Powerful winds sucked Cyrus down the cliffs. Jagged rocks welcomed his body when it touched the sea. Bones shattered, skin ripped, and any blood released was instantly devoured by ravenous Sharpedoes.
The remains were left to sink into the murky depths. But when a flash of lightning illuminated the ocean, Cyrus found himself staring down on his broken body. A blue sea serpent swooped down, and that was the last he saw of himself.
Cold, soft paws wrapped around his torso. Something golden, something pink glistened in the cold light. And a voice, so familiar and detestable, wormed its way into his fading consciousness.
"Your heart wept, but no one listened. What is broken can never be truly fixed… but you don't deserve this cruel final fate, Cyrus. Let's go back to Crystal Cave, and I'll guarantee you'll have a proper sendoff."
Cyrus's eyes snap open to see… dry land. Bright land. Slivers of sunlight trickling down from the cavern ceiling like the falling sands of an hourglass.
A cry brings him back to the present. "Ow… My backside…" Cynthia shakes the sand off her golden mane. "Wow. You were right, Cyrus. Just jump into the damn quicksand…"
When Cyrus attempts to speak, his body protests with a violent spasm. He doubles over, coughing and gagging as fluid sloshes in his lungs. With a horrible wheeze, he expels a dollop of… rusty seawater.
What is wrong with me now?
Cynthia rushes to his side. "Oh no… Cyrus, you're burning up. Heatstroke is a serious medical emergency. I'll Fly you back—"
"Don't touch me!" he snarls—and immediately ducks his head. "M-My apologies. It's not… it's not heatstroke." Heatstroke cannot explain why he's shivering like a brittle leaf in a blizzard. Everything around him, even the golden sunlight, feels so very cold.
And the next thing Cyrus knows, he's being picked up like a damn sack of flour. He's sweating profusely too, and he can tell that Cynthia is very uncomfortable with this, especially with him latching onto her back like this.
Cynthia deposits Cyrus in a shady patch of sand. She sheds her black coat, grimacing at the sweat stains that aren't hers. "Just rest. I'll find Azelf—"
She freezes when Cyrus seizes her wrist. There's a wild panic in his bloodshot eyes.
Cynthia has to pry his stiff fingernails away. "CYRUS! You're hurting me! Get a hold of yourself!"
"I-I'm not crazy… No, I'm not…" Through the cracks in his fingers, he sees Cynthia's expression… and his heart plummets. "Cynthia, I'm not… Please don't look at me like that."
"Cyrus, just… sit there and wait for me, okay? I'll be back soon."
"NO! You won't come back, I know you won't!"
Please don't leave me behind like you did twenty years ago.
Cynthia is getting further away. No matter how much Cyrus screams her name, she shows no intention of turning back.
Then the fog rolls in. Thick, inky miasma of white that coils across his trembling limbs, penetrating into his pores and turning his blood to ice.
Blood? There is a trail of blood in the dewy grass. Four wings are flapping from somewhere nearby. Under the covers of fog, golden strands of hair shine with that odious red color.
TICK. TOCK. A dusty clock hand moves from somewhere in the sky.
TICK. White noise bombards his eardrums. When Cyrus looks up, he sees someone's boot in his face. Indivisible strings yank him back to his throbbing feet to witness the sparkling multicolored crystals above. Bloody puddles ripple with a silent plea as his body jerks around to the whims of a joystick. Right. Left. BAM! Into a crystal. Away from normal, law-abiding civilians.
TOCK. Static dies down to reveal a suffocating white room with no windows. His wrists are chained behind a chair, his ankles encased in heavy shackles. BAM! Fists are slamming on the plastic table separating him from the rest of society. A camera whirls to his direction, aiming a red laser down to his knee…
TICK. Bubbles fluttering across the beach at dusk. A smile as radiant as the moon. The sky turning red during the solar eclipse. A lunar knife to his back.
TOCK. Barbed tails sinking into his throat. Bubbles streaming from his mouth. Two burning suns searing into his retinas.
Then a serene hush. Something green glimmers in the distance. Something with an eerie, unearthly green glow. Wisps of fragile light spinning across a forest shrouded in trees, leading him deeper into the heart of the woods…
TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK. At last, the hands of a frozen clock have begun to turn.
When Cyrus awakens, he's back in Quicksand Cave. He's lying on the ground with his face turned to the cavern sun.
What was that? Why did it leave such an unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach? Such vivid imagery… what does this all mean…?
"Am I going crazy?" he murmurs out loud. And yet, there's also this sense of heightened awareness, as if he has finally awakened from an eternal slumber.
Cyrus straightens. One breath in, one breath out… Focus. What do you see? A sandstorm raging in the next chamber. Surely there will be vicious Rock-Type Pokemon within the veil.
His Poke balls are trembling. "No matter what happens, we must persevere," he tells the worried Pokemon. "I think… no, I know that my memories lie ahead in Underground Lake. I can't explain it, but… I have a feeling that my journey is almost over."
Quicksand Pit could've been a disaster waiting to happen, but Cynthia's Pokemon are well-equipped to handle any obstacles in her way.
"Cynthia!"
Cynthia spins around. No one. Duh.
"Don't go, Cynthia! Don't leave me behind!"
"What is wrong with him?" she murmurs to her grim-faced Pokemon. The way he latched onto her like that… is disturbing in more ways than one. It wasn't right. It wasn't what was expected from a cold, stoic man like him.
Back then, he was acting like a child. Like a pitiful little boy terrified of being abandoned.
I need to hurry.
A pleasant sea breeze drifts in from the entrance of the third and final secret lake. There, in the center of the trickling waterfalls of sand is that signature green glow. Cynthia steadies her racing heart and calls out to the heavens.
"Azelf! Are you—"
"WAH!" Something falls into the lake.
Cynthia approaches cautiously. "Um… Azelf?"
Twin gossamer tails peek out of the water, acting as a curtain for golden eyes to peek through. "How did a human get in here?" A gasp. "D-Does it want to capture me in those little balls? Nooo! My free will will not be compromised!"
"Azelf! I'm not here to catch you—"
"You can understand me?"
"Yes! Listen, someone is waiting—"
"Then you must be the good humans my big brother told me about. Ahem." The mythical Pokemon rises from the lake and gives a deep bow. "I am Azelf, Guardian of Underground Lake. It is a pleasure to meet you, Cy."
"Um… who?"
Azelf continues to smile innocently. "Cy. Uxie told me there were two humans named Cy. Which Cy are you?"
"Cy-nthia."
"What a lovely name! Then is that human over there the other Cy?" Cynthia follows Azelf's gaze over to the entrance of Underground Lake to witness that other Cy tripping over his own two feet.
Cynthia groans. "Cyrus…"
One more step, and his legs will dislocate themselves from his hip.
"Greetings, Cy." A crimson jewel sits in the center of that Pokemon's blue crown. "I am Azelf, Guardian of Underground Lake."
Cyrus quickly spits out the sand in his mouth. "Cy?"
Azelf's golden eyes trail down to the Red Sunstone. "Ah, I understand now. Cy-nthia like the White Moonstone. Cy-rus like the Red Sunstone. And you two are named after… Oooh! What a fitting coincidence!"
Cynthia tugs Cyrus aside. "What are you doing here?!"
"Is that the Time Gear?"
A flash of concern crosses Cynthia's face. "Sit down over there."
"I can help you," Cyrus presses. "Uxie said we must work together—"
"I can do it by myself! Go over there!" Both sides overestimate and underestimate the other's strength, and after a laughable tug of war, Cyrus ends up in an unmoving heap on the sand.
Still, he musters all his energy to bring himself to his hands. "Why… Why are you treating me as if I'm about to steal that Time Gear and flee?"
The look on her face confirms his worst suspicions. "It's not that," she insists without acknowledging the hurt in his eyes.
"Then why do you not trust me?"
"Azelf, can you watch over Cyrus?"
Azelf jolts. "Y-Yes? Let me know five seconds before you take the Time Gear. We must be prepared to run once the paralysis strikes."
While Cynthia inspects the Time Gear, Azelf keeps its frowning guest company.
"You humans fight just like my big brother and sister," it says. "Why is there so much conflict in the world? Can't everyone just get along?"
Conflict. Strife. Cyrus clutches his throbbing chest. Azelf is watching carefully… and for a heartbeat in time, he sees a different creature in its place. Pink instead of blue, with the same golden eyes.
"Cy."
"My name is Cy-rus."
"Sunny Cy-up."
"I'm sorry, but what did you just call me?"
Azelf glances around before coming back to meet his exasperated gaze. "Mind and heart and connected by will. Cyrus and Cynthia both embody willpower and knowledge, yet you both have problems with the last fundamental value."
Cyrus stares at Azelf. It beams back, oblivious to the consequences of its words. "My big sister speaks highly of you. Do you like her too?"
"Your… sister?"
"Yes. Mesprit, the one who severed your spirit from your body at the moment of certain death. My brother kept complaining that she let her heart rule her actions, and she told him he would never understand, considering how he relies how his brain for everything…" Azelf purses its mouth. "Uxie isn't fond of you. You did attack him, after all. He locked away your memories to prevent your soul from being completely corrupted by the darkness in your heart.
"Speaking of which, may I ask what led you to pursue such a drastic act? Don't you know that it is a great sin to have taken one's own life—"
"Five seconds!"
Azelf jumps. "H-Humans, prepare yourself!"
As soon as Cynthia plucks the Time Gear from its pedestal, Underground Lake plunges into darkness. The drifting breeze suddenly halts. A falling pebble suspends in mid-air.
Cynthia swings a frozen Cyrus over her shoulder as the cavern begins to tremble. The Time Gear falls from her grasp. Without thinking, Cyrus dives for the mythical relic.
And within that decisive moment, the lock finally buckles under its weight.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. They're successfully running from the surging paralysis.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Cyrus ultimately fails to escape the flood of his memories.
"Azelf, are we near the entrance?"
"Almost. Hurry, Cynthia!"
A new light dawns within Cyrus's eyes. Three things have become very clear now.
One: He shouldn't be alive.
Two: Now he knows why this woman would and will never trust him. How can the Hero ever see eye-to-eye with the Villain?
Three: Eventually his jailers will realize that he regained his memories. Once they do, they'll make sure he pays very, very dearly for all his wrongdoing.