Chapter Eighteen: Trespass

"I'll need you guys to come with me," Lillian whispered. "If we want the plan to work, I'd like there to be as much backup as possible. Yan, I'm aware that your Butterfree is pretty strong, so—"

"No," she blurted out, the word coming out far more forceful than she had meant, and she bit her lip tightly as she glanced at the duo in front of her. "I'm sorry, but I won't. If you ask me, I think I've done more than what was warranted."

Avis' expression softened at that, and he turned to his partner with a doubtful look. "I don't think we should force her this time. She's been through a lot."

Lillian frowned in response, golden eyes thoughtful as she pondered the possibilities of success without her, but Yan's stumbled reply came sooner and a panicked flush flooded her face as she spoke.

"I don't have anything against you," she muttered. "I just—I think I need a small break from all of this. It's been pretty overwhelming, and there's something I've been wanting to do, so I hope you can understand that."

"I do," Lillian replied with a sort of unusual hastiness. "I was just hopeful, but I understand what you mean. Still, what are you planning to do?"

She bit her lip at that, glancing behind and startling when she realised that Aiden was still behind her and watching the conversation without saying a word.

It calmed her down a little, making her remember that there was at least one person on her side—and she took a deep breath before repeating the former knight's words to her.

"There's a shrine in a nearby village that's rumoured to be able to summon Dialga," she uttered. "I've only mentioned this to Avis before—and of course, he never believed me—but I can see ghosts. That's how I knew about Terminus Cave and the Kalos Headquarters, and I heard that Dialga would be able to help me figure out why I can see spirits."

Lillian said nothing; she just gazed at her with golden eyes that seemed as if they were making a hundred observations per minute, and every moment that passed was another moment that Yan felt more uncomfortable.

"All right," the Hoenn girl conceded, and that alone made her jerk in surprise. "It's not my place to question if you are sane or delusional, but you aren't lying. Thank you for telling me, then."

"Are you sure it's safe?" Avis asked, blue eyes blinking at her in worry that she couldn't see falsity in. "I can come with you if you want."

She was about to bite back a reply, because somehow she was still a little mad at the guy despite how much she cared for him, but Aiden stopped her before she could do anything stupid.

"You should let him," he suggested. "I know it's hard to forgive him, but he had no choice. Besides, not even I know what Dialga's going to do."

Yan took a few moments to consider his opinion—and as much as she wanted to refuse, she couldn't deny the irrefutable logic in the ghost's statement.

"Fine," she sighed. "I'll let you come, but just stay out of my way."

§

It was hard to choke back tears when she caught a glimpse of Avis being himself.

She didn't know why, exactly, but she felt a small tinge of sadness when she caught sight of the boy, posture as stiff and awkward as she had remembered and face set in an expression almost meant to keep others at bay.

Perhaps it was the fact that he was letting his guard down around someone he knew less than her, but she knew that he had his reasons for doing that. It wasn't fair to blame him when she was sure he was miserable acting like his brother.

"This is just a thought that came to mind, but you don't seem like the type who would get a Pokemon," Lillian uttered—but she hesitated midway, as if having noticed her prescence. "Where did your Doublade come from?"

"Oh, him?" Avis raised an eyebrow at that. "Fabio's Aegislash had an egg in the duration that he had a mission in a nursery. Of course, he couldn't keep it, so he gave it to me in return for an old favour."

When the shorter girl stayed silent, keeping her gaze on him, he just let out a huff in response. "He moved from Sinnoh when he was twelve, and I helped him out when he was half-dead. That's honestly the only reason we're friends."

"But you're glad to have him as a friend, right?" The smirk on Lillian's face conveyed a different intention than her words. "No matter how isolated one chooses to be, man cannot function right when in complete seclusion. The reason why you're still sane is because you had him and Yan."

"Would you keep quiet?" He shot her down with an annoyed glare. "If you're keeping me around for the mission, then don't bother."

Lillian sighed. "I've told you this before. I didn't ask you to join me just because of Aiden, so stop having such a negative view on life. Not everyone treats you as a conduit to your brother."

There was nothing but silence after that, with Avis turning away in disgruntled embarrassment and his partner looking on with that same confident expression of hers—and Yan took that time to leave, speeding up to where Aiden was and falling in step behind him.

"Hey, let's go," she called, a bit too loud for her taste. "It'll get dark soon."

Of course, she didn't care if it got dark; she was used to running errands in the dead of night, after all, but she had to make up some sort of excuse for urgency.

Aiden said nothing about the blatant lie. He just flashed her a small smile before turning back to guide her to the next village, and it aggravated her to no end.

A sigh escaped her lips, and she turned her focus back to walking.

"Why are you doing this?" she murmured once she was out of earshot, and a perplexed frown was etched on her face. "I may be letting you stay in my shop, but I don't need anything in return. It's fine."

He gave a soft laugh under his breath, one that didn't contain any form of malice, and it surprised her. "I don't mind," he assured. "I'm happy helping people, so there's no need to worry. And besides..."

Aiden shot his brother a knowing look. "I'm worried about him."

§

"We're here," Aiden uttered, stopping in front of a rundown structure shrouded by the evening haze. "I know it doesn't look like much, but it was built a long time ago."

Yan wasn't focused on the reason behind why there was a shrine for a Sinnoh Legendary in Kalos—rather, she was starting to panic, staring at the shrine with a confused expression and wondering just how she had planned on summoning Dialga.

Both her hands were on the rough wood now, gripping the surface like it was a lifeline, and her wide-eyed gaze at the monument was almost akin to that of a glare. Out of all the things she'd thought of doing, she'd never thought of actually getting the beast to appear and—

"Don't panic." Aiden's mumbled voice had a certain delicate touch that calmed her down. "Let me try."

He took two steps forward so that he was just next to her and stretched his arm outwards, fingers skimming the surface of the shrine as he shot the structure a soft glance.

Almost as if mocking her—telling her that it respected the ghost more than her—the dusty gem in the very heart of the niche let out a dim glow, causing her to stumble back in surprise and shoot an alarmed look at the two bewildered teenagers behind her.

It felt like almost a minute of the orb pulsing before she felt a gentle breeze ruffle her clothes in response.

A wave of surging energy that she'd never felt before forced her to shut her eyes, and her ears seemed to be on the brink of bursting when a defeaning thud rattled through the area, so loud and powerful that her knees trembled at the impact.

"Child." Yan opened her eyes at that word, and she tried her best to suppress a squeak when she saw ruby eyes glaring down at her and Aiden. "Why have you summoned me?"

She was about to speak, whether it was in the form of a coherent sentence or a scream, but Aiden made the better decision to respond to his question.

"Don't you know the answer to that?" His voice was calm, as if he was just carrying out another conversation with another shoulder in the pocket of quiet before a battle, and she wondered just how he was able to do that in such a situation. "You responded to my touch."

There was a slight pause at that, and Yan took that chance to glance behind her—Avis had dropped the facade completely, his impassive face betrayed by the shock in his eyes, and even Lillian's usual confidence seemed as if it had been shaken.

Dialga nodded his head. "I admit that it was rhetorical," the Legendary replied. "However, what makes you think that I will help out a flighty teenager whose need to find out about her ability does not benefit me or the world in any way?"

Yan swallowed, but she managed to whisper out a response. "Then why did you respond?"

"That's a good question," the creature said in his gravelly voice. "As trivial as this may seem, it seems that Arceus has ordered me to help you. I'll give you two days of my help."

"Two days?" Aiden asked with a raised eyebrow. "But what will you do?"

The Pokemon swerved to focus his gaze on him, and it was only when Yan repeated the boy's question that Dialga remembered that he was looking at a ghost. "I will send you back into your past life for two days—according to the Lord, there are answers there that could save the world from its sorry state."

"Past life?" Yan bit her lip. "What do you mean by that?"

"There is no such thing as a new soul," Dialga explained. "People and Pokemon have been reincarnating for hundreds of years, and there is no true death of the human body. I am taking you to the time before your most recent death."

When his sentence ended, she experienced nothing but the sensation of falling.

§

The location they'd been sent to looked no different than the world she lived in.

Yan didn't trust Dialga. In all honesty, she trusted far too much for her own good, but there was something about the Legendary's connection to Arceus that made her suspicious.

"Right," Lillian called, clapping her hands together to get the group's attention. "We have two days to find out about your ability to see ghosts, right? Dialga said that it was important, and besides, my goals are related to what you want to do."

Yan raised an eyebrow. "You're being pretty nice to me today."

She averted her gaze as she replied, rolling her slim shoulders in a shrug and speaking in a tone that was more gentle than her usual bark. "I realised that you reminded me of my younger brother after I got to know you better. At least, what he could have been."

She has a brother? She'd never heard Lillian mention anything about her family before, so it was only right to be surprised—and besides, she didn't know if the brother she was talking about was even alive.

It wasn't like she cared in the first place.

"I think we should go to the castle," Yan muttered after a few seconds, changing the topic and trying not to look either of them in the eye. "That's where all important events are held, right? Besides, I have a feeling that we'll find something there."

Neither of them could say anything against that, and she moved up to take the lead.

§

She was surprised to find that there were no guards around the entrance of the palace, but she didn't have the energy to question something that would benefit them.

Her relief, however, was short-lived; a man approached them as they slipped past the entrance of the castle, sword in hand and a serious expression in his eyes as he stopped in front of the group. "I don't think I've seen you guys around here before. Who are you?"

The cloak around his shoulders gave Yan the feeling that he was a knight, but his regal stance had a certain aura that made him seem much more than that.

"I—We're from another village," Lillian managed, shooting the man a wistful expression. "They've been doing quite terribly, you see, and we were forced to run away. We wanted to pay a visit to the castle and ask for help."

"Well, we don't take beggars in." The man spoke in a low tone. "I was on my way to a meeting, but you've interrupted me. I'm the king; now, get out before you cause a scene. I don't have anything to give to runaways."

Lillian took another step forward. "You're the king?" she questioned. "In that case, we'd like to—"

She suppressed a small gulp at that, interrupting her partner before she could say anything else. "I apologise for that. Would you have any advice to offer us instead?"

"Don't go near the witch of this village," he grunted. "That's all."

The king sheathed his sword at that, preparing to call his guards to drag them out, but another voice interrupted them before he could do so.

"What's happening here, Father?" A younger boy appeared from one of the many twisted corridors, observing them with a pair of calm eyes and grasping a book in his hand as he walked towards them. "I heard noises when I was in my room."

§

Aiden couldn't concentrate on the conversation in front of him.

Soundless words were flung out into the corridor's narrow width, but he couldn't focus on anything,—and it was all because of one fact that he'd learnt as soon as he'd seen the prince leave his room—

—the prince was his past self.

§

Fffff I'm sorRy I'm really tired right now and I know this chapter s ucks

I kind of have,, mild writers block right now

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