She was annoyed by the constant pair of eyes boring through her back—and thus, she spun around when Ryou couldn't see them, confronting Quinn and not even trying to hide her tired expression. "What is it?"

The carrot-haired girl answered with a tilt of her head, craning her neck upwards and responding with a blank gaze, unreachable emotions swimming in the depths of these hazel pools and summing up to an overall look of disinterest.

"I'm not good with offering advice to people," she scoffed. "I'm too young—that's why I told you to make the pale-haired boy feel better. If he's still feeling down...did you make a mistake or something? As much as I dislike you, you seem like the type to be able to deal with things like this."

A sheepish smile crossed her face, and she decided to ignore the comment about being disliked—she'd taken into account what Ryou had said, after all, and it was natural that both of them needed some time to get accustomed to each other.

"I made a mistake," she replied, an air of distractedness hanging about her. "I shouldn't have confronted him about the problem. Sorry."

Both of them fell quiet once again, having nothing to say to each other—and besides, she was still a little out of it. Between the gloomy shroud cloaking the group and the information the voice—no, the Meowstic had just shared with her, she, like her two friends, had lost the will to speak.

Despite the hours that had passed, she still couldn't believe that her cryptic replica and the cruel feline that had kidnapped her were one—sure, the clone she'd seen in the mirror had been an enigma, lecturing her about equality and giving her those strange flashbacks, but she hadn't been bad. She'd helped Celeana when she needed it.

So how could this be? As far as she'd remembered, memories of the Meowstic was associated with nothing but glimpses of hatred and pain and fear—well, it was reasonable for her to have been scared of her clone as well as the twisted Pokemon.

The uncanny quietness she'd heard in the creature's voice was yet another question thought up in her mind—as far as she knew, the figure that the Pokemon had role-played had been outspoken and mocking—that was the meekest tone she had by far heard her speak in.

A frown tugged at her lips on instinct—the fact that the catlike Pokemon had chosen to remain silent for the past couple of days was puzzling as well. The coordinator had tried to reach out to the replica once, but she was met with nothing but silence.

"Snap out of it," a voice called, and she jerked her head up to meet with Ryou's amethyst eyes. He brushed a silver lock of hair out of his eyes, and nodded to the scene in front of her. "We've arrived at Mossdeep."

Celeana startled, and she shot the boy a chastened nod before crossing into the city, taking a look at her new surroundings—from the small cottages matching the peaceful atmosphere perfectly to the salty breeze that blew over the sandy glimpses of beach at the town's edges.

"Oh," she started, but stopped once again as a much missed—not missed, but needed—voice formed an arcane whisper in her ears, the snarky cynicism so strong that it made the girl wonder if the vulnerableness she'd heard a few days ago was nothing but a hallucination.

"Ignore what I told you then," she snarled in an angry voice—it was an emotion that was more raw and genuine than she'd ever spoken. "That was a mistake. Yes, I am the Meowstic, but no matter now. You will listen to me. You will forget."

A smug innuendo was laced in between the subtle venom in her tone, and it was something that made the coordinator cautious—as if the Pokemon was talking about something past that incident. "You will forget," she repeated. "Oh, not about the incident, by the way. About yourself—just for a moment, don't worry."

Not even having the time to breath—let alone figure out the riddle that she'd been sent—a dark veil dropped over her eyes.

It wasn't quite the same as the pitch-black void the creature so enjoyed plunging her into. This time, it was more like a thin filter of cloth that had been draped over her vision, dying the world in front of her with an ugly, dull shade.

She wanted to question what was going on, but her mouth didn't seem to want to work—no, it wasn't that. Her limbs were heavy and lead-like, but she kept standing anyway—it was a muted sensation, but she somehow managed not to crumple. It was as if her soul was drifting away from the clutches of her body, and she hated that—she was losing control.

No, I don't want to speak, she thought, but why am I speaking—her train of thought was cut off by the parting of her lips, words sounding as normal as ever to anyone else but her. "I was looking forward to coming here," she heard herself utter with a soft smile, an unknown force bringing her hands together into a clasping position. "I heard there's a fun maze that opened a few days ago—we should go!"

Ryou tilted his head at the change of personality, but then deduced it to her trying to brighten the group's atmosphere—at which the blue-haired girl tried to yell at him that this was not the case, but no sound emerged from her throat.

"It sound childish," he muttered, still down about the catastrophic events of the recent days—but she had to smile at the embarrassed flush on his cheeks as he realised the lingering tint of immature excitement in his voice. "I mean...how does a maze sound fun?"

She—rather, the Meowstic channeling her thoughts through her mouth—replied with a sideways smirk. "Quinn is a child," she countered, voice light. "Besides, you look enough like a kid—I could just tag along as the s—supervisor. Um, something like that."

The cunning feline had even nailed the stammering tick in her voice. It was starting to frustrate her—yet, all she could do was wait for the Pokemon to relinquish the control of her body.

Next to her, the trainer regarded the taller female with a playful glare, trying to ignore the fact that he had to look up to face her. "You may be the tallest here, but I have a feeling even Quinn is more responsible than you," he retorted. "Still, we do have time. I guess we could go."

The orange-tressed child behind them just murmured a monotonous yes even before Celeana could turn to her, glancing back down at some book that Ryou had bought for her at Fortree—and with that, the performance was over, and she felt feeling rushing back into her limbs and head.

Having no choice in the matter, she started towards the destination in mind—it was like a natural instinct for some reason; she knew just where to head to. Her voice, unsurprisingly, was shakier than she'd liked it to be, and she stuttered on even the simplest of words. "L—Let's go."

• • •

"There are surprises everywhere," the coordinator read, turning the brochure over and leading her two friends into the labyrinth-like structure. "Strange, though. It looks like a regular maze."

It was complicated—all three of them knew it. Passages stretched as far as they could see in every possible direction, barred by tall walls of concrete each identical to the next, all without an identifying marker of any form. Twists and turns flooded everywhere, creating clever sidetracks from the main paths in an attempt—perhaps, maybe the main corridors were the decoys—to distract them.

As the two girls remained silent, the silver-haired teenager walked forward, taking a good look at his surroundings and inspecting each course with a trained eye. Then, adjusting his bag on his shoulder, he gestured to the leftmost track. "This one."

"How did you even—" She paused, remembering that he'd been accepted into Devon Corporation for a reason; she'd heard about his genius-like abilities from Steven and there was also the fact that he had been able to memorise an entire speech in an hour. "I suggest we go right. It's more fun to get lost."

"I agree with him," Quinn stated, shooting down her suggestion and following Ryou down the path of their choice—and, left with no choice, the blue-haired girl chased after them.

What she didn't notice was the retraction of the wall behind her and another slab of stone rising up between them—she had never been one to look out for the small details. The younger boy next to her, however, had sharp eyes, and halted in an instant.

"What the—" he glanced around him, brain launching into overdrive and trying to take in every little change in the maze, but his mind settled on the big picture—and that was the huge wall going up between Quinn and them.

He rushed forward, trying to reach the child before it was too late, but he had the sense to stop just before he slammed into the opaque screen centimetres in front of his face, cutting off any previous traces of the girl with it.

"She's too small to take care of herself," he fretted. "What kind of maze is this, anyway? There's something wrong with it—it's got some kind of sinister air to it."

Celeana stepped in front of him, just as worried for their younger friend. It was getting dark as well, and she offered the now-silent Meowstic a silent curse for dragging them into this trouble. "I don't know what's going on, but we can't just go out now. Quinn's still in there." She nodded towards the wall. "We have to find her first."

Reluctantly, the pale-haired teenager behind her gave a small nod of consent, the once joking air about them having turned into something more sour—and they walked on.

• • •

She was in big trouble.

She had acknowledged long ago that she was lost, and panicking about the fact wouldn't help one bit. No matter how smart she was or how well she scored on her tests at Trainer School, it didn't mean anything in this situation.

In the end, she was only a helpless nine-year-old—someone who was too immature to navigate her way through something as simple at some idiotic exhibit aimed at tourists by herself.

Even the other girl wouldn't be so bad now, she mused, acknowledging how she'd grown to accept—not as a friend yet, but maybe an acquaintance—the tall coordinator who seemed too childish for her age. At least she was older—she would have an easier time figuring the labyrinth out.

And the other boy would be an even bigger help—she didn't talk much to either of them, but the trainer had some sort of innate quietness about him, despite his talkative exterior—an odd calmness that gave her the opinion that he was intelligent in some way.

"Where are you?" she called, at least deciding to have a fragment of common sense—but she received no reply from the boundaries encircling her. It wasn't like she'd expected one—she knew she was lost. All she could do was try her luck.

A few moments passed, and she felt silly for even attempting something like that—and thus she turned around with every intention to find her way back by herself.

What she didn't expect was a deep, foreign voice to answer her call, and she jumped, spinning on her heels to face the direction of the rumbling tone. It was soft, ominous—yet, an air of smug knowing formed an irresistible pull and she couldn't run away.

"I did a reasonable job separating you from your friends," she heard, and a bunch of shapeless shadows seemed to drain from the concrete walls, taking the form of a vague, inhumane beast that towered over her. "You, after all, are the easiest to go after."

Quinn shook her head in protest, trying to tell herself that no this was not happening and that the creature across her had the exact features of a Giratina. "Just because I'm the youngest doesn't mean I'm the weakest," she insisted, trying to hide her terror—she very well remembered the Giratina from one of the alternate timelines, and she didn't want to see the monster's power yet again.

"No, child, you misunderstand me." The Legendary's voice held a tint of flavoured despise, and if it was even possible, his shadowy body grew even further. "I do not judge creatures by their age—I wish not to. I have said you are the easiest because of another reason."

Giratina slid closer, and the girl found herself backing away on instinct—and, much to her dismay, her back pressed against the rock-hard surface of a newly-erected wall that she was sure hadn't been there moments ago.

"You find emotions unnecessary," he mouthed, and her hands clenched into tight fists. "That is right. You remember the fear and pain in those timelines, do you not? And you do not wish to experience that again. You wish for a world without that agony."

She was unable to fight back; unable to think of some witty remark—just because what the Legendary had said was true and irrefutable.

As far as she knew, she hated being human—just for these pesky emotions that they contained. Perhaps, for a short period of time, she'd liked it—but that had seemed so long ago and so damn far away that she'd lost sight of it—there was no use believing in something she couldn't see.

"A world where everyone is the same would be an utopia," Giratina spoke. "No more pain, no more suffering—an equal world is what grants us all happiness. Everyone with the same goals—all merging into a single timeline you can trust."

The girl had been so distracted by his speech, she had failed to notice the slow changes taking place around her—until she found herself in a greyed-out land with nothing but dry sand and dangerously sharp rocks as far as she could see.

"N—No." In a matter of seconds, she'd turned into the stammering mess that she labeled Celeana with—and it was all because of the Raikou that slunk towards her in a drunken manner, sparks of lightning arcing through the luscious lavender fur on his back. "Please stop."

Which one is it? The question itself sent her mind into a spiral of overwhelming turmoil, and every little detail left out swelled up in her brain, turning into something savage that felt like it could kill her. Which timeline? Twenty-second? Twenty-fourth?

"A test," the beast spoke, "this is but a test. You are already starting to get trapped in the past—maybe you are not suited for Arceus' ideology after all. That is fine—I welcome you. If you do not pass this test, I will still let you live in this new paradise of mine."

His smile flourished all the more—and if the poor child could break out of her hallucination, she would have seen the new world rising around her that defied even the most fundamental laws of physics.

"Quinn Mave, let fear be your last emotion."

• • •

SORRY SORRY I WAS SUPPOSED TO UPLOAD THIS TWO DAYS AGO BUT THINGS HAPPENED. (AKA irl shit and reading too much haikyuu fanfiction oops)

anyway im sneaking on so i'll leave this super short an ahaha but ohoho the plot is thickening

Besides that, thank you SO MUCH for 7K reads and 893 votes! That's about a 200+ increase in reads :o My next goal is 908! :)

Critiques are most certainly welcome, and don't forget to read, vote and give your thoughts in the comments! Please be 100% honest!

~ nyxia ☆