Chapter Forty: Let's Go Home

The boy had no idea of what was currently going on.

Arceus felt the urge to curse, but it simply wasn't right for someone of his status. Removing himself from the boy's mind was dangerous—yes, Ryou would survive, but now he couldn't help to keep his power in check. He just had to hope that the silver-haired teen could do the rest by himself.

He spotted Giratina—who had slipped out of his previous humanlike form; he'd known he'd lost, and he accepted a grudging defeat. It was only Celeana that was the problem right now—her emotions were going out of their control and far out of their control.

If they tried, they could have killed her—but he didn't want that today. He had let enough people die already, and he wasn't planning on simply letting someone die—simply ending her life. Autonomy of life had played an essential part in creating these humans.

Ryou was a different matter, however. As much as the Legendary had grown attached to the boy—he had the right to his own life. He'd let the trainer go in there only because he was the closest to Celeana—if anyone could pull her from her destructive state, it was him.

I really hope you considered the options carefully, Arceus thought to himself. Please be in time—if you do, you will not need to be hurt in any way. But if we cannot hold up this world for too long, then more extreme measures have to be taken.

With that, he headed towards his new partner. A scowl was present on the creature's face—a far cry from the innocent Pokemon that he had created him to be—but that was to be expected. His so-called dream had just been crushed.

"This place holds many bad memories," Giratina commented. "If it is destroyed, perhaps that will be for the better—but your world was one I hoped to bring some sense to."

The god tilted his head, staring at the exit to his brother's realm—a messy portal formed from rocky slabs of debris—before responding. "I did not want to banish you, you know." An uncanny smile formed on his face. "That was a one-off incident. Something that Fate put me up to."

"I know." His brother's reply was short and quiet. "And I know that I cannot attempt to achieve my goal again. If we manage to survive all of this, Celeana will emerge stronger—she will not succumb to my tricks again. I am certain that I will not find someone like her again."

"Then stop what you are doing," Arceus muttered. "I would like to grow too—and I do not wish to be controlled by Fate any longer like a mindless puppet. Come and work with me—you do not need to be fully on my side. Just help out whenever you can."

Laughing, the Pokemon across him shook his head in disbelief. "And get punished by Fate once again?" His voice was bitter. "I feel that they will give me a verdict worse than death."

"Even Yveltal is on my side," the god replied, "and he is the one whom I entrust with death and destruction. Besides...I am not a child any more, you know. I have obtained a will of my own since those times—and I will defend your case."

The conversation then ended—the Alpha Pokemon expressed an aura of firmness that caused even his temporary partner to back away. He avoided looking at Giratina—he was probably embarrassed by the words he'd just spoken—but as he followed, he caught a short glimpse of his brother's emerald eyes.

Arceus was lonely. He'd been lonely since the beginning of time—and he'd seen that feeling dissipate somewhat when he had been created. And for the first time in a while, when they had reached the summit of the Distortion World—

—he considered that perhaps, he could call the lone god a brother once more.

• • •

It seemed that there was only one path for him to take—despite the wide void that had opened up before him as he escaped the claustrophobic corridor of TVs, it felt as if this open space could only end up in one single location.

"Ryou, you have to hurry." Arceus' voice slipped back into his mind for a moment. "The situation outside is worsening—your time is very limited. If you do not hurry up, the only way to resolve all of this is to reset the timeline—and I am sure you do know the consequences of that."

He nodded, breaking into a sprint—the mid-paced jog he was running at wasn't fast enough. He didn't know where he was running—the only colour and detail he knew of was a pure, unchanging black—but he knew it would lead him to Celeana.

A shudder ran through his body as he felt the ice-cold hand that snaked up from the ground, the shadowy limb attempting to wrap itself around his leg and trip him—and for a moment, it felt like all energy was draining from his leg.

Arceus' blessing seemed to have awoken, though—with a hiss, the shadow backed away and dove into the floor once more. His eyes widened, having recognised the touch of a girl back from the Meowstic's den—but that couldn't matter now. He had to go on.

He continued running—and the silence continued on for what seemed like a dreadful eternity. The darkness around him, however, was starting to lift—he could now at least make some sense of his surroundings.

The faint light around him illuminated a room—and, in the center of the large area, he saw what he had been searching for—rather, whom he had been searching for.

Panicked amber eyes gazed at him—not a trace of recognition shone through the fog of utter terror and anger that had overwhelmed the coordinator. Black chains had been wrapped around her wrists—was it her emotions that were trapping her, or Giratina?—and her mouth parted open to speak.

"Die," she snarled—this was a completely different side that he had never seen before. It was animalistic, yes—it was the anguish that she could normally keep under control. "Die, die die—just die, for Arceus' sake. I don't want to see you."

She normally wasn't like this—he knew that much. Giratina had done something twisted to her—and he'd seen exactly what had transpired in her mind. Her kindness had been drowned out by the whispers that she'd been corrupted by—all she was experiencing right now was hatred and pain.

Even her happiest memories had been blocked out—and it hurt. Knowing that she couldn't fall back on the countless times they'd bickered back and forth—the times that he had thought his mask to be unbreakable and the times she'd proven it wrong—it really did hurt.

Shadows rose up from nowhere—shadows of the girl's own mind; ones that contained all her despair and hatred towards her friends—and before he could even evade, he had been captured by the ghostly hands then clawed at him, as if fighting to be the first to devour him.

Arceus' power wouldn't help in this situation, and both of them knew it. This was something much deeper than pain—no, they were monsters born from things that he had done. They aimed for something much more personal—they aimed for his heart; to destroy the supposed evil to protect their master.

It was agony even breathing—even his lungs seemed to be overridden with these creatures—but he couldn't die just yet. If he did, the whole world was at risk—besides, he wouldn't die simply because Arceus was a part of him. He could feel the pain—yet, he wasn't allowed to die.

In other words, it was absolutely torture to live.

A shuddering breath left his throat, and he reached out, desperate to do at least something—and when he felt his palm brush the fabric of Celeana's vest, he did the first thing he could think of, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into an embrace—one that he wouldn't let go of, just as she had once done to him.

"I know you kind of want to kill me right now," he breathed, trying to keep his tone light. "I understand, OK? Just give me a while to talk—I have a lot to say. First..." He grasped for an incident at the back of his mind—and one easily came. "You do remember the time we first met, right?"

He laughed—a genuine one—as he recalled the time where he'd asked for a battle and she'd hesitantly agreed—only to be completely defeated moments later. "I'm sorry. I should have noticed your discomfort," he mumbled. "But I'm glad we met—even if it amounted to this in the end."

"There was also the time when you wanted to travel with me," he continued. "And the time where you seemed so proud of yourself just because you bought some supplies all on your own. That was pretty hilarious, don't you think?"

Closing his eyes, he smiled—and Celeana stopped struggling in his arms for a split-second. These memories were all crystal clear—even if he didn't have a good memory, they would be hard to forget anyways. They hadn't just been burned onto his mind, but onto his heart.

"Well, maybe." A laugh. A playful round of teasing. "If you bow to me, peasant."

And, to his surprise, she had done it—probably part of her initial nervousness and desperation that he had failed to notice. Not minding that, he carried on—he would do this.

"Oh yeah. There was that time you asked me for the definition of 'past,'" the boy chuckled. "That was a sensitive question—I didn't even bother to ask why you didn't know such a simple word. I didn't mind, though. I used to mind, but that's over now."

We've been through a lot, huh? I don't think what I'm saying would ever be enough to describe this journey—"There was also the time we got stuck in that time loop. It was crazy as hell—especially with Quinn and that replica of you—but at least we got out of there alive, right?"

"And then there was that time." His pitch fell, and he didn't care if the coordinator even listened to what he was saying—but he felt the need to keep talking—to fill the silence with as many words and memories to last a lifetime. "Steven tried to get me to come back."

"I would have lost myself even further if you hadn't been there to give me a slap back to reality," he muttered, gazing down for a second. "You accepted me as someone who wasn't a coward or loser—or the heir to some fancy place—I guess that's why I want to return the favour now."

"No one needs you to pretend that you're something else," she'd said.

"I'm sorry—let me make a promise here. I promise not to forget this face of yours again."

"I know that you wouldn't break that promise!" He was shouting now, his ears filling up with the overly loud noise—but he was past caring about that. "I know you meant it—to not forget me—my true personality, so—"

His voice dropped to a hushed whisper, and he tried his very best to smile. "So...just come back to us soon, OK? I'm waiting for you. And I know you can do it."

"Clumsy, shy—and overwhelmingly kind..." Ryou took a deep breath and stepped back, placing his hands on Celeana's shoulders and inspecting her eyes—a clear golden was starting to shine through her irises, the fog over her wide optics lifting—just a little more. "That's how I remember you. And this time, I won't forget your true self."

As he spoke, a plate had materialised in his hands—a lime-green slab of smooth marble that glimmered with energy. It was, after all, what Arceus had used in the creation of Celebi—despite its innocuous exterior, it held more power than the Time Traveler herself.

"You'll be fine if you touch it," he offered, holding the object out to her. "I'll help you, so stop trying by yourself. I'll help to seal away the darkness."

Unsure, she brushed her fingers against the glassy surface—and tears had collected in her amber eyes by then. Tears that streamed down her cheeks as she brushed them away, not understanding why she was crying—but she could feel again.

"One more thing," he laughed, not knowing if he would even get the chance to do it again. He closed the distance between them—and this time, it was him that pressed his lips to hers. The moment only lasted a few seconds—and he knew that it was enough. "I never got to return the favour."

—why was he doing it? He didn't exactly know why—maybe some illogical part of his brain thought that it would assist in bringing her back. 

He smiled, pulling away as he saw the world around them starting to shatter—they were escaping her mind; and soon, she would be in the real world once again.

"Thank you for loving me for 'me'," he stated, looking down and releasing the tense breath that he had been holding. "Anyway...you should be going home now, OK? It'll be fine."

"Let's go home, Celeana."

...he knew that was a lie. Only one of them would be going back.

He could feel Arceus starting to separate from his soul. The process wasn't painful like he'd expected—he didn't feel anything particularly agonising. Instead, he felt a small voice—telling him that he'd done enough, that it was time for him to sleep—and the sensation of falling.

After all, taking all of her despair like that had been a foolish move—but it was the only way. A way that could save her—save Quinn, Ruby and Sapphire too—but an equal penalty had to be dealt out in order to reset the timeline.

Am I dying...?

There was no way he wasn't. He'd chosen to do it—to be the sacrifice in order to restore their world.

I don't regret it.

His world contained only black now—his sight had already been lost, and it was only a matter of time before his mind—now slowing to a halt, having relaxed from its previous frenzy—stopped.

Let's go home, Celeana. Let's go home.

• • •

She awoke in an unfamiliar world.

Her head throbbed from what had happened, and her mind was a haze from the restless sleep that she'd fallen prey to—but Giratina had used her eyes to see, after all, and the events that had occurred in her very mind couldn't be forgotten.

Celeana jerked her head up at the first concern that had floated into her head. Ryou.

It was then that she noticed that there was another figure resting against her lap—and, judging from the fact that her arms were supporting the boy's head, it must have been an unconscious action of sorts.

"Ryou?" She looked down at the teenager—his eyes were closed, and it was starting to worry her. "Ryou, what's wrong?"

Her voice rose in pitch, it was then that she noticed that he wasn't breathing—the rise and fall of his chest was gone—and as she placed a hand over his heart, only silence responded from under the shivering skin of her palm.

"Ryou, wake up..." Her breath hitched—no, this couldn't be true; after all the promises he had just made—and he wasn't even there to answer her. "Tell me you're not d—just wake up and come back to me. Please, Ryou, you're not dead—"

Her eyes were already damp—not that she cared, she was always one to cry easily—and her words were foreign to her ears.

Yet, there was some firmness in the truth—an awful one at that, but she'd noted how the younger boy looked more than peaceful as he slept. His messy white hair fell around him like some sort of an abstract halo, and his mouth was curved into an expression that almost be a smile.

He had been happy—truly happy. Wasn't that all that mattered?

She brought his limp head into her arms—and she sat there in a disbelieved trance as the last of the Distortion World faded away to oblivion.

A voice that she assumed was Arceus or Giratina called down to her. "Celeana, you have to stand up now," the figure muttered. "If you stay with him, both of you will be dragged down with the Distortion World and into nonexistence. He didn't want that to happen—at least make his death matter."

She didn't want to. She didn't want to believe in that truth and leave him behind. Still—he'd done all this already—and a part of her accepted the truth. That she should live on for his sake.

Reluctance still lingered in her unwilling posture as she placed the boy on the ground—as gently as she could—before standing up.

This was the final chance she would have to speak with him.

"...Let's go home, Ryou."

• • •

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I hope you knew how much it physically hurt to write this chapter. I'm not even kidding. I was close to tears; but I don't know, it might just be me being tOo attached to my books and cinnamon rolls.

song in media is "and i'm home" from madoka magica; sung by lizz and koko (yt singers.)

also also watch this (metronome by kenshi yonezu, sung by zeru from yt)

https://youtu.be/--Zt2n159NE

Ryou was always my favourite character. He was kinda the reason why I even liked the book in the first place, and...it was so hard to write those scenes where just...ugh. I don't want to talk about it.

"I think I kinda ran out of characters to kill" -me to HoennChessShipper and LogicalCabbage

There's still the epilogue, although I don't know if I'm up to this xD I hope you've enjoyed, though-

So...I don't know. Write tributes to Ryou? Idk. Do whatever you guys want.

one more thing, i guess. happy birthday to me. (it's tomorrow, but eh.)

thank you guys so, so much for the support here. i'll gush more in the epilogue.

for now

let's go home.