My head thumped with each pump of my heart, making blood pound ing my ears in a quick, steady rhythm. I groaned silently as I opened my eyes slowly, very cautiously. White splashed walls was the first thing I saw, my mind still a hazy panic of fear as pain laced my joints and muscles. Where am I? Floated through my mind, I couldn't remember anything after the injection, except... Pain... Team Rift everywhere, Shadow.... is that we're I am? Had my purpose been served and I'd been handed over to my adversary for whatever sick desires he had planned? I have to get get out of here! I need to find Claire, Red and... Silver?

Silver! For some reason I felt alarm when I thought of my brother. Had something happened to him? I couldn't remember.

Shaking my head harshly, I pushed myself from the bed, yanking out several IVs, tubing and needles from my wrists before tossing aside the starchy white covers. My shoes had been removed as had my jacket and my socked feed slipped slightly on the polished floor sending pin pricks of pain through my feet. Putting complete pressure on my feet cause me to whimper from the jabbing pain but I didn't care.

Stumbling from the room, I ran down the halls, not caring where I was going, just trying to get out. My lungs seemed I possibly tight in my chest as thick beads of sweat dropped from my forehead. The pain from my legs was gut churning and I found myself having to use the walls for support as I ran blindly for freedom. Hot jabs of agony stabbed my knees with each step I took, tears burned my eyes and I didn't even bother holding them back as they trailed down my cheeks.

My pain had blinded me from the person in my path as I rounded a corner, the collision only escalating the feelings of strain in my chest and legs. The person held onto me tightly as I struggled, squeezing my eyes shut in effort to hide my fear but the tears slipping freely down my cheeks did no effort to help. Pushing them away from me, I scream at them to get away but they held on.

"Emma, calm down. It's just me, it's Silver, you're safe now Em. Calm down." The familiar voice soothed as the owner gently stroked my hair. "It's okay now, you're safe now."

Opening my eyes, I looked up at my big brother's soft silver eyes. "S-silver? " I could only stare at him, stupidly weak.

"Yeah, it's me. You're safe now." He explained softly as my legs gave in to the pain and I fell limp in his arms. "Easy now." He muttered, holding onto me before swooping me into his arms and taking me back the way I'd come. "You need to rest and take it easy, okay. You're safe now, promise."

"Where am I?" I whimpered, holding onto my brothers jacket tightly. "Wh-what happened?"

My brother sighed slightly as he put me back down on the bed I'd woken up in. I pulled my knees up into my chest, curling into the fetal position as I cried out my fear. "You're in Luminous City hospital. I brought you here after you fainted." Silver explained, wiping my dampened cheeks with a tissue.

"When.... why?" I questioned, not being able to remember what I remembered last. My mind was just a foggy, jumbled mess. "That's not helpful."

Again, Silver sighed, pushing a green button on a small remote near my bed. "I'll explain everything in a moment, I just called a nurse to come fix you back up. You're still really dehydrated and probably need all this stuff I'm not even going to pretend that I know what half of it does. Right now, just know you are safe and that everything will be okay from here." My brother kept his tone soft, reassuring and calm. "I promise."

"What about Red-- Claire and my Pokémon? What happened with Team Rift? I need to get home or they're going to come for me again Silver." I burst into tears, hugging myself tightly as an overwhelming sense of dread and despair filled me, mingling with the intense agony from the rest of my body. "I want to go home."

"Hey hey hey, calm down Em. Everyone is fine. Promise. Red should of been in here with you--" As he said that Red came out of what I'm assuming was that bathroom, freezing when he saw me awake and Silver glaring him momentarily before turning his attention to me with a much softer look in his eyes. "Claire is still assisting with taking over the rest of Team Rift and your Pokémon are all back at Blackthorn City Pokémon Centre in a perfectly stable condition-- everyone is fine now and you will be too."

Silver ran his fingers through my hair, gently hushing me calm. I was, at this point, half asleep - still hiccuping lightly as my brother did his best too soothe me. He fiddled with the blankets, making sure I was properly tucked in. It only took a few minutes for a nurse to enter the room, pulling my brother briefly aside but I continued to drift off as Red took his place. The Nurse came back to my side, gently reattaching the two different needles to my wrist after cleaning the area and switching for clean needles on the tubes of course.

I closed my eyes, the needles didn't seem to scare me like they normally did with Red holding my hand as tightly as he was. One of the needles brought a numbing sensation, taking away my pain and my consciousness with it.

~Silver~

"I told you she'd freak out, why weren't you with her." I growled at Red, furious within him for leaving Emma as I dragged him from her room, not wanting to risk waking her. "She could have been seriously hurt if she'd made it out of the hospital. There are still quite a few members of Team Rift out there and Emma could very well die if she has to go back, she's way too weak to go through any of that again." Over the past five days Red and I had been taking on and off shifts watching over Emma as she slept, knowing that she'd be scared and quite disoriented when she did eventually wake up.

"Look, I'm sorry okay. Yes I know the risk and if I'd known Emma would decide then of all times to wake up, I would have waited to use the bathroom." Red explained, I could tell he'd honestly felt bad about leaving Emma so I decided to leave it as it was.

Shaking my head, I took the seat next to Emma's bed. She was asleep again, which was expected. Emma was completely drained in pretty much every aspect of her being, physically, mentally and emotionally and no doubt just ready to go back to Johto to recover. Unfortunately we couldn't take her back just yet. Whatever Team Rift had done with Emma, it was working. Only slowly but the sky had begun to change, twisting and churning with an array of blacks, purples and white just above Geosenge Town. People were worried -scared - and it was getting more difficult to keep the police and media away from my sister. Thankfully, Claire had convinced the champion of Kalos, Diantha, to provide Emma with special protection from a the Kalosian Government. Since no one knew exactly how to fix the opening rift, the worlds only hope could very well be Emma, the main problem was keep everyone away from her until she had recovered enough to try.

Emma needed rest, she hadn't slept properly in well over two months and she was obviously beyond exhausted and needed whatever protection she could be supplied with until she was strong again. Since Claire was still working with a small army to infiltrate and take over Team Rift's HQ, it was mostly down to me and Red to protect her as nobody else was allowed in Emma's room - other then the doctors and nurses who were responsible for her recovery of course.

I sighed deeply, leaning back in my chair. It was all very exhausting. Red and I had to travel from the other side of the region where we had literally been dumped from the helicopter, in less then a week which was no easy feet. I was just sorry that I hadn't been able to get here sooner, save Emma from the pain of having two months worth of pain, pent up power and anger forced out of her in the span of a few minutes and used to power a weapon of mass destruction that was literally ripping a hole through space. Couple that with the fact Emma believed she'd watched Kathrine kill me and been helpless to to anything meant that Emma simply couldn't handle any more. She was done, she'd broken.

~*🌸*~
~Emma~

I slept on and off for quite some time, or at least, it felt like quite some time. I couldn't be sure. When I did wake, Silver or Red were often close by, someone was always by my side. They held my hand, stroked my hair and often spoke to me in a soft, calming tone. They argued often, but generally took it outside my room when they did, most likely so they wouldn't disturb my rest. I couldn't move much, the pain was too intense and now I was safe, I had no need for movement.

Silver fussed over me like a mother Ducklette, making sure I was eating, although he was fine with me eating a lot less then I did while in Team Rift's base as he, unlike Kathrine, knew that I wasn't someone who ate much, especially when I was scared, sick or anxious. All three I felt now. Silver was satisfied with a couple of mouthfuls of soup or a few bites of a sandwich a here and there. He made sure I was warm or cool enough, changing my blankets when needed and so on. Fluffing up my pillows and helping me limp over to the bathroom when needed. Claire had gotten me a room on my own and a special one with a bath since I didn't have the strength to stand long enough to shower yet. I hadn't yet seen Claire but I'd been reassured numerous times by both Silver and Red that she was fine and just helping to clear out Team Rifts HQ in return for the special care I was being given as well as to make sure I was a safe as possible from them. I'd also made sure Serenity had been found and was safe, fit felt wrong to abandon her now as she had been quite a large source of help and moral strength when needed. A lot of Pokémon had been recovered from Team Rift's base, including Diancie who under my special request, was to remain uncaught. Diantha had promised to see that the Rock-Fairy Type got home to the Diamond Domain safely once she was stronger but until then she, like me, was under special care and protection.

Serenity had been given four options as she too was a special case. Many of the Pokémon Team Rift had stolen would either have their trainers tracked down and returned to them, if their trainer did not want them then they would be put up for adoption or given the option to be returned to the wild. Serenity too had these option, return to her trainer, be put up for adoption or released to the wild as well as an additional choice, join my family of Pokémon. Of course the Audino had chosen to join me, although she didn't want to battle so she, like my Lopunny Pom-pom, would simply assist in the care of my other Pokémon when I couldn't look after them.

When I woke - my mind still abuzz with thoughts of everything that had happened in just the span of a few days - I was met with the same dizziness I'd felt every morning, enticing a groan from me. I opened my eyes, wincing against the harsh light of the hospital. A hand started stroking my head, something not unusual for Red or Silver but when my eyes grew accustom to the light, I saw Claire instead. I forced a tiny smile for her, it felt like an age since I'd seen her last even though reality said only about three weeks. She smiled back, a real one unlike mine but she didn't seem to mind that I'd forced my smile.

"Morning sweetheart." Claire greeted softly, still stroking my hair.

I carefully rose my hand to hold hers, it trembled slightly but I managed. "You--you're okay?" I questioned, my eyes tearing up slightly as I did.

Claire nodded. "I'm fine." She promised. "Sorry I haven't been here lately, I wish I could have but now at least, almost everyone who was apart of Team Rift or Team Galactic has been arrested." She smiled as she said that. "Cyrus and his admins as well as the two admins of Team Rift included."

"What about Kathrine?" I whimpered, feeling a frightened tear roll down my cheek. "She's still out there, isn't she."

"Hey, don't cry." Claire soothed, wiping it away. "Kathrine did manage to elude arrest but she can't keep that up forever. She will be found and put away for a long time and she won't ever touch you ever again, I made sure of that. Promise."

"Can we go home?" I pleaded. "Even if I was moved to Goldenrod Hospital or something. I just want to get out of Kalos..."

"I know you do Em but there's one more thing you need to do before we go home..." Claire explained as Silver came over and sat down on the edge of my bed, gently rubbing my side, pity clear in his eyes.

Two more tears ran over my cheeks. "What do I have to do? I want to go home Claire."

Claire looked over her shoulder, where Red stood uneasily by the curtain. She nodded to my boyfriend who pulled aside the curtain to reveal what was hidden beyond. Silver and Red had kept the curtain closed the entire time I'd been here, saying that the light would be too much for my eyes, I'd always been too tried to argue. However the curtain hid the swirling mess of what should be the sky. A gapping white hole sat as if a hole ripped in the centre of the world to another, guarded by a golden net of light. Pokémon seemed to be battling for entrance to the hole, some protecting it, others attacking it.

I shook my head harshly, burying my head in the blankets. "I don't want to, I don't want to do this."

"I know you don't Emma, I really do know that. More then anything, I would like to take you home. Unfortunately Emma, your power opened this rift, only your power can close it." Claire explained softly, I could see the pity in her eyes as she held onto my hand tightly. "Then we can go right home so you can get better. Okay? You just need to be brave a little longer, okay? I'll be with you the entire time, so will Silver and Red. We won't leave your side for anything."

"Okay Claire, I'll try but promise me that we can go home straight away." I pleaded.

My guardian nodded, gently kissing my forehead after. "Promise, and I promise, nothing will hurt you."

~*🌸*~

When Claire promised protection I can honestly say I didn't expect the small army of a hundred of Kalos's strongest Pokémon Trainers to be included. Apparently Diantha wasn't happy with a massive ass portal hovering above her region and wanted me to fix it immediately, Claire instead had arrange for me to be protected and kept safely away from the prying eyes of the public until either I'd recovered or the state of the rift became too unstable to be left along. The latter of the two is what was happening.

I sighed slightly as I shook my head briefly. Silver gently rubbed my arm reassuringly, giving me a small smile as he did. Since I still wasn't strong enough to stand on my own, I was using my big brother for support as we entered Geosenge Town. I was tense, very tense as I knew Kathrine and Shadow were still out there somewhere and I knew they'd both come after me given the chance.

Taking a deep breath in, I gently pushed my older brother away, closing my eyes and opening myself up to aura. The surrounding area was overrun by pure energy, white light blotched out pretty much everything to the point it gave me a massive headache just from feeling it. Opening my eyes again, I looked at the sky above my head. Legendary Pokémon defended the rift from Pokémon who were not worthy of entering, if even one got through, the repercussions could be devastating. Only legendary or mythical Pokémon could be in the Legendary Council meaning that if a regular Pokémon got through, would be reborn as one with legendary status. Such an event could completely throw off the worlds balance and if a human entered, they would either be obliterated or gain powers which would rival my own. I had my abilities given to me by the willingness of The Voice of Purity, an essence that was almost sentient in a way because I was (somehow) the best possible choice. But just anyone gaining that kind of power could very well tear the world apart, especially as mine was capped so I didn't use more then what I was capable of but theirs wouldn't be.

"Give me room." I ordered to everyone around me. They obeyed as they had been instructed. Silver was a bit more hesitant but Claire dragged him off, trusting my judgment. Letting out a deep breath, I took one back in, closing my eyes again and holding out my hands mostly to hold myself steady as I was still very weak. I followed my instincts in absorbing the excess energy from the surrounding area.

Intense pain ran through my body within mere seconds of me starting. I cried out as my knees buckled and the connection snapped. Silver broke away from the crowd, kicking up gravel as he dropped to my side, concern clear in his silver optics.

"Are you okay, what happened?" He questioned, helping me to sit up and lean against him for support.

Wiping away the thin layer of sweat from my brow, I looked up at my brother  with scared eyes. "It's took much Silv, I can't contain it all, not on my own..."

"Perhaps we can be of assistance then?" Shadow's trademark snide voice broke in. I made no attempt to hide my groan of annoyance. I did not want to deal with Shadow right now, or ever but unfortunately, he seems to have literally nothing better to do with his life other then stalking me around.

I looked away from my brother and over the Shadow. His blue eyes held amusement yet showed seriousness, as they often did. Glaring at him harshly, I held onto my brother a little tighter, knowing that his agreement with Kathrine no doubt meant he'd want to take me somewhere I could only imagine as diabolical.

N stood by his side, which confused me as N had told me last time I saw him that he no longer had any connection with Shadow yet stood by him as if they were best mates. "Must you always be in centre of every dilemma Emma." He sighed, seemingly somewhat annoyed. "Now I have to get involved in all this, something I really didn't want to do."

Holding onto N's hand was Anne, eyes wide as dinner plates as she trembled slightly at what was going on above. "Anne!" I cried out, struggling in my brother's arms until N let my little sister go and she ran into my arms. I hugged her tightly, Anne most likely didn't know of our blood relation at this point but I still wanted to protect her, she was my family now.

"Found that little one wandering through the forest and thought you might want her back." N explained with an edge of cockiness in his tone as he and Shadow moved closer. Silver didn't approve of this and ordered his Feraligatr between us and them. He held onto me tighter, not trusting either N or Shadow from personal experience with both.

Sighing to myself, I stood back up, wincing as I did. Despite the medication I'd taken before leaving the hospital, it was still very painful to stand. I gently handed Anne over to Silver, giving him a firm look. "Take care of her, okay?"

Silver nodded, although reluctant before I nudged him away and turned to Shadow and N. "What do you have in mind because I have no idea what to do." I stated, walking forward and holding onto my brother Feraligatr for support. I didn't trust either of the and although the Water Type starter was not my Pokémon, I knew he would obey me if I gave him the order to defend me as he knew it would be what Silver would order anyway.

"Simple," Shadow smirked. "rather then just absorbing the energy, something I doubt you could safely do even in the best of condition, redirect it somewhere that needs power."

"Where would that be, I can't exactly just covert all of it into electricity." I huffed, rolling my eyes in annoyance, can he seriously just get to the fucking point already?

"No, but I do believe that without the Legendary Heart as a power source, the Legendary Council is falling apart is it not." Shadow smirked. "The answer is simple my dear, close the portal by directing to power keeping it open inside of it. The rift will collapse in on itself and everything will be peachy."

"I don't think I could do it on my own..." I frowned, hugging myself as I looked back up at the portal. "I'm not strong enough."

"The Three Voices were created as a trio for a reason." Shadow smirked. "Light." He pointed to me. "Darkness." He pointed to himself. "And of course, balance." He then gestured to N. "While yes, you are currently the most powerful of us, combined, I think we'll be able to fix this."

"What's in it for you?" I questioned warily. "Why do you want to help this? Why do you want me?"

"My dear, this was never in my plans to begin with and my reasons will soon be explained. How about we put a stop to this first? Then we can talk." Shadow's smirk never left his features however something different did show in his eyes, something unusual I couldn't quite place but regardless, I sighed and nodded.

"Fine. What do I do?" I questioned, crossing my arms over my chest. "Fair warning, either of you make one wrong move, and they" I gestured to the hundred or so soldiers around us. "have permission to attack."

"I will keep that in mind my dear." Shadow chuckled, no doubt thinking little of my warning. "Now, since both Natural and I have had our ability to control the elements removed as we are, less then reliable holders of such power in Arceus's opinion, you are the only one who can actually direct the release of energy as well as absorb it. We can help you control that energy, allow you to do what you need to do without taking on more then your no doubt fail, at this time, body can handle."

For a few minutes, I didn't reply. I saw some logic in what he said but I wasn't sure if I trusted him enough to let him do what he suggested. Although he hadn't said it, Shadow and N would be absorbing the energy before redirecting it back to me in a more manageable amount - I've done my study with this sort of stuff - this process would allow them to keep whatever energy I don't end up using. N no longer worries me so much but Shadow with that kind of power was something far more risky but what other choice did I have? "Fine." I sighed. "Let's just get this over with."

"Whatever you say my dear." Shadow smirked, walking forward and taking my side as N took my other. I noticed Silver standing out among the crowd, his concern showing clearly in his silver eyes. "I'm assuming you're able to follow your instincts with what you're supposed to do?"

I nodded sharply. "Yes." I turned my back to them, closing my eyes as Shadow and N both placed a hand on my shoulder, amusing my to wince as Shadow's dark aura merged with my own. N however, provided balance, warding off what darkness I couldn't take.

"Night, if you can hear me, I need you too."

I've got you Em

I felt her warmth within me and her aura flow around me. At this point, I wasn't entirely sure where she was but her energy was enough support for now. Using that power, I held my hands out and began absorbing the excess energy from my surroundings. At first, the energy once more threatened to overwhelm me but Shadow and N managed their roles well, absorbing what I couldn't handle.

With a grunt of effort, I released the energy from my body, allowing it to be absorbed into the rift itself. The raw power seemed to burn my entire being as it was absorbed, processed and then released in a swiftness to rival that of a Ninjask. It hurt. Everywhere hurt but I could only force myself to hold on for the entire gruelling hour until everything that shouldn't be there was gone.

However, the portal, although unstable, still wasn't closed. Without hesitation, I tapped into my own power and with a flurry of pent up emotions the blast was just enough to shut it down. The sky lit up in a bright display of colour before in a fraction of a second, it dispersed and the normal bright blue colour was all that remained.

My head spun, my vision blurred. I wanted to call out to Silver but my legs buckled. Shadow, or maybe N caught me and sat me gently on the ground as a horde of shadowed figures filled my fading vision and I slipped away completely.

~*🌸*~
~Silver's pov~

I moved in as soon as Emma collapsed. N had caught her and sat her down, letting her lean against him until I got to her side and took my little sister from him. He along with Shadow stepped aside as Claire moved between the two and her daughter, her eyes narrow.

Emma had fallen unconscious, she was still breathing normally but was completely out of it. I scooped her up and walked through the crowd of those meant to protect her to were Claire's Dargonite waited. Although I doubted what happened was serious, most likely just her exhaustion catching up on her, I wanted to get Emma back to the hospital as quickly as possible where she would be safe and secure.

~*🌸*~

"She's in a coma..." The doctor explained. "The cause is still unknown as Emma had no signs of trauma to her brain before she left and even now, there doesn't seem to be any any normal causes of a coma. Her medication has been properly monitored, no damage to be seen. However, as she is not like normal humans, it could be something else."

Red had pretty much fallen into a waiting chair, his head in his hands. Claire held herself together a little better, she took a small step backwards, looking away as she clenched her jaw. I didn't know how to react at all. How do you react to being told your little sister is in a coma? I wasn't one to openly cry in front of others and honestly, being in a coma was a much better alternative than Emma being dead as any regular human would be right now...

Anne tugged lightly on my hand causing me to draw my attention to my youngest sister. "What's a coma Silver?" She questioned, turning her head to the side. I'd already explained to her and Claire that she was also Kathrine's child meaning that she was mine and Emma's half sister.

With a small sigh, I thought about what would be the best way of explaining it to a child of Anne's age. "A coma is, when someone goes to sleep for a long time. Sometimes it can be a few weeks but sometimes it can be even longer."

"How long will Emma be in a coma?" Anne questioned, cocking her to the head other side with a pouty frown over her features. "I want to see her, she's my sister now to!"

Again I sighed, pinching my nose with my spare hand out of annoyance. I held myself back from snapping at her, she was just a child and couldn't be expected to understand. "I'm not sure Anne, I want her to wake too but unfortunately, we just need to wait until Emma is ready to wake up."

Anne pouted slightly but didn't say anything more.

"You can go in to see her if you wish." The doctor explained to Anne. "I encourage you to talk her to, sometimes people in comas are able to hear you and I'm sure Emma would love to hear you talking to her or making any kind of sound that she finds comforting. Playing music, singing song, reading stories and talking are positive ways to make someone in a coma feel better sooner as some doctor's believe."

This seemed to cheer Anne up somewhat, she tugged lightly on my hand, trying to direct me to Emma's room. "Come on Ariel, lets go talk to Emma!" She squeaked.

Why must Emma insist on teaching her those stupid nicknames? I thought to myself as I hesitated, I wanted to know more about Emma's condition but I knew I had to follow Anne instead to make sure the child didn't touch anything important, which in a hospital was pretty much anything.

Red stood up to follow but Claire waved us ahead. "You guys go, I'll be in shortly. I want to see if I can at least have Emma transferred to Johto. I promised her she wouldn't be in Kalos a minute longer then she had to be and I'd feel much safer with Emma in Blackthorn City where I can at least watch over her." The Gym Leader explained.

I nodded and allowed myself to be pulled from to Emma's room where I took my seat next to my sisters, watching as Anne babble about how she'd always wanted a sister and every other topic under the sun. Unlike Red and I, she didn't understand the seriousness of the situation. For all we know, Emma may not wake up for a long long time and I wanted nothing more right now then to just take Emma to her home in Johto to recover but now there's a chance she could be stuck in Kalos until she woke up.

Claire entered the room only a few minutes later, a look of relief over her features. "Emma will be transferred to the Blackthorn City Pokémon Centre next week. I have to arrange for the proper equipment to be moved there but at least Emma will be much safer there." Claire explained. "I can keep an eye on her while returning to work which is another plus, the league isn't exactly happy I've been away from the gym for the past two months trying to find my daughter." She sounded minorly annoyed by the ending to her sentence.

I nodded. "I'm coming to."

The Dragon trainers smiled knowingly. "Of course." She then turned her attention to Anne. "And I suppose I'm going to have to look after this one too, Emma would not be happy if I let something happen to her little sister... Might have to look into another adoption or at the very least, long-term foster care."

Anne expression lit up with joy. "I don't need to go back to my mummy and daddy?"

"Nope. Emma would kill me if I let you go back into an abusive situation. Besides, they're going to be in big trouble soon which means you'll probably need somewhere to go anyway." Claire smiled, patting her head lightly. "I'm going to make some phone calls, don't be too loud in here, okay? Emma still has to rest."

Anne nodded, turning to Emma and explained everything that just happened as if she weren't there. Claire left and I kicked back in my chair, watching the older of my little sisters carefully. "We'll have you home safely soon Em, just a little longer."

~~*🌸*~~
Word count: 5562

Well I'm not entirely sure if I'll have time to upload a chapter tomorrow so I thought a day early or a day late? I was going to be mean and do a day late but I'm not a mean person, I'm a nice person so a day early it was!

The book is almost over! Ahhh!

Anyway, I know coma's are such an over used cliche but I simply didn't think it was plausible for Emma to get out of everything the way things were happening so are a literal hour of research, an hour of research, a coma was simply the most plausible answer. Please don't hate me! I will fix everything by next chapter do not fret!

Anyway, don't forget to vote, comment and keep on reading on.... and don't hate me!