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Chapter 36: Rage

As much as I wanted to move on, to get to where I just said we needed to go, my motivation was lacking. I was standing in front of Spirit's grave, feeling the sun on my back and a chill in my heart. Even with Zin's more than enthusiastic response, did I have the right to take them into danger? What was the right thing to do here? Should I just send them all away and handle this myself? What would I get done anyway? Right now, there was no other way to get to where Rayquaza except by air. Could I truly justify taking Jon and Joy into more danger because of what I need to do?

Do I really need to do this? The answer wasn't really clear anymore. There were vague hopes that somehow getting to the bottom of this would make things work out in the end. Maybe it might be best to turn myself in to Giratina's cause. A grim thought crossed my mind, that I would be taken out of the cycle while Spirit would eventually come back to this world. At least, if what Giratina said was true. What would really be the case, I wondered. Would everything turn out alright if I just die and get it over with? Spirit's grave wasn't parting with any form of wisdom, silently laying in front of me.

I feel like I've failed everyone. As their trainer, it's ultimately my responsibility to make sure my friends are safe. I should have thought that they would do something like that! They're going for me after all. I... just don't really know anymore. Spirit's resting place didn't have any answers for me. The ocean breeze did little to comfort the emotions raging in my heart and mind. I could feel tears threatening to overtake me again. My knees wobbled under me, a sob escaping my control as I toppled over. Sand passed in between my fingers as if desperate to dig her out of her grave. I stopped myself before the thought turned to action.

I felt like I needed to say something, anything. To beg forgiveness, to apologize, something to express this feeling. It wouldn't matter at the end of the day, no matter if it made me feel better or not. I dragged myself onto my knees, forcing myself to look at her grave. Someone must have brought some flowers, possibly a survivor. There were some purple colored plants in small pots next to a small rock with Spirit's name etched on it. I had no clue who did that, but I silently thanked them.

"I know you're not here anymore, Spirit." I said, my voice cracking. "Just... I'm sorry. I'm..."

My voice caught in my throat, my sobs quickly taking the place of the words I wanted to say. I don't know how long I stayed on the ground. Time just slipped by, my tears and the ocean breeze the only company around. Something grabbed my shoulder, forcefully pulling me to my feet. A slap to my cheek didn't make my mood any better. I focused as best I could, Lance's face entering my vision.

Oh no, not you. If you say anything about...

"Get your shit together." Lance said. "I don't wa-"

I swung hard, nailing him on his left eyeball. He swore, letting me go instantly. I grabbed his collar, my right fist hitting him in his jaw. I pulled back again, repeating the same process again, and again. An odd sense of calm washed over me at the moment. Overwhelming anger tempered with a very conveniently placed outlet for it all right in front of me. Unfortunately for Lance, that was his face.

"You piece of shit." I said, my eyes focusing straight into his. "One of my Pokémon just died and all you fucking care about is moving on!?"

He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. I punched him again when he didn't respond fast enough. "You fucking piece of shit. You think it's just as easy as sucking it the fuck up?!" I asked demandingly, punching him in the gut.

"What about now!?" I demanded, pressing my face against his. "Come on! You seem to be all mighty just a few seconds ago!"

He smirked at me. Oh hell to the fuck no.

A roar came out of my throat as I pushed him against the base of a nearby palm tree. I don't even know what he was planning anymore, but I didn't care to know. His face was slowly becoming a bruised mess, and all that crossed my mind were ways to make it worse. It wasn't until my fist began to ache in pain that I finally saw what I've done to him. Blood was coming out of his nose and mouth. His jaw hung open slightly, and his right eye seemed to be swollen more than a little bit. I kicked his left knee as hard as I could for good measure. The scream that came out of him was oddly satisfying.

"I don't think you should come along with us anymore, Lance." I said calmly. "You don't look healthy for the trip."

I turned around. "One more thing." I said. "I asked Nurse Joy to keep tabs on Spirit's grave. If you fucking dare touch it, I'll finish what I did here."

"What? You'll kill me?" he rasped out. I honestly wasn't sure he could speak. He certainly looked like he needed to worry about other things than asking me questions.

"Nah. I don't think I will. That's too extreme." I said dismissively. "But I'll more than gladly break your face again if you even bring Spirit up again in any Arceus fucking way again."

I walked away, feeling slightly better than when I first got here. It surprised me somewhat, but Lance was the last person I wanted to hear to get myself together. It was obvious to me that we had to move on from Mossdeep. The arrogance in his voice didn't give me any patience to deal with that sort of crap at this very moment. Just thinking about it made me want to go back and punch Lance a few more times for good measure.

I forced myself to think of something else as I came back towards the Pokémon Center. Joy was outside, drinking water or something from a cup. She saw me and she instantly got up, knocking down her cup to the ground. She looked at me with wide eyes, as if she's seen something she'd never wanted to see.

"Holy shit!" she said, grabbing me. "What happened?!"

"Lance said something he shouldn't have said." I answered. "I may or may not have beaten the shit out of him."

She stood there, her eyes wide. "You can't go around beating up people just for saying shit." Joy said, eyes narrowing.

"He told me to get over the fact that she's dead, Joy." I said, meeting her gaze. "I'm sorry if that just gets me out of line just a fucking tiny bit. Seeing how it happened just yester-fucking-day, how I feel isn't just going to go away anytime soon."

"And when will you go back to being Aaron?" she asked.

"I'm still me." I said, walking past her. "Just a little bit angrier than before."

"And what about Lance?" she asked.

I stopped dead as I forced a myself to take a deep breath. Slowly letting it out, my thoughts came together. "He won't be coming with us." I said. "He can nurse his own wounds in his own time. We need to get going though, so whenever you're ready let me know."

"Jon's waiting for you inside the Pokémon Center." Joy said. I nodded, waving at her as I made my way inside.

Just as Joy said, Jon was sitting in front of a table inside the building. There was a map unfolded in front of him, and from the looks of it it looked like it's seen better days. It was surprising to see an actual physical map instead of something digitized. He looked up as I approached, giving me a grin.

"So I take Lance didn't take my advice." Jon said, motioning me to sit down next to him.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Not to bring up... you know, her."

"Oh. Yeah, no, he didn't."

"I think that we might get in trouble for this." he said, shaking his head.

I shrugged. "He really shouldn't have brought that up."

"Non aggravated assault is a pretty serious crime. Especially since he's a member of the Elite Four."

"Is he actually going to admit that he was disobeying orders and not staying where Indigo Plateau tells him to stay?"

Jon gave me a grin as he shook his head. "Yeah, I guess so. Anyway, I want you to take a look at this."

He pointed to what looked like a small island southwest of what would be now the ruins of Sootopolis. In the map, Sootopolis looked like a shining beacon of a city in the middle of nowhere. Now it was just a ruin for people to remember what it used to be. I guess it'll be just another ruin in a few decades for people to explore and stuff. Everything just seemed wrong to me now. Bright colors dictated where a city was. Mossdeep was surrounded by painted in mountains covered in green. The island of Sootopolis was drawn with boats coming and going from its docks. I could superimpose Kyogre jumping over one of them already. Shaking my head, I tried to focus on what Jon was saying.

"...and from here we can go to Rayquaza's tower." he finished saying, a triumphant grin on his face. "From there, at least, the problem shifts to gaining entry into the Sky Pillar and speak with Rayquaza to see if he can help stop the Articuno."

"And hopefully not get my head bitten off." I said, frowning. "How long will it take us to get to the Sky Pillar?"

He looked at me and smiled. "You weren't listening, were you?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Sorry." I apologized.

He shook his head. "No worries." he said. His gaze softened as he looked at me. "We'll get through this."

"That sounds something Joy might say." I pointed out.

"We're both worried about you." Jon said, frowning. "How badly did you beat Lance up anyway?"

I shrugged. "Enough to puff up one of his eyes."

"While I can't say he didn't deserve it, you need to keep it together." he pointed out. "I can understand that it isn't easy, but you can't go around losing control like that."

I frowned. "I was actually going to ask you two to stay behind." I said. "There's nothing tying you two to me. Go to safety. You can actually do your job, you know."

Jon looked uncomfortable for a moment. "I can't really do that." he admitted. "At worst case scenario, I'm supposed to get you back to Johto to turn you in."

"What's the best scenario?"

"We finish what we started, and I keep telling my boss that I'm still following your trail after I lost you in Sootopolis."

I blinked. "What?"

Jon sighed, tapping his fingers together. "I'll explain it to you like you're five. After you went to handle Groudon, I kept getting calls. A lot of them were mainly me keeping an ear out for what was going on. I'm sorry to say that not a lot of people made it from the boats, either. If the reports that I hear are true, there may be some Suicune that have either defected to Kyogre's side."

He sighed, my look probably giving away my reaction to this news. "Yeah, I know. Unfortunately, that's not all. Apparently there are also Zapdos in with this, as well. Johto and Kanto both have been hit with region wide power outages. It's my understanding that the power plant near Lavender Town was blown up by an electrical overload. Again, if what I'm being told is true."

I frowned. "We need to get going, then. The more time we wait, the worst things seem to be getting. It doesn't look like anyone's going to wait for an answer, either."

Jon looked at me with a frown. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah."

He shook his head. "No, I mean are you ready. After everything that's happened, are you ready for what can come next?"

I stopped at that. Part of me wanted to scream no at the top of my lungs. No, I wasn't ready to potentially lose someone else. No, I didn't want to put anyone else in danger. This shit was getting ridiculous! How could I justify anything anymore?!

It didn't take much for Jon to smile. "I'm not turning you in, if that's something that worries you." he said. "We're working on things, that's a start. You want to end this as much as I do."

"This is not what I wanted to happen." I muttered. "I just wanted to go on an adventure."

"Well shit, you're sure as fuck getting one."

We turned to see Joy standing next us, hands on her hips. She bent over, picking up a backpack and throwing it at me. Catching it, I was thankful that it wasn't heavy. I raised an eyebrow in curiosity, slowly opening it. A pile of new clothing lay on top of one another, a few shirts mixed in with the blue jeans. A few camping supplies were present, namely a flashlight and some packed food.

"We lost most of our supplies when we bailed out of Sootopolis." she said.

"Did you get Song's staff?" I asked.

She shook her head. "I lost my stuff, too."

"Same." Jon said.

"I'm sorry." she finished, lowering her head.

I shook my head. "Not your fault." I said, taking her hand in mine. "Thank you."

"We'll probably be sleeping out in the open from now on." Joy said. "Jon, didn't you say something about our money being tracked?"

He sighed as I turned to him. "Yeah. I wasn't going to mention it, though."

"Oh."

"Yeah, well, the Persian is out of the bag now." he said. He turned to me before speaking again. "The Rangers are trying to dig into your finance records, to track your movements. There's a high chance they've gotten permission, since we were at ground zero for what happened."

"Why me, though?" I asked. "What about you and Joy? What about Lance and that other dude... I forget his name."

"Juan?" Jon said.

I snapped my fingers. "Yeah, that dude." I said.

"What about him?" he asked.

"Are they going to look into him, too?" I asked. "I mean, he was with us, as well. Lance technically wasn't supposed to be there either. Are they going to monitor him from now on?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure. Probably, though. Either way, that doesn't matter anymore, right? We're leaving Lance here to get back to Indigo Plateau."

I nodded. Damn straight we were leaving that idiot behind.

"Well, are we good to go?" Joy asked. We nodded.

"Well, let's get to it. Shit isn't going to get done with us sitting on our asses all day."

======================//////////////////////========================

With Jonathan in the lead, we flew out of Mossdeep city in a southwestern direction. He said there were a few islands that travelers use to rest that are off the main route when they can't reach their destinations in one day. Of course, this is with the assumption that we won't make it to Rayquaza's tower today.

Either way, things weren't so bad from Zefyra's back. The wind felt amazing, the cool gusts of air keeping me calm. My mind wouldn't stop thinking about what happened between me and Lance. Looking down at my hands, one question repeating itself in my mind.

Was I going crazy?

The answer that kept coming was a resounding no. Joy and Jon aren't dumb enough to stay with me if I was really losing my mind. They would have left a long time ago, that's for certain. At least, that's what made sense. I would like to think that Pokémon are good judges of character as well, and can make their own decisions based on what they've learned.

It didn't mean that I should feel alright putting all these people in danger. I didn't, and I'm quite sure that's obvious by now to everyone. Maybe everyone wants to get to the bottom of this just as much as me. That would be the only thing that made some sort of sense. To be honest, I was almost looking forward to meeting with Giratina, if what he said was to be believed. We'll have to see what he says, after all.

I don't think I'll be able to fully overcome the death of Spirit. I don't think I've ever been this angry before. It was a little surprising to me how I reacted to Lance. Sure, there's been times where I needed to defend myself and had to use my fists. There's never been any fights that break down into a brawl, though. Maybe a fist-fight or two, but never anything that didn't get stopped by a handful of townsfolk or my parents.

No, what happened to Lance would be viewed pretty badly in the eyes of many people. I don't doubt them, to be honest. But, I'm pretty sure this will be kept quiet. Like Jon said, he wasn't supposed to be out here investigating on his own. If he wants to risk his position in the Elite Four, he'll have to talk. If he wants to bring himself down to my level, so be it. I don't think it'll matter at the end, anyway. Lance can't travel without anyone not knowing about his movements. It's actually surprising how he can keep such a low profile with that Dragonite of his ripping through the air like it does.

Either way, it was likely that he wouldn't bother us anymore from here on out. I would be more than happy to keep it that way from now on. My fist clenched tightly. Oh the things I would do to him if he did, though...

Zefyra tilted towards her right as our direction changed. I looked over Joy's shoulder, seeing Jonathan leading us towards one of the many islands between Mossdeep and the Sky Pillar. Maybe he had to take care of something that couldn't be done up in the air. It was probably a bit past midday right now. We would have to ask him when we landed to get the real story.

Thankfully, that would be very soon. We landed, Jon immediately sliding off his Dragonite's back and putting his Pokédex against his ear. Maybe it was a new message from his boss or something. He didn't wait for us to approach him, his Dragonite following after him.

"Maybe we should wait for him to come to us." I suggested.

"Do you honestly think that he'll tell you what he's been told?" she argued.

I frowned at that. "I'd like to think so. If he's really trying to help, he will."

"He didn't tell you that your finances were being tracked." Joy argued, pressing her index finger against my chest.

"It was probably new to him, and I'm pretty sure he would have told us if I was going to buy something." I said, frowning. "He's still here. I don't think he would be if he was really trying to turn me in."

"What if he's co-ordinating to catch us with authorities at the Sky Pillar?" she demanded. "He can be telling them where we are right now and where we're going!"

"That would also mean that he lied to them about not being with us when Sootopolis blew up." I countered. "Let's just wait to see what he says, alright? Before we make a mistake and end up fucking ourselves over."

She nodded. "So, what now?"

"We do what we've always done." I answered. "Now help me get a fire going. Somehow, I want some soup. We brought stuff to cook with on the trip, right?"

======================////////////////////////////======================

"I'm going to check up on Jon." Joy said.

"Just leave him alone. He'll be back soon enough." I said, shaking my head.

"No." she said. "Zefyra, come along. We need to find ourselves a dragon."

The three-headed dragon looked at me and shrugged. I grinned, finding the motion slightly comical on her large frame. Her right head glared at me, a smirk pulling her lips back which allowed her teeth to show prominently. Joy chuckled, bringing my attention back to her.

"You'll be alright?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. I'm sure Mist won't mind keeping a close watch on me."

"Speaking of the ghost, where is she?" Joy asked.

I tapped my chest, feeling the Mismagius stir slightly. "She insists on staying by my side." I said.

Joy nodded. "Holler if you need help." she said, turning her back to me and walking towards Jon's general direction.

While I wasn't sure how much that would actually help, I nodded all the same. It probably wasn't a good idea to worry her more than she probably is. I wasn't as blind to the possibility as they might think. My bet was that everyone was on edge. What made them nervous or scared wasn't really important, since it all stemmed from me at the end of the day.

Giratina's words echoed in my mind. It made me nervous that he would approach me directly. Things must not be going as he planned all along. At least, that's my thinking on the matter. One thing that struck me was how quiet the island was. Not many flying or water Pokémon were around, either. Maybe this island was out of the way, and not many Pokémon came this way. It could also be the relative proximity to Rayquaza that would discourage living here. The possibility that any local wild Pokémon stay clear of the tower is also there. It would explain the silent nature of the local area.

Looking skyward, a few clouds floated past high above us. They were small and they seemed to be breaking apart as I looked at them. Could Rayquaza's presence in the Sky Pillar affect the local area? A feeling of dread wormed its way into my mind. What would Rayquaza even say? Would he or she even care about my situation?

Joy and Jon both showed up, Joy riding on Zefyra's back. She looked to be lecturing Jon as the Hydreigon growled and snapped her jaws towards the Dragonite. It was amusing to see all three of Zefyra's heads almost taking turns speaking. I smiled at their actions, though it didn't sound too bad from my end. It was probably Joy worried instead of actually being angry. At least, I hoped so.

"And no bullshit!" Joy exclaimed. Maybe my hopes were wasted in hoping that it was nothing. Both of them walked up to me, both dragons looking at their trainers expectantly.

"We have some bad news." Jon said.

I stood up. "What's going on?"

He shifted his stance, taking a step back from me. "You're a wanted man as of now." he said. "As part of the Johto Rangers, I have to arrest you and turn you in for questioning."

I blinked, a lot of different emotions going through me right now. Fear was one, but it wasn't as high in the list as anger. My nails dug into my palms as they balled up into fists.

"Explain. Now." I said.

Jon fidgeted. "I don't have much to go on right now. With things turning the way they are, with the Articuno threatening to freeze all of Sinnoh, and both continental Pokémon already making good on their threats, all manpower is going to turn you in so we can avoid catastrophe from happening."

That fat shit bastard mother fucking piece of shit! I hope that he chokes on his own neck fat! Fucking shit!

I took a deep breath, doing my best to calm myself down before I wanted to scream, or worse, lash out. It felt like Mist wanted to claw out of my chest and rip out Jon's throat. I kept her under control, insisting that hurting him won't help. My eyes met with Joy's, who nodded once from on top of Zefyra. I walked towards the three-headed dragon and she lowered herself to allow me on her back.

"If you want to do that, that's fine." I said. "It looks like this is where we part ways though. I also hope that we don't meet again if we're going to be on opposite sides."

Zefyra roared, launching herself up into the air with a mighty flap of her wings and push of her legs. I silently hoped that Jon wouldn't follow us immediately. It looked like he wouldn't, as he stayed on the ground as we flew up. A sense of relief washed over me, quickly followed by a sense of loss. Once again, doubt crept into my mind. What do we do now? We just lost an ally to stand against everything the world seemed to throw at me. Would Joy leave me too? I shook my head, resting my forehead on Joy's back. She leaned back, one of her hands stroking my hair.

"I'm not going anywhere." she stated loudly. "Fuck that idiot. If he wants to follow his fat assed boss, that's fine. We'll figure this out together."

Part of me wanted to agree with her. The other part of me was scared that we may be one part short without his input. I hoped the second part of me was wrong.

=====================//////////////////////////======================

It was obvious that we would be reaching the Sky Pillar well before the sun has a chance of setting. We flew around the island where the tower stood and getting a chance to see what we were about to get into. I actually couldn't see how tall the damn thing was. Joy shook her head, guiding Zefyra to touch down at the base of the tower. As we got off the dragon, the Hydreigon growled deeply through all three of her throats. It sounded like she was trying to intimidate someone or something.

"I know, girl." Joy said, patting the top of the middle head. "Don't worry none."

I wasn't sure what they were talking about, or if Joy could understand the dragon at some level. They've obviously been together for much longer than I've been traveling, so there might be some level of communication that I don't know about. Joy turned to me, beckoning me to come to her. The tower's weathered stone did nothing to alter its magnificence. Small bits of plantlife crawled over the stones, weathering the salty ocean spray. It looked like no one has been here in a really long time, if at all. There was one door, made of some kind of metal. It was elaborately decorated with carvings that made my inner archaeologist squeal. Mist was quick to reign that part of me in.

"Must I remind you why we are here, Master?" she said, her voice echoing in my mind.

I approached the doors slowly, touching the carvings with my fingers. There were countless Pokémon on the outer edge of the door. Some I recognized by the general shape of the species, specifically the Houndoom, Arcanine, and a Dragonite. Others were unknown or I couldn't put the shape of the original architect to what they were thinking. Seeing no handle to pull on the door, I pushed it to see if it would give. It didn't feel like it budged at all.

"No go?" Joy asked, standing next to me.

I shook my head. "Nothing right now." I said.

"Do you want me to check this part of the door?" Joy asked.

"See if you can find anything that might be Unown writing." I said, turning to face her. "It might give us a way to open the door."

She nodded, giving me a grin and a thumbs up. I turned my attention back on the door, following my own advice on what to look for. Again, I used my fingers to trace the markings on the door. Nothing looked remotely similar to when I was looking for the written Unown from my parents work. Not even the stuff we saw in the Cerulean Cave made an appearance here.

"I'm quite sure you will not be finding what you are looking for."

There was no mistaking who just spoke. I turned around, clutching my waist for a Pokéball as Giratina entered my vision. Well, it was more like the shadow of Giratina. Wisps of shadow stuff clung to his body, like if it wasn't supposed to be here in front of us. Whatever stood in front of us didn't look like it was supposed to be in this world.

"Do you have the feather?" he asked.

"I don't know if I should be answering that question." I said a little defensively.

Joy approached me, sticking her hand in my pockets. She grabbed hold of the feather, sticking it out towards Giratina's face. "You happy now?" she asked.

If Giratina was pleased, he didn't look like it. He merely nodded. "It's good that you can complete simple objectives."

I frowned at that, but ignored it for the most part. "What do you mean?"

"In order to open the door to the Sky Pillar, you need Ho-Oh's blessing." Giratina explained. "In order to do that, however, you need to find him."

"Well, where is he?" Joy asked.

"Inside the Distortion World."

My heart felt like it was at my throat with those words. No one has ever found a way into the Distortion World. People have claimed it exists, but no evidence has really been conclusive to an entrance, let alone its existence. Joy looked towards me, her eyes wide. I took the feather from her, approaching Giratina.

"Well, what do we have to do?"

"You trust me that much?" Giratina asked.

"Not really. But seeing as how you really haven't killed me just yet, I'm willing to take that risk." I answered with a shrug. "Seeing how you haven't attacked me directly means you want me to do something more than just die for no real reason."

Giratina's eyes widened, bits of red light coming from them. "Perhaps we should then cut to the chase and end your life short."

"I'm waiting." I responded. "I'm calling your bluff. Go."

"Aaron!" Joy exclaimed.

"He won't." I said, stepping up to Giratina. "Come on, go ahead. Unless you can't, which is what I'm thinking. You would have gotten this over and done with already if that was the case. You wouldn't have waited all this time. So, I'm calling your bluff. Let's go."

"Speak all you want, human, but if you want to enter the Sky Pillar you will do as I say."

"Then stop talking all big and do it." I growled out. "Come on and kill me if that's what you want."

We stared at each other, seconds feeling like they were hours as our eyes locked on the other. Slowly these sharp looking blades came closer to me. The tips glowed red as they pressed against my skin. I stared at Giratina's face, even as one pushed against my throat. For a moment I thought that this would be it, and it would all be over. Mist's voice screamed inside my head to move. However, Giratina slowly finally backed away from me and withdrew his weapons away. We nodded to each other once. At least this confirmed that Giratina will not or cannot kill me himself. Whatever the reasons are beyond me and I didn't really care to find out.

"Well, what now?" I asked.

Giratina silently floated towards me again, but this time a small red drop focusing under where his eyes appeared to be. After a moment it began to fall on its own. I moved to catch it, but it simply hovered over my hands. Joy grabbed the collar of my shirt, pulling me backwards. The drop elongated, stretching upwards and sideways to reveal nothing that I have ever seen before. It wasn't like the stories describe it at all.

The hole revealed what looked like a desert, sand covering the ground and a strong wind blowing dust everywhere. It was somewhat bright on the other side of the hole, regardless of the sandstorm blocking the light source. That was assuming that there was a light source on the other side.

"So... what." I asked Giratina.

"Ho-Oh is in the Distortion World." Giratina said. "He has been gone for far too long, and the world needs him. So do you, because that feather is what will awaken him."

"So, bring Ho-Oh back and we can get into the Sky Pillar." I said with a frown. "We don't have much of an option, do we."

That was a statement. I clutched the feather tightly in my hands, feeling the warmth flow up my arms. Giratina wasn't giving us much of a choice in this matter. Even for our own plan to work, we would have to work with Giratina. That frustrated me to no end but there wasn't any other way to make this work.

"Aaron!" Joy called. "Why don't we just fly up."

"Impossible." Giratina said. "The only way to reach the top of the Sky Pillar is by passing the trials of the tower. Attempting to bypass the trials would anger all the Rayquaza."

Joy winced at that. So did I, to be honest. That seemed to seal the deal to me. "What can we expect in the Distortion World?"

"You speak as if the both of you are going together. No, only you are going in, shard of Arceus." Giratina said.

"The fuck he ain't!" Joy exclaimed.

"You would not survive within the Distortion World." Giratina said. "Are you so willing to throw your life away after it was given back to you?"

"And what about him?!" she demanded.

"The feather will keep him alive." Giratina answered calmly. "Unfortunately for you, it was given to the shard, so it only affects him. You will have to stay behind."

"None of my Pokémon can come with me, can they?" I asked.

Giratina narrowed his eyes. "You will not be in danger. There is no need for violence in my realm."

Somehow I highly doubted that, seeing how he's been trying to get me killed all this time. Regardless, it looks like the rules have been laid out and I didn't have time to sort through it all. For all we know, Jon could be coming back with Rangers to take me to jail or whatever. I turned to Joy, my eyes meeting hers.

"Oh, no. No you fucking don't." she said, taking a step back. "Don't you fucking dare."

I unhooked my belt, handing her my Pokémon. Tapping my chest, Mist was coerced to come out as well. The ghost didn't look particularly pleased that I planned on leaving her behind. She floated past me, speaking to Giratina in some odd dialect.

"Aaron, please don't do this." Joy begged.

"No. You stay here, keep everyone safe. You stay safe. I'll be back before you know it with Ho-Oh and we'll climb this damn tower and make Rayquaza act."

She looked at me as if I have lost my mind. To be honest, I sounded crazy in my own ears. Joy pressed her lips against mine, my entire focus turning to her and how her hands grabbed hold of me. She pulled away from me, a stern look on her face.

"Don't you die on me over there." she demanded. "I'll never forgive you."

"I won't. Promise." I said, squeezing her hands.

Giratina was silently watching us. He didn't say anything as I approached him, though his eyes followed my every move. Getting close to the portal began to distort my vision. I pulled back to bump against Giratina. At least it confirms that he's actually here. He didn't say anything but pushed me forward. Mist floated down to my level, entering my body once again.

"Giratina allowed me to be inside of you." Mist explained. "Though there will be consequences if I exit your body."

Then this is the time you learn to stay put. Her laughter lifted my mood somewhat. I was still nervous, but at least I wasn't going to go in this alone. Stepping forward through the gap, sand blasted against my face and my shoes sank in the shifting dune. I kept moving forward, only turning around to see Giratina cross through the portal. The shadows parted, revealing his real body.

It didn't hold my attention, though. While impressive, there was something else that made me stare in wonder around me. While the sandstorm obscured most of the view, it was still possible to see multiple floating islands above us. Each island seemed to be connected by numerous ways, either by what looked like currents of water or actual land bridges. The most confusing part of it all was that things weren't sitting in one direction. On some of the islands it was clear that they were upside down from my perspective. I didn't want to find out how this all worked at the end of the day. Thinking about it was starting to make me dizzy.

A wave of pain and nausea hit me hard, making my eyes water with its onset. What was going on?! It felt like my chest was on fire and it was all focused on my heart. I gasped for breath, feeling like I was losing control of my own body slowly. My body fell forward as a numbing sensation went up my arms. As sensation came back, a gentle heat flowed into my chest and began to ease the pain. It didn't go away completely but it was definitely less than before. I blinked a few times, dragging myself to my knees so I could wipe my tears from my eyes. The feather in my fist glowed a bright gold as it pulsed gently.

"The feather knows the way." Giratina said. "You'll have your other guide to help you along the way soon enough."

"Other guide?" I asked.

"Indeed." he confirmed. "Though I will warn you that this is not some cruel trick. It just so happens to be convenient at the same time."

"Cruel?"

"You'll understand. I hope you understand." Giratina said. "Sadly, I must go right now. My attention is needed elsewhere. Please do not take too long to reach Ho-Oh."

"What the fuck?!" I shouted. "What happens if I do?"

Giratina's body was already starting to disappear in front of me. The sandstorm seemed to engulf the shadows of his body, making him a part of the surroundings.

"If you stay here for too long, you'll become part of my world." he said. "In simplest form, you'll join the ranks of the dead."

Well, fuck. I had to get to Ho-Oh before this world absorbs me? No pressure or anything. Mist urged me on, my limbs moving me for a moment against my will. I took over and began to wander. With no specific direction or guide, I tried to find something that stood out in the environment. Sadly the storm around us made that extremely hard. Nevertheless, it was doubtful that anything would happen if we stayed put. The feather in my hands did little to point us in the right direction. It pulsed erratically as we moved. Even though we moved in the same direction, its behavior wasn't consistent. I ignored it for the moment and focused on breathing properly.

"Master." Mist said, her voice echoing in my head.

"What's up?" I asked aloud. I felt like I needed to keep myself focused on the task at hand. Thinking of the consequences of failure wasn't really an option.

"Do you hear something?" she asked.

"I dunno. All I hear is the damn wind blowing." I answered. "Besides, you're using my ears right?"

It felt like she was shaking her head. It was a very strange sensation that I wasn't sure how to categorize. "No, someone is singing." Mist stated.

"Singing? You might as well be asking if I can tell the difference between the wind and this singing. By the way, the answer is that I can't."

"Turn to your right, Master." Mist said. "I believe that the singing is coming from there."

"Why should we look for whoever is singing?" I demanded. "For all we know, it's a Darkrai just waiting to ambush us."

Mist sighed, clearly not in the mood. "Someone does not remember that it was an accident."

"From someone that still wants me killed."

"From someone that admitted to the command being misunderstood."

I turned towards where Mist suggested. "Fine!" I shouted. "The second something tries to slash my throat, I'm blaming you."

She didn't respond to that accusation, but neither did she argue with me anymore. Perhaps I went too far. Either way, it didn't make me feel comfortable. Here I needed to throw caution to the winds and press forward. If what Giratina said was true, thinking too much would get me killed quickly. I wasn't keen on experiencing that pain again.

"Are you sure you cannot hear the song?" Mist asked once again.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure." I responded.

"Listen harder! Someone is calling your name!" she exclaimed.

I stopped walking, taking a deep breath. Fine, I'll give it a go. It was hard to focus since there was a constant sound from the sandstorm and stuff flying into my ears. Regardless, I didn't hear anything that sounded remotely like a human voice. I continued onward, disregarding listening for anything that caught the ghosts attention. Unless it was loud enough for me to hear, I wasn't going to go out of my way to look for it.

"Turn to your left, please." Mist said.

"Why?"

"Trust me, Master."

I sighed. Fine. "Over here? Or further?"

"Where you are facing now is fine." Mist said. "Our target keeps moving."

Something in my mind made a very chilling connection. We were in a place where no living thing should be, and something was calling my name. Oh fuck me sideways.... I guess this is what Giratina meant that I settled my business with Spirit's passing? I hoped that I was wrong. If I was right, Giratina has a shitty sense of humor.

The sandstorm seemed to get stronger the more we continued forward. It felt like we were moving towards the eye of a storm and we were reaching the wall of the eye. My vision kept deteriorating the further we moved. Mist became my eyes sooner than later, aiming me as I protected myself from the stinging sands. It was an exercise in patience since there was nothing else I could do. The howling of the wind and the sand beating on my skin were starting to wear my patience thin. If something didn't happen soon, I'd rather just have this sandstorm stop already.

I stumbled forward, the howling of the wind suddenly disappeared. Looking around, the sky was clear above me. It was clear that we reached eye in the middle of the storm. Taking in my surroundings, the most obvious sight was the massive sandstorm wall that formed around us. It was a rather large circle, though thankfully the other side was visible. Thank Arceus that the storm didn't engulf me as I took my surroundings in.

I pushed myself up to continue forward. Sand grinded against my teeth, my tongue reminding me that sand tasted horrible. Gusts of wind would hold me back, but it wasn't anything like walking through the actual storm. Approaching the source of it all, though, it made me stop in my tracks. Forcing myself to swallow the spit in my mouth, it did little to help the strangled sound that came from my throat.

Seeing Spirit again was heartbreaking. Her wings drooped over her back, possibly in an attempt to shield herself from the sun. Purple ooze came out of her body, and it chilled me that it might be her blood coming from her wounds. She didn't react to my presence at all. Spirit continued looking forward, completely oblivious to her surroundings.

I approached her, placing my hand on her shoulder. I didn't expect to go through her.

"You do not belong here, Master." Mist answered. "We cannot interact with the denizens of this world."

"But she can affect the surroundings that affect us." I stated. "Ain't that a bitch."

Mist sighed. "I understand your frustration, but keep in mind that this is not the world of the living. The rules that keep things in check there do not necessarily apply to the Distortion World."

"Is Spirit our guide?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"I believe so, Master." Mist said. "Why don't you check the feather?"

I sighed. Maybe the stupid feather had a better idea than we did. Walking in front of Spirit didn't give much of a reaction. Turning to the distraught looking Flygon, the thing began to pulse violently. It looks like we're stuck here following Spirit until we got to wherever we were headed.

"Do you think she knows we're here?" I asked.

"No, I do not believe so." Mist responded. "It is likely that she doesn't quite know where she is."

"Personal experience?" I asked.

She didn't respond immediately. Mist stirred in my heart, as if thinking of what to say. "Something like that, Master." she said simply.

For now, it looked like we didn't have much of a choice. Spirit began to move and I quickly followed. Thankfully she prefered to walk than to fly, so it wasn't much of a problem. Seeing how her wings were in tatters, it would take a miracle for her to fly. Unless, of course, basic rules of the living world didn't apply here either. What was quick to assert itself was the silence that was all around us. The sands being shifted by the wind didn't reach the eye at any point. It was a bit disconcerting to just hearing my heartbeat and breathing.

It was hard not to look at Spirit. It made me nervous that her wounds were still apparent. Walking next to her only confirmed that whatever Nurse Joy did wasn't reflected here. Hurray for small wonders. Just remembering her while pulling those spears out of her body makes my stomach twist. I shoved that memory back into the depths of my mind quckly. Right now, she was in front of me. She didn't look happy, that is to say, she wasn't smiling. Spirit looked glum, but wasn't on the verge of tears. It looked like she was, oh I don't know, satisfied? Her face wasn't very expressive at this moment in time. Her eyes just looked ahead, as if she knew where she was heading.

Though we only really started moving, it's impossible to tell how much we've traveled together. The silence continued to bother me. Looking up, it was still possible to see a hole above us that let the light in. It bothered me how the islands still floated on a whim above us. The sandstorm didn't seem to slow down, the wall of sand looked like it kept gathering strength as we moved forward.

Something that made me nervous was how I couldn't actually feel thirst. The sun felt like it burned my skin, but touching my arms didn't feel like that was the case. A few things came to mind, the first being that Mist was protecting me like she's done before from the elements. A quiet giggle echoed from the back of my mind. She didn't respond, though, so it may be that the laws of the Distortion World didn't apply if you are still alive.

A wave of nausea suddenly hit me, my feet stumbling. My cheeks bulged, stuff flying out of my mouth and burning a trail out of my throat. I could hear Mist yell in my head as my vision blurred. It felt like my chest was being inflated, the pain making breathing an exercise for survival. As suddenly as it began, it stopped. I got on my feet, hoping that I wasn't too far behind Spirit. Luckily she didn't move too far from where I fell. Approaching the Flygon got her moving again. It made me a little nervous that she knew more of what was going on than we could tell.

"Perhaps." Mist said quietly. "I am not sure, though. We cannot ignore the possibility that she may know of our presence here."

"If that's the case, she's ignoring us on purpose?" I asked aloud.

"It won't help if she knew of our presence here." she said. "There are things here that would prey on us if an alert was raised."

"Like what?!" I demanded.

Mist sighed loudly. "Most of the Darkrai patrol the Distortion World." she stated. "Other ghost Pokémon may be in league with the Darkrai, or to torture the souls of the ones headed for rebirth."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "Rebirth?"

"It's what every soul is drawn to while they are here." Mist said. "The Guardian is the one to weighs your soul to see if you're worthy of being reborn into the world."

"And who's this 'guardian'?" I asked. "Seems like an easy job."

"Ho-Oh." Mist stated.

I sighed. "This isn't going to be easy, huh?"

"I'm not sure." Mist replied. "Ho-Oh was not the original Guardian, but neither was Giratina. It may be a position of honor, that a being is placed there by either Arceus or Giratina."

"Why doesn't Giratina do that duty, as well?"

"It is not his original task."

"Oh?"

Mist remained quiet, refusing to answer my prompt. I shrugged. It wasn't that important right now anyway. That knowledge isn't going to make this journey any easier. Spirit kept walking forward all the same without slowing down. Looking at the feather once again, it pulsed brightly as I pointed it towards Spirit. Though with looking ahead now, there was something else to worry.

The winds ahead of us began to disappear, instead replaced by an blue expanse. The only thing that interrupted the view were the oddly placed islands that floated ahead of us. I kept pace with Spirit, a small part of me curious as to what was ahead of us. The rest of me pushed my curiosity back, trying to figure out why there was water here. It bothered me how it was just floating there without rhyme or reason to be. There wasn't a predetermined edge to it, but it wasn't like an ocean. Instead, it seemed to flow in a specific direction, self contained on its own accord.

I think I can safely say that what is generally accepted as common sense doesn't necessarily apply here. Last time I saw water, it didn't float in the air between differently aligned islands. Speaking of unaligned islands, the one that the path of water connected to was completely upside down. How in the world does that even work? I didn't have any time to contemplate since Spirit just walked forward onto the water. For a moment I was expecting her to just sink. Apparently, water around here lets you float around or something when standing on it. Hesitation held me back for a moment, but it was overridden when Spirit began walking forward again.

Standing on the water sent mixed signals bouncing on my head. The thought of falling through was slightly terrifying. I pushed that kind of thinking to the back of my mind as I caught up with Spirit once more. One thing that stood out was that our footsteps didn't disturb the water. It was rather interesting to just see my footsteps hit the surface of the water as if it was hard as ice.

Without any wind or sand moving around us, the silence was more pronounced. I wanted to say something, just to fill the dead air around us but nothing came to mind. What could I say? She hasn't shown that she can hear us. Maybe saying it aloud would help me more than for Spirit's sake. If Mist was listening, she didn't chime in if it was a good idea or not.

"I want to say I'm sorry, Spirit. For putting you in danger, for being an idiot, and probably a lot of things I don't know." I said, keeping pace with the Flygon. "I don't really know what else to say. Hopefully you can forgive me."

She didn't show any indication that she listened to anything I said. It wasn't that surprising anyway. Still, it made me feel a little better. Hopefully all this won't be for nothing. Looking around, it was hard to get a sense of time passing. Gazing upwards, everything was as weird as it was the moment I stepped in this place. I looked downwards to see just more islands floating under us. Something bothered me about this place, though. It wasn't the upside down island that we were headed towards. It was more sideways right now more than anything but that wasn't it either. I would think that there would be more dead around. Is this a sort of punishment?

"No, not really." Mist answered. "It has been called a purgatory by your kind, though. More likely to strike fear in mortal hearts than any real meaning to it."

"Why would it be called that, though?" I asked. "It surely doesn't look or feel like it is."

"It depends on what you mean by 'punishment, Master." the ghost responded. "It may not necessarily be something obvious that is haunting her."

Funny that you mention haunting. A tired sigh comes from the ghost inside of me while I did my best to hold back my laughter. For some reason, it was amusing to find Mist wordless. Even if it was for something idiotic or silly as my incompetence it made it feel like I could connect with her. It also didn't happen very often, if at all. It seemed like a long time now that we haven't had to worry about a lot of things. The threat of dying wasn't what worried me the most. It wasn't that there was a wish for dying, but it seemed that there wasn't really much stopping me anymore.

Though this brings an interesting question. Are we susceptible to this realms hauntings? Mist didn't answer immediately. "It is possible." she said. "I am not sure what you may or may not experience. Again, the living are not normally allowed here."

I mulled her words in my mind. Rubbing my eyes, it felt like they were getting dry. Taking another good look at our surroundings, it looked like we were almost to our destination. At least, to the other island and solid ground. Forcing myself to look down, it made my stomach churn to just be standing above nothing. There was something new, though. The water was changing color.

"That's not normal." I said.

"What do you mean, Master?" Mist asked.

"The water. It's turning red."

Slowly but surely it was turning color. It wasn't the clear blue it was when we stepped above it. My foot was also sinking. Water was beginning to fill my shoe. A good question was why wasn't I freaking out. All I could feel was a sense of odd calm as my feet slowly sank into the water.

"Master, are you alright?" Mist asked.

"I'll answer that when I stop sinking."

"You're not sinking, though." she pointed out. "We just reached shore."

I blinked, shaking my head. Why does everything look red? Turning about, Spirit shook her legs about. It looked like she was drying her feet before continuing onwards. Deciding that checking myself was a better decision than imitating the dragon, and it would probably be more thorough than asking Mist to check my body for me. My clothing had changed color, matching our surroundings. Everything was dyed in some shade of red. The sun looked like it was setting on the horizon, threatening to leave us in twilight yet never going down. After making sure that I was injury free, I hurried over to catch up to Spirit. She was taking her own time inspecting our surroundings and that let us reach her quickly.

"Something isn't right here." Mist said.

"We shouldn't really be here." I pointed out.

"Well, yes, there is that. I meant this island. Something strange is here."

I looked at Ho-Oh's feather and saw that it was pulsing light at an extremely fast pace. Pointing it towards Spirit, it didn't flash as fast as before. Holding it out in front of me, it looked like we needed to follow the coastline to get to our next stop. The question was do we need to continue following Spirit, or are we headed on our own from now on. Putting the feather away for the moment, I took a bit of care to study my surroundings. Kicking the sand about, it still behaved the same. Everything looked the same in shape and form. So, why was everything tinged in red? Even my clothes and skin were tinged with this uniform color. Some spots were darker than others, but I imagine that's due to shades and shadows.

"Ideas, Mist?" I asked.

"None, Master. However, I feel that there is something more pressing that requires your immediate attention."

"What's that?"

"Spirit. She's looking at us."

I shrugged, not really giving it any significant thought. "Is that strange?"

"Does crying count?" the ghost hissed.

I spun around only to get tackled down by a bloody Flygon. Something thick and wet flew on my cheek as her claws suddenly grasped me tightly. Even if she was dead, I guess it doesn't affect your previous physical strength. Maybe I could touch her now? Seeing how there really wasn't anything stopping me, my hands rested on her head. Being mindful of her injuries, my hands rested on the sides of her face. She didn't seem to mind my lack of affection. Just holding me seemed to be enough for her.

She looked up to my face, her eyes watering. I wasn't able to understand what she was saying still. At least a few things were consistent here. I wiped the tears away as I held her head still.

"Can you hear me?" I asked her. She nodded.

"Alright. I want you to know that I'm not dead, OK? We're here to find Ho-Oh."

She seemed relieved before her eyes going wide. Spirit opened her mouth to say something, but deflated soon afterwards. I could feel blood ooze on top of me. This was extremely troubling. Why was she able to not only see me, but interact with me when we couldn't before? Was the Distortion World beginning to affect me? It was the best thing I could think of to explain what was going on. It didn't seem to stop the Flygon from crushing me against her chest. The pressure squeezed blood from her open wounds only to land on my cheek. A sense of revulsion spread over me as more of her blood squirted on me.

I gently pushed her away, feeling an odd sense of shame while doing so. She looked at me and immediately began to wipe the blood off my skin. Spirit was gentle with her claws as she's always been, paying close attention to clean me up the best she could. While this didn't happen all the time, it reminded me of when she would flutter over me while she was worried about something or another. Like that one time when she checked my teeth.

"I'm alright." I said, gently holding her claws still. "You don't have to clean me up all the time."

She looked hurt, but nodded. I sighed, bringing my hand up to touch her cheek. Her eyes gave me the impression that she was confused and happy at the same time. To be honest, those same emotions were the ones I was feeling as well. I'm kinda happy that I can see and interact with Spirit. It didn't make any sense, but so far nothing in the Distortion World made any sort of sense. Then again, not a lot of things have made a lot of sense since I've left home.

"Remember why we are here, Master." Mist said. "We need to find Ho-Oh."

Right. "Spirit, we're looking for Ho-Oh, so we can get him or her to calm down the Articuno that are threatening to freeze the world. Do you know where he is?"

Spirit hesitated for a moment before nodding. I wondered why, and asked if something was wrong. She shook her head, her claws moving about erratically up and down as she spoke aloud. At my confused look she stopped as she understood that I couldn't understand what she was saying. It seemed that at least one thing stayed consistent between the real world and the Distortion World.

"She says that she knows where Ho-Oh is." Mist said, translating for Spirit.

"Thanks."

At Spirit's confused look, I tapped my heart. The Flygon instantly perked up, but we explained that Mist couldn't come out of my body or else things may turn bad for us. Spirit looked crestfallen at that, but I hugged her in an attempt to cheer her up.

"Let's go together, OK?" I asked.

She nodded at that, a smile appearing on her face. If this was going to be the last time we were going to see each other, then I was determined to make it a good memory. It was doubtful that she would remember any of this in the next life, but stranger things have happened. One that comes to mind is being born with a piece of Arceus' soul mixed in with mine. Sense doesn't seem to go hand in hand with my life.

The waves had already soaked my pants and shoes. I didn't let that bother me though. Spirit didn't seem bothered that she was really dead, so I'm pretty sure I could put up with my wet clothes. I grabbed hold of her left claw with my right hand. She looked at me in surprise, but she didn't pull away from me. We both knew that this might be the last time we saw each other. I was going to make sure that it would be a good ending to our time. Sometimes it's the little things that we can do, and this didn't feel like an exception.

It still hurt to see her like this. It hurt to know that I put her in such danger and this was the end result. I couldn't imagine what she thought when she first saw me just now. Did she think for a moment that she failed to protect me? I wonder if she has any regrets. Her grip on my hand was light, as if afraid of holding me tightly. I squeezed her claw a little and received a gaze for my effort. She suddenly turned to me, wrapping me in a hug and lifting me off the sand. The hug was brief, but her eyes told me she appreciated it.

"Let's keep moving, alright?" I asked. "I don't know how long we can stay here."

She nodded once before kneeling down. I was hesitant, scared of potentially hurting her. After all, her body still looks like it just went through what Groudon did to her a day ago. Perhaps time has a different meaning here? How many days has it been since she's been here? I didn't want to know the answers, really. Sometimes it's better to be left wondering.

I did as she asked and climbed on top of her. She didn't show any kind of stress that my weight put on her. Again, the Distortion World has to work differently than the real world outside its borders. I held the feather out in front of me, using it once more as a guide to our new destination. It didn't look like it was really needed. Spirit seemed to know exactly where to go, changing course every time the feather stopped being so excited. We walked over another path of water, leaving the island we were and heading for another one. Now that I didn't have to worry about falling I looked up to see if the light above changed. Sure enough it did, moving while I looked up towards it. It weirded me out that it actually moved from sunset to early morning as we headed towards our new destination.

A brief flash of pain made me cry out loud. I clutched at my chest, gasping for air as I fell from Spirit's back. The impact didn't make anything feel better. Claws held my head in place, Spirit's breath passing over me. While the pain was real, it wasn't near as intense as before. What was going on? Was our time beginning to run out? The pain slowly faded away, but my chest felt like it was going to burst anyway.

"I believe that is the case, Master." Mist said solemnly, answering my questions. "After the first wave of pain that hit you, in every single time this has happened your heart begins to beat erratically and sometimes stops."

Well, that's no good. Spirit gave me a no-nonsense look. I smiled, using her shoulder as a support for me to get on my feet. No words had to be spoken as she just scooped me up in her arms and began flapping her wings. I wasn't sure why she wasn't flying before, but we were now. Her face was one of pure focus as her wings beat the air. Looking downwards, the space between islands became much more intimidating since it still just looked like it let you fall into a sky blue abyss. Where was the feather? I patted my chest, feeling for Ho-Oh's feather and fearing that I dropped it.

"Spirit! Where's the feather?!" I yelled.

She looked down at me, confused at my demand. I peered over the Flygon's shoulder to see Mist floating in the air behind us. Her words echoed in my mind, about her not being allowed to leave my body. Spirit flapped her wings hard to turn us around. I grabbed hold of the floating ghost, quickly pressing her against my chest. She held the feather tightly against her chest. The gems on her body seemed dull and weathered.

"Dammit, Mist!" I yelled out. "You weren't supposed to get out!"

She didn't respond, but she wasn't releasing her hold on the feather. I looked at Spirit, who only flapped her wings hard in response. We picked up speed at an incredible pace. It was definitely faster than we've ever gone before. Islands blurred as we flew past them, the light above us moving in all directions at the same time. Spirit seemed to know exactly where to go, and I didn't bother questioning her sense of direction. The islands seemed to get either bigger or longer the further we flew. They also seemed to be more dreary, with barely any light coming from above as we flew above or by them.

Spirit began to slow down as we approached a rather flat, desert-like island. The only feature that we could see was a large tree that sprouted from the sand underneath us. It's roots looked gigantic, too large for the tree itself. The canopy itself didn't reach too far, like the roots would suggest. When we landed, however, the trunk of the tree was massive. However, the size of the tree or its roots compared to how bright Ho-Oh was.

Sitting on top of one of the roots was the same rainbow bird from every possible story book you can think of. The golden plume of feathers that looked like a crown on its head, to the same colored feathers that made its tail. The entire body was covered in crimson red feathers, with other colors either poking through the sea of red, or were underneath them to form another layer. The other thing that caught my attention where the people or Pokémon sitting around or alongside Ho-Oh. They looked see through, definitely not as solid looking as Spirit is.

Was that what would happen to me if I stayed here too long? What would happen to Mist? As soon as Spirit landed on the ground, I ran past the sitting figures to confront Ho-Oh. Approaching the bird, it finally dawned to me how large he was. The wings were huge enough, but just the sheer size of him made me slow down. An overwhelming sense of calm filled me. It felt like nothing here would harm us.

"It's been a long time." he said.

I blinked, looking around. It took a moment to realize that Ho-Oh was talking to me.

"You've come a long way to find me, little one." he said. "Why?"

I shook my head, focusing on why I was here in the first place. "Giratina wants you for some reason or another. Something about that 'this world needs you' or whatever. I also need access to the Sky Pillar to speak with Rayquaza about the Articuno wanting to bring the next ice age."

He opened his wings, the wings beating the air around him. While they were rather slow movements the wind threatened to push me down. I held Mist tightly against my chest to make sure she didn't come to harm. Looking around me, none of the ghosts reacted to Ho-Oh's reactions or words. Was he speaking like how Iolanthe does?

"So, you're the one that he said I would meet." Ho-Oh said, sounding pleased. "It took Giratina long enough to track you down."

I rolled my eyes at that. "No, I don't think that's quite the right words. More like, it took him a little bit to extort me into doing what he wants me to do. But that's not important right now. Can you help my Mismagius?"

Ho-Oh stretched his neck down towards me. Holy crap he is huge. His eyes alone were almost the size of my entire body. My heart hammered in my chest as he inspected the ghost in my arms. He also inspected the feather, which he gently grabbed with his beak. Ho-Oh pulled back momentarily and swallowed the feather. Nothing spectacular happened, which was a little surprising. I thought Ho-Oh would begin to glow or something. After carrying that stupid feather for all this time, it felt like a let down.

"That's much better." Ho-Oh said. "Now, let me see what I can do about your ghost friend here."

I nodded, holding Mist out for Ho-Oh to see her more easily. As the legendary bird approached, he stepped down from his perch and walked towards me. The size difference was already obvious when he leaned down earlier. Now it was just ridiculous. I don't think I even reached halfway up one of the birds talons. One of Ho-Oh's wings pressed against me, pushing me up against the giants body. It was imposing to say the least. With the legends head so near and being pressed against his body, I could hear and feel every breath he was taking. It felt calming in an odd sort of way.

"This one is deeply connected to you." he said. "A ghost is hard pressed to maintain their connections once they enter the Distortion World, so for her to maintain cohesion like this is remarkable."

"You mean she shouldn't be here, alive, huh." I said.

"You are beginning to impress me, little one. I can see why Giratina asked you to come for me."

"It's not like I have much of a choice." I sighed. "I don't think I had one in the first place."

Ho-Oh didn't respond. He took a deep breath, holding it in his body before letting it out slowly. As Ho-Oh's breath flowed over me, the ghost in my arms stirred. I hardly dared move, much less hope, that Mist would be safe again. The way Giratina stated his ultimatum about Mist staying in my body, I thought that I would lose her as well to this realm.

"You almost lost her." Ho-Oh said. "Her bond to you kept her from being swept away."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"In the Distortion World, except if it is Giratina's will, ghost Pokémon are turned into the ephemeral wind you are breathing right now. Seeing how they chose to leave the cycle of life and death willingly, they become the wind that drives the circle over and over again. When they finally return, they join the cycle in full once more, after doing what they desired to do in the first place."

"So, she feels like she still needs to do something?" I asked.

"Perhaps. I do not know. Maybe you have become her new reason to exist in the real world."

I didn't have a response to that. My attention turned to Mist as she opened her eyes.

"I heard that." she muttered.

I touched her face gently, running my hand under her 'hat' and along her face. A thin wisp came from her, touching my hand weakly as I made sure that she was unharmed. Spirit came around, brushing her claw gently against the ghost. Mist giggled weakly, shaking her head.

"You two are horrible." she stated.

"Welcome back." I said.

She didn't say anything, but smiled back at me. I turned to Ho-Oh as his expression on his face gave me the impression that he was amused. He nodded once, looking satisfied.

"It looks like my time here is come to an end." he said. "It has been too quiet in the Distortion World. I do believe I am ready to go back."

That sounds like a plan! Mist pulled my hand, getting my attention. Looking down at the ghost, she pointed towards Spirit. Well, that makes sense.

"Excuse me, before you go, can you help Spirit move on from here?" I asked.

Spirit immediately stepped in front of me, shaking her head furiously at me. Her teeth were bared and wings twitching angrily. Ho-Oh chuckled at my predicament. I shook my head, frowning.

"It looks like your Spirit here doesn't want to leave you yet." Ho-Oh stated.

Spirit nodded vigorously at this. No, I wasn't going to risk her lose her chance for a next life because she refused to go. I walked up to her, extending a hand towards her. Mist stirred in my hands but didn't offer any words to the situation. Spirit hesitantly accepted my hand in her claws. I pulled her towards me with a gentle tug. She hugged me against her body. It was beginning to scare me how much I didn't want her to go. At the same time, I couldn't make her stay with me, could I?

"Spirit." I said. My Flygon turned to me immediately. "I want you to go."

She looked at me, a blank expression on her face. "It's not that I don't or wouldn't want you back." I continued. "You shouldn't hold yourself here because of me. Besides, this is a chance to find someone else and find a happy life in the living world."

She shook her head, but I pressed on. "Me and everyone else will be fine. We'll see each other again one day."

Spirit was crying now, which made me feel like a complete jerkass. I could feel my heart aching to say something to soothe her. "You deserve better than what I can give you now. More than I would ever give you."

"He is right, you know." Ho-Oh chimed on. "If you stay here, you will remain until the next caretaker is chosen. Without Arceus to choose and Giratina needing me in the living world, we do not know when that will happen."

"She is still loyal to you, Master." Mist said softly. "She wants to be with you in the end, too. Personally, so do I and I'm quite certain everyone else."

I looked at Spirit, who nodded at the ghost's words. "Are you sure, Spirit?" I asked hesitantly. "You don't have to wait for anyone."

Spirit huffed, stomping the ground. Her tail hit the ground as well. It sounded like she has made up her mind. Ho-Oh laughed softly, getting my attention.

"It seems that bonds aren't so easy to break as they seem." he stated. "It will not be the end of the world for you, Spirit. Though, I wonder how long you will wait."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Look around." Ho-Oh said. "All these individuals, human and Pokémon, are waiting for someone. Not everyone is brave enough to move on to the next life on their own. Giratina may seem merciless, but the Distortion World acts as a buffer between lives. Here, the soul can rest, recuperate, and become ready for the trials they will face when they awaken from here."

Maybe I've been looking at this the wrong way, like how Ho-Oh is saying. Sure, I'm alive right now. If I was in their place, would I hesitate? I'd like to say that I would have no qualms of moving on, but...

Spirit pressed her forehead against my own and quietly murmuring. I didn't understand but I didn't have to. As she slowly pulled away, I knew that this was the last time I'd see her in a very long time. I don't know what to do, or what to say. It didn't look like there was anything else that would change her mind at this point. When Spirit sat down, Ho-Oh moved away from us to lay down his body as close to the ground as possible.

"You'll need to ride me in order to leave the Distortion World." Ho-Oh said.

I turned back to Spirit. "Are you sure?" I asked. She nodded, smiling at me.

As I looked at her, it became painfully obvious that I had to move. My body didn't want to though. It was doing everything that I didn't want to do. I didn't want to walk up to Spirit. I didn't want to hug her. I didn't want to cry on her shoulder. I didn't want to feel this pain anymore. Her claws pushed me away, brushing the tears from my eyes. My feet stumbled as I walked backwards from the Flygon. Walking into Ho-Oh's feathers and looking up to the giant bird made this situation all the worse to me.

I turned away from Spirit and climbed on top of Ho-Oh. With one hand still holding onto Mist, it wasn't as easy as it should be. The tears blurring my vision also made the task difficult. Finally settling on the giants back, Ho-Oh stood up and stretched his wings wide. With one flap, we were airborne, and with another everything around us changed. We moved incredibly fast, faster than what Spirit flew in the Distortion World. A spot of bright light formed ahead of us and it didn't look like Ho-Oh was diverting from it. Flashes of light made me close my eyes, hoping that my eyelids would do something to blot out the flashes that threatened to blind me.

======================///////////////////////////////====================

Darkness. That's everything I saw in front of me. I had to make sure I blinked a few times and almost poked an eyeball to triple check.

"Hello?" I called. My voice echoed around me, giving me no clue where I was. Where was Ho-Oh? Where was I?

"Aaron!"

I turned to face the voice that called me. Isabella! I ran towards her without hesitation. Even if I couldn't see where to go, her voice came from this general direction. A torch lit up suddenly, casting its blood red light ahead. Throwing caution out the window, I ran towards it only for another to light up ahead. The stone that the fire illuminated made me feel like I was within the Sky Pillar. Maybe that was the case. I don't know, but right now Joy needed help and I hoped that the torches would lead me to her.

I looked down in my arms to see if Mist was there. Her yawn broke my concentration. "I am here, Master." she answered. "Do you need me?"

"Just making sure you were safe and sound." I said. "Did you get to hear that yell? I thought I heard Joy shout my name."

"I did, and by the sound of her tone of voice the situation may have changed here in our absence."

Shit. I really hoped Jon didn't come with five squads worth of Rangers suddenly. If things get that bad, I'm not sure what we could do. I pushed these worries down for the moment and focused on moving forward. Approaching the first torch, a second blossomed to life ahead of us. The walls around me were made of stone, a far cry of the sunshine that was outside when I entered Giratina's portal to the Distortion World. Where did Ho-Oh take us?

I ran towards the next torch, only for another one to appear and light the way. The flames looked like white and gold burning brightly in the darkness. My feet pounded on the stone floor, echoes bouncing off the walls as I ran as fast as I could. One thing that got my attention was how the noise of my footsteps didn't echo in the darkness. I refused to get distracted by something right now. Joy sounded like she needed help, and that's what I was going to do.

One torch hovered in the distance. When I reached it, it was a dead end. Its light illuminated the edges of a wall surrounding me. Looking back, the hallway was now shrouded in darkness. Pushing the wall didn't deliver results. The torchlight didn't reach to the ceiling, if there was one. I frowned, wracking my brain for an idea.

"Master, do the walls keep going or is there an end to them?" Mist asked.

I decided to check them out more closely. There might be something that isn't obvious. Running my hands over the wall, I tried to look for an imperfection or something that would tell me that there was more to it than I could see. Anything that was in the light of the torch was solid. Touching the shadows made my hand fall through the darkness where there should be a wall.

"That's it!" Mist shouted happily.

"What's what?"

She pushed out of my chest. "Hey, are you alright?" I asked.

She shook her head. "I'm fine. Ho-Oh... he healed me. Somehow. I'm not entirely sure, but I feel fine, Master."

I'm not going to complain. "Alright, I trust you. So, what do we do?"

"First of all, we get the torch. Second, don't touch the shadows, so pull your hand out of there."

I did as instructed. "Why? I asked.

She floated up, grabbing the torch before answering me. The light expanded to the shadows, the wall continuing where I had my hand. "If I am correct, it would have cause your hand to be crushed as the wall reappeared while revealed by the torch."

"But that doesn't make sense." I pointed out. "Why would the wall behave differently than the floor that I ran through the darkness?"

"Perhaps that is part of the puzzle?" Mist offered as an explanation. "I do not know either, but perhaps it has to do with gaining entry to the higher recesses of the Sky Pillar."

"But what about Joy and everyone else?!" I demanded.

Mist turned to me, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "Right now, we have no idea where we are and how we got here. All we know is that we just left the Distortion World after bringing Ho-Oh into the world. Our next priority is to get to the top of the tower and get Rayquaza to stop the Articuno from bringing the next ice age. Besides, she has your team as well. Even if Jon fights, we've proven that we can beat that Zapdos."

"It took all our teams working together to do that." I reminded her.

She didn't respond to that, only floating ahead of me with the torch held aloft. I followed, only so I wouldn't be left behind in the darkness. I put my left hand along the wall, following it as we retraced our steps. When we reached a torch we passed the first time through it was unlit. Mist floated up to it, pulling it from its perch and handing it to me. What would holding another torch do?

"If I am correct, the different colors may have different reactions and reveal things that may once be concealed." she said. "We will use one for the moment, and see what we can find."

"What if we have both lit at the same time?" I asked.

The ghost shrugged. "Anything is possible. Let us try."

She floated towards me, the torch in her grasp floating to my unlit one. Mine lit up immediately on contact, blinding me momentarily. Specks of colors blurred my vision making it impossible to see anything in front of me.

"Master, stay still." Mist said, holding my head in her grasp. "Also, please look ahead and not down."

"Somehow I don't like the way you said that, Mist."

"Trust me." she said.

I nodded, feeling the world slowly come to focus as my eyes got used to the new level of light. Mist's floating body was all I could see at the moment. She tilted my head one way, taking a look at my left eye and did the same for my right eye. After doing so, Mist seemed satisfied and relinquished her hold on me.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Confused." I answered. "Why can't I look down?"

"The floor gave away around you." she responded.

"I promise not to freak out. Just make sure I don't fall."

She sighed, but floated behind me. As soon as I felt her touch my shoulders I slowly looked down. The first thought that passed my mind was why did the floor disappear. The next thought was were did it go. Was this an illusion? As I looked downward, all that was there was an empty abyss. I could feel Mist's grip tighten as my weight shifted on the platform I was standing on.

"Master?" Mist asked.

"What do you think of this, Mist?" I asked. "Is this some kind of visual thing or is did the ground really disappear from under us."

She shook her head. "I do not believe it to be real. If it isn't, it is a powerful illusion nevertheless. Either case, I am not sure myself yet."

"You haven't checked, huh."

"I was making sure you wouldn't fall if it was real."

"Greatly appreciated, by the way. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to try to step forward."

"Are you insane?!"

"I'm willing to take a gamble on seeing if my foot will go through. Not going to put my entire weight on it, by the way."

Mist didn't look pleased with my idea. "Why don't I just check myself?" she asked. "I can float and not put myself at risk of falling."

I sighed, nodding in agreement of her idea. "That sounds a lot safer." I said. "When you're ready, Mist."

She let me go almost reluctantly, like she was afraid something would happen if we parted. Her eyes didn't leave me until she had to tilt her head upwards to look into my eyes. An odd thought came to mind. Where did the torches go?

"Mist? Where are the torches?"

She didn't respond to my question but slowly sank downwards. While I was able to see her, that changed after she reached a point where she merely disappeared from sight. I shouted after her but she didn't respond. Shit, what now.

"Master?"

I glanced around me, trying to pinpoint the source of the voice. It was Mist calling me, but where was she? Spinning in place and looking through my surroundings, the origin of her voice was still a mystery. I honestly wished that she wasn't just playing tricks on me. It would be something she would do, but hopefully not in this kind of situation. I would hope so anyway. Then again, she did that whole thing with Spirit's corpse.

"Behind you."

I twisted about, seeing a faint red glow in the darkness. Slowly the body of Mist began to take shape, separating itself from the shadows. I extended a hand towards her, one of her 'hands' forming to take hold and allowing to let pull her towards me. The gems on her body pulsed brightly as I held on to her.

"Did you find something?" I asked.

"Yes." she answered. "It shouldn't take long to activate."

The floor rumbled. Who in the world made this? Switches that made a tower shake and torches that made things solid? My frustration must be showing because Mist giggled.

"I would imagine that this would not be the case in a normal situation." Mist said. "If Rayquaza expected a human to come, none of these traps or puzzles would be active."

"Lucky us." I said.

A sound like stone grinding against stone echoed around us before going quiet. It seemed to happen in stages, stopping and starting again after a moment. Definitely something's happening above us.

"Hey."

"Is this going to be about earlier?" Mist asked.

"Yeah."

"I knew the risks." she stated bluntly. "I would rather vanish from this world if it would prevent your pain."

I frowned. "That doesn't really explain why you did that thing with Spirit's body."

She sighed, pulling away from me. "A body is nothing more than a vessel that houses your soul. In your exception, also a piece of our Creator. Nevertheless, it is empty without one. I do not understand this human concept of reverence over a dead corpse, but perhaps I need to... understand... that other beings may not share my own ideas."

Well, that's more than I had hoped. "Thank you."

"Humans are strange." she responded.

"Sorry."

She shook her head. "Don't be. It isn't your fault that you think the way you do."

"What do you mean?"

She frowned at me. "Who you are is shaped by who raised you and by what you feel and believe is right and wrong. It would seem obvious to me that you would understand, or see, this difference. You choose to learn and be taught by people new thoughts that may or may not change how you think. It's up to you to find out what will make you a better individual."

"That's deep."

Mist tilted her head to her side. "I suppose." she said softly. "It is merely the truth that has been presented to me."

"How long have you been a ghost?" I asked.

"For longer than I can honestly remember." she said with a shrug. "I'll go so far to say that being a ghost has eroded my previous memories. At least, the more significant ones with a few exceptions."

I wanted to ask more, but the ground shaking underneath my feet made me prioritize things differently. "What's happening now?" I asked.

"We're going up." Mist answered.

"How?" I asked. "We were in a hallway last I checked."

Mist grinned at me, but didn't bother to answer. I couldn't tell how fast we were moving, but we couldn't be moving faster than a walking pace. What exactly was pulling me upwards. More importantly, who was above us?

The obvious answer would be Rayquaza. Would Giratina, or any other Pokémon, be up there as well? Anything was possible right now. I looked up, noticing that we were approaching the end of our accent. My stomach twisted about as my nerves began to escalate. It was quickly squashed down when I reminded myself that I just recently went through the land of the dead and told Giratina that he could shove this idea up his ass if it didn't work out for me.

Mist's laughter broke my train of thought. What was so funny? My questioning glance at her wasn't answered. She did float nearer to me. For a moment I thought she would just disappear inside of me again. Mist surprised me by grabbing my right arm tightly.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight." she said. "Never again."

I'm not sure what that meant, but it looked like we reached our destination. As my eyes adjusted to the outside light once more, it was obvious that some time had passed in the real world while we were in the Distortion World. There were a few clouds here and there, but the night sky was easily seen from where we stood. I was a bit nervous moving, though truthfully my immediate surroundings were surrounded in shadows.

Laughter echoed around me as the shadows seemed to grow from under me to the sky above. The darkness coalesced together, two large eyes and a broad, white grin forming together. Immediately the shape absorbed the rest into itself, coming crashing down from above. I moved, pulling Mist with me as I did so, as the Gengar landed where I had stood moments ago. Pieces of stone flew about, the impact leaving far reaching cracks. Was this thing insane, too?

"Mist, Shadow Ball!"

My Mismagius was already launching the attack as the words came out of my mouth. As the sphere flew towards our aggressor, it immediately countered it with one of its own. As both attacks collided, the blast made me cover my eyes momentarily. Spots blurred my vision as I watched both ghosts move simultaneously towards each other. The Gengar was swinging its arms wildly, streaks of purple energy glowing as the attacks missed. Mist's movements, while not surprising, were just as impressive. She seemed to know exactly where the Gengar was going to attack and where she wanted to be.

To be honest, I was expecting something faster. This Gengar seemed practically slow. Then again, I was comparing it to everything else that I've faced. One attack and the gems on Mist glowed bright. Yeah, this shit was just slowing us down.

"Psychic." I said. Waves of bright purple energy appeared from Mist. The Gengar seemed surprised, caught in the middle of it all. It fell from the air, impacting the tower hard. I was honestly surprised. It should be tougher than that, at least.

Something grabbed the back of my shirt. I suspected it would be the Gengar. As I was turned around, it was clear when most of my vision was encompassed by huge white eyes and darkness. I scoffed, poking at it with a finger. I blinked in confusion, surprised that my finger actually touched the ghost. My thought was that my finger would go through.

"That's enough." I said. Now that it wasn't fighting Mist, maybe it would listen to me. "I'm done fighting with you. If you know where Rayquaza is, you better spill it."

The Gengar stopped rubbing its eyeball to look at me, before proceeding to laugh loudly. I sighed as I walked up towards it and grabbing it by the top of its head. At first its grin was all that was plastered over its face. That slowly disappeared as I stared the ghost down.

"You listen here, buddy. I've dealt with too much Tauros shit to be putting up with you. If you know where Rayquaza is, you better spill it, or else you'll be meeting whatever it was you ran from in the Distortion World. I'll personally make sure that you get first dibs, too."

"Master?" Mist called.

"What's up?"

"You should see for yourself."

I turned towards the Mismagius but she shook her head at me. She shook her head and pointed above us. Four large bodies flew through the sky effortlessly, forming a loose circle above. As they came closer, small wisps of light appeared from underneath the stone and floated upwards. When I finally got the chance to look at one of them, it looked like it was a candle floating in thin air. I couldn't tell if they were Pokémon or inanimate objects from where I stood. The Gengar, however, was shivering if the loud clacking of his teeth was any indication.

To be honest, it wasn't anything surprising. I was getting tired of being impressed by their strength and shit. Maybe not just irritating, but downright annoying. I would find it really hard to believe that none of the other legendary Pokémon wouldn't have heard of me already. The longer they took to get here, the more irritated I began to feel.

"Just get down here already!" I shouted.

They didn't take long to decide what to do after that. I was pleasantly surprised that they didn't seem to attack me outright, either. They aligned themselves around the outer perimeter of the tower. While none of them seemed to actually rest on the tower itself, they easily loomed over me while they floated nearby. Thanks to the ghostly lights, I could tell that two of them were black like the night surrounding us, with gold symbols glowing alongside their bodies, face, and eyes. The other two were green colored, with the same gold symbols covering their hide.

"Is he...?" a voice said, deep and somber. It sounded like a guy that just woke up, though they were clearly awake.

"I believe so, brother." a more feminine voice responded, crisp and sharp in tone.

"Now, we do not know for sure." another responded. While feminine sounding, it was more melodic and soft spoken.

"The doorway was sealed. No one else but a Shard could open this tomb." spoke the last of the four voices. While masculine in tone, it was more jovial than the first speaker.

"I don't really care who you think I am, but I was told that you could help." I said, stomping my foot down. "The Articuno are threatening to freeze the world, and you're the only ones that can stop them."

"And why would we do that?" the jovial male demanded lightly. "Clearly it is not we to answer to humans."

"Because it's your fucking responsibility to keep those idiots in check!" I roared. "What the fuck are you good for if you're going to let humans and Pokémon suffer because you refuse to do your job!? Aren't you supposed to keep balance in the weather of this world?"

All four Rayquaza leaned in downwards towards me. The Gengar from before had grabbed my leg and was now shivering. Probably in fear, and I couldn't really fault the ghost for that. A hint of that same fear ran through me, but I was honestly too pissed off to really care.

"And what, pray, would you do to make us act?" they all whispered in unison.

I shrugged. "Ionno. Who are you with? Do you want Arceus to come back? If so, I'm pretty sure that Giratina would love to hear your excuse for when you didn't listen to me. And if you dont, congratulations on failing at your job. I'm sure that Arceus would just love to know that you completely and utterly failed to listen to the warnings that someone handed to you on a silver platter."

"And how do we know that you are not lying." they demanded together.

"I didn't go through the Distortion World, get my friend killed, punch a member of the Elite Four in the face, fly here from two different regions and find out that you won't listen to me because you don't believe me. If not, I'm pretty sure that there's a group of humans that want to send me to the Articuno as a ransom to stop this insane weather. And to top it all off, aren't you all the all knowing Pokémon of the sky? Are you serious? You should know that I'm not lying!"

It annoyed me that none of them were responding. "If you won't do anything and don't know what's going on, shouldn't you find out? Isn't that your fucking job!?"

"Pray, Shard, what is your command?"

"What?" The anger I was feeling washed away with those words, replaced by confusion. It wasn't what I was expecting. Command?

"Your coming was expected, though greatly feared. It heralds a great wind that threatens to change everything we hold dear. We ask again, what is your command?"