When my eyes opened, the first thing I became aware of was a stunningly bright light that felt like it was scorching my eyes to just look into it. When my eyes finally adjusted to the harsh white light, I made kaleidoscopic splashes of colour spiralling dizzingly across my vision. I panicked at first, stumbling as I suddenly became aware of the fact I was standing on two feet and not lying down as I thought, wondering what the hell was wrong. Mad thoughts rushed through my head and I wondered if I'd hit my head and knocked myself out or even if I'd died and gone on to the afterlife, but the noise of that familiar, deep, sonorous voice quickly distracted me. I whipped my head around, despite the pain, and then almost fell to the floor again as I saw who the voice belonged to.

"Arceus!"

There was no mistaking the figure of that imposing, intimidating figure that was standing close to me, easily towering over me. The Pokemon remained stock still, not even so much as twitching as he spoke. "Sienna Volbeda. We meet again."

My breath caught in my throat. I stared at him in utter shock, my words stumbling erratically out of my mouth. "How did you—?! Why—? How—?"

"I told you we would meet again, did I not?"

Voiceless words chimed inside my head, a vague memory from two years ago that suddenly rang horrifically clear. "We will meet again." Despite my shock, I found myself chuckling slightly. "That… that really was you, then."

"Indeed," Arceus said, his head twitching in what could have been the slightest nod.

"Arceus, why… Why are you here?" I asked, my voice catching, then intensifying as I pushed the words out, my confusion coming in waves. "Why am I here? How am I here? What's going on?"

"Calm yourself, child." Arceus said, his voice sonorous and serene, oddly calming in the light of the panic I was experiencing. I felt strangely soothed by it, like a child lulled to sleep by the gentle words of his mother. It was amazing to think that a creature as intimidating and unbelievably powerful as I knew Arceus was, could still be reassuring and comforting. "I brought you here for a reason." He continued.

"B...brought me here?" I asked in confusion. "I… I don't understand! Why...why would you bring me here?! You... You could have... You could have come down to me, instead! That would've been a lot more helpful!" I said, gritting my teeth as I felt frustration set in.

"It is no longer safe for me to step foot on mortal soil." Arceus said, somewhat solemnly.

"Not safe?" I asked shrilly. "But you're a God! How can it not be safe?"

Arceus shook his head in a resigned manner. "Gods are not meant to walk on mortal soil. My presence upon earth those two years ago appears to have… diminished my powers…"

"Diminished?!" I repeated sceptically. "Arceus… you're a God! You're not meant to get… diminished! How does that even happen?!"

"I know not, child." Arceus said in what I could have sworn was a reproachful manner.

"I just… I just don't understand!" I murmured helplessly, a burning question that had been troubling me from the moment I had met Arceus finally pushing its way to the forefront of my mind. "If you're… if you're supposed to be… the God of all Pokemon, completely invincible and born from chaos, able to pass judgement on anyone you want and all that… how on earth were you captured so easily by Nathan and Team Quantum? It's not…! That just…! That just shouldn't happen!"

Arceus was staring at me quite calmly. "My child, you have already answered your own question."

"I… I have…?"

"Earth, my child." A flash of disappointment echoed across the Arceus's eyes. "Gods are not meant to walk among mortals. But you must remember, all men and all Pokemon were created equal in my eyes. They were created in the guise of of all legendary Pokemon. We are more alike than you may think, Sienna. I know you must have heard the stories of how sinful behaviour came to be created on earth and how it can affect even the best of people. Even… even the godliest of people. You must understand, child… it is not only mortals who succumb to such weaknesses…"

"So…" I whispered hoarsely, something suddenly becoming scarily clear. "Are you trying to tell me that…?"

"Enraged, prideful, or in the grasp of any sinful vice that plagues humans and Pokemon, I, the God of all Pokemon, become as mortal and as vulnerable as any of those I created on earth…"

"But how?! You're a God!"

"I know not of how this came to be," Arceus looked saddened. "But it has remained the same for as long as I remember."

"I… I don't understand…" I whispered hoarsely, my head swimming. "Are you saying that you… lose whatever it is that makes you a God whenever you go down to earth?!"

"Not entirely. I remain a powerful Pokemon. There is not a Pokemon alive that could hope to defeat me in battle—"

"And so modest too…"

The quip slipped out before I could even register I was saying it, and I instantly wished I could claw it back the second it came out. The Arceus turned and fixed me with such a hardened, icy look that I squeaked in terror. My heart hammered in my chest as I remembered "Sienna, what are you doing? You are talking to the God of all Pokemon, not a friend! Don't mock him! Just because you've met him once before and helped him out doesn't mean he won't pass judgement on you at the slightest thing you do! Get a grip and behave yourself!"

He glared at me one more time before continuing. "While I remain confident that I could not be defeated in battle by other Pokemon, I cannot escape the fact that I am still a Pokemon… A God among Pokemon, but a Pokemon all the same… A Pokemon still vulnerable to the same sin and weaknesses that plague others. I am no different than anyone else. If I go down there again, attempt to intervene, my rage will grow. If I set foot on mortal soil and become gripped by sinful behaviour or vices, I am vulnerable. I risk capture. And I cannot dare to risk that."

"So, you're a God, but… only if you're not on earth?"

"For arguments sake, we shall say yes."

"Okay, so… so I understand why you can't go down there…" I said, trying to mentally grasp the various threads that I felt were being dangled in front of me like someone teasing a Meowth with a string toy. "But why can't you… you know… pass judgement or whatever on Nathan and Helene? You know they're dangerous!"

"What do you expect me to do, my child? Kill them?"

My mouth swung open in shock. "N-no! I...I didn't say that! I..."

"I thought you disapproved of killing," The Arceus' voice hardened again and he was beginning to approach me, taking slow, deliberate steps. "Do you not remember, Sienna?"

"R...remember? Remember what?"

"'I don't think he deserves to be killed or anything like that. If he dies and we allow you to kill him… then we're just as bad as he is'." The Arceus paused, as if he was letting the gravity of those words sink in. "Do you remember those words?"

I grimaced, suddenly wanting to sink my head into my hands. "I do… It was me, wasn't it?"

"Indeed. And who were you adamant that I did not kill?"

"N…Nathan…"

"And do you regret that decision? Do you regret me not taking his life?"

"I…" I hesitated.

"I spared the life of an evil man at your insistence, Sienna. I did not want to spare him as I saw the blackness that suffocates his soul. But I spared him because you assured me that the man would be punished on earth and prevented from ever committing evil again."

"I… I know…" I said stiffly.

"So, tell me." Arceus's voice suddenly became stony. "In light of you not fulfiling your end of the promise, and him being able to commit evil again, was I right to spare him? Was I right to let him live?"

"I…" I floundered, not sure what to say.

"Tell me, Sienna!" he demanded, his voice cold. "Would it have been better if I killed that man? Made him feel every inch of the pain that he caused you, your loved ones and the ones around you? Would it have been better if he died a slow, agonising death as repentance for his evil deeds?"

"I… I don't know!" I cried.

"Yes, you do! Tell me! Would it be better if this man had died?!"

"I—"

"Should I have killed him? Torn him limb from limb? Tortured him? Made him feel all the pain he caused you?!"

"I… I don't—"

"Should he have died? Should I have killed him? Should I have taken—"

"N…No!" I suddenly cried, my voice shrill. "No, you shouldn't have! I… No-one… no-one should ever… No-one… not even someone like Nathan… deserves to die like that..." my voice was wavering horribly.

"Even if he caused others pain? Even if he delighted in the suffering of others? Even if he intended to kill others or did kill others?"

"N…no!" I cried out, feeling hot tears spill over my face. "N…Nathan… he's a horrible, evil man… but… I don't wanna kill him! Or… or allow someone else to! If I… if I allowed that to happen… I'd be no better than him…"

My shaky words hung tensely in the air for some time. All I could hear were the sounds of my own frantic sniffling as I tried to get my emotions back in control. My whole body shook and trembled in the aftermath of what I had just said. Then all of a sudden, Arceus spoke again.

"Good girl."

"H…huh? What?" I looked up in shock.

Arceus said nothing more to that apart from to turn on his heel away from me. "So you see now why I do not pass judgement on this Nathan, even though I may wish to. I owe you a debt of gratitude and if it is your wish that his life is spared, I shall not interfere."

"But if you can't come down to earth and you can't interfere by passing judgement, why did you even bring me here?" I asked thickly.

"There remains another reason why I chose to bring you here instead of interfering myself."

"And what would that be?"

"Because I do believe you are capable of stopping it yourself."

"Me?" I said at once in astonishment. "N...no! No, I can't… I'm not strong enough to do all that myself… I mean, haven't you seen what's going on down there?! Helene and Nathan have got this weird technology that messes with Pokemon's brains and my Pokemon won't listen to me! Even if they did, I'm totally outnumbered! I can't… I can't beat them!"

"Why not?"

"Because… because I'm just one girl."

"A single grain of rice can tip the scale, my child. Sometimes victory or defeat can depend on the efforts and actions of just one person."

"Well they got the wrong person!" I said vehemently.

"What makes you think that? You saved the world once."

"'Saved the world'?!" I snorted. "D…don't say it like that! It just sounds cheesy and cliché and stupid!"

Arceus was very quiet for a moment. "But if it was your fate—"

"And don't say fate either!" I snapped. "I hate that! The idea that… I'm destined to do all that! It's ridiculous! No-one's destined to do that kind of stuff! Life's not predetermined! There's no fate! Life just… life just falls into place as you go along. I… I…" I wanted to keep going, expel all the frustration and anger I had bottled up over the entire two years since the idea of fate had ever been brought into this, but I was wavering and trembling, my voice shaking and I found I wasn't even believing my own words any longer.

Arceus was watching me carefully.

"Arceus…" I whispered, feeling emotions swell up within me like the burgeoning waves returning to shore. The blindingly bright kaleidoscopic lights spiralling across my vision were beginning to make me feel sick and dizzy. "Is there such a thing as fate…?"

He was silent for a moment. "Why do you ask?"

"I just…" I said helplessly. "I just… I just don't know if there's any point in me fighting… If fate is real and… and… fate or destiny or whatever it is that's pulling the strings here has already decided things are going to work out a certain way, is there any point in me fighting it?"

"There is always a point to fighting," Arceus said at once. "The future… it is a funny thing. Too full of variables and possibilities to ever say for sure what will happen to us all, ultimately. Perhaps a person believes they will live to be ninety four and have fifteen grandchildren. But perhaps that same person will be knocked down and killed by a hit and run driver the very next day. Perhaps another person may be given a diagnosis of an aggressive cancer and told they won't live another five years. But perhaps that person may then defy all the odds, beat the cancer and outlive many of their friends."

"A... A lot of people like the idea of having things predetermined for them…" I said, somewhat thickly. "Like, no matter what they do, things are gonna work out that way for them so they then... don't try. And they call that 'destiny'. I… I call that laziness… But… sometimes I can't help but think that way too… I almost… think it's quite… nice and comforting to think that things are only ever gonna work out one way, and that's it… Like no matter what happens, I might still get a happy ending when it all comes to a close… But even if you believe that, I still don't think that you should ever stop trying to get a better life for yourself rather than just hope blindly that things will work out okay in the end…"

Arceus was watching me carefully. "What do you believe, Sienna?" he asked me, quite seriously.

"I don't know what I believe!"

"Yes, you do." He said, firmly.

"I…" I hesitated. "I don't think there's ever just one or the other… I don't think we've got an ultimate destiny that's set out for us the minute we're born, but at the same time I don't think we're free to shape every little thing that happens to us. We can't…" I took a deep breath in before finishing with "I think… I think both things need each other for balance…"

"So then, if you believe that your future is not entirely predetermined, surely you should believe there is always a reason to fight?"

I chuckled humourlessly, realising I had been well and truly caught out. "I… I guess so…"

"You guess so?" The tone to Arceus's voice was light, casual, almost...teasing, in a sense. I found myself instinctively warming to, and even liking the God Pokemon that stood in front of me, despite knowing all the anger and fury and contempt I knwe him to be capable of. I knew deep down, he was loving and fair and merciful, just like how I always envisioned a God to be.

I found myself nodding, fighting to keep a small smile off my face. "Yeah… if… if the future isn't really set in stone, then… I can change it, right?"

Arceus nodded.

"So… you think I could stop them…?"

"It doesn't matter what I think. Do you think you can stop them?"

"I… I don't know…" I said truthfully, letting out a deep sigh. "Right now... It doesn't seem like… like there's much of a chance."

"There's always a chance." Arceus said defiantly. "Even if you can't see it, there is always a chance to make a change. Always. You just have to look for it."

"But… but everything just seems so…"

"Difficult?"

"Yeah…" I admitted softly and somewhat lamely.

"Difficulties will be present in no matter what you choose to do, Sienna." Arceus said sagely. "Life will always be hard. But perseverance and a good attitude will see you through anything. If you fight, no matter the odds, you can overcome whatever obstacles stand in your way."

"Even… even this…?"

"Even this."

"It… it won't be easy, will it?"

"It won't. But good things never come easy. And you must do this. Your family and your friends and your loved ones depend on you."

I nodded. "Yeah... I... I gotta protect my friends and family... They're what's important..."

I was beginning to tremble now, but Arceus nodded at my final statement. "I believe you're ready now. So, I shall return you to where you came from. I want you to remember what I told you, Sienna. Fight your way through whatever hardships are thrown at you. Find the weakness and push through it."

"I will." I resolved.

As those words left my lips, I suddenly became aware of a strange, floating feeling encompass me and my body became light, almost weightless. Darkness started to seep in at the edge of my vision and everything started to get blurry. I blinked, trying to clear my head, only now vaguely being able to make out the wavering form of Arceus. He was getting closer towards me and my heart was suddenly filled with an inexplicable fear…

"It won't be easy…" his voice was distant and quiet and I struggled to make out every word. "There will be a price to pay to see this suffering end…"

"A price…? What price…? What does he mean…?"

But with that one ominous sentence, everything melted away into blackness.

I could hear voices...

"...Enough! You've let me down, Helene!"

"I have done nothing of the sort! I warned you about the device's shortcomings!"

"There should not have been any shortcomings! Your incompetence has jeopardised the entire mission! You assured me the device would be perfect!"

"It would have been perfect had you allowed me the extra time I needed to make the necessary adjustments! But no! You had to go running in like a madman and because of that, I had to make do with what I've got!"

"Well, what else is wrong with it? So it doesn't affect Pokemon with thick skulls, which is bad enough when you're taking on a trainer who uses Rock and Ground types! What else doesn't it affect?"

"Thick skulls…? What…?"

"Bah…"

"Tell me, Helene!"

"It… it doesn't affect Psychic Pokemon, for obvious reasons. And any Pokemon that has similar brain wave patterns to any of ours. I also noticed some abnormalities in Pokemon that have a rapid change in brain structure for whatever reason…"

I suddenly became very aware of the feeling slowly returning to my body and the conversation that I could hear echoing nearby to me. My mouth ran dry as Helene's words somehow permeated my hazy consciousness. "Psychic Pokemon? Pokemon with thick skulls? Similar brain wave patterns? Brain structure changes? What…? Could this be what… what Arceus talked about?" I suddenly stopped, the gravity of what I had just thought hitting me like a slap in the face. "Arceus… that was Arceus…! Again! That was Arceus! But…" My thoughts trailed off and out of instinct, I tried to move. But the paralysis shot through me again, feeling like an electric shock and I let out a low groan of pain. "Oh God… I can hardly move... How could Arceus have moved me when I'm in this much pain? I wasn't in pain when I was… wherever I was with him. And how could he even have moved me without Nathan and Helene noticing? What… what the hell was happening? And what did he mean by…" I found myself struggling to remember exactly what it was he had said. "A price to pay…?"

The noises of Nathan and Helene bickering were still ringing in my ears but I found myself unable to pay attention or attempt to decipher what they were saying. I could hear nothing apart from them, see nothing apart from the splintering wood of the dojo ceiling above me. A thought flashed through my brain, making an apprehensive jolt of excitement shoot through me. "Pokemon with thick skulls… Psychic Pokemon… Pokemon with similar brain waves… and Pokemon with altered brain structure. They're not affected by Helene's device. That's… that's it… That's my opening."

I twitched my limps experimentally but the shocks of pain that reverberated up and down my body were so bad that I had to bite down on my own lips just to stop myself screaming out in agony. "Oh Sienna, come on!" I told myself viciously. "You've been paralysed hundreds of times! It's just pain! No pain, no gain! Get up!" I moved my arm, somehow managing to raise it off the ground for a little while before it thudded back into the ground, useless. "D…damn it, Sienna!" I chastised myself, feeling frustration bubbling up inside me furiously. "It's just pain! You've felt pain before! You've felt pain worse than this! Push through it! You've got a chance! Take it!"

And although every iota of my body screamed in protest when I made even the slightest movement, I was somehow able to push myself into a sitting position. The paralysis was slowly and mercifully starting to ease and as control came back into my limbs, I turned my aching neck to see Nathan and Helene, practically nose-to-nose, yelling in each other's faces. Looking beyond them, I saw figures lying on the ground, both Pokemon and human alike. They didn't even so much as twitch at any of the noise. My heart crept up into my mouth. Nathan and Helene hadn't yet seen me. My breath came in ragged, sharp gasps as I realised I had a chance. I actually had a chance.

I stayed sitting upright until the feeling eventually slipped back into my limbs. Nathan and Helene were still bickering loudly and hadn't even so much as batted an eyelid in my direction. I didn't even dare to breathe too heavily in case they somehow heard me. While I tried to figure out what the heck I could do, I ran through the information I had managed to collect so far, trying to ignore the lingering foggy feeling still clouding my brain. "Pokemon with thick skulls... Psychic Pokemon... Pokemon with similar brain patterns... And Pokemon that undergo brain structure changes...? I wonder..." I glanced down at my belt before I plucked out one of the Pokeballs, a glorious realisation dawned on me. "Indigo..." I whispered.

My heart hammered brutally against my chest as soon as I dropped the Pokeball, expecting Nathan and Helene to startle as soon as the white light and noise of the opening capsule rang out, but mercifully, they remained too engrossed in their argument to notice. I held my breath as Indigo emerged, knowing that if she was somehow affected by the electrical impulses and she turned on me in any way, I would be finished. I prayed to Arceus up above as Indigo twitched and shook her head, looking bemused, that she wouldn't be affected. But my calm, serene Indigo simply blinked and whinnyed gently.

"Shhhh!" I hissed, frantically shoving a finger to my lips. "Indigo! Are you alright?"

She looked at me in confusion as if wondering why I was even asking.

"Okay..." I told myself. "Indigo's alright, but... I can't take on Nathan and Helene with just her... I need to somehow stop that electrical impulse... But how? Maybe... Helene said that the impulse didn't have a lot of range... It must either be somewhere close or she has it herself... I... I should target her..." I looked back at Indigo. "Indigo...can you give me a Future Sight?"

Indigo nodded and as she concentrated, readying the attack that would hopefully hit Nathan and Helene unawares, I took in a deep breath, trying to calm myself down.

"It's all down to me now..." I said, looking up at Nathan and Helene, still bickering, but formidable nonetheless against a backdrop of unconscious Pokemon and people. I sucked in my breath sharply. "Let's do this..." I expelled defiantly into the air.

Author's Note

And here I am with another Free Spirits update =) This chapter officially marks the beginning of the end of Free Spirits and we'll be working towards the story's climax =) I'll be anticipating a full end in about five chapters (not including epilogues).

Well, I don't really have too much to say here, 'cept well done to the people who made the connection we would be welcoming back Arceus for this chapter =)

Also thanks go to my wonderful reviewers MasterFreezeman, WarriorSwift, Shadow Serenity 57, ArchXDeath and TwewyReaperGirl.

Well, that's it for this chapter =) Reviews are welcome as always, especially since we're coming up to the end of Free Spirits and the Spirited series now.

Until next time!

7