POV: Cynthia/ LOCATION: Foggy Forest
To recap the previous chapter, the world is heading towards an inevitable collapse of time. The problem lies with Dialga, not the Time Gears. I was chosen to carry half of the Relic Key, the only item that will unlock the gates to the Hidden Land.
Right now, I should be searching for the bearer of the Red Sunstone. How? By using the Compass of Heaven… if it'll actually point somewhere.
Okay. I probably ate too much cheese before I went to bed. Hopefully Grandma will come soon to give me a good ol' wake-up slap.
Then I quickly realize something: Rowan is gone. So are the stars. And Fogbound Lake. Instead, what surrounds me is a murky white miasma.
Where the hell am I? Is it morning already? Any perception of time is warped by a disorienting, colorless light.
"Uxie!" I shout.
And to my immense surprise, that Pokemon actually appears.
"Yes?"
"Don't 'yes?' me! What did you do?"
Uxie props a stub against its chin. "Why don't you ask the forest?"
I scowl.
"I do not jest. Due to your affinity with me, your soul is connected to Foggy Forest as well. Therefore, the forest is more than happy to grant your wish."
"What wish?"
"The truth, of course. The forest knows. It knows everything."
With a wink, Uxie disappears.
Okay… so I'm officially stuck in the twilight zone.
Suddenly, something brushes past me, solid and corporeal. Heels pounding against dewy grass, a curtain of gold flaring in the dense moisture…
No way. That's…
"I know you're there!"
That's me. Shouting to no one.
"Why did you follow me to Foggy Forest? Stop hiding and come out, coward!"
The film reel unwinds before my disbelieving eyes. My doppelganger races deeper into the woods. As if it was chased by something unseen.
Eventually, my phantom stumbles onto a ledge overlooking the fog. I—she?—glares into the distance, scanning for… something.
The answer to that mystery glints in the mist. That must've satisfied her suspicions, for she sends a barrage of Draco Meteors that way. An impact resounds, metallic scraps burst, but the shadow is still bobbing in the air. Taunting.
Then it happens: past me attempts to unleash Draco Meteor again to finish the job when a stray boulder rams into the mountain face and punctures the core and cracks explode down the rock and the ledge snaps—
And…
And the next thing I know, I am gaping down at a halo of gold stained by red. Lying on the ground, unmoving, is me.
Oh.
Then shock finally registers in my system, manifesting as a slap to the face.
No way. That's how it went down? I fell by my own fucking hand?!
"As the old saying goes: might is not always right."
"That's all you have to say, Uxie? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"Because you listen to no one. Besides, won't the truth be much more genuine were you to experience it yourself?"
I glare at Uxie, who lifts its tails as if shrugging.
"I'm leaving," I growl.
"So soon? You haven't seen the entire truth yet."
There's… more?
At that moment, a muffled clatter shoots through the fog. A groan. A very human sound.
My heart leaping to my throat, I break from Uxie, plunging deeper into the miasma, towards the source of life. Towards the truth.
Beyond the whispering trees, a figure peels itself off the ground. As I approach, color fizzes into view: Grey. Blue. A golden emblem.
"This is ridiculous. I don't need crutches. I can walk perfectly fine, but nooo, she has to impose these stupid metal sticks upon me… Should've never came back to HQ…"
A large violet bat flies up to him, a pair of crutches clutched in two of its wings.
"You need to stop throwing your belongings in the river," it grumbles. "And you're supposed to be recovering from that Draco Meteor assault, not wandering around this evil place."
The spaceman bats the bat away. "Are you hungry already? I just gave you blood this morning."
His name slips from my mouth.
"Cyrus?"
In that heartbeat of time, our gazes connect. His eyes, framed by exhaustion but blazing with defiance, burn into my trembling heart.
And with a start, I realize how starkly different he had become since our last encounter.
The Cyrus I remembered was faded like a worn photograph. Head bowed, shoulders slumped, waist strapped to the chair. Trapped under the harsh, bleached light. Twitching when spoken to.
Yet this Cyrus… the one the forest remembered, is dramatic and thick-skulled and so full of himself. Gel holds his freakish blue hair up like a porcupine's, proudly exposing his lack of eyebrows.
How long has it been since I've heard his voice?
There's no glass barrier between us. My feet move on their own, cautiously approaching that man until I am within arm's reach of that notorious "G."
I grab his collar. And my touch sinks right through his body like he's made of fog.
In this memory, Cyrus shivers. "I don't like this place. First the human bones, then this sensation of being watched… Let's hurry, Crobat."
While I choke on my words, a stray breeze peels open a bandage wrapped around his head, revealing a nasty burn etched in his temple.
"Let's go back," Crobat pleas. "Most of your wounds have already reopened…"
"Yes yes, I'll feed you soon."
I wordlessly follow Cyrus down a dirt path. Like a toddler learning to walk, he falls several times. Only after something snaps does he reluctantly accept Crobat's crutches.
"This is humiliating," he growls. "Well… at least it's only you, Crobat. You won't tell anyone."
A bitter taste surges to my tongue. An unsavory emotion. It doesn't take an idiot to know that he's badly hurt. Yet he keeps fighting against the odds…
Until he just gave up.
Cyrus stiffens, his nose pointing to the heavy air. "Do you smell that? Blood. Fresh blood."
"Human blood!" Crobat yelps. "This way!"
The two of them stumble upon the site of the accident. And Cyrus flinches so hard that his crutches go flying into the fog.
In the silence that follows, Crobat hovers above my body, its wings gently hovering above my face.
"She's alive! Quickly, we must help—"
Cyrus yanks his bat back, arms locked protectively around it like a cage.
"Don't touch her!" he snarls. "This is but an ill-contrived trap to pin false evidence upon me so I can be apprehended. This is your last time underestimating me, Champion!"
"But Cyrus—"
"We're leaving!"
With a disgusted scoff, Cyrus steps over my body and disappears into the gloom.
What the…
Did he seriously just…
Oh no he didn't.
I storm after him. "You heartless bastard! So you were the last person to see me! You got what came to you—"
But he has stopped in the middle of the path. Doing nothing but standing there with Crobat clutched to his heaving chest.
"I'm so close, Crobat. Just beyond these woods is the Time Gear, I'm sure of it. All my research at last yielding fruit. Once my dream becomes reality, this imperfect world will finally be complete…"
Then Cyrus glances over his shoulder. To me. I've never seen him so tormented. Like he might throw up.
"Time and time again, you find a way to mess with my head," he says softly. "Like a naïve child, I repeat my mistakes, hoping for a different outcome. Does that make me desperate or insane...?
"Tch. If it wasn't for this weak, misguided heart of mine, I wouldn't do the things I do…"
Cyrus casts a long, wistful glance to the direction of Fogbound Lake. Then he sighs. And he returns to the bloody spot, where he kneels down to brush my blood-matted hair from my forehead. With the precision of a surgeon's, he wraps my head in a makeshift tourniquet.
"A heavy concussion, but I've managed to stop the bleeding," he murmurs half to himself. "But why are you here alone? Where did you fall from? You're reckless, but never this careless…"
Crobat nudges his shoulder, bringing his attention to the red and white capsules peeking from the foliage.
"Don't touch them," he says. "See those cracks? There might be consequences of opening broken Poke balls while the Pokemon are still inside. I'll have to inspect them first…"
He then stands, using the nearby tree for support. "The mission is postponed. We're going home."
Draping my unconscious body over his back, Cyrus follows Crobat out of Foggy Forest. Then we're soaring into the multicolored sky towards a red sunset.
In that moment, I, the present me, is sitting beside Cyrus. As if this experience is more than a vivid memory. I can hear his breathing slowing, growing shallower as he viciously rubs his fluttering eyelids. As if he's physically right next to me.
"So you did save me," I whisper. "But why did you lie?"
Cyrus props his drooping head up with his palms. "I'll have to come up with an excuse for Jupiter. She'll think I've escalated in insanity. But we can't… take Cynthia to the hospital… Not until I find… the truth…"
"Rest," Crobat coos. "I'll take us back to Veilstone safe and sound."
The fight is leaving his body. I reach out, but he falls past my arms, landing in a pallid heap near my legs.
"Cynthia…"
"Y-Yeah? I'm listening."
Cyrus's lips move. But no sound escapes. To my horror, I realize that his form is fading. Crobat's violet hue is growing muddy, the evening sun is bleaching into white. The forest's memory blurs like runny watercolor…
Dimming into something…
Dissolving into nothing.
"Cynthia?"
And the next thing I know, there is Rowan. Staring at me, the night sky twinkling behind him.
Holy shit. I'm back.
"Y-You head back first," I wheeze. "I need to settle some business."
Without further ado, I take off on Togekiss. As we streak across the clouds, his voice lingers in my heart. That solemn vow, terrifying as it was barely audible.
"Cynthia… once I find that culprit, they'll wish they were crushed by your Draco Meteors instead."