The doors to an laboratory—deep beneath Geosange Town—opened as Xerosic and his team of scientists walked inside. The room was largely empty, save for  a nearby workstation with a computer. In the center of the room was a single platform with multiple tubes connecting to what looked to be a withered white tree.

"What is our percentage, Celosia?" Xerosic inquired as he gazed up at the tree.

"Forty-five percent. It's gone up in the past few days but without Xerneas actually being alive we can't hope to make things run any faster," Celosia replied after reading the computer at the workstation.

"That's better than I'd expected. Now, onto more pressing matters. Did you all complete that chamber for our new little friend?"

"It's being delivered here as we speak..."

"Excellent... it won't be long now. Once Lysandre returns from his errand, we can turn our vision into reality!"

Seth and Allie stood together as a gathering of about twenty Team Flare members surrounded them in the garden with their teams out and ready. Among the foes were Weavile, Manectric, Druddigon, Honchkrow and Houndoom, along with a slew of other formidable Fire-types that looked as though they were ready to burn the place to ashes. The Floette that had been chased around found her way into Allie's arms and was now shaking fearfully.

Allie cursed under her breath, clenching her fists in irritation. "They weren't supposed to find her..." she said in a hushed tone.

She did not like the odds that were in front of her. While her team was strong, she and Seth were outnumbered. Looking over at Seth, she could see that there was a calmness about him despite the situation. Why was he so composed? Was it because he carried a sword that he felt so secure? Was it his status as a student of Mathilde that gave him such confidence? No... there was more to it than that. Seth wouldn't allow himself to be defined by any title or weapon he happened to carry. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that Seth was formulating a plan to deal with the situation at hand.

"The odds aren't in your favor princess. If you hand over the Eternal Flower now it'll make things less difficult for all of us," the admin said as diplomatically as possible, knowing full well that one word from him could turn the palace into a battlefield.

"You're out of your mind if you think I'm doing that!" Allie said firmly, fixing the man with a piercing glare.

"On the contrary princess, it is you who is out of your mind. There are twenty of us here and only two of you and while I am aware that you are a very capable trainer, as is that man standing with you, you cannot hope to best all of us. As amusing as it would be to watch you try, I'm afraid I haven't the patience for that," the man said with the snap of his fingers, signaling his team to seize the opposition immediately.

As a Weavile leaped from his position to strike, he was soon met by resistance in the form of a crimson blade. Parrying the blow, Cerise struck hard with her second blade, sending the offending Weavile sailing through the air and crashing into the ground.

"And this is why I prefer to remain out of my ball. You always seem to wind up in one sticky situation after another don't you m'lord?"

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Seth replied with a raised brow.

"So you're remaining on the side of noncompliance? how unfortunate," the man said through gritted teeth. "Very well then, you've sealed your fates!"

"I apologize in advance Allie but, needs must," Seth said as he scooped Allie into his arms, much to her surprise.

"Seth, what are you—" Allie stopped herself as Seth's body suddenly became illuminated with an intense blue aura.

This is won't be anything like my teacher's technique but it'll have to do!

All of the energy Seth had gathered in that moment was expelled as a multidirectional aura pulse that carried with it enough force to push the intruding party several meters away—Pokémon included—giving Seth the time he needed to bolt inside the palace.

It didn't take long for the entire palace to be on alert due to Allie shouting about the intruders outside. All staff within earshot began swiftly delivering the message while others sounded the alarm.

"They're going to follow us in here soon. What I did won't hold them for long," Seth admitted as he stopped running to set a very red-faced Allie down. 

Allie cleared her throat and recomposed herself as she said, "I'm aware of that, which is why I put the palace on guard. Thankfully the king and queen are away at the moment so my parents won't be mixed up in all of this. That being said, I think I know somewhere we can go where they won't find us for a while..."

"What the hell was that!?" cursed the Admin as he finally managed to pull himself together enough to stand up. 

"So it was true after all... I'll be damned," said the red-suited individual as he dusted himself off. 

"What's that supposed to mean Dubois? care to explain?" the angry admin said with a grunt. 

"Well, I didn't want to believe it myself, even after seeing the footage from your screw up in Glittering Cave. But after witnessing it first hand I can't deny the facts. The man in Allie's company is not your run-of-the-mill trainer. There are only a handful of his kind and if I'm right—which I usually am—then that means Seth is what you would call Aura Adept."

"That would explain how he could catch my gauntlets barehanded when we first met," a female voice chimed in. "That woman must have put him through hell during his training... lucky bastard," she pouted. 

"I'm afraid I don't follow," the admin grumbled. "We're still chasing one man and a bratty princess, who by the way has what we came—urk!" the admin grunted as he was hammered in the gut by his cohort. 

"That 'bratty princess' is my future bride and I'll thank you not to taint her name with your filthy mouth," he hissed before turning to his team. "All of you spread out and search the palace for them. You'll no doubt come in contact with some resistance but don't let that stop you from our objective. And should you find the Eternal Flower you are to capture it without delay. And if the princess does not cooperate and Seth gets in the way, do not hesitate to use force but whatever you do... do not harm the princess. Am I clear?"

The operatives gave an affirmative salute before activating their expansion suits and making for the inside of the palace to hunt down their targets. As they did, the man in the red expansion sighed and looked over at Jacqueline who had remained with him for a moment after taking note of his disposition.

"Why did she have to be here?" Charles sighed. "She was supposed to be out visiting with another suitor, not gallivanting around with that man. If she had just left sooner this operation could have gone off without a hitch..." 

Jacqueline narrowed her eyes as she listened to him speak. Hearing him say that Allie—the woman she viewed as a roadblock to Charles' heart—was his future bride, stung a lot. Ever since she'd joined Team Flare and became acquainted with Charles she'd endeavored to earn his respect and perhaps his admiration by her actions and loyalty to the cause and to him. Whenever anyone questioned his ability to lead, she was the one who stood up and defended him. 

She went on several recruiting campaigns as his right hand woman and brought many into the fold that was Team Flare. But in the end, even after all she'd done for him... she was still in the shadow of that woman. Any time the two were together it sickened her. Even when Charles had finally asked her to the ball that was being held, she could still see the way he looked at Allie. He didn't blame him though considering how she looked. In her mind it should have been illegal to be that pretty. 

Still, even though she knew he was after her in the end, Jacqueline held onto a shred of hope that he might start noticing her as more than just a colleague, which was why she had to be the one to complete this task. Without a word she clenched her fists and took off into the palace, opting to take a more stealthy approach to finding them. As Charles had said, the team he'd sent in had met with resistance in the form of the palace staff and their surprisingly well-trained Pokémon. As she assessed the situation, several of the palace staff caught sight of her and reached for their Pokémon in order to combat her.

Reaching for one of her spheres, Jacqueline released a Gengar and commanded it to use Haze on the entire upstairs hallway, giving her a smokescreen to run through.

"What exactly is this place?" Seth asked as he stepped through the hidden doorway inside the library before proceeding down the staircase in front of him, the door closing behind them. 

"It's where the palace archives are. I've only been in here one other time and that was because... well..." Allie paused, looking over at Floette who was floating beside her with worry. 

"Because of her," Seth replied, his eyes shifting over to what was quite possibly the most peculiar looking Floette he'd ever seen. 

"Yes. I'm sure you're aware of the history of this place as it's taught in just about every Kalos history class. While it has been refurbished over the past three millennia, the secret corridors have remained exactly the way they were made in order that they might preserve more of the palace's history and... to act as an escape route in the event that something like this should occur," Allie explained. 

 "That makes sense. A lot of castles had secret passages in case they were ever under attack. I just never thought I'd actually be part of one," Seth muttered. 

"You're not the only one. I mean, I got all dressed up to go out and see a suitor and then this happens! I swear it's like the universe is conspiring against me all of a sudden. First I fall off my balcony, which makes absolutely no sense. Then my ball gets ruined by a bunch of lunatics, and now I'm being chased by them again! Pourquoi diable cette merde doit-elle m'arriver!?" Allie growled, her Kalosian accent taking full control for the moment as she hissed enough profanity to make a sailor blush and even give Seth pause.

"Er... sorry, that wasn't very dignified was it?" Allie said, feeling her face grow hot from embarrassment.

"I don't know, I kinda like it when that happens..." Seth admitted.

"What, that I have a bit of a foul mouth when I lose control of my faculties, or are you referring to my habit of slipping into Kalosian whenever I'm extremely pissed off?"

"Both actually. It shows that you aren't just some "goddess" incapable of doing anything remotely unsavory like most people would like to believe," Seth replied with a chuckle.

"Well I am beautiful aren't I? You said so yourself after all," Allie said as the two finally reached the bottom of the stairs that led deep beneath the palace.

"I did, and I don't plan on recanting that statement anytime soon," Seth responded, turning to look at the passageway in front of him.

It was old, as Seth had expected, and lit by numerous torches along the ancient stone walls.

"Mother must have been down here recently. Why she didn't put out the torches is anyone's guess but I suppose this is rather convenient for us," Allie said as she stepped forward to continue venturing down the passage.

The queen doesn't seem the type to leave something like this undone. From what I've gathered in all my meetings with her... she's very thorough in everything she does and leaves little margin for error. Allie said they were out on business so why would she leave something this important unchecked? Unless—" Seth's hairs stood on end as he saw a light approaching at an accelerated rate.

Quick as a flash, Seth pushed Allie aside and crossed his arms while erecting a bastardized version of Protect. The blast struck with devastating force which echoed through the halls and shook the entire passageway. Seth and Allie were blown apart from each other, Seth hitting the back wall hard while Allie was knocked out after hitting the ground and sliding into a wall not far from Seth. Footsteps echoed down the passageway until a towering figure came into view.

"So you survived that did you? To be honest, I didn't think that would have been enough to do you in but I figured it was worth a shot," came a familiar masculine voice.

Seth gritted his teeth, unable to stand due to the excruciating pain he was experiencing after taking what he knew to be a Hyper Beam. His arms were pretty much trashed, as was the majority of his body. Never in his life did he think he'd ever come close to suffering anything more painful than his training with Mathilde.

"Y-You're..." Seth huffed, anger burning through him as he recognized the voice in his ears.

His vision may have been blurry due to the immense pain he was in, but his hearing was as sharp as ever. Standing before him was none other than Lysandre, creator of the holocaster and founder of Lysandre Labs. Beside him was a crimson Gyarados that snarled menacingly down at Seth.

"I must apologize for this Seth. Back when I first met you I saw you as someone who would shake things up a little in that competition the princess here had announced. While you seemed rather reluctant and a bit of a loner I could tell you were someone of great potential. You might say I was even rooting for you as the underdog in this game. Little did I know you would become an obstacle in the way of my plans for this imperfect world..."

You poor fool. Just like the others of this imperfect world, you will burn under the flames of our revolution. We of Team Flare will overthrow this world and subdue all of you inferior low lives!

Seth's eyes widened as these words echoed in his mind. They were the same as the Team Flare agent he'd fought back in the power plant.

"It seems you've figured out who I am," Lysandre said as he looked down at Seth. "You really are sharp aren't you?" he finished as he knelt down to pry the Floette from Allie's arms, placing her in the small cage he'd brought and locking it before hoisting Allie over his shoulder.

"Stop! Put her down!" Seth roared, futily attempting to stand, only to fall forward onto his stomach.

Lysandre stopped and looked back at Seth with a stern gaze. Killing him now would be such a simple task and yet at the same time he felt as though he'd gain no satisfaction in doing so. He wasn't one to kick someone while they were already beaten as that went against the world he desired to make. With a sigh, Lysandre began to speak.

"The Lysandre Cafe. Inside there is a secret passage that leads to Team Flare's base of operations. If you wish to find out how to stop me, you must first gain your information from there. Be advised that you will face challenges far more fierce than what you saw at the ball. I will wait one day and one day only for you to seek me out. If you should fail, I will proceed with my plan. Consider this your only chance. If you wish to save this detestable world filled with unimaginable flaws then you have no choice but to rise to the occasion. But know this Seth, next time... I won't hesitate to kill you."

Without another word, Lysandre left Seth on the cold floor of the palace underbelly, clinging to life by a few threads. He wasn't sure how he'd be able to do anything at this point. He couldn't move without feeling a seering pain shooting through his body. What was he to do? For the first time, Seth experienced a feeling worse than defeat. Hopelessness. Tears of anger began to well up in his eyes and out of rage he screamed. Every muscle in his body ached as he forced himself to move until he could sit up.

All he could do was lean against the wall, uncertain of how he would get himself out of this mess. It was then that the vision Olympia had disclosed to him flashed before his eyes. There was indeed a fire that had taken Allie. A fire by the name of Lysandre. A fire that needed to be put out. Seth gritted his teeth as unyielding rage began to burn within his icy blue depths. His path was now clear as day. Team Flare would pay no... suffer. For the sake of everyone they had hurt to bring life to their twisted vision, Seth would make them pay and pay dearly as soon as he could stand.

As these thoughts brewed in his mind, he could hear something approaching. He hadn't the strength to stand much less fight back, however, what he was sensing wasn't something that was hostile. A faint sniffing was heard, giving away the identity of what was coming his way. Stepping into the torchlight was a thoroughly exhausted Furfrou who, upon seeing Seth, immediately rushed over to him. After a brief exchange, Furfrou rushed off and hurried up the staircase to seek out help for her wounded friend.