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Epilogue
Zekra found herself in a vast and sprawling grassland, not a single soul to be found for miles and miles around. There was the only wind, slipping past her and quietly rustling the blades grass beneath her feet. Up above her was a clear blue sky without a speck of white amongst it all nor a single bird to soar by.
It was only Zekra in this never-ending great field of green, only her as a little Zorua without a clue of how she had come here.
Nonetheless, Zekra went forward. She knew standing still would do nothing in this strange predicament. She strolled through the grass as the blades tickled at the soles of her feet and seemed to whisper amongst one another.
As she wandered further, she found herself in a world where the grass no longer stopped at her ankles. It now reached up to her neck and the blades seemed to sway and bow to the wind with more vigor. This did not stop Zekra. Still quite undaunted, Zekra crept into the towering grass and kept her pace. The grass brushed against her chin and sometimes managed to rub up against her snout, but Zekra barely reacted. She let them slide past her fur and then move on without a second thought.
Where are you going?
What are you doing?
Are you looking for something you lost?
Zekra didn't know how to respond to these questions. Deep down, she did feel that something was missing. There was a great hollowness within her heart and it did not seem to be going away. It only weighed her down, making it much more difficult to walk than it ought to be.
The sky became red with murky black clouds and a gale picked up, flattening every single blade of grass that surrounded Zekra. And though the breeze was quite strong, Zekra only leaned forward and forced herself to move forward.
That was when Zekra saw something amongst the endless sea of green in the far distance. It was a vague brown figure of sorts, seemingly standing or sitting amongst all the grass.
Zekra hurried toward it. The wind continued to lash out around her, threatening to blow her back or knock her down, but Zekra fought back. She dug her claws into the ground as she made her way toward it as she ignored the harsh whistling in her ears.
Eventually, Zekra grew close enough to the figure that she could make out what it was with better clarity. However, the moment she did, Zekra became frozen on the spot and nearly let the wind knock her over.
It was Dimitri.
He was sitting down and staring off into the distance with a faraway expression, seemingly unaware of Zekra standing not too far from him. His messy black hair swayed in the wind and often blew over his face, obscuring his vision, but never once did he struggle with the breeze. He only sat there as the wind swept over him, letting it have its way with him as he gazed up at the sky with his piercing blue eyes.
Zekra could only watch him in return, her thoughts stumped and her heart racing in her chest.
Dimitri suddenly turned away from the sky and looked straight at Zekra. She felt her insides run cold as his distant and vacant gaze locked onto her own.
He kept his stare on her a moment longer and then frowned.
"Who are you?"
Zekra's eyes snapped open.
She was no longer a little Zorua. Now she was back to her regular old self, a Zoroark with an unruly mane only tied together by a torn and raggedy black cloth.
She was back in her regular room, in her regular life.
Her bedroom was a spacious room, four times the size of her old Fellowship bedroom. It held pearly white floors that never once ever seemed to hold even a speck of dirt. Rugs of various wools lined the white flooring that came from a wide variety of Pokémon Zekra had encountered, ranging from the common Mareep to the more heat tolerant and fluffier Flareon. Dozens of chests lined the walls, quite a number of them open and overflowing with various orbs and treasures obtained from deep within treacherous caverns.
But of course, what lay on the floor of the room was nothing compared to the walls. There was something covering every wall in the room. On the wall closest to Zekra was a large map of all of Shiron. It was an incredibly detailed map, far more detailed than any other map she had seen, naming just about every single city and landmark there was. There were also number of pins attached to certain places, adding further descriptions to particular areas on the map or adding new locations that had been uncharted, such as the Greninja Village. On the opposite wall was an array of various scarfs and capes hanging by hooks drilled into the wall. Though Zekra didn't glance at the sight for long, she knew that just about every article of clothing was unique and had special properties to it.
On the wall directly behind Zekra was a spacious window. There were two thick, red curtains covering it, but Zekra could tell that the sunlight from outside wanted to shine through. She could see the light that was muffled along the curtains' surface and when she felt the curtains with her claws, she could feel the warmth in them. However, all of these walls paled in comparison to the wall directly in front of Zekra.
It was nothing more than a great mess of paintings that filled up nearly the entire wall.
They were not drawn on pieces of paper, but rather, painted onto the wall directly with a variety of bright and vibrant colors. At first glance, none of the drawings had anything in common. They were all illustrations of seemingly random landscapes, all of them disconnected from one another. For instance, one picture held a seemingly ordinary beach that seemed quite similar to the one that Zekra visited multiple times on the island with her caregivers. And then right next to it, there lay a picture of a complete alien and surreal landscape, filled with fleshy structures bent in ways that defied the laws of physics and hovered about in a blue and black void. Right beside that one was a picture of a city made entirely out of metal and gears with tiny bipedal inhabitants wandering about it.
There were hundreds of these illustrations, if not thousands. Despite their apparent disconnection, they meshed with one another. Images from one drawing would leak into another, or smaller drawings would be crammed into already existing ones, creating a convoluted mosaic of seemingly random, meaningless illustrations put together.
The quality also differed greatly amongst the pieces. In some areas of the wall, the drawings were quite rudimentary, being nothing more than childish doodles that a hatchling might draw. In complete juxtaposition to that, there were other parts of the wall where the illustrations were grand and awe-inspiring, as though crafted by a Smeargle that had honed its talent to capture the world and its beauty in wondrous canvases after decades of practice. In between these two extremes were dozens of other drawings of varying quality, some perhaps drawn by a clumsy quad-pedal creature and perhaps others drawn by someone who clearly had a vision but could not express it in full.
To anyone, the entire wall would seem to be nothing more than a great mess of clashing qualities and a lack of meaning in the mosaic. It was more akin to someone splattering various colors of paint all over the wall.
But not to Zekra. Though there was seemingly nothing fitting the images together, she knew that there actually was a similarity between them all.
They all had her and Dimitri somewhere within it.
The moment she saw the wall, Zekra got out of her bed and made her way over to the wall. She scanned it briefly until she found an empty space upon the surface that resided right next to what appeared to be a tiny world within a great eye. Once she found the spot, she settled herself on the ground right beside a pile of various paint jars. She grabbed a good number of the jars and dragged them over to her side before dipping one of her claws into the jar that held emerald green paint.
Then, she pressed her colored claw to the wall and began to draw.
She drew a great circle, and then brought the grassy field she had seen within her dream to life within her circle, creating every detail to the best of her ability. She painstakingly traced out every single blade of grass that she felt belonged within the picture, and then dipped her paint-covered claw into a basin of water. She wiped her claw dry with a dirty rag resting nearby and then dipped all of her claws on one hand into a jar of red paint. She let them sit in the liquid mass, and then withdrew them and created the sky. She smeared the red across the top half of the circle, then dipped a single claw into a bucket of black and created the black smoke that had filled the sky.
When the atmosphere of the fairly simple world was finished, Zekra then began the more meticulous task of creating herself and Dimitri. For this she knew that she had to be careful and be absolutely precise, for even a single stroke could tarnish the whole painting.
However, even as Zekra covered her claws in the colors she needed, she did not feel the pins and needles sensation that used to come with making the two of them in her drawings. Though she knew that it was a careful process, she couldn't help but let her mind wander as she pressed her claw tip to the wall and crafted herself as a tiny Zorua. She didn't even see the drawing before her as her mind went into a void of nothingness.
"Hey Zekra! You're actually up!"
Zekra snapped out of her vacant state and immediately found that she was just about done drawing Dimitri. All that was missing were the finishing touches to his eyes. They were only white and hollow, almost lacking a soul. Zekra swiftly dabbed her claw into the paint next to her and carefully filled in his white irises, followed by a tiny dot of black in the middle for his pupils and a couple of dots of white beside each one.
Zekra breathed a sigh and then finally looked over to her side. She was quick to find Crystelle standing in her doorway, shooting her a beaming stare. She still wore the red scarf that Yimtri's plague had given her what seemed decades ago, though now it had a few tears and frayed apart in various places.
"Hey Crystelle," Zekra said as she washed her claws and dried them with the rag. "Yeah, I'm awake."
"And you're making more of your weird drawings again," Crystelle noted.
The Umbreon came over to the Zoroark's side and peered at the illustration that Zekra had just finished. Her smile grew a little as she let out a small laugh.
"Hey, this one's pretty normal compared to the last thing I saw you make," Crystelle said. "You were making some freaky picture of you and that guy you keep drawing with this demon thing that had this really long and red cape. You made it so that the thing's cape was like trying to eat you guys or something… and those eyes… that creepy green glow you gave them… Augh. I still get the shivers just thinking about it."
"That wasn't the worst one I've drawn," Zekra noted indifferently. "Remember the one with the creature that was literally nothing but a bunch of tentacles with mouths and eyes?"
"Don't remind me," Crystelle said as she closed her eyes and shook her head. "I'm just mostly impressed that you keep coming up with all of these things. You said you see all of these things in your dreams, right?"
"Yeah. Every single one," Zekra with a nod.
"Yeah, you must have some kind of crazy imagination then," Crystelle said with a laugh. "I don't even think I could make up even a fraction of this stuff on the wall here even if I wanted to. And you still don't know who the guy is that you keep drawing?"
"No. I don't. He just shows up for some reason in the dreams."
"Huh, well alright. I'd say that all of this is a huge premonition that you're supposed to meet this guy somewhere, but he's not exactly a Pokémon. He's… well I don't know what he is, so I guess he's not real. Figured he'd go away after all these years."
Zekra didn't say anything to the comment. She only gazed back at her picture and stared into Dimitri's eyes. Even though he was nothing more than paint on a wall, Zekra couldn't help but feel that she had captured his essence so perfectly. She truly felt as though she had taken the Dimitri she had seen in her dream and plastered him to the wall right before her.
For a brief moment, she wondered about him and what he was doing.
It didn't take long for the longing to slowly creep over her.
Zekra tore her eyes away from the painting and looked back over at Crystelle to find that she was studying a particular illustration of Zekra and Dimitri drifting in a world of ever-changing and ever vibrant fractals.
"How come you came into my room?" Zekra asked.
"Oh, right," Crystelle said, bringing her gaze back to Zekra. "Um, Mom and Dad are actually here. They decided to stop by and say hi and all. I came here to get you."
It took Zekra a moment to process the information. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen them. She felt like she had visited them in the past, either by going directly to their island or by having them come to her, but she couldn't recall how long ago that had been. The only concrete memory she had was of when she last saw them shortly after she merged with Venri all those years ago. Every other time she had reunited with them was nothing but a great blur in her mind.
Even still, it didn't matter in the end. They had come to visit, and Zekra had no intention of turning them down. It might be good to see and talk with them anyway.
"Hah, you should have told me sooner," Zekra said as she got to her feet. "I would have stopped painting if you had told me they were here."
Crystelle smiled a little as she led Zekra outside of her room. They both exited the room and soon found themselves in a hallway of the castle that was once the base of operations to the Fellowship. It had not changed much after all the years. Though the castle was mostly repaired and restored to its former glory, no longer holding the wounds of the great battle that had occurred so long ago, it still remained as regal as it always had been. The walls and flooring were still lined with marble, chandeliers filled with candles, and great portraits and paintings remained mounted on the walls.
However, the castle was no longer the Fellowship's. The day that Len, Crystelle, and Zekra announced that the Fellowship would exist no more, they founded a new organization and made the castle theirs. They removed any traces of the Fellowship, ridding the castle of the symbols that once stood for the corrupt organization, and left their marks on the castle in return. Whether in the form of regal tapestries, flags, or other such things, they made sure that all knew that the castle was no longer a part of the non-existent Fellowship.
The castle belonged to the Shadow Alliance now.
Despite the sinister name, the castle did not give off an overbearing or gloomy atmosphere. Len, Crystelle, and Zekra had made sure that they decorated the interior with rugs and tapestries of red, blue, and gold as well as make their symbol a golden outline of Rem in all his majestic glory. Every time the sun beat down upon the sigil that they embroidered into just about every piece of fabric of the castle, it glimmered ever so slightly.
As Zekra and Crystelle traversed through the castle's many grand halls, they passed by a number of Pokémon. Despite it being only a couple hours after dawn, many Pokémon were out and about and readying themselves for the day. Some Pokémon wandered the halls with eyes half closed as they made their way towards the mess hall. Others had their bags strapped about their bodies and headed out of entrance or perhaps to the multiple bulletin boards stationed throughout the castle.
Some of them noticed Zekra and Crystelle walking by and gave them a quick shout before they carried on with their day. Crystelle would merrily return with a greeting of her own. Zekra however, only returned her members' greetings with a glance from the corner of her eye and a quick flash of a smile.
Eventually, after greeting what seemed to be dozens of members and traversing through an equal amount of corridors, Crystelle finally brought Zekra to the foyer. It didn't take long for Zekra to spot the Glaceon and Sylveon. They were standing by a line of statues that circled around the entire foyer, each one crafted in the image of the deceased members of Len's old team and Zekra's former friends. Zekra noticed that the two seemed to be observing Éclair's monument with sad smiles.
"Hey Mom and Dad!" Crystelle said, snapping the two's gazes toward the Umbreon. "I got Zekra for you guys!"
At first, the two did nothing. Their eyes remained glazed over and their feet remained rooted to the spot. However, the moment quickly passed and the misty expression in their eyes cleared away. The two smiled as they approached Crystelle and Zekra. The Zoroark couldn't help but notice that a large amount of the fur that grew around their muzzles and faces were now a light grey. Zekra couldn't remember if the two had this much grey fur the last time she had spoken to them. She wasn't even sure if this aging fur was something that had occurred before.
Zekra always remembered them having sleek and colorful fur that never had a speck of grey amongst it.
Frazil and Lyra stopped before Zekra and Crystelle. Lyra took her ribbon-like appendages and wrapped them around Zekra before pulling the Zoroark closer. Zekra didn't resist the pull and let Lyra hold her in an embrace for a brief moment.
"So you did," Lyra mused before she brought her gaze to Zekra. "Hello Zekra. Sorry to have woken you up. I know that it is still somewhat early right now."
"It's okay," Zekra assured. "I was already awake anyway. I sure wasn't expecting you guys to come by, though. I figured you'd wait for me and Crystelle to come visit you again."
"Well, we simply couldn't resist coming up here instead," Lyra replied. "It has been quite a while since we've seen you."
"Even still, it's good to see both of you," Frazil said with a beaming smile. "Do you have time to talk, or do you have to be elsewhere for a while?"
"No, I'm not busy," Zekra said. "I think I've got some papers to look over later and check up on some things, but I can do that later. It's still pretty early. So can talk for a while. Um… you guys been doing okay back on Shirra?"
"Yes, things have been rather well," Frazil replied. "All has been well on Shirra. Quiet and peaceful, just as it always is. Though, we have had a few merchants come overseas that have been selling quite a number of intruding trinkets such as supposed crystals that can make you have very powerful abilities depending on the type of element that is within each crystal. However, I personally haven't bought one. I have no use for them."
"There's also been a few contests occurring," Lyra added. "It's nothing too large, but there have been some kind Pokémon that have set up a small tournament for the hatchlings of the island. They're simple games really, like who can climb to the top of a tree the fastest or small little fights that are like gladiator tournaments, but it's been bringing a pleasant and excited atmosphere to the island."
"Oh, wasn't there one of those when I was still an Eevee like thirteen years ago?" Crystelle asked. "I could have sworn I was in one of those fights. I remember I lost to some stupid Elekid who punched me in the face when he made me look the other way."
"Yes, they happen every few years or so," Lyra said with a nod. "They're a bit infrequent and no one ever knows when they'll happen again, but we've had a few in the time Frazil and I have lived on the island."
"Sounds like a lot of fun," Zekra said with a small smile.
"And what about you two?" Frazil then asked. "Have things been going well here?"
"Yeah, it's been great!" Crystelle said with an invigorated nod. "We've got like eleven thousand members. And counting since I think there's a few more that are supposed to get registered today."
"Oh goodness, that's an awful lot of members," Lyra gasped. "I hope that they're not all squeezed into this castle. It's rather large, but not enough for so many…"
"Nah, we finished up that base we were making in Steel City," Crystelle assured. "Got half of our members over there right now being led by Noc and Lume. And we're making another base in Unity Village that should be done in like another year or so. Nobody's cramped here, don't you worry."
"Well that's good to hear," Lyra then said. "But I really wish you'd change your organization's name sometimes. I understand why you named your organization The Shadow Alliance, but you can't deny that it gives off the impression that you're trying to hide something."
"Nah, nobody cares about the name," Crystelle said with a laugh. "They think it sounds cool anyway. The only problems we have here are Pokémon taking on tasks that they know that they can't handle and getting in huge trouble, and some fights we have between our members and clients. And hordes of boring paperwork and micromanagement and rule adjusting and listening to complaints and all this other fun stuff."
"But you're at least happy, aren't you?" Frazil asked.
"Yeah, I'm happy," Crystelle said with a smile. "It's a lot of work and the first year was… well it was pretty rough, but with Len's guidance, I got through it. And of course, I couldn't have had made it without Zekra. She and I didn't always get along or see eye to eye, but she helped me out even through all of that. Like there was this one time…"
Zekra gazed right past Lyra and Frazil and looked at the statues. In particular, she found her gaze fixated upon Terron's statue. In his marble form, he stood strong and valiant like the great leader he had always tried to make himself be, using a long bone like a staff and planting it in front of him. He rested both of his hands on top of it and looked onward, unflinching before an uncertain future.
Right next to him were Yimtri, Impetus, and Syn, all upon their own pedestals. They each struck a dignified pose as they held their heads high and stood with a strength that could surely move mountains.
Zekra wondered why they had all died when they had been so strong.
Something heavy grew in Zekra's chest at the thought of that.
"Hey Zekra, you there?"
Zekra snapped out of her trance and glanced back at Crystelle to see that she was shooting Zekra a bemused stare.
"Zekra, did you hear anything we just said?" Crystelle asked before a smirk made its way onto her muzzle. "Or were you zoning out like you always do?"
"I remember you talking about how you're happy being a Shadow Alliance leader," Zekra confessed. "And that's it. I did kind of blank out after that."
"Oh Zekra," Crystelle said with a sigh. "I figured that with you being plagued and all, you'd hear everything and wouldn't have these weird zone out moments. Doesn't Venri point out things you don't notice?"
"No," Zekra said blankly.
It was then that Zekra noticed someone coming toward the four of them in the corner of her eye. She twisted her head back to see that it was Len.
Just with Lyra and Frazil, Len was not the same as he was when he first founded The Shadow Alliance. Though he didn't have as much greying facial fur as Lyra and Frazil, there were quite a few strands that had lost their color around his eyes. His gait was no longer as steady and he did not walk with the vigor that had once held.
However, Zekra knew that he was nowhere near close to dying. He had plenty of decades left to live and if should the situation call for it, he could fight with the strength he had fought the Primogenitor with.
When the Luxray was before the group, he stopped and cast the Eons a gentle smile.
"Ah, Lyra and Frazil," the Luxray said with a bow of his head. "It has been quite a while. It is good to see you both."
"Hello Len," Lyra said with as she wrapped her appendages around his neck and pulled him close to nuzzle him. "It's been so long. You've certainly changed since the last time I saw you."
"I could say the same," Len said a small laugh. "I think the last time I ever saw you two was twenty years ago. Have you been well?"
"Yes, just the usual," Lyra replied. "Nothing ever chances where Frazil and I live. And have you been fine as well? It's been so long, I was beginning to worry I might never see you again."
"I've been feeling quite wonderful. In some ways, nothing has truly changed. I almost want to say that I feel as though I am a youthful Luxio once more, commanding my very own Fellowship with companions at my side. I might not have as many companions at my side but…"
I could have run this place with my team. If they were still here.
Zekra immediately had an image of her, Terron, Impetus, Syn, and Reshiram in his Quilava form running The Shadow Alliance instead of her, Crystelle, and Len. She saw the five of them sitting in an office and overlooking mountains and mountains of paperwork, working diligently to look over each and every page.
We could have done a good job. We could have been like Len and his team. We could have been happy here, leading all these Pokémon.
Zekra glanced over at Len to see that he was still sharing his thoughts on his new life as an Alliance leader. What he was saying, Zekra wasn't sure. His words were muffled and incoherent to her.
I don't want to listen to this conversation anymore.
I want to go somewhere else.
Zekra heard those thoughts within her mind. They glided past her so swiftly, yet their message rang as clear as day.
Zekra didn't even bother persuading with her thoughts.
"Sorry to interrupt," Zekra said, making everyone bring their gazes over to her. "But I need to go do some Alliance stuff. Like check up on the new base to see how that's coming along. And make sure the other base in Steel City is going okay. Need to make sure they're not burning the place down or something. It's that time of year, you know, for the check-ups and all."
"Aw what, Zekra? Mom and Dad just came here to see us!" Crystelle reprehended. "You can't just leave! The guys at those other bases can wait. I bet they're all still sleeping!"
"Now now, Crystelle, it's alright," Frazil said with a soft shake of his head. "She doesn't have to stay here any longer. She has her duties to attend to. And besides, have we ever been able to stop her from doing from what she's wanted before?"
Frazil gave Zekra a knowing, jovial look. Zekra had to resist turning away, not liking the memories that soon surfaced with that statement. Crystelle gave Zekra a glare for a short moment, and then finally sighed.
"Alright, fine," Crystelle said dejectedly. "Go check up on the other bases, Zekra. Len and I will just have to entertain Mom and Dad in your place."
Zekra gave Crystelle a small nod of acknowledgement, and then did the same to everyone else. Once everyone bid her goodbye, she put her claws out in front of her. Black streams escaped her claws and joined together in the air, creating a black and purple circle of churning energy.
Within seconds, a portal manifested before Zekra.
She didn't even bother to check the expression on everyone's faces as she walked straight into it, disappearing from the castle.
When Zekra came out the other end of the portal, she swiftly closed it up behind her. She doubted that anyone would follow her through the whirling mass of darkness, given its ominous appearance, but she still didn't enjoy having it facing her back. It always made her fur stand up on end and she always felt someone was watching her from within its depths.
Zekra found herself atop a building, a museum from what Zekra could read across the front of the building's entrance. She was within a relatively large segment of a city, particularly Steel City. As the name suggested, much of the city was constructed from the finest metals of the land. It was a prosperous city, being one of the few cities in the world to hold two-story buildings as opposed to the single story buildings that Pokémon seemed so accustomed to. Very few trees sprouted throughout the city, as if the city's inhabitants had personally uprooted every single tree or shrub in the area and cast them out when making the city.
It was quite a change from the rundown ghost town it was all those years ago. All those years ago, everyone had fled underground into secret chambers that Zekra was sure were still being used now for storage. Now she could see Pokémon living peacefully on the surface. Even though it was still early within the morning, there were quite a number of citizens bumbling about in places besides the museum, such as the merchants meticulously setting up their wares or bakers preparing their baked goods for the day. She even thought she saw some hatchlings roaming about for a reason she could not understand.
In some ways, Steel City reminded Zekra of Kuron as Terron used to describe it.
I should go back there. Only two years should have passed over there. I could make it back before the time difference makes me stay away for days at a time.
Zekra shook the thought out of her head. There was no reason to go to Kuron.
There was nothing for her there.
Zekra hopped down from the museum and landed down on the ground. Then she made her way into town. She didn't bother looking around as she wandered down the concrete roads, finding the trinkets the merchants had to be mere toys, the food in the bakery to be as bland as water, and the little Pokémon rushing by her to be nothing but apparitions. She only kept her gaze forward as she continued walking along.
I have a job to do. There's no reason to keep thinking about this.
It's been ten years. They're all gone.
I have to forget about what ifs and what could have been.
It was then that a pair of hatchlings rushed by Zekra and nearly crashed into her. However, her ears had picked up on her footsteps stamping against the pavement, allowing her to maneuver out of the way just as the two were to slam into her. She scowled and turned her head to reprehend the children, but then stopped when she saw who they were.
They were a Zorua and Cubone, running toward one of the merchants who was just beginning to open his shop. She saw the two of them giddily point toward a Cubone helmet resting on one of the merchant's displays.
The second that Zekra saw the two, a billion thoughts went off in her head. A plethora of glimpses into hundreds of thousands of universes poured into her mind, showering her thoughts with near infinite possibilities that would have been beyond the comprehension of most mortal creatures.
What if there's a universe where we all lived? What if there's some alternate universe where we all lived and the Primogenitor merged with Rem?
That universe… could I reach it? Can I do more than just go to different universes where other creatures and worlds exist and teleport around this dimension? Are there really dimensions that exist that are exactly like this dimension, but are just the result of different possibilities?
And if I found it… could I live in it? I'd probably have to kill the version of me that exists in that universe, because there sure can't be two of me. But if I could be happy and have my friends back… And Tear…
Could I really…?
Zekra caught herself before she could go too far into her deranged thought process. The second she did, she realized how utterly wrong and depraved her thoughts had become. She held the sides of her head with her claws as she shook her head.
No. No I can't do that. I… I can't do that. I have to keep living here, in this dimension. I have to accept that everyone's gone. I have to move on. Len's moved on. Crystelle's moved on. Literally everyone else has moved on. I need to join them.
Zekra lowered her claws and then went on her way once more. She tried to ignore the Cubone and Zorua, but couldn't help but keep them in the corner of her eye. She could see them purchasing the skull along with a number of other useless trinkets, such as bracelets made from tiny beads or useless jewels that glimmered in the rays of the sun.
Zekra couldn't help but want to give them a longing gaze.
Zekra could barely remember her visit to The Shadow Alliance base in Steel City. She could recall parts of it, such as entering inside the large, dome-shaped building and being greeted by various members before being brought to Noc and Lume. She knew she had spoken with the both of them and had to know if all was well and to know how many members they had amongst their ranks as of that moment. She had also inspected various aspects of the building to make sure that it was a suitable place to hold an organization, as well as meet with other Pokémon that held some forms of authority in the base. She had met with the best teams of the base to test their competency and read the progress reports regarding the restoration of their assigned segments of Shiron.
Zekra knew that she had done all of these things. She could see it on a scroll of parchment in her claws that she had completed all her tasks. She had even written detailed notes jotting down just about everything down to the last wire.
And yet when she thought about it now as she sat on the edge of the museum she had visited earlier, it all seemed to be nothing but a giant blur. There were only some points of clarity that stuck out in her mind like little milestones, but they were few and far in between.
Zekra rolled up the paper in her claws after giving it one more look over before staring into the distance. It was the afternoon now, and from Zekra's distance she could see so many more Pokémon filling the streets. They walked around one another in disorganized messes, miraculously not stumbling into one another despite how little space there was between everyone. Zekra personally blamed this on the narrow streets that the city had created and more than once recommended widening them, but apparently that wouldn't be done for another few years.
She observed these wandering, aimless citizens go about their day before her, completely oblivious to her presence.
Zekra liked it better that way.
She stuffed the scroll into her mane and then looked into the sky. She knew that she needed to get going to the Unity Village base. It wouldn't take nearly as long as Steel City's due to the fact that the base wasn't even complete yet and she only needed to check up on the progress of the construction, but it was best if she get moving as soon as possible. She knew she still needed to go back to the castle and talk to a few members who had wanted to speak to her about something regarding their lodging. Or did they want to ask her questions about her much younger days when the Plagued Ones roamed about Shiron? Or was it about the supposed dimensional trips she took according to the gossip spreading around the castle?
Zekra couldn't remember. Everyone seemed to want to ask her the same things. It hadn't changed much since she first became an Alliance leader.
The only question she was asked less frequently was how it felt to be plagued. No one asked about that anymore. No one found her demonic appearance frightening or odd nowadays.
Zekra imagined that they had stopped seeing her synchronized state as being "unique" and "special", as some would call it back then. Zekra wasn't sure if she felt happy or not about no one asking her about her being a Plagued One anymore.
Plagued One. Means you never get old and you never die.
Means that you become the demon that you used to be scared of.
Means that you and you are shadow aren't two different things anymore.
Means that you can rip holes in the fabric of reality and go anywhere you want.
Means that you're all powerful and that you can do anything.
Except actually be happy that you're this way.
Zekra pressed both of her claws down on her ears. She was stalling. She needed to go check on Unity Village's base. That was her job. There was no point in delaying it anymore.
Zekra abruptly shot both of her claws out and and instantly opened up a portal beneath her feet. She gazed down at the swirling mass of colors, watching it whirl beneath her with a glazed over stare.
She briefly wondered if she could use the portal to travel back in time.
Zekra growled under her breath and shook the thought out of her head.
I'm an Alliance leader. That's who I am now. That's who I've been for the past ten years.
Then, before the unhealthy thought could come back, she fell off the ledge and plummeted into the vortex.
Zekra's visit to the Unity base had gone by without much incident. She had even created the portal within the base to save herself the walk to the base.
Just as with Steel City, she could barely recall the details of her visit. She could only depend upon the scroll that she had marked throughout her visit, charting down anything worthy of note.
She exited the Alliance base as she rolled up the scroll in her claws before tying it together with a piece of ribbon from within her mane.
I don't know how I've been to get anything done when I can't even remember what I do.
Zekra looked up to see that the sun was beginning to set, dying the sky purple and orange with splashes of red. At one point, Zekra would have called the sight beautiful.
But not anymore. Now it only meant that her day was ending and that she still had more errands to take care of.
Even still, Zekra knew she could finish the rest of her tasks for the day. Perhaps she would even get them done before midnight struck.
Give Len the papers, and then go talk to those members. And… whatever else I'm supposed to do.
Then go to sleep and do whatever tomorrow. Keep moving forward and keep rebuilding Shiron.
Undo the damage that the Primogenitor brought. Every day. All day.
Even after Len and Crystelle die.
Zekra exhaled deeply as she retreated far into a desolate part of the village. She didn't bother paying attention to the civilians she passed by. She already knew that everything was quite well. Everywhere the Alliance had influence, the city flourished and slowly closed up its old wounds. Zekra was sure that in another fifty years or so, perhaps even less, Shiron's nightmarish past would be nothing more than ghost stories to tell around a campfire. In another two centuries, no one would even remember the Plagued Ones. They would become lost to time, to fade into obscurity.
Except me. I won't fade away. I'll still exist as a Plagued One.
And so will Dimitri.
Zekra shook her head. She forgot sometimes that she wasn't the only Plagued One. Dimitri was as well. And though she had not seen him what felt like eons ago, she imagined that he had figured out he was a Plagued One by now. She imagined that he must have been injured by this point in time and watched his injury heal within seconds.
She wondered how he had reacted to that.
She wondered if he had finally believed that his memories as Terron and Yimtri were real.
No. No, he's not coming back. He wants nothing to do with me.
But does he really? Maybe… maybe he knows who he was and he's looking for me. Maybe he just hasn't found me yet because he has no idea where to look.
No, he's not coming back.
Zekra swiftly opened up a portal before her. She needed to go back home. There was much work to be done.
What's the point of going back?
Zekra paused. She was going to talk back to the thoughts, to tell them otherwise. However, she couldn't. For whatever reason, she lost the will to fight back against them. A stupor fell over her and she soon found herself staring idly at the portal before her, watching it swirl around in endless circles as images of the castle flashed before her.
There's nothing for me there. It's been like that since the beginning.
This isn't my world anymore.
Zekra lowered her gaze and looked at her claws. She could see the black haze still rising from her claws. But most of all, she could see the red lines upon her body glowing softly.
I'm not supposed to be here.
I was supposed to die with all my other friends.
I'm a Plagued One living in a world trying to recover from the destruction my kind brought.
Zekra glanced back at the portal and saw that it was still waiting for her. She could still see that it lead to the Alliance base atop Pledge Mountain, directly into her bedroom.
Zekra stared at it for a moment longer, finding that she could not take the step forward into the portal nor close it up. She could only stare into its depths with a glazed over stare, letting her thoughts repeat themselves within her mind.
I'm not happy.
It's been ten years and I'm still not happy.
It's been too long.
It's never going to stop.
Zekra knew she could fight with the thoughts. She could feel her strength returning to her now. However…
There was no point.
She knew what had to be done.
She had known what to do for so long, but not once could she ever commit herself to do it. She had prayed that the monotony of every day would end, but it had simply never happened.
There was no point in denying the truth any longer.
She took out the scrolls from within her mane, along with an ink bottle. She placed them on the ground, and then unrolled the one closest to her claws. She flipped it over onto its blank back, not a word in sight, and then opened up the ink bottle. She dabbed one of her claws into the bottle, and then pressed her claw deep into the parchment.
Then she wrote.
"I'm sorry, Len, Crystelle. I'm sorry, but I can't stay with you guys anymore. This life of leading The Shadow Alliance… it isn't for me. It never was. I only pretended to be happy when really, I've been hollow for a very, very long time. Nothing about being with you guys ever filled that void, no matter how much progress we made. It was just a huge façade I put up so you guys wouldn't worry about me. But I can't do that anymore. I just can't. I've finally run out of the energy that kept me going.
"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you this to your faces. I'm not strong enough to do it that way. I'm not as strong as any of you guys think I am. I'm just really good at pretending like all Zoroark.
"None of this is your fault. You guys tried. You really did. And I'll always be grateful for that. But it's not enough to keep me in the Alliance. There was never anything to keep me there. I always knew that, but I just never wanted to admit it. It was always easier to stay with you guys even when I was unhappy than to leave everything behind and find somewhere better.
"I'll never forget the both of you for the rest of eternity, or however long I get to live. You two will stay in my memories, just like everybody else I ever lost to the Plagued Ones.
"Don't come looking for me."
When Zekra finished her note, she gathered up both scrolls and then threw them into the portal. She watched them disappear into the darkness, watching them become one with its mass before falling into her bedroom. When she heard the soft thump of the papers hit her floor, she closed up the portal.
Zekra continued to stare at the spot where the portal once stood before her. She still had time to change her mind. She could go back to the castle and continue her new life leading the Alliance. She knew that nothing had to change.
But in the end, Zekra knew she couldn't do that. She would never feel any semblance of happiness if she stayed within the Alliance.
Zekra kept her gaze fixed upon the spot for a moment longer, waiting for any longing and dreary thoughts to flood her mind.
When they didn't come, she only turned away and closed the portal before making a new portal.
She did not hesitate to enter it.
When Zekra exited out the other end of the portal, she found herself in a very familiar place.
It was the Gray Lands, empty as ever. Even so many years later, it had not changed. It was still the endless sea of sprawling grass that stretched for miles and miles. She thought she saw some Pokémon roaming about in the distance as tiny black dots, but Zekra knew that they would not bother her. They were wild Pokémon and she was sure that they knew better than to attack her.
Zekra wandered over to the nearest tree she could find and settled down against its trunk. She breathed a long sigh as she watched the sun disappear over the horizon. The sky blackened and the first of the stars peeked from behind the crawling darkness. She even thought she saw some of the feral ones in the far distance retreat deep into burrows or sprint off into the distance. Where they were going, Zekra wasn't sure. All that she understood was that she was truly alone.
Zekra closed her eyes.
I left. I'm not with the Alliance anymore. Len and Crystelle should be picking up on this at any minute now. I finally gave up trying to be happy there.
I needed to leave. I couldn't stay there any longer.
Zekra frowned hard.
Are you happy that I left, Venri? Are you happy that I finally listened to you after all these years?
There was no answer. Zekra opened her eyes and looked to her side to see if perhaps Venri had manifested herself into reality. However, there was no one with Zekra. It was only herself.
Zekra exhaled again and turned over onto her side.
I sometimes wish that we had just stayed separate. I can't tell sometimes if you're there or not. I can't tell… what's you… and what's me. Everything's the same.
Maybe… there is no me and you anymore. Maybe it's just a big me now.
Maybe I don't have a shadow anymore.
Maybe I'm just whole and complete.
Zekra smiled dryly at the thought of that. She couldn't help but laugh bitter under her breath.
I'm completely whole, yet totally empty. There's nothing in me anymore even though I'm synchronized. How is that even possible? How is it possible that I can still be alive, save the world, and have such a good and meaningful life afterwards… and feel like this?
Is there really anywhere I can go to be happy?
Should I have just stayed in the Alliance even though I haven't been happy at all? Should I stay there for everyone else to help lead them? Was leaving everyone behind because I feel this way the right thing to do?
Zekra couldn't find any answers within her mind. Her questions only went around and around in circles, having no clear end. The more the dreary thoughts looped within her mind, the more Zekra's mind became nothing more than a maelstrom of hazy and meaningless thoughts. She could feel the thoughts chipping away at her heart like waves crashing onto the beach, bringing with them a stinging, hollow pain in the process.
Zekra held her head with her claws and squeezed her eyes shut.
"There you are. I've been looking for you."
Zekra's ears perked up. She immediately thought it was Len. She wasn't sure how he could have found her, given that she had thrown her farewell note into her room minute ago and it took more than a few minutes to reach the Grey Lands from Pledge Mountain, but she didn't know who else it could be.
Regret shot through Zekra like a nail in her heart. She curled her claws inward and resisted the urge to run away.
"Look, I'm sorry," Zekra said quietly as she brought her gaze over to the Luxray. "I just… I can't keep doing this. I don't feel anything and I'm just so unhappy and empty and-"
Zekra stopped talking as soon as she made eye contact with the one in her presence. As it turned out, it was not Len. It was someone else entirely, someone that Zekra had never expected to see. She almost backed up against the tree and ran up into its canopy the moment she saw the one amongst her.
It was Dimitri.
He had not changed since she last saw him ten years ago. He was still a human who wore the same outfit as before, and some strands of his messy black hair still went over his eyes. He did seem a tad bit older, with his hair being slightly longer and his stature increased, but otherwise he was exactly the same as he had been last time they spoke.
Here he was, standing a few feet away from Zekra with his hands in his coat pockets just as Terron used to do.
For a moment, Zekra thought that this was an imposter. She thought it was someone only pretending to be Dimitri for a reason she couldn't understand. However, all she had to do was see his piercing blue eyes to know this wasn't true.
She still saw Terron and Yimtri within those eyes.
"You're Zekra, right?" Dimitri asked her.
"Y-Yeah," Zekra said with a quick nod.
Dimitri kept his stern gaze on Zekra for a moment longer, saying nothing. Then, he slowly made his way toward the Zoroark. Zekra found her muscles were frozen stiff, preventing her from going anywhere as the human decreased the distance. Within moments, he was standing right before her, the strength in his gaze still not broken. He tightened his frown as he glared down at Zekra, holding the silence between the two of them.
Then, he sighed deeply and sat down in front of Zekra in a cross-legged position.
"I'm sorry for how I treated you the last time we talked," Dimitri said in a soft, subdued voice. "I wasn't thinking straight. There was a lot happening to me that I didn't know how to take in properly."
"What… What do you mean?" Zekra asked, unable to grasp the myriad thoughts floating through her mind.
"You know, attacking you and saying that I didn't know who you were," Dimitri clarified. "Those things. I'm sorry for hurting you."
"Oh," Zekra replied. "Oh… it's um. It's okay. But um, what are you doing here exactly? I haven't seen you in years and now you're here to apologize to me or something…?"
Dimitri's frown grew as he took his hands out of his pockets. Zekra couldn't help but notice how slender they seemed. To her, they almost seemed elegant. But before she could continue to admire his hands, she noticed that there was something in them. It didn't take her long to realize it was a folded up piece of paper.
She watched as Dimitri set it out on the ground in the space between the two of them and spread it out completely. As soon as it was unfolded, Zekra saw that there were many odd symbols throughout the paper, drawn in straight lines that horizontally and never vertically, similar to the way that Footprint Runes were written. It filled the entirety of the front and the back of the paper.
"You can't read this, can you?" Dimitri asked her.
"No… not really," Zekra admitted shyly.
"I thought so," Dimitri said simply. "I guess those images were right. You Pokémon can't understand human's written language. You guys just use Footprint Runes. But that's alright. I can explain to you what this is. This is a list of things I keep seeing in my head. They're all different. No two are alike. They're just flashes of events that I see in my head that seem random. Almost random, that is. There's one thing that they all have in common.
"You're in all these flashes."
Zekra brought her befuddled gaze back over to Dimitri. He smiled a little as he picked up the paper and folded it back up before putting it back into his coat.
"The last time we saw each other, you were calling me Tear. You kept calling me by that name, along with Yimtri," Dimitri went on. "Back then, I just thought that you had me confused for someone else. I don't know why some human would have a name like Tear, but I knew it wasn't me. And then I started getting those images in my head. Those images that all contradicted each other and didn't make any sense at all. I was watching them like they were memories of mine, even though I knew they couldn't be. I'd see myself fighting myself or something like that. And I'd be Pokémon with two separate lives that were extremely different from one another. Nothing made sense, so I thought you were doing that to me. I thought you were putting false memories in my head because you're a Zoroark and you can do that. It was the only way to explain it all.
"I thought that by getting out of your illusion, I'd stop having those weird memories. I thought I could go back to my life and maybe tell people that I saw a Pokémon. I wasn't sure. I just knew that my mind would belong to me again.
"But those memories didn't go away after I got away from you. They just got worse."
"Worse how?" Zekra wondered.
"I kept seeing more of those weird memories, most of the time in my sleep," Dimitri said. "They were very vivid there. I was a Sableye in some of them, and then a Cubone in another. I was both of them and I actually felt like both of them. It felt real. Whenever I woke up, I never felt like it was a dream. I always felt like it was something I had been a part of. Like when I fell asleep, I actually became those two and lead the lives they did. I didn't know what to think of it, so I tried not to think about it too much. But it didn't stop. I still see those memories every night, sometimes during the day and they haven't stopped for two years now. Not to mention that Mom and Dad were acting strange when I first got home after getting away from you..."
Dimitri's frown returned as he looked straight into Zekra's eyes. His gaze seemed to bore deep inside of her and it sent shudders down her spine.
"I came here because a good amount of the memories are centered around you," Dimitri explained. "That Cubone really seemed to like you, and so did the Sableye at some point in time. I tried to find some of the other Pokémon I saw in those memories, but I couldn't find them. I just got lucky that I found you. You were easier to find, for some reason. That portal I opened up just a few minutes ago led right to you…
"So please Zekra. Can you tell me what happened to me? These memories, I'm really starting to think that they're mine at this point, but I want to know for sure. I don't know why I have memories of being two Pokémon. There's a bunch of gaps in them and I get the feeling that the gaps hold the answers I want. Can you please help me understand why I have these memories?"
Zekra found herself at a loss. She almost couldn't believe that what was happening around her was real. Here she was with the very human that she had longed to see for so long, right in front of her and speaking with her. It seemed to be nothing more than one of her surreal dreams and Zekra kept waiting for the moment she would wake up.
However, when she looked into Dimitri's eyes and saw the earnest intent, she knew that it was no dream. This was reality. Dimitri wanted her help.
What he intended to do after he received her help, Zekra wasn't sure. She considered that he'd go back to Kuron with his closure. She knew she would have done that if she were in his position. But in the end, it didn't matter.
She was going to help Dimitri, the amalgamation of her two lost friends.
So after getting over her moment of hesitation, she told the human everything.
She told him the story of the Plagued Ones and their blight upon Shiron. She told him how Nyx had brought Dimitri there in an attempt to stop the Plagued Ones, but having it backfire and instead tearing him into Terron and Yimtri. She explained how Yimtri went on to become a part of the Fellowship and later lead a fraction of it while Terron remained asleep in the Primogenitor's clutches until Nyx rescued him. She then shared how she had found Terron sometime later and all of the times they had spent together.
She told of their greatest moments when they both felt as mighty as the mountains and when they were in their greatest despair and could not will themselves to move forward.
She told of how they had lived when they had become infected with plague and how they learned of its true purpose and meaning in life.
She told him of the many friends they had made throughout the months, as well as the ultimate fates that each and every single one of them met in the end.
And of course, as she told him of her time with Terron, she also added what Yimtri was doing in the meantime whenever he was not with her and Terron. She told of the Sableye's quest to end the reign of terror that he was responsible for and all of the harrowing details that went with it. She did not censor anything as she told Dimitri of the extremes that Yimtri had gone to meet his goals and the suffering he endured. Even though she knew that he wouldn't like everything Yimtri did, she had to share it.
Dimitri needed the whole, unaltered story of his former selves.
Zekra also added in background details whenever she felt it was nessecary, such as explaining why the Plagued Ones existed in the first place or why certain Pokémon in their lives had behaved a certain way. However, she only did this for those whose motivations she truly understand. She knew that she could not weave her own interpretations into the story she was trying to share. She needed everything to be as unbiased and objective as possible.
She was sure to include all of the information she could that would inform Dimitri as much as possible, sharing it as though she were a great storyteller. She even provided visuals with her illusions whenever she felt they were nessecary or when Dimitri requested them.
It was a long story. A very long story that went well on into the night. By the time that Zekra had wrapped up the story to the best of her ability, she could see the first rays of dawn peeking out from over the horizon.
And yet, Zekra didn't feel the least bit lethargic. Her throat somewhat stung from speaking so much, but she did not feel the need to close her eyes and drift off to sleep. From how straight Dimitri sat up and how his eyes seemed firmly fixed on Zekra, she imagined he wasn't feeling exhausted either.
Zekra breathed out a long sigh as she stretched out her arms.
"And that's everything that ever happened to you as both Yimtri and Terron," Zekra finally concluded. "Did that help you out?"
Dimitri didn't say anything for a moment. He only continued to watch Zekra with a long, pensive frown as something within his eyes flickered dimly.
"Yeah, I think it did," Dimitri eventually said. "I'll admit that a lot of what you told me almost feels like something I'd read out of a novel and not something that actually happened in real life, but it all fits. It would explain a number of things like why I can make portals even the first place and why I have these vague memories of being in the spirit world when I'm sure I haven't died yet."
"Or why you can get a cut and it'll close right up seconds later," Zekra added.
"Yeah, that too," Dimitri said with a little laugh.
Zekra couldn't resist smiling for the first time in a long while. A familiar warmth filled her chest as she watched Dimitri. The more she spent time with him, the more she realized just how much he truly was Terron and Yimtri in perfect synch with one another. She could hear Terron's compassion and tender care in Dimitri's voice, but it was backed by the strength and knowledge that only Yimtri could provide.
She watched Dimitri for a while longer until he stopped laughing and brought his gaze back to Zekra. He stared at her for a moment before his smile faded a bit.
"I gave you that band around your mane, didn't I?" Dimitri asked.
Zekra grabbed the back of her mane and brought it over her shoulder. She held it gingerly in her claws, as if it were a newborn infant, and gazed at it longingly for a brief moment.
"Yeah, you did," she answered quietly. "Do you remember what it was before you gave it to me?"
"A cape, right?" he asked. "Had a number of rips and tears in it. I used to wear that all the time. I think I even went to sleep with it on. You kept it with you all these years huh?"
"Yeah… I did," Zekra said with a slow nod. "I thought about getting rid of it a lot but… I could just never do it."
She then released her hold on her mane and carefully brushed it back behind her shoulder. She almost wanted to give the cape back to Dimitri, but in the end decided against it. Yimtri had given it to her as a gift, and then also, Dimitri would have no use for the cape. It was far too small for his stature and could not serve as anything useful other than a neckerchief if tied correctly.
Dimitri's smile grew a little, though not without some level of discomfort.
"You and Terron loved each other before, didn't you?" he asked her. "You guys were dating… I mean, mates."
Zekra felt a rush of warmth in her cheeks. She had to resist looking away from the human. That had been the one detail she hadn't mentioned in her story. She had mentioned everything else, including naming Terron after one of her dead friends and Yimtri trying to kill her multiple times, but she had never explained that they had been in love with one another. To her, it seemed too awkward of a topic to bring up.
"Yeah," Zekra managed to say. "We were."
"I thought so," Dimitri said, smiling wryly. "Terron and Yimtri's memories of you were very attached to you. More attached to you than any of their other friends. Well, except for Nyx when she was pretending to be a Turtwig."
"But you don't love me, do you?" she asked in return.
Zekra bit down on her tongue. She hadn't intended to say those words. They had slipped right out of mouth, and now she couldn't take them back. She could practically feel her insides squirming as an uncomfortable wave of awkwardness crawled over her skin.
"I don't, unfortunately."
Zekra glanced over at Dimitri and was deeply surprised to find that he didn't appear the least bit unhinged by her remark. He was only wearing the same sad smile as before.
"I remember loving you a lot," Dimitri went on. "Really, I do. I remember that I wanted to be there for you more than anything. I wanted to keep you safe and make you as happy as possible. I really cared for you a lot. But when I look at you now, I don't feel any of that. My life as Terron and Yimtri feel like a completely separate life from my current one. I know that it happened and I do feel like I live their lives whenever I dream about them, but it still feels disconnected from my real life in some ways. It's almost like my life as Terron and Yimtri were nothing more than the virtual reality games I play sometimes. Immersive and moving and so very real, but something that I know won't be real anymore for the rest of my life the moment I turn off the game."
"Virtual reality games…?" Zekra asked.
"Ah right, you don't have those here," Dimitri realized. "They're basically devices that take me to an imaginary world where I can do or be whatever I want depending on a number of things. I can feel the wind in my hair and when its cold breeze goes through my ears, I can feel the sting when I get a cut, I can actually taste the sweetness of a pastry, things like that. It all feels very real even though I know it's not."
"Oh, I see," Zekra said with a nod before she flattened her ears against her head. "But I get it. You know how they felt about things because you felt their emotions when you're them in your dreams, but you don't feel those same emotions the moment you wake up."
"Something like that, yes," Dimitri confirmed.
Zekra nodded slowly. She should have known that Dimitri wouldn't love her despite being the amalgamation of Terron and Yimtri. Dimitri was almost a completely different person despite behaving uncannily like the two Pokémon. He was his own person in a sense.
"So what are you going to do now that I've helped you figure out why you've got all those memories?" Zekra asked. "You going to go back to Kuron?"
"In a bit," Dimitri replied. "I think I'll wait a while, though. I'll try to enjoy the sunrise for a while."
Zekra forced herself to smile. She knew it was going to come to this. Dimitri belonged to Kuron, just as she belonged to Shiron. The two of them were never meant to remain friends for long.
And yet, some part of her couldn't help but keep her hopes up. She would have liked to have Dimitri back in her life again. Even being with him for these measly few hours had made her feel more alive and joyous than she had been for the past ten years.
"What have you been doing while I've been gone anyway?" Dimitri then asked her as he scooted over to her side so he could watch the sun in the horizon without twisting his neck back. "Were you able to stop the Primogenitor?"
"Yeah, I did with some help," Zekra confirmed. "As for what I'm doing now… well, I'm a leader of what Len, Crystelle, and I ended up replacing the Fellowship with. We made The Shadow Alliance to help rebuild Shiron after it got ravaged by all the chaos that had been going on."
"Ah, that sounds like a lot of fun," Dimitri mused. "I imagine that it's a lot of responsibility, if my memories as Yimtri are anything to go by."
"Yeah, I can see why the guy always looked so stressed all the time…" Zekra said with a dry smile. "It was a lot of hard work. But we got a lot done at least, and it was nice having help. Made things a lot easier."
Zekra paused for a moment.
"But I'm not a leader anymore," Zekra then said. "I actually just left right now after ten years of being there."
"Oh, you did?" Dimitri asked. "Why? You look like you'd make a great leader."
"Because… I wasn't happy," Zekra answered. "I'm still not happy. No matter what I do, I still feel this emptiness inside of me. No matter how many Pokémon I help and how much I contribute to making Shiron better, I never feel better. And it's all because… well because I don't feel like I belong here anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"I've lost pretty much all of my friends thanks to that Plagued One war. Every single one died or they merged back together to make some new creature, like you. I have some Pokémon I knew still alive, like Len and Crystelle, but all of my other friends are gone. And even though it's been ten years now, I still can't let go of them. Every time I'm in the Alliance, I think about them all the time and what life could have been like if they were still alive. And whenever I think like that, I think about something else too…
"I think about how I'm the only one still alive, despite everything. I think about how I'm literally the only Plagued One that made it and how I'm a giant anomaly because of it. How I'm something that isn't supposed to exist anymore and if I'm really supposed to be alive still."
Zekra felt the tears rush to her eyes. She closed her eyes and rubbed at them with her claws, praying that Dimitri hadn't noticed her and would instead keep paying attention to the rising sun.
"So I quit. I quit because I couldn't keep blocking out the thoughts. I figured I could find somewhere else to go," Zekra went on. "But the truth is… I don't know where else to go. I always used to think about going to Kuron, but I knew you were there and I wasn't sure if I could face you. And also, because I'm not a human and I don't want to spend my life pretending to be one. So… I'm just sort of stuck now.
"I don't want to stay here where I'm unhappy and feel like I don't belong because I'm a Plagued One. But I don't want to go to Kuron because I don't want to play human. I just… I just want to find somewhere where I can forget about all of this. Somewhere I can be me. Whatever that means now."
Dimitri didn't say anything. Worried that he had perhaps left her, Zekra opened up a space between her claws and peeked through it. Dimitri was still amongst her, though he was now staring off into the sunset as she had hoped. Zekra breathed a quiet sigh of relief as she removed her claws from her face and wiped any tears that had tricked from her eyes.
"Maybe you don't have to stay on Shiron or Kuron. Maybe you could go somewhere else."
Zekra nearly jumped. She quickly looked over at Dimitri to find that he was still staring off into the dawn.
"What?" she asked feebly.
"You say that you don't feel like you belong in any of the dimensions," Dimitri said again. "So, why don't you go somewhere else? Why don't you go to an entirely different dimension where you could be you?"
"An… An entirely different dimension?" Zekra asked. "But… like where?"
"Anywhere you want," Dimitri answered. "There's an infinite amount of dimensions out there, all of them swarming with possibilities. You could go to a dimension where Pokémon live without humans, just like Shiron. They exist out there, you know. Or you could go to a universe where Pokémon and humans exist together in peace, like how Shiron and Kuron were before they split. Or if you felt really brave, you could go somewhere entirely different, like an entire universe of creatures that aren't Pokémon or human. It's all up to you."
Zekra looked down at her claws. The idea certainly sounded appealing. She could have a brand new life anywhere she wanted. She did not have to settle for Shiron or Kuron; she could go somewhere entirely new and unique, somewhere she could perhaps find happiness in.
However, it was not long before Zekra realized a problem.
"But how would I even get to these dimensions?" Zekra wondered. "I mean, the portal only works when you know what you're looking for. So, how do I make it so that I get to the place I want to go to? What if I get lost? You say there's infinite possibilities, so what if I literally can't find the place I'm looking for because there's just so much to look through and I don't know where to start?"
Dimitri started laughing. Zekra was about to ask him what was so funny, but then saw him turn toward her as he slowly quieted his voice and smiled at her.
"Don't worry about that," Dimitri told her. "You'll be able to figure it out, especially since I'll be there to help you out."
Zekra couldn't resist shooting the human a befuddled stare as her jaw dropped slightly open, causing the human to laugh again.
"But… But I thought you said you were going to Kuron," Zekra babbled. "You just said-"
"I was," Dimitri answered smugly. "But I changed my mind."
"What?!" Zekra cried. "What, why? Aren't your parents going to be worried about you? I mean, it's not like you can just disappear on them and not expect them to think you got murdered or something!"
"I wouldn't worry about that," Dimitri replied. "I actually told my parents that I found somewhere I could be happy a little while ago. They know I'm okay now. To them, I've just moved on in life. Grown up and out to live my own life, you could say."
"I don't think that going to an entirely different dimension was something that they think is okay…" Zekra said quietly.
"Doesn't matter anyway. I can always go back and visit them," Dimitri said with a dismissive shrug. "Time doesn't work the same way in all of the same dimensions. Like five years here is one there, so I bet all of the other dimensions will be the same. And getting to Kuron is literally as easy as snapping my fingers."
"Okay… fine… I get your point there," Zekra conceded. "But… how are you going to blend in if I go to a Pokémon dimension? You're not a Pokémon anymore. You're a human."
Dimitri made a snorting noise, and then snapped his fingers. Zekra watched as a black ripple went over his body as he rapidly shrank down in size. When the darkness faded, Zekra saw that he was now a Marowak, complete with a skull latched firmly onto his head.
"How-" Zekra tried to say.
"You're not the only one who can turn into other creatures," he told her simply. "We're more alike than you think now thanks to both of us being plagued. Didn't you wonder how I could keep changing forms when I was that eldritch abomination back at that castle?"
He snapped his fingers again and instantly reverted back into his typical, human self. However, though this all seemed quite fine to Zekra and all of her doubts slowly went away, she couldn't help but wonder one thing.
"Why do you want to come with me?" she asked him. "How come you don't want to go back to your human life on Kuron? Why'd you change your mind?"
The conceit in Dimitri's face melted away as a more genuine, compassionate smile made its way onto his face.
"Because even though I may not be Terron or Yimtri anymore, I still want to be your friend," he told her. "Maybe I'll never be as close to you as I was as Terron, or even love you like he did, but you were the root of some of their happiest memories. Some of my memories. I want to be with you again and re-live those happy moments once again. But more importantly…
"I want to help you be happy again. After everything that you've done for me on Shiron, I want to return the favor. I want to help you find somewhere that you can feel you belong to."
Dimitri held out his hand toward her.
"So what do you say? Will you let me come with you?"
Zekra felt the tears return to her eyes, but they did not sting her heart as they flowed down her cheeks. She didn't even bother to wipe them away as she slowly smiled and felt all of the emptiness within her heart fill with warmth and light.
"Yeah… you can come with me, Dimitri," Zekra told him. "You can be with me anywhere."
Zekra grabbed his hand. The moment their hands met and their fingers intertwined around one another's, plague energy seeped out of their hands and went into the air. They watched together as they formed a great portal before them, welcoming them into its abysmal mass.
She and Dimitri gave each other one last glance, and then dove into the portal together.
As they fell through its dark tunnel into an unknown dimension, Zekra did not fret. She admitted that she had no idea where it might lead, but she did know one undeniable truth that waited for her at the other end of the portal.
It was the start of a new beginning.