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When the light is running low[break][break]
As Necrozma slipped into the safety of its Ultra Wormhole, the reality of the situation hit Isaac. Galar had averted the End Times.[break][break]
Their combined efforts laid low Eternatus, its prior surrender to Necrozma weakening it enough to fall before Galar's combined might. Necrozma stood tall, practically erupting with stolen energy, but it had no chance to bring that might to bear. Isaac had not been Galar's only shielded hero, after all. Zamazenta had returned, its might such that it sent Necrozma fleeing.[break][break]
With no crisis left to fear, Isaac was left to his thoughts.[break][break]
And the shadows start to grow[break][break]
". . . We did it." In some regards, it felt strange. This had been the moment their twenty year stay in Galar had been building up to. This had been the inevitable, the crucible through which their reigns would be tested. Yet even a war between gods failed to break them.[break][break]
His tone was heavy, bittersweet. Even to the simplest footman, it was easy to guess why. They'd all lost subjects, friends, loved ones. But to Isaac, and to all of the heroes from another world, there was another layer to it. They'd served their purpose here. Now it was time to go away. Away from the homes they'd carved out with their own hands. Away from the land they swore to protect. Away from the people they'd come to love. Away from their lives, their loves, their
children.[break][break]
What Isaac wouldn't have given for just one more day.[break][break]
And the places that you know seem like fantasy[break][break]
It was a pipe dream. In a sense, this entire chapter of his life had been. Twenty years of his life, his love, his dedication, given to a land he would be torn away from. Would he remember what happened today? Would he even still be himself? Or would he be dragged back into a body twenty sizes too small for him?[break][break]
Already, the world seemed to quiver and warp. The land he stood atop now seemed like an impressionist painting moreso than anything, watercolor echoes of what had until now been reality. The faces of the Galarian people seemed to fade, their voices blurring into a wall of indecipherable cheers. As he tried to speak, his voice felt higher, softer, more hesitant.[break][break]
There's a light inside your soul[break][break]
Yet with
Caleb Harcourt's eyes locked on his, and
Julia Davis standing by his side, he had the strength to try.[break][break]
"Today, Galar stands!" He lacked the rich timbre of a king. The Aegis was heavy in his hands as he held it high. A thousand promises that he knew he could never keep turned to ash on his tongue. Yet for one final moment, he stood proud as Galar's king.[break][break]
It was Isaac's second proudest accomplishment.[break][break]
The number one spot came running into Isaac's arms, Isaac holding them tightly and protectively as he sheltered them from the end of the world.
"I will," Isaac promised, knowing that unlike the people he'd been forced to abandon, he could keep that promise towards his precious little sibling.
"I'm king now, remember? That means there's nothing in the world . . . our world . . . that's ever gonna stop me."[break][break]
"I love you too, El."[break][break]
That's still shining in the cold[break][break]
The first drop of freezing rain snapped Isaac out of his reverie.[break][break]
He stirred, groaning and aching, as he rose from the slushed remains of the Chien-Pao's Avalanche. Turned out, lying around in a fill suit of armor hurt like all hell. Who knew? Nevertheless, he managed to wrench himself back to his feet, taking a look around the land in which he'd emerged.[break][break]
Hoenn felt every bit as foreign as Galar had when he first landed. The clime, even surrounded by this slushfall, was so hot and sticky. The sun was frustratingly bright. The smell of salt on the sea breeze was inescapable, even this far inland. Yet, at the same time, it felt all too familiar.[break][break]
With the truth[break][break]
Something clattered against his breastplate as he stood. Gingerly taking it in his hands, Isaac was relieved to see a locket in the shape of his Aegis hanging around his neck. He'd had it commissioned in a moment of melancholy, desperate to retain some semblance of connection to Galar once he'd been informed that his time was coming to an end. He never expected to see it cross the boundary between worlds. Had Calyrex offered him that single kindness?[break][break]
He stood tall and proud (or, at least, as tall as he could) in the center of the portrait, his features unmistakable as they were unrecognizable. Returned to this body, 20 years younger, a beard seemed unthinkable. At his right hand stood Caleb, their outfits reflective of each other as joint kings, while his arm wrapped around
ana fell's waist at his left.[break][break]
Standing in front of them, Isaac immediately knew, were Sabrina and Iris. Compared to those from Hoenn (such as
Aurelie Lefevre, off to the side as she preferred, and El, standing behind him in a worryingly full growth spurt), they seemed hazy, almost undefined. But nothing would ever stop Isaac from recognizing them.[break][break]
It hurt like nothing else that they couldn't be here with him. But just as they inherited the Motostoke he had built for them, he'd honor their memory by making a Hoenn they could be proud of.[break][break]
The promise in our hearts[break][break]
Not just for them. For the people who had shared his struggle within the rusted shield, whether from Motostoke itself or the cities far beyond. For the people he thought he'd never see again, whether left behind or off on their own adventure. He immediately wanted to call
Naomi Sato,
Ruby Garcia, and
Ashley Shepard over the second he saw them stirring.[break][break]
A familiar, agonized wail stole his attention away. If Isaac had any doubt he was still needed in Hoenn, it was over the second he ran to
Eris Halla' side.[break][break]
He knew he couldn't make the difference she needed. Not when even Reiner was failing to do so. However, he tried his best, holding his surrogate sister tight and letting her fight through her tears.
"I'm here," he promised, knowing now that not even being worlds apart could change that.
"When you're ready, you can tell me all about him. And 'til then, you can cry as much as you need to, okay?"[break][break]
Maybe everyone in Galar could use that chance.[break][break]
As he consoled Eris, El's eyes met his. A mutual understanding passed betwwen them; of how much they'd grown, of how far they'd come, of promises they'd fight to keep and secrets they'd refused to keep buried. In that moment, even with the long, hard road ahead of him, he wanted to believe that everything would be okay.[break][break]
Don't forget[break][break]
It was a furious, mechanical wingbeat that broke the illusion.[break][break]
Amongst all the people he'd seen groggily waking from the battlefield, Cygne had not been among them. That was because instead she had taken to the skies. Fight or flight battled in the aftermath of their life in Galar, flight triumphed, and now she was escaping the remains of what was like her life depended on it.
"Cyg, wait-" Isaac pleaded, but what could he do? She was long gone.[break][break]
She wasn't the only one. As he tore his eye away from the skies, he noticed a masked figure knocking Caleb right out.
BARNABY FINCH. Fear and hatred swelled up in Isaac's chest.
"What are you doing? He's your-"[break][break]
The words died in Isaac's throat. Did he know how much more significant that made them?[break][break]
He wanted nothing more than to charge over, tear Caleb from Bee's grasp, and take him far, far away from this entire war. However, before his ankle could so much as twitch, the Rocket's Spectrier tore open a portal. And then they were gone.[break][break]
In one fell swoop, Rocket's greed shattered twenty years of goodwill.[break][break]
That familiar sense of powerlessness tore at Isaac's insides. The two most important people in Isaac's life had just disappeared, reduced to a puff of shadows and a speck on the horizon. The crying child in his arms was proof that, for many, life would be the same. Rocket and League forces storming the ruins was proof that, in the worst possible sense, it already was. Twenty years of growth, of achievement, of reign were dismissed as if they were nothing.[break][break]
Once more, Isaac
was nothing.[break][break]
No.[break][break]
Twenty years of perspective stood vigil against his inner demons. Letting himself believe that shit was what got him into this mess of a life in the first place. Rejecting it had turned Motostoke from a wasteland to a shining jewel. Everything he'd accomplished there had been on his own merits. His intelligence. His talents. His bonds. His will. How dare he insult everyone he'd helped and everything he'd done by acting like none of it mattered![break][break]
Isaac was done being a well meaning coward. He was done taking a backseat as forces beyond his control took the wheel. As Motostoke's king, he owed it to them to hold his head high and face these challenges head on.[break][break]
He looked at the fading shadows, the distant horizon, the friends scattered all over the battlefield, and the crying child in his arms. In that moment, he eased his eyes shut and made a solemn vow.[break][break]
I'm with you in the dark[break][break]
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[attr="class","skullinfo"]MOBILE POST / @
