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PART II

The Renegade

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Far away from Greenfield, in a chamber hidden from the world…

Light shone through pristine glass windows into the antechamber, brightening the green carpet spread out over the floor. The guards,a Throh and an Electivire, hastily put their masks on as a bang sounded on the wooden door they were in charge of. It was early in the morning. It was never too early in this keep.

With lumbering sighs, the guards opened the door. In stepped a brute figure they were all too familiar with, followed by two of the Queen’s less finer Soldiers. They were a Toucannon and a Magmar, the former uncomfortably fluttering its way into the chamber, and the other fidgeting with the green band around its arm. Despite having the task of taking charge, they were shirking back from the one they’d escorted here. The other guards in the room, and those in the room beyond had steeled their nerves. A growl rumbled throughout the antechamber. She was here. And it couldn’t have been anyone else. Her Sharpedo-like bipedal body, the teeth sticking out of her jaws, the colossal fin on her back, not to mention those talons.

What other Garchomps lived in this land, aside from the Queen’s most prized henchwoman?

“Lady Gareda, you’ve arrived.” The Sawk and Magneton on the other side of the hall saluted her, one with a hand, the other with a magnet. The Garchomp scowled at them both. The Sawk guard audibly gulped. They might play third fiddle to her teeth and talons, yet those reptilian eyes ran through them like spears through their enemies.

“Don’t bother stating the obvious. I’m here for the Queen. Now open the door.”

“y-Yes, my lady.”

A large stone door bearing a painted sigil stood between her and the queen. The Sawk guard knocked on the door; the Magneton put one of its magnets against a panel on the wall.

“Bzzt! Door will open soon, my lady!”

“Quiet..”

“Yes, my lady, Bzzt!”

Gareda shook her head. None of this miserable crew had any chance against an attacker.. How can one fight when they’re afraid of their own shadows? Let alone her? She’d only been present here for ten years. They wouldn’t last long in contact with the enemy if the sight of an ally caused this reaction. She crossed her talons over one another and keened her senses. Trembling all around her. Deep down, it was a good thing to be in a room full of fear. That is the kind of motivation one needs in hard times.

Like clockwork, the mechanism in the wall slowly pulled back the door, revealing the way into the audience chamber. Gareda and her entourage walked in. She scowled her way over the carpet to the other side of the chamber, clenching her talons against her sharp fins. Masked guards flanked them on all sides, partially covered by large white statues of previous rulers, except for one on the end. He had no such statue to hide behind. A handful of critters - A Bidoof, a Munna and a Nickit - scurried out of sight, not taking their cleaning equipment with them. Gareda kept her scowl trained on them for a second as they ran out, before turning back.

‘ Poor sods. Must be new here. They’re bound to learn the hard way. ’

Gareda’s guards stayed behind in the rear end of the room. She did not care. The thuds of her footsteps were better guardians than anything a rich Pokemon could hire. Even here, in the presence of the Vined Crest. That crest was everywhere; on banners hanging from the roof and on the walls, on the carpet, and on the throne. The Queen was not one to accept half measures. Even in the walk to the steps, you’d get a feeling of inferiority coursing through your veins. And thus, burying her scowl, Gareda knelt a few strides before the steps leading to the throne, pitching her head up at her Queen, who had been waiting on her for a while.

“Your majesty, you have summoned me. What for?”

The Serperior staring down at her was not amused. “Why yes, Gareda. I have. And I find your lack of enthusiasm odd.”

The Garchomp shook her head. “No, my queen, you must be quite mistaken. My spirits and energy couldn’t be higher.”

“Silence.”

The queen’s voice went through the air like a shockwave; Most of the guards staggered at their posts. Gareda’s mouth fell shut. The remnants of the scowl left her eyes like fallen leaves being carried off by the wind.

“My apologies, your-”

“No apologies, Gareda. I expect the best, and nothing but the best from everyone that wishes to sit at my right hand. You sauntered in here with no drive or emotion. I don’t care if you had to cut your way through a thousand Corrupted on your way here. In my presence, you are at your best. Understood?”

“...Understood, your majesty,” Gareda said after a slight pauze, straining her eyes into a serious gaze.

“Good. Now then. Allow me to explain why I have summoned you here. You may be aware of our little rebel issue, aren’t you? What am I saying, of course you are. I have seen your claws run red myself. You, the one who single handedly crushed the attacks on my family, and destroyed them when they foolishly believed they could take Torrevan City away from me, you know better than anyone what we are dealing with.”

“...Yes, your majesty.” Gareda kept her eyes trained on the Serperior’s neck. Her feet felt weary on the soft, silky carpet. Arceus did not create her to dwell in places like these. The mountains she pictured in front of her were as far away from here as the world would allow. Yet she did not budge from her kneel, even as the Serperior hollered for a Golduck servant to come bearing a drink. He too knelt, offering her a sip of the drink, before fleeing back to whatever dark corner he’d crawled out off. Gareda could taste the fear in her mouth, and faintly smell it amidst the soapy smell in the air.

Queen Patrina smacked her tongue on the water, twirling the sip in her mouth before swallowing. “Now, where were we? Ah yes… Gareda, I am eternally thankful to our creators to have you in my service. My gratitude is as vast as the great oceans, as infinite as the cosmos the Lustrous One created, and as vast as our realm,” she said. Gareda’s eyes were shut for most of it. “Alas. How unfortunate it is that my whole army is not staffed by others such as you,” she said, slithering her way onto her throne.

“What happened?” Gareda asked.

“You must know of it by now. The rebel theft of our piece of the Azure Flute.”

“I am aware.”

The queen scoffed. “Hmpfh. You better be, Gareda. I am entrusting you with the task of retrieving it.”

A passive grumble passed through Gareda’s throat. “Have the others failed to get it back?”

“Of course they have!” shouted the Queen with a loud whip of her tail, denting the stone floor as a result. “Those fools are less than useless! They let them escape with the flute, and now they cannot catch the brigands responsible! It is an embarrassment, no, they are an embarrassment! All because these brigands and thieves loyal to that steel cretin are so persistent, my finest are all scattered across the land keeping order, and I have to put a bunch of ragtag, bottom line commoner filth in charge of getting the flute piece back. Filth who have no clue of the sacrifices it took for them to have their measly, half feral lives!”

Gareda was silent, partially meditating as the queen’s tirade continued.

“I will not stand for this. I will discipline those fools myself! You, Gareda, show them how it is done. That steel cretin, who left all Pokemon to rot for his own sake… If they get their hands on that flute… If they harness its power to break the seal… you know what the consequences are, is that clear?”

“Yes, it is understood, your majesty.” Gareda’s eyes had fallen shut. The sensory organs on both sides of her head went wild, straining her mind with the pressure of a headache. Her breathing intensified, against all her wishes. Weakness was not an option. Failure was not an option. Not in a million years. Not for as long as the Temporal One lived.

“Good. Very good. Now then. I want you to take over. We know the general area of where these brigands have been hiding. Find them. Retrieve the flute piece. You are dismissed.”

“Understood, your eminence.”

“Now, if you excuse me, I have some fools that require my attention.”

As the queen slithered off to deal with the people originally in charge of retrieving her precious treasure, Gareda got off her knees and shuffled her way out of the room. An even deeper frown visible on her face than when she walked in, her entourage kept their distance even further this time. In times like these, she wished she had been born as a different Pokemon, if only so she wouldn’t have to be cautious not to scratch up the carpet with her sharp feet. If only so she wouldn’t be disciplined for asking her what her damned orders were supposed to be. If only so she were more than a puppet dancing on a string.

Grumbling, she left the chamber the way she came, the guards reeking with the sour stench of fear more than ever. She gave them snide looks as she walked past, her stomping feet and swaying tail bound to leave an impact on them if it hadn’t already. Some would’ve revelled in being seen that way. An unbreakable titan to whom everyone bent their knee, if they knew what was best for them. Gareda merely kept her head low, stomping her way out of the fortress much to the relief of the guards she was leaving behind..

“Idiots. Bloody idiots.”

Once she’d gotten past numerous security checkpoints, cussing out the troops stationed at each one, she left the fortress at her back, only to be greeted by wind and rain as she stepped outside. For a moment, she stood hanging her arms, letting the rain slide over her dark blue scales and down her tail, the scowl growing sadder by the second. ‘Just what I always wanted. Rain after meeting with Patrina.’

She and her escorts wandered down the steps into the city below. Luminity City, as the commoners called it. About the only place in the world where there was a steady supply of electrical power, thanks to the Queen demanding the power plant on the horizon be constructed specifically for her. Memories of the one time Gareda was there came rushing back to her. Everyone who could harness electrical powers worked there, and weren’t particularly fond of having an earthling like Garena observing them. Her scowl did her a lot of good that day.

In any case, the efforts at that plant meant that the city was bright even on rainy nights. One had to be careful not to step on any wires strewn over the ground, though. Gareda shook her head as she looked at the tightly wrapped bundles running through the streets. How any non-earthlings accepted this unnatural mess was beyond her. If they even accepted it. No one here, from the Grovyle walking past, the Hypno standing at a half empty market stall, to the Orbeetle flying overhead were staring at anything but the ground. Gareda shook her head; a grumble escaped her throat.

“Lord Gareda, where are you going?” the Toucannon escort suddenly said as the trio stopped. Growling, Gareda turned her head; the guards gave her shaky legs in response.

“Where does it look like I’m going?”

The Toucannon sounded as if he was on the verge of choking. “My lady, t-To the Cathedral, yes. Hm hmmm…”

Gareda sharpened her eyes. “Congratulations, banana beak. You’ve guessed that right. I’m going to do what any good Pokemon would do, and take some time out of my day to appreciate my Creator. While I do that, why don’t you and she go and make yourselves useful? Patrina, our oh so great queen, never bothered to mention where I am supposed to head to. Go on, then. Ask some of your fellow fools if they know. Maybe the previous morons in charge after the Queen’s done beating the devil out of ‘em!”

“But, my lord. I mean no disrespect, but are you disrespecting the queen?”

In an instant, Garuda’s arm struck out at the Magmar, pressing the blade on her arm against her neck. “What was that you said?”

“n-Nothing, my lord!!”

“Keep those lips shut then, duck face. Be a tattletale, and I won’t be stopping here.” She pressed the blade against the Magmar’s neck, who quivered in response. The Toucannon watched on with horror.

“y-Yes, my lord…”

“Off with you two.”

With all the grace of a falling anvil, the two soldiers ran off into the streets. Gareda shook her head. She met them this morning, was likely going to be stuck with them for the foreseeable future, and knew they were hopeless already: Her sensors told the whole story. Getting them to leave her alone for a while was enough of an accomplishment for today. Sauntering through the streets, throwing aside object and Pokemon alike, she headed towards the cathedral.

For the first time that day, she gazed up at the sky. The spire of the great cathedral of Luminity City. A monument in honour of the great creator, Arceus. Breathing in deep through her nose, and keeping a steady hold of her tail so that it wouldn’t sway around too much, Gareda knocked on the front door, and was let inside.

“...Lord Gareda? Do come in.”

“Gladly.”

The doorkeeper, an elderly Chimeco, pointed the Garchomp to a collection of bead necklaces, then left her on her own. It hadn’t been her first time here, and the people of the church were more than aware of who she was. Content to let the dragon run unsupervised in their house, they largely left her alone. Gareda knew full well she couldn’t just answer them with a scowl, nor did she want to. One should keep a firm grip on the light inside of them, especially when adrift in a dark sea. And the seas weren’t getting any brighter.

‘ Here we are. Even if it’s just for a minute, I need to be here. ’

The familiar aroma of incense poured up Gareda’s nose as she walked up the aisles to the other end of the cathedral. Spare for the sounds of her feet gripping onto the stone floor, the doorkeeper chiming away behind, and distant sounds of what must’ve been the other ones in charge of watching over this house, it was silent. Quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

A light headed feeling came over Gareda as she knelt down by the altar. Her whole life, ever since she was nothing but a wee Gible, she’d heard people from all across the Eravate region sing the same song. It was an instinct, something ingrained in everyone’s mind, like birds wishing to fly free, or earthlings desiring the underground. The desire to judge others. Some spoke of potential, others spewed pessimism. Some sang praises, others croaked negativity. Some laughed and shook their heads, others groveled for mercy. Collectively, everyone’s judgement ran society. It’s how one of Gareda’s scowls could get even the bravest to sweat. Because that is how people viewed her. Something to be feared. But in this cathedral hall, the judgement of others meant nothing. Whoever entered this place was on their own. Here, the true self would come out, just as Arceus intended.

Gareda crossed her arms, and leaned over kneeling in front of the altar.

“Please, for the love of Arceus, make this mission end well. I have to get this right, for them. I know you have been watching over me. I know you wish to speak to me, and I know that I have had to let you down… I’m sorry. Forgive me. Despite all the pleading, all my energy… something has not been going well. I’m sorry. I must come to you again, Creator. I require your strength again for this. For all of this. Please…”

Gareda’s voice shaked, the echoes reverberating through the hall. With visible pain streaming down her face, she continued, kneeling deeper and deeper.

“I promise you, I will not falter. I will not fail in this. For them, and for Eravate..”

Gareda’s confession went on for a long time. By this time, her tail was laid out over the floor, and the knee she supported herself on was shaking. No pain could stop her. It couldn’t stop her. It couldn’t, lest she ended up forsaking her own words.

And the consequences for that betrayal were well known.