What could I possibly say about my time in the way I was? I don't remember anything that was very clear, for the most part. I warn you. What I can probably piece together for you is still some of the most messed up stuff I've ever... experienced... You still want to know? ... Wow. Afraid of needles, but not afraid of whatever the heck this stuff qualifies as? I don't think you have your head on straight, but fine. If you really want me to tell you.

I remember colors and strange, flashing images that made no sense. I can try to piece some of it together.

One image looked like a very clumsy, prisma-colored tree walking on it's head, shimmying the ground as it's roots walked the air like they were on that very same ground. And when I say it was walking the air, I mean that they walked on the word.

From that one emerged this other that immediately killed any silliness that happened to be present as the tree turned into literal static, then reformed to a multi-headed alakazam with no ears or eyes and it's tail had moved to it's chest while it's legs bent in this very unwelcoming, broken way. I think it asked me something, but it came out as very broken words that had no structure or sense. And then it's many heads all twisted in crunching, gross cracks and screamed progressively louder until they just... popped right off and revealed spikes that stretched violently outward at terrifying speed, making the sky bleed ... rain.

The rain turned colors as soon as one color could be recognized. Before I could stop thinking of the colors, the rain literally became the very names of which I saw and blotted out my "sight".

Eventually, there was this constant, loud gnashing of something unseen in the background. I don't even know what it was meant to be, since no image ever came along before it eventually faded into obscurity.

The next thing i can remember happening was color rushing at me from the void and sound like literally every garbled, twisted merge of a sound came together to form this unholy trash that... still kind of hurts to thing about. Images sped by me too fast to ever be registered. I tried to scream for it to stop, over and over and over, but every vocal tone was a drowning paper boat amongst the endless tauros-crap that sprung from this literal hell for sounds! The frustrated words that came next made everything else evaporate! "SHUT UP!" Sound, then color, then all-around imagery vaporized...

And then... white.

Again, everything was white. And by everything, I mean that I was suddenly treated to this very unnerving scene where I somehow ended up back in my forest... but everything looked like someone sketched it all with pencil. I hesitated to even try... but I looked down at my feet, just to make sure they were still there. Thankfully, that was the case, but they too were nothing but outline. I tested them by taking a step... I was able to move it and crunch invisible grass that was simultaneously "drawn" in. I took another step... then another and another until it felt naturally, then I looked away from my feet and up, looking around at what little there was to see.

See was the key word there, because there certainly wasn't much to hear. Maybe telling everything to shut up wasn't quite thought out, because then there was only the nagging feeling in the back of my head that something could immediately go wrong... but it never did. For once, what I was seeing was a constant.

Eventually, walking through the sketch version of the forest lead me to where I lived; our little clearing in the trees. There was the liver shaped pond that led out to the river in the corner. There were the huge trees that grew the most delicious pecha berries. There was the large, flat rock in the center of it all. There was the scent of it all in the air, bringing a smile to my face as I just closed my eyes... even though they technically already were close outside of dreamland.

...When I opened them up again, there were lines that formed a shape on the rock that took me a while to notice... Finally shifting my eyes over to look, I end up lifting my hair to see more clearly, pursing my lips in a puzzled manner.

They formed a figure. I wasn't too sure what they formed, being that whatever figure it was happened to have it's back to me... or at least that's what I was making sense of. They were obviously many times my size at the angle I was looking at them from.

Taking the chance of it being bait, I narrowed my eyes and let my hair drop with my arm, back into place as I walked up to the figure. A reasonable distance away for safety precautions, I asked, "H-hey. So, okay. I know you're just another part of this crazy dream. Either way, I'm really glad it decided to calm down long enough to let me have this. So... Who are you, if you even have a name?"

The figure bowed it's head as it started to giggle in a familiar tone of voice. It took me a second to pick it out as I cocked a brow, but it quickly sunk in while my eyes slowly widened beneath my hair. I could feel my mouth drop open as I uttered, "Mo...Mom...?!"

The figure suddenly gained a lot more detail, her body molding into her shapely form and her hair becoming apparent to me as it formed around her head. She stood up as her "dress" filled in over her legs. She turned her head to look at me... with a sketched version of my mother's exact face smiling down on me. "It's not my envisioned idea of seeing you again as I really am, but I shall definitely take it."

You can guess what happened. I hopped onto the rock as she was fully turning around and used it to jump into her arms and hug her around the neck! "Mom!" It wasn't Aria with my mother's size. It wasn't some voice in my head. It was my mother, real as could be. I could feel her soft skin against me and the warmth of her body. I nuzzled to the side of her neck. I couldn't cry for some reason, but my tone sounded like I was bawling like a baby when I said, "I th-hought I'd neve-r see y-ou again...!"

She hugged me right back while rubbing my back and shushing me. "It's okay, dear thing. I'd never do that and you know it. I'm always there when you need me, right?"

Of course that was true... I nodded my head and smiled a pathetic little smile that almost didn't look like one. Too... flat. I make myself out to be a crybaby back then, don't I? ... But, I guess that I kinda was.

When sense finally came back to me, I took several breaths and rubbed what wasn't there from my eyes and leaned back while I pushed myself back with my arms and looked up at her face. "But... why are you hear in my head? HOW are you hear in my head? I'm dreaming, right?"

She gave me a great grin while giggling a little. "I know that you remember this somewhere, dear. I know you can figure it out."

While I was very smart, I didn't really get it for a second or two... Then I grinned a little myself and let out an "oh". Tilting my head, I guessed. "This is part of the more advanced mind reading skills, right? You can't just see into my dreams. You can enter them." ...It suddenly makes sense to me, all these years later, now that I'm remembering this. That wasn't the first time mom got into my dreams... But then, why were the first two times kind of broken? ... I guess it doesn't really matter.

She nodded, telling me that my answer was correct. "I don't agree with you having knocked out your Meloetta friend, Ralina, but I..." She stopped and went blank for a moment, looking off to the side with her eyes alone... She sighed and shook her head as she frowned. "Actually... I won't lie to you. I CAN and CAN'T understand it. You are like myself, so I know it's well within you to think of yourself last. As the older of the two of you, it should have been her. I know that's incredibly horrible of me, but I can't help feeling that way."

I knew that was coming. I closed my eyes and let myself lay there against her. "Sorry, mom... I Know I should have tried a little harder to find a way to escape... but she was going to do this without even saying a word to me. She had already decided it without me. I... I couldn't let her do that. She's the only friend I have. And I was... it felt like I was going to be alone..."

She flinched inwardly as she nodded and looked away from me. "I... guess that was the obvious reason... You have always had that little phobia, haven't you?"

It's true... back then, I was so afraid of being alone... It's nothing to me, now, but it took... way too much pain to get over that fear... If I could go back and do it over again, I would have-... ... ... No. No, never mind... Maybe I wouldn't have...

Shame was definitely present in the frown on my face, my silence continuing.

Mother shook her head and smiled faintly while she took her seat back on the rock. "... Am I a horrible mother for being proud of you in some little way...?"

I shook my head. "I told you. You're the best mom ever. There's no way I'd ever say that. And to be perfectly honest with you..." I grinned a little. "I'm kind of proud of myself, too. I don't feel bad for it, either."

With a small laugh, she too shook her head before she leaned down over me and kissed my head between the horns. "Then, I'll keep it tucked safely away in my 'ways to be a good mother' section."

That brought my grin out even more while I nuzzled into her neck. "You better, dangit. I love that section."

... Hah! I have NO idea what made you think I EVER loved my mother. Gee. Maybe the multiple times I've been smiling while talking about her. Maybe the many times I told you I've hugged her. How about- ... Ha ha. Okay, I'll stop... You know, you're not half bad. You remind me of-... ... ... Let's keep going. Sorry. I'm just not ready for that comparison, yet.

... ... ... I could go on with this whole section for a long time, but I don't think it would be light out after I got finished. Instead... I'm gonna make something clear. While I was taking to mom, there was something I wasn't very sure about... Time. My perception of time was dilated at best... and totally broken at most, which might happen to be the reality.

Talking to her felt like it was taking longer or shorter than it really was going. I... have to think it was because my body was having a very hard time in the real world. I can't doubt it, because I can't see why I look the way I do now not being hard to adjust to. Yes. It was at that time, during this dream, when I started to change into what you see.

I'm sure of it, because there was something else I wasn't aware of just yet, but there was no way I could have ever known...

Let's save that for later, though. Getting back to a later point of the conversation, Mom had sat me down in her lap and at some point, this sketchy dream had taken on a crayon styled coloring. Green was back in the grass and tree leaves. Brown had returned to bark and dirt. Water was given this unrealistic shade of blue, though. And pink was back in the pecha berries. Our full colors had returned as well, but it was still very strange. Color in the real world was never meant to be so grainy.

I took notice of it almost immediately while I looked around and smiled with a cocked brow. "Jeeze, first it's all sketchy, now it looks like some tried to color it in. This dream is really-..." I had spotted the sky and the not-bright-at-all yellow sun with blinking eyes and blankness... "...REALLY weird."

Then, mom looked down at me with a confused furrow in her brow, even if she was smiling. I could almost see the sweat on her brow, only you don't normally sweat in dream land, much like you can't actually cry. "Uhm... there wasn't.. color before?"

I looked up at her while my hair fell back and blinked my red eyes, then raised my brow. "Uuuh... No? Couldn't you tell? I mean, I don't know what it's like in someone's dreams, but I'm pretty sure that should have been obvious if you're looking at what I see. Everything was a sketch before a little bit ago."

Her smile grew nervous as she cleared her throat, looking around. "I... suppose that you can always learn something new, hmm?" I didn't feel it at the time, but like before, I can't help wondering if she wasn't nervous about something else and not the actual lack of knowledge.

"Can I ask you just... one thing, mom?" It suddenly came out of me as I thought about it.

She looked back down to m as her face relaxed. With a smile, mom nodded and spoke. "Of course. You can always ask me anything, no matter what it may be."

I looked at the pond while I started to see a reflection of Kimmy in it... only she was crying. It wasn't what was actually happening, but I felt like that's what she must be like right then. I could feel the frown on my face as I furrowed my brows and breathed through my nose. "... Do you.. think Kimmy's at least alright? I want honesty, not comfort."

There was an immediate "oh" from mom as I looked back to her and saw her frowning deeply. ... She looked into my eyes and sighed, trying to smile as she confirmed what I felt. "Truthfully, I.. don't think so. She has always been the most emotional one between the three of us. Truly, she reminds me of your father. I wouldn't be surprised if, at this very moment, what you think she's doing right now is actually exactly correct."

So, I guess maybe I was seeing what could possibly be true in that pond. Either way, it tore me up inside to think about, literally making me hold my chest as I frowned and closed my eyes. "...I see... Then, the first thing I need to do after this is definitely find her. I need to get out, find her and hug her tight until she pops."

Mother smiled over me saying that, giggling as she rubbed my head, carefully. "Both of us need to." She paused for a moment as she put a finger to forehead, like she was trying to figure something out. Then, she suddenly turned serious, brows narrowing. "Ralina. I don't want to do this, but I need you to wake up for a little while."

It was a surprising comment. I hummed in question while my eyes flickered over again. "Huh? But why?"

She took hold of my little body and hugged me to her chest one more time at a jarring speed... or it would have been if it were all real to me then. After that, she quickly kissed my head again, then held me out so that we were eye to eye. "Please. Just trust me. And take a very deep breath whe you do wake up. Don't make me have to use scary face." She smirked a little playfully at the mention of that move.

And of course, the mere mention of THAT move was enough to scare me. "F-fine! Okay! But I better see you after this!"

"We don't need a deal for that~," she said in a ring and smiled at me, before I closed my eyes...

...

My eyes snapped open as my ears were assaulted with beeping non-stop! My lungs were BURNING!

I gasped in the deepest breath I could as I breathed through what had to be the mask around my face, holding my throat and taking more steady breaths while the beeping started to slow and then eb in frequency. Then, it stopped all together with a more pleasant ring. As I breathed and calmed my racing heart, I looked around at what had been scientists racing around outside my capsule all seeming to look at me and gawk, all panicked movement stopping as they stared. When my sense was back, I realized that I was still floating in that turquoise liquid.

One was the woman, hand on her chest as she looked faint with how hard she was breathing and how white her face was. She smiled when she saw me breathing as I was. {Oh, thank the great and good trinity. It seems she fixed the problem herself...} A feeling of cooling wind. Relief, I decided, even with my mind still a bit frayed from the intense moment.

My eyes still refocusing, I tried to think to her as best I could with my crazy destruction derby of a thought process. {What just- Why were- You..." I stopped for a moment as my eyes shut tight and I let out a silenced grunt. {Focus!} I reopened them to her and focused in on her more successfully while it seemed that wrecked thought process had her confused, blinking as she pointed to me. {Y-yes! Whatever. That was me. What the heck just happened and why?! My lungs have never hurt so much!}

The intensity of my thoughts made her flinch as she stared in at me and walked closer, talking aloud... Yeah. Like I could hear that in a glass tube.

I was still extremely tired and the stuff I was floating around in was definitely the cause of that. Shaking my head as I thought, I told her, {Stop talking. I can't hear that OR understand what you're saying anyway. Just think and I'll see it.}

The woman blinked, seeming to not understand for a moment. {Think...? Wait, so she can only understand my thoughts? That-}

{Yeah. I don't totally get it, either. Just tell me what's going on? You're obviously not done with me, being that I'm still in this tube, so before I can't keep myself awake anymore, mind telling me?} ... It took me a bit to notice, but it seemed my hair was longer than before, much to my surprise. I lifted my free hand up and... grabbed it... with fingers... I blinked wide and gasped as I looked at my three new fingers that formed an odd hand, grabbing my hair... It barely had resemblance to anything human... it was more like a gardevoir's hand, but totally white...

{I see that you've noticed how different your hand is, now.} My eyes slowly drifted and focused back on the woman, who was humbly smiling up at me, before the smile turned into a frown... {You nearly died from a sudden slow in heart rate... It was brought on by the extreme transformation you're body just went through, both in size and other ways, but thankfully, this should be the last one that causes so much strain. I knew they would be great and many, but never any so changing. It's a side-effect of the method's unrefined state. I'd hoped that you could have kept your original form...} She bowed her head and thought, {I'm so sorry...}

... I looked down at my body and observed with shock what had happened otherwise. I was very different, now... My legs looked longer, even if my skin still seemed to work the same way. Thankfully, it was still white. My body was slim and more formly, however. The skin around it seemed to have tightened and fit to my structure.

I let my green hair go as it slowly drifted back over my face. as I observed how long it had gotten. It was not the length it is now, but it did reach my newly widened shoulders- not by much mind you, but still more apparent than whatever I had in my previous form. Even my bangs were that length, which was a hassle to see through when looking forward, much as I figured out earlier. Nothing like light bangs that had cracks to see through. This was thick and seemed heavy.

I felt my face with my hands, which was pretty weird. At least that was mostly the same. The only thing that seemed to change was... that I had this nose and my chin was a bit more noticeable, even if my head would still look nearly round when someone was looking dead at it. I couldn't see it, though, so how was I supposed to know? I felt my hand around my still pretty slim neck. That wasn't too different, at least. Still, that those creepy hands could nearly fit around it was... ugh...

... Come on. How can you NOT? These hands ARE creepy when you're not the right evolution. You can't tell me otherwise. ... ... ... Well, I'm glad that at least one of us thinks so, but I don't. Cute? Really?

Back to what I was saying... Taking my hands and feeling the top of my head, I found my horns. They were still in the same position as ever, but were somewhat larger and feeling them felt strange... good, but also unusual. I had never felt anything from my horns before, but I also hadn't felt them since getting the mind reading abilities. It was that. Because of their awakening, feeling was different. I was different...

I looked back up just in time to see the woman backing her way into my tube with a small -thump-. I looked to where she was looking, but honestly... consciousness was starting to crash again. My eyes were squinting just to see what was in front of me. It was Gundsar walking in with... a man I would come to hate. I only had enough consciousness left at the time to figure out his face. A black haired man with an angular face, full eyebrows, a mole on the side of his jaw and silver eyes that felt nothing but cold as they stared into me through the corners. He smiled in a way that crawled under my skin and felt gross...

The last thing I could see before my consciousness faded out was him starting to say something to the good doctor... I hate that man, still, to this day...

You know what happens next. A crazy flash flood of weird images, but this flood was broken up by direct intervention from my mother, who literally blew them away with a simple flick of her arm, clearing darkness and images, one and all, leaving us back at "home", only the color was now proper and had shade to it. It seemed more like someone cell-shaded everything, though...

...I don't know WHY my mind registered what I looked like out there so quickly to be what I was, now... but I wasn't a ralts anymore... I can't say that I have a name for what I am. I was on my hands and knees on the grassy ground, shivering and sweating. My eyes felt like they could pop out of my head and my mouth was open in stunned horror... I was looking at my hands... Those three digit hands that were clutching blades of crumpled grass.

After dropping her arm back to her side, she came over to me eyes wide in deep concern as she dropped down to her knees beside me. She furrowed her brows and placed a hand along my back... It felt discomfortingly smaller to me. I was nearly Kimmy's size, then: about... 2'1", I guess. My mother shook me a bit. "Ralina, speak! Please, baby!"

I didn't. Instead, I got up and shakily walked my way over to the pond, as if it held an answer for me... When I looked into the pond... I didn't see my reflection... How would I? I had no idea what I might have looked like in the real world, other than the bodily details I'd registered. It tortured my little mind not knowing what I looked like. It could have been insecurity, easily. I know that I thought they were turning me into a monster...

Suddenly, my mother's hands grabbed me by the shoulders and spun me around. I could see how scared she was with how she shook, a frown on her face. "Please... please, speak to me. I-I'm sorry... I knew it would hurt, but I just thought you could handle it..."

Seeing her like that was more shocking than even what happened to my body. She was never so... scared... I finally took a breath as I looked away and at the grass below my feet, closing my mouth and forcing myself to blink into a more natural expression... I looked at her and .. well. I spoke. "W-what's.. happening to me...? My body looked... A-are they turning me into some kind of... monster?"

She seemed to calm down, even if she still looked so sad. "No. There isn't a monstrous thing about a little girl, no matter what she is."

It irritated me to hear that. I scowled and bore my grit teeth. "BUT I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT I LOOK LIKE TO YOU RIGHT NOW!" I gasped as her large hands suddenly pulled me up and into another embrace, leaving me wide eyed and speechless...

I looked up at my mother's face, seeing that a calm blankness returned to her face. "I don't want to hear that ever again... You look like my daughter... You will ALWAYS.. look like my daughter, because you are my daughter, Ralina dear... You are no monster..."

I frowned, feeling weak and bruised like someone just got done kicking me... I just wrapped my arms around one of my mother's arms and held tight to it, closing my eyes and biting my lip. I honestly wanted to believe her. I knew who I was, but I didn't know if that made me any less of a monster...

I still didn't know everything that had happened that day, nor what day it was...