Chapter Text
Overhead, the sun starts to break through the morning fog, chasing away its damp coldness. The cliffsides of Waterfall Cave had been left behind an hour ago, yet around them, the world still twinkles with dewy plants and stones. Soon enough, everything will dry up, the sun and incoming winds making quick work of the droplets.
The entrance to Mystifying Forest is visible just a bit further, which means that, finally, the group will split up. Which also means goodbyes.
“Be careful, yeah?”
“We should be the ones telling you that!” Celebi rebukes Pearl’s words. “I mean, you go missing once and suddenly, you’re a Pokémon! That has to take the crown.”
Pearl laughs, and it only sounds half-bitter. Mostly, she sounds embarrassed. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll be careful, too.”
She stares in the direction of the gnarled trees at the dungeon’s entry point, and then, turns towards Celebi and Grovyle. With emphasis, she repeats, “But I mean it! Please be careful. Mesprit knows that you’re arriving, but… things could always go wrong.”
“Dusknoir,” Grovyle says, grimmer than the rest of them. “We do not know what he has planned.”
Darkrai somewhat does, although, of course, these plans might have changed since Celebi and he escaped the ambush. Things did not go as cleanly as they should have, and the possibility that Dusknoir realized what Darkrai changing shape right in front of him meant is…
But still, he doubts that Dusknoir and his Sableye will suddenly lie in wait in random bushes along the way, biding their time until the moment Grovyle and Celebi pass by.
Imagining that is quite funny, though. As annoying as thinking of him is, imagining the big ghost hunkering down somewhere but still being too tall to be fully hidden, jumping out while shouting ‘Boo’ – because this is Darkrai’s imagination and if he wants to paint Dusknoir in an embarrassing light, he can absolutely do so – and then attempting to—
“Duskull.”
Darkrai looks at Grovyle, who seems annoyed.
“What?” he questions, no clue why he was addressed.
“Did Dusknoir mention any future plans, while you stayed with him?”
He does not even try to stop himself, he rolls his eye. While getting along with Grovyle has gotten easier, it is clear that he is still seen as an outsider who is not quite entirely trustworthy. “He did not. He fully expected to be able to kill Pearl and you and be done with things after that.”
“And after that?”
Darkrai’s delivery of the next words is dry. “After that, I escaped the stockade. Just as you two had done.”
Grovyle seems about to rebuke, probably to needle Darkrai along, and so Darkrai continues talking instead.
“I do believe that we will have to face him again,” he admits, “Because I cannot imagine Dusknoir giving up quite that easily. But I doubt that he would wait at a random bend on the paths to the Gears’ guardians.”
Grovyle frowns, and, crossing his arms, speaks. “We really cannot underestimate his tenacity. He followed me to the past, something none of us ever expected, and even managed to ambush me three times, specifically at the lakes.”
“Which was only possible because you had incited the Lake Guardians against you, and thus, they were very willing to let Dusknoir access their realms.”
“But they could not keep me out either, and—”
“We’ll be careful,” interrupts Pearl. “Darcy wasn’t told any plans, and guesswork won’t really do anything but make us antsy. We’ll just keep the possibility of him popping up somewhere in mind at all times, okay?”
Grovyle takes a moment to look at her, and then, sighs. “Alright, alright. I just worry.”
“I know,” acquiesces Pearl, “We all do.”
Grovyle nods, and then seemingly can’t stop himself from assuming them to be invalid, yet again, as he starts to explain, “If he shows up during your travels, keep in mind that he’s more of a motionless fighter. Likes to remain in the same position. But! Don’t get too close, he’s got more reach than one would expect, and he’s quick when he needs to be—”
Finally, Darkrai has enough, and the slightest bit too harsh, interrupts Grovyle. “I know all that, and I assume Pearl is also aware of it already.”
“You do? How?” Grovyle sounds honestly surprised, so much so that the anger he’d normally react with is absent.
Not wanting to linger on the topic, Darkrai simply states, “We fought once before.” He dismisses the statement with a wave of his hand—
“What? When?” Grovyle asks, and Pearl wonders, “But you said you fled the stockade without being noticed!” and Celebi, always looking to make an ill-timed joke, questions, “And you’re still alive after that?”
—or at least attempts do so.
Darkrai shrugs, hoping to make it seem nonchalant. “I did not fight him in the future. We are both ghosts of the same species. Obviously, he would want to find a chance for a friendly battle.”
“When?” Pearl inquires, her words almost an inquisition.
Darkrai keeps himself from huffing in annoyance. “Before he left with the Lake Guardians. I-, He insisted on a spar and I saw no way to refuse him.”
“And you never—”
“No, I did not tell anyone,” Darkrai interrupts, already annoyed by the point Pearl wanted to make. “Just as Dareios probably did not mention that the same happened to him. Not everything needs to be shared.”
He wonders, faintly, if Dareios did, indeed, fight Dusknoir. He decides against it. The banker never struck him as someone who would enjoy having brawls. And if he had fought, he would have at least spun a tall tale out of it.
For a few moments, there is a bad kind of silence, a silence which tells Darkrai that, again, they are judging him for not having told them everything which happens in his life. But then, surprisingly, Celebi turns into his saviour with but a simple question.
“Sooo… Who won?”
Darkrai looks at her for a moment, and then away. The loss still annoys him – of course, the illusion weakened him. Yet still, he should have fought better. How quickly he lost… He was not always this bad at fighting. So why is he, now?
Someone giggles, and it is Pearl who, with mirth clear in her voice, realizes, “You lost, huh?”
Darkrai crosses his arms and refuses to look at her.
Celebi squeals. “You’re embarrassed! That’s why you never told anyone!”
“I am not embarrassed!” Darkrai hisses, uncrossing his arms to ball his hands into fists. Dusknoir is not under a draining illusion! If he had fought with the same handicap, he would have lost!
…Probably!
“Dusknoir is incredibly strong,” Grovyle, half-heartedly, tries to defend Darkrai for once. But it is too late, as the two girls dissolve into annoying laughter. Which Grovyle does not attempt to refuse himself for too long – after a few moments of trying to keep a straight face, even he snorts.
Darkrai crosses his arms anew and turns away from them. If they want to sound like a brood of clucking Torchick, he won’t stop them.
“Anyways!” Pearl finally calls into the round, once she isn’t busy guiltily glancing at Darkrai and then giggling again, at least, “Let’s just all agree to be careful, alright? I don’t want to see any of us hurt.”
“Agreed!” cries Celebi and Grovyle nods, and when all three look at him, Darkrai easily tells them, “Yes, yes, agreed, obviously.” As if he is not always careful.
And then, the three of them, expectedly, hug. Darkrai stands aloof, because just imagining being included in an action like that is enough to make him shudder. Both Celebi and Pearl throw him a questioning glance from within their hug, and at each of them, Darkrai shakes his head.
Some touch… might be more agreeable than other touch, but ‘group hugs’ are very much not included in that.
And finally, after all of that, their two groups go their separate ways.
After two more days of travel, they arrive in the lower crystal cave, having fought their way through the Dungeon hidden within yet again. Pearl’s newly gained experience was apparent throughout their travels, and for the most part, Darkrai had been able to simply remain behind and watch her fight most of the feral Pokémon.
Once again, they arrive a bit away from the path leading to the small peninsula in the lake; but this time, there is no shouting, and, much more striking, there is seemingly no water. It had been transformed into crystals over a year ago, and still, they stand upright, though some more so than others.
Darkrai is still amazed by this feat of Azelf. How did he even plan it? How did he go about implementing the means of accomplishing it? One of these days, he should ask Azelf.
Azelf emerges from somewhere behind the peninsula. He waves at them as he approaches, as if Darkrai would have difficulty seeing the only other Pokémon beside Pearl in this cave.
“Darcy! Pearl!” he greets, a big smile on his face. Darkrai does not quite trust it, not after what happened with Uxie, but… it is nice to be received like this. Azelf’s newly regained appreciation is, of course, only a result of his lies… but still. It is nice.
(Nicer than the confrontation with Uxie.)
(Which could have been averted if he—)
(Well, what was he supposed to do?! There was no reason to share anything—)
(Trust is a reason in itself—)
(It is NOT.)
“Azelf,” Darkrai calmly greets, and - “Azelf!” - Pearl, more lively, does the same, even going so far as waving back.
“I’m so, so, so happy you two are alive!” Floating down to Pearl, he opens his arms to offer her a hug, which Pearl, after a momentary confusion, gladly accepts. Once they have pulled apart again, Azelf turns towards Darkrai and hesitantly opens his arms.
(Azelf’s touch wouldn’t be too bad. It never was.)
Darkrai shakes his head. He does not need meaningless signals of pointless goodwill, and he especially does not need it in the form of touch. The offer was made, but its intent won’t be the same as it was for Pearl.
Unimpeded, Azelf just nods, lets his arms fall to his side again, and with a movement of his head, beckons them to follow. The two of them do so, Darkrai already knowing that Azelf is taking them to a more private part of the cave, and Pearl probably guessing it.
As they walk, Azelf starts up some inane chatter, which Darkrai tunes out, mostly. Pearl is happy enough to engage in the conversation, allowing him to simply trail behind and marvel some more at the crystals.
Some of the things Azelf tells them are useful to know – such as updating them on what he and his sisters did after Darkrai and Pearl were forced into the future. As it turns out, they mostly just calmed the town’s members and assured them that everything would turn out alright (even though, as Azelf admits, the three of them were not actually sure of that – at that point, Darkrai scoffs and asks “you think me that weak?” to which Azelf just laughs an apology), and, lightly, Azelf implies that they might have thought about ‘bringing others into the know’. Whether he means Dialga or, worse, Cresselia, by that, Darkrai is not sure. Asking in front of Pearl is impossible.
And then, they have already arrived at Azelf’s living space, his lake much smaller than the one Uxie resides at.
They step into what Darkrai knows to be Azelf’s living room, which is hewn right into the crystalline walls. The furniture, in contrast, is almost entirely made of pale wood. Together, they give the space an ethereal feeling, an early morning or calm sea contained entirely in here, without either being present.
Colourful carpets and pillows break up the monotony, creating a myriad of places to sit down. A book bound in a dark cover lies opened on a low, round table in the middle of the room, the only place of furniture also made from crystal. Judging from its shape, it might have literally grown here, and just been chiselled down until it resembled the intended object enough for the maker to decide that it was done. Next to the opened book stands a ceramic cup.
Their host takes a seat on one of the small stools situated next to the table, and in a fluid movement closes the book and shoves it towards the middle of the table. Pearl follows suit, choosing to sit down on Azelf’s right, her stool leaving a bit of space between the two of them. And Darkrai… hesitates. These chairs are most definitely not made for his size. Sitting would not just be uncomfortable, but also degrading.
Azelf watches him questioningly, until he seems to realize just what the issue is. Before he can cause a scene, Darkrai calmingly moves his hands up and down, and simply sits down on the ground between the two of them. The table is so low, that this way, Darkrai is at the correct height for it; and he would rather like to be a barrier between them so they cannot start having idiotic ideas.
“I can get you a pillow or a blanket,—” Azelf starts, turning half around on his seat, as if wanting to stand up and bring him one or the other.
Darkrai hurries to shake his head. “If I needed one, I would gather it myself.”
“Are you sure?”
“Would I state my intentions if I was not?” The statement comes out sounding more annoyed than Darkrai had meant to.
Azelf seems unaffected by his tone, and simply shrugs. Which could just as well be an objection. Darkrai, graciously, decides to ignore it; as a favour for having his unintended impoliteness ignored.
“Well. Then on with business, I guess.” The small Legendary lays the topic of a pillow to rest. “So, obviously, I already know about your misadventures, and about Dusknoir being a huge loser.”
Pearl nods sagely. Darkrai raises his brow at this phrasing, but decides not to comment. In a way, Azelf is right, anyways.
“And I know that you’re gathering five Time Gears – which we’ll definitely need. A sixth one would be preferable, in case anything happens, but I don’t think we have the time to gather that.” He chuckles. “Pun only half-intended.”
“Yeah,” agrees Pearl, “Especially since we still haven’t figured out how to get the fifth one, exactly. Emerald, I mean, Grovyle suspects one to be at a dungeon called Boulder Quarry? We wanted to ask you about that, actually.”
“Boulder Quarry…” repeats Azelf, very obviously caught off guard and not sure which, of the many boulder quarries existing throughout the continent, Pearl might mean.
Remembering a previous conversation about the topic the group had had – or, rather, Grovyle and Pearl, since Celebi had ignored them in favour of talking to one of Treasure Town’s many citizens, and Darkrai had not joined in out of principle – he knows which place Pearl is referring to.
“The one close to the World Abyss,” he states with all the gravity this dungeon needs to be referred to.
Azelf breathes out. “Ah.” It sounds strangled. After a few seconds in which he does not seem to breathe, he finally takes in a big gulp of air, the sound much too loud in his home. “Yeah,” he finally tells them, “Yeah, I’m pretty sure a Time Gear should be there. Uxie will know more, I’ll ask him about it later.”
Not knowing or understanding just why Azelf might keep himself so guarded, Pearl happily says, “Thank you!”
“Of course, of course,” Azelf quickly agrees, “I mean, no one wants time to stop! But that dungeon’s pretty far away, isn’t it?”
“Indeed.” Darkrai opens his bag to take out the map they were given ages ago. He rolls it out and places it on the table, making sure that both Azelf and Pearl can see. Pointing at Treasure Town, he lets his finger trail over the route along the ocean, taking note of the inopportune coastline and the mountains right next to it at certain points. “At least about five or six days by foot, but with the upcoming winter storms, it might need even longer.” Then, he points out the sea route. “Or two to three days, if someone is willing to help you over the ocean. But again, with the likely storms, I am not sure anyone could be found.”
Azelf puts one of his hands to his chin and rubs it in thought. “Yeah, that’s not a great situation. There’s another Gear at the Giant Volcano, but that poses the same difficulties as the one you mentioned.”
Pearl groans. “I thought the Boulder Quarry was closer. Like, I assumed it might be next to Mount Horn or something.”
“Alas,” Darkrai says, “Things are never easy.”
“Not when it comes to saving the world, no.” Azelf laughs. “Well, we’ll figure something out. Maybe not right now, but I’ll talk with Uxie and Mesprit, I’m sure one of them will know what we can do.”
“You mean Uxie will know what we can do.”
Azelf laughs again, and then playfully slaps Darkrai on the arm. “Oh come on, don’t be mean to Mesprit.”
Darkrai freezes, because the touch was-, Azelf just-, why—
He knows Azelf meant nothing bad by it. He knows this, because he knows Azelf. Had known him. Is getting to know him again.
But the touch—
He hates touch. He hates touch.
His arms tingles, his arm burns, his heart freezes and beats so loud that he can hear nothing else, and if he could bite at the place Azelf touched, he would rip it off, tear it to pieces, until nothing but a bloody mess was left, and then, finally, he could breathe freely again.
(Yet he shouldn’t feel this way, because Azelf was always safe, did never mean anything by accidental touch, knew that Darkrai did not appreciate it but whenever he forgot, Darkrai did not mind too much.)
And yet, his skin seems to contract where it was touched.
But he must answer, must continue the conversation, must act as if nothing is wrong at all.
Azelf does not even have a lake in which he could wash this feeling off, anymore.
“Whatever,” he forces himself to huff, and he does not even have to try to make it sound annoyed, and like he wants to move on with the conversation.
“Let’s just figure out the stuff we can figure out?” Pearl speaks up. Darkrai does not miss the glance she casts at him, which almost seems… worried. But what would she need to worry about?
“Sounds like a good plan!” Azelf agrees, and then, seems to remember something. “Actually, before we talk about anything else, I’ve got a question for you two.”
“Yeah?” Pearl cocks her head. Darkrai tries not to concentrate on the feeling on his arm.
Azelf seems to be thinking intently about his next words. “Well. This might be a bit forward, but… are you two holding up alright? I know that we’ve got time constraints and the like, and that we haven’t known each other for… very long, I guess.” He side-eyes Darkrai, who appreciates the half-lie, but also…
“I’m aware that you’ve known Darcy longer than me,” Pearl says, sounding very, very tired.
“Uh… yeah. I… guess I have,” Azelf answers awkwardly. “Although we hadn’t been in contact even longer, if that helps? Like, I didn’t even recognize him when you two first came along!”
Pearl sighs. “One day, I will be told the story of how you met Azelf and his siblings,” she says, addressing Darkrai directly. “But I’m really not feeling like arguing today.”
Darkrai looks to the side. Was it not good enough that she got to know about his ability? He raises his hand and starts scratching his arm.
“Anyways. Sorry for the interjection. Thank you for asking, Azelf.”
Darkrai looks at her. Pearl has that typical smile on her face she always uses for others. “I’m alright. The travel to the future was… very much not pleasant, but I’ve had time to recuperate. And being welcomed back by everyone is nice!”
“It is annoying,” Darkrai grumbles.
“Yeah, that too, at least a little,” Pearl admits, a short laugh escaping her. “But I think everyone showing us that they appreciate us so much, that we were missed… I don’t know. To know that there are so many people who care about us, it’s just… very kind, I guess.”
“That is good to hear!” Azelf says, smiling as well, his tails swishing behind him in unison. “I, well, I get that you’ve heard it too often by now, but I’m really happy to know that you’re alright. Your disappearance was scary.” His tails slow down a bit as he tells them this, and as much as Darkrai still wants to rip his own arm out, he… accepts Azelf’s words and actions.
Azelf then reaches forward, past Darkrai, who immediately pulls away as to not allow even accidental touch. Once was enough for the day. Maybe the week.
He ends up not being touched, as Azelf simply takes his cup and takes a big gulp. His apparent nervousness soon becomes explained, as he speaks, seemingly very embarrassed about the words he addresses Pearl with.
“Listen, Pearl. There’s… Something I really need to speak to Darcy about.”
“In private?” Pearl asks, a deadness creeping into her voice Darkrai hates to hear.
“I…” Azelf looks towards Darkrai. “I think so. Unless Darcy told you about it already, but…” He sighs heavily. “Knowing Darcy, he probably didn’t.”
Darkrai glares at Azelf, the statement tasting like unripe fruit. “Who knows?” he goads, he defends himself, he lies, “I trust Pearl.”
He does not. He cannot. But… But for the sake of a final betrayal, she must trust him, again. For all his work to not have been for nothing, she must trust him again. She must.
“I could have already told her about whatever you want to talk about,” he adds.
Azelf looks between them. “Well, uh… It has to do with… someone’s… ability…?”
Pearl looks first at Darkrai, then at Azelf. Darkrai points at himself. Unless he misunderstood, Azelf was trying to imply that he needs to talk about Darkrai’s Bad Dreams.
Azelf nods.
Darkrai nods in response.
Azelf lets out a relieved breath. “Okay, okay, that’s good! Yeah, it’s about Dar-, Darcy’s ability.”
Pearl also lets out a relieved, shuddering breath, copying Azelf. “Yeah. I know about that! And I guess I do understand why you’d want to keep that private.”
So suddenly, she understands? But not when—
No, he interrupts himself. Pearl might have done many things, but she did not react badly to the revelation of his ability. In fact, as far as reactions go, she… might have been one of the most positive. Distraught, yes. But… But she kept trying to see the best in him, did not simply assume that he was always rotten, did not throw him aside for it.
Azelf nods. “Yeah. Yeah! Well, if you know, we can talk freely! Then, uh, give me a moment? Be right back!” He floats up from his tiny chair and hurries towards one of the rooms branching off from his living room, separated with wooden doors. It is quickly opened by him, and while it might not be on purpose, the door falls shut behind him again, baring both Darkrai and Pearl from watching what he does inside.
What a hurried exit.
At first, they wait in almost-silence, only the noise of someone searching for something from within the room Azelf went in interrupting it. But soon, it is fully broken by Pearl, who had been staring at Azelf’s cup for a while now.
“Can I have the water flask?” she asks Darkrai, her glance moving from the cup to their bag. “Or does Azelf have something like a kitchen around here?”
“Can you?” Darkrai questions back, and, for good measure, adds, “And how should I know? I do not make it a habit to visit him here.”
Pearl huffs, then glares. “May I have the fuc-, no, don’t look like that, you know you would deserve to hear a swear.”
Darkrai scoffs and crosses his arms, looking at the door Azelf disappeared through. “I would not. In fact, no one, at no point, deserves to either say or hear curses.”
Pearl stares, then, with a roll of her eyes, gives up. He will gladly accept this as the win it is, achieved with his superior logic and arguing.
“Please, Darcy. I’m thirsty, and last I checked, I can’t drink crystals.”
“Yes, yes,” he tells her, mollified by her nonverbal admission of defeat. And so, he does not needle her any longer, but simply just reaches into the bag and pulls out the flask. As he hands it to her, she suddenly raises the palm of her flipper, and pushes it back towards him again.
In confusion, he stares at her. “Did you not just—?”
“Yeah,” she tells him, “But you can use it first.”
“I am not thirsty.”
“I didn’t mean that you need to drink!” she hurries to explain. “I mean, you can, if you are thirsty. But, uh… For your arm. You’ve been scratching it ever since Azelf touched you.”
“I…” Darkrai starts, and trails off, staring at the aforementioned arm. Until he took the flask out of the bag, he had been scratching it, not even truly noticing the movement anymore. How closely was she watching him, to realize it happening? How obvious was he about it? Besides, his arm looks alright. Which might only be because of the illusion, which tends not to show any wounds, but still.
“I…” he tries again, and then, with a deep breath, nods. Without any other words spoken, he accepts her proposition. It might help.
In fact, it does help, the moment he pours a bit of water on his arm feeling like he is suddenly saved from whatever he was running from. He hands the opened flask to Pearl, who grabs it while making sure – and Darkrai can tell, now that he is watching her – to not accidentally touch his hand as this happens. He won’t voice his thankfulness for it, can’t get his throat to do so, but the friendly grin she gives him once she is holding the flask seems to imply that it was enough for her, anyways.
He rubs the water over his arm, feels its coolth alleviate pain he had been too busy to notice.
Once most of the water has been spread, he looks at Pearl, who is still drinking from the flask. They might have to refill it soon enough, although gathering the Time Gear from Azelf should not take much a lot of time. After that, Pearl can activate their badge, and back at Treasure Town they will be in a few moments.
Finally, the door opens again, and Azelf approaches, a small box held in his hands.
“Oh!” he exclaims as he looks at Pearl, “You should’ve mentioned you were thirsty, I completely forgot that you went through the Dungeon and everything!”
“It’s okay.” Pearl calms him, wiping away some droplets which escaped her beak. “I didn’t wanna bother you.”
Azelf sighs, although a laugh follows immediately after. “You two are horrible guests, you know that? Darcy doesn’t want a pillow, Pearl doesn’t want fresh water, and I bet you won’t even want to stay the night in this beautiful inn of mine.”
Pearl laughs. “Sorry, sorry!”
Azelf waves her off. “It’s alright, I understand! Well, anyways. What I was searching for…”
He approaches the table, and once he has reached it, places his box on it. It is made of wood, with a simple inlay in the shape of a star on top. The lid remains on it for now, no matter how much Darkrai would like to peek inside.
“Well. So. A certain someone, whose name shall not be mentioned, visited me during the year you two were away.”
He looks mostly at Darkrai when he says ‘a certain someone’, and there is a feeling of dread creeping up Darkrai’s chest, because he has an idea as to who Azelf might be referencing.
He hopes that he is wrong. He fears that he is not.
“And she kinda insisted on giving me a, well, a you-know-what. And, well… Since you’re staying so close to so many other Pokémon, Darcy, I thought that maybe… you should have it instead of me?”
Azelf finally opens the lid, and as Darkrai sees what lies within, that feeling of clawing dread turns sour, seems to rip open his chest until it has become anger. Just the mere reminder of her, directly before him…
It’s just a feather, he tells himself. Just a single feather. Nothing more.
Inside the small box, it lies, iridescent shades of yellow. He has been told that the colour seems to shift between yellow and green, depending on how the light hits it, but the effect is lost on him and his night-adjusted eyes.
“Oh, what’s that?” Pearl, leaning over the table to look inside the box, asks. Before she can catch a glimpse of it, Darkrai’s hand has moved over the box and forced the lid closed again, even ignoring that like this, he initiated touch with Azelf, who could not pull his hand away quickly enough – not that he attempted to do so.
“Nothing useful,” he tells her, sliding the box towards Azelf again. “So you can keep it.”
Azelf shakes his head, pushing it at Darkrai again. “Please. I know that you don’t do it on purpose, but if someone gets—”
Darkrai interrupts before Azelf can say what he obviously intends to, because… Pearl does not know about the endless nightmares. And she also shall never learn of them. Right now, he is just starting to gain her trust anew. Every hint of even more hidden truths will make her more likely to turn away from him, forever.
And he cannot allow that.
“Will you let this topic drop if I take it?” he asks.
Azelf exhales loudly. It seems like relief. “Yeah. Promise.”
Darkrai nods, grabs the box, and throws it into his bag without another look. If Azelf had wanted to keep the container, he should not have presented the feather this way. He must know that Darkrai avoids touching the feathers as much as he can, after all. Not because they have any kind of negative effect on him but…
Well. He never experimented enough to come to irrefutable results, but there is just this hunch he has, that his own touch might negatively impact the feathers’ effectivity. Maybe his presence does the same. That, however, he cannot help.
“But what’s it for?”
Darkrai looks at Pearl. Before answering, he glares at Azelf, as a warning. Azelf answers his gaze, confused.
“I will explain later,” he tells Pearl.
Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Azelf’s confusion morph into understanding, and then, the slightest narrowing of his eyes. Of course he would not approve of keeping any secrets.
“Promise?”
Darkrai looks at Pearl. She seems so… trusting. There is an apprehension to her mien, an understanding that Darkrai might not ever explain ‘later’ – because how often has he promised to do so, and then not told her anything? But ‘later’ is such a broad concept of time, and who is to say that his ‘later’ won’t be the moment he finally betrays her? And yet still. Through that apprehension, she asks him to promise, and she will believe him if he does.
He takes a breath, then nods. “Promise.”
The feathers, after all, have two intended uses – waking those who are caught in an endless nightmare, but also just keeping bad dreams at bay. If he tells Pearl just one of these truths, that should be enough.
To their side, Azelf seems to relax again.
“And if he refuses to tell you,” Azelf tells Pearl, “You can mention that I was here to witness this promise. Make Darcy behave that way.” He grins. To Pearl, it might seem friendly. To Darkrai, it seems like a threat.
How foolish he had been to think that Azelf would simply forgive him everything so quickly.
“He won’t,” Pearl says. “Refuse to tell me, I mean. I believe in that.”
What? He stares at her. She reciprocates the look and smiles. “Trust for trust. A fair deal.”
At that, Darkrai uncomfortably looks away. He pretends to open his bag to… order the things within. The box was just thrown in, after all.
For a few seconds, silence ensues, which is quickly broken by Azelf.
“Well! Let’s finally get to the thing you really came here for, the Time Gear!”
Darkrai stops his pretend-organizing of things to look at Azelf instead. He might just have created more chaos, actually.
The small legendary chuckles. “So… yeah. As you can see, it’s still encased in crystal.”
Darkrai and Pearl nod. That much is quite obvious.
“And now, don’t get me wrong, I thought about reverting it! But… for the longest time, I didn’t know if Grovyle would attempt to steal it again, so I thought it safer to keep it encased. And don’t worry, you won’t have to defend him to me,” he quickly says, once he notices Pearl opening her beak to say something.
“Both Uxie and Darcy vouched for him. I’d be an idiot not to believe them.”
“Just as you were when you decided to fight him on your own back when both your siblings—”
Azelf groans, droning out Darkrai’s voice. “Let’s pretend all of that did not happen. Please. I’ve had enough lectures by now.”
Darkrai snorts, but decides to be magnanimous this once. “If that is your wish.”
“It is,” Azelf agrees with a laugh. “So, because I’ve only known that Grovyle isn’t a threat anymore for about a week, I obviously haven’t gotten around to reverting what I did with the lake. That would take weeks, most likely, although just removing the crystals encasing the Time Gear could probably be done in like… two or three days. Maybe. I only experimented with smaller crystals.”
He looks at Darkrai. Darkrai does not like the implications of his gaze.
“Well. I thought that, since it was you two coming to visit me, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem, since Darcy can, uh, gather it…”
He’d begun his sentence with confidence, but as Darkrai stares at him, he visibly becomes more and more ashamed with each word spoken. At the end, it looks almost as if he is afraid of Darkrai biting his head off for the mere suggestion.
Darkrai entertains the thought.
Instead of doing so, he carefully states, “I have not even tried if I can walk through these crystals.”
Azelf, however, is quick with an answer. “I’m pretty sure they shouldn’t be a problem. They are the same composition as the other crystals here.”
“Wait,” Pearl asks, leaning forward so that she can see both Darkrai and Azelf, “There are crystals ghosts cannot pass through?”
Both Darkrai and Azelf nod. After a quick glance, it is decided that Darkrai should be the one to explain – he has the experience for it, after all. “Indeed. Some materials we can still force ourselves through, and others are as impassable to us as they are to everyone else. How else would you go about imprisoning outlaws who happen to be ghost types?”
“Oh, I never thought about that! What kinds of material can you not pass through?”
“Why do you ask?” Darkrai questions, “Are you planning on imprisoning me?”
Pearl’s eyes widen, horrified, and she shakes her head rapidly. “No, of course not! I was just wondering!”
Azelf giggles. “He knows that, Pearl. He just enjoys making you uncomfortable.”
“Stop giving away my secrets,” Darkrai grumbles. Then, he deigns to answer. “Most of the materials I cannot pass through are metals. Silver, I can still force myself through, but it is quite slow and also very, very uncomfortable. Gold, I cannot pass at all. The same is true for platinum. And then, there will sometimes be objects which only hold hints of the things I cannot pass through, and that… well, disparity is also quite good at making me reconsider.”
“And there’s some types of crystals Dar-, Darcy also does not like to pass through!” Azelf, unhelpfully, adds.
“But I have managed to get through all of them.”
“Yeah,” Azelf easily agrees, and then, a grin grows on his face. “Which is why you’ll definitely be able to pass through the ones surrounding the Time Gear.”
… Darkrai feels as if he walked into a trap. He huffs and crosses his arms.
“But only if you provide some food for me.”
“Well, obviously!” Azelf cries, indignantly. Then, with a grin, he admits, “I even managed to get some Spelon berries.”
Darkrai stares. “You-, but how-, they are out of season, and they don’t even grow on the grass continent—”
Azelf smirks. “I have my ways. So anyways, is that good enough repayment for the cruel task of gathering the Time Gear?”
“I suppose,” Darkrai grumbles, very much feeling like the winner in this exchange. Spelon berries! He has not had any in… years.
Getting the Time Gear should be easy with that incentive.
The crystals feel… strange to pass through. Like water, in a way; yet solid, depending on where he steps. He cannot see clearly where he is walking, and only the light emanating from the Time Gear is keeping him on track. All of this reminds him of hail pelting his skin in a storm. Darkrai is caught between thinking the feeling nice, or absolutely hating it.
This is one of the reasons he does not like wading through crystals.
Well. It could be worse. His ability to float made it easy to simply evade most obstacles while making his way to the middle of the lake, and only once he reached the almost dome-shaped cluster of crystals encompassing the Time Gear did he have to truly traverse through them. Turning the entire lake into crystals had most definitely been excessive, and yet, Darkrai understands Azelf’s intent behind it – not only did he prove the immense power he held, he also sent Grovyle the clear message to search for a Time Gear elsewhere.
And now, Darkrai just needs to take it and return to the shore.
How strange, to suddenly have been entrusted with gathering a Time Gear. A few years ago, he might have been attacked on sight, had he tried that. Perhaps not by Azelf, depending on how strong old feelings were; but Uxie and Mesprit would not have held back.
(And it would not even have been a crime if they had killed him for it.)
He suppresses the shudder trying to race down his back. Time Gear first, and once he is safely back in Treasure Town, he will allow himself to figure out just why the knowledge of having become the very criminal he always aimed to be tastes like ash on his tongue.
He reaches out and… hesitates.
There is danger in doing this.
(“Honestly, I really doubt anything will happen,” Azelf said, staring out at the lake. “Time’s already at its limit. Gone out of whack, if you want..”
Pearl, her gaze on Azelf instead of the Time Gear, seemed more unsure. “I mean, it’s not that we don’t wanna believe you… But time could stop. Darcy and I barely managed to get away from Mesprit’s Lake in time, and that was when Emerald first had to swim to the middle, buying us more time.”)
He agrees with Azelf’s assessment, or else he would never have even consented to retrieving the Gear. But the tiniest bit of doubt still remains in his mind.
With a deep breath, he grasps the Time Gear.
There is something akin to the smallest electric shock as he does so, and his claws tighten around it. Then, it changes, feeling akin to… wet tiles, surprisingly. For a moment, it almost seems to refuse to move from its position, as if pulling one of these crystals from their roots would be easier. The moment passes, and it gives, and Darkrai successfully holds it in his hand.
He takes a step back, and another, holding his breath. Nothing seems to happen, and he allows himself to fully exit the crystals. He takes a deep breath.
The Time Gear smells like morning dew and wind emerging between trees, like earth after rain and waves starting to crash against cliffs, like sulfuric lava moving slowly and flowers blooming on a cold morning, like yesterday’s leaves falling from trees and like tomorrow’s snow.
It smells like the passing of time.
And then, the earth begins to rumble.
For a second which feels like eternity, Darkrai does not understand what is happening. He was caught up in overmorrow and ereyesterday, next year and decades ago, never and evermore.
But then, he can hear sounds again, can hear Pearl shouting in surprise, and he realizes that Azelf’s predictions were wrong – time is not distorted enough quite yet, and now, time is about to stop here.
He turns around and almost flies towards the coast, not caring whether he accidentally floats through crystals or not. At the edge stand Pearl and Azelf, and something in his gaze must tell them what is happening, or perhaps, something behind him is happening which tells the same thing. He does not turn around.
Instead, he continues running towards them, uncaring the moment his body impacts with theirs.
Pearl, like agreed, reaches for his bag. Darkrai grasps Azelf’s hand and the one Pearl isn’t grasping towards the badge with, and with the sound of a click, they are gone from the cave.