Chapter 15

A/N: And…I'm back! Enjoy this story!

Cynthia felt tranquil. She was at peace at herself. She had never felt so close to the Aura inside her. She was hovering, floating and rotating in her mind, feeling her memories flew past saw herself, in first person view, as a baby, crawling towards her beloved mother and father. Then she saw men, taking over her house, snatching away her father, leaving her, her mother, and her grandmother whimpering in a corner. After that, her mother died out of worry in her sickbed. She also saw her grandmother, even with her old and wrinkled face, showing strong determination and courage, vowing to her to train her as the strongest trainer in the world, as the Champion of the Sinnoh Region. Cynthia remembered her grandmother's exact words that she would not die until Cynthia was the Champion. Cynthia felt a little tearful as she saw the memory of the day she got her first Pokemon, Gible by Professor Rowan.

Suddenly, she was awoken with a rough jolt. She composed herself and opened her eyes a little too hastily. Bright light seared her eyes and she forced them closed again. She blinked until her vision returned.

She found herself sitting upright, bound by steel chains on a vertical metal board. It felt cool under her touch. Cool. She suddenly remembered the fiasco at the Artic circle. She had been shot by a tranquilizer gun by an unknown person in the shadows. The dart was also an anti-teleportation device. She had given the important shard to her Togetic. She tried to free herself. However, the chains had her so tight that she could barely move or breathe.

She looked around. She was in a room that was covered in steel, ceiling to floor, with a chair and a table in between(both also made of steel). There was also a single light bulb radiating bright light hanging from the ceiling.

Her mind assessed the situation. She was bound tightly, which suggested that she was a prisoner of someone, possibly the person who shot her. The palace guards were attacking something else, which meant that the person had a group after her, considering that the mystery person could not have teleported himself without the teleport flash. And the room setting was a typical interrogating setting. All these piled up to a grim conclusion. She was to be made to talk as a captured prisoner.

-

Cyrus waited patiently on his plush Director Chair. It was more of a throne actually, a throne from which he would issue orders to his troops. It was also his chosen place for a temporary rest, apart from his room. His team of Team Galaxy soldiers was on their way back to their base from their mission in the seas of the West, while his assistant was compiling data about their newest fugitive—Cynthia.

After a few minutes of finger drumming, Tom, his assistant finally handed him the necessary files. He abruptly stood up and nodded curtly to the two grunts that were standing beside him. They followed behind him as Cyrus walked briskly to the door which led to the room.

Cyrus bypassed the electronic security panel and walked into the room. He found his prisoner wide awake. As she heard the door open and saw the first who walked inside, her face shown astonishment before it scrunched up in spite.

Cyrus kept his face blank and impassive as he sat down to meet Cynthia. The bodyguards instinctively stood at his side.

As Cynthia saw Cyrus cross though the doors into the room, she was initially surprised, before her brain reminded her that it was Cyrus who captured her. If anything, it made her hate him more. She can't believe that she actually devoted her heart to him years before. She glared at him menacingly as he sat o the chair in front of her. He did not flinch.

He opened his mouth to talk. Cynthia closed her eyes and pretended to not listen to anything he says. However, her ears were hanging on to every word that he was saying. Cyrus's tone was cold and monotonous. His face was a mask of stone-hardness. Cynthia felt her body did an involuntary shudder, more out of being unused to hearing Cyrus's smooth voice than fear.

-

"Cynthia…It's been long since we last meet," said Cyrus.

Damn well you should know, thought Cynthia angrily.

"I heard that you became an Auraer," Cyrus slowly revealed some information on her.

So? Thought Cynthia.

"And you had tried to take away a particular historical artifact away from the palace,"

Cynthia's eyes were peeking out now, a sweat forming on her brow.

"And," Cyrus paused for a psychological dramatic effect, "that you and your 'friends' are trying to resummon an extremely ancient Pokemon--Arceus."

It was the trump card. Cynthia immediately opened her eyes. She had not known that Cyrus was this well informed. She felt her mind naked before him, that every 'secret' plan was bare to him.

For Cyrus on the other hand, it was mostly just a matter of guesswork. The first two stumps was true, but the other two were merely intelligent guesses. Inwardly, he smiled, while his physical face outside remained impassive and cold. It wasn't easy to trick someone who had the same intelligence as him. And from the looks of Cynthia's face, he guessed right.

"Cynthia." He said this as forcefully as he could. He was pleased to see her shiver a little.

"Normally, I would simply torture them to get the advanced information I demanded. However, as you're a guest, I would like to try something different." Cyrus smiled, baring his sharp tooth, giving the impression of a pointed-toothed shark.

-

Cynthia felt herself being chopped across the neck. She fainted, though her mind did not. She used her Aura to sense her surroundings. Cyrus was leaning close now, his hands holding something. However, her Aura was unable to sense the foreign object. She frowned in her mind. Suddenly, she felt as if she was hit by a sledgehammer. Her mind closed itself as it collapsed inwardly. Cynthia struggled to keep her mind awake. Before long, she finally succumbed to the darkness that consumed her.

-

Cyrus had placed the necklace, not unlike to the one he put on Galaxian, on her neck. Cyrus felt a slight tingle as he touched her bare milky skin after he shoved her mane of blonde hair aside and put the necklace on her. He quickly dismissed it. He then sat back on his chair and nodded to the grunt. The grunt stepped forward and brought out a tiny bottle filled with yellow liquid before opening and placing it under Cynthia's nose. She jerked awake. The grunt moved away.

Cyrus spoke confidently.

"Cynthia?"

Cynthia's eyes were two pools of blankness. Her face were emotionless as she spoke.

"Yes, master?"

Cyrus smiled. One down, eight more to go, he thought, as he motioned to the grunt to bring her to release the chains.

A/N: Yay! Another chappie done!