"Tell me, what do you see?"

Pink paws held up a giant leaf splattered with mud. A pair of yellow eyes beamed at Darkrai, eagerly awaiting his answer. He gave the creature a questioning look.

"It's a leaf covered in mud, Mesprit."

The magenta sprite pouted and held the leaf up closer to him.

"No look deeper! What emotions does it invoke in you?"

Darkrai grumbled and rolled his eyes. After leaving Cresselia's care, he had joined the ever growing list of immortals that would be put on trial upon Arceus' return. He would most certainly not be the last. Mesprit had somehow convinced him this therapy would help his case. Perhaps the reason he even considered this in the first place was because Cresselia recommended it. He couldn't say no to her. Finally he calmly spoke his answer,

"Annoyance. I feel annoyed."

Mesprit lowered the leaf and frowned pointedly. She shook her head.

"No. What do you see in this? How do you feel about the image?"

Darkrai sighed but began to inspect the leaf. He might as well humor her.

"It looks like a bunch of trees."

Mesprit smiled and clapped her hands together letting the leaf plop on the ground.

"Excellent. Now how do you feel?"

Darkrai raised his brow and tilted his head.

"Can't you tell?"

Mespirt's face fell and she rubbed her arm awkwardly.

"Not really. You have this darkness that surrounds you and…" Mesprit looked up at him in horror, "Oh no! I don't mean in like a bad sense. Kind of like a big fog around your being, it makes it difficult for me to read you. It's similar with Yveltal and some other Pokémon I meet."

Darkrai nodded and Mesprit smiled slightly.

"Now how do you feel?"

"I don't feel anything." Darkrai replied bluntly.

Mesprit glared down at the muddy leaf in disappointment.

"I don't think the images are working. Let's try something more direct. Lie down and close your eyes, please."

Darkrai did as instructed. The cave floor was cold and hard against his back. Despite his discomfort he let his lids fall and envelop his vision in blackness.

"Think about your favorite place in the whole world, imagine you are there."

Darkrai's mind began to drift. He was sitting on his island watching the sun slide below the salty sea. The trees quivered around him and were bathed in glowing golden light. Fluffy pink and yellow clouds, with tiny stars peeking out behind them, hung low in the sky. He was so caught up in his fantasy that Mesprit's voice sounded like an illusion.

"The creature you care for the most is beside you."

Darkrai could hear the smile in Mesprit's voice. They both knew the creature he had chosen. He could almost feel her presence. Her iridescent pink wings sparkled in the setting sun. Her blue and yellow feathers waved with the soft wind and when she turned toward him a smile lit up her face. Magenta eyes met his own. Darkrai's body relaxed until he no longer felt the unforgiving icy stone but the warmth of the sand below.

"Comfortable?" Mesprit asked.

Darkrai nodded his head slowly, still enjoying the crisp twilight with Cresselia by his side. She was singing. Darkrai always loved when she sang and was disappointed she only did so occasionally. Her voice was so sweet, soft and almost forlorn. He was captivated.

"What are your feelings toward the Legendary Council?"

Darkrai was ripped away from his daydream and sucked back into the realm of reality. His claws twitched.

"Are you mad at us?"

Darkrai was less inclined to speak now knowing she couldn't read him. Cresselia and Mesprit were close friends surely he could trust her as well. Then again, Cresselia had trusted him.

"I have no feelings towards the council."

Mesprit sighed,

"That's not true. It's obvious how you feel about us. You detest us."

Darkrai's eyes flashed open, irritation boiled in his blood.

"No I-"

"I would appreciate if you were completely honest with me." Mesprit said sadly.

"You don't want my honesty." Darkrai's voice crackled with fire as he rose from the ground.

He was furious. Furious that his emotions were getting the better of him and furious at Mesprit for even asking such a question.

"How would you even know how I feel? You said so yourself, you can't feel my emotions."

Mesprit flinched. She bit her lip and her eyes became moist.

"Not entirely but-"

"You can't. You have no idea how I feel about anything." Darkrai growled, "Quit presuming that you do."

"I'm not. I'm only saying what I see. You're cold towards us. You never talk to us. The only creature I've ever seen you close to is Cresselia. Why is that?"

Darkrai's jaw locked tight, he willed himself to remain his composure but it teetered above the cliffs of his temper.

"Why you ask?" He scoffed, "As if you didn't know. As if you didn't know how I was treated by them, by everyone."

He clenched his fists, turned away and left. The icy night hit him like a ton of bricks. His anger melted away in the cold and he considered returning to Lake Verity but his stubbornness won over. He passed towns and villages all darkened. Forests blinked by and grasslands covered in snow disappeared before he noticed them. The wind whipped around him and he folded his arms together trying to keep warm. All Darkrai cared about was getting home to be alone.

Darkrai froze. He had felt nightmares begin as he had flown but the creature he had just infected was incredibly powerful. He could feel their strong aura from where he stood. Quickly he slipped into the shadows. Though the middle of the forest was quite a curious place for any of them to be sleeping, it had to be a member of the council. Darkrai entered the dream without hesitation.

The air was thick and oppressing. Darkrai was almost overwhelmed by the nightmare's intensity, it was pushing down on him. The creature having this dream would be suffocated.

"I can't do it anymore…"

The familiar feminine voice sounded defeated. Creeping closer to the heart of the nightmare he could hear the creature sobbing.

"Arceus…I'm so lost without you…I can't do this…I can't."

Wait. Darkrai thought, Is that Gi-

A great force yanked him out of the nightmare. His body fell out of the shadows and he landed on the freezing ground with a thud. The earth shook beneath him. Darkrai pushed himself up and came face to face with a livid Giratina.

"What do you think you're doing?" She spat.

"I could ask you the same thing." Darkrai almost immediately regretted his words for Giratina's eyes fell upon him like death.

"That is my business and not yours. I'm not going to repeat myself so you better answer me before I obliterate you."

He should've been terrified but Darkrai simply shrugged,

"I happened to be passing through. I felt a nightmare so I investigated."

His nonchalant answer did little to subside Giratina's rage.

"What did you see?"

"Nothing much." Darkrai replied rising from the ground.

The great dragon took in a deep breath and sighed in frustration. It was doubtful she believed him but Giratina was too tired to argue.

"Great…now get going."

Before Giratina could fly away Darkrai spoke up,

"Are you alright?"

Giratina stopped for a moment, her eyes widened in shock. She glared at him, her pupils scanning him over as if looking for some invisible enemy.

"I'm fine."

Darkrai narrowed his eyes in disbelief and crossed his arms. Giratina turned away and growled,

"And you care why?"

"I was curious how my nightmares affected you. This is the first time I've infected you with one correct?" Darkrai replied.

"Don't get a big head." Giratina scoffed, "I've had nightmares before. Not all of them have to be directly because of you."

"I'm only trying to do my job."

Giratina rolled her eyes.

"Then get to it. Don't waste both our time with useless questions. I already have enough trouble getting most of the others to do their stupid jobs, I don't want to have to do the same with you."

With that Giratina flew up into the night sky and disappeared from view. Placing a claw on his chin, Darkrai considered what he had seen. Giratina never seemed to express any emotion but pride. She acted like she was always right and never cared for anyone. In that nightmare, Darkrai had seen something entirely different. He turned his head toward where Giratina had vanished. Darkrai had never thought of Giratina as a being like himself.

Author's Note: Hello, guys. I just wanted to thank you for reading and reviewing this story. I also have some news. I will be heading back to college in less than a week (yay...) which means I'll unfortunately have less time for writing. I'm trying to write down as much as I can before I start back so that I can edit it in my free time. Thank you and have a lovely day/night ~Dawneques