Arceus clearly saw me coming and finished whatever conversation he was having with the dragon before getting up and leaving. I then took the seat where it used to be and drank some tea while sitting in the awkward yet comfortable silence. 

I looked across from me a couple of times, observing the dragon that was the physical manifestation of my aura. It just sat there coiled up and sipped tea as well, nothing really stood out besides its unique body/general appearance so I almost started a conversation but then Voltanuc's words came to me. 

"It desired the same attention and affection you give your pokemon, yet you only treated it as a weapon"

So instead I hesitantly went up beside it and started to awkwardly pet it, I mean, how are you even supposed to pet something like this?

It looked up at me with confused and hopeful eyes and I just looked at it in curiosity at how its body felt, it was a strange feeling, the scales were really smooth and silky feeling but if I put too much pressure, my hand went straight through. 

"Does this mean you'll accept me?" I heard it ask and was dragged out of my stupor before simply nodding while taking note of its childlike voice. 

Nearly immediately after nodding, its eyes lit up and it coiled around my body giving me a feeling of warmth and comfort, while also energizing and making me feel as if something missing was now back.

No sooner had that happened, the world around me started to warp before I felt myself being sucked backward and I awoke in the real world to my less fatigued body. I was back on my bed and by checking the time I realized I had been asleep for 4 hours, not nearly enough to take all my fatigue away but enough to sustain me for slightly longer. 

I tried falling asleep again, but my body just went back to that state of awareness so I instead decided to go train to tire myself. 

I picked up my earbuds and started playing "Speed Star" by GARNiDELiA before I got to training with my aura, which I hadn't had in 8 days. It took a second for me to utilize it fully again but once I got the hang of it once more I started to pick up pace really fast.

I was so focused on getting used to my aura being back that I failed to notice Altair and Nailiah watching me until I was utterly exhausted and had to take a break. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't be training this hard in my body's current condition, but it helps keep my mind off things.

Arceus didn't explain why my body was acting this way so I was just left to deal with it on my own, I didn't bother to look at Altair since it would just trigger more memories that were best left forgotten. Until she handed me a water bottle which I accepted and I accidentally looked at her which made me slightly wince but it had been much worse the first few days. What really surprised me was that she sat herself down next to me and started to sing. 

"Beneath the burdens, pushing on "I'm really fine" and from a distance, I would watch you every time"

"What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, so they say"

"Yet just how much can you bear, through a struggle every day"

"Pushed to the side, still standing, you carry on, commanding, please let me ease the burdens weighing you low" That line somehow made we feel lighter

"There's no need to walk alone, for no matter where you go..."

"You and I, we're intertwined, your tomorrow shared with mine, every worry disappeared, we are strong, the future's clear" A strange feeling welled up and my chest hurt slightly

"Hand in hand we're clutching tight, holding on with all our might, as worlds collide the bond between us grows, just like so long ago..."

"So independent, growing stronger every step"

"Holding together, a facade you always kept"

"Beneath the surface, fighting back against the pain, slowly showing through your grin, there's a limit to the strain"

"Though no one else could see it, that quivering, admit it. Although you try, I see right through so clearly, It's ok to shed a tear, for I'm always close my dear" I winced a bit at that line

"Won't you put your faith in me, open up and maybe see"

"Let me match your every stride, free the pain you always hide" 

"If you ever go astray, I'll be with you every day, that light within you shining bright for two
dazzling for me and you"

As the song ended I just sat there, nothing to say, feeling tired and confused. I felt a pair of arms wrap around my exhausted body and pull me towards them, there was a comforting feeling by laying there, it was peaceful and made me want to go to sleep, and I eventually drifted off while a tear rolled down my cheek.

The next time I awoke was 8 hours later, in my own bed, and Altair slumped over and on top of my arm. I check the time and it as 1:00 AM. I still felt sluggish but felt much better with the 12 hours of sleep I had gotten today, or rather, yesterday. I remembered the song she had sung earlier and confusion brewed in my mind, but a rather pleasant yet uncomfortable feeling spread through my body. 

I was going to try and go back to sleep but Altair started to say something and I leaned in closer to get a better grasp of what she was saying, but the words, or rather, pleas were quite shocking to hear. It was just a scramble of; 'stop', 'please', 'let me go', whimpers and a quite violent choked scream of 'NO!'. 

She started to thrash around but her movements were like she was bound up and gagged while trying to thrash, which lead me to be even more confused. Then suddenly, she was putting her hands up and backing away from me as if I was some monster.

I quickly got up and grabbed her before she could bring any harm to herself or the room and subdued her. After a few more minutes of hitting my chest, she calmed down and I carried her back to her room. Where I gently lay her to bed and made sure she wasn't going to catch a cold before turning to leave, only to be stopped by her hand and voice saying 'Don't go'.

I turned around and looked at her teary-eyed face, riddled with terror and apprehension as she asked me to stay a little longer. Seeing as I wasn't going to get much sleep at this point, I pulled up a chair and sat there.

"Thanks," She whispered out and I merely nodded a 'your welcome' back as she started to drift off.

"Everything in that song was true... you know..." She let out almost inaudibly as sleep reclaimed her.

Meanwhile, I remembered the song she sang to me and shook my head, I must've been imagining things if those were the lyrics I thought of, there was no way someone I was basically holding captive was that receptive of me. Coupled with the fact that Voltanuc already told me that I was pretty cold to others made it unbelievable anyone could have that positive of an opinion of me.

I still felt sluggish, but I determined I should pay the Aether Foundation's main HQ a visit and gather some more info on whatever they were doing.

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I arrived 3 hours later at 4:00 AM and quickly snuck inside the lab and looking around for anything useful they might have lying around and found a PDA which was fingerprint locked which didn't help so I knocked out a scientist and took their PDA instead.

I started scrolling through the database, looking for anything that wasn't previously here the last time I looked. What I found though, was more than I could've bargained for, in the folder named 'E-Project', there were two files. 'ET-1' and 'ET-2', I opened both of them side by side and found something that made my blood boil.

Test Subject: Lillie Aether

Test Subject: Kazuki Delta 

'How dare they use mother as a test subject!' I internally raged as I started to read both files on what the hell they were doing to both of them.

It looked like they were trying to do what they did to me in A.R.C, which was to forcibly contract me to an emperor and force me under control of the darkness. Ms.Aether was being outfitted with Hannelore, the Emperor of Fairy and Grass. Meanwhile, mother was being outfitted with Tatsuya, the Emperor of Ghost and Bug.

I tried to find out where they were being kept, but the file was pretty heavily redacted so I couldn't tell. Since hacking wasn't my forte either I was at a dead-end, my fists clutched tightly as I tried to formulate a plan to find where they were and get them out.

I quickly headed back to base to start working on a plan to free two Emperor's and my mother from the Darkness' control before they completely fell under, but when Is stepped through the door, my tiredness caught up and I collapsed on the dining room floor.

Surprisingly, my dreams weren't filled with the terrors of the fake A.R.C facility, it was a nice garden with a song carried through the cool breeze. The exact song Altair was singing before...

Hey guys! I hope you are all doing well and enjoyed the chapter! I had to rewrite it a couple of times to get it right, but I think the development I wanted to show was shown well enough. Ja ne!