When I first woke up in Kalos, there were a lot of things I realized I had in my imminent future.

While paranoid people can come up with a wide range of things to be afraid of, one of the few things I didn't expect was to be sitting in a limo, driving away from an archaic death machine with the Champion of Kalos after slaughtering a god.

Oh yeah, "Carry On My Wayward Son" is blaring out of the windows.

Despite all of this, I sit perfectly still and hold myself there, not daring to move for fear of fracturing everything. Besides me, Shauna is shivering in her seat.

I don't want to think about anyone or anything. Chrona's death is still fresh in my mind. Luckily, I've gotten good at faking any semblance of emotion while I try to recuperate. The rest of the team needs to know that I'm alright, that they can trust me.

After a prolonged silence, Shauna speaks up, "He was lying, right? He was a complete psychopath. This world... these people... there's no way that it could be... fake."

"Lysandre was a lot of things... but never a liar. He was too proud to lie to anyone. Otherwise this could have been ended a lot earlier." Diantha says, pushing the gas a bit.

"He lied to all of those poor grunts working under him." Shika sighs, staring out the window. "He lied to all of Kalos too."

Diantha shakes her head. "No, I said anyone. Lysandre doesn't consider the civilians people. He considers them lines of code in a greater, cosmic machine."

"But y'all are sayin' he was right?" Millie says.

"If you all have seen it and he's seen it, there's no reason why it wouldn't be." Diantha says. "I've had suspicions myself."

"Really?" asks Bronze.

"Yes, though as I said... Lysandre's methods were unacceptable. Things are nowhere near as hopeless as he paints them to be." She lays on the break and we stop in front of an enormous mansion. "Welcome home."

"This is your house?!" Dill asks.

"Yes. It's yours too- for as long as you'd like to stay, anyways." beams Diantha as she unlocks the doors and we pile out.

AZ, who has been silent the entire time, slips out of the car and turns to Diantha with an appreciative nod.

"I'll be going on now." he grunts.

"You aren't going to stay?" Shauna asks, shocked.

"I'm afraid I can't, Floette. Xerneas and I had a deal and that deal is over. I've seen more than any mortal eyes have ever seen and I've done more than any one man should ever do. If I learned anything, it was that there's only so long we are meant to wander. It loses its appeal quickly." he sighs.

Shauna clutches his hand. "Y-you're going to die?"

"If you'd put it that way. I suppose I'm going off to find my second chance."

She holds her arm very tightly, as if about to pop every blood vessel in it. "Thank you." she says finally.

"Thank Xerneas for letting us see each other again, old friend." With that, he begins walking away.

"You're just going to let him go?"

"I don't want to." Shauna says, "But truth be told, I can't make him stay. Anyways, my family is all of you now. Right?"

Dill smiles. "Of course! We've always got room for more."

Bronze puts a hand over her shoulder. "Goldeneyes have to stick together."

"Thank you." Shauna says. "Thank you all!" She's crying, and Diantha stands a little ways off. She looks sad.

"Is something wrong?" I ask.

"Only thinking about someone." she replies. "It doesn't matter. Come along." She curtseys at a gate and it opens. She guides us to the entrance, dress battered but still billowing in the wind ever so slightly, and opens the door herself with an air of grace.

"After all of you." she says, and Bronze and Toxis move in to take the doors from her. She smiles and continues walking after we've all entered. For such a large place, the entire mansion is terribly empty. There don't appear to be any maids or butlers, at least no human ones. A few Minccino dust the floors and a Swellow sings merrily in a birdbath outside of the window, but that's about it.

As we continue through the lavish rooms, we enter an enormous ballroom adorned with beautiful curtains and a small bar in the corner. It's odd to see something so informal juxtaposed with the civil beauty of the rest of the room, but I suppose Diantha has her reasons.

"This is so beautiful!" gasps Sky, staring up at the enormous chandelier.

"I usually entertain celebrities here. I try not to throw too many parties, if only for the sake of my image, but I suppose on occasion a little self indulgence can be allowed."

"A little," whispers Sky with a hint of jealousy to Khrys. "If only we had room for a 'little' self indulgence in our lives."

Diantha looks back but says nothing, instead leading us on through the room in silence. My every step echoes across the room, making it feel far emptier than it really is. Something is unsettling about it all.

Eventually, we go up some stairs and come to a wing of rooms.

"These are the guest bedrooms. Make yourself at home." she says quietly.

"Our belongings are still at a hotel in Lumiose." Gaia mentions, one of the first times the older Geodude has spoken up thus far.

"I've got the address, our room number, and my credit card. I think I can get us back in." Dusty says, raising a hand.

"I can have one of my Pokemon fly you there and back before the sun sets. Hazel is one of the strongest Talonflames in all Kalos."

"Oh! Absolutely!" Dusty says, and Diantha hands him a Pokeball.

Korrina sighs. "I've slept in the wild before. A few days in a place like this without my stuff is fine."

Diantha looks a bit put off by the comparison, but says nothing. "Very well. Oh yes. Shauna, would you come with me?"

I look to Shauna, who looks meekly back at me. She's still very unsteady right now. This universe is fragile, and though the realization never really shocked me, I can imagine how cruel it would seem to someone who hadn't been broken the way we were. I've stared into the abyss and let it take me once. I was reborn beneath a dead sky. Things like these will unapologetically haunt you forever. "If you don't mind... I'd like to come with her." I insist.

"It doesn't really concern you, but I suppose." Diantha says, walking down another, longer hallway and then down a long set of spiral stairs.

Shauna clenches my hand gratefully. We come to a large room with double doors, which when opened, appears to be Diantha's room. It's light and airy, full of pink, and yet one of the few pieces of furniture in the room is a single file cabinet in the corner.

I find myself drawn to it. What could she be holding...

She turns back to us with a stern expression on your face. "I understand you must be scared and terrified. What I am about to tell you will inevitably make you even more so. However, I am not one to prolong such matters, especially not when Kalos itself is at stake." She sighs.

"I'll understand." Shauna says.

"I want you to be the new Champion of Kalos in my stead." Diantha says, staring straight into Shauna's eyes.

Shauna opens her mouth and closes it again.

"Can you take on the position?"

"I... I don't know. The last two days or so... everything has changed so much. I don't know if I'm ready to live in a world like this, knowing it's all fake."

"AZ doesn't think so. You are the child of the prophecy. You're destined to draw humans and Pokemon equal. Do you know... what he meant?"

"No." Shauna admits. "I have no idea what anything means anymore."

"I believe I may have an idea. Let's imagine ourselves in inside the code of this... "game". Every word we say to another human being is scripted. However... in the case of Pokemon, the encounters are completely randomized. While the humans may be already programmed in, each Pokemon we encounter is unique. All along, we believed this prophecy was to set the Pokemon equal to humans... but what if it's to make human souls spontaneous as Pokemon ones?"

Shauna looks nervous. "But... I have no idea how I'd do that. Prophecy or not, I'm still... just a teenager. I have a lot left to learn, and today has taught me that I don't want to take those steps just yet."

"Very well then. If you really want time... we may as well make it formal. When you're ready, you can challenge the Pokemon League and fight me for my title. Until then, I'd like to train you myself."

"Alright. That... that works. But first... what about the other Goldeneyes?" Shauna asks, taking a quick glance in my direction.

"As I said, my house is their house. They can stay here if they'd like and I will help them to the best of my ability. We can solve this all together. Deal?"

Shauna seems satisfied. She reaches her hand out and grasps Diantha's. "Deal."

***

There's a double bed waiting in my room. Bronze is laying there, already asleep. It doesn't even matter that the sun is still in the sky. I've never been so exhausted in my life. I lie down beside him and his voice rings in my ear. "Lilly..."

He is warmer than the sun itself. Just a second in his presence and I have melted. I look back into his eyes and smile sadly. "By Lugia, I'm so tired..."

"I know." he says. "Me too."

There's tension between us. Doubt. Hesitation. Our future is hiding from us again, elusive as Celebi itself.

"We'll figure it out in the morning." I tell him.

"If you say so." he says, rolling away and taking some of the sheets with him.

Playfully, I yank them back. He looks surprised but doesn't retaliate, merely drops his gaze to give me puppy eyes. When that elicits no reaction, he closes his eyes and smiles.

"When I close my eyes... I still tell myself that I'm in Johto." he tells me.

I close my own eyes and the lake expands before me in my mind's eye. There's comfort in it. If I try hard enough, I can create something more than a memory from whatever broken puzzle pieces I have left of my long-ago stolen home.

"Me too."