Well. And I thought the last delay was bad.

It's been over a year. The reason being that my motivation to do fic at all was kicked in the nether regions throughout the latter half of 2017, and come 2018 I had enough writer's block on this particular project to delay it further as I focused on others. For that, I apologize to everybody who was even remotely invested in this fic.

That said, here it finally is. A slower chapter, but one that sets up for bigger things to come.

Chapter 7: Love and War

The mage fired a blast of dark energy at Palkia, aiming for her head. Palkia casually deflected the blast with her staff, then opened a rift in space that sucked the mage in before closing.

~Are you sure the non-lethal method for these guys is gonna work?~ said Hoopa's voice in her head.

~Well it's not like we can wanton murder the locals,~ said Palkia back.

One by one, she spatially warped every that came after her, until there were none left. Soon, her group and the Shepherds were the only living people left in the battlefield.

The Shepherds themselves were rather worse for wear; the local healers were getting together to patch people up. Meanwhile, Palkia looked over to Robin, who was putting away his spelbooks and cleaning off his robes. A green-haired girl in pink approached him.

Palkia sighed.

Palkia paced in her tent. Nearby, Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina were slumped over, exhausted.

"Remind me of why we're on cleanup duty again, sis?" Giratina asked.

"Again, the end is coming, and we need to stop it."

"Shouldn't there be more to it than just... tagging along?" said Dialga.

"Something could crop up at any moment. We need to be prepared."

"We've been doing this for two years!" said Hoopa. "That's piecemeal for us, sure, but it's a decent while for the humans that make up, you know, ninety percent of this group?"

"It's also peacemeal for the thing we're fighting. The dark dragon god that wants to, remember, be reborn through one of the leaders of this fucking group?"

"Shouldn't we be taking care of that, then?" said Dialga.

Palkia gulped. "I'm trying but..."

"Let's just say things are getting complicated."

A couple weeks earlier, Palkia was looking for a good spot to sit down and eat, when she saw Robin approaching her. She perked up and moved to hand him some of the food she was carrying, only to notice he seemed rather nervous.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

"Can I ask you something?" said Robin.

"Sure, what is it?"

"It's about that Manakete girl we recruited a while back. Tiki."

"Yeah, what about her?"

"I think I... I... I'm in love with her."

Palkia started. Several thoughts flooded her mind at once, but the first and foremost to emerge was:

Robin x Tiki? Who even ships that?

She immediately bit her tongue, going: Palkia you idiot these are real people you don't think things like that even though they are also technically fictional in your world and gah just give him advice already.

"Is that so?" said Palkia, smirking and striking a pose. "Well well, I assume you need advice on wooing the lucky lady?"

"Er, yes, I suppose. You two have a similar... energy, so to speak? I've already asked Gaius and he wasn't entirely sure what to do aside from offering her some candy. Which I did. Turns out she has a licorice allergy. We haven't spoken since."

Palkia filed all those facts, especially the thing about Gaius, away for later before responding.

"Well, uh... It's probably been long enough. Maybe just approach her casually, like in the mess hall, apologize, and work from there?"

"I don't know, though, I'm... I'm still awfully embarrassed and she might still be mad..."

"Knowing her, I doubt it. Just have some faith in yourself, alright? Or don't listen to me because I'm aro ace."

"You're what?"

"Er... Never mind. Just do it, buddy. I know you can."

Robin shook his head, then nodded, and headed off.

Immediately various thoughts started swimming through Palkia's head. Tiki is a demigod. The daughter of a previous incarnation of Naga. Robin has the blood of Grima, who they're trying to stop. The two of them together...

Gaius. She had to find Gaius.

She rushed off through a space portal as fast as she could.

Gaius was relaxing by himself, a bowl of candies before him as he slowly popped them into his mouth.

This peaceful scene was interrupted by a rift in space appearing behind him and Palkia emerging, grabbing Gaius, and shaking him like a rag doll.

"GaiusineedtoknowwhenandhowyoulearnedaboutRobinandTikipotentiallybeingathing!"

"Gah! Slow down Spacey!" said Gaius.

Palkia released Gaius from her grip and sat down. "Sorry..."

"This isn't about the licorice, is it?" said Gaius.

"No! I just... Need to know more about how this happened!"

"Kind of a snoop, are you? I dunno, Tiki got curious about Bubbles, Bubbles got curious about Tiki, and the next thing I know he comes asking me for romantic advice! Honestly regarding Tiki I'm kind of jealous of her..."

"Right. Why was she gravitating to him in particular?"

"When I talked to Robin about it after the licoriche incident he said she gravitated to the "strange aura" he had. Weird dragon bullshit I tell you.

"Strange... Aura... Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no."

"Wait, wha-"

Palkia had already vanished through another rift in space.

Gaius shrugged and started picking up his candies.

"...And that's why we need to watch this relationship like a Staraptor and intervene if something's up," said Palkia.

"Okay then," said Hoopa. "Why didya wait until now to tell us?"

"I thought things would stay awkward after the licorice incident," said Palkia, "but then my advice worked! He talked to her and they kept talking and now they're kinda sorta dating?"

"Well, that certainly backfired, sister," said Dialga.

"I know..." said Palkia. "What do we do now?"

"Simple!" said Giratina. "We set Tiki up with Wuzzles, give her a love potion from Hoopa's Stash, and presto! Problem solved."

From outside the tent Wuzzles gave a growl of objection.

"Do I even have a love potion?" said Hoopa.

"Okay, that's not going to work." said Palkia.

"I'll ask for Naga's advice on this. She's Tiki's mother, right? Surely she'll object and tell us what to do."

"It's worth a shot," said Palkia.

Dialga nodded, shifted to his monster rabbit form, and headed off.

So did Panne, who was listening nearby.

Despite the distance, Dialga arrived in short order, heading straight to Naga.

"What is it, Dialga?" said Naga.

"It's about your daughter, Tiki," said Dialga, reverting to his draconic form. "She's in love with the potential future vessel of Grima."

"I understand," said Naga, "but there is little I can do."

"Why not?" said Dialga.

"Well, for one, it's not entirely accurate to say she's my daughter, more the daughter of a previous me," said Naga. "My responsibility toward her has long passed."

"Yes, so?" said Dialga.

"Second... She's seen so much to suffer for in her life. I like to let her be happy when she's awake and has the chance."

"Hm," said Dialga "But her mingling with Grima's power... Could it be dangerous?"

"For now Grima's potential lies within Robin and only Robin," said Naga. "It has no chance of passing on to Tiki."

"And what of... Their offspring?"

"That I cannot say. You are working to prevent Robin's manifestation as Grima, yes?"

"But of course."

Naga smiled gently. "Then nothing should come ill of this union."

"If you say so..." said Dialga.

He sighed. "It's been two years. That's nothing to you and me but a while to those humans. We haven't found a cure."

"I have faith in you and your companions, my friend," said Naga.

"...Friend?" said Dialga.

"Of course," said Naga. "We've only known each other for a short while and yet you're the best company I've had in millenia."

"Th... Thank you." said Dialga. "But I must be going."

He shifted to his rabbit form and ran off as fast as he could, Naga waving him goodbye.

"...So we do nothing?" said Palkia.

"Nothing," said Dialga.

"This stinks!" said Hoopa. "We've been doing nothing but watching and waiting since we figured out this place is scheduled for a shitshow! This world is doomed, aint it? We gotta do something to put a stop to that!"

"We can't directly intervene, though!" said Palkia. "If we break out all our fancy tricks at once, the jig is up, and there's no telling if the locals will be with or against us!"

"They're just humans and a few extras though," said Giratina. "We can deal with them eas-"

"That's what we said about Cyrus!" said Palkia.

There was stunned silence from Dialga and Giratina. Hoopa's eyes widened and he slowly started backing up.

"I..." said Palkia. "I'm sorry, I just-"

"Okay, that's enough."

Panne suddenly barged into the tent, followed by Libra and Virion.

"You four!" said Virion. "We've caught you in the act! Now you've got some explaining to d-"

He was promptly interrupted with a scream as Wuzzles pounced on him.

Giratina sighed and pulled Wuzzles off. "Bad boy! I told you, no eating the other Shepherds."

Virion got up and dusted himself off, panting heavily. Libra continued for him.

"Panne informed us of your conspiracies; we three have been suspicious of your activities for a while."

"Just what is going on with you all?" said Panne.

The group paused. Then, Palkia sighed.

"Let me handle this, guys."

She took a deep breath.

"This is gonna be hard to believe but... We're gods. From another world. We came here for a good time, but things got hairy when we found out an evil god from your world's due to be resurrected. We're sorry."

"Hah!" said Virion. "We knew as much, didn't we Libra and Panne?"

"Indeed I did," said Libra. "Your divine presence was apparent from the start."

"And with me discovering Quentin's true nature myself," said Panne, "All that remained was scrutinizing your motives. Which we've been trying to do for two long years."

"I guess two years of me and Howard trying to throw you of didn't work..." said Hoopa.\

"At least the pranks were good," said Giratina.

"So discard that charade of some dark god from our world you're trying to stop and tell us the truth!"

"They are," said Libra.

"Huh?" said Virion.

"You've heard the rumblings about Grima, have you not? If they are on our side in that fight they could be valuable allies."

"...Allies?" said Panne.

"...So you'll help us?" said Dialga.

"I will," said Libra. "Question is if my companions will."

Panne looked between everyone and then snarled at Dialga.

"Impersonating one of my kind is still a sore spot, but if you wish to do more help than harm, I will aid you."

"...Well, I guess if they are I will too," said Virion.

Palkia grinned. "An alliance it is."

"Now what?" said Giratina.

"We come up with a plan," said Libra.

And they set to work, making charts and illustrations and discussing amongst themselves.

Shortly after, Panne was standing outside, listening to the noises around her. A such, she soon heard Dialga approaching.

"...You."

"...Yes, it's me."

"What do you want?"

"I talked to Naga. Multiple times."

"And?"

"I want to bring your kind back."

Panne sighed, then turned around to face Dialga.

"Even if you truly are a deity from another world. You have a monumental task ahead of you."

"I know. That's why I want your help."

Panne paused.

"...You truly wish to help someone such as me? And my kind?"

"I do."

The faintest hint of a smile crept onto Panne's lips.

"I will say this. You are not taguel. But you are not manspawn either. And I can see you truly care. I will accept your help."

A small smile crept onto Dialga's lips as well.

Walhart had been defeated.

After a ceremony to honor the lives lost - particularly that of the Feroxian Khan Basilio - a massive party among the Sheperds was held. Drinks, food, games, all were had, and even Wuzzles participated in the fun.

Amidst the hullabaloo Palkia approached Tiki.

"Yo?"

"Oh, hello, Palkia!" said Tiki.

"Hey," said Palkia. "How's it going?"

"Good! I love parties! One of the few things that can keep me awake, haha..."

"That's good. How are you and Robin doing?"

"Oh! We're doing well!"

She fidgeted noticeably.

"I... I'm starting to think we're more than friends, though..."

Palkia blinked. Right, that doesn't happen until S Support. Also I need to stop thinking in game terms.

"Really? I can definitely see it."

"H-Huh?"

"Yeah, you're totally into each other. Like, super-into each other."

"I don't know... I'm worried I'm projecting Marth onto him..."

"Then don't. Value him as the person he is. And hey, I'm friends with him. He's a pretty great guy."

"I just worry about what people will think sometimes..."

"Don't. There's going to be people who want to stop your relationship. People who object. People who think it will end in disaster. Those people don't matter if you think you can have a healthy, supportive relationship with him."

"...Alright. Thank you, Palkia."

Tiki looked around.

"He left the party to go do some paperwork... I ought to keep him company.

She got up and left. Palkia sighed.

"Good luck, Tiki. You and Robin both need it. And so will we."