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Lenore watched with vague interest as Mephistopheles defeated yet another wild pokemon. "We can battle the gym leader any time we want, right? You don't have to battle wild pokemon anymore if you don't want to."

Mephistopheles shook his head. "No, it's better this way. If I just battle the same pokemon over and over again, I'll grow complacent." He floated over to the girl, who had gone back to reading her book. "Winning battles gets us money, which gets you food." He glanced down at the book in her hands and rolled his eye. "Even if you spend most of it on books..."

Lenore looked up at the duskull and tilted her head, confused. "I don't eat much, and you said that you get all the energy you need from my soul, right? Why's it a problem?"

Mephistopheles shook his head. "It's not, it's just -" He broke off and spun around to look at the hill behind him.

Lenore tried to see what he was looking at, but it was too dark out and the hill too far away for her to discern anything. "What's wrong?"

Mephistopheles raised his arms, and an army of tendrils erupted into being around him. "Someone's here. Someone strong."

Mephistopheles was caught off guard by the power of the attack - it was as if the tendrils had been erased from existence itself. He rapidly called up more to defend against other such attacks.

"Lenore, get away from here! This one is too strong!" He spared a quick glance away from the darkrai towards the girl to find her frozen in place, wide-eyed. Another blast forced his concentration back to the battle that was playing out before him. Summoning more tendrils, he sent them racing at the darkrai. "NOW!"

Startled by the duskull's outburst, Lenore scrambled to her feet and rushed away.

Such hatred...!

Mephistopheles wasn't sure what he'd done to earn such ire from the other pokemon, but he wasn't about to let anything happen to Lenore. The tendrils disappeared again, and the darkrai began to glow. Material similar to the blasts it had been firing began to collect in the air above it and Mephistopheles' jaw dropped. There was no way he could protect against something like that.

His arm shot forward, and a single tendril rocketed at the darkrai, stabbing into her shoulder, but the darkrai merely continued to glare at him with those hate-filled eyes. The material stopped collecting and spread over the sky before falling down upon him. The duskull looked on in despair, knowing there was no way he could escape something that huge.

"STOP IT!"

Out of the corner of his eye, the duskull saw Lenore run back toward him, tears in her eyes. That fool! He rushed toward her, trying in vain to shield her from what he knew he couldn't stop.

Lenore scrambled away from the battle, stunned by Mephistopheles' outburst. She had been with the duskull for months and had never seen him so worked up. Was his opponent truly that dangerous? She cast a glance over her shoulder to see Mephistopheles' tendrils vanish as they were hit by the darkrai's attack. Gone, without any trace that they were ever there.

A cold feeling washed over her as she thought about what would happen if Mephistopheles was hit by such an attack. She stopped running as tears welled up in her eyes, her thoughts dragged back to that day in Orre. The fire burning, roaring, drowning out her cries, the jeers of the crowd. The girl's eyes went wide as she relived that day, her breathing quick and shallow.

The fire, too big, they're killing him, they're killing him, oh make it stop make it stop make it stop! Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? I don't want to be alone again! Why? Leave him alone!

A tear streamed down the girl's face, frozen in fear. "No...." Shaking uncontrollably, she turned back to Mephistopheles and began running back to him. "STOP IT!"

She wasn't sure what she could do to help - no, that wasn't true. She knew there wasn't anything she could do to help. She was weak, a weak and pathetic girl who had been left alone in a place she didn't know surrounded by people that didn't like her. But Mephistopheles changed all that, and she couldn't just let him die. Not then, not now.

Mephistopheles charged towards her, and she saw the darkrai do the same. If she was more calm, she would have wondered about the darkrai's actions, but as it were, she could only think about Mephistopheles and her desire to protect him. A burning sensation erupted on her chest, but she paid it no mind - protecting Mephistopheles was more important. Reaching the duskull, she grabbed him in a hug, holding him as tightly as she possibly could.

The world faded to white.

"You got that, monster? Kill the girl, and our deal is done."

Mephistopheles gave a cold glare to the man he had formed a pact with. A fat, slovenly creature; unworthy of respect. "Understood." The duskull floated down into the stadium, and bowed before Elesh Norn, who gave him a hurried bow back.

The duskull didn't bear any ill will towards Lenore; from what little he had seen, she was a genuinely kind person, if a bit rude. Nevertheless, the pact was what it was. She had to die.

He wasn't one for sneak attacks, but the strength of the darkrai all but required it. He had spent months gaining Elesh Norn's trust, and it gave him no pleasure to betray that trust in such a horrific way. But it didn't matter what he wanted. The pact was absolute. He raised his arms and summoned up a legion of spectral tendrils as he had so many times. A strategy that Elesh Norn had seen time and time again.

Elesh Norn failed to see the single tendril that rose up behind Lenore.

Mephistopheles cast an apologetic glance at the woman he was to murder. Perhaps, in another life, I could have formed a pact with you instead.

The tendril lurched forward, piercing Lenore's heart.

Lenore grinned as she watched Elesh Norn's flustered bow. She totally likes him. Her attention was dragged away from Elesh Norn by the feeling that she was being watched. Mephistopheles was looking at her, not Elesh Norn. She tilted her head and a cold pain filled her upper body. Looking down, she saw one of the duskulls tendrils jutting out of her chest, soaked in blood.

"Oh."

The tendril vanished and she fell forward, slamming down hard. ...Am I dying? She'd never given how she'd die much thought. Was this a cool way to go, she wondered? A scream captured her attention, and Lenore cast a tired gaze upward. Ellie? She felt herself flipped onto her back and saw the darkrai's horror-filled face. I guess I am dying, then. Not exactly how I wanted it to happen. Didn't really want it to happen at all, I guess.

Lenore realized Elesh Norn would try to use her power to save her, and she reached out to the darkrai. "Ellie, it's not your fault. Don't blame yourself. Don't try to get me back, it's not worth it." She wanted to say all of that, but all that came out was a gurgle of blood. Lenore grimaced. Is that all I can do? Am I supposed to just let Ellie live with that self-imposed burden...?

Elesh Norn pressed her hands against the hole in the woman's chest, but the blood continued to flow freely. "Ellie! Don't do anything for me! Live for yourself!" But again all that came out was a simple gurgle. Lenore looked into the darkrai's wide eyes, feeling the life fading from her.

Ellie, I'm sorry.

Her hand dropped to her side as everything faded to black.

Elesh Norn looked around, seeing a vastly different surrounding than the stadium she had been in just moments before. What happened...? Seeing a number of buildings in the distance, she flew over to them.

Once there, she noted a newspaper stand and looked at the date - the same as it was before she used her power, so it didn't manifest itself as time travel, then. She flipped through the newspaper for any information on Lenore, but there was nothing. Elesh Norn began to put the pieces together when she heard a gasp from behind her. She turned around, hoping to see Lenore, but it was a kid she'd never seen before. The child stood gaping in awe at the legendary pokemon, and the darkrai began to ask about Lenore but no sound emerged.

Placing a hand to her throat, Elesh Norn began to understand the terms of the contract she had created. As the child called out for his parents, the darkrai flew away. Alone in the outskirts of the town, she began to compile the information she had. It's not the same reality that I met Lenore in. The fact that I'm here means that the Lenore in this world is alive. The price seems to be my ability to speak. She didn't know if the price was permanent or temporary, but that wasn't important right now.

The runes along her body began to glow again. Where is Lenore now? Her mind filled with images of a girl sitting alone reading a book. That was Lenore? She was so young! She couldn't have been more than ten years old in this reality. But she was alive, and that's all that mattered. The images flickered and disappeared, and this time Elesh Norn knew the price immediately; she wouldn't be able to divine Lenore's location anymore. But before the images vanished, she was able to see that Lenore was in a desert-like environment, so that narrowed the coming search down greatly.

I'll find you, Lenore. I promise.