♦ Dedicated to GoddessOfRandomness for being a fabulous artist, cover maker, writer, and most importantly, a crazy, yet deep, yet awesome friend that never hesitates to spam me with comments! XD You were actually one of the most important people that got my crazy side back, so arigatou, and stay fabu~!! ♦

Welcome to Chapter 2 of Each Past! :) I'm going to try to have an actual schedule with this, so how about every Friday? X3 However, exams (finals O.O) are coming, so it might have to be shifted to once every two weeks...

Also, I just wanted to say that this story is kinda inspired a little by Madoka Magica and quite a bit from Angel Beats. •w• I love these two animes... and Assassination Classroom. This chapter's inspired by it too.

:I do not own Pokemon or the images used in the cover, but the plot, personalities and the edited cover belongs to me. You may not copy, translate, or reproduce it in any form unless given permission by me, @NyxAbsol.:

With that, I hope you enjoy!

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A lonely place of heavenly residence.

A place where we disappear to once our work is done.

Where no one ever comes.

There's the occasional human sometimes, but no Pokemon has ever come.

Only once a year--- or when he's causing trouble---

---It's when I get to see my brother again.

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Cresselia

Not a single noise awaited me, the only sound reaching my ears being a noiseless wave of silence. 

The shadow that fell over the rocky surfaces in dappled waves seemed to grow deeper and larger. I felt a pair of piercing red eyes that stabbed through my soul, filled with nothing but contempt. My instincts forced me on guard in an instant, ready for a surprise attack that might have had hit me.

Then, still shrouded in his comforting veil of deafening silence, Darkrai— or Shadow, as Arceus sometimes called him—emerged. He didn't have a physical manifestation of his body unlike me; instead, he was a mass of dark tendrils of what seemed like smoky mist— each tendril born out of the curses and nightmares that he carried and soaked in.

I didn't have the strength to look him in the eye. I couldn't. This wasn't right at all— he wasn't supposed to bear these agonising punishments alone. The nightmares and curses that I had taken away from these slumbering Pokemon.

Every blessing was just a curse in disguise— and I couldn't do anything to help it. He had been cursed from the very beginning when he had chosen to help me.

Chosen to make my life colourful instead of his.

You stirred up trouble again, I see. As usual, there was no reply from the Pokemon opposite me. When are you going to stop doing this? You're only hurting yourself. 

It was a long time before the shadowy Pokemon— the guardian of nightmares— spoke up, his voice cold and harsh.

"I will win tonight," he said. "I do not care if you were once my sister. You were never a sister to me in my eyes."

That sentence was said so smoothly that the knife twisting inside my heart was much sharper than it would have ever been. 

"I will win." His dark eyes widened in a crazed expression, made up of so many hues of blood red, with the iris being a pale, red over, seeing nothing but the intent to kill.

"You—you've..." I trailed off, fearful at the bloodthirsty look in his eyes, driven by the intent to kill me and to win. To prove his strength, and to show that he was the stronger one. "You've changed since we first met—"

I cut myself off, the sentence sliding to a halt as I scrutinised his eyes. Behind the clear intention of destroying me in those pupils, there was a shroud of red fog that blinded him even further to his surroundings. Realisation struck me as I knew what was happening.

He still didn't remember.

After an eternity of bearing the weight of curses and nightmares that other Pokemon inflicted on him, it was only natural for him to possess the greatest curse of all.

The curse that caused him to forget the angel he once was.

But still, enduring the torture for so long, and being able to keep going... "You were the stronger one out of the both of us all along, weren't you?"

Darkrai stared at me with the same empty expression as he always did. Then, a spark of indigo lit up in his semi-solid arms, growing to the size of a deadly Shadow Ball within the span of a few seconds. His gaze darkened, and his voice distorted in ferocious anticipation as he spoke. We have talked more than enough. I came here to fight; do not waste my time now.

As—as you said, I muttered back, ducking to avoid the huge sphere of energy that had been flung at me without a trace of warning. I missed the most fatal part, at least— the attack's core—but the darkness grazed my wings, causing a jolt of sharp pain to course through me, stopping after a few moments.

Darkrai had improved for sure in the years that we had been apart. 

For regular humans and Pokemon, that was a long time, given the fact that their life span stretching over a few short decades. But for us, the legendaries, the rulers who ensured order in the world, we didn't have an accurate sense of time. We lived forever—years were days or even a matter of hours to us.

I regained my balance, ignoring the dull pain, and prepared a Moonblast, knowing that none of my normal Psychic attacks would work on it. It worked—Darkrai seemed to make an error in predicting when my move would land, and he was blasted several feet away, unmoving.

Pushing aside the small smile that had started to slide onto my face, I remained tense, energy bristling at the tip of my wings, ready to attack at once. It's not that easy beating him. It's never that easy.

I was right as a wave of inky shadow slammed into my side, and for a moment, pure blinding white flashed in front of my eyes as agony racked my body. Each cell in my body trembled in utter pain. Raising my head, I stared at the creature that had risen in front of me. He's hardly injured. But...

"You've been training in minimising the damage taken from super-effective moves," I murmured in my mind, and the haughty, ice-cold look in his flaming eyes spoke in agreement. "I was fooled by your acting. Good job."

Using his own tactic, I pretended to be stunned, dipping my head downwards in one sharp moment and slipping my eyes closed as I faked a stumble. I felt the warmth of my brother's shadowy presence near me as he prepared another attack.

A little closer, I told myself as my heart pounded. I have to time it just right.

Now. As I felt the sting of bottled-up energy fresh on my skin, I opened my eyes, staring deep into the bright purple core of a Shadow Ball. Trying to keep as calm as possible, I released the Ice Beam that had been building up inside me the whole time.

I saw Darkrai's eyes widen in shock as the Ice Beam crashed into him, and he had no time to react to do anything. The bloodlust in his expression faded—for just a split-second—as he stared at me in confusion. I took advantage of the moment of hesitation, following up with a Giga Impact.

I had no time or chance to speak. I just prayed that the look in my eyes was enough of a message.

"I will... I will make you listen!"

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Deep inside his abode that he has carved out for himself in "heaven", the godly being raises its elegant head as it watches the thoughts of the legendary Pokemon of dreams. He does not intervene- "it is not time yet", he thinks.

With that, he steals a final but unnecessary glance at the creature before halting the flow of thoughts that he had been hearing in his mind with an abrupt motion.

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"Die! Die! Die!"

I shied away from Darkrai's path of relentless attacks, not daring to meet the frenzied, bloodthirsty hunger in his crimson eyes. 

Arceus... he's strong. And he's not going to stop. I have a type disadvantage, but if I don't aim to win but instead—

Groaning with the effort, I willed all of my psychic energy into one point, feeling shivers and jolts travel up my spine. 

Psychic moves wouldn't work on Dark types like my brother, but we were created as counterparts. Our moves— if they focused hard enough, that was—did the same damage to each other no matter what, ignoring the laws and principles that Arceus had created.

Magenta exploded into a burst of energy, before forming a shimmering, pulsing shield that defended against the ripples and waves of darkness that threatened to lick at me. My vision blurred and I could feel hot tears rise up in my eyes at the pain. The shield kept up, and started to be stained with a jet black as Darkrai kept up his attacks.

Won't you let me share your burden? I tried, tried to keep my voice calm, but it was much higher in pitch than usual. I know I can't beat you. That's why I'm not trying to win; can't you see? I'm trying to—"

I was cut off by Darkrai's furious reply.

You caused all of this. You caused me to have this accursed job, and you threw me into this pit of nightmares and darkness while you lived on to enjoy the light of dreams and the bright sun. Darkrai's tone was unnervingly cold and harsh, and I couldn't say anything in reply.

And that was because all that he said was true.

That is why I will win. I will become stronger every second. I will train and better myself for the rest of my life in order to destroy you. Beating you will never suffice. His pupils shrunk, pale and red and crazed, and a rare smile curved across his face, a thin line that hid eons and years of hatred and torture.

I looked at the intensifying shadows, flickering across the ground, rolling in small waves across the island, seeming to be sucked into Darkrai's smoky body. 

Dark, stormy grey changed to an inky black, the shifts happening so slow it was almost unnoticeable, and his body sent out waves of heinous warning, a ray of the worst nightmares imaginable as it pushed me back, knocking me onto the cold, hard ground.

Why aren't you resisting? The condescending tone of his masked the vulnerable confusion well. His voice was like a sheet of strong, cracked yet fragile glass, about to shatter any moment, but still holding up from a vicious cycle that Arceus had created. I don't want to win a fight when you're not fighting back.

I know, I replied, focusing all my energy into the shield I had created, not trying to defend myself from the storm of attacks that had seemed to slow down, but instead absorbing in the darkness, turning the defence darker and darker, losing its pale magenta hue with an eventual hiss and dissolving right before my eyes. 

I just want to lift your burden... and take away some of that darkness from you...

You fool, Darkrai muttered, choosing to strike again without mercy. A Shadow Ball slammed into me at full force, and I felt the sharp, pointed ridges from a rocky surface dig into my back. The hues of black and red that had made up my brother danced around me in blurred-out shades, as if they were warning signals that blinked through my half-closed eyes.

I lifted my head, trembling, magenta eyes glittering with emotion and energy as I stared at my brother's bright red eyes, not faltering at the piercing gaze that swept over me.

I've lost this battle. You win this time, I muttered, my head dipping in exhaustion, conceding defeat. But I've managed to repress your nightmares— they're out of the way of harm now—

Darkrai finally answered, interrupting my wavering speech with a low growl. For a moment, I wondered if it was just an illusion that my half-conscious mind had projected— or if every shadow on the island was fusing with my brother's body. For a moment, I thought that I saw the red fog over his eyes shielding his vision even more as it grew thicker, hiding underneath the illusion of a clear-minded gaze.

"It's over for now. I'll be back..."

...sister."

He spat the last word, voice cold and tight, before dissolving into a swirling, deadly vortex of shadows that cloaked him as he disappeared.

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X3 I hope you enjoyed! What have I done~~~

Read, vote and comment as always, critiques are extremely welcome and now *salutes* Nyx out! :)