I don't recall why I thought to write this story. I had a Smeargle that I used in my own ideas, a fellow named Picazart. He had another story to tell, I suppose.
I do recall, though, that I had wanted to write a story that paired Arceus and Giratina for a while. I don't like the name that was given to this pairing, so I will not chronicle it here.
Chronologically, "Let Me Paint You A Picture" takes place after "Since When?" I hope the art of the story sweeps you away.
LET ME PAINT YOU A PICTURE
A white dreamscape stretched out as far as the eye could see. It was calm, serene. Arceus felt like she was one of the audience, not a player in the drama she could sense was about to unfold. She was right.
The dreamscape slowly morphed into a dark world that Arceus recognized as the Distortion World. She looked around, wondering idly if Giratina would show up. He did, coming out of a small dark hole in the distance of the world's barren landscape. He started touching a nearby bush with a spindly wing, presumably to make sure it was still healthy.
A vortex opened in the fabric of the Distortion World, briefly showing Spear Pillar, the access point between the real world and the Distortion World. Arceus was mildly surprised to see herself coming in through the vortex. When her dreamself had cleared the vortex, it closed quickly and quietly. Arceus' dreamself looked around for a moment, then caught sight of Giratinaa in the distance. She walked towards him with purpose.
Giratina looked up from the bush to see Arceus' dreamself. A smile started to show on his face, but he quashed it with visible effort. He straightened up and greeted her cordially.
"Welcome, Arceus. What brings you here?" Giratina asked. The dream Arceus stopped in front of Giratina.
"Hello, Giratina. I was in the area so I thought I'd stop by."
Giratina gave a humorless chuckle. "You're never 'in the area,' Arceus. There must be some other reason."
"Well," Arceus said, shifting on her legs. "There is another reason."
"What is this reason, then? Do you mind sharing?" Giratina inquired.
"How do I say this? Giratina, I, um, think I love you," the dream Arceus explained with visible difficulty. Giratina had a look of pure shock on his face, but it quickly melted away.
"Arceus, I do not think we can be together. The other Legendaries would talk, and then the entire world would know. The Alpha Legend with the Harbinger of Death. It wouldn't work."
"Fine!" the dream Arceus shouted, face red and flushed with anger. "I'll find someone else who returns my love." She turned and ran back through the world, practically leaping out of the returned vortex. Giratina reached out with his right wings, then sagged. He opened his mouth to say something, but the dream ended before he could speak.
Arceus woke up in the Hall of Origin, sweat running down her neck and back. Her worst fears had been confirmed, for her dreams were usually prophetic.
"Giratina doesn't love me," she mumbled, getting to her feet.
"Excuse moi." A voice came from down by Arceus' feet. Arceus nearly jumped in fright, then glanced down. There, standing with a pack slung over his shoulder, was a male Smeargle.
Arceus recovered her composure and fought the urge to teleport the Smeargle out of the Hall. "What are you doing here? How did you learn of this place?"
"Moi friend, Giratina, told moi of it. I assume you are Arceus, the Alpha Legendary?" the Smeargle asked.
"Yes. You still haven't answered my first question."
"I am here, Miss Arceus, because I wish to paint for you. I wish to paint a picture for every Legendary that exists. So far, I have painted for Mew, Mewtwo, Uxie, Azelf, Raikou, Giratina, Reshiram, and Yveltal. As you can see, I have a long way to go. Will you allow moi to paint for you, Miss Arceus?" the Smeargle explained.
"Before you do, what is your name?" Arceus asked.
"I am known as Picazart, a mix of the two great humans Mozart and Picasso. I gave this name to myself, but it is my name."
"Picazart… Very well. You may paint, Picazart."
Picazart bowed low. "Thank you, Miss Arceus."
Arceus was pleased at that name. It was… nice. She liked it quite a bit. As Picazart opened his pack, Arceus lowered herself into a resting position.
Picazart took three jars of berry paint, a mixing plate, an easel, and a piece of bark paper from his pack. He set the easel up on the floor, put the bark paper on the easel, and finished his preparations by opening the jars of berry paint and picking up the mixing plate. Plunking his tail into the red, he began sweeping paint across the paper.
Arceus watched in interest as Picazart painted, sometimes flicking yellow paint onto the paper, other times making small, controlled steaks on the page with blue. He continued to paint for an hour, and then, with an air of finality, he dipped his tail in s ome green he had made and put two dots on the painting. Folding his arms, he nodded, and then turned the easel to Arceus, so she could see it better.
"What do you see, Miss Arceus?" Picazart asked. Arceus was surprised at being asked that, but she leaned in close to examine the painting.
"I don't see anything," she said.
"Look deeper than the surface," Picazart advised. "Often, the painting has hidden meaning that becomes apparent once we search for it."
Heeding Picazart's advice, Arceus looked deeper. Past the paint, past the colors, to the idea Picazart had had in his mind when painted the picture. She caught a glimpse of… something. Squinting, as though that could help her see better, she continued to search the painting, There, she thought, taking in a head, then a neck, then a body…
Arceus pulled back, astounded. Deep down, the painting resembled… her. How could it? The painting was a mess of colors and paint. There was no way that it could. …Could it?
She was vividly reminded of her dream and of what Giratina had done after she had left. He had sagged after she left, Arceus recalled. Could that mean that… Giratina felt the same way about her as she did about him? Did he hide his true feelings behind a mess of colors? She turned to Picazart.
"Why did you really come here?" Arceus asked Picazart fervently.
The Smeargle looked up from tightening the lids on the jars of paint. He gave a small smile. "I came to teach, Miss Arceus." That was all he said. Six words, and Arceus was reassured of what she had thought.
"I have to go somewhere," Arceus told Picazart. "You can leave the painting behind the Kalosian berry bush. Good luck on your project." She closed her eyes and teleported.
"Good luck to you, Miss Arceus," Picazart said, finishing up packing his pack. He smiled a knowing smile and left the Hall.
Arceus appeared at Spear Pillar. The peak of Mount Coronet was bitterly cold, but Arceus was shivering for another reason. What if he does spurn me? What will I do? She thought. Quickly shaking her head, Arceus drove those thoughts out and called a spacial rend to take her to the Distortion World.
The first thing she noticed was the darkness of it all. Black seemed to close everything in, but at the same time the blackness offered an infinity of space. And, truly, it wasn't that dark. Arceus could see just fine. She saw Giratina gently touching a bush with a wing. Her dream was becoming reality. Arceus knew what happened next. She would be rejected. She walked toward Giratina anyway.
Giratina looked up. When he saw her, his eyes lit up. She saw a ghost of a smile on his face. He straightened himself. "Welcome, Arceus. What brings you here?"
"I was in the area, so I thought I'd stop by." Arceus mentally chided herself. It didn't help matters that she was quoting her dreamself.
"You're never 'in the area,' Arceus," Giratina replied. "There must be another reason. I think I may know, but why don't you tell me anyway?"
Arceus steeled herself. This was going to happen, whether she liked it or not. "Giratina, last night I dreamt of you and me. Everything that's happened so far happened in my dream. I fear to go farther."
"You're afraid that the dream will come true. But you also fear that, if you don't go farther, you may miss out on something wonderful," Giratina finished. "Arceus, we've known each other for a long time. Go ahead."
"Giratina, for the past few years I've been struggling with feelings I'm not even supposed to get. I've suppressed them because it was always against the laws. The feelings came more strongly after speaking with Rinik about these laws. Last night, I finally realized what I have been trying to deny."
Giratina nodded. "It has to happen sooner or later."
"What I mean to say is, well…"
Giratina gave a small smile. "You're in love, aren't you? With me?"
"Well, yes." Arceus hung her head. A tear fell and splashed on the bush Giratina had been tending.
"In the dream, I rejected you, didn't I?" Arceus nodded. "Well, it is unusual. You, the Alpha Legend, with me, the Harbinger of Death. The Legendaries would talk, and everyone would know." Arceus began to speak, but Giratina cut her off. "Arceus, talk is not a bad thing. I want-"
"You don't want to be with me, do you?" Arceus asked, a slight hiccup in her voice.
"I never said that. The truth is, I dreamt of you last night." Arceus' eyes grew wide. "Yes, I dreamt of you. That's not all. This was only the latest in a series of dreams. These dreams, they mean something to me. They show that I'm in love as well. In love with you, I might add."
"What?" Arceus whispered. Giratina leaned closer.
"I love you."
The bush Giratina had been tending burst into bloom, red and gold flowers adorning the foliage. Giratina glanced at it.
"Why did that happen?" Arceus asked.
"There's a legend, passed down by the people of Sinnoh. It says that, when the Harbinger of Death found love, his world would no longer be desolate. Look," Giratina said, gesturing with a wing at the rest of the Distortion World. Arceus cast her eyes over it, and was surprised to see a vibrant landscape in the infinity of the blackness.
"It's… beautiful," Arceus breathed.
"Yes," Giratina agreed, looking at Arceus. "By the way, why did you come?"
"A strange Smeargle convinced me to," Arceus said.
"Ah, yes." Giratina nodded knowingly. He draped his wings over Arceus' back. "Do you think you'll repeal the laws?" His tone was slightly teasing.
Arceus laughed, peals of bells to Giratina's ears. "I believe so, yes."
The two Legends spent the rest of the day, or what passed for day in the Distortion World, looking at the flowers.
Darkrai was woken by a quiet tapping on his cave entrance. He shook off the dream, one of Cresselia, and floated out. There stood a Smeargle.
"What is it?" Darkrai asked, slightly grumpy from the argument Cresselia and he had had the previous day.
The Smeargle gave a half-smile. "Let moi paint you a picture."