5.
Like Mother, Like Daughter
Lucca doesn't get far before the message arrives; it's a very familiar Fletchinder, a piece of paper tied by a red string on its tiny feet. "Above the skies of Paradise's desert," it reads. The letter tells her nothing but that's been her mother's way for years.
The woman calls a taxi to take her to the outskirts of the Asada desert. Her Cyclizar takes her for a ride in the sands, arriving at the fallen tower in the middle of the desert.
Her mother is waiting for her, staring at the distant sea, Arcanine by her side.
They don't speak for a minute.
"Is the past coming to bite the both of us, mother?" Lucca asks, breaking the silence. Her mother doesn't look at her.
"Perhaps."
"Why is my daughter paying for my crimes?"
"Liko isn't in any danger, Lucca. She'll be safe so long as she carries that pendant."
"I'll believe that when I see Liko safe and sound with my own eyes."
"I know…but you have to trust me. If that pendant could protect my father from my own greed, it can protect Liko from what's to come. Have a little faith, Lucca."
"...I shouldn't have let you give that thing to her."
"It wouldn't have made a difference…that pendant was going to end up in her hands whether I gave it to her or not. It's fate. Her fate. Gibeon doesn't understand what he's dealing with."
"And we do!? Mother, please, this isn't some rich aristocrat's prized collection! I...there's something…"
"Gibeon never understood what it truly was…"
"Neither did you, and now, Liko has it."
"It's hers…"
"I…I'm going to find my daughter."
"...Lucca."
"I came to see you just to tell you that."
"I figured."
"Goodbye…"
The older woman didn't stop her daughter, didn't turn away from the calm, and was all alone before she knew it.
"In the end, their wish for paradise never came true..."