Chapter 21
On top of the rooftop, I stand, glaring at the mysterious witch sitting in front of me, her gaze still focused on the blue flames of the fire in front of her. I look up and notice it's already turning to night, the sun already halfway set and the moon slowly rising above. I can't remember when the three of us left Ash and Tia, they must be losing their minds looking for me. The cold breeze hits my fur causing me to shiver as my scarf blows softly in the wind. I look to Jordan and Brock's sleeping bodies and see small floating balls of fire eliminating and heating their bodies.
Margret motions her hand for me to come closer. I walk over and sit down facing in front of her, the wild flames snapping in front of us. For a few minutes neither I nor Margret say a word, our eyes simply transfixed on the blue fire. I look over to Jordan and Brock. "Are they okay," I ask.
"I was able to absorb the bomb blast with my blue flames," Margret says. "I knocked everyone unconscious, teleported those Keeper thugs over to the town jail and us to this rooftop. I've kept your friends asleep because there are things I want to discuss with you alone."
My head slowly turns to Margret. "You already told us how Cyrus became the person he is today. Is there something you're not telling us?" I say, the puzzle pieces in my head slowly fitting together. "Did you know him back when he was a Legendary?"
After a few seconds Margret sighs. "Yes," she responds. "My entire relationship with the Legendaries, I have not been completely honest with all of you."
I give a curious look to Margret. "What do you mean?" I ask. Margret's eyes reflect the fire in front of us almost like it's in her very eyes. Suddenly, Margret looks up and stares straight toward me.
"I am a Legendary myself," Margret says. For a brief moment, my heart skips a beat. My eyes goes wide and my mouth lay agape in front of her. Margret laughs, amused from my reaction. Margret looks to me and notices I'm too surprised to give a response so she continues. "I am a Legendary Pokémon, my real name is Margreth, the Harmony Pokémon. In the beginning of this world's existence I was created by Arceus to keep atrocities at bay and allow peace and tranquility. Arceus saw that with too much peace Pokémon and later Humans would overpopulate the world so he created Cyros, who you know as Cyrus, he was known as the Discord Pokémon. He was born to bring natural disasters and wars to appear that would quell the growing population. Together we are complete opposites yet one cannot live without the other. To put it simply, we are siblings."
"You and Cyrus are brother and sister?" I gasp.
"We Legendaries do not have a gender, I simply have this body because it looks like a beautiful human I passed by when I left the Legendaries," Margret says.
"So wait, you and Cyrus were changed into humans?" I ask. "But I thought it was only Cyrus who was a threat to humans."
"It is true that Cyrus openly declared himself an enemy of humans, that is the reason Arceus imprisoned him in form of a human and his powers sealed," Margret says. "But I could not simply watch him go through it alone. As his sibling, I was tasked with not only bring peace to the Pokémon world but also to Cyros. I failed so I thought it only justice that I follow my sibling into our shared fate as half Legendary/half human life."
"Why didn't you tell us this before?" I ask.
"I gave up my title of Legendary a long time ago," Margret gives a small smile. "After the harsh sentence Arceus gave to my brother, I followed in his punishment and took the form of a Human, forever losing my static as both a Pokémon and a Legendary, although I still kept some of my powers. I did not tell you any of this because I believed it was unneeded information. When Arceus gathered all the Legendaries to announce the Prophecy, he called for me as well." Margret closes her eyes, remembering clearly the conversation she had with Arceus.
"You want me to do what?!" Margret yells toward Arceus who stares back at her calmly.
"The Prophecy is located in a planet far from our own," Arceus says. "I have the ability to travel to distant planets and transport people along with me. It's an ability Dialga and Palkia share, as do you."
"You want me to go and get the very thing you want to kill my brother?!" Margret yells. Blue flames circle around her but Arceus keeps his calm composure. "Go ask Dialga or Palkia to do it for you, leave me out of this mess!"
"Unlike Dialga and Palkia, you have the body of a human," Arceus says. "Only you can make the journey and bring the Prophecy here. Cyros has caused damage to both Pokémon and Humans alike. You know very well he must be stopped."
"Arceus told us that a prophecy was given to him in his sleep of a warrior from a distant planet would defeat Cyros and end his destruction," Margret says. "You'd imagine my surprise when I found the Prophecy to be a scrawny young boy. But after watching you in the distance, your battles with both Team Galactic and The Keepers I see you becoming a very strong fighter."
"Thank you," I respond.
"Cyrus's willingness to threaten the lives of Mew and Mewtwo and the lives of many more have shown me that the Cyros that I knew is lost," Margret sighs. "All I – I mean we can do now is stop him, and I have just the plan to do it. And I need your help to do it."
"What do you need me to do?" I ask.
In the middle of the night Jordan, Brock, Margret, and I walk back to Cynthia's house. After Jordan and Brock woke up I gave them a brief rundown on what happened. I left out the part about my plan with Margret, she said the plan would work better if it was just known by the two of us.
As we get closer and closer to the house we could see Ash and Darkrai waiting for us at the front door. An annoyed look emanates off of Ash's face. "The three of you nearly gave me a heart attack," Ash says. "If it wasn't for Darkrai telling me you were with Margret I'd have every Officer Jenny look through the town."
"We ran into some Keeper grunts," Brock says. "Margret was able to save us at the last second."
"The Keepers know who we are now," Jordan says.
"Looks like Galactic isn't the only group after us now," Ash says. "We'll have to worry about that later then, I just got a call from the Eterna City Gym Leader, Gardenia. Trainers have spotted what looks like Team Galactic's airship in Eterna Forest."
"They're waiting for us," Brock says.
"And we don't have much time left," Margret says. "It's only a few days left until the "tradeoff" is supposed to take place". Margret and I exchange glances until Cynthia opens the door and walks out, Tia, Mary, Lucy and Christina following right behind her.
"You've returned," Cynthia says.
"It turns out we won't be staying the whole night here," Ash says. "We're continuing our journey to Eterna Forest now."
"I was hoping you'd stay a little longer," Cynthia says. "But we'd hate to keep your pals waiting. You better come back alive you hear!"
With a smirk on his face and a wave goodbye Ash turns and with the rest of us leaves toward the exit leading to Route 211, the large colossal mountain I saw earlier in our path now. Ash leads the front, Tia on his shoulder. Brock follows right next to him. "Do we have a plan when we get to Eterna Forest?" Brock asks.
"It's not concrete, but I think I got an idea," Ash says. "I'll explain more when we reach Eterna City, for all we know we're being spied on by Team Galactic right now."
Margret and I walk side by side, we each exchange a stare before looking ahead. Mary and Lucy walk up beside me, their eyes concentrated on the new scarf around my neck.
"The scarf looks good on you," Mary says.
"Thanks," I respond. "I got it after dealing with some more Keeper goons."
"You taking out Donovan stung them pretty badly," Mary says.
"They said Donovan has been replaced by a new guy," I said.
"That's The Keepers for ya," Lucy says looking straight ahead, a large goofy smile on her face as she walks.
"Failure is intolerable to The Keepers," Mary says coldly. "Did they tell you his name?"
"No," I answered. "All they said was that he has a hit on me now." Mary's eyes shoot wide for a second before returning to normal. "Umm…Mary? Is something wrong?"
"N…no," Mary blurts out. "Whoever this person is though, it's best we don't run into him."
"I second that," I reply.
"I third," Lucy chimes in.
As I continue to talk to Mary and Lucy, Margret walks quietly along with the rest of us. She suddenly notices a shadow silently following her footsteps. "You told him," Darkrai telepathically speaks to Margret.
"There is no reason to hide my true identity to him," Margret responds back.
"Why not tell Ash and the others then?" Darkrai asks. "Why only the Proph…I mean Hunter?"
"There is no reason for them to know my past life," Margret says. "The days of Margreth the Legendary are over. The less people know of that Legendary the better."
"I'm beginning to realize why Mewtwo always carries with him that gloomy demeanor of his," Darkrai says.
"Hah, you're one to talk," Margret laughs within her own head. "Do you think he's thinking about me?"
"Who do you speak of? Mewtwo?" Darkrai asks.
"It was Mew who brought Mewtwo into the Hall of Origin," Margret says. "All the other Legendaries looked at Mewtwo as a human constructed creature that should simply be cast away. I saw the pain and want for forgiveness inside Mewtwo's eyes that day and I motioned Arceus to allow Mewtwo into the Legendaries."
"What are you thinking about?" Darkrai asks, confusion in his tone. Margret does not answer back, but merely gives a solemn and mournful smile.
"I have made so many mistakes in my life," Margret says. "I allowed Cyros to become the monster he is and now I allowed Mewtwo and his own sibling to be captured by that very monster. It's just funny, how a powerful Legendary could become such a stupid and frail old hag."
Darkrai doesn't respond as the two walk with the group.
Back at Team Galactic's airship, Mewtwo is still chained and imprisoned in his cage. Lighting from time to time courses through his body making him rock his body back in forth in intense pain. Cyrus steps toward the cage. "Where are the Egg Piece and Crown of Creation?" Cyrus demands.
"Ha…ha….g-getting impatient?" Mewtwo wheezes. "They're coming aren't they? They'll take you down for good this time. Your reign of terror is finally going to end soon."
"When they get here," Cyrus says as he clicks a button on a remote in his hands causing Mewtwo to cry out in pain. "They'll either hand over the Prophecy or watch as I kill both you and Mew."
"None of us are gonna go down without a fight," Mewtwo breathes out. "Y…you know, I just….realized something."
"What?" Cyrus asks.
"I…almost turned into you," Mewtwo coughs, his entire body shaking over the constant bombardment of electricity. "I hated humans, even the ones that created me. I was ready to fight the entire human race with my own army of cloned Pokémon. If it wasn't for my sister and Ash Ketchum to bring me back into the light, I would be just as cold-hearted and ruthless as you."
"Well then there's the difference between me and you," Cyrus says. "Unlike me, I did not allow other people like my own sister to dissuade me from my goals. Margreth or as you humans like to call her, Margret, also saw the injustice that befell the Pokémon race. But unlike her, I had the courage to take a stand against Arceus and his drones known as the Legendaries. I will be the downfall to humanity, whether you are alive to see it or not does not matter to me.
Cyrus presses his finger to the remote against setting off another wave of electricity to Mewtwo's body. As Mewtwo ravages in pain, desperately clinging to the device around his neck with his hands trying to take it off. Cyrus chuckles as he walks toward Mewtwo's cell.
"Your sister, Mew, does not know the location of either the egg shell or Crown of Creation," Cyrus says. "I need both of those if I am to become as powerful as Arceus. I am losing my patience with you. Where are they located! ANSWER ME!" Mewtwo does not respond, his unconscious body lay slack against the wall to his cage. Cyrus presses the remote again.
In another room in the airship, Mew can feel Mewtwo's pain as she floats in a fetal position, shivering with fear over what he brother is going through.
"Please Margret," Mew sniffs. "Please hurry….I don't….I don't think Mewtwo can take anymore…."