"If I smile and don't believe soon I know I'll wake from this dream, don't try to fix me, I'm not broken. Hello, I am the lie living for you so you can hide. Don't cry" - Evanescence "Hello"

36 Sacrifices and Resurrections

My legs buckled beneath me. The relief was so strong I could feel it literally weighing me down. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. This was wonderful. She could come back. I couldn't believe it.

Yacaeli smirked. "Close your mouth, human. It's not that unbelievable."

At that moment, Arceus had yanked the knife out of his leg. He held it in his teeth, and it dripped his silver blood. "Human," he spat, and the weapon clanged to the ground, "do you have a death wish?"

I shook my head. "Not anymore." I knelt down before Yacaeli. "Please, bring her back."

Yacaeli smiled her creepy smile, and was about to say something, but Arceus attacked her again. "Fool!" he screamed, and he rammed into her with his head. "The dead are not supposed to come back!"

The Sky Cat recoiled, hissing angrily. "What about them, hm?" She waved her tail at Paul, May, Gary's clone and my reflection. "They have died, and yet here they stand."

"You cannot kill unless you have torn them apart with your own claws!" Arceus cried. He jumped in the air and tried to land on her.

She evaded his assault and snapped her jaws viciously. "Or if I have obliterated their bodies beyond repair," she hissed. "Like Polevous and his warriors."

"The Sky Warriors are not dead, either," he argued. "They are lost souls who will forever wander the realms of time and space without a place to go. The others still have bodies to return to."

"No I don't," Paul called, wincing in pain. Bright red burns covered his body through holes in his clothes. "I was buried."

"And I fell off a cliff," May added.

Arceus looked at Yacaeli, his eyes set in a glare. "You see what you have created? Unattached souls that will never come to rest."

The Sky Cat blinked, and she continued to stare at Paul. "Why…" she began, but she never finished her thought.

"Why what?" Arceus snapped. Yacaeli remained silent, narrowing her yellow eyes at Paul with a most curious look. "What is it, Yacaeli?" he said in a dangerous tone.

When she continued to say nothing, Arceus got furious. "You will answer when I speak to you!" he howled, and he rammed right into the distracted Yacaeli. She went soaring backwards, tumbling across the ground as she tried to regain her footing. "How can you bring them back?" he demanded as she struggled to her feet. Arceus slammed his foot down on her wing, pinning her down. "Answer me!"

Yacaeli gasped in pain. Her wing curled and writhed in an attempt to get out from under his weight, but it was to no avail. "Genesis… Stone…" she breathed.

I watched Arceus scowl in confusion. He hadn't seen her destroy the stone, and thus didn't know what happened to it. He turned, looking for Absol. "What happened?" he asked in a deadly voice.

The Absol scuffed its paws across the ground. "Father, I am sorry, but Tenebri—."

Again, Arceus cut him off by glancing at the body of the fallen Umbreon. There she lay, blackened and burned, with the chain that once held the precious stone still around her neck. He took his foot off her wing and backed away, terrified. "No," he whispered.

Yacaeli bared her teeth evilly. "Yes," she replied. "I am immortal now." Her eyes glittered with a villainous joy. She said the next three words as if each were its own sentence. "Just. Like. You."

Arceus continued to back away from her. "I refuse to believe it," he said softly.

"We will battle until the end of times," Yacaeli continued. "We will be injured, yes, but we will never die. Isn't that what you always wanted, Arceus?" She stepped after him. "To live together, forever?"

I got up from my kneel and marched over to the two. The bracelet gleamed on my wrist. "Before you engage in this never ending war," I said, "I want you to bring my friends back from the dead."

Yacaeli glared at Arceus. "Will you let me, darling?" she teased.

He said nothing, but met her gaze evenly.

With a snicker, Yacaeli turned away from him. She waved her tail in the air, drawing the water. Droplets gather at her tasseled tail, slowly accumulating to a whirlpool. She guided the water to the earth, and when the base of the vortex touched down, they formed feet. Then legs. A torso, arms, neck, and finally a head. Beautiful red hair flowed from the scalp, and I couldn't have been happier to see her.

Unfortunately, I had to look away, mostly because I like to assure myself I wasn't a pervert. Guess Yacaeli couldn't produce clothes like she could a human being.

"Holy shit, where are my clothes?" Misty screamed. "More importantly, where's the creep that took them? He's gonna regret it!"

Yep. Misty was alive and well. "You automatically assume it's a he," I called without turning around. The blush in my cheeks was ridiculous.

"Quick, put this on!" I heard Drew yell. He was the only one with clothes to spare, and Misty gratefully donned his jacket.

Yacaeli chuckled. "The other two, now." She closed her eyes, and I saw Paul's burnt form start to solidify.

"You are not immortal," Arceus hissed. I saw the great beast rearing for his next attack. "I will prove it."

Yacaeli hadn't heard him. Paul and May were becoming more solid with each passing moment. She was bringing two of my closest friends back to life. I could not let Arceus touch her.

I was about to rush between the two, determined to defend the Sky Cat with my life, but someone else beat me to it.

**********************************************************Gonna hate this, I know it********************************************************

Leaf yanked herself out of Blue's grasp and started running. He got up and chased after her. "What are you doing?" he screamed.

"Saving you!" Leaf yelled back.

The instant the Hyper Beam was fired, Leaf jumped between Arceus and Yacaeli. The attack hit her full force; she wasn't built to resist that kind of power. She wasn't made to survive that kind of fatal blow.

Her screams echoed long after she vanished. There was no body left behind. Blue was yelling, screaming, panicking, but the scene before him was fading, fading, fading, until it melded into the computer screen before him and became Professor Rowan's lab.

Gary realized he was crying, and he wasn't sure why. Something terrible had just happened. He couldn't control his sobs. They were terrible and hurt his chest and made his heart race. An awful pain ached in his heart, causing him to keel over and lay his head on the desk.

Memories began to surface. He knew the girl now. Her name was Leaf. She was beautiful and happy and loving and everything he could ever want. He was in love with her, and she with him. He was remembering dates and kisses and delicate arms wrapping around his neck.

And now he knew she was dead.

**************************************************************Forgot this one************************************************************

I saw it. I saw it all. Leaf took the attack for Yacaeli. And it killed her. Arceus killed her.

Arceus killed my best friend's love. He would pay dearly.

The fire came. I didn't realize what I was telling it to do. I aimed it at Arceus. He was burning, and I was thrilled.

Yacaeli panicked. She dowsed him with water repeatedly. Nothing worked. I vaguely remember her leaping on me, demanding I put out the flames. She still loved him. She regretted everything she ever did to him.

Mew and Shaymin joined her, begging me to save their father. They told me things like all life would end if Arceus died. I didn't care. He should burn for an eternity for what he did. He was the reason everything had gone wrong. He was the reason everyone had died the first time around.

He had created Yacaeli, and then grew to fear the very thing his hands made. So he let it loose on me and my friends. Realizing he was to blame for my misery, the flames grew even larger.

For some reason, Arceus wasn't screaming in pain. Maybe he knew he deserved to burn. Maybe he was welcoming the flames.

Suddenly, something was on my throat. I found my airways were blocked, forcing me to come out of my stupor and face reality. Yacaeli's furious yellow eyes were an inch from mine, her head at least three times larger than mine. "You will not kill him," she hissed. "I know what that fire can do. It will burn anything. It will kill Arceus. I want you to stop." She hesitated. "Or it is their lives—," she waved her tail at my friends, "that will suffer for it."

I blinked at the great cat. "Is that all you care about?" I whispered, though I was certain she could hear me over the commotion around us. Everyone was screaming in terror at the sight of the burning creature. "The one who banished you to this life of hatred, you want him to live?"

The Sky Cat's eyes went wide, and her paw on my throat relaxed a little bit. "I still love him," she said softly.

I stared at her. "Why?"

She was shaking, and I had never seen anything so powerful look so weak. "I don't know," she whispered. "But please, spare his life."

I was overcome with sympathy. Without taking my eyes off her pleading moons, I forced the flames to shrink, and finally dissipate completely. When she was certain he was no longer burning, Yacaeli left me lying on the ground and rushed over to Arceus. She was going to pour her heart out, tell him everything, and beg him to take her back—.

And in an instant, Arceus had her pinned to the ground, his teeth at her neck. "Why did I ever let you live?" he growled. "The moment you turned on me, I should have ripped your throat out. But I allowed my emotions to get in the way. I… I became so human, and it sickens me. So I shall end this, right now. You will die, my beautiful Sky Cat, and I shall not regret it."

"Yes you will."

"Be quiet, Mew!" Arceus snapped.

"No!" Mew wailed. "I just saw Mother bring the humans back from the dead, and do you know why she did it? She still loves you! You love the humans, so she made sure she did not kill them to honor you."

Arceus hesitated. Yacaeli cried silently, her tears leaving streaks in her pale fur. "I do not believe it," he said forcefully. He leaned down, near her ear. "If I kill you," he whispered, "and decide it was a mistake, I can always make another one. You are disposable, just like the humans. I can make a million of you, Yacaeli, and eventually, one will be just like you."

Yacaeli looked away, swallowing her tears. "Then what are you waiting for?"

***********************************************************Gonna hate this too***********************************************************

Mew knew it was wrong. Her father would regret killing his mate for all eternity. She had to stop it.

But she was scared. Mew was terrified Arceus would punish her. She had to give Yacaeli at least some time to run. Her heart pounded in her chest, banging against her ribcage.

Lucario wouldn't be this scared, she told herself. Mew took a deep breath and summoned her energy. The force field grew in strength and size, and when she was certain it was more than powerful enough, she closed her eyes and rammed into Arceus.

The great Pokemon was knocked to the ground, releasing his hold on Yacaeli. "Go!" Mew screamed. "Run!"

Yacaeli just looked at her with pitiful eyes. "I can't leave the mountain, child," she whispered.

Mew stared at her in desperation. It had all been for naught. Now Arceus would kill the both of them. It was all over.

Suddenly, Mew saw the human run up to Yacaeli. She stared at him in confusion, as did his Pikachu. "Yacaeli!" he yelled, and he was shaking with fear. "I am going to burn the chain that binds you to this mountain."

"No!" Arceus howled. He got up and careened into Ash, sending the fragile human into the cave wall again. This time, Mew heard things snap, and Ash did not get back up.

The blue haired human let out a scream. Yacaeli rolled to her feet with her teeth bared. "You cruel, cruel creature!" she screeched.

She ran at him. He ran at her. Mew realized too late that she was caught in the middle.

The resulting explosion blew what was left of the mountain peak to smithereens. The humans and the other Pokemon were tossed off and left to tumble to their own stops. Mew's thick force field had shattered, and in the process, so had she. Mew stopped floating, crumpling to the ground and moving no more.

*AN: It was short, and I personally hated this chapter. It was SO hard to write. I feel like I lost my light with this story, but at least it's almost over. I'm excited because I got hit with that lightning bolt I like to call my inspiration, and I've got this AWESOME new story cooking in my Word document. I had the idea like, two days ago and I've already got thirty pages on it. WOO!

I want to say thanks for ALL the review you guys have given me! At this rate, we might even reach 300! Wouldn't that be epic? I think it would. School starts on Wednesday, so expect updates even faster. Seriously. I write more when I'm procrastinating other stuff.

Happy birthday to Amber Ice Fox, because that's what besties are for. :D*