Wardens Eternal

Chapter Twenty-Four: Redemption

To say that Scarlett was confused would be an understatement. She knew that name: Igneo, but now she wasn't so sure who he was. From what she learned growing up was that Igneo was her father's name, a father that ran away with another female leaving his newborn daughters behind without ever looking back. A traitor to his family who abandoned them in pursuit of another woman, wealth, and power.

And what was with this swampert? How was he involved? If he was a murderer like Mother addressed him as, wouldn't she want to hire his services like all the other criminals and murderers on her payroll? How did he know who this Igneo was? And why would he bring it up with her mother?

"Winter, I know it hurts but you have to face the truth." The swampert pleaded, "He loved you and the girls. You know he wouldn't willingly abandon any of you. Your mate died a hero. You need to stop telling yourself otherwise and accept it, remember him for what he was, for what he is."

Lady Winter's entire posture changed, her tails falling to the floor as she turned her back to everyone and climbed back up to her cushion before collapsing on top of it. It was almost inaudible, but very faintly Scarlett could hear her mother beginning to cry.

Unable to stay silent any longer, Scarlett stepped forward, confused, and finally asked the Water-Ground type the first question. "Who are you?"

"My name is Swalen, Your father and I were partners for almost forty years." The swampert explained. "Had things happened differently, you would be calling me "Uncle Swalen", or at least "Daddy's friend."

"You knew my father?" Scarlett asked again, "Who was he? What was he like?"

"A good man," Swalen sighed, "He was hard to keep up with half the time, but he was by far one of the most compassionate and kindhearted pokemon I've ever met. Always wanting to help others in need or trying to satisfy his itch for adventure." The blue amphibian described before smirking a little. "Usually he did both at the same time, put us in a few uncomfortable spots but we managed."

"Then why did Father leave?" The red vulpix pressed, "Why did he abandon Mother and me and my sister?"

"It wasn't by choice," Swalen insisted, "He loved your mother, enough that he disbanded the team to settle down with her. When your sister came along he was happy, when you showed up he was overjoyed. He loved your mother and sister, but you were his absolute pride and joy, his greatest achievement and treasure."

"What happened? Please. What happened to my father?" Scarlett began to beg.

"I wish I didn't have to say it," Swalen sighed again, "I'm sorry Flaris, your father died in the line of duty. I talked him out of retirement for one last expedition, for old time's sake. We were coming back here and passed through a village when one of the buildings caught fire. Your father and I couldn't ignore it, so we stopped to help put the fire out. One of the villagers claimed there were kids still trapped inside, your dad wanted in after them."

"I tried to talk him out of it, I told him it was too dangerous, that he was retired and married, that he had two little girls to get home to. He didn't listen." The swampert continued, "He argued that he was the only fire type there and that he was the only one who could survive going into the fire after the kids. He wasn't wrong and he was going to go in either way, so I let him. Told him I'd try to put out the fire from outside and keep it from spreading. He went into the building, ignoring the smoke and falling debris as he looked for the kids. You could imagine the village's relief when he came back out carrying their children to safety until there was only one left missing."

"There was no chance to talk your father out of it, he turned around and headed right back into the fire to look for that last kid." Swalen paused, "The fire had weakened the support columns holding the roof up, your father was still inside when the building collapsed on top of him. The entire village started to dig through the rubble to find your father once the fire was out. We did, but we were too late. He was already gone."

The news saddened Scarlett, the fact that she would never meet her father was no doubt depressing, but part of her inwardly rejoiced at what she had been told. Her father wasn't a coward or a cheat! Her father was somebody that she could be proud of! There was a part of her family she could actually be proud of! Someone to admire and look up to rather than feel ashamed about. His passing was tragic, but Scarlett was thankful for the closure nevertheless.

"He did manage to save the last kid though," Swalen remembered, "He threw himself on top of it when the building collapsed, saved the kid's like at the cost of his own. He died a hero for what it's worth. But believe me, not a day goes by that I wish I did something different so he didn't have to."

Scarlett could tell that the guilt still haunted the large amphibian, genuine regret that wasn't forced or faked. There was no doubt in the vulpix's mind that the swampert was telling the truth, a light almost faint tickle itched in the back of her mind only seemed to further confirm it. She couldn't pick what exactly stood out, the sound of his voice or maybe his scent, but the kitsune could swear she'd heard and smelled those before. She couldn't remember him, but she hadn't forgotten those details either.

Scarlett didn't even realize what she was doing until she felt the swampert tense up as she nuzzled into him. She had just acted out of instinct, leaning into the large amphibian's side as if he were family.

As far as she was concerned, he was. And she would give him all of the love and devotion he deserved.

Swalen stayed petrified, trying to overcome his confusion. He definitely didn't expect her to respond the way she did. After all, it was his decision that led to the events that killed her father. More than enough reason for her to hate his guts by itself. He swore on his partner's grave that he would look after his family, an oath he had failed to keep not once as Lady Winter's grief drove her mad, but thrice as he failed to be there for either the girls when they needed a father figure. Even with all those mistakes, even with all the misery the vulpix endured because of his failures, she didn't blame him. With everything wrong in her life, she refused to blame him and hold him responsible. Instead, she forgave him. She welcomed the amphibian back into her life with a loving embrace.

Maybe, maybe there was a chance he could still keep a part of his promise, maybe he could be there for her from now on. It's what Igneo would have wanted, for both of them. The past seventeen years of regret and sorrow melting away as Swalen relaxed and wrapped one arm around his niece to return the embrace. . .

Wardens Eternal

Swalen went on for a while, explaining exactly what had happened that caused Lady Winter to deteriorate into the emotionally detached fragment of her former self. Put simply, Lady Winter never managed to acclimate to her mate's passing. She was just as much a victim as those she wronged, forever ensnared in a cycle of anger and grief. This constant loop brought about a wave of paranoia, a fear that she would lose the only two things she had left: her twin girls.

That paranoia, combined with the irrational thought that she couldn't lose her daughters if they never were in danger, caused her to devote herself to her desperate yet misguided effort to protect them from the world that would take them from her. As time went on, she became more and more detached from the world she knew. Eventually, she was so far removed that she couldn't see things for right or wrong anymore. If it meant she could influence or control the world and keep from losing her daughters, she did it: whether it was legal of fair didn't matter anymore.

Yet even with all of that, Lady Winter was still slowly losing one of her daughters: Scarlett. The Red Vulpix's similarities with her father were clear from birth, and the parallels only increased as she grew older despite Lady Winter's attempts at trying to steer the fire type away from that direction. The mother just couldn't stand the thought of losing her daughter the same way she had lost her mate, and was desperate to make sure that her daughter wouldn't choose to walk that same path as her father. Even if that meant not letting her choose at all.

That of course lead to Scarlett choosing to run away from her home, in effect suddenly disappearing without a trace just like her father before her. One of Lady Winter's greatest fears, only topped by her horror when she realized that her daughter had gone on to join an exploration team as well. Any other fate would have been preferable according to the mother's irrational logic, any fate as long as Winter was sure it would keep her daughter from the same deathtrap that claimed her mate.

That included selling her own daughter off into slavery as a bride to a corrupt and dirty pig from overseas. At least over there she wouldn't go hungry or manage to escape and join an exploration team. She would be miserable, but at least she couldn't die the same way her father did.

As Swalen finished explaining the how and whys throughout the years, Scarlett grew increasingly conflicted as to what should happen next. She couldn't allow her mother to stay in power and continue to harm people, but deep down a part of the vulpix sympathized with her mother. Again, she was just as much of a victim as those she had inflicted harm on, her own perpetual misery hurt her just as much as it did everyone else. All of her crimes and wrongdoings were simply her misguided attempts at trying overcome her grief. Every attempt at trying to move on had only made the situation worse.

Most pokemon seem divided between locking the widow in prison to spend the rest of her life in the company of killers, criminals, and monsters, or decisively ending the crime lord's reign with the same amount of mercy she had granted them: Absolutely none.

In the end, Scarlett couldn't choose between taking her mother's life or condemning it to prison. She just couldn't do it. Maybe she was being biased, hoping that by some miracle she could return her mother, and what was left of her family back to normal. Martian couldn't offer any meaningful advice and made it clear that he wouldn't make the choice for her, for better or worse. Quill was equally unable to help Scarlett come to a decision, failing to see any other possible ending than the two choices she already had, both of which would absolutely tear the vulpix apart on the inside.

Night eventually fell on the Southern Gulf, and most pokemon had already retired for the night. Lady Winter and Glacia were escorted to their rooms where they would be confined until a choice had been made. Scarlett, just simply couldn't sleep and began to walk the halls of her childhood home by moonlight.

Uncle Swalen's words continued to echo in her mind, replaying everything that had happened today. How her mother was trapped in a loop of despair, and that constant grief was the source of everything wrong with her. The red vulpix used to think she hated her mother for all she had done, but now she didn't so much hate her mother as much as she hated what that grief turned her into.

No one had managed it yet, but maybe there was a way to break that cycle, get her mom back from the monster she had become. A lot of people had tried already, but Scarlett was fairly certain no one had tried to do exactly what she was thinking.

With a deep breath, Scarlett quietly pushed open the door into her mother's chamber and snuck in, silently creeping closer to her sleeping parent.

Wardens Eternal

As an owl, Quillian was able to get by on an absolute minimum amount of sleep. That meant he was more than awake when he saw Scarlett walking through the halls at night. He silently followed her for a while, to try to avoid startling her and to make sure she was okay. The Dartrix quickly grew worried when he realized that his friend had snuck into Lady Winter's bedchamber, fearing that the vulpix was going to do something she'd regret. He quickly flew over to the open door and peered in, about to tell her to stop whatever she was doing until he let out a relieved sigh.

The vulpix did nothing to harm her mother like the owl feared, instead she nuzzled her way under her parent's leg and snuggled in, quietly murmuring something as she finally fell asleep in her mother's embrace.

Quillian quietly closed the door with a small smile, things were definitely changing for the better for Scarlett, and as a close friend and confidant, he couldn't be any more happy for her. . .