Eclipsed 25: Dream

Apollo's POV

I sat on the couch. I didn't believe what just happened.

Poor Blossom. She must feel horrible. I went into the girl's room to talk to her.

She was on her bed with Ember. I made my entrance noisy enough for them to know I was coming in.
Blossom looked up. "Oh, hi."

I looked at Ember and decided Blossom had already told her enough. She knew it, too.

Ember shifted, wanting to break the ice. "I can't believe Snowdrop. Right after you two went all smooching like that yesterday." She saw our faces and shut up.

Blossom's head snapped up. "How did you know about that?!"

I bolted upright. "You mean you didn't tell her?!"

Ember glanced between us nervously. "I immediately regret this decision!"

We both ignored her reference.

"No! I was gonna today but all this crap came up!" Blossom exclaimed.
Ember went red in the face. "It was Riptide."

"Riptide watched us kiss?!" I exclaimed.

"We all did. He saw you two wrestling in the snow and called everyone to the window. We didn't mean to watch you kiss, but you should get a room."
Blossom blushed. I felt my own cheeks darkening.

Ember decided to stop talking. She jumped off the bed and walked to the living room.

"So, is Plasma ok?" Blossom asked.
"Firework and Blitzen are taking her to the center. They said she was ice cold."

"I hope she'll be alright."

"Yeah."

There was a silence.

I sighed. "Listen, I'm sorry about Snowdrop. I had no idea she would kiss me or attack you or threaten you for being new or hurt Plasma or even-"

Blossom held out her paw. I stopped.
"It's fine," she said calmly, "it wasn't your fault."

We stood in the silence, thinking deeply.

Suddenly Geo burst into the room. "Guys, I think I know why Snowdrop is behaving so weird."

I looked at him. What was he talking about?

Riptide came in slowly, with a large red book on his back. He dumped it on the table, panting.

"We did some light reading." Geo said.

Riptide scoffed. "Yeah, light." He muttered.

"What's this sign on it?" Blossom asked. She pawed the circular symbol. The background was blue and there was a black flame outlined in white.

"I don't know what that symbolizes." Geo said casually. He heaved opened the cover. The book seemed to give off a blue glow at that time, but it could've been just me. After a while, Geo found the page he was looking for. It was in a section labeled in ruins but there was a subtitle understandable. It read: 'Spells and Curses: For the Evil Mind'. I glanced at Geo wearily. The page was titled: 'Sidere: How to Possess'.

Geo skipped through the spell and read aloud. "Once you've practiced on rattatas, you're ready to tackle larger pokemon. Find a victim and put them to sleep. It's best to target someone with an emotional issue. (To find one and make them confide their deepest secrets, see page 435) Put them under hypnosis and wake them up. Then talk to them in a persuading, gentle voice. Talk about their feelings and how you can help. When they trust you, put them back to sleep and use Dream Eater. This will make them even weaker and easier to possess. Then you chant the words Sidere Mellamurphas three times and throw cinnamon into the fire. Turn to your victim and congratulations! You've successfully possessed them! You can tell by a red gleam in their eyes." Geo finished.

I looked around and saw Ember had come back in.

Blossom stared at Geo. "Where did you get this book?"

"It's mine," said Riptide, "I took it from Galaxy's library when I was younger." He went red. "I didn't know what it was. I forgot about it."

"How come the queen never noticed? Why did she even have such dark magic in her library anyway?" I asked.

"Well, it was kind of a secret area. The book was probably in their to protect it from evil dudes. That's probably why no one's noticed it's gone."

"Anyway," Geo said, "I think this is what happened to Snowdrop. She was probably had something bothering her which made her easy to take control of. She definitely wasn't herself. Maybe her possessor was feeding off her emotions with Dream Eater which made them stronger and Snowdrop weaker. And I think I saw a glint of red in her eyes."

"I definitely saw that, too." Blossom added.

"When was she kidnapped and possessed, though?" Ember pondered.

"Maybe while she was at her parent's house." said Riptide.

"No, she's been acting a little strange since that time we got tacos." Ember replied.

"But she was acting like herself the night before." I said.

Blossom sighed. "I think I know how."
Everyone turned and stared at her.

"Well, only Apollo and Ember know this, but I can walk in people's dreams. I know it sounds creepy, but I rarely do it. Anyway, I was thinking, maybe I'm not the only pokemon who can do this. Think about it. Maybe they went into her dreams, hypnotized her, persuaded her then, used Dream Eater, and did the rest of this crap."

"Blossom," I said quietly, "You are a genius."

"But who would be able to access dreams?" Geo asked.

"I dunno." She replied.

Suddenly Ember gasped. We all looked at her.

"This may sound strange," she whispered, her eyes terrified, "But I think I have an idea of who it is."

"Go ahead. We won't judge you." Blossom said soothingly.

Ember looked up at her. "Nightmare."