A/N - Sorry for the slight delay! But you'll be pleased to know I have very nearly finished writing Rekindled! I realised how close to the conclusion I am this past week. Hopefully I'll have wrapped it up in about a month, hopefully less. At least five more chapters to go, and Harlequin and Harbinger's backstories which I am considering merging. At the rate I'm going this story will be about ten chapters longer than the original, not including the 'Special Episodes'. The word count is probably way longer though XD

Thanks so much for all reads, reviews, faves and follows! =D

46 - A Sheet of White

As Cleo and Spark drew their story to a close, Faith and Harlequin continued their silence. Not one of them had interrupted the two warriors as they relayed their tale, although Faith had let out an audible gasp on more than one occasion. After a short pause, the mawile shifted her weight and sighed.

"That must have been awful for the both of you," she said. "To have fled that blaze, then get attacked by murkrow… Hydreigon must have really wanted to wipe that place out."

"It makes sense," said Harlequin. "For some reason he was most scared of psychic-types. The first to go were gardevoir, right?"

"Over many hundreds of years ago, yes," said Cleo. "If that was the case, then it wouldn't have been the Hydreigon in power now. He's the one responsible for our home being destroyed."

Harlequin frowned at the meowstic. "I know that!"

Faith made a thoughtful noise as she stared at her feet. "Something does seem a little odd about it all."

Her three friends looked up at her expectantly, prompting her to go on. When she didn't, Spark cleared her throat to get her attention.

"What do you mean?" asked the dedenne. "'Cos I've always just thought he was nothing more than a bully, starting with those he knew his forces could wipe out quickly."

"Anyone would, if they didn't know any better," said Faith. "But psychic-types are more likely to carry fairy-type moves. Gardevoir in particular is part fairy. If he started with those, then…" She rubbed her head and groaned. "It might be possible he knows about the fairy-type."

Cleo almost leapt to her feet. Her shout of surprise was drowned out by Spark's. Cleo exchanged a shocked glance with Harlequin, then everyone turned to face Faith again.

The mawile raised her paws in a shrug. "I might be wrong. But both dark- and dragon-type pokemon have difficulty learning fairy-type moves. Over the course of history, Hydreigon has wiped out a lot of pokemon. But now that I think about it, there might be a pattern. First he started with the Endless Woods, which were named the Gleamgrove Woods before the gardevoir enchanted it. It wasn't only gardevoir that lived there. Many psychic-types did. Mr Mime, alakazam, and hatterene to name a few."

"What's a hatterene?" Spark asked.

Faith chuckled. "There weren't very many if my memory serves me right here. They rarely left the woods, and when the gardevoir found their way into the Fairy Garden the hatterene weren't far behind. I don't believe any are left in Estellis."

Cleo found herself wondering if she'd seen this unusual pokemon in the Fairy Garden or in the tapestry. She'd met so many pokemon and seen so many different faces she wouldn't be able to remember if she tried.

"After they were 'wiped out'," Faith went on, "Hydreigon turned his attacks on anyone who wouldn't form an allegience with him. Grimmsnarl and altaria, in particular. Then he destroyed the Frozen Isles where the ice-types lived, and even NyukNyuk's former home. I wouldn't be surprised if before you came to the Fairy Garden you'd never met an ice-type ninetales."

Cleo and Spark shook their heads.

"All those pokemon are capable of either being fairy-type or learning their moves," said Faith. "I'm now really beginning to wonder if Hydreigon has some secret motive here."

Harlequin shuffled a paw over the floor, scattering the old dried-out leaves. "I'd heard rumours he's looking for something."

All eyes turned to the zorua.

"I always thought it was Outcasts." Harlequin shrugged. "I mean, the assassins are still sent out to deal with them. Yurlik's flock would find a town, then assassins were sent in to pick off the larger threats."

"What if he's not looking for Outcasts?" Cleo suggested.

Harlequin shook her head and shrugged. "I've no idea. This is making me wonder if Faith's right. Maybe Hydreigon knows way more about the fairy-type than we realised. I mean, he has motive to keep it to himself doesn't he? He's weak to it on both sides!"

Faith sighed and looked at each of her friends in turn. "I don't think we should jump to conclusions just yet. We need to think about this rationally. Either way, it doesn't really change anything. We're still at war against him and we're on the winning side."

"No offence, Faith, but it doesn't feel like it," said Spark.

Faith smiled at her. "One day, the Darkness will be defeated. 'The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness will never extinguish it'. Remember that."

Mischief's sparkling attack shone in Cleo's mind and she felt a smile forming at Faith's words. Somehow, it instilled some hope inside her.

Faith parted the leaves to peer outside. "It looks like the snow has stopped."

"Great," said Spark in a flat tone. "That means the Darkness might come out again."

"I guess someone needs to stay on watch." Cleo began to rise to her feet.

"Get some sleep," Faith told her. "I'll take first watch."

Cleo wanted to protest. They'd all taken a beating in that attack, and were all very tired. But Faith's kind face stifled any argument the meowstic wished to make. Instead, Cleo thanked Faith and settled down on a soft bed of old leaves.

Harlequin looked up at Faith. "I can keep watch with you if you like?"

"Thank you, Harlequin," said Faith. "But you need rest too. I'll be fine. If I need anything, I'll let you know."

"Just don't go off talkin' to ghosts this time, eh?" Spark said as she huddled down in Cleo's tails.

Faith chuckled and edged out of the bush, her paws crunching over the thick snow.

...

Enigma sat perched on the bough of a sycamore. Its branches were weighed down with snow, and it flecked his grey fur and dotted his scarf like twinkling stars. He'd managed to shelter from the worst of it, although it wasn't perfect. The roots of the sycamore parted at the base into a shallow hole, but while it provided shelter from the wind it had been far from warm.

The banette shivered, hugging his arms over his scarf. He'd lost track of Harlequin and their friends in that blizzard. He'd barely been able to see his own paw before his face. The snow had stopped, but the wind still whipped over the hills and stirred up loose snow into drifts at the base of his tree. Movement caught Enigma's eye and he looked up at a small figure several feet away. His heart skipped a beat. It couldn't be Faith, surely? The mawile had climbed out of a snowy lump in the ground and settled into the snow. If she was there then it meant Harlequin was too. Enigma let out a small breath and settled back against the tree. Snow trickled down from the branch with every movement he made, and a flurry of it rained down from the thinner branches above him. He shook it from his mane, the jingle of his bell muffled by the snowy landscape, and muttered under his breath. Even if he could sleep it would be pointless to try in such flimsy shelter.

He warped to the floor, landing silently in the snow. He shook his paws free and turned, searching the white landscape for another shelter. Everything looked white and barren, the blanket of snow rising and falling as the hills rolled away from him towards the horizon. The few stars that had poked free from their cloudy prison shimmered on the snow-cloaked ground. With a shake of his head, Enigma gave up and turned to walk away. But his paws faltered as something nagged within him. He turned his head to look back at the mawile sitting alone outside that snowy mound. Her bright yellow fur made her an easy target in that vast sheet of white. Enigma knew only too well how easy it was to pick off one lone pokemon. His claws twitched at his sides and he found his gaze wandering to the dark sky. Faith could hold her own, that much he knew. But she could also fall just as easily. That murkrow flock had proved as much.

They were even now. He didn't need to hang around.

Yet he found his feet moving towards her, sinking into the snow with each step. She looked up long before he reached her. Her violet gaze softened when she spotted him and she flashed a smile before turning her attention back to the rolling white hills.

"You're still following us." It wasn't a question. She kept her voice quiet so as not to disturb her friends.

Enigma shrugged. "Not really. I just got waylaid by that blizzard."

Faith watched him for a moment, but he avoided her gaze. It made him uncomfortable in a way he couldn't describe.

"I'm sure you could join us if you wanted to?"

"No."

There was no break between her offer and Enigma's answer. The word just kind of… came out on its own. He turned his head to look between her and the snowy mound. Close up it was much more obvious that it was a bush encased in a thick shell of snow.

"You shouldn't be sitting out here," he told her. "It's too open. If I could spot you then a murkrow definitely could."

Faith leaned forwards on her knees and smiled at him. "Murkrow won't fly tonight. There's too much risk of another blizzard. They'd freeze."

Enigma grunted and folded his paws behind his back. His gaze wandered back to the sky. Faith wasn't wrong. Murkrow can't fly in a snowstorm, and those that had taken the whimsicott wouldn't have got far before it hit. They'd have searched for shelter or died on the wing. No sensible bird would take the risk to fly while there was the smallest chance another blizzard might start up again. Weavile, however… if Hydriegon wanted to send out more assassins to track down the whimsicott then a pack of quick and sneaky weavile would be perfect in the snow.

"You can sit with me if you like," said Faith.

Enigma shuffled his foot through the snow. "No thanks."

"Okay." She closed her eyes in a smile and chuckled. "Then continue to stand."

Enigma grunted and glanced away from her, but only for a moment. When he looked back she was staring off into the snow, leaning back on her paws as if the cold didn't bother her at all. She bobbed a foot back and forth, a small smile on her face. If Enigma didn't know any better he'd expect her to be humming. Did his presence really not bother her? There was no drill of questions as to why he was hanging around her and her friends. No scathing comments towards his dispatch of Rio. What was with this mawile? He could easily kill her if he wanted to, yet she didn't push him away.

He stared down at his claws and grimaced. Did she truly believe there was good in him? Or was she just oblivious?

"Why did you break me out of that lab?" he asked quietly.

"I told you why." She turned her violet gaze on him. "They were holding pokemon against their will, and infecting them. Why would I leave someone there to suffer like that?"

"Do you regret it?"

Faith blinked a few times as she became rendered speechless. It was all the answer Enigma needed.

He closed his eyes and let out a sour laugh. "You saw what I did to Rio, and I saw your reaction. So go on, say it. I know you regret saving me."

"I don't. Not for a second."

Enigma found himself desperately searching for any hint of doubt in her voice. When he came up dry he met her violet gaze, now the one rendered speechless.

"What Rio was doing was wrong," Faith explained. "I told you this. No one deserved to be locked up in that lab. The only part I regret is letting my guard down enough for you to take Rio's life."

Enigma closed his eyes and clenched his fists tight.

"Do you regret killing him?" Faith asked.

"I don't know," said Enigma. "On the one paw, I'm glad Rio's gone."

"And on the other?"

Enigma opened his eyes again, meeting the mawile's gaze once more. Regret… the only thing he regretted was that killing Rio bothered her. But those words didn't come out. Instead, he found himself saying, "There is no other."

Faith's eyes widened and she looked away. Her shoulders sank in a silent sigh and she shook her head slowly.

"I don't understand you," she said. "It's almost as if you're trying to get me to hate you. Like you're trying to convince me you're the monster you claim to be."

Enigma flinched and looked away from her, staring down the white slope of the hill.

"If you're trying to provoke me into killing you, it's not going to work Enigma," Faith went on. "It's not my place to take someone's life."

"I don't want you to kill me, Faith."

"Then what are you trying to tell me?" Faith asked. "You said 'on the one paw', so are you trying to seek forgiveness?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Enigma scoffed. "Even if I wanted it I'm way too far gone for that."

"That's not true," said Faith. "No one is too far gone! Sure, you might have pokemon who feel unable to forgive you. But what matters most is Xerneas' forgiveness."

Enigma tutted, avoiding her gaze. He felt he was incredibly undeserving of that. He was too far gone… and now Rio had made it a whole lot worse. Enigma could almost feel the pokerus worming its way through his brain, demanding control of his body. As he closed his eyes he could see the deranged face of that whimsicott. Only it warped into his until he was staring back at himself. Bodies littered the floor around him. Faces of pokemon he knew. And among them, Harlequin's lifeless gaze stared back at him. He raised a paw to his chest and took in a trembling breath. He forced his eyes open, but he was no longer seeing the snowy landscape.

"You might think I'm not beyond saving, but I know full well what I'm capable of." Years of practice of keeping his emotions tucked away helped him to hide the waver in his voice. "Mark my words, Faith. If someone doesn't kill me, then a lot more pokemon are going to die."

"Is that a threat?" Faith's voice was still soft despite the warning note behind her question.

When Enigma looked back at her, her usually gentle gaze was almost scolding. But it softened as she read the fear Enigma was trying to hide.

Faith closed her eyes briefly. "You're infected, aren't you?" She pushed herself to her feet, her paws crunching in the soft snow. "Why didn't you tell me when I asked?"

"Because it didn't matter." He waved her off, but she advanced anyway.

"Of course it matters." She stopped before him and reached up to place a paw on his shoulder, which he promptly swatted away. If it bothered her she didn't show it. "We can help you."

"Really? Like you've helped your whimsicott friend?"

Faith's mouth turned down in a frown but she didn't break eye contact.

"Just as I thought," Enigma scoffed. "You haven't a clue how to help me," he waved a paw to the snowy landscape, "or any of the other experiments you've unleashed on Estellis. Once that pokerus takes over there's going to be a massacre. Deaths caused by unwilling pokemon warped under the control of a microscopic parasite."

Faith blinked with bewilderment. "Are you blaming me?"

Enigma groaned and rubbed a paw down his face. "I'm not blaming you, Faith. You did what you thought was right." He turned away from her and strutted a few paces over the snow. "It's just Estellis has enough problems without this pokerus adding to it."

Faith plodded after him and spoke quietly, "We do plan to look for a cure."

He looked back at her over his shoulder. "And how exactly do you plan to find one? Each and every one of those infected pokemon is a bomb just waiting to explode."

"Harlequin suggested poison."

Enigma laughed at that and shook his head. "Of course he did."

"There is hope, Enigma." Faith's voice drew his attention back to her. "The way Mischief is managing it is to avoid fighting. If that's an option for you then I suggest you try it."

Enigma grunted and folded his arms. "That's not an option for me."

"Couldn't you at least try?"

Enigma scratched his claws over his fur and looked away from her. "I don't think the pokerus is going to stop spreading just because I'm not fighting."

"But it reduces the risk of you losing control. Mischief has proved that already."

"Really?" Enigma tutted again and dragged his claws through his mane. "I'm not promising anything. If anyone gives me a hard time I'm fighting back."

"Of course!" Faith agreed.

Enigma shifted, glancing away from the mawile. He was beginning to feel incredibly uncomfortable. What was it about her that made him so talkative?

"So is that why you wanted to speak to me?" Faith asked.

"I told you, I didn't come here to seek you out."

Faith chuckled and tucked her paws behind her back. "I was just in the right place at the right time, then?" Another chuckle. "I think I know who arranged that."

Enigma frowned at her, then let out a sigh. "You're unbelievable."

Faith shrugged and, still smiling, trotted back to her spot outside the bush.

"You believe I can change," Enigma told her, "but you're wrong. A zebstrika can't change its stripes."

Faith stopped and looked back at him. "Not on its own, but it can with the right help."

Enigma opened his mouth to retort then closed it again. He actually had no argument for that. Faith continued to watch him for a moment as soft flakes of snow fell around her.

"Fine," he scoffed. "Let's say for now you're right. How would someone hated by all of Estellis manage to…" He waved a paw as he sought the right word, then sighed, "change?"

"It won't be easy." She trotted back to him until she was standing before him again. "You have to keep pressing on, fighting through the rough spots until you come out the other side stronger."

"And when pokemon try to kill me?"

Faith sighed and shook her head. "It's a war, Enigma. You just have to not harm those you're trying to help. Fight alongside them. Prove to them you're trustworthy." Faith smiled up at him. "Like you have to me already."

Really? Enigma closed his eyes and stifled a groan. How could she believe him trustworthy? She'd seen what he'd done to Rio. She'd undoubtedly heard about his attack on her friends. Yet she was calling him trustworthy? All he could do was hurt others. He clenched his right paw, and for a fleeting moment he thought it was sticky with blood once again.

"How?" He hadn't intended to ask the question. It had just come out.

Faith took his right paw in both of hers and his eyes snapped open, locking onto her violet gaze.

A warm smile spread over her face and she gave his paw a gentle squeeze. "Baby steps."

...

I really wanted to include more interactions with Enigma and Faith, so I hope you enjoyed that! =3

Thanks for reading! Please R&R! =D