I glanced around, both stunned and relieved we were back at the house, Lunar Wing in hand. Paul didn't hesitate and ran ahead of me, jumping the fence and dashing inside the building. Startled, I followed, giving his Pokemon a quick wave before I ducked into the house, eagerly awaiting the brothers' reunion. As I entered, Paul was already kneeled down next to the couch where his brother was still resting, while Emile and Nurse Joy gave him a worried, though relieved look. Emile turned to me and smiled

"You're back!" he exclaimed. "And not a moment too soon... He stopped thrashing about a few minutes ago. Joy and I got worried..."

"We're here now," I stated. I turned to Paul and nodded. He knew what to do: slowly, he took the Lunar Wing he had in his hand and held it by his brother. Slowly, a faint glow emerged from the feather, making it sparkle all colours of the rainbow. The same tune the wind whispered and sung at the island began to slowly rise in the air, mesmerising us all. We all looked at Reggie eagerly, waiting for him to awaken once more. However, all of a sudden...

It stopped

The feather's glow faded, the song soon drowned into the breeze's usual sound. Everyone blinked for a moment

"... It stopped," I muttered. "Why did it stop?" Paul checked his brother. He shook him lightly

"Reggie?" he asked him. No response. He shook him again, this time a little rougher "Reggie?!" he asked once more, raising his voice. A worried look swept across his face as he began to shake his brother violently. "Reggie, wake up!" he shouted

"Let me check him," Nurse Joy spoke, rushing up to him. Paul shifted to the side slightly, letting Nurse Joy kneel down with her Chansey as they began to examine Reggie, checking for his pulse and heartbeat. Seeing the panicked look on Paul's face, I knelt down next to him, followed by Emile

"Hey, it'll be OK," Emile said to Paul. He gave him a small smile, however Paul didn't reply back. He only kept a watchful eye on his brother. The panic and concern swirling within him was clear for all to see. He began to shake slightly as he slowly grew anxious as Nurse Joy checked-up on his brother. We had only just returned, and the Lunar Wing didn't work immediately... I cautiously looked over to Reggie, who looked almost content, at peace in some way. He wasn't thrashing about, sweating or mumbling in his sleep whatsoever, in fact, the state he was in now looked like he was merely asleep! However, the worried looks now plastered onto Nurse Joy and Chansey's faces begged to differ. As Nurse Joy began asking both her Chansey and Emile to grab her certain things, I slowly put my hand on Paul's shoulder and squeezed it lightly. He moved his good arm and placed his hand on mine, however he didn't turn and face me. He only kept his eye on his dear brother, hoping and praying to Arceus that he would awaken...

Nurse Joy began looking over him once more, assisted by both her Chansey and Emile this time, along with some equipment she had brought with her from the Pokemon Centre. I had no idea what she was doing or what the equipment was even for, however her expression only seemed to tense up as she continued to ask her two assistances for certain equipment, and fast. I could see Paul himself tense up a bit as he began to shake more, squeezing my hand tightly. I moved his hand and mine down from his shoulder and squeezed it back to comfort him. I scooted closer to him, almost rubbing myself up against him, making him look at me. Tears were visible in his eyes, dangerously close to falling. I bit my lip but tried to give him a reassuring smile. He only looked down, flustered. We were silent for a moment, the only noise being Nurse Joy's commands, before he spoke to me:

"... We were too late..." he spoke in a soft, sad whisper. "We were too late..." he repeated, his voice now shaky. I carefully held his chin and gently turned his head towards me, seeing the distraught and absolute crushed look in his eyes. I wanted to say something, I wanted to reassure him that Reggie could still be saved, that we could still see him, but the utter broken look in his eyes, combined with the tense and worried shouts Nurse Joy was aiming at her assistances, I couldn't. I was silent. Paul was right:

We were too late...

I wanted to stay positive, I wanted to stay optimistic, but I couldn't: I couldn't bring myself to lie to Paul. He knew better. He knew we had arrived too late... Reggie was deep in Darkrai's slumber, he wasn't even attempting to fight back anymore... Reggie himself had accepted his fate and now, his life was hanging by a fragile thread, ready to snap at any point... As I looked at Paul, I ended up frowning, tearing up even as these thoughts swirled in my head. Paul smiled ever so slightly

"It's OK" He whispered to me. "I know he won't last long..." He paused for a moment. "I know what to do..." As Nurse Joy approached Reggie once more, Paul stopped her abruptly

"Stop," he told her. "There's no need to continue on"

"Young man, I know what I am-"

"He's dying," Paul spoke bluntly. "He's too far gone now... Nothing can save him now..."

"I can if I-"

"You can't!" he snapped at Nurse Joy. "Just stop! OK?! Just..." he paused for a moment. "Just let me talk to him. I... I want to apologise to him..." Nurse Joy and Emile gave Paul a sad look

"Paul, are you sure it's too late to save him?" Emile cautiously asked him. Paul didn't even reply. He lightly pushed Nurse Joy to the side as he kneeled in front of his brother. I watched Reggie's movements: his breathing was uneven, coming out in short, shallow bursts with long gaps in-between them only getting bigger as time slowly grasped what remained of his life. Paul remained silent, almost taking in his brother's uneven breathing, realising just how close he was to the inevitable... I saw Paul fiddle with his hands as he looked down, his whole body shaking and his face flustered, filled with distraught and guilt while tears were slowly trickling down his cheeks. This was a hard moment for him... His brother, his only loving family member, now resting on their death bed before him... Paul only had a few minutes to say what he wanted to say before his brother passed on. We all silently waited for him to speak. In the corner of my eye, I caught Paul glancing at me, almost begging me for help. The look in his eyes told me everything: he couldn't put any of his thoughts into words. I only gave him a small, sad smile, though it faded almost instantly with the helpless atmosphere in the room. Paul gave me a small, sad smile, before he faced his brother once more. He took a long, shaky breath, before he continued on;

"... Reggie... I'm sorry..." he began. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to save you... I'm sorry you had to suffer through Darkrai's torturous nightmare... I'm sorry you have to face death this early... You don't deserve it... You don't deserve it at all!" Large tears began to stream down Paul's cheeks as he continued on. "You've done so much for me! You sacrificed so much for me, just so I could grow up and become the trainer I wanted to be, in trade for your own dreams... I'll never forget the night our parents left us, not because of what I lost, but what I gained: I got you. I didn't know you very well back then, you weren't around when I was growing up, but when they left us, you took me in immediately. You could've chased them down or pawned me off to someone else, but you took me in and raised me, a-and loved me l-like any parent should, but the love you showed me wasn't what a parent showed, it's what a sibling showed, because you're my brother." Paul began to sob mid-sentence. "You p-put me before yourself s-so much and always made sure I-I was happy when I was younger. Y-You sacrificed s-so much of your time for me: you t-taught me everything I know, you t-took me e-everywhere I wanted to go, e-everywhere you went, you... Y-You did so m-much for me, a-and I did so little! I-I always took you for granted a-as a kid, a-and when I got older I-I found it s-so hard to show my a-appreciation, a-and now it's too late! You're DYING right in front of me a-and I couldn't save you and... I-I'm so SORRY!"

At that moment, Paul just broke; he started to sob uncontrollably as he leaned forward and threw his arms around his brother, hugging him as he cried indefinitely. The rest of us were only silent as we watched poor Paul cry his heart out over his brother's slow and painful death. Coming to know Paul over this journey, I started to tear up myself: he had gone through so much in his life, yet his brother stood next to him no matter what, looking after him, guiding him as he grew, standing up for him, supporting him and so on. No matter the situation, no matter how bad it got, his brother was always there for him, always there to pick him up off the ground whenever he fell over, but now; his brother was dying... He would soon disappear from Paul's life, leaving him with no family, and no one to lean on... As I thought about it more, this whole event was the only event that I knew of that Reggie wasn't present to comfort Paul, because he was the one in trouble... The journey was rough for Paul: trusting someone he disliked at the time to follow him on a journey relying entirely on myths and legends, being judged every corner he turned... And yet, despite reaching his goal, he was too late... All his work, his own sacrifices made for his brother, had gone to utter waste...

As Paul continued to sob, I slowly started to cry myself. It was light at first, however I soon felt myself break down internally as I watched my poor friend cry for his brother's passing. He had gone through so much, I... I just felt awful... I felt responsible that we had arrived too late, that we had failed to save Reggie's life: we were slow, we were sidetracked, we were late... I let out a sob before I instantly covered my mouth to stop anymore. I suddenly felt someone place their hand on my shoulder. I lifted my head up and turned around

Emile

Emile gave me a sad, yet gentle look. That look alone made me break: I suddenly wrapped my arms around him and began to sob myself, while he returned the hug, firm but gentle. I couldn't help it; I knew next to nothing about Emile, but I couldn't help it, I needed to comfort. I need to let it out for a moment, let out what tragedy I had absorbed. I had to... Emile was very kind and kept me in his arms as I cried, calming me down slowly, but I didn't want to let go. I didn't want to look back at my friends sorrow. It was too much for me to handle... I sniffled quietly in Emile's arms as Paul's loud, spluttering sobs filled the room with his regret, guilt and sorrow. I glanced over to Nurse Joy, who looked sad, yet unfazed by the event occurring before her. She may have been professionally trained, but I could see she was close to her breaking point. I slowly and cautiously turned to Paul, who was still hugging his brother, sobbing into his shoulder. Reggie didn't seem to be moving, yet I knew he was still alive. Barely...

"I-I'm s-so s-s-sorry!" Paul sobbed loudly. "I-I'm so s-sorry R-Reggie..." he sniffled, then spluttered a sob. "I... I-I..." he hugged him tightly. "I-I love you Reggie... I-I love y-you s-s-so m-much..." Tears poured from my eyes once he said those few yet strong words, the words he desperately wants to say to his brother, yet never has the courage to until the very end... It broke my heart to watch this occur, to watch someone I had bonded with crumble and utterly break inside. It was almost torture, but like a car crash, you could never look away...

...

Then, all of a sudden... it glowed

Emile tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to the lunar wing tucked in Paul's Jacket pocket. I slowly removed my head from my hands and gasped with surprise and shock as the wing started to glow again. However, the signature glow of the wing was accompanied by this other power of sorts, darkness and emptiness drenched in it...

Darkrai's power

The two powers began to swirl around the room, blooming into a colourful yet eerie array of colours. They clashed head on, almost as if they were fighting each other, but they danced so gracefully in the air that they almost seemed to work together in their squabble. I was confused and utterly baffled as both powers soon combined, before bursting into a bright light, engulfing us all. Once the light cleared, Paul was still hugging his brother, crying. However, he suddenly stopped and broke from the hug as his brother began to stir slightly. Reggie fussed in his sleep for a moment before his eyes slowly fluttered open. He sat up, a little unsteady, but soon steadied himself as he began to look around. He looked confused for a moment, before he realised he was awake. He gasped at his realisation, scanning the room, before his gaze landed on Paul. They were silent for a moment

"... Paul?" Reggie whispered.

"REGGIE!" Paul suddenly wrapped his arms around his brother once more as he began to cry with utter joy. "You're alive!" he sobbed happily. "You're alive..." Reggie was stunned for a moment, but he smiled sadly and slowly returned the hug, comforting his sobbing brother

"I'm OK Paul..." he whispered to him. "I'm OK... It's OK... Shhhh... It's alright..." My confusion on both Darkrai and Cresselia's powers seemingly working hand in hand had now shifted to utter joy as I watched the two brothers embracing. Tears slowly rolled down my cheeks, but I was overjoyed: Reggie was alive, we made it in time

"I'm so glad you're OK..." Paul cried. "I thought I lost you..."

"I would never leave you like that Paul," Reggie assured him. "You know I will always make sure to be there for you." Paul smiled. He paused for a moment

"... I love you Reggie..." he whispered. Reggie smiled, tearing up ever so slightly

"I love you too Paul..." he replied. I only watched the two embrace, Reggie calmly whispering to his brother as Paul continued to cry happily in his brother's arms, overjoyed and relieved he was alive. At one point, Paul opened his eyes and looked at me, our eyes meeting. He smiled at me sweetly

"Thank you," he mouthed to me. I wiped a tear away and gave him a warm smile

"You're welcome"