Navar's Oneshot Collection

by Navarchu

A collection of oneshots pertaining to my main PMD series. Mostly written on a whim, and with varying places in the overall timeline.

Be My Light

The night sky held an awe-inspiring spectacle. Not a single wisp of cloud covered its deep expanse, which allowed each star to radiate with all their brilliance, uniting to paint the canvas to the cosmos. Even the air held a refreshing chill, crisp enough to be invigorating without being uncomfortable.

Amidst the tapestry, a majestic figure emerged—a colossal dragon formed from light itself. His gaze was fixed upon the shimmering presence of the stars. Necrozma found himself smiling, captivated by their grandeur.

"Duty or not… I can never get enough of them." He continued to smile, his tail swishing for a few seconds. "I wonder how the others are—it has been a while since I last saw my siblings."

His sight turned to the moon in the sky. "Knowing Lunala, she must be gossiping with Cresselia. As she always does…"

A shame he couldn't see the sun at this hour, but Necrozma was still reminded of his other sibling. "And Solgaleo… good old Solgaleo. Always getting into fights."

This time, he sighed—Necrozma did miss them, even if they were always so busy. Dealing with mortals and with themselves took out a lot of time. Granted, he did spend a lot of his free time with his mate.

"Hm, I should still have a few hours left. Maybe I should—"

Out of nowhere, something covered his vision. But that wasn't the end of it, as the next thing he knew, Necrozma felt tendrils wrapped around his waist, pulling him into a hug. A very nice hug, but one that still startled him.

For only a few seconds. Once the shock was gone, Necrozma realized he knew what this sensation was, and found himself returning the hug, unintentionally letting out a loud purr.

"I didn't expect to listen to you purr. Not here, anyway…"

Hearing that voice felt so soothing, like every possible worry Necrozma could have was shattered, even before they appeared. Talking was too much of an effort for him, and instead, he just leaned into the hug, rubbing his arms against the tendrils.

"Do you really like them that much?"

A nod, and Giratina smiled in response, hugging his partner in a more tight, but still comforting embrace.

"Twinkle… you know I love this, but I really want to hear your voice. Can you speak? Or are you still… distracted?"

Necrozma purred again, and then stopped, trying to gather the energy to say any intelligible words. "Apologies. As you know, I can get a bit too clingy when you sneak up on me like that."

"Surprisingly, I think that's a quality." Giratina smiled again. "Now, since you're taller than me, I don't want to stay behind all the time."

And before his partner replied, Giratina moved around, now standing in front of Necrozma. Before long, he rested his head on the light dragon's neck. Again, Necrozma could only purr in response.

"You're adorable, Twinkle."

"T-Thank you…?" Necrozma could feel a bit of heat rising in his face, but with the best company in the world, there was no need to hide it. He rested his own head on top of Giratina's, and the duo looked at the stars together.

"They are very pretty, y'know?"

"For large balls of gas, they sure are." Necrozma chuckled, holding a tendril with his hand.

Giratina pouted when faced with that response. "Take the romance out of it, will ya?"

Bingo. Necrozma had Giratina right where he wanted. "...They are very pretty, yet, their beauty pales in comparison to you, darling. When you're around, even the brightest of stars is but a small flicker."

Total silence. Giratina stuttered with the words, and simply nodded.

"Did you know the mortals consider shooting stars capable of granting wishes?" Necrozma asked, hearing Giratina purr just like he did a while before.

"Y-Yes?"

"Well, I don't know about that. However…" Necrozma moved his head a bit, kissing Giratina's. "If that were the case, then I wouldn't need one. I got my wish right here with me."

Giratina felt his entire body melt with words alone, and his speech was replaced with random sounds that didn't say anything, and said all that Necrozma wanted to hear at the same time.

"How adorable…" Necrozma smirked, tail swishing again. "But are you alright, darling? Because if you are… I would love to keep doing this."

"I-I'm alright, yeah." Giratina replied, but he was still all melty and gooey. "I wanted to see what you were doing. A-As usual, stargazing. Honestly, it fits you."

"Well, the stars are a pretty sight. However…" Necrozma let go of him, backing away a few feet. His eyes met Giratina's, and the two dragons smiled. "I think I have a far better view now."

"O-Oh…" Giratina couldn't hold it any longer, flying ahead like a bolt of lightning and hugging Necrozma… while hovering. Both of them were.

Within a matter of seconds, the two dragons collide against each other, flying in the air and spinning. Nothing would stop their powerful embrace. Giratina only laughed, nuzzling his partner while he heard Necrozma purr gently.

"Tina…" Necrozma muttered, wrapping his arms around Giratina's neck—or the closest he had to it, and let their faces touch each other. "I didn't know I wanted this kind of affection."

"I know… it almost feels like we're doing something wrong…" Giratina's voice was softer, and there was a hint of sadness in it.

"That's the thing—we aren't. We're the most powerful creatures in this world. Nobody could stop us from seeing each other, even if they tried."

"Yes, we really are. You're my equal, and as such… I couldn't help but fall in love. Strange, isn't it? We're so different from mortals, and yet, we experience many of the same emotions."

"Darling…" Were they really so similar? Mortals were fragile; their life was a breath away from ending. Meanwhile, he and the other legends were old, ancient, and immortal—unless killed by one of their own. "We're not doing anything wrong, alright? Look at us—the stars are bright, the weather is perfect, and more importantly… you're here with me."

Eyes gazing into one another, Necrozma didn't even think—he just… acted. Closing his eyes, his lips pressed against Giratina's. Inside of them, an explosion of emotions occurred, with neither of them backing off.

It was pure bliss. Giratina let his tendrils wrap around Necrozma a little bit tighter. Meanwhile, Necrozma started to fly higher with Giratina by his side, spinning slowly in the air. Nothing else mattered, just that moment.

Like all good things, it would have to end eventually. Giratina was the one to pull out first, even watching a bit of drool fall towards the ground.

"You know, we should have more dates like this. Don't you agree?" Necrozma panted, looking at his lover with a smile.

Giratina put his head on Necrozma's chest, sighing in relief, and didn't move from that place. It was too comforting to leave, anyway. "You have a point. W-We really should do this more often, love…"

He paused for a quite a while, taken aback by his own words. Why didn't they dedicate more time for this? They both clearly wanted it, and like Necrozma mentioned, were strong enough to oppose anyone.

"It's… ironic, isn't it? The most powerful beings in the world, only able to fully enjoy each other in the rare occasions where they have free time."

Necrozma blinked at that comment, and then chuckled a bit. "Well, when you put it like that…"

"Well, I'm right, aren't I?"

"...Perhaps." Necrozma looked up at the stars, and then down at the ground. He could see a few lights down below, but it was too far away to discern any details. "It's our duty. Sometimes I wonder if things would be better if we left the mortals doing their own things… not interfering at all."

"Do you think that would make it better…?"

"I suppose. At least, I think so." Necrozma closed his eyes and sighed again, looking back at Giratina afterwards.

"Twinkle…" Giratina wrapped two tendrils around Necrozma's arms. "I'm not sure if it's up to us to decide that."

"Why not? We are strong. We should…" Necrozma shook his head. "I… am not sure. It feels like a complicated subject. I might need to think about this for a little longer."

And to that, Giratina snorted a bit. "We have all the time in the world to think about that! Why don't we enjoy this a little more? We still have a little bit of time…"

"I don't see why not. Surprisingly, moments like this are quite rare for us." Necrozma affectionately placed a fleeting kiss on the top of Giratina's head. "You know, what the mortals refer to as a "date". We rarely had any of those."

"Dates…? Is that what they call it? What a funny word!" Giratina's laughter resonated, yet the significance of Necrozma's words wasn't lost on him. His eyes began to glimmer with newfound excitement. "Wait, wait a second! A date?! You wanna go on a date with me?!"

"W-When you put it like that…" Necrozma pouted, that heat making itself known again. "...Yes, I would like that."

Giratina chirped, opening his mouth to show the brightest of smiles. "A date! We're going on a date! And it'll be incredible! Oh, what are we going to do?! What do the mortals do on these… "dates"? I'm not aware of it! Not at all!"

"Hm… perhaps I can show you Ultra Space! It's where I found Blacephalon and Buzzwole. It's a strange dimension…" Necrozma smiled back at him, and his tail swished once more. His body was glowing a bit brighter. "Granted, I'm not entirely sure if it's safe for you to go…"

"Pffft, that's nothing!" Giratina tried to puff his chest to appear more intimidating and strong.

Necrozma only found that to be adorable. "So, a visit to Ultra Space? It doesn't have a sight nearly as good as the stars here, but it's quite pretty, I have to admit."

"It does sound lovely…" Giratina chirped again, nuzzling Necrozma's chest. "When? We do have a busy schedule. As much as I want to do it now…"

Giratina was startled by a sudden whirring sound coming from beneath the two. He was the first to look, and saw a familiar face. A very annoying, but familiar face: Darkrai.

"Master Giratina…" while his voice wasn't as imposing as the dragons', Darkrai still had a fearful drawl to his. "I see you're… doing him, as usual."

"Actually, he's the one that—"

"Tina! Not now… and certainly not to him!" Necrozma's face turned red, and he quickly cleared his throat. "Ahem. Hello, Darkrai. What are you doing here?"

Darkrai didn't bother showing much emotion, only crossing his arms. "Master Necrozma, as you know, tomorrow the request involves the two of you. I suggest you stick to the schedule."

"Hmph. I could kill you, you know? For annoying me so much. Legend or not, you're still beneath me." The dragon glared, his body burning brightly with light.

"Twinkle, let's not." Giratina looked over at him. "Anyhow… I believe it's the village over on the Water Continent, right?"

Darkrai nodded. "Correct, master Giratina. One of the most prosperous villages. Apparently, there's a shrine dedicated to you."

How come I don't get any shrines…? Necrozma thought, rolling his eyes. "Well, I'll be happy to visit them. If Tina's coming with me, the situation will be far more bearable."

"I trust the two of you will not… get distracted." Darkrai sighed. He didn't get paid enough to handle them—or got paid at all. "I'll leave you two here, but please, don't take too long to get back to the tower."

"Yes, yes, we promise to behave." Necrozma snapped a finger, and a portal next to him opened. "There, I even did you a favor. Off you go, shoo, shoo!"

What in the Creator's name did master Giratina see in him…? Darkrai floated over to the portal, walking through. In a second, it closed.

"Now… where were we?" Necrozma eyes his lover, smirking. "Ah, yes, of course. I believe we had… business to do."

"O-Oh. Alright." Giratina flew closer to him, their heads pressing once more. "Let's not take long."

"No promises…"

---

Another day began, just like it always did. Necrozma stood in his throne, looking over the room, while Giratina was using his serpentine body to wrap himself around his lover, with his head on Necrozma's chest.

"You do realize we don't need to sleep? Or to eat, or do most of the things the mortals need for sustenance."

Giratina groaned a bit, clutching his partner tighter. Their embrace was incredible, but now Necrozma was almost ruining the mood. It didn't get soured only because of how much affection Giratina had for that dragon.

"Twinkle, love, you can be very romantic when you want to be, but other times…" Giratina sighed, but he didn't try to move. As it turned out, the comfort was too good to pass up. "And besides, you say that after what we just did."

"Well, I do have a reputation to keep…" Necrozma chuckled a bit "The others see me as stoic, and sometimes I forget to repress that part. You don't need it."

"I'm fairly sure the others wouldn't mind seeing the real you. As flattered as I am…" He looked up at Necrozma's head, smiling at him. "I think I'd like them to see your true self. I know he's… well, you. And you know I like you."

Necrozma had that same shade of red again, and chuckled once more. "I can't disagree with you when you put it like that… I'm still not going to try eating, though."

"More power to you, I suppose." Giratina slithered his way out of Necrozma's grasp, before gazing back at him. "But I'd love to see what your taste in food is."

"Hm… I suppose I could try it some time." Necrozma stood up, leaving the throne room. "And if we stay here for more time, Darkrai will show up again."

"Well, he's right. We have a meeting." Giratina offered a tendril for Necrozma to hold, and the psychic dragon did just that. They left the room together.

The corridor of their tower was as relaxing as usual. With the other legendaries doing their duties, it was just the two lovers walking down the hallway.

"Before you say anything, I know we can just reach the village through a portal." Necrozma eyed his partner. "...But I like the feeling of holding your tendril. We're still fast enough to not be late."

Giratina chirped in excitement, nuzzling him again. "I didn't expect you to say that, thank you, love!"

Their intimate moment was interrupted by a melodious laugh—that sounded like two voices at once—drawing their attention. Both dragons shifted their focus downward to discover the source of the sound. A short distance away, two Pokémon were approaching: Entei and Terrakion.

"Heh. Quite the amusing scenario. Are you sure the young one is up to the task?" Entei raised a brow, turning his gaze towards Terrakion.

"Nope! But y'see, the boss reckons he's fit to be our next member, so reckon I'm trustin' him too…" Terrakion then noticed the rather large dragons nearby, raising his head to greet them. "Yo."

"Ah… yes, hello." Giratina waved a tendril at them.

"Greetings." Necrozma tried to show more emotion by giving his best impression of a smile. "I assumed everyone was on duty. What a pleasant surprise."

Terrakion's reaction was a scowl, his features contorting slightly. "W-Well, we were, but I reckon we're wrapped up now. Ain't that the truth, Entei?"

"Indeed," Entei nodded in response, making sure his tone was as polite as possible. "May I ask what your destinations might be? Off to some significant affair, perhaps?"

"A village on the Water Continent." Necrozma replied. Well, his smile seemed to be terrifying poor Terrakion. Now he had to find a new subject, and Necrozma knew just what to talk about.. "...Say, I've heard some rumors about you two. Are you… well, mates? Like me and Tina?"

Entei and Terrakion locked eyes with one another, chuckling to themselves.

"Rumors, you reckon? Well, they're spot on. This massive fella right here…" Terrakion's grin grew, and his tail wagged while looking at Entei. "We're mates for life! And, considerin' we're near enough immortal, it's for all eternity!"

"Quite so…" Entei leaned in, nuzzling his partner atop the head, flames erupting from his back in a fiery display. "We're happy. It's a companionship I never expected to have."

"Perhaps we should try going on "dates" together! All four of us!" Giratina chimed in with a smile. That idea sounded so… mysterious and exciting!

"Four of us…?" Necrozma pondered, but smiled next. "Yes, it could be enjoyable."

"Anything is better than that request…" Giratina pouted, and then looked directly at Entei. "Speaking of which, what was yours? Hopefully nothing boring…"

"We were assigned to oversee the construction of a shrine in my name," Entei stated with pure pride, his chest swelling momentarily—something that Terrakion both noticed and whistled at. The air of accomplishment diminished as Entei's chest gradually deflated. "...At first, they only captured my bad side."

"Now now, sugar," the musketeer grinned, resting his head on Entei's side. "As if you even got a bad side in the first place."

Despite being a fire-type, Entei's face never felt that hot. He cleared his throat and turned his attention back to the dragons. "And what would yours be, if I may ask? What are you going to do in the village?"

"We don't know. Not yet." Necrozma added. "Darkrai didn't tell us. We'll only find out once we get there."

Giratina sighed a bit, but still smiled. "Well, surprisingly, he hasn't shown up to complain that we're taking too long."

"...You know what, Tina? Good point. We should head there, before he does."

Terrakion shot a grin towards the dragon, letting out a quiet chuckle. "Well, well, I reckon we might not be headin' out on that double date just yet, but what's the harm in trailin' along with y'all? Might be a heap of fun, and we ain't had a chance to explore the Water Continent before."

"...Twinkle?" Giratina eyed his partner. "I don't mind them going with us, but I'd like your input."

"Hm… I was planning on flying, and not using my portals this time around. What do you two think?"

"It hardly seems like a bad thing. And like Terrakion said… I haven't visited that continent yet." Entei said, ending his sentence with a smile.

Terrakion sighed, nibbling on his lip. "Can't say I'm keen on flyin'... but I reckon there ain't no harm in it."

"Very well." Necrozma thumped his tail on the ground. "Come, climb on my back, and we'll begin preparations. I doubt this will take long, but I'll take you two into consideration and not fly nearly as fast."

Entei smiled sheepishly. "We have been through worse. That being said… I would rather not fall off."

"Y-Yeah. Same here…" Terrakion gulped, walking on top of Necrozma's tail. He flinched as the dragon moved the tail, sending Terrakion right to the top of the dragon's head. "Oi, watch it!"

Necrozma chuckled to himself, watching Entei be carried upwards by Giratina's tendrils. "Hah. How amusing… well, I'll try not to let you fall."

"Why, how reassurin'..." Terrakion grumbled. Being up there was… weird, to put it lightly. It was like Necrozma was too light, like he didn't weight anything at all. Heard tell he's formed from pure light, but... goodness gracious. This here's just givin' me the shivers.

Giratina carefully put Entei on top of his head, before looking over at his partner. "Twinkle! Entei, Terrakion! Is everyone ready for this trip?"

"Yes, Tina, we're all ready." Necrozma replied with a smile. His tail hit the ground again, almost wagging.

"Actually, I reckon I could use a few more minutes—"

The doors to the tower opened, and with a flap of his wings, Necrozma flew away, forcing Terrakion to cling on to his dear life, which was made harder by the fact he had hooves.

His solution to that issue was biting into Necrozma's rocky body. Terrakion wondered if it'd hurt the large dragon. However, Necrozma didn't react to it, so he felt like everything was going fine.

"Well, well, Twinkle… I can't let you steal my thunder!"

Giratina was next, and although he didn't have any wings, he could fly just as fast as his partner. Soon enough, he was caught up, but decided to remain a bit behind. After all… there were things he wanted to see in front of him.

"WAH!" Terrakion screamed, biting a bit harder. The wind was too hard and too fast for him to properly enjoy it—not that he could. All that was on his mind was what would happen if he were to fall. Immortal or not, he didn't want it to happen.

"Hah. He's always like this, putting on a tough act. But… Terrakion is scared of heights." Entei pointed out, resting safely on top of Giratina. "...We're working on it."

"Interesting… even we have fears." Giratina muttered, but his voice was so loud they all heard it. "...I-I mean! We're Legends! I didn't expect us to be scared of something! H-Haha!"

"You're adorable, even when you're embarrassed." Necrozma chuckled a bit, picking up speed. "Now, sit tight, Terrakion! I promise I'm not letting you fall!"

"I-I'm puttin' my trust on ya…" Terrakion said between gulps, biting harder, though Necrozma still didn't seem bothered by it.

The morning sky was full of clouds, and some of them were darker than normal—thunder clouds, signaling rain would come sooner rather than later. Terrakion gulped, looking up to see how bad the situation was.

"...I reckon this was a dumb idea."

"Don't worry. It's not as bad as it looks. We'll cross the continent in no time." Necrozma said.

And he was right. During mere minutes of flying, they were already far into the Sea of Wonders, only able to see water, even at the farthest of distances.

"If ya say so—"

Thunder echoed in the distance, and Terrakion gulped again, trembling slightly.

"It's just rain… you'll be fine. We can't die." Necrozma tried to reassure him, and from the looks of it, helped a bit. Terrakion wasn't as shaky after hearing the dragon's words. "Although I suppose fear is hardly rational."

"Giratina… may you fly on top of Necrozma?" Entei suggested, to which the wyrm accepted, standing on top of his partner. "Rain is but a bother, it will not harm me."

"W-Well, to lighten the mood…" Giratina gulped. "It is nice to see someone in the same situation as us. I mean, two Legends being together. I dunno, it feels like we're doing something wrong… but it feels right to do it."

"Hm, we felt the same way a little before, but now?"

Entei looked down; seeing Terrakion not shaky at all. It brought a smile to the beast's face. "Now, we are happy. Nobody can take that away from us, and that… that is what truly matters."

"Hm… I guess." Giratina didn't seem so sure himself.

"And besides… what can be so wrong, when I have this adorable dumbass with me? He asked me to be his mate… and I said "yes"."

Terrakion almost fell down Necrozma, and only barely had it in him to take another bite and hold on. "O-Oi! Don't go around tellin' that to others!"

"Like I said… dumbass." Entei chuckled.

"Amusing. I don't know you two all that well, and as such, didn't expect you to be… like this." Necrozma blurted out. Legendaries were so wildly different, and maybe Giratina was right; they shared some similarities with mortals.

However, that felt… wrong. He didn't let that thought in for too long, as he heard something far more worthy of his attention.

"Well, on my end, it was Tina that asked me! I was so happy!"

Necrozma almost lost control of his flight, taken aback by his beloved's words. And Terrakion screamed out, biting down the rocky surface with all his strength.

"H-Hey! Watch what you're doin'!"

"A-Apologies…" Necrozma stabilized his pattern, sighing.

"Aw… Twinkle, are you mad that I said it?"

"N-No, just… shocked, I suppose."

"Hah… how adorable." Entei added with a small laugh.

Necrozma swallowed hard, opting to focus on the path ahead. While they remained airborne above the sea, a small gathering of islands had come into view below. Not that any of them were their intended destination.

"Tina… we are flying in the right direction, correct?"

"We are, I'm pretty sure!"

Slowly but surely, more and more islands appeared, but a larger landmass was soon revealed. Necrozma could see it from afar, and it was a sandy area.

"See, Twinkle?! I told ya! We're almost there!"

In any case, they were closer than ever before. Necrozma flapped his wings again, picking up speed. Not wanting to be left behind, Giratina hovered faster as well.

Terrakion breathed a loud sigh of relief, his body a bit shaky. "G-Gotta say… I'm mighty eager for us to touch the good ol' ground again… beg your pardon, y'all, but I ain't envious of you two flyin' through the skies. Not at all."

"Personally, I find it a tad liberating." Entei blurted from nearby. "...But yes, I would very much like to land already."

"Well, your wishes are about to come true!" Necrozma bloated forward again

And soon enough, the rest of the land revealed itself. Like Necrozma saw before, it was quite sandy, even away from the coast. Arid, with a few hay houses scattered around. There were a few lots placed for farming, but none of them seemed to have any crops in there.

"F-Finally… finally, we're here…"

Terrakion sighed in relief again, watching Necrozma slowly land on the ground. Despite being careful, his large size meant that the landing was quite loud.

"Hm… Tina, do you know what this village is called?"

Giratina landed next, carefully putting down Entei. "I'm not sure, but I think it's Waterhaven? That sounds a bit ironic, considering I don't see much water here…"

"Call it what you may, but this here spot ain't lookin' too promisin'," Terrakion blurted, looking around the expanse for anything that wasn't parched grass. He didn't find it. "Goodness… if they're in such a pinch, why not give ol' Kyogre a holler?"

"Good question. But if I may add my own opinion…" Entei hopped off the tendrils, walking towards Terrakion. "Perhaps she rejected them. You know how arrogant she is."

"True…"

As amusing as it was to theorize why he was called, Necrozma would rather deal with the matter at hand. He could already see some of the doors to the houses opening, and the farmers running to the coast, all to see them.

"Here they come! Twinkle, do you want me to deal with this, or…?"

"I can handle it." Well, he might as well have some fun with it. "Greetings, mortals!"

Necrozma spread his wings, forcing himself to smile once more. And again, his smile was cranky, not friendly at all. One of the Pokémon approaching—a Mudsdale—immediately ran away after looking at the large dragon.

"I am here, as requested!" He put an arm in front of his chest. "Please, do not worry, for I am here to help! Tell me, mortals, what ails you?"

He glanced behind to see Giratina nodding in approval, though Entei and Terrakion both had a stern look.

"...They are not very good at this, are they?" Entei whispered.

"...Nah, don't think so."

Other than those two, the area was in complete and total silence. Deafening silence. Necrozma was sure they all heard him, so what was the reason behind this?

"Ahem… mortals, what ails you? I would like to help you. Please, tell me."

None of them replied. In fact, the Pokémon started running back, screaming and not even looking at the dragon that was trying to help them all.

"W-Wait, what…? What's… going on?"

"Twinkle?" Giratina tilted his head. "What did you do?"

Entei blinked, eyeing Terrakion, who seemed to understand what was happening. Both of them did.

"Darlin'... I reckon they're needin' our help."

"Noted."

Necrozma cleared his throat—something that was far too loud for the mortals to hear—and decided to try again.

"Excuse me, but I mean you no harm! I'm merely trying to help! I've been told you requested us both, so why… do this to us? To me?"

One of the Pokémon finally came out of hiding; a Krookodile. He walked slowly, trembling, and whispering all sorts of prayers. Finally, he looked up, meeting face to face with the large dragon.

"S-Sir? Ma'am? I… I'm not sure…?" Krookodile asked, with a rough voice. Yet, it was still fearful. "Er…"

"Sir is fine. That fits all of us." Necrozma glanced back at the other three. "Tell me, what's wrong? I came here on the pretense you needed help, yet all the others have run off."

"H-Help? We don't—w-we… I don't need it anymore." Krookodile tried to wave the legendaries off, but received a scowl from Necrozma. "N-Not that I didn't ask for it! B-But… it's solved, don't worry about it, s-sir."

"...Are you sure?" Necrozma stared at the Krookodile, who just yelped, trembling more and more with each second. "Because… well, I'd hate to come here for no reason."

"Twinkle… I think he's lying." Giratina pointed out, moving closer. "Are you scared, little mortal? None of us is going to hurt any of you, so there's no need for all this fear…"

Krookodile's trembling only got worse, and he slowly started backing off. It was then that Terrakion stepped forward, raising his head. He didn't look nearly as intimidating, and instead, the air he exhuded was commanding, but respectful at the same time.

"Yo. Excuse my buddies back there, they ain't too adept at gabbin'," Terrakion shifted his head slightly backwards to glance at the dragons. "Now, what's got you all riled up? Rest assured, we're fixin to give y'all some help."

"W-Well, when you put it like that…"

Necrozma blinked, completely flabbergasted at what he was seeing. With almost the same words, Terrakion managed to convince that mortal to talk more. How?

"Terrakion—"

"We will tell you where you went wrong in a moment." Entei interrupted, walking forward, stopping next to his partner. "Greetings. We are here to help! Although… not directly. What troubles you?"

"As you can see… we barely have any water for the crops. Despite being on the coast… it's too salty for us to use." Krookodile looked over at the farms. "I… apologize, but I don't know the legends all that well. Can you help us?"

"I reckon this'll be a bit harder than usual…" Terrakion sighed. "We might need to act."

Entei shook his head. "Noted. It happens sometimes, but…"

"...I don't get what they're doing. Or what we did wrong." Necrozma continued to stare, and now he was whispering to Giratina… which was only slightly less audible than a normal Pokémon's scream.

"I-I'm sure there's a reason…"

Krookodile gulped. "S-Sorry, sir. Sirs… but you're too scary, and it doesn't make me feel like I can trust you. Either of you…"

"S-Scary?!" Giratina sniffled. He didn't look scary, did he? Surely, he didn't. It had to be… some kind of lie.

Necrozma sighed. "I'm not… well, I suppose I could be considered scary…"

"We'll handle this one." Entei turned around. "For now, let's portal back to the tower."

"Mister Krookodile… I'm willin' to break one of our rules for ya, so hold on tight. We'll be back tomorrow." Once again, Terrakion's chest puffed up. "Ya hear?"

"O-Of course… I must thank you, w-what do you want from me?"

"Heh. Once ya have the crops workin' again, I'll want the biggest feast ya can give!" Terrakion grinned, his teeth sparkling in the light.

Necrozma sighed again, opening a portal behind him. "Let's just go…"

"Twinkle…" Giratina didn't hold his partner's hand this time, at least not in the presence of mortals. Instead, he entered the portal, followed by the other three. It slowly closed.

Necrozma, after leaving the portal, let out another sigh, looking at his own body. Was he really so scary that mortals wanted nothing to do with him? Him, who was supposed to help them.

Why? It never happened before… so why was it happening again? Necrozma cursed himself for being the way he was. Maybe he could be different, and maybe that attitude, the real personality of his… was just not good enough for his duties.

"Twinkle…" Giratina finally reached out a tendril, wrapping it around Necrozma's hand. "Don't beat yourself up, it's alright! Terrakion and Entei are helping out!"

"We are, but it's worth pointin' out just what the problem with y'all was." Terrakion stepped out of the portal, frowning at the dragons.

"Like the Krookodile said… you are both scary. Imposing." Entei commented, taking a few steps towards them. "...Which, I might add, is due to your own appearances. It makes it harder for you to get on their level, if that makes sense."

"Get on their level?! But I'm Necrozma, I don't need to—" He stopped himself before things got worse, but Necrozma had snarled already, tail thumping on the ground. Would it be that bad to get on the mortals' level?

"And… how are we supposed to do that?" Giratina rubbed two tendrils against each other, pleading. "I have no idea…"

"I dunno." Terrakion shrugged. "I reckon y'all gotta figure that part out on your own."

Entei tapped a foot on the ground for a few seconds. "Hm… may I suggest… Necrozma, use your alternate form. It might be less, err, scary."

"Alternate…? But that would mean… it would make me weaker, and I don't like it." Necrozma shook his head in denial. No, to do that would be against his very being, but… did he have any other choice?

"I don't know… I think appearing with a set of legs would make things worse…" Giratina stood closer to his lover, nuzzling against Necrozma's neck. "...There's something else, too. We're not supposed to interfere. What are you planning on doing?"

Terrakion grinned. "Heh. For every rule, there's a loophole. We're gonna use 'em."

"What he means is… while we have rules, there are ways around them." Entei tapped another foot, nodding to them. "It's something I learned with the mortals."

"Really? Fascinating…" Necrozma muttered. There was something he could do. A way to communicate with them that would, hopefully, not be terrifying. Normally, he could try it with Solgaleo and Lunala, but this was different.

"In any case, we will help you. We must find a way to bring them water, and perhaps some seeds… maybe there are better crops for them to plant in that area."

Terrakion's grin returned. "And if we hustle through this, we might just snag us some time for that double date, y'all!"

Right, the double date. Thinking about it made Necrozma smile, mostly because he did want to spend more time with Giratina, doing his duties or not. Of course, doing it without the pressure to work on duties was far better of an option.

"I suppose we can do that. Can I let you two handle that part?" Necrozma eyed Giratina next. "...I'd like to spend the rest of the day with him."

"Nah, nah, I getcha." Terrakion chuckled a bit. "We ain't gonna bother you two lovebirds. Have fun, y'all!"

"We will meet here tomorrow. Terrakion…" Entei began to walk off. "Come on."

Necrozma was left alone with his partner… and all the thoughts in his head.

"Tina… do you think I'm scary?"

"What?! No! You're adorable, and funny, and cute…" Giratina hugged Necrozma's hand tighter. "We'll figure this out, alright? But now we should have some free time… maybe we can do something fun together?"

"...I'd like that."

Giratina smiled again. He knew just the place to take them both.

---

They had to wait for a few more hours, as Giratina only wanted them to go after the sun started to set. Once it did, the dragons flew out, with Giratina taking the lead this time, and Necrozma flying behind his mate.

"Where exactly are we headed?" Necrozma asked, directing his gaze downward. The terrain—still the sea—didn't provide enough clues to decipher their course; all he could see was the water down below.

"Just wait, Twinkle…"

Continuing their flight, Necrozma caught sight of his own mirrored image. Its sheer radiance nearly eclipsed everything else. And yet, amid the reflection, he discerned the stars, even through the relatively murky waters.

"Keep going, we're almost there!"

Slowly, the terrain changed, revealing a large island, covered in fog. Giratina stopped mid-air, waiting for Necrozma to catch up. Once the other dragon got to his side, the two looked forward, seeing all the clouds covering the island.

"It's a secret place… I never told anyone I visited it before…" Giratina admitted, holding Necrozma's hand again. "Well, except now. I think you earned it."

"An island…?" Necrozma didn't expect that, but to be fair, he didn't quite know what to expect. "Well, it does seem we'll have some privacy."

"As far as I know, nobody lives here. Maybe Groudon got bored one day." Giratina chuckled, hovering downwards along with Necrozma.

Despite the enveloping shroud of dense fog, traversing to the other side was remarkably easy, and soon enough, they were able to see what lied within the island.

…A lake. Before Necrozma sprawled a vast body of water entirely encircled by land. However, the spectacle didn't end there. As a matter of fact, Necrozma realized the water was so clear that he was able to see many things reflected in it, like himself, Giratina, the stars, and even the land. It was all there.

"Whoa… I… it's beautiful, Tina! How did you find this?"

Giratina chuckled again. "...Like I said, Groudon was bored, and he lost a bet, so I got this."

"Heh. You're amazing, you know that, right?" Necrozma looked at his lover's eyes, and leaned closer, touching heads with him.

The wyrm smiled again, wrapping more tendrils to give his partner a tight hug.

"When we went stargazing yesterday, I remembered this. It's like we can take a bath with the stars themselves, isn't it?"

Necrozma nodded, looking over at the water again. How surprising to see it being so… crystal clear. It barely looked real, but he knew it was, and probably comforting as well.

"Well… Tina, what are we waiting for?" He moved forward, pulling on Giratina with an arm. "The water looks incredible… and I'd like nothing more than to share this with you. Don't you agree?"

Giratina said no words, letting his actions do all the talking he needed. Following Necrozma towards the lake, they both entered the water. Unfortunately, their large size meant the lake would never cover their bodies entirely.

It did make for an amusing scenery, as the water barely reached their stomachs. Either way, neither of the two thought about leaving.

"Ah…"

Stepping within, Necrozma was quick to discern another part of that lake's nature. Beyond the clarity, a pleasant warmth embraced him. Not uncomfortable, but noticeable at the same time. It seemed to settle at the perfect middle ground, only made better by the fact Giratina was by his side.

"It's oddly relaxing, isn't it?" Giratina rested his head against Necrozma's neck, sighing in relief.

"What kind of bet did Groudon lose? Because this feels like it was made just for us," Necrozma laughed at the end of the sentence. "Not that I mind it. Quite the opposite, really."

"Ah… that's a story for another day, Twinkle~" Giratina smirked, scooting closer to the dragon. "For now, we'll just enjoy ourselves. It's not that hard to do~"

"You're right…" Necrozma sighed, looking at the lake. He moved his tail a bit, and the water did the same, blurring a bit of the reflections. "You know, this is such a simple activity, but… I like it. I like being here."

Giratina moved a few tendrils and saw the water blurring again, causing the dragon to chuckle. "Yeah, yeah. Like I said, enjoying ourselves. Sometimes, mortals have very simple things they like doing, but it makes them happy. It can be the same with us."

Once again, Giratina was drawing comparisons to mortals. Different, yet similar, like many things in their lives. But even so, Necrozma was wary. After all, no matter how many similarities, they still belonged to different worlds.

I wonder if any Legend loved a mortal before… I've never heard of it.

There was something else bothering him. Those mortals were very different from all the ones he met before. Necrozma never considered himself to be scary, so why did they think like that? It just didn't make any sense!

Giratina could tell his mate was having another introspective episode, and let him think in peace, keeping a tendril wrapped around Necrozma's arm.

He has that sometimes… but I'll always be here as moral support. Maybe one day he'll tell me what's in that big head of his…

"Tina." Necrozma muttered, lowering his head to meet the dragon's gaze. "What do you make of this situation? I am… confused."

"Hm, I don't like it all that much." He admitted with a shrug of two tendrils. "It's like they judged us based on appearances. I've heard the mortals did that with each other, but…"

"But we're different. I know that. I'm well aware of our differences…" Necrozma moved his arm a bit on the water, causing a large splash. "And the more I try to think about it, the less it makes sense to me. That annoys me."

"M-Maybe it makes less sense… because you're considering our point of view instead of theirs?" Giratina tilted his head. When those words left his mouth, they made sense. They made so much sense. Even he was left shocked at his own sentence. "H-Huh…"

Necrozma, on the other hand, was left staring at his partner, processing every word he just said. To him, it also made sense. "I… I think you may have a point, Tina. But how could we not consider our own points of view? Hardly anything scares us."

"...You only say that 'cause you haven't seen Dialga throwing one of his hissy fits." Giratina muttered, managing to chuckle a bit at his own words. "I hate to be the mediator, but sometimes he and Palkia get too angry at each other."

Necrozma laughed a bit in return, his body moving a bit and causing more splashes in the water. "Pffft! I've heard the same thing about Groudon and Kyogre!"

Having found an opportunity to lighten the mood, Giratina put on his brightest smile, looking up at Necrozma. "Well, if you want, I can tell you more about them. They're idiots… but I do love my siblings."

"Idiots, huh? I can say the same about mine…" Perhaps there was some irony that legendaries had siblings, much like the mortals did, but Necrozma didn't think too hard about that. "And now I'm intrigued. Tell me more about them."

"Eh? There's not much to say… they're busy, so I haven't seen them in a while…" Giratina fiddled around with two tendrils. Well, his partner was asking for it, so he could at least try to think of something. "Hm… I know! One time, Palkia competed against Groudon. Apparently, they wanted to know which one was better at terraforming."

Imagining such a scenario was enough for Necrozma to laugh again. His body moved a little faster, and the waves became bigger.

"Before you keep going, may I try to guess which one won?"

"Pffft, of course, Twinkle!"

Necrozma considered. They were both good at it, but Palkia was the so-called master of space itself. Wouldn't that make him have an advantage? But Groudon was better at the tiny details…

"Hm, this is harder than I expected." Necrozma grumbled. "I… think Palkia won."

And to that, Giratina simply stuck out his tongue. "Nope! Groudon did! But… I'm not sure if you know this part: Palkia is a sore loser."

"Sounds about right." Necrozma remembered a fight he had, and that he somehow won. Turns out Palkia was far stronger than he thought. "But… ah, I got it wrong. Congrats, Tina. You're right once again~"

"Heh. I'm fabulous, I know that." Giratina puffed out his chest and grinned.

How nice it was to share those moments together. Giratina knew they didn't have all the time in the world for that, but he loved it anyway. Even better when they could stop thinking about issues, like that village with the mortals.

…Giratina thought about them again. What were he and Necrozma doing wrong? Sure, they were different, but there had to be a way for them to communicate in peace.

"Now you're the one being awfully quiet…" Necrozma smiled, looking at him. "Which is saying something, considering you're the most talkative out of the two of us…"

"I-I mean…" Giratina smiled sheepishly. "I was thinking about what we can do. It's nice to relax a bit, but we do need to think about our work."

"You're right. As much as hanging out forever would be fun… we have duties."

Necrozma sighed. What a bother, having to think about all that. He had one plan, just one, and it was unorthodox, alongside being possibly dangerous.

Very dangerous. Necrozma still needed to tell Giratina about his plan, and he already knew the entire thing was going to end up with a complaint. Or two. Maybe even three.

Regardless, he decided to say it. The sooner, the better, after all. "Anyhow, Tina… I have an idea of how to make this work. Please, hear me out."

"Hmm?" Normally, this wouldn't be any issue, but the wording made Giratina raise a brow. "Twinkle… what are you planning?"

"To better understand the mortals, I should feel like one." Necrozma closed his eyes, sinking deeper into the water. It was more like he was trying to lay down.

There was a pause. Long, short? Giratina didn't know. He had an idea of what Necroza wanted to do. Dread crawled on his face, and he hoped to be wrong.

"...And in order to do that, I must take a hold of a mortal's body."

Giratina was right. Those exact words came from Necrozma's mouth, the words he dreaded to hear, and that made him flinch just from hearing them alone. "Twinkle… I don't think you should—you know it's dangerous, right? Incredibly so. You could take them over and make them lost forever! Even worse, they could—"

"I know the risks, Tina." Necrozma snapped back at him, even glaring his fangs. But after that, he tried to calm down slightly, taking deep breaths. "But… I believe it can work. I won't possess them very long, and I certainly won't give them enough power for it to happen. You can trust me."

"I… do trust you, Twinkle. I really do." Once again, Giratina held his partner's hands with tendrils. "But it's forbidden to hand mortals our power for a reason. Their bodies won't be able to handle it."

"Like Terrakion said, there are loopholes." Necrozma said with a glare. Talking like that to his mate—to his beloved was like the worst kind of pain. And to a legendary like him, that was saying something. "...I know you're worried. I am as well. But you need to trust me. I can do this!"

Giratina flinched again, tightening his grasp on the large dragon. "I trust you. But… Twinkle. Please, please be careful."

"Of course I will, love. For you… and for them as well." Necrozma fully laid down on the water, but his glowing body showed where he was. "Well, then… I suppose we still have some time here. How about—"

But Giratina was already jumping on him before Necrozma was even able to finish that sentence. It was going to be a great night.

---

Another day dawned upon Entei and Terrakion, both expecting a second sunny escapade. Alas, circumstances had shifted, casting a different ambiance within the heart of the vast sea. Overhead, immense clouds had gathered, unleashing a torrential downpour. Nowhere offered sanctuary from it, but at least, they were granted a mount in Kyogre.

"Reckon we oughta repay ya later." Terrakion looked down. Traveling the sea was so much better than flying, even with all the rain. With such a nasty storm, flying would be an awful experience. "...But uh, are we closer, lass?"

"Please, do not be disrespectful to her." Entei raised a brow. He was laying close to Terrakion, nuzzling against the larger Pokémon's head.

"Don't worry about it! Really, it's not a big deal…" Kyogre said. Her voice was sent almost telepathically, being heard even when her mouth was underwater. "We'll be arriving there shortly."

"You're a good lass, miss Kyogre." If Terrakion had a hat, he would certainly be tipping it. Maybe it was something to consider for later. For now, he looked down, where a bag stood between two of his feet.

Even with the rain clouding their vision, they were able to see the land from before once again, and still a bit arid. Luckily, Terrakion brought something to help the villagers… even if it was a bit unauthorized.

Kyogre landed in front of the beach, where the two riding her hopped off. She waved a large wave to them. "I'll come back in around three hours! Don't keep me waiting!"

"Aye, aye…" Terrakion watched her swim off into the distance. He turned to Entei with another smile. "Right, sunshine! We're ready to help 'em out?"

"Indeed. And it seems we arrived before Necrozma and Giratina did…" he muttered. "Splendid. It should make things a lot smoother."

"Not that they ain't smooth… I'm sure they can be."

"Well, this particular issue requires a level of smoothness that they do not possess—"

Terrakion lifted a hoof, putting it just above Entei's rear. "Guess you oughta know about smoothness~"

"Y-Yes." Entei blushed for a bit, but started to walk. "Come. There is no time to waste."

"Heh." Terrakion bit the bag and walked behind his partner, whistling every few seconds.

And so, they made their way inside the village, where this time around, the Pokémon were already outside. There were a lot more farmers, taking advantage of the rain to plant more crops.

Krookodile soon laid eyes on them, and started running in their general direction. Even with the rain, they managed to see the tears in his eyes, as well as how shaky he looked.

"M-Master Terrakion, Master E-Entei!" Krookodile stopped just in time to catch his breath, his legs trembling from the effort. "Y-You came back! And you brought rain!"

Entei shook his head. "Apologies, but we did not. It happened, as it does."

"Y'all sure are blessed, that's 'bout all I'm gonna say," Terrakion put down the bag and gave it a gentle nudge with his hoof. "Now… this here's a lil' somethin' I done picked up. I reckon the lands 'round here are rough, but these seeds oughta be able to handle it."

Krookodile stopped trembling just enough to grab the bag, peeking into the seeds inside. While he didn't recognize any of them, he was able to accept such a gift. "T-Thank you. Thank you so much…"

"No need to worry. However, I doubt this will be solved just by planting some seeds…" Entei pointed out, sitting on the ground. "We might need to keep visiting this village if we intend to keep our promise."

"O-One question…" Krookodile gulped, trying to keep a straight posture when faced with them. "I thought you weren't allowed to interfere…?"

"True. But here's the thing: our guidance, in this case, is nothin' other than interferin' directly! There ain't another option, which means…" Terrakion smiled, waiting for Entei to finish.

"We are allowed to do this. Like I said, do not worry."

Krookodile nodded, grasping the bag as tight as possible. He felt a breeze coming through the air. At first, he assumed it was due to the rain. However, each second caused the breeze to get rougher, and he started looking around.

"D-Do you feel that?"

"...Terrakion. This is—"

"It's them!"

The very air shattered, opening into a portal. And, out of it, came Necrozma… but differently. Instead of being that imposing, humongous dragon… he had a different appearance: a black prism.

"Greetings, greetings!"

Krookodile started to tremble, grasping his bag. "I-I…"

"Now, now! I'm taking on a much… sleeker appearance. All for you. It's a little harsh to treat me this way, is it not?" Necrozma floated mid-air, waiting for his partner to come out.

In seconds, Giratina jumped out. His appearance was slightly different, now sporting three pairs of legs. He fiddled with the tendrils, gulping. "Y-Yes, hello. We took these forms to make it easier on you…"

"Oi, oi, oi!" Terrakion tapped a hoof on the ground. "We said we'd handle it! Things are lookin' fine here!"

"Terrakion, maybe you are being a bit harsh. This is their duty to begin with." Entei added, but he glared at Necrozma. "However… I do not like what I am sensing. What are you planning?"

"U-Uh…" Krookodile had no idea what he should do in that situation. With four legendaries in the vicinity, could he do anything? If he tried, it would be risking setting any of them off… and facing their wrath.

"N-Necrozma… wants to experience it for himself." Giratina blurted out. Just like the night before, he hated those words, especially hearing them coming out of his own mouth.

"Experience—wait a darn second…" Terrakion tapped two hooves. "You can't be serious!"

Entei took a little longer to understand the implications, but when he did, his eyes widened in response. "That… that is madness, nobody here will be able to handle it!"

"W-What are you all talking about…?" Now Krookodile was even more confused. Weren't they there to help? So why use such… scary words? Even the legendaries were scared. It had to be bad.

"My apologies, because this might hurt a little bit…" Necrozma stepped forward, only to be met with Entei and Terrakion standing in his way.

"We're not goin' to let you do that! You know the rules, Necrozma!"

"It is madness!" Entei huffed out smoke, snarling. "You cannot expect them to handle it!"

"Tina… I want you to deal with these two." Necrozma glanced back, before hovering over the two in his way.

"S-Sorry, but I trust him…" Giratina moved quickly, wrapping the other two legendaries with his tendrils, and grasping them as tight as he could. "G-Go on, Necrozma!"

"H-Huh?" Krookodile looked up, seeing Necrozma looming over him. There was no mouth, which made it harder for him to discern the legendary's intentions. "M-Master Necrozma… what are you doing?"

"It's for the greater good. And besides… this might even make you grow stronger." Necrozma said, the triangles on his head flashing. "Of course, I'm not going to force this on you. If you accept it, then I will join you… we will share a body. That way, I can understand and help you."

"What…? What does that even mean?"

Entei bit the tendril in order to shout. "He is trying to give you power, but it is dangerous! We do not know if you can handle it!"

"Power…?" Krookodile muttered. Necrozma could give him power? Power to help his village, and everyone in it? It was a tempting offer… very tempting. "I-Is there a catch? What does he mean by me "handling it"?"

"It is possible… that this will fail, and you may be tainted by my power. It's a very likely possibility. It all depends on your willpower." Necrozma offered his arm for Krookodile to take. "The decision is up to you. If we merge, I will do everything in my power to help you."

Now it was starting to feel like a good idea to accept the legendary's terms. Krookodile gulped, slowly moving his hand towards Necrozma's. He heard his heart beating faster and faster, while his body acted, almost out of his own control. But he was still able to stop, if he wanted.

"I… I want your help… master Necrozma." Krookodile touched the legendary's hand, and he heard a laugh.

"Very well. We can do this… together."

Necrozma's form ignited with pure, violent radiance that enshrouded his entire being. Gradually, it started to move, encasing Krookodile's body in a gradual embrace. It culminated in Necrozma's very essence melding seamlessly into the encircling aura surrounding Krookodile.

"Your light… and my light… shall be one."

Time itself seemed to decelerate, grinding to a halt. In this suspended moment, Krookodile perceived the world around him seemingly frozen in place. Gazing upwards, his focus landed on Necrozma.

"Wait, didn't he enter me? Or… his body turned into aura, and it's in me… I don't get it."

"It's true. I reside within you now. This may hurt a bit, but I assure you… it will be worth it."

Krookodile winced, looking at his own body. His eyes widened at the sight of his arms starting to glow. Not only that, but something was growing in them. Little black spots began to appear, slowly growing more each second.

"W-What is this…?"

"Relax. I am trying to make this process not as painful. My body is coating yours."

"O-Okay…" the legendary had a point. While looking at his body was frightening, Krookodile didn't feel any pain from it, not even a tingle. However, he couldn't take his eyes off his own body, wanting to see where it would go next.

It was a surge of power, like a bolt of lightning that coursed through his entire body. Yet, it remained there, enhancing him. Krookodile didn't do anything with it, but his instincts told him there was little he couldn't do.

"I-Is this part of it, Necrozma?"

"Yes. Again, try to relax."

Krookodile gulped, watching the armor coating half of his arms now. So strange, yet it was unmistakingly his own. He heard something gathering near his chest, and just like that, another piece of armor was forming around that area.

"Do you like it? Do you—"

"I-I love it." Krookodile said… but the voice wasn't his. No, it was like a mix of his own and Necrozma's. Enough to cause him to gasp. "W-What's happening? What is going on?!"

"W-Wait, this wasn't supposed to…" Necrozma shouted from somewhere, and nowhere at the same time. "I didn't give you enough power for this to happen! This shouldn't—Krookodile, hold on! I-I…"

"What did you do to me?!" Krookodile snarled, and his voice was almost an exact copy of Necrozma's.

"N-No, this shouldn't…"

"G-Guh…" he fell on his knees, coughing. Krookodile even saw… something that looked like puke leaving his mouth, but once he took a better look, only saw an ink-black liquid. Worse, his arms had changed again.

The armor was starting to spread across his chest, leaving little to no parts that still remained, well, his. It was all Necrozma. Of course, that was him, wasn't it?

It couldn't be. It couldn't be. It couldn't be. It couldn't. It couldn't. He was himself. He was not Necrozma. He was not Krookodile. He was—

---

Krookodile shouted, and time flew again, where he found himself thrown into the ground, panting. There wasn't enough energy in him to even move, and every part of his body ached.

"W-What… what happened…?"

Necrozma groaned, falling to the ground as well. He grasped the sand nearby, but otherwise, didn't move. "I didn't even… why?"

"Twinkle—Necrozma, are you okay?!" Giratina walked forward, dropping the two other legendaries. "You look tired… both of you do."

"I-I was just… I tried to give him my power, but it… it almost…"

"Overwhelmed him." Entei completed the sentence, running ahead to check on Krookodile.

"I-It's painful… everything hurts…" Krookodile slowly moved his eyes to check his body. Thankfully, it was still normal. But even so, part of him felt it was wrong, that looking like a Krookodile was wrong.

"Necrozma! This ain't right! You could've killed him! Or worse!" Terrakion bared his fangs at the legendary, who didn't respond.

"Tch…" Entei shook his head. "You two should leave. We'll… handle this. Go, now!"

"B-But…" Giratina was only focused on his partner, looking at him. Again, Necrozma didn't move.

"Go!" Entei urged them again.

Without saying a single word, Necrozma created another portal, right beneath him, and fell inside. Screaming out, Giratina jumped there next.

Entei didn't dare look back, because there were bigger things to be concerned about.

Like the screeching Krookodile next to them. He was still paralyzed, but it didn't stop him from trying to move, to squirm. His entire body was up in flames, like someone had incinerated the poor Pokémon.

"W-What's… h-happening to me?"

Krookodile was entirely adrift, grappling with confusion he couldn't begin to understand. His very form was being tossed, stretched, torn apart, all at once. Even the act of breathing was causing him pain. And at the core of it all was a lingering thought: his existence as a Krookodile was flawed. Like he shouldn't be one. Yet, he knew that was a lie. At the same time… the thought wouldn't leave him.

"Relax. You are out of harm's way for now." Entei's words had a lingering sense of unease. The truth was elusive for the moment. Nonetheless,he had to try and help that poor fellow. "Please, tell me what you are feeling. If you can."

Terrakion rapped a hoof lightly against the floor, murmuring discontent under his breath. The grumble wasn't intended for anyone present. "Reckon he might not be up for spillin' much right now, considerin' what just happened. We oughta bide our time a bit more."

"Yes, but I would like to help him as soon as possible…" Entei turned to his partner for a moment, sighed, and then glanced at Krookodile again. "Perhaps we can start with something simpler. What is your name?"

"M-My name?" Krookodile took longer to think about that than he should, but did reply. "G-Gharius. I'm Gharius."

"Gharius…" Entei cursed himself for not having access to any kind of healing. But then again, this particular case would need more than the average healing. "Very well. It is a pleasure to meet you, Gharius."

Terrakion walked closer to the Krookodile, frowning. "I… I ain't exactly well-versed in bein' delicate, but, uh, what's lingerin' in yer memory, Gharius? What do you remember? Anythin' about Necrozma?"

Gharius had no idea what they were talking about, nor did he know what happened to him. His body hurt less, so answering their questions was easier now, if only slightly.

As for memories… Gharius remembered something odd, from the night before. It came in the form of a place that wasn't arid. A lake? He remembered a lake.

"I-I… I remember… I was inside a lake? There was someone with me, someone big, we were in the lake, and too tall to fully submerge. There were stars in the sky. So, so many stars…" Gharius looked up at the cloudy sky, panting. "B-But… I was here all night! I don't know what's going on!"

Entei took that information in, closing his eyes and groaning a bit, only to himself. "I will be blunt. Necrozma has given you a bit of his power. That memory is likely his, and you have it because of your, err, "connection" to him."

"Connection?"

"Urgh… I like the fella, but he went ahead 'n snapped a mighty important rule," Terrakion lamented, shaking his head. "Essentially, it's like this: we ain't s'posed to be bestowin' power onto folks. For the most part, them mortals can't take it all that well."

Gharius looked at himself again. He looked fine, but with that memory in him, what did it mean? What did it all mean?

"What's… gonna happen to me?"

"I am… unsure. Necrozma appears to have left you before the damage was too big." Entei sighed. At the very least, that was a good action on his part. "We might need to monitor you closely for a few days, to assess the damage."

"Worst case scenario? Identity wiped clean. An' you might just see another Necrozma sprout up. From your corpse." Terrakion laid out, as blunt as he could.

"Terrakion!"

Gharius stared hard, his eyes widening as he tried to take in the information. He would die? Not just die, but someone else would appear from his dead body? Thinking about that was sickening, and his stomach knotted in on itself.

"And… can I get rid of this… connection?" Gharius asked—no, pleaded. He accepted the offer, but now that he knew the consequences, there was no way he wanted it anymore.

"We can… try, I suppose. Depends on how big the damage is. Like I said, we need to assess the situation." Entei confirmed. That, and they would also need to decide on how to handle Necrozma. But that came later.

Meanwhile, Gharius grappled with the weight of their words. The notion of his identity dissolving, supplanted by a fresh iteration of Necrozma—neither prospect appealed to him in the slightest. That much was an understatement.

Thinking about them made his heart race, and again, breathing was getting harder the more he tried. Everything else was overwhelming,

As he contemplated these grim possibilities, a frantic beat took over his heart, thudding wildly in his chest. At the same time, each breath was turning into an arduous task, his very being battling against an overwhelming flood of sensations and emotions. Gharius panted, moving his head left to right and back again.

I'm me! I'm myself! I'm not being replaced! I'll be fine—I need to be! To take care of the village… I-I need…

If it wasn't for all those legendaries meddling around, then perhaps things would have ended up better for the village. If not for them. If not for them. If not for them…

Gharius groaned, looking down at himself again. Still himself, still a Krookodile. Necrozma's voice in his head saying how wrong it looked didn't matter. None of it did. All he wanted was to get better so he could focus on the village.

But maybe—no, not "maybe". It was less of a possibility, and more of a certainty—those legendaries needed to be gone.

"So, mister Gharius, we would like to keep visiting, to check on you. Just to make sure how much you are, err, damaged…" Entei said, almost whispering.

"Don't sweat it, kiddo," Terrakion tried to sound reassuring, and his chest swelled. "I reckon we'll likely have ya sorted out sooner than you think!"

"G-Get… out…"

Gharius' words barely were able to leave his mouth, drowned out by the rain.

"Apologies, but I could not hear you."

"I said…" Gharius grit his teeth. How dare they do this to him?! Turning a chief into some… some sort of monster. It was all their fault. And all he wanted was to help his village…

"GET OUT!"

He exploded, snarling out loud and finally able to move again, whipping his tail at the other two and hissing, getting down on all fours.

Entei was unfazed by all that, and chose to simply stare at the chief. "I see. It would be wise for you to calm down."

"Sheesh. He's losin' it… Entei, ya know what it's gonna do, right?" Terrakion groaned. "Right?! Gharius, you gotta calm down!"

Gharius' eyes darted around, from Terrakion to Entei. They were saying something, but he didn't hear it. And even if he did, it hardly mattered. He needed them out of his village. Gone, forever. Even if it meant defying the Gods themselves.

Entei knew. He grit his teeth. "For now, the only effect was pain and the memories. But if his emotional state continues to dwindle like this, then the corruption—"

With another snarl, Gharius positioned himself on all fours, opening his mouth. He roared out, just as thunder started echoing. Sticking his feet and hands on the sandy ground, his body started to tremble.

And expand. Gharius' eyes ballooned with a mix of astonishment and horror, and from his gaping mouth erupted a blood-curdling scream. The loud cacophony was revealed to be caused by his fangs—already sharp—that had enlarged further, but not without any pain, as blood oozed out of his mouth, dripping on the floor.

A grotesque sight was starting to unfold. Flesh stretched, bones warped, growing into spikes that protruded out of his body, with blood coming out at the same time. His very being was starting to dissolve and reshape. Thin arms began to bulk, the snapping of tendons and cracking of bones reverberated in the air.

"A-All your fault…"

Claws, once large, but quite unremarkable, began to extend. Their dull hues sharpened into an obsidian black, hardening into a crystalline structure. His back, full of crimson scales, was subjected to the same metamorphosis. As the blood oozed out from the spikes forming, it began to coat his back, hardening into a darker, almost black shade.

"I-It's all… all your fault…" Gharius' voice trembled, and with each word, more blood dripped on the ground. As if responding to his emotions, a series of incandescent spots erupted into existence across his back, casting an eerie, ethereal glow. Each one was a different color of the rainbow.

Yet, this manifestation of power was far from serene. A trail of blood marked their passage, and it hardened into obsidian extensions that gave him even more of a crystalline appearance. His fangs curled into a sickening smile, one that never seemed to waver.

"I… will make you pay…"

Lastly, his tail began to grow, to double its original size. As it swished in the air, more spikes grew on it, finishing his transformation.

Entei had watched the entire thing with a stern look. He snarled, looking down, but then glancing at his partner. "We fight him, we knock him out, and then we bring him to Xerneas. Otherwise—"

"I'd reckon that matters could get uglier, but truth be told, that seems to be happenin' now," Terrakion muttered, a disgruntled edge to his voice. Normally, the thought of fighting would lift his spirits and get his blood going. However, these circumstances were far from normal. "How's about you go first?"

"Hmph. Next time, you will."

Entei took a single step, and all around him, smoke started to appear. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared, charging ahead with such speed that there was dust settling behind him. Then, once he reached Gharius, Entei jumped in the air.

For a Pokémon his size, the beast was surprisingly agile. Entei was already above the once-Krookodile creature, and he started to fall, readying himself for the impact.

But Gharius intervened. His body was wrapped with a barrier, one almost transparent, that blocked the attack. Not only that, but with a roar, he was able to force Entei back.

The force of Entei's own attack left him temporarily paralyzed, but luckily, Terrakion was on his way.

"It ain't my first rodeo, kid!" Terrakion charged, raising his head. Between the spikes in it, a sword made of energy materialized, and he quickly swung it…

…Only for Gharius to dodge it by moving to the side. Now, they were closer than ever before. Just in time for the creature to open—no, unhinge his maw, wider than it should be possible.

"DIE!"

A bright flash of white light quickly materialized on Gharius', before emerging as a strong beam that clashed directly against Terrakion.

"U-Uwargh!" The legendary was hit, and boy was the attack strong. Terrakion felt every part of the attack, as well as the intentions in it. All the pain, all the anger… all coming from Gharius.

"I-I ain't… I ain't a legendary for nothin', kid!"

Despite all the damage, Terrakion managed to remain in the same place, holding it together. No, more than that. He began to walk forward, little by little, until he was close enough to Gharius' mouth.

"And this… this is for hurtin' my mate!" Terrakion's body persevered, and he rammed his head right on Gharius' open mouth, roaring all the while.

The attack hit, and he was thrown back far beyond what Terrakion thought, rolling through the sand, across a tiny hill… until Gharus landed in the middle of his own village.

"H-Hah… Entei, I reckon you're still hangin' in there. Now, let's not waste time. We got a good ol' fashioned whuppin' to deliver!"

---

Next thing Gharius knew, he was tossed into one of the houses, and after opening his eyes, received startling stares from a Graveler and a Geodude.

More importantly, the aching in his body remained, even after he tried to shake it off. Those Gods… they were the ones that did this to him. As such, his ache was nothing compared to the pain they should receive.

"Pain…" Gharius ignored the cries coming from behind him, simply adjusting himself on all fours again, letting his tongue slither out as he ran ahead, through the remains of the door.

Outside, the rain very much remained there, and thunder kept echoing. Gharius ignored it all, running as fast as he could. With his new, sturdier legs, he was able to travel across the village in a matter of seconds, already seeing the beach nearby.

"He's comin'." Terrakion warned, moving closer to Entei while he stood up. "Ya feelin' better?"

"Yes. The paralysis was momentary." Entei looked up. With the rain, his attacks would be less effective, but even so… "We shall use restraint. I doubt Xerneas can help him now. Perhaps we might need to talk to them."

"Yikes. I hate that, but if we gotta…" Terrakion tapped a hoof on the ground again. "Whatever! Let's go buck wild!"

Just in time for them to see Gharius jumping over, maw open, readying his drooling teeth to crunch whoever was closer. That happened to be Terrakion, who moved ahead and let Gharius bite into him, groaning in pain.

"J-Just… as I wanted!" Terrakion only grinned, the wildest of grins. He used the bite to his own advantage, moving his body with such a heavy force… before smacking Gharius to the ground, launching a cloud of sand into the air.

The resulting attack forced Gharius to stop biting, and was so strong he even coughed out a few of his teeth, though they grew back in no time.

"G-Grrr… you're… all… going to pay…"

"Delightful." Entei stepped forward, standing next to his partner. "I do not say this often, but… as you put it, darling, we should go buck wild!"

Hearing such words from his mate made Terrakion smile, and in response, his stubby tail wagged. "Let's roll!"

First, Entei roared. His back burst into flames, and part of it was tossed upwards, before covering the area in a bright light, clearing out the rain just where they stood, like a dome, where the rest was still cloudy.

"W-What madness is this?!" Gharius snarled, tapping his foot on the ground. Not wanting to wait for an answer, he roared, running towards them… before diving down into the sand, almost like one would do it in water.

"Brace yourself, partner!" Terrakion urged. Knowing what the attack was meant to be made things easier on them, so he just ran, stomping on the ground repeatedly.

Due to Gharius' large size, even while underground, his body made the sand above him elevate, giving away his position. Despite this, he quickly ran towards Terrakion, the two opponents getting closer.

And then, Gharius jumped out of the sand, unhinging his maw again to reveal another row of sharp fangs. Terrakion's smile never once faltered, and his tantrum paid off, as after stomping one more time, a large column of sand was tossed around Krookodile.

"Now, partner!"

Entei answered right away, his body covered in flames. With a roar, the flames were thrown out of him, quickly turning blue and hitting the sand that coated Krookodile. Their heat was no joke, and once the attack landed, the column Terrakion had raised was turned into stained glass.

Of course, Gharius was on the receiving end of the fire, and in response, let out another scream, this one much more painful than when his transformation started. Gharius tried to move, but the glass was too rough for him. For the moment.

"I know it ain't over…" Terrakion groaned, readying himself. "But we made progress!"

"Careful." Entei added, snarling.

Little by little, the pressure Gharius forced on the glass started to make it crack. The cracks spread all over it, growing larger and larger… until he was finally freed from the prison.

As the glass splintered upon impact with the ground, it unveiled something else. Gharius' flesh was ablaze, consumed by an unrelenting heat that made remnants of his skin flutter down like ashes, leaving behind patches of exposed bone. They, too, had changed—ebony and crystalline.

"I feel like throwin' up…" Terrakion gulped. "But, partner, ya know what we gotta do, right?"

"Stop holding back." Entei affirmed, and stepped forward. The dome that created a partial clear sky was starting to fade, and the rain would reduce his effectiveness soon enough. They needed to be fast. "Follow me!"

With another roar, the beast lunged ahead, leaving another trail of sand behind him. Entei's body lit ablaze, and he prepared to aim at Gharius. However, he didn't shoot. Instead, Entei started firing at the ground, running in circles around Gharius.

This caused the Krookodile to be surrounded by a wall of flames that grew taller by the second. Not only that, but the heat solidified more sand, turning it into spiked glass that wrapped around the area.

Terrakion raised his head again, creating another blade in the middle of it. Now, all he had to do was wait for Gharius to act. It didn't take very long before the Krookodile dug in the sand again… and jumped out, right in front of Terrakion.

"Partner!"

"I got it!" Entei fired at all the spiked glass, sending splinters that hit Krookodile multiple times,

At the same moment, Terrakion swung with the sword, forcing Gharius back into the ground, and finally, he was stepped on by the Sword of Justice.

"Phew… talk about trouble. Did we get 'im?" Terrakion sniffed the air, feeling all the smoke and glass around. It was just in time for the dome to shatter, letting the rain fall back again.

"No… he is still conscious."

Gharius could hear all their voices. Those voices towering above him, mocking him. He was just a mortal, and they stepped on him. It was wrong.

He let out another snarl, and began to move, thrashing around until he swung the two lovers out of the way. Finally, Gharius stood on his two legs, tongue slithering out again.

"This is startin' to get real annoyin'..." Terrakion grumbled. "We shoulda let Necrozma handle it, instead of cleanin' up his mess!"

"I know you do not believe that. As fellow Legends, we help each other." Entei stated.

"Help each other? What about us, the little guys?!" Gharius hissed at them. "I only asked for help with the crops, and you turned me into a damn monster!"

"Hm, seems like he is more talkative now…" Entei sighed, feeling the water seeping into his fur. "I… we apologize for that. But we can still help you. If you let us."

Gharius looked back at the village, seeing an audience being formed. They were all looking at him, some crying, some screaming. And then those Gods said they could help?

"What a load of crap…" Gharius fell to all fours again, hissing. They all heard something snap again, and a few spikes poked out where his ribs were supposed to be. Though it caused him pain, the Krookodile never took his eyes off the two. "I don't need your help! I will just kill you, or die trying!"

Part of Entei was curious if death would be possible, considering that Gharius was more or less a Legend on his own now. If it was, he didn't wish for it.

"We will finish this, Terrakion. Follow my lead." Entei sighed again. Fighting would only hurt them all further, and make it harder to cure Gharius of his condition.

"Yeah!"

They both started running, but on opposite sides—Entei on the left, Terrakion on the right. A single step later, and Entei picked up speed again, more than before, and more than Gharius could react to.

A strike, then another, and another, and yet another. Entei hit Gharius with a paw repeatedly, circling around him while keeping his speed. Meanwhile, Terrakion was behind, channeling his sword once again. And, just like last time, Gharius was hit by the sword.

This time, however, the attack was far stronger, and the only thing Gharius could mutter was a scream of pain. Yet, Terrakion didn't end with just one attack. He kept slashing. Again and again. Again and again.

"A-Ah… WARGH!"

It was almost instantaneous, Gharius came crashing into the middle of the village, landing in the middle of a crater of his own making. He was left twitchy, but otherwise unable to move.

Once again, time appeared to slow down for him, as he stared into the cloudy sky, feeling the water falling down on him. The battle was over, and the audience that he saw before now circled around him. His citizens, those he wanted to protect.

And what did Gharius do? He spent all that time just… fighting the Gods, the ones that were there to help him in the first place. Except they didn't do anything other than give him seeds, and to make it worse, he was a monster now. A hideous, disgusting monster.

How much blood did I lose…? I don't even feel it. This is wrong. All wrong.

All of Gharius' senses told him what was going on. From the smell of blood, to the sound of the rain, and even to how his—exposed—ribs touched the sand.

"What happened to him?"

"I-Is that the chief?"

"He's awful! What's going on?!"

They were all talking about him. Gharius panted, trying to move his body, but the second he tried, he felt a jolt of pain. That attack from Terrakion did a great job at hurting him.

"Back off, please. We are here to help."

Gharius groaned. That was… Entei, right? And he dared say they were doing the right thing. If his body wasn't so badly wounded, he'd try fighting them again.

"Howdy, mister Gharius. Sorry for the beatin', we kinda had to…" Terrakion offered a sheepish sort of shrug. "Gotta hope we didn't leave ya too banged up, truth be told."

"...What do you want?"

"We wish to take you into our tower." Entei looked around, checking the rest of the citizens. They didn't seem keen on saying anything. "It is your best chance at healing, and besides… you can talk to Necrozma. I am sure he feels awful about this."

"Heal me…?" Right, they mentioned it before. Gharius didn't have much of a choice, did he? It was either that or… that other possibility. Losing himself, his body, and his life.

"Whatever. Just take me there."

Entei tried to smile, but knowing the circumstances made it very hard to do that. "Try to remain calm. Your anger accelerates the process."

"Tch, fine." Gharius looked away, groaning from another jolt of pain. "Make it quick, I suppose."

"We're tryin' to help." Terrakion was about to complain, but he knew the poor chief's mental state, and stopped himself before saying anything rash. That, and Entei gave him a nasty look. "Let's just go…"

For once, Gharius agreed with the Gods. The sooner they went, the better.

---

"YOU INCOMPETENT MORON!"

Xerneas bellowed with a ferocity that far surpassed anything heard from her before, punctuating it by pounding a hoof into the ground, sending forth a seismic shockwave. Across her chamber, amidst the grass, stood Necrozma—back in his complete form—and Giratina, bearing the brunt of her fury.

"X-Xerneas, if I may—"

"YOU MAY NOT!" She pounded the floor again, panting. Veins were visible, coursing through her head. Her fur ruffled, and she grit her teeth. "You had one job. Help with that village. And what did you do?!"

"I… gave him my power. I was trying to possess him, but—"

"THAT ONLY MAKES IT WORSE!"

Giratina gulped; whenever Xerneas wanted to be scary, she could be. "I know Twinkle—Necrozma didn't mean to. I get it, he caused problems anyway, but—"

"I can defend myself, Tina." Necrozma intervened. He stepped forward, spreading his wings. "I really thought that, if I tried to live inside a mortal—as in, we shared the same body, I could understand them better. And if I was able to do that, then… I could do a better job at protecting them."

Xerneas stared at them, eyes widening, but didn't say anything. She took a deep breath, letting it all out. The veins in her head bulged a bit, but slowly retracted.

"That was the reason? You wanted to see the way they do? Such a simple reason…" she muttered. "I can understand it, but Necrozma, you are aware of the consequences. That Krookodile could be gone now, for all we know."

To think they had such an influence on mortals… Giratina wondered why they had it in the first place. After all, they were immortal, extremely powerful, so why have such an ability? It made no sense to him.

"He may be gone, but we don't know that yet. It's why I wish to return."

"You are not going back there. Not at all." Xerneas stepped forward, putting her hooves on the water. Some nearby Shaymin were startled and began to run away. "However, we will find a way to clean up this mess, as well as give you an appropriate punishment."

"Hmph. I can understand that." Necrozma said with a pout. He understood it was a bad thing to do, but even if he did something good, the other legendaries—apart from Giratina—would never agree with him. His methods were always considered unorthodox, after all.

Whatever. "Fine, what am I supposed to do, then? Just… sit around and wait for my punishment?"

"Hm, you were never one to sit down, were you?" Xerneas squinted her eyes, first looking at Necrozma, and then turning to Giratina. "Considering him."

"H-Hey!" And now the poor wyrm was blushing. "Hmph. I'm just here to support him, that's all."

"And your "support" includes not stopping him from doing what he did?" Xerneas raised a brow.

"...I trusted him. I realize now that I should've been more assertive."

Even Necrozma knew they had a point. He was reckless, most of the time, and someone like Giratina could do him good, stopping those tendencies before something bad happened.

I'll just have a talk with him later, after this is dealt with.

"And besides… I have a question for you too, Xerneas." Giratina blurted out, done with the blushing, and taking a more serious look.

"Get to it."

"What's… the point of us sharing our power? If we're not supposed to, then why do we have this ability in the first place?"

Any semblance of calm in Xerneas' face—however small—vanished completely. "I… I…"

It was like the answer was at the top of her tongue, but only there. Despite her attempts to speak, it barely came out with a sound.

"We have it because—" once again, Xerneas was stopped just before revealing it. "I-I… I do not know why."

That was enough for Giratina and Necrozma to exchange looks.

"You… don't know?" Giratina tilted his head. "I thought that, out of everyone here, you would."

"I suppose it is intriguing, I have to admit…" Necrozma muttered. He was glad to see the subject had changed, albeit it was still related to his actions.

"It hardly matters. We possess the ability. That is all." Xerneas shook her head. "In any case, you will be punished. I am not sure what, for the moment, but it will happen."

"I figured…" Necrozma sighed. Well, so much for trying to help, even if it had disastrous consequences. Part of him wanted to say that it was for the best, but even they were turning silent.

Someone knocked on the door to Xerneas' room, and she had to answer it. "This conversation is not over… come on in!"

Slowly, it creaked open.

And on the other side was Entei, raising his head to better see Xerneas. Like usual, he had a stern look, one that grew more pronounced once he saw Necrozma.

"Greetings."

"Entei… you're back." Necrozma gulped. Suddenly, any and all repressed guilt came rushing back. "How is… you know, the Krookodile?"

"His name is Gharius." Entei rolled his eyes. "...Not very well. I am here to request Xerneas' help."

"Of course, because I am the only responsible one out of everyone." This time it was Xerneas that rolled her eyes. "Very well. I will try to help, but if he is too…"

She eyed Necrozma. "Corrupted, we might need to speak to the Voice instead."

There was a shiver running through all of them after Xerneas finished talking. Even on a ghost like Giratina. She sighed, eyeing the couple.

"As for you two… leave. You have done more than enough. Entei, I will prepare. Come back in ten minutes."

He nodded at her. "Understood."

Without saying anything else, he left. Before Necrozma did, he glanced back at Xerneas with a frown. Then, Giratina held his hand with a tendril, smiling at his partner.

"It might be hard, but things will go back to normal soon."

Normal, huh?

Right as they stepped out of the room, they saw him: the Krookodile from before. Gharius was looking around the tower, trembling, probably due to fear, but perhaps out of respect. After all, he was somewhere sacred.

Necrozma was never very good at small talk, but he felt the need to give it a try. "It's a beautiful place, isn't it?"

"Oh…" Gharius recognized the voice, shivering and turning to the dragon. "It's you."

"He really does look different. Twinkle… you overdid it." Giratina frowned again, continuing to hold his partner's hand. It was a pity, what happened to Gharius. If only he stopped Necrozma earlier.

"Yes, it's me, hello." Necrozma deadpanned, before letting out a sigh. "Look, I apologize for it. I assumed giving you power would be the best course of action for the situation."

"Tch, you assumed wrong. And look at me now…" Gharius poked at his exposed ribs. "What did you do to me, exactly?!"

Giratina blinked, because the voice that came out was remarkably similar to Necrozma's. "T-Twinkle…"

Terrakion and Entei exchanged a stare, though they remained near the corner.

"Once this hullabaloo's settled, I'm itch'n for some food. What about ya, partner?"

"I will roast the meat for you." Entei managed a faint smile.

Gharius waited for the large dragon to give him an answer, and boy, was he taking his time. From the little tidbits the other Gods told him, it was something awful, but he wanted to know the full extent of it.

"Fine, fine. I can recognize when I make a mistake."

That was a lie. As a God, how could he make any mistakes? But saying it made things easier for him. Even so, he had good intentions; maybe the others just… didn't get him. Necrozma shrugged the thought off.

"Me, Giratina, and all the others here have a special ability…" Necrozma extended an arm, and a small purple aura coated the extended hand. "We can grant power to you, mortals. But like everything, it comes at a cost."

Gharius looked at himself, hissing. "I know that."

"Do not interrupt me." Necrozma hissed back at him. "...Ahem. Depending on how much power we grant, the mortals—we call them Vessels—can be overwhelmed by it. The power can and will consume you if left unchecked."

"Vessel? I'm not—" Gharius stopped after receiving a glare from the dragon. "...And by consuming me, you mean…"

"Slowly, you will be replaced, overtaken by the one that granted you power. That is, me. It seems to have started already, judging by your appearance…"

The mutated Krookodile didn't say anything in response.

"By the end of it, your personality, your body, and even your memories… they will be gone, replaced by me. In essence, you are to be another me. In body and soul."

Gharius stared at himself, his breath turning raspy and quick. "W-Wait, it's started?! But Entei said he could help me!"

"He hasn't finished the explanation, you know." Giratina said, almost whispering. "But no, you're not doomed."

"We aren't supposed to do it." Necrozma looked to the side. "I fail to understand why we have the ability if we aren't allowed to use it, but I digress. Xerneas should be able to remove any and all of my influence in your body."

Now was not the time to appear weak, especially to a God. Gharius clenched a fist. "And if she doesn't?"

To that, Necrozma managed a smirk of his own. "Well, it'll be like looking into a mirror… the most perfect of them all."

Gharius shivered with the words. Was he being serious, or what? There was no way he could tell. "You don't mean…"

"Tch." Necrozma sighed, rubbing his head with an arm. "I was trying to be funny, but I suppose that's too much. Just go on your way. And, for the record, I'm sorry I did that to you."

Now it looked like Necrozma was telling the truth. Either way, Gharius ignored it. "Fine. When am I getting healed?"

"Now."

Xerneas opened the door to her room and stepped between the door and the outside. Her presence, like expected, was suffocating. Gharius could not keep his eyes off of her, and felt heat rising on his face.

"L-Lady Xerneas?" Gharius gulped. He had heard stories about her, but seeing her in the flesh was… something. Even moving his legs was getting difficult.

"Men… they always act like that." Xerneas simply stared. Hard. She kept looking at Gharius, checking his mutations. Every little detail was absorbed by her, and by the end, she sighed. "This… is harder than I expected it to be."

"What're you talking about?" Giratina asked, tilting his head. "Are we too late?"

"Yes…"

Gharius gulped, his legs failing him again. However, Xerneas hadn't finished.

"...And no. While I cannot heal you, there is someone else that can."

Necrozma snarled. "The Voice. Great! We'll have to see Them."

"For once, you are right—" Xerneas turned to the light dragon. "They spoke to me, while I was in my room. They request your presence. All five of you."

"Five?!" Terrakion blurted out from the corner. "Aw…"

"I suppose it could be considered an honor to see Them." Entei turned to Gharius. "Especially for a mortal."

"Huh?!"

Great, now Gharius was being thrown into yet another overcomplicated scenario. But if it meant getting healed…

Besides, he wasn't strong enough to defy them. "Right, I'll go."

"I sense I've made a mistake." Necrozma muttered to himself. Again, it was wrong to consider a God capable of making mistakes, but he ignored it. "Well, the good news is: if They're the one healing you, you'll be fine, mortal."

"I suppose so…" Gharius gulped. Throughout his entire life, he had never heard of any God like that. The mere name was enough for him to wince.

Though, to be fair, he was getting a little calmer, even if it was only slightly. And now Gharius had an actual promise that he was getting cured.

---

Gharius quickly realized that this place was bigger on the inside than he thought. They passed through a peculiar doorway—one that didn't appear to obey the customary push or pull—instead it vanished into thin air right as they approached.

But the journey didn't end there. Following their passage through the door, the five started climbing a set of stairs. Said staircase seemingly stretched into infinity. Gharius gulped, his stomach knotting in on itself due to the notion of climbing so high.

"Don'tcha worry, kid. You ain't alone in feelin' uneasy 'bout this," Terrakion winced. He was taking it slow, one step at a time, and didn't dare to look back.

Due to their larger size, Necrozma and Giratina were taking the lead, standing close together, and holding hands—or a hand and a tendril.

"Twinkle…" Giratina muttered. He was likely being punished as well, and therefore, only hoped it wouldn't be such a severe punishment. However, Giratina was aware this hope was likely being squashed soon.

"I'm fine." His tone didn't sound fine. Necrozma gulped; not sweating due to his own draconic nature, but if he could, he would be. "...I'll try to make it seem like it was only my fault."

"It was." Entei blurted out from the back, raising a brow. "It was and you know it."

"Blah." Necrozma continued to climb, ignoring the fire-type behind him.

"Is he… always like this?"

"Good ol' Crozma?" Terrakion looked to the side, at Gharius. "Yeah. His ego is so big it might as well be up his ass."

"Oi!" Necrozma looked back just to snarl.

They're all so weird… I never expected Gods to be like this. Gharius crossed his arms, wincing because it was a bit painful.

So he could focus on the trip for now. They were still climbing those awful stairs, and it was starting to get really tiring to do it. Gharius panted, feeling his legs tremble a bit from all the exhaustion.

"Good news, kid. We're gettin' real close now."

"Thank the Gods—" and Gharius realized who he was with in that moment, smiling sheepishly. By now most of his rage was gone, but once this was over, he'd have to cut ties with them. Handle things by himself, him and the other "mortals" in that village.

After what felt like forever, Necrozma stopped in front of another door. Much like the entrance, it vanished when they all got close. Gharius wasn't entirely sure why, but even before entering, he could feel the pressure.

Gharius trembled again, seeing the room inside. Much of it was… nothing? A completely white void, though it seemed to be pulsating every few seconds. And there was that pressure again. Like gravity, it was pounding on him, trying to force Gharius to kneel.

"It gets ya, doesn't it? I think this is the first time a mortal has stepped inside Their realm… Their Sanctuary." Terrakion tried to chuckle, but it was a little hard to do. The pressure was also on him, but Terrakion was used to it already.

"Let's just get on with it." Necrozma rolled his eyes, walking inside the room.

One by one, they all entered the void, and after the last one—Entei—got inside, the door shut behind them. Gharius yelped in surprise, looking back.

"W-What the…"

"Please, try not to be disrespectful." Giratina pointed out, twirling his tendrils together. "It might make things worse, for us and for you."

"R-Right."

The pulsating grew stronger, and happened in smaller intervals. Gharius looked around, feeling that pressure again. After looking forward, he saw the pulses gathering into a single spot in the—apparent—middle of the room.

"..."

Something came out of the gathering, a strange, wobbly creature, with a brown tone and two red blobs for eyes. Whoever they were, they were staring at the five.

"I-Is that—"

"Shhh." Entei glared at the Krookodile, and Gharius quickly shut up.

Meanwhile, the blob continued to look at them, bobbing their head, but never once did they blink. For all their staring, it seemed the focus was on Gharius.

W-What is this…? It's like… they're staring into my soul? Gharius trembled. His entire body urged him to run away from that place, but no matter how much he wanted to, Gharius simply couldn't move, and couldn't look away from the blob.

I-I don't like this. In fact, I hate this. I don't get it… is that the Voice they mentioned? What are they doing?

The blob took a single step forward, and their entire body jiggled in response. Gharius, in turn, squeaked, his body still very much frozen.

A-Are they the one that will help me? Why are they so scary…?

Gharius panted, breathing so heavily it was practically a snore.

"Necrozma." Suddenly, the blob shifted their focus to the large dragon. "I know this is your doing. And I know you had good intentions, as you usually do."

Necrozma didn't respond, both because he had nothing else to say and because it would be rude to interrupt when They were talking. As such, he waited for the speech to be over with.

"And this is where I have an issue." They said. From within the void, next to Necrozma, multiple chains burst from the ground, wrapping themselves around the dragon.

"Huh?" Gharius muttered. What was going on?

"Wait—"

But before Necrozma could say anything, the chains lit up, sending a jolt of energy throughout his body. In response, the dragon let out a humongous scream, one that echoed through the room.

"What're you doing—"

Entei shushed Gharius again, gulping. Not even Giratina did anything; if they tried… well, Necrozma was there as an example.

And the dragon continued to scream, the crystals in his body starting to crack with the pressure.

"I want to hear you say it, Necrozma."

"S-Say what—" The energy got thicker, and a few sparks of purple energy leaked out of Necrozma, as if that was his blood. He continued to scream, and the cracks grew more pronounced.

"Hmph." The Voice moved their head, and the energy dissipated instantly. "I want to hear your apology, Necrozma."

At first Necrozma said nothing, because he couldn't. Despite trying to speak, the act left him out of breath, and caused him to groan from all the injuries he was sustaining.

Gharius didn't know if he should be rooting for or against Necrozma in that situation. Part of him was… satisfied to hear those screams, but he shut that off as soon as he noticed it.

"We are not allowed to interfere with this, either." Entei noticed the Krookodile staring, and whispered to him.

"I-I see…"

"I do not hear your apology, Necrozma. Would you like me to remind you of my authority?"

Giratina was nearby—Necrozma could feel it. And because he was there, the dragon was able to pull himself back together. Barely.

"I-I'm… I-I'm sorry… s-sorry…"

The Voice looked at Necrozma, squinting their eyes, then shook their head.

"Well, was that really so hard? And see, the pain has ended… for now." They moved around in circles. Every so often, the Voice moved their head. "Now, what to do with you? With all of you?"

"I-If I may—" Giratina cleared his throat. "We would like to get Gharius here healed. It's not like he has that much time."

The Voice looked at Gharius again, squinting their eyes. "Hm, yes, yes, I am capable of helping him. However…"

Necrozma winced as the chains covering him grew tighter. More appeared, to cover his mouth and prevent him from speaking further.

"I am upset. You see, normally, I am a very forgiving entity." They glanced at Necrozma, before settling on Giratina. "That is, I can tolerate a lot of things. Romance, laziness… and yes, even treason, should one of you attempt it. However…"

Once more, the chains on Necrozma grew tighter. He couldn't even grunt from the pain, let alone move.

"You disrupted the order, Necrozma. What is stopping me from smiting you and letting that mortal take your place?"

"H-Huh?!" Gharius stepped back. They all promised to heal him, so why was that—that thing denying him what he wanted?!

"Well, I would love to hear your answer." With a wave of their head, the chains covering Necrozma slowly loosened.

"A-Ah…" He took a moment to breathe, closing his eyes. "I… I did what I thought was needed. I thought it would help, but… I realize now that it didn't. The mortal—Gharius has nothing to do with this."

Saying all that took a lot out of him, and Necrozma was left panting afterwards. Not that it mattered.

"You know… I think it would be so, so easy to let it happen." They tightened the chains again. "After all, how can you be sure it hasn't happened before?"

"How—what?!" Giratina finally said something, blurting out without even thinking. "What are you talking about?!"

"I will ignore your interruption." They looked at Giratina for only a second, before turning back to Necrozma. "You can never be sure if you were the original Necrozma, can you? After all, you have that ability exactly so you can be replaced, should the need arise."

"I-I…" Necrozma closed his eyes and groaned, trying to ignore what the Voice asked. So that was the reason…

Gharius, on the other hand, was paralyzed once more. If he tried to speak, the chances of him being cured would go down. Again. It really was the Gods' fault, wasn't it? And there was little he could do to save himself.

Why did I accept the offer to receive his power in the first place? I'm so stupid. It was a ridiculous idea…

"Well… I do not hear many arguments against it, so—"

"N-No!" Giratina blurted out again, gasping for air. "Even if he made a mistake, we can try to fix it! And prevent him from doing it again!"

"I apologize for this, but…" Entei stepped forward, with Terrakion by his side. "As much as he gets on my nerves… I believe Necrozma does want to help the world, and the mortals. His mistake, albeit a large one, can be fixed."

"Necrozma is… important to me." Giratina added, looking down. "He did a bad thing, but we all do it. I… choose to believe he can grow and change. Mortals or not, we can all change."

"T-Tina…" Necrozma winced again. Change. Could he? Should he change? Not for himself, but for… Giratina. Make a few adjustments here and there, because Giratina believed in him. And… Necrozma wanted to honor that belief.

"I'm standin' alongside 'em on this matter," Terrakion chimed in, not contemplative, but affirming his beliefs. "Sure enough, he can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but truth be told, I like 'im just the same."

"So?" The Voice tilted their head.

Terrakion stood his ground. "Now… I ain't makin' light of sidesteppin' consequences, but takin' his life… now that just ain't the solution."

"...Impressive." They blinked, moving around for a little longer. "All of you are jumping to defend him, to plead for him. Very impressive, indeed… I believe… I have another solution for our issue."

Gharius felt like he could talk now, since things had calmed down. "Uh… does that mean I'm getting cured, after all?"

"Indeed, mortal. You will be." They replied, though they didn't look at Gharius in particular. "My final decision is this: I will purge him of any remnants of Necrozma, and at the same time… I am erasing all of your memories of what happened."

And the room turned quiet after they explained everything. Gharius was the first to speak, raising an arm. "I… I'm fine with that."

"You never had a say in it in the first place." They approached the five Pokémon, tendrils appearing out of the Voice's body. "Now, after this is over, you can go back to your old life. Forget about us, and move on."

Necrozma panted, seeing the chains on him disappearing one by one. He'd have to thank them later… if he remembered to, of course.

"Hm, I was hoping for a different outcome, but if that is to happen, so be it." Entei stood proud, nuzzling against Terrakion's body.

Giratina walked closer to Necrozma, trying to give him as tight of a hug as he could, but without hurting the dragon. "I-I'm so glad you're alright. Even if we're gonna, err, forget this day."

Terrakion pouted. "Wait, what 'bout Xerneas an' Kyogre? They know about this too!"

"They will share the same fate, now, drop it. I must focus…" their eyes closed, and a bright flash enveloped their body.

Soon, the entire room was covered in it. Gharius couldn't help himself and closed his eyes, but not before something inside of him burned. Burned like the hottest of fires.

And it hurt. Gharius had never seen anything like it, such raw power, such… intensity was unheard of. The heat was almost overwhelming—no, it very much was. He didn't say or move much while it happened, relegated to feeling the… purging?

Yes, a purge. Gharius now knew what was happening to him. Every bit of Necrozma left in him was burning away into nothingness. In particular, the exposed ribs began to turn into ash, before his body healed from the hole where they sprouted from.

Gharius' head hurt more than everything else. It was then that he realized that, like the rest of his body, something was burning inside as well: his memories related to that incident.

And then, it all turned white for him.

---

It was another beautiful night. Once more, the sky held a beautiful spectacle. Not a single cloud was visible, allowing each and every star to shine as hard as possible. The air was refreshing and clean.

"Something about this feels… familiar." Necrozma whispered to himself. "Though I suppose I do this more often than I should…"

Necrozma hovered in the air, looking up at the sky. Like many times before, he was enjoying some well-earned rest from all the duties he had to fulfill back at the tower.

Granted, today in particular was a little different. As his mate was quick to point out, covering Necrozma's eyes with tendrils.

"Boo!"

"Hah, hello, Tina." It was obvious who it was, and Necrozma just smiled, raising a hand to touch the tendrils covering him. "No, I didn't forget about today's date."

"I know! But I have a surprise for you! Someone else's coming too, which means we're having a double date!"

"Double… date?" Necrozma tilted his head. The concept of a single date was boggling, but now Giratina mentioned a double? What did that even mean?

"We're having a date at the same time. You, me, Entei and Terrakion! They asked me to, so I thought… y'know, it sounded fun."

"Hm… I didn't even know they were dating. Sure, there were rumors, but—"

Giratina approached, his face mere inches away from Necrozma's. "They're rumors as much as we are."

"T-That doesn't even make sense!"

And next, Giratina wrapped his tendrils around Necrozma's body, hugging him. Finally, they kissed, closing eyes and letting their emotions do all the talking. Slowly, the lovers started hovering down, towards the ground.

They landed on a grassy patch of land, next to a lake. However, they didn't break the kiss. Not at all. Necrozma let himself be enveloped by it, by all the emotions, and it was like a thousand sparks lit inside his body.

"H-Hah…" Giratina muttered, pulling out and letting their droll fall on the grass. "T-This was nice. D-Don't you agree, Twinkle?"

"Y-You're right…"

"And here I was, thinkin' we did too many public displays of affection…" Terrakion whistled from behind, standing next to a couple of trees. "Howdy there. I reckon we're havin' a good time today."

Entei was a little quiet, but he managed to smile. "Hm, hello. You two seem to be having fun."

"Ah, yes, hello." Necrozma stood on his feet, meaning he was standing a lot taller than everyone around him, save for Giratina. He had to look down just to see the other two. "Tina told me we were having a… double date? That was what he called it."

"Yeah. It'll be fun!" Terrakion smiled brightly, his teeth glistening in Necrozma's light. "I know we don't gotta eat, but…"

Terrakion moved to the side, revealing a bag that was smelling like meat. "Ta-dah! I brought this here just for us!"

"Hmmm. I never tried eating before, but…" Necrozma turned to Giratina. "Well, it doesn't sound so bad. Maybe I'll try it this time."

"Good for you." Entei puffed out smoke. "I will cook them for us, and we can start the date."

What are we even supposed to do here? Necrozma wondered, but worrying too much about it wouldn't be fun, for him, or for anyone else.

"Oh, Twinkle! C'mere!" Giratina moved to the side, dragging Necrozma with him so they could both see the large lake nearby. "We might be a bit too big for it… but I kinda wanna get in there."

"Hm, good plan." Necrozma followed. The two then slowly sat on the lake, and the water had covered… not much of them, but it was the thought that counted.

"Y'all ain't gonna wrap yer heads 'round what we pulled off yesterday! Terrakion exclaimed with a grin around his lips. Since his partner was handling the meat, he walked towards the lake to chat with the other Legends. "We had to go to this village, see, and lend 'em a hoof with their crops. They were livin' somewhere kinda arid, which meant we had to be a little more direct, but… worth it."

"That's great for you. Seems like a simple request." Necrozma said with a nod. Although… it sounded a bit familiar, but with so many years of handling the mortals' requests, it was bound to happen eventually. "As for me and Tina… we were relaxing yesterday. I don't remember much."

Giratina moved his tendrils around the water for a few splashes, then turned to the others. "Yeah, it's nice to chill every once in a while. By the way, what are we eating?"

"Just the best meat I could find! Prime-quality, straight from a Bouffalant!" Terrakion stood proud, wagging his tiny tail. "Ain't that right, partner?!"

Entei was breathing fire onto the pieces of meat, letting them cook, and controlling it enough to not start a fire on the grass. He only stopped to give a small comment.

"You are right. However, I was the one that got it. Please, do not steal my credit, partner."

Necrozma couldn't help himself and chuckled. "Hah. Well, I'll admit I don't know much about "dates", what do the mortals do in them?"

"They talk with each other and have fun!" Giratina said, eyes sparkling. "It's like, where couples go to deepen their bond! I think that's it!"

"You're so damn precious…" Necrozma shook his head and laughed a bit more. "Heh. Very well! Maybe we can just enjoy ourselves here…"

But the smell of meat was getting more potent, distracting Necrozma from saying anything else. He had never felt that before, and it was… pleasant? No, more than that. It was appetizing. Eating was never really an option before, except now it sounded very appealing to him.

"This is… about done." Entei cut the fire and moved the meat with a paw, setting it closer to the lake. "Just… don't let it fall there. It won't taste good if it gets wet."

"...I want to try it."

"See, told ya he'd want it!" Giratina giggled, moving a tendril to grab one of the chunks of meat.

"I—Entei caught a lot. Considerin' your size, we felt it was necessary." Terrakion caught a piece and started eating it without a care in the world, finishing the piece in a matter of seconds. "Hm! Not bad, partner!"

Necrozma sniffed the air again, and then picked a bit of food for himself. He smelled it, before putting it in his mouth. "Hm…"

The flavor was so pronounced, so… strong. It wasn't bad per say, but Necrozma felt it could be stronger if something else was added to it. What? It was unknown yet.

"Twinkle, Twinkle!" Giratina looked at his mate with sparkling eyes and a bright smile. "What'd you think?! Isn't it good?! Isn't it great?!"

"You're so excited about this…" Now he had to lie a bit, to make Giratina happy. "Yeah, it's great!"

Lying came out more naturally than even Necrozma realized. Well, if he could find what that something he wanted to add was, then maybe he would enjoy eating more.

"Well, I tried my best." Entei muttered, eating the food. In comparison to Terrakion, the beast was far more contained, eating it slow and savoring every bit. Terrakion, on the other hand, was wild and unkempt, stuffing as much food as he could into his mouth. "Be careful with that… you cannot die from choking, but it will still hurt."

"Bwahahah!" Necrozma laughed at it, picking more food. He held it in his hand, slowly putting it near Giratina's mouth. "I'm not eating more of this, but I know you like it, so…"

"I'll take it!" Giratina munched on it and beamed again, nuzzling against Necrozma's neck. He took a quick glance at the others, specifically Entei. "Say, how was that mission anyway? Did anything meaningful happen?"

Entei nodded. "We talked a bit with the chief, a Krookodile named Gharius. He was friendly, and very respectful. I hope his village thrives."

"Gharius… interesting name." Necrozma muttered. For some reason, it sounded familiar. Strange, but not something he really wanted to mull over. "Well, I'm just glad we have some free time. It's not much, but I like it."

"Well, despite us bein' Gods 'n all, I reckon even we ain't exempt from that need," Terrakion mused between bites of his meal.

Giratina just nodded, enjoying his food as much as he could while leaning against Necrozma. Oddly, his need to be besides his partner was stronger, like something had happened to Necrozma. But nothing did, so Giratina considered it as just him being worried for no reason.

"Actually, there's something I wanna say," he stopped eating for a moment, looking at them, all at once. "We're Gods, y'know, and as such… I think it would be good if we supported each other. We're all we have, after all."

Necrozma blinked, staring at his partner until a smile slowly started to form on his face. "Well, when you put it like that… I don't see anything wrong with that plan."

"Indeed. Giratina, you have a good heart." Entei flashed a smile of his own.

"Aye, aye. Y'all are great. And by that, I mean Entei is the greatest of 'em all…" Terrakion shoved more food into his mouth, chomping loudly and grinned.

"Heheheh…" Giratina laughed, raising his head and smiling brighter than he ever had before.

And while he did it, Necrozma watched. Such a nice guy… honestly, he was so lucky to meet Giratina. Considering they were both immortal, they had eternity together.

Even if that meant doing requests for the mortals, it was fine. Necrozma was fine. As long as he had Giratina by his side, nothing could bring him down.

I can't shake the feeling that something bad happened, though. But… I'm a God. I can't make mistakes. This must be a misunderstanding or something. Everything is fine… and I'll remain with Tina forever.

Telling himself that helped a lot. Necrozma watched the wyrm next to him—Giratina had finished eating. Now, with his mouth free for… other things, Necrozma acted.

Once more, they kissed, this time more passionate than before, but Giratina was taken by surprise. Nonetheless, he didn't pull away. No, he pulled closer. Closer to the one he loved. His partner. As the mortals called it… his boyfriend.

The night shone on them, like it would forever.