Nothing seemed to happen. Seconds passed by...and then a great horror washed over Caria's body. Something was terribly wrong here. Where the plate once was a mere second ago, a dreadful black energy began forming.

A pulse of purple and black energy shot out from the plate, knocking Caria away into the snow face-first. Before the Articuno flying above could respond, a black tendril extended from the plate and grabbed the legendary Ice-type with a misshapen, enlarged hand. The tendril connecting the hand was constantly vibrating, and the entire appendage seemed to have a white outline no matter what angle one looked at it from.

Having not been knocked out, but simply surprised, Caria got over her shock and propped herself up with her arms, looking up at the plate. A whirlwind of dark energy seemed to flow from a portal right where it sat, with a completely black snake-like figure rising partway through it after a few moments. Shining red eyes stared at Caria. Fear coursed through her at the sight of this dark figure, rendering her unable to move. A slight rumbling sound accompanied its appearance.

"C-Caria! Run! It's G-ggrrrk!" The Articuno was cut off by the hand tightening its grip on her. The snake seemed to move its head, and to Caria's horror, the bird vanished without a trace in a flash of white light. The hand slinked back into the shadows of the figure.

"You...! What are-?!" Caria couldn't bear to look at the figure for long. An incomprehensible fear seemed to strike her to her very soul with every glance she gave to its ruby eyes. The rumbling grew louder, and the world felt like it was shaking to Caria. She closed her eyes, hoping that her Psychic powers were still strong enough to keep her safe, even when blind.

"WHO I AM IS NOT IMPORTANT. IT IS YOU WHO DESERVES REMARKS, CHILD." The rumbling was getting to be more violent than the quake before. The voice was grating, and even hearing it made Caria feel more than uneasy.

"HOW FORUNATE FOR ME TO ARRIVE TO MEET A DESCENDENT OF HIS..." A pillar of magma shot up from the crater behind the plate's pedestal.

"YOUR DESTINY IS NOW MINE TO GUIDE..." Riding atop the lava column was a large, bipedal monster clad in red, and on its head...

"AND WITH HIS POWER ON MY SIDE..." A figure jumped down from above, poised to attack the snake from behind. The bipedal creature was swallowed in the lava column, smoke billowing out of the main volcano vent.

As the figure reached the snake figure, time slowed for the three of them: Caria, the shadowy creature, and the figure behind...Lynda. "IT IS FUTILE TO ATTACK ME IN THIS STATE. HOWEVER..." The Mawile was still mid-punch, passing straight through the shadow, proving it to be intangible.
"IN YOU, I SENSE...THE OTHER. FATE HAS WOVEN THE DESCENDANTS OF THOSE TWO HERE." A single second to the Mawile was passing by as if it were ten. She was so focused on the punch that she didn't think how she'd recover from it, intent on letting her momentum carry her wherever she landed.

"I SHALL AWAKEN SOME OF THE ANCIENT POWER IN YOUR BLOOD." By this point, Lynda was right in the middle of passing through the shadow. Dark energy flowed into the Mawile, darkening her body's contrast. All of a sudden, time flowed normally for her, and she flung forward. Having lost control in the time shift, she crashed against the snowy ground and gashed the side of her torso on a particularly sharp rock as she tumbled to a stop, the dark energy taking effect.

The Mawile writhed, curling up in a fetal position, clutching her head and screaming. "No...! Get out! Get OUT!" Whispers of horrible curses echoed in her mind, her emotions twisting and turning. She groaned in agony, feeling a strange power course through her veins, and trying to stay in control. The snake figure looked on unblinkingly, and Caria merely stared in shock, trying to process what's still happening.

"CHILDREN, BEAR WITNESS TO THE POWER OF GIRATINA...THE FUTURE KING OF THIS WORLD." Lynda managed to prop herself up on her legs, but only to throw her head back and howl to the sky, deep and bellowing, as if a second voice was with her. Beams of black energy shot her eyes, mouth, and the fresh wound on her side. The image of her body was warping with her immediate surroundings, distorting her pained voice further than it already was. The shadow of Giratina began laughing ominously.

The dark energy shooting from her body changed color to a fiery red, with the distortions peaking before slowing down. After a few moments, energy stopped flowing from her, and with her voice finally giving out, her eyes became visible again. The gash on her side seems to have clotted with a black substance. Her arms fell limp to her side, and she collapsed, falling forward unconscious. Caria's muscles finally started responding as the Mawile fell, rushing forward to her aid.

"IF YOU VALUE THIS WORLD, YOU WILL NOT LEAVE HER, CHILD. DEFY YOUR 'GOD' AT YOUR OWN PERIL." The image of Giratina's shadowy form began to distort and fade away, leaving behind the Plate on its pedestal, and the erupting volcano behind. Its eerie laugh continued on even after its form disappeared from the world. As Caria tended to the fallen Mawile, she racked her brain with what to do. Things were moving too fast.

Destiny? Fate? Was she really meant for this life? What would happen if she were to leave this person that was so clearly cursed in front of her? Did she even want to be around this person...who she previously thought of as a thief? And yet, they were bound to this fate just as she was.

Fate. The plate. She's yet to claim it as her own. Suddenly, the Articuno from before reappeared with a bright flash of light, falling onto a nearby rock landing. Answers. She needed answers.
