Each Past 「Pokemon Watty Awards 2016」

Chapter 20 ♦ Brave

❝ I will be brave

knowing that

you 

(will be)

beside me.

That is why I choose death. ❞

Darkrai

"We will have to leave now, you know."

Arceus' voice seemed too annoying for some reason—maybe it was just the fact that I had been rattled and plagued by some rather unnecessary memories the night before—but I didn't want to listen to my partner right then.

Still, the Creator had a point—one that I believed in—one that I wanted to believe in. Was it the unnerving feeling rising in my heart that had made me join him in the first place? An urge that told me that Cresselia needed to be defeated no matter what?

"You both were created by me when I was still ignorant and weak." My ally's voice snapped me back to reality, and I looked up to see the Pokemon staring at me with a tired, regretful gaze. "I guess that is why that my earlier creations were not able to be created to who I would have liked them to be."

"What do you mean?" I asked in reply, and my eyes narrowed as I realised that he was already far ahead of me—and I melted into and re-emerged from the very tip of his shadow so I could be beside him once again. "Are you labelling us as failures?

The creature was quick to respond, and he trained his gaze on me—and the ruby of his eyes seemed to burn through my very soul.

"Of course not," he defended, although he kept his tone as calm and impassive as ever. "I am just stating that you and your sister were meant to be...different. Cresselia was supposed to be kind, yes, but not so naive; and you were supposed to be—"

I didn't want to hear the rest of it—after all, I knew enough from the idle gossip that humankind thought I wouldn't noticed Fools, I had labelled them, they are all fools for thinking that an omnipotent deity like me will not hear these words that smite my prescence.

"Anyway, it is only right if you push part of the blame to me," Arceus continued—I'd missed part of what he said, and I have reason to care about it at all. "Although that is true, both of us have to admit that Fate is a cruel master. Perhaps I do agree with Cresselia's reasoning—perhaps deep down, I would like to see her happy, but Fate has given me orders to try and stop them."

At the faltering tone of his last few words, I halted, prompting my partner to come to a slow stop in front of me and look back with an inquisitive glance. "Try?" I asked, my voice incredulous as I stared at him. "Does that mean the outcome of this battle is not already decided?"

He tilted his head, pondering on how to respond to that. "Cresselia and Jirachi's wills are not something that Fate cannot control this time," he replied, and he spoke in such a quiet voice that I could barely hear him. "Fate has left this ambiguous, and I am not sure if our collective power can stop them."

I scoffed. "It is always 'Fate this' and 'Fate that'," I commented, shaking my head and letting out a deep, drawn-out sigh. "As I said before—in the end, you are just a god in name, are you not? In reality, you are just a puppet to whoever or whatever Fate is. It is...kind of sad. Legendaries are not known to lead good lives—especially ones like Yveltal or me—but even so, I feel sorry for you."