When Diancie finally burst out of the haunted house, she was completely out of breath. She bent forward, hands on her knees, panting — but there was something lighter about her too, as if the frantic run had carried some weight out with it.
"Diancie, are you all right?" Steven asked with concern, crouching slightly to meet her eyes.
She must have been carrying a great deal of pressure lately, he thought.
Diancie straightened up and turned around. There was a smile on her face.
"I feel… much better," she said. "Thank you, Steven. Thank you, Cynthia!"
"You're very welcome. We're friends, after all," Cynthia said warmly.
Seeing Diancie smiling again made her feel genuinely happy.
"How about some ice cream next?" Steven suggested, spotting a shop not far down the street.
"Yes please! That would be my second ice cream today!" Cynthia raised her hand with an eager grin.
"Ice cream?" Diancie tilted her head with a look of pure confusion.
"It's something cold and sweet," Cynthia explained.
Diancie's eyes brightened. "Then I allow the ice cream!"
She clapped her small hands together with a look of great anticipation.
Steven and Cynthia glanced at each other, both holding back a laugh.
Allow, again.
"Princess Diancie!"
Diancie went still. She slowly turned her head and looked past Steven.
Three Pokémon were hopping toward them across the pavement. Each one had a cone-like shape — diamond-bearing stones at their base, a ring of fluffy white around their middle, and small blue eyes set beneath rhombus-shaped ears that fanned out like a rabbit's. Tiny diamond-shaped protrusions jutted from the tops of their heads.
"We've been found!" Diancie yelped, darting behind Steven's leg.
Steven and Cynthia both turned to look. Three Carbink were making their way toward them with some urgency.
"Are these Diancie's companions?" Cynthia asked quietly.
"Princess Diancie! Please, you must stop this!" The lead Carbink's voice came directly into Diancie's mind — a clear, flustered telepathic message.
Diancie looked up at Steven. He gave her a calm nod and a small smile.
Slowly, she stepped out from behind him.
"Magima… I'm sorry. I left without telling anyone…"
"Princess Diancie! Please don't do something like this again!" said the Carbink called Magima, its expression strained with worry.
"I understand," Diancie said quietly, nodding. "I won't."
"Then we must return to the Diamond Domain at once, Princess!" Magima said firmly. "Dr. Zuan says the matter is very urgent!"
"All right…" Diancie nodded, then looked back up at Steven and Cynthia. "May my friends come along?"
"Princess Diancie's friends?" Magima looked up at Steven and Cynthia, studying them for a moment. Then it turned to them directly. "Please, come with us."
Steven blinked. He hadn't expected this Carbink to also communicate through telepathy.
He and Cynthia exchanged a look.
"We wouldn't want to impose," Steven said.
"Not at all. Please."
Magima led them to a concealed cave entrance tucked away from the street — one of several passages that connected to the Diamond Domain below.
Along the way, Magima explained the situation in quiet, measured tones. The Sacred Diamond deep within the Domain was nearing the end of its lifespan. Diancie was the only one capable of creating a new one, but to do so she first needed to borrow the power of Xerneas's Fairy Aura to awaken her own abilities.
The passage itself, however, had been carved for Carbink — not humans. Steven and Cynthia had to get down on their hands and knees and crawl.
The walls were embedded with diamonds at every turn, which made crawling carefully something of a challenge. Steven noted, with a practiced eye, that the luster of these stones was quite poor. They didn't hold much interest for him.
Once through, Steven got to his feet and reached back to take Cynthia's hand, helping her out of the passage.
He looked up.
Two neat rows of Carbink stood waiting on either side, their small eyes turned toward Diancie as she emerged.
"I know this has been difficult for all of you," Diancie said, giving a small, composed bow to the rows of Carbink gathered to greet her. "Thank you for coming."
Clang.
A sharp crack rang out from somewhere above. A section of diamond embedded in the rock wall had split away and fallen — its surface darkened, almost black, as though something had eaten away at it from within.
Steven's expression shifted. He looked around at the walls, the ceiling, the suspended structures of the Domain.
"This is worse than I expected," Cynthia said quietly, tightening her hand around his.
Steven walked toward the center of the chamber, where a massive diamond hung suspended in the air. Or — what had once been a diamond. It had turned entirely black, its surface fracturing slowly as it continued to collapse in on itself.
"What on earth…" Diancie whispered.
"Princess Diancie."
A Carbink smaller than the others, with an exceptionally long beard, hopped forward from the group.
"Dr. Zuan?"
"The Sacred Diamond's life has finally run out," the old Carbink said, his voice heavy with sorrow.
As the Sacred Diamond crumbled, the light faded from the diamonds across the entire Domain — one by one, until the chamber sank into near darkness.
"How could this happen…" Diancie lowered her head, her large eyes filled with regret.
"Is that the Sacred Diamond?" Cynthia looked up at what remained of the collapsing structure above them.
"Yes," Diancie said softly. "The Sacred Diamond provides light energy to Diamond Domains all over the world. But now… it's gone."
"And only Princess Diancie has the power to create a new one," Dr. Zuan said, his tone quiet but heavy.
Diancie stared down at her own hands. "But I don't have that power yet…"
"Xerneas's Fairy Aura will awaken the Princess's true power. I am certain of it," Dr. Zuan said with conviction.
Diancie watched the fragments of diamond scatter across the ground around her. A short while ago, she had been trying on dresses and eating ice cream and screaming in a haunted house. She hadn't known. She hadn't even known.
Tears welled in her large eyes and began to fall.
"I didn't know it had gotten this bad…" she whispered. "I was away, and I didn't know…"
"I don't deserve to be called a Princess."
She turned her face down, pressing her small hands to her cheeks as the tears kept coming.
Steven watched her for a moment. Then he walked over, crouched down, and gently placed his hand on the pink diamond at the top of her head.
"Diancie," he said quietly. "Crying won't fix this."
She looked up at him.
"Every Carbink here is counting on you to save the Diamond Domain. This isn't the moment to give up." He held her gaze, his expression steady and calm. "The life of this place — you're the only one who can restore it."
Diancie went still. Slowly, she turned to look at the Carbink around her — their small faces turned toward her, waiting, hoping.
She took a slow breath.
"Then… let's go." She straightened up and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "To find Xerneas!"
"Yes!" The word burst out of her with sudden resolve. "Steven is right!"
She turned to face the gathered Carbink, her voice growing stronger.
"Everyone — I will awaken my power. I promise I will restore the Diamond Domain to what it once was!"
"Princess Diancie…"
Dr. Zuan's eyes glistened. He let out a long, quiet breath — the kind that carried a great deal of relief.
Diancie looked down at him and smiled gently.
"Let's go," she said.
"To find Xerneas."