Chapter XXVI: Telos

"... As of 05:13 today, Leodis has ceased to exist. The portal storm that has swallowed it ranks as one of the largest ever recorded in history.

Reports from nearby Civil Protection teams suggest that nearly 80% of the city has become a spatial anomaly, and is no longer able to support life. All access roads have been blocked and official death tolls revised as per protocol.

One positive note to be found is that a mere fraction of the city's approximately 34.000 inhabitants have survived. Numbering in the low dozens, they are unlikely to place a significant strain on the already critical refugee situation in the province.

Addendum: This is the fifth portal storm this week. The Senate will hold an emergency session to question His Majesty on the ultimate timetable of Benefactor support."

— Imperial Senate Report #289, 28 October 536 A.U.C.

Tantalus Valley

Flame had lost track of how many times he had lifted his eyes towards that two-toned sky.

Its subtle shift from a deep ocean blue to bright red-orange, not unlike that of his own scales, left his stomach in a warm buzz—yet every time, as he advanced on the same wide cobbled road, there was something missing.

"How…" Gaius wheezed behind him. "How much longer can a stupid road take?"

"Have faith, Gaius." Alice's reply came, betraying her own scrunched up eyes. "Once we reach our home, we shan't ever need to travel again. Just think…"

Home.

A tiny spark lit Flame's heavy eyes as he marched. A gentle breeze swayed the pine trees that grew along both sides of the wide cobbled road. Somewhere beyond those trees, at the end of this road, lay their new home. Home! The prospect filled his stomach with butterflies despite feeling so utterly unfamiliar to him. He'd lived in Camp Tempest, yes—but this was completely different. This was a home he'd chosen. Here, he could invent a new life for himself...

The anticipation pushed Flame to somehow march even faster. His feet ached painfully with every step, and he could barely feel his shoulder under his heavy bag—but he didn't stop, couldn't stop.

For the road inclined steeply uphill just ahead of them, clumps of weeds growing between the individual cobbles.

Flame held his breath. "Is this…" His grin slowly widened. "We're here… We're here!"

"L-like before?" Gaius grumbled.

"Come on!" Flame pushed his already brisk step into a quasi-sprint. "I think we'll see it from up here!"

"Wait—Flame!" Alice's cry came from behind. "Slow and steady, remember!? Not all of us have legs!"

It was only a few seconds before the uphill climb left Flame struggling for breath, and slowing down, but he gritted his teeth and kept taking one stride after the next.

"J-just watch," said Gaius behind him. "Watch us go the wrong direction like some dumbasses."

"It couldn't possibly be," Alice whispered back. "We're on the main road. The signage earlier promised we were close..."

Flame somehow didn't lose his grin, even as he heaved a terse sigh. "Gaius," he said. "I swear to the gods, if you shut up, I'll buy any drink you want when we're there."

A pause. "You…" Gaius' voice darkened. "You don't want that."

Flame immediately bit his lip, but before he could think of what to say, he reached the crest of the hill and beheld their final destination: the city of Thermae Himerae.

The great mesa took up half of the sky from where they stood. Its sheer granite walls towered hundreds of metres above their heads, and the only buildings Flame could see were made of pure white—two or three or even six-storey structures erected right on the mesa's edge, all glued together with little balconies with iron fences jutting out.

Above those thatched roofs he spotted a multi-coloured pallet of flyers lifting off and landing and circling above the city, each landing in turn. Even further beyond, only a single thin spire rising from deeper into the city, barely visible against the fiery glow of early sunset.

"We're here," Flame whispered, soaking in the sight. "After all we've been through…"

"By the gods…" Alice's mouth hung open. "It's even more beautiful than the encyclopaedias give it credit for!"

Flame ran his eyes over the colossal plateau again, then lowered them back to the road ahead. There were cultivated fields, and some sparse farmhouses near the base of the plateau. He thought he heard a rumbling noise somewhere close.

"It's just…" Flame lifted his eyes again. "How did they build that high?"

Gaius laughed in disbelief in between pants. "Freakin' magic, for all I care."

Smiling at that, Flame was about to reply when he realised that the rumbling had only grown closer.

An indistinct shout from behind jolted them all into reality; they scrambled off into the roadside just in time for the Rapidash-drawn wagons to pass them by one by one. With keen eyes, Flame watched the wagon convoy steadily gain distance on him and his teammates as it bounced and creaked on the road's cobbles. A Floatzel was leaning out of the rear wagon's back, looking at them curiously.

After several days spent in near-isolation—with only Gaius and Alice around him, besides the occasional feral—Flame felt the strangest sensation at locking eyes with another civilised pokémon.

"Would you look at that," said Gaius sarcastically. "Someone who's not trying to kill us, for once."

Flame laughed dryly. "Who knows, honestly?"

As he drew his eyes to the great mesa before them, he felt shivers running through his spine. He grinned; a sudden impetus seized him, and he shook Gaius' shoulder. "What are we waiting for? Come on!"

They resumed marching with a newfound spring in their step—or slither, in Alice's case. All this despite the tired look on their faces, despite the stiffness in Flame's legs,despite how hard he fought not to limp.

"Gods, I still can't believe we're here…" Alice said, eyes sparkling. "I'd always hear stories about this city, but to see it with my own eyes! Oh, Flame—do you recall what I said about Thermae Himerae?"

Flame paused to think. He did, in fact, remember a little. Something about this small Kingdom being separate from the Empire, and some thermal baths—but the sheer look on her face was contagious. Who was he to spoil her excitement?

"Not really, no." He barely suppressed a laugh.

"Mew, don't make her start…" Gaius grumbled, clawing at his face.

"It's unlike anywhere else on this continent." Alice said. "The Imperial Army spent centuries trying to annex the Himeran Kingdom in successive wars. Valley by valley the Empire took over its lands, but was never quite able to take the capital—for reasons I'm certain you can see."

The setting sun disappeared quickly behind the great mesa, and they were now in the city's shadow. Even in the penumbra, though, it was impossible to miss the many round impact craters that scarred the mesa's walls. Flame could only picture himself standing down here as a besieging soldier.

"Couldn't the Empire just starve them out?" he wondered aloud. "It's not like they can grow much food inside the walls."

"They certainly tried," Alice replied. "Once for five years. Alas, a crisis or another back home would inevitably force the Legions to pull back. Plus, the city's proved much more valuable as our commercial partner than a dominion."

Flame quirked an amused brow. "Our?"

Moments later, Alice blinked. "Oh. Correct." She looked off to the side. "Forgive me. I am… still getting used to the thought. Not being in the Empire anymore."

With an understanding nod, Flame turned his attention back to their surroundings. It was the last stretch of road to the base of the mesa. To either side of them were cultivated fields with neat rows of berry bushes; Flame peered between the plants and saw a family of Pansage and Simisage picking diligently into baskets. Further inside the fields were wooden shacks, and even a small house with cracked plaster.

"But…" He glanced up toward the sky. "I—I don't know, it still doesn't feel completely safe. Wouldn't there be officers and representatives from the Empire here?"

From the tail of his eye, Alice regarded him with a certain fondness. "You worry too much."

He closed his eyes. "It keeps me sane."

"You're incredible." Alice shook her head, holding back laughter. "The city nominally pays tribute to Urbe, but I've heard rumours that they've stopped doing even that. With the Scum on the offense, the Imperial Army's in no position to do anything about it."

Flame scowled immediately. "Yet they can spare the thirty-something 'mon to come after me…"

"Ah, to hell with 'em!" Gaius elbowed his flank, sporting a large grin. "They think they're so high and mighty. Well, guess what happened? We bloody played them, that's what. Those stuck-up pricks gave us a free ride!"

"I can't quite believe it myself." Alice chuckled. "The great Sycorax… fooled by some lowly outlaws."

"And a blast seed to the face," Flame added, sporting the tiniest self-satisfied grin.

"Lucky bastard." Gaius said as they walked. "Wish I could have done that."

Unable to help his smirk, Flame shrugged openly. "You win some, you lose some. Welcome to the real world."

Further ahead the wagon convoy had stopped between two sturdy-looking watch towers. Beyond those was the steep access path that snaked up and around the mesa wall. Flame stared curiously at the pokémon walking between the wagons and on the watchtower railings, before it finally dawned on him.

Flame halted, a hopeful smile growing on his cheeks. "Border guards." He uttered breathlessly, glancing towards Gaius and Alice. "They're border guards!"

The three of them shared a look of utter joy, their faces bathed in the faint orange glow of dusk.

Flame basked in the moment, before soon, his smile shrunk. "Er, what do we do now?"

Gaius blinked, frowning. "Don't look at me—I ain't the bookworm of this team." He glanced at Alice.

"Wh-what?" Alice shrunk back. "Do I look like I've applied for asylum before? I have no clue. I suppose we just… ask them."

Biting his lip, Flame turned to observe the border checkpoint. One of the guards, a Gigalith, spoke with the Rapidash while a Mightyena hopped out from the rear wagon's back. Up on the left watch tower, he saw a Blaziken eye them curiously. Surely they were outside of hearing range?

"Right," Flame hummed, his tail fire crackling behind him. "We'll tell them we're refugees from Aesernia. That the Scum destroyed our home, or… something of the sort."

Alice tilted her head. "Why not just tell them the truth?"

Flame averted his gaze, and rubbed his forearm. "I-I don't know, does an earthquake sound convincing enough? We are escaping from the war. It's not a complete lie."

Gaius crossed his arms. "If we're makin' up stories," he narrowed his eyes, "we better remember them. I get a feeling they'll want to know our whole lives."

"We don't have to change much, do we?" Flame asked, shrugging at them both. "We were Civil Protection. Surely they'll want those skills. Heck, we were technically in the Army for a few—"

"Gods, no!" Alice gasped, causing Flame to flinch. "Do you realise what they'd think if we told them of the Imperial Army? They'd realise we deserted! They'll kick us right out the door!"

Gaius, too, looked uncomfortable. "It… it ain't a good look, trust me."

With a small sigh, Flame crossed his arms in thought. We really should have thought of this beforehand, huh?

Standing a little straighter, he squinted at the guards on the watchtower. Telling lies was a fickle art. The three of them could not reveal the full truth of their escape—but nor could they make up stories without agreeing on a common narrative, first.

"We'll leave out the desertion, then." He declared. "... And the Teutonii. And the Praetorians. They'll never find out if we don't tell them, right?"

It was hardly a lie in the first place—chiefly one by omission. Plus a few corrections. If only they could get past the interviews...

Fists clenched, and with his chest puffed out, Flame turned to his teammates. "Let's run over this again: we came straight from Aesernia after the Scum attacked." He said, this time somewhat more forcefully. "That should be it. Right? Nothing else we need to change?"

A light, chilly breeze blew past them. Gaius nodded promptly. Alice looked less certain, but nodded regardless.

Gathering his courage, Flame glanced to the checkpoint again. The convoy had moved on, and the first wagons were already making their way onto the access path. Now, all the border guards were looking at them, both on the ground and the guard tower. He realised then that it had to look suspect to just be standing there.

He motioned with his head. "Let's go."

They began moving again, and Flame breathed deeply to calm his quivering heart, trepidation flooding his chest. Walk calmly. One step, then the next. He tried his best to look calm.

"Who's telling 'em?" whispered Gaius behind him.

After a moment of thought, Flame directed his eyes toward Alice. "Y-you're the better speaker," he told her with a sheepish smile as they approached.

Alice sighed, but bristled her ear wings nevertheless. "Well, if you put it like that…"

His chest tightened just looking at the guards before them. He counted two on the road—a Mightyena and a Kabutops, while a massive Gigalith by the tower's entrance rose slowly to full height—the gems on its body shining in the orange glow of dusk. On the guard tower were the Blaziken from earlier, and a Talonflame that had just landed.

"Halt," ordered the Mightyena with its gruff voice.

Team Phalanx stopped promptly in the middle of the road. Flame dug his heels in and reminded himself to breathe.

This is it, he thought. All these days of travel…

The Mightyena drew closer; then it ducked its head and sniffed around them for a few seconds, before grunting in recognition. "You're new here," it growled in a deep voice. "State your business."

Alice bowed her head slightly, and brought her tail tip to her chest. "We hail from the Empire, sir. We have lost our jobs and homes to the Scum, so—"

"—You're asylum-seekers?"

Flame blinked. Somehow, the question unsettled him. Seeing Alice in a similar state, he quickly interjected, "Uh—yes, sir."

"Hm." The Mightyena studied them all up and down individually. "Right. Of course you are."

Flame shared an uneasy glance with Gaius and Alice; the tension in their faces was unmistakable. He tried to send them a look of encouragement despite his own ragged breathing.

The guard looked back to its colleagues. The Kabutops behind it nodded, while the Gigalith merely stomped one leg down impatiently.

Then, the Mightyena smiled. "Welcome to Thermae Himerae."

Flame's ears were filled only by his own thumping heartbeat in the silence that followed. He stared blankly at the guard's smile, as if disbelieving in it, then met his teammate's gazes once more. A smile seized them all, and Flame laughed—a breathless, liberatory laugh.

"Thank you, sir…" whispered Alice, her voice trembling with joy. "Thank you so much…"

"Wh-whatever she just said," said Gaius, laughing as well.

The Mightyena kept smiling and nodded. "Follow me."

With that, it spun around towards the mesa wall, and the access path that rose before them. Team Phalanx wasted no time in following. The Kabutops guard stood aside and waved them away with a scythe, while the Gigalith wished them something with a deep, grating voice.

Flame looked up as they walked, looked far above them, at the unclimbable mesa walls. Was this all a dream? Was this really happening?

"If this actually works, Flame," murmured Gaius, his voice wavering with excitement, "I'm buying you those drinks. Screw it—I'll buy anything you want."

Flame laughed and gave Gaius a tired smile. "Some bread and cheese would be nice."

"Are you joking, Flame?" Alice asked excitedly. "Bread and cheese? We'll be able to afford truffles and wine soon!"

Speechless, he merely shrugged. "It would be a start."

As the Mightyena led them up the dusty, steep access path, Flame felt his head gravitate towards the open valley.

The dying sun bathed the distant mountaintops in a bright heavenly orange, while dark clouds hovered menacingly just beyond. Despite that, Flame couldn't help but feel at peace.

By his side, Gaius scrunched up his face. "… The hell's a truffle?"

Thermae Himerae

The city gates had been less impressive than the city's grand location suggested—heavy wooden doors carved amidst featureless walls and devoid of engravings.

Likewise, Flame's first steps within Thermae Himerae revealed quaint little unpaved streets flanked by houses made mostly of white stone. They rose to two, three, even six storeys, with wooden linings and thatched roofs.

The Mightyena led him, Gaius, and Alice through the city's soulless streets; there was only a Quilava, scurrying from doorfront to doorfront to ignite lanterns against the encroaching darkness.

"I think I like it already." Flame looked around, smiling. "The mountains, the fresh air… I don't know why, but it… feels right."

The Mightyena guard shot back an amused glance, but said nothing.

"That's our dragon instinct kicking in," Alice said. "Plus, look at the pavement: not a single drop of grime. Not a single one!"

"No Scum, even," Gaius added, shooting Flame a tiny smirk.

Flame's stomach dropped a little. Unsure how to take that, he brought his attention back to the streets and houses around them. They were beginning to feel… wrong, somehow.

Soon they emerged into a wider avenue, and it was then that Flame figured out why. The further they went along, the more houses diverged completely from the cosy white stone and thatched roof: some kept that design for the bottom floors but had storeys of radically different looks stacked on top, often with exposed brickwork or oversized balconies that turned entire buildings into chimeras. All the scaffolding, too…

After some more twists and turns through narrow alleys, they arrived at the edges of a wide city square. It was surrounded by more chimeric houses and dominated by a long, stone building with a tower rising from its centre—but neither of those were what had captured Flame's attention.

It was the sheer number of tents.

They infested every corner of the square, from the pavement to the flowerbeds to the steps of the tower building, to a few branching streets on the complete opposite end. Flame tried and failed to estimate a number. All around he saw pokémon loitering outside of their tents—some eating, some singing, some sat around a lantern playing cards, others yet visible only as outlines inside dimly-lit tents.

Are they like us?

Flame shared a worried glance with Gaius and Alice. He was at a loss of words. After a brief moment, he could see that they were, too. Yet none of them raised the questions on their mind with their Mightyena escort.

They followed the guard along the edge of the square-turned-encampment—drawing the eye of many of its inhabitants along the way—until they were at the steps of the fancy marble building, in one of the few spaces not already occupied by tents or pokémon.

There, the Mightyena stopped suddenly, and turned to address them. "No tents left for now. Sorry."

"Tents?" Gaius' face scrunched slightly. "Why tents?"

"So you can wait here. Someone will come to process you."

"Oh." Flame cast a wary glance at the ocean of pokémon camped out in the square with them. His shoulders dropped at the sight.

"How long might that take, sir?" Alice asked, looking similarly worried.

The guard hesitated, then shook its head. "I… can't help you with that."

"That—that's okay." Flame stood straighter, smiling. "We'll wait. As long as we have to."

"Thank you, good sir," Alice whispered, and bowed her head slightly. "We won't forget it."

"Yeah," Gaius added.

The Mightyena merely nodded curtly and trotted back the way they'd come.

And there Flame, Gaius and Alice stood, alone with each other—alone under the waning sunlight, alone despite the hundreds of pokémon camped in the square with them.

For a while they stood there, almost dazed, until Flame felt the adrenaline of his excitement peter off, and the effort of an entire day's march came crashing down on him. He plopped himself down on the cold stone tiles of the square with a grunt, as did Gaius and Alice.

Gaius glanced around as he mindlessly nursed his stump. "Looks like your secret plan leaked halfway across the Empire, Flame."

"Who would have thought?" Flame unslung his bag, panting slightly.

He struggled to find a part of him that didn't hurt. Yet underneath the exhaustion, as his eyes wandered up to the marble building at the top of the stairs, Flame could barely hold back tears of joy. Its central tower rose proud below the starry night sky. Out of its many windows only a handful were lit.

"We're here…" Flame whispered, and a huge smile spread on his face. "We're finally here!"

"Y-yes," Alice said weakly. "We are. Let's pray we won't have to wait for long…"

Flame laughed at that, his eyes still cast upwards at the marble tower. "Ah, who cares about that? We're home, Alice!" He hugged his bag without knowing why. "I… I wasn't even sure if this place existed a few hours ago. Now…"

His heart fluttered, his tail fire brimmed with joy, yet his teammates said nothing.

Flame frowned, and brought his eyes back down. "Guys?"

Heavy wind buffeted his scales. He heard them both hiss before he turned to catch the pained look on their face, with Gaius hugging himself and Alice wound tight in a coil, trying to bury her nose beneath her middle.

"C-cold…" she whispered.

Flame smiled sheepishly at the sight, before suppressing it upon realising how insensitive it must have looked. Of course they'd be more sensitive to the sudden gale.

He quickly shuffled to sit between them, to brush his sides with theirs. "Sorry. I didn't realise."

"B-brag again," Alice laughed breathlessly, "and I swear to all that's holy, I'll… I'll Water Pulse you."

Flame's expression turned serious. "I wasn't bragging."

"Don't lie." Alice forced a wry, trembling smile onto her face. "You l-like seeing us like this. All helpless, begging you to keep us warm…"

Flame couldn't quite find it in him to laugh, but at least she still had some humour left in her.

Gaius grunted. "Get serious, you two." The Grovyle had his bag in his lap, fishing through its contents furiously as his face scrunched up. "D-damn it, where's the blanket?"

"I have it." Flame quickly fished out the woollen blanket from his own bag—only for Gaius to snatch it from his claws before he could even turn.

"Oh, sweet mother of Mew…" Gaius closed his eyes and hugged the wrinkled cloth. Alice drew closer too, looking on with expectant eyes.

Flame let his claw hang in the air for a moment. He considered dropping it out of sheer pity—but he had to keep them both warm.

It took hardly any force to snatch the blanket from Gaius' weak grasp. Scooting in between his teammates, he threw the wide blanket behind him and across their shoulders, letting it crumple until only their heads remained exposed.

"Better?" He glanced between the two.

Judging by the way they both leaned against him, with Gaius' good hand squeezing his tail and Alice's head on his shoulder, indeed it was. The stone they sat on was cold, too, but that would at least change with time.

Virtually all the other pokémon in their immediate vicinity had retreated to their tents, save for a band of Sneasel that looked undeterred.

Gaius let out an ill-defined groan. "Of all the places to go for asylum…" he grumbled. "We could have gone to some nice, hot beach somewhere. Relax on an island. No—we just had to choose the coldest mountain city in the world."

With a terse sigh, he clasped the blanket's hems tighter. "So weird... It feels like we're in Camp Tempest again."

"At the very least," Alice said weakly, "we don't have Ariel shouting in our ears anymore."

Flame snorted, cracking a smirk. "Thanks, Alice. I was trying to forget about her."

"You say that," Alice grinned, "but you only knew her for two weeks. Try two years."

Gaius grumbled. "Just thinkin' about her voice…"

Flame turned his eyes up towards the starry night. He had only met Ariel a handful of times, yet more than enough to make him hate the thought of her. And her voice, too. Definitely her voice.

"Oh, no, I won't miss her at all." Alice paused. "Still, I do wonder what she's doing now…"

"I don't," mumbled Gaius. "Screw her. She's crying in her villa is my guess."

"What a fitting end, huh?" Alice whispered. "Commander of a dead Task Force, and Governor of a city in ruins."

Flame cracked up at that. Then he remembered the moment the earthquake had struck—the collapsing roofs, all the proles breaking through windows to escape—and the sight of rubble flowing into the streets, and his smile faded.

With a tiny sigh, Flame shut his eyes and focused on his teammate's presence. He hoped Aesernia was being rebuilt. The city might have been squalid, but it didn't sever the connection he felt to it. Perhaps, one day, he would get to see it again…

"You know," his whisper broke the silence, "I think I'll miss Aesernia."

"That dump?" Gaius furrowed his brow. "Really?"

"I know, I know." He lowered his eyes. "It was a hard life, and I don't have many good memories in it. But… I, I don't know—I guess it's the only place I have memories of. The only home I've had…"

"Not for much longer," Alice whispered from his shoulder.

A new warmth coarsed through Flame at those words. Similarly, a new gust of wind blew through the square and shook the tents around them, just as a Kadabra with a clipboard interrupted a group of ice-types just a few tents over.

The breeze must have also seeped into their blanket, for Gaius practically yanked his tail into his own lap, while Alice coiled slightly around his leg. Flame did his best to rub both of his teammates with his claws, but it didn't stop them from shivering a little.

"We are now processing the last applications for the night!" yelled a Kangaskhan from atop the marble stairs. "Those of you waiting to be processed, please camp in front of the steps!"

Alice shifted uncomfortably under the blanket. "I suppose we're sleeping here tonight, then."

Flame lowered his eyes to the pavement, struggling to keep them open. "Good. I'm too tired to deal with some… interview. I'd say we deserve the rest."

Finding silent assent in his teammate's eyes, Flame lay down on his stomach and brought both Alice, Gaius, and the blanket over them on the ground.

The stone tiles felt cold against his belly, and he could only pray that they were as clean as the rest of the city's streets had been. When his teammates snuggled against him, though, the sheer glee swept all those thoughts away.

Gaius blew a sigh against his neck. "Look at me, sleeping like this again…" He smiled somberly. "Guess life is just one big circle."

Flame was about to reach out for his bag when he froze, and frowned at the Grovyle. "You've slept in the streets?"

Gaius kept his eyes shut. "Before Civil Protection, yeah."

Flame felt strangely empty at that. Perhaps it was his exhaustion, or the emptiness in his stomach, or perhaps it was the creeping sensation of familiarity he too felt, somehow, sat there in the open under the night sky.

As he stared down at the palm of his hand, a sudden surge of determination hit him. He clenched his claws into a fist.

You won't have to anymore. Flame looked to Gaius again. This will be the last night we spend on the streets. I promise.

Thus his teammates fell silent. Though he couldn't hear their snoring, Flame knew sleep was just around the corner; he could feel it too, weighing on his chest.

With a soft smile, Flame dragged his bag closer. His claws settled around something round and solid, and he froze.

The badge.

He'd forgotten again, hadn't he? Heat flared in his stomach. All that self-lecturing about letting go of his past, and he still couldn't let go of one badge? It was idiotic. Childish. Contacting the Scum now would only bring him more pain.

… Yet oblivion's allure proved too strong. With a loud yawn, Flame rested his cheek on his bag and resolved to toss the badge away in the morning. Already he could feel himself drawn away…

"… last group of the night."

Above the general background chatter of the square, however, there was one voice in particular that lured him away from sleep. A young, masculine voice. Approaching ever closer.

"Honest, I wish we could just drop the formality and—" The voice paused abruptly. "Sweet mother of Mew, is that a Dragonair?"

"Dragon-what?" huffed a second, feminine voice.

Flame stirred, poking one eye open. What greeted him was the sight of a Togekiss and a Granbull with a clipboard under its arm, facing each other.

"Dragonair." The Togekiss covered his mouth with his wing. "You've seriously never heard of one?"

"Uh…" The Granbull looked lost suddenly. "Am I supposed to?"

As they spoke, Flame raised his head to squint at the odd duo that had stopped before them. Beside him Gaius grumbled profanities, and when Alice's snout poked out from beneath the blanket, Flame exchanged a puzzled look with her.

"Wha—of course you're supposed to!" The Togekiss said. "They're some of the toughest dragons to exist!"

"Are you sure about that?" The Granbull glanced towards them. "'Cause… I dunno, it looks more like a water-type to me."

Beside him, Alice's face contorted in a strange mix of confusion and indignation. "I'm right here!"

Her reaction sent Flame into a giggling fit that he covered up with his claws. Alice merely threw the blanket off her head and blasted him with a glare that only made him chuckle more.

Even Gaius was starting to look more amused than annoyed.

"Oh, uh—sorry about that." The Granbull looked down at her clipboard, then back at them. "We definitely haven't processed you three. For the record, when did you arrive?"

Flame stared at her blankly. "… Just now."

"Lucky!" The Togekiss smiled. "Come with us, then. We'll get your application processed."

Flame's heart fluttered. All tiredness suddenly sucked out of his bones, he stared between the two with wide eyes. "A-already?"

The Granbull stopped writing to send him a look. "Why, is that a problem?"

Flame did not answer right away. Instead, he shared an incredulous smile with Gaius and Alice. Inside, he wondered when exactly this long day would grant him rest.

The Bisharp's eyes lit up from behind its desk as it saw them enter.

They held a brief flash of surprise that prompted Flame to pause at the doorway, Gaius and Alice in tow. The flash was gone in a second, though—replaced by a courteous smile that gleamed in the dim candle light.

"Welcome!" The feminine-sounding Bisharp gestured in front of her. "Please, take a seat."

Flame nodded warily. The room was lined with bookshelves and lit only by a candle on the wooden desk, and as he advanced, the cleanliness of the wood floor only made Flame more conscious of just how grimy his claws and feet all were.

Still, the Bisharp said nothing.

He took one of the seats, with Gaius taking another, while Alice merely coiled up in between them. He tried to send a reassuring smile when he saw her embarrassment, but he was fairly sure that it had only made her flush redder.

Nevertheless, he too turned back to their interrogator, fiddling his claws together in his lap.

As she watched them, the Bisharp smiled again. "Is something the matter? You all look surprised."

"What?" Flame perked up. "Oh no, no. We just…" He looked off to the side.

"We simply expected to wait longer," Alice spoke up. "S-seeing all the pokémon outside."

"Not like we're complaining, though," Gaius shrugged.

"Well said." The Bisharp stood up from her seat, still smiling, hands clasped behind her back. "Firstly, I must congratulate you for reaching our humble Kingdom. I can only imagine what trials and horrors you must have faced before coming here." She shut her eyes. "And while it pains me to bring those memories back to mind, I must inquire for the sake of process."

Flame nodded, despite his heart beginning to race.

The Bisharp inspected each of them in turn. Flame could read nothing beneath those stern eyes "Let me start with a simple question," she said. "Why are you here?"

"We hail from Aesernia, ma'am." Alice bowed her head slightly. "The Scum have taken everything we once had. Our homes, our colleagues in Civil Protection." She shut her eyes for a moment. "When we ran, their hordes had reached the outskirts of the city. We wish only to escape the war, and live in peace."

The Bisharp stood silent for several moments in visible contemplation, moments in which Flame twiddled his claws together endlessly. Gaius and Alice too sat tense, as if awaiting higher judgment.

"I see." The Bisharp finally said, her voice quiet. "That story has become far too common for my ears. You are not the first to come here from Aesernia."

Flame expelled a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. His tail fire simmering behind him. It had probably helped that only a small portion of what he'd said was a lie—one by omission, at that. Their history in the Imperial Army had been brief and unceremonious, and nobody needed to learn it.

"What are your names?"

The question made Flame pause. He bit his lip and glanced to his teammates; perhaps it wasn't wise to give their real na—

"Alice."

"Gaius."

Flame sighed internally. There's that question solved. He almost considered saying 'Cornelius', but decided to trust in his companions' judgment.

"Flame."

A tiny smirk settled on the Bisharp's face. "How funny." She leaned forward, elbows against the desk and hands clasped together. "Because just this morning, our embassy in Urbe received a wanted notice for three pokémon of the exact same species as you. A certain… Flame, and a Gaius. No name for the Dragonair."

Flame could almost hear his heart drop in the silence that followed. His tail flame shrunk, just as the colour drained from Gaius and Alice's face. He curled his claws into fists to stop them from trembling, but even that failed to stop the dread flooding into his chest.

"Th-there's gotta be a mistake," Gaius piped up. "We ain't—er, I mean, we're not—"

Laughing, their interrogator raised a hand to stop him. "Don't worry. I could care less if Urbe is after you three."

"O-oh." Flame released a nervous chuckle.

The Bisharp sat back down. "… That is, of course, unless you're wanted for a serious crime. So," the Bisharp sat back down and leaned forward, "would you be so kind as to elaborate?"

Flame swallowed back the relief, eyes darting around. What could they say? He had a feeling they wouldn't take too kindly to the news that he was an interdimensional half-Scum. It wasn't like he could tell them about their desertion, either!

Yet Gaius was frozen in indecision. Alice wasn't even looking ahead. With mere seconds to think, Flame fished desperately for the first event that came to mind.

"W-we stole food from the city market," he blurted out before thinking, pausing only to gauge the Bisharp's reaction. "We didn't want to do it, but… food prices had gone up, and, and we needed supplies to make the journey here…"

Gaius finally caught on after a moment. "We ain't thieves. Not normally. We just wanna make an honest living."

Alice fluttered her head wings and nodded eagerly.

With a somewhat amused smile, their interrogator looked at them all. "You seem sincere." She grabbed a feather and struck something from the paper in front of her. "So long as you're not murderers or callous criminals, that little detail will have no bearing on your applications."

Flame expelled a big sigh of relief, laughing to relieve some of the tension. "Th-thanks. Thank you."

"Yeah," Gaius added.

Alice merely let her relief speak for her.

The Bisharp looked them all in the eye in turn. "Us Himerans are a welcoming people; however, you must be prepared to fulfil your duties to the city. Firstly, there is the matter of citizenship. Obtaining asylum here would mean—"

"—Renouncing our Imperial citizenship for good," finished Alice, staring straight into her eyes. "That is a consequence we're prepared to face."

Their interrogator stared cryptically at Alice, as did Flame. Was interrupting their interviewer like that a good idea?

"Impressive," the Bisharp muttered. "I see you're quite well-educated, Dragonair. Not many know of our laws when they arrive here from the Empire."

"Thank you, ma'am." Alice bowed her head again. "I have studied this city's laws and history rather extensively. I… hope that can be of use, somehow."

The Bisharp stared at her for a moment. "Is that so?" With a small hum, she turned to him. "Grovyle, Charmeleon: do you also understand the implications for your citizenship?"

Flame hesitated for a moment, then nodded. He had no intention of going back to the Empire. Perhaps to visit, one day, to explore the world—but that would come later. Much, much later.

What he needed, first, was a home.

"Very well. I won't have to explain that to you." The Bisharp then stood up from her seat. "There is… another matter, as well."

Of course there is, Flame wanted to say.

The Bisharp stepped towards her office's window, and the night sky outside. "You three, more than anyone else, know what menace the Scum represent to this world. The city is well-fortified, but our walls and our mountain could never hold off their entire horde. If even one Scum got inside the walls…"

Flame suppressed a nervous titter.

Then the Bisharp turned to them again. She stood as straight as ever, hands clasped behind her back. "Once your application is approved, you will be enlisted in the City Guard for a period of two years. It's the price you must pay for asylum."

The disappointment hit Flame before he could even feel his shoulders sag.

Alice shifted in her coils. "And… what exactly would that service entail?"

"Keeping patrols outside our city. Manning border posts at the entrance. Helping with construction work, escorting merchant convoys—you won't find it too different from your previous job." A kind smile returned to the Bisharp's face. "In return, you will be provided housing, as well as a reduced salary."

Flame lowered his eyes to his lap as he processed everything, trying to ward off the dread encroaching upon his stomach.

Despair was the emotion to come out on top. This wasn't what they'd come here for. An apartment and meagre pay in exchange for joining yet another army? Had they not come here to escape the war in its entirety?

And yet, another part of him whispered that maybe… just maybe, it would be different this time.

No—of course it was going to be different! These people weren't going on the offense. There would be no field battle on the level he'd witnessed outside of Aesernia—no fighting except if the city itself came under attack.

A small, tentative smile found its way onto his snout. If this job was so similar to Civil Protection, then perhaps it was no army in the first place. The city had no stakes in the war, either. It was too far outside the Empire's grasp and too far removed from the Benefactors' plans for Daedalus to attack.

In was far from a safe bet, but… these were the best odds he'd had in

Gripping the armrests of his chair, Flame finally allowed himself to smile. "We'll do it." He raised his eyes to meet their interviewer's. "If it means we can start a new life here, we'll do it."

"A house?" half-whispered Gaius. "An actual house? Hell, I'd scrub the floors for two years for that…"

A subtle smirk crept onto the Bisharp's face. "I'm sure something could be arranged."

Both Flame and Alice laughed softly at that, to which Gaius rolled his eyes and pretended to look away.

However, their interviewer's smile soon turned into concern. "Jokes aside. I don't enjoy singling anyone out, Grovyle, but…"

Gaius scowled. "I know where you're going." He raised his stump and feigned a slash with the leaf blade still attached to his wrist. "Hand or no hand, I can still slice stuff with these. Or climb, or cut wood for construction, or cut—ah, I don't know, heads if you want. Or are you just gonna to pity me—the poor cripple?"

Flame sucked in a stifled breath, eyes wide.

"Gaius!" Alice hissed under her breath.

Yet the Bisharp waved her off. "Keep the spirit, Grovyle. It'll serve you well." She jotted something down on her paper.

For what felt like the hundreth time that day, Flame released a shaky sigh of relief. If they made it through the interview in one piece, he was going to celebrate. The drink-himself-to-sleep kind of celebrate. That, or…

Flame squinted. Hmmm…

"Pssst, Alice," he leaned close to her. "Still up for those thermal baths?"

She covered her giggling with her tail. "I thought you were scared of water now," she whispered back.

He shrugged. "Frankly, I couldn't care less anymore."

"Why, I think we're almost done here!" The Bisharp smiled widely. "Your unit and housing will be decided soon. Let's see… Ah, of course. There is… one last matter to resolve. More of a curiosity of mine, really."

Flame frowned in puzzlement, for their interviewer now eyed Alice with a certain interest.

"Because, you see," the Bisharp leaned forward on her elbows, "from the very moment you came in here, Dragonair, I've felt this unmistakable sensation of… familiarity. As if I've seen you many times before."

Alice shifted ever so slightly in her coils. "Is that so?" She laughed. "That's unlikely. Unless you've been in Aesernia recently."

"Yet you yourself are not from Aesernia."

"C-correct." She drooped her head wings. "I was raised in Urbe. That's where my family hails from. We moved to Aesernia a number years ago."

Their interrogator stared at Alice for a moment, retreating into thought. "That much was obvious. Your accent and your tone definitely aren't northern. Not to mention the fact you've been educated."

"Hey!" Gaius crossed his arms, yet neither their interviewer nor Alice seemed to hear.

Flame continued to glance between them both, and as he did, a tension gripped his chest. There! There was that glint in their interrogator's eyes…

"I'm not sure about you, but I find your situation quite interesting." The Bisharp cupped her hands together. "Especially since I don't remember there being any Dragonite families in Urbe."

"I guarantee you, there are some." The tension on Alice's face was obvious despite her forced smile. "Especially in the Prati quarter—where my family hails from. You have clearly never been to Urbe! N-no offence."

"None taken," the Bisharp replied. "... If it weren't for the fact that before my current job, I used to act as the Imperial legate for our humble city-state. Right in the heart of Urbe."

"Y-you are mistaken, then."

With each passing second Flame shrunk back into his chair, right alongside his tail fire. He didn't understand. Didn't Alice hail from a family of Urbe noblemon? She never spoke much about them but—he was certain she'd told him that. What were they even arguing over?

"For three years I resided in the Eternal City. Not one family of your line." There was a glint in the Bisharp's narrowed eyes. "Except, of course…"

Alice was practically squirming. "I d-don't quite understand where you're taking this line of questioning."

Their interrogator leaned forward over her desk. "I think you know, miss Alice…" Her voice was down to a whisper. "Sis felicior Augusto, melior…"

Alice said nothing. Not only that—Flame noticed with alarm that she wasn't breathing at all, somehow even more paralysed than he was.

A look of dread climbed their interrogator's face. "No…"

Then, she rose. In the utter silence that had settled she walked around the desk, each step a metallic tap on the wooden floorboards, until she stood before Alice and could grasp her chin with a rough hand.

Her eyes were wide, almost scared as she gripped Alice's lower jaw and tilted her head up.

Even then Alice did nothing—said nothing.

Flame gripped his chair and growled at their interviewer, yet she wasn't paying him any attention.

She was breathing heavily and staring right down at a shaking Alice. "It can't be," she whispered. "You have… his eyes…"

And for an infinitesimal moment, the Bisharp herself looked terrified. With a spasm of her hand she let go of Alice, stepping back, and covering her own mouth. "You're Adrian's daughter." A frail, terrified whisper.

Adrian? Flame's blood froze in his veins. What Adrian? Who's—

"Guards!" cried the Bisharp.

Five burly pokémon burst into the room; Flame could barely jump off his chair in fright before a Lycanroc set its eyes on him and charged. In a split heartbeat he dove to the side, barely escaping the Lycanroc's lunge and landing painfully on his arm.

Regardless, he bit back a moan and shot to his wobbly feet. He tried whirling around but instead found himself wrestling with a different 'mon—a Sceptile—whose fiery glare made his heart jump. Flame planted his feet and pushed back with all his strength, but the Sceptile had him by the wrists!

They fought back and forth for several seconds, with Flame's snarl growing in intensity as he vaguely heard his teammate's cries of distress—but the Sceptile was simply too strong. It slammed him to the ground with ease, planted a knee on his stomach and a leaf blade to his throat.

"DOWN!"

Surrendering to instinct, Flame shut his eyes and vomited out the heat at the back of his throat. The flames instantly engulfed the Sceptile. It screamed yet Flame still kept up his torrent of fire, until he sent the grass-type shrieking and backing into a wall as the flames clung to its body.

Gasping for air, and hurting all over, Flame rolled onto his stomach to stand up—only for a swift Lycanroc kick to connect with his forehead.

His world exploded with pain. He could vaguely feel himself flying against a wall, then rolling to a stop, then a sudden weight being pressed against his stomach as a dull ringing engulfed everything.

At some point, he felt his senses slowly returning. He was once aware of being sprawled out on the hard wood floor, his head cocked forcibly to one side. He let out an amorphous groan, but when he tried moving it, he became aware of a set of claws poking at the base of his neck—the Lycanroc was kneeling on his chest.

Biting back tears, and gasping for air, Flame gathered what shreds of strength he had left to tilt his eyes to his teammates. Gaius was on the ground just a stone's throw away, still thrashing about despite the best attempts of the Golduck and Fraxure who held him down.

Gaius growled. "Let go, you... mudslinging barbarian—!"

Yet what sent his heart into overdrive was seeing Alice completely limp on the floor, sobbing openly under the firm hold of a kneeling Blaziken guard.

"No, no, no-o-o!" Alice sobbed openly from the ground, a sound that deeply terrified Flame. "Stop! Please! Why are you doing this?!"

Eyes still wide, the Bisharp backed away and grasped the edge of her desk. "I'm sorry." She shook her head slowly. "I'm so sorry, but this is madness. Letting in fugitives is one thing; but the Emperor's daughter?"

Flame had wanted to cry out, to try something—anything—as their only hope for a future disintegrated before him.

Instead, his heart stopped.

"What?" He scowled, and sucked a shaky breath. "Wh-what the hell are you talking about?! She's not…"

He slowly turned to Alice. She set her white face to him, passive, like a helpless animal. Etched onto her snout was nothing but tears and utter shame.

Flame held his breath. He stared in hopes that she would deny everything, praying—no, begging for her to speak up.

Yet she didn't. She merely lay there, and sobbed.

"P-please," she croaked, her cheeks glistening with tears. "We'll keep low—I swear! We'll find a way to work like that. Just—let us stay!"

The Bisharp softened for all of an instant. "No." She hung her head. "They'll say we kidnapped you. If they have even a single legion to spare, the consequences from a diplomatic incident like this would be…" She never finished that whisper.

Gaius struggled against the Fraxure guard pinning him down, forcing the nearby Golduck to help pin down both his arms.

Flame simply couldn't muster the energy to process the string of insults exiting the Grovyle's mouth. As he lay there, sunken eyes set forward into nothingness, he felt his own eyes begin to water.

She'd lied to him. She'd lied to him. Why would she lie to him? He would have understood.

"Alice…" Flame tried to swallow, but his throat was too parched.

Helplessly he watched their interrogator stand there with her back to them, hands on the desk, breathing audibly.

"Captain," she said.

The Sceptile he'd brought against the wall stood up with some difficulty, scales still steaming and blackened in some spots. It clutched its arm and grunted. "Orders, ma'am?"

Their interviewer hesitated. For a moment, she remained quiet. "Send a transmission to Urbe. Tell them—"

"NO!" Alice sprung from under the Blaziken guard's knee. "Do NOT contact my father! I can't go back there! I beg you!"

The Blaziken guard fought to keep her still, and even their interrogator turned to gawk at her writhing.

"P-please…" She sobbed. "They'll kill Flame! They'll kill him! A-and they'll send me back to Urbe… Please, I beg you! You can't…"

Flame couldn't find it in him to speak. The Lycanroc knee pressing on his chest did little to help matters.

"Fuck," Gaius muttered in his struggle. "Fuck this—fuck you, Alice!" Gaius screamed in his struggle. "Should have left you as soon as you told me. You and your dirty little godsdamned secret!"

With every passing second, a sense of helplessness took hold of Flame. He could do nothing but watch their interrogator as she stood behind her desk, gripping the sides and breathing heavily.

"Guards," the Bisharp muttered, "stand down."

The guards looked between themselves, and swiftly unhanded Team Phalanx.

Flame felt the crushing pressure on his chest disappear. He hacked and coughed and pushed himself onto his forearms, weakly raising his snout to look around. The guards had stepped back, now forming a semi-circle around the three of them. His head was swimming. So many thoughts rushed through him, so much dread building up in his chest, that once again he felt too small. Gaius was crumpled on the floor growling, while Alice still shook in her coils—but he couldn't bring himself to look at her.

The sound of a drawer sliding open drew him out of his thoughts.

Flame turned to the Bisharp and watched her fish a small cloth sack out of a desk drawer. She tossed it to Flame and he caught it just in the nick of time. If the metallic jingling hadn't been enough, its shape and considerable weight in his claws betrayed that it was filled with coins.

He blinked. "What are these for?" he mumbled.

"There's a market by the city gate. It opens at sunrise."

Flame's frown only deepened. He stood there limply with the sack in his claws, peering up at their interrogator.

Was the room dimmer? It certainly felt like it. Under the candle's soft glow, he could barely make out the Bisharp's expression. Even Alice's sobs had died down to a whimper as they awaited their judgement.

"You have twenty-four hours." The Bisharp's eyes betrayed a glimmer. "Get out. Get out, and never come back."

End of Chapter XXVI