Rain. Fafnir’s Tooth’s most ordinary weather, fitting the situation Gareda got herself into. Excellent like the mud sliding out the gutter, with all the bits of moss and feathers that entailed.

Growling, she took off the piece of flute dangling from her neck, the rain pelting her scales. She stared at it while standing as still as a statue, resembling a lost homeless ‘mon more than the force of nature she was.

Or rather, the force most thought she was.

‘I’m really going to go home, aren’t I? Say everything’s okay, when I’ll probably be dead in a few days…’

Lowering her fin, her head, and whatever shreds of dignity she’d clung onto, she shuffled into town, the gravel of her feet squelching like sand.

‘Let’s just get this over with.’

By some miracle, she remembered the roads through town well. Seeing and smelling all the familiar was a reprieve, like soap for the mind.

The meats cooking behind closed doors, the orchards whose trees had shed their leaves, firewood roasting in a hearth, and little statues of the creators sitting near everyone’s doorstep - Dialga on the left, Palkia on the right. With life as hectic as it was, something to cling onto helped keep a clear head. And Gareda’s head was anything but.

‘Dialga, Palkia… we need you more than ever now. Where are you?’

Gareda found her way to the family home, and gave it a good knock. Moments later, she heard her father’s scales jingle towards her on the other side.

“Hmm? Who’s there?”

“Dad. It’s me. Gareda.”

The door swung open, narrowly missing the spikes on Gareda’s knees. Her father came into the rain, putting his claws on his daughter’s shoulders while trying to pull her in for a hug.

She attempted to nudge him off, but didn’t put any strength into it. Of all the people to give attitude to, her old man? Not in a million years.

“Gargar! How have you been?”

“Eh, been better,” she replied, careful to keep her tongue away from her teeth. “It’s uh. Difficult to explain.”

“Well, come on in then!” the Kommo-o replied, wrapping arm around, then gently rubbing the scales under the fin on her back. “You look weary. Like you’ve been out in the cold for long.”

Gareda kept her eyes wide open. “...Youuu could say that.” ‘And then some.’

Inside, Solhynin took her straight to the living room, back to that cosy spot before the fireplace. Her mother had taken perch on her trusty old hangmat, tail dangling off the side as she looked up from the book she was reading - a title named ‘When Death was Defeated - A Historical Chronicle’, penned by a ‘Togademaru Rinn Fletcher’. Morticia put the book away, talons resting on her belly.

“Well, well. What a sight for sore eyes,” the old Garchomp began, as a large and toothy smile spread across her face. “And here I was thinking a few weeks ago was a fluke. That you’d miss your brother’s hatchday tomorrow.”

Gareda scoffed nervously. It still felt odd, being fully evolved like her mother was.

“You say that like you’re disappointed I’m here. Would you prefer me being on the front lines? Covered in the blood of my enemies?” she said, hamming up the last few sentences while cartoonishly waving her talons around. Moves a stage actor would find over the top.

Morticia scoffed. “Of course not. Come on now, you’ve been absent for long enough to resemble your brother.”

“Is he still travelling?” she asked. Her mother leaned back in the hangmat.

“Oh yes. Still travelling.”

“With that… boyfriend of his?” ‘Still can’t believe that clumsy idiot actually landed someone…’

“Who else?” Morticia swung her legs out, then hopped off the mat with a soft grunt, all in the span of an eyeblink. “Truth to be told, I’m glad he’s got that Flygon lad with him. Dragons don’t just die, but still. Mothers' concerns. You know how it is.”

Gareda rolled her eyes. ‘Tell me about it.’ “Yeah. Would’ve been nice to see him again, wherever he is. How long has it been since he left?”

A few clanking sounds came from the kitchen, followed by scales jingling against each other like chainmail. “A year,” Solhynin said, sauntering in the room with three mugs in his claws. Pecha Tea, by the smell of it. “Or almost. He didn’t leave until shortly after his last birthday, y’know. Three days from now.”

The Kommo-o handed both Garchomp a mug, each big enough to accommodate a dragon’s mouth. All three sipped from theirs at the same time, Gareda sloshing the tea around before gulping it down. It had a sweet aroma, yet didn’t reek of sugar. Perfect for calming the mind after a long day.

“What made him leave in the first place?” Gareda asked as she set her mug down on the floor, her tail twitching away from the fire in the hearth.

Morticia snickered, tea almost spilling onto her body. “His boyfriend, who else? He wanted to travel with him, so he left to Creators-know-where. A ‘proto-honeymoon’, they called it. Personally? Never saw any men lie this much through the skin of their teeth. All that’s missing is them admitting it.”

Gareda looked down at her feet. For a moment, she thought of Luffy, who she had left behind in Luminity City without informing Queen Patrina. She sighed.

“So, he’s on his merry way, then. Never bothered telling you where, I take it.”

“Nope,” the elder Garchomp deadpanned. “And let’s be honest with ourselves, yes? He was always the odd one out. Bound to carve his own life out in some far off spot. You get little runts like that running around with bits of egg shells stuck between their scales. Got this hotshot of a Bagon on my tail regularly. Name’s Falnir. Same thing. ‘S just life.” She raised the mug back to her mouth, and glugged about half the contents down. “Same thing.”

“Just so you know,” Solhynin butted in, tail swishing across the counter. “Your other brother and sister are still here. You should go and say hello to them as well, before they come over tomorrow.”

Gareda put her talons over her eyes, the tips nearly digging into the scales on her head. “Yes… look. I’m just worried about him, alright? And no, I’m not joking, don’t even dare insist that! I care about him. I haven’t seen him in forever. And now you’re telling me you don’t know where he is.”

The Kommo-o, put his mug down as tea dripped from his jaws. He sat next to his daughter, tail curled around, scales jingling.

“Gargar. It’s honestly touching for you, saying that. I know you and your brother weren’t on the best terms… None of us were, but that was never genuine dislike. With you, I always doubted that. And I get it. He is impulsive. He does have plenty to learn about the world. But we should trust him. There comes an age where… children become adults. And wherever he is now… I believe that he’s made that big step. I trust him. Do you?”

Gareda sighed. “Of course, it’s just…” ‘That didn’t answer anything…’

“Ahem.”

Morticia cleared her throat, then cleared it again in a far more animalistic manner, before joining Gareda and Solhynin by the fireplace.“Let’s be honest with ourselves for a moment, shall we? You didn’t just come here for a visit, did you?”

To this, Gareda didn’t know best to respond. She didn’t sigh, shake her head, huff or growl, or even fiddle around with her talons. All the younger Garchomp had in her was to look her mother in the eyes, the contact brief and unfocused, her pupils dawdling off to the patterns on the wall before snapping back.

Her mother’s stare narrowed in on her. “Don’t leave us hanging here. Something is wrong. And don’t deny it, either.”

“Honey?” Solhynin came close to poking Gareda’s head with his nose. “Please. Don’t just keep it to yourself. You know we wouldn’t be angry, even if it’s bad.”

Gareda squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, doing her best to make sense of the storm in her head before saying anything. “It’s… worse than bad. Way, way worse than that.”

Mortricia reeled back, spreading her talons wide. “Go on, then. Don’t let the Meowth have your tongue.”

Under the piercing yet watchful eyes of the people that raised her, Gareda gently raised the final piece of the Azure Flute up over her eyes, her sensors tingling in awe at the energy within as it shone in candlelight. It was the inverse of the Steelhides’ humble dwelling: Pristine, carved from the rough. Harmless on the surface, yet…

“You know what this is, don’t you?” Gareda asked. Her mother took a slow, laboured step back.

“Not in the slightest… Why did you bring it here?”

“Isn’t the Crest supposed to watch over it?” Solhynin asked, head and neck leaning well over his mug. “Why-”

“Because we- no, the Crest can’t protect it anymore. Not anymore…” she repeated several times in her mind, Dritch’s words ringing hollow in her mind. All the rehearsing in the flight back home had been for nothing, and she couldn’t make sense of them anymore. Cold, artificial, like a robot.

The elder Garchomp let out a low growl. “Say no more. Crest didn’t work out. You’re here so you can shove it into our claws.”

Gareda gave her mother a snide side glance. “Something like that-”

“Forget it!” Morticia roared. “We’ve been bleeding for centuries to keep this community alive! It took a MONSTROUS effort to get to where we are! We’re not throwing it all away because the whole Crest is filled with idiots, and can’t keep the same damn Yveltal-worshipping death cult the world’s been dealing with for years under control, do you understand?”

“Listen-!”

“I SAID FORGET IT, GAREDA!”

The elder Garchomp’s outburst had gotten Gareda’s best. To Solhynin’s shock, she stood right back up, knocked his claw out of the way, and stomped across the room towards Morticia, fury burning in both their eyes.

“Don’t you DARE call me a fool! You have no idea what’s going on here, none! I’ve been bleeding out there for years now, doing everything I can to stop that cult from expanding. I’ve been out there for years! Years! LONGER THAN YOU HAVE! YOU DON’T KNOW HOW BAD IT IS!” she roared in her mother’s face.

“The north’s a goddamn warzone, the west is falling apart, the south’s barely staying together, even Luminity’s going to be knee deep in mud in a week’s time! They’ve got two pieces ALREADY! AND THEY HAVE THE OTHERSIDER WITH THEM!”

Gareda’s panted breaths landed on Morticia. She felt her father’s claws wrap around her chest, and yanked her back several steps. She didn’t resist, too focused on the eyes staring at her. The young and still unscarred, versus the aged warrior with the chipped tooth.

“Please, Gareda. Don’t start fighting now of all times…” Solhynin whispered in his daughter’s ear, as she struggled out of his grip.

“I know!”

Morticia slowly sat back down on her hangmat, her anger still laid bare, yet restrained for the moment. “Othersider?”

Gareda frowned back at her. It took every bit of self control to stop herself from scowling instead. “Haven’t you heard the news? There’s an Othersider in the world. A Dewott. His name is George. The Alliance has him.”

The moment she finished speaking, it was as if it thundered outside. The elder Garchomp’s anger drained from her face, and all that was left behind was a grimace. A deep, deep grimace, straight from the heart.

“...Honey. Is this true?”

Solhynin twiddled his claws together, his facial expression half sheepish, and half fearful. “I believe some folks in town talked about it before. I don’t know for certain, it was only a rumor…”

Awestruck, Morticia looked her daughter in the eye again, teeth chattering, talons at bay. “Gareda… why didn’t you say so before?”

Gareda once again looked away, her throat dry and her blood boiling warmer than the tea she’d been served. “...Because I didn’t want to cause panic.”

“Panic?!” Morticia shook her head back and forth. “This is dire. You should have-” A Purrloin caught her tongue. She smacked the side of her face with a talon, then drank some tea before saying more. “No… it’s too late for that now. We’ll have to prepare.”

Gareda’s head sank. She could only cope by burying her head into the tea mug, the steam coiling around her snout like a cobra. ‘I came here to get away from the war. Instead I brought it back home… creator damn me.’

“Does that mean getting the caves in order…?” Solhynin pondered.

“Among other things,” Morticia said. “You still remember, don’t you?”

“I’d be embarrassed if I didn’t,” the Kommo-o growled as he took his mug back to the kitchen. “What kind of protector am I, forgetting the oath I swore? It doesn’t just end because we’re retired. These old bones still work for the people!” He jingled his scales and swung his tail around, much to his wife’s delight.

“There’s my sweetheart… Right then. We should get started before dark already… see the old place. We’ll rally the other dragons tomorrow. The Dragonspines are not getting sacrificed to Yveltal without a fight,” Morticia said, then drank the rest of her tea. “Gareda?”

Gareda pulled her head from the mug, the tip of her nose now wet. Her father already had one foot out the door, and was busy dragging his long tail across the threshold. “Yes?”

“You should stay here. And help.”

She grimaced. “I can’t.”

“Why?”

Pressure built throughout her head, as the beatings kept on coming. That one word was a noose tightening around her neck. There’s nothing she wanted more than the guts to spill the beans. That in all that time spent fighting and making war, she’d found love. A girlfriend, no less. That she had left said girlfriend behind in a city whose future was uncertain. And that she was terrified just thinking about what could happen to her while she was gone.“It’s… it’s private, mom. I don’t want to talk about it.”

Morticia put a talon on her daughter’s shoulders, eyes narrowing in on her yet again. “Gareda. Talk to me. What is happening?”

The fire crackled softly in the hearth, Gareda’s tail itching a tad close for comfort. Undesirable as the heat might’ve been, any distraction felt comforting at this time. The younger Garchomp covered her chest behind both arms, as feeble of a defence as that was. She’d broken the same many times. “It’s someone I know. I left them in Luminity, and…”

“Left who in Luminity? Who are you talking about?” said Morticia, the claws on her feet touching Gareda’s, who stayed eerily still when the connection was made.

“A friend of mine. My best friend. And I don’t want them to be trapped in the city when everything goes to hell there.” Gareda crossed her arms. “And don’t doubt me when I say it’s going to be bad. The Crest isn’t ready. We’ve been weakened too much. The north is at war. The west… what is there to even say? We don’t hear from the guy in charge anymore. It’s just the south that’s alright. But even then, the east-”

“That’s enough.”

Gareda felt her mother’s talon pinch into her side. No response again. Thirty years on, and her mother still had the same impact she always had. Evolutions, age, didn’t matter: Trust and respect were queen.

“Listen very carefully,” Morticia said, nudging Gareda’s mug out of the way. “You made a promise long ago. And you shouldn’t abandon it on the fly. I understand that. You care about this world, and the folks that live on it. I appreciate that. You should head to Luminity City. Whatever she asks of you that relates to defending the city, do it. Do whatever you need to do to hold that disgusting bunch at bay. But if all fails…”

Gareda let out a low, soft growl. “...Then I come home. With my best friend.”

Morticia’s pupils narrowed, just as rain began to tick down on the roof above. “Without her if needed be. With her if it’s possible. But whatever happens, your life is far too precious to throw away. Especially in defence of a government destined for history’s ash heap.”

The younger Garchomp poked her head up. “And what makes you say that?”

“Come on.” Morticia straightened her back out. “Be painfully honest with yourself. In spite of all the effort you put in… you’ve seen the worst of what that fool of a Queen’s put on offer. You’ve dealt out the worst under her orders as well, haven’t you?”

To this, Gareda had naught but a sigh to give. “Yes…” ‘I tried my damndest to make it work!’

Morticia rubbed her shoulder with the back of a talon. “Don’t take it personally. There’s only so much a single ‘Mon can do. And I don’t need to ask around to know you tried. Arguably, you tried too hard. But it’s over. That sloppy government, that dimwitted Serperior… they’re going to be brought down. Best to weather the storm somewhere safe. Somewhere where the water does not reach… Do you understand?”

“Somewhat,” Gareda replied. “If even a fraction of what’s been said about the Alliance is true, then we’re in for the worst. And I know what I’ve done. I know a lot of it hasn’t been moral. Beatings, killings, you name it, I’ve had to dirty myself with it. Squint long enough and you’ll see the blood wedged between my scales. But when you consider the alternative…”

“...I’d understand?” Morticia cracked a smile, wrapping an arm around her daughter’s back, until the fin attached poked around the other side. “I’ve stood in your footsteps before, you know. Did you forget the stories?”

Gareda grumbled with a tired sigh, as the rain outside turned into a downpour. “Of course I haven’t.”

Morticia let out a soft laugh. “Come here, you.”

They embraced, not even hesitant at hitting a spike on either of their bodies. A tear slid out of Gareda’s eye. For a brief moment, she felt like a Gible again.

“Until the bitter end.”