Chapter 11
'Killing your friends by living'

At the spa, Glim had fallen asleep again, during his back feet massage. On his back with his paws in the air, his snooze looked adorable to the nurses. Karli who was just next to Glim was also in deep comfort, having the same treatment, but she was not dozing off like the little glaceon to her left. He made her smile though, just how sweet and innocent Glim could be, yet so serious, bold and secretive.

Their 'day off' was largely spent by resting, as it had been their first day since the Iris Dragon Raid for any chance to stop and becalm. The spa treatment was more than what Karli would have asked for, Glim became far more satisfied than he imagined and Beryl was perhaps feeling lighter after his ordeal yesterday. The same could be said for Angel, when he let out his fury on Mercury, which could have had far worse consequences, but to the type advantage, the lucario was not facing too much threat from the enraged weavile.

Angel had returned to the actor's chalet, accompanied by Mercury. He expected the worst, thinking that Karli and maybe Glim would be mad at him, but even if they were, they were not present at the time. The weavile sat at the same table, where he had abandoned his friends earlier, clutching his right shoulder, hiding the aching pain he had from his fight.

'Are you alright?' asked Mercury, already knowing by aura reading that Angel was in pain. Essentially, he was asking a question he already knew the answer to, but wanted the weavile's view on it.

'I'm fine, thanks.' he replied, not even looking at the lucario.

'You want anything? Water, tea, beer?'

Angel actually smiled and gave a confused chuckle.

'Not what I was expecting, after what I just did to you.'

Mercury interrupted. 'That doesn't matter, Angel. You're hurt and stressed, and we like to move on when things get ugly.'

'I'm fine.'

The lucario paused, looking concerned for the weavile, just sitting aimlessly. He knew he needed something and was waiting, but what. Mercury left, saying 'okay then,' and telling Angel to take his time.

'Wait,' called Angel. 'Where's Karli and that lot?'

Mercury peeked round the kitchen door to see Angel. 'They've gone to the spa. They are taking a day to cool down. You should too, really.'

The lucario resumed helping out one of his colleagues who was audibly present in the kitchen, while the weavile looked at the window ahead of him. It had begun to snow.

Outside the spa, little Glim was having difficulty in walking, due to just how relaxed he was. He looked half-asleep as he and Karli waited for Yuki, Whitney and Miley to leave, having finished their pay. The glaceon just simply wanted to curl into a ball on the soft snow and sleep once more, but he was not so tired anymore.

The froslass and her crew left the spa, just as perky as Karli seemed to be, but Yuki looked around when she noticed only the kirlia and glaceon together.

'Where is Beryl?' she asked.

'Beryl's gone back to the chalet…' Karli replied sadly. 'He said the treatment was great and wanted to thank you, but wanted some time alone.'

Yuki nodded in acceptance, but sorrow could be seen in the beautiful eyes of hers, worried for the braixen. 'Must be still broken up about yesterday.'

'I tried to persuade him to come, but…'

'It is alright, dear Karli. You tried, but you have to see it from Beryl's point of view too.'

'I know, that's why I didn't argue with him. So where are we going next anyway?'

Whitney flew closer to the kirlia and sitting glaceon, subtly jumping them, as if the relaxation had no effect on the whimsicott. 'Our next performance is in a few hours!' he said joyously. 'We're going to prepare and you two can watch, when it starts.'

'Oh really? I forgot about the performances.'

'I think today,' said Yuki, who then looked at Miley. 'We are doing the usual Cresselia Ballet?'

'Yeah Tuesday we do the ballet. But we always have the daily news update and offerings too.'

'Okay,' replied Karli. 'So since it won't be in a few hours, are Glim and I okay for a walk?'

'Yes absolutely.' replied Yuki. 'We would not like to keep you waiting for so long, while we are getting ready. You two can do whatever you want.'

'Okay great,' said Karli, turning to leave, but also stroking the drowsy glaceon to come with her. 'We'll be there, promise!'

Back at the chalet, the door opened slowly, revealing the beautiful braixen boy, Beryl. He still seemed sad, a little disappointed with himself. It was not until he had closed the door behind him and turned round, did he notice that Angel had come back. Their eye contact, surprised the braixen.

'Angel?'

'Hey Beryl, I've… decided to stay.'

Rather quickly, the fox boy noticed that the weavile was hurt, just by seeing the tiny twitch in Angel's eye and the way he was sitting.

'What happened? What's wrong?' asked Beryl, drawing closer.

Angel grunted, trying to make his pain look like nothing more than just an ache. 'Mercury and I had a talk, and thought it'd be better if I left with you guys to Haine. Not just for your sake, but mine as well.'

'Oh...' said Beryl. 'Well, I was thinking of not going, Angel.'

'Oh really? Why's that?'

The braixen stood still, awkwardly staring at the weavile. He then slowly sat down on the chair in front of Angel, with his head down and braking eye contact. Angel was expecting an answer, but realised that the pretty braixen before him was in a fight with his own emotions, as his breathing appeared to pick up speed. His eyes and mouth seemingly changed shape too, a face the weavile had seen before.

'I can't…' stuttered Beryl, voice cracking uncontrollably, as he raised his paws to hold his ears. 'I can't stop hearing… the beeping.'

Beryl's lips began trembling, hearing the same beeping that signified Belle's life, just echoing in his head. Just as suddenly, tears slowly filled his eyes. Immediately, Angel knew what the braixen was referring too and nodded.

'Beryl…' he said, leaning forward and placing his claws on the braixen's shoulders. 'I've been having that problem too.'

The braixen looked up, meeting his pretty eyes with those sturdy, yet vulnerable eyes of the weavile before him. His paws went down from holding his ears to holding onto Angel's claws, trying to build as much emotional support as he could.

Beryl whispered 'did she have to die?'

'Beryl. Even if we didn't pull the cord, her mind was not coming back.' replied Angel. The braixen then looked down, clenching his teeth, trying desperately to not cry. 'Beryl… let it out.' he said, standing up and attempting to hug the braixen, who instead let go and swiftly stepped back.

'No!' he cried, cowering from the weavile and with tears just raining down his face. 'I wouldn't have given up… and you made me help you!' shouted Beryl, before the urge to bawl was getting the better of him. The braixen poorly hid his wet face with his paws, while Angel approached, grabbing hold of him by his arms.

'That's because I didn't want to do it either, Beryl.' replied Angel, whose voice also began to crack. 'Come here.'

When the weavile simply slid his arms around the fox pokémon, Beryl found himself powerless to resist and finally gave in, holding Angel back and cried once more. Letting out the heavy weight within, the fox boy screamed out his pain, causing the tears to soak the shoulder and neck fins he was crying on. Angel held the braixen tightly, as if holding onto the caring mother of a dead sibling. To think that he was the foster father for the little budew, even for just over a long day and a half, he felt that Belle was his own and rubbed his face into Beryl's warm fur, in case he too began to leak tears.

Ten minutes later, the two were sat down again, when Mercury emerged from the kitchen. It seemed that he knew there had been an emotional scene as he approached carefully, seeing the braixen wiping his tears across his arm and Angel leaning close to him and stroking his leg.

'I'm so sorry to interrupt.' said Mercury, calmly. 'But… you two don't need anything right now, do you?'

Neither Beryl nor Angel looked at the Lucario, but they both shook their heads.

'No thanks,' whispered Angel. 'This is between us.'

'Okay.' he replied, winking and left.

Only seconds later, the door was opened by Karli, who immediately spotted Angel as she was entering. Glim, who was close behind her was saying something, but the kirlia paused in surprise to see the weavile, slightly battered, who only gestured to keep quiet. Karli noticed Beryl only a centimetres away from Angel and entered cautiously, while gesturing 'sh' to Glim also. The glaceon followed in silence, seeming more curious than surprised to see that Angel had returned, but his expression turned to worry when he could see the breathing rate of the braixen. Beryl did not look to the door when the two had entered and kept to his calm, looking downward. Glim passed Karli, getting a look at Beryl, whose eyes were closed, while his cheeks shone its moisture. As tempted as the glaceon was to say something, he took one look at Angel, who shook his head, so Glim took a few steps back and looked back at Karli. The kirlia had a more complicated expression, seemingly worried for Beryl, yet fighting confusion to why Angel came back. Thankfully the silence was broken subtly by a lucario who left the kitchen unseen.

'Are you two okay?' asked Mercury.

The sudden question made Karli jump, but also grab Glim's attention, as they were unaware of Mercury's presence.

'Oh, uh…' quickly stammered Karli. 'No, sorry, we just came back because I really need a wee.'

'Okay.' nodded the lucario, while the kirlia quickly left for the corridor on the opposite side of the large room.

Mercury paused for a moment, staring at Glim, who resumed staring at the weavile and braixen, deep in contemplation, forgetting that Mercury's question was applicable for him too. The tall jackal look-alike pokémon resumed his chores, while the glaceon remained gazing. But when the lucario left, Glim felt a bit awkward, just being there. Rather quickly however, the little glaceon thought of an excuse to break his silence.

Glim looked at the kitchen door. 'W-wait, are you supposed to be rehearsing for today's performance?' he called, asking Mercury.

'It's the Cresselia Ballet today.' the busy lucario called back. 'There's no piano role, nor can I dance that well.'

'O-okay.' Glim nodded, not that Mercury could see that. Having broken his own silence, he felt more confident to speak to the other two. 'A-am I okay to ask?'

Angel glanced at the little glaceon, with a stern look. 'What?'

'Well…' paused Glim, suddenly regretting his decision to speak. 'Well I just wanted to know if Beryl's okay.'

Fearing that Glim's last statement would flare up an argument, Angel clenched his teeth and moved closer to the braixen, who only lightly held the weavile back and shook his head.

'Don't worry Glim.' Beryl reassured, taking a deep breath. 'What happened last night… was between me and Angel.'

The glaceon quietly approached, as Angel sat back on his chair, watching Glim. He then stopped just in front of the pretty braixen, with a sorrowful expression. Due to Beryl sitting on a chair, he was much higher than the glaceon, who just looked like an innocent little girl to him. The height also gave Glim the opportunity to see right up Beryl's fur that was shaped like a dress. Neither of them cared though, the glaceon just sat and opened out his front legs, as if asking for a hug.

'Can I at least return a favour?' asked Glim, getting the braixen to fully open his eyes, which looked sore from crying. He seemed lost, confused, too upset to understand simple commands or argue. 'You were there for me when I lost it in prison. Would it make you feel better if we held each other again?'

The braixen huffed, regaining his smile, as if Glim's 'favour' was a bit late and unnecessary. However, Beryl again found himself powerless to resist, as he leaned forward, leaving his chair and wrapped his warm furry arms around the little glaceon. Glim had to move back a little for Beryl to embrace him, by which time, they were both sitting on the floor as they caressed each other for a second time.

Neither Angel nor Beryl went to see the performance that day. They did think about it, but just felt wrong to be enjoying their selves after their experience with Belle. When Karli was finished, she, like Glim, was curious as to why Angel came back, who was a little relieved that they did not want to start an argument. Both Glim and Karli were too calm for that, especially after the spa treatment they had earlier, even though the kirlia thought Angel as irresponsible, untrustworthy and suddenly hypocritical. But she let her annoyance slide, because not only was their formidable weavile friend back, he managed to get Beryl to unwind and comfort him, who had been causing concern for his friends with his silent suffering. Those two left the chalet for a walk when they needed it, but feeling as if no one else could relate to their emotional gashes, they stayed together for the remainder of the day.

Meanwhile, Glim, Karli and even Mercury joined up to watch the performance that took place in less than an hour after their reunion with Angel. The 'Cresselia Ballet' was a beautiful performance, being a lengthy, relaxing dance done by adorable young dancers that had relations or abilities that presented the moon.

The lead dancer was an umbreon, despite the beautiful long dress, makeup and title, it was a male, whose appearance was deceivingly feminine. The little moonlight pokémon was apparently a close friend of Yuki, for wishing to have been born female, so Mercury says. Alongside the umbreon were two clefairy, who appeared minutes after her first routine, followed by two floette who took to the air, floating in circles around the artificial moon hung above the stage. Petals flew, drifting everywhere, but in such a controlled sentimental style, matching the upsetting feel of the dance.

As with yesterday, Miley, the other scyther and the two kricketune were playing as violinists. In a touch of drama, a white flower florges appeared, seemingly drawing the moonlight towards herself and shooting the beautiful umbreon back. The crowd gasped as if something went terribly wrong, while she cleanly twirled in her momentum before landed on her side, feigning death without making a sound, which was substituted by the intensity of the violinists verse. After the flawlessly performed strike, the lights around the stage darkened, while the artificial moonlight shun upon the still umbreon, appearing so lonely and forgotten. Seconds later, the hidden harpists began their gentle playing, the floette resumed circling the moon, pulsing in a faint pink light, as they created petals to drift, as if the moon was shedding tears. Suddenly, the fake moon glowed brightly, as a dark silhouette descended upon it and when the lights came back on, a mysterious glowing pink model sat on it.

Many in the crowd had difficulty seeing the swanna that was performing as the legendary pokémon, since they were drawn in awe to the sheer beauty of what was believed to be a cresselia. As if the dramatic dance was finishing, the cresselia actress activated her light-riddled costume to glow, which was then followed by another shocking act where the cresselia fell back, off the moon and landing silently.

The finale showed a lonely cubone, sweeping across the stage, looking for perhaps a friend, until she spots the fallen umbreon. Lights focused on the umbreon once again, as the little cubone softly slid over and caressed her, appearing deeply distraught and crying out to the moon, which had stopped glowing. The umbreon began to twitch, causing the cubone dancer to leap back in fright, as the dark pokémon stood on her four legs once more and faced the crowd in surprise. It was as if, she had come back from being dead. While the umbreon dancer stood motionless, all the other dancers appeared one by one, forming a row behind her. They all then took a bow, as all the lights came back on again and the crowds immediately erupted in applause. Whether or not they understood or even believed the story that was portrayed, the performance was undoubtedly captivating to so many of Camellias.

When the sun, hidden by clouds had descended, Beryl had gone to bed early, after losing quite a lot of sleep in the past few days. Somehow, despite his own doubts, the beautiful fox boy was capable of falling asleep without the demons getting to him, forcing him to cry every time. He did not want to shed anymore tears than he already had, trying to rebuild the fire within himself, that sense of care the braixen had, an affectionate trait for his friends that was beginning to flicker. Maybe, with a long rest, Beryl can move on from his torment from losing his friends in Hydrangea, to the Royal Talon prison and the loss of Belle. Something he knew he would have to do if he was to join his friends' journey to Haine, which he still had not decided.

Angel let Beryl go to bed alone, even though they are sharing the same room. It would have been 'erotically creepy' to just watch him, a joke he thought of, making the weavile realise that his sense of humour was not completely drained. Not to mention it was only eight pm, so he thought he would go for his fourth walk for that day, to pass the time or perhaps to find Glim and Karli. Perhaps they wanted to talk to him.

At that time, the glaceon and kirlia were backstage, with Yuki and Mercury, offering to help tidy up the staged destruction created by the Cresselia Ballet. Their help was not so necessary, since pokémon actors would make great use of the technique Psychic, a large majority of those who could learn it were strongly advised to. Saving so much time with effects, choreography and general preparation. Instead, little Glim went looking for the beautiful umbreon he had watched, a little curious of the rumours about "her", but after five minutes, the glaceon had already searched the whole structure. The square was not originally made for performances to the scale it was at present, which made Glim forget how small the backstage was. Leaving the backstage again, with Karli in a conversation with Miley, the little glaceon saw Yuki approaching, who had let her gurdurr colleague start his sweeping of the stage.

'Glim, sweetheart.' said Yuki, tilting her head, recognising the look of curiosity in the glaceon's eyes. 'Have you lost something?'

'No, no…' he replied, shaking his head. 'I was just… looking for that umbreon, I- I was hearing rumours.'

The icy ghost lady smiled. 'You must be referring to Marylyn. She is often a point of interest in our division, and for that… she often leaves early because she does not like to get pestered.'

'Pestered? I wasn't-'

Yuki raised her hand, gesturing Glim to quiet. 'And I am sure you mean no harm. But Marylyn, like me, would rather have nobody knowing, as the past can destroy our future.'

Glim may not have understood everything the froslass just said, but he knew that last statement all too well and nodded. 'I was only going to ask-'

'If she was a boy?' asked Yuki, giving the glaceon a calm but somehow piercing glare. 'Don't.'

Again, the little glaceon nodded, but remembered that the froslass before him had been through a similar experience. 'Wait, is that why you two know each other?' he asked, while Yuki just stared back. 'Well, it's just… I was there- you saw me, when your parents were interrogating you. Your mother said about how you…' rather than finishing his sentence with words, the glaceon made paw gestures of moving from one side to another, referring to the alleged sex change the froslass had been through.

Yuki looked down, secretly appreciating Glim's subtlety, but then sighed. 'I am afraid so… Marylyn was severely distressed and suicidal when I first met her. But having survived such an experience, I am her only hope of the same thing.'

Glim nodded sadly. 'How did you get that operation anyway? I heard that Crio is one of the most medically advanced regions in the world, but only going as far as organism fixtures and transplants. I mean… even I know that is kind of a leap, in fact, your mother was demanding to know.'

'Well remember, this was the first region that the humans were appearing in.'

'Oh yeah! I forgot about that.'

'Wherever they appeared from, they brought their expertise with them. But, the surgery I had, was done in secrecy.'

'Oh was it?' asked Glim, looking a little disheartened.

'Sorry Glim, but that is really all I can tell you.'

'And you're trying to get this for Marylyn, right?' he asked happily and Yuki nodded calmly, smiling. 'That's good.'

'May I ask Glim, are you just curious, or is there something you want to tell me?'

'W- well I… just wanted to speak to… the umbr- Marlin.'

'Marylyn.'

'Marylyn, sorry. Those rumours interested me.'

Yuki gave the glaceon a suspicious look, who shot back a more surprised look, as to why the froslass was tilting her head in that way.

'Was it, just the rumours?'

'Huh?'

'Well… perhaps you felt intrigued by her because she was an umbreon. I hear that "eeveelutions" are often naturally drawn to each other and can befriend so quickly.'

'Oh… yeah. But that wasn't what I had in mind.'

'If you say so.'

Suddenly Karli emerged from the backstage, calling for Glim, when she noticed Yuki with him between the stage and backstage.

'Hey Yuki.' said Karli, winking happily before looking back to the little glaceon. 'Do you know when we're leaving tomorrow?'

Glim paused, staring as if he had forgotten to do something. 'Um… I thought Yuki was…'

'Yes.' interjected Yuki, redirecting the kirlia's confused expression. 'I spoke to Ariel this morning, and she said their next smuggling was at seven tomorrow morning.'

'Who's Ariel?' asked Karli.

'She is a lapras, a recently retired captain. Since the revolution started, she has been helping people crossing the channel undetected. She knows Mist and is good at sailing quick and quietly, which is how members of Camellias have been joining the fight for Haine, but she also helps with evacuations too.'

'Yeah, to escape the revolution, I'm not surprised.'

Yuki nodded. 'Exactly. So make sure you sleep a little earlier tonight, as she will not be waiting around.'

'Okay, but where will she be for us?'

The froslass began moving toward the backstage. 'I will show you when we get back.'

'Okay.' said Karli, standing with Glim as they watched Yuki leave. 'What were you two talking about?'

'Sorry?' asked Glim.

'I heard you two talking, what was it about?'

'O-oh, it was about me being an eevee, you know…'

The kirlia gave Glim a concerned, but suspicious look, before shrugging and shaking her head. 'Alright.'

Despite Angel walking around for over an hour, Karli and Glim never bumped into him, in fact, they were in bed over half an hour before the weavile returned to the chalet. That however did not mean they were asleep yet. Going to bed early always annoyed Karli, as she just laid in her hay bed, looking toward the window at the opposite end of the room. Next to her was Glim's bed, who was turned to face the wall, but she knew he was still awake.

'Glim,' she whispered, keen to not wake Beryl who was fast asleep on the other side. 'Glim!'

The little glaceon rolled over, unintentionally reflecting the light from the window off his beautiful fur coat. 'Yes?' he whispered back.

'Are you asleep yet?'

Glim just paused, staring lazily at Karli. 'Yes, I am asleep. That's why I'm talking to you right now.'

The kirlia quietly giggled. 'So what are you dreaming about?'

Playing along, Glim rolled onto his back and tried to think of some random story. 'Well, either first having a little tea party, with a cute couple of fairy pokémon. Or fucking nothing, because I'm trying to sleep.'

Karli chuckled. 'Anything keeping you up… other than me?'

'Not really, I'm just not so tired after my nap at the spa.'

'Oh yes.' blurted Karli, resisting to chuckle. 'God, you were either out cold, or just at a loss of words in there.'

Right as Karli finished her sentence, the bedroom door opened and Angel loudly stumbled in. He immediately noticed the kirlia, nearest to the door still awake as she glanced at him, but she quickly placed a finger over her mouth. In case Angel did not know why, Karli pointed at the bed opposite her, where Beryl was still fast asleep, or so she thought he was.

'Beryl's sleeping.' Karli whispered.

'O-okay.' Angel whispered back, looking at the sleeping braixen.

The weavile traded a glance of curiosity with Karli, keen to say something, but after being told to keep quiet, Angel only moved over to his bed next to Beryl's. With Glim trying to get back to sleep, Karli felt too awkward to say anything, even knowing that Angel wanted to talk. She along with the neighbouring glaceon and weavile at present just stayed quiet until they drifted off to sleep.

An explosion threw Glim out of his bed, immediately shocked, dazed and confused. Not noticing the room he was in had completely changed and he seemed stuck on his back. The glaceon realised, due to his powerlessness of movement, he had become an eevee again. Taking a moment to observe his surroundings, he felt more dread of the room he was in, as opposed to the explosion.

'Glim!' screamed a sylveon only leaning into the room. 'Get 'ere now!'

Struggling frantically, the helpless eevee did his best to roll out of his blanket. Glim found he was not in a bed, but just a load of old cushions, which made his escape a little more difficult. The repetitive sounds of explosions, booming just outside of the room, with the disturbing sound of the siren wailing in the background did not help the eevee either. Being so small, his struggles made him look like he was swimming helplessly in choppy tides. Suddenly, Glim felt multiple ribbons forcefully grabbing him tightly.

'God, I could just kill you!' groaned Fleece, yanking the eevee out from the cushions.

Despite the floor only being centimetres below, Glim felt the rising pressure in his torso, as if he was falling. He squeaked as he ploughed onto the floor, beginning to wake from his dream. He twitched, observing the room around him, having forgotten where he was. The glaceon raised his head, only realising he had just been dreaming, looking toward the bed opposite him. Angel appeared to be shuffling as he leaned over the edge of his hay bed, looking toward Glim, while the darkness had hidden all of Angel's head, except for the jewel on his crown.

'Glim?' he whispered. 'You alright?'

Still tired, Glim only nodded and curled into a ball where he was, ignoring that he was on the hard wooden floor. From what the little glaceon could hear, the weavile who just spoke was doing the same, rustling until he became comfortable. But one minute later, Glim could only feel agitation, as he was no longer tired and was just a little drowsy. He gave himself another minute in trying to sleep, but opened his big pretty eyes, knowing it was hopeless. Keen to move and know what time it was, Glim stood and tip-toed like a ballerina to prevent making any more noise to wake up any of his friends.

The glaceon left the bedroom, seeing the dream flash in his head, remembering that it was no dream, but a bad memory repeating itself. Remembering that angry, chubby-faced sylveon, bossing him around, while he felt so helpless would freeze burn his tail so tightly and make him clench his teeth. Quickly quelling his anger was the soft, sweet voice of a froslass who turned round to face the little glaceon.

'Morning Glim.' she said, so caringly. 'What are you doing up so early? Your crew were not due to wake up until before six.'

Glim paused, taking time to absorb what Yuki said to him. 'What time is it?' he replied, sitting down and rubbing the sleep off his eyes.

'It is quarter-past four, sweetheart. You look as though you kicked the musharna away.'

The glaceon smiled. 'I had another bad dream. And suddenly I'm not really tired now.'

Yuki gave a sympathetic look, when Glim mentioned having a nightmare again, but she then smiled with the little glaceon. 'Not to worry Glim,' she said, clicking her unusual fingers, protruding from her sleeve, which caused a teapot in the centre of the table to lift and pour tea on its own. 'Come, if you have plenty of time, you may as well have some tea with us.'

Glim approached, oblivious that Yuki was using psychic powers to move the tea set. However, with the table being well above his eye level, he was not going to take much notice. When the glaceon climbed onto the small wooden stool opposite the froslass, only then did he notice that they were not alone. As if he should have been careful for what he wished for, Glim's enormous pretty eyes latched onto the blood ruby eyes of an umbreon at the end of the table. Guessing it was Marylyn, Glim was in shock, to see just how little, timid and beautiful she was. The glaceon paused, only for a moment, quickly recognising that Marylyn was a little shy, just by seeing the sorrowful angle on her lustrous eyes. He sat and faced the froslass opposite him, trying to appear as casual as possible. Yuki however smiled, seeing the glaceon freeze like he forgot all his lines in a script and was resisting to blush.

'Glim… I am sure you know.' said Yuki, looking over at the frail umbreon. 'This is Marylyn.'

Again, trying to seem casual, Glim gave a little wave to her with his paw. 'Hi.' he said, weakly.

The umbreon only responded with a short bow, fixing her eyes back to Yuki. She looked so much different without all the face paint she had in show, but even without the bloody tears painted on, Glim could tell that her performance represented herself emotionally. Marylyn was also wearing a dress, different to the one she wore yesterday and it was long enough to fall past her hind joints, hiding her darkest secret.

'It is okay sweetheart,' reassured Yuki. 'Glim is one of those who saved me the other day.'

'To be honest,' softly interjected Glim. 'Angel's the one to thank. Karli and I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him. A-and that magnezone of course.'

'I still thank you, Glim. All of you.'

The glaceon had nothing to say and just smiled, a little flattered, considering that Karli was all he had in mind when he ran to find Angel. He proceeded to hold the cup of tea made for him as he sat on the stool, which was freezing, but just right for an ice type pokémon. He took one gulp of what tasted like a very becalming sweet water that would soothe a burning tongue, smelling like morning dew in a winter wonderland. Realising what he was drinking, Glim's ears perked up.

'Wait,' he said. 'Have you two been up all night?'

Yuki giggled. 'It is common for dark types like Marylyn, to sleep during the day and wake up in the late afternoon. For that reason, I sort of join that time scale too.'

'How come?'

The froslass paused, looking over to the umbreon, who seemed to be sadly looking into her own tea. 'Because, she does not like to be alone.'

The glaceon looked to Marylyn, in the corner of his eye, remembering how he left Jasmine Village, because he did not want to be alone. Also when he heard of his friends dying, his despair got to him, persuading Beryl to embrace him. Knowing the feeling, he nodded sadly.

'When you leave,' spoke Yuki. 'Whoever you are leaving with, make sure you get to the Rebel Extraction Point by seven. Because Ariel will not be waiting when she sails by.'

'Then… how do we board her ferry?'

'She herself pulls it, she is that strong, as it is not exactly a cruise liner, but she moves rather slowly and close to the ice. That is how we get so many supplies here and back for Camellias.'

'O-okay.'

After taking another sip, Glim caught a glimpse of Marylyn giving him eye contact. It seemed they both had a message in their eyes, even though they could not read each other. The glaceon's captivated eyes showed 'to think that was a boy' in the dress nearby, while Marylyn's mournful eyes seemed to say 'don't go, you will die.'

An hour later, Angel and Karli tightened their small backpacks for the long journey to Haine. Neither of them seemed tired, despite only waking up minutes ago. The weavile was still a bit quiet about his actions yesterday, but he was getting the idea that Karli had forgiven him. Glim was already set, except he was not carrying anything, having a bag on his back or sides would have strained his freedom of movement. After hearing so much about Haine becoming a warzone, it was crucial the team travelled lightly and resourcefully, they were in need to defend their selves. Just between the glaceon and shiny kirlia, the revolution between the Republic and Crimson were not their only threat, there was also Martyr.

The bedroom door opened. 'Wait.' said Beryl, breaking the tense silence. 'I'm coming with you.'

The pokémon at present, Glim, Karli, Angel, Mercury and Yuki stood silent, all sharing the expression of concern for the braixen.

'You sure, Beryl?' replied Angel. 'Yesterday you said you didn't wanna go.'

Beryl shook his head, entering the main living room. 'I've- I've changed my mind. I don't want to keep hearing about all these raids and do nothing about it.'

'Beryl,' said Karli, rather sadly. 'You know we'll probably die in there, right?'

The braixen nodded and mumbled 'I know.'

Rather than arguing further, the weavile smiled and threw Beryl a small children's bag, which he caught one pawed.

'Then gear up, boy.' Angel said, winking.

Seeing Beryl catch the bag and begin choosing from the spread of supplies laid out on the table, made Karli smile, though she could not help feeling responsible for the braixen, like they were taking him to his death. Accepting it, the kirlia looked over to the froslass who remained afloat next to her faithful lucario. They smiled as she approached.

'Yuki,' said Karli. 'Thank you for everything.'

The pretty ice pokémon giggled. 'I am the one who should be thanking you Karli, but you are most welcome. And best of luck to you all.'

Yuki opened out her ghostly white arms and Karli was quick to hug her. Unfamiliar to ghost types, the kirlia was unaware of how tightly she could hold the froslass.

'Oh, do not hold me too-'

Suddenly Karli fell through Yuki, almost face planting the floor, had Mercury not caught her. Karli and Yuki laughed, while everybody else just glanced at the scene having missed it. Although Glim saw it too, but his mood just was not as perky as Karli's, given that he hates to say goodbyes, so instead, he would just wait with a reassuring eye-smile, like he would come back someday anyway.

On the outskirts of Camellias, Glim, Angel, Karli and Beryl were joined by Mercury who was asked to take them to the extraction point. Going along with them, to join the cause were two best friends, Austin the graveler and Terri the cranidos. Karli had already heard of their enlisting when she spoke to Miley backstage yesterday and despite the two being quite young, they seemed keen to fight, although Austin was more eager to getting out of the cold land they were stuck in.

'You two sure you're up for this?' asked Angel.

'Yeah yeah,' replied Austin. 'Not waiting, freezing my ass off here anymore. Not with what's going on in Haine.'

Terri just next to the big rocky pokémon did not say anything and just nodded, as they started their journey.

Hearing the voice of the graveler gave the grown weavile cause for concern. He leaned over to the lucario walking with them and gave him a slight nudge with his elbow.

'Yo,' he whispered. 'How old are they?'

'Older than Glim.' replied Mercury.

As if that was any help, the weavile puzzled, looking out into thin air with a question in mind and he was not alone. Karli slowly looked at the little glaceon walking alongside her. It seemed he had heard the lucario's statement as well and could read the question in the kirlia's eyes.

Karli asked 'how old-'

'I don't know,' answered Glim. 'I just tell people I'm twenty.'

Mercury shook his head. 'Physically… no.'

'How'd you know how old Glim is, if he doesn't know?' asked Angel.

'I could try explaining… but most people don't believe the whole aura powers that lucario have.'

Angel only nodded, understanding the general ignorance that faced Mercury for his heritage, even though he was not sure of a lucario's aura powers either.

Passing the climb, the snow began to pick up. Angel and Mercury kept quiet about it, but that was the area they had wrecked, turning it into an awkward slope of mushy snow, to suddenly being a sloping bed of huge sharp rocks. Climbing up the hill, the snow was getting stronger, strong enough for Glim's snow cloak ability to activate, making him fade invisible as he was walking next to Karli.

'Whoa, wait!' cried the surprised kirlia. 'Glim just vanished!'

Suddenly the men at the front glanced back, while Beryl, Austin and Terri sort of panicked, calling out for the glaceon.

With his aura powers, Mercury could see Glim and tried to reassure the others, pointing at the empty space just ahead of Karli. 'No, no he's-'

'I'm right here, Karli.' said Glim, twinkling in and out of visibility. 'It's just my snow cloak.'

Angel laughed and continued onward and other three stopped their calling out. Austin face palmed in embarrassment.

'Oh wow!' replied Karli. 'I didn't know you could do that!'

The lucario tried to explain. 'Yes, this is a glaceon's-'

'You look so pretty like that.' said Beryl happily, while Terri nodded.

Up ahead, where the hill was finally levelling out a bit, Angel looked back to see his allies had fallen behind a bit, so he stood and waited. It seemed the formation had changed, Mercury was ahead of them, but Glim and Beryl were talking to each other, about two metres behind Austin, Terri and Karli.

'Oi!' yelled Angel. 'Get moving Slowpokes!'

The lucario responded with a frightful charge toward the weavile. 'Shit- Angel no! You can cause an avalanche!'

Beryl and Glim looked ahead to see the lucario running off, only then did the braixen notice they were trailing next a sheer drop.

'Whoa… uh.' stuttered Beryl. 'We're pretty high up.'

Being on the other side of the fox boy, the glaceon could not see the vast height they were climbing at. The path was much flatter as they continued the tourist path around south Dwy. Glim moved ahead slightly, realising that Beryl had stopped, looking down the height.

'Beryl, they're leaving us behind.' said Glim.

'Oh!' squeaked the braixen, immediately running past Glim. 'Come on, let's go.'

When the braixen past Glim, no more than a metre, an enormous flash beamed between him and the glaceon. Creating an enormous, perfectly straight crack line in the snow. Both Glim and Beryl froze in shock, their pupils went tiny as they stayed motionless.

'What was that?' murmured Beryl, unaware of the deep crack in the snow just behind him.

The glaceon stared at the crack, which crossed the tourist path, heading diagonally left and continuing further up Mount Dwy. The ground felt no different where he was, so Glim looked at his friends to see if anything else had changed. It seemed that the other five ahead had taken a similar pose, standing straight and still.

'Beryl!' said Glim, worriedly. 'Take a few steps back, now!'

As soon as Beryl attempted to raise his left leg, the whole structure simply broke off, suddenly sliding downward into an avalanche, taking Angel, Mercury, Karli, Terri and Austin down with it. The braixen who was just over metre away could not even turn round in time to grab onto the edge from where the ice began to break. Glim leaped forward, belly-flopping onto the edge in attempt to grab hold of Beryl, but he was already too late. His friend simply vanished into the sea of snow that fell at such velocity.

'No!' Glim screamed, looking for the rest of his friends, all who have fallen helplessly into the avalanche.

The sea of snow quickly began to spread outward on the unusual surfaces of Mount Dwy, spread mostly north from where Glim was dangling, slowing down near the shoreline. Desperate to get down there, without taking a deathly fall, the glaceon saw that he would have to climb the steep path to his left, going up Dwy a little more to get around the broken cliff. From there, the hill slants all the way down to the flat shoreline, which was also where the extraction point was.

Hastily, the glaceon ran up the steep hill, metres away from the brutally straight edge that was left. Looking at it as he ran, Glim could see it was straight until it hit the cliff further up, one he will have to climb over also. From there, the avalanche appears to have left jagged, uneven cracks all the way to the other side. It looked like someone had virtually cut one side and let the rest just fall off.

Being a glaceon, the rising cold wind was no bother to him, nor was the steep climb, and though his friends were his top priority, one look upward gave Glim a possible reason to be scared. A green light, just one flew left, which was silhouetted in the mist. He barely saw it, but the glaceon had chills, hoping that the light was not what he thought it was.

Finally getting up the steep cliff, taking only five minutes in his haste, glim began to get tired. However, he was not going to stop, he could now safely reach the shoreline with the path in front of him.

'Glim!' called a low voice on top of the cliff.

The glaceon gasped, seeing an armoured bouffalant through the mist, just standing tensely to Glim's left. Not knowing who and why she was there was a surprise in itself, knowing the glaceon's name was another, but Glim was not quite prepared for what came next.

The bouffalant raised her hoof, pointing past Glim. 'Martyr's coming!' she shouted.

Glim rolled forward, getting himself onto the flatness of the cliff and positioning himself to face backward. At first he saw nothing but a blizzard, and then a flash to his right. He assumed the bouffalant was going to help him, since she clearly knew Martyr.

From the blizzard, a dark figure leaped up into the air and suddenly a bright pink light appeared to zoom toward Glim. Seeing the attack on time, the glaceon side rolled, just dodging the huge, vertical Psycho Cut. Anticipating it to be another massive remnant of sorts, Glim focused and roared his Signal Beam. The stream of rainbows were eventually blocked harmlessly, looking like water splashing powerlessly as it would just evaporate afterward. Seeing no Unown around or hearing any strange roars in pain as he would before, Glim called off his attack and saw not a multi-formed monster, but a human. The same one who came close to killing him in Iris. Glim's pupils shrunk, seeing those enraged, soulless black eyes again, even at their distance. It also appeared that Martyr was holding something quite large in its right hand, but all the little glaceon could see was a white light. However, Glim was more unnerved about Martyr simply blocking his strongest attack against it, using just its other hand.

'You have survived long enough, glaceon.' hissed Martyr in its echoing voice.

The human leaped up again and Glim turned tail and bolted, attempting to run down the hill as he had planned originally. When he turned, he noticed the bouffalant had disappeared, but was at no condition to stop and kept going. As Glim ran for his life, something very strange was happening, as if everything was flickering black and white, giving the glaceon a massive rush of déjà vu, which became all the more chilling when he suddenly noticed another glaceon running in the opposite direction. Glim felt he saw the whole thing in slow motion, looking at the glaceon, which seemed furious, he had a massive cut going up his face, which was clearly the cause of all the blood, his missing right ear and side of hair. The mysterious glaceon seemed to flicker out of Glim's sight as he fearfully ignored it and ran onward. Too scared and confused for what was going on in his situation.

Glim's running in a zig-zag line had saved him, just dodging another tremendous Psycho Cut that hammered the ice from above. The impact was so severe, it shook Glim off his feet, causing him to slide away from the attack, but when he spun round and saw the damage the attack did to the mountain, he knew what was coming next.

The very cliff the little glaceon laid on broke without warning, rapidly sliding downward and breaking apart. All Glim could see was a violently vibrating series of rocks being swept down a white river of snow, as Martyr landed hard on a rock, sliding opposite him, breaking it more. The human raised its arm with the shining object, which made a strange loud droning noise when it was waved up. Immediately, the little ice pokémon stood, turned, ran and jumped off the rock that was breaking beneath his feet. During his desperate jump, keen to land on one of the many rocks that was sliding beneath him, the glaceon was hit in the back with a tremendous force, sending him hurling forward, twice faster than the speed he leaped. It seemed his shock numbed the pain, as he did not feel anything and was just left to crash onto a much bigger land of ice on the very edge of the avalanche, which seemed to only be rotating left. As soon as Glim stopped, he got back up, suddenly feeling the intense pain going from his left bottom cheek, up his lower back and the left of his crown. He could not tell how deep the cut was, but seeing the snow below him drenched in blood, gave him the urge to scream.

Just in front of the glaceon, while he was drifting backward on the rock, a boulder had subsequently broken off from the same cliff and was stampeding toward him. Acting fast, Glim dodge rolled to his right, giving him plenty of space for the boulder to miss. However, physics got the last laugh, when the giant boulder ploughed through the floor of ice, it broke in half and closed in, catapulting the glaceon into the air, for being on the edge of it.

Hoping his snow cloak ability would hide him from Martyr, Glim tried not to scream, but it seemed in vain. The humanoid creature took a form of shadows, leaping into the air, far above the helpless glaceon, who could see that it was raising its weapon and was predictably going to strike down on Glim. Seeing Martyr far above, but knowing it was about to kill him, sent a myriad of emotions and flashbacks all around Glim's body. All he could do was endure, screaming in fear as Martyr suddenly shooting down toward the glaceon. Bracing himself, Glim was unaware of his crown glowing so brightly, it instantly summoned a spherical shield around him. The human made contact with its attack, erupting the sound of a Boomburst and catapulting the shielded glaceon through the icy ground, while Martyr seemingly bounced out of sheer recoil and grunted in pain. The humanoid creature in the farmer jumpsuit lost hold of its weapon, which seemingly faded into light, as it fell, landing still onto the snow, causing the avalanche around it to stop, including any boulders that were on collision course with it.

Martyr stood still, looking for the glaceon that just saved himself using Barrier, but there was no sign of him yet. It figured that Glim must have been forced through the snow and may be underground. The human growled in frustration, as five Unown with furious green eyes approached Martyr.

'Find him.' it said. 'And if he is with friends, kill them! If he or that kirlia are alone, back away.'

The fidgety Unown replied with multiple beep noises and flew in adjacent directions. Martyr meanwhile, faded away.

Far below, Glim had not deactivated his Barrier technique, nor had he unveiled his face and just let his safe impact tumble him further down a pitch black drop. Suddenly his fall had stopped, forcing the little glaceon out of his Barrier, leaving him to pant in dread and pain. He did not know where he was, other than some cave and it was too dark to see. In fact, Glim was too scared to move, holding himself tightly, only feeling the ability to use Barrier if anything came close.

Unaware of his luck, the cave was lit up by someone passing through, but to Glim, he thought nothing other than some threat and summoned his Barrier again, which lit himself up and made him easier to spot.

'Glim!' called Beryl, running for the scared, vulnerable little glaceon. Though Glim recognised the braixen's pretty voice, he was still too frightened to release the Barrier. Beryl just ran into it and then kneeled down to try and see Glim's face, who was facing the walls. 'Glim, it's me, Beryl! Are you alright? What's wrong?'

Slowly, the glaceon turned, meeting his traumatised tiny pupils with the desperate, but beautiful eyes of Beryl. Just seeing the gash on Glim's back gave the braixen the idea that he was attacked.

'B-Beryl?' asked Glim, resisting to cry.

The braixen lightly thumped the Barrier. 'It's me Glim, please let me help you, we've got to get out of here.'

'H-h-he's still out there.'

Beryl paused with a worried expression. 'Who is?'

Somewhere else in a deep dark cave. Angel and Terri were lit up by a light coming from a wall of set snow, just in front of them. Together they were trying to yank out the light.

'Come on, harder!' grunted Angel.

'I'm trying!' squeaked the cranidos, pulling the weavile back.

Suddenly, a blue haired kirlia broke free from the ice, causing Angel and Terri to fall back, while she rolled forward and gasping for air.

'You okay Karli?' demanded Angel, leaping over to her.

Karli just laid on her back, still breathing rapidly, but she smiled and gave a thumbs up. The source of the light was coming from the magical leaves Karli had summoned on her other hand, which she used to signal where she was, when Angel came by.

'She's out of breath and probably light-headed. You think you could…' said Angel, looking at Terri, who only just got back up and waddled toward him. 'Ah… nevermind, I'll carry you, okay Kar?'

Again, Karli only responded with a thumbs up, still breathing deeply. The weavile easily picked her up, placing the kirlia over his shoulder. He and the cranidos then proceeded down the only cave that was there. Thankfully, it was only a minute before they reached an exit. A wall of ice and snow, but with faint light visible on the other side, meaning it was just a hollow wall to the outside.

'There, there!' Angel cried happily, pointing at the ice. 'An exit, can you-'

Before Angel even got to ask, the cranidos charged into the ice with all her momentum and repeatedly head-butted it. Seeing only slight ruptures in the ice, the weavile attempted to put Karli down to help Terri, while the kirlia was beginning to get her breath back. But then, the wall glowed a bright orange and dissolved into hot water. Terri leaped back in surprise and Angel just watched, after sitting the kirlia down. The wall of ice melted so rapidly, discharging a vast cloud of steam, temporarily blinding the three in the cave.

'Beryl?' called Angel, trying to wave the steam away. 'Is that you buddy?'

When the steam began to clear, the cave was being entered by a rather dark figure on four legs, who seemed deeply observant on the three pokémon.

He growled. 'Where's my boyfriend?'