Chapter Forty-eight: Battlefield
The Next Step
My heart fell. I felt it stop beating for a second, then it picked up again. I closed my eyes as they began to well up. "That was a gunshot." I muttered. I opened one of my eyes and looked at Zoey. Zoey and the other Guardians stopped me before I went in to rescue Cynthia.
But now I wished that I was in there.
She nodded. "Yes, but there's still hope."
"Very little hope." I looked at the sun rising in the sky, then back at the temple. We were behind bushes; a good distance from the guards and the temple. "So are we just going to sit here and let my best friend…" Die. I swallowed. My eyes became watery.
"Ember, we don't know anything for certain." Zoey put her hand on my shoulder. "We should get out of here, things could get very dangerous."
I nodded and stood up. We walked away from the temple, and as we walked, I silently said my farewell to my best friend. Goodbye.
I fell to the ground hard. My vision blurred out. I could only see black. Everywhere I looked it was black. I tried to suck air into my nostrils, but nothing would come in. I felt my chest ache for air. I tried to gasp in air, and it didn't work.
So much darkness.
My chest stopped aching and I was relieved. I assumed I had started breathing, but when I tried to get air, it didn't work again. I tried to blink. Nothing. Move my arms. Nothing. Kick my legs. Nothing. Flick my tongue. Nothing.
Then I remember the gunshot and bullet…
I had a bullet in my head. How come I'm not hurting? I should have a headache or something. But I felt no pain. None. A sensation covered me, and I couldn't feel my body anymore. I lost my senses, sight, hearing, everything, but I knew where I was. I can't tell you where I was, because I can't remember, but I remember being there. That doesn't make much sense, but that's how it felt. I didn't have a body or senses. I just was.
Then, I snapped back like a rubber band. I gasped and sucked in air to my burning lungs. My heart started hammering again. I opened my eyes. The black cleared, and I saw Lea just as he was. Pain pulsed through my head, then stopped. "What the—" The guard started.
I quickly stood to my feet, breaking all the ropes that had me tied up, and pushed the man to the ground, knocking him out. I looked down at the floor, I stood in a pool of blood. I touched my head. My hand was covered in red sticky stuff. My blood was everywhere. I turned around and faced Lea. He was cocking his head at me. "How'd you do it? Your heart had stopped beating." The cage next to him shattered. Glass flew everywhere, piercing mine and Lea's skin. The three circles danced around. Lea quickly grabbed them in his hands, he moved them to The Tinker.
I growled and balled my fists. My mind hadn't cleared enough to be thinking straight, so I just stood there.
He stepped back. The large Pokémon held up the three circles. The door under his hand swung open, and a glass orb rolled out and lifted up. The Tinker held the orb in his right hand, and it lit up. "…One, two, three…You bring them to me…Now, they will become again Bytí…" The circles morphed into one.
"Yes! I am successful!" Lea grinned and started to laugh. He looked at me. His body shadowed over, his eyes turned red, and he grew a pair of black wings. He flew into the air. "Now to take care of the girl." His voice was different again. He darted towards me.
"Oh Sinnoh." I stepped backward and fell. He hovered above me.
"You monster. This is so pleasing to be able to dispose of you myself." His hand morphed into a claw and he grabbed my shirt. He lifted me up. "I'll take care of your grandmother, don't worry." He lifted his other claw. An orb appeared and glowed bright, it started to grow larger and larger, and I knew that was what was going to take me out. "Goodbye, Cynthia Marie Everheart."
Don't be afraid. Chills ran down my arms. My presence had returned. Peace coursed through me.
He's going to push the orb on my chest. I can easily deflect it. I instinctively lifted my hand. Light beams shot out and pushed Lea away. I fell to the floor, but quickly got up. Whoa! I looked down at myself. I was the same. I remembered one of my nightmares…I was fighting Lea like a Pokémon…Like Bytí.
Lea got up and glared at me. "No!" He growled. "You will not overpower me again! I will be victorious!"
"Of course I will. This isn't a nightmare, this is real, and the bad guy always loses." I yelled.
He smirked and morphed back to normal. "Is this real? Are you sure about that?"
I paused. "Of course I'm sure."
"This seems to be going just like your nightmares, though…Can you really tell?" He grinned and lifted his hand. He snapped. The scene changed.
I was in the mirror room, in a ball gown.
Am I dreaming? The key sign of the dream world is unnatural things. And not being able to feel pain. Two things that have happened.
"Ah, questioning yourself, aren't you?" Purple swirled around him. I could see his aura. I could sense the deceit.
"You're lying!" I shot up to my feet and tackled him. When he fell to the ground he disappeared, the reappeared behind me. He grabbed my neck and pulled me to my feet.
"Stop falling down." He said.
I snarled. "Let me go!" I gasped for air when his grip tightened. I held my hand up and light beams shot out again. Lea let go, and I spun around. I pushed him to the ground and hit him again with my light beams. I need to think of another move. I thought.
Lea disappeared. He's going to be behind you…Now. I turned around and smacked him across the face just in time. Then, he pushed his hand on my stomach, sending me backwards and clashing into the mirrors, shattering them. The reflecting glass rained to the floor in slow motion. I looked at him, he was grinning evilly. The glass was cutting my skin. I watched as Lea raised his arm and snapped his fingers.
We appeared in a battlefield…His battlefield; the League. "Now I've got the home-court advantage." I recalled him saying in my past dreams. Now it was true.
"Still deciding if this is a dream?" He approached me and slapped me across the face. I fell to the floor. Blood poured out of my mouth. "Those wretched Pokémon should not be helping you. I'm their owner now, they should help me."
"They can't help what's turned dark." I muttered. "You're too evil now."
"Shut up already." I looked up at him. "You don't even have a clue what evil is. What it looks like, what it smells like, anything of the like. I do. And it's not me. Giratina can't help but be what he is…When Arceus sent out the decree, they separated, and he was fooled by his other parts. The Keepers of Time and Space, and he's the Keeper of what? Dimensions, as some would say? No, no…He's not evil." Lea shook his head. "Me? I just want what's truly mine…This fool region has been mine for so long, a child can't rip it away from me. Having these Pokémon, I can be assured that won't happen." Sincerity spilled out around him.
"You're being deceived by Giratina, why can't you see that?" I moved my head. I felt completely fine, but if Lea knew that, he would take me down for good. You won't convince him of anything, he's about to strike you. Visualize where you want to be, now. I flicked my eyes across the room. The corner seemed like a nice place to go right about now. I listened to my thoughts and focused. I saw Lea lift his hand to strike, and I appeared across the room in the corner.
"Oh, she learned a new trick. Are they talking to you, hm?" He started walking towards me. My Uxie knowing-all kicked in. Stare at him hard, visualize him on the ground. I did just that. Then, he became a hazy figure. He winced and smacked on the ground. Extrasensory; I recognized the move. I smiled then lifted my hand. The light beams hit him, but he quickly deflected them somehow. He flew into the air and over to me, smacking me to the ground. Think, think, think! Okay, Mespirit is emotion, hence why I can see his aura, Uxie is knowledge, hence why I am ultra-smart, and Azelf is…Willpower. That's it.
I stood up and looked at him. I focused "Stop." My voice was filled with confidence. But nothing happened.
He shot his head back and laughed. "Funny, my dear, but no." He smirked, and I became blind.
Darkness. A lot and a lot of darkness. What happened? My thoughts echoed around my empty brain. What was going on?
I started walking down a flourished path. The dirt road under me was extra dusty today, but I didn't mind. I looked around. The bushes and trees looked a lot larger than usual.
"Cynthia, this is a puffle flower." Grandfather plucked a lone flower from a bush. "They're only found in Floaroma…Or so I thought." He studied the flower. "What are you doing do far from home, little guy? Floraroma's practically across the whole world." He chuckled and looked at me. "Do you think Grandmother would appreciate a flower of this beauty?"
I nodded. "She always does, you know." I laughed and threw my arms around him. It was so good to see him again. I sniffed, he smelled like his cologne, the scent that wasn't overbearing and smelled like his study. "It's good to see you." I said, I held back tears.
He chuckled. "It's good to see you too, pretty girl." I looked up at him. I forgot how tall he was. He smiled and patted my head. He grabbed my hand and led me down the path.
It was enchanting. The thousands of different shades of green were truly enchanting. "Grandfather, why haven't I been here before?"
"Because it wasn't too long ago when I found myself here, Cynthia."
I smiled. "Okay." We walked along the dirt road until we came to a dead end. "There's no way to go." I said.
Grandfather winked. "There's always somewhere to go, trust me." He stepped into the brush and disappeared.
"Grandfather!" I shrieked. I jumped after him. I screamed at the sight. He was on the ground, burning to death. The ground under him shook and opened up, swallowing him whole. "No, no!" I sunk to my knees. I looked at myself. This wasn't my body. Or, it was, but not the way it was now…It was my eight-year-old body. "What is going on?!" Tears streamed down my face.
My sight returned. I was looking at Lea. Dark Pulse, I should've known.
"You're so easy to petrify." Lea smacked his tongue in disapproval. "If you even thought about being champion, that quality would need to be taken care of." I felt drained. If I was a Pokémon, I would be close to fainting by now. I was on my knees, like I was in the vision, but I slumped to my side. He bent down and looked at me. His skin fell off of his body, making his blood all splash to the ground and on me, leaving a skeleton with red eyes. "Time for you to go."
If I didn't have peace coursing through me this whole time, I would have died from fear right there. But luckily, the peace that I feared at times, seemed to be my greatest power. Even after being so deathly afraid, I was never that afraid again. Fear became an enigma in my life; no extra peace necessary.
Because of Uxie's part in Bytí, I had enough knowledge to know what would happen next. "I wouldn't say that, Lea." I said. I closed my eyes, my body lit up, and I morphed into Bytí. I opened my eyes. Lea was gaping at me, us, and light beams shot out and engrossed him. A shadow came out of his body and shrieked. It spoke in another language, probably Unknown, then disappeared.
The light dispersed and Lea fell to the floor, as did I. I got on my knees and crawled over to him. "Oh goodness, he's dead." I pressed my fingers to his neck. It took a second, put I felt a faint thump. "Oh goodness, he's alive." I inched away. I didn't know which was worse, dead Lea, or live Lea. It didn't look like he'd be up anytime soon.
"Cynthia," I heard three voices. I looked behind me. Bytí hovered there. I stood up and faced it. "We have to thank you for your courage…Without you, this would have gone to chaos."
"You're welcome, but…I owe you the thanks. Without you I wouldn't have been able to…Do whatever the heck I just did." I was complete and utter shock. My heart was racing. I couldn't comprehend what had happened at all.
"We worked as a team." It said.
I nodded. "So…Did I…Die?" I didn't want to hear the answer.
"No, we rescued you before you got to that point. This was not the first time our healing abilities has helped you…Remember when the Pokémon scratched your hands? When you and your loyal companion were almost blown to bits in the mines? When you and everyone jumped from the burning tower? We have always been here to help…But we can no longer do that for you."
"I guess I do remember those times…Thank you so much. For everything. And I understand, you need to hide. Now you're the strongest Pokémon…"
"We shall separate again and return to our rightful place…As lake guardians. As for you, you need to take your rightful place, as champion. Uxie has seen the future, Giratina will turn good and be the help we Legendries need, so that is not of worry." Their three voices in one thing was starting to get freaky. "Do not be a fool, Champion Cynthia."
With that, Bytí left, and I appeared in Snow Temple again. The room was back to normal, with The Tinker frozen, as he should be. The glass orb laid on the floor, and I walked over to it and lifted it above my head. Then I brought it down and dropped it. Hard. It shattered into a million pieces, and I smiled. This is done. I felt like shedding multiple tears, but no tears came. My peace left, but I felt better than ever.
Guards poured into the room and gaped at what they saw…A limp Lea laying on the floor, and me, covered in blood, standing next to him. That was fun explaining. But with the guards came Ember and the Guardians, and soon after Annie, Oliver and Volkner.
I didn't tell the story about where Bytí was now. They would figure it out for themselves one day. I was happy to go back to Snowpoint with the people I love and have all the guards confused and leaving for the League, where I would be the next day, firing every single one of them, started with Maroon, ending with Ember.
Yes, I did become the champion. I did earn it, after all.
