♦ Dedicated to ShardsOfSapphire/PuddleOfFire for being one of my very first supporters and always being there in the depths of one of my books. You're an amazing writer that has inspired me so much, you don't even know. Flair, you're just amazing hnnn <3 We've grown apart, but I'd like to recover that friendship sometime, if that's OK with you. :) ♦

Look who's back? :^) I took way too long writing this chapter. I'm sorry, guys xD I have a...life... I think. (pFFT //starts coughing)

: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.:

Enjoy~!

❝ We'll meet again...

...one day.

I'm sure of it. ❞

༺༻

"So, let me get this straight." The Umbreon's ruby eyes glinted, seeming far brighter than even the golden glow lighting he room. "You want our help."

I shook my head gently, praying that the raw desperation in my eyes was enough to provide him an answer. No, I corrected, keeping my voice even and calming by wildly palpitating heart. A voice in my head laughed and whispered in my ear, that I was being selfish, but I ignored it. We need your help.

There was a tense silence between all four of us, one thin and brittle enough to slice into with a knife. The Espeon flicked her slim tail, studying me and Jirachi with a hard, unchanging gaze.

Jirachi stared at me, waiting for someone to just say something. She seemed like she knew much more, but was withholding whatever crucial information for later.

Surprisingly, the quiet Umbreon was the first one to speak up, gruff voice flat and masked with an air of false aggressiveness. "Fine." His sister's head snapped up, reeling back and looking at him with a wide-eyed gaze— one of shock and mistrust.

A silent argument between them seemed to ensue, two pairs of crimson-hued gazes crashing into each other, but the Umbreon seemed to win, the opposite creature's head bowing down ever-so-slightly in defeat.

"I'm not agreeing just because you two are Legendaries," he defended curtly. "Your eyes speak for you. There's someone you want to save."

I jerked my head upwards, startled by his frighteningly accurate guess, but the Espeon stepped in.

"The look in your eyes." Her voice was distant— as if she'd locked herself away from the world in fear of bad memories replaying once again— but it held a soft trill as she spoke to me. "It's the look of having lost your sibling."

My eyes widened, incapable of hiding my utter shock. Yes, the Espeon was correct— I had lost Darkrai. He still existed, physically, but his mind was now the complete opposite of the gentle, kind creature I had first met.

I want you back, I want you back, I want you back.

The tears had always been there always there behind my smiling eyes, the longing never leaving my heart.

I just want to save him, I muttered shortly. To show him— and the rest of the world— that it is possible for Legendaries to live as regular Pokemon.

There was another short burst of silence, but the Espeon's gentle voice lifted me from my hazy, haunted shroud.

"That's fine," she told me, and a hint of a smile appeared on her elegant face. The coldness in her rufous eyes had betrayed her, wearing down to show a genuine gaze of shared pain and understanding. "I know how that feels. You feel helpless, not being able to do anything for the one you love, don't you?"

I nodded mutely, and the Pokemon opposite me snuck a glance at her brother.

"You're better than me, at least." A sad, wistful, simper escaped her pursed lips. "You're doing something to get him back. All I did was wait."

Her brother looked up, and instinctively drew closer to the smaller Espeon, a protective look in his crimson eyes. His sharp canines glistened in the warm candlelight, and he continued his sister's shaky speech. "We know how you feel— literally." His stony gaze remained unchanging. "Jirachi has explained the situation to us. All we do each day is raise the sun and the moon. We would be willing to sacrifice our lives to help you."

A spark of hope ignited within me— reminding me that it wasn't just a mundane word, not just an emotion, but a promise that smiles and laughter were just around the corner.

However, the quick flash of positivity soon disappeared, replaced with confusion. I looked at the harsh stares of the three Pokemon in front of me, suddenly seeming small despite towering over their meagre heights.

Thank you, I offered politely. But, if may I ask... what do you mean by sacrificing your lives? The prophecy—

Jirachi cut me off, an unusually sombre expression on her face. She seemed almost angry, yet her voice contained a tinge of reluctant understanding aside from the iciness that she spoke with. I could hear a voice earlier. I don't know who it was— whether it was Arceus or not— but your wish will require sacrifice.

Sacrifice? A chilling feeling shot up my spine, and I hid a wince at her sharp, vague words.

Luna. Jirachi whipped her head back at me, unconsciously using the ancient name that Arceus had given me a million years ago, an unreadable scowl on her face. These Pokemon will die. Her breath caught, and she pushed back the silent tears pooling in her wide, luminous eyes. Your wish is huge, Luna. It defies the world. They will die because of your wish. She glanced at the duo behind her.

These Pokemon are. Going. To. Die.

I looked at the smaller Legendary, guilt burning like scorching gasoline in my raw gut, insides slowly curdling from the toxicity of her gaze, yet feeling pity and regret as I saw the shielded look in her childlike eyes. She avoided my gaze, and her subtle fidgeting brought her closer to the opposite side of the room and further away from me.

I'm— I'm sorry. I forced my gaze down on the floor. I really didn't know.

Whatever, Jirachi interrupted, her voice growing smaller to mask a thick layer of raw pain. They are willing to sacrifice themselves for you. If you want to do it, I don't care.

"Jirachi, listen," the Umbreon insisted, his low tone firm. "Cresselia is doing this for a reason."

The Legendary failed to hide her quivering lip, but her voice was nonchalant. Her onyx eyes were cold and hard, yet they showed no trace of the previous crystalline tears that had previously brimmed at the very surface of these optics.

Did you not listen? The wish-granter's voice was steady, as if her previous outburst had never happened. I don't care if you want to die for a cause like that. I don't care if you want to throw your life away like that.

With that, she withdrew with a flick of her two streamer-like extensions.

Espeon looked at her friend worriedly, but otherwise didn't move to comfort her. Instead, she inclined her head towards me. "Would you have any idea of what we are supposed to do?"

Of course, I hadn't even considered that.

Surprisingly, it was Jirachi that held the key to the solution. She slowly lifted her head, spinning around to face us.

What is this town called? she asked dryly. Solstice. You are defying Arceus— all of you are. What will you do to show your defiance?

I sighed, biting back a snide reply at her riddle-trapped sentences. The way she had said it made me think that we had to do about ten things at once.

What do we have to do?

Is it related to solstice somehow?

The more I mulled it over, the more my brain was reduced to nothing more than a rapidly spinning top, always finding more questions than answers.

A resonant voice caused my train of thought to break off— and I looked up to see the Umbreon staring at me, a tiny smile on his face. It was gratifying, somehow, to see the creature finally let his happiness show through his impossibly thick walls, but it was the empty, tired look in that hollow smile that caused me to suppress my smile.

The yellow rings were, for once, dimmed against their pitch-dark background— a signal to show that he had let his guard down.

"I might have a way," he spoke, tossing his fine head and staring directly at his sister.

Espeon nodded, as if understanding her brother's plan, and padded up silently to the small, wooden platform in the very center of the room.

It was almost insignificant against its rustic cream backdrop, made out of nothing more than plain, simple planks of wood— but its simplicity had stood out from the very beginning. Light seemed to twist and warp around it, every ray concentrating on and bathing the stage in a warm, resplendent glow.

Her brother joined her on the cramped podium, and both of them slipped their eyes close, leaning in to gently touch each other's foreheads.

It was an endearing sight, but the love the two siblings had displayed in that one moment was far outclassed by the scene that followed.

"I chant this blessing to raise bring forth the sun's gracing rays," Espeon murmured, her voice falling into a comforting rhythm, as if she had been doing it her entire life.

A ray of light struck the smooth, crimson opal on her forehead, causing it to shimmer in a beautiful myriad of different colours. An aureate flare gleamed around her, and the ray emerged once more— this time as a sparkling, golden beam of pure energy.

With a bursting clap, the ceiling moved with a creak, and the light split forward into a million different shades of blinding gold, a fiery orb that I vaguely recognised as the sun whisking its way into the sky and settling down in the far distance— thousands of miles away where it was out of reach.

I looked up in awe at the shades of rose-tinted mauve and flaming oranges spilling over the sky like liquid paint, tailing the so-called sun that Espeon had created and filling the sky with glorious fragments of Heaven itself.

Umbreon was next, ebony coat dappled in the wan morning light. The smooth oval of yellow on his forehead lighting up in a shining saffron hue— bright enough to make fresh snow look dull and greyed; blinding enough to rival the sun that still hung high above in the stratosphere.

"I whisper this lullaby to bring forth the shining moon's allure," Umbreon followed, his deep voice rumbling, fading echo bouncing off the wooden-panelled walls.

The circle of fur glistened even more, and all traces of light seemed to slowly blink out into dull emptiness. Colour was searched for and stolen from what seemed like every corner, the once radiant rays seeping into the oval of light and causing its glow into brighten even further— if that was even theoretically possible.

With a powerful release, a bolt of blinding gold shot into the air like a streak of pure, untainted watercolour, taking its residence opposite from Espeon's artificial sun in the form of a perfect, unwavering crescent. Half the sky seem to drain of its salmon and indigo shades, transforming into a vast expanse of pitch black and midnight blue.

What's happening? I whispered harshly. It was uncommon for a Legendary to be afraid of something this trivial, but I just had a sinking feeling in my gut that was falling, hard, down and down and down—

Through the auroras and glaring colours, I saw the faintest glint of the Espeon's smile— beautiful, yes, like a single, lone flower in late autumn, but that flower was swaying dangerously in the wind, colours draining and life seeping away steadily.

She was smiling stupidly, a smile with a twist to it, like the smile of a child who was determined not to weep.

"We're breaking solstice." Her sweet voice rang out pleasantly, but I could hear the barely-concealed crack in her voice as she struggled to maintain the sun's position in the sky as the fiery orb thrashed against her control, sensing the clashing prescence of the moon.

I'm sorry, I breathed out. Because of my selfish wish, you—

The Umbreon cut me off. "That's fine," he soothed, leaning closer to his sister for support. "You're helping us, you know. You're setting us free."

The Espeon agreed. This... it feels kind of good. It's the type of feeling when you're finally able to be at peace after all this while."

Helplessly, I fixed my gaze on the sight before me— blue, orange and magenta swirling together to become a beautiful, complete canvas in the sky, filling up each other's white, empty spaces and seeping through their cracks.

Just like me and Darkrai once were—

I swiftly dragged myself back down to reality, forcing myself into the selfless image of a Legendary I was portrayed to be.

The light emanating from the ornaments on their foreheads had started to dim, and they slowly blinked out, sleepily, as the two foxlike creatures stumbled once, trapped in time for an achingly short moment—

—before collapsing to the ground.

I didn't know what was happening— whether it was the strain of controlling forces that could never have existed side by side, or whether it was Arceus' punishment to all of us for defying his rules, whether it was the sacrifice that Jirachi was talking about— I didn't know.

The image of the duo lying against each other, huddled up almost pathetically, was deceivingly peaceful. Their eyes were half-closed, optics a sea of deep, clear crystalline sapphire and ruby.

They looked completely at ease— normal, even, as if they were about to settle down for a nap.

Of course, it was a nap that would last forever.

Now that I had the time to think about it, sleep wasn't really all that different from Yveltal's duties. It was tranquil, still, and almost beautiful— in a grotesque, twisted way.

I met their half-open gazes, studying every inch of their exhausted smiles— determined to commit them to memory. I absently asked myself when I had last allowed myself to venture from my duties like this, but decided to left the question unanswered, leaving the empty, unsaid never hanging in the delicate breeze.

I spoke, a simple phrase that I had whispered to every slumbering Pokemon who had been plagued by their tragic, haunting pasts.

I hope that someday, you'll be reunited with the one you cherish.

Their eyes finally closed, lulled into a pretence of false sleep, and all I wished was for them to have a happy dream once more.

Espeon's fading voice reached my mind as she struggled to hold on to the strands of life.

...you too.

༺༻

They're gone, I whispered.

Jirachi didn't say anything, but stretched her hand out towards the remains of their still bodies. They had started to melt, breaking into colourful shards that hovered in the air.

Their heart, she stated monotonously. The last remnant of them.

She watched listlessly as the shards started to fuse together again, pieces of their hearts sowing themselves together in an abstract fashion— sealing themselves within a cascading, orb-shaped screen that was tinted in a blossoming cerulean.

I accept your heart's truest desire. Her voice wobbled as she spoke, and as if understanding her speech, the orb glinted in the stray lights of the mismatched sky, floating over to her and sinking deep into the third eye sealed in her soft belly.

One of the five rules of the world, I muttered. Order. We broke one of Arceus' rules.

Yeah, Jirachi replied.

...I'm sorry.

It's OK.

༺༻

"So, this is what heaven looks like?"

"I suppose so."

"I rather like it."

"Me too."

"How does it feel?"

"...peaceful."

"Shall we go?

"I guess."

"I love you, you know."

"...so do I."

༺༻

Oh my gosh, guys, you're the best <3333 Thank you so much for surpassing my goal of 100 votes with an astounding 126! :) We also reached 1k reads, which is a huge achievement for me. My next goal is 150 cx

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

• nyxia ☆