Momentum

Chapter One:

He frowned deeply, the long line of his lips creasing down over the dark skin. He peered at the white hall before him, sparkling in severe contrast to his own dark and crimson hues. It was almost blinding, and his blue eyes had to adjust to the severe and absurd intake of the well-lit room. Gold lined the walls, which seemed as transparent and evanescent. He floated along the long expanse of hall until he reached two heavy doors with their white metallic sheens. Without a sound, he raised his hand and extended his fingers. The doors slid open without protest.

The council was a lively bunch, a colorful crew against the plain white of the cloud walls. Arceus sat high amongst the frills of a white sky. If there was any heaven, Darkrai thought without humor, this was all there was.

Though the room was strikingly empty for such a crime. The legendary bird trio, Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno were perched along their typical seats. Suicune, however, was missing. So was Cresselia and Dialga. Palkia's usual seat was emptied, as Darkrai assumed the space dragon would be kept in solitude until the council came to session. Mew looked unusually dim, and Giratina was nowhere to be seen.

"Ah, Darkrai," Arceus said, her voice omnipotent, smooth as rock. She glanced at him from her high, airy seat with a sort of dismay on her face, a near-sadness. "I was so certain that you wouldn't be with us here today. I am glad you came."

Whatever, Darkrai wanted to say. His long fingers twisted into fists. Just get on with it and let me leave. But he kept his mouth shut and instead nodded. He floated to his seat amongst that of his empty comrades', the only legendary left in his section. He glanced to Cresselia's general seat and felt a small stab.

She wasn't much better. It had taken her four whole weeks to recover from the attack at Alamos, where Palkia had left her nearly dead. She'd been in a coma the entire time, and had woken up nearly thirty days later, with almost no memory of the incident whatsoever. She was still in Durnsmark, being watched over by Nurse Joy. Darkrai was very aware of the nightmares she was beginning to develop, and despite Joy's assurance that it was a normal process, he couldn't help but worry.

It was all Palkia's fault, anyway. And he wanted nothing more than for Palkia to pay.

He wasn't sure how long he waited, but slowly the legendaries came to order and the few who were late came filing through. When it seemed the girth of the meeting's attendance had been reached, Arceus cleared her throat and began.

"My fellow legends, gods and goddesses of sea and earth, fire and ice, death and life; we're gathered here on the most tragic and mournful occasions." Darkrai felt his claws digging into the palms of his weathered hands at Arceus' words. It wasn't a tragic and mournful occasion – it was a righteous and justifying occasion. Palkia would get what he deserved. "As all of you are aware, thirty-five days ago, Palkia and Dialga attacked a small town called Alamos. This is an island town, separated from most of the world by its geography and quaint, peace-loving citizens. It is this town that they have repeatedly offended, this such occasion being their second."

There was a rustle of energy within the room, and although not a word was spoken or a nervous glance made, Darkrai could feel everyone tense. "It was on this eve when they attacked Alamos that Darkrai, the guardian of the aforementioned town gave chase to protect it, yet again, from Palkia and Dialga's wrath. The prior attack left Darkrai in critical condition, and as you all who have served know, Palkia and Dialga were charged to restore the town to its previous state before the matter. However."

Arceus paused and another ripple of excited, terrified energy shot through the cloudy chamber, so that the clouds that made up the ceiling shifted and that a ray of sun sprang through over the illusion of marble floor. The gold plated pillars that held the clouds up shimmered in the light. Darkrai's frown only deepened and creased his face.

"However this is the second time such an offense has happened. We all know that when the forces of nature collide that there is nothing but destruction – we all expected Darkrai to be hurt, and while this is no excuse, Palkia and Dialga's punishment was dealt accordingly. This case is different. Cresselia, who is neither tied to this town nor enlisted to protect it in any way, shape, or form, was struck down. The details, as we have ascertained, are this; Palkia and Dialga were trying to destroy each other, and while Darkrai was preoccupied, Palkia let out a malicious hyper beam at an unguarded, defenseless human. Cresselia, who foresaw the attack, protected the human with her life – and in the process nearly lost it."

The reigning god nodded her head to another set of heavy doors and Giratina escorted Palkia inside. The space dragon looked worse for wear – the shine to his metallic scales was dull and disgusting, like dirt had been allowed to encrust itself upon him. Palkia's eyes drooped and dark circles had formed around them, and the bloodied color was more profound, grungy even. "Palkia," When Arceus called him, the dragon looked up, pleading. "What do you say to our recollection? Does it sound honest to you?"

The dragon hung his head in something like shame. "Yes." He said solemnly, and Darkrai let out a growl.

"Do you believe what you have done is wrong?" Arceus asked, her wise eyes trained on the dragon.

"No." Darkrai snarled loudly, so loud that a tangible shudder shot through his legendary peers. They shot nervous glances at him, and the floor around him was beginning to ripple black where it had once been white.

"She could have let the human die!" Palkia screamed, hysteria close in his projected voice, "There is no law saying we cannot kill them, and they cannot try to kill us! There, it is said nowhere, that what I did was an injustice!"

"You almost killed her!" Darkrai roared, fury steaming his response. He was so angry his skin felt like it was on fire, and an invisible wind whipped at his hair, conjured by the energy of his contempt. "She nearly died! She still doesn't remember who half of you are!" His deep voice reverberated within the room an shook the columns, which seemed now much less sturdy than they had been before.

"And the penalty, for such actions?" Arceus said calmly, ignoring Darkrai's outburst. He shook with the vehemence of his anger but did not lash out again. She had directed this statement to the jury of legendaries who sat before Palkia, judging him, judging Darkrai.

There was a roar from the mass of deities, who seemed to scream that Palkia was just as innocent as he was proclaimed guilty. There were shouts of death, pleas of innocence for Palkia's being. Dialga had gotten off easy, considering the nature of the crimes. Palkia had been the trial that everyone was looking forward to, and now Darkrai could see why.

"Death?" Arceus said, her voice lofty, questioning. "Do you really want to sentence him to death?" There was another outburst. Raging approval was met by stark disapproval. Arceus listened, seemingly able to pick out the individual requests. She looked thoughtful, then turned to Darkrai. "And Darkrai, what do you think?"

He couldn't stop shaking. He floated a little higher and dug his claws a little deeper into his palms, so that there was evidence of crimson staining his hands from the force of his attempts to restrain himself. "What do I think?" He said, his voice shaking with the strength of his discontent. "I think that none of you – those who scream death, those who scream innocence – none of you have seen Cresselia! You have not seen her twist and turn, caught in her own terrible nightmares! Oh don't you look at me like that – they aren't my fault! They're his!" He pointed one bloodied finger at Palkia. "It's his fault that she screams in her sleep, that she relives what happened over and over – and who can rouse her? None of us! Because it is she who is the redemption from horrible dreams! What of that? When the bearer of peaceful sleep cannot even quell her own horrible visions? What do you say of that?"

He took a breath, steadying his quaking form. "And what of the fact that she does not remember half of you? She knows not of the legendary trio of birds, nor of Lugia, or Ho-Oh. She looks at me with an expression of unfathomable confusion whenever I mention any of you! She hardly knows who she is herself!" He let out a rumbling growl and threw his fists down to his sides, his shoulders squared beneath the red armor. "None of you have any idea what punishment Palkia should serve. He requires a fate worse than death, worse than all of it, because he struck down one of us. We've fought before, yes, but we've never come this close to killing one another!"

Arceus glanced around the suddenly silent hall, to the legendaries whose mouths hung agape, astonishment scrawled upon their faces. "For the crimes you have commit against ourselves; Dialga and Cresselia and Darkrai alike, I grant you, Palkia, the punishment of death."

There was an uproar from the hall and Palkia's head shot up, his face contorted with self-pity. "Arceus, sweet Arceus!" He screamed, his voice both tragic and loathsome. He let a growl ripple through his fangs and in an intense purple surge, he was gone. He'd teleported, just as quick as that. The court flew into a fury, and there were cries and screams of distressed legends.

"Quiet!" Arceus bellowed, her bell-like voice raging over the mob's roar. "We will find him, wherever he is. And then he shall serve his punishment. Let Palkia be a lesson as to behavior!" She let herself growl, a frustrated and furious sound, and then she too disappeared.

--

Darkrai returned to Durnsmark late at night, and floated through the empty streets, invisible in the shadow of the moon. There had been uproar when he left. Legends took sides based on view. The ones who believed such crimes were not punishable followed one side, and the ones who believed the punishment fit followed another. It was chaos by the time he returned to Durnsmark. His mind filled with the lucid visions of Moltres shooting red-hot flames into the ceiling, where the clouds evaporated and the sun filtered through. Zapdos charged the entire hall with electricity, and the fury of the riot rang in his ears.

He reached the Pokémon Center near midnight and slipped intangibly through the door. He headed straight through the back walls until he reached Cresselia's room, where she was still hooked up to hideous and alien looking medical devices. To his surprise, she was awake.

"I know you're there," She whispered, despite the fact that he had made himself invisible. Without a sound, he reappeared. "What happened?"

"It's not looking good," He said simply, suddenly exhausted. He had no more will in him, and he couldn't stay for very long. His presence was like poison to those who slept, and in the middle of the night, a Pokémon Center was the last place he was wanted. "I can't stay long. I just wanted to know how you were doing."

"Better." Cresselia said. She said this every day, whether she could get out of the bed by herself or not. She could be bleeding from every orifice on her body and she'd still scream to the heavens that she was doing better than before. "I know you can't stay long, but what was the trial verdict?"

He'd briefed her about the trial. He explained to her that all the legends were required to come, despite the massive absence they'd had. He had told her that Palkia, the one who had hurt her, was on trial. He also had to explain how the trials worked. "Arceus wants him to die." He rubbed his arm with his blood crusted fingers. "There's no law against what he did, but there's nothing that says its alright, either. We have very poor government, you know. You used to complain about that a lot." She smiled a little, he did not.

"He disappeared though, Palkia. I'm sure Arceus will have a manhunt sometime soon. As for the jury, well, the legends are divided and when I left, things did not look like they were faring well."

Cresselia shifted a little uncomfortably and watched him, her beak pursed tightly together. "Alice visited me today," She said suddenly. Her attention hadn't been what it used to be, before the accident. "She said that the recovery attempt was looking better in Alamos. They just finished clearing most of the public building debris away. They're still burying bodies though."

Darkrai nodded, and turned toward the door this time. "I see. I have to go, Cresselia. But I will see you tomorrow morning." He said simply, and left the room.