Chapter 50
Blake
I'm the last to exit the portal. We are all like zombies, dead and broken. We shouldn't be. We won the battle. However, we all know that we haven't won the war. We couldn't take Giratina's life. He deserved it. He deserved all the sorrow and pain and death Skyborne ever experienced. Yet, we couldn't do it. He looked so helpless and weak like a child. Giratina was not above murdering children, but we are. We will not stoop to such low levels. We are strong. We are better than him. We are Skyborne.
There is no point in moving from where we are right now. The others have already set up camp and the strong are tending to the injured. I look over to Dawn who sits next to April, cradling the Togekiss's cheek in her claws. Dawn is scratched up badly, but he acts like it's nothing. All she does is concentrate on April. I walk over to Dawn but she doesn't look up. "Will she be alright?" I ask. Dawn smiles a bit and breaks her gaze for the first time.
"They said she'll be fine. She will have a bad head injury or something, but, as far as they know, she'll wake up in an hour or two. I smile and nod. "I- I thought I lost her back when..." Her voice drowns into a whisper.
"Yeah. I know." We both sit in silence as a very baffled Rashi strolls on over to us.
"So. It was you three all along." Yep. I knew this was going to be smacked into our faces eventually.
"Yes, sir." I mutter. Torik rushes over to our side to defend us, but there is not much to defend. We made the choice to go and Torik was just ordered to help us along.
"I'm sorry, Rashi. No one could tell anyone else..."
"You knew, too?" Torik shifts from talon to talon under Rashi's disapproving glare.
"I'm sorry. I can't imagine how betrayed you must feel right now."
"Not just me, Torik." Rashi steps to the side and gestures with one his four short legs to the scene before us of hundreds of faces that all stare at us with depressed expressions. They want a formal answer as to what had happened in their group. What secrets have our "bonded" team hid from the rest? Torik exhales loudly and turns to us.
"Will you speak to them when April has regained conscience?"
"No need to wait." Dawn replies. Dawn supports April's back as she sits her up. April's eyes gleam into Dawn's.
"Mmm... my head hurts."
"I know, April. I know" The two of them look like they've known each other forever although we just met a matter of weeks ago. "Do you think you can talk?"
"Is that even a question, Dawn?" April giggles. Dawn lifts April in her arms with surprising ease and climbs up on to the pedestal with the footprint scripts that she had read so long ago. I follow her up and turn around to face the crowd. Everyone has fell silent. Only the wind still billows above us. I hear Dawn clear her throat. We have to do this. We can't mend the wounds that have been inflicted, but we can give them the truth.
"Everyone. We have something to say." Dawn begins. I hold my breath and wait. "We are the three sacrifices. We are the ones that Giratina wants. We are the ones that thousands of pokemon were murdered for." The crowd still doesn't say anything. I take a deep breath.
"We were rescued ten years ago. We lived among you and grew with you like normal soldiers." Out of the corner of my eye, I see April lift her head inside Dawn's arms. She is normally pretty big, but in April's curled position, it looks like she's still an innocent Togepi. But, she's much stronger now with a powerful will and love for others. I still can't believe how much she has changed in the past few weeks.
"We came here, where all of us are standing now, one week ago and found out the truth about us, why the war between the Wings of Legend and Skyborne ever occurred. When we returned home, we were told to stay in Skyborne while your team of warriors left to fight Giratina."
"But we didn't listen" Dawn chimes in. "We snuck out of Skyborne and joined you. It was a terrible mistake. We almost allowed Giratina to ultimately take over the world."
"We put everyone in danger. We want to formally apologize. We are sorry for everything we have done." My voice rings out like a bell and echoes through the huge crater Spear Pillar is in. The broken and the weak that watch silently before us make no movement, no sign of forgiveness. They may never forgive. The certainly won't forget. Never will we forget those that perished. However, even this entire battle wasn't enough. We didn't kill Giratina. Once he heals, he can just be at it once again. Even if it is not for many years or even centuries, the world isn't safe. Right now, apologies mean nothing. No one can give enough to the strong and powerful warriors that can mean anything.
The warriors are like frozen and depressed statues for the longest time. The only one that makes a move is Grayos from the middle of the crowd. He is being supported by Rashi. He limps as Rashi walks him towards the front. Pokemon separate and form a path for them. Grayos's gaze is fixed on the pedestal. At first, I think he wants to say something, but he kneels at the front of the pedestal and studies the inscription on it. He concentrates hard on it as if he is searching for some hidden message. I never knew he could read footprint script, but I guess a former leader of Skyborne probably should be able to. Without warning and as he is still studying the script he shouts, "Dawn, what did this pedestal say when you first came here?"
"I-it said that this was a sacred place for people and pokemon to come and worship the gods." She stammers. Grayos shakes his head in disbelief as he reads.
"It says now that this is the final resting place for Giratina..." Grayos whispers. I whisper something like an "oh". Grayos turns as much as his body is able to. "Warriors of Skyborne! Arceus has been the wind beneath our wings! He has heard our cries of battle and of plea! This war is over!" He turns back to the three of us with the widest grin I've ever seen and tears streaming down his face. "It's over..."
