//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: Be Careful What You Wish For // by darkstone57 //------------------------------// Be Careful What You Wish For By Darkstone57 Chapter 7 Cyrus and Starlight sat in silence for what the latter felt like days, despite the laws of time and space holding no meaning here. Ever since their conversation about Starlight's attempts at world recreation where abashed by Giratina and the possibility of her enemy coming to this realm to follow after Starlight, neither of them had much to say. Starlight focused solely on healing on her wounds whilst Cyrus sat quietly observing Starlights every move, his cold eyes never averting from her for. Starlight did her best avoid looking at his eyes. Simply knowing that her 'roommate' was doing nothing but staring was putting her off. 'Almost done,' Starlight thought, 'Once I'm all done, I'll use my magic to make him speak to that accursed dragon!' The thought of confronting Giratina was scaring her but also enraging her, 'With him in my corner, I will--' "STARLIGHT!" Hearing her name being called out to her in that voice she came to loathe over the last few weeks broke her concentration entirely as Starlight immediately looked up as well as a curious Cyrus. "WHERE ARE YOU?!" Twilight called out from above. "It is her..." Starlight commented with shock and anger. "Interesting..." Cyrus said. "I CAN GET YOU OUT OF HERE! I'VE SPOKEN WITH GIRATINA AND HE'S AGREED TO LET YOU LEAVE! PLEASE, COME OUT!" Twilight shouted with certainty that was followed by an ear piercing roar which reverberated the walls around her, filling her with dread at the thought of confronting the both of them right now. Starlight didn't want to believe it and every fiber of her being told her not to take the offer. But, she knew she would be a fool not to take this opportunity right now. With that in mind, she took a deep breath, sighed, got to her hooves, and began to dust herself off. "Smart choice," said Cyrus flatly. "It's the only choice," Starlight replied sardonically, "Besides, she has a way of making things happen that I can't." Starlight commented venomously. "I see," Cyrus replied, monotonously, as he began to stand, "Well, Starlight, thank you for presenting me with some interesting entertainment." With that cold show of appreciation, Cyrus left the way he came. "Yeah..." Starlight mumbled, thankful that he had left so quickly. Deciding not to waste any more time, Starlight enveloped herself in her magic and began to levitate herself upward to the clearing's exit. As she revealed herself, out in the open, she saw her first enemy, Twilight, standing on Giratina. The sight of which shocked her but what truly made her stop midway for a moment was seeing Giratina's true self for the first time. The grey body, the black and red stripes, the gold armor, the black wispy wings and those red menacing eyes once again made her feeling nothing but one thing - scared. This time, though, it lasted for a few seconds as she regained her composure and brought herself to ground a fair distance away from the two. "Starlight!" Twilight called happily as she leaped off Giratina and hovered to the platforms ground, landing close to Starlight, giving her a smile, "I'm glad you're alright." Starlight's left eye twitched with blinding rage for a second but managed to suppress it enough to give Twilight a calm but annoyed response, "I guess I should say thank you but let's wait till we get out of this Tartarus looking place, first." Twilight expected such a response but knew she was not going to like this as she looked away for a moment, "It's not that simple Starlight." Her rage returned again but had enough control emit with gritted teeth, "What...?" "Stay your anger, criminal," Giratina warned harshly, his red eyes flashing as they got her attention, his voice booming through her head, "You WILL be released but," His eyes softened slightly, as he turned his focus to Twilight, "The Princess needs to prove herself to me." Twilight turned to Giratina with a firm stance, ready for what was to come. Starlight, however, was confused at the sight in front of her and couldn't help but ask apprehensively, "What do you mean 'prove herself'?" Giratina looked to Starlight for a moment but looked beyond her and out to the world, "Cyrus," Giratina called out calmly, "I sense your presence. Reveal yourself." At his command, the sound of a nearby platform shaking was heard to the left of Giratina, all three of them observed as Cyrus rose up, hands behind his back as the platform he was standing connected with the one they were on. Twilight reared her head back slightly at the first sight of Cyrus. She recognized his species from her time in the other world but who he was, why he was here and why he had such cold looking eyes had to wait as she watched Cyrus methodically step off of his platform and onto the one all four of them shared, stopping a few feet away from them all. "You summoned me, Giratina?" Cyrus asked, flatly. "Indeed." Giratina replied calmly and returned his attention to Twilight, "Twilight, this is Cyrus, a being who, like Starlight, tried to assimilate all of reality by creating a new world." "Really?!" Twilight said, shocked, hearing his acts of villainy for the first time. "He speaks the truth." Cyrus said, coldly, as he closed his eyes, "I was within a hair's breath of obtaining my perfect world, a world without spirit, and even though that Champion tried her best to thwart me, it was Giratina that undid all of my work within seconds. He freed his kin of time and space, who I had under my control, and brought me here." He opened his eyes to see the two ponies looking at him with shock having heard his tale, even Starlight was - now knowing it was Giratina's family who had that kind of power. "But, as I said to you, Starlight," Twilight focus shifted between the two of them for a moment before he finished with a slight smile, "Being here, in the Distortion World, has given me clarity that this world was the one I sought..." For some reason, Twilight couldn't help but feel glad for this man as he turned his attention to Giratina. "I assume you brought me here for something other than my life story, right?" Twilight and Starlight looked at the dragon as he nodded once more. "Twilight Sparkle. If you truly wish for Starlight to return to your world, then your words will not be enough. You will have to prove your resolve by defeating ONE of Cyrus' Pokemon in a battle." The notion of a battle made Twilight's eyes shrink in shock. Starlight smiled, out of sight, at the thought but both of them wondered what Giratina was asking Cyrus to do. Cyrus raised a brow slightly, feeling a little confident, as he asked, "Will I get to decide which one?" "You may." Giratina replied before turning his sight once more to the Princess, who was evidently getting a little anxious. "Starlight and I will be watching from a spot nearby, and I will warn you now," His eyes glared at Starlight as he growled, "Should you attempt to flee from this, should Twilight be aided in any way by you or should she fail - you will NEVER return to you world, understand?" Under the baleful gaze once more, Starlight flinched and her ears dropped. She found herself, surprisingly to her, looking to Twilight who looked right at her with a scared but firm look. That look. The one she saw when she was confronted at the mountains and the same that was at the ruins castle was back once more and though Starlight had grown to vehemently despise that look, Starlight knew that her enemy was her only ally in all of this. "Starlight," Twilight smiled, confidently, "I've got this." Starlight wondered if she did as she watched Giratina fly over to a nearby platform that overlooked the current one they stood on. His eyes, once again, glaring at her. She weighed her options as she turned to Twilight as she saw that same expression didn't change nor did the posture falter. Starlight swallowed her pride and said two firm words; "Don't lose." Twilight responded with a faithful nod as she watched Starlight reluctantly levitate herself to join Giratina above. "It will be a nice change of pace to have a Pokemon battle after so long," Cyrus said from the other side of the platform, quite a fair distance placed between the two of them. "So, how does this work, Cyrus?" Twilight asked, honestly unaware of what she will have to do. "I've never even heard of a Pokemon before." "Well, you've met one." Cyrus stated, pointing directly at Giratina. Twilight was surprised as she looked up once more at the giant dragon but looked once more to Cyrus for an explanation. "Pokemon are creatures of great power. They come in all shapes and sizes. There are those who hold immense capabilities like Giratina, who is in a small class called 'Legendary', but there are many others whose powers that don't quite match those of the 'Legendaries' but are still indeed powerful all on their own." Hearing this information about such powerful beings from another world intrigued but also scared Twilight, though she did her best not to show it. "From the world I originated from - humans and Pokemon lived prosperously. They aligned with each other as humans found a means of capturing them in a unique fashion. They could be raised as a part of the family, used to help improve lives, or most commonly," Cyrus began to stand confidently despite exuding a cold demeanor, "Used for battling." Twilight didn't like where this was going. "Trainer and Pokemon become a unified team as they aim to become victorious through battle and this what we will do - if you manage to render the Pokemon I choose unconscious, you win. But, the reverse applies as well. Understand?" The Princess took a moment to compose herself as she processed the information and implications of what she had to do. Remembering that she swore to herself, on her journey through the Distortion world, that she would find Starlight and that before she came she swore her friends, her best friends, that she would save her. With that in mind, she stood strong, wings outstretched and her form ready for what was to come. "You know that I don't intend to lose to you, Princess." Cyrus warned, coldly. Without missing a beat Twilight replied, "Neither do I." Cyrus closed his eyes, lowered his head and placed his arms behind his back, feeling nostalgic as looked at Twilight with a cold, confident, hard stare as he asked rhetorically, "Ready?" To Be Continued...