Stand to Lose
"Never thought I'd see you start a fight before me," sighed Cynthia, though the amusement in her voice was hard to miss. "And just look at how it turned out."
The young girl pressed a piece of cotton, wet with ethanol, against the bruise in her friend's cheek, earning a wince of pain from him. They were all over him, like Spinda marks. His clothes were no better, covered in dirt and grime and torn in a few places. It was a good look, Cynthia had to admit to herself internally, but one that didn't suit Cyrus at all.
"Tsk. Can you really call it me starting a fight when I didn't swung at them once?" he asked, grumpy as usual.
"Touché."
She'd had to drag him here to her room in the Pokemon Center after the severe beating he'd received. 'I'll be back in a sec, just wanna check out the Pokemart! Don't get into trouble without me!'. And where did she find him less than a minute after? In the middle of a 'patriotic' pro-war march, lecturing a bunch of very angry people on why the war was bad and why they should be ashamed of themselves.
It'd ended up as one would expect. Cynthia would have found the whole thing funny, if she hadn't needed to intervene with her Pokemon to get Cyrus out of there.
She supposed their time in Veilstone would have to be cut short, to avoid such complications from repeating.
"I still don't get it," Cyrus muttered angrily. "Isn't this town's Gym leader against the war? Why didn't he intervene when things got ugly? I saw a few of his trainers just walking around, ignoring me while I got seven bells of hell beaten out of me."
Cynthia made a face. "Not anymore, I'm afraid."
"What?"
"The previous Gym leader retired," she said. "Decided to become a professor instead. His daughter took over, and she is very much pro-war. I found that out the hard way yesterday, when I got the badge." A sour look crossed her face. "She wasn't bad, just… you know."
Cyrus made a similar face.
"Great… the entire League is slowly starting to fall in line," he scoffed. "Is Eterna's the only Gym leader left that still opposes the war?"
"Hearthome, too." A shadowed expression crossed Cynthia's face. "You… didn't get to meet her, since I fought her before heading to Sunyshore, but she's made her opinion plenty clear. Maybe it's cause she's young, like us."
Cyrus frowned, creases forming on his forehead. "That's ridiculous. Age shouldn't determine whether you've got common sense or not. Anyone who thought about it for more than a second should realize how pointless this war is. It's nothing more than an excuse for the people up top to fill out their pockets."
"Ha. Not that I disagree with you, but…" She leaned back on the bed and smiled. "You might want to consider how you word your statements. I can understand why you got beat up now. Using that kind of tone against a bunch of people already riled up by emotion… no way that ended without a punch being thrown."
"Hmph. That makes no sense at all…"
Cynthia had to stop herself from chuckling. As dire as the situation had been, now that Cyrus was safe she could appreciate the boy's grumpiness in peace. It was one of her favorite things about him.
"You should be more careful next time. A bunch of people all huddled together like that, fanning each other's emotions… it's like a fire, growing and growing. And you just had to stick your hand in there."
Cyrus grabbed his bandaged wrist, wincing and then shooting her an irritated glare. "Isn't that the Spirit you speak so highly of? With how much good it's done us so far…"
"A flame can just as easily warm you or burn you," Cynthia retorted. "It's pointless to blame the flame if the latter occurs."
"That's a flawed argument. Flames are thoughtless, but people are not," Cyrus complained.
"It wasn't an argument, just an observation."
"…You're impossible," he muttered under his breath, looking down and to the side. "... I wish there was something I could do. That there were a way to make people understand…"
"Against loss, regret and anger, dispassionate truths have no chance," said Cynthia. "That's what we're here for, isn't it? To stop the war by our own hands."
"That's why you're here. I'm not a Pokemon trainer."
Cynthia rolled her eyes. "Always with the self-deprecation. You're much more talented than you give yourself credit for."
An actual blush rose up Cyrus' face to his cheeks, and he didn't say anything for a few moments.
"…Even so, I don't like it," he muttered. "You're not looking to change anyone's mind, to make them understand. You just want to stop the war by force."
"It's the quickest solution," Cynthia argued. "Which means it's the one that would save more lives."
"I know, I know. It's just…"
He sat silent for a while, trying to find his words, but there was no need. Cynthia understood.
"…You keep underestimating yourself," she said. "Who says it won't be you who ends this war for good? Dispassionate words may be useless against a fiery spirit, yes, but the way I've heard you talk sometimes, with that conviction that could sunder mountains… you are anything but dispassionate then."
Cyrus clicked his tongue. "It's not something I'm proud of. The content of my words alone should be enough."
"Yet you'll resort to that if it comes to it."
"…Yes." Cyrus looked down, looking more tired than in pain. "I just want it to stop. I want people to stop dying and suffering so pointlessly."
"We will make it happen," declared Cynthia, the grey of her eyes flashing with determination. "Because this is not a reality that we're willing to accept. It's just as the great Nyss once said…"
Cynthia cleared her throat, eyes closing, and spoke those immortal words.
"Reality is never a mistake, never set in stone. It is always someone's fault; someone's Will, manifested."
Cyrus' eyes widened a bit. He nodded absentmindedly, as though he'd just realized something. "And that means… it can always be changed."
"Yes. Against a powerful enough Will, even reality is but an obstacle to overcome."
East of Route 214 – 18:35, Day of the Moonless Night
Inyssa hated absolutely everything about the seemingly normal forest sprawling out in front of her, and if Barry and Metchi's faces were any indication, they shared her concerns.
"Man," breathed Metchi. "These are some rancid vibes I'm getting."
An apt way to put it. There was nothing really wrong with the landscape in front of them. Hell, she'd lived with the entrance to Twinleaf's forest in her backyard all her life, and those tall, gloomy pine trees had been a lot scarier than the colorful, leafy ones in front of her. Still… something in the air here, in the weak wind blowing through the trees, didn't sit right with her. It felt like there was an invisible buzz, a frequency that she couldn't hear yet it made her teeth and bones wince like the sound of nails against a chalkboard.
It felt like touchless touch. Like incorporeal hands grabbing at her arms and legs and throat, and she hated it.
"I'm afraid that feeling will only get worse as we proceed."
Cynthia stood in front of them as though protecting them from that feeling, all they could see of her being the back of her outfit and her long, flowing golden hair. She didn't turn to look at them as she spoke.
"This is the path, then?" muttered Inyssa.
"Yes. Normally, if one were to traverse this forest, they'd find themselves coming out on the shore east of Veilstone."
Barry frowned. "Then how do we…?"
"Close your eyes."
All three of them blinked, then glanced at each other.
"What?" asked Metchi.
"Close your eyes," Cynthia repeated. "And keep them closed as you walk."
"I-but…" Barry looked around, concerned. "Won't we… trip? Or run into a tree?"
A smile could be heard in Cynthia's voice. "Just trust me. I promise we will get there."
One look at Metchi's face told Inyssa that she didn't trust Cynthia one bit, but it's not like they could go about splitting hairs, not with a time limit hanging over their heads. Barry was the first to close his eyes. Inyssa did the same after a moment of consideration, and Metchi was the last. She cursed under her breath as she did so.
"Good. Now… let us continue."
Inyssa noticed the change immediately. Firstly, she didn't face-plant the tree that was only a few yards away despite walking straight toward it, so there was definitely some supernatural shit going on. That wouldn't have concerned her normally. Throughout the duration of her journey she'd come to realize that the real supernatural was either stupid, nonsensical or sad. If it was creepy or upsetting, then there was probably some human intervention behind it.
Yet this feeling as she kept walking, unobstructed by the roots she should've tripped on or the trees she should've ran into… it rubbed her the wrong way. It was a very specific kind of discomfort. Like thinking about or staring at her own body, or having someone else's hands that weren't Barry's come in contact with her skin. Yet… she didn't feel any actual touch. It was the feeling alone, devoid of context. And that somehow made it worse.
"So…" she asked. "How long do we have to walk?"
"You'll know when we're there."
Sensing the discomfort in her voice, Barry immediately reached over and held her hand in his. Immediately, some of the tension dispelled. She smiled openly, glad to know that no one could see her do so.
"What was that noise?" asked Metchi.
"Oh, Niss and I are holding hands now," said Barry, oblivious. "Wanna join?"
Metchi let out a tired sigh. "You guys are fucking dorks."
Yet Inyssa heard as Metchi raised her own hand for Barry to hold.
The unseen path continued for longer than Inyssa thought would take them to actually cross to the other side of the forest, but then again it didn't feel like they were there anymore. At some point, the ground under her feet changed. It wasn't the soft soil and crinkly leaves she'd been stepping on before, but solid, natural stone. Her steps began to echo quietly as well, and that could only mean one thing.
We're in a cave… shit.
Immediately, that uncomfortable feeling in her chest intensified tenfold, pressing against it and making it harder for her to breathe. Her fingers tightened against Barry's. Luckily for her, the building panic she felt paled in comparison to just how angry and disappointed she was in herself at that moment.
Really? After everything that had happened, she still had claustrophobia? No, she didn't accept that. She'd been trying her best to accommodate for her body's failings after her talk with Uxie in Hearthome, but this was simply ridiculous. She inhaled deep, focused on the feeling of Barry's touch instead of the panic, and promptly told her claustrophobia to go fuck itself. This was not the time for this.
It worked, though mostly because they reached their destination only a few seconds after her inner declaration. She heard Cynthia stop in front of them.
"We're here."
Inyssa felt it. A weak gust of wind ruffled her hair, and though the ground under her was still rocky, she could feel the warmth of the sun's rays falling on her face. They'd made it outside the cave.
"You can open your eyes now."
Whatever Inyssa had expected, it was not what she saw as she opened her eyes. Even though she'd been told about it previously, she had to blink a few times to make sure it was real.
"W-wow," whispered Barry.
"Damn," Metchi agreed.
They'd somehow made their way from a forest to the inside of a cave to a small valley closed off on all sides by unnatural-looking cliffs, rising around them in a circle like the jagged peaks of a crown. On the inside, life and vegetation covered every inch that wasn't rock. Leafy plants and snow-covered shrubbery, summer trees and winter flowers, even wild weeds made this place their home, joining together in an impossible picture that felt completely out of this world. It was as though Eterna, Floaroma and Pastoria had been smashed together and condensed into a single spot, their contradictory wildlife somehow forming a symbiotic relationship with each other.
Yet that was only the outside, the edges around what really drew their eyes. There in the middle of the valley lay a lake of crystalline water, similar in size to the one Inyssa had seen near Snowpoint. Despite the wind its surface was perfectly still, like glass. And even though it was as clear as water could be, Inyssa couldn't quite see under the surface from where she stood, as the sun reflecting off it made it look like the water was glowing.
So this is it, thought Inyssa, gulping. Sinnoh's secret fourth lake…
Barry was the first to speak, after letting out a nervous chuckle. "Is it… weird that the first thing I thought was about how nice it'd be to have a picnic here?"
Metchi laughed despite herself, and Cynthia let out a giggle before turning to face them.
"I'm sure it would be lovely, though you might find yourself with more guests than expected," she said. "Even if they're both points of coalescence, you could consider this place the opposite of Spear Pillar."
"The opposite?" asked Barry. "What do you mean?"
Inyssa nodded to herself. "Because their functions are different, right? You implied so back in Lily of the Valley island."
"Precisely," said Cynthia. "Both are points in which the barrier between our realm and another is weakest, but in Spear Pillar's case that other realm is the Hall of Origin, the chamber where our land's legends rest. Here…"
"Right," Mechi continued, frowning. "Here, it's that fucked up hellworld that Fantina showed us."
"The World of Distortion," muttered Inyssa, face scrunching up.
Cynthia nodded, then turned again to look at the surface of the water, her face hidden behind a lock of blonde hair.
"…Yes. This is Sendoff Spring, the place where our world and that of the recently departed meet," she said. "My family has been looking for this place for thousands of years. To think I'd be the one to find it…"
She stopped, then shook her head and laughed at herself.
"No, I suppose that honor goes to Shadi and Fantina," she whispered. "And for their sake, it might be better to keep it that way. I expect this will be the only time I set foot in this place."
"Hey," Metchi called out. "What are you muttering about?"
Cynthia said nothing for a few seconds. Then she looked over her shoulder, and smiled warmly.
"Nothing, nothing. Now, shall we proceed?"
The other three exchanged a quick look, confirming that they were all thinking the same thing. Barry was the first to air it out loud.
"Er… Where are we supposed to go?" he frowned. "The only path I see is through the cave we came in on."
"Oh, the way forward is very simple. Here, follow my lead."
Without explaining anything, Cynthia walked away from them. The three of them took a step forward to follow, but stopped as soon as they realized she wasn't heading left or right, but straight forward. Which meant…
"Wait," Inyssa blurted out. "Where are you–?"
Her question was cut short, as Cynthia stepped into the lake's surface and fell through it, sinking like a stone. Inyssa and Barry gasped. Metchi hurried forward with a panicked look on her face and they followed, stopping on the edge of the water and looking down, expecting to see the woman's golden hair there at the bottom.
But there was nothing down there. Nothing except a black, empty void.
Mt. Coronet – 18:50, Day of the Moonless Night
The entire cavern shook violently with each step Heatran took as he climbed out of his hole, dust and sparks and rocks falling from the ceiling and walls all around them. Reiko didn't need to look down. With one final push, the beast jumped higher than his massive weight should've allowed him to and fell in all fours in front of her, cracking the ground under his feet.
"RWHAAAAAA!"
Force and heat slammed against Reiko, summoned forth by Heatran's roar. It smelled sharp, like sulfur and ammonia. Her fingers gripped her blade tighter, but she didn't raise it just yet. This actually seemed to confuse the Pokemon, as it blinked a couple times, simply staring at her.
The thought of something not being afraid of him probably confuses him, she thought with a smile.
"I don't have enough time to be wasting it on a pointless fight," she said in Kantan, loud and clear. "We've had people inside of Mt. Coronet for a while. It's only a matter of time before Cyrus and his men are apprehended. Cut your losses and tell Heatran to stop."
"Hmph… that dialect…" Charon's muttering rung through the air, amplified. When he spoke again, he did so in Kantan as well. "A scorned child of Cinnabar? The Champion sure is talented at choosing her pawns. Are you here for revenge?"
Moltres' flame burst to life around her, like a visible heartbeat, a sure of heat and pressure that shook the entire cavern. Reiko grit her teeth and forced it down by will alone.
"And Moltres, as well… I'd heard the legends," whispered Charon. "Sorry to disappoint you, girl, but I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Heatran: kill her."
Heatran shrieked loudly enough to make Reiko's ears ring. Stomping on the ground, he opened his mouth wide and released a staggering torrent of what could only be described as something halfway between fire and lava. The pseudo-liquid explosion of plasma swallowed Reiko whole, lighting up the entire cavern with its light. It crashed against the other side and dispersed in all directions before finally vanishing into gas, leaving every speck of rock it had touched a scorched black.
The beast's body relaxed, too soon. From within the yellow gaseous cloud, a voice was heard.
"I guess I'll be smelling of sulfur for the next week, huh."
A grunt was picked up by Charon's microphone, and Heatran made his shock known as well, eyes going wide and taking an unconscious step back as Reiko stepped out of the heated gas, not a scorch mark on her.
"You're wrong, by the way," said Reiko. "You do have something to lose."
"Tsk! Heatran, just crush her!"
Another roar shook the floor and walls of the cavern. Heatran ran forward much faster than Reiko would've expected from a creature of his size, crossing half the distance between them before lowering himself and jumping. And as she looked up, her vision was nothing but Heatran. It was like a train heading straight for her, ready to crush her bones to dust.
Falling to her knees, Reiko inhaled the heat from the gas around her and jumped, rising like a shooting star, the light emanating from her body so bright it painted everything white. Heatran opened his maw to catch her, but as the massive jaw fell closed all it bit was the trail of flames left behind her. She rose higher, pushed by the beat of invisible wings. There in the air, in that precise spot above the falling Heatran, she became aware of how easily she could slash at his exposed back with her blade, how simple it would be to make the beast bleed. Moltres flared inside her, urging her to do so, but she refused.
He's not our enemy. I won't hurt him unless it's necessary.
Instead, she simply vaulted over the beast and fell to the ground near the edge of the crater, while Heatran himself crashed face-first against the other side of the cave, cracking the ground and unearthing stones all around his fall. Reiko spared him a single glance before turning toward the metal refuge again.
"This is pointless," she said. "Heatran is certainly powerful, but compared to that Charizard we fought in Lake Verity, he is nothing."
"Hgh–Heatran! Stop playing around!"
Reiko sighed as she heard the roar behind her again, followed by the violent shaking of the ground as the beast charged toward her like a rampaging Tauros. Rapid, feral, it made it to her in only a couple seconds. And as he neared the point of impact, he threw himself forward with enough force to shatter steel, the plating covering his head glowing with a powerful energy.
And Reiko didn't even look at him as she extended her hand behind her, like an exasperated mother stopping an angry child. She felt the impact against her fingers, but Moltres' power repelled it. Like a shield of light, it stopped the behemoth in its track and, the force from his charge having to go somewhere, the ground exploded into pieces behind him, rough and jagged stones melting off the cave floor in a shockwave.
The sounds that came out of Heatran and Charon's throats were full of shock and bewilderment, though they were soon replaced by Reiko's voice. Heavy, judging.
"You know, I've imagined this day every day of my life for the past ten years."
"W-what?"
"Half the time, I wondered why you'd done it. Why you'd condemned all of Cinnabar to that fate," she said. "The other half, I didn't care. All I wanted was to see you dead by my hands. But now I know. What is it that you have to gain from this. And what is it that you have to lose."
"You precocious brat… You know nothing about me."
"I do, actually."
Finally out of his stupor, Heatran panicked and took a few steps back and away from Reiko's hand, which dropped with the rest of her arm to her side.
"I know why you volunteered for the M project back near the end of the war, even if the pay was nothing compared to what Silph. Co offered," she said. "I know why you were so adamant on using that soulless Ditto as the base for the first Mew clone. I know why, even after Cyrus arranged for your escape, you risked everything to get that Ditto back, and then orchestrated that eruption to cover your tracks."
Charon sounded like he was about to say something in the middle of her speech, but his voice froze at that last part. "H… how do you… who are you?"
A smile formed on her face. "I told you, I'm just a girl. A trainer. The second coming of Cinnabar's flame." The red of her eyes flashed. "And the weight of your sins coming back to bite you.
"I know, Charon. I know what your goal is. It's not the same as Cyrus'. You've only ever been interested in the creation of that second Mew clone, this time using the right Ditto as its base. If I were to guess, he probably promised the clone would be yours once he was done with it. But you don't care about its combat capabilities. You have no use for a mindless soldier, so why would you be so desperate to get your hands on it?"
"I-I…"
"Your wife, Kasha." That single name was enough to drive a stake into the man's heart. She heard his gasp over the speakers. "You loved her, and you love her still. That's why you wanted to start a family with her. But a few years into your marriage, something went wrong, didn't it? Your only son…"
"Silence!" The audio peaked, Charon's scream bouncing off the walls. "You know nothing! Heatran, kill–!"
"Oh just shut up already, you stupid fucking geezer."
Charon's voice caught in his throat, not because of what he'd heard but because that was a distinctly different voice from Reiko's. A choppy, electronic and… familiar voice.
Reiko raised her wrist casually, showing the screen of her Poketch. There was a flash. A zip of light, and suddenly that familiar voice, Hao's voice, was talking through the speakers as well, clearer than ever.
"My expectations were already through the ground, but finally hearing you again… you're even more pathetic than I thought."
Unlike with Reiko's taunts, no angry retort came from Charon, only dumbfounded, unintelligible mutters. Behind her, she could feel Heatran start to stir again due to the man's orders. He took a step forward, ready to attack, but he was cut off quickly.
"Heatran, w-wait, stop!" Charon finally regained his voice, though it sounded weak, strained. Heatran stopped at once, and the man's attention was turned elsewhere. "…Rotom? M… Mikhae–"
"Don't call me by that name!"
Hao's voice burst through the speakers, loud, shrill, drilling into Reiko's ears and making her wince. She'd expected this. As much as Hao had claimed he was completely detached from the situation, that it didn't affect him at all, she knew how empty those words were. It had taken her ten years to reach the point of barely not wanting to kill Charon. Hao, on the other hand, had only learned the truth less than an hour ago. It was cruel to make him go through this, but…
Then kill him, a voice said in her head, all of Moltres' intent behind it. Kill Charon. It would be quicker, easier. It is selfish to spare him just because you changed your mind, isn't it? What about your duty?
The hand holding the sword shook, and in that moment Reiko was almost convinced. Quickly, however, her other hand fell upon her wrist and stopped her from raising the blade. She breathed in deep, keeping the anger in check. The voice was right, in a way. Killing Charon was undoubtedly simpler and less selfish than what they had planned, but the counter-argument to that was even more simple.
Reiko just didn't want to kill again. And no amount of righteous arguing would convince her otherwise. If other people wanted Charon dead, then they would have to dirty their own hands.
As she took her next breath, the heat and power emanating from her body lowered to a simmer, barely a mantle of pale light. A flame, tamed. When she spoke again, her voice didn't echo like before.
"We had the Interpol look into your past," she explained, cutting through the short-lived silence, giving Hao time to calm himself. "We know it was the death of your son that drove you to join the M project. A soulless yet living body, no matter how alien and unnatural… it would have been the perfect vessel to bring him back."
Charon didn't answer, but that was more telling than any words could have been. A heavy silence came from the other side of the speakers.
"But a body is nothing without a soul, and you wouldn't have gone so far if you were missing one piece of the puzzle." Her eyes narrowed, judgingly. "When he died… he wasn't fully gone, was he? Whether from grief or longing, he came back to you."
Reiko knew that some souls didn't pass on after death, but were held back for one reason or another, stuck in the physical world. That truth was especially hard to swallow for the people of Kanto and Johto, considering their ties to spirituality. There were many who, to this day, adamantly refused to accept that some of the ghost Pokemon living among them had once been human. She couldn't blame them. She'd had a tough time herself coming to terms with it during her training in Lavender Tower, but it had been an important lesson to learn. No matter how fast you run from it, the truth will catch up to you eventually.
"Your son came back to you because he loved you," said Reiko. "But you couldn't accept him as he was. You didn't want to believe that was what he'd become, so you imprisoned him, experimented on him. You looked for a way to turn back the clock, to make things like they were before." Her brow furrowed, a furious look on her face. "He escaped death's grasp just so he could see his parents again, and you betrayed him."
"N… no, I…" Charon's voice actually sounded on the verge of tears. "M-Mikhael, my boy… I've been looking for you!" He yelled suddenly, his voice gaining strength, hope. "Your new body will be ready soon! P-please, come with me and you'll be–!"
"SHUT UP!" Hao's voice boomed, shaking the walls of the cave. Reiko knew the anger behind it by heart. "I told you not to call me that! And if you really think I'm gonna go back to a decrepit piece of shit like you then–!"
Reiko heard the crackle of electricity even from afar, and quickly stepped in.
"Hao."
Hao's voice recoiled, as though he'd been slapped on the face. Being a ghost, he couldn't really breathe heavily but she could almost hear it as he forcibly tried to reign in his anger.
"I… I know," he muttered. "I know."
From the other side of the speakers, she heard Charon stumbling on his words again.
"Then, then does that mean… you remember? You remember what…?"
"Yeah," Hao said bitterly. "It all came back to me once I read those Interpol files."
Reiko had heard it straight from Hao less than an hour ago. Even after coming back, he hadn't been able to fully remember his past life until today. All that drove him before had been the memory of the pain inflicted on him by Charon during his experiments.
"I had my suspicions from before. But to have it confirmed was…" Hao let out a sound that almost sounded like a chuckle. "You really… tortured your own son just 'cause you didn't like the form he came back to you in. It's so fucked up it's… almost funny. Too bad I wasn't reborn with the sense of humor."
"I… I did it for you!" Charon clamored from the other side of the speakers, his voice suddenly candid. "You can be alive again! We can go back to Kasha and–!"
There was that crackle again, only this time Reiko wasn't quick enough to intervene. Charon let out a grunt of pain and she could hear as he fell back on the ground, scrambling to get to his feet.
"Hao!"
"Tsk. It's just a little zap," Hao complained. "Just wanted to shut him up."
Reiko pursed her lips, but she couldn't in good conscience scold him. He deserved that much, at least. She heard Charon finish rising to his feet again, breathing heavily. Hao let out another scoff before continuing.
"The last thing I want is to listen to your voice for another second," he said. "So I'm gonna make this quick and simple. I'm not coming back with you. I'm not getting into whatever fucked up body you created for me, I am just fine the way I am."
"B-but…!"
"No. Shut the fuck up," he cut him off. "Here's the important part, so listen well. You've got two choices: you either stop Heatran and let Reiko take you to the surface so you can turn yourself in, or I kill you right here and now… and then go after Kasha."
Charon had been silent, listening, waiting for his chance to negotiate, until that last part. He couldn't help but splutter.
"What!? B-but she's your–!"
"Pftt. What, you believe I think any higher of her than you?" Hao said mockingly. "She might not have experimented on me, but she knew full well the situation I was in and decided to just up and leave. Didn't even tell anyone else. She chose to forget me, chose to believe I was still dead. She can rot in Giratina's grasp for all I care."
"No, you don't… you don't mean that, Mikhael."
"Don't call me that!" Hao bellowed, his voice echoing. "You and mom had your chance, and you chose to reject me. You're not my family. Reiko, Percy and Inyssa are. And I'm not gonna lose sleep over doing whatever's necessary to protect them, even if that means killing the both of you."
Charon kept mumbling brokenly, unintelligibly, and Reiko couldn't help but bit her lower lip, the words coming out of Hao's mouth sending an uncomfortable shiver down her spine. He didn't actually mean it. He'd said so himself not too long ago, when they were discussing how to best convince Charon to surrender. Even if the feelings he was airing were genuine, even if he genuinely despised both them, she knew Hao wouldn't hurt Kasha.
Even so, she couldn't help but be concerned over how genuinely he'd spouted that threat. Reiko had readily accepted the idea when Percy proposed it. Forcing Charon to fear for the only family he had left, after all the pain he'd caused relatives of those who died in Cinnabar… it'd seem perfect at the time. But now, listening to Hao, it just left a bad taste in her mouth.
Though she supposed it was still better than killing him.
"P-please, rethink this… you would never…" Charon kept stumbling on his words, trying to find the right ones, though she could hear his will cracking through his voice. "It wasn't Kasha's fault! Please, just come back with me and I'll–"
"I'm not bargaining here," Hao cut him off. "You seriously think I wouldn't do it? I got access to the Interpol files; I know where she lives nowadays. And with this body you gave me, I could travel through the net from Sinnoh to Kanto in the blink of an eye. I could do it right now, if you want. It wouldn't' take longer than a minute."
"No!" Charon hurried to yell. "P-please… Mikhael, why…?"
Hao scoffed. "I asked myself that every day you had me captured, every day you toyed with me, and I never got an answer. But now it's different. Now, you are going to give me the answer I want. "
"M-Mikhael…"
Hao ignored him. "This is your last chance. For once in your life, let go of that fucking pride of yours and accept that you lost, that I'm not coming back to you. Either cut your losses, or lose what little you have left. It's your choice."
Yet, by design, it wasn't much of a choice at all, and both Reiko and Hao knew that. They'd pretty much planned on it. And after a few seconds of silence that stretched to what felt like almost a minute, Charon finally spoke through the speakers, voice hollow, devoid of strength.
"I… I surrender. Heatran… stop the magma."
Mt. Coronet – 18:55, Day of the Moonless Night
A silence echoed throughout Mt. Coronet's peak. It was only a second, frozen in time by the weight of realization, both for Maylene and Cyrus, of what had happened. The look on the man's face was… odd. Expressionless, as always, yet for the first time one could see the briefest hint of what might have been disbelief.
Maylene heard the glass shatter, but she didn't see what happened after, her vision so blurry it was almost nonexistent. Her momentum spent, she began to fall back. The working part of her mind tried to tell her legs to move, to make it so she could land on her feet, but her perception of time had gone back to normal. She couldn't even form a thought. She landed on her left foot, but there was no more strength in her muscles and her knee bent easily, sending her crashing on her side against the cold snow.
The force of the impact was enough to send her into unconsciousness. She lay there, bleeding from the neck and shoulder, the blizzard eager to envelope her whole.
There was another silence. Longer this time, or so it felt to Cyrus. Eyes slightly widened, he looked from the unconscious girl to the hundreds of glass shards floating in the pool of yellow liquid behind the broken machine. And there, in the middle, lay a still body. Pale, sickly and wrongly shaped, its extremities like sticks and its head unnaturally large for the rest of its body. It didn't move, and it didn't breathe.
A sense of… something he hadn't known in years filled Cyrus, but he didn't have much time to dwell in it. A scream shattered the silence, bringing everyone back to reality.
"MAYLENE!"
Cyrus snapped back to the scene before him, unconsciously taking a step back. He relaxed at the sight of Rowan being held down by the two Machoke, uselessly struggling to free himself, but that only lasted a moment. Not too far behind him, the girl's Lucario was looking straight at them with eyes wide in anger and horror. In that moment of carelessness, Honchkrow slammed against him with all his strength, but Lucario didn't even flinch.
"Rha…" The fur on his body bristled under an invisible force, standing on end. "RHYAAAAAAAAAAA!"
It was as though an Exploud's scream had crashed into them. An incredible shockwave of force and energy burst outwards from his body, sending Crobat and Honchkrow flying like bugs being hit by a bug-zapper, and it reached Cyrus and his men only an instant after. It felt like being hit with a hammer all throughout their bodies. A grunt of pain left his lips as he was thrown back, vision swimming.
"Gh-Agh!"
"Shit!" Jupiter cried out.
The impact didn't hurt as much as Cyrus expected, but the sharpness of the glass shards did. Yet most of him had landed on something… soft. Soft and malleable and… wet.
As Cyrus opened his eyes, his eyes met with the unseeing eyes of his Mew clone, and something like a shiver ran down his spine. He noticed that his hand was pressed against its arm. It was… warm, still. There was no pulse, but it was clear only seconds ago it had been still…
"C-Cyrus!" Jupiter's cry brought him back to reality. "F-fuck, Cyrus that thing is…!"
Still collapsed on top of the creature, Cyrus looked over his shoulder and felt his face pale. Lucario headed straight for them, like a demon on a warpath. There was nothing but bloodlust on his face.
He yelled out the order by instinct, tapping into the knowledge he'd once used as a trainer.
"Heat wave!"
Lucario was fast, but so were his Pokemon, and in that enraged state, focused only on them, he couldn't react fast enough. Crobat and Honchkrow shot through the sky like bullets, surrounding the speeding Lucario and setting their wings ablaze as they beat them at hurricane speeds. A wave of flames fell upon him in a spiral, dancing around his surroundings before swallowing him whole in a tornado of fire and heat.
And still he held on. Even within the flames, Lucario took another step, then another, struggling and roaring through the pain. He had to get to Maylene. Had to…
"Jupiter!" Cyrus cried out, pushing himself up with his arms. "Grab the pistol! Quickly!"
"R-right!"
Jupiter shot forward and knelt in front of the pistol, picking it up. They had to do this quick, thought Cyrus. If she could dispatch Rowan and Lucario, maybe they would have enough time to reach Spear Pillar before the League arrived. The deadly smoke around the mountain was almost entirely cleared out. They didn't have time. This was their only chance.
"Do it!" he yelled, losing his composure for the first time since he could remember. "Shoot them, Jupiter!"
"NO!" Rowan bellowed. "Maylene!"
Jupiter raised her arms, pointing straight. Lucario sped forward, screaming, covered in flames. Jupiter's finger pressed against the trigger, ready t–
Snow stopped falling. Every white speck, every single falling snowflake… the entire blizzard simply. stopped. For an instant, Cyrus thought that time had frozen, but that was clearly not the case.
He didn't even have time to wonder what had happened.
In the exact point where Maylene lay, unconscious and bleeding, an odd light shone. It took Cyrus a moment to realize it was a stray ray of moonlight that had somehow filtered through the storm wall swallowing the mountain, which was odd as the moon hadn't even fully risen yet. That weak speck of light fell upon Maylene, and then both it and the shadow it produced behind her… mixed. It was the only way he could describe it. It was there for only an instant.
Then the light exploded against them, and the shadows grew behind them.
It was as though a bomb had gone off. A shockwave of force exploded in a dome around them, swallowing not only the clearing they were in but everything around them they could see. The entire storm, the blizzard was burned away like paper against fire, not only the falling snow but the clouds above parting way in an instant, leaving the sky completely clear.
Everyone fell back, and then stood there motionless, breathless as they saw the person that had appeared from nowhere. Even Lucario seemed to have been stunned out of his bloodlust.
"Maylene…"
It was a deeper voice that Cyrus would've expected from a young woman like her. Or… so she looked. He recognized her from the League files he'd studied; that was without a doubt Candice, Snowpoint's Gym leader, but even with her back to them, Cyrus could tell that something about her was… wrong.
The girl's ebon hair flowed freely behind her, one half bending and waving with the wind as though it were smoke, the other glowing brightly, warmly, like the full moon. Veins of deep black and marble white ran through the bare surface of her left and right arms respectively. And all around her…
This… pressure, thought Cyrus, eyes widening. It's so familiar…
He couldn't move, couldn't speak, and neither could anyone else, as though they were trapped in some sort of trance.
"It's okay now… you did so well, love. You can rest now."
Candice lowered to her knees in front of Maylene, passing her right hand ver the girl's neck. The white veins covering it burst alight. A soft, kind warmth exuded from them, infusing into the skin like liquid life and closing the bullet wound on both ends, stopping the bleeding. She then did the same with her collarbone. Everyone looked in amazement as the pieces of shrapnel stuck to the bone popped out of the wound a moment before it closed, leaving only a pale scar behind.
Maylene remained unconscious, but her skin no longer got paler by the second, and her breathing started to return to normal. A look of incredulous relief crossed Rowan and Lucario's faces. Candice smiled to herself, then slowly rose to her feet, still with her back to Cyrus and his men.
"Don't worry," she whispered softly. "The others are on their way; you and Lucario will be rushed to safety soon. And Rowan..."
She turned to look at the two Machoke holding the man to the ground.
"Release him."
Her voice wasn't just a command, it was reality. There was no hesitation on the Pokemon's faces. They growled in fear and jumped back instantly, freeing Rowan and allowing him to push himself to his feet, an uncharacteristic look of bewilderment on his face.
"As for the rest of you…"
Finally she turned around to face them, and what little hope of victory or escape that remained in Cyrus' men evaporated like the blizzard had just seconds ago. Candice's face was taut, strained. Like leather stretched to its breaking point; a mask of cold, ruthless fury. And there on top of it, pasted unnaturally, was the briefest hints of a smile. Though it would've been more accurate to describe it as Candice showing her teeth like Pokemon did before they pounced on their prey. Jupiter unconsciously raised her pistol, a bead of sweat running down her cheek.
"Tsk. Just an endless parade of freaks with these fucking Gym leaders," she said, trying to keep the fear from her voice. "Don't try me! Hands behind your head!"
"…Jupiter, yes? I've heard a lot about you." Candice's voice was barely controlled. It sent a painful shiver down the commander's body. "That gun in your hands... would you like to explain yourself, or should I start making assumptions?"
There was an implicit weight to those words, one that Jupiter didn't fail to pick up on. It washed over her, setting her nerves alight. She was in danger. Yet, instead of stepping back and throwing the gun to the ground as would have been logical, she growled defiantly and held the gun more firmly.
"I am not letting a goody-two shoes bitch like you intimidate me!"
Jupiter pressed the trigger and the sound of the gunshot echoed, but there was no impact, no grunt of pain. Candice was no longer there, vanishing in the blink of an eye. The commander froze, expression going taut.
"I can respect that pride," echoed an incorporeal voice. "It must be hard, submitting when your defiance is all that you are. You fear losing that essential part of yourself, don't you?"
The shadow behind Jupiter bubbled like it was boiling, and through the corner of her eyes she saw something rising from it. She inhaled sharply and turned around swiftly, pistol raised, finger pressing on the trigg–
"I know that fear well."
Fingers hemmed in shadows closed around Jupiter's wrist, and she felt a sharp numbness, like thousands of tiny frozen spikes severing those nerves. She yelled and fell to one knee, the pistol slipping from her fingers. A terrible drowsiness washed over her. Her vision swam, and she could barely make out Candice's outline as she stood above her, hand still grabbing tightly onto her wrist.
"In my case, all that I am are the people I want to protect. Many have told me that I'm nurturing, that my spirit is vast enough to warm many in its light. But let me tell you a little secret." Even through her foggy vision, Jupiter could make out a cold smile forming on Candice's lips. "I'm actually very controlling. I don't like my loved ones putting themselves in danger, even willingly. I'd force them to be safe and happy forever, if it were up to me. Yet you and your team have been dead set on opposing me on that since day one."
Despite the numbing pain slowly extending through her arm, despite the fear and drowsiness washing over her, swallowing her whole, Jupiter didn't back down. She spat at Candice and gnashed her teeth.
"F-fuck off." She tried to yell, but her voice was weak with terror. "I… made it this far despite everything. You're not ruining that! I r-refuse to die here!"
Candice chuckled amusingly. It was a cold, sadistic sound.
"You've got only your life on the line. I stand to lose everyone I have ever loved." Candice whispered, her voice like a knife. "Do you really think you can compare? Don't make me laugh. My fear burns so strongly that it's even stolen the comfort of sleep from me. I'll show you just how lukewarm yours is, in comparison."
Jupiter felt a release as Candice let go of her wrist, but it only lasted for a second as those same fingers closed around the hair on the back of her head instead. A gasp of pain left her throat as she was lifted up with unnatural strength, until her eyes were on the same level as Candice's. She hadn't noticed before, but one of them was a soft, chilly blue, while the other was a bright and warm pink.
"It's funny, you know? I doubt you'd appreciate the comedy of it, but there is someone who might've been able to convince me not to do this. Too bad that you shot her." Her eyes narrowed to slits and her smile exacerbated, like a knife cut across the surface of her face. "Now… It was the neck and collarbone, yes?"
"S-shut u–!"
Spikes of pure darkness shot up from Jupiter's shadow, and a sound like that of a knife against meat resounded through the mountain, raw and visceral. Candice let go of the woman's hair, but she didn't fall. She remained upright, suspended by the bloodied shadow spears piercing her through the left side of her chest and the back of her neck.
"Gh-hgh…"
The light in Jupiter's eyes paled, and then they rolled to the back of her head as the spikes retreated. She slumped against the snow like a ragdoll, and never moved again.
"Hm. Looks like I made them a lot thicker than bullets… oh well. Better luck next time."
There was no response from the people around her, no sounds or anything. Whether from fear or shock, they all seemed to have been frozen by what they'd just saw. The three grunts next to Cyrus unconsciously took a step back, and Rowan couldn't help but swallow, horrified.
"C-Candice…"
She did look up, but not to Rowan. Instead, it looked like she was hearing someone else's voice behind her.
"Come on Darkrai, if you wanted to stop me you could have, easily," she said with a tired smile. "Though maybe Cresselia is right. Maybe your previous bond is rubbing off on me a little. Wouldn't that be scary."
She sighed and shook her head, then completely ignoring the corpse at her feet she turned around to face Cyrus and his men.
"Anyway… who's next?"
That is what finally broke the spell. Suddenly aware of the danger they were in, the three grunts let go of the lake siblings they were holding. The vats fell to the ground and started rolling away.
"S-shit! Come on, we…!"
"L-let's go!"
Without a moment's hesitation, they turned around and started running away. Candice smiled at that. She raised her left hand, the one hemmed in dark, and flexed her finger slightly, urging their shadows t–
The wind stopped again. Candice perked up with a surprised look on her face. The blizzard had finally started to pick up again, but it was dispelled again as light started glowing in an enormous ring around. She frowned. Was that…? Yes, she'd seen it before, that pattern of light, it was the same as the one carved onto the stone Cynthia had given Maylene, only… much, much bigger.
Candice lowered her hand, letting out a sigh, half relief and half irritation.
"They're here."
With a burst of white that blinded them for a moment, nine people materialized in a ring around the space they were in, each one holding at least one Pokeball in their hands, ready to open them at a moment's notice. It didn't take more than a second for Candice to recognize them all.
Fantina had appeared in the very middle of the ring, accompanied by a young girl with purple hair that looked disturbingly similar to her. Behind her were Saturn and Lucas, the latter holding a strange device in his hand, similar to a large needle. Then, on the other side of the ring, standing all near each other, were people Candice knew very well. Her coworkers and comrades: Roark, Gardenia, Wake, Byron and Volkner. She was surprised to see the first two considering they'd been in the hospital last she'd heard of, but even with those pained looks and all the bandages that could be seen under their clothes, the determination in their eyes burned just as strongly as that of those around them.
"We… we made it," Lucas breathed out.
"Candice! We're here, where's th–!"
But Fantina's sentence was cut short, as she and all the people she'd brought with her witnessed the scene before them. Rowan and Lucario kneeling around an unconscious Maylene, Jupiter's corpse laying at Candice's feet, a wounded Cyrus fallen on top of the immobile Mew clone, the vats containing Azelf, Mesprit and Uxie scattered around him.
"What…?" Gardenia blinked twice, shaking her head. "What the hell happened?"
Saturn stared at the lifeless body at Candice's feet, his face going pale like paper.
"J-Jupiter?"
Metchi, Barry and Inyssa took a fearful step into the lake, and instantly they sunk into the water like stones, the gleaming light that had reflected off the surface disappearing completely as everything went black around them.
For a few seconds, Metchi felt nothing but the sensation of falling. She couldn't breathe, couldn't feel nor hear her own heartbeat, as though her body had been eaten away by the water and only what was inside remained. That familiar feeling, that warmth she'd known a few times before burst inside of her, hot and sharp and uncomfortable. What little remained of Azelf's power inside her pulsed, as though reacting to something.
She heard what almost sounded like a voice in the distance. Quiet, yet calling for her.
Then she fell through the surface again, and all her other senses returned with painful clarity, overwhelming her.
"W-wha–!"
"Fuck!"
The three of them landed on rocky ground at the same time. Metchi blinked rapidly, trying to get used to the dim lighting. She looked up, but didn't see water or anything else they could've fallen through. Actually, she couldn't see… anything. Only a black sky, devoid of stars or clouds or the light of the moon.
"Wh-where… are we?"
They looked around anxiously, feeling an unnatural pressure in the air. The place looked almost identical to the valley where the fourth lake rested, only… different. Dead. There was no lake, for starters, only a wide, rocky field surrounded on all sides by spear-like cliffs that rose up like a crown around them. There was no wind, no vegetation, no sign of life. Even the sky was dead and still and unnatural.
Metchi swallowed, unconsciously clutching at her chest. There was something wrong here. She'd felt it before when walking through that forest with her eyes closed, but here it was… heavier. As though the gravity had increased twofold. There was a tightness in her chest, and that obnoxious heat behind her eyes kept flickering on and off.
She… felt as though she were in danger. But why…?
"This… is our destination."
They all looked up toward Cynthia, as usual standing with her back to them. Following her gaze, they noticed something in the far extreme of the rocky clearing. Unlike the valley they'd just dropped from, this place did have an exit, placed on the exact opposite side as the entrance from before. A dark, narrow opening in the rocky wall of the mountain. And there in front of it–
H-hgh! Metchi took a step back, wincing. What… what is this…?
"We are in the heart of Turnback Cave," Cynthia explained. "Beyond that opening are the iron doors that separate our world from the next."
In any other circumstance, Metchi was pretty sure one of them would have replied that it was time to proceed, then. To finally finish this. But as usual, Cynthia took her sweet time before addressing the massive fucking Donphan in the room.
They were not alone. Sitting in front of the opening in the wall was a… shape. It was hard to make out as it was almost embedded into the rocky ground, every inch of it covered in dust and grime and dried-out dead vegetation. Metchi squinted, and she could almost make out what lay underneath all that. It had the shape of a person sitting, hand resting on top of their knee. But there was no skin or face she could make out, only something… black, and barely gleaming.
"What… is that?" whispered Barry.
"I… is that a suit of–?"
Inyssa didn't get to finish her sentence, because just then the ground pulsed like a heartbeat, and all three of them felt it. A pang behind their eyes. A sharp tug like icy fingers closing around their hearts.
"A-agh!" Barry shrunk into himself, teeth clenching. "W-what is this!?"
"I-it's like a…!" Inyssa had to inhale sharply, face going pale, hands shaking strongly. "S-some sort of p-pressure…"
Metchi couldn't make it as far as speaking. She immediately dropped to her knees, that horrible sensation washing upon her much more strongly than on the other two. It was sharp, overwhelming. Like the fire that Azelf had bestowed upon her, only a thousand times stronger.
As that thought crossed her mind, she gasped, eyes shooting wide open. Realization dawned on her as familiar words began running through her mind.
'In any case… I sit here now. Immortal and hidden from the world, writing all this down and hoping with all my Spirit that no one ever needs this knowledge.'
No…
'There, you will find not only the entrance to the World of Distorsion, but also a trial, and the last of the pieces of the puzzle you've been trying to complete for so long.'
No way…
'The one that waits endlessly before the iron doors…'
Metchi swallowed, holding herself up with one knee, and noticed the worried looks Inyssa and Barry were giving her.
"Metchi? Are you okay?"
She didn't respond. Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself to her feet again and staring straight at Cynthia.
"She's the trial… isn't she? She has it. The last plate."
A nod was all the response Cynthia gave. Barry and Inyssa still looked extremely confused behind her, but luckily that did not last long.
The shape began to stir. It shook softly, slowly, the sound of crackling and popping echoing through the dead valley as thick layers of hardened dirt broke apart and fell to the ground, only to become dust. The vines soon followed, needing only a push to disintegrate completely. Once finally free of its natural bindings, the shape leaned forward, placing a hand against the ground and pushing itself up with the difficulty of someone who'd sat still for hundreds of years. The crackling of rusty joints echoed like gunshots, like breaking glass.
As it finally rose to its feet, dirt and grime falling from its body, realization finally dawned on Barry and Inyssa.
"W…what?"
"N-no… no fucking way."
Before them stood a woman, more than seven-feet tall, clad almost entirely in a heavy-looking suit of black armor. Only her arms were bare, but it was hard to tell due to how charred and wrought with scars they were. A beautifully ornate-helmet adorned her head. It was forged in the likeness of a horned, fanged creature none of them knew. Only a pair of gleaming golden eyes could be made out through its thin slits.
"I… figured the lot of you would come by once again, although through which circumstances, I couldn't have guessed. It's been quite some time since I've last had visitors."
The weight of her voice crashed head-first against them like a powerful storm. Barry and Inyssa winced and gasped and Metchi had to put every ounce of strength into not falling to her knees again. And yet… there was no danger in the woman's voice. It was kind… amicable. They could even hear a smile under it.
Cynthia was the only one undaunted, the only one who dared take a step forward. Metchi couldn't see it, but she swore she could feel as their eyes clashed.
"Ha. I'll admit, my sense patience could not even begin to compare to yours, but…" She inhaled, almost laughing with excitement. "Although this meeting was, previously, only possible in my wildest dreams… I have waited for this moment with bated breath."
The woman before them laughed. Warmly, amusingly. Without a hint of anger or cruelty behind her voice.
"I have felt your presence through the veins of our world, but I must say, it does the real you little justice. I have longed to meet you as well, Cynthia Artemis."
Cynthia actually shuddered at those words. She looked down for a moment, hands shaking ever so slightly.
"Hearing such words… it fills my heart with a joy I never thought possible." She breathed in, overwhelmed, then looked up again. "But I can't help but feel that something is missing. Pardon my disrespect, but… before I greet you, would you do me the honor of letting me see your face?"
There was a short, tense silence. For a moment everyone feared that such a request was too much, but their fears were quelled as the woman gave a curt nod.
"Very well. It is the least I could do for such distinguished visitors."
She took the helmet off without fanfare, and at first Metchi was confused. What she thought was the woman's hair, the black that wrapped around her shoulders and flowed freely behind her, was actually a cloak built into the suit of armor. Her actual hair was lighter, the color of ash. It reached down to her shoulders, neither straight nor wavy, more sharp and rough like Inyssa's hair. And the face underneath wasn't much different. Her skin was darker than how paintings portrayed her and her jaw was more pronounced, although the slight hollowness of her cheeks and the multitude of scars knitted across their surface was accurate.
Cynthia was unable to contain the sound of awe that left her mouth, and if it weren't for the painful tightness in her chest, Metchi might have done the same. Even so, there was no doubt now. This sensation in her chest, this sense of familiarity…
She… she really is…
"…Without a doubt, you are more striking than I could have ever imagined. Even if told by the greatest of lorekeepers, no legend could have possibly done you justice." Cynthia looked up at her with a smile on her face, the grey of her eyes flashing. "I can now say with certainty that meeting you is the greatest honor I have ever received, Nyss."
Cyrus didn't move. He didn't speak or struggle or do anything besides hold himself up merely a few inches above the lifeless puppet beneath him, arms shaking with the effort, eyes hidden in shadows. Behind him, he heard voices, people talking.
"…that it was necessary. If you'd seen–"
"Y-you didn't need to go that far!"
"I… agree with Saturn. Candice, you could have simply–"
"Is this really the time for this!? Someone needs to take Maylene to a safe place, and we have to apprehend the rest of them before…!"
But Cyrus stopped listening at that point. Something tightened inside his chest, and time felt as though it started crawling. He hung his head low, and for a moment considered simply letting go, collapsing against this puppet and the snow beneath it.
They… they had failed. He was alone. All his commanders, all his grunts… he was the only one left, no Pokemon, no clever devices, no aces under his sleeve this time. He could hear the other Gym leaders starting to head his way. Whatever conversation the rest of them were having was wrapping up, and there was only one thing left to do. Soon… he would be captured. His dream broken, forever.
Is… is this really how it ends? He wondered. Is this the reality that I…
It might have been due to their proximity to Spear Pillar, the thinnest point between their world and the next, but for the first time in years he swore he could feel… something. It was subtle, painful. It tugged at his chest like hands grabbing at each muscle and bone and artery and pulling them inwards, making him feel sick, shaky.
Regret… or perhaps desperation. It was painful, but there was something else. A heat, a warmth that he hadn't known for so long. Yes… yes, he could remember. This was the feeling. This is what he'd felt back then when he'd… when he and Azelf…
He felt touch against his finger, and snapped back to reality, fearing it to be someone's hands grabbing at him, but that wasn't the case. He looked down, and felt his breath seize. The small vat that one of his grunts had let go of while fleeing. It had been slowly rolling his way for a few seconds, until it finally stopped against his fingers.
It was the vat containing Azelf. The middle lake sibling slumbered inside, put to sleep by the anesthetic liquid it floated in. Cyrus saw it, and inhaled a sharp breath.
He closed his eyes, and a memory came to him. Words spoken between friends; the only time he and Cynthia had ever agreed on something.
'Reality is never a mistake, never set in stone. It is always someone's fault; someone's Will, manifested.'
'And that means… it can always be changed.'
'Yes. Against a powerful enough Will, even reality is but an obstacle to overcome.'
Cyrus opened his eyes. He was back in Mt. Coronet, back amidst the cold and pain. Normally, he would have preferred it. He disliked thinking back to the past, remembering the person he once was, the friendship he once shared with the Champion. But perhaps, in his refusal to look back, he'd forgotten an essential part of himself.
That's what had kicked it all off, hadn't it? His desire for change. His Will, manifesting so powerfully that it had brought Azelf back from its millennia-long slumber. A determination that could have sundered mountains. That rush of power, of certainty that had flooded him the first time he'd awaken the sibling's power… it felt as though he could've cast the moon from the sky, blown away the sun like a candle's flame. How could he have forgotten? Those words he'd spoken back then…
"I… will make reality bend to my Will."
His next heartbeat came, and he felt that familiar heat start to awaken after years of being smothered. It had always been there, hadn't it? Deep down, waiting for him to seize it once more. He breathed out, and oddly enough felt as a smile formed on his lips. Suddenly, the snow on his fingers and the wind on his back didn't feel as cold.
Warmth burst behind his eyes. A pale, flickering golden glow enveloped his body, and he didn't need to look down to know that the same applied to Azelf's body. Even if it didn't want to, its power began to flow into Cyrus once more. Siphoned by the link they once shared. For the first time since he could remember, Cyrus felt truly awake.
The next heartbeat came, and it was like the beat of a drum. He wasn't the only one to feel it. All around him, the Gym leaders had noticed that something was wrong. Time had been passing so slowly, but it was starting to pick up again.
"Wh-what was…?"
"Shit! Cyrus, look he's–!"
"No! Quickly, apprehend him!"
Cyrus turned his head sharply, looking over his shoulders as multiple lights exploded from Pokeballs, but he wasn't staring at them. There, laying immobile against the large, broken vat, was the Kadabra that had been taken out by Lucario's Aura Sphere. But he wasn't fully unconscious, only wounded and shaking.
"Rise."
The sheer weight of his command crashed against the Pokemon. He stood up in a flash, eyes shooting wide in surprise and pain. It was as though puppet strings were controlling him against his will.
"Protect."
The green barrier formed not only around the Kadabra, but him as well as a volley of attacks fell upon it, darkness and electricity and pieces of the mountain itself slamming against it with incredible force. It cracked, breaking almost immediately, but Cyrus did not need more than a moment.
He pushed himself a few inches higher, looking down at Mew's clone with eyes a burning gold. Behind him, a cacophony of sounds rang. The booms and crackles of attacks being fired, the roars of Pokemon putting everything they had into their assault, the high-pitched, panicked screams of the Gym leaders giving their orders…
Cyrus smiled. He placed one hand on top of the lifeless puppet's chest, and felt something there. A small warmth, a flame that had almost completely dissipated. A life about to run out.
The barrier shattered to pieces around them. The wave of attacks pierced through, falling upon them mercilessly, ready to tear them to pieces.
"Awaken," Cyrus willed, his voice like a storm. "And let my Will become yours."
The light enveloping Cyrus flooded into the lifeless puppet, and a sudden, gasping breath was heard. Then, a crash, a deafening boom.
A shockwave of force and wind exploded from the point of impact outwards, sending chunks of snow and shattered stone flying in all directions. The ground shook under the group of trainers. They all took a step back and raised a hand to protect their eyes, the boom still ringing in their ears.
"W-what happened?" Roark's voice was heard. "Did we…?"
Lucas, Saturn and the other Gym leaders squinted and winced to try and see past the cloud of dust that had resulted from their Pokemon's attacks, but it was impossible to see anyth–
"No… No!"
The fear and disbelief in Fantina's voice fell on everyone else, making them wince. And it wasn't just her. Everyone's eyes fell upon the three women closest to the point of impact. Fantina, Sanbica and Candice stood near each other, staring forward gormlessly, all color having left their faces.
A sudden gust of wind finally blew the dust cloud away, and the same expression soon formed on the other trainer's faces.
Cyrus lay against the ground, weak and shaking and barely able to stay on his knees, but he was not alone. Standing between him and them, its pale, unnatural hand raised forward, was Mew's clone. Its previously blank eyes burned with a golden glow, and a wellspring of unbridled psychic energy flowed outwards from its body, taking the shape of a barrier that had somehow withstood all their attacks without even a scratch.
A moment of silence fell upon the mountain, born from the horror and realization that washed against them in that moment. Cyrus was the one who broke it. And when he spoke, his voice was heard by all.
"Let… let my Will become yours," he stuttered, tone pained. "Do not let anyone past this point. Stop them, by whatever means necessary."