Story Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.coming soon:-Lover's Tiramisu: I want this to be my materpiece, so it might take a lot longer.-A storm: Family's first. Would you give yourself up for them? Lance, a Luxray, did.-Box of boxes: An absurd. It will make no sense and will get a 2/10 but I'll still put it up.
EJ 1: Disgraced
===
The large, dimly-lit hall was filled with the loud chattering and the more discrete murmur of the crowd that was gathered there. It was formed mainly of Sneasel, although there were others. Some Rhydon and Rhyperior stood out from the crowd, along with small groups of Machoke and Machamp standing in the corners to the side. In the very front of the crowds on either side, almost marking an aisle, stood the Lucario, heads held high. At the very end of that aisle were seated five more of the same species.
The one at the middle seemed to be the most aged of the five. His fur was a very dull shade of the blue that once shone on it, and his eyes, just like his fur, almost failed to show the maroon they once had. The others that were at his side seemed to be older than most, but not to such an extent, with the exception of one that looked as if he had just evolved from a Riolu. This one was obviously disturbed by the large crowd, with his ears tilted back slightly and his eyes half-closed.
All the noise, much to the young one's delight, ended when the oldest one raised his paw and spoke in his elderly, yet still firm voice:
"You may come forth now."
Almost immediately, all eyes were set on the one that began walking down the aisle towards the five. Another Lucario. Her feet made no noise even on the hard floor as she kept walking forward, standing as straight as she could with her head held high, blue eyes looking at the ones she approached, and staring in disdain at the crowd as she passed them. Anyone who knew her also knew this was a normal thing: She was pride incarnate. Her fur was the brightest gold anyone could imagine, and her build was that of someone extremely athletic. She was a warrior, after all.
She came to a stop in front of the one who summoned her. It was there that part of her pride seemed to vanish as she got down on one knee and bent her head down.
"Tell us what happened." The elder spoke.
"There were three of them," She replied in her raspy voice, "All three of them Flareon."
"Only three," The Lucario sitting at the elder's right said, focused on her.
"Were they too powerful?"
"Barely above average in their strength." She cuttingly answered, "Probably from some of the warrior tribes... As I was ordered to, I had my battalion give chase to them."
"Four-hundred of our finest were not able to catch them." Another one of the five said. "You failed to stop them..."
"Their incompetence is not my pro-"
"-But it was not their incompetence." The elder interrupted, "I'm told you, yourself failed to prevent their escape, personally. Worst of all, you sacrificed one-hundred of ours in a vain effort to seal them."
"They died for our cause."
"Did they take you by surprise?"
"No!" She answered, looking up at them. Being told she had not been alert, that she had not foreseen an attack was something she considered an insult and a grave offense. What made it even worse was that it was true. She was not expecting the attackers. "Just..."
=x=x=x= A DAY BEFORE THAT...
"I see no one," A Lucario said alertly, staring in every direction of the room. The dark, stone walls gave the place a depressing appearance. Everything was dark with the exception of an extremely small, bright blue stone that shone in the center of the room. It's beautiful, dazzling radiance shedding some light on the dark chamber they were on.
"This was a waste," she answered, "The elder was mistaken. Of course no one would come... Our strength can't be matched. Anyone with the slightest brains would know coming here is suicide."
"We should still be careful," another one to her right said, "The elder sent us here for a reason. You are foolish to be so confident, Helena."
In a sudden move and with no warning, the gold-furred one, called Helena grabbed the other one by both shoulders and flung him violently against the wall. This was not a fatal attack, but enough to leave him unconscious.
"Anyone who doubts our potential deserves death," She told him severely, "Be thankful I spared your little life. And next time, you will address me as your superior." Immediately, she turned to speak to the other one, who was still alert for anyone who might come. "Go see how things are on the bottom floors," She commanded, then turned to look at her unconscious subordinate again. "And have them send another one of us up here."
"Yes, Hele- I mean, Mistress. Right away." He replied, walking away.
"Jeez, that's one sharp-clawed puss!" A Flareon whispered from the shadows, watching her through a small crack on the wall, "I'm getting second thoughts here..."
"Hush!" Another one hissed lowly, "You want her to hear us?"
"You think she-" He stopped as he noticed her turn around and stare in the direction he was whispering from.
Hearing faint noises, Helena walked towards the cracked wall and stared at it. She raised her paw towards the wall and closed her eyes so she could sense if anyone was there.
"Oh, no..." The Flareon whispered.
"Guess it's time to act," A Third, far stronger-looking Flareon ordered, "Let's do this!" The moment he said this, he charged against the wall, knocking it down and making one surprised Helena fall to the ground, dazed by the wall that crumbled on her. Quickly he ran towards the stone and took it in his maw, then dashed away, followed by the other two.
Helena quickly got up and shook herself aware just in time to see the last of the Flareon run away through one doorway and the Lucario she had sent away, followed by another one walk in through the opposite way.
"What happened?" He asked as he hastily marched towards her, "And the stone?"
"Three Flareon took it and went that way," She angrily yelled back, "Go alert everyone! They can't be allowed to leave!"
"Yes, at once!" He said with a brief bow.
"Then GO!" She barked, pushing him towards the doorway. The second one ran after him, and Helena was left alone with the unconscious one in the room.
=x=x=x= PRESENT TIME
"They did take you by surprise," The elder told her, "your overconfidence was your downfall."
"They didn't!" she defended herself, "I was prepared for them the whole time!"
"Yet you allowed them to take the Lapis Stone and escape with it. To land their filthy paws and maws on it and take it away from the place where it has rested for three-hundred and twenty-seven years!"
"I was prepared to go after them," she replied, regaining her calm and bending her head again. "But others kept getting in my way... I decided to assume command and order from the back."
=x=x=x=
"Stop them!" She barked at a team of twelve Sneasel as they dashed away through the dark corridors, "They must not be allowed to take the stone!"
"We just lost twenty Sneasel, a Machoke and two of our own," The one from earlier told Helena, arriving to report the results of the chase, "What now?"
"Forget it!" She growled angrily, kicking away a Sneasel as he passed next to her, "If you want it done right..." She muttered, getting ready to take off in pursuit of the Flareon. Just as she started to run, however, the other one called her.
"Mistress! Captain Abel of the Weavile wants to know where he is to take his team!"
"To the very front!" She barked back, stopping to reply before taking off again.
"And Captain Stout of the Rhyperior?"
"To the front too!" She stopped again, "Send everyone to cover the front entrances and exits! Can't you do anything yourself?!"
=x=x=x=
"You mean you were not taking part of the chase from the front?" The one to the elder's right asked, perplexed. His question was followed by murmur from the crowd, especially the rest of the Lucario.
"I did not see a reason for me to," she answered, staring haltingly at him, "Four-hundred were enough to stop three Flareon..." She stopped to think about her words before adding, "...Or so I thought."
"Of those four-hundred, only fifty came back here. How many of our losses were the Flareon's doing, and how many were your own?"
"What?!"
"It is well known, general Helena, that you have no regard for the safety of those under your command. The one-hundred that perished so pointlessly can bear proof of that."
=x=x=x=
"They're trapped twenty floors above us," Helena's right-paw officer told her, "If you wish to hunt them, this is your chance."
"hmm... How is the fight?"
"Fourty more losses."
"Might as well..." She muttered before turning to look at him and speaking in a decisive, commanding tone, "Destroy the Pillar on that section."
"What?!" Helena's words came to him as a surprise. Did she really mean to give up all those lives just to stop them? If she was there, she might as well go chase them herself. "But, there are still about a hundred-"
"-Did you not hear my order?" She indifferently answered, not even bothering herself in looking at him.
"I... I won't do it." He retorted firmly, staring seriously at Helena, "They have a chance of victory. If we destroy that section, all will be lost."
"Fine," Helena replied calmly. However, the empty tone her voice took alerted him to the worst all-too-late. Before he could move away, he was grabbed and thrown off the window of the corridor by her, "If I want it done right..."
Outside of the large stone tower in the mountains, two more Flareon were lying as low against the grass as they could so they could avoid being spotted, waiting for the three that had venture inside to come out.
"Think they'll be fine?" The younger one asked, flattening himself even further against the tall grass and praying the cold morning fog managed to hide him. At least the majority of sentries would have a hard time spotting him, but that was the problem: The Lucario didn't rely on just their eyes to spot intruders. He was shivering both with the cold his natural warmth failed to push back and with the overwhelming excitement from his very first mission. It had been two days ago that he had evolved and he just couldn't hide how his mood as he experienced what the most hardened warriors simply called the 'old, familiar feeling'. Eyes glowing, he desired, deep down, to be seen just so he could have a taste of battle.
"Chief's no wimp, I'll tell you that much," The older one answered. Though he wasn't lying as low as his companion and he certainly sounded far more confident, he, too, couldn't help shivering. Unlike the pup, however, it was not his excitement or his wish to fight; it was his fear of being spotted, knowing how grave the thing they were trying to do was. If it was discovered it was the Flareon who tried to take the stone, it would be open war. And he, no matter how much he enjoyed being the one to claim the first kill of a battle, did not want that. He looked up at the tower under the grayish-blue morning sky to see a sudden bright flash emerge from it, dispelling the fog and horizontally sweeping across one part of the tower.
A crash was heard, and, almost sectioned off by magic, the tower fell sliced in half further down the mountain it was on.
"What was that?!" The little one claimed in awe, staring at the remaining half of the tower, still trying to process what just had happened.
"No idea... But if the chief's not back in two hours, we're skedaddling from here, got it?"
"Y-Yeah..."
"Get a group and go down there," Helena coldly commanded another Lucario as she grabbed him just when he was running towards the fight, right before she sectioned the tower off, that is, "Help whoever on our side that survived; finish off the Flareon if they did. Understood?"
"Y-Yes, General Helena!" Just as he was rushing off, however, she grabbed him again and violently pulled him back at her.
"And make no mistakes," She severely told him with eyes that seemed to burn in rage, "Your failure is my failure... And the punishment will not be something you'll enjoy."
"Yes, General!"
=x=x=x=
"As I said, they died for our cause. They should have felt honored to meet such an end." Helena's words were proud and uncaring. And, as expected, were immediately met with the chaotic jeering of the other species in the crowd, who had, until that moment, been silent. Her statement was an outrage, however, and was received as one.
"And, after all those deaths," The elder asked again, and again the crowd fell into a respectful silence, paying attention to every word he said, "Were you able to stop them?"
"The answer to that is obvious," Helena grunted, annoyed. She knew what they were doing: They were exposing and publicly shaming her just to punish her further, "Am I holding the stone? Am I being honored?"
"Certainly not." Right after those words, what came was expected: If the crowd's reaction to Helena's previous answer was outrageous, the one to this was far worse. It almost seemed as they would have to fight one another soon just to control the mood in the hall.
"You should be grateful that you are being spared death," the one to the elder's right spoke again, clearly pleased in her reaction to what he was putting her through, "which would be a suitable punishment for this failure, and even so falls short to what you deserve. But you can not expect to be spared a punishment either..."
"Leave us in silence," The one to the far left said, and the atmosphere seemed to become calmer. At least when it came to what the ear could sense; the pressure and mood in the hall were far more tense as the crowd kept in wait for what her punishment would be.
"I say she should be killed," one of them spoke as the five gathered behind their seats and discussed the fate of the proud general they had at their mercy.
"We need to give her one chance," The one that was at the far left spoke again, "She has done many things for us; her title and pride are things she earned."
"But she is much too proud..."
"Helena is the perfect tool," The Elder stated, "She is strong, fast, and certainly not narrow-minded. Crush the pride in the outside," He said, making a snap with his frail right paw, "And the miserable little remnant that is left will do whatever she is commanded."
"That's true," The one to his right added, "If we take away her privileges, she will do anything to recover them."
"And I assume this has nothing to do with your anger at her refusal to have you as a partner?" The one to the far left asked.
"Please! That was a long time ago. Let that bitch act all superior around someone who is willing to accept such abuse."
"Stay on topic, you two."
"I have decided," The elder suddenly said, ending any and all debates that could have emerged. With his raspy old voice, he continued, "Dire times approach if the stone is gone. We need to make an example of her so others will not do the same mistakes. Death? No. That is a final stage that spares all torment... What we will do, is take away what she loves the most. Whatever we will do with her, we will decide later... For now, let me dictate her punishment."
Helena just knelt there, keeping her head down and meditating on what happened. Had it really been her fault? Of course not. The other idiots who could not do their job properly were the only ones to blame. Even then, she could hear the murmur from some Pokémon in the crowd, and almost everything she could hear were insults to her or comments on the massacre she had done just to fail in her final goal. Just as she felt her patience thinning, she saw the five return to their places, and she knew what was coming: She would be punished to teach others not to ever become like her.
"General Helena," The elder said, "Your pride and the mistakes derived from it has cost us more than any other failure in our history! You are spared death... But you are no longer in command of any battalion!"
"What?!" Helena leapt back to a standing position, staring in disbelief at the aged canine. Had she seriously just been demoted? Perhaps not to something so low, or so she hoped.
"You are stripped of any and all command privileges..."
"You can't do-"
"You are to spend the next ten years incarcerated while you think about your deeds and their cost..."
"But who wi-"
"-And you will lose all your power."
That was all she would take.
"Old fool!" She barked at him, blue eyes radiant with hatred and frustration as a career she had spent her whole life building was torn down in mere seconds. She had no words to describe her feelings. If she didn't know she would be executed for sure, she would have leapt right at the elderly idiot and destroyed him. But what would doing so have earned her? "You can not do this! I shall go and depart in chase of the thieves!"
"You will not. " As he said this, he raised his paw and an odd blue glow enveloped Helena. Slowly, she felt as her very life, her strength was taken away from her. She tried to struggle desperately to escape the mystic holds she was kept in, but every last effort was vain. A moment later the glow ceased, and she fell, feeling exhausted beyond possible, on the ground.
"Take her to the prison," Was the last thing she could hear as her consciousness faded away.
...
It was nighttime. Helena could only be certain of this much as she saw the night sky from the small hole in the ceiling of her cell. But that was, indeed, all that she could be certain of. How low she had fallen... To not even be able to tell time. The last thing she thought when the elder said she'd lose her power was that she actually would. When she tried making even a small spark of her aura emerge, nothing happened.
How she had been disgraced... Back to the very bottom, taking orders from the ones shad once thrown and commanded around. She did not know if her humiliation or the torment that would follow her through the next years were worse. She lied down in hopes of letting time pass. What else could she do?
Just as she was giving up on her fate, the bars to her cell were sliced, and there she saw two more of her species: The Lucario that had been sitting to the far left, and the young one who never spoke a word.
"Get up," The older one told her, holding his paw out for her to pull herself up, which she rejected and did by herself.
"What?" She defiantly asked, "Come to kill me again?"
"No..." He silently answered, "We're getting you out."
"That's not allowed."
"Don't worry about what is, let's go."
Helena felt reluctant at first, but she then thought on the matter: which did she prefer? Being trapped in that cell for the next ten years? Or a chance at something else? She, of course, chose the latter.
"Let's go," he said as all three began walking away. As they did, they passed another Lucario and a pair of Machoke that had been knocked unconscious. Helena thought this must have been the doing of the two that were now walking her to an uncertain destination. Eventually, they reached an exit to the cave in which the prison was, located in the mountainside. The older one leapt and landed not too far down.
"Not much of a fall," He said, "Jump."
Helena did as she was told, but her jumping skills were no nowhere near decent. He had to hold her to prevent her from falling further down the mountain towards certain death. After the gold-furred female had made her jump, he looked back at the young one who was still in the cave and nodded, gesture the young one returned.
"Let's keep moving, Helena."
"That's General-"
"Not anymore," He shortly answered as he took her paw in his and guided her through the foggy mountainside, "And I suggest you save that for later."
...
"The General's failure should not be our concern," The elder told others who awaited his instructions right outside the opposite side of the mountain, "We must now focus our attention in stopping them from fulfilling the stone's purpose... The Overlord must not return!"
"The Overlord... One leader who instills confidence in those who fight for him and fear in those who oppose him... After what happened the last time, his return would be nothing less than chaotic..."Chapter End Notes:What does EJ mean? you'll have to wait to know ;
The large, dimly-lit hall was filled with the loud chattering and the more discrete murmur of the crowd that was gathered there. It was formed mainly of Sneasel, although there were others. Some Rhydon and Rhyperior stood out from the crowd, along with small groups of Machoke and Machamp standing in the corners to the side. In the very front of the crowds on either side, almost marking an aisle, stood the Lucario, heads held high. At the very end of that aisle were seated five more of the same species.
The one at the middle seemed to be the most aged of the five. His fur was a very dull shade of the blue that once shone on it, and his eyes, just like his fur, almost failed to show the maroon they once had. The others that were at his side seemed to be older than most, but not to such an extent, with the exception of one that looked as if he had just evolved from a Riolu. This one was obviously disturbed by the large crowd, with his ears tilted back slightly and his eyes half-closed.
All the noise, much to the young one's delight, ended when the oldest one raised his paw and spoke in his elderly, yet still firm voice:
"You may come forth now."
Almost immediately, all eyes were set on the one that began walking down the aisle towards the five. Another Lucario. Her feet made no noise even on the hard floor as she kept walking forward, standing as straight as she could with her head held high, blue eyes looking at the ones she approached, and staring in disdain at the crowd as she passed them. Anyone who knew her also knew this was a normal thing: She was pride incarnate. Her fur was the brightest gold anyone could imagine, and her build was that of someone extremely athletic. She was a warrior, after all.
She came to a stop in front of the one who summoned her. It was there that part of her pride seemed to vanish as she got down on one knee and bent her head down.
"Tell us what happened." The elder spoke.
"There were three of them," She replied in her raspy voice, "All three of them Flareon."
"Only three," The Lucario sitting at the elder's right said, focused on her.
"Were they too powerful?"
"Barely above average in their strength." She cuttingly answered, "Probably from some of the warrior tribes... As I was ordered to, I had my battalion give chase to them."
"Four-hundred of our finest were not able to catch them." Another one of the five said. "You failed to stop them..."
"Their incompetence is not my pro-"
"-But it was not their incompetence." The elder interrupted, "I'm told you, yourself failed to prevent their escape, personally. Worst of all, you sacrificed one-hundred of ours in a vain effort to seal them."
"They died for our cause."
"Did they take you by surprise?"
"No!" She answered, looking up at them. Being told she had not been alert, that she had not foreseen an attack was something she considered an insult and a grave offense. What made it even worse was that it was true. She was not expecting the attackers. "Just..."
=x=x=x= A DAY BEFORE THAT...
"I see no one," A Lucario said alertly, staring in every direction of the room. The dark, stone walls gave the place a depressing appearance. Everything was dark with the exception of an extremely small, bright blue stone that shone in the center of the room. It's beautiful, dazzling radiance shedding some light on the dark chamber they were on.
"This was a waste," she answered, "The elder was mistaken. Of course no one would come... Our strength can't be matched. Anyone with the slightest brains would know coming here is suicide."
"We should still be careful," another one to her right said, "The elder sent us here for a reason. You are foolish to be so confident, Helena."
In a sudden move and with no warning, the gold-furred one, called Helena grabbed the other one by both shoulders and flung him violently against the wall. This was not a fatal attack, but enough to leave him unconscious.
"Anyone who doubts our potential deserves death," She told him severely, "Be thankful I spared your little life. And next time, you will address me as your superior." Immediately, she turned to speak to the other one, who was still alert for anyone who might come. "Go see how things are on the bottom floors," She commanded, then turned to look at her unconscious subordinate again. "And have them send another one of us up here."
"Yes, Hele- I mean, Mistress. Right away." He replied, walking away.
"Jeez, that's one sharp-clawed puss!" A Flareon whispered from the shadows, watching her through a small crack on the wall, "I'm getting second thoughts here..."
"Hush!" Another one hissed lowly, "You want her to hear us?"
"You think she-" He stopped as he noticed her turn around and stare in the direction he was whispering from.
Hearing faint noises, Helena walked towards the cracked wall and stared at it. She raised her paw towards the wall and closed her eyes so she could sense if anyone was there.
"Oh, no..." The Flareon whispered.
"Guess it's time to act," A Third, far stronger-looking Flareon ordered, "Let's do this!" The moment he said this, he charged against the wall, knocking it down and making one surprised Helena fall to the ground, dazed by the wall that crumbled on her. Quickly he ran towards the stone and took it in his maw, then dashed away, followed by the other two.
Helena quickly got up and shook herself aware just in time to see the last of the Flareon run away through one doorway and the Lucario she had sent away, followed by another one walk in through the opposite way.
"What happened?" He asked as he hastily marched towards her, "And the stone?"
"Three Flareon took it and went that way," She angrily yelled back, "Go alert everyone! They can't be allowed to leave!"
"Yes, at once!" He said with a brief bow.
"Then GO!" She barked, pushing him towards the doorway. The second one ran after him, and Helena was left alone with the unconscious one in the room.
=x=x=x= PRESENT TIME
"They did take you by surprise," The elder told her, "your overconfidence was your downfall."
"They didn't!" she defended herself, "I was prepared for them the whole time!"
"Yet you allowed them to take the Lapis Stone and escape with it. To land their filthy paws and maws on it and take it away from the place where it has rested for three-hundred and twenty-seven years!"
"I was prepared to go after them," she replied, regaining her calm and bending her head again. "But others kept getting in my way... I decided to assume command and order from the back."
=x=x=x=
"Stop them!" She barked at a team of twelve Sneasel as they dashed away through the dark corridors, "They must not be allowed to take the stone!"
"We just lost twenty Sneasel, a Machoke and two of our own," The one from earlier told Helena, arriving to report the results of the chase, "What now?"
"Forget it!" She growled angrily, kicking away a Sneasel as he passed next to her, "If you want it done right..." She muttered, getting ready to take off in pursuit of the Flareon. Just as she started to run, however, the other one called her.
"Mistress! Captain Abel of the Weavile wants to know where he is to take his team!"
"To the very front!" She barked back, stopping to reply before taking off again.
"And Captain Stout of the Rhyperior?"
"To the front too!" She stopped again, "Send everyone to cover the front entrances and exits! Can't you do anything yourself?!"
=x=x=x=
"You mean you were not taking part of the chase from the front?" The one to the elder's right asked, perplexed. His question was followed by murmur from the crowd, especially the rest of the Lucario.
"I did not see a reason for me to," she answered, staring haltingly at him, "Four-hundred were enough to stop three Flareon..." She stopped to think about her words before adding, "...Or so I thought."
"Of those four-hundred, only fifty came back here. How many of our losses were the Flareon's doing, and how many were your own?"
"What?!"
"It is well known, general Helena, that you have no regard for the safety of those under your command. The one-hundred that perished so pointlessly can bear proof of that."
=x=x=x=
"They're trapped twenty floors above us," Helena's right-paw officer told her, "If you wish to hunt them, this is your chance."
"hmm... How is the fight?"
"Fourty more losses."
"Might as well..." She muttered before turning to look at him and speaking in a decisive, commanding tone, "Destroy the Pillar on that section."
"What?!" Helena's words came to him as a surprise. Did she really mean to give up all those lives just to stop them? If she was there, she might as well go chase them herself. "But, there are still about a hundred-"
"-Did you not hear my order?" She indifferently answered, not even bothering herself in looking at him.
"I... I won't do it." He retorted firmly, staring seriously at Helena, "They have a chance of victory. If we destroy that section, all will be lost."
"Fine," Helena replied calmly. However, the empty tone her voice took alerted him to the worst all-too-late. Before he could move away, he was grabbed and thrown off the window of the corridor by her, "If I want it done right..."
Outside of the large stone tower in the mountains, two more Flareon were lying as low against the grass as they could so they could avoid being spotted, waiting for the three that had venture inside to come out.
"Think they'll be fine?" The younger one asked, flattening himself even further against the tall grass and praying the cold morning fog managed to hide him. At least the majority of sentries would have a hard time spotting him, but that was the problem: The Lucario didn't rely on just their eyes to spot intruders. He was shivering both with the cold his natural warmth failed to push back and with the overwhelming excitement from his very first mission. It had been two days ago that he had evolved and he just couldn't hide how his mood as he experienced what the most hardened warriors simply called the 'old, familiar feeling'. Eyes glowing, he desired, deep down, to be seen just so he could have a taste of battle.
"Chief's no wimp, I'll tell you that much," The older one answered. Though he wasn't lying as low as his companion and he certainly sounded far more confident, he, too, couldn't help shivering. Unlike the pup, however, it was not his excitement or his wish to fight; it was his fear of being spotted, knowing how grave the thing they were trying to do was. If it was discovered it was the Flareon who tried to take the stone, it would be open war. And he, no matter how much he enjoyed being the one to claim the first kill of a battle, did not want that. He looked up at the tower under the grayish-blue morning sky to see a sudden bright flash emerge from it, dispelling the fog and horizontally sweeping across one part of the tower.
A crash was heard, and, almost sectioned off by magic, the tower fell sliced in half further down the mountain it was on.
"What was that?!" The little one claimed in awe, staring at the remaining half of the tower, still trying to process what just had happened.
"No idea... But if the chief's not back in two hours, we're skedaddling from here, got it?"
"Y-Yeah..."
"Get a group and go down there," Helena coldly commanded another Lucario as she grabbed him just when he was running towards the fight, right before she sectioned the tower off, that is, "Help whoever on our side that survived; finish off the Flareon if they did. Understood?"
"Y-Yes, General Helena!" Just as he was rushing off, however, she grabbed him again and violently pulled him back at her.
"And make no mistakes," She severely told him with eyes that seemed to burn in rage, "Your failure is my failure... And the punishment will not be something you'll enjoy."
"Yes, General!"
=x=x=x=
"As I said, they died for our cause. They should have felt honored to meet such an end." Helena's words were proud and uncaring. And, as expected, were immediately met with the chaotic jeering of the other species in the crowd, who had, until that moment, been silent. Her statement was an outrage, however, and was received as one.
"And, after all those deaths," The elder asked again, and again the crowd fell into a respectful silence, paying attention to every word he said, "Were you able to stop them?"
"The answer to that is obvious," Helena grunted, annoyed. She knew what they were doing: They were exposing and publicly shaming her just to punish her further, "Am I holding the stone? Am I being honored?"
"Certainly not." Right after those words, what came was expected: If the crowd's reaction to Helena's previous answer was outrageous, the one to this was far worse. It almost seemed as they would have to fight one another soon just to control the mood in the hall.
"You should be grateful that you are being spared death," the one to the elder's right spoke again, clearly pleased in her reaction to what he was putting her through, "which would be a suitable punishment for this failure, and even so falls short to what you deserve. But you can not expect to be spared a punishment either..."
"Leave us in silence," The one to the far left said, and the atmosphere seemed to become calmer. At least when it came to what the ear could sense; the pressure and mood in the hall were far more tense as the crowd kept in wait for what her punishment would be.
"I say she should be killed," one of them spoke as the five gathered behind their seats and discussed the fate of the proud general they had at their mercy.
"We need to give her one chance," The one that was at the far left spoke again, "She has done many things for us; her title and pride are things she earned."
"But she is much too proud..."
"Helena is the perfect tool," The Elder stated, "She is strong, fast, and certainly not narrow-minded. Crush the pride in the outside," He said, making a snap with his frail right paw, "And the miserable little remnant that is left will do whatever she is commanded."
"That's true," The one to his right added, "If we take away her privileges, she will do anything to recover them."
"And I assume this has nothing to do with your anger at her refusal to have you as a partner?" The one to the far left asked.
"Please! That was a long time ago. Let that bitch act all superior around someone who is willing to accept such abuse."
"Stay on topic, you two."
"I have decided," The elder suddenly said, ending any and all debates that could have emerged. With his raspy old voice, he continued, "Dire times approach if the stone is gone. We need to make an example of her so others will not do the same mistakes. Death? No. That is a final stage that spares all torment... What we will do, is take away what she loves the most. Whatever we will do with her, we will decide later... For now, let me dictate her punishment."
Helena just knelt there, keeping her head down and meditating on what happened. Had it really been her fault? Of course not. The other idiots who could not do their job properly were the only ones to blame. Even then, she could hear the murmur from some Pokémon in the crowd, and almost everything she could hear were insults to her or comments on the massacre she had done just to fail in her final goal. Just as she felt her patience thinning, she saw the five return to their places, and she knew what was coming: She would be punished to teach others not to ever become like her.
"General Helena," The elder said, "Your pride and the mistakes derived from it has cost us more than any other failure in our history! You are spared death... But you are no longer in command of any battalion!"
"What?!" Helena leapt back to a standing position, staring in disbelief at the aged canine. Had she seriously just been demoted? Perhaps not to something so low, or so she hoped.
"You are stripped of any and all command privileges..."
"You can't do-"
"You are to spend the next ten years incarcerated while you think about your deeds and their cost..."
"But who wi-"
"-And you will lose all your power."
That was all she would take.
"Old fool!" She barked at him, blue eyes radiant with hatred and frustration as a career she had spent her whole life building was torn down in mere seconds. She had no words to describe her feelings. If she didn't know she would be executed for sure, she would have leapt right at the elderly idiot and destroyed him. But what would doing so have earned her? "You can not do this! I shall go and depart in chase of the thieves!"
"You will not. " As he said this, he raised his paw and an odd blue glow enveloped Helena. Slowly, she felt as her very life, her strength was taken away from her. She tried to struggle desperately to escape the mystic holds she was kept in, but every last effort was vain. A moment later the glow ceased, and she fell, feeling exhausted beyond possible, on the ground.
"Take her to the prison," Was the last thing she could hear as her consciousness faded away.
...
It was nighttime. Helena could only be certain of this much as she saw the night sky from the small hole in the ceiling of her cell. But that was, indeed, all that she could be certain of. How low she had fallen... To not even be able to tell time. The last thing she thought when the elder said she'd lose her power was that she actually would. When she tried making even a small spark of her aura emerge, nothing happened.
How she had been disgraced... Back to the very bottom, taking orders from the ones shad once thrown and commanded around. She did not know if her humiliation or the torment that would follow her through the next years were worse. She lied down in hopes of letting time pass. What else could she do?
Just as she was giving up on her fate, the bars to her cell were sliced, and there she saw two more of her species: The Lucario that had been sitting to the far left, and the young one who never spoke a word.
"Get up," The older one told her, holding his paw out for her to pull herself up, which she rejected and did by herself.
"What?" She defiantly asked, "Come to kill me again?"
"No..." He silently answered, "We're getting you out."
"That's not allowed."
"Don't worry about what is, let's go."
Helena felt reluctant at first, but she then thought on the matter: which did she prefer? Being trapped in that cell for the next ten years? Or a chance at something else? She, of course, chose the latter.
"Let's go," he said as all three began walking away. As they did, they passed another Lucario and a pair of Machoke that had been knocked unconscious. Helena thought this must have been the doing of the two that were now walking her to an uncertain destination. Eventually, they reached an exit to the cave in which the prison was, located in the mountainside. The older one leapt and landed not too far down.
"Not much of a fall," He said, "Jump."
Helena did as she was told, but her jumping skills were no nowhere near decent. He had to hold her to prevent her from falling further down the mountain towards certain death. After the gold-furred female had made her jump, he looked back at the young one who was still in the cave and nodded, gesture the young one returned.
"Let's keep moving, Helena."
"That's General-"
"Not anymore," He shortly answered as he took her paw in his and guided her through the foggy mountainside, "And I suggest you save that for later."
...
"The General's failure should not be our concern," The elder told others who awaited his instructions right outside the opposite side of the mountain, "We must now focus our attention in stopping them from fulfilling the stone's purpose... The Overlord must not return!"
"The Overlord... One leader who instills confidence in those who fight for him and fear in those who oppose him... After what happened the last time, his return would be nothing less than chaotic..."Chapter End Notes:What does EJ mean? you'll have to wait to know ;