the grasp of her claws. Venri curls her sharp, blade-like claws around me as she keeps smiling at me. I find that I cannot phase through them.

"Nope! You're not going to get her anymore!" she says to me, grinning evilly. "You're just going to have to wait here until she finds Terron and brings him here. And when he sees what you've been trying to do to her… well, let's say even I don't want to see that."

I frown at the plague shadow as I awkwardly throw the pin in my hand at her forehead. Venri only ducks as it goes flying over her head, clattering to the ground somewhere behind her.

"I told you, that's not going to work on me!" she sighs in exasperation. "Just give up already! You can't beat me and Zekra! You could before a long time ago, but not anymore! Not now that we're synchronized!"

"Are you really sure about that?" I ask her with a dark tone in a voice.

For a moment, Venri seems puzzled by my ominous question. She stares at me with a strange gaze, perhaps thinking that I might be saying something useful, and then quickly shakes her head and glares at me.

"Of course I'm sure! You're not going anywhere and Zekra's going to find Terron!" she assures me. "What kind of a stupid question is that?"

"Because Zekra isn't going to find Terron," I explain to her. "Or Impetus. Or even Reshiram. Because right now, two of my members have hypnotized her friends so that they think my two members are myself and Zekra I. In those three's minds, I am amongst them with Zekra and am telling them how we succeeded in resolving our issue peacefully. I'm fairly certain my imposter self is even being rather pleasant to them."

I feel Venri's grip loosen on me for just a moment, but she quickly tightens it before I can think about escaping. Her eyes take on a more sinister hue and they illuminate the darkness around us so brightly that if I still had normal eyes, I would have gone blind.

"Then of course…" I tell her as I resist a smile, relishing the distressed state I've put this troublesome shadow into. "Zekra doesn't actually stand a chance against me if she doesn't have you with her…"

It is not long after I've said this does a desperate shriek echo through the air around us. Venri and I turn our heads to find Zekra coming back into our views. Or more specifically, she is being dragged back to us by my amorphous shadow. She thrashes and screams and claws at the shadow that has its grasp tightly around her mane, but it refuses to let her go and only continues to haul her back to Venri and I with its unrelenting strength.

Venri looks down at me with an utterly horrified look on her face, and I can see that she, for the first time, realizes I don't have a shadow anymore. I knew that I couldn't get to Zekra when Venri would be following me everywhere I went, so I sent my shadow after Zekra not long after I came back to the surface world. She simply hadn't noticed because it's rather difficult to see a shadow in the darkness of night.

But that is not the only thing that Venri missed when she was too busy paying attention to me…

She and I only have to look back at my shadow and Zekra to see something glimmering and metallic in its grasp; the plague pin. My shadow curls itself around Zekra so that she can't move as it takes the pin with it. Then, before Venri or Zekra can react, my shadow shoves the pin's surface against Zekra's forehead.

I prepare myself for the anguished shrieking that will be coming from Venri any second now. I certainly remember how Terron's plague reacted when I used the same tactic on him, thus I ready myself. Once Venri begins to disappear, I must make haste and kill Zekra. This battle has lasted far longer than it needed to.

But much to my surprise…

Nothing happens.

Even though I can clearly see my shadow pressing the pin against Zekra, Venri is not disappearing. She's still got me in her grasp, refusing to let me go. The pin isn't affecting her at all.

Why?

Why won't it work?

The pins from the hiding spot I took that one out of aren't defective. I've had my members use them before and they said that they worked just fine. So why won't this work? Why won't Venri disappear?

Why can't I kill Zekra?

As if Venri can actually hear my thoughts, she begins laughing hysterically, though not enough so that I can slip out of her grasp and hurry over to Zekra so I can murder her. She looks at me, trying to stifle her laughter so that it doesn't muffle her words, but she is still unable to get rid of the smug smirk upon her face.

"You really thought that was going to work?" Venri asked, both baffled and entertained by my idea. "Really?! Oh wow, so that was your grand plan all along. Thought you could just smother me out so that you actually had a chance of killing Zekra? Wow. And you even made it so that nobody could stop you! You really did plan this out really carefully. Well, sorry to say, but I'm kind of immune to those stupid pins. Can't silence me at all with them."

You're lying to me.

I can get rid of you.

AND I KNOW HOW TO DO IT.

Within my mind, I tell my shadow to carry out a new order.

I have my shadow cut open Zekra's chest and then ram the pin into her heart.

That is when the blood-curdling scream I had anticipated penetrates the air. Not only is just the one like I had hoped, but it's from two different sources. The first one is obviously from Zekra, as having her chest cut open is a rather painful experience, especially when a shadow is attacking her very heart. The second one, the only one I truly cared about, is coming from Venri.

I can see her form beginning to fizzle out of existence as she drops me and releases the demonic cries of a monster, her form shifting between Zoroark, Sableye, Umbreon, and a variety of other Pokémon I've encountered in my lifetime. She also temporarily takes on the form of a dragon-like creature that highly resembles the Primogenitor when it had grown strong enough. Seeing my chance, I race toward Zekra.

Venri does not stop me. I can see her trying to, for she keeps glaring at me and attempts to run toward me, but she's unsuccessful. She's only able to run a few paces before her form fizzles out, and then she stops existing in the real world before reappearing in the very same spot a second or two later. Thus, it takes very little time to reach Zekra, who is too distracted to even notice that I am standing right beside her.

I look down at Zekra one last time, watching her writhe and squirm, before I fill one of my claws with the plague-killing power. My shadow gives me the pin so that I can continue pressing it down upon Zekra's exposed heart while it returns to being a regular shadow upon the ground.

I need to do this fast. I need to stop the heart, and then put the pin on myself before my own plague comes back. Killing Zekra will have broken our deal after all, the one where I promised to spare Zekra's life in exchange for its silence, and it will undoubtedly pester me forever thanks to what I am going to do next. Or the thoughts I despise will come back and they'll be the ones to stop me. I can't have either of them.

NOW LET'S GET THIS OVER WITH SO I CAN ACTUALLY DO WHAT I MUST.

EVERYTHING WILL BE BETTER WITH ZEKRA DEAD.

I am just about to strike at Zekra's heart when something grabs me and tears me away from Zekra. I'm unsurprised to find Venri is holding me down against the cobblestone road. Her form continues to change every few seconds, and from the way her eyes flicker as she sporadically changes, I can tell that she is in much pain. Even though the pin may no longer be touching her, for it flew out of my grasp when she tackled me down, she must still be suffering from the after effects.

"You'll never kill Zekra," she growls at me, her voice warbled and just as sporadic in tone as her form. "Don't you EVER try to kill her! I won't ever let that happen!"

I scowl at her, growing tired of her game. She stands no chance against me now that I know what her weakness is, and I have no time to deal with her any longer. Once again, I send my shadow after the pin that's resting along the ground nearby and tell it keep the pin on Zekra's heart. She can't stop me from doing that. She can only be in one place at a time apparently despite being such a seemingly powerful plagued one. It's only a matter of time before Zekra is dead then.

"It's over, Venri," I tell her simply. "Give up. You can't win against me. It doesn't matter that Zekra has you; she's still not strong enough to stop me."

She looks behind her to see my shadow going after the pin. I see the desperation on her face from knowing that she can't win in this situation. Despite how strong she might have thought herself to be, there was only one of her, and two of me. She might have had the upper hand if Zekra were helping her, but sadly for her, Zekra is too afraid of me to fight any longer. Zekra no longer has the bravado she displayed to me the last time she and I talked.

I watch Venri as she keeps her afraid eyes on the moving shadow as it closes in on the pin. I can see how much she wants to chase after it, but she knows that if she does, then that would allow me to go after Zekra and kill her.

Venri looks back at me again, and I can see the hate and despair flourishing in her eyes as she temporarily takes on an appearance that bears a resemblance to me.

"No, it's not over!" Venri cries. "It's not over! I WON'T LET IT!"

That is when Venri's form stabilizes and she continues to remain as a Sableye. Her body begins to emit a strange, red power that takes on the form of an aura, and I can see it shining through her gemstone eyes.

Then, there is a flash of black, and I see Venri's shadow detach itself from her and fly towards my own shadow. When it reaches it, her shadow entangles with my own, and they begin to clash amongst each other. And though my shadow is rather strong, it cannot fight back against Venri's own shadow. Her shadow overpowers it within seconds and soon, her shadow has subdued and engulfed my shadow, rendering it useless.

I can only lay there, held down by Venri's grasp, utterly baffled. That power to make your shadow move on your own… that's not a power you can copy. No one else except I has that power. Even Zeverous, when I fought with him, could not copy that power. Powers given to you by the plague cannot be replicated because they are far too complex and require too much energy to wield. Even if they could be imitated… they couldn't be to such a perfect degree. They'd be flawed in a remarkable way.

But Venri had just perfectly copied my own technique. She replicated it, and not only that, but she made it far stronger than my own version of it.

She had overcome my greatest power.

I tell myself that I have another second wind I can use. I had found Venri's weakness earlier when she had seemingly bested me, so surely I could do something similar again. I could pull out another trump card and kill Zekra as I must.

But I can't. There is no other trump card to be found. My shadow was my greatest power. Now it's been rendered useless by Venri's own shadow.

I've lost.

Venri looks down at me as she turns back into a Zoroark, still glaring at me with the cold spite that she had directed at me earlier.

"I was going to let you live," she tells me with a hiss. "I knew that you were going to try and kill Zekra when we got back here, but Zekra wouldn't believe me and said we should leave you alone. But now… maybe I shouldn't listen to her anymore. Maybe I should kill you instead. Maybe she'd actually agree with me even after it was all over."

"Killing me will kill Terron as well," I tell her blankly. "You'd murder her dearest friend if you were to end my life. Or did you perhaps not make the connection?"

"I don't know that for sure," Venri tells me instead. "You guys have been separated for years, so maybe Terron's grown enough on his own so he could keep living if you were gone. There's only one way to find out, isn't there?"

I don't say anything to that because quite frankly, I don't know how to reply to that. I don't even know if Venri is correct in saying that she can kill me. She is nothing more than an illusion, and yet with the way she is glaring at me and the sinister vibe she is giving off… there is something unmistakably different about Venri. Something more powerful and foreboding that makes me insides feel cold.

"Venri, stop!"

Venri and I turn our heads to find that Zekra is standing near us. The wound my shadow had inflicted upon her has closed up, making it so that I can no longer see her heart. She no longer appears as scared or hurt as before, now standing with more of the strength that I have seen in her when she wasn't with me. There is still some unease, but she seems to be making an effort to fighting it.

"Venri… we're not hurting him," Zekra says quietly.

"What? Why not?!" Venri cries in exasperation. "He totally tried to kill you! We have to kill him or else he'll try to kill you all over again!"

"No, we're not," Zekra says more firmly this time. "I… I want to talk to him. I'm going to figure out why he's really acting this way."

"Yeah, because that worked out so well the last time you tried that," Venri scoffs as she rolls her eyes.

"Venri. Let me talk to him," she says, glaring at her shadowy self. "We're not going to kill each other again, okay? I know what I'm doing. Trust me."

Venri continues to return the very same glare to Zekra, and for a while, the two of them refuse to remove their gazes from each other. It happens for a such long while, that I begin to wonder if perhaps they'll continue to glare at each other until morning. But thankfully, Venri finally breaks off her stare and gives a defeated sigh.

"Alright, fine, I'll let you guys talk. Not like it could get any worse than it just did anyway," Venri says with a dismissive wave of her paw before looking at me with a malicious glint in her eyes. "But I swear, if you even touch Zekra, I will show up and I will cut your head off. Better remember that."

Venri gives me one last resentful stare after giving me this threat, and then disappears into thin air. Now, it's only Zekra and I together in front of the old Aurora Fellowship with no one around.

I begin to feel the distortion in my thoughts again. Everything becomes hazy.

But I'm not weak. I'm not hurt like the last time Zekra and I fought. I can't kill Zekra anymore because her shadow will kill me if I do, but I don't have to be with her. We don't have to talk.

I don't want to be with her.

I need to get away from Zekra. I can't be around her.

"Yimtri… don't run away," Zekra says to me quietly and softly, seeing me get up. "Maybe you really didn't want to talk to me at all when you brought me here… but we really do need to talk. We can't let whatever's going on between us keep going."

I get to my feet anyway. I don't need to talk to her. I see she is sad by my actions but I try not to look at her. It hurts to see her like that.

More of a reason to get away from her.

"Look, I know that you hate talking about whatever goes on your head," Zekra keeps saying. "I get it. I learned the hard way what happens when I push you way too hard. We both got hurt. But look at us… look at what's happening to us."

I don't say anything to her. I start walking away. I see Zekra following after me. I want to attack her but I know Venri will kill me if I do. So I ignore her and keep walking.

"Hey, I want to talk to you!" Zekra calls out. "Stop walking away from me! Just listen to me!"

I still don't answer her. She'll leave me alone if I keep ignoring her. She has to.

I don't want her near me.

"When you asked me earlier if I wanted to be able to talk to you again, I wasn't lying," Zekra says to me. "I really do want to be able to talk to you again just like when we were starting to get to know each other. Because… you're interesting to talk to. I mean sure, you're hard to talk to sometimes and some of your thoughts are kind of messed up, but I still like what goes on in your head. It's… It's fascinating. And I really don't think you're as a bad of a guy as you think you are."

That's a funny thing for her to say after I had nearly murdered her. Her thought process is rather morbid after all. But it's strangely touching. I feel genuine warmth in me when I hear those words.

But I keep ignoring her. I don't want to deal with her.

Get away from me, Zekra.

Stop bothering me. Leave me alone.

Please…

Zekra doesn't say anything to me. I don't hear her following me. I think she's given up now. Good.

I start to walk away faster. I don't know where I'm going but I need to be somewhere other than here. Anywhere away from Zekra.

"You hate me, don't you?" she then asks me.

I stop when I hear that. I turn around and I find Zekra is quite a distance away from me with a depressed look on her face.

"You were trying to kill me because you hate me, don't you?" she asks again. "You're not just mad that I broke your promise… you like actually hate me. Like how I hate the Plagued Ones for ruining my life. You hate me the same way and that's why you don't want to see me at all. You want to get rid of me so bad because you despise me for making you open up when you never wanted to and everything…"

I see the sad glimmer in Zekra's eyes. I haven't seen her that way in a long while. When I see it I feel something sharp press into my chest. I tell myself to ignore the pain and confirm Zekra's answer.

I hate her. Of course I do. There's no other reason to kill her.

"I don't hate you," I tell her. "Never have and never will."

I immediately curse myself when I realize what I've said. I wasn't supposed to say that. She's supposed to think I hate her. Because if she knows I don't actually hate her…

I want to take back my words but then I see Zekra's sadness go away. She now looks at me with shock and confusion.

"You don't?" she asks carefully. "Then… why do you look so angry all the time when you see me? Or even want to kill me?"

I don't answer her. I want to insist that I do hate her but I can't get myself to say the words. They refuse to leave my thoughts and become words she can hear. I want to keep walking away from Zekra but I can't do that either. I'm stuck with her because my legs won't move.

It's her eyes…

Those pitiful eyes that make any strength I hold within me fade away…

She starts getting closer to me. She walks slowly like she's still scared of me, but she still walks. I still find I can't move.

"Yimtri… what's going on with you?" she asks me. "You can tell me… I promise, I won't judge you for it."

I don't want to tell her. I don't want to talk to her.

I don't want her to know what's happening to me.

"Just tell me so that I can help you and so that we can get along again," Zekra says, pleading now. "I care about you, Yimtri. I want to be able to talk to you again and everything. Please… just tell me what's wrong. I want to understand you because I really…"

I don't want her to understand me. She doesn't need to know what's going on.

BUT SHE DOES. SHE DESERVES TO KNOW EVERYTHING.

And then before I can stop myself, the words leave my mouth and I speak the words I never wanted anyone to hear.

"I'm infatuated with you. I want to kill you because I'm in love with you."

Zekra stops moving and talking. She becomes frozen on the spot. I glare at her as I feel my body tremble upon finally making that declaration as my volatile emotions continue to force me to speak.

"I'm infatuated with you," I tell her, pointing a finger at her. "Of all the reasons to kill you and get you out of my life, it's because I'm so DEEPLY in love with you. I never wanted ANY OF THIS. I was perfectly fine with loving Nyx. Maybe things could never be the same thanks to the events that have unfolded, but IT WOULD HAVE BEEN MY CHOICE. I would have loved her on my own. I wouldn't have had any sort of influence. But not anymore. NOW I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU. I'M LOVE WITH YOU WHEN I NEVER WANTED TO BE WITH YOU. ALL BECAUSE OF TERRON.

"ALL BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU."

"Wha… what?" Zekra stutters, shirking back. "What are you… Tear doesn't…"

I shoot her a cold glare as I march up to her and get as close to her as possibly can without touching her. Then I look straight into her eyes and scowl as deeply as I can.

"Terron loves you," I growl at her. "How do you not see it? Do you not see the light in his eyes whenever he looks at you? Do you not notice how quick he is to defend you from me? Do you not realize how many of his actions revolve around you?"

"Well I mean… that doesn't exactly mean that he… well…" Zekra babbles on, becoming increasingly awkward as she makes strange movements with her feet.

God, how dense can this girl be? It's as clear as day. I'm fairly certain if I were to ask Impetus, Syn, and Reshiram, they would say that Terron is in love with Zekra. They'd even say it's incredibly obvious.

It doesn't matter, though. Her obliviousness isn't important. It's jarring that she hasn't figured it out by now, but it's not something I'm going to elaborate on any longer. I hate thinking about it further anyway.

"It would be fine that Terron is in love with you under normal circumstances," I go on, feeling the bitterness within me simmer. "But his love for you isn't just confined to his heart.It's spread to me too. I'm infatuated with you because I'm a part of him. Every feeling he has for you is now the same feeling I have for you. BUT THESE AREN'T MY FEELINGS. THEY ARE TERRON'S AND THEY WILL NOT LEAVE ME. THEY'RE BECOMING MY FEELINGS.

"IF YOU WERE GONE I WOULDN'T HAVE TO WORRY ANYMORE. I COULD BE MYSELF AGAIN. I WOULDN'T HAVE TERRON'S FEELINGS IN ME. I'D STILL BE ME.

"I WOULDN'T HAVE TO WORRY THAT BEFORE WE GO AFTER THE PRIMOGENITOR, I MIGHT NOT EXIST ANYMORE.

"I WOULDN'T HAVE TO WORRY THAT I'M NOTHING MORE THAN A SHADOW THAT'S BOUND TO BE SMOTHERED OUT BY TERRON.

"I WOULDN'T HAVE TO KNOW THAT I'M NOT ME ANYMORE."

It is after I scream out all these words at Zekra that my emotions finally settle, leaving me be as they become dampened. Unfortunately, as they retreat, they leave behind a painful stinging in my heart and weakened body. I can feel myself trembling and if I had actual eyes, I'm fairly certain I would have felt the need to cry as well.

I curl my shaking claws into my palms as I look down at Zekra to find that she is still with me, having not fled from me despite my demonic outburst. She seems quite frightened herself, but is able to retain better composure than myself. She does not seem ready to bolt and is able to keep eye contact with me.

"So that's you wanted to kill me…" she says quietly. "I… I had no idea that all of that was going on with you…"

I scoff as I turn my back to her, feeling the regret of telling her all of this information. Accursed emotions, forcing me to speak words that were never meant to be heard. I should have known that this would be nothing but a repeat of the last time she and I spoke. She and I were never meant to be able to get along without disastrous results. Of course, was there anything else to be expected? People often do not get along with others' shadows. Whether it is a mate's shadow or a friend's, getting along with someone else's shadow is not something I have heard of.

Why would you want to be acquainted with a force of darkness that is everything your friend refuses to be? It makes no sense from any standpoint.

I want to leave Zekra once again and make it so that she cannot find me, but I know that I cannot do that this time. Though I am loathe to admit it, I need her power. Then also, she is my connection to Terron. If I were to flee from this area with my members, we would stand no chance against the Primogenitor. We need the power and support that Terron's friends are providing, and I am sure that saying I no longer want to speak or even see Zekra will not convince them to help me. They will likely be disgusted with me and perhaps try to kill the Primogenitor without my help.

I am not sure what to do at this point. I cannot kill Zekra, as her shadow will surely kill me as it had promised, and I cannot abandon her…

Perhaps I could convince Terron that she and I were not able to make amends despite my best efforts. I am sure that Lume and Noc can make it so that he and his friends are led to believe that instead through the illusionary trick. Of course, that would also require me convincing Zekra to not tell anyone that I had tried to kill her, which may not be possible thanks to Venri since she seems to hate me now…

Perhaps I will be fine. Perhaps I don't need to do anything. Zekra seems rather unhinged and uncomfortable by the thought that Terron is in love with her, so maybe it will encourage her to put a rift between them once more. But then… shadows cling to their real selves when they're in their darkest moments. If Terron feels dismayed by Zekra avoiding him or rejecting him, that might make me merge with him at an exponential rate and I'll be gone before Syn ever returns here… meaning if I actually had killed Zekra then Terron would have fallen into a depression and I'd be absorbed into him in no time.

In other words, everything I had planned was pointless.

I will be absorbed into Terron and there's absolutely nothing I can do to stop it from happening.

God, why did Terron have to fall in love with Zekra? Why couldn't they remain friends? If Terron hadn't of fallen in love with her, I wouldn't have had to realize any of this. I know that it's common for close friends of opposite genders to become attracted to each other, because that's simple science at work, but why couldn't they be an exception and simply remain platonic? Why did Terron have to develop feelings for that girl when there was no true benefit in doing so? Sure he might be stronger in battle because he'll want to fight to protect her, I certainly know the feeling, but his platonic love for her should have been enough. It would have carried him through these upcoming trials just fine. He doesn't need romantic love to motivate him. Because besides perhaps that small boost in strength thanks to romantic love being one of the most powerful forms of motivation, there's absolutely no benefit to being in love with her, seeing as how we are all going to die very soon anyway…

"You're not going to disappear, Yimtri," Zekra then says to me.

I stop going through my train wreck of a thought process as I turn my head to find Zekra is still amongst and still staring at me. However, there is no longer any fear or uncomfortableness in her eyes. She is now giving me a solemn, almost reverent glare.

"The whole reason you wanted to kill me… was because you don't want to remember that you're synchronizing with Tear," she says to me, articulating everything I've screamed at her. "You're scared that you're going to get smothered out and that Terron's going to ignore you. Right?"

"It's only true," I reply. "A shadow is a rejected self. Of course he will silence me. We will inevitably merge back, whether it's tomorrow morning or when we both die. After all, why should we stay separate when we are whisked away to the spirit realm? Our souls will not have bodies to remain trapped in anymore. But regardless, I will return to being his shadow in due time and he won't want to listen to me. He already detests some of the words I say to him already. Why would it be any different when we're one?"

"Because he does listen to you," Zekra tells me. "Maybe he doesn't show it all the time, but he likes your ideas. Like, he really liked all of those plans you made for all of us once we go siege the Fellowship or whatever we're going to do. He thought it was really clever and was a great plan."

"So he listened to one thing I had to say," I tell her with a scowl. "That does not guarantee he will listen to everything I have to say. I will be trapped within his soul after all. If he does not want to listen to me, he can ignore me through a variety of means. Besides, I won't be able to do anything anymore and I'll cease to be able to do anything meaningful. I won't have my own body anymore. I'll be nothing but a voice in Terron's head."

"Alright, it's true that you're going to lose your body when you synchronize. But Yimtri…" Zekra tells me softly. "You're not going to stop meaning anything because of that. Tear's still going to listen to you. I mean, look at Venri. She's my shadow, and you can tell that she's got a lot of… interesting things to say. Sometimes I don't like what she tells me and I get into these weird arguments with her. But I still listen to her. All the time. I never ignore her, even if she says that I'm being really weak and that I'm making really stupid choices. I listen, because she always has a reason for what she says. Maybe I don't agree with the reason, but I still try to understand where she's coming from.

"But I also listen to her… because I care about her. Because she's her own being as well and needs to be acknowledged just like any of my friends. Sure, she can show up in reality like an illusion to talk to anyone, but she still likes it when I talk to her. Because she's me and just wants to help me."

Zekra begins to walk closer to me until she is right in front of me. I see her eyes radiate with a glowing warmth as she begins to smile that makes my heart melt.

"Tear's the same way. He knows you want to help him. He knows that you just want what he wants, even if it's in a different way. He cares about you. And even if he didn't… and he ignored you like I ignored Venri for a long time… I would still care about you. I'd talk to you if Tear wouldn't. I'd find a way to get into Tear's head and find you so we can talk about anything you want. I promise."

I am about to doubt the validity of that claim, as I do not know how Zekra can go into Terron's mind and find a shadow, but the sentiment of Zekra's statement stops me. She is promising that even though she loves Terron, she still finds happiness in talking to me, his shadow. Even if I am alone in Terron's mind, she will still find a way to make it so that I am not lonely and provide me company.

But also… I realize she is right about Terron. Terron, when I truly think about it, does care about me. Though he and I do fight, we do get along much better than we did in the past. We even hold diplomatic conversations with one another when he is not pestering me about why I act so antagonistic towards Zekra. Though it only seems that we are joining forces because we have a common goal… perhaps he wanted my aid because he cared about me as well.

Because he knew that I could provide him personal strength that he could not obtain on his own. Because he knew that I could not truly defeat the Primogenitor on my own and wanted to give me his own strength and power.

Because he knew… we need each other. More than either of us can comprehend. He even said that when we had our talk shortly before we left Midnight Swamp. I had forgotten that talk had even occurred with the events that have been happening.

We complement each other.

When I realize these things, I feel the darkness and heaviness in my heart begin to lighten, and I no longer feel as many burdens upon my back. I feel more strength in my stance and the regret and pain within me begin to diminish as well.

There's no reason to fear disappearing. If Terron and I do merge… I will still exist. I will not be ignored.

Because Terron and I need each other.

Because Zekra will always be there for me.

I look back at Zekra to find that she is watching me carefully, trying to evaluate how I am taking in her kind and riveting words. A breeze blows past us, pushing Zekra's mane in front of her eyes, making it so that she cannot see anything. She quickly brushes it aside, but I see that it will soon cover her face once more because she has nothing tying it back.

As soon as I see that, I have a strange thought come to mind.

"Thank you for the talk, Zekra," I tell her. "Once again, I find myself feeling better thanks to your words. Here, let me see your mane. I have something in mind that will repay you for the encouraging words you have spoken to me."

Zekra seems unsure by my request, but does sit down upon the cobblestone and watches me curiously. I take the cape wrapped around my neck and carefully untie it before letting it unfurl. It billows momentarily as I hold it out before me, and I take the moment to admire it and its time with me despite all I've been through. After this feeling of nostalgia sweeps past me, I then take the end of Zekra's unruly mane and bunch it up so that it is all gathered together. I then carefully take my cape and tie it around the end of her mane, and before long, it is a tight knot. I release my hold on her mane, and allow her mane to softly thump against Zekra's back.

She gets up and looks at the ponytail-like appearance her mane has now taken on, thanks to my cape acting as a sort of band. She now appears more like a normal Zoroark, with the exception of her demonic attributes.

"Your mane seemed rather bothersome," I tell her. "I thought I'd fix it so that you might be able to see more easily. I know that you Zoroark usually have beads to keep your manes together, but I'm afraid I don't have any."

"Oh don't worry about that! This is perfect!" Zekra says cheerily. "But are you sure you want to give me your cape? I mean, I know you really like this cape."

"No, it's fine," I assure her. "I need a new cape anyway, or I might not need one if I end up merging with Terron. But rest assured, that cape will not tear. It is very durable."

Zekra smiles as she begins prodding the tied cape with her claws, as if she actually wants to try ripping it open to test the validity of my claim. It's amusing, in some ways. Even still, I begin to leave her be. I no longer need to spend time with her. I have other things that I can attend to.

"So are we really going to be able to get along now?" Zekra asks me. "Or are you just going to run away all over again?"

I hadn't taken a single step when Zekra asked me, making it so I can see her still. She's still smiling, but it's not as contagious and there's less energy in her stance. It takes me a moment to process the question she has just asked me.

"I think you already know that answer to that," I tell her.

"Well no… not really," she admits, her smiling fading slightly. "I mean, you and me were getting along great before and we really seemed to understand each other. And then you got all mad and tried to kill me and then it just went downhill from there… You're difficult to understand, really."

Oh, now she's finally able to grasp such a simple concept. I would have rolled my eyes if I still had actual eyes. So instead, I darken the light in my gemstones and shake my head.

"I'm not leaving again, Zekra," I tell her, half-grumbling. "There's far too much at stake for me to leave again as easily as I did before. I have far more resources when I am with all of you anyway. I would be an idiot to throw all of that away."

That seems to reassure Zekra. There's less anxiety arising from her soul. Thinking she is satisfied, I then try to walk away again. But I don't, because then I notice a devilish grin form on Zekra's face that's admittedly a bit unnerving.

"And because you actually like being around us," Zekra says with smugness that Terron has no doubt infected her with. "Or rather, you like being around me."

"Don't bring that into this."

"But you do! You admitted it yourself!"

"In a moment of rage that meant absolutely nothing."

"Which means that Tear likes me too!"

"No he doesn't."

"Which means that it's all your fault if Tear and I end up together! Because I kind of thought he liked me before, but I didn't know what was going to happen if I was wrong. But now you just confirmed it."

"He'll still reject you."

"Which means that there's nothing to worry about if I go talk to him! We might actually be mates!"

"He knows there's no point in a relationship that lasts for five days."

"Shut up! Stop ruining my fantasy!"

"I'll keep ruining it until you realize it's pointless."

"Ohhhhh, I get it. I get why you're being such a stick in the mud! You're jealous."

"I'm not. Get that delusional thought out of your head."

"You're jealous because you think that I like Tear and not you. I can see it all over your face! Your eyes are doing that weird flicker thing like they do whenever you get mad!"

"They do that regardless of my mood. Besides, I already told you I do not care that I am in love with you because of the connection I share with Terron. Terron could hate you and I would still be absolutely livid that I am feeling his hate when it's not my own."

"Well don't worry! I like you too!"

"Zekra, I am not jealous. Stop implying that I am."

"Well even if you're not jealous, I still want you to know that I like you! Sort of like how I like Tear, but not exactly. But I still like you! You're awesome, even if you're kind of messed up sometimes. Well, a lot actually. But you're still a nice guy! Sometimes. And you and Tear are the same guy anyway, so it's not like it'll be weird anyway."

"I don't think you actually understand what you're saying."

"Well to you it might not make sense. Maybe if you and Tear actually did synchronize, it'd be a whole lot less complicated. But it still makes perfect sense to me! And I think this is the best thing ever!"

I don't even get to make a rebuttal before there is a flash of black and I am knocked over onto my back. I'm very unsurprised to find Zekra on me as a Zorua, giggling to herself as she nuzzles my cheeks, somehow not phasing through me as she does so. She then begins to gush about how happy she is and how she's excited to talk to Terron about potentially becoming mates for a grand total of what cannot be more than a week, all the while assuring me that she loves me as well and won't neglect me. I consider throwing her off of me and finding Terron so I can end this catastrophe before it can even happen, but then I realize something.

Maybe there's no reason to resist any of this.

Maybe the circumstances I find myself in are quite strange and makes little sense the more I think about it… just as nearly everything about my life does… but maybe there is no reason to be bothered by any of this. It's complicated and downright strange now, but seeing as how Terron and I will soon be one again, perhaps it might not be so strange when that day comes.

Perhaps it's best not to think about any of this and simply enjoy the happiness Zekra so clearly wishes to share with me.

Besides… it's best to keep Zekra happy as long as possible. I want her to enjoy these last few days. She's been through so much suffering thanks to my actions. The least I can do is try to make these next few days as pleasant as possible.

This is the calm before the storm, after all.

And oh what a storm it will be.