A sprawling meadow. Sprawling blue sky above, a sea of flowers below. A perfect place for a Celebi to get in touch with nature - with a nap, among other activities.

Flanking Gorebyss Lake, this unhabited part of Luani Island is a veritable natural retreat, away from the hustle and bustle of the island's towns. Only a few trees populate the fields, with a river cutting through the greenery to the ocean close by. Gali's only real complaint is that this place is nearly the farthest point from Sonnige City on the island, requiring quite a trip here and back, with teleporting such a long distance being out of the question. She didn't really mind if there was nothing on her schedule, but even for her, time flies quite fast out here.

If she's not careful, the Celebi is liable to spend hours just picking flowers, flying along the ground, escaping to the nearby lake to skim across its surface...as if she never left the wild in the first place. Of course, she also gets up to things she wouldn't do in the public spaces the city has to offer, such as going nude (and storing her onesie somewhere safe), practicing her fleeting battle skills, or...screaming. As loud as she could. It's not as if this was a secret place, so she has to be aware of her surroundings so she can pick and choose what she does. Even so, she's aware that the few people she's seen walk around the meadow are ones she doesn't recognize seeing from Sonnige, so she's not afraid of leaving an impression as much as if she were to do these acts in eyesight of friends.

On this particular day, Galiana was content with sprawling out on a bed of flowers, face-up, snoozing away the afternoon. Not a care in the world, she's off of work for a while, only a few people know where she is or what she's doing and all she has to worry about is getting a bite to eat every now and then so she doesn't go hungry. She could spend hours just in this position...the breeze making the grass whistle every now and then, the sound of the babbling brook in the distance. Absolutely soothed to the soul. Were she comfortable being nude and sleeping, she would, but alas she remained clothed in case there were intruders to her quiet time.

Footsteps in the grass. It's not uncommon for people to approach her, but Gali has to ensure she's not appearing dead to anybody that sees her flat on the ground with her eyes closed. Having that happen one time is enough. She turns her head towards the sound and lazily opened an eye.

An all-black silhouette, slowly taking form as her vision adjusts. A flowing gray scarf. A black helmet with what looks like a gray flame atop, with only one blood-red eye and the figure's mouth showing through the opening on the helmet. Walking straight towards her.

Gali got up on an elbow, with a small groan. "Hey." Greeting this person was the least awkward thing she could do, though she has flown away from others before. Why greet this one? Perhaps she was still tired...but, seeing as she's the only person around, it would feel awkward if she didn't notice, and naïve of her to intentionally not.

The figure kept getting closer, ten feet, five feet. The Celebi sat upright. "Is there...something I can help you with...?"

He approached until he was practically standing above her. "So you aren't dead."

Gali scoffed and turned her head away. "Of course I'm not. It's the perfect weather for a little sunbathing, is all."

She laid herself back down, folding her arms behind her head. The Marshadow still wore a frown. "It's also the perfect weather for a fight."

"Not interested." She didn't even dignify him with a glance in his general direction.

"Oh, I'm not asking you. I'm TELLING you."

"And I'm telling YOU, not interested." Persistence. Perhaps she should get up and make the trip home after all.

"Hmph. Fine." ...or perhaps he'll just give up. Good. Footsteps started up again, getting quieter. There's still time in the day to relax...

...and then, right as she went to yawn, the Marshadow had ran up and kicked her. She went tumbling a few yards away. "Oough!"

It took a few seconds for her to orient herself, shaking her head and slowly getting to her feet. "Hey! I told you, I'm not going to fight!"

"Aww, not that nice when life comes at you whether you want it to or not, huh?" The Marshadow spoke in a mocking tone. "Are you gonna cry about it or fight back?" He approached. Gali stepped back.

"Hrrmph...jerk. You could get disciplined for illegal battling like that." The spot where she was kicked hurt...and was oddly cold.

He held his arms up, again in a mocking tone. "What do I care about your island's silly laws?" His smile then disappeared. "Unless you'd rather me make this meadow into a wasteland."

Gali took a second to think about her answer. He could sense the hesitation, of course. "I told you I'm not interested. And even if you do anything, I'll just take the time to grow everything back." She wore a small smile with a chuckle. "Maybe get some of my gardener friends involved."

The Marshadow put his hands down, returning to his frowned expression. "...I see. And you would run from a fight."

"I've ran before. Easy to do when jerks like you stick out like a sore thumb." Perhaps now would be a good time to just fly away. Hinging her bets on that Pokemon not being able to fly would be a good bet indeed.

He rose his voice. "And what will you do when you're forced to fend for your own?" 

Gali stopped midway up into the air. She turned, but didn't answer.

"What will you do when something even more important to you is on the line? Because clearly this isn't your home. What if I followed you and took a torch to your house? What would you do then?"

"I..." She looked down. "I'd...not like it. Maybe move away. What reason would you have to do such a thing in the first place?"

"...Hmph. You complacent types bore me." He scoffed again. "You'll run and run and not think to fend for yourself. You'll let ruin befall the world around you before you act."

He turned around. "Go on then, tuck your tail under your legs and run like the coward you are. At the very least I won't have to waste my energy on a lightweight who'd crumple like a piece of paper."

Gali gritted her teeth and barked back. "HEALING is much more important than DESTROYING!" Even she was surprised at how loud she was, how emotionally she was getting invested in this. "...If people didn't have to fight, I wouldn't need to heal. And I've chosen to use my life to heal. So what if I can't hold my own in a fight, if I can live to see another day?"

"You're a fool if you think you can LAST that long!" He turned back around, the helmet the Marshadow was wearing glowing ominously. Gali backed up in the air a little. "You can't heal the dead. All it takes is one person who wants to claim your home as their own, and everyone you know will be LOST."

He gritted his teeth, looking away briefly. "Take it from someone who has experience with that." The helmet stops glowing. "But if you can't find the strength to stand up for yourself, you can't right the wrongs of this world. Closed off as you are on your little island, I doubt you'll ever learn."

He walks away again, fists clenched. "Whatever you think is right, is wrong. So run, before the darkness takes another one of us."

Gali shook on the spot. She didn't have to stay and listen, but...now, she's doubting herself more than ever. All she wanted to do was nap, and she got yelled at by someone she didn't know because she didn't want to fight.

...Yeah. It's time to head home.

By the time she reached the outskirts of Sonnige, flying high up, she was already cold, and the sun was close to setting. She could have really used another day of lazing about, but...there's something else she needed now. Swooping lower, she sped up.

...

She stopped at Karina's doorstep, right when the sky was a bright orange. As per usual, her mother answered the door, and immediately knew something was up by the way the Celebi looked. "Oh, Gali...are you alright, dear?"

"Y-...yeah. Is Karina...?" Even her voice was tired. Thinking about what the Marshadow said to her on the flight over, she shouldn't be so rattled, and yet she couldn't help but think back to it. Shivering a little from the cold, she looked like a right mess. Very much unlike her usual cheerful self; even after a hard day's work, she looked better than this.

"Aww, sorry, dear, she's out with friends tonight. But I think it'd be alright if you wanna crash in her room if you're tired."

Gali sighed. It had to be tonight of all nights. "Oh...that's too bad. But I think I will, Abby. Thank you." Feigning a smile as best she could.

"I'll let her know you're in there when she gets back. Do say if you want an extra blanket or if you want some hot chocolate, dearie."

A soft smile as she passes by. "I'll keep it in mind. I might be going for a nap, so I'll have the light off."

Unfocused as she was, she couldn't bring herself to look up at Abby's face, or notice any of her actions. Her peripheral vision was dark, and all she could think about was going through that door...

Noticing the room was empty...

Not touching a thing in the dim light from Karina's accessories...

And flopping down onto the bed.

With no distractions or people to keep her busy, her thoughts roam to dark places.
White noise fills the void as sleep slowly takes hold.
Curled up, she can only hope Karina comes home soon,
For it felt as if a book of words assaulted her mindscape every second she couldn't say a one.

- - -

Images flashed before Gali's eyes. A life she didn't live, people she didn't meet, memories that weren't hers. An oddly familiar feeling that she can't entirely deny as being true or untrue.

All of a sudden, she finds herself in a pitch-black void. There's no sound or voices to lead her by, but she could feel her heartbeat. She couldn't see, but she could feel a coldness. She was still where there was at least some warmth. Alive. She's sure she was awake. But this wasn't where she slept...if she knew where 'here' was...

A rumbling. The Celebi could feel that she was lying against a floor of sorts, but even with her face pressed close to it she couldn't see it. Colder than the air, at least, but of an undefined material she couldn't discern. At the very least this gave her a sensation of 'down', so she sat 'up' on her hands and knees. It was hard to find her balance as she felt herself and what felt like the entire void shake more violently than before.

Eyes. White, circular eyes. Many of them - but only one, with no two making a pair - now staring at her within the darkness on all sides except 'below'. They float eerily, with some making small movements as if they belonged to a breathing beast. Far away that no other details of them can be seen. 

Gali felt her heartbeat race. She could swear they were making some sort of sounds, but with the white noise of the void around her, she couldn't tell what was producing sound and what wasn't. Fear began to run through her, and the void became that much colder. There wasn't a safe haven to see, as she could only see her own body and the eyes of these beings that know she's here.

She tries calling out, but no voice comes out at first. Her fear has caused her voice to rasp to the point where no air escaped. She coughed to clear the feeling, but immediately regrets it when the eyes seem to bulge out and their staring becomes piercing. They weren't looking at her anymore - they were looking at her soul. Judging. Her heart sank, and it became harder for her to move in her fear. Again she tried to speak, but her lips only quivered.

Then, a being appeared from the blackness. Another that she could see besides these staring eyes and herself.

A grotesque image of a pink Celebi. Missing an arm, missing a leg, half of its face abruptly ending. A mangled mass of ripped flesh, bloodied and torn right down the center of its body. What was left of its pink body was aged and wrinkled. Its mouth was missing, and its single solitary green eye shone as if lit with Gali's own vitality and vibrance, as one of the few lights in this dark realm. It, too, stared at Gali. She couldn't even muster the strength to unfreeze her limbs, and any attempt and summoning her Psychic abilities failed. Not being able to move an inch in her paralysis, yet wanting to run.

Its floating was just as eerie as the eyes that parted way for its appearance. No wings to flutter, no psychic aura to suggest it was holding itself up, no trickery to suggest it was floating through other means. The eyes that made up the background appeared to have more life than it. Even then, Gali could see a faint pulse in the light of its eye, and could see its body twitch faintly. She tried to keep her vision on the intact parts of the Celebi, fearing her sanity wouldn't stand anything else. Gali's mind raced with thoughts of what this Celebi could represent or mean, with nothing else to go off of. If she stayed still, would she end up like...it...?

A faint music begins to play from somewhere, and the pink Celebi's head rocked back and forth abruptly and jarringly, as if it was pained to crane its neck back and forth in a mocking tone. Gali was sure she was going to pass out from fear at this point and her vision was becoming hazier by the second, if time was even passing at all. The music played not just in her ears, but telepathically as well. Were she to run, she would have heard it no matter where she was.

Three turns.

The music that had played, strange sounds that seemed to come from the void itself, struck a chord in Gali. There was something about them...stirring a distant memory. Something that was so soothing that it freed up her body from her paralyzing fear. Something to give her the little bit of light she needed, that gave her the power to resist this darkness. She didn't have time to delve into what had spurned such a feeling, as she now had to consider what to do next. Still staring into the green eye.

Run? In this place, there was no place TO run.

From behind the Celebi before her, the eyes that had made up parts of the background moved closer. They appeared as Unown, spelling out a word. Even if she couldn't make out what the word was, she could hear what the word was - perhaps the pink Celebi was sending it to her head via Psychic, but the Unown could be doing that as well. Either way, she heard "LEAVE" in a voice that sounded as if it was echoed beyond time itself. The Celebi's head jerked side-to-side, still staring at her, as a second word came out. "HURRY." The two words echoed off of the void and the Unown surrounding them. The telepathic word come out low-pitched, as did the Unown's, but each reverberation and instance became higher pitched as they were repeated.

Fight? No, she couldn't fight. She could barely work up the courage to move an arm, much less try to activate her psychic powers. The only recourse, then...

"Are you...alive?" Her own voice similarly echoed off of the Unown, particularly 'alive'. Fear rocked her voice, only becoming amplified with each echo, as if they could sense her apprehension.

The pink Celebi stayed motionless, save for its twitching. No emotion could be discerned by what was left of its face or its unblinking eye. Its head position was the only semblance of life it had, again suddenly repositioning and cracking its neck to move it, whatever warped humor it was attempting falling flat on Gali. The Unown that were called forward retreated back into the darkness, with the dome of eyes circling around as if they were collectively aligned on the same thought. More came forward to spell out words, as if she were watching a brain's thought process work as a collective of beings.

"ALIVE?"
"DYING"

Both echoed with the same ferocity as before. Gali felt her fear creep in again, but it wasn't as paralyzing as before. But it wasn't just fear this time. Along with the ominous dread that blanketed her body and the entire area around her, she began to feel a new emotion towards the Celebi before her.

Sympathy.

Compassion.

It was one of her own...and yet, so mangled and warped...trapped in this realm with her...alive, dying. Suddenly, Gali felt more courage than ever before. If she had to do something, she had to do it now.

It was time to act.

Two turns.

"You're dying...no. No, you're not. You're not dying, you're not...as long as I'm here." Gali struggled to get up on her feet. Her entire body was shaking still, but she was at least moving. When she finally did stand up, the pink Celebi was but a few feet in front of her. She reached out towards it. Its eye didn't move, instead merely staring at Gali's face. Tracking her eyes. Unresponsive.

The Unown shifted. "FUTILE"

Gali's face scrunched, as if she were pushing back tears. This...bloodied mass, she was so close to touching. She could feel the raw emotion of its being pour out from its appearance alone, despite it not having a voice nor means in which to display such things. She hadn't even touched its skin, and yet she could feel a lifetime of emotions enter her fingertips. It was enough for her to pull back, now clasping her hands together.

"I...don't care. You need help...I can't leave you like this, alone in this hell."

Vines stretch from behind Gali's arm, crossing over and extending to her hand. They cover the hand briefly, then retreat back, exposing a single seed that fit into the palm of her hand. Visible to the pink Celebi, it instantly shifted its vision to the seed, then back to Gali just as fast as it had looked over. Her own instincts tricked her, making her look over to the Celebi's...

"The pain of living like this...it must have numbed you completely. I'm going to help you, like it or not."

"IN VAIN"

The light in its eye pulsed as it tried to say the words it telepathically spoke, and now that Gali is close, she could see it shiver as it did so as well. She still couldn't discern the meaning behind any of its movements, other than it not having moved away, having not outright denied.

Gali shook her head and closed her eyes briefly. "Your body is torn. You look like you can barely move if not for your Psychic powers keeping you alive, poor thing...please, let me help."

"HELP?"

Its eye pulsed once more. The sound of bones cracking once again displaced in the void as the Celebi tilted its head once more, still with its solitary eye trained on Gali's face.

One turn.

Gali's hand moved closer to the pink Celebi's faded skin with the seed. It didn't budge an inch, although its eye did glance over with lightning speed before refocusing back on Gali.

"I CAUSE"
"DEATH"

Gali stopped briefly. Certainly it had no means of which to do so. And if it did - it was smaller than her. What could it even do, the way that it was? "If you do, then we can talk about that after you're healed up. Just let me..."

The seed touched the pink Celebi's head - on the side that still had skin. Gali held it there as a blue aura began to envelop it, shining from underneath her palm. Bright green vines sprouted from the seed, and Gali moved her hand away. Just then, the Celebi began to vibrate with more intensity than before.

"It will take some time, but this should work. If you can feel any pain from it, I'm sorry, but it may sting..."

The voice from before kept repeating the same words, "DEATH, FUTILE, IN VAIN" as it not just shook, but began making its own movements aside from its stiff stance. The Unown surrounding the two began travelling faster in their circles, shifting vertically as well, making their echos bounce around more erratically. Gali couldn't help but look around at them, then back at the pink Celebi as it began moving its arm for the first time.

The Celebi hunched over, its bones creaking and snapping as it held its head, up near where the seed was placed. The vines from the seed spread across its body, eventually wrapping the bloodied parts in a cocoon. At this, the fairy used its Psychic to scream out, momentarily frightening Gali before it began darting around, shaking intensely and holding its head.

"NO"
"PAIN"
"WHY"
"HURT"

The ominous song it played before rings out once more, but this time the song is echoed by the Unown. The Celebi's body was continuously wrapped by the vines until nearly all but a few parts of its head and body were held, although it still had freedom of movement; such movement was still jittery, and it seemed to be putting its entire being into all of its shaking. It held its head low after coming to a standstill, producing a piercing static-like noise quietly at first, increasing in volume over time and raising its head as it does so.

The Celebi's body gained a blue aura around it. Its glowing green eye faded as the blue aura expanded, and a blinding white light shone from its body. The aura eventually enveloped Galiana, and time seemed to stop...

Zero.

Gali's consciousness drifts off once more, as white fades to black. Nothing remained from before. In this new void, she sees more words, and feels a strange presence...something akin to control. It wasn't the Psychic powers she was used to having, that she knew.

SAVE?
YES
NO

There wasn't time for her to deliberate on the meaning. Mustering all the power she could, she focused on the word. Though she couldn't feel her body, she made all attempts to try and reach for it. As if her entire being was put into signaling, saying, communicating...

...yes...Yes...YES...

> YES

The next thing Gali knows, she's waking up on cold ground again. This time, as the haze clears from her eyes, she's in a lit place and not a void. The Unown are gone, instead replaced by what looks like the inside of a building, the high walls and ceiling a dark brown while the tiled floor was an off-white. White fog covered the area close to the ground, and she could barely make out her surroundings, with too much light and whiteness to make anything out in the distance.

As Gali picked herself up off the floor, she noticed the pink Celebi from before still floating in front of her, its single eye opened, unmoving, and now not glowing as it had been before. The green of its eye had dulled much like its body; it could easily be mistaken for being dead, had it not been floating. It seemed to be facing forward at a fixed angle, as opposed to the small semblance of attentiveness it had before. The vines covering its body were brighter than its actual body, and pulsed with a faint green light. The Celebi had composed itself from its previous outburst, remaining motionless once more.

The Celebi's body twitched and its eyes glowed faintly. Gali could hear a voice in her head again, though without the Unown she could tell it was the Celebi's actual voice. Befitting of its appearance, it sounded ancient, quiet...devoid of life. She could mistake it for a breeze, especially since it took its time pronouncing, even telepathically.

"HOME..."

It turned its body around, its free arm and leg dangling limply from its body. As its back faced Gali, the fog cleared from around them, though it still permeated the area. Gravestone markers laid on the ground for several yards in all directions, a clear path forward on the tiled floor where the gravestones not lay. The Celebi began floating forward along the path, though at a slow pace. Gali hesitated for a second before following it.

She came up beside the Celebi, unsure whether to look at it.

"Are you feeling better? That's a little trick I picked up, healing by making a Leech Seed work in reverse. Since it has temporal powers, it'll heal your body back to its original form, before...whatever had happened to you."

The Celebi vibrated. Gali could see some of the bloodied mass through the vines, having regretted looking over. ...and yet, she tried to focus on its eye. It remained unmoving.

"...I...CREATE DEATH..."

"...Eh?" Gali tilted her head. "You said that before, but..."

"PERISH...SONG..."

It then clicked. "Oh! That's what that was...I didn't even..."

"...YOU...DID NOT...DIE..."

"I...guess it must have been because I'm a Celebi too." Gali wore a small smile, having wanted to connect with the shiny Celebi somehow. She could have sworn its eye moved a little bit there when she said that...and yet, she was spooked all the same. Her fear from before was persisting, as she had lightly flinched from that lightest of twitches.

"...Um, anyway! Do you have a name? Mine's Galiana."

"...CELEBI...NO NAME..."

"You don't have one..." She sounds a little dejected. The area around them seems to shift a little bit, as if distorting, though the fog makes it hard to tell.

"...OWNER...NO NAME..."

"...No owner? Oh, no, wait, you have an owner, but they didn't name you...That's a bit sad."

"..." The Celebi came to a stop in the middle of its floating. Gali took a second to realize this and turned to face it.

As the Celebi turned its head slightly to look at Gali, she noticed there was less cracking than before. Its eye had slightly more color to it as well. "I...KILLED...OWNER..."

Gali's face turned stiff. If that was true, then...she was helping a murderer. But how could she believe it? Or...disprove it, even?

A figure briefly appeared in Gali's vision, alone amongst a black background. Entirely white, a face with hollowed-out eyes. The sight of it caused the anthro Celebi to gasp, though she didn't scream. Her voice refused to work for such an outburst.

"I...DO NOT..."

Gali and the Celebi stayed still, none saying a word after that for a few moments. The smaller Celebi turned its head back to its original position.

"...WE ARE...CLOSE..."

It resumed floating forwards. Gali hesitated even more in following it, wanting to reach her hand out but afraid of what to say or do.

The two make their way to a clearing amongst the gravestones. At the end of the clearing was a ruined building of sorts, white boards strewn about and various materials that made up the structure decomposing and rotten. Yet, from that structure Gali felt a familiar energy...something she couldn't mistake for anything else. Something that tugged at her heart, that gave her a connection to this barren, desolate, desecrated place.

This was a shrine.

"HOM E..."

"This is your..." Gali stared on in disbelief. How long had it been living here...? How did it survive?

"THIS IS...WHERE..." It floated forward. Faint figures made of fog appeared and disappeared on the spot, not lasting for more than a second and not forming enough to get a good look at them.

"I...KILLED..." The pink Celebi vibrated more intensely than it had when speaking before. Again it reached up with its free arm, and again Gali could tell there was less bone cracking - in fact, none at all. It held its own head with its free arm, and the cocoon on its side shifted in position. It was regenerating...as Gali had anticipated it would.

"KI LL ED...OW NE R..." Gali could hear something, not telepathic this time. But even with the telepathic speech, she could tell...there was something different about how it was speaking now. Again the image of the figure flashed before Gali, and multiple copies of the figure seemed to coalesce in the fog around the two, facing her direction as if taunting her to notice them.

Even so, the added confirmation only made Gali hesitate more. But perhaps the Celebi's voice wavering meant more than just its body was healing. "Do you feel...anything?"

"FE E L...F EeeeeEL.." The vines around its head slowly came undone as its healing finished. Some of the Celebi's wounds had healed fully with a fully regenerated face from when it still had one, and with it, a mouth. Gali could hear it trembling as it took... "..huUuuuUu..."

its first... "...uuuUuueeee..."

breaths... "...huuUaAAaaa..."

in who knows how long. It was as if it had almost entirely forgotten how to breathe. As its body was still healing, its breathing was coarse, but Gali could hear it perfectly, as if the entirety of her focus was trained on the Celebi. Its eyes had healed, both a vibrant green without the eerie glowing of before, though they looked unfocused and hazed, perhaps due to the rest of its body still healing.

In, and out...its body had moved with less shaking, now that it had a rhythmic breathing helping to stabilize it. It coughed, instinctually moving its hand up to its mouth, still trembling. Though it shook less, its body was acting as though it was going to fall out of the air, as if the process of feeling alive once more was taking up more of its power.

Gali moved closer, holding her hands under the Celebi's body in case its power let go. She could tell its skin was healing nicely as well, not as wrinkled as before, but its hue was still darkened. "It's okay, it's okay, don't stress yourself. I'm here."

Its coughing fit stopped, and it took another few breaths, sounding as if it was clinging to life - and not actively trying to stop it. "I F E EL..." Its clarity grew with each passing second, a voice most definitely coming through besides the telepathic speech.

And yet, something wasn't quite right. It was fighting...something...within itself. Whether it was the feeling of being alive or something else, Gali did not know, but it hunched over, repeating the same word telepathically as it did with the Unown before. "FEEL...FEEL...FEEL..."

The background suddenly became black once more around the two. The shrine disappeared, and the figures in the fog were barely visible on the outskirts of the light, as if a spotlight had been cast directly on them. A faint static-like noise started up from somewhere, accompanied by the Celebi's own guttural moans.

The pink Celebi vibrated more intensely, causing the vines wrapped around its body to detach and fall off. The body under looked tender and nearly complete, with a functional arm and leg. Even its wings were healed, though with a unique notched shape that Gali believed to be mistakenly not healed fully. She could feel its life energy returning, despite the sense of dread she was getting from its hunched, almost fetal-like position.

"FEEL...I FEEL..." It shook its head, its voice wavering.

Gali leaned forward, intent on seeing this through. "Let your emotions through. Let your heart speak. Tell me what you feel."

"F...FEEL..." Its eyes flashed brightly, stopping in its pose. "...ALONE."

It shot upright with a shockwave, pushing Gali back, and all the light around them dissipated with the shiny Celebi now being the source of all light in the realm. A shower of red leaves began to circle it, forming a ball of high-moving projectiles.

"ALONE!
I KILLED!
I...WHY..."

Gali took a few seconds to right herself before walking towards the smaller Bi, a little choked up at the reaction. It spoke faster, and Gali could sense the emotion in its voice pouring out, overwhelming her senses with its power.

"ALL THIS TIME!
ALONE!
DEATH!
I CAUSED!"

Its voice was booming now, a loud white noise ringing through the area as the shiny Bi convulsed. The red leaves surrounding it was visibly cutting into its skin, making it even more bloodied than before with the amount. Gali reached out, inches from the leaves.

It screamed, and the sphere of leaves grew. Its face morphed into an unholy shape.

"REGRET! REGRET! REGRET! REGRET! REGREEEEEEEEEEE-"

"Stop! Stop!" Gali tried to protect herself with her own Psychic, a faint bubble following along her body that the leaves bounced off of.

"-EeeeEEEEeeeeEEEeEEEEEEE-" Its mouth opened unrealistically wide. Gali was too close to hesitate, but her heart jumped seeing the Celebi's uncanny ability to warp reality around itself. The cuts from the leaves grew more severe on its body, and even begun piercing Gali's protective bubble.

She got close enough, against her body's wishes, against her instinct to flee...

...and wrapped her arms around the Celebi.

"You don't need to do this!" Gali was getting cuts all over her body now, with the bubble fading. The screams of the pink Celebi grew silent, and its body took on a red hue, as did the light shining on the two.

"You're not alone anymore!"
"You don't need to kill!"
"This doesn't need to be your home!"
"You can live!"
"You can choose to be happy!"

"I...SHOULD BE..." The Celebi's telepathic voice was still wavering. The cuts were getting so great that both of the Celebi's bodies were getting shredded to ribbons, adding to the red whirlwind of leaves surrounding them.

"I...will be...your friend...!"
"Just don't...give up...!"
"Have...hope...!"
"I...be...lie...ve..."

The two were completely disintegrated...and the red leaves fell.

Minutes pass...

In complete and utter silence...

...

A blue sphere appears where the two Celebi were. A voice sounds out.

"To you, I was a complete stranger..."

The sphere grows, bathing the dark void in its blue light.

"And yet you invited me to your home..."

It suddenly expands outwards to cover the entire area, with the red leaves being scooped up inside. Undefined pieces of matter generated and grew inside the bubble, patches of white and black swirling like a whirlpool.

"Now I shall return the favor..."

The blue light begins to fade as shapes take form. A light blue grass sprouts up on the ground inside the sphere, spreading for feet, yards around. Small white flowers sprout up, a pond, bushes, shrubs, then tall trees in the distance. A distant light from above shines down, only interrupted by the crowns of the trees around. All of the plant life glows a teal color, lighting the area from above and below.

"And show you my own."

The ground erupts. Dirt swirls together and forms a structure in the middle of the clearing, shaped together by a mysterious force. Light shines upon it from the bottom up, and it sweeps away the dark color to show a fine white coloring. Wood. Glass. It was a Celebi shrine, through and through.

The blue spherical aura from before collapses in from the outer bounds of the horizon, transparent at first but becoming opaque as it closes in. A few feet above the ground it hovers, a few seconds passing before it dissipates and the pink Celebi from before appears from within. As the aura completely disappears, the fairy is lowered to the ground, eyes open and conscious. It stands, its psychic powers suppressed.

It almost instantly leans forward and touches its chest, again showing its unfamiliarity with just the act of breathing. It takes long, slow breaths with a raspy, high-pitched noise as it clears its lungs of the imperfections caused by Gali's healing. Over time, the noise subsides, and it becomes comfortable enough to look at its surroundings.

A dense forest. Open wilderness. There's a solemn breeze, bringing with it the scent of fresh flowers and a hint of berries. The Celebi squinted; such things were lost on it. A memory might have stirred of its life before, but none that would help it recognize what it was experiencing. Experiencing...feeling. The grass brushing against its feet; touch, something it hadn't experienced in forever. And yet, it didn't pull away. It accepted the feeling.

It lost its balance somewhat, still getting used to its now two legs to stand on. How long has it been since it was able to stand? Since that...leg was there...another memory. It...felt good. Yes. It felt...complete. It was...always meant to be this way...its hands, too, as it looks between its regenerated body parts...

...but what caused it to lose such feelings in the first place? What changed? Why did it have to cause others pain, when it had pained itself? Causing much worse than the mutilation it endured...compared to now, this feeling of being alive, it already barely remembers how it felt living when it was so close to death for so long. Having nearly become a grim reaper; not alive, but not dead either.

Yet it still only knows how to cause pain. With its psychic powers limited somehow in this foreign land, all it had was its voice. Even when the breeze picked up and the tree branches rattled, rustling in the distance, its voice boomed above all, even the slightest breath. And its voice carried death to those that heard it. That's all it knew how to do. Why...why would that Celebi heal it, if its goal was to make it hurt less? The emotions were already overwhelming...

It stepped forward. Where it once stood on the grass, it left a gray imprint before filling in with color. Towards the shrine, one small step at a time as it got used to its legs. Feeling its muscles work, feeling the smoothness of moving...it didn't hurt to move now. How it ached before, just to stay in one position...how it hurt to even feel anything touch it. With none of its insides exposed, none of its bones touching the air...it felt nice. It felt good to...have a pulse...pushing it along. Reminding it of life. One step at a time.

A bright light shines down from above. The Celebi craned its neck up to look, but had to cover its eyes to protect them. To...protect...? To shield it from pain. Why would it do this...? Oh, that's right. It can...feel pain now. It was so used to the pain before, but now it could respond. It didn't...want pain. Not anymore. Not from the darkness, not from the light. At least this light felt warm...

An ethereal, almost ghost-like figure lowered from the light. Its shape was familiar, and as it too became opaque as it neared the ground, it recognized. The same Celebi from before. A faint aura surrounded its body, and small blue light particles flew off of it, adding to the ambience of the forest.

"..hhhUUuuuu...yOuuu..." When it exhaled, it made a hissing sound. It wasn't used to speaking just yet. Without its telepathic voice, its natural voice was considerably lower pitched than what one might expect from a Celebi.

Gali gave a light smile, squatting down. "I'm glad you're getting used to your body. Is it all acting how it's supposed to?"

It coughed. "..dOn't...kNow..." Its entire body seemed to fizzle for the briefest of moments.

"I...guess that's a loaded question, huh. Who knows how long you went without having half your body..." Gali's smile turns to a concerning wince. "I should apologize. Not just for...healing you, if it was truly against your wishes."

Concern? For its wellbeing? Who would even...no, that's just it. With its new body, it could feel more than just those negative emotions now. Sympathy and empathy filled it. Even if it doesn't know what those feelings are, having spent so long without them, it could still...understand. It shook its head, briefly closing its eyes. "iT...wAs not...aS bad...aS I..." Again its body fizzled, taking long breaths after each word, coughing again before it could finish. It was as if its speech was limited by more than its body's health...

The larger Celebi's smile returned, and with it a faint blush on its cheeks. "It's okay. You'll heal over time. This is a place where Celebi come to heal. Your strength will return just by being here."

"...yOu...mEan...?" It looked back up at her.

Gali nodded. "There's more than just you and me here. Look up there."

She pointed up at the trees. Faint apparitions appeared to fly around. They, like the larger Celebi, became opaque after being pointed out. Celebi, all flying around, their voices and chirps becoming audible, as well as the sounds of their flying. Their wingbeats, the sound of their life energy.

The pink Celebi was mesmerized. Others just like it, all around. They dart between trees, calling to each other, flying together, playing tag. They hide and laugh, pull apples from the trees to eat, do loops in the air and spin. They sit on the shrine's roof, hold hands, run their hand along the grass as they swoop low, and pick flowers for each other.

A few of the Celebi fly in close to inspect the shiny Celebi standing below. "Hi!" "Hi!" they call, floating just above the ground. A little too close, the pink Celebi stepped back and held its arm up, unsure what to make of the creatures before it.

"..hHhh...hhhHHHHHhh..." Again, its hissing came out. Was this...nervousness? Why would it hesitate? Before this, creatures that came before it would...no, no, that's not its life now. Not when it again lives. But what would it do differently? Its body remained paralyzed in place, unsure of what to do. Unlike the other Celebi flying around, the pink Bi didn't have a glow to it, which provoked the few that came down to circle it to figure out why it looked different, and it wasn't just their color that stood out against the grass.

"Hehe, give them some room. They're new, they need some space." Gali's voice soothed the Celebi that had come down, who had turned their head when the big Celebi spoke. They nodded, waving to the shiny Celebi before flying back up with the others overhead. A group had flown by in a formation, and the ones that just flew up joined them as they flew around trees and playfully bumped into each other.

The pink Celebi watched in awe. Was this...fun? Excitement? Its heart was beginning to race. It knew fear all too well, but this wasn't fear it was feeling - or, well, perhaps it was in a way. It wasn't of horror or comprehension, but another type of fear that was more aligned with positivity. Its hands shook as it tried to process this feeling, and its mouth quivered, as if trying to find the right muscles to use.

"The second thing..." The pink Celebi looked back at Gali. "...is that this really isn't my home. It's a place that I found once while travelling the world, and it's where many like us come together." She looks back up to the Celebi flying overhead, the group from before just flying a few feet above Gali's head.

"In fact, a few of these are the same Celebi - just time travelling so that two of them are here at once." Just as she said that, a Celebi had surrounded itself in a blue aura, and a small flash of light marked its disappearance as it time travels. Another blip in a different location marks a different Celebi coming into this timeline, with it quickly finding its bearings and joining the fun, finding its friends and blending in with the crowd.

Gali looked back down. The shiny Celebi was watching the fairies above with intent again, its mouth still shaking. "...Do you have something you wanna talk about?"

"...I...bElong..." As it stared up, it appears...wanting. Yearning.

A pause. Its voice carried throughout the clearing, despite its quietness.

"...sOme pLace...eLse..." It closes its eyes and looks down. It could feel its heart jump, as if its mind and body were fighting each other to find out what truths it could live with.

"Oh?" Gali tilted her head. "What makes you say..."

"bEcause! I...cAuse dEath..." It snapped back, with more emotion than anything it had said so far. Its eyes were quivering now as well. All of the Celebi in the forest had stopped what they were doing at this point to focus on the weirdly colored Celebi whose voice was carried to every corner of the forest despite little effort on its part to speak up. The outburst of emotion felt like a sharp knife had been taken to the tension of the forest. Not even the trees dared to rustle as the Celebi spoke.

"Because of the song...right?"

It attempted to speak again, but held its throat. Something was choking it up this time, and it resorted to just nodding.

Gali tilted her head down, closing her eyes with a concerned frown. Seconds pass, and she smiles once more and looks back up at the Celebi. "That's where you're wrong."

"...wHat? bUt..."

Gali shook her head. She then held a finger up to her mouth with a wink. "There's a reason why us Celebi are sometimes called the 'voice of the forest'."

She looked up at the Celebi above, and gave an approving nod. Every Celebi in the forest shared looks and gathered above in circles above the two on the ground. One, two, three circles above, forming somewhat of a dome as they looked down with their playful smiles.

Gali bowed towards the shiny Celebi. "I want you to sing with us. We'll lead, and you add your voice whenever you feel it is right. Okay?"

The pink Celebi shook its head, a little more forceful this time. "bUt! I aLready tOld you! pErish sOng...if I sing...i-if I sing..." Though its emotions were raw, its voice was getting better with time. Clearer, less garbled with its mouth working as it should. Its lungs working as they should. Speaking from experience, from empathy...from knowing its powers and capabilities.

Gali nodded. "You'll understand once you join in. Don't be afraid. There's nothing to fear, little one." Another soft smile. The Celebi above shouted their praise and hopes, trilling and calling out for the shiny Celebi to join them.

It...had no idea what to do. It held its head again, fizzling once more. It hadn't faced such stubbornness, such adversity, such...welcoming force, despite its warnings. Warnings it didn't have to give. It could have started its Perish Song right then and there, but...it didn't. Why? It had done so before...its head hurt...

Gali held out a hand. The pink Celebi looked at it, within reach. "Place your trust in me."

This hand...what was it for? What should it do? What gesture was this...

It reached out with a hand itself, though its arm was shaking a little. Gali lightly took the smaller hand into her grasp. A slow gesture, the two Celebi were studying each other intently, one with faith, one with caution.

"You won't regret it." Again Gali nodded to the Celebi above.

A Celebi from above begun to sing. Others around it picked up. As they did so, each individual glowed brighter, with the life particles flying from them becoming brighter as well. Each bobbed their heads to the same beat, angelic voices that sung a slow melody.

The pink Celebi took it all in...and how soothing it was. Its worries, its fears were beginning to wash away. Staring in wonder, its mouth quivered once more. To join...or not. If it began its song, it knew what would happen...all these Celebi would be affected. And if it did...if it did...

No. It had to have trust. Faith. Of the notes it heard in the song overheard, some notes were familiar. They were repeating a small melody. It was as if they were waiting for the pink Celebi to join and lead them in a new direction...

It looked over to Gali. She nodded, mouthing 'Go on' to it. Its doubts washed away with the singing, it took deep breaths. It would need to be as clear as ever, relying on its own voice instead of its telepathy. Each breath it took in, a faint pink aura started to shine around its body.

At the end of the Celebi's melody above was a break long enough for the pink Celebi to start. And so, it did, its two-note Perish Song echoing through the forest. Its immediate surroundings turned gray. The Celebi looked on. They all understood. They all knew.

And they continued singing after the pink Celebi's part. Gali's smile widened, showing her teeth, and she even bounced in happiness. She took a deep breath herself and began to sing; the Celebi's melody had changed. The larger Celebi's aura glowed brighter, her wings fluttering and her body taking flight. A new verse, with a new lead. The serene voices restored the grass underneath to its off-blue color.

The shiny Celebi's glow returned once more. It noticed the changes both to its surroundings and the Celebi, now more alert than before. The Perish Song...failed. But it wasn't because it wasn't heard. It was because...they were all using it. They were using it, and it bought life around them instead of death.

Its mouth quivered once more, feeling more than just the urge to sing again. It wanted to be heard. To have its identity heard. To be...alive. To be itself again.

The pink Celebi smiled.

It sung again. Louder, prouder, longer. Stepping forward, motioning with its hands how it felt. The grass went gray again, but the chorus of Celebi quickly restored it as they followed its part with their own. Its pink aura stayed for good, pulsing as its heart raced further with this newfound joy.

The winds picked up, and the Celebi's instinct picked up to flap its wings. Gali held out a hand down to it, mouthing 'Together' as it tried to take flight. It reached up, and as it took hold of the larger fairy's hand for a second time, it truly lifted off.

The two sang together. Gali's higher pitched voice and the Celebi's lower pitched voice complimented each other, singing for longer, introducing more complex notations. It quickly picked up on the sounds it wanted, the music it wanted.

Joining the circles of Celebi above, some cheered as others continued singing. In the center, Gali and the shiny Celebi spun about, their voices blending in amongst the crowd, yet still being a driving force.

Their light shone across the clearing, as if their very presence was cleansing all evil away.

As if their voices were reaching across time as a signal to others.

As if they were tying their very life to the shrine and the prosperous land they inhabited.

And they sung.

The pink Celebi held its last note as long as it could, receiving applause from its kin; Gali clapped as well, giddier than she's ever expressed before. As it finished, it turned towards the larger fairy with a big smile on its face, who took a bow before it. It returned the bow, following her movements without hesitation.

They turned to the Celebi around and bowed as well, who hooted and hollered and cheered.

"I'm...so proud. You're looking better, you're feeling better...you're okay now." Gali's voice spoke above the Celebi, while the pink one was still looking around at all of the attention it was getting.

"I...I...!" It held its head in its hands again, facing away. Of insurmountable joy, Gali was sure.

"Yes?"

Its body
fizzled.

Contorting, warping. Static filled the air. A collage of numbers and letters filled Gali's vision.

Time stopped.
The background turned black.
All the Celebi took a monochrome color.
All except for Gali and the pink Celebi.

Before Gali could register what had happened, the shiny Celebi turned towards her.

Its face was pale and emotionless. Its body color dulled, leaving just its bright green eyes.

SAVE?
YES
NO

Gali felt coldness, as if the air has been sucked from around her. She hesitated to reach out once more at the prompt before her, with the Celebi staring at her behind it.

Despite how many times her hand touched it,
how long she held it,
the YES answer would not respond. The words disappeared in static.

"I...TOLD YOU BEFORE..." The telepathic voice from before. The Celebi...split apart. Its form returned to what it originally was at the beginning, while the other half looked...dead. Its eye, blackened. Motionless. "...FUTILE..."

"W-wait...wait what...?! N-no! No!" She couldn't move forward towards it, as if she was captured once more in paralysis.

The half that had split away, the part that she helped regenerate, began to spin. Sinking. Lowering. Gali looked down.

The shrine below them had collapsed into the same form as the one in the graveyard, except there was a massive black hole that had appeared in the middle, tearing the shrine even further apart. The body fell towards it.

"NO!" Gali's emotions overcame her body's resistance, flying down after the half. It disappeared into the darkness.

A low pitched laugh; a memory played back. But was it hers? Control was usurped from her once again, as a Psychic power beyond her own took control of her body. With it, she began experiencing more memories. Ones that weren't hers. Shock filled her veins. Two people, sharing the same body.

"YOU HAVEN'T REALIZED...PITIFUL..." Gali was brought up to where she was before, with the half Celebi staring her in the face. Her mouth moved, but no words came out. Fear set in.

Pictures of people she didn't meet. Places she hasn't been. As if it were another world entirely...another time entirely. A reality that wasn't hers. Stirring memories of her own, forgotten to time.

"YOU...AND I...CAN NEVER...MEET..." The Celebi that had surrounded them, stricken black and white and stopped by time, split into halves, all copies of the being before her. Their halves, too, fell to the depths of darkness below. Warped singing rung out before they were swallowed. The remaining halves had the same glowing green eye...all staring at her.

She experienced the feelings of the Celebi through its life. A brutal coldness that froze her heart, realizing its pain...was not something she could heal. A pink face entered her mind, its features blocked by static. It was female, but...was it someone she knew?

"YOUR KINDNESS...IS LOST...ON ME..." Images of the Celebi in its whole form. How it...ended up the way it was. It flashed by so fast, Gali didn't have time to understand it. She thrashed about, attempting to scream in terror. But no matter what she did, she felt her emotions going haywire all the same.

"BUT...IF YOU...WISH...TO SAVE...SOMEONE..." Gali couldn't control her movement, trapped in her emotions. Control was ripped from her so easily, and now it felt like her life energy - all the things that she loved about being alive, her emotions, were all working against her.

The Celebi half floated closer. All the disturbing details, her eyesight caught. None she wanted to remember, but all she did. It rose its hand above its head, as if preparing to strike.

"SAVE...THE OTHER...HALF..."

"Who are you?!" Gali finally managed to speak against the void. But it wasn't just her - there were two voices.  The gray Celebi before her was just as surprised, its green eye widening briefly.

"I AM...LOST...TO YOU..." It lowered its hand, and with it, Gali was sent down, spiraling out of control. The image of its body flashed through her mind, each time becoming more and more corrupted. Separating.

"THE OTHER HALF...THE OTHER HALF..."

The words echoed as Gali fell to the open wound on the earth.
She fought to regain control.
Stopping just feet before reaching its lip, she flew up.
It was sucking her in. Yet she fought.
Fought for her life.

The Celebi halves stared down,
hovering above, before the suction reached them as well. Falling.
Each turned into red leaves before passing through Gali. Disappearing completely from the world.

Optimistic outlooks tearing to shreds. Individual songs turn into agony. Their joy cutting her,
their life force gone, all turned to pain. All of their sensations turned into hers,
hurting, overwhelming, destroying.
Each tearing more away from her,
reaching through her body and taking away everything. Emotions, memories, hopes, dreams.

Her body nearly gone, hanging on with mere scraps of her self,
all that was left was the original Celebi above.
Last it was to fall, the last to remove Gali from existence with its leaves. Yet...she welcomed it.
For what remained of Gali was her trust.

As the last of her body fell to the darkness,
she wanted...no.
Not just wanted to believe.
Not just believed.

She knew life,
light,
goodness,
emotion,
change

still stirred

in that dark Celebi's heart.
