Chapter 18

Azura looked at the Vaporeon. He had blue eyes that were very menacing, and his sword rippled like the surface of a lake. He wore a black cloak that hung just above the ground. But the power coming off of him… it was very close to that of Palkia's. Palkia must have done something… that Vaporeon seems nothing like the one Lily described

"Tsunami… why…" Lily began gently sobbing. "I thought you-"

"It doesn't matter. He no longer will help you," said Palkia. "I don't now if he even remembers you at all," he added without any sympathy. "Such a shame… mortals… love can bring even the strongest and most resilient down."

"What did you do?!" shouted Azura. "He wouldn't willingly do this!"

"I found him at Giratina's palace. So close to escaping too… but alas, you won't be seeing him again. Well, you might, actually," chuckled Palkia.

Within a heartbeat, Siarnaq flew through the air, scythe extended, straight at Palkia. Another blink later, and between the two of them was Tsunami. He had blocked the attack from Siarnaq. The Vaporeon kicked the Absol back, who fell to the ground with a groan.

"Tsunami… unghh…" He pulled himself back to his feet. "Remember who you are…"

Pallene surrounded herself with a vortex of flames. "I never thought I'd get a chance to cross swords with you Tsunami…" She pulled out a staff that was crimson red, and spun it around a few times, creating a spinning wheel of fire. She quckly dashed towards the Vaporeon, and began spinning it around ith great agility. The Vaporeon let out some growls as the blazing staff struck him a few times. He took a slash with his water sword, which put out the flames on her staff. She continued to spin it around, generating more flames. She quickly took some lightning quick twirls that must have landed a good ten or eleven hits on the Vaporeon, and the final one was enough to send him staggering back.

Then the Vaporeon waved a hand, and slowly clenched his fist. The Ninetales' eyes grew wide, and she was quickly surrounded by water which seemingly came out of the air. She fell to the ground, soaked. Azura rested a hand on her chest, and to her relief, the Ninetales' was simply unconscious.

"How did he do that?"

"I… I believe that water was already in the air. He simply concentrated it, and drowned her…"

Lily just watched it all with a face of shock and horror. "No…"

Palkia laughed. "Fighting a friend… you mortals, all of you think that everyone is your friend. Your Vaporeon friend isn't coming back to you!" he cackled. "And once you are all dealt with, nothing can stop the rule of space! Nothing!"

"What are you saying?" shouted Azura.

He flashed a cold smile at her. "Oh yes… stopping you and your friends has very little to do with my personal gratification. No, it's all part of a bigger plan. Finish them all off for me, Tsunami!"

The legendary slowly vanished into nothing, the Vaporeon eyeing them all with those soulless eyes.

"Hey, wait!" said Azura, running up, but he was already gone, leaving them alone with Lily's crazy lover.

Aero was near Lily, trying to comfort her as well, but the bird's eyes were haunted as well.

Thrymr looked at the Vaporeon. "Epime, you must stop! We're not you enemy!"

The Vaporeon growled. "I don't know anything about you all, but I know I should probably finish you all!"

"So be it." The Manectric pulled his bow off his back, and notched an arrow. It flew at the Vaporeon, crackling with electricity. The Vaporeon deflected it with his sword, but in an instant, Thrymr was there, and whacked the Vaporeon on the side with the bow. The Vaporeon tumbled back, before jumping back to his feet, eyes still cold. He slung a barrage of watery globs at the electric-type, all of which the Manectric avoided.

"Come to your senses, Epime! You cannot hurt your friends! We vowed to help the weak, not further the strong! You- mmf!"

Finally, the Vaporeon caught Thrymr in the face with a blast of water. The Manectric pulled himself to his feet. "Alright, you asked for it!" With a shout, he summoned a massive bolt of lightning straight through the glass ceiling above. It headed straight to the Vaporeon. Tsunami's eyes looked at the bolt in surprise before a bright flash blasted through the room, blinding them all.

Smoke clouded the entire room, nobody sure what to expect. Is he… dead? Knocked out?

But she coud only gasp when she saw what remained. A shell of water had surrounded him, and it was flashing with lightning within. The barrier had trapped the electrical energy within it, and a blink later, the glob flew at Thrymr.

The moment it connected with the Manectric, he collapsed, the electricity and water too much for him to handle. And standing there, seemingly unharmed, was Tsunami.

Siarnaq, who had moved to Pallene's side, was clutching his chest. "I think I broke a rib. Azura… you have to take down Tsunami. This power… he's dangerous right now, because he's not feeling anything."

"What do you mean?"

"Tsunami would never kill anybody… but… this obviously isn't him. Taking down two electric types is no easy feat… be very careful…"

She took a deep breath. I can almost feel it… there… there is something within him. Could the Vaporeon Lily loves still be in there? But… but how would I get that kind soul out? He's being suppressed.

"Well, well Glaceon. It looks like the Absol is scared, the Espeon won't fight, and the Staravia can't either. You're the only one, Glaceon." His heartless voice angered her. This was the Vaporeon her friend had hoped to see one day, and he was going to kill them all!

She closed her eyes. "Remember your strength. Sorry Lily, but I'll have to stop your boyfriend in his tracks. She opened her mouth and launched a frigid ice beam at him, which missed him. He launched himself at her, sword extended, and she barely avoid getting impaled by the blade. She swung out her bow, using it to try block his slashes. His slashes were coming from so many different angles, but she was surprising herself with how well she was blocking them. She landed some hits on him every now and then, and it was clear he was getting frustrated.

He surrounded himself with a vortex of water, and continued his assault. She promptly froze his water, countering his water attack with her icy ones. I need some room to try catch him with blizzard! To her surprise, he actually did back off a little bit, and took awhile to catch his breath.

Now! She focused all her frozen energy into a frigid beam. It shot straight at him, and she knew that even at this range, he couldn't avoid it. The beam hit him, stopping him completely. He was frozen. She was panting. She had stopped the Vaporeon… yet somehow… it had seemed too easy… this Vaporeon had taken down her friends, and…

She heard a steamy hiss, and watched as the Vaporeon melted the ice with a scald. She knew she couldn't keep this up. She was starting to weaken. She looked on the ground, and realized she was bleeding from a gash on the side of her stomach. Only now, the pain was starting to settle in. She clutched her stomach. "Ungh… how did I not feel this until now…"

The marble floor was slowly darkening as she bled. It wasn't a lot, but it was a constant flow, and, within less than a minute, she was beginning to feel light-headed. She couldn't stand anymore, and slowly fell to her knees.

"Tsunami," she gasped out. "Please…"

The Vaporeon slowly walked towards her, sword extended. "No hard feelings, Glaceon."

He pulled his sword back, and did a quick thrust forward. She prepared herself for the cold blade, but it was stopped by a pink blur. Time seemed to slow down as Lily threw herself straight in front of the blade to protect Azura. "NO!" screamed Azura as the pink furred eon threw herself in front of her lover's blade.

The Espeon's eyes were wide as he caught her in what looked right at her heart. "Tsunami…" she whispered.

Azura couldn't believe it. "No, Lily! Why did you do that? You can't…" She looked at the Vaporeon, who had froze when his blade connected her. His blue eyes were no longer the cold, heartless color they had been before. Now…

"No, no! Lily!" The Vaporeon pulled the sword out of her, and fell to his knees, cradling her head. His voice grew panicked. "Oh god, what happened? Help, get a towel or something!"

Azura blinked. She had to keep calm. Something… the Vaporeon was no longer the crazy killer he had been a short while ago. But now was not the time to think about what had occurred. She pulled off her dress, knowing that this was an emergency, and pressed it against the wound.

Lily was already unconscious, and Azura herself was feeling dizzy, but she had to help the Vaporeon save his mate. The Vaporeon ripped Lily's dress open, and looked at the wound. He let out a low moan. "No, no… Lily! What happened?" His voice grew hoarse. "Don't leave me… all I remember is waking up with my blade in your chest… please… why… don't leave me…"

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Palkia walked up the steps to the top of the floating fort.

"How did it go, lord Palkia?"

He turned around. "Ah, Mesprit. Just as you predicted; I had nothing to fear. Tsunami will make mincemeat out of them."

She nodded. So my vision was true. "So what will you do next?"

Palkia froze. "What do we do next?" He turned back to the small psychic type. "We kill them all! All of them! None of them deserve to live anymore! If four of them almost beat me, imagine what a nation of them could do." Mesprit shivered. "No, they must all die! I will become a god! I will be on the same level as Arceus!"

Mesprit said nothing. Is he crazy?! "Don't you think you should talk to Giratina before trying to eliminate the-"

He narrowed his eyes. "Are you defying me?"

She bowed. "Of course not… I am merely here for advice."

"Good. We'll fly to the Malvor ruins immediately."

"M-Malvor? Lord Palkia, is that truly the wisest decision?"

"Yes. Malvor is the final step. One I wield the Soul Scepter… I'll have power over both space and death! Giratina will have no power over me!"

"But the three astral powers… space, time, death… they have all existed in perfect balance up until this point!"

"Silence! Your counsel is no longer required!"

Mesprit bowed her head before teleporting away. Unsure of where to go, she decided to visit her old friend.

"Well well… look who it is." A deep voice that was very reminiscent of Palkia's, but had a kinder edge to it resonated.

"Lord Dialga." She bowed her head. "How are you?"

The metal beams of his prison, fashioned from energy of every type, glowed rainbow. "About as good a I can be, trapped behind these bars." The massive legendary frowned. "Something is troubling you. For a being of emotion, you aren't very good at hiding it."

"Palkia… he… he wants to fly to the Malvor ruins!"

Dialga didn't move. "Malvor ruins… let me guess… the soul scepter."

"Yes. He wants to retrieve it and gain the power of the dead!"

Dialga shook his head sadly. "I don't know what to say… how will we stop him? If he reaches it… what will happen to all the innocent lives?"

"I… I don't know. But remember that group I was telling you about? The ones with the Eon Pokemon?"

"Yes?" Dialga sat up, ready to listen. "They are on this fortress right now!"

"What? Why… if they can beat Palkia to the scepter… there might be hope!" He looked at Mesprit. "Is there a chance that they can stop Palkia?"

She closed her eyes. "Yes. There is. But there is an important decision that they must make… if they choose right…"

"I know. But… well… can we help them?"

"I could try help th-"

They heard an anguished cry from above. They both looked up. "What was that?" asked Dialga, alarmed.

"I… I don't know."

His eyes glowed blue, as if he was seeing everything happening. Dialga suddenly grew stern. "I need you to visit Giratina. The time for that one… she… Mesprit, there wasn't an Espeon in your vision, was there?"

"Actually, there was… why?"

"I think… the future has drastically changed."

"H-how?"

"You tell me. I can't tell the future from within this prison; I can merely feel time flowing."

She blinked. "Alright…" She focused… and felt strong waves of anguish coming from above. They were so powerful she couldn't see the future. "Argh. Something huge must have happened…"

"I know. The death of one so young… I don't know how this will affect everything."

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I'm dead. I'm dead. I know. I was stabbed in the heart, I felt it. But why Tsunami…? You were sick, I could feel it. But… but now, I won't see you… ever. No… I must see you again! Wait! I'm awake! But… I'm-

"Lily. Lily."

She awoke in a field, with flowers blooming around her. She looked around, and her eyes grew big as she saw who had prodded her awake. "S-sister!"

Next to her, smiling, was the beautiful Sylveon she knew so well. "Well well, Lily. I hoped it would be longer before I met you here."

"Saphia…"

a) Please don't hate on me for killing Lily! I promise this isn't the end for her!

b) This chapter may be late, but I worked hard to try and make it sound as good as possible! Like, I wrote certain sections 4 times over!

c) Read and review! And don't worry, Lily will be alright. Promise.