Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.

…

When Serena confessed her feelings regarding Selene and Lillie, there had been many outcomes she'd expected.

"So… You have the hots for both me and my fiancé. Which is… Cool. It's cool. Totally fine."

Shock. Confusion. Revulsion. Anger. Pity.

"I mean, I don't blame you, like, have you looked at her? And me? Not to brag and all, but I'm well aware I am basically the complete package."

Perhaps, even, acceptance. Maybe even reciprocity.

"I'm not going to lie, I've never thought of you that way. Always just thought of you as a friend and my liege Lord. But, you know, seeing how beautiful you look now, and now that you've put the thought in my mind… I mean, don't get me wrong, my heart belongs to Lillie, completely and utterly forever and ever, but… You know, if she was up for it, I wouldn't say no."

But this?

"Of course, since you're my boss and all, if you ordered me to do it, I'd kind of have to, though I know you'd never do it, though I suppose, now that I really really think about it, the thought of you commanding me to sleep with you kind of turns me on in a weird way? I mean, Lillie might not look it, but she's a total dom."

This was so much worse.

"And maybe she'd be allowed to watch? I don't think she'd really be into sharing me with anyone, but she's a lot kinkier than you'd expect a living embodiment of divine might to be. Oh, incidentally, if you were to enact Droit du seigneur, I'd appreciate it if you let me know ahead of time-"

"Selene, as your Queen, I order you to stop talking about this," Serena groaned, face in her hands.

Dear Arceus, was this what it felt like to be Jeanne?! No wonder she'd run off to "frolic" with Hymnia, Snowie, and Diana.

She couldn't believe her Pokémon had better game than she did, that lucky fox. She hadn't even made it past first base with Shauna, and her concubine had been throwing herself at Serena since the day they'd met, practically BEGGING her to ravish her!

Selene laughed nervously. "Right. Sorry."

There was an awkward silence between them as they continued walking down the halls of the mansion. Selene cleared her throat and then said, "Although-"

"SELENE."

"Right. Shutting up."

The awkward silence returned, only awkwarder and silenter.

(The author is well aware those aren't actual words. Shut up.)

Needless to say, the tour wasn't going very well.

Mind racing, desperate to think of some topic, any topic to discuss so they could pretend the last several minutes hadn't happened, Serena abruptly blurted, "Your father."

Selene started, giving her a confused look. "What?"

"Your father," Serena repeated with a hint of panic, realizing this could work. "I'm sorry about what happened to him. I don't think I ever got the chance to say it. Not properly, anyway."

Selene's eyes softened. "That's… Thanks, Serena."

"Were you… Were you able to host a funeral?" Serena inquired, glancing at her friend and crush.

Selene nodded slowly. "Eventually, yeah," she confirmed. "We couldn't at first, naturally, since we were on the run and all. But after we got to the Lucario kingdom, we were able to take a breather and perform the last rites. We knew it would be safe there."

"The Lucario kingdom…" Serena murmured, eyes rolling back in her head she tried to remember the lessons she'd learned about other kingdoms in this modern world. "That's… That place in Sinnoh ruled by Lucario, right?"

"Hence the name, yeah," Selene pointed out the obvious.

Serena's brow furrowed as she tried to dredge up more facts about the place. "And it's… The birthplace and headquarters of the Aura Guardians?"

Selene nodded. "Yeah, dad was born there. Most of my family on his side lives there. Just about everyone there, human and Pokémon alike, can use Aura, not just the Lucario, though they're the ones in charge." She concentrated, a blue flame forming in her right hand. "It's where I was able to start training in earnest to master this half of my heritage." She smiled fondly. "I'm going to take Lillie there during our honeymoon, too."

"I thought you were going to the Genesis Cradle," Serena reminded her, still amazed that that legendary place was not only real, but Selene knew where it was.

"We're going to lots of places," Selene explained, extinguishing the flame. "I visited a lot of great places while I was traveling the world. I want to take her to some of the most important ones. They helped shape me into the person I am now, so I think it's only right to share them with the woman I'm going to be spending the rest of my life with."

"That's very admirable," Serena told her in approval.

Selene glanced at her Queen, uncertain. "Jealous?"

"Oh, very," Serena assured her, managing a chuckle. "So, you were able to bury your father in his homeland?"

Selene grimaced and shook her head. "Not bury. There wasn't… There was enough of his body left…" She stiffened, then shook her head. "He received a funeral worthy of an Aura Guardian. His hat and staff enshrined in the family tomb, his name engraved into the Hall of Heroes, an egg christened with his name to receive his Aura-"

"I'm sorry, what was that last part?" Serena interrupted, confused.

"Oh, right, you wouldn't know," Selene realized. "It's a custom in the kingdom. When an Aura Guardian dies, it's believed that they are reincarnated as a Riolu. When an egg whose wavelength matching the deceased Guardian's Aura is discovered, the Guardian's family takes the egg in and all of the Guardian's friends and loved ones tell it stories of the person it'd been in their past life, to etch those memories into the newborn's soul. When it hatches, the resulting Riolu is treated as a continuation of the deceased Guardian, and takes an honored role in society."

Serena gave her a confused look. "… Wait, so… Are they an actual reincarnation, or…?"

Selene shrugged. "They believe themselves to be. And the egg hatched into someone who felt and acted a lot like my dad. Whether she-"

"She?" Serena interjected.

"Yeah, the Riolu was a girl. It happens," Serena waved her off. "Whether she has some of my dad's memories and feelings because she actually inherited them from him or because they were imprinted onto her from all the stories she was told while she was still in the egg are irrelevant. As far as the kingdom is concerned, she's the next life of my dad."

"And where you're concerned?" Serena pressed.

Selene considered for a moment, then chuckled and shrugged. "Kind of difficult to say, really. At the time, I was so desperate to have my dad back in some form, any form, I was willing to accept it at face value. Now I understand it's a bit more complicated than that, but… Whether or not she's the true reincarnation of my father or not, she's a very important part of my life, and I'm happy to have her in it."

"And how did your mother take that?" Serena asked.

Selene grimaced. "She… Had a bit more difficulty accepting it at first. She's a psychic, so can't read hearts the same ways Aura users do. She claimed the Riolu's mind was different from dad's, that the memories were fake, that they'd been implanted instead of truly inherited. That she wasn't the man she'd fallen in love with, but an imposter. It took her a while to warm up to her, at first, and she's never really believed that she was my father reborn. But, eventually, after all the adventures we went on together, all the times she's saved both our lives…"

"She changed her mind?" Serena prompted.

Selene blushed. "Let's, uh, just say that interspecies relations are bit more… Relaxed in the Lucario kingdom than most other parts of the world and leave it at that."

Serena's eyes widened at the implications. "Oh, my."

Selene laughed awkwardly and glanced away, rubbing the back of her head. "Heh, yeah… Reaaaaaaally glad I don't live at home that much anymore…"

Serena remembered how Selene's mother had met her at the front door of her house, instead of inviting her in. What, she wondered, might she have seen if she had been let inside?

Or whom?

Desperate to change the subject, she quickly asked, "So, who exactly killed him and forced you to flee, anyway?"

Selene's eyes narrowed and she clenched her fists. "Secret society of fallen Aura Guardians, rogue psychics, evil sorcerers, politicians, businessmen, criminals, and the like who were all worried that the prophecies about me meant that they would lose their power because of me, so banded together to try and stop me before I could reach my true potential. You know, the usual sort." She smiled grimly. "They're gone now. Every last one of them."

Serena wisely chose not to pry. "Do you know if any of them were responsible for trying to assassinate me all those years ago?"

Selene frowned. "I don't think so. That was a whole other group. Dad's friends took care of them. That's why they've never bothered you again." She smiled coldly. "Just like those guys will never bother my family again."

Selene smiled wistfully. "I'm… Frankly jealous. You have both your parents – in a sense – Lillie got her father back and her mother is alive, albeit one is amnesiac and the other is in a coma, whereas I…"

Selene grimaced. "Right. Your father's evil and dead. Sorry."

"He's not dead," Serena corrected her.

Selene blinked. "Wait, really?"

Serena shook her head. "The same power that gave me immortality affected him as well."

Selene's eyes widened in alarm. "Then… You mean he's still out there?!"

Serena chuckled darkly. "No, when he fired the Ultimate Weapon, he wound up collapsing his entire headquarters on top of himself. He and any of his followers who weren't able to get out in time are buried beneath the ruins of Genosenge Town. He's still down there, I believe, his undying body trapped under thousands of kilotons of dirt, stone, and metal. I highly doubt that he shall ever see the light of day again, especially due to the magical seal Jeanne and I placed over the land to make sure he can't dig his way out."

Selene's eyes widened. "Whoa. You do not mess around."

Serena snarled. "He deserves far worse. Especially after what he did beneath Lumiose…"

Lysandre Gabena, a tall, brawny man with a thick mane of red hair, beard, and very stylish black and red clothes laughed as his last Pokémon, a fearsome Gyarados, collapsed to the ground. Serena, Jeanne, and her Lucario Calista glared at him angrily from across the makeshift battlefield where they had encountered him in his underground base beneath Lumiose City. "Wah ha ha! Your convictions, and those of your Pokémon, please me! You are here to stop me. But I ask you to wait. I tried to save people-and the world-with the profit from this lab. But my efforts had no effect... The world was just too vast...and too full of fools that I couldn't save through my hard work alone... That's why I decided the only way to save the world was to take it all for myself."

Serena snorted in disgust. "Seriously? That's your reason for doing all this? You decided that the people of the world couldn't possibly be trusted to rule themselves, so you will do it for them?"

Lysandre scoffed. "I don't expect that I will ever make you understand how I think and feel. I'm disappointed in you, Serena. I would've assumed that you, of all people, could understand me. You have often spoken of your ambitions of becoming a queen, have you not? You believe that the Kalos region could be a better place, and consider yourself the only person fit for the job? How are we so different?"

"Because I'm not planning to fire an ancient doomsday device that will kill everyone who hasn't joined your organization!" Serena snapped angrily.

Lysandre sniffed disdainfully. "If you wish to rule, you will need power to back it up. How did you think you were going to take the throne? That by making yourself popular enough or winning a few insignificant Pokémon battles the people would just hand the throne over to you? A throne that has not existed for centuries?"

He swept a hand to the side dramatically. "You cannot expect anything in this world to simply be handed to you! You must take it! As one who seeks to rule, surely you must understand this!"

"I do understand," Serena countered. "Just as I also understand that ruling by fear or force, by holding a superweapon over people's heads to make them comply… The world I dream of can never come into being if forged through such despicable methods!"

Lysandre sighed and shook his head. "So naïve… I'm disappointed. I expected better from you, Serena."

"And I expected more from YOU, FATHER!" Serena shouted.

Lysandre stiffened. "… What?"

Jeanne blinked. Really? We're doing this now? I kind of thought we were going to hold off on this for a while longer!

Calista sighed. Apparently not.

"What are you talking about?" Lysandre demanded, face flushing in anger. "I have no progeny!"

Serena snorted in disgust. "Of COURSE you don't remember. Let me jog your memory. Over a decade ago, my mother Grace Yvonne participated in a race being held by your company for charity. After she won, the two of you got to talking. A few too many drinks were had. And the next thing she knows, she wakes up in her hotel room, all alone… And a few weeks after that, discovers she's pregnant." She narrowed her eyes. "Does that sound familiar?"

"Grace…" Lysandre murmured. "Your mother was…" He frowned, looking at her as if for the first time. "No… No, that cannot be true. If she suspected I was the father, then surely she would have reached out to me!"

"That's something I wondered for quite a while," Serena admitted. "Why didn't she contact you? Why did I have to grow up without a father? When I finally learned it was you, and that she'd been deliberately hiding the truth from me, I was furious… But now?" She narrowed her eyes. "Now that I understand who you really are, WHAT you really are… I can see she made the right choice. Somehow, all those years ago, she must have suspected the darkness within your heart, the evil lurking within you. And she wanted NOTHING to do with it."

Lysandre scoffed. "Don't be so dramatic."

"Says the man who believes the best way to save the world is to destroy most of it," Serena countered.

Lysandre narrowed his eyes, and then slowly nodded. "Yes… I can see the resemblance now. You have her fire. And… Perhaps a bit of mine?" He rubbed his beard in thought. "Perhaps… Yes… Perhaps you ARE my daughter…"

He contemplated this for a moment, and then shrugged. "I don't really see what difference it makes, though."

Serena blinked, her heart skipping a beat. "What?"

Lysandre sighed, looking disappointed. "Exactly how did you think this was going to play out, Serena? That upon finding out that my greatest adversary is my own flesh and blood, that the woman I laid with to conceive you is still alive and will most certainly be one of those to die when I fire the Ultimate Weapon… That I would somehow change my mind? Be so overwhelmed with fatherly affection I would immediately disband my organization and surrender?"

Serena swallowed. "I-"

"Foolish girl!" Lysandre snapped. "This is a dream I have been working towards for longer than you've been alive! If you thought that the knowledge that I might be a father might be enough to turn me from my path, then you do not know me at all, nor comprehend the depths of my ambition!" He snarled in disgust. "And in doing so, you demonstrate the shallowness of your own."

"W-what?" Serena stammered, taken aback. This was not going at all like she had anticipated!

"You claim you want to be a queen. Unsurprising, for if you truly are my daughter, then the blood of ancient royalty runs through both of our veins," Lysandre proclaimed. "But I do not think you understand what it truly means to rule, to be apart from the rest of the world. To have the burden of a people, a nation, on your shoulders. You lack the will, the CONVICTION to make the sacrifices necessary for your vision to become a reality. You are not a queen in waiting, you are a child who refuses to grow up, clinging to the princess fantasies all little girls eventually give up as they grow older and wiser. You are no visionary, no Savior, no monarch, merely a weak, deluded babe."

He shook his head in disgust. "And I had such high hopes for you, even before I learned of our connection… How disappointing."

Don't listen to him, Serena! Jeanne insisted sharply. He does not know you as I do! He has not been with you every step of your journey, has not watched you grow and mature into the strong, beautiful young woman I would follow to the ends of the earth! The woman I would gladly call my queen!

If you are truly the selfish child he portrays you as, we would never have bonded at the Tower of Mastery! Calista added. I would never have sworn my loyalty to you! My Mega Evolution… Is it not the proof of our bond? The strength of your will, your conviction?

But Serena didn't hear the words of her companions, so fixated was she on the face of her father, the man she had always wanted to know, always hoped for approval from… The man who was rejecting her, completely and utterly. Serena's vision blurred, tears running down her face. "Father … But… But I-"

"You are no child of mine," Lysandre said coldly, turning his back on her.

With a sob, Serena fell to her knees. As Jeanne quickly rushed to her side, Calista ground her fangs, her Aura blazing up around her. You… You CAD! She howled, rushing towards the leader of Team Flare. Don't you DARE turn your back on her! Not after making her cry!

Jeanne stiffened, eyes shrinking as she was suddenly hit by a premonition. Calista, stop! She cried. It's a-

"Gyarados. Mega Evolve," Lysandre said calmly without turning around, raising his left hand, revealing a Mega Ring around his wrist.

It was only then Serena realized that Lysandre hadn't returned his Pokémon, simply left it lying there… And that she had never thought to question WHY.

There was a flash of light, a horrific roar, and suddenly Gyarados, in its nightmarish Mega Evolved form was lunging towards Calista, jaws wide open.

The Lucario's eyes widened in horror.

Jeanne desperately tried to cast a spell.

Serena fumbled for Calista's Pokéball.

Neither of them were fast enough to stop the Atrocious Pokémon from closing its jaws around the Lucario's waist and ripping her in half.

A heartrending scream of anguish filled the room, and Serena didn't know if it was from Calista, Jeanne, or herself.

Lysandre finally deigned to glance back over his shoulder, casually recalling the Gyarados, blood dripping from its jaws, back into its Pokéball. "I told you you don't have what it takes."

"CALISTA!" Serena howled, scrambling across the floor towards her dear companion, the Lucario who had sworn to be her sword and shield, whom she had bonded with at the Tower of Mastery and proved herself worthy of the power of Mega Evolution… Bleeding out in two halves on the floor.

As Serena and Jeanne desperately tried to push the two halves of their friend back together, using every healing item and magic at their disposal, Lysandre calmly stated, as if he had not just committed a horrific atrocity, "Try to stop the ultimate weapon if you must, but to do so, you will have to explore our lab and have Pokémon battles with all you meet."

He started to walk away, and paused, as if just remembering something. "Oh, and as for the Elevator Key, one of the Team Flare Scientists you've met on your journey has it."

He shook his head and headed deeper into the lab, muttering, "Saving everything... The world is suffering because of this absurd dream..."

Behind him, Serena and Jeanne wept over the mutilated body of their dying friend, all of their items lying used up around them, their healing spells having failed to mend Calista's body in the slightest. The Lucario didn't even get a chance to impart any last words to her friends. She died, blood and vomit choking her throat, confused and in horrible pain.

And beneath Lumiose City, a girl who would be Queen cried.

Selene's eyes widened. "Holy shit." She shook her head, stunned, a look of shock and anger on her face. "I mean… Don't get me wrong, Lusamine was a monster, but… She wasn't a murderer!" She frowned. "At least, I don't think she was…"

Serena chuckled bitterly. "Lysandre was fortunate that I had yet to find Durendal, otherwise, his life would've been cut short then and there, along with his head."

The Aegislash rattled from his place on her back, furious that he had been unable to aid his mistress in such a dire time.

"I'm… I'm sorry you had to go through that, Serena," Selene said quietly. She shook her head. "I… I know what it's like to lose a companion. It's not something you ever really get over."

Serena glanced at her in concern. "Something that happened to you on your journey?"

Selene glanced away. "The guys who killed my dad, who were after me… They weren't like most criminal organizations. They didn't play by the rules." She clenched her fist, trembling slightly. "Good people got hurt. A lot of good people. And I wasn't always able to save them."

Without thinking, Serena hugged her.

When Selene stiffened, Serena paled, wondering if she'd overstepped… Only to relax when Selene hugged her back. "Thanks," she muttered into her ear. "You're a good friend, Serena. You're going to make a great Queen."

"I know," Serena replied, voice breaking.

The hug ended far too quickly for Serena's liking, but, as she constantly reminded herself, Lily was Selene's betrothed, not her. "There's a special ceremony Aura Guardians do for fallen brethren," Selene spoke up, wiping away a tear. "I'm sure you probably gave Calista whatever rites are appropriate for Pokémon in Kalos, but I can still give her a proper Aura Guardian sendoff, if you like."

"Thank you, but that won't be necessary," Serena informed her graciously. "It would be rather pointless, seeing as how Calista found her way back to us in the end."

Selene blinked in confusion. "Found her way… What are you-"

Suddenly, the ground trembled slightly. "What's that?" Serena asked in concern.

Selene's face lit up. "I think Lillie's finished her preparations. Looks like it's time for your match. You ready?"

Serena nodded, fingers brushing the Pokéballs attached to her belt. "Always. Where will we be fighting?"

Selene grinned, and yet again, Serena had to very strongly remind herself that Selene was very happy with Lillie and she was happy that they were happy together. "You battled in tons of places back home, right? Well, trust me when I say that you've never fought in anything like this…"