As the Song of the Creator echoed across the Luminity walls, Gareda gasped. “Luffy?”

“What is that sound?” the Magmar asked, a thin trail of smoke pouring out of her mouth. “It’s-”

“No time to explain! We need to get back to the walls before-”

A shriek loud enough to shatter glass rang through the air, causing Gareda and Luffy to fall to their knees with ringing ears. Mud splattered onto their scales, the overwhelming scent and sounds making Gareda’s sensory organs go haywire.

‘…Patrina?’ “Luffy? We need to go,” the Garchomp panted out while standing back up, eyes scanning the area for threats.

“Go… where?” the Magmar replied, as she struggled to follow in her partner’s footsteps. “You don’t mean fleeing, do you? We’re not abandoning anyone here-”

“No, of course not,” Gareda blurted out. “I am one hundred percent sure that was the Queen. I know what a dying Serperior sounds like. We need to secure her before-”

Just as the final echoes of Patrina’s scream faded away, the roars of a thousand black scarves thundered over the battlefield. From the furthest trenches to the scarred frontline, the Pokemon of the Alliance rose into an all-out assault. Gareda and Luffy, having pushed away from the walls, were the first targets in sight.

They peered out of the trench to see a horde of Pokemon stomping their way. First and foremost was a Rhydon. Gareda licked her chops clean, her feet itching in anticipation.

“We’ve got company coming our way. Fast.”

Luffy put her claws together, then cracked her knuckles, flames surging to the back of her throat. “You said it. Think we can handle ‘em?”

Gareda’s eyes narrowed as the Rhydon ripped a boulder out of the ground, before flinging it at her. She merely raised a talon above her head to meet it, a silvery shine reaching from tip to fin. The boulder connected. It shattered into rubble, which she crushed under her feet. A wicked smile formed on her snout.

“Oh, we can handle ‘em alright…”

Sounding on the verge of giggling, Luffy shot a massive inferno down at the Rhydon and his companions. As fire swallowed the black scarves up, Gareda stretched her back, then Gareda slammed her claw into the edge of the trench. The earth split open with a sharp crack.

Once Luffy’s fire had ceased, just a Watchog and a Bibarel remained standing. Well, running, rather.

Laughing, Gareda spat beside her. “Look at ‘em. Not even trying to help.”

“Some comrades, huh…” Luffy pondered out loud, before whipping her head at Gareda. “Shall we go after them?”

The Garchomp shook her head. “Let ‘em run. They all think death will be a reward. Not worth sticking your neck out, they’ll be gone soon enough. Besides, our hands are full as is.”

She looked across the battlefield, spotting several other black scarves reaching the trenches. Alas, the other Soldiers weren’t as strong, and their best wasn’t good enough. If they stuck around, it would be a matter of time before they were overwhelmed.

“We need to find Patrina. And fast. She must’ve heard that damn flute...”

Luffy fired off an attack at a Leafeon in the distance. The fireball sped through the air like a bullet, exploding into a star as it struck the Leafeon’s headleaf. “What will happen if we don’t?” she asked afterwards, taking deep breaths to conserve energy.

Gareda let out a growl. “One of these damn cultists lays a claw on her, she’s a goner. We need to hurry back, and fast…” ‘We’d have a better chance if we stayed out here. Take as many of ‘em down with us… ugh.’ “Are you in?”

“Of course I’m in!” Luffy said. “Lead the way back. I’m not letting ‘em have the city, if I can help it!”

Biting her tongue, Gareda sounded the retreat. Slowly, but surely, the Crest abandoned the northern trenches, delaying the black scarves with any Spikes, Stealth Rocks, and whatever cheap attacks they had. Pokemon rushed over the trenches, covered by the Soldiers shooting every conceivable element from the walls. They were at the top of their game - Most frontline Soldiers escaped thanks to their efforts.

But it was nothing worth celebrating. Not in Gareda’s eyes. Had they stuck around, perhaps they could’ve made the Alliance bleed. Rip the demons right out of their eyes. After all the hell they’d given Eravate for years, a turnabout would’ve been marvellous.

Alas, Gareda knew better than to believe in miracles. She growled on the way back. A scale infection doesn’t cure itself, and Eravate’s infection had spread well into the body.

‘It’s the end, isn’t it. Eravate will fall to shit. I won’t be around to protect it anymore. Mom and Dad will never see me again…’ Pain welled up behind her eyes. She bit her tongue to suppress it as best she could. ‘Fafnir’s Tooth’s going to go up in flames. And that boy… Creator save his soul.

* * *

From the moment Skal announced the charge, everything went by in a blur. One moment, George was watching the Serperior Queen flee over the walls in horror, her body falling apart with each note from the Azure Flute. The next, he watched as Luminity’s eastern walls were blasted wide open.

“UP AND AT ‘EM, LADS!” Skal roared, cracking a full-toothed grin at the Dewott and Charmeleon. The anger had melted off him, given how chipper he sounded.

“Yeahh! Where do you need us?” Blitzer exclaimed, claws balled into fists, tail flame spiking at the chance to fire back.

“Heh!” Skal flexed an arm. “Best if ye stick close to me. Let's have one big ol’ blast together, shall we? One more time!”

“One more time!! Yeah!!” Blitzer growled in a deep voice, following Skal as he threw his entire body out of the trench. The Charmeleon was fast on his feet, as if he wasn’t throwing himself towards the jaws of death.

George shook his head. ‘Man. One comment and he’s all fired up. Hoping he hasn’t forgotten what I told him,’ he thought to himself, before rushing after them. ‘Still not in the clear…’

Chaos ensued as the trio made their way across the trenches, towards two holes in Luminity’s eastern wall. Several other black scarves beat them to it, and clashed with the Soldiers on the other side. Clawing, biting, or channelling the elements, the violent battle raged in its fullest once Skal arrived.

“Watch this,” the Aggron said, licking his teeth before grabbing onto part of the wall with both claws, some fifteen metres away from the hole. His claws dug into the stone, cracks spreading in all directions as he squeezed. The claws on his feet similarly dug into the ground, digging into the strength of the earth.

With a monstrous growl, the stone bricks snapped apart under Skal’s strength, causing part of the wall to collapse in on itself. Parts fell away as the ground underneath caved into whatever escape tunnel or a sewer ran underneath. In the end, a triangular entrance into the city had been created, and Skal grinned like a fool. An unstoppable fool.

“This way!” he growled, just as a response came from the other side. Said response consisted of an Unfezant, which Skal punched into a house - the poor sod went straight through the wall, squawking until coming to a sudden stop inside. The Aggron rushed to engage the Soldiers nearby, Blitzer and George joining the fray with fire and scalchops respectively.

Black scarves poured through the hole, washing over Luminity’s streets like a divine flood. Whatever Soldiers had assembled near the hole were quickly overwhelmed, thrown aside like garbage by the vast numbers of Alliance Pokemon. From Wyrdeer to Ceruledge, Blastoise and Tsareena, even a Zeraora whose yelps gave George a sense of deja vu - all were overpowered and defeated. The Dewott bit his lip, just as he bonked a Pupitar on the head.

‘Talk about not showing mercy, geez… doesn’t look like most of ‘em will die, I think… Still. Need to just… get over this. Finish the day strong. Forget about it later. Just hold on.’

George took a deep breath, then pushed on. His little break made him lose track of Skal and Blitzer, until the latter shouted over the sound of splintering wood.

“AH! Hey! You’re almost hitting me!”

“Heh! Nothin’ to worry ‘bout, I know what I’m doin’!”

Skal bulldozed down the street like an elephant in a china shop, while Blitzer sidestepped through the tangled web of wires on the ground. The wires coalesced around poles and switch boxes, power for the streetlights by the looks of it. None appeared to enter any homes; not that George could tell on a quiet day, let alone a chaotic one. Visible bends and damage had gotten into some, from toe claw inflicted wear and tear.

‘Oookay… not going to mess around here. Not at all,’ George thought to himself while hopping across the street. ‘Surprised they have electricity here. Not just Pokemon have it. Still, not messing. Not at all. It’s primitive… ’

Clumps of earth and snapped wires littering the ground, to Pokemon convulsing with crushed ribs, to buildings blown wide open from street to street, Skal left a trail of destruction in his wake. If the goal was to win hearts and minds, this wasn’t it. Luminity would be reeling from today’s shock for months, if not years.

And yet, despite all the Soldiers jumping out of the woodworks, no civilians were in their path. None whatsoever. If not for the armies, Luminity might as well have been a ghost town. The market stalls they passed were still filled with goods. Some doors stood wide open. In some restaurants, half-eaten dishes sat on tables catching mold. George whipped his head back and forth, looking for anyone unaffiliated with either side. But they were nowhere to be seen. Just the Soldiers were left now.

‘Where is everybody? Do they have those…?’

A few streets and Soldiers later, George caught up with Skal. Standing in their way was a park, which had been reinforced with a wall of thorns. The work of grasslings, using the little nature in the city to their advantage. A little green after the claustrophobic streets was nice, even if just for a moment.

“Oi! Kiddo!” Skal nudged Blitzer in the shoulder; the Charmeleon’s lips curled into an awkward smile.

“Yeah?”

“Ya know what to do.”

“Start a fire?” Blitzer panted.

Skal cracked up. “Nah, diggin’ a hole. ‘Course I mean startin’ a fire, what else?”

Blitzer chuckled. “On it!”

“Hang on a minute,” George said, walking up behind Skal while dodging the sway of his tail. “We’re in the middle of a city! It can get out of control.”

Skal’s head turned, revealing a devilish grin. “And that’s yer job, kiddo.”

Blitzer breathed in deep, then breathed a jet of flames straight through the thorns, burning an ashen path through in the span of a few seconds. As he made it wider, a handful of water- and grass types attempted to take him down. Skal and George were alert, however, and beat them right back. In the end, the path through the park was clear. The castle of Luminity wasn’t far.

* * *

Mud on their feet, Gareda and Luffy reached the supposed safety behind the walls. Inside was a scene of nightmarish proportions, the kind that one wished only existed inside stage plays: Innocent Pokemon running for safety, and no Soldier had hands or time to spare. Some screamed. Others cried. Men, women, children; war didn’t discriminate.

The Garchomp lowered her fins, panting all the while. “Arceus almighty…”

“We’re not too late… we can still do this, can’t we?” Luffy said, smoke running out of her mouth. “Don’t fight amongst yourselves! We’re all in this together!” she pleaded with the civilians, to no avail.

Gareda’s eyes were fixed on the skyline, her sensory organs growing cold. “The cathedral… it can fall any moment, creator be…” she gritted her teeth. “We need to go. Quickly.”

“To the castle, yes?”

“Y-yes,” Gareda said after a moment’s hesitation, her breaths turning into growls. ‘The cathedral… I prayed there. I confessed to the Creator there… now these animals are running their dirty paws all across it…!’

She suddenly felt a claw on her shoulder, and almost snapped, were it not for the heat. “What’s the matter?” Luffy whispered.

Gareda shuddered. “Just… It's been a stressful week. That’s all. We need to go.”

“Mhm… just know that I got your back, okay?”

With a nod, the couple went past the fleeing civilians, hoping to reach the castle before any harm would come to the Queen, or anyone around her. It didn’t take long before trouble came their way. First were injured Soldiers being carried away with the civilians, and then everything came to a screeching halt. A group of Soldiers blocked the street, putting down wooden barricades that reached just above Gareda’s waist.

The Garchomp scowled in the blink of an eye. “What are you doing?! Get out of the way, we need to get to the keep!”

“No choice!” a Pangoro with a green cape growled, spitting a twig out of his mouth. “We’re getting overrun here!”

“Doesn’t matter! Let us pass!” Luffy said, trying to worm her way in between the Pangoro and the other Soldiers manning the defences. Pangoro blocked her with a fist.

“Don’t! You’re dead if you go over, look out there!”

He swung a giant fist over the barricades, a red echo of his paw flying across the street. It connected with a Purugly that was scratching up a knocked-out Floette on the cold stone floor.

Purugly flew straight into a Skuntank, and rolled to a stop against an overturned bin. It happened in the blink of an eye, and yet it wasn’t fast enough to save Floette. The flowery Pokemon didn’t so much as twitch.

Gareda and Luffy pushed right up against the barricade. Two blocks further in the distance, similar barricades had been put up. And two blocks past that was the Keep. So close, yet so far. In those two city blocks between the barricades, ferocious and unkempt-looking Pokemon ran amok, salivating and dirtying everything they touched. All had a piece of pitch black cloth wrapped around a body part.

Gareda hissed, her breathing intensifying under the stress. “They’re here already?!” she growled. ‘You can’t tell me we’re THAT incompetent now!’

“Whole defence in the east collapsed. Best we can do is hold on,” Pangoro explained, still taking potshots with his fists over the barricades. Gareda and Luffy joined in, trying to pick off black scarves getting too cosy in the streets they had conquered.

“You can’t be serious…” Gareda growled, as she tried piecing a strategy together. “We have to make contact with the keep. The Queen is injured.”

Pangoro shook his head. “Not possible like this. We’ve got too few people. Any attempt to get in would be suicide.”

Luffy shivered, as she put her claws on the top of the barricade. “Say that again?”

“It’s hopeless, ma’am,” Pangoro repeated. “Don’t do what I think yer about to-”

“Yer?!” the Magmar roared, her eyes wide open.

“Yeah yer-”

Suddenly, her flames sparked with the fury of a thousand suns. “REAL RUBYFOLK DON’T GIVE UP!” she shouted at the top of her lungs, as she sank through her knees to vault straight over the barricade.

“Ma’am!”

Gareda gritted her teeth. ‘It’s worth a try!’ she thought, and didn’t look back. With a sharp breath, she smashed both talons into the ground, the force of the impact sending her skywards as Pangoro almost fell over. Resembling a hoplite, she slammed her spear-like talons into whatever stood in their way; a poor, black-scarved Vigoroth.

“OI!”

Gareda sensed the Pangoro’s protests, but didn’t listen. Adrenaline surged through her veins as she slashed her way through the streets, Luffy having advanced into the street ahead already, the black scarves barking to kill them both.

A fierce brawl ensued. From clawing and slashing, to breath attacks culminating in her chomping down, swooping Pokemon off their legs and stamping them into the dirt. Nothing was off limits to Gareda. Not anymore.

Black-scarves descended upon her in the dozens. She heard and felt the rhythm of their beating hearts; or so she imagined. The sheer energy coursing through her made it hard to tell what was what. All she knew is that she was outnumbered, yet more than a match for the hordes trying to take her down.

Luffy, however, was on a whole other level. She left an inferno in her wake, burning and clawing through anyone blocking her from getting to the keep. Many tried, only to be cast aside like garbage. Some might have scored a hit, but she shrugged it off, biting through whatever pain she suffered.

Gareda kept following her, but the black scarves weren’t making it easy. Every so often, a wire snapped, blinding anyone - black scarf or otherwise - unfortunate enough to be looking at the time. The Garchomp was the victim of it just as often as the black scarves, and every time she swung her arms all around, trying to keep herself standing as she recovered.

And yet, despite her best efforts, and despite all the foes she’d cut down, there was no light at the end of the tunnel. Only more and more black scarves, Individually weak, yet they stood united. One fell, and two more took their place.

No matter how much blood was shed, none stopped. And with each step, the situation deteriorated, until Gareda was trapped. Right past the first street, halfway to the second barricades, she found herself surrounded. Exhausted.

“Had enough yet, starface? Or do you wanna see stars?”

Gareda panted as the hits kept on coming. First, something sharp pierced the scales on her gut. Then she took a blow to the back of a leg, A gnaw at her tail. Biting cold snapping at the back of her head. Little by little, she was whittled down, and it wouldn’t be long before a black scarf delivered the killing blow.

Growling with pain, the Garchomp looked for a way out. Pokemon had her pinned in the alley, and the nearby buildings gave little hope. Chances were that all she’d find there was more enemies. It was like picking her own tomb.

A grassy blade cut into her chest. Time was running out. What was left? Calling for Luffy’s help? The Magmar had nearly reached the other barricades, her fiery march continuing unabated. She hadn’t so much as looked back, her flames and claws hard at work. Far fewer black scarves attacked her.

Gareda hissed. With her notoriety, of course she was the bigger target. But why didn’t Luffy help? Why wasn’t she looking back?

One Tauros charged. She dodged it by a hair.

Had she abandoned Gareda to fate? Even those on the barricades weren’t supporting her now. Sure, it was a suicide mission. But Luffy? Why weren’t they working together? They loved each other. Gareda loved her. And Luffy did… claim to.

A Machoke tried seizing her arms. She managed to cut open his arm.

They had argued. Gareda knew this fight was hopeless before it had ever started. When she agreed to flee Luminity for Fafnir’s Tooth. The promise to her mother… that she and Luffy would be there, safe and sound. And yet, Luffy threatened to sever ties if she did. It was giving up. Those feelings, had they been internalised?

Jets of water doused her from windows. Up on the roof, there was no one.

Gareda’s eyes watered. Whether from her injuries, or her thoughts; it didn’t matter. The bitterness persisted all the same. At the time she needed Luffy the most, she was alone. And why did she need her now? Because of a promise she’d made to the Magmar.

A brown shimmer flashed over her talons.

Luffy had been why. In spite of all the time together, and even though Gareda had warned her, she insisted. Insisted on fighting to the death. On ‘not giving up’. On throwing her life away, even though it was as hopeless as could be. And Gareda wanted to believe. She wanted to believe Luffy was right. That’s why she chose to fight in Luminity. That’s why she went out in the trenches. That’s why she hopped over the barricades one minute ago.

But reality had come knocking, and when the penalty for denial was death, it was time to admit defeat. Even if Luffy would curse her name for all of eternity.

She smashed her talons through the pavement, just as the black scarves lunged at her neck. The ground roared out in pain, the foundations of the nearby homes shaking as the Garchomp soared skywards. In the midst of her ascent, one thing lingered on her mind.

‘It’s over.’

Leaving the black scarves to their misery, she leapt onto the rooftop. No one was here. For a moment, she was in awe at the many columns of smoke rising out of the streets, birds and bugs circling in aerial duels. It didn’t last long. A flamethrower was fired at her from the streets, singing the tip of her fin. She hissed, then hopped away, before looking down below.

And it was then that she and Luffy made eye contact.

Luffy just stared at her. Didn’t speak. Didn’t twitch. Her mouth stood ajar, and fires circled around her body like moths to a lamp, but that was it. Gareda let her arms hang limp from her body, a stiff wind hitting her in the back. Moments later, rain dripped from the heavens.

‘Time… to go.’

She made one final leap into flight, riding with the wind to leave. Several flying Pokemon were on her tail, her presence on the rooftops having been anything but a secret.

A target had been painted onto her back, and she couldn’t avoid getting hit without fleeing the firing range. Was this the right choice? Did she have a choice? She fell back onto her instincts for now; any regrets would have to be dealt with later.

As her escape from the city began, she heard her name being called out. She couldn’t tell who. Maybe it was Luffy. The Queen. Sword, her oh-so-friendly subordinate. It could even have been that Dewott boy, for all she knew. It wasn’t worth dwelling on.

Hearing her name whispered in the wind was painful enough as was.

* * *

After several hard-fought encounters, George, Blitzer and Skal reached an entrance on the keep’s west wing, the guards on the outside long unconscious. They had put up some wooden barricades and booby traps using the wiring, but it was nothing too much to handle. The way to the Queen lay open.

Skal burst down the front door, and the three rushed in, claws at the ready. An Indeedee was there to confront them, two Machokes carrying spears standing beside her.

“Stop! Please. We surrender. The whole keep will.”

The fear in the room was so thick, one could practically taste it. Skal stepped forward, and clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth as his feet sullied the carpet. “Well, well. Can ye take us to the Queen?”

Indeedee nodded. “Yes… follow me. If you’re thinking about killing her… all you’d accomplish is putting her out of her misery. But follow me.”

A tranquil silence lingered, as the Indeedee and her bodyguards took the trio across the keep. It was the kind of quiet one would expect from a graveyard. Ominous, yet peaceful. The worst of the worst having passed, and nothing was left besides the memories. The carpet didn’t make much noise, even asSkal stomped his way across. Neither Machoke left an impact either. Water could be heard running from a fountain in a garden, even though no windows on their path gave sight to one.

George looked behind him a few times. No one was following them, oddly enough. All the other Alliance members had hooked off. He couldn’t help but raise an eye.‘You’d think this is the moment everyone wants to be present for, but no. I guess… leave it to a professional? In what universe is Skal a professional?’

After being escorted through the maze of carpets, rustic decor and dusty rooms, they stood in front of a large door. Indeedee knocked on it, and it was opened from within moments later, revealing a sight that wouldn’t ever leave one’s eyes.

“Well, well… your highness has seen better days now, hasn’t she?”

Grievous wounds ran the length of the Serperior’s body, leaking a purplish blood onto the floor. Several doctors tried to tend to her, even as she attempted to raise her head.

“...Shut it.”

The Queen’s voice was full of venom. The same kind of venom that smothered the life out of her as she spoke. Skal gave an amused chuckle, then patted George with his tail. “Aww, don’t ya want to talk to the lad that made it all possible? He’s right ‘ere, y’know.”

Queen Patrina cracked an eye open. “...You brought my killer here? Just to rub it in? I shouldn’t have expected any less,” she said, before hacking up a speck of black spit. “You have no idea what you have done today, little man.”

George hmphed back, turning his body at a slight angle. “Other than taking down a dictator… you tried to have me killed. Do you expect me to feel sorry now?”

“No!!” the Serperior shouted, then winced in pain, the doctors hastily whispering for her to stay calm. “We didn’t try killing you! All we wanted was to save you! From all of them! You’ve been had, Othersider! Just wait and-”

“Lies!!” Blitzer growled, teeth bared.

“All you’ve ever done is destroy! I never got to live a normal life because of you! Kept getting pushed around, food stolen, threatened… And just when I thought it couldn’t get worse, I had to leave my parents and hometown behind!! Because you wanted to kill him so bad!” He grabbed George by the arm; the Dewott didn’t resist. “You took my parents from me, took my future! Where are my parents?”

“I don’t-”

“WHERE. ARE MY PARENTS?!” Fire burned in the back of Blitzer’s throat, every bit of anger and distress he’d suffered from for months raging deep inside.

He had to have imagined this moment ever since he ran. In every dream, in every quiet footstep on the road. What snappy takedowns or humble drags he must’ve come up with. A perfectly cold dish of revenge.

But now that the opportunity was in front of him, presented on a silver platter, he had naught but tears in his eyes.

“I have no idea where your parents are!” the Serperior hissed back. “Do you take me for all powerful? All knowing? Only the Creator is those… the same Creator you’re burying today… if you had just listened. If you had just come along, this wouldn’t have happened. Yet-”

“ANSWER MY QUESTION!!!”

Blitzer let out a draconic roar. Fire shot out of his maw, intending to devour the Queen where she lay; it took all of the Serperior’s strength to put up a barrier. The doctors cowered behind her. “In a prison somewhere! I do not know which, find whoever is in charge of the logistics there!”

George took a step away from the Charmeleon. ‘God almighty…’

“...You’re gonna pay for this, you know that, right?” Blitzer panted. “For everything you’ve done… don’t you dare deny it now-”

“Oh, but rest be assured. She needs no reminder.”

A regal voice came from behind. George’s ears perked up, his back instantly straightening itself out. There was no need to look towards the door. From the watery scent of his feathers, to that sophisticated tone he spoke in, it was clear who.

The Queen raised her head off the floor. “...Back to take ‘your’ throne, are we?” she spat, her vines having turned brown.

Artanouk walked past the boys, over the carpet on which so many had kneeled before. All without any other black scarf or servant walking with him. Not even Skal, who watched with a curious smile on his face.

“Let’s make this quick, shall we? Your time’s run out.”

Patrina hissed as the Empoleon walked up the last few steps. “Was it all worth it, ‘your highness’? Selling your soul to the highest bidder? Did you not have everything already? Who made you God to say…”

George clenched his fists. ‘What is she talking about? It’s like she forgot she’s supposed to be in charge… that they’re both just pawns.’

An icy chill formed on the tip of the Prince’s arms. “Any final words?”

“Go to hell.”

In the blink of an eye, Artanouk stabbed Patrina in the throat.